#i hate the male side of the star wars fandom

[auxxrat]

I love how the star was community is so free-the-clones based and AGREED upon that they are their own men, with brains and their own thoughts and feelings. You know, not mindless slaves.

UNTIL. UNTIL a clone is made to be trans.

Then suddenly all they are is JUST clones, JUST CLONES, no mind of their owns and un-thinking slaves. Because a clone can’t possibly think that for themselves. Its just crazy to me, and its always the cis white male side of it. Its ALWAYS the mfs who glorify what the clones had to do because it was “with the boys”. Clones have rights within the fandom until they dont.

[ariainstars]

Why Can’t the Star Wars Franchise Renew Itself?

„Shame is a soul eating emotion.“ (Carl Gustav Jung)

Warning: longer post.

Growing up with Japanese anime I learned that being a hero is not about being perfect. The heroes I knew looked cool, were smart and brave and anything you could wish for, but also human: they were tormented, traumatized, struggling, they often doubted themselves and they sometimes cried (yes, the guys too). When I was first confronted with the Western idea of heroism I was appalled; to this day, I can’t fathom what is even supposed to be heroic about a guy like James Bond. Western heroes are usually just as terrible as the villains, except that for some reason they happen to be on the right side. The way they appear is more important than what they do. Franchises like Terminator, Mission Impossible, Batman etc. always portray the “hero” as untouchable, seemingly unbeatable even in the most dangerous situations and, most of all: impassive.

These days, new stories are being told. With new heroes. Except that said heroes are still quite the same as above, only now they’re more often female.

Is it an improvement when heroes are portrayed as being complete a**holes, with an aura of perfection and untouchability? No.

It always was ridiculous. It always was awful. It always was immoral.

But hardly anyone seemed to care as long as it was the guys being tough. Now that females are often portrayed doing and appearing the same, being a cool a**hole has become a caricature. Most people hate it. But the problem is that portraying alleged “heroes” like that was wrong in the first place.

The Fandom Menace

To Star Wars viewers who see stories as simply black and white and who are there mostly for the action and the superior-looking heroes, the Jedi are untouchable. Solitary and aloof, the Jedi have shiny sabres and can make things float, they travel the galaxy to kill the villains according to their own judgement. What could be more masculine than that? You try to tell an action film fan, or a Jedi fan, in particular, how messed up that is: they will never accept it. No wonder they get so upset and embarrassed when Jedi show their vulnerable, human side. Luke’s green milk in The Last Jedi must have caused a million of meltdowns among Jedi stans, mostly male ones, who felt that their hero had been character-assassinated and totally missing the point. Fans who are used to admire “heroes” like Batman, James Bond, Rambo etc. believe that the main characteristics of a male hero is a stoic appearance. A man who actually questions and doubts himself and feels guilty when he did wrong is automatically branded a loser.

Star Wars is mostly followed by action fans. But since it’s not a typical action franchise but an epic fairy tale and a metacommentary rich in symbolism, philosophy and psychology, there are also many intellectuals who love it, or hopelessly romantic souls like me. Except that fans who can actually enjoy Star Wars even when it’s not about the alleged Jedi superheroes, will most probably not send death threats to the studios and believe that “everything will be better once these producers are gone.”

The Prequels

The prequels were so disputed that Goerge Lucas himself confessed that he had sold the rights to the saga because he didn’t want to be exposed to that pressure any more. Ahmed Best, who played Jar Jar, was mobbed to the point where he considered suicide. Jake Lloyd, who portrayed little Anakin, suffers from schizophrenia to this day.

Were the films really that bad? No. But for the first time after having spent the years since 1977 believing that the Jedi were the wisest and strongest men of their time, fans were let down being confronted with their many mistakes. The iconic villain Darth Vader was all too human as well, and quickly got apostrophized as a “whiny brat.” The very idea that the iconic villain once was a kind-hearted little boy and then an ardent young man was considered shocking to say the least.

The Classics

Luke is a simple farmboy when the saga starts, young, hot-headed and naïve. He is hardly aware of his powers. In the second film he’s more mature, but still impulsive and reckless. It’s only in the third instalment that he’s calm and collected: he’s a Jedi now, as the title says.

Let me ask a bold question.

Would there have been the vicious uproar we have witnessed, had The Last Jedi picked Luke up where he was in the first two films, before he became a Jedi?

I daresay, no.

Because to the Jedi stans Luke is first and foremost a Jedi. And that is what they get wrong.

Luke’s strength was exactly that he did not act like the other Jedi, that he followed his heart instead of their maxims. Had he acted like a Jedi, like Obi-Wan and Yoda expected him to, he would have killed his own father and spent the rest of his life hating himself. Luke is a team player, it’s one of his greatest strengths ever since the first film. He’s the one who brings people together and reunites his family. No Jedi is like that, on the contrary, in the prequels we learn that they’re discouraged from bonding with other people.

Jedi stans love Luke the Jedi, not Luke the person, who was wiser and stronger and better than any of the old-school Jedi, who strictly followed the rules instead of following their hearts the way he did.

Luke is the central character of the classic films because he’s so likeable. All three classic films have a scene towards the end where he’s about to die, and someone rushes to the rescue - Han in the first film, Leia in the second, Vader in the third. Do they save him because they are interested in his Jedi-like qualities? No. They do because they care for him; because, each in his own way, are his family. The Skywalker saga is a hymn to the power of love.

Hardcore fans still haven’t understood that the core story of Star Wars is the Skywalker saga, the story of a family. That’s the actual beauty and fascination of the Star Wars saga. And yet Jedi stans can pick apart any and every photogram of The Last Jedi and rant about how awful it is, never getting one inch closer to what is actually irking them too much: their own, misguided conviction that The Jedi Are the Good Guys and that their detached, collected attitude is not hypocritical.

Pride, male pride in particular can be oversensitive, and apparently many don’t grow beyond the mental stage of adolescents, who are particularly vulnerable. Listening to Jedi stans one would think that the Disney studios are producing new Star Wars content with the deliberate intention of hurting their feelings and laughing into the face of their ideals.

The Sequels

In Return of the Jedi (the only film where for all intents and purposes Luke looks and acts like a Jedi, and the title says it), on the Death Star he lashes out towards Vader when he threatens to corrupt Leia if he won’t succeed with him; and when he realizes that Vader can feel him in his mind, he says “I shouldn’t have come, I’m endangering the whole mission”. This fits perfectly to a Luke who debates killing his nephew - and that time he didn’t even strike - and who, once the damage is done, closes himself off the Force and retires to a deserted island before he can do any more harm. But ever since The Last Jedi, Jedi stans rave that “their hero” Luke Skywalker would never have behaved like that and that the film was a slap in the face of everything he ever stood for. Why?

Jedi stans expected Luke to be the hero and central figure of the sequel: he was supposed to be adult at last, wise, self-controlled, powerful, in other words the perfect Jedi. After the events on the second Death Star, Luke was not celebrated; no one even knew that Vader had saved him. In the final scene he had a vision of his father, now looking healed and serene, together with Yoda and Obi-Wan. No one else saw that, not even his sister. So, a lot of fans were waiting for Luke to have his big moment at last.

Instead, they saw a disillusioned hermit who at one point had to admit that he pushed his own nephew, albeit not on purpose, to the Dark Side. Luke was portrayed as a man who still had hope and strength even when he had seen his whole life’s work literally go up in smoke; who admitted his faults, apologized, and in the end gave his life to still make the best of the situation. That is what true heroism looks like. But it’s not what an average action moviegoer wants to see: to them, a hero looks cool, kills whoever gets in his way, maybe says some wise-sound words, and that’s it. Bonus if he gets the girl.

Jedi stans felt that Rey, was taking the shine from Luke, pushing him aside. Far from usurping his place, Rey said to Luke “I need someone to show me my place in all this”. She clearly didn’t want to fill in his place. But Jedi stans felt like they were watching a James Bond film where Bond is suddenly not convinced of his mission, doubts himself and steps aside to make way for someone who normally would only be a Bond girl.

Rey is one of the most controversial characters of the sequels, allegedly because she’s a Mary Sue or a feminist fantasy who didn’t earn all that she achieved. But in the classics Luke was also good at things we never or hardly had seen him training or learning before. In The Empire Strikes Back, he pulled his sabre into his hand only by the force of his will, and called out to Leia in his mind. He acted on instinct; he assuredly hadn’t trained at a Jedi temple for decades.

The sequels were the story of the third generation of the Skywalker family, and one of its main mistakes, the way I see it today, is that they focus too much on Rey. She is Ben’s other half in the Force, as we learn later on, but still: the scion of the Skywalker family is he, he is the one who changes deeply, while she doesn’t.

I like Kylo Ren / Ben Solo because he’s a complex character, well-written and interpreted, but not only for that. I understood him so well on a personal level. I know what it means to be so isolated and abused that the moment someone shows you only a glimpse of kindness you fall in love to the point you would do anything for that person. The actual problem was that Rey did not know what she wanted, or what the Force wanted her to do. She only told Ben “not to go this way”. He saved her life twice, once as Kylo (when he killed Snoke) and once as Ben (when he gave her his remaining life force). If she had known what she wanted apart from staying alive, or if she had known the will of the Force, I do not doubt that he would have done anything she wanted. But she didn’t.

Star Wars stories only develop and the heroes only have success when they know what they want, not what they want to avoid. Fair enough. But the Force’s will remains mysterious. Even the alleged Chosen One didn’t know it. After The Last Jedi, I naively assumed that the better times when the Jedi actually did the will of the Force and the galaxy was at peace was during the time when the temple of Ahch-To was built; that we would learn more about it and that new Force users would find back to these better times. Seven years after having seen the Force Balance mosaic on the floor of the Jedi temple, I’m still waiting in vain for one or more Force users to actually discover and share said balance.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)

The miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi was the first and only time that I actually liked a character who I had until then felt to be narrow-minded, haughty and largely responsible for Anakin’s damnation and the downfall of the republic.

“From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!” Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith

Obi-Wan proved that Anakin was right a few minutes later: he ended the duel with Anakin cutting off his legs and leaving him to burn in the lava - a Jedi does not soil his hands through a coup de grace. Obi-Wan did not manage to save Anakin in the moment of his greatest need, and he did not have mercy. Padme was about to take Anakin with her, which would at least have spared the galaxy the worst. Being the perfect Jedi, of course Obi-Wan had to interfere, setting the seal on Anakin’s fate. At the beginning of the same film Anakin killed Count Dooku who was kneeling handless in front of him; and it was also said that Anakin had saved Obi-Wans’s life ten times over. But he did not learn from his mistakes: twenty years later he tried to push the naïve Luke to patricide, so that is own hands would, again, not get dirty. Obi-Wan recurrently appeared to Luke as a Jedi spirit; but in The Empire Strikes Back when the traumatized young man, having learned the truth, repeated over and over, „Ben, why didn’t you tell me?” he was silent. When they did meet again, he shirked his responsibility with wise-sounding words.

Was Obi-Wan a good Jedi? From their perspective, undoubtedly. But I would not call him a compassionate human being. Obi-Wan was afraid not so much of Anakin but of the Jedi’s judgement: he knew that if Anakin tripped over a line, he as his master would be responsible. And Yoda had his fair share of responsibility - he refused to help Obi-Wan with the training of the powerful boy, he feared him although he was the one who clearly said that fear is the way to the Dark Side, and in Revenge of the Sith he practically ordered Obi-Wan to kill him.

Obi-Wan was always the first to draw the weapon. In A New Hope, he cut off the arm of a guy at a bar who was merely annoying him. In Revenge of the Sith, he attacked General Grievous showing up behind him, challenging to an uncalled-for fight. He had neither himself nor anyone else to protect right then. During his duel with Anakin / Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi, he also was the first to draw his weapons.

