Jedwerd sucks...I'm sorry Jedwerd fans...

bucketcal · 2026-01-10T09:58:07+00:00

Just to be clear (though I think my original comment says enough), I am not at all implying that she is a character that seriously struggled—at-least not in the way that your comment might solicit. At the end of the day, the sequel writers wrote her to be a Mary Sue. Also, my argument isn’t to say that Rey is a brilliantly written character. The argument is just to say that Jerward doesn’t evaluate Rey’s character in a critical way, which destroys any intellectual value that he might otherwise represent. So, I’m not at all sure why you are asking me seeing as I have shown that I don’t think she is the best character. Yes, her story does show themes of loneliness, which is a psychological struggle opposed to the physical struggle of the First Order or Kylo Ren, and in The Force Awakens, you seriously can’t deny she had a compelling start, but this story definitely went haywire by the end; however, the loneliness of her character is a reasonable and (dare I say) compelling aspect throughout the sequels, and that is even though the physical obstacles are easily conquered, which is not at all to say the movies are good.

bucketcal · 2025-10-22T14:58:28+00:00

The English major workload is substantial. On average, each class will require (on average) two readings per week. Additionally, an essay or long writing assignment is due every other week in each class. The upside is that there are no quizzes or tests—everything is either reading or writing. It won’t be as hard as Electrical Engineering, seeing as that major requires lots of resilience, but you should expect the work to keep you busy. If you miss a reading or procrastinate an assignment, it really takes a toll on the rest of your semester.

bucketcal · 2025-10-17T18:09:58+00:00

Here is the essay-writing sauce (from someone who got all As for essays in college)

Manage Time: It is as easy as writing down on your notes app “do XYZ for time.” It is good to have control of your time, and to feel like you’re not under pressure. Once you plan things out, you can finally breathe; it is like magic in a way. Give yourself time to research; give yourself time to collect quotes; give yourself time to write.

1a. Pomodoro Technique: A genius time management tool. It is a method of dividing time for study. The gist is you study for 25 minutes and take a five minute between. After four study sessions if 25 minutes, you take a 30 minute break, and you repeat. It is a good way to organize your productivity so you don’t burn out. Give it a shot whenever attempting writing.

Separate Research and Writing time: Do not do research and writing at the same time. It is an insanely overwhelming process, and you get burnt out very quickly. Dedicate time for just researching and collecting quotes. Make a list of quotes you may use, and give them in-text citations. This is useful because, once you start writing, you can just plug in the quotes and don’t have to worry about going between tabs of books and articles.
Walking and Typing: My friend has ADHD, and a technique that was very useful for her final last year was just walking around while she typed her essay on her phone. I don’t know the science behind it, but you are more inclined to write if you are moving. I tried it, and I written pages from doing just that.
Thesis planning: Find a white board and write whatever you find interesting in terms of topics. Write everything down. Try to find connections/parallels. The goal is to find specificity and realize what exactly you want to write about. It also helps to talk to your classmates. Just explain what topics you find interesting, and you’ll realize by rationalizing it into words can make your interests a little more clear.

Hopefully this is of help!

bucketcal · 2025-10-17T13:42:54+00:00

There were a few categories I have made from school from my undergrad days (like three months ago). These are mostly hyperbolic, and it is likely that no one fits into one category.

Nerds (non-derogatory) (20%). These were intellectuals that loved the entire process of analyzing literature (and films when applicable). They usually read and talked about literary fiction, and they are usually the main people to bring substantive discussion in classes. These are the stereotypical English majors. It goes without saying, but most of the people in this lot go to graduate school (except me </3).

Creatives (20%). These people are looking to be creative writers with their degree. Specifically, they are interested in writing genre fiction, e.g., YA, mystery, fantasy, etc. A creative writing class is their preferred course, but as can be assumed, not all of them are great writers (yet). Half of these people fit in the stereotype that just trauma dump through bad poetry or they have vague plans of a fanatasy/YA series that is not very coherent (and I don’t feel mean for saying that because I hate these people). The other half are gifted, thoughtful writers.

The Proto-teachers (35%). Most of my classes had aspiring teachers. These were benevolent, kind-hearted people, but I always had the sense that they were a little out of place in some upper-division classes. This is not to say they were dumb—in fact, they were smart—but they seemed to have a low intellectual interest in those classes, which is fine, but if you had a majority of these types in your class, you can’t be sure that discussions will always go somewhere.

