#i cannot believe the first time i draw anakin getting fucked it's by fucking LUKE and NOT obi-wan

[sukugo]

do we think Vader ever says “Luke I am your daddy” in bed or do i need to put myself in time out for horny Star Wars thoughts?

DJASDGJDSSH EVREN!!!!!!! i am actually putting u in time IN, where u are now obligated to tell me ALL your horny star wars thoughts

bc uhh this is what u have caused:

also what if the og scene but vader said daddy instead of father

daddy kinks run in the family 😔

[padawanlost]

Hi, I dont read alot (of books) but I was just wondering, did Anakin/vader ever see people he helped/freed (during his time as a jedi) being oppressed by the empire. Did he feel pity or sorrow for them? Or had he totally unplugged from those emotions at that point ?

No. Anakin was to broken to feel sorry for anyone but himself. People have this idea of Vader being a sadistic monster who thrived on the suffering he caused but the truth is he was too lethargic to care. He didn’t stay with Palpatine out enjoyment or even loyalty. He stayed because he had nowhere else go, no one else to be with.

You killed her because, finally, when you could have saved her, when you could have gone away with her, when you could have been thinking about her, you were thinking about yourself … It is in this blazing moment that you finally understand the trap of the dark side, the final cruelty of the Sith— Because now your self is all you will ever have. And you rage and scream and reach through the Force to crush the *shadow* who has destroyed you, but you are so far less now than what you were, you are more than half machine, you are like a painter gone blind, a composer gone deaf, you can remember where the power was but the power you can touch is only a memory, and so with all your world-destroying fury it is only droids around you that implode, and equipment, and the table on which you were strapped shatters, and in the end, you cannot touch the shadow. In the end, you do not even want to. In the end, the shadow is all you have left. Because the shadow understands you, the shadow forgives you, the shadow gathers you unto itself— And within your furnace heart, you burn in your own flame. This is how it feels to be Anakin Skywalker. Forever … [Matthew Stover. Revenge of the Sith]

What Vader appeared to be  - no fucks given BAMF – were very different from what he truly was: Palpatine’s slave. Vader, once you get to know him, is not a scary monster. He’s a quite pathetic and hopeless man.

He wasn’t a sadistic control freak like Palpatine and he didn’t *enjoy* hurting people he didn’t feel deserve to be hurt but he was too damaged and broken to do anything about it. he kind of just went with it.

In one of the comics, he has to face the truth that the Empire is enslaving people and he is upset about it. but he does nothing because there's nothing left in him. for him to pity them, he’d have to empathize with them and that’s something he couldn’t afford to do. He was too trapped in his own private little hell to feel bad for people.

Again the smile or snarl from his Master. “You were a traitor, were you not, Lord Vader?” Vader’s breathing caught on the hook of sudden anger. “What did you say?”

 “To the Jedi. To Padmé. To Obi-Wan. To all those you loved.” His Master turned to look at him, his eyes reflecting the flames. 

Vader didn’t know the answer his Master wanted to hear, so he simply answered with the truth. “Yes.” [Paul S. Kemp. Lords of the Sith]

If he couldn’t even care enough to defend himself from his master abusive behavior, I doubt he’d ever care enough to pity a stranger.

When it comes to Vader’s apathetic, one of the best examples I can think of is his ‘relationship’ with Drua. In one of the books, Vader and Palpatine are stranded. They run into a girl and Vader saves her life:

“Come here, girl,” the Emperor said, putting the power of the Force into his command. Unable to resist, the girl walked out of the tree line until she stood, small and vulnerable, before him. With preternatural speed the Emperor drew, ignited, and slashed at the girl with his lightsaber, but Vader had sensed his Master’s intent and moved with greater speed, igniting his own blade and intercepting his Master’s blow before it could land. The girl, under the sway of the Emperor’s power, seemed scarcely to notice the danger. She simply stood there, staring vacantly, her face aglow in the red light of the crossed blades. The Emperor’s mouth twisted in a snarl, and Vader felt his power gathering. Behind Vader, Deez raised his rifle and aimed it at Vader’s back, but Vader stretched his free hand back and unleashed a blast of power that lifted the guardsman from his feet and flung him into the trees. Branches cracked audibly under the impact of Deez’s body. Vader and his Master stared at each other across the sizzling glow of their crossed blades. “Has it come to this?” his Master said. He sounded calm, almost resigned, but not at all surprised. The tone surprised Vader. “Forgive me, Master,” he said, and deactivated his blade. “I think the girl can be of use to us.” [Paul S. Kemp. Lords of the Sith]

The girl, Drua, takes them to very home and does everything she can to help them. After everything was said and done, Palpatine orders Vader to kill her and everyone in her village. And Vader does it. Not because he wants it. but because he’s too apathetic to care. Too trapped in his toxic relationship with Palpatine to see things for what they really were.

“There’s work for that yet, my friend,” the Emperor said, nodding at the hilt of Vader’s blade.

 “Master?”

 “The villagers, Lord Vader. Drua and her people. We can’t allow so many witnesses to live. I’ll wait for you here.” 

