#Vader: damn this kid needs therapy

[yakkety-yak-art]

Boba, meeting Vader for the first time: Wow Hope This Doesn’t Awaken Anything In Me

AKA boba had a weird childhood and I can’t imagine that led to him knowing how to deal with crushes in a normal way (or how to avoid having crushes on the worst person in your vicinity) so we have boba thinking he’s being very Smooth and Normal and Vader just being incredibly confused and concerned in equal measures

[thewriterowl]

Holy shit!!! What about therapist Luke and mob boss din? So, Luke is like “violence never solves anything. We need to appeal to our enemy’s humanity” and din is like “if you break a nazi’s arm, he has fifty percent less arm to do nazi shit with.” And then maybe Luke gets kidnapped by a rival mob boss and din damn near kills them all, because how dare they remove his precious riduur from where he belongs; on his lap, holding their kid 😏

Ok, I am currently reading Darth Vader Goes to Therapy and it is so good and Luke makes an amazing therapist. I can see Luke being super professional and doing his best to keep things professional as he helps Grogu who has struggled from trauma but Din is all about getting up into Luke's business. Then yep, pretty Luke gets captured and now Din doesn't have to listen about being all calm like and he's gonna go kill some people and get his husband back.

[beck-a-leck]

C, G, K

Fanfic Ask Game!

Thanks for the asks!

C - What character do you identify with most?

Okay, maybe not a specific character, but being a Mom Friend TM I tend to relate very strongly to the Mom Characters. And I don't mean just the characters who have kids, but the characters who are taking care of their teams, who are making sure people are fed and rested and as happy as their situations allow. They're the ones making pancakes after everybody had a rough night, giving the hugs when needed, but also calling people out on their bullshit and laying down the hard truths when needed. and they maybe have a penchant to seeing someone who is clearly in need of a family and goes "is nobody going to adopt that? No? Great! My turn!"

For a specific character, MASH has been on my brain recently and I've realized as I get older I relate so much to Maj. Margaret Houlihan. She loud. She bossy. She way overqualified for the job she's doing but does it anyways and to perfection because it's her duty. She knows what she wants and she's unapologetic about getting it.

I love her,

G - Care to share a favorite crack fic?

The first two that come to mind for me are both Star Wars Fics.

Darth Vader Goes To Therapy: In which Vader gets court mandated therapy after killing too many people, and his therapist happens to be one Luke Lars - Skywalker.

The Chips Didn't Work: (look. i was gonna write my own short summary of it, but honestly the author's captures the mood perfectly so) Darth Sidious: Execute Order Sixty-Six Clones: eXeCuTe oRdEr SiXty-sIX

K - What's the angstiest idea you've ever come up with?

Oh, where to begin...

Hello Darkness might be the angstiest by far given I saved Anakin Skywalker from falling to the Dark Side, but killed newborn Skywalker twins, Obi-Wan, and 99.9% of the 501st. And Anakin got left living with that survivors guilt.

But Earth and Rebirth is pretty damn angsty. I gave Holly a loving husband and then killed him 3 paragraphs later and the story has been in a large part about her grief and mourning.

There are others. (there are so many others lmao) like half my works on AO3 could be tagged with Angst.

[azraqnar]

Thoughts on Agony of a witch (Spoiler warning! (Duh))

Oh boy I was doubting this series’s before but not anymore! This episodes is easily the best in the season. Grom doesn’t have shit on this episode! Everything was just great about AOAW, the music, the suspense, the action, the story, the animation, it was all wonderful!

- for one, Hooty is damn creepy when he fights not only does he effortlessly kick the emperors covens ass (you’d think they’d be more powerful than this but whatever) but he has a tea party with their unconscious bodies after. That was an interesting (& creepy) choice & it has me curious if Eda created him or not. We need a hooty backstory.

- Eda’s curse is getting worse and after episodes of not mentioning it they finally acknowledge how bad it’s getting & how Eda needs more potions or a higher dosage to barely keep it under control KEY WORD “BARELY”. It does remind me of when my aunt had cancer and her chemotherapy stopped working they had to higher the dosage. Good job on finally talking about it.

- When Luz leaves I do like how Eda & King reflect on how the “vibe” of the house changed when Luz showed up & how King thought they were gonna eat her (I guess it confirms witches do eat human kids)I am picking up a familia love from Eda & King so now we have the found family trope (Which I love). I thought it was cute when Eda decided to make a cape as a sign of gratitude & how it sets up how important this cape is when Eda talks about the material it’s made out of.

