#if it's old EU canon it's wrong

[askshivanulegacy]

^^^^ This.

I can't emphasize enough that if it isn't published, it isn't canon.

The experience of any piece of artwork, writing included, is inherent exclusively to YOUR interaction with that work. It's about what YOU find in it. It's about what YOU think it says.

If you're going to the author for anything deeper than clarifying a simple point, whatever you're gonna get back is non-canon. At best, you'll receive what THEY think about the work, but the only thing that matters is what YOU think. If they failed to publish their ideas in that work, those ideas might as well not exist. Most people aren't going out of their way to consult with the author to get the secret Part 2 of the story, or to dig up little niche interviews. The story is in the book or it's not there at all.

This is a huge problem in fandom, where people are raising the creators to godlike levels so they can exist or die based on what the creator says.

Star Wars is just one obvious example. Massive sections of the fandom quote every minor thing George Lucas ever said in the most obscure forums in order to form their basic understanding of the universe ... and these things are not written or published anywhere. And then they can't handle when people quote from the real material instead of some other producer's report of what this guy said.

Lucas is not a god, and what he says about Star Wars doesn't matter. It's fun from, like, a concept art perspective. But the concept art is not the finished product, and if you're harping over his quotes as "evidence" to shoot down things drawn from published work, you're wrong.

You HAVE to understand that the author's interpretation, unwritten and unpublished, is no better than yours ... or anyone else's. Stop using someone else to tell you what to think, and stop putting yourself and your special little personal interpretation on a pedestal above other people trying to enjoy things too. What you have is a headcanon. It's nothing more official than that.

If you don't like the published work as it stands, too bad. That's your problem. The published work isn't going away or becoming invalidated because you think one little interview said so.

ALSO if the creator has some stupid opinion on something or has done something stupid, it has nothing to do with their published work and doesn't invalidate any of it. Someone's enjoyment of media doesn't make any statement about whether they support an author. That's a logical fallacy to think so.

Social media as a whole desperately needs to stop their invasive parasocial obsession with authors and creators. You're all fanatical followers even of the people you hate, which is hilarious. You live, breathe, die, and hang upon every word that even your most detested creator says. You talk about other people letting go, yet there you are still obsessing over their every word.

The irony is incredible.

Of course, be a hate!fan if you want to. That's up to you and your enjoyment(???) of life. But stop attacking other people living perfectly normal lives who are not obsessing over the Entertainment Weekly drama of creators. The media people enjoy is not a reflection of their character or personal beliefs. There's no exception. If you think there is, then boy do I have news for you about your favorite ships, tropes, and kinks.

Folks act like "maybe the author isn't the final authority about what their work means" is some wanky post-modern nonsense and not a simple recognition that a lot of authors are perfectly prepared to bullshit about their own work. Like, leaving big-name popular media aside, I have personally encountered authors being actively disingenuous about their own work for all of the following reasons:

A true answer wouldn't fit the image they've cultivated.

They've decided they like the explanation the readers/viewers have come up with better than what they actually had in mind.

Something that was originally intended as a standalone work ended up growing into a franchise or series, and now they're pretending that was the plan all along for some reason.

They don't want to admit that the bit you're asking about is genuinely just a plot hole.

The real answer gets into some shit they don't care to discuss, so they've prepared a cover story to explain away the parts they don't want to talk about.

Their politics have changed since they wrote it, but they don't want to acknowledge that, so they're constantly trying to re-interpret everything they've ever written to be perfectly consistent with whatever their positions are this week.

They wrote it decades ago and they honestly don't remember what they were thinking at the time, so they're just making shit up; sometimes they also don't remember what shit they made up the last time, so the answer is different every time they're asked.

The work in question is at least partly autobiographical and they can't tell the truth without confessing to a crime in the process.

Most of the good bits are plagiarised and they don't really understand it themselves.

They're lying to you on purpose, for evil reasons.

[ozzieinspacetime]

Sometimes I think about the first Doctor pre An Unearthly Child and I'm like. Okay so he had dubious looming/parentage, slept in a barn most of his childhood, killed a boy with a rock, killed two of his friends in an endless toy dimension after having a breakdown over a flower, got expelled, got married to a woman older than his kithriarch, passed his exams (finally) on the third try, had 13 kids (somehow???), fell out with every single one of his ex best friends, did something bad enough that the president ordered his own brother to assassinate both him and his granddaughter and he ended up running away to keep her safe. And also one of his companions from like 1000 years in the future was there and its implied that the universal concepts premeditated the whole thing but whatever. And it all happened within like 300 years.

All I'm saying is its no wonder he kidnapped Barbra and Ian if that's what we're working with

[nicoline1998enilocin]

"Marry Me" || Chapter 1

PAIRING || Boyfriend!Tony Stark x Girlfriend!Nurse!Fem!Reader

WORDCOUNT || 4.1K

SUMMARY || Tony comes home from another gruesome mission and doesn't stay unharmed this time. As you take care of his wounds, he can't keep his thoughts to himself any longer, and he asks you to marry him in a way you never would have seen coming.

RATING || Explicit (E)

TAGS || Canon divergence. Everybody lives AU. Age gap.

WARNINGS || Injured!Tony Stark. Administration of painkillers through a shot.

SMUT || Teasing. Daddy kink. Praise. Dirty talk. Unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it!). Cream pie.

A/N || This story is dedicated to my best friend I could have ever wished for, @ccbsrmsf1. Carol, I cannot even begin to describe the gratefulness I feel for you and your friendship, because it’s not something that can be put into words. Thank you for being here for me through it all, eu te amo 🤍

EVENTS @fandombingo || Sleepy morning sex @fandom-free-bingo Book Night || 'You make me feel like I am home again' @fandom-free-bingo Book Night || "I'm getting old." @fandom-free-bingo Maritime May || Reassuring touches

@fandom-free-bingo Maritime May || Don't make me laugh @fandom-free-bingo Wild || "I've got you." @seasonaldelightsbingo Language of flowers || The little spoon for the first time @sweetspicybingo Hurt/Comfort || "Are you okay?"

GIF: @ccbsrmsf1 || Graphics are made by @nicoline1998enilocin

Main Masterlist || Tony Stark Masterlist || Series Masterlist

It's been a week since you last saw your boyfriend - none other than Tony Stark himself - because he's been on a long and tiring mission to destroy the last few HYDRA bases that were left in Brazil. There has been little to no contact between you two, aside from the quick messages through JARVIS, the AI he built, to let you know he's still alive.

However, the message you received not even half an hour ago has you a little more worried than usual. During your many years as a nurse for SHIELD and Tony's private nurse, there's practically nothing you haven't lived through, but to know your boyfriend is hurt still sends shivers down your spine.

Tony has built a private exam room in his penthouse for moments like these, and you have treated many different wounds and injuries there. From ones obtained during missions to mishaps down in his lab, rarely a day goes by where something doesn't go wrong, but you love him for it. His clumsy nature is one of the things that attracted you to him in the first place.

Now, you're setting up the exam room after JARVIS's orders about Tony coming home soon and a brief description of his injuries, which you're thankful for. This means you're not going in blind as he arrives in your shared home.

When you put down the last instruments and bandages in the room, you hear the elevator door open, notifying you that Tony is back. As you walk out to greet him, your heart sinks into your stomach because the sight in front of you is one you will never get used to, no matter how many times you see it.

Tony is limping and heavily favoring his left leg over the right; he's clutching his arm to his ribs, and he's covered in countless little cuts and bruises, blood seemingly being everywhere. His clothes are torn, and his facial expression is a mix of both tiredness and sadness, but when he sees you, he instantly gets a shimmer in his eyes.

"Hi, Gorgeous," Tony whispers before wincing, his eyes shut tightly as a wave of undeniable pain shoots through his entire body.

"Hi, Beautiful," you say with a soft smile, right before herding him into the exam room so you can give him some painkillers. Tony carefully takes his place on the large exam table and sinks into it with a sigh, relief washing over him now that he's home and being taken care of.

As you walk around the room to prepare the last things for the examination, Tony can't stop looking at you. He admires seeing you in your element like this, and even though he's in a great deal of pain right now, he seems to forget it for just a moment now that he's in your presence again. He may not like anything related to the medical field, but he has learned to accept it since knowing you.

"How did the mission go?" you ask Tony in a calm, steady voice, your gaze focused on the cuts on his face while you clean them. Tony's lips curl into a small smile when you're this close to him. His deep, dark brown eyes follow every movement of your face, and he loves how the tip of your tongue pokes out when you're concentrating on something.

"There were some unforeseen difficulties, but overall, it went well. Got hit a few times, though, as you can tell," he says, and you chuckle at his words. That same chuckle has Tony's heart skipping a beat each time he hears the melodic sound falling from your lips.