Vader looked from his Master to the dark mouth of the mine inside of which Drua and the rest of the villagers had fled. He felt the Emperor’s eyes on him, the intensity of the gaze, the weight of his expectations, and Vader knew that the day’s events had been only half about depleting a rebel movement before it could grow. They had also, as Vader had suspected, been about testing him, forcing him to face the ghosts of his past and exorcise them forever and fully. He saw that more clearly now; saw, too, that his Master was right to administer the test. It also explained why his Master had shown so little of his true power throughout the day. Perhaps he’d wanted Vader to rely on himself to overcome the challenges they’d faced. Or perhaps he’d wanted to seem weaker than he was, to draw out any treacherous ambitions Vader may have held. “I hear and I obey, Master,” Vader said. He ignited his lightsaber and strode toward the cave, his mind drifting back to another day, a day when he strode into the Jedi Temple filled with nothing but younglings. He’d slaughtered them then, and he would slaughter the Twi’leks now. His Master’s laughter followed him into the cave, and it lingered in his mind, louder even than the screams of the Twi’leks as they began to die by his blade. When it was done, he returned to his Master’s side. “Well done, old friend,” Darth Sidious said. He wiped his hands, as if to clean them of dirt. “And now let’s move on to more important things.” [Paul S. Kemp. Lords of the Sith]

The only time Vader cared enough to influence his behavior was with Luke. All the other times, there were a glimpse of something – of the old Anakin – like when he saw C3PO or even Ahsoka. But not enough for him empathize with people.

Qui-Gon had a interesting theory about this. He believed Anakin – to survive – had to bury that side of him so Vader could exist. An Anakin who cares cannot be Vader. He buried all the good things about Anakin.

“Master, is Darth Vader Anakin?”

“Yes,” Qui-Gon’s voice replied. “Although the Anakin you and I knew is imprisoned by the dark side. […]The core of Anakin that resides in Vader grasps that Tatooine is the source of nearly everything that causes him pain. Vader will never set foot on Tatooine, if only out of fear of reawakening Anakin.” [Ryder Windham. The Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi]

As terrible as life as Vader is, facing Anakin Skywalker’s decisions and living with them would be much, much harder. That’s why only when Luke demonstrated his unconditional love that Anakin allowed himself to reemerge.

Vader saw his son crying, and knew it must have been at the horror of the face the boy beheld. It intensified, momentarily, Vader’s own sense of anguish—to his crimes, now, he added guilt at the imagined repugnance of his appearance. But then this brought him to mind of the way he used to look—striking, and grand, with a wry tilt to his brow that hinted of invincibility and took in all of life with a wink. Yes, that was how he’d looked once. And this memory brought a wave of other memories with it. Memories of brotherhood, and home. His dear wife. The freedom of deep space. Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan, his friend … and how that friendship had turned. Turned, he knew not how—but got injected, nonetheless, with some uncaring virulence that festered, until … hold. These were memories he wanted none of, not now. Memories of molten lava, crawling up his back … no. This boy had pulled him from that pit—here, now, with this act. This boy was good. The boy was good, and the boy had come from him—so there must have been good in him, too. He smiled up again at his son, and for the first time, loved him. And for the first time in many long years, loved himself again, as well.  [James Kahn. Return of the Jedi]

Vader didn’t hate the world. He hated himself.

And because of that he bury everything that was remotely good and positive about himself as deep as he could. So his behavior, his lack of empathy wasn’t about him being sadistic. He was simply too broken and trapped in a deeply abusive relationship to care for the world around him.

[whetstonefires]

Hah! Im sorry but the first thing i can think of for your padme alive fic is padme being at bespin for a completely different purpose and coming across vader and luke during the 'i am your father speech' And COMPLETELY losing it! You just have vader and luke staring up dumbstruck at this woman three levels up leaning over the rails as she yells at vader for cutting off their sons hand!

(In reference to this post.)

LMAO thank for suggest, I agree that’s a great image.

She could be on Bespin for an unrelated purpose, I s’pose, since Ice Cream Machine Guy was canonically hauling a data core that was desperately important to the Rebellion so it follows that there was Rebel activity in Cloud City before the Empire rolled in and dispossessed Lando. And then she went the opposite direction from the evacuation, because Padme.

It doesn’t fit into this fic at all, sadly, because Padme already confronted Vader, was recognized, and figured out who he was a year before Bespin, so Bespin is not fucking happening. That’s where the planning requirements pick up.

Whatever Vader does is going to have to be in the context of:

-

...But never had she seized the right to be the one weatheringthe blow like this, she alone in the firing range, no one else standing toblock the shots with their own body, with such clear certitude.

She wondered if this was how it had felt to be Anakin.

But Anakin had had the Force running through him, tellinghim how to win. Ever since she met him, he had had that, the duty and the honorand the power and the burden of it, just as she had had her offices and herduties, and now she had nothing but rebeland, secretly, mother, and there wereno alliances left to forge or contacts to call on or rescues to hope for.Everything that had made her Queen andSenator had been external, had beenthings that could be stripped away until there was nothing left but Padmé.There was no mystic force she could call on, to bring between herself anddestiny. There was only duty, and the oncoming storm.

The great black shape of the Sith Lord rounded the cornerand seemed to suck all the light from the bay.

Not so much, though, that Padmé couldn’t see to aim herblaster.

Everything in the galaxy seemed to narrow along the lengthof the barrel at that one point, that blot of blackness, everything in Padmé’suniverse drawing down upon the Sith Lord advancing toward her, and somewhereaway behind her the young man and woman, at least one of whom had to be her ownchild. Both. She still thought it was both.

