#'join me and together we will rule the galaxy as bffs'

[swan-orpheus]

So I’ve been thinking about the Finale of Kenobi way too much, as to be expected I suppose. And the line that is haunting me is when Vader says, “The same way, I will destroy you.” They could have written that any number of ways but they chose this:

“You didn’t kill Anakin Skywalker, I did.”

“The same way, I will destroy you.”

Neither one was actually trying to bodily kill the other, despite appearances. and there is no way that Vader thought for a moment that he had crushed (physically), Obi-Wan when he was walking back to his ship because he would have felt him die. He was trying to crush him spiritually, to crush the light. When Obi-Wan has flashes of Luke and Leia, it is not because they need him. He does not move the rocks because he has to save them, I do not believe, as some folks have suggested. Leia is already safe, Luke is in no real danger. Reva, as we know, was going to put down her lightsaber and carry him back to the Lars homestead. And at this point, Obi-Wan cannot be certain that Luke is in any danger. He is only in one frame of his vision. It isn’t their ultimate safety that is at stake during this battle, it’s Obi-Wan’s.

The children don’t need Obi-wan when he is down in that dark pit struggling to hang on, he needs them. He needs them to turn on the light so that he doesn’t give in to despair. This entire time he has been depressed, alone and afraid. Qui-Gon seemingly won’t answer him, everywhere there is fear and sadness and people dying in part because of the jedi, and then he learns that his old pupil and old friend is still alive, dark and mangled, but living, after a fashion. The thought of seeing what has befallen him since their fight on Mustafar must be utterly terrifying. 

And as an aside, we know that Reva could sense a little of what Obi-Wan was going through when they speak at the wall. She wants to kill him and makes it clear at last, but she can feel that Obi-Wan does not want to kill, cannot kill “Anakin”. I think that Obi-Wan has been feeling extra guilty because even after everything Vader has done and will do to the people he sees around him, he simply cannot bring himself to kill him which must seem like a horrible betrayal of their trust in him. The least that he can do is to turn himself in. (My opinion of Reva honestly shoots up even more when you consider that she is particularly gifted at knowing what people are thinking and feeling and that she doesn’t blame him for not being able to kill his old friend, even after what Anakin did to her. Like at some point she really despised him, held him responsible, but I think she gets it now.) 

Obi-Wan’s earlier words to Leia about what the Force represents to him really stuck out to me as well. It exemplifies his fear of the dark, and peripherally his crushing guilt over Anakin. I always felt that if Obi-Wan had a flaw, it was his too firm adherence to the Jedi Council, to the rules. He was always wary of straying too far from protocol or orthodoxy unlike his master who balanced rules with intuition. Qui-Gon was mindful of the dark but he didn’t fear it. Obi-Wan on some level was always a little fearful of Anakin and desperate to stay within the light, to maintain control. And fear as we know is the path to the Dark Side. 

And you better believe that Darth Vader has been able to sense this fear the entire time -each time that they connect through bad dreams, the bacta tank, shared memories, or in battle. Darth Vader knows, and he is trying to exploit that. I think that the “weakness” he refers to in their battle is the lingering affection that Obi-Wan has for his old Padawan.  Darth Vader wasn’t out to kill his old master. He wanted to destroy Obi-Wan Kenobi and leave something else in his place, something dark and without hope, just like himself. 

I just like to think that they both showed up to this fight with similar intentions-to turn the other. 

On a final note (this is getting far too long lol), I just love the line “Then my friend is truly dead” mirroring what Luke said in Jedi, “Then my father is truly dead” because as we know, this line occurs shortly before Luke brings Anakin back to the light and it definitely left him with something to think about. 

I think this line is what causes him to really lose it and to start shouting “OBI WAAAN’ at the top of his struggling lungs. Somehow, his old master still hit him in a vulnerable spot. That vulnerability remains despite everything that Darth Vader has tried to do for the past ten years to kill Anakin and I think that this is truly the beginning of the end even as it marks the beginning of Vader’s true rise to prominence. I feel that when we see him in Rogue One tearing things apart and crushing people, or when he is savage af in ANH, it is the lingering rage from this battle we see in the finale, how for Darth Vader, at least, this conversation was never really finished and perhaps now never will be. I think it is amazing that he manages to hide this from the Emperor, the fact that Anakin is never completely gone.  This is the chink of light Luke needs later to turn his father. So from a certain point of view, Obi Wan really does help his friend in the end. 