"I'm glad you're safe now, though. I'm glad to have my man home again," you tell him, leaning in for a soft peck on his lips. As you pull away, Tony lets his head fall back against the table, a large smile on his lips and his mind going crazy. He's deeply in love with you, and having you call him 'your man' does things he can't explain.

Once his face is patched up, it's time to move on to his torso. But before you can do that, you'll have to remove his shirt, which causes a lot of groans and winces, but he knows it has to be done.

"It's okay, Beautiful. I've got you." Tony pushes for just one more moment until his shirt is off, and you gasp when it is as you look at the damage. A dark purple bruise covers most of his ribs and part of his chest and abdomen, and there are even more cuts and minor bruises littered over the rest of his torso.

"Oh my god," you say as you inspect it, and Tony looks at you apologetically, as if he wants to say sorry for being hurt like this.

"What happened?" you ask him, your brows furrowed in concern. He exhales shakily before telling you he got his ass kicked in some hand-to-hand combat when his suit didn't work. A lump forms in your throat as you try to treat him to the best of your abilities, but it's not easy when he has multiple broken ribs - they're the reason he was clutching his arm tightly against his chest and rib cage.

"Oh, you poor thing," you whisper as you look up at him, your hand cupping his cheek again.

"I think it's better if you take it easy for a while, Beautiful. I will give you a shot to help with the healing later, but this isn't going to go away with just that," you explain, and he nods. Deep inside, he's relieved to have to slow down a bit, as his life is fast-paced enough already. He's been wanting to spend more time with you at home, and this is the perfect way to do just that.

"I love you, Tony, but this is taking a big toll on you. I don't mind taking care of you and patching you up, but I also think that you should start thinking about retiring," you tell him, and even though it hurts to have to say to him, it's the right thing to do.

"I know, Gorgeous, and you're right. The fact that I'm getting old doesn't help my case either," he says with a sad smile as you take a seat on the edge of the exam table, grabbing his hand as you do.

"I'm not saying you should retire right away, but once you do, we might finally be able to start the family we've been dreaming of," you tell your boyfriend. He looks at you with such love and admiration as you say it; it's indescribable. The feeling swirling through your chests can't be put into words, but you both know you feel the same.

"Let's start now, Gorgeous. I don't care about being Iron Man or the Avengers; I want to start a family with you. I want to grow old with you. You are all I care about," he whispers, and you're fighting back tears at his admission. A soft 'okay' leaves your lips, and Tony squeezes your hand.

"But first, I have to finish patching you up, Beautiful. Otherwise, we're not going to be able to do anything without me having to do all the work," you joke, and Tony can't help but laugh, though as soon as he starts, he also stops as he winces in pain.

"Oh god, don't make me laugh, Gorgeous," Tony says with an amused smile. The two of you sit silently for a little while, and out of nowhere, you reach up to touch the tattoo on his chest, your name proudly shown on his skin forever.

Your fingers glide over it, and you look at it until Tony grabs your wrist carefully with his free hand, bringing your fingers to his lips and kissing them softly. More specifically, he kisses the place where he has been planning to put a ring for a few years now.

"I love you, Gorgeous. I'm the luckiest man on earth with you by my side," he whispers before bringing your digits to his mouth again and placing a lingering kiss, pouring every ounce of emotion into the one gesture.

"How're you feeling, Beautiful? Are you okay?" you ask Tony as you stand in the large shower in your shared home, the water cascading down on both of you as he holds you close to his body. Soft kisses and gentle touches are shared between you both as your back is against his chest, and your breathing patterns slowly sync up.

"Yeah, I'm doing much better with you in here with me," he tells you before kissing your temple softly. You smile at his words. Seeing his injuries, you offer to help him shower, and if there's one thing he never says no to, it's bringing you in there with him.

"I'm glad I can help you to feel better," you whisper as you turn around and wrap your arms around his waist. Your head is placed gently against his shoulder as your eyes slip shut, and you finally dare to sigh in relief. There's always a certain level of worry in your body as Tony is gone for missions, and you never dare to settle down until you know he's okay and safe with you.

"I can't stop thinking about starting a family with you," Tony tells you as he lets his hands wander over your hips and sides until they're splayed out over your belly, his thumbs rubbing the soft flesh as you smile into his touches.

"Having a few little ones running around with another one on the way, God, you'll be so beautiful when you're pregnant, Gorgeous," Tony says before pulling away, turning you around, and sinking to the ground, his face at the same level as your belly.

"I can already imagine the little feet kicking inside you as they're growing and how beautiful you will be as you have a pregnancy glow," Tony tells you as he rubs your belly softly with his cheek. Your hands carefully lace into his hair and rub softly, calming him down immensely.

"What would you like it to be? A boy or a girl?" you ask your boyfriend, who smiles at your question.

"Both." His answer is short and to the point, but he's already thought about it plenty of times. He's always dreamt of having at least one girl and one boy, but he will happily accept what the universe is willing to give you both.

"What about you, Gorgeous?" he says as he carefully looks up at you, his facial hair tickling your belly.

"Both," you say with a dopey smile, and Tony smiles before peppering your belly in kisses, making you laugh as his beard and mustache keep tickling you in your ticklish areas. Eventually, Tony gets up, pulling you against his chest, your head leaning against his shoulder once more while his hands rub over your back in a soothing pattern.

Before stepping into the shower, Tony has put on some background music, and you're both swaying back and forth to it as your boyfriend gathers the courage to ask you something important. Though he's been planning on making it a special moment, he also knows there won't be another moment more right than the one you're sharing now.

"Marry me."

At first, you're not sure you heard him correctly as you pull your head back. Your gaze meets his brown eyes, a large smile on his lips, and one of his brows quirked in excitement.

"Marry me, Gorgeous," he says again, and there's no denying it this time. Tony proposed to you, and a huge smile worked its way onto your face as tears fell down your cheeks. Out of all the moments he could have possibly chosen, you're not sure why he did it now, but it's perfect.

"Yes, I will marry you, Tony," you say before standing on your tiptoes and pulling him close. Your lips crash together as the excitement takes over your bodies. Tony's fingers dig into your sides as he's impossibly trying to pull you closer, even though there's no more space between you two.

"God, I can't believe you're going to become Mrs. Stark," he says with a breathy chuckle after pulling away for some much-needed air. Tony presses his forehead against yours as he tucks some wet strands of your hair behind your ear, your eyes focused only on each other.

"I can't wait to be Mrs. Stark," you tell him, a flurry of butterflies in your stomach going wild as you say the words aloud. Future Mrs. Stark indeed has a nice ring to it.

"I love you so much, Gorgeous. I'm so lucky to have you say yes to marrying me. I've been dreaming of it for months," Tony emphasizes before capturing your lips again, not wanting to be away from your plump, soft lips for too long.

His hands wander over your bare back down to the globes of your butt, where he lets them rest for a little while, despite the slightly awkward angle of his body due to your height difference. He's always been obsessed with your butt, constantly touching it when you're together or slapping it during sex.

"I love you too, Tony," you whisper in his ear before turning off the shower and getting ready to sleep. It's not that late in the evening yet, but Tony needs his sleep to heal, and you're getting tired, too.

It doesn't take long for you both to be curled up under the covers, enjoying each other's warmth and closeness. However, Tony asked you to be the big spoon so he could be the little spoon for the first time.

"How's this?" you ask Tony as you place soft kisses between his shoulder blades. You can't reach any higher due to your significant height difference.

"Good," Tony murmurs, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips as your fingers slowly lull him to sleep. They're tracing abstract patterns over his chest and around his arc reactor, and you can feel his breathing slowing down until it evens out.

"I love you, Beautiful," you whisper once Tony is asleep, and it doesn't take long for you to fall asleep. 

During the night, both you and your now fiancé slept like logs, and the shot you gave Tony yesterday has done an amazing job of healing him. Now, he's busy in the kitchen preparing breakfast for you while you're still curled under the warmth of the comforter of Tony's king-size bed.

Soft music plays in the kitchen while Tony scrambles a few eggs, and the smell of food brings a smile to Tony's face at the thought of surprising you with it later. While he prepares every last one of your favorite dishes, he's also preparing the tray to present to you later.

After working in the kitchen for another 30 minutes, the tray is adorned with a small bouquet of fresh flowers in a vase, the food he prepared, a steaming cup of tea, and a small, black ring box.

Now comes the real challenge for Tony—getting to the bedroom without dropping anything or scaring you. With careful steps, he makes his way over there, and much to his surprise, nothing spills or falls off, making him feel rather proud of himself.

The bedroom door is slightly ajar as he makes his way over, pushing it open further with his foot, before being greeted by you lying on your belly, the comforter halfway down your back, exposing your bare back to him, and he can't help but smile.

"G'morning, Sleepyhead," Tony says as you start waking up from the smell of fresh food. Tony is crouching next to the bed.

"How did you sleep, Gorgeous?" he asks as he wipes some hair out of your face to expose your beautiful smile and sleepy expression. His heart beats faster when he sees his future wife lying in his bed, smiling at him, and he has rarely felt this fortunate.