She squinted down the blaster, and struggled with the urgeto shoot now, now, now, and to thehells with heavy blaster rifle recharge times. She’d never wanted to shootsomeone the way she wanted to shoot this Sith Lord.

Darth Vader, the man she’d been told had killed her husband.

Her husband, who had batted away entire hails of blasterfire with his lightsaber. Who would not have fallen to a man she could kill with one rifle blast to the face.

It almost felt like Anakin was here. His hand on the barrel,steadying it. Telling her to wait, just asecond longer, because as impulsive as he was known to be, he knew theright moment was important and it wasn’t always now.

“They tell me,” she said, as Vader made his way down theheavy catwalk that led to his end of the narrow bridge where she stood guard, andhe did not hurry, and she didn’t shoot. “That you killed my husband.”

“It’s possible,” Darth Vader replied, in a voice as weightyand measured as his stride. “I’ve killed a lot…”

He turned to face her as he reached the bridge, and trailedoff.

Padmé did not get the sense that this was a man whofrequently trailed off.

“It can’t be,” he said, hollowly, and the only thing it madesense for that remark to mean was I knowyour face and I cannot have killed your husband, but how would he know thatfrom a glance, and why would it matter to him so suddenly, when a moment ago ithad not, and if he hadn’t killed her husband who had?

…her husband. Her Ani. Who had been so powerful in the Forceit made some of his fellow Jedi nervous. Who had once lost himself in grief andrage so utterly he came apart and slaughtered a village of people like vermin,and came to her to be put back together.

Who had believed with the opposite naiveté from her own thatdespotism was a fine political system, so long as you selected the correctdespot. Who had trusted Palpatine wholeheartedly even in the face of her growingreservations.

It was insane. It was impossible.

Just like everything about the past year and a half. Thepast twenty years of a galaxy wherefreedom had had its throat cut like a lamb in the very chamber built tosafeguard it.

Padmé’s chest felt empty. She couldn’t have said whether shestill breathed, though the sound of Darth Vader’s respirator seemed to fill thewhole great cavernous space of the hangar bay.

She lowered the blaster rifle. “Oh, Anakin,” she said, tothe hissing cyborg blot of black standing like a statue at the far end of thebridge. “What have you done?”

[forcefuried-a]

now that i have finally posted anakin’s bio, i am free to do notes on the docudrama orre wars in pokéverse--

first movie was cowritten by adam lucas, a well-known documentary filmmaker whose specialty was blowing the whistle on corruption, and sayoko saihara, an OC of my friend bliss. adam originally wanted to do this alone, but he was paired with someone who had more experience in the fictional film industry.

adam lucas played a role in the actual orre wars, serving as a spy for the rebellion. during this time he personally met many of the personages he wrote about--luke, leia, vader, palpatine, han, chewie, lando. he was also the only person other than leia to figure out the fact that vader was formerly anakin skywalker and live. however, he chose to write himself out of the orre wars series, saying “it’s their story, not mine.”

sayoko, on the other hand, wrote herself into the series with a self-insert mary sue sith order admin named inqui ahmaya that didn’t actually exist. she also highkey shipped ahmaya with vader, there is a literal scene where vader starts choking ahmaya and she makes moaning noises, i cannot make this up (ok yeah i totally did make it up but you get what i mean). she is just such a blatant self insert that she easily becomes peoples’ least favorite character, the last straw for most of them is a scene when palpatine said that ahmaya might one day grow more powerful than vader.

sayoko is also responsible for fucking. fucking. darth vader fanservice. there is legit some lowkey fanservice of anakin in orre wars a new hope thanks to sayoko’s meddling, adam didn’t want ANY of that shit but she used her superior position to strongarm him into accepting this. she’s unable to ruin the next two movies with her bullshit however, because soon after the movie is released adam drops an exposé on her revealing how she was just a general bitch to everyone involved in the movie’s production. the most important thing is that it shows how sayoko more or less forced in all of the movie’s most hated plots and depictions, which leads to the company firing her and instating adam as the sole director of the orre wars series. after this change, there was no more fanservice.

orre wars vader is in general more sympathetic than star wars vader and probably more sympathetic than he was in the pokéverse’s real life. 

this is namely due to the fact that like in pokéverse in general, his return to the light was much more gradual and well-defined than a simple face-heel turn against the emperor in the end. but the film also makes him somewhat more human than perhaps he was, to draw out the conflict that adam lucas felt he had between the pulls of good and evil. 

this portrayal was also partly due to the fact that anakin refused to show up to the interviews that adam put out for the personages he would be writing about. so all adam had to go on was his brief encounters spying on the man, a conversation in which anakin went off about how fucked up he thought the jedi and arceus were (a sentiment that adam agreed with) and the personal testimony of those around him. luke gave an extremely sympathetic portrait of his dad, saying things like “i could sense the conflict within him every step of the way. even when my sister told me all was lost, i still wanted to believe.” when he called his dad a “tortured soul” that really put the nail in the coffin of orre wars vader turning out like his star wars counterpart.

given that in pokéverse vader’s suit, helmet and voice change are merely to hide his identity rather than serving as a form of life support, orre wars vader spends a considerable portion of his screentime without his mask. but he is no less terrifying without his mask than with it, and some fans would even say maskless vader is scarier due to his furious and sometimes demented expressions and the fact that his voice often rises to a shout that gives off the vibe of a wrathful deity which just, does not happen when he’s under the mask. yet, there is also a case to be made for the time when he’s in the suit and he tells the rebels “i am a GOD, foul creatures…” in the most cold and chilling way.