- Luz’s class is going on the field trip to the emperors coven but isn’t Bump the principal not a teacher?At my school whenever we had a field-trip it was the Teachers that went with us not the principal, Bump didn’t even play a big role so they could have swapped him out for a Teacher & nothing would change.

- Amity’s leg is still broken so she can’t attend the field-trip, which I thought was a good idea she didn’t go. I feel like the writers would try to force in more Lumity moments and it would distract from the plot. I do like Lumity but if Amity was there then fans would focus on that rather than the story & the last two episode were Amity focused so she wasn’t needed in this episode. Smart move from the writers, maybe if her legs heals next episode she could be there but idk.

- Now while Luz was thinking about stealing the healing hat I was a bit conflicted on it. I don’t like how the show is telling viewers it’s okay to steal but In Luz’s case it’s for a good cause, she wanted the hat so she could heal Eda’s curse. It’s like those cases you hear of people stealing groceries to feed their families, I felt the same here. Yeah stealing is bad but if it’s for saving someone you love is it really that bad? Idk if the writers wanted us to be conflicted over that dilemma but they succeeded.

- “Good luck with puberty” I laughed when Lilith said that, can’t believe Disney let that slip in.

- I have to say I do like the lore we get in this episode. Emperor Belos established the coven system 50 years ago to “honor the titan” which is the boiling Isles where they might get their magic from, before that witches were doing wild magic in what was called “the savages ages” it’s setting up more lore about the emperor like how did he rise to power? Who was he before? What were these “savage ages” like? If it was 50 years ago then there still are witches & demons that were alive in the savage age & they could tells us what life was like before. It also means Emperor Belos is 70+ years old. I’m just saying a human could live that long. 👀

- Now emperor Belos, wow his designs looks cool as hell, his voice is amazing too, it’s kinda sinister yet soothing at same times. As shown, it looks like he’s in a weakened state, he has to take these weird bird glowing green slime thing to have energy. We don’t know why or how he got like that, but it seems like he wants to Capture Eda so she doesn’t try to overthrow him since he’s weak. In fact, that might be the reason for the coven system, if he limits their magic then they aren’t strong enough to overthrow him. We only saw him for a bit but he gave a good impression when Luz said that no one will know about her stealing the hat we hear Belos voice echo: “ I will know” in the most bone chilling voice ever! The crew did a great job on him! Tho one thing I noticed is why is every big villain always in a weakened state? Darth Vader, Hordak, Aaravos, Zarkon, every anime villain. I just noticed this trope is overused, but I hope we can see Belos at his strongest and see how powerful he is. I have high hopes for him!

-Lilith discovers Luz is there & decides to use her as a decoy to lure in Eda. Which she succeeds when Eda goes there all angry for daring to drag Luz into her issues. I love how Eda doesn’t even try to stay calm she just straight up attacks Lilith & you can feel her angry.

- Speaking of that fight, best fight in the series thus far! The animation, the spells, the music, the raw emotion, it was all down great! It does remind me of a DBZ style of fighting when they’re moving so fast that your eyes can’t catch up & their magic surrounding them like Eda went super Sayion, I’m not complaining I like those kinds of fight & The intensity you feel in the fight is overwhelming. Luz’s life is at stake and Lilith even uses her as a human shield. She knows how much Luz means to Eda & was willing to kill her. Hell, she even threw Luz toward the spikes and Eda had to save her, then they both struggle with Eda trying to lift her up & Lilith trying to press her against the spikes & then Eda slowly turns into a monster THIS IS HOW YOU WRITE A FIGHT (takes notes she ra)

- Now the biggest bomb drop in the series. IT WAS LILITH WHO CURSED EDA. she blurted it out in a rage of jealousy it seems. They were insulting each other on how one is better than the other. Then when Lilith says “THEN WHY WERE SO EASY TO CURSE?!” My jaw dropped, I suspected they would tell us but not this episode, you see can see the hurt & betrayal in her eyes when it was her own sister who cursed her. Like ouch. From what I suspected is that Lilith was jealous of Eda from what their exchanges told us. But why was she jealous of Eda? Friends? Magic capabilities? Power? Maybe fighting over a crush? What? Whatever the reason is does not excuse doing that to your sister and your YOUNGER SISTER AT THAT. Goodness & I thought Edric and Emira took it too far with the diary thing. I’m officially part of the hate Lilith club. Idc what you do but hurting your sibling like that is the worst thing you can do to them, just imagined how much Eda suffered for DECADES with this curse. No redemption can fix that. But boy do they need Family therapy or just punch it out that works too.

- I loved it when Eda went into rage mode when she found out it was Lilith who cursed her. Her own sister. Like damn that has to hurt knowing your own family did that to you. She deserved to beat Lilith to a bloody pulp & I’m happy she didn’t even bother to listen to Lilith she just wanted to attack her & I don’t blame her one bit.

