#galaxy's favorite fanboy

[esthercore]

E-Whore (GN! Cam Boy/Girl Reader x HSR's Simps )

Veritas Ratio | Sunday | Blade | Jing Yuan (different scenarios for each men ♡)

Being a Trailblazer is amazing, but since it technically made you jobless, you needed some way to fund your shopping sprees when you visit new planets, so while some of your crewmates resort to farming calyx, you chose the easy way.

You had a hot body and you knew how to use it, making you an instant hit on the streaming site, moreover, as the site connected to servers in multiple galaxies, the chances of anyone you knew or will meet in real life knowing your side hustle are slim enough to never happen, right?

Wrong.

Now Jing Yuan, was shook when he first saw you in the Loufu, standing beside your crew as Welt talked to Miss Yukong, your arms wrapped around March's looking so innocent as if you are not the same cutie that helps him release his work stress most night.

He did his best not looking at you when he talked to the express crew, knowing he won't be able to help himself and will sink in those big pools of innocence who were gazing up at him with fascination and interest, looking so different and yet so same from your streams.

Out of everything, the poor general never expected to fanboying over a cam girl/boy. And it was already tough day for him, alright? Having to ignore his constantly ignore his horny thoughts, and his dick twitching whenever his mind drifted on you, knowing how close you were to him, how he can actually have a chance.

So the seconds man got some privacy, his hands were kneading on his crotch unprofessional he knows, but he was a man with needs and couldn't much than wait for the results once his plans were in action. So here he opening up the damned site, turning it on and looking at his favorite video, the first video of your he saw.

A neko cosplay.

He first heard of you when he overheard few young cloud knights simping over you, agitated when he hear them whispering about you than focus on their training. So that night he tried to see what all this fuss about.

The old man lazily opened the website searching your username, just out of curiosity and no intention to jerk off, only to be greeted by an clip of the cutest thing with cat ears on, and a cat tail but plug, sucking on a popsicle with your chest left bare, making him surprised by how sudden his cock stirred up, jerking of to clips of you, having the best session of his life, leaving him panting and twitchy, after splattering on his phone.

You were just so easy to get addicted to...

So in present when he heard your voice outside his office in the Seat of Divine Foresight, fingers fiddling with his stripper, it took him a good while to realize, he wasn't just daydreaming about your pretty voice but you were literally there, nocking on the door.

He hurriedly got himself together, throwing his phone on the table, and clothes fixed, o it isn't obvious what he was doing, greeting you with a charming smile.

Miss Fu Xuan has sent you to give him some documents, and he took it as an opportunity to invite you in, and talk to you, befriend you, just about anything. But then there was some commotion outside with two cloud knights bickering, so he reluctantly asked you to settle the documents on his desk and wait while he give the knights an earful.

Happily getting back, his heart racing at the thought to be in your presence, but then his smile dropped, as he entered back his office, seeing your face flushed red, as you try to hide you face by your hands, sitting all pretty on his seat, with the light of his phone lightly illuminating on you.

He was about to ask what's wrong, but shut his mouth, eyes widening as he realized:

Oh, he forgot to close his phone.

[feroluce]

I have been informed by a mutual aid that you are a henghill enjoyer. You've single-handedly gotten me to care about Gepard and I would love to hear your thoughts on Cowborg Menace x Dragon That Can't Catch a Break

Aaaaaaaa I'm really flattered!! I have also been informed by a mutual aid that you have good taste (read: rvb enjoyer) and I need you to know that part of the reason I treat Gepard the way I do, like messing with him constantly, is because he makes me think of Wash. Poor dude was doomed the moment I got my grubby little mitts on him sksjkskdjd

But anyway yes, henghill! They really got me by the throat out of nowhere in 2.2. They're just. Surprisingly sweet?

The two of them get along very well, they see eye to eye on a lot of matters and have some similar mannerisms, they can hold long conversations together, and they have a shockingly swift understanding of the other in a very small amount of time! Platonically or romantically, there's a lot to dig into there. ♡

And I do mean a lot this basically ended up becoming a big long ship manifesto I'm so sorry zmjzznkdjd

Like first of all they're both fucking nerds over each other. Boothill's adoration for the Xianzhou alliance is already well-documented in his About Dan Heng voice line, and is appropriately pointed out in the fandom as sounding gay as all hell.

We know what you are, Boothill.

But then! He further cements it by trying to use Xianzhou sayings in front of Dan Heng haha

Not only that, but Boothill was able to recognize the Jade Abacus of Allying Oath for what it was like immediately, and instantly took it as proof of Dan Heng's identity as a Nameless. The validation of the Xianzhou is clearly a huge deal to him.

And Dan Heng plays it cool but like. I don't think he's actually much better JFKLASJDKL

The in-game Data Bank, which is supposed to be written and maintained by Dan Heng himself, has a pretty positive glowing review of the Galaxy Rangers.

And I feel the need to point out that like. The Galaxy Rangers are essentially a vigilante justice group..."group" being a pretty loose term, there isn't a whole lot of organization in there. Not everyone has a very good view of them because they're outlaws and there's a pretty wide and wild variety of individuals in the mix there, Boothill even confirms it as such.

And that archive entry is a hilariously stark contrast to the one for the Masked Fools, who Dan Heng does NOT seem to respect. So you can tell he puts a lot of his own opinion into the data and you can really see where his preferences lie KFDLAJFKLD

He does let his fanboy slip when Boothill first announces himself as a Galaxy Ranger though, just a little bit haha:

They're like the equivalent of when your favorite big name fandom person follows you back, you feel me fjkdjasflkdjskal

Which. I feel like it does make sense that he would really idolize the Galaxy Rangers and see them as heroes. Dan Heng is someone who was a victim of centuries of wrongful imprisonment and political power plays, and it would have been way worse had Jing Yuan not gone above the preceptors to protect him. He is someone that the system failed, and horrifically so. Of course he would like the idea of righteous heroes who stand for justice and travel the cosmos freely to help people.

And as @hydrachea, CEO of Dan Heng Enterprises and Super Genius with Giant Wrinkly Brain pointed out, this background DOES lay the foundation for Dan Heng to relate to Boothill a lot. You see this displayed beautifully in his Keeping Up With Star Rail video, where Dan Heng gets really protective of him, I adored it so so much. ♡

In it, Dan Heng not only comments that he originally came because he thought he was giving a presentation on how to be friendly with Boothill, but every time the IPC tries to paint him as some violent dangerous ruthless criminal, Dan Heng speaks up to explain his way of thinking and to defend him. It was really sweet!

And Dan Heng is protective of people anyway. He serves as the Guard of the Astral Express for a reason. He had nothing and no one before Himeko took him in, and now that he's found companions to love he is viciously defensive of them. You see it in the way he guards March 7th during fights on Jarilo-IV, in how he goes out of his way to bring important info to the trailblazer, in how he left the safety of the Express and infiltrated the Luofu because he was terrified he was going to lose them. But there's maybe a little extra layer of Understanding in the way he so persistently speaks up in Boothill's defense.

And I'm sure that this is a part of him that Boothill really admires, too, because Dan Heng also displays these instincts in Penacony. He makes the decision not just once, but twice, to use the Jade Abacus to save the Express Crew. And we know from Boothill's earlier reaction to it that like. The Jade Abacus is a Big Fuckin' Deal. It is something of immense value. Even with everything that's at stake, Boothill urges him to really make sure he wants to use it.

And this was something that really got me in the heart later, because! In Ena's Dream, Dan Heng once again decides to use the Jade Abacus, and. I'm not quite sure I can effectively put it in words, but there is something just so so sweet in the way that Boothill tells him no, Dan Heng should keep it. This is a get out of jail free card that could save his life down the line, he wants him to have it in case he finds himself in danger again later.

It really gives the feeling that Boothill actually wanted Dan Heng to not have to rely on this before, but there was no other way at the time. But now there IS something Boothill can do about it, and he wants to do something about it. A sorta-kinda "let me protect you this time"-ish feeling. If that makes any sense. He doesn't want Dan Heng to have to make that sacrifice.

Because I think Boothill would consider that a really admirable and respectable action, especially given his background. The IPC eradicated his homeplanet. He lost his parents, his siblings, his daughter, his home all in one fell swoop, and he has been on a fully dedicated revenge quest ever since. How could he not be a little awed by someone willing to give so much to protect his home and his family?

I think it's something the two of them understand in each other, because as it shows in the dialogue the first time Dan Heng decided to use the Jade Abacus, Boothill caught on immediately. He already knew what Dan Heng was planning before he even said so. And it's not even the first time he does that! Even as early as their initial entrance into the Reverie, Boothill is able to tell when Dan Heng is stressed, why he's stressed, and he backs off and gives him space without any fuss.

And it works! After the Express Crew are safe, they go from Dan Heng correcting him to more just kind of going with Boothill's flow, and I feel like this is a much better basis for their interactions.