vader’s mannerisms and tone of voice heavily draw on adam lucas’s actual observations of him when he was spying for the rebels. not only that, his general aesthetic in empire strikes back and return of the jedi is also inspired by anakin’s insta, as ani loves giving himself a scifi horror vibe with the cybernetic half of his face by constantly updating its appearance to look edgy as fuck……save for the 5% of his insta that’s him taking soft pictures with his kids the other 95% of his pictures are Nightmare Fuel in the most glorious possible way. it’s to the point that people have shot-by-shot comparisons between maskless movie vader and anakin’s actual insta, and they’re more or less identical.

irl vader in pokéverse also did not have burn scars on his face and chest until leia set him on fire with her houndoom in the final battle. however, movie vader has those burn scars.

[twilightofthe]

Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, annnnnnnd Luke Skywalker

Probs gonna be a long post since I Cannot Shut Up, so here we go!

OBI WAN (see look I told you this was gonna be long)

How I feel about them:  HELLO HI YES I LOVE HIM A NORMAL AMOUNT.  Okay okay, besides the fact that he is Very Nice To Look At (c’mon, I must, I have EYES), I genuinely love Obi Wan because he wants to be a good person so, so badly, and he’s always ALWAYS trying to be better because he doesn’t believe he already is a good person.  His life is a literal living hellhole and he doesn’t crumple under all of that tragedy like literally everyone else does, he takes a moment, puts a cheeky smile back on his face, and gets back up and keeps going.  He can be a hypocrite, he tends to look over things he really shouldn’t or gets the wrong idea about things and just shuts off what he doesn’t want to deal with, he’s overconfident and a little snobby and petty and a bit of an asshole, and he makes mistakes because he is human, and I love him for all of those flaws because if he was perfect, I wouldn’t like him as much.  He’s funny and reckless and would literally die before letting anything he cared about get hurt, he wants to do everything at once so he can help everyone and he literally gives all of himself to a cause because he cares and y’all, he is the most distinguished disaster I have ever come across and he deserves peace and rest and loved ones who don’t die in his arms or betray him and he’s one of the most brilliant fighters I have ever seen and he just draws you in.  You can’t help but want to watch him.

Romantic ships:  I will love him and Anakin together past my dying breaths; they’re soulmates.  I can also enjoy seeing him with Quinlan or Ventress, and of course Satine.

Non-Romantic OTPs:  Anakin again, I just love them and will take them any way I can get.  Also Cody, Cody is great.  And Ahsoka-- especially post-Order 66 (c’mon Kenobi movie don’t let me down now).  And Padmé!  Ugh, I’m mad TCW refused to let us see the Obi/Pads friendship the movies promised us they had.

Unpopular Opinion:  Two big ones.  First, that Anakin is the most important person in his life.  I can’t see it any other way, and I know other people would disagree.  Second, that he’s a good person and ALSO kinda a jerk.  He’s one of the most popular figures in this fandom with the most mercurial fanbase.  I’d say a good 85% adore him, but then the 15% who don’t hate him with a burning passion.  Seriously, it’s like to these people Palpatine was a better Master to Anakin than he was, jeez-- I’m digressing.  Anyway, it’s like in retaliation, the other 85% have put him up on a pedestal as someone who’s done no wrong whatsoever.  And here I am in the middle like, I love him to hell and back and always will, he’s legit one of my favorite characters, but he isn’t perfect.  Like I said, it’s hard for me to like perfect characters with no flaws.  So yea, I guess that’s it.

Something I wish would happen/had happened with them in canon:  MORE OBIKIN MOMENTS BECAUSE I’M NEEDY.  Ok but in reality, there’s a couple things, most I’m discovering have to do with female characters.  I wish he hadn’t faked his death when Ahsoka was there.  I get why Anakin had to be there to witness it, otherwise he wouldn’t believe it, but Obes, my dude, there was no reason why you had to (further) traumatize a sixteen year old over this.  She really did not need to have you die in her arms, you of all people know how shitty that feels.  I also want to know why he didn’t speak up (or if he did and we didn’t see it) at Ahsoka’s trial.  Was he being punished for Mandalore?  Going off of that, I wish we actually got to see him mourn Satine for more than 0.5 seconds of him looking sad after she died and then it literally never being brought up again (I’m looking at you here, Season 7, give me SOMETHING).  I’d also like to see him having some sort of meaningful interaction with Leia that would make her naming her only child after him make more sense (I actually have a really good penpals style idea about this, but I don’t know if I’d be able to write it before the Kenobi show comes out and josses it).  Also, I heard that the original Twin Suns episode of Rebels was supposed to have Kanan going to Tatooine with Ezra, and I really would like to see a Kanan/Obi Wan interaction, it just sounds like so much potential for angsty goodness!!! ;_;

AHSOKA

How I feel about them: My brave, brave girl!  She was what got me into the prequels in general, if you can believe it (wow, my star wars watching order is just WEIRD), I had to know more about her after seeing literally one glimpse of her in Rebels and then saw the Tumblr fandom explode.  She’s enduring and snarky and clever and a total badass and I adore how we got to see her grow from a spunky little kid into a shining, confident young woman who I’d follow anywhere.  Anyway, I love her and god did she deserve so much BETTER FROM EVERYTHING.  HER LIFE SUCKED TOO AND SHE TOLD LIFE TO FUCK OFF AND KEPT GOING.