- Ugh the scene where the curse overtakes Eda was a heart wrenching one. She knows she slipping away and tells Luz to take care of King & Hooty & to stay safe before she slips away. When Lilith told Luz that Eda is with her true family made me want to punch her more than Amity’s parents. You feel how helpless Luz felt & I hope they work towards her character with that feeling because Luz is happy go lucky & seeing her in despair makes for great character development.

- it kind of reminds me of when Queen Angella sacrifices herself In season 3 but I hated how they never acknowledged it since season 4 & she doesn’t even return by the end season 5, they pretty much forgot about her. We know for sure Luz will never leave Eda behind & will go save her.

- So we know Luz will go back to save her cuz we do see her wearing the cape Eda made her in the promo. Also we have 1 episode left so we know she’s gonna attempt a rescue mission for Eda but will she succeed? She’s up against the emperors coven! She’s gotta pull all her cards on the table & team up with her friends.

- A witch loses a true way. It could refer to Lilith officially turning to the dark side or Eda being lost in her curse even into season 2. Knowing Disney, they will give us a happy ending cuz it’s Disney but I will be pleasantly surprised if Luz fails to save Eda by the next episode.

- One last thing, I like the credits had no music, just silence. It reminds me of in full metal alchemist whenever a character dies the credit are always silent. I guess it’s meant to represent despair in a way? Or change? Yeah it think it’s change.

- This is why shows should focus on the plot because when you do, it delivers for some great storytelling & this episode surpasses all of the episodes combined. when you focus on the story & lore & characters it makes for great emotional impact of an episode and I hope Dana and the crew continues to do this. This show has so much going for it & people who only watch a show for a ship are clowns because this is what you’re missing out on. an amazing story. I applause Dana & the crew for this episode, really outdid yourselves!

- Overall 9.7/10 it was phenomenal!

[threadsketchier]

I think sw hits different when you grow older and your view of the world changes. As a child I envied Luke, he went to crazy adventures with his bffs and became a hero. But now I just feel really sorry for him. Everyone tried to rule his life, his destiny. And even though he controlled his own destiny at the end it still painful. In the end, Luke isn't a glorified hero, he's just a battered and bruised soul who had to grow up so fast and has many scares. Now I understand Yoda better

when 900 years old you reach, feel as good you will not

wars not make one great

(sorry I’m excavating an ancient ask)

The primary themes/takeaways of SW is compassion and the reward of holding out hope in darkness, but the “war is actually kinda hell” theme isn’t far behind.  This is basically the meat of Luke’s entire arc.  He’s the naive, fresh-faced, idealistic farmboy who gets bitch-slapped with the ambiguity of reality.  (So was Leia, who knew what she was getting into far more than Luke and yet was still fundamentally altered by the genocide of Alderaan.)

Everybody was pinning hopes on somebody else in this saga - Leia called Obi-Wan her “only hope,” and then Obi-Wan called Luke their “last/only hope” twice.  There was a whole lot of expectation thrown around that wasn’t always met, for better or for worse.  Obi-Wan and Yoda wanted Luke to overcome the Sith and save the Jedi from extinction just as much as Luke himself wanted to become a Jedi for the sake of his father, a motivation that started out with blatant vengeance.  Vader wanted Luke to be the justification of his deeds and the strength he needed to overthrow Palpatine, while still remaining on the Dark Side - aka, having his cake and eating it too.  Palpatine wanted to use Luke as either the means to crush what was left of Vader’s soul or totally replace him with a shiny new apprentice.

Yes, Luke surmounted all the confusion and doubt and fear in the end, and made the right choice at the right time.  But it did take his father sacrificing his life to both save him and finally YEET Palps.  He got the inner peace and contentment of knowing his dad was in a better place now and reconciling with him...but that doesn’t completely abolish the pain, of both the immediate loss and all the horror that came before it.  He lost both his mentors - yes, they’re not totally gone, they’re in the Force, but they’re largely inaccessible.  His aunt, uncle, and best friend were all killed.  He’s stuck with the massive burden of rebuilding a Jedi Order he hardly knows anything about.  That’s a whole lot of shit for this kid:

to go through.  Who in his ignorance definitely didn’t sign up for it.

That’s the whole thing, the TL;DR: growing up sucks.  It hurts, in one way or another.  Life is not a clean, shiny, fun pew-pew adventure.  People lie or disappoint you, either out of actual malice or because they themselves are damaged or you just need a hard, ugly wake-up call about how the world actually works.