"Amazing, what about you?" you ask before sitting up and stretching out some of the sleep. That's when you notice the food Tony prepared. It's all there, from fresh waffles and scrambled eggs to fresh fruit and your favorite tea.

"I haven't slept this good in a long time; I think I should be the little spoon more often," Tony tells you as he gets up and reaches for something on the tray. Once his fingers are curled around it, you notice it's a small, velvety box, and your heart immediately starts to pump faster - an engagement ring.

While you look at your fiancé getting into position, you put your hand over your mouth in disbelief, as you didn't expect him to propose first thing in the morning, but here he is, going down on one knee.

"Gorgeous; from the moment I met you, I knew that your presence in my life would be one of immeasurable worth, and you have proven me more than right. From all the times you have patched me up after missions, and from all the nights we stayed up talking when one of us needed it most, they're all cherished deep within my heart," he starts, and you start tearing up as you listen to him propose.

"Before we got together, I didn't care if I lived or died, but when you asked me out on a date, I knew I had someone worth living for - someone who's worth fighting for. I knew I wanted to come home from the moment you moved in with me because you made me feel like I was home again."

You stretch out your hand, and Tony grabs it before squeezing it carefully. Soft sniffles escape as the words sink in with you. Your heart is going into overdrive, and the butterflies in your stomach are going wild, but it's more than worth it.

"Y/N Y/L/N, will you officially give me the honor of becoming the future Mrs. Stark and marrying me?" After flipping open the box, Tony asks, and you nod enthusiastically, a broken 'yes' leaving your lips before wrapping your arms around your fiancé.

He quickly sits down on the edge of the bed as you two let the tears flow freely, the breakfast he prepared long forgotten as you're basking in the glory of the moment. Tony has slipped the ring on your finger, and you can't stop looking at it from every angle.

"It's beautiful, Tony," you tell him while you look at the ring and slowly work on eating the breakfast he prepared. He constantly feeds you the fresh fruit and waffles while stealing a kiss between each bite, while he happily lets you feed some of the eggs and toast he prepared for himself, which goes paired with even more stolen kisses.

"I can't believe you went down on one knee for me first thing in the morning!" you tell him with a soft smack against his chest. He smiles before rubbing his nose against yours lovingly.

"I'm glad I did, though. I've been carrying that thing around for literal years at this point but never found the right moment. It turns out I just needed to have you take care of me for it to be the right moment," he says in a soft voice, and you feel the goosebumps rising on your neck.

"How about you let me take care of you for once?" Tony asks as he peppers a royal amount of kisses over your cheek and jaw, making you moan softly as his teeth graze over the edge of it, your nipples immediately pebbling at the feeling of it.

"Please," you whisper as you look into his eyes, lust visible in them. Before you know it, Tony has put the tray on the floor, and the comforter pulled off your body, revealing your entirely bare body to him. He gets comfortable between your legs after you've spread them, and his mouth descends on your neck and collarbone, sucking soft bruises into the skin.

Your fingers are laced in his hair as he takes his time marking you up, his hips rutting his cock against your soft, dripping pussy as he does. Soft moans tumble from your lips as you tug on his hair, and the feeling of his lips and tongue, together with his facial hair, is driving you insane as he takes his time.

"D-Daddy," you whine as his tip gets caught on your sensitive clit, and he smiles against your skin before lifting his head and meeting your gaze. Your eyes are already half-lidded, and your lip is raw from all the biting, but Tony has never seen a more beautiful sight.

"What is it, Sweet Mama? Are you gettin' a little impatient?" he asks teasingly, and you nod shyly.

"Want you inside me, Daddy," you tell him, and he's never been able to say no when you ask him so nicely. He reaches down to guide himself to your entrance; his gaze focused on your expression as he slides in his long, thick cock.

You spread your legs a little more to accommodate every last inch of him, and you both moan in unison as he bottoms out. You instantly clench down on his cock, and he kisses you softly as you get adjust to him being inside you again.

"You're taking me so well, Gorgeous. Você é uma garota tão boa," he whispers in your ear. Your cheeks heat up as you hear him calling you a good girl in Portuguese. Before you met Tony you spent a few years in Brazil, and you have taught him quite a bit of Portuguese for his mission, but you didn’t teach him that, but goosebumps crawl across your skin as you smile at his words.

After Tony called you that, you clench around him even harder, making Tony bury his face in your neck. In a bold moment, you surprise Tony by landing a loud, hard smack on his ass, and the jerk of his body only drives his cock even deeper into you.

"So tight, Babygirl, 's so fucking tight around my cock, can feel you milkin' me already," he groans, and he sets a slow pace once you're finally allowing him to move. Every inch of his thick, veiny cock feels like heaven as he takes his time, and you let your head sinks into the soft pillows as you look at your fiancé.

"I love you so much," he says as he lets his hand glide over your arm until he reaches the hand with the engagement ring on it. He brings the ring to his lips, placing a soft kiss on it. His eyes are locked onto yours as he does, and you feel the butterflies in your stomach go wild.

"I love you too, Tony," you say before pulling him down for a deep, passionate kiss. His fingers interlace with yours as he keeps building your high. The atmosphere in your bedroom is still cozy from the night, and with Tony's comfortable, slow pace, you can feel yourself almost slipping into a drowsy state.

"I want you to cum for me, Gorgeous, I'm so close to filling you up," Tony whispers as he noses along your jaw, and your back arches into him at the words, your senses on high alert as you're getting ready to fall over the edge. Out of nowhere, he also grabs your other hand, pinning them both above your head as he picks up the pace, chasing both your highs.

"God, keep milkin' me, Babygirl, milk Daddy's cock like a good fuckin' girl," he growls, and before you know it, you're both falling over the edge simultaneously. He keeps working you both through your orgasms, and when you're both finished, he pulls out before pulling you against his chest as he falls to the side.

You're both panting as you let your head rest on his chest, your fingers gliding over your name on his chest again.

"I would love to add even more names to your tattoo. I think it's also the perfect spot to add our children's names," you say dreamily as you think about having a few little ones running around in the future.

"I thought so too, Gorgeous," Tony says, and it's the last thing you know before letting your eyes slip shut, and sleep quickly takes over. The rest of the day, neither of you leaves the bed as you make love for hours, never getting enough of one another.

Today marks the first day of the rest of your lives together, and you can't wait to see what the future has in store for you both.

[cringecompanionapologist]

I Swear I Thought of This Months Ago: Different Doctors in Midnight

The thing with Midnight is that shit goes wrong because it's a companion-lite episode. The two people the Midnight Entity singled out to possess where the two people traveling alone. They were easy to isolate from the group. If the Doctor's not traveling alone here, and there's this human who came in with him just going along with whatever he's doing, it's going to seem less suspicious. So, what would happen to any Doctor in Midnight is based more on their companions than the Doctor. Donna took the day off of adventuring to enjoy the spa. Not all companions would do that. First Doctor: He may get on everyone's nerves, but he's going to have a granddaughter with him and people will judge him less harshly because he has a family. You've got a couple with their teenage son there. They see an old grandpa with a granddaughter the same age as their son, they're going to see him as someone like them. As for the granddaughters, Susan wouldn't want to leave her grandfather and Vicki canonically is more interested in adventures than relaxation. I'm less sure about Dodo, because nobody is sure about Dodo. She's a wild card.

Second Doctor: A group of people in a small space menaced by a monster? Might as well be a base under siege. He's in his element here. He also tends to be better at understanding human nature than most Doctors, so even if he was alone, he might not end up quite so isolated. And he wouldn't be alone. Out of a combination of loyalty and discomfort with spa environments, Jamie would definitely be with him.

Third Doctor: Following the Doctor around on his adventures is literally what Jo was hired to do. She'll be the one telling everyone that the Doctor is an expert on basically everything and she trusts him so they should too. If they try to throw him out she'll try to either take his place or go with him and nobody will want to hurt her. Nobody wants to hurt Jo. Even the Master didn't want to hurt Jo.

Fourth Doctor: When Four shows up somewhere, being weird, acting like he owns the place, and having way too much fun in a crisis, people tend to sort of roll with it. It's a superpower he has. But, if we want to turn the superpower off, we've sort of got three eras to consider. Sarah Jane would probably follow the Doctor, since she's still a holdover from Three's "companions are literally the Doctor's assistants" era. Leela would not understand the appeal of a spa and would threaten people into listening to the Doctor. As for Romana...Okay, we've got another Time Lord. I actually don't know. She'll probably go with him and might have slightly more luck with the locals.