Romantic ships:  I adore her and Kaeden Larte from the Ahsoka novel and you can pry my headcanon that they’re still together up to the Sequel trilogy out of my cold dead hands.  Also Barriss Offee (WHY DO ALL MY STAR WARS SHIPS HAVE A PATTERN?  CAN WE NOT BE BETRAYING EACH OTHER FOR FIVE SECONDS PLEASE).  Also Riyo Chuchi, that was really cute!!!

Non-Romantic OTP’s:  Snips n’ Skyguy all the way!!!!  But also argh, I adore Ahsoka and Rex and everything about them and Season 7 is going to KILL ME.  I also love seeing Ahsoka and Padmé interact, and I really do like the little bits we see of her and Obi Wan and I want MORE of them >:(

Unpopular Opinion:  This is gonna sound weird since I just said that seeing Ahsoka in Rebels was what got me into TCW and the prequels, but I really didn’t like her characterization in Rebels all that much after I went back and saw her in TCW.  I know she grew up and was traumatized and matured, but Rebels!Ahsoka just seemed a bit too severe, a bit too peaceful (she’s always been a firebrand), a bit too quiet.  Yea she grew, but I feel like the environment she grew up in wouldn’t foster the personality change she got in Rebels.  She was a bit of a hot mess in TCW, and the Ahsoka novel kinda showed more of that personality in an older version of her and felt more right than what we got in Rebels.  

Something I wish would happen/had happened with them in canon: A GROUP HUG WITH ANAKIN AND OBI WAN IN SEASON 7, PREFERABLY HER PICKING THEM BOTH UP LEGEND OF KORRA STYLE.  Ok but really there’s a LOT of things.  First, that she never liked Lux Bonteri.  I’m sorry, I’m petty.  He just reminds me way too much of my IRL friend’s stupidass boyfriend who I Do Not Like and I never got what Ahsoka actually saw in him ;p  Second is that I did not like how Ezra saved her in Rebels.  It’s a grumpy point for me because I certainly like how she managed to outlive the entire Order that kicked her out, it’s poetic, and if they did have Vader kill her I’d still be grumpy because it would be just another Prequel era woman who got killed off because she wasn’t in the OT while the males all find some way to be alive despite not being in the OT.  HOWEVER, you will never convince me that Kanan wasn’t the one who deserved that time-travel fixit.  Kanan had a family-- a CHILD, who he left behind.  Kanan had a future, and a story point that was just left unfinished and unsatisfying for me and other fans, if what I’ve heard was right.  As much as it would annoy me, Ahsoka dying facing Vader makes sense from a narrative point because it would follow the path that Vader destroys everyone he ever loved until he meets Luke.  Kanan’s death felt sudden and forced, and the fact that they had the audacity to use his death to be like “oh no Kanan had to die and become a Spirit Wolf solely to tell Ezra he needed to bring AHSOKA back”, come on.  Rebels didn’t establish Ahsoka and Kanan having any sort of meaningful relationship, it makes no sense for that to be his final wish, so it just feels a LOT like favoritism on Filoni’s part.  So yea, I don’t know what I wanted to save Ahsoka because I did want her alive, but it definitely shouldn’t have been at the expense of Kanan.  Meh.  Ok, but on a happier note, I really wanna see Anakin’s ghost on Endor reuniting with her again cuz that would be sweet and make me cry.  I also wanna see Ahsoka interacting with Obi Wan on Tatooine in the new show because please it would be perfect, she’s already met Leia, now she can meet Luke!  Also, if we could actually see her find Ezra, that would be very nice, thank you.

LUKE

How I feel about this character: Luke Skywalker is one of the bravest, most kindest men in the galaxy.  He’s not the stereotypical macho hero, he’s goofy and he whines and sulks and he makes dumb jokes and he rushes right into things, but he’s determined as all hell and once he loves you, he’s never letting go.  He wants to fix everything!  He has so many ideas!  He’s so bright and you can’t help but fall in love with his smile and his sparkling eyes and you want all his dreams and plans (because he has so, so many of them) to come true, and he will make them come true, because he is stubborn like both of his parents before him.  He worked through the discovery of his beloved father being a monster, and not only did he love him despite that, he did the unthinkable and BROUGHT HIM BACK.  LUKE BROUGHT ANAKIN HOME BECAUSE HE LOVED AND BELIEVED IN HIM AND HE WAS STRONG ENOUGH TO DO IT.  I just wish he had gotten the happy ending his parents never did (and that he had had for 40 years before it was ripped away whoops I got salt on this haha).

Romantic ships: Complicated.  I think he would be really cute with Ezra if they ever actually met; their personalities would mesh nicely and I think they’d make a great team!  However, I don’t really ship him with anyone else, and me the ace again is projecting major aro/ace vibes onto him because I can *blows raspberry*

Non-Romantic OTP:  BROT3 WITH HAN AND LEIA!!!!  FOREVER AND ALWAYS!!!!!!!!  Y’all but they literally saved the galaxy together, and Luke and Leia love each other so much they knew there was a connection from the very beginning and always supported each other and the BEST space siblings, argh that forehead kiss was my favorite part of The Last Jedi I cry but I also love the chaotic dumbass duo that is Han and Luke and how they’d legit die for each other and have each others’ backs.  And, Luke and R2 will always always make my heart melt because these guys are the best team!  And Chewie, cannot forget Chewie, Chewie loves his stupid blonde little brother.  Ya know what, I’ll also add in Rey for the pure potentiality of what could have been.