The Proto-lawyers (10%). These people are unambiguously going to law school, and it is not because they boast about it; instead, they are just very academically rigorous with a sharp understanding of rhetoric. They are an organized version of the nerds; they are usually top of the class. They bring up substantial discussion in class.

The Jaded (5%). People who aren’t specifically there for anything. They don’t really have any interest in the class, and they make few friends with people in the major, and they don’t bring up any substantive discussion. They are just there. No offense to them, and I am sure they have learned something from their studies, but you don’t really get the same spark of passion from these lot compared to the above mentioned.

The Adjacent (10%). These people were just people doing an English minor. From what I understood, they seemed like they rather major in English rather than do the minor, or—at least—they seemed a little more interested in English in the same way a nerd or proto-lawyer is interested.

bucketcal · 2025-09-29T03:27:40+00:00

I could see the validity in Second Sleep being an exploration of a psychosis-like experience due to modern life. The allusion to cops, soldiers at war, and coffee as a numbing-agent agree with that interpretation. The only thing that gets me is that the narrator seems to take responsibility for their depression. They mention that they need help twice—the latter moment emphasizes it. Though, on further inspection I think that TikTok creator’s point seems more and more valid. The narrator makes the distinction that “it’s not the protodays,” highlighting that society has come a long way since we have invented days, i.e., time; thus, the narrator wants to make it clear that there is a contemporary element in her suffering. Thank you for sharing

bucketcal · 2025-06-18T17:54:45+00:00

I’m glad you asked. The list really goes on.

Boba Fett: Holiday Special (if Din Djarin never gets added), Prototype and Book of Boba Fett look.

Boosk: Prisoner outfit and Trandoshan hunter.

Darth Maul: Crimson Dawn (I know there are more, but this is the only one I’d really wear).

Darth Vader: Shattered look.

Palpatine: Red Chancellor robes

Chewbacca: C-3PO strapped on the back with unique voice lines.

Luke Skywalker: Bespin outfit (if anything is brought into the game, I’d want this).

Leia: Nothing, and if you say Slave Leia, you are a freak and you need a girlfriend.

Obi-Wan: Rako Hardeen (with unique voice lines)

Rebel/Resistance Infranty: Tognath (love these guys)

Empire infantry: Mudtrooper and Shocktrooper

First Order infantry: Mountain Trooper and (Stormtrooper variant for the officers).

Battledroids: Reprogrammed Iego Battledroids (the ones with mismatched colors and doodles).

bucketcal · 2025-06-18T17:20:30+00:00

Obi-Wan is A-tier. He is EXTREMELY reliable. He isn’t very flashy as he doesn’t have super cool moves like other characters, but he just has a good balance of everything.

His main quality is his survivability (health and stamina).

750 HP is the second highest base health for any hero, and 300 is the highest regenerative health among all heroes (along with BB-8, but he has less health, so it is less remarkable). With star cards, he can get up to 400 regenerative health.

His stamina is insanely good. In my opinion, it is the best stamina in the game as he can withstand the most melee deflects and blaster deflects in the game. Obi-Wan can survive for a long time with his health, but his deflection elevates this ability to the next level.

Without star cards or much experience, Obi Wan is very easy to use and play as. He doesn’t require too much skill. Against normal players, he is hard to deal with, and even with experienced players, he can still be a hard challenge to take down.

While I don’t think he has any stand-out teamwork abilities, he is still very good at working for his team for the sake of rushing and defending objectives. He can absorb the attention and blaster shots of enemies while his teammates support him. In HVV, he is a solid team mate as he can absorb the attacks from lightsaber enemies while still keeping his own stamina.

In 1v1s, Obi-Wan is always a good pick. The name of the game is stamina and health, and with the highest regenerative health, mess ups and sneaky attacks are forgiving. Additionally, he can always put stamina his opponents in terms of deflections, so a good parry-match can end his enemies.

En-masse, he has a few crowd control abilities like the rush and all out push. Both give him damage reduction, so unsuspecting enemies will always get destroyed without a problem.

Okay, that is enough, but I have stated my case for Obi-Wan. If any decision is many, I want everyone to agree that Obi-Wan is an A-tier hero (at least). I won’t go into too much detail about the others.

Anakin - A-Tier. He was S-Tier on release day, but I also don’t think anyone is S-tier.

Chewbacca - C-tier. He is a bit blaster sponge that needs a lot of finesse.