Fifth Doctor: Really depends on the TARDIS team. Tegan's going to take the goddamn spa day and will talk Nyssa into going with her if she's around. If it's just Nyssa, she'll go with the Doctor and everyone loves Nyssa, so everything will be fine. Turlough is going to enjoy a pleasant day off. He can relax, do a bit of sketching, and not have to deal with yet another traumatic incident. Adric would not understand the idea of a spa, call it stupid, get into a fight with Tegan, and if he wasn't going with the Doctor before this, the Doctor would insist purely to separate the two and restore order. Adric has no social skills, so he wouldn't exactly make the Doctor look better, but like with One and his various granddaughter companions, the family on the train would be more comfortable with a family man.

Sixth Doctor: The classic Doctors have done well so far but Six is probably fucked. Peri would probably like a day off from him and the violent shit that happens around him. Mel might try to get him to stay at the spa for health purposes. I don't know the EU well, but Evelyn might have a chance of coming along and getting him to behave, but no promises for anyone else.

Seventh Doctor: Of course Ace is there. Yet another Doctor passes as a family man and it's easy.

Eighth Doctor: I don't know the EU well and Eight is the Whoops All EU Doctor, but he seems to pick up companions that would follow him around here, being all human and convincing the humans not to bully him. But, considering Eight's luck, they'd probably try to throw him out of the train anyway and he'd end up traumatized again.

Ninth Doctor: Might actually consider just spending the day at the spa, but if he gets bored and goes on an adventure, Rose probably gonna follow him. The day is saved with the Power of Love or something.

Eleventh Doctor: Amy wants to go with the Doctor despite Rory's protests. There's a lot of bickering but they get out fine.

Twelfth Doctor: Clara is his carer who cares so he doesn't have to, so preventing Midnight incidents is sort of what she's there for. For Bill, this would be an educational experience. Twelve gets on everybody's nerves a bit, and he gives a speech about how stupid everyone's being, which doesn't actually help, and he'll probably end up getting punched in the face, but not thrown out of the train.

Thirteenth Doctor: She tells her companions to just enjoy themselves and wanders off alone. If they insist on following her, and Yaz probably would, we're fine. If she successfully ditches her companions, she's in trouble. She'll openly admit to being socially awkward, but I'm not sure if that would actually help in this situation.

Fourteenth Doctor: He's retired. He's probably staying with Donna. If not, everything mainly goes the same as it does with Ten, but it feels more cruel.

Fifteenth Doctor: Ruby would go with him and he's actually pretty good with people anyway. I'm guessing the Fourteen remembered being Ten and regenerated into someone unlikely to be thrown out of a train on a death planet just in case.

[high-mackrels-musings]

In Defense of Ki-Adi Mundi … Again

Look at that, one of my favorite Jedi from legends is relevant again … for all the wrong reasons. But regardless I’ll take any chance I can to talk about my favorite Cerean.

With that said I’ll just say two things with regards to the acolyte and Mundi, I’ve watched two episodes and have little interest to watch anymore, canon isn’t my cup of tea, if you enjoy it good for you, Star Wars is a big enough fandom that both old EU and canon fans can enjoy their respective parts of it. And please understand that Ki-Adi Mundi of legends is not the same as canon, unfortunately people are woefully ignorant of who he was in canon.

With all that let me go ahead and repost one of my old posts from reddit where I defend the now seemingly popular Ki-Adi Mundi. Original post found here.

Introudction:

In recent days it has become quite common to bash the jedi for their perceived arrogance, hypocrisy, and coldness. Seemingly a few jedi are always quick to be singled out for their actions Mace Windu is directed plenty of ire for his role in ousting Ahsoka, as is Shaak Ti for her inaction in the clone chips, and Luminara for her response towards the death of the Martez sisters’ parents. However, I shall be focusing solely on one whom has recently been getting a lot of attention with (reddit posts like these), (articles like these), and ( videos like these).

This is a horrible video, please don’t watch this.

It seems apparent to many that Ki-Adi Mundi deserved his death and that he is a prime example for the Jedi losing their way. However, I felt it necessary to attempt to put things into some perspectives. Not only because I feel people are taking things heavily out of context, but also Ki-Adi represents one of the best Jedi Masters of his era in my opinion.

Common Criticisms:

Mundi’s denial of the Sith Existence (The Phantom Menace):

One of first instances that many will bring up will be the hubris that Mundi’s quick denial that the sith might have returned as Qui-Gon reported to the council. While it is true that Mundi was perhaps just a little too quick to judge. However, one needs to consider the viewpoint of his and the rest of the council. As he states, the Sith are believed to have been extinct for a millennia, following the supposed death of Darth Bane in Darth Bane: Rule of Two. But while the Sith had believed to be extinct there were plenty of examples of Dark Jedi and other Dark Side users well into the clone wars, as exhibited in the stages before the Clone Wars such as Aurra Sing and Komari Vosa, and before The Phantom Menace as seen by Qui-Gon’s own former apprentice Xanatos.

Red lightsaber, familiar in the Jedi arts, but not a Sith.

Thus, to the Jedi on the council it would have made much more sense that Qui-Gon had been attacked by a possible fallen Jedi, rather than a long believed to be dead group.

While Mundi was at times sure of himself, this is not such an example that can be used to discredit him. Rather what we can see here is an example of the arrogance of Qui-Gon to always listen to his first instinct. The Jedi Council rightfully so declares that such a matter should be looked into more closely with Mace Windu stating, “We will use all our resources to look into the matter more closely.” Of course, it looks bad in hindsight, but as viewers we have more information than the characters on the screen.

Mundi’s defense of Count Dooku (Attack of the Clones):

In Attack of the Clones following a failed assassination, Padme is quick to bring up the name of Count Dooku for whom might be responsible for the attempt on her life. This is quickly followed by the Cerean master’s words, “He’s a political idealist not a murderer.” It is backed up by the words of Mace who describes him as being a former jedi. One needs to remember the context of this. Dooku while having left the Jedi Order, did so amicably as seen by his statement when leaving the Jedi as found in Jedi VS. Sith The Essential Guide to the Force where he states:

It is my plan to return to Serenno and serve my people as a philanthropist. It is my last request as a Jedi Master that you Respect my decision, as well as my privacy. Good-bye old friends, and may the Force be with you.

Further as seen in the deleted scene Jocasta Nu states, “He disappeared for nine or ten years and reemerged as the leader of the separatist movement.” Dooku thus is thought of as only being a political leader, which would fit the description of him in the Revenge of the Sith novelization, where he is described in the common consciousness as:

The political heart of the Separatist Confederacy, Count Dooku, is known for his integrity, his principled stand against what he sees as corruption in the Senate. Though they believe he’s wrong, many respect him for the courage of his mistaken convictions.

Thus, this viewpoint by both Ki-Adi Mundi and Mace Windu is well supported in universe. They have yet to see any reason for such a quick accusation that Padme makes, instead they must stand behind the evidence at hand, that being that the attempt on her life was that of spice miners as intelligence pointed. It should be kept in context that Dooku was still seen at this time, by the Jedi at least, as a good friend who had simply become disillusioned by the Jedi and the Republic.

Ahsoka’s Trial (The Clone Wars Season Five):

Perhaps one of the most spoken criticisms against Mundi, is his role in expelling Ahsoka from the Jedi Order. With Ahsoka being a well-beloved character of the fanbase, it’s no wonder everyone would come to her defense against what most would consider an unfair treatment of a fan favorite. Yet, should one look at the evidence that was available to the character’s it is not so cut and dry. Indeed, should one look at this without any outside insight they would have come to such similar conclusions.

Indeed, the case against Ahsoka was much stronger than some might very well remember. In the second episode of the arc The Jedi Who Knew too Much the murder of Letta, the one responsible for the explosion, was caught on camera. The visual for anyone would have been obvious. Ahsoka is seen holding out her hands while Letta floats in the air visibly running out of air. This is just the first piece of damning evidence. Further there is the statement that Letta makes in plain earshot of the clone commander to Ahsoka, “I was told if I ever needed help you were the Jedi to contact,” further implementing Ahsoka into the role of mastermind of the temple bombing. In this same episode Ahsoka is let out of prison, though to anyone apart from the audience it appears that she has fled, along with reportedly killing a few clones. And then there is Ahsoka being spotted, by Anakin nonetheless, with Asajj Ventress, a known separatist and war criminal. Finally, when Ahsoka is captured by the clone and Jedi team, she is found next to more explosive nano droids. All this culminates in showing Ahsoka in the worst possible light.

Furthering the matter is the fact that this was no longer a Jedi Matter that could be investigated internally. As Admiral Tarkin explains to Anakin and Ashoka in *The Jedi Who Knew Too Much* Letta was moved because the matter was now in the hands of the military, “Clones were killed, which makes this a military matter.” A statement Anakin agrees with. And as mentioned in the same episode, Palpatine had made sure to remove the Jedi from such military matters. It further complicates the matter. And thus, one may see that the Jedi had little choice but to expel Ahsoka. Not only did all the evidence point to her. But they simply were not in a position to set up their own trial.