Unpopular Opinion:  Well it’s certainly not unpopular to anyone I talk to, but Lucasfilms disagrees with me, so I’m gonna put forth that I don’t care WHAT the explanation is, I could never ever ever see Luke even thinking about murdering his nephew in his sleep, not just a “slip up”, not “only for a second”, no.  Yes, people can change in thirty years, and I’ve begrudgingly accepted a lot of his actions in TLJ, but not that one.  Luke would NEVER.  A more unpopular one I have would be that he’s not as much of a “innocent cinnamon roll” as fandom makes him out to be.  We see from the beginning of Episode 4 that Luke has the Skywalker temper and he’s a bit on the rude side, even though to me that seems a little more like issues with a filter that he works on developing throughout the OT.  But yeah, people tend to declaw him a bit and forget this is the same sarcastic, snarky guy that can and will happily kick the ass of basically anyone who he can’t talk his way out of trouble with (in this, he is very much Obi Wan’s apprentice).

Something I wish would happen/had happened with them in canon:  LET HIM APPEAR TO REY WITH ANAKIN’S FORCE GHOST 2K19!!!  PLEASE JJ I BEG YOU YOU LITERALLY NAMED THE MOVIE AFTER THEM.  Also, please just let him take an active role in Episode 9.  I understand it’s about the new protagonists, but please do not include the Sequel Trilogy in the “Skywalker Saga” if you’re just gonna sideline him the entire time.  If he couldn’t have his original happy ending, please let him be happy at the end of all of this.

[ahsokalivesbitch]

Are you for or against Jedi, even in spite of their mistakes?

Okay so I’m going to have to sincerely beg your pardon forbringing my own personal religion/spirituality into this discussion, but itabsolutely plays a role in how I view the Jedi, and the question of whether Ithink it’s important this saga have the Order eventually reestablished, orwhether it really and truly is ‘time for the Jedi to end’. I am in no waytrying to push my religion on anybody else, or even trying to coerce anybody toagree with me about the Jedi. This isall, 100%, just me expressing my own personal thoughts and observations. Iunderstand if others don’t agree with them.

Philosophically speaking, I am a very proud, you might even say ‘devout’,Christian. I’m also proudly bisexual,devoutly feminist, pro-gay and transgender rights, pro-abortion, anti-capitalist,and a lot of things certain people would have you believe is decidedly non-Christian. 

In my own very personal study of religious philosophy, I don’t believethat my stance on any of the aforementioned issues is in any way incongruentwith the teachings of my Lord. In fact it’s the exact opposite for me: I amcompletely and irrevocably convinced that my God has always and will alwaysstand on the side of the marginalized and oppressed.

That’s not to say I’m unaware of the very real and veryproblematic ideas espoused by certain other figures in the Bible. Or the rolemany powerful religious institutions have and continue to play in upholdingoppressive attitudes rather than tearing them down. While I’ve never feltcompelled to give up my faith of choice, as I don’t blame God for humans whoexercise their free will to be shitbags, I’ve certainly wondered whether itwould be best for me to give up the title ‘Christian’ and all the baggage thattends to come with it. Rebrand myself as something else to better distancemyself from these ‘communities’ who dedicate themselves to things I cannot reconcilewith the God I know. And I know I’m not alone. Hell, even William P. Young,author of the bestselling novel “The Shack”, incorporated a very candidconversation into his book where Jesus bluntly asks the main character, “Do Ilook like a ‘Christian’ to you, Mack?” Honestly, that line hit home for me in a very real way.

But what has kept me from turning my back on the legacy ofChristianity altogether is the fact that my religion is not a monolith. Not all priests and pastors arebible-thumping, fire-and-brimstone-spewing judgmental monsters who want nothingmore than to put the fear of hell into you. Many if not most are very genuinein their desire to serve and help others, and I’ve had the fortune of connectingwith a number of them who not only welcome LGBTQ individuals like myself intotheir churches with open arms, but also proudly perform gay and lesbian weddings,rebuke discrimination and denial of women’s reproductive rights from theirpulpits, and advocate openly for gay and transgender rights.

On a more broader level, for centuries there have been innumerable churches around the world who devote countless time, money,and resources to feeding and clothing the poor, sheltering the homeless, providingresources to single mothers and orphans, providing sanctuary for hunted-down immigrantsand refugees, helping abandoned and abused animals. There also have and continue tobe MANY Christian minority groups (not just in America) who were able to drawupon the religion as inspiration to push back against their oppressors and succeed. There were thousands ofChristians present at the Women’s March, Black Lives Matter, and Muslim banprotests this past year alone.

On a very personal level—both times my sister was diagnosed withcancer, not a day went by when she didn’t receive a letter, phone call, goodiebasket, you name it, from one of her pastors or fellow parishioners. Wheresomebody didn’t offer to come and help her watch the kids, clean the house,cook her food, whatever she needed.

Two months ago I came to receive the very same response from myown Christian friends when my father was diagnosed with bladder cancer.