Now, here’s the other thing: Luke is both a glorified hero and a battered, bruised, scarred soul.  He’s at the both ends of the spectrum:

freshman year to senior year’s pretty rough ain’t it

There are people who will always laud and view him as a Big Damn Hero™.  Destroyer of the Death Star, He Who Conquered the Emperor and Darth Vader.  Even those who see him as he really is still consider him a hero in the truest sense because they know his heart, they know how much he cares, that he’d give the shirt off his own back and lay down his own life for just about anyone.  And then we have stories like Shadows of Mindor where Luke nearly drowns in self-recrimination.  Everyone else around him, even the jaded Geptun, paints him as a hero while Luke refuses to accept that, focusing on all the losses instead, all the lives he couldn’t save, all the destruction he couldn’t stop, how his personal decisions tend to result in mass death.  That’s not a healthy mindset and he obviously gets out of that hole eventually, and per Legends EU Luke also passed through times where he didn’t necessarily view himself as a hero per se, but the responsibility burden kind of went to his head in a way where he viewed himself as having to do things himself, of needing to control things, and there’s a certain arrogance in that, in losing himself up his own “Jedi Master” ass.  Gotta go learn the Dark Side so I can maybe gank Sheev-O 2.0 once and for all.  Gotta gather a bunch of people in a Jedi Jungle Friendship Camp who maybe needed some psych therapy first because the galaxy needs the Jedi again.  Gotta rebuild one of my dad’s emo goth castles with my mind and go mope in it because I’m having a pre-mid-life crisis and can’t talk to my family like a normal human being.

Luke is in the best place when he finds the middle ground, the semi-happy medium in-between confidence and humility.  Battlefront II did such an elegant job of showing that ideal balance - a Luke who accepts there are losses in battle, including the ones he has to dish out himself, but doesn’t fixate on that and focuses on just quietly helping others.  And it took the pain of his experiences to forge him into that kind of person.  Luke was a nice kid when he started out, but everything he went through sharpened his empathy into the well-honed weapon he wields later on.  So while it sucks that he did have to suffer a lot to get there - and I’d personally want to wrap him in 1000 blankets and give him a half-gallon mug of hot chocolate - in the end Luke wouldn’t want people to feel sorry for him, because he was able to make something good out of all the bad.  Still, it’s a sobering thought in the vein of “be careful what you wish for.”

[mothmage]

watching spn 15x18 after not watching the show in years:

-I only vaguely know who half of these people are

-have sam and dean’s voices always been this deep?? they sound fucking ridiculous lmao no one talks like that irl

-who is billie? ive never heard of her and like bad guy?? but she can like, get it

-so is jack like a kid or an adult? i can’t tell and got mixed messages from what i absorbed via tumblr over the years

-CHARLIE’S BACK????????????????? why did no one tell me i wouldve started watching again earlier. last i remember, she was in oz with dorothy lmaoooo when even was that??

-so sam and dean havent been in touch with charlie this whole time? damn

-this show can only write gay relationships that end horribly jfc

-”it’s spreading” “no one’s safe” covid but make it vanishing into thin air

-wow the texts that just stop.....why am i about to cry in the club rn

-sam tricking jack “ive only driven once” into driving is such a dad move omfg

-who is this blonde woman and why did her and jack look at each other like that? im assuming shes an important character but who??? they havent even said her name yet

-im glad that charlie’s outfits are as gay as ever but wow i feel so bad for her rn

-IS THAT BOBBY????? why does he look so different?????? i thought he was dead???? everyone in this show has died at least once lmao

-is jack like. okay? wtf happened with the plant? bad vibes

-im loving the reaper scythe, very sexy. is billie rowena or is she just saying “hello boys” bc thats what all the villains say now

-DARTH VADER CHOKE HOLD OK OK MA’AM OK

-”youre in the wrong place, dean” FUCK im a lil confused but FUCK

-HOLY FUCK WHAT THE FUCK EVERYONE?????? avengers infinity war has nothing on this

-loving miss billie’s villain monologue tho it just keeps getting better

-dean really needs some therapy if he lives through the end of the show

-thats such a stupid deal cas, you die when you feel true happiness? what the fuck?

-cas bout to make me cry ok.....brb sobbing

-this is so dramatic oh my god gay rights but this is so dramatic sorry

-”why does this sound like a goodbye?” “because it is.” fuck OFF

-THE HANDPRINT STOP you have to be joking this cannot be real

-SO HE JUST DIES?????? everyone dies in this show but come ON

-holy shit the whole like. world?????? everyone?????????