Further it should be noted that Mundi had very little involvement in the decision to expel Ahsoka other than simply voting, a vote that was split according to Yoda in the final episode of the arc stating, “Reached a decision the council has, though not in total agreement are we.” Indeed, Mundi himself never actually voices an accusation against Ahsoka. In To Catch a Jedi he simply asks Anakin if there was any chance to stop Ahsoka. And in The Wrong Jedi he merely asks that everyone consider that the evidence points to Ahsoka being the mastermind behind the attack, which is correct. Perhaps why everyone holds it against him is that he is the one who reads to Ahsoka what the consequences are for her being expelled from the order are. Regardless Mundi himself is not solely at fault for Ahsoka’s leaving of the order. Nor, was it outlandish for Ahsoka to be accused of said crime, as all there was strong evidence against her.

But what about the droid attack on the Wookie’s (Revenge of the Sith)

It seems a bit odd that this is constantly brought up as a point as to why the Mundi was an idiot. The Council were the military command of the republic. It was their duty to plan out the movements of the republic army, and where best to send them. While the scene first begins with Anakin’s appointment to the council, it quickly shifts to discussion about military matters, with Mundi informing the council that they do not know where General Grievous is. This prompts Obi-Wan to mention how little ships they have to spare. Naturally with how thin they are spread; Mundi asks what they will do about Kashyyk. As should be known Yoda volunteers to go to the aid of the Wookiees, stating, “Good relations with the Wookie’s I have.”

Some might see this as Mundi indirectly helping Palpatine’s plan. However, it should be noted that Obi-Wan is not exaggerating. Kashyyk really is a system that the Republic could simply not be allowed to lose. As noted in the Starwars.com encyclopedia, “Kashyyyk was of prime strategic importance, serving as a major navigational point for the entire southwestern quadrant of the galaxy.” There were also several oil refineries located on the planet which the confederacy wanted to take control of. One can also make an argument for the Humanitarian reasons to get involved. The Wookiee’s had always been loyal to the republic and were a group often targeted for slavery and hunted down. They were a marginalized group, and thus it makes sense for why Ki-Adi would want to support the Wookiee’s.

And it should be noted that Yoda himself volunteered in his desire to go and aid the Wookies, as he states he had very good relations. And it makes sense that he would want to go, and help them. The Jedi Council thus made perhaps the best decision that they could in sending not only their most experienced Jedi, but one who would have had the trust of the natives.

Common Misconceptions:

Mundi did not love or care for his family:

One of the most notable differences between Mundi and most Jedi of his time was that he had a family. As Cerean’s generally had a low birth rate, and because males were outnumbered one to twenty per *The New Essential Guide to Alien Species.*Thus, Mundi was granted a special exemption from this rule taking on one bond wife and four honor wives. Between them Mundi had seven daughters. He would spend much of his time with them as he was the appointed Jedi watchman of the sector which Cerea formed a part of. Strangely one of most common misconceptions is that Mundi somehow did not care for them.

However, in Star Wars: Prelude to Rebellion one can see quite the opposite in fact. In Part 1 we see him openly comfort his honor wife Mawin, after their daughter has run away. And he states with regard to his bond wife Shea the narration states:

”Four honor wives have given him seven daughters. He loves them all, but his heart longs for a son. He can hide his disappointment from the others. But from Shea, if she should bear him another girl? No, not from Shea. He can hide nothing from her.”

This quote shows two things. It demonstrates for us the love that Ki-Adi Mundi actually had for his family. And that he loved his bond wife Shea so much he could not bare to let her see any semblance of disappointment in his eyes. This shows the actual empathy of Mundi. And in Part 5 of the comic, we again see him demonstrating his fatherly love towards his daughter Sylvn saying, “He had not realized until she was brought so close, and then wrenched so cruelly away. How much he loved his daughter.”

Mundi demonstrates in these early comics just how much he loves his family. And indeed, it goes contrary to the popular opinion that Mundi somehow did not care for his family.

Mundi was cold and lacked empathy.

Mundi has also been characterized as lacking empathy or feelings for others. Indeed, one of the most common examples of why Mundi is a prime example of everything bad with the Jedi of the Rise of the Empire era. Mostly I have seen people point to one scene in Star Wars: Republic 62 where following the supposed death of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mundi relates to Anakin how he felt about the death of his family saying, “I cared for them, but tried to remain unattached.” I have seen some point to this being proof that Mundi did not care for the death of others. One can get into a debate about the Jedi and their views on death, however as noted above, Mundi absolutely cared for his family. And his advice was to tell Anakin that while death is hard one can move on from it.

Further we have evidence of how deeply Mundi cared for the deaths of other sentient beings as seen in Star Wars Clone Wars Adventures Volume 6 we see Mundi mediating under dripping water. His exact words as to why he does this are: “It helps my meditation in these dark days. Each drop reminds me of every life that has been lost.” This shows us once more how much Mundi felt empathy for the death of every single life that had been lost.

In the same comic, Mundi shows concern for the life of the young Jedi Knight Rivi-Anu who runs to try to save the lives of clones and Jedi. Mundi sees her goal of stopping a crash landing Venator from crashing knows that she is trying to save them all, following her death Mundi states, “Greater love has no being than to lay down their life for a friend. Rivi-Anu is now one with the living force. It will make me proud to one day join her.” Mundi shows once more how much the death of others matters to him when he thinks of Rivi-Anu while mediating under dripping water once matter.

These two examples demonstrate that Mundi was far from a cold unfeeling Jedi some portray him as. While it is true Mundi did not stop to weep at the death of everyone, he undoubtedly felt every death touch his heart. His attempts at teaching Anakin the difference between mourning and holding onto these feelings is evident. And indeed we see that Mundi concentrated on the death of his fellow Jedi.

Conclusion

While it is entirely possible that one may have feelings towards Mundi, still perhaps you may feel he was incompetent or the single embodiment of everything wrong with the jedi. I would hope that this little essay does a decent job of trying to correct some of the possible misconceptions that have faced the Cerean Master. I believe it’s important to contextualize many of these criticisms. To try to make one see things from the perspective of the character, and indeed to provide direct quotes from many of his most famous stories. Ki-Adi Mundi is a character I grew up with falling in love with his stories in early comic run.

I certainly believe that Mundi was a very noble Jedi holding up the ideals of one. Growing from a young arrogant Jedi Knight. Into an introspective master. Who after losing every one of his daughters and wives still remained on the Jedi path. Who did his best to pass on wisdom to the young Jedi who would follow him. And who wanted nothing more than to preserve the republic all the way to the end. Hopefully putting some context into such claims can quell the ire driven against one of my favorite characters in Star Wars.

[cicerenella]

on that note- how do you view gerita/itager btw? would love to hear more about it!🇮🇹🇩🇪

i was waiting for a pairing ask! I actually really like gerita/itager, but I see it in a way that's just a little bit different from the canon...

to start, feli is obviously older than ludwig. i like to think that when germany was still a teen he looked at italy with something resembling...admiration? because think about it! this guy represented the duchy of tuscany, the republic of venice... secular and powerful kingdoms. he probably didn't realize that he was having a small crush on him. feli, on the other hand, didn't pay much attention to young lud.

gerita didn't always have the relationship they have now. during both world wars it was er...difficult, if you bring in consideration all what happened. so it was only after the establishment of the European Union that they started to actually form an healthy relationship.

that and also the fact that I headcanon italy being a tad noncommittal in his romantic relationships after the death of HRE (for context, I dont consider chibitalia a thing, so they were both adults). so at the start, this rubbed ludwig off in the wrong way an awful lot, since he is on the other hand very serious about this type of stuff. it was rocky lol.

but besides all that, today is all good! and they're not just dating, but also colleagues? they work an awful lot together, since yknow they're North Italy and Germany. EU's economy is in their hands!

so it's very cute when they finally have a moment together far from meeting rooms. feli brings out the more "laid back" side of ludwig, while ludwig brings that sense of stability that I think feli needs.

on another note, lud absolutely wakes feli up at 6 am to take him trekking in god knows where. he literally has to rip him out of the covers or something. for him it is peak quality time.

and speaking of quality time...it is actually ludwig's preferred love language along with acts of service! he isn't the best when it comes to expressing his emotions, and he's a bit stiff when it comes to physical contact. but you bet this man runs to feli's side if he needs anything, even the simplest things.

on the other side, feli's love languages are physical touch and quality time (as well)!! he's awfully coddly and will literally force ludwig to stay in bed for like...15 more minutes because he doesn't function during the day without cuddles.

just imagine these two otherwise workaholic men being awfully sweet with eachother first thing in the morning ♡♡

but don't think these two don't tease eachother restlessly! feli is a cocky bastard and ludwig easily flustered after all eheh.

the last anon said something about lud calling feli "old man" and that is something I absolutely can envision happening. ludwig might be physically more "imponent" but feli has a more mature appearance to him.