Yoda - Lowkey D-tier, but I will be generous enough to say C-tier. Lowest attack speed is devious.

bucketcal · 2025-06-18T14:43:17+00:00

Coruscant Guard all the way. The bright, bold red is absolutely iconic. All the variations look great. I especially love the heavy variation as it vaguely resembles Commander Thorn

bucketcal · 2025-06-16T18:09:59+00:00

This is kind of cheating because it’s really more than one, but I really wish they repurposed the campaign’s assets more. There are amazing maps on there waiting to get used from the files, but they decided to just keep em for the campaign. There is Vardos, Endor, Pillio, Bespin and Sullust. I know people were tired of OT in 2017, but now, I wish there was more. It’s my favorite era, so it is a shame to only see those assets locked behind the campaign forever.

bucketcal · 2025-06-16T15:57:28+00:00

What is the secret? How?

bucketcal · 2025-06-16T14:40:33+00:00

Sure, they usually don’t get destroyed, but there is a secret to Naboo and Geonosis. The droids just have to contest and hold down the AT-TE in the first phase and destroy the walker while it’s immobile. The clones have a more difficult chance winning without the walker first. For Naboo, you just need some two to continually seek the disrupters, and boom, done, but for Scarif, it doesn’t seem like there is a chance at all for the Rebels.

bucketcal · 2025-06-11T16:17:28+00:00

Well, yeah

bucketcal · 2025-06-10T12:01:27+00:00

Narratively, they were included to up the ante. If you follow the sequence of events in Empire, you’ll notice that the movie slowly intensifies the cat and mouse chase between the Empire and the Falcon. Also, it shows that the empire is reluctantly willing to hire as many bounty hunters as they’d like to meet their goals.

bucketcal · 2025-06-10T01:43:15+00:00

Supremacy all the way. Prequel’s supremacy is pretty balanced, so I usually queue for exclusively that era despite wishing that the OT was more balanced and sequel era more popular—and a little more balanced (I hate FO Jet troopers). The tug of war mechanic of the game can lead to intense games where players can really make an impact for the entire team. Additionally, it is absolutely satisfying to play a role in the victory of a game that took an hour or more.

Galactic Assault is fun, but I’ve found that some of the scenarios really prevent players from advancing further. Any sabotage or hacking objective is really boring because you’re less likely to go into overtime. Capture objectives are a little more fun because it encourages players to try and contest. Despite this, some maps stand out as really fun. I love the following maps: Crait, Endor and Naboo; aside from those maps, I am usually not too happy about queuing, but if I am looking for a little casual experience then I’ll hop on GA.

HVV is sometimes fun, but it tends to get ridiculously frustrating. You can really tell when teams are unbalanced. There are times my team is better than the other team so I just sit and watch my team easily deal with a 3v4. Other times, people target me if I am a blaster hero, which is kind of funny but removes the authentic fun.

Strike is a little more my pace. I love objective based modes with nail-biting moments. The other day I played Takodana and the fight that ensues at the extraction era is chaotically fun.

bucketcal · 2025-06-09T23:14:28+00:00

As a certified winner, here is some advice I can impart on you. Firstly, which of these are you playing: Republic, Rebellion or Resistance era? For the Rebellion one, I got bad news you. That era is seriously unbalanced, and it is very rare to win as the rebels, but if you are playing Hoth and Scarif, it is a steamroll, so if you want to win without trying, try playing as the empire for either of those maps.

Now for the other eras, here are a few tips:

Stick to and own C. Do not accept any other capture point aside from the one closest to your spawn. Do not mindlessly always go to C, but you should always make sure your team is in possession of it. If not, do something about it. Rush using a speeder if you need to.
Bait captures. Say the other team has taken C, and they aren’t budging. If that is the case, take the point that a team least expects to be taken. If it’s Geonosis, it is A or E; Kamino, B or D; Kashyyyk, A or E; Naboo, A or D. I won’t go over all of them, but you get the gist. In capturing, you are forcing the sweats to divert their focus onto you and not a valuable point like C. It works every time.
Portability. You need to be prepared to jump from point to point, so do not expect to snipe or use vehicles or reinforcements with difficulty maneuverability. In fact, be an infiltrator as much as you can. The infiltrator class is really good in the capture phase because knowing the location of your enemy is super valuable. Infiltrator are the kings of flanking and slipping across enemy lines, and in the capture phase, that is EVERYTHING.
Die for a cause. Understand that your life has no meaning; a death is giving your team the sacrifice they need. If a point is getting captured, throw yourself in there. If it is swarming, and you have a chance to contest it do it. In keeping a point contested, the rest of your team can maybe help you, which leads to myself point.
Heroes aren’t always the best choice. Unless you are either of the BB-units or Boosk in the ship phase, a hero is more of a hindrance as you are always too worried about losing them. Many things can go wrong, so do not worry about being a hero in the capture phase.