Obi-Wan never questioned himself, his choices and actions. He never took his responsibilities: even when dead, he justified his blatant lie to Luke saying that the truth is only a point of view. He never felt guilty or admitted defeat and wrong choices.

Not until Obi-Wan Kenobi, where was alone, traumatized, regretful, bonding with little Leia. Owen said clearly him that he did not want him to train Luke because of the way he had trained his father. Human at last! The last thing Jedi stans want him to be like. He even did what a Jedi actually ought to do, giving Reva spiritual advice. Of course, another Star Wars character who was accused of having been “character assassinated”.

Was Moses Ingram attacked for her portrayal of Reva because she’s a woman of colour? No, it was because Obi-Wan was not portrayed as Jedi stans wanted to see him. The actress was mobbed because they needed someone to project their hatred on. It’s true that her character was not written well, but any fool must have known that it wasn’t the actresses’ fault.

The Acolyte (2024)

“The Jedi live in a dream. A dream they believe everyone shares. If you attack a Jedi with a weapon you will fail… But an acolyte kills without a weapon. An acolyte kills the dream.” (The Stranger)

„The majority of my colleagues can’t imagine a galaxy without the Jedi. And I can understand why. When you’re looking up to heroes, you don’t have to face what’s right in front of you.“

„I think the Jedi are a massive system of unchecked power posing as a religion. A delusional cult that claims to control the uncontrollable. You project an image of goodness and restraint. But it’s only a matter of time before one of you snaps. And when, not if that happens, who will be strong enough to stop him?”

(Senator Rayencourt to Master Vernestra)

Did anyone at Disney Lucasfilm honestly think that this kind of show would be accepted and even loved by Jedi stans, who make up the majority of the fans - or at least a group that is very loud in their disapproval? If it “simply” was a bad tv show, fans would be disappointed, shrug it off and move on. I haven’t met such an amount of online vitriol since The Last Jedi, and it’s not difficult to see why: because the precious Jedi were shown as arrogant fools who believe they mean well but are too narrow-minded and stuck-up to see the errors in their ways.

„The Force does not belong to the Jedi.” (Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi)

Some in the galaxy far, far away call it The Thread. And use it their own way. Both ways might be wrong. Osha is raised by two very different mentalities and finds both don’t suit her, so she joins The Stranger who is also looking to find his own path. Whether they will or not we won’t know unfortunately, since the show’s second season was cancelled. (At least for now.)

Is Master Sol a bad person? No. He’s fallible and believes that the lies he told Osha are justified. So are the other Jedi that travel to Brendok with him. What makes Jedi stans hate them is that they actually feel guilty for what they did to Mae, Osha and their family. They take responsibility for their failure, see the narrow-minded arrogance of their ways. Vernestra lies to the Jedi Council to make sure they won’t find out what happened.

Sol took Osha away from everything she had known by destroying, in the process, her home, her past and her family, and letting her live in a lie for the next sixteen years. Sol knew that she was already too old to be trained, and taking her as his padawan he set her up for failure. Even when she left the Jedi order, failing the tests, he didn’t tell her the truth. Osha was condemned to loneliness, her only friend being Pip, a mechanical device. She could go back neither to Brendok nor to the Jedi, and being Force sensitive, she belonged nowhere until she met the Stranger.

Sol certainly was kind to her while he trained her, but for all the wrong reasons. He said that he “felt that Osha was meant to be his padawan”. What does that mean? Osha failed the tests and Sol knew she was already too old for training. He even said he loved her at one point. My take is that Sol felt lonely and wanted to raise her as his daughter, he did not care that much about Osha becoming a Jedi nor not. Osha was right confronting him about what he had done to her, her sister and her entire coven, allegedly knowing what was best for her. She didn’t have to go as far as to kill him, I found that it did a lot to make her character unlikeable. Osha effectively “killed the past”, the way Ben Solo had wanted to. However: if it’s immoral to kill your father figure, it is equally immoral, if not much worse, of said father figure to wipe out your family and its entire civilization with it just to get a hold on you because you have the same power as he.

Impossible!! A Real Jedi would never do that! That’s why Jedi stans hate on the show and will pick on every small detail where they believe they find a flaw. The actual flaw is their headcanon that the Jedi can’t be the problem. Watching the saga, you see that they were very much a problem. But woe if you speak up; your will get your head ripped off.

The Acolyte also isn’t a female fantasy, as his haters claim. The strongest and most impressive character is The Stranger (the Stranger). Mae is his first pupil, but she doesn’t connect with him on a personal level, she only learns fighting from him; in the end, this makes her regress to childhood (The Stranger deleting her memory and she finding herself helpless in the Jedi order the way her sister had been sixteen years earlier). So? It appears that just wanting to be a strong female character and to do what a guy shows you is the wrong way, which is certainly not feministic.

The Stranger, despite his black clothes and mask, is not a real villain: when you watch him fight you see that he defends himself, he never attacks first. Despite their Code, again we see Jedi draw their weapons first, attack from behind or ten against one. He rightly points out to Osha that Yord had arrested her for a crime she did not commit and that both Jecki and Sol, whom she saw as her friends, would never commit fully to her.

Another popular criticism is that The Stranger alias The Stranger allegedly has seduced Osha to the Dark Side with his male charms. But the Stranger is a mixed creature the way Osha is, neither good nor evil; he kills in defence or self-defence, and when he criticizes the ways of the Jedi he has a point. Osha is neither good nor evil herself, and I liked that they were starting on a new way together, all the more because I had been so disappointed that the sequels didn’t show us the much-needed and already announced Balance in the Force. When both Anakin and his grandson Ben came back to the Light side, it swallowed them whole, causing their death.

The Acolyte is a metaphor for growing up. Osha learned two ways of using the Force - first with (mother) Aniseya, then with Sol (father figure). The Stranger understands her doubts because he’s been through the same. Osha understands him better after putting on his helmet. In the end, they join their lives to find a new way together and in the final scene, both turn their backs to the past.

The Broom Boy: a Metaphor for the Future

The final scene of The Last Jedi with the Force-sensitive slave boy sweeping a floor before an open space which looks very much like a theatre stage, and who then looks up to the stars dreaming of being a Jedi, was clear: “Free the stage, now it’s time for us, the children.” There has hardly been a Star Wars show until now where there wasn’t a child in a central role.

Since the prequels, Star Wars made a point of showing that the Jedi are very bad at dealing with children. Anakin was taken away from his mother at age nine, shouldered with the prediction “You are the Chosen One”, and his emotional development was stunted because he was not allowed to go through the stages of being a normal child and teenager. Remember Attack of the Clones, where we see children playing around with light sabres - deadly weapons - like they were toys? Or Revenge of the Sith, where we see even smaller children, all with their light sabre tucked into their belts? It looks tragic. The scene where Anakin kills the children is a painful metacommentary on how a good person with a gun is no match against a bad person with a gun.

Sol: „She was just a child.” The Stranger: „You brought her here.”

In The Acolyte, Torbin and Jecki are heartbreaking examples of two Jedi padawans not allowed to be the teenagers they actually are. Jedi stans call Torbin “whiny”, but they overlook that his behaviour is normal for any teenager forced to be away from home for weeks on end on a trip he didn’t choose to make. Jecki is more mature, yet she gets killed. The Stranger rightly points out that they both should never have come along on a risky mission to a planet with wholly unknown dangers. Jedi stans of course despise Torbin, because he’s supposed to be proud to be part of the Jedi since it gives him the possibility to look cool and fight all the bad guys in sight. Ironically, Torbin is the only member of the group of Jedi on Brendok who feels that something dreadful is about to happen and wants to go away. And years later, he is the only Jedi who admits to Mae that he feels guilty for what they did to Osha and her covert believing “they were doing the right thing”. That’s simply not what Jedi stans want to see. It’s an aberration to them, a slap in the face of everything they believe in.

Luke did not learn his ideals from the Jedi, he learned them at home with two simple farmers who neither were Force-sensitive nor knew the ways of the Jedi. Had he been raised like his father, all his power wouldn’t have helped him. Why do the Jedi insist that at a certain age you’re too old to be trained? I daresay because you have to start with brainwashing very early, before a person’s character is formed and its ideals in place.

The Mandalorian always allows Grogu to be a child. He keeps him close because that’s where’s he’s safest; he does look for safer places where he could leave him and is ready to make the sacrifice to give him up, but Sorgan proves not to be safe and later on Ossus, Grogu chooses to leave Luke on his own accord. And as soon as he is with Mando, he shows his playful side again. Grogu needs that! It’s healthy, because a child needs to be a child, no matter how powerful it is. But Jedi stans only think that it must be a great honour to be trained to be a hero from childhood on, never considering that it’s unfulfilling and frustrating at best, and traumatizing at worst.

It’s not a coincidence that family is the core theme of the Skywalker saga. Children who grow up feeling loved and protected develop well. That’s a wise message, and The Bad Batch, Obi-Wan Kenobi or The Mandalorian made a good point of it. But still: until now it didn’t lead anywhere. None of the Force-sensitive children we saw until now pointed to a new and better new Jedi Order, or anything else of that sort.

Star Wars Bigotry: Jedi and Jedi stans

If the Force wants Balance, as is said in the prequels, then the Jedi must be just as wrong as the Sith, because the Force does not want to be used either way.

I don’t mind a good villain. But if a viewer needs to compartmentalize characters into black and white or else he believes it can’t work, then that’s his problem, not the author’s. The sequels were unclear as to who the villain was, so was The Acolyte, so Jedi stans rave about how they suck. In my opinion they’re interesting exactly because the good guys sometimes do wrong and the bad guys sometimes are right. Of course, anyone who’s adamant that a good story, in particular a good Star Wars story, has to be Good Guys against Bad Guys with the Jedi being the good guys will never accept that.

The Jedi worshippers are many, and they are the most vicious among the SW fandom. Woe if you dare to criticize their Flawless Heroes with shiny light sabres who make things float. They will pretend that „wokeism“, feminism, blackwashing etc. are the problem. But that’s not true. Most of them wouldn’t mind strong female characters, queer or black characters whatsoever as long as the show they appear in would actually focus on showing off the Jedi as heroes. They do not mind stories like The Mandalorian, Rogue One, Andor, or The Bad Batch, they usually like them: because the Jedi hardly appear there. Or if they do, like in The Mandalorian season 2, The Book of Boba Fett or Ahsoka, they kick ass. In The Force Awakens Han Solo, also a very popular character, got killed, and no one hated on that film, on the contrary, most fans loved it. But hey, Han is not a Jedi. He can die a seemingly senseless death.

The Book of Boba Fett was mediocre at best. But it wasn’t hated. On the contrary, a lot of fans loved episode 6 because they finally saw a young Luke as a Jedi master making frogs float (argh!). The Jedi taught their pupils to suppress their feelings and to live without attachments, an attitude that proved fatal. Yet Jedi stans love the idea, probably because of the age-old adage of the lonesome cowboy who is too cool and aloof to care for anyone. They loved seeing Luke as an adult Jedi master alone and cut off from the very people who had been his life and purpose until then. He trained Grogu but didn’t play with him, didn’t allow him to be a child. It was the contrary of everything the character ever stood for - family, friendship, team spirit, loyalty. Of course that was not seen as “character assassination”, apparently that’s exactly what they wanted to see.

Many Star Wars fans believe that Luke Skywalker and the Jedi stand in for certain values, which they claim as their own. These values are their own values; they have only chosen a person and a group to represent them. If you believe that Star Wars is about Good vs. Evil and that the Jedi are the heroes who always triumph, of course you will be disappointed by the new stories. The studios are not deliberately harming the franchise, it’s the fans who want the saga to fit their worldview. They hardly care for what the stories really tell them. Someone who e.g. is convinced that all Frenchmen are cheaters and liars will also see a Frenchman and see in him the embodiment of everything he despises; he will not care to get to know this man better, or to learn about his country and his culture. And if said Frenchman has success in his life and is popular, the worse. It’s unacceptable. And anyone who does not hate this particular man is an idiot.