Also I'm crying about Dan Heng blabbing that the trailblazer is a vessel of a Stellaron, gossipy little dragon fjdkasjfdklsaj

Like the two of them just GET each other! And so quickly and easily! It's ridiculous! Dan Heng is able to explain the methods behind Boothill's madness. Boothill is able to read Dan Heng like a book. They both had the same reaction to learning Acheron was a Self-Annihilator. They both really believe it's just fine and normal to have a weapon out if you don't trust someone yet- Boothill pulled his gun on Acheron the second he saw her, Dan Heng got his spear out and poked Sampo the first time he met him (valid). And they both act Like That because they're similar flavors of wary and cautious. They had to prove their identities to each other when they first met before either of them could relax.

They're both frank, and blunt, and will openly call shit out or question it when they see fit. They both believe in answering the call to action, and share a lot of their ideologies of The Hunt, like upholding justice and saving the innocent and protecting the weak. Boothill lives to fuck over the IPC and keep them from colonizing more planets like his, Dan Heng didn't even consider his own wants and asked to go to Edo Star to help the population there. They take their creeds seriously, and dedicate themselves to them, enough to be offended by imposters. Dan Heng dislikes Boothill claiming to be a Nameless, Boothill was literally hunting down Acheron for parading around as a Galaxy Ranger.

And all throughout 2.2, Boothill displays an immense knowledge of Paths and Aeons and even Emanators, and Dan Heng is a huge nerd an archiver and a collector of knowledge. The conversations these two could have!! They've both been to a lot of places and seen a lot of things, and I think Dan Heng especially would love listening to Boothill's stories and then adding them to the data bank. They can probably relate on rough travel, too- Boothill refers to the Astral Express as "bunkin' in luxury" and Pom-Pom once said Dan Heng was "used to sleeping on the rope." When March 7th takes the trailblazer to look for Dan Heng, she even phrases this as though he and Boothill have been talking together for quite a while!

Hell, even when they awaken in Ena's Dream, they arrive together:

They were together for almost the entirety of 2.2; literally the very first scene of it was their introduction. They only truly separated when Dan Heng went to help in the fight with The Great Septimus and Boothill to gather the Rangers (and then go shoot Aventurine full of holes fjkdlsajd) but! I'm really hoping we'll get to see more of them together in 2.3! They were a really cool duo, and it was so fun to watch them all through this update, I really want to see more of them now and explore their relationship dynamic more! ♡

[abyssal-author-and-artist]

My blog is generally pretty lighthearted and I stick to reblogging art and fic and fun stuff, but you know what. I feel like I need to say this.

I am a trans teen in the US. I'm seventeen, so too young to have voted. I'm terrified for my life right now. I usually post about college but I'm actually concurrently enrolled in high school still and the kid who sits behind me in first period government is a massive Trump fanboy. I'm going to have to go to high school Monday and talk about the election. I'm going to have to hear my deadname called and hear people in my super conservative high school talk about how happy they are Trump won. Everything is terrifying. I walk outside of my house and I'm scared I'll be shot. Several months ago I promised that I'd kill myself if that bastard won.

He did and I'm still here.

I'm not thriving. I'm not living my best life. I'm barely living. But I'm surviving. I'm coping. I'm trying my goddamned best. It's hard. I want so bad to just go and take as much medication as I can and slit my wrist for good measure and pass away in my sleep. But I'm still here. And I will be here.

I am in so much pain. But I'm living on spite and determination and everything I can scrape together. I know I need support and those around me need support. So consider this a support masterpost.

Support:

First thing you should see if you're a trans person in the US.

Here's a link to the Trevor Project and here's a link to their suicide hotline page. They've already saved my life once before. Please note - they recommend calling if you need immediate support. Donate if you can, please.

This post is both a suicide hotline masterlist and a post mentioning how something feels deeply wrong here with this election.

On the topic of something being wrong, sign this petition. I'm only seventeen but I did this and it might not feel like much but if we couldn't shoot that bastard (I am not pro-gun but I am when it comes to him) then we'll do the next best thing. Here's the link to the petition itself. Make sure to check the post every once in a while - the original petition got taken down and this is important.

I follow a lot of gimmick blogs, so I got to see this post encouraging us to be loud. Because we should be. Because if we die they've won and my mom didn't smoke weed on the steps of the state capital of Colorado to legalize it just so her son could roll over and die.

Here is the Tumblr Hot Beverage Masterpost, as I've taken to calling it. My personal favorites are the London Fog in the replies, earl grey with milk, honey, and vanilla (in the tags), and some additions from me are hot chocolate with peppermint melted into it, earl grey with lavender, caramel apple tea, and really anything else you can think of. Trust me. This post works better than you think.

Read this post if you haven't seen it already. It's half poem, half Tumblr being Tumblr, all wonderful to read.

Things I just like to see:

PM Seymour and Bettina Levy both have shown their support for everyone struggling right now. It might not be much, but I still really appreciate it and seeing support can really help.

The cat with the kind and reassuring face. No other context.

Four panel comic of hope. Because you're more than enough.

Can't find the post where I found this but this is a link to a virtual toy where you can make your own galaxy.

Please. Eat something. Drink a hot beverage. Draw, write, read, knit, sew, sculpt, bake, do something that helps. Reach out to friends, even if they're online friends. Talk to someone you trust. Make vent art. Write vent fics. It doesn't matter what you do as long as it helps.

Do not roll over and die. Live. Live on spite. Live on determination. Live on shitposts and live on heartfelt stories like this one. If you have anything to add to this post please do. Add more resources. Add more love to this post. I know I'm just a guy on the internet saying shit, but I still care about everyone who sees this post.

[thedroneranger]

Ooooh bartender! (I love this 🥰)

I’m not sure if he’s a white wine type of guy, but Fanboy seems quite bubbly and sweet, especially if he’s drinking a wine that reflects that. Can we please get a sweet and bubbly Moscato d’Asti with one of our favorite WSOs?

Thank you! ❤️

He's just as bubbly and sweet as the proposal he planned! Of course, after he pops the question, he whisks you away to celebrate with family and friends.

Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia | Shining So Bright | requested by @xoxabs88xox

See what others are drinking!

Tag list: @cherrycola27 @roosterforme @taytaylala12 @galaxy-of-stories @awildewit @shanimallina87 @malindacath @violyn20 @djs8891 @linkpk88 @furiousladyking @daggerspare-standingby @princess76179 @jstarr86 @blue-aconite @hecate-steps-on-me @darkheartcherry @soulmates8 @roosters-girl @dempy @desert-fern @roosterisdaddy36 @hangmanscoming @mavrellover91 @s-u-t @averyhotchner @penguin876 @kmc1989 @xoxabs88xox @mak-32 @seitmai @abaker74 @startrekfangirl2233 @dakotakazansky @beyondthesefourwalls @bradshawsprincess @damrlova @sweetwhispersofchaos @bellaireland1981 @fanboyswhore9

[starblightbindery]

Editor's Note from The Black Sands of Socorro by Patricia A. Jackson

While researching Patricia A. Jackson’s entire body of Star Wars work for a short story anthology, I came across the West End Games sourcebook Star Wars: The Black Sands of Socorro (1997.) It’s a crucial work of Star Wars ephemera: The first creator of color writing for Star Wars in an official capacity, writing not just about individual characters of color, but centering entire cultures populated by non-white characters. A young Black woman in the 1990s wrote science fiction for Star Wars, worldbuilding with concepts like antislavery, indigeneity, linguistic divergence, and settler colonialism...while Disney-Lucasfilm in the 2020s ineffectually positions Star Wars as a post-racial fantasy.

I non-hyperbolically refer to Patricia A. Jackson as the “Octavia Butler of Star Wars,” not because fans of color need to be officially sanctioned by Lucasfilm to create Star Wars content, but because of how difficult it is to carve out anti-racist space in a transmedia storytelling empire. Challenging even in transformational fandom spaces (e.g. fan works), to broach race in affirmational fandom spaces—or while writing content for the property holder—is to be unflinchingly subversive.

And Jackson did it first. In an interview with Rob Wolf in 2022, Jackson described her experience writing race into Star Wars in the 1990s as an “experiment.” The planet, peoples, and cultures of Socorro were a way for Jackson to obliquely, yet concretely, center Blackness and racial justice into Star Wars, pushing the racial allegory constrained by the original trilogy to its limits.

Since it’s inception, Star Wars has spent much of it’s storytelling on the fringes of the galaxy (whether it’s Tatooine or Jakku, Nevarro or Ajan Kloss.) The Black Sands of Socorro is an extension of that trope, but where the Star Wars films used indigeneity as set dressing (eg. “Sand People”, Ewoks, Gungans, etc.) Jackson creates a vivid world where indigenous culture and settler colonists collide; where characters are coded with dark skin and central to the action. The planet Socorro is distinct as a Star Wars setting. As one of the only places in the galaxy where slavery is eradicated with a vengeance, Socorro refuses to let go of a plot line Star Wars media often leaves behind. Socorro is a haven from Imperial fascism, a space where readers are invited to imagine a story that does not center around occupation.

When I learned that Patricia A. Jackson no longer has a physical copy of The Black Sands of Socorro, I realized that I had the materials and the means to create a fanbound hard copy for her home library (well, and also for my own home library.) While this handmade book is not an exact reproduction of the RPG supplement, I hope my renvisioning of the supplement as an in-universe travel guide lives up to the original work.