“Then my father is truly dead” must have really hit him hard later on, reflecting back, again, on this fight. I am just so gobsmacked by how much this adds to the entire thing!! aaaahhhh, to the complexity of their relationship. *chef’s kiss* 

[mcutaylivia]

So we all headcanon EJ Caswell as a marvel fan right? But here I give you, EJ Caswell who uses the MCU/Marvel as a coping mechanism (plus the MCU/marvel is very good in my not so bias opinion 😁) to escape the constant pressure and stress of well, being a Caswell. Also because I'm a EJ caswell Stan and also a girl who's obsessed with Marvel, here are some of my more in detailed headcanons about EJ:

His favorite character is DEFINITELY Peter Parker because he admires how kind and nice Peter still can be after all the crap the world put on him (And EJ aspires to be at least a small percentage of what Peter is)

Tony Stark is also one of EJ's fav but he hates the old Tony (Iron Man 1) for obvious reasons (It reminds him too much of EJ 1.0 and his father)

HE HATES STEVE ROGERS ENDING IN ENDGAME. HATES IT. LOATHES IT. He spent months complaining and ranting to Ashlyn about how Marvel ruined Steve's arc and how it didn't make sense for Steve to go back to Peggy especially as Peggy had obviously moved on and married someone.

Ashlyn listens at first because she loves her cousin and that's what cousins (might as well as be siblings) do. But at some point while EJ is going on his a 100 rant about it she tells him to shut up about Endgame.

He's thankfully not one of the dudebros (even when he was EJ 1.0) because he was raised better than that (thank you Ashlyn and his uncle and aunt who loves him like their own)

Team Iron Man or Team Cap? EJ would glare at you and say, “Neither”.

No, I will not elaborate as I don't want to be canceled or yelled at by marvel stans (For the record, I'm team- [GUNSHOTS])

EJ Caswell let out the loudest shrill/ scream when they announced the Disney+ shows.

He also LOVES Wanda's character because who doesn't honestly and oh my god she is a total badass! Also the fact she struggles to be good due to her past and all her trauma but still, does her best and definitely doesn't deserve the hate she gets from some annoying fans.

He also loves Natasha Romanoff and wishes they gave her a movie/trilogy as she DESERVES it ://

He can't wait for Black Widow though (coming soon bffs)

Try to convince me EJ Caswell didn't SOB AND CRY when Natasha & Tony died. Oops sorry you can't. It's canon now he did.

He had a secret stan account for Marvel on his Instagram but because of how busy his senior year is, doesn't have time for it anymore

He has unhealthy attachments to characters in the MCU like Loki, Tony Stark, Gamora, Nebula and Peter Quill and it's definity not because he relates to having daddy issues

“Which character do you hate?”. No. Just. No. Don't ever ask EJ Caswell that because he would a hundred percent go on a longass rant of how all characters are unique and have their good qualities and flaws.

Whenever he's sad or feeling like crap he watches the first Avengers movie :)

Or probably Spider-Man Homecoming or Far From Home.

He doesn't know if he has a crush on Peter or MJ.

Probably both.

Ashlyn also makes it a rule for him to not recommend a marvel movie on movie night unless she lets him because “We've watched this movie 50 times EJ!”. “Okay and??!”.

Honestly, it's surprising how only Ashlyn knows about his obsession over Marvel.

Gina now knows too because she joins the two Caswells for movie night. Ashlyn relents and lets EJ choose the movie and OH boy, she swears EJ is as passionate about Avengers Infinity War as he had been about stealing the part of Troy and getting Nini back last year.

Gina likes it though and finds his nerding and geeking adorable.

One night, Ashlyn is out on a date with Big Red so it's just EJ and Gina tonight for a movie night (Them hanging out together alone has been increasing rather a lot lately) Gina agrees on watching Guardian of the galaxies volume 1 with him.

Gina asks if Nebula was a villian and EJ just.. pauses the movie. EJ proceeds to rant about how Nebula was just misunderstood and how she'll become a better character and that all she has done was only because Thanos made her become that, made her fight her sister, pressured her to become the 'best', and that her whole life, she only wanted her father to love and appreciate her.

Gina now realizes a part of the reason Nebula is one of EJ's favorites.