Bigotry has many forms, it doesn’t only mean despising and not wanting to understand people from another race, religion, orientation etc. The Fandom Menace’s bigotry consists in worshipping the Jedi and hating anything that criticizes them. Bigotry is the firm conviction of being Good, and supporting who also is “Good”, whatever category those good people are supposed to belong to. A bigot is a stern denier of his own sins and inner darkness. Either you’re with him or against him. Bigoted people are capable of fighting tooth and nail against perceived “enemies” who threaten their ideal of the “goodness” they believe in and think they belong to. Unfortunately, Jedi stans have many channels on social media and many, many followers who would rather die than see the Jedi as anything but perfect. A perfect person does not go wrong, of course. Ever. Their perfection prevents them from questioning themselves. A lot of fans don’t even watch the pieces of media they criticize at all, but hate on them anyway because their influencers tell them they suck. Bullies do not care who they attack. They feel frustrated, they can’t handle their feeling of shame, and take it out on who is or seems most vulnerable. And the worst bullies are those who pretend they are being aggressive out of morality.

“Wokeism” is Not the Problem

After the hatred coming from the fans who disapproved hotly of The Last Jedi, the narrative of this film was tainted and instead of finishing all the narrative threads it had set up, it was plainly ignored in favour of a pure action film, flat and disappointing. The Rise of Skywalker ended not only the trilogy but the entire saga in a way that I can only call disgraceful. On both sides, hardly anyone really liked it. But was it hated? No, because the Jedi were portrayed as the heroes, with even one ridiculous scene where the ghost of Luke appears to Rey telling her how wrong he had been when he was still alive.

Just for comparison: very many fans of Joker didn’t understand the film’s point as well. Todd Philips answered with the sequel Folie à deux, which is a logical continuation of the first film and boldly asks the audience to look at themselves and their wrong interpretation. The reviews are mixed - as with The Last Jedi, apparently you can only love or hate that film -, but Folie à deux is, first of all, a good film. In time, when the controversy has calmed down, it will be remembered as an excellent piece of art. The Rise of Skywalker is just embarrassing, and there’s no way it can age well.

The saga was indeed tainted, but not by Disney. Toxic fans who flooded social media with hate after The Last Jedi and sent death threats or tearful resentment to the studios did, resulting in the production of the flattest, most low-quality and uninteresting film Star Wars has ever seen, obviously patched together as a try to “amend” for what didn’t need to be amended for in the first place.

Star Wars’ strength is constant weaving between Good and Evil, good guys showing dark sides and bad guys having a point, interacting and learning from one another instead of killing each other. It could be a dream for film studios and authors, because it offers such rich tapestry for storytelling: the possibilities seem endless. But every time anyone dares to criticize Jedi or to show that an alleged Bad Guy still has a bright spot in his heart, and that he might have his reason for turning his back on the Jedi, Jedi stans cry out to heaven as if an inconceivable blasphemy had occurred.

If you like the sequels, you’re an idiot “Reylo” who believes she can fix the bad guy. Kylo Ren alias Ben Solo was the most deep, complex and fascinating character of the sequels, who went through a deep and compelling transformation. And no, he was not fixed by a woman’s love. But if you understand his conflict and follow him hoping for him to come back to the Light, you just “don’t get it that he’s the villainTM who wants to seduce an innocent girl to become evil”.

Same thing with The Acolyte of course, because there’s a scene where we see the non-Jedi-not-quite-Sith taking off his clothes. Of course the Stranger was “evil”; he wanted an acolyte, i.e. he did not want to be alone. What kind of guy is that, who does not embrace his loneliness?! The Strager - a guy - was he coolest character of all in The Acolyte and the only “relationship” we saw there was one between man and woman. But if you like that show you’re apostrophized as woke (which is still a mild word), because the author is a lesbian and the actress portraying the protagonist identifies as non-binary. That is neither true nor does queerness have anything to do with the show’s quality.

Luke exposed himself both body and soul to the Emperor, first almost falling to the Dark Side himself and then almost dying in the process, because he wanted to “fix” the Bad Guy, aka his father. And he actually did.

In The Bad Batch, the character of Crosshair goes from belonging to the heroes to betraying them and then going back again. In the last season his relationship with Omega is evenly balanced, they break free from imprisonment together. It’s one of the show’s best parts. But they are no Jedi, so that show is not hated on.

Jedi stans expect Star Wars to “stick to its roots”, i.e. tell stories where morals are as clearly cut as in A New Hope. They don’t consider that that expectation was already beyond all hope when The Empire Strikes Back came out, with its infamous key scene and all its implications, including the failure and hypocrisy of the Jedi.

Action films have taught spectators that real heroism is defined by the “license to kill”, i.e. the good guy is recognizable from the fact that he has the right - or believes he has the right - to kill anyone who stands in his way. Jedi stans love the idea that Jedi are the good guys because, not having attachments, apparently that gives them the right and to decide who must be sacrificed by them “for the greater good”. I would like to see them in a situation where someone, maybe even someone they love, tells them “Oh well, now I’m going to sacrifice you for the greater good.” It’s absurd and unbelievably cruel to pretend that such an attitude has anything to do with good morals. If anything, it ought to be the victim who decides that they’re sacrificing their lives, not some Jedi or other hero who allegedly has the right to decide over life and death.

Luke Skywalker himself sacrificed himself over and over. He did debate to kill his nephew, but it was only a brief moment of panic on his side, he didn’t go through with it, and afterwards he felt so ashamed he exiled himself. Luke���s trademark characteristic was his compassion; whereas we never see a Jedi act out of compassion. And believing that having no attachments because it gives you the licence to sacrifice someone “for the greater good” is everything but compassionate. But even the greatest Jedi and Luke stans don’t see any contradiction there.

Do the Jedi stans really expect a white male straight character as the lead? No. Most of them for instance were fine with Jyn Erso being the protagonist of Rogue One. But in that film, there was no Jedi. When the sequels, Obi-Wan Kenobi or The Acolyte came out, they were upset because the non-white, non-male, non-straight characters seem adamant to take the place of who Star Wars allegedly ought to be all about. Jedi stans want a story where they can be on the side of the “good guys”, follow them sitting comfortably on their couch or in a theatre seat, identify with them and pump their fist in the air when “their side has won”. A lot of them do appreciate more complex stories like Andor; but their untouchable Jedi do not appear there, so there is nothing to hate on.

The classic trilogy’s topics were Hope, Love and Faith (the Force representing and tying together all three). The prequels had very little of all of that, because they’re the story of a tragedy and a massive failure; but what fans who like them apparently have learned from the prequels it’s that it must be great to be a Jedi, lonely and aloof and the master over life and death. Who wants Hope, Love and Faith instead of cool heroes killing everybody who stands in the way of what they decide is right?

Where Do We Go from Here

Star Wars will never have the chance to truly evolve and renew itself as long as there are people who will cry blasphemy any time a film or tv show dares to portray one Jedi or the Jedi as a whole as anything but perfect. Try to tell a Jedi stan that the Jedi perhaps are not the Good Guys after all (starting with Luke Skywalker after his third film): it’s as telling a staunch Catholic that Jesus was not the Son of God. They will fight you literally like their soul depended on it.

The unpardonable fault, in the eyes of Jedi stans, is not diversity the way it’s often mistakenly interpreted; it’s the Disney studios portraying the Jedi Order, Luke, Boba, Obi-Wan etc. as humans instead of Good or Evil cardboard cut-outs. To them, that’s simply bad writing, and they sternly refuse to see any other angle; they identify with the allegedly Good Guys and now believe it’s up to them to put up a fight against the Bad Guys who make their heroes allegedly look like fools, i.e. who dare to take them from their pedestal by criticizing or at least humanizing them. It was the Jedi stans who built said pedestal. It wasn’t George Lucas or the Disney studios.

Most Jedi stans would not mind strong female characters, black, diverse characters, homosexuality etc.; as long as everyone stays in sidelines while the Jedi take the shine. Heated Star Wars discussions usually start with one side accusing the other of being misogynistic, homophobic etc. and the other side claiming that the responsible people at the studios are using the franchise to shove their “woke” agenda down their throats.

Instead of cancelling interesting character developments that were just getting started and ending entire trilogies after almost half a century on disturbingly flat notes, dear Disney Lucasfilm studios: please finally give Jedi stans what they want - a tv show or film trilogy that caters to them. Set it a few hundred years before the fall of the Republic, endow their precious Jedi with all imaginable virtues, let them make things float and have cool light sabre battles destroying some faceless, boring Bad Guy and then take off into the sunset. Tell these kinds of stories for the next decade, and maybe the Fandom Menace will finally be appeased.

Choose a diverse cast if you want: Jedi stans will hardly care. If a Star Wars show had Jedi for protagonists and these would be the infallible, all-wise superheroes their stans take them for, they won’t mind if these Jedi were black, Asian, female, lesbians or non-binary, with a few white straight people sprinkled throughout. They will swallow it hook, line and sinker.

In the meantime, please complete the stories that you enchanted us other fans with, which are actually epic and magical and centred around human connection and personal development.

Thank you.

[fellthemarvelous]

The Giggle is a true work of art

It's a love letter to humanity, but everyone has to be willing to listen for it to work.

I love this gif. Think about it. The MCU has a LARGE audience base and Tony Stark is the face of the MCU and is one of the richest men alive. It is no accident that UNIT looks like a tower that was erected by a a white male American narcissist who sacrificed his life to save the entire universe. Love him or hate him, Tony Stark gets your attention. And so does Iron Man. And so do the other Avengers. You know who else has a tower? Batman. (Right?). He's DC. Some people like both. I don't know enough about the DC characters.

And think about RDJ who is trying to step away from the Tony Stark image. It's a character he loved, a character that changed his life after he got out of prison, and he will always love Tony Stark, but he and Tony Stark are not the same person.

https://www.thestreet.com/media/vintage-video-of-robert-downey-jr-visiting-wall-street-resurfaces-goes-viral

Robert Downey Jr told us what was up in the 1990s.

This is meant to connect to the people who love superheroes and superhero movies. To see that Robert Downey Jr is the way he is because he's seen the ugly side of humanity and he has always told us what he really thinks. People look up to him.

This is meant to catch their eye, to say THIS IS WHAT WE ARE DOING. Please listen to our message.

Nerd culture is beautiful art.

And if you don't spend your time asking yourself how often Neil Patrick Harris is bullshitting us because I refuse to believe that he had never heard of Doctor Who before joining the cast. I think he just threw 100% of his "please" attitude into Barney Stinson.

Remember when Neil Patrick Harris played Doogie Howser, MD? The 14 year old Doctor?

Oh, he was a Doctor too! So let's not forget this other cult classic Doctor character he played. If you haven't seen Doctor Horrible and His Sing-along Blog you are missing out.

He was once listed as one of Times' 100 Most Influential People in 2010.

He's charismatic and is openly affectionate with his husband and their children.

Love him or hate him, he has a large fanbase. And he is an AMAZING actor. And a really good magician too.

And they used his skills as a magician on Doctor Who, took us to Soho in 1925, and the Good Omens fandom arose from our slumber severe hyperfixation and meticulous meta analysis to dig into a fandom where David Tennant is the most popular incarnation of a particular character, so we are already doing nonstop detective work.

The Good Omens fandom LOVES David Tennant. He is our favorite rebellious demon.

He played the MCU's most terrifying villain (there is not one single MCU villain that has ever terrified me as much as Kilgrave because that fucker uses his powers of mind control to force Jessica Jones into being in a relationship with him...among other things). As a character though, he was fucking fascinating despite the fact we have met so many men who act just like him, and we hate all of them.