As the idea of creating a travel guidebook based on the original material percolated, I reflected on the State of Race in Star Wars in the year since I compiled Designs of Fate, an anthology of my favorite Patricia A. Jackson short stories. In May 2022, actress Moses Ingram debuted as Inquisitor Reva Sevander, the deuteragonist in the Dinsey+ streaming Obi-Wan Kenobi series. As predicted by Lucasfilm—and any fan sick of alt-right Star Wars related “whitelash”—Ingram was promptly subjected to a firehose of racialized harassment and misogynoir.

Yep, fascist self-proclaimed fanboys complained about a Black woman Inquisitor in 2022, having no idea (or deliberately whitewashing) that one of creators of the entire freakin’ concept of Inquisitors was a Black woman writing for the Star Wars Adventure Journal three decades ago.

Then, a public facing Star Wars account (@StarWars on Twitter) broke precedent and slapped back at the trolls. Lead actor Ewan McGregor filmed a video retort, posted on @StarWars, stating “racism has no place in this world” and telling off the racist bullies: “you’re no Star Wars fan in my mind.” A few months later, Disney+ debuted it’s second flagship Star Wars streaming series of the year, starring a Latino actor as the protagonist. In the opening episode of Andor, a police chief describes Diego Luna’s eponymous lead as a “dark-featured human,” perhaps the closest the franchise has ever gotten to acknowledging out-of-universe constructions of race, to date. The series explored aspects of imperialism with more depth than Star Wars had previously done on screen, such as the Empire’s treatment of the native people of Aldhani. And, in November, the The Acolyte, a Disney+ series co-developed by Rayne Roberts, announced Amandla Stenberg and Korean actor Lee Jung-jae as its top-billed leads. Stenberg will be the first Gen Z, mixed race, Black, Inuit, queer, and non-binary actor to lead a major Star Wars series.

On the Patricia A. Jackson Star Wars front, in 2022, Jackson’s character Fable Astin was an easter egg in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Jackson will again write for Star Wars in an official capacity in From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi, due for publication in Fall 2023. A series about Lando Calrissian, the galaxy’s most famous Socorran, is still in production, so I have my fingers crossed that we may soon see Socorro on camera.

I wonder if this past year will have been a fulcrum year for BIPOC fandom. Maybe Disney has finally realized it’s bad for business that the alt-right uses social media algorithms and Star Wars fan spaces as a soft recruiting ground to radicalize young white men? Maybe Star Wars as a franchise will continue to loudly disavow fan whitelash and firmly position performers of color in true leading roles? I really hope so. On the other hand, as much as I am in favor of increased representation in Star Wars storytelling, I am also troubled by Disney-Lucasfilm’s framing of the Galaxy Far, Far Away (GFFA) as “colorblind.” Recently, Star Wars fans have been asked to accept that in the (a long time ago) sci-fi futurepast GFFA, humans have always been post-racial, and it’s just a coincidence that racialized people were not caught on camera the way white characters have been for years. The galaxy is post-racial and it’s just acoincidence that the movers and shakers of the galaxy have largely been depicted as white men for the past 40 years of media.

For example, in the decade since Disney rebooted the expanded universe, fans have learned that Star Wars’s biggest galactic war criminal to never be depicted on screen is Admiral Rae Sloane, a bisexual Black woman who was the leader of Imperial remnant forces, one of the architects of the First Order, and personal mentor to General Hux. Under Disney-Lucasfilm’s post-racial retcon of the Star Wars universe, the allegorical fascists are intersectional equal opportunity employers (at least in expanded universe content like animation, video games, and novels.) Along those lines, several of the franchise’s newly introduced, prominent women of color have been part of the Empire: Imperial loyalist Cienna Ree (Lost Stars), Inferno Squad leader Iden Versio (Star Wars: Battlefront II) former stormtrooper Jannah (Episode IX), First Order pilot Tamara Ryvora (Star Wars: Resistance), Inquisitor Trilla Sundari (Jedi: Fallen Order), Captain Terisa Kerrill (Star Wars: Squadron) and, most recently, Inquisitor Reva Sevander. Once the sole purview of stodgy, very white and very British men (demonstrably so even in the sequel trilogy movies,) now anyone can be a stooge of the Empire.

That’s not to say that marginalized people can’t collude with fascism, or that there haven’t been heroic characters of color introduced in recent years. Rather, I posit that in order to sell audiences on the post-racial/colorblind GFFA, fascist-of-color characters like Rae Sloane or Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon (The Mandalorian) are created by necessity. The franchise wants to at once be racially inclusive and yet never directly address race. In Star Wars, real world oppression is primarily explored through allegory—such as Solo (2018)’s bit on droid rights, the clone army, or the myriad of non-human alien bodies that nonetheless are coded with racial stereotypes. A lot has been said about how allegory in sci-fi allows audiences to grapple with inequality from a comfortable distance, and not enough has been said about which audience is being prioritized for comfort.

What does it mean when race is supposedly a non-issue for humans in the GFFA, but creators and actors with marginalized identities cannot participate in Star Wars in any capacity without experiencing identity-targeted harassment? In the past ten years, this has been true even for white women like Kathleen Kennedy and Daisy Ridley, but the vitriol has been most strongly directed towards Black women like Lucasfilm Story Group lead Kiri Hart, author Justina Ireland and The High Republic Show host Krystina Arielle. Can the Galaxy Far, Far Away truly be “colorblind” or “post-racial” (never-racial?) if the narrative continually centers white characters and replicates all the common racial inequities seen in commercialized Hollywood storytelling? Upon the release of The Force Awakens in 2015, critic Andre Seewood aptly described Finn’s positioning in the story as “hyper-⁠tokenism,” even presciently predicting that Finn would continue to be hyper-⁠tokenized in Episodes VIII and IX. As the narrative veered away from Finn, it also left unrealized a stormtrooper rebellion plot line where Finn could have been, in effect, a Black abolitionist. Actor John Boyega’s critique of his experience in the sequel trilogy aligns with Seewald’s assessment: “Do not bring out a Black character, market them to be much more important to the franchise than they are and then have them pushed to the side.”

Published in 1997, The Black Sands of Socorro came before Finn, before Mace Windu, back when all the melanin of Star Wars could be found in Billy Dee Williams’s singular swagger and James Earl Jones’s distinctive voice. Back then, the most prominent Black actress in the original trilogy was dancer Femi Taylor, who played Oola, the hypersexualized green twi’lek fed to the rancor in Return of the Jedi. Bantam Spectra, the publisher that held the license for Star Wars from 1991 to 1999, had no leading characters of color in its’ Expanded Universe. The first full length Star Wars novel by a writer of color, Steven Barnes’s The Cestus Deception15, would not be published until 2004. Even though the book featured two protagonists of color, they would not be depicted on the cover. At Comic-Con in 2010, I spoke with Tom Taylor, a white Australian comic book writer who tried to make the lead family in Star Wars: Invasion (2009) a Black one, but was shut down during the creative process. The comic instead depicts a family of blondes, because the publishers did not think fans would embrace leads of color. All this to say, the inclusion of melanated characters in Star Wars has been so, so hard fought. It’s incredible The Black Sands of Socorro exists at all. It’s more than worthy of celebration, and I’m floored that more attention has not been brought to it.

Patricia A. Jackson is a smuggler.

This sourcebook was explicitly written to assist fans in telling their own Star Wars stories, and in it Patricia A. Jackson smuggled in emphatic allusions to the Black Panther movement and the trans-Atlantic slave trade, smuggled in commentary on indigeneity and settler colonialism, and smuggled in multiple ways for fans to envision characters of color. Her writing has consistently added richness to the GFFA, and in The Black Sands of Socorro she envisions multiple histories for multiple cultures coded as non-white. She ensured the existence of not mere tokens, but flourishing societies of people of color in Star Wars.

The coda for The Last Jedi again shows how perilously close to tokenization characters of color, particularly Black characters, are in modern day Star Wars. In this film, the franchise returns to itsprevious exploration of slavery with the depiction of enslaved children on Canto Bight. The last speaking lines of the film are from Oniho Zaya (played by Josiah Oniha, a young Black British actor) who recounts Luke Skywalker’s heroic exploits to the other children. The film then closes out by showing that one of the downtrodden children is Force-sensitive—a future hero in the Star Wars mythos. In a film where every single Force-user depicted is white, the next generation kid with the potential is, again, a young white boy. Once again, the Black character can only serve the narrative in a supporting role. A franchise depicting a colorblind fantasy continually reifies racial and gender hierarchies in America. With The Acolyte, scheduled for release in 2024, it’s possible the franchise may finally be shifting past hyper-tokenism. In the meantime, fans of color and our erstwhile allies will continue doodling in the margins.

In the end, the sequel trilogy left the Canto Bight plot line (and the overarching slavery plot line started in Episode I) unresolved. I’d like to think the Black Bha’lir strafed Canto Bight and grabbed those kids. It seems like something they would do. Out among the stars, Oniho Zaya is adventuring with Drake Paulsen, and his story does not bracket another characters’; he is central. The Black Sands of Socorro is a launching pad for stories like that. It represents how fans of color have always carved out pieces of Star Wars for ourselves.