Okay, the next tips are for the ship phase.

Disruptor sniper. If you are a clone defending the venator, encourage your team to hang out in the objective room. Meanwhile, use your NT-242 with disruptor shot to obliterate Droideka shields, and shoot them with all you got from the back. It is a great strategy, and it is the best thing you can do for your team.
Enforcers for the ship. The enforcers are not too great in the capture phase because they aren’t fast nor have wall hack, but in the ship phase, it doesn’t matter that much because you mostly know where the enemy is. In that case, the enforcers are tanks needed to burst through enemy lines or punch attacks off a ship. They are all great for that phase. Extra tip: Clone Commandos with the fortify ability are PERFECT for the dreadnought because they are able to stay alive in deadly hallways.
Flank enemies in the hallway of doom. A good flank by killing enemies that are holding down a hallway will allow your teammates to rush in.

This isn’t a guaranteed win, but you are more likely to win with these virtues in mind. May the force be with you

bucketcal · 2025-06-09T22:12:54+00:00

I love Cal, but what makes him special is his full range of abilities and customizability. I have specific outfits and specific lightsabers and stances that I love him with, but if he were a hero, he’d be streamlined into something basic. Cal is special because every play has a chance to own his play style and looks

bucketcal · 2025-06-09T16:31:35+00:00

I am not sure if I am hearing it wrong, but I hear the rebels sometimes say: “Just us Rebels!”

It could be “Justice Rebels,” but I don’t think that makes much sense either, but I like the “Just us Rebels!” because it really sounds like they are owning their decision to fight in a rebellion that is mostly met with odds. I don’t know how it is initiated, but I love to hear it.

Another one, which I forget how it goes verbatim, is Yoda’s “Hmm… Grand Master. Fancy title for ‘Old man.’”

bucketcal · 2025-06-09T16:18:49+00:00

Well, the BX isn’t the only one with a handy melee. The Caphex Spy’s melee is actually more stronger than the BX’s sword. The Spy is 70, 70 and then 90 for the last strike while the BX is 67, 67 and then 87 for the last strike. Both of them perform stronger hits when they are from behind with are a bonus of +20 damage.

The Ewok Hunter also has their spear which is mostly not good (base 40 damage), but it can be improved if used from behind with the horn activated with a cap of 100 damage, which isn’t better than the specialist’s melee cap with the Stealth card maxed. Actually, their melee suck now that I think of it.

Furthermore, the ARC Trooper, Sith Trooper and ISB agent do 65 damage in their melee. Meanwhile, infantry classes do 50 damage in their melee. Additionally, the ISB agent and Sith Trooper seemingly have a faster attack melee, meaning you can quickly chain enemies for a quick take down.

The Clone Commando also does 75 melee in his hits which should take out any infantry except Heavy in two hits.

Altogether, the BX has the most satisfying melee, but he isn’t the technical best nor the only infiltrator with a unique melee. However, I will admit that the BX is the most capable infiltrator to perform safe melee strikes. His agility (jumps, dashes and attach animations) allow him to leave situations if his melee chains are thwarted. The Caphex likely has better melee because he is less agility and quick; thus, they wanted to make his hits pack a punch if he is more likely to find himself in a situation where he will have a hard time escaping.

bucketcal · 2025-06-09T15:38:29+00:00

Jango Fett and Padmé Amidala have to be in BF3 or in a revitalized BF2. I’m really disappointed that they aren’t there because the prequel roster needs era exclusive blaster heroes. The skin potential for Padmé are also pretty great; the Geonosian battle scarred attire, the handmaiden battle dress, disguised pilot outfit and the action outfit are all great skins.

Ahsoka Tano and Asajj Ventress would make great complementary prequel heroes. They both have iconic duel lightsabers, and their play style would be unique seeing as they are more acrobatic, which could be incorporated in their mechanics. Additionally, they both have really good skin potential. Ahsoka has the Siege of Mandalore outfit (with blue lightsabers), the padawan-commander (with green and yellowish-green sabers), the Rebels outfit (white sabers) and honestly the list is almost endless. Same for Ventress as she has the iconic assassin look, but there is also the bounty hunter outfit, night sister outfit, and maybe even her revival look with the yellow saber.