Side note: When I typed "Doogie Howzer" into the gif search, this is the most popular image that came up. I consistently get Howser and Howzer confused.

Now I've got the attention of the Star Wars fandom! Howzer rocks.

You know who else appeared on a Star Wars show (again) this year?

This entire episode was crafted in a way that it formed as many connections as it could with other fandoms.

And not just that. It made sure to include as much representation as possible. Was it perfect? No, but the point is that Doctor Who is telling the world that it is moving on. It is ready to grow and it is ready to be a mainstream voice for everyone whose existence is being threatened by unjust laws.

The new Doctor defied expectations. This Doctor is a breath of fresh air, and a reminder that we will all be okay, but change is inevitable and this sci-fi show about an alien who is either 2,000 or 4,000,000,005 years old. I can't keep up anymore. It doesn't matter because he's a Doctor free from the confines of societal expectations.

Nerd culture is vast, and I know I've left out fandoms because I don't really have all day nor do I know all the fandoms, so I'm just giving you a taste of what I do love.

This episode is meant to be for everyone who needs a place to call home.

And the old Doctor finally gets to retire to make way for the new Doctor.

And as a reward for longtime fans, the retired Doctor has found a place to call home on Earth with his best friend. David Tennant will always be Doctor Who because the old Doctor was allowed to live.

And for the Staged fandom, you know what that means, Michael?

[merrysithmas]

Why do you think so many take the stance that Leia would never forgive Anakin and essentially hate him forever when in the original EU she named her youngest son after him (Anakin Solo) and said he’d “ be a great Jedi like his grandfather.” ?

I think it's a case of exposure.

Leia, tragically, has had hardly no development in the modern on-screen pop culture. Luke has had endless comics, scenes, EU novels, but more importantly is he has had development in what is popularly consumed by the general audience - the films, and was even resurrected by CGI to continue to have development in our current time period.

Leia (and Shmi) the two female Skywalkers (no surprise) are the most ignored and underdeveloped portion of SW when it comes to on-screen appearances. Unfortunately the great Carrie passed away before we could see any narrative substance from her in the Sequels which was just such a shame. On top of that, Leia got no grand entrance and pomp/circumstance such as Luke saving the Mandalorian - capturing our hearts again. She didn't train Grogu and was mostly, yet again, sidelined in the sequels for Luke's development.

So I think it has less to do with fanon interpretation than real-life sexism and favoritism of the men / male directors making Star Wars content right now.

I think the fandom would very much get behind a Leia story and sympathize with an arc focusing on her rejection/acceptance of her heritage.

For what it's worth Leia's fear of her father/Vader who tortured her is obviously just as powerful as Luke's forgiveness of Anakin. That is a great story there.

Anakin is more like Luke - this is why he was Luke's opponent in the Force. Luke sympathizes with Anakin because he could see himself in Anakin's shoes - falling like he did.

Leia is more like Vader - this is why she was his opponent in the Senate. Leia does not sympathize with Vader because she could see herself in Vader's shoes - ruling as he did with an iron unforgiving fist, even falling as he did.

The great lost opportunity in the twin's story is seeing Leia come to understand Anakin & Luke come to understand the toxic destruction caused by Vader... through their relationship with each other.

Luke could help Leia heal and see their father through the lens of the Force - see her own goodness & not fear her dark side. Leia would help Luke see Vader's evil actions on a galactic scale and thus help him become a better and more compassionate Jedi to the galaxy by understanding why many people may mistrust or hate him despite him trying to do good.

But... pretty bluntly, I'd argue the lack of understanding of Leia's amazing character comes down to sexism in the film industry and a lack of interest by male creators in exploring her complexity.

... which then trickles into the fandom because there is really no well-established narrative for her in the GA's eyes, film-wise.

Even in the Sequels we get hints of it - Leia feared continuing her Jedi training with Luke. She foresaw the death of her son and ran away - feeling like perhaps she would take Vader's path and kill him. But in the world of Star Wars, we know all characters have predetermined destinies - Ben Solo would always die. This suggests Leia abandoned her training which could have saved him - a self-fulfilling prophecy she interpreted incorrectly until the end (when she died saving him with her last breath using her Force abilities).

It has also been suggested in numerous SW media that Leia was even stronger in the Force than Luke - unfortunately we never get to see her explore her fear or learn more on screen.

Leia's hatred of Vader and her fear of Anakin's fate boil down to her fear of the kinship she feels in the general qualities she shares with her father - unfortunately on screen we never get to see her learn the great lesson of Star Wars: that everything has two sides. The qualities of Vader that she fears- unrelenting, dogged, inescapable, great power in the Force ... could be used by someone more clear-minded for good.

That good person is Leia.

[cinnamon-galaxies]

Request rules

Requests are currently closed!

(This list only applies to stories. I don't take any art requests at the moment. If I ever decide to open art requests there will be a different set of rules!)

*****

Basic information:

❥ All of my works (so far) are x reader and I probably won't write stories featuring any OCs that aren't my own. If any of my stories ever feature one (or more) of my OCs I'll state it on top of the description.

❥ All of my stories are written in second person unless stated otherwise.

❥ I prefer to write female or gender neutral reader (but don't hesitate to ask me about male reader requests).

❥ Requests might take some time to write (I attach great importance to my personal space/private life—self-care is very important for me!).

❥ I like to write song-fics but I probably won't take any requests because my music taste is different from the average (further information below).

{Masterlist}

List of Fandoms/Characters I'll write (will change/grow over time):

❥ Hazbin Hotel

Alastor, Lucifer Morningstar

❥ Star Wars

Obi-Wan Kenobi

*****

There are specific rules that determine what I will/won't write. But sometimes there are exceptions, so feel free to ask—I won't bite!

What I WON'T write:

ABORTION - I hope this one explains itself.

ABUSE - if the character is the one inflicting anything crucial to the reader or the other way round (especially in romance or with children as victims); talking about it is okay; sometimes side characters "harming" the reader/other characters might also be okay but I can't really tell you what's okay and what's not because it really depends on the case (the kind of abuse/how detailed/the plot/identity of victim & perpetrator/circumstances/etc.). Abuse is a very crucial topic that won't trigger me but might trigger other people and I also don't support any abusive actions at all nor will I ever romanticize them! I'd see less issues with this topic if the story's intention is to spread awareness! So don't be afraid to ask! I will tell you if it's okay or not).

CHEATING - neither the character doing it to the reader nor the reader doing it to the character (only exception: unwanted/forced/arranged and loveless marriage with a side character—not to be confused with unhappy marriage).

GORE/BODY HORROR - I don't mind blood or violence but I won't write anything that's too descriptive.

HATE/DISCRIMINATION - I don't support any kind of hate or discrimination and never will. My blog is a safe space for all kinds of people in this world. However, there are a few exceptions such as discrimination in a historical context or as a character background that shaped their personality. I might also write discrimination to spread awareness or if a side character is discriminating another character but gets to feel the consequences of their actions. So feel free to ask me and I'll tell you if I'll write your request or not!

INCEST - explains itself.

OMEGAVERSE - I neither understand it nor feel comfortable with it.

RAPE/SEXUAL ASSAULT - mentions are okay (f.e. to spread awareness) but actual descriptions aren't.

SMUT - I might post smut that comes from my own ideas but don't take any requests at the moment because I've never posted something like this ever before. So it might probably change over tim. (I'll write spice and suggestive stories though as long as they ain't smutty.)

SONG-FICS - I really like to write them myself but I probably won't take requests since my music taste isn't average and I don't like most popular music. I will make exceptions though if the requested songs somehow meet my taste/mood (I prefer dark wave, post punk, synth pop, metalcore, and rock/alternative metal in general. I listen to pop as well but only to specific songs/artists, such as Lana Del Rey, Lady Gaga or Rihanna. So feel free to ask—maybe we meet a common ground, even if it's not my taste of music! This rule might also not apply to instrumental music!)

SUICIDE/SELF HARM - talking about it/mentions are okay (f.e. awareness or Chara term background) but I won't write any scenarios of characters actually committing to such actions!

What I WILL write:

ANGST

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE (AU)

BLOOD/VIOLENCE - but only up to a certain point (consider the rules above. I also won't write detailed gore and body horror)

BREAK-UP

CHARACTER DEATH

FAKE RELATIONSHIP

FLUFF

FORBIDDEN RELATIONSHIP

FRIENDSHIP

HEADCANON

PARENTAL RELATIONSHIP

PLATONIC RELATIONSHIP

PREGNANCY

SPICY/SUGGESTIVE - as long as it's not smutty

ANYTHING ELSE THAT ISN'T MENTIONED - of course there might still be some topics/themes I won't write about that aren't on the list yet. In this case the rule sheet will be updated!

*****

I may decline a request if I don't feel comfortable with it but in this case I will inform you. If that's te case, please don't take it personal! I also still have to explore my writing preferences and boundaries (f.e. I don't feel comfortable taking smut requests at the moment because I've never posted smut ever before. But this will probably change over time). If you're unsure if I will write you request, feel free to ask! 💞

[starblightbindery]

Editor's Note from my bind, Designs of Fate, an anthology of Star Wars stories by Patricia A. Jackson.

Patricia A. Jackson is a criminally underrated Star Wars author.

I’ll explain.

Growing up in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was challenging to be an adolescent Star Wars fangirl, particularly an Asian American one. Back then, fandom meant negotiating male-dominated online message boards where identifying as a teenage girl meant inviting a ‘fake geek girl’ grilling at best and sexual harassment at worst. Most of the published Star Wars books were about Han, Leia, and Luke. Han and Leia were in their thirties and the parents of three children...not super relatable for preteen me. As far as character development was concerned, our “Big Three” had established characterizations coalesced firmly on the side of good. For our heroes, there was no moral ambiguity as, novel by novel, they tackled the galactic Threat of the Week.

Bildungsromans, those books were not. When Jackson started writing Star Wars in the 1990s, there were no women Jedi or protagonists of color. If you wanted stories with original characters coming of age, your primary recourse was the West End Games’ Star Wars Adventure Journals and their published anthologies, Tales from the Empire (1997) and Tales from the New Republic (1999). I remember avidly poring over my dogeared paperback copies and stalking the internet for scans or transcriptions. Although I never played the D6 role-playing game, the short stories from the Star Wars Adventure Journals helped me envision that a character like me—a young Asian girl coming into her own—did have a place in Star Wars after all.

As evinced by the vitriolic reactions towards John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran during the production of the sequel trilogy, Star Wars fandom can be a hateful environment for proponents of diversity and inclusion. A small but irritatingly loud faction of fascist-leaning, cishet, white male fans are actively hostile towards fans who advocate for change; they are more troubled by the presence of queers, women and BIPOC than our absence. Because of the ubiquity and popularity of Star Wars in America’s cultural milieu, the sentiments from these self-appointed gatekeepers have been—and continue to be—amplified by right wing extremists, and, to some extent, even by the Internet Research Agency as tools of Russia’s psychological and cyber warfare against the United States. During his Ph.D. candidacy with the Department of Information Studies at UCLA, Morten Bay, PhD., studied negative tweets about The Last Jedi and found that 50.9% of negative tweets were “bots, trolls/sock puppets or political activists using the debate to propagate political messages supporting extreme right-wing causes and the discrimination of gender, race or sexuality.”

“Russian trolls weaponize Star Wars criticism as an instrument of information warfare with the purpose of pushing for political change,” he wrote, “while it is weaponized by right-wing fans to forward a conservative agenda and for some it is a pushback against what they perceive as a feminist/social justice onslaught.”

The creation and inclusion of characters with minoritized identities in Star Wars is, therefore, an act of resistance. As far as I’m aware, Patricia A. Jackson was the first woman of color and Black author to write for the Star Wars expanded universe. Jackson has described the fan environment in the 1990s thusly; like many minoritized fans of color, she would be given pithy justifications such as "Well, there’s no Africa in Star Wars, so there are no Black people." Jackson noted, aptly, "That was just translation for “’You don’t matter. You don’t need to be here.’” Jackson's work for West End Games, particularly her sourcebook The Black Sands of Socorro, is a subversion of those expectations.