and you know after that, feli is gonna tease him back even harder, he's a bastard in that. cockiness runs in the family at this point LMAO

a genius idea just sparked in my brain and I also remember that it is canon that they cook together?? anyways, yea, they always cook together with feli teaching lud how to prepare traditional Italian (north) dishes. and again, lud teaching feli how to bake, since headcanon that he really enjoys baking.

uuuh yeah, this turned out as more as if general headcanons but we need more gerita anyways top tier ship🫶🫶

[lightfromandromeda]

begging every doctor who fan that has only watched the revival (2005-present) to pls pls pls check out the classic show and/or the expanded universe (books, audios, comics, theres SO MUCH)

the original show is very fun with goofy costumes and practical effects on a lame ass budget (hell yeah) and great characters. it IS an old british show so beware of some offensive out of date things

and my god i could talk for a week straight about the expanded universe. the EU goes into basically every doctor, master, other timelords and most companions and sometimes further into side characters. its all rich with crazy plots and characterization that u dont get in either show its so fucking delicious. hell so many of the books are explicitly queer. in the EDAs (Eighth Doctor Adventure books) there are two bi companions, an aroace person who you could also argue is agender, and they hav multiple discussions of the doctors gender and how he isnt a man. one of the bi companions (a dude) falls in love with the doctor.

hell the EU goes into modern who stuff too. there are audios with 10 and donna having adventures. same with 10 and rose. rose has her own series about her dimension hopping with her dimension canon where shes trying to find the doctor in series 4. river song has a huge series called the diary of river song which you can guess what its about. martha has her own stories about her year of walking the earth. if you like torchwood theres a torchwood audio series.... and books.

seriously, i watched nuwho first (which i do love dont get me wrong) but after watching the original show and then getting into EU stuff, the regular show feels so barebones most of the time...... crumbs....

[short-wooloo]

Since mando s3 comes out tomorrow, it's probably a good time to remind y'all that none of the legends stuff is canon to it.

Now you'd think the fact that these works don't apply to a TV show made years after they were officially declared non canon (not that they canon to the movies/tcw anyways) would be simple to grasp, but no, I still see constant mention of Jaster the mandalore, the true mandalorians, the war between the true/new/death watch mandos, etc etc in context of the Mandalorian

Speaking of which

Factions:

There are only two major mandalorian factions in canon, the death watch and New Mandalorians, the true mandalorians are not a faction, because they're legends, they do not exist in Lucas SW, their source means they do not apply to didney SW/didney eu, and they are not mentioned in canon/canon eu, ergo they do not exist

And the NM/DW were not rival factions (and honestly calling them "factions" is a bit of a misnomer, they'd be better described as coalitions since they themselves are compromised of a number of groups/factions) in the Civil War, the New Mandalorians existed during the war, but they weren't so much a faction fighting in the war as they were a political reform movement born in respone TO it, the war was largely fought between different clans/alliances of clans for control/power, the New Mandalorians' rise to power came not from conquest, but from a movement of Mandalorian people and groups (including warrior clans) sick of the self destructive, authoritarian, violent old ways, and wanting change, would rally around Satine Kryze

The death watch is a reactionary regressive movement of mando conservatives angry that they lost the war and appalled that they can't be violent murderers anymore who determine who's in charge by fighting to the death, and they insist that this adherence to the "old ways" makes them "real mandalorians"

And that brings me to something else

What makes someone a "true mandalorian" in canon?

As I said, the "true mandalorian" faction does not exist in canon, but you will still here different mandos throw around the phrase(s) "true/real mandalorian", this is a case of the "no true scotsman" fallacy, every mandalorian considers themselves/their group as being the "right" way to be a mandalorian and anyone who doesn't follow that way is wrong and ergo is not a mandalorian, and the only ones who don't buy into this nonsense are the New Mandalorians because they're the only adults in the room and realize it's all really stupid

And lastly we have Jaster, much like with the broader history of mandalorians, I see people attributing Jaster's legends biography to his canon incarnation, when-as we have already established-legends would have no bearing on canon, because they are two different universes (and also Jaster's only "appearance" is in a canon show, made years after the legends stuff was pushed aside)

The canon facts of Jaster are:

He exists

He's Jango's adopted father

That's it, he doesn't even appear in person or is mentioned by name, his "appearance" and existence in canon is down to a quick Easter egg in another language

Now elements of his legends story could become canon, but I want to stress, THAT WOULD NOT MAKE THE LEGENDS SOURCES CANON, because that's another thing I notice, "new SW content makes a nod to or recanonizes something from legends? Fans start thinking that makes a legends thing canon", and that's not how it works, things from legends can be brought over, but they are being/will be retold in a new way for canon, the version made for canon is the canon version

[roselightfairy]

This is rambling and may not have a point in the end, but one thing that I think about a lot in relation to Qui-Gon's portrayal in old and new canon is the different approaches to him as a teacher.

Qui-Gon's identity as a teacher is probably the most important and significant thing about him, regardless of which canon you're looking at - because that's what he's put into the story to be. It's the archetype he fits into, but it's also the thing that shapes his most significant relationships in the movies - and it's the tantalizing void left behind when he dies: what he may or may not have left unfinished with Obi-Wan, what he could or could not have been with Anakin. And it's explained as the reason any of the other characters are able to become Force ghosts at all - because he taught them. It's also the reason I'm obsessed with him, but let's not focus on that. As such, it makes sense that that's the part of his identity that most canonical work about him would focus on.

I have long since outed myself as a New Star Wars Fan with no authorial loyalty except to Claudia Gray, so I can't provide any in-depth analysis of the Legends/EU content or timeline; I only know it from fanon. But I'm not really thinking as much about what kind of a teacher he is portrayed as, or his various student-related traumas, as I am about his relationship to teaching - in the sense of how much of his life he has devoted to it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that in the EU timeline, teaching is something he's been doing almost as long as he's been a Jedi Knight? Obi-Wan is his third apprentice in that, and it seems like he's been doing it for a significant portion of his life. (He is also older in that canon, but then, he'd have to be in order to fit that all in; apprenticeships are not generally short. Even if they're not complete.) In Master and Apprentice, though, Obi-Wan is his first apprentice, and he took him on when he was 36. Which is . . . I mean, I know Obi-Wan was young when he took on Anakin, but this does mean that Qui-Gon waited at least ten years and possibly more into his knighthood before taking on a student. I don't know enough about what the Jedi trajectory tends to be with this sort of thing, but most of our focus characters in the media I've seen take apprentices pretty young. Both Anakin and Obi-Wan, of course; Mace Windu is either the same age as or younger than Qui-Gon and Depa is a Council member; Quinlan is Obi-Wan's contemporary and trained Aayla, who is Anakin's generation. So it seems like it might be either unusual or at least very deliberate to wait that length of time before taking on a student.

But in both universes, teaching is clearly something Qui-Gon cares deeply about, wants to do well, and has bound up a lot of his self into. So I think it's pretty interesting to look at the different trajectories that imagine him where he is in TPM - the older canon, which sort of portrays him as A Teacher, in that it's almost his lifelong calling. (Even when he tries to get out of it, it keeps coming back to him!) In new canon, though, it feels a lot more like a very deliberate choice - like he must have made the call, at age 36, that now was the right time and this the right person to try with. Which means that his lessons would have been learned alongside Obi-Wan but with an element of almost . . . self-determination? I don't mean to suggest that teaching young isn't also a deliberate choice, but it feels like EU Qui-Gon tended often to fall into teaching, while new canon Qui-Gon went into it very intentionally at a specific point in his life. Which might suggest new ways of understanding how he related to Anakin - to having this new student kind of fall into his life. What kind of deliberation was going on in his mind among all of that? If Anakin would have been his fourth apprentice, it feels more like a practiced pattern of behavior that is almost instinctive; if Anakin would have been his second, it feels - different. A little more abrupt, a little more of a break in a pattern - or maybe just an indication of an incredibly strong feeling.

Anyway, I told you I had no point to this, no real conclusion, but I love him and I love thinking about him and his relationship to teaching, so here are my rambling thoughts, if they are interesting to anyone!

[vadertyrannus]

Darth Vader is the Most Powerful Sith in Star Wars Canon

There has been debate in the Star Wars community as to who is the most powerful Sith: Darth Vader or Darth Sidious. This question has different answers depending on the continuity:

Lucas Canon: Darth Sidious is more powerful then Darth Vader. Vader could've been more powerful, but after his loss on Mustafar, he couldn't reach the power he was destined to due to becoming half-machine. After dawning the suit, Vader is only as powerful as Maul and Dooku. Sidious is the most powerful Sith.

Legends Canon: Sidious is also the most powerful Sith and more powerful then Vader, though Vader is still more powerful then Maul and Dooku.

Disney Canon: Darth Vader, in his prime (post-ROTS to the end of TESB), is more powerful then Darth Sidious. Sidious initially believed that Vader would never recover after Mustafar, hence having Cylo create his cybernetic monstrosities introduced in Darth Vader (2015), but Vader proved his master wrong through the years, and Sidious recognized this. Vader is the most powerful Sith.