I’m in no way suggesting Christians deserve giant gold medals fromthe rest of the world for any of this. This, in my opinion, is just doing their fucking job. But these acts do matter, even in the shadow of all the horrible thingsother, more powerful institutions who use the Christian ™ label to advancetheir shitty causes perpetuate. Because they demonstrate that being a judgmental,small-minded, holier-than-thou hypocrite is not inherently some ‘consequence’ of what itmeans when you decide to become ‘Christian’. In fact the true purpose of thereligion always has been just theopposite.

So tying all of this into my view of the Jedi—it’s very hard toargue that, just from the stuff we’ve seen in the films/tv shows themselves,the Jedi Order didn’t operate under some pretty fucked-up ideals. Separatingchildren from their parents at infancy? Forbidding emotional attachment,marriage, a family of one’s own forever?That’s downright deplorable! And the canon itself frames how this directly leadto a number of people who couldn’t possiblyfit into such restrictive ‘ideals’ turning to the Dark Side of the Force,Anakin Skywalker himself being the most notable example. Based on all this, I understand entirely where certain peoplecome from when they think it might be better if Rey just dumps the mantle of ‘Jedi’altogether and starts an entirely new institution. Just like some days Iwish I could come up with a new way of framing my religious identity other than‘Christian’.

But here’s the thing—the Jedi also did a lot of things RIGHT. Theyespoused selflessness, serving the needs of the weak and helpless first, compassion, justice, therestoration of peace, fighting for the rights of those threatened by fascistideals, and using their abilities to defend others rather than gain any sort ofpower over them. You could also be literally ANY species or gender under the sun to be welcomed into their fold  and climb high in their ranks. They pushed back ceaselessly against greedy, opportunist, discriminating and oppressive forces in all forms and fought and gave their lives to try and uphold aRepublic that, while arguably equally flawed, at least stood resolutely fordemocratic ideals and equality among all species.

One of the things I LOVED LOVED LOVED most about Luke’scharacter development over the course of the OT is that he recognizes where his masters’ old ways of interpreting the will ofthe Force failed, while not forgetting where he also very much succeeded in learning from them. Becauseyes, the training and encouragement he receives from Ben in ANH (however brief)was absolutely ESSENTIAL to his ability to “trust the Force” and ultimately destroythe first Death Star. In TESB, his journey with the Force continues to be strengthenedexponentially by Yoda’s insistence he must forget all the arbitrary limitations convention taught him to believe about himself.That moment in the swamps of Dagobah where Yoda lifts the X-Wing after Luke’sattempt failed is very powerful, because it is here that Luke FINALLY learns heneeds to stop doubting himself, dammit tosucceed.

But even in spite of all that, Luke never, not once capitulatesto his masters’ insistence that he have to let go of all emotional attachmentfor good to win the day. He knowsintrinsically this is wrong. And ultimately it is his refusal to adhere tothis faulty principal, to abandon his friends in their time of need or killVader even when not one but TWO of his masters tell him he must (one frombeyond the grave), that ultimately leads to the long-promised achievement ofBalance in the Force. “I am a Jedi—like myfather before me.” It’s a very multilayered statement because he’s not justsaying ‘I’m a Jedi like my Dad’. He’s also saying “Like my Dad, I’m a Jedi whoembraces unconditional love and attachment, even in the face of my destruction”.

Because he KNOWS the Old Jedi’s interpretation of this issuewasn’t just wrong, it was actually downright COUNTER to what the Light Side ofthe Force really stands for (again, it was his unwavering love for his fatherthat brought him BACK TO THE LIGHT). But he doesn’t throw the baby out with thebath water either! He had enough insight to understand (before Disney and RianJohnson screwed this up for UNFATHOMABLE reasons), the best way to proceed inthe Force is to build on all the goodthat the Jedi espoused and accomplished, while preening away all the bad elementsat the same damn time.

Because, when you come down to it, if every successive generationjust throws away everything the previous generations learned and accomplishedbecause of how muddied or imperfect their general approach was in retrospect, nothing gets built. No legacies stand. Invaluablelessons inevitably get lost along the way as we just dismiss all of ourancestors’ insights as ‘meaningless’. And ultimately what would happen isanything anyone would attempt to build would just get burned to the ground over and over again as every humaninstitution tries and fails to achieve perfection. That’s not how people themselves work. We don’t abandon everything we are every time we realizewe need a major shift in our world view. We build upon all that we’ve already learned and experienced throughout ourlives, keep the good while casting off all the toxic bullshit. So why shouldour institutions be in any way different?

So yes, I am very much pro-Jedi, in spite of their many, many egregious mistakes. In fact(and this was actually a very good message that would have been SO MUCH BETTER COMMUNICATEDhad it not been delivered in the context of Luke’s shitty character retrograde)I DO believe failure is an invaluable teacher and absolutely 100% necessary ifany institution or humanity as a whole is to grow and improve on what camebefore. What I WANTED to see Luke achieve, but hopefully we’ll see through Rey,is a Jedi Order that, while probably never ‘perfect’, learns how to balancelove, family, and attachment while never abandoning the virtues of selflessnessand commitment to justice, compassion, and equality the Jedi always dedicatedthemselves to. There’s a beautiful legacyalongside all the fuckery there and, imo, it doesn’t deserve to be burned away alongwith all of the bad.

