#Graves even thinks he's hot but doesn't have the slightest interest (in fact he thinks Jack's whole obsession with him weird and scary)

[analligatorr]

🌟HEADCANON🌟

I don't imagine Jack The Winner being one of Graves' exes, BUT a guy who is completely obsessed with him, just like Bowser with Peach.

[stardustfairytale]

to no surprise, I am thinking about poe dameron again, and how people seem to take the overconfident, hot-shot flyboy facade at face value based off extremely little. there's a popular idea gaining ground that poe views himself above everyone else, and I believe the text itself does not substantiate this in the slightest (the text being the three films, and I'll reference resistance as well).

poe being called “the best pilot in the resistance" isn't even an epithet that poe is ever seen using, it's a mocking jab from kylo, and serves to further emphasis poe's importance and high ranking within the Resistance to the audience (world-building! we love to see it) and that he's a high value target for the First Order. Poe has no reaction to the title, beyond a vindictive urge to prove to Kylo that he is the best in the novelization, but the interrogation scene does have Poe doubling down on equating himself with his cause: it isn't “I will not be intimidated by you” it's a bold proclamation that his people won't. Because that's his first priority here, not himself, his cause.

another is the "I can fly anything" line, and where poe certainly reacts with offense at the possibility he can't fly a ship he's unfamiliar with, it's far from a moment of overconfidence: we are immediately shown that this was not a boast to show off, but an accurate assessment of his skills. He adapts quickly to the TIE Fighter, while also instructing Finn how to use the weapons. It is only when they get sidetracked squabbling, and Finn misses one of the missiles, that they crash.

resistance plays with this in an extremely interesting way via perspective. around kaz, our protagonist and our point of view for most events, Poe does appear to be this larger than life, hotshot and cocky pilot. He's cool, he's skilled, and possibly even overconfident guy....right up until we have moments where Poe is separated from Kaz, and we see that he's prone to impulsive ideas that don't work and he acknowledges this (Signal From Sector Six), or even in the Recruit, when we see a more grave moment from him as he passionately discusses what and why he's fighting.

the only sequence that comes close to actually falling in line with that characterization, is a scene that didn't even make it into the final cut of the film: the infamously deleted scene between poe and finn where he gives finn the jacket back. "I'm not much of a sewer, but you know I was busy saving the entire fleet.”

given the scene was deleted - and isn't a case like all of padmé's crucial scenes being removed - I don't think it's a fantastic basis of characterization when it conflicts with the bulk of what we know of poe from TFA and even TLJ. but if we want to humor its existence, I think it falls more in line with the Poe we see in Resistance: leaning hard into the carefree flyboy attitude to seem impressive to someone he genuinely likes, albeit his relationships with Kaz and Finn are wildly different from each other).

but his delivery falls flat on it, which feels important in a film that's all about breaking down what Poe knows not just about leadership but about himself also. Where it's easy to come across as easy-going and cocky to Kaz, after the Finalizer and Starkiller, he can't commit when it comes to trying to do so with Finn.

and lastly (for the sake of near brevity, because I could dig into his interactions with holdo too), there's the argument with leia. the idea that poe is overconfident and arrogant seems to go hand in hand with the assumption he doesn't value his fellow soldiers, which I don't buy (yes, he - like the rest of the resistance - are willing to sacrifice everything for the cause, and needs to unlearn that desire for martyrdom, but I think this gets conflated with a lack of value for the people around him based off some things I've seen in fandom circles + now the Codebreaker comic), and it's all because of the fact that he physically stops Leia when she walks away from him.

He doesn't stop her to insist he was right, critically. He stops her to reinforce how much he values the people they lose on that mission, an indirect answer to "at what cost." at this point, leia is more or less using the attack on the dreadnought as a teaching moment and a lesson for him, singling him out (not for the first time, per the comics) to grow into something more than just a hero. and poe's first response to that, is to angrily emphasis those they lost - those he lost, under his command. he doesn't even include himself in the statement, which....again doesn't suit the characterization that he thinks he's above everyone else.

what canon does consistently tell us is that poe is loyal, and values community and honesty. it is holdo's lack of transparency and morale to her crew that result in their conflict: majority of his dialogue is attempts to inspire those around him, rallying them to work together. his (last resort) mutiny even shows that poe values those around him, as he's able to pull together a small crew to help him, and hinges his plan on trusting finn and rose to be able to turn the tracker off while he stays behind. his confidence is often an entirely accurate assessment in what he's able to do, barring things he doesn't factor in or could ever foresee happening.