This post will be covering the Disney Canon version of Darth Vader, proving that he is the most powerful Sith in the galaxy. It will also analyze the impact this has on the themes and story of Star Wars, the in-universe logic, and why I ultimately believe this was a good creative choice.

In other posts linked below, I will be debunking common misconceptions surrounding Vader's power and cybernetics (most of which left over from Lucas or Legends canon), going more in-depth in his feats, and explaining why Vader didn't kill Sidious.

The Proof

In the player's guide of Canon video game Jedi: Fallen Order, Darth Vader is called “the most powerful Sith in the galaxy”. Vader is also explicitly listed as the greatest red saber duelist in the book Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need To Know.

Both The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary and Star Wars: The Age of Resistance – The Official Collector’s Edition state that the bloodline of "the most powerful Jedi and Sith" courses through Kylo Ren's veins (obviously referring to Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader).

Darth Sidious himself stated that Vader would become more powerful then either him or Yoda in Revenge of the Sith. While this is proven wrong in the previous continuities, it's proven right in Canon. He also called Vader's power "unpararalled" in the Tarkin novel.

Sidious is even afraid of Vader, as revealed in Lords of the Sith.

Somewhere in the back of Palpatine’s mind, he knows what Vader’s potential is. He feels he may be wrong, but he is wary of it. So he’s very interested in determining his ability to manipulate Vader and testing his loyalty and assuring himself that this tiger that he holds by the tail is going to stay that way.

The artist of the Darth Vader (2020) comic series confirmed twice on Twitter that Vader is more powerful than Sidious, when not conflicted.

Multiple Canon books and this tweet from Leland Chee confirm that Vader did not lose midichlorians after his loss to Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar, and the lose of limbs does not lead to lost Force potential.

This means that Darth Vader did not lose Force power after his loss on Mustafar, in Canon. He remained as powerful as Vader before Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith and continued to grow from there (until after The Empire Strikes Back, when Vader becomes conflicted after investigating Luke and Padme's true fate, as depicted in Darth Vader (2020) comics).

This point-of-view still works even when exclusively viewing the films, as the Prequels constantly hold Anakin up to a high standard, and nothing in the films themselves indicate Vader lost any power. We only knew that was true in previous continuities because George Lucas and old EU novels outright said so.

It also helps that beating Vader is emphasized more by Yoda and Obi-Wan then beating the Emperor in the original trilogy, and why they believed that their only hope was the Skywalker children, Vader's own blood.

Anakin Skywalker, in both Legends and Canon, is repeatedly stated to be on par with or even more powerful then Darth Sidious in Revenge of the Sith, and the most powerful Jedi.

The strongest Jedi of his generation, perhaps of any generation… - Revenge of the Sith novelization

“Skywalker is arguably the most powerful Jedi alive. And he is still getting stronger.” - Mace Windu, Revenge of the Sith novelization

And now consider the fact that its been stated and implied several times in Canon that Darth Vader (and yes, I mean suited Vader) is more powerful then Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith.

The armour separated him from the galaxy, from everyone, made him singular, freed him from the needs of the flesh, the concerns of the body that once had plagued him, and allowed him to focus solely on his relationship to the Force. - Lords of the Sith novel

He stared at his reflection a long time. His injuries had deformed his body, left it broken, but they’d perfected his spirit, strengthening his connection to the Force. - Lords of the Sith novel

Taking this into consideration, if Vader is more powerful then Anakin, and Anakin is equal to or more powerful then Sidious in Revenge of the Sith, then Vader is more powerful then Sidious.

The power difference between Vader and Sidious is also shown in Canon material. In Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith (2017) #1, moments after Revenge of the Sith, Vader attacks Sidious with the Force. Vader is able to maintain his grip on Sidious, and he isn’t even able to break himself free until Vader lets go. You can even see Sidious reaching out as if he’s trying to overpower Vader, but he can’t. Vader is overpowering him.

This outright shows that, in terms of raw Force power alone, Vader is more powerful then Sidious. Sidious wins this clash because he uses force lighting, which Vader is weak against, and Vader doesn't even fight back.

Sidious is still incredibly powerful, faster, and has more knowledge of the dark side, but Vader has more raw Force power, is physically stronger, and is the better saber duelist. If Vader is 100, Sidious is 92 or 95.

Another key moment is when he receives a vision when he tries to bleed a kyber crystal. This vision shows him redeeming himself by becoming a Jedi again and yes, killing Sidious.

If Anakin could kill him, Vader could kill him, because again, Vader is more powerful then Anakin.

Vader rejects this future, and this is only a vision, but the entire crux of this moment is that Vader could fulfill his destiny, if he chose to. The whole point of this arc is that Vader ultimately chooses to be a Sith, to keep being a monster, and serve the Empire. The galaxy is the way it is because Vader chooses it to be that way.

Which is why this arc is titled, "The Chosen One". It reinforces that Vader is still The Chosen One, and he ultimately chooses the fate of the galaxy.

In the Prequels, Anakin was the Jedi's only hope of beating Sidious, and once he turned, the galaxy was plunged into darkness. This arc proves that his choice was never taken away. Vader still has agency and responsibility. Unlike the previous continuity in which he's trapped because the Emperor would kill him in a one-on-one, in Canon, he's powerful enough to choose his path.

This arc proves that Vader could've killed Sidious, for both the right or wrong reasons. He just chose not to.

And that's more compelling. Villains are better when they're responsible for their choices and actions. If they're just a helpless victim, they're not even a villain anymore.

Imagine if in Breaking Bad, Elliot and Gretchen didn't offer to pay for Walt's treatment, and as a result, Walt was actually cooking meth to provide for his family.

It'd destroy the narrative, because the entire point of Breaking Bad is...

The same should be true for Darth Vader.

The vision is entirely weightless if Sidious was more powerful then Vader. The entire defining moment of this entire first comic arc relies on the idea that Vader could kill Sidious if he chose to.

Finally, both Kylo Ren and Snoke in the Sequel trilogy revere Vader as the epitome of Sith power.

"The mighty Kylo Ren… When I found you, I saw what all masters live to see… Raw, untamed power and beyond that, something truly special. The potential of your bloodline. A new Vader."

All of these Canon sources explicitly state or imply that Darth Vader is the most powerful Sith in Disney Canon.

How it enhances the narrative of Star Wars

I did already go into this when I talked about how Vader choosing not to kill Sidious reinforces that he's still The Chosen One, thus maintaining his agency as a villain, but there's another aspect that I'd like to talk about.

Some people seem not to like that Vader is more powerful in Canon because they think it undermines the point of the narrative.

"But Vader isn't supposed to be unstoppable, Vader is supposed to be pathetic, and him losing power are his consequences for the bad choices he made."

But to say that is to misunderstand what truly matters and one of the main themes of Star Wars.

Throughout the prequels, Anakin always thought that what he needed was power. Once he could control everything, he could make everything be the way he wanted it to be.

He becomes obsessed with "the power to save Padme" to the point where he ends up destroying her.

Once he finally becomes Darth Vader, he finally becomes the most powerful man in the galaxy, and yet his family (as far as he knows) is dead, his attempts to bring Padme back fail, and he's still a slave. He's always angry and hates everything around him. He is the most powerful man in the galaxy, but also the most pathetic.

It’s only when he chooses to selflessly love Luke that he’s finally able to be happy and have a family again, even if its only for the last moments of his life.

One of the main messages of Star Wars is that power is not the answer to being happy. Compassion and love is. Having Darth Vader be the most powerful Sith ultimately enhances that theme.

This post is already very long and I literally can't use any more images, so here are links to other posts that expand on this topic.

Debunking myths about Darth Vader's Power Level

Why Vader didn't kill Sidious (own post coming soon)

Canon Darth Vader feats (own post coming soon)

Thanks for reading!

[cienie-isengardu]

I see a lot in fics this portrayal of stormtroopers/501st as being intensely loyal to Vader, sometimes even over the Empire. Is that really true in canon/Legends? I know Lords of the Sith referenced this, but otherwise I haven't read enough of the EU to confirm how much of this is just fanon. I'm assuming you know bc of your Vader's Men tag lol

The intensive stormtrooper training is conditioning people to be loyal to Empire and so obedience to Vader, as the one of highest imperial commanders is a natural order of the things but yes, there are stories and tie-in materials that strongly suggest or outright says that certain stormtroopers and imperial officers in fact admire Darth Vader and their loyalty run beyond the usual level of allegiance required from imperial soldiers. So no, this portrait in fanwork is not solely invention of fans as it has a solid ground in source materials although it should be taken into account that: 

a) the level of personal loyalty will vary from one character to another  

b) there are not many stories in which imperial soldiers are forced to choose between Vader and the Emperor so it is really hard to predict if those people are in fact more loyal to Vader as a person than to the Empire(Palpatine) as a whole. When it comes to imperial army, in most cases Vader and the Empire/Palpatine are seen as inseparable as Vader is the epitome of loyalty to Empire to most Imperials (which makes sense, as Vader usually rely on bounty hunters or his vast different sort of agents if his personal goals are against Palpatine’s will and the discretion is needed. Otherwise he is commanding troopers to kill/destroy whoever incur his anger and then deals with his master’s displeasure). 