[boasamishipper]

my personal favorite highlights from the official top gun: maverick script:

meek engineer's name is simon and is dating someone at the pentagon which is how they found out about the drone ranger coming to shut the darkstar project down

"That's...blue sky up there, Mav." "Yeah, but dark blue. Ominous."

mav also called darkstar 'angel' and 'girl' which i'm glad they cut otherwise i would have died in the theater then and there

"Hondo stares at his monitor. He knows his friend well." 🥺🥺🥺

"y'all built one hell of a plane" oh mav ❤️

"For anyone unfamiliar, it’s obvious there is story here - Glory and ghosts." g o d

admiral's aide do you MIND he's having a MOMENT

warlock is described as "an affable, brilliant two-star" hell yeah

i personally think it's hilarious that cyclone was apparently top of his class in '88 but in the script he's in his forties?? even if he's 49 the film takes place in 2019?? that would make him 18 in 1988?? mr mcquarrie sir the math ain't mathing

"Maverick has had about enough of this shit" if that doesn't just sum up both movies

as a macheresin shipper the fact that hangman and coyote were planned as besties from the get-go,,,,,,,my heart is Full

"sorry i couldn't be there" oh ice 🥺🥺🥺

mcq's love for casablanca continues to shine through

penny's dad is alive and retired and still hates mav

"Keepin’ it tight, I see, Phoenix" hangman is such an ASSHOLE i HATE him (affectionate)

bob's description is "human wallpaper" i am DYING

"shit, that's fritz" i DEMAND to know why fritz's arrival elicited that reaction from fanboy!! show me the fritz&b-team daggers cut!!

"Maverick sees a ghost. From this angle, the kid is a dead ringer for Goose, just as gawky and gangly, loving life." and what if i Bawled

MAVERICK REQUESTED HONDO SPECIFICALLY

HONDO WAS GONNA MEET UP WITH A LADY IN RENO WHO IS 'AN ACROBAT' AND 'VERY FLEXIBLE'

"I need at least one person on my side here" MAV

"I'll stand somewhere else" HONDO

mav originally ran the entire class through the contents of the F-18 NATOPS 👀👀👀

in the original script rooster gave hangman his callsign...personally gonna stick with the headcanon that phoenix (if it had to be one of the daggers) was the one who gave it to him, but Very Interesting nonetheless.

rooster calls phoenix 'fee' brb peppering this into All my fics

PHOENIX IS THE MAV OF THE MOVIE CONFIRMED

I DEMAND TO KNOW IF THERE IS FOOTAGE OF GLEN POWELL SINGING 'HOT FOR TEACHER'

genuinely cannot believe mcq wrote this. he is on galaxy tier levels of thinking i could never even hope to reach.

rooster being protective of phoenix you know that's right

theo the yellow lab was originally named "t" in the script,,,,,,,,t for tony scott,,,,,,,,,

"You're a warrior, Ice. A fighter." bury me ALIVE

"(Note: Important we include PILOT POV establishing gray-out in the lead up to G-LOCK)" this script is tighter than a snare drum

"Kinda like your ass depended on it" GET HIS ASS MAV

phoenix and bob refuse to even IMPLY that mav was in any way at fault for them having to eject,,,,,,,,they are Ride Or Die

as a warlock/hondo shipper i am also Delighted they actually got some screentime together

MAV WAS SUPPOSED TO GIVE THE EULOGY AT ICE'S FUNERAL 😭😭😭😭😭

mav and hangman were apparently supposed to talk after mav chose hangman as his wingman but i'm glad that scene got cut because a) showing vs telling and b) hangman is Not emotionally aware or mature enough to say what he says here out loud and you can't convince me otherwise

"Hondo stares at him. Maverick stares back. Something unspoken passes between the two men." and mavhondo shippers everywhere rejoiced

"HONDO squeezes his fist tightly, feeling something crack. He opens his hand to see the crystal of his stopwatch is crushed, the second hand frozen. An omen." HEY MCQ WHAT THE FUCK

"CLOSE ON Hondo, reflecting on his last moment with Mav." see above

"How we gonna get this bag’a ass in the air?" "Just hang on. Cause this bag‘a ass is about to go ballistic."

"Rough Rider, this is, uh...Ghost Rider" *cries in callbacks*

"The minute Hangman touches down, pull the trip wires and have the barricade stanchions ready." (silence) "HE DOESN'T HAVE A GODDAMN TAILHOOK." (OH SHIT FUCK OKAY RUNNING NOW)

lowkey like the parallel between cyclone nodding at mav and hangman and rooster shaking hands. they still don't like each other, but they respect each other a little more now. as the script says, that's enough.

"Among the pictures is one of Goose and Maverick in the bloom of their youth - their whole lives ahead of them." 😭😭😭😭😭

WE WERE ROBBED OF PHOENIX JOINING ROOSTER AND PENNY AND AMELIA AND MAV AT THE HANGAR I REPEAT WE WERE R O B B E D

"TIME CUT as Phoenix holds two model planes, demonstrating air to-air combat to a very interested Amelia." ooooh amelia has a cruuuuuush

"Rooster turns, looks at the make-shift family taking shape in this makeshift home…And he smiles." 😭😭😭😭😭

[redjennies]

all i knew before playing kotor 2 was that people loved kreia so i was surprised i didn't much care for her except for a couple memorable scenes. meanwhile atris had me on a chokehold the whole time. the scene where you assemble your Backstory on the fly while having a bitter argument with her is still one of my favorite bits from any game.

it's SUCH a good scene! I love how you can start out that conversation so penitent, so much older and wiser since you were first exiled, but the more you argue with her the more the dialogue gets drawn into that argument. by the time you're interrupting her, you've entirely relapsed into that same person you were when you stood before her and the Council. you stop being the sorry Exile and start being that person "who was so right," again, and it perfectly mirrors Atris' own deeply held convictions. at that moment, neither one of you can really let it go.

it lays out the relationship so well in a way that makes it easy to imagine why she and the Exile were so close in the first place. you can easily imagine this tendency to debate was always part of their friendship. they both have this same stubborn, overdeveloped sense of what is right, and that strong sense of morality ends up being both of their undoing. the Exile, defined by their empathy and emotional impulsivity, simply fell first and therefore, has had time to grow from it. for better or worse, they are different now, even if progress isn't linear when you're in a bitter argument with your ex.

Atris, on the other hand, is intentionally cautious just as she has been taught to be. if the Exile is the prodigal son, Atris is the good son. she has always held fast to her teachings and done what was expected of her. unlike the Exile, she did not go to war. unlike the Exile, she does not let her feelings get the better of her. unlike the Exile, she can stand next to the Sith and not feel their influence, right? surely, of all people, she has the willpower to resist, right? after all, she's doing all of this to eradicate the SIth and save the galaxy from their destruction. (but when you think about it, is Kreia not trying to do the very same thing?)

and so Atris falls, not in spite of her piety, but because of it. and it's so good! it's so compelling! not because "bluh bluh, huge bitch. she's self-righteous and she got what was coming to her," like the fanboys of yore would tell you, but because Atris is a historian. she carries your old lightsaber as a reminder to never be like you. she is nothing like you, and she is exactly like you. she is a part of your backstory, and she is your backstory, repeating. and she's a fucking fantastic character. 10/10.

[the-epic-magnus]

Another updated introduction

A very warm "Hallo!" from Germany!

Call me Magnus, lvl 30+ senior nerd and fanboy from a town called Erfurt, seated in the german county of Thuringia.

I'm in fandoms since 1997; Star Wars was my first love and it will be my last. :'D

I'm not an artist or writer; I don't create much content (besides my TF2 cosplay blog, link in bio), but I like a good conversation and interacting with other fans the normal or the feels way. x) I love meeting new people for fanboying/girling. xD I reblog a lot and I enjoy your creations, especially fanfics, headcanons or fanart.

btw: Star Wars cosplays are planned for the end of 2023 and 2024!

My current main hype: STAR WARS: THE BAD BATCH (huge Tech simp with another small obsession to Echo qq)

More fandoms wich catch my whole attention:

+ Star Wars in general (Andor & RO, Mando & Book of Boba Fett, OT and PT, TCW)

+ Team Fortress 2 (check out my already named cosplay blog)

+ Star Trek (old series and movies until Kelvin timeline)

+ Mad Max (Ride eternal, shiny and chrome)

+ Firefly (more shiny!)

+ Futurama (waiting for new episodes so badly)

+ Transformers (G1, Armada, Animated, Prime, Movie '07, IDW)

+ Pacific Rim (but Part 2 sucks imho)

+ Brave Poilce J-Decker (so smol and nearly dead, the fandom ;_;)

+ Guardians of the Galaxy

I'm also a musician and I play piano and organ.

My favorite music genres: Metal, Epic Cinematic/Filmmusic and Hardstyle

You can find me on Twitter and Instagram, too. LInks in bio.