Before anyone else did, Jackson showed fandom that dominant mayo masculinity did not have to be the only way to tell Star Wars stories. Her stories existed before the prequel trilogy and three decades of Star Wars publishing, before FanFiction.net, Archive of Our Own, or Wattpad. She is the forerunner for BIPOC writers in Star Wars, followed by other luminaries like Steven Barnes, Daniel José Older, Nnedi Okorafor, Rebecca Roanhorse, Ken Liu, Greg Pak, Alyssa Wong, Sarah Kuhn, Saladin Ahmed, C.B. Lee, Justina Ireland, Alex Segura, Zoraida Cordova, Greg VanEekhout, Mike Chen, Charles Yu, R.F. Kuang, Sarwat Chadda, Sabaa Tahir, and Renée Ahdieh.

Jackson had and continues to have an incredibly prescient understanding of what makes a good Star Wars story. Any of the stories in this anthology could find a home as an anime short from Star Wars: Visions (2021). Ideas from Jackson’s Star Wars short stories have appeared in later media, sometimes decades later. Whether convergently evolved or directly influenced, the parallels are astonishing: Kierra, the snarky feminine droid consciousness who inhabits Thaddeus Ross’s ship, is a spiritual predecessor to L3-37, Lando Calrissian’s snarky feminine droid companion from Solo (2018) who ends the film uploaded to the Millennium Falcon. Jackson addressed concepts like slavery and Force healing predating the prequel and sequel trilogies. In “Idol Intentions,” she created an adventuring academic on the hunt for artifacts long before Kieron Gillen brought Doctor Aphra to life. Squint and the upturned red salt on the planet Crait in The Last Jedi becomes flying red soil on the planet Redcap. Dark haired, dark side tragic emo boy starcrossed with a fiery girl Jedi?—I think Jackson understood intuitively the appeal of this trope to a woman-dominated contingent of fandom well before “Reylo” topped Tumblr’s fan favorite relationship charts in 2020.

Jackson’s work is also significant for deepening world building. Much like how Timothy Zahn introduced analysis of fine art to Star Wars with his villainous art connoisseur Grand Admiral Thrawn, Jackson’s stories introduced concepts such as the evolution of Old Corellian, the acting profession, and Legitimate Theatre. These elements added verisimilitude to the expanded universe; it makes sense that different cultures in Star Wars would have archaic languages, folk songs, and old stories of their own from even longer ago in galaxies far, far, away. More recently, the franchise has started to flesh out in-universe lore in Star Wars: Myths and Fables (2019) by George Mann. Still, Uhl Eharl Khoehng in “Uhl Eharl Khoehng” (1995) remains the finest example of mise en abyme in any Star Wars related work.

Themes from Jackson’s Star Wars works, particularly around Drake Paulsen and Socorro, also connect contemporaneously with our real world. When the Seldom Different is essentially ‘pulled over’ by Imperial authorities in “Out of the Cradle” (1994), stormtroopers lie about Drake Paulsen having a weapon as a pretense to terrorize the teenager. It’s a collision of space opera with Black youths’ past and current experiences of police brutality and state-sanctioned violence. Accordingly, this capricious encounter is the rite of passage that jars Drake out of his childhood. I cheered when I read The Black Sands of Socorro (1997) and saw that the Black Bha'lir smuggler’s guild is named for a bha'lir, depicted in the book as a large...panther. Few Star Wars expanded universe authors—particularly in the 1990s—leveraged their influence to center characters of color or to allude to racial justice movements. Jackson did both.

For this anthology, I have copy edited and also taken the liberty of, when applicable, substituting some gendered or sanist language with more contemporaneous wording.17 The stories are otherwise intact. It would be remiss of me if I did not note; however, that one of the stories, “Bitter Winter” (1995), has sanist and ableist tropes that could not be contemporized without making dramatic changes to the story. In this story, the fictional disease brekken vinthern drives those impacted to violence; while it’s real world correlate of major neurocognitive disorder can include symptoms of aggression and agitation, extreme violence is rare and people with this condition are also at great risk of being harmed by violence. The tropes “Mercy Kill” and “Shoot the Dog” are depictions of non-voluntary active euthanasia, typically from the perspective of the horrified “killer” placed in an impossible situation. These tropes frame murder and death as “putting someone out of their misery” while downplaying any alternatives (ie: sedation to alleviate suffering, medical attention, or, say, ion cannons to render a ship inoperable without killing.)

Like in our society, the societies in Star Wars have consistently framed mental illness pejoratively. There are certainly valid critiques of the utter inadequacy of health care in Star Wars. Ableism is ubiquitous in entertainment media, and even with it’s problematic tropes, “Bitter Winter” remains one of the more humanizing depictions of a mental health condition in Star Wars fiction. I have included it in this anthology as a rare example of moral ambiguity in the franchise.

With the exception of “Fragile Threads” and “Emanations of Darkness,” the stories here are presented not in published order, but in chronological order as they would have occurred in the Star Wars universe. Ordering the stories chronologically helped clarify timelines; it also allows the anthology to begin with “The Final Exit,” which was a fan favorite back when it was first published. I’ve interwoven the Brandl family stories with Drake Paulsen’s coming of age adventures, as the Paulsens are such a strong foil to the Brandl family.

Since “I am your father” dropped in 1980, Star Wars has been big on Daddy Issues—intergenerational trauma, parental relationships, broken attachments, identity development, and initiation into adulthood (or, as Obi-Wan Kenobi would put it, “taking your first steps into a larger world.”) With Drake, we see that Kaine Paulsen is a father who is gone but ever-present. With Jaalib, we see that Adalric Brandl is a father who is ever-present but clearly far gone. Drake knows his Socorran roots; he has community and found family. Fable’s identity is adrift; she was torn from her roots after her fugitive Jedi mother’s death. Jaalib’s roots are scaffolded by disingenuous artifice. There is a diametric interplay of identity formation and parental legacy in these short stories that captures classic themes from Star Wars. And, the stories challenge readers to consider how we interact with shame, guilt, and obligation. Through the morally ambiguous dilemmas that are her oeuvre, Jackson’s characters discover who they are and where they stand.

While the thrill of having an Imperial Star Destroyer drop out of hyperspace is pure Star Wars energy, Jackson’s stories also disrupted what fans had come to expect. Published online as fan fiction, “Emanations of Darkness” (2001) polarized fans of the previous Brandl stories, particularly with Fable’s decision to throw her lot in with Jaalib and his father. At the time, Star Wars fan commentator Charles Phipps noted how the story dealt with the insidiousness of the dark side by taking potential heroes and crushing them. “Star Wars, I've never known to leave a bitter taste in my mouth,” he wrote, stunned. “I don't like what it's brought out in my feelings or myself...Bravo Brandl, you have your applause.” Although the Brandl stories were written and published before Revenge of the Sith (2005), Fable and Jaalib’s relationship mirrors the relationship between Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker, down to both Jaalib and Anakin selling their souls to the same Emperor in hopes that will spare the women they love.

The prequel trilogy introduces the Jedi Council’s detached approach to attachments—don’t feel it, emotions like fear or anger are to be shunned, else suffering will follow. Anakin Skywalker’s broken attachments to his mother and Padmé lead him to turn against his values; his inability to integrate or tolerate his attachments is his downfall. It’s the same in the Brandl stories where, trauma bonded, Fable and Jaalib cannot let each other go. While Jaalib credits this as how he was able to preserve a bit of himself while under the Emperor’s thrall, his inability to extricate himself from his father’s influence or to let go of Fable ends up dooming her.

This is why I was thrilled to discover “Fragile Threads” (2021) on Wattpad twenty years later. In this story, Drake Paulsen helps his lover Tiaja Moorn save her sister, at the cost of losing their relationship when she decides to remain on her homeworld. Drake doesn’t fight her decision, he accepts it. He can hold onto that connection to Tiaja, just as he knows he will always be connected to Socorro, his father, and the Black Bha'lir. Drake can love freely because he knows what Luke Skywalker told Leia in The Last Jedi: “No one is ever truly gone.” He is able to straddle the fulcrum of attachment and love without letting it consume him, and that is balancing the Force.

Contemporary fandom discourse is also a struggle with attachment; the parasocial relationships we form with characters and stories are similar in process to how we attach to the important people in our lives. We imbue with meaning and carry these stories with us. As Star Wars storytelling enters its fifth decade, the divide between affirmational fandom (allegiance to manufactured nostalgia) and transformational fandom (allegiance to iterative and transgressive fan engagement) has factionized fandom. When Star Wars is seen as a totemic object, right wing fans have agitated for a return to a mythic past where white men were centered and morality was Manichean. From where I stand, at the heart of this debate is whether or not the reader or Star Wars is permitted to “grow up”—to leave the cradle, to evolve new identities and explore shades of grey.

To me, Jackson’s stories are a reminder that characters of color and complex moral dilemmas have always been a part of Star Wars. We have always been here. No other Star Wars author has been as exquisitely aware of the significance of storytelling; how it can help people challenge existing beliefs and discover themselves. Since the beginnings of the expanded universe, Patricia A. Jackson has spun yarn, and those fragile threads have tethered readers like myself to a galaxy far, far away.

Ol'val, min dul'skal, ahn guld domina, mahn uhl Fharth bey ihn valle. (Until we next meet, may the Force be with you.)

[dotthings]

Here’s the punchline. Here’s the real joke for it all. The supposedly “good” side of Star Wars fandom so convinced every time they trash Star Wars they’re saying something good and fresh and new and they’re going to save Star Wars and they’re so superior to the fandom menace: Star Wars fanbase has always been like this. The hatred aimed at the prequels back in the day was ruthless. The hatred aimed at Ahsoka when she first showed up on The Clone Wars. The bullying of actors. All during og Lucas era, from so called “fans.” And then Lucas sold Star Wars to Disney, and the supposedly “good” side of the fandom will not STFU shrieking about how Disney ruined Star Wars.

They have hated everything. The sequels, every Disney+ show. They ignore the animated series (animation is considered lesser) but I’m good with that because I don’t want them anywhere near the animated series, they’ll start trashing those too.

The hatred and entitlement of that or the fandom menace is far, far outnumbered by how many people really really love Star Wars. Unfortunately most online spaces are dominated by this online standom behavior and it’s either the supposedly good side or it’s the fandom menace, all of it trashing Star Wars.

Because people watch a Star Wars show but don’t actually like Star Wars and for some reason they watch a Star Wars show. I don’t know why, if they hate Star Wars so much. It’s not meant to be logical.

I once saw the supposedly “good” side of the fandom spend an entire season of The Mandalorian attacking a legacied female character who deserved better and who had a great storyline because they wanted the show to be only about 2 male characters and because they parasocialized an actor they like so hard they trashed everyone making the show. They also attacked The Mandalorian for being a Star Wars show set in the Star Wars universe, because they weren’t watching because they like Star Wars and they didn’t really actually want a Star Wars show. And they did all that while posturing about being woke.

Every single Star Wars thing ever made has been trashed. I’ve seen the scans of the newsletters from back in the 80’s trashing Empire Strikes Back and how Star Wars was ruined.

The Acolyte stans think they’re doing something new attacking Star Wars, no one has suffered in the history of Star Wars fandom like they have suffered, nobody has been as oppressed by Star Wars as they are. And it’s nothing new.

[stonegoldsxcrxt]

Hello (there)! Same anon who sent you the super long ask the other day! I meant to send this much earlier (obviously before the new episode is supposed to air—oops), but I got preoccupied with other things. Anywho.....first of all, I wanted to say I am glad I didn’t come across as being rude to you. And I appreciate you responding so politely as well!!