-dean letting the phone ring out......kill me 

-fuck me cannot believe im back on my clown shit with this show........2010 me would be proud

[buffpidgey]

Buff fic recs, Mostly Time Travel edition

My friend was asking for some fic recs, and I figured they might help someone else out there.

Riddle in Reverse, by NinthFeather

Fandom: Magic Kaito and Detective Conan/Case Closed

Description:

A Magic Kaito AU in which Saguru has secrets, Chikage is brilliant, ruthless and doesn't know when to stop poking things, and the Detective Conan cast eventually gets pulled into the resulting chaos.

Also featuring: Power games, a number of terrifyingly competent women, dysfunctional families, police officers doing their best, geniuses with really bad coping mechanisms, a slightly altered version of the Gosho Boys, disguises everywhere, and mysteries in which the reader gets more clues than the characters.

Reason for the rec:

I’m in the middle of the second fic in this series. The first fic might be a hell of a lot of teasing that irked me when I was 6 and a half chapters in and just wanted SOME conclusion, but the second fic is DAMN good.

I would say this one is less “time travel” and more... “time travel adjacent” but it’s still good.

Protocol 1985 hollimichele

Fandom: MCU, specifically Captain America

Description:

“Holy crow, it worked,” someone says.

Reason for the rec:

Fun, short, silly and honestly is a nice little bit of comic book logic that I love.

tomorrow isn't always another day by suitablyskippy

Fandom: Mob Psycho 100

Description:

It’s like Reigen’s been waiting for the question. He stops dead on the pavement, grips Mob by the shoulders, and stares down into his eyes with an expression as haunted as though every ghost the pair of them has ever exorcised has taken up residence behind it. “Mob,” he says. “Mob,” he says again. “Tell me, Mob. Look at me and tell me. Tell me truthfully. Do I look cursed to you?”

Mob looks at him, and tells him truthfully. “No.”

“Well, you didn’t look very long,” says Reigen. “Let’s just stand here for a moment, like so, and you can have another look, a nice long look, and really think about it...”

(There's nothing strange about being called back to exorcise the same haunted photocopier six days in a row. It must just be a very haunted photocopier.)

Reason for the rec:

Time loops with Mob! An interesting take on time loops, since Mob has such a unique perspective. He also manages some pull ups in this fic, and we are all very very proud of him.

It’s For A Good Cause, I Swear! by Sarah1281

Fandom: Naruto

Description:

After receiving a time travel jutsu as payment for a mission, the original four members of Team 7 each get a chance to go back to one event in their life and change it. Surely they will use such an awesome power responsibly...right? Don't count on it.

Reason for the rec:

This old ff.net classic has arrived on AO3! My favorite time travel fic of all, and one of the best crack fics you could ever ask to find, It’s For A Good Cause is amazing, hilarious, and should not be read in public or while drinking something.

history has its eyes on you by tasalmalin

Fandom: Naruto

Description:

This five-part series is a Kakashi-centric time travel fix-it. It starts out pretty dark, but the real heart of the story is one of healing, and there are happy endings on the horizon. Specific warnings are included with each chapter.

Each story has its own arc and is complete in itself, but I recommend starting from the first story and reading through chronologically; the series is meant to be taken as a whole. Hope you enjoy!

Series and story titles are from History Has Its Eyes on You, from the Hamilton Soundtrack by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Reason for the rec:

The author is NOT KIDDING about it starting out dark, but frankly it’s amazing to watch a narrative about rebuilding when there are so many stories that heap on the Hurt without being all that great about the Comfort. It’s not an easy path, but dang does everyone get there in the end.

There May Be Some Collateral Damage by metisket

Fandom: Bleach

Description:

Ichigo’s been ordered to go undercover at a magic school to bodyguard a kid named Harry Potter, and this would be fine, except that he’s about as good at bodyguarding as he is at magic. And he considers it a good day, magic-wise, if he hasn’t set anything on fire.

Reason for the rec:

I’ve read my share of ‘X Anime Goes To Hogwarts’ stories, and honestly, metisket is right. So few of those characters would play by Hogwarts’s rules. So it’s great to see Ichigo pulling a honey badger and not giving a fuck. Also it’s hilarious.

Hindsight Series by DAsObiQuiet

Fandom: Star Wars

Description:

Sometimes second chances are harder than the first time around.

Reason for the rec:

The first fic in this series takes an adventurous look at Vader thrown back to his Anakin days after he dies. The second fic takes a serious look at it as Anakin heads back to the temple.

This serious look includes having the Jedi actually acknowledge that this new youngling used to be a slave, and that he might need some therapy for that. Said therapy is actually handled fairly well, I’d say. It’s another good look at serious mental healing happening, which is really where my enjoyment comes from.