She doesn't bring it up though. Seeing the pure happiness radiating from EJ's face as he rants about the MCU (He somehow went from Nebula to talking about how Shuri was one of the coolest characters and how he wished Wakanda tech was real), she thinks he deserves to not be sad. They both do.

[vol-au-vending-machine]

Kylo: Join me and together we will rule the galaxy as fath- no wait. Rule the galaxy as... bros. BFFs. Homies. Friends with smexy lightsaber action.

Rey: Seriously?

Kylo: Look it's not the same when you're not hanging over an abyss.

[iblameashley]

The Gil-Jill Stuff

All aboard the unpopular-opinion train... choo-choo!

There seems to be a lot of controversy surrounding the Gil-Jill Relationship in Mass Effect Andromeda and I wanted to speak my mind on it. 

This post won’t be going into the romance between Gil and Ryder, I will be focusing on the friendship between Gil and Jill that seems to have spawned so much hate; so much so that people are calling it a toxic relationship. 

Lets start with The Initiative: Its entire purpose was to resettle the four major powers of the Milky Way galaxy in a new Galaxy. Depending on where you are in the game, you know the real reason why (or not). So 20, 000 humans have joined this initiative and are colonists. There is no going back, and 600 years have passed since they last saw the people they love. They are on their own and need this to work. This is where Jill’s part comes in. 

Colonial Re-population Council: Her job is to ensure the viability of the human race by ensuring there is enough genetic diversity among the population to avoid genetic-entropy. Not only does she very much LOVE her job, its a part of her job to make sure everyone (Including her BFF) participates in the re-population efforts. 

“But its toxic that shes forcing it on him so soon!” 

I disagree. As someone who is gay and has a very close friendship with a girl, I don’t see it that way. The way I see it is their friendship has a dynamic where they pick on each other in that way. Much like I pick on my BFF and ask when she’s going to have kids, she’ll pick on me and ask me the same. We know we’re not going to have them anytime soon, but we know they we might down the line. Its also not out of the ordinary for people to look at someone good looking and be all “Yeah, I’d have their babies!” Maybe Jill just thinks Scott Ryder is damn fine and could see him making some cute babies. 

“The scene happens too soon! They JUST got together!” 

While I agree that when you meet Jill, Scott and Gil have just made it official, I can’t agree with the ‘too soon’ aspect of it. From my play-through its difficult to tell how long the timeline has been. From a technical standpoint, I’ve only played 68 hours of the game, but in-game, to set up outposts and do side missions, etc could be weeks or months of time. Throw in single-player battles with the Kett and multi-player battles, you could be pushing it close to half a year. It really depends on how long you think it would take to set up and fortify settlements. I tend to think of my Ryder as having spent the last 3 - 6 months building the Andromeda Initiative groundwork. So by the time you meet Jill about 6 months have passed in game (in my head canon) and it makes sense that she would be starting to think about viability. 

Lets be real about the initiative: There is no way that with 20, 000 humans, that people are going to be able to have monogamous relationships for a while. 10, 000 people is stated as being the minimum for a population re-boot, but even still you’d want to have as many children with as many different people as possible for the first few generations. So lets say the CRC decides that the minimum child-birth needed for the first 5 (generalizing here) generations is 4. Theres no way around this, so it makes sense that her mind is set to think about this with everyone she interacts with. I’m betting shes even thinking about it for herself as well. 

“The scene is just terribly written!”

Agreed. So are many others. Lets move on.

While I feel like they could have held off on the baby-making scene until game two, I dont see it as a toxic relationship between two people. I don’t think Gil needs to get a better friend, I think some of you just need to pull the stick out of your ass and realize that not every friendship is defined by strict rules needed to be adhered to. Its also possible that maybe Jill has read up on Ryder and his accomplishments and thinks he’d be a great guy for Gil to settle down with - nothing wrong with that either. 

I’ve only made it up to the part where you meet Jill, so I don’t know how the rest of the romance goes or if theres any more interactions to deal with, but as of right now, I see this as one of the non-issues in this game. 

[lilparcheesie]

Kylo: Join me and together we will rule the galaxy as fath- no wait. Rule the galaxy as... bros. BFFs. Homies. Friends with smexy lightsaber action.

Rey: Seriously?

Kylo: Look it's not the same when you're not hanging over an abyss.