I feel like I dumped most of my thoughts on you already, but I also don’t mind chatting a bit more about this—if you are open to it too, of course!

I’m glad to see we also agree on some points. And about Headland specifically: tbh I really don’t know how to address that 😭 cause while I think she has some interesting takes on the story and how she wants it to be viewed or where she wants it to go—I very much get where you are coming from. Because as I mentioned in my previous ask, I am not a fan of reylo or kylo (and especially those fans) at all. So while I obviously see where people are drawing the parallels from, it was quite conflicting for me to see Leslye Headland talk about it so much herself. Actually, I was cringing anytime her or the interviewer brought up reylo or any similarities to it 💀 Although I am still glad (I know I already mentioned this) that Headland pointed out that Osha wasn’t going to be all “I know there’s still good in you” or whatever to Qimir and not trying to redeem him.

And I completely understand where you’re coming from when you say you hate seeing young women being treated terribly in a story (I’m a girl too so of course I can relate lol). I mean, if I’m being honest I very typically and wholeheartedly dislike the enemies to lovers dynamic. I think everything regarding said trope can be pretty damn annoying and often times it’s not at all well-written. And I usually hate it regardless of the fandom, the characters, or even the characters’ genders (but the m/f ships are almost always the ones that have a very weird and uncomfortable power imbalance).

And, idk....I’m a little on the fence about the fiction affecting reality thing. I mean, tbh a few years ago I might’ve completely, 100% agreed with you. Especially cause, as I said, I very much was (and still am) very anti reylo and kylo. So I know from experience that some people can be very.....strange and delusional (for lack of a better term) when it comes to liking or shipping toxic things in media. But I’ve also been in and interacted with plenty of other fandoms, and have liked other things besides star wars. As you said, there’s nothing wrong with liking fictional villains.....and as I mentioned, I honestly think it’s quite hypocritical for some fans to now suddenly be up in arms over people liking Qimir or the Osha/Qimir dynamic. Especially since for years fans have joked about characters like Anakin or Maul or Thrawn (and more recently Kylo) being in the right or whatever. I mean, really I’ve never thought about it much since usually it seems to be just jokes and sometimes I, too, get a kick out of those jokes. But like I said to me, especially as a Filipina, it does not sit right with me that a lot of people seem to be mad that some fans are simping for the non-white villain???? And I get that some people—imo mostly straight white women—seem to be lenient towards the hot white male villains. And again, one of my biggest issues with reylo and kylo stans was how they treated John Boyega, and just hurled a bunch of (often extremely racist) insults at him. But unfortunately, even now, when I am essentially on the other side of the fandom—I still feel these underlying hints of racism.....which has been a problem in this fandom since its inception tbh.

So when it comes to the whole ‘fiction affecting/influencing reality’ thing.....I have to say I honestly don’t think there is actually a good or “right” answer to that one??? Idk, I think some people genuinely struggle with it and buy into certain delusions, but in my opinion most star wars fans who like the villainous characters or problematic ships aren’t excusing that kind of thing irl and it doesn’t have any actual bearing on their irl morals.

Also, I appreciate what you’ve said. As for this certain person I have seen on twitter who has especially been spewing hate towards Leslye Headland and Manny Jacinto, I honestly didn’t think you agreed with those views despite them ss and pinning your post (it was the post you made recently about the way fandom is with villains in general) lol. And yeah.....again, even despite somewhat being on the other side of the fandom now I have seen a lot of people criticizing Headland especially and questioning her sexuality. Essentially saying “even as a ‘lesbian’ she has backtracked on lesbian representation” or a few people making fun of Manny Jacinto’s looks (and sometimes his acting).

Like I said, I didn’t believe you were being prejudiced or spewing dumb hate—and I hope you don’t think I was trying to accuse you specifically of that. Tbh I should not even be surprised about some of the vile things I’ve seen people saying (regarding Headland, Stenberg, Jacinto, essentially the whole cast and crew since even before the show dropped). As I mentioned, bigotry has unfortunately been a huge staple of this fandom since the beginning of the franchise, but I fear it’s gotten much worse.....🫤🫤🫤

hey!! so sorry it took so long for me to get to this, I had a lot going on in my life and still do so I'm sorry, this response probably isn't going to be as long! it's not because I'm mad at you or anything like that!! I'm a person too, and I haven't published a LOT of the shit in my inbox I've been getting for these posts but trust me, it's happening. I answer you because I can tell you're respectful and open to discussion!! and I appreciate that!!

1: Personally I will always believe that fiction does affect reality but I think it's obviously very nuanced. It's not as straightforward as "you like a villain so you must be a bad person." I don't think that it's as simple as if you like a villain that you're a bad person, or you condone those events. Villains and antagonists are often written to be empathetic towards the audience to create a sense of conflict, but the audience should be able to recognize that. More simply put, I guess I believe that fictional scenarios can affect your perception of real life events.

To give a pretty extreme example, if only to describe what I mean (I am NOT saying what the acolyte has done is a 1:1 comparison, I am using an example as a learning opportunity), we can talk about the book Lolita, which is infamously about an adult male character who is sexually obsessed with a young girl. The author frequently subtly tries to force the audience to empathize with this man. Ultimately, Lolita is about how abusers can still be charming people if you look on the surface, but underneath it all, they are still looking to take advantage of others. Eventually, the reader should understand this, after realizing that empathizing with someone doesn't absolve them of their crimes. However, there are people who don't; there are people who read that novel and actually walk away with the idea that the book is a love story, and that the young girl who was victimized was actually to blame for the story's events.

In real life, there is an actual phenomenon based off this interpretation of the book that has come to be known as the Lolita Effect, or, the idea that young women or girls should shoulder the blame for the abuse they endear. Quite literally, though perhaps unintentionally, the novel Lolita has contributed to the perpetration of victim-blaming young women and girls. So there's one example of fiction affecting reality and stuff like that is why I believe it does (though obviously far more extreme).

while I don't think anything Star Wars has done with the acolyte even approaches this level (obviously), my argument about the acolyte is that it's important to learn to recognize subtleties in the way that people who might stand to gain something from your allegiance to them might act around you. Headland saying "Qimir did not manipulate Osha" completely undermines what her writers have shown us. It undercuts those subtleties and replaces them with the perspective that this is okay behavior, when, instead, I deadass would not have a problem with this element of the acolyte had Headland simply acknowledged the way Qimir treats Osha is purposeful so that he gains her allyship and affection (I think we agree on this element).

Honestly, I think Headland wanted to tell a story of two people who perceive themselves as having been "wronged" by the Jedi or who may even have real legitimate reasons to be mad at the Jedi independently, coming together and becoming a powerful duo. That's fine, I think that's interesting potential, but what she unintentionally created instead was a woman who was good and honest being emotionally manipulated by a man who is cunning and deliberately aggravates her to get what he wants. It sends two different messages, because it's two different stories.

The way that I worry about this affecting real people's perspectives irl is that Headland has stripped her audience of the ability to recognize those subtleties because she insists they are not there, even though they are. This can then, of course, be extrapolated to real life. Of course, maybe someone is smart enough to recognize it irl... or maybe they aren't. Honestly, that ends up being up to someone's personal capabilities, it's just that sometimes being given examples of things in fiction helps you recognize it later.

2: I'm not going to lie to you, I don't particularly care who the fandom finds attractive. I'm not going to police who you do or don't want to get with on the basis of the character's morality. To be truthful, the people saying "I wanna fuck Qimir" do not bother me. The people saying "I wanna fuck Anakin" do not bother me. The people saying "I wanna fuck Thrawn" do not bother me. I think a lot of people think that I'm offended by it because of this post I made, but truthfully, that post is about being unable to recognize that someone is being manipulative because you are too busy being attracted to them so you excuse all of their shitty behavior, hence the phrase "all the audience saw was a hot guy," meaning, they did not also see that he is being evil while simultaneously being hot. There's nuance to this situation. The problem (for me) isn't people saying "I wanna fuck Qimir," the problem (for me) is people saying "I wanna fuck Qimir and for that reason I think he's absolutely right about everything, the Jedi got what was coming to them, etc," which are all takes I've seen. And the acolyte is far from the only media with this problem. Star Wars as a whole is far from the only media with this problem (ie I've never read or watched shadow and bone but there's a lot of people on that post talking about it.)

Honestly, my criticism of the fandom and media is usually not rooted in how people feel towards characters on a personal level unless it's to the point where 1. it's a pattern and 2. it's disrupting the actual interpretation of the show, particularly when it's disrupting a female character's story. Which is why I made the post I linked above, it's a majorrrrrr pattern in all fandom but I correctly predicted that Qimir was quickly all anyone would talk about, and I was right. I saw no less than ten posts about "where's Qimir" after episode seven. Hello?? Isn't this show about Osha? Is it not her story? Or do you just not care about her anymore? It makes me sad and it happens over and over and over; ie, the sequels quickly became the Kylo Ren movies and little else seemed to matter.

I'm very sorry if you have seen a lot of the fandom saying things that are rooted in racism towards Manny Jacinto. That has not been, and will never be my stance. I seriously don't care who they cast in this role as Qimir, my response would have been the same, because my beef is with this style of story being presented the way it has been, not with the looks of the actor. I highly suggest blocking people who are hating on him for those reasons. Actually, I suggest blocking anyone hating on Manny for this at all, because wtf, he's doing a great job and doesn't deserve that.

What's unfortunate for me is that I really liked episodes 1-5 of the acolyte a lot, and 6-8 completely lost me. I'm very used to tuning out (which I recognize is partially privilege given that I am white) the bigoted chatter from people that seems to erupt from certain recesses of the 'fandom' whenever something new from Lucasfilm comes out because it happens every. single. time. and it's exhausting. I'm super sorry that it feels like literally every time something new and exciting comes out, people who are assholes to be assholes come out of the woodwork and start spewing hatred. But I want to be clear how much I am not condoning nor participating in that aspect of it; even if you see people on twitter spreading screenshots of my posts around while they do, trust me, I literally don't even know them and they certainly never reached out to me to ask if they could share my tumblr post there. I'm not on twitter and I do not condone using my posts to spread hatred for the sake of hatred.

I have a lot of problems with the acolyte, even more now after the last few episodes. What I do is talk about narrative decisions and story decisions and character decisions, because those are the things that I think matter and should be up for conversation and debate. Because quite simply, I think how you tell a story, and what story you're telling, matters. It's safe to say I am ultimately disappointed in this show. I don't think it stuck the landing, and there are lots of other problems re: Sol's character too, that I will probably never get into, because I'm really ready to let this show go. Perhaps on a deeper level, for me, this type of story is never going to land if not only the fandom but also the director/showrunner won't acknowledge it for what it is, either....

Anon you are always welcome in my inbox! I can tell you're genuinely open to conversation and I like that!

[brynnmclean]

twenty questions for fic writers

I was tagged by @stitchingatthecircuitboard! Thanks, friend! This was fun! :D

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

54! Though some of them are ficlet collections that I might separate out, if I could do it all over again.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

180,644

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently, Rings of Power / the Tolkien Legendarium (including Silm, LotR, The Hobbit).

Previously, Rogue One, Star Wars sequel trilogy, broke ground writing fic for a m/m Viking romance novel Brothers of the Wild North Sea (it made me so happy), and the tiniest bit of Black Sails.