I'm looking forward for new people for simping, talking, laughing and crying about our favorite characters and fandoms. I live in constant denial, currently now. x)

Don't mind my bad english skills, it's not my native language. ^^;

Cheers and have a great day! ~Magnus~

[alyssalenko]

I am having too much fun with photo manipulation. This idea wouldn't leave me alone until I did it, and I even have a fic in the works because of it. Special shout-out to @naromoreau for encouraging my descent into rarepair hell with Conrad and Quinn and @inquartata30 for helping me with the depth of focus <3

[maxaroniiiii]

Been thinking about an au where when Akari (who isn't Dawn) gets dropped into Hisui, she doesn't get found by Laventon and gets found by Ingo and brought to the Pearl Clan instead

Volo and Giratina opening the rifts and sending Palkia and Dialga into a fury catches Arceus’ attention

Ingo falls through one of these rifts on his way to work. It closes immediately after. Haven’t decided if it’s Volo’s fault or Arceus just dropped him on a rock and decided to pretend nothing happened

Arceus sees this and decides to send a human who knows how to deal with their children to stop Volo

The only human it has direct access to who is able to do so is Dawn for whatever reason (Arceus isn’t really all powerful in this au)

Arceus (surprisingly) thinks about this for more than a few seconds and decides that maybe throwing an entire child (10 - 11 year old Dawn is recovering from all the shit in DPPT/BDSP and is currently spending time with her loving family btw) into Hisui isn’t the best way to deal with his least favorite fanboy (Maybe they also see how the fall affected Ingo and decide they probably shouldn’t mess with Dialga’s work without a backup plan)

They think about it for a bit longer before going “Hey wait. I’m Arceus. All the legendaries revere (fear) me. I can just create a person.” 

Arceus creates a human to go deal with Volo. However, Arceus isn’t the most creative, and kinda just makes a 10 year old Dawn 2.0 and drops her off at Mt. Coronet with the Arc Phone

Ingo sees her fall and brings her to the Pearl Clan, which takes her in. Ingo adopts her, and she stays with him in the Highlands

She gets the mission to seek out all pokemon and starts making her own pokedex, recording all the pokemon she sees in the Highlands

After a few years or so, Akari hears about the Galaxy Team and their efforts towards creating a pokedex and decides to go to Jubilife Village and join them and then the game’s plot starts I guess

[sidhebeingbrand]

Sheev Palpatine is a pathetic little pissboy

Look I know in late november 2022 this cannot help but sound like a take on current events, but I assure you it is not.

I am Aware of the Parallels but this is 100% original contempt for the in-universe job performance of fictional character Sheev 'Darth Sidius' Palpatine and it predates any social media crises.

I just think Sheevo gets way too much credit for being an iron-fisted tyrant when in fact he is absolute garbage at ruling the galaxy. He is absolute garbage at most things, actually, but because he was very successful at one thing he was under the impression that he was a savant at everything, at least until the last five minutes of his wasted life when he at last saw that he had control over absolutely nothing and could do nothing about it but go 'wha happun?' and fall down a reactor shaft.

Seriously. Sheev 'send in the clergy, they can move diagonally' Palpatine was a stumbling failure with good PR and rabid fanboys and that's all. He should be held up as a laughingstock and if his more creatively villainous predecessors have any presence left at all in the force I hope they give his ghost daily wedgies.

I will go into this AT LENGTH but for those cowards who don't care about my particular favorite star wars minutiae, here's the TL:DR; 'Emperor' Palpatine spent 20+ years tricking more competent people into building a power structure that he ran into the ground within 25 years, building nothing but a monument to the failure of management, and then after burning his 1up he did the same thing again but somehow worse [30 year planning period, >1 year of payoff, I hope those cultists on exegol weren't hoping for a great ROI]

~Oh but the Sith contain the seeds of their own destruction always~ no 80% of this cannot be blamed on the Sith it can be blamed specifically on Sheev being a snotty fuckboy from a rich world who dropped out of dark wizard school way too early because he thought he was smarter than his teacher, and he could not imagine consequences happening to him.

ETA: Please do not get me wrong, I am not ragging on the writing of Star Wars here. I think it's incredibly realistic and satisfying. Also it gave me the urge to bully a fictional character AND I SHALL

Over and over in SW properties we see the space fashies lamenting 'the good old days' of the empire when 'the world was run in an orderly fashion'. This was never the case, as we are also explicitly shown. They think it was because they are morons, which is very much by design, because Palps ran his empire with the same strategy he used to destroy the republic, only much less patience. It started failing from day 1. Before day one, even, but we'll get to that.

Sheev is very good at co-opting the strengths and weaknesses of other people and using it to destroy them. That is not the same as being able to build or run a system of government! He cannot synthesize new thoughts, he cannot make things, he cannot even keep an existing system running correctly. At Best he occasionally (but not often) picks the correct person to delegate to, or at least he did on his first go round. Palps mark 2 just kind of shat the bed there.

'Oooh but he's a Sith he's supposed to destroy things' well champs actually. ACTUALLY. He's real bad at that too. Oh, he caused an immense amount of destruction in a very short time-- or two very short times-- but to what end? A couple decades of decaying rule? He didn't get to eat the life-force of the planets he genocided like Darth Sion. He didn't have a death machine to power; there was the eternal-life-via clone thing, but we know how well that worked out. His bid immortality was a laughable failure and that is a direct result of his own incompetence. His legacy is twenty years of suck, quickly overshadowed in history by his rabid attack goth. He stacked the deck in his favor and then accidentally ran his winning hand through a shredder.

Here are the things that worked super well when trying to destroy the Jedi and destabilize the republic: -remove anyone competent from the room who might see through your ruse, except for a few trusted pawns you control completely -never let anyone else see the whole picture; hoard knowledge and never share it -tell big lies, they're easier to believe than the small kind -crush anyone who notices what you're doing instantly

He chisels cracks into the foundation of the status quo over two... three? Decades? He steers the twisted moral conviction of Dooku, the real desperation of the future separatist worlds, the expertise of the Kaminoans, the good intentions of the non-corrupt fraction of the Senate, the patience of the Jedi, and he constructs a war he controls on both fronts. Great! He wins!

Then what does he do, immediately? He gets back on his bullshit because why would he change his playbook even though his situation has changed completely.

-Even before he takes power he's making Good Choices, turning Anakin on Dooku because blah blah Sith only two blah blah. But of course, Dooku was powerful and righteous in his bent way and might have been a threat to him. BEGONE, Competence!

-Then he shatters the expertise of Kamino and collects a few broken pieces and calls it 'all good'. Surely a handful of scientists and a couple freighter-loads of equipment is all they'll need for your infinite-clone-bodies project! Their performance won't suffer at all if you bomb their carefully honed technology into the sea! Everyone does great work under duress. But if left at full power, they could have raised another army to threaten him. BEGONE, Competence!

-He immediately sets about purging cultural memory of all things Jedi. He quickly and successfully reduces them to fables and myths, which definitely have less cultural staying power than 'the weird religio/political sect we see at the Coruscant Starbucks all the time' But if anyone ELSE has their teachings his hoarding of the archives is less valuable, and also someone might teach new Jedi! BEGONE, Shared Knowledge!

-Then he squanders the clone army which is so disastrously stupid I cannot fathom what he was thinking except maybe 'I'm bored with the army, I'll let space-racist Tarkin set policy'. Seriously. Don't let the boys in white age out gracefully; no. Within a year, begin decommissioning them to replace with natborns. The timeline of Operation War Mantle seems to be that the remaining commandos are expected to fully train a new army within a couple months. Yes, the literally engineered super-soldiers who fought the largest galactic war in centuries can definitely download their expertise within a few financial quarters it's fine. But if the clones remained a fighting force, they might someday be used against him! Especially if their bio-chips start going and they get a little upset about having their agency stripped at a soul-deep level and that thing with murdering friends and loved ones! BEGONE, Competence!

Within about ten years, he also strips any competent leadership out of the remnants of the GAR unless they are the truest of true believers (Tarkin, Yularen for some fucking reason) and/or he has something to hold over their head (Mitth' "Raw Dog" 'Nuruodo ) . This is true top to bottom: anyone with a decent sense of proportionate response is booted to make room for true believers eager to suck that cog-shaped dick.

The result of this is that Palpatine's actual competent leadership is concentrated in half a dozen high-ranking officers, which will be a Problem When the Rebellion Starts.

And the rebellion is going to start because his immediate overreaction whenever his power is challenged starts the destabilization of the empire pretty much immediately. Inquisitors are scary? Yeah, but fear turns to anger turns to resolve real fast. A Sith should know that. Yes you CAN order your soldiers to murder force sensitive kids outright, but the ones with a strong moral compass are going to have second thoughts basically immediately and... I don't know, immediately start feeding information to dissidents. If not defecting outright.

It's like he forgot how to be subtle? Once he didn't have to hide his intentions anymore? And he didn't realize... people would react badly? Or, more likely, he thought he could just... tyrant harder. No efforts to maintain loyalty in anyone but a few happy fascists and one reluctant Chiss. Oh, he probably had dirt on the Senate but he seemed to oppose any policy that would pressure-vent the growing resentment. Bread and circuises won't work if you only give them to the top centurions, my man.

Shit really hits the fan in about 5BBY (what's the battle of Yavin, Sheevo? Why would people count backwards from it? Don't worry, it's probably fine) . Sheev has been running the empire for fifteen years, the unrest is already strong, and then someone steals a big hunk of imperial cash out in the open where people can hear about it, and suddenly whole swathes of the population are realizing that the Empire really isn't untouchable after all.