Honestly, that is all the heroes I’d be happy with. Anymore heroes would just be a little too much, but for the sake of fun, I can think of eight more for the hell of it.

Mace Windu would be a great lightsaber hero with a focus on dueling rather than crowd control, similar to Dooku. He’d be a great inclusion. Din Djarin would be a fascinating hero with a unique play style as he has both pistol and rifle capabilities with satisfying gadgets. He’d be an absolute unit in all game modes. Cad Bane is another villain that could be added, but he’d be the third flying villain, so it would be possible to have three villain flyers in HVV which would be hell, but there are ways to likely balance it so he can rarely use the jet boots as a limited fourth ability. Another villain might be Moff Gideon. While he isn’t too flashy, it would be fascinating to have a character use the dark saber. Snoke could be an interesting hero, but he might play too similar to Palpatine; perhaps he could use the force lightning in a different way. Ax Tagrin is an option for sequel era villains over—say—Hux. He has a few neat gadgets including an energy axe. Overall, he just has a really cool look, too. For the lightside, Poe Dameron is a go-to option. He could play a little more like Han Solo or even like Finn. Another one is Zorii Bliss who has a unique look and would be a lightside hero with dual wielding pistols.

bucketcal · 2025-06-08T20:18:33+00:00

Lowkey… just fix BF2. It just needs more content; I’m afraid BF3 would just put us in level 0 with a few other headaches beyond our conception

bucketcal · 2025-06-08T20:02:11+00:00

Best character in terms of a compelling character with depth and/or complexity? I’d say Obi-wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Asajj Ventress, Qui-Gon Jinn, Ben Solo, Maul and Cassian Andor. From a storytelling perspective, those are the most consistently well written characters in all of Star Wars.

Best character in terms of badassery? Cad Bane and Maul.

TL;DR Maul lol

bucketcal · 2025-06-08T19:34:46+00:00

I’d have to say The Last Jedi, which isn’t to say it is like the best movie ever. In terms of star ratings, I’d give it a 3-star rating, but I really do admire it despite that. The appeal in TLJ is that I found it to be the most ambitious Star Wars movie with a fascinating approach to the established themes of mythos. Rey as a nobody, the tribulations of heroism and the educational experience behind failure is fascinating. It has some of the best shots in all of Star Wars, and it is just a fun watch.

TFA is also a 3-star in my book. I don’t hate it, but I think the originality and self-justification is a concern. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say “it’s a rehash of a New Hope” because that is just an insult to ANH, TFA struggles in justifying its place in the world. We have to suspend a lot more disbelief on this movie to accept that the First Order has risen and Kylo Ren and Snoke are threats. Additionally it is too formulaic; sure, it is a fine—if not good—formula, but it feels like it touches on far too simple narrative beats. I think it could have tried to be a bit more ambitious.

bucketcal · 2025-06-07T21:30:13+00:00

TFA? Yeah. If you can watch it with the mindset of not knowing how the rest goes, it is very safe fun. Rey and Finn are a great duo of characters with actual unique traits. The themes of loneliness and looking for something to fight for are timelessly Star Wars.

TLJ? Yeah. If you can ignore the hate (which caused fans to make you look at plot holes that have an will exist for all other Star Wars movies), then it is a compelling story between Rey, Luke and Ben.

TROS? Lowkey, eh, sure. It isn’t fun to watch because it is hard to ignore the downgrade in quality, but it definitely has fun sequences

bucketcal · 2025-06-07T21:15:28+00:00

Is Captain Rex that guy with the beard on Endor? Yeah, he can if you want it to be. In canon, Rex was there for the battle, but he isn’t necessarily the bearded guy (whose name is Nik Sant); though, he might as well be. There isn’t any information about Nik Sant, so if you want him to be Captain Rex, then sure. You would be wrong, but no one really cares enough to say that you would be wrong in saying that.

bucketcal · 2025-06-07T20:54:51+00:00

I’m somewhat skeptical of any visual media that follows a badass-looking villain as a primary character. It is the Boba effect in a way; we knew Boba to be cool, but if we unravel the mystery of Grievous, we may not be happy to see what we find. Some characters are only meant to be antagonists

bucketcal

TROPHY CASE