Before that, a LOT of Supernatural fic, some Being Human US, and LOST.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

cast some light & you'll be all right, 4.5k Explicit Rogue One Rebelcaptain fic where Cassian doesn't like one-sided sex and Jyn isn't used to having a partner who wants to make time for her. They figure it out!

waiting to step forward, 3k Explicit Rogue One Rebelcaptain fic, the direct sequel to cast some light featuring Cassian Andor: Cunnilingus Addict again

I waited for the crash to come, 17k Rogue One Rebelcaptain ficlet collection -- one of those ones that I suppose I could have separated out, but it feels way too late to do it now! There are a lot of ficlets that I love in there though.

beneath the stars, 4k Kíli/Tauriel Hobbit AU where Thranduil hosts a party and Kíli and Tauriel get to dance together and smooch :)

I wanna hurry home to you, 2k Explicit Rogue One Rebelcaptain fic, ALSO part of the cast some light 'verse, sex interrupted by a stand-up meeting, sex continued after the meeting, lol

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to respond to them as they come, but I have DEFINITELY run into the problem where I haven't responded to some of them and the more time passes, the worse I feel about not responding, and then it just-- anyway, if you've ever sent me a very nice comment that I haven't responded to, please know that I saw it, cried about how nice it was and how good it made me feel, got slammed by something in life, and now remember you with helpless, wordless gratitude.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't write a lot of angst! But an old old old episode-related fic called exercise in futility for Being Human US, featuring season 1 Aidan who was a MESS, might fit the bill.

Or out of storms comes strength for tomorrow which is a Tauriel-centric, grief processing fic...? but I feel like the ending for that one is more hopeful than not? That's a little more where I like to land. There's light in there somewhere, always.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Either sanctuary (Rogue One crew beach vacation for @eisoj5!) or I used to be a king alone (a May the Fourth Rebelcaptain Date-Shaped Mission or a Mission-Shaped Date).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I got a couple unpleasant anons during the SPN days over some meta re: fandom reaction to a very large fic project, but otherwise my fandom experience has been kind. I can't remember ever getting hate on my fics in particular, but I have gotten some odd comments before, ranging from "why is [male character] randomly a girl" for a genderqueer / rule 63 fic to "when are [m/f couple] going to have Real Sex" for a smut series.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do! Not as much lately, but the majority of my Rebelcaptain fics were non-PIV (out of spite :D) explicit fics. The first smut fic I wrote was a SPN OT3 with Dean/Castiel/Lisa so... I have a little experience writing threesomes (looking at Galadriel/Celeborn/Halbrand eventually)!

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I have written the beginnings of crossover AUs-- I was kicking around a Rogue One Black Sails AU (was going to be Saw Gerrera-centric, as he's the Flint analog), I have an outline for a Rebelcaptain Bourne Identity AU (Jyn as the GFFA Jason Bourne -- one day I SWEAR I'll give this one a fair shot because I actually do have the rare PLOT OUTLINE), and I wrote a ficlet for a Rogue One Grey Company LotR AU.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I did have a Rebelcaptain ficlet plagiarized once. Many thanks to the anon who alerted me to the situation so I could make a successful removal request.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have not! I have had some fics podficced which were wonderful. :)

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I haven't formally co-written a fic with anyone, but I am enjoying the hell out of playing around in the sandbox @rain-sleet-snow and I are hanging out in for the Uncorrupted Mairon AU.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

WOW, I absolutely cannot choose ONE out of ALL of them... If I have to choose... Right now I'm positively feral over Galadriel/Celeborn/Halbrand, but I wrote and will love Jyn/Cassian forever.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Alas... I am not good at finishing fics and I don't often have the discipline to write long-form fic. One of these days I would love to get back to safe house in the hurricane or out of grief joy.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Considering like, 95% of my fics are conversations / dialogue, I think we can consider that a strength!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

PLOT. I'm a pantser. I never know where I'm going next. Also action scenes are extremely difficult!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Thoughts? Cold-sweat terror. Thank you to much smarter people than I am for Elvish translations. Anyone who writes in multiple languages, whether real-world or conlangs, leaves me in awe.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

... LOST, maybe??? @ladytharen helped run a 108 word drabble challenge on LJ that I THINK got me into my first forays of writing fic that wasn't, uh, childhood handwritten scrawling in notebooks for LotR.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Oh!!!! I'm taking a leaf from @stitchingatthecircuitboard's book and going to list three:

I still think out of storms (the Tauriel grief fic) is one of my best

There's so much of my heart in blessed, the Éomer & Éowyn late night conversation fic that also features genderqueer / genderfluid!Éowyn fic-- though damn it, I wish I'd titled the fic better, but it feels too late to change it, lol

and honestly, as rusty as I felt writing it, I really love first flush of hope to carry the grey away, 1k Rebelcaptain not-a-kiss in an alley

tagging: @rain-sleet-snow, @ladytharen, @eisoj5, @heymacareyna, @ichabodjane, and whoever else is reading this and would like to. Consider yourself tagged!

[letoscrawls]

Who do think are the most overrated and underrated characters in Dune and Star Wars? For me I think Kylo Ren and Rey are overrated and Luke Skywalker gets way too much hate for being "whiney" (Kylo stans' pot calling the kettle black) and for not being some stereotypical kill the bad guy male hero. As more Dune, I find Paul too know-it-all and bitchy and laughed when he got blinded (also hate his treatment towards his consorts and giving his twins awful names, at least his son was smarter to treat Farad'n better than Paul treated Irulan). I think Scytale and Harah need more love in the fandom as do all the ladies in Heretics of Dune who deserve their own graphic novel.

hmmmm i think it really depends on what side of the fandom you are tbh! star wars is such a huge fandom, and i tend to be on the funny lighthearted side i think? i mean if i open the comment section of any post from the official accounts i can see other type of fans (i gotta say it got a little better in recent years but still, i tend to avoid those hyper critical and close minded fans). So kylo ren isn't really a popular character to me, at least i haven't seen many people talk about him after tros in 2019, or maybe i just ignored him al this time lmaooo

anyways, i think luke is a very beloved character worldwide (rightfully so!), anakin and ahsoka are getting sooo much deserved love as well these days, and of course obi-wan, leia, all the main ones i would say. And i'm so so happy that after Ahsoka the rebel crew (and Ezra in particular) are finally getting the recognition and appreciation they deserve :)

As for Dune, i don't know many fans in general, but the cool thing is that all characters have good and evil in them, they aren't traditionally "good". idk dune characters are a bunch of little evil creatures and i love them all dearly. fuck paul though!!!!

jk jk yes you're so right about heretics characters. they are all so cool but not many people know them because a lot of readers get permanently traumatized by God-Emperor and don't get to see the rest of the story. big mood btw

[pinkeoni]

“By wanting to erase these qualities, you are literally siding with the characters that the show is telling you to hate. I don't understand why fans like you are so insistent on getting away from the characterization Will has in the show when it goes against one of the messages the show is trying to get across— being different is a good thing.”

That seems like a strawman to me. I haven’t seen very many Bylers who don’t want Will to be different, who want to erase his kindness and sensitivity and creativity. Most Bylers deeply relate to Will on these things, so why would they want to get rid of these traits?

Of course being different is a good thing. And yeah, sure, Will is more feminine than the average boy, especially during the time. No one’s arguing against that. Most of us are queer here and very in tune with not fitting in. Additionally, according to that one byler poll, the Byler fandom largely consists of INFPs (Will’s type).

But he isn’t actually…. effeminate in a deeper sense? He still is a boy. He still has a lot of boy interests and a mostly male friend group. There’s a world between the Reaganite Rambo ideal and the hyperfeminine girlypop gay that Will just isn’t? Like in canon, when has he ever been that?

Give examples that go beyond what Lonnie and other homophobic bullies have attacked him for being. Will’s feminine enough. Why do people want to make him more feminine?

To me, that’s one of the things that makes Will so relatable and refreshing in media. Him not being a stereotype. I never once watched the show and thought, “Wow, this kid is so effeminate.” I was surprised by how attached some people are to that vision of him.

Will is canonically into rock music like Bowie and The Cure, which is a very queer taste in music, but not “feminine” in the way modern gay men are often stans of pop divas. Will loves Star Wars and movies and a lot of the things his friends love. He doesn’t go shopping every weekend.

Most Bylers are girls and it seems like your side wants to make Will more feminine than even the most femme woman here. It reminds me of those middle-aged women with poodles who adorn their poodles in bowties and such.

There’s a big difference between being more in tune with your emotions than the average male and crying at the breeze. I just find a lot of that heightened stuff to be deeply uncomfortable and unnatural feeling. I don’t think, “awww.” I think, “Who is that?” It seems like GNC Will diehards want to make Will so light and girly and ethereal he floats away like a feather and disappears into a cloud of pink

You typed all of that and still didn't answer my question, why is making him more feminine a bad thing? What I was saying was that by leaning into his feminine traits it aligns with the message the story is telling.

I'm not sure where these diehard GNC Will fans are that you are describing, but at least from what I see they aren't on tumblr. What I and some of my friends talk about specifically is how Will's gender non-conformity acts as a function within the narrative, and how he is non-traditionally masculine for that time period. No one is denying his interests? All of this over a post about Will picking flower petals, but is that too much for you?

I also don't really care if someone wants to make Will a hyperfemme girlypop, have you ever heard of headcanons and AUs anon?

[slickbackdani]

You know, it sucks that the term “fake geek” is only ever used as a misogynistic slur against women in fandom spaces, created to feed the paranoid insecurities and victim complexes of socially stunted white men by fostering the idea that women are only pretending to share your interests to lead you on.

In my opinion, the “fake geek” label would be more accurately used against alt-righters who pretend to be part of certain fandoms just so they can create outrage and indoctrinate white male nerds into fighting their culture wars for them.

For example, I remember some time ago I said that the dude-bro hate campaign against the female-led Ghostbusters reboot was waged mostly by people who never really gave a fuck about Ghostbusters and just wanted an excuse to attack women. The same is true, I think, of other “white male nerd temper tantrums” of late.

The Star Wars sequels met with a years-long backlash of male nerds obnoxiously whining about how the new movies’ diversity was ruining the franchise they grew up with when the sequels really weren’t that much more diverse than the movies that came before, and whatever problems the sequels may have had are barely different from problems people have had with previous Star Wars installments. Of note is all the so-called fans calling Rey a Mary Sue whose existence goes against everything the franchise has been known for when she really doesn’t do anything Luke wasn’t capable of in the old movies. If I were a smug contrarian dickhead, I’d use this to assert that Luke was always a terrible character that the fans only like because of nostalgia, but since I still love the old Star Wars films and have mixed feelings about the newer ones, I think it’s more reasonable to conclude that neither character is perfect or irredeemable and the more rabid detractors only hate Rey because she has a vagina.

The insincerity behind these outrage-addicted fandom shit-stirrers only gets more transparent when the topic shifts to superhero movies and you have these self-proclaimed comic book diehards displaying a stunning ignorance of the subject they claim is so near and dear to them. Female-led superhero flicks are decried as products of modern “wokeness” and “political correctness gone mad” when the characters they’re decrying have been a huge part of the original comics for decades. The existence of the She-Hulk series prompted a tidal wave of fanboy outrage, whining that Marvel has “gone woke” and at one point saying that Stan Lee would be rolling in his grave… you know, the same Stan Lee who created She-Hulk back in the 70s! You’d think hardcore comic fans would know that Shulkie has been a major player in Marvel Comics for almost 50 years before finally getting any kind of significant outside exposure. Those who are really committed to the act will say that She-Hulk’s MCU counterpart is nothing like the original comics, but all the things they hate about her are also true of her comic counterpart.

It doesn’t get any better on DC’s side, as there were many fanboys who celebrated David Zaslav’s decision to cancel the Batgirl movie, saying that a female reboot of Batman would be an affront to comic fans everywhere… except anyone with even a passing familiarity with DC would know Batgirl was never “a female reboot of Batman”, but his sidekick and protege, a member of his extended family, and has been since she was created in the 1960s! I’m tempted to say “they would know that if they were REAL comic fans,” but Batgirl has appeared so many times in TV, movies, and video games that even people who have never picked up a comic book in their lives would be bound to know about her! Fucking hell, they can’t even claim their judgments are based on the leaked details about the movie-that-never-was, because even those scant details clearly explained that Batman still exists as a separate character in the movie’s continuity and they never intended to just retcon him into being a woman!