So time for some sentient rights violations! That's nothing new, and it's always worked before! Tell big lies, commit big atrocities, nobody's ever called him on it before except for some nags like Mon Mothma, and what's she going to do, buy a rebellion? Denounce him and defect? (Well, not for another three years, anyway)

The empire got away with subjugating Ryloth because everyone knows Twi'leks are a passionate, proud warrior people who just won't stop fighting even when they should.

The empire got away with the genocide of Lasan because hey, they're not even near-human and they're kind out of out on the Rim, who'll notice.

The empire got away with declaring the Wookies non-sentient despite them.. having fought in the separatist wars? For the Republic? But most people don't know that the slaves mining spice in Kessel are fucking war heroes. It's fine, it's all fine.

And surely his empire can ride out the mild scandal of indefinite prisoner retention without retrial. None of these events have ever radicalized anyone who will be important parts of the fight against him. Having an army that does things like 'murder dissident broadcasters' has definitely not left any plucky young orphans afloat to become heroes.

And perhaps Palps isn't to blame for every one of these little precipitating events; he does surround himself with people who like being cruel to others. But this is the culture he established. Unlimited power to do anything to anybody, that was his deal. It's not smart it's not tactically sound but it was his make-a-sith wish we know at least some of the brutality came straight from the top.

He grips his empire tighter, and more and more grains of sand start to slide through his fist.

Shit comes to a head in 0BBY even before Luke Skywalker leaves Tatooine, because remember how Palps only tolerated about five competent people in positions of power?

Yeah, a plucky young Jedi and some spacewhales just vanished to a location unknown, and with them they took 30% of the Empire's tactical savvy and troop morale in the form of one (1) blue art snob. Yeah. Maybe you should have a had a few backup admirals who were also good at their jobs.

And now an entire planet has overthrown its occupying imperial apparatus through a ragtag band of ... people radicalized by imperial atrocities, INCLUDING A WHOLE STABLE OF LOST FAITH DEFECTORS. An imperial cadet who saw her science fair project go too far; an ISB agent who is less okay than he realized with the genocides he was party to (seriously, you made an ISB agent queasy. Good jorb.) One of your FORMER Space navy commanders, a competent one who saw which way the wind was blowing and bailed. Three of those super-soldier clones who Tarkin decided weren't worth keeping around back in 19BBY.

And the non-defectors? A general who grew up in the Rylothian resistance. A surviving Jedi. A kid whose parents who died in imperial prison because their radio program was Mean About The Empire :(. And the only people loyal to the empire at the grassroots level are loyal because they're stupid or scared-- and the empire doesn't reward informants unless they're rich and useful. Seriously, they mostly get killed. Not a way to build a base of fans.

Krennic's Death Star was already in the works, but with Thrawn gone and no longer arguing against it becomes the imperial strategy #1. Palps tosses all his eggs in that basket without a second thought. But it's built with the usual imperial 'beatings will continue until moral improves' method, and as it turns out when you put engineers under duress they do things like... I don't know, put a trash chute in just the right place to slip an explosive into the main reactor core. And then tell their kid about it.

Was manipulating people just not fun if they didn't know they were under duress? You used to be good at this, sort of, almost? You at least picked the right people to bank on, back pre-empire.

So then Rogue 1, and another ragtag bunch, at least one specifically, SPECIFICALLY driven to be a rebellion hardliner by the PORD act of 5BBY which was specifically Palpatine's response to having his lunch money stolen.

(Yes yes Doylist analysis 'all of this is put into place post-original trilogy, justification after the fact'. Well, you know what? It works. The guy who decided Big Stupid Planet Blaster 5000 was a good use of military resources is probably also the guy who had a hissyfit and imposed systems-wide collective punishment over a bank heist that involved 10 whole people. That tracks. It all feels very realistic NOT TO DRAW ANY PARALLELS IN MID NOVEMBER TYOL 2022)

And the Stormtroopers. 'Only imperial blasters are so precise', Ben was that epic shade or have you just not dealt with the rank-and-file and you think everyone's as competent as the purge troopers you were up against nine years ago? Because they suck. They are a pitiful shadow of the GAR in every way, including their armor and equipment and training.

Anyway they let actualfax war hero Obi-wan Kenobi get the deathstar plans off-planet because the average trooper has the motivation of a limp dishrag, I wonder why that is, proactivity and competence being so generally rewarded.

And here Palps sits with his eggs in one big stupid basket and boom, another Jedi whose parents your morons in white gunned down because they ... weren't actually in possession of stolen droids when you showed up? And you were frustrated? Anyway, another orphaned kid with a heart of gold sees the plans made by the engineer under duress and takes his shot at your reactor and blows another... good 50% of your competent military leadership out of the sky into a twinkling debris field, taking upwards of a million troops and contractors you very much needed along with it. Yularen, professional ISB cat herder, gone. Tarkin, moderately competent racist, gone.

(And then you said hold my beer I can kill more imperial troops than that little dune hick ever could but WE'LL GET TO THAT)

And what is Palpatine's response but a Bigger Death Star.

Get new ideas. Change your plans once ever. I beg you.

Thrawn probably could have held Endor against the rebellion and the local angry teddy-bears, but you know, orphan with a heart of gold, space whales, wildspace. Yularen might have been able to get a mole in and sabotage the rebel effort a little more successfully, but you know, Death Star I. And having backup for them would have meant a critical mass of competence in one place and Palps just couldn't have that.

Then. Then.

In a moment Palps could have salvaged he instead has a hissyfit when Anakin's Stupid Son is less easy to corrupt than Stupid Anakin and decides to kill the kid in ... front of Anakin... you know, the guy who fell because Palps personally weaponized his fear of losing those he loves...

And down he goes into the reactor shaft, where he explodes. "Waaah I have a kill switch to nuke my home planet and a lot of my own men if I die so there" Git FUcking Good scrub, you know what your first apprentice did after his own reactor fall? He built himself a robot body and conquered Mandalore with his bare hands. (Also his loyal himbo brother's bare hands. Also Pre Vizsla's incompetence. And a lightsaber. STill, more impressive than your shit, Palps).

No, Palps doesn't have half the pure spiteful darkside fire, the chutzpah of an emotionally damaged Nightbrother. (Literally, there was only half an emotionally damaged Nightbrother and he still bootstrapped himself up better).

Oh, but bonus round. The whole infinite clones gig, he had backup bodies to shunt himself into! Yeah, how DOES that go with your off-brand ripoff of Kaminoan tech? Not so well? Oh, that's fine, find a kid with a lot of midichlorians and you'll be wielding the force in a new body in no time.

It might have helped if Palps could access all the troops and resources he had pre-war, but ... oops, Operation Cinder, aka Operation 'I can kill more of my own men than some sandfarmer from Tatooine' sure put paid to that! At least Naboo is still standing since it turns out three hot chicks in N1 fighters would in fact win a battle against a sky full of spicy satellites.

Also, re: the kid: too bad most of the knowledge about Mandalorians was destroyed in that recent purge, because of that policy of 'destroy knowledge wherever you find it, create artificial scarcity for your personal library'. I'm sure it wouldn't have changed anything if the straggling survivors of the empire knew that 'raise baby' was literally the first tenet of Mando culture, or that aggressive transracial adoption is the reason there still IS a Mando culture after the last Taung died literal millenia ago.

No it's fine some idiot's just going to send a devoted Mando out to find an orphaned child this will definitely not put a kink in any of those cloning plans or set back the timetable.

BUT PALPS PREVAILS, EVENTUALLY, and he decides 'I will do the same thing I did the last two times but BIGGER AND STUPIDER because I think new ideas are for losers' and thirty fucking years later now with a 'Starkiller' which is a Deathstar But Cooler Guys, he gets finally gets his second shot at --

Oops there's a ragtag band of deserters, veterans from the resistance and force sensitive orphans against the Space Reich 3.1. He loses control of his pet Skywalker Solo almost instantly relative to Vader's run, and this time the new empire crashes on takeoff.

And not a single lesson was learned, because he's dead. Again. For good, hopefully because what kind of a clusterfuck could round 3 be, given the drop in quality between Empire and First Order. One sith should only be subject to so much humiliation.

I tell a lie, there's no such thing as too much humiliation, and Palpatine's '''reign''' will be a punchline among military circles for centuries to come.

[thedroneranger]

Daggers on Draught: Craft Edition | Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia | Hang 10 | 3 of 8

Dedicated to our favorite beer lady, @roosterforme!

Taglist: @cherrycola27 @taytaylala12 @galaxy-of-stories @awildewit @potato-girl99981 @shanimallina87 @malindacath @violyn20 @djs8891 @linkpk88 @furiousladyking @daggerspare-standingby @princess76179 @jstarr86 @blue-aconite @hecate-steps-on-me @chicomonks @darkheartcherry @soulmates8 @roosters-girl @dempy @mayhemmanaged @desert-fern @roosterisdaddy36 @hangmanscoming @mavrellover91 @s-u-t @averyhotchner @penguin876 @kmc1989 @xoxabs88xox @mak-32 @seitmai @abaker74 @callsignharpe @cassiemitchell @startrekfangirl2233 @dakotakazansky @beyondthesefourwalls @bradshawsprincess

[fabuloustrash05]

How would the Ramona kids act with grandpa sal commander

This is just my personal headcanons of the RaMona kids relationship with their grandpa Sal Commander because 3 out of 4 of these kiddies aren’t mine.