[getters-blog-index]

The Last Jedi Spoiler Review

I don't have the ability to put a read more from mobile so here's multiple warnings and tags.

So let's get right to it. Rey continues to be the series' favorite plot device right now. There's very little conflict or obstacles for her to overcome, and the ones that are there are triumphed easily without too much effort.

One key moment was the sensing of the Force on the island. Luke states it pretty well. The Dark Side called to her and she didn't even try to resist it. She followed it, yet somehow, she's not even mildly affected by it?

The cave scene we see, it's supposed to be a sacred Jedi Trial, and the most difficult of them all, as it can drive Jedi insane or turn them to the dark side due to the minor flaws that they see within themselves. Untrained and undisciplined, Rey is called to this hole and...

Nothing happens. Zip. Bumbkiss. It's like the scene didn't matter. It would have been better if it was cut out of the movie because it didn't affect her at all, ever.

This is something the movie suffers from heavily. Plot points and set ups that ultimately go nowhere and mean nothing. Poe and Finn are the only characters that actually try to get things done. In a situation where no one is willing to trust them with information, they took the initiative to try and set things up to save the Resistance.

Unfortunately, everything was against them between the writing and the in-universe characters.

Luke's character as he was was believable to an extent, being funny and such, but there were several scenes that didn't need to be in the movie, and there were others that betrayed his character. I refuse to believe that Luke would react so instinctually to Kylo's darkness that he'd draw his lightsaber.

The spoilers I was told implied he went to kill Kylo outright. That wasn't the case. He did want to go and try to bring him back from the dark side, but his reaction to Snoke's control over Kylo was the moment that I do not believe Luke would do that. He would have been frightened, but he faced evil before. He described the Emporer as the most evil person in existence, with a presence that was overpowering. I refuse to believe that after facing someone like that that he'd have acted instinctually towards Kylo's darkness.

Rose was a strange character to include the way they did. However, unlike a lot of reviewers, I didn't dislike her. Heck, I think she was a strong and important character to help Finn develop. She showed him her point of view and what mattered to her, and what she was willing to sacrifice to save it.

Her saving Finn did undercut a lot of his personal development as he was about to strike a crippling blow to the First Order by stopping their advance outright. The only reason I'm looking passed it is because his sacrifice would have been meaningless in the end since none of Leia's allies dared respond. I'd rather Finn stay alive than have him die needlessly.

And there's the obvious dumb move by the First Order in not blasting them as they literally ran back to the base right in front of them.

Kylo Ren really came into his own in this movie and I like that he's gotten his resolve. He's ready to become the Sith Lord he was meant to be.

They better not fucking redeem him after this though. If they do, they'd ruin the amazing character he's becoming. This movie gave him the opportunity for that redemption, and it was in his character to deny it. To reject the old ways and become his own person, not Jedi or Sith, but Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. That defines his character and Disney cannot be allowed to backtrack this decision or they risk screwing up the entirety of this trilogy.

Going back to Rey, i did expect her to progress with the Force, but I expected her to kinda stay in somewhat the same place since she already had too much experience from the Force Awakens. Keeping her at the level she was in TFA would have been good. She didn't. She got better, too much better.

The scene where she uses the lightsaber almost perfectly is even worse because right before it, she was clearly using her staff. She switched control from a larger weapon that had mass to a small weapon with no mass and did the exact same moves almost perfectly. That is not okay. If she was using a stick that was held like a sword and transitioning to the Lightsaber, that would have made her progress believable because the jump from wooden sword to lightsaber isn't much and the movements used are similar.

I made this argument before. Give Rey a double-bladed Lightsaber. THAT fits her staff style of combat. THAT would have made it more believable. THAT would have made her unique compared to the other Star Wars protagonists. Instead, she's STILL carrying around Anakin's lightsaber.

Plus the rocks at the end...dear lord, that could have been handled differently. Instead of having her lifting all these giant heavy boulders at once, she could have moved them aside two at a time, with her friends helping from their side to show that they succeed together despite her powers. That they would rely on each other for strength and unity.

Nope. Rey is magically more powerful and can do stuff like this with barely any training still. Luke never showed her how to fight with a lightsaber nor did he teacher her to move stuff with with the Force. His two lessons were that there's a balance and that the Jedi died because they were blinded by arrogance and ego. Not once did he actually train her like Yoda did for Luke. His entire motivation was to NOT train anymore Jedi. She did all of this on her own. Somehow. With no guidance and someone actually telling her not to.

I really want to see Rey develop as a character. I really do, but she's being reduced to a Mary Sue because of this writing.

Disney. Give me the fucking pen. I'll fix this so Rey will actually be more believable. The plot doesn't even have to change. Just let Luke train her a bit or something. Have her struggle more. Have her fall to the temptation of the dark side or something. She's not struggling and that's the problem with these movies.

And the struggles that do exist? They're forced and they make no sense.

I'll be writing a separate post for the positives of this movie next. Oh, and one last thing.

Fuck ViceAdmiral Holdo.

Nien Nub is clearly still alive and would have made a better acting Admiral than you. Your refusal to let those acting under your command know your plan, knowing full well that they can be impulsive, makes anything they do that screw up your plan be your fault for not telling them.

Poe justed wanted assurance. You belittled him instead and just made him not trust you. Congratulations. Your legacy is being an untrusting screw up of a leader. No sacrifice will vindicate you.