I think my point can best be summed up by taking a look at the alt-right sources that promoted GamerGate back in the day: a number of far-right people and websites had rallied male gamers into attacking feminists they accused of trying to destroy video games, all the while promising up and down that they would defend gamers with their very lives if male nerds just gave them power. Fast forward about half a decade later, and now those same far-right people and websites are saying that people who play video games are stupid filthy degenerates who are holding us back as a species — all the while more mainstream right-wing sources continue to repeat the age-old “video games cause mass shootings” myth. This proves, if nothing else, that GamerGate was never really about video games. It was about women having opinions and men not liking that.

[yelena-bellova]

I saw a poll on this and I wanted to know your opinion: what is the most toxic fandom?

Alrighty, get your snacks and sit back…

I don’t know if there’s necessarily one fandom that’s the most toxic. The toxicity doesn’t come from the product itself because the majority of these shows, movies, games, books, etc. that we all love aren’t morally questionable. It’s individual people that kick up a storm and they’re, obviously, in every single fandom.

That being said, having been a part of online fandom culture since the SuperWhoLock days, here’s my observations…

To this day, the two most toxic fandoms I’ve been a part of are Stranger Things and Star Wars and both have to do with age.

Stranger Things, while being a show that purposefully appeals to many age demographics, seems to draw a lot of younger fans online. Gen Z is completely unhinged with their opinions and, having grown up on social media, see trolling and online attacks as a way to be heard. Cyberbullying? They’re all for it, because that’s what they’ve been taught.

The Byler fandom specifically is the most toxic group of fans I’ve ever seen in any fandom. Again, these fans tend to be on the younger side and have no qualms about screaming their lungs out until they pass out. They’ve gone after multiple actors, other fan accounts, and have taken the joy right out of the show for a lot of us who like to discuss it. I’m not a Byler shipper, but I avoid the stans at all cost just because of the attitudes I’ve seen…

That’s not to say that older fans aren’t part of the problem. The Steddie fandom is intolerable, in my opinion. The Billy Hargrove stans are…otherworldly. And a lot of Eddie fans are straight up crazy. I said what I said…

Bringing us to Star Wars…

Star Wars’ problem lies more with the older fans…it’s straight up racism and sexism. Whenever there’s a POC cast in a role other than Rebel Pilot #64 or a woman is given a lead role, you’d think the sky was falling. And, much like their younger counterparts, hate is the first place they go. They lead online attacks and try to bully and petition the actors either a) out of the franchise or b) off of social media.

Star Wars is a highly political fandom which is hilarious considering it’s a universe about spaceships and little green gremlins that eat blue cookies, but I digress…

Moses Ingram, Kelly-Marie Tran, Daisy Ridley and John Boyega (this is just naming the few that I’m aware of) have all survived so many social media attacks they should have never dealt with in the first place, simply because a bunch of (typically) straight white fanboys can’t deal with representation. Star Wars, in their mind, is reserved solely for the “heroes” and the heroes can only be strapping white males.

And yes, there’s such a thing as forced representation that happens in media to fill quotas or to avoid being cancelled, but so far, Star Wars hasn’t slipped and everyone they’ve hired for their projects has knocked it out of the park. So why does it matter what color their skin is or what their gender is if they’re the best suited to bring their characters to life?

Two fandoms, two different age groups, but the same feral, hateful attitude. One is for representation, one’s against it…but both are wrong.

At the end of the day, these are made up characters in made up universes on made up shows, and there’s fans that take it all a little too seriously. These shows and movies are here for our enjoyment, not to create more discord in the world, and more fans need to realize this.

[thediktatortot]

On the subject of Adam driver as Ben solo again, I personally believe the star wars fandom needs to chill out and learn to behave before we are given any more movies, especially after how Adam and a lot of the other actors were treated.

Oh definitely. Especially with the POC side of the cast who got absolutely slammed with racist assholes.

Fandom as a whole has always been exclusionary to anyone not white or male unfortunately, especially mainstream fandom. Like racism and bigotry in general has always been in fandom, but it's gotten worse with mainstream fandom and shipping/creative fandom colliding online.

Unfortunately, every major IP has it's issues right now and the movie/game/book industries do absolutely nothing to curb it because why? They make money off even the hateful and nasty people.

[boltwrites]

Not the anon from before but i would like to hear the red flags for star wars men👀

sure thing!

disclaimers: these are "red flags" not dealbreakers. that means they're just things you need to look into more. plenty of people can have these opinions (and i share some myself!) but the important thing is the reasoning behind them. i'm just sharing a few things i've come across in fandom that can be indicative of other biased/nasty behavior in combination with other factors. they're separated by what kind of nasty these people can be below the cut.

general ick

as with any fandom, fan-checking (asking questions to see if you're a "real fan") in a serious, non-joking manner, is always indicative of an asshole

people who will roll their eyes or otherwise berate you for having only watched the movies

especially men who berate women who have only seen the mandalorian, or call them "basic"

anyone who insults the actors and their portrayals, especially those who insult the actors from the prequels, and especially those who insult child actors

in a non-joking way, correcting people who call grogu baby yoda

if they hate the sequel trilogy (this could be misogyny, racism, or just general pick-me energy)

insisting that they call rey "rey palpatine" (not respectful of autonomy and chosen family)

don't like the chanel boots luke skywalker meme (homophobic, lmao)

if they generally dislike lgbt+ headcanons or other diverse portrayals, especially when regarding new, original characters

in general they disregard forms of fan media like fanfiction. maybe i'm biased, but that's a little... weird lmao

misogyny

hates at least 2-3 female characters, especially if they are underdeveloped, not shown often, or particularly girly (for example: satine, padme, shaak ti, mon mothma)

dislikes rey

dislikes leia in the sequels

dislikes the kenobi series (could also be racism, could also be just an annoying fanboy who wanted his vader/kenobi matchup in episode 1 and doesn't understand how storytelling works)

they are a man whose favorite character is boba fett (+1 if they hate the boba fett show. +2 if they read the comics. this can be indicative of many things, but mostly misogyny)

if they are a man whose favorite female character is ahsoka. (this can be indicative of misogyny if their favorite male characters are relatively underdeveloped/have less screen time than ahsoka. this can be indicative of predatory behavior if by "female character" they mean "character i want to fuck" because in 90% of ahsoka's screen time she is a child)

fascist/alt right/racist

let's start with the obvious: they heavily align with the empire or first order - not the sith, the empire/first order

their favorite character is hux or tarkin

they hate finn (or lando, honestly)

they are unusually interested in the fashion/clothing the empire wears, especially in the original trilogy (their clothing is basically copy-pasted from a certain time period in german history)

this is the big one: if they refused to watch andor, or if they watched andor and hated it. andor is one of the most blatantly antifascist pieces of media in the star wars universe. if they don't have a good reason for disliking it, this can honestly be a big red flag

basically just watch out. the empire is an allegory for wwii germany in the original trilogy, and the first order is an allegory for the alt right (although much more loosely). if they seem particularly weird or make "the empire was right" jokes a lot, give them a huge side-eye

i definitely missed some. please feel free to ask for clarification on any of these!

[niknatts-knickknacks]

Get to know my OCs!

Aisling

Fandom: MCU

Name: Aisling Mary O’Reilly

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Alias: Corporal, Agent, Asset, the Winter Soldier’s Shadow, Shadow, Phoenix

Birthday: September 11, 1922

Birthplace: Bay City, Michigan, USA

Hair Color/Length: Brown; she kept it long until 1943, when she got a military style cut. It became rather shaggy until 2011-ish, when she first allowed someone with scissors near her head. She lets it grow out for the rest of her life. She does get regular-ish trims.

Eye Color: Originally, both eyes were brown. Later in life, she gets a glass eye and then even later, a mechanical eye. The mechanical eye has a Red Star as the iris, and the lens functions as a pupil. It sends full signals to her brain.

Height: 5’6”/168cm

Weight: 155lbs/70.3kg

Mutant: Yes

Powers: Seeing and storing objects in people’s aura.

Occupation: Soldier -> Special Agent -> Asset -> Avenger Body Modifications: She has a mechanical skin graft on her right side. She had a wound that went septic/necrotic, and that was the solution HYDRA came up with. She also has tattoos. A sleeve on her right arm of a phoenix wing being licked by flames and a wing on her left thigh with the initials and years of the Howling Commandos’ birth/death dates. Both were done after she left HYDRA.

Religion: Raised Catholic.

Ancestry: Parents came from Ireland shortly before the Great War (WWI).

Background/Story: Aisling is a twin. Her brother, Mark was supposed to be drafted. Their elder brother, Matthew was already a Medic in the Army. Mark was very much a pacifist and hated violence of any kind. Which was a bit of an issue, as they lived on a farm. Aisling knew just how bad it would be if her twin went off to war, as her father didn’t believe in teaching her how to properly run the farm. So she chopped off her hair, left a message, and took Mark’s place. She was a spotter for her unit, the 32nd Infantry. They were captured by HYDRA two months before the 107th Infantry was captured. Aisling is the last survivor of her unit and managed to hide her gender until Bucky is nearly beaten to death. The next day, when Lohmer is murdered, she offers the bandage she’d been using as a binder (DON’T USE AN ACE BANDAGE KIDS, ESPECIALLY NOT LONG TERM), to an injured prisoner. She is found out the next day and taken to Zola. She and Bucky pass the time by telling each other about their lives back home. They make promises to visit each other if they get out alive. Steve rescues them, they make it back to Colonel Phillips, and Aisling almost ends up in prison. She is saved by Phillips, who then recruits her into the SSR. She falls with Bucky on Zola’s train, is found by the Red Army with a piece of shrapnel sticking out of her eye. She and Bucky are kept in a cell until Zola can get them smuggled to a safe-ish location to continue his experiments. She gets out on a mission in 2009, when she sees a flash of red on a mission and runs away before finishing off the agent. Logan finds her and brings her to Charles, where she learns that she is 60 years in the future and has a whole chunk of memories to relearn. She joins the Avengers in late 2014/early 2015 after a solo mission goes south. Fury brings her on and that is a can of worms she doesn’t want to open.

Fun facts:

Her first language is Irish, as her parents would speak it at home. She likes the song Siúil A Run, and sings it often. 

She wears a claddaugh ring from her grandmother. 

She knows and speaks 8 languages: Irish, English, Russian, German, a little Vietnamese, Mandarin, American Sign Language, and French. (I only speak English with a smattering of German.)

She has an animal companion.

Bonus OC: AWOL

Name: AWOL

Gender: Male

Birthday: Sometime in January 2011

Birthplace: Someplace on the Taz River

Species: Volkosob (Russian Wolf-Dog hybrid)

Coloring: Tan, White, and Gray

Eyes: Yellow

Height: (at withers) 31.5”/80cm

Weight: 121lbs/55kg

Background/Story: Bred to find the missing Shadow, AWOL instead ends up as her companion when she raids the facility he was bred and trained at. She rescues him as his handler is mistreating him, takes him to a vet, and then trains him herself. He is her best friend and only family for a long time. Aisling thinks his name is funny, as neither of them exactly had permission to leave HYDRA. He loves sausage and will beg shamelessly for any table scraps. He's a demo dog without the dying part.

Fun Facts: He is loosely based on my childhood dogs with his protectiveness, intelligence, and penchant for eating things that are not his.

He is trained in German and ASL, hates the Russian language, and can understand French.

Besides Aisling, Bucky and Clint are his favorite people.

Tony Stark makes him a collar like the one Doug wears from 'Up!' He is surprisingly vocal.

Not so fun fact: I wrote a version where he dies rather tragically to get over the loss of my own dog. It is not canon and the good boy will live forever if I have anything to say about it.