Note: Irrilia belongs to @myrling-art , Thalos and Sal/G’throkka belong to @bludinkdragonz , and Frida belongs to me.

Grandpa Sal isn’t always around so the kids don’t see him 24/7 like their other family members like their uncles because Sal is all the way on the other side of the galaxy on another planet busy leading an army. So Sal is a busy guy, but when he does have free time he uses it to come to Earth to see Mona, Raph, and their kids and spend time with them.

Sal Commander’s relationship with the RaMona kids are all very good. I picture that growing up they love hearing his war stories, since he’s an old veteran, and also he shares embarrassing stories of their mother during her youth and training to be a warrior, a thing that’s entertaining for Raph to hear as well. I also imagine him giving the kids gifts a grandfather wouldn’t usually give to his grandchildren like intergalactic weapons for them to use in combat when they’re older. I can see Thalos and Sal getting extremely fanboy excited over the cool space weapons, Irrilia is grateful for the gifts and can master them pretty quickly but she’s more of a ninja weapons girl, and as for Frida she was just hoping for a new toy but doesn’t want to be rude so she happily accepts the gift.

I can also imagine that while Sal doesn’t have a favorite grandchild, he does adore that his 3rd grandbaby, Sal/G’throkka, was named after him and I can picture him spending more time with him and bonding over personal training sessions because of that.

[accio-victuuri]

My ask is: GG really changed the lyrics of some songs?

Hello Anon! Yes he did! My favorite is what he did with Kepler. This one is by Stefanie Sun which he is a fanboy of. The lyric change took place in the CQL Tianjin fanmeet. I can think of two times that he sang parts of this song, once during his xnine days and the other on an interview for cosmo post xnine. Both times, he sang it with the correct lyrics. Again. He’s a SS fanboy so he knows these songs by heart. In the fanmeet, he did this after Web’s dance break. He was actually asked to go dance but he asked the audience if he can just sing. Tho he said that he’s improvising, I’m not sure how much of this was a bit “planned”. But it’s definitely not as organized as their other 2 fanmeets.

The lyric change is from “I am no longer a lonely star” to “I am deeply inlove with a lonely star” Also the “cold” galaxy to warm galaxy. Why would he change it like that. What’s different?

I cannot talk about this and not include the unofficial bts that came out. We know GG is a disney character who bursts into song at random times but HIM singing Kepler to Web was 👁👄👁. He was singing it to HIS face. Add the multiple “star” references to each other and it just proves the fact that Kepler is for Wang Yibis. It may not be for him before, but is sure as hell became his when GG met him.

Here’s the full fanmeet in English for you to judge that part around the 25 minute mark onwards. 😎

for the other ones,

• this performance of Stars in the Sun where he changed it so that the lover is younger rather than older which is the original. explained here.

• summer breeze and green light too over here. Ugh. Green Light where he rapped! That one was memorable. 😭

[chocolateslatte]

🚨The Rise of Skywalker Detailed Review and Spoilers Ahead🚨

George Lucas: “If the boy and girl walk off into the sunset hand-in-hand in the last scene, it adds 10 million to the box office”

The “fairytale” we got: A long long time ago in a galaxy far far away, there was a curse of pain and death in a family that just went on and on.  They were never able to break it and they all die, the end. 

Well, you did it JJ, you little punk...you ruined 40 years of cinema. Kids are coming out of theatres crying, they can’t understand. I guess this was the “fun and hopeful ending” you were speaking of during the press tours.  Are you on crack or something, or just sadistic....why would you promote it like that!? Did you forget Star Wars at its core is a story of hope, light, a fairytale in space for children? They did it...they united Reylo’s and Fanboys through hate. 

JJ you do realize tragical romances are only tragically romantic if there was romantic buildup? Romeo and Juliet married in secret, Anidala did as well and flirted in the fields. How was this supposed to be satisfying? A five-second beginning, middle, and end. How this went through multiple execs is beyond me.... I would have understood if Reylo was Rian’s creation. BUT JJ LITERALLY was the one who told Rian to go forth with it...he created Reylo so you can’t say the last Jedi derailed things on that front. JJ wasn’t brave enough for his own vision. This movie was like “the crimes of Grindlewald”, a lot of stuff happening that made me feel nothing. 

Okay, first things first. The OG trilogy was necessary, the prequels were necessary to set up that Vader did not start off bad. What was necessary about the sequels? They just dismantled everything the Skywalker family worked for. Why did we have to see ALL of our favorite characters die? Was the aim that a villain can only be redeemed through death? How original. I’m convinced what they were planning for since force awakens was a journey from villain to hero...but instead we got this a 10min redemption resulting in death a la Vader. Why call Adam Driver’s character a “Disney Prince”?When did Happy endings become so controversial? We go to the movies to feel hope, to escape reality...George Lucas understood that. JJ’s trilogy is uninspired, bland and contributes nothing to the saga. JJ went as far as to recon his own “The Force Awakens”.It had the chance to define generations but no. Literal and utter garbage. Rian made some odd choices but he was bold, unafraid and had the vision. HE knew emotion was at the heart of Star Wars.

WHERE DID THE SKYWALKERS RISE? MORE LIKE RISE OF PALPATINE,  HE BLOODY WON

BUT my problem is not with the ending, it’s the bloody entire movie. This movie made me realize that it's not Reylo that I am a fan of, it was Ben, Leia, Han, Ani, Padme, and all those other characters. I’m upset because this movie is not my Star Wars: of family, love and above all else hope. This is just a 2.5-hour video game with no emotions. This trilogy was all angst with NO payoff.

Okay, you will never ever convince me Palpatine was planned the whole time. This whole movie was retcon for the Last Jedi that pissed off the fanboys. Lucas films did not have an outline for the three films and Rian derailed whatever they wanted to do....except they didn’t even tell him what they wanted! This should be a cautionary tale of why you need to plan. Kylo ain’t bad, Snoke is gone....well pull out Palpatine I guess. This whole film is JJ’s mad scrambling.  Alright, I will humor you, tell me how Palpatine came back when he fell down a shaft and exploded....not *boom boom because of force*. The force in this movie is not canon George Lucas force, it’s just an easy out whenever JJ wants one. 

1. Opening Crawl: As soon as I saw this I knew all the leaks were true, I wanted to bolt from the theatre. When I saw them in August I laughed cause it was so ridiculous it couldn’t be true. How could Disney let a whole movie leak? The plot seemed like a bad fan-fiction. Actually, fanfics are way more true to lore. Anyway, so Palpatine “announces” that he’s back. Is this the shrewd Chancellor Palpatine we know? Certainly, not...why in the world would he announce it rather than keep on the DL and just attack. Yo Palps ain’t this dumb why would you let them (the resistance) prepare?? Because of plot...well okay. 

2. Did Last Jedi even happen:  this film is the sequel to the force awakens, like TLJ never happened...except it’s acting like there was some movie in between that JJ made. Okay, so why is Kylo trying to run Rey over with his tie fighter...he doesn’t really want to kill her. It’s just meaningless action shots.  And don’t get me started on exposition, the dialogue: “hey look its the Knights of Ren”. Except they do nothing. Cool cool.  Kylo’s character goes back to Force awakens era like no development had occurred...except he’s not even there he’s just messing around not even being a real villain.  JJ’s specialty is set-up and he does this beautifully....but he can not wrap up and follow through. 

3. Rose Tico: yup last Jedi never happened, she has nothing to do. She and Finn are irrelevant. Finn has reverted to being obsessed with Rey. Cool Cool.  I honestly feel so bad for the lovely Kelly Marie Tran. How did you relegate a relatively big character into the sidelines?? Why introduce two new characters this late. Rose could have filmed in for them...but alas we must snub Rian at every turn because that’s just how petty JJ Abrams is. ( don’t get me wrong Jannah was cool)

4. The Rise Of Poe Dameron: Finn has been relegated to a side character who does nothing and just yells “REY!”. It was a great setup, a stormtrooper who was force sensitive but doesn’t want his life to be fighting for nothing. You could have explored trauma, the discovery of the light but nope nada. Tell me the point of his character journey. So flat and static. And with Jannah and the ex stormtroopers they could have gone with the arc of these lost, sad kids coming together to find family. 

5. Leia:  Okay you’re telling me our Princess would give up on her son before he was born, just throw away her lightsaber and accept Ben’s fate? Cool alright. And she knew about Rey Palpatine and didn’t say anything...my princess would never.

6. Mary Sue Rey: Ahh Rey this girl feels no emotion in this movie...just like the audience. Sure she’s trained but she can just do stuff with the “force” that even Jedi masters can’t. Stopping a whole starship, something even Yoda could barely do...yup she can do it. Beat Kylo all the time except one, yup she can. Manipulate the force in mind-boggling ways, heal people...sure Luke couldn’t but Rey certainly can.  Cause she is the chosen one...hell even Ani wasn’t this talented and he had years of training. Poe and Finn have a genuine connection, Rey just seems disjointed (totally understandable why)...but if so the ending is even worse. She doesn’t even find peace with her friends. She’s not realistic and human like Luke and Leia were. 

 Force sensitivity in the galaxy:  What a perfect setup, the boy with the broom at the end of TLJ that was force sensitive. The message is that the power to use the force was spreading through the galaxy. No longer confined to the elite. People were hearing of Luke’s battle of Crate and rising.

7. Kylo/Ben: I still maintain that he, other than Ani was the most nuanced character in the whole saga. His arc from Force Awakens to Last Jedi had progressed. How great that even someone from the legendary line of skywalker and solo could fall to the dark again. He wasn’t flat, he was a tortured boy that was conflicted since the first movie. How great would it have been to see him as a conflicted supreme leader, which was set up in TLJ. But *gasps* a plot of his very own, no can do, this is the nature of JJ’s crush on Rey and Daisy. 

Disney released comics that made us sympathize with him, to see that all along he was manipulated by Snoke, and Palpatine the voices in his head. Neglected by those who were supposed to love him. Adam Driver was cast perfectly, he had almost no lines that weren’t related to Rey’s charcater arc. If he were a woman I’m sure everyone would be offended. That single line’s delivery “Dad-”

Come on Poe had more lines than him, and Driver according to JJ was half of the protagonist. He was pitched an arc opposite that of Darth Vader that’s why he signed. Man JJ really did do everyone dirty. 

8. Ben had no lines while redeemed other than “ow”...I am so sorry ADAM that this nasty ass JJ did this to you...this part was 100% improv by Adam, I am willing to bet my life on it. You know why “ow” was brilliant? Cause it meant he felt pain and emotion, he was no longer hiding behind the hardness of Kylo REN. Adam’s performance as Ben left me speechless, he was convincing as Kylo, intimidating...but as BEN he shines in the way only Solo’s can. The way his eyes become determined once he accepts he must give his life, and he does so happily for the love of his life. His soulmate. Star Wars and JJ never deserved the talent that is Adam Driver.

9. They are supposed to be equals in the force yet they missed the opportunity to fight Snoke together. Tell me how they are equals. He existed only to further Rey’s plotline. 

Oh and the other Jedi including Anakin whisper and help Rey...when his own grandson has been asking for help in distress for like 30years. Nice real nice.

10. Finally Reylo:  it felt unearned cause there was no buildup, JJ just threw it in for kicks forgetting all the P&P parallels he was shooting for. An afterthought. Driver and Ridley’s acting saved the day, they had no lines.  Adam Driver is truly one of the finest actors. You could see the difference between Ben and Kylo in his subtle gestures...the sass was pure Han Solo.  

11. And then the death: I wouldn’t even say we won, but at what cost. We won in no way. Had he died fighting I would have understood, but this death was so unnecessary and put in just for the fanboys. Let me say again I would have been okay with death had it been justified.  How is this any different than Vader x Luke. JJ can only copy not create. How crazy that you can just bring people back from the dead...Anakin is here like, am I joke to you? I could have brought Padme back say what???? What was the point of his whole fall to the dark. The force is infinite, that’s the whole point...once you know how to use it you can’t run out of it like juice. Oh, and Ben did not become one with Rey but rather the Force according to the Disney website. So why pray tell did he not appear as a force ghost? I’m convinced JJ was on crack.  

12. No Mourning BEN no acknowledgment:  5 seconds! And then she moves on from losing her soulmate, half of her soul. She loses it over Chewie but nothing, no emotion not even a second over her other half. Seriously? No one ever knows Ben came back...nada. JJ set up Reylo, time and time again he has said that he crafted the story around the romance. He was left scrambling after Last Jedi and this was a last-ditch shock ending. No Reylo theme song, no across the stars

13. Last Jedi told us you don’t have to come from a powerful family to be important. THE WHOLE thing was that you could be force-sensitive and be a nobody. Nobodies can become somebody. A Hero is not born but made. The force lives in all beings, not just powerful families. It inspired me, what a great message to young guys and gals. Kylo’s line, “you come from nothing, you are nothing...you have no place in this story” finally turns out true. You have to come from something to have a part in the Star Wars story. And Rey had darkness inside her cause she was human. Because none of us are pure, we are shades of grey. But no, it’s cause darkness only runs in families. In the Last Jedi when she wants to see her family all she sees is herself and a shadow (Ben) who joins with her. Please do explain this JJ. And if this granddaughter thing was set up I would have had no problem...but they pulled it from their asses. You can have nothing but mean something. But no pander to the fanboys. In the end, a Palpatine lived and all the skywalkers ended....and we are supposed to have hope. Palpatine really did win. 

14. Rey’s biggest fear was ending up in the desert alone, we were told “the belonging she seeks is ahead not behind” and “there’s someone who could still come back”. They mentioned she felt just as alone with the resistance. Only the other half of her soul understood her. This is truly tragic and sad...I am so heartbroken for her. And don’t tell me she isn’t there to stay...the soundtrack is called “a new home”. Enjoy the rest of your days being exactly where you started Rey....but hey at least you got a droid boo. I’m convinced this is not the balance JJ envisioned in the first movie. At one point in TFA Rey looks up sees an old woman alone, scavenging in the desert. This rattles her to the core and it starts her journey of wanting a better, different life. I am so sorry Rey. Okay so you may say she has the resistance and her friends...but let’s consult the last Jedi. In the end when everyone is on the ship...Rey is surrounded by friends yet looks more alone than ever. No one but Ben, maybe Luke, Leia, and Han understood her pull to the dark.

How sad that these two hopeless souls who had never known a moment of belonging and true love, found it for all but a few seconds.

I will quote: “preventing female characters with strong, compelling narratives from experiencing love, intimacy, and affection is just as regressive as reducing them down to sexual accessories. Assumes that women must choose between a romantic interest and depth of character”

Men really can not write good female characters, can they? A woman really can’t be a badass and end up with the love of her life

15. The Skywalker’s and Redemption: How truly truly sad that Han and Leia gave their life for their son who also died at a young age. ALL the Skywalkers and Solo’s have a tragic end. This is not what George Lucas wanted. What a tragic way to end this saga...they weren't able to break the curse. AND to all those troubled kids out there that lashed out and made terrible mistakes in their youth....doesn’t matter what you do dying is the only way out. You could have exiled him, made him pay in other ways. Nothing can be done to make up for your sins but death, no amount of good means that you can come home. To the young boys that get wrapped up in terror organizations, sorry the only way you can be redeemed is death...don’t bother changing and coming back. They could have exiled him, had him start an academy with Rey for Jedi kids. He could have spent the rest of his days redeeming himself. Why tell us he was literally preyed upon, haunted, and manipulated as a child. Even in a fantasy world, a victim of mental illness and abuse can not catch a break. Ben as a child could not fall asleep due to the demon-like voices in his mind. Everyone abandoned him in his time of need. Ben never desired power like Anakin, he went over to the dark because “the voice” of his grandfather promised belonging. I am shocked that this is the message Disney sends us. Oh and yeah you can totally take on the Skywalker name for kicks...the disrespect I swear

16. The worst bit is that I am 90% sure there was another ending that was scrapped.  There was a promo shot of Jannah in a field, soft lighting, lush planet. It was exactly like P&P. Daisy Ridley said the lasts scene was known to only Her, Jannah on that panel (Driver was away). Convinced Jannah was looking at Rey and Ben starting a new life away from the desert which she and Luke hate so much. Hence the production of “A New Home” soundtrack. Hence why the “Farewell” song played behind Reylo kiss was hopeful. Why Luke’s soundtrack when he became part of the force was not triumphant. Why the death scene was sudden and cut weird and no sorrow from Rey. CAUSE THEY SCRAPPED THE ORIGINAL ENDING LAST MINUTE.  Everyone knows JJ was still editing one month before. The concept art which was supposed to be released this month has been pushed to March. Why you ask? They need to remove the pages with a happy ending. He just didn’t have the guts, pandered to everyone and yet no one. He was successful in creating a beautifully filmed action-filled movie with none of the heart of Star Wars.

And then she goes and buries Anakin’s saber on freaking TATOOINE. He HATES Sand and Luke wanted to get away from there as soon as possible. Of course, a Palpatine would torture them that way. But nostalgia is the cash cow so. JJ can only generate nostalgia, not create original stories. IF he had any creativity she would have buried it at Padme’s grave.

The fanboys say “leave the romance for the romance movies”....have you seen the original trilogy or the prequels? Star Wars has always had hope and romance entwined with it. 

SO AFTER 40 YEARS...PALPATINE WINS...HIS BLOODLINE LIVES ON

...and people thought the prequels were bad 

JJ you also said that your goal was for people to come out of the movie feeling more hopeful and happy then they went in...yet here I am. My roommate literally had to console me and buy me ice cream. I am just so numb. I am sure the casual fan will enjoy this, as seen from the rotten tomatoes ratings. I think the critics were too generous with this one, 

Star Wars is very simple at its core, Good vs Bad and Dark vs Light. The kids are expected to understand that a Palpatine being the only one who lives is hopeful? That is the conclusion of three generations of Skywalker sacrifice...

This is how the Skywalkers are remembered...In Tragedy and Curse??