The second point is especially vital in regard to imperials like admiral Piett that in general is acknowledged in sources as one of officers that Vader truly respects but through the decades Firmus sadly didn’t get that much focus as character to give us absolute certainty of his allegiance beyond the general idea of “serving the Empire”. Which makes it hard to make an objective analysis if Piett was forced to choose, would he betray the Empire out of loyalty to Vader or not. A scenario that has been a common thing in fanwork for years. Which is why I’m bringing Piett to illustrate that fans’ interpretation of imperial characters and their loyalty to Vader may be exaggerated beyond what sources provided. Which doesn’t necessarily mean it is a wrong assumption but rather that focus of tie-in materials is pretty much limited when it comes to Imperials, especially those of Old Trilogy or stormtroopers in general.

At the same time, Vader was introduced from the start as someone that has a better working relationship with common troopers and the imperial officers serving directly under him than with high-ranking Imperials. There is no need to look further than A New Hope to see the difference between how the Sith Lord acts around his men and Admiral Motti (or later in The Empire Strikes Back, how he treats Admiral Ozzel or Captain Needa). It shows up in his speech patterns, like “There'll be no one to stop us this time” or “We’ll have to destroy them ship to ship” when he is talking to his men (as he is including himself and his men in the “us/we”) but it is for sure a me vs you talk with Motti during a meeting on Death Star. When questioned by Commander Daine Jir* Vader is willing to explain himself and shows zero anger at the man for not obeying at once 

while having no second thought about force-choking admiral Motti. Through the Original Trilogy, Vader did not threaten common imperial troopers but he did not have any reservations about killing the officers if they failed him. What is even more important, Vader is one of few high-ranking imperials that takes an active part in widely understood “warzone”, be it the search of stolen Death Star’s plans or taking part in space battle to protect the imperial station or taking over rebel Echo Base on Hoth - and tie-in material even claims that Vader flying his own fighter into battle(s) incurs the wrath of high officers,which implies the Dark Lord of the Sith’s active part during fight breaks imperial norms.

 This is the ground on which I believe was built the idea that stormtroopers may feel a great respect and even personal loyalty for Vader - and to be honest, from the perspective of common soldiers it makes perfect sense. Vader is the right-hand man of Emperor Palpatine, a man that wields a mystic power and runs the Empire and who for sure does not need to risk his life on the battlefield yet he is marching alongside stormtroopers into one battle after another, sometimes even saving said troopers in the process (x)(x)(x) while most high-ranking officers (especially those presented in the Old Trilogy) usually stay behind in the safety while soldiers die fighting. Also, quite often the sources provided examples in which Vader on purpose does not involve troopers accompanying him into fights as he prefers to face dangerous and personal foes/tasks alone (x)(x)(x)(x)("Go," Vader said to them. "The ship is lost." Most of them nodded, turned, and headed off immediately, but three of the stormtroopers remained. "Sir, we should accompany you to an escape pod." "Unnecessary," Vader said. "I'll find my own way. Now go. That's my order.", Lords or the Sith) which I suspect is another habit of Vader that common stormtroopers may interpret as specific sign of their commander’s care for their well-being - is it truth or not is up to debate of course, but whatever the reasoning, it really looks like Vader did not endanger the lives of soldiers unnecessarily and even could kill an officer that ordered the troops into an unwinnable scenario. Or like Ozzel did, lost the element of surprise for imperial invasion.

And really, the image of Vader leading troops or being surrounded by stormtroopers is one of the most common things in the Star Wars franchise that is included in films, comics, books, games and other tie-in materials. Considering what a powerhouse Vader is on his own, it is easy to imagine how his presence on battlefront raises morale of imperial soldiers or why it means so much to stormtroopers to know the Dark Lord of the Sith is there with them on battlefront.  

Another thing that adds a lot to common troopers’ perception of the Dark Lord is that Vader does not care for people’s place of origin, family or political connections or even species. Through the sources Vader favors skills, competence and loyalty above anything else. Which means that people born in Outer Rims or people for whatever reason not meeting the specific standards set by the military/political elite can easily get promoted under Vader’s wings if they prove themselves - be it on battlefront or thinking outside the box (x followed by x). And this especially was visible in older sources, when aliens, women and droids were part of a wide range of Vader’s agents despite the bias toward those groups within the Empire. So working with Vader often resulted with many benefits in the long run for those who managed to impress the Dark Lord. What is very important, as many promising troopers and officers that normally would be hold back by lack of proper connection or birthplace were hand-picked personally by the Dark Lord of the Sith, either for his 501st Legion or for general benefit of the Empire - what for many “lowly cogs in the imperial machine” literally means new possibilities opened up solely thanks to Vader and this probably adds a lot of weight to their personal loyalty. Serving under Vader could bring a person a chance for fast promotion (general Veers is the best example) but also provide protection (x)(x) or access to the best medical help even when said person couldn’t anymore serve the Dark Lord, as happened with Erv Lekauf:

Vader’s suit could withstand nearly every assault. But Lekauf, a man trained to react without pausing to debate, flung himself in front of him and took the brunt of the flame. He fell, gasping, as the clones closed in on the Dark Jedi and Vader burst apart their Force shields with pure focused rage. [A Two-Edged Sword]

and

“My granddad thought the world of him. When he got badly burned on a mission and had to be discharged from the Imperial Army, Lord Vader made sure he was taken care of for the rest of his life. Whatever some people say about Vader, monsters don't look out for lieutenants." [Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice]

As I mentioned before, a great number of people serving Vader were hand-picked personally by the Dark Lord of the Sith which includes his own 501st Legion - and that for sure increases the reason for personal loyalty of said soldiers. 

Members of the 501st are hand-picked by Lord Darth Vader from within the stormtrooper units. Battlefield promotions are awarded to those who earn his respect [The Imperial Handbook].

or 

Worse, walking into a local garrison or fleet anchorage meant taking whatever they had available, whether good and competent or lazy and useless. Picking out random stormtroopers was an even shakier proposition these days, given Vader’s habit of periodically combing through the ranks and transferring all the best and brightest into his personal 501st Legion. [Choices of one]

or

When Lieutenant Daine Jir first spoke out against one of Darth Vader’s suggestions, murmurs of “dead man walking” immediately followed. But instead of choking the life out of the Imperial officer, Vader promoted him to the rank of commander. 

Jir was one of few officers, along with Admiral Piett and Captain Janus Bonn, to earn Vader’s respect. The Dark Lord appreciated Jir’s brutal honesty, in contrast to the manipulative rhetoric of most Imperial lackeys. Jir, a competent and ruthless member of the 501st stormtrooper legion [...]

The New Canon also seems to follow this special bond that Vader has with some stormtroopers, as could be seen with sergeant Kreel (x) who was even gifted the Jedi lightsaber by the Dark Lord (though so far Kreel is also loyal to Palpatine… who has like zero idea or care who the stormtrooper is).

So to answer your question, yes, there are plenty of stormtroopers (or in general imperials) who greatly respect Darth Vader and in some cases this respect runs as deep as personal loyalty toward the Dark Lord of the Sith. And this specific bond between Vader and troopers can be traced through various source material, like:

For reasons that went beyond the armor and helmets, the imaging systems and boots, Vader felt more at home among the troopers than he did around other flesh-and-bloods.

And Appo and the rest of Vader's cadre of stormtroopers seemed to be at ease with their new superior. To them it was only reasonable that Vader wore a bodysuit and armor. Some had always wondered why the Jedi left themselves exposed, as if they had had something to prove by it. [Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno]

or

After Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side, his 501st Legion clone troopers remained loyal to him. For their brutality and efficiency, they became known as “Vader’s fist”.

(And no, this has nothing to do with the chip-in-brain nonsense of TCW/New Canon)

(and here a fun fact! The Anakin/Vader's personal stormtrooper legion is named after fan organization 501st Legion that was introduced into canon thanks to Timothy Zahn and Lucasfilm, as a nod to fans and their great hand-made costumes and charity work! Which adds another layer why 501st Legion is always seen as the elite between elites and so important part of Anakin/Vader's legacy)

or

As the shuttle descended through Hockaleg’s atmosphere, Vader said, “I am curious about the details of your demotion.”

“It’s all on record, sir,” the trooper said, angling the shuttle toward the spaceport.

“I would prefer to hear it from you.”

“Permission to speak freely, sir?”

“Granted.”

The trooper cleared his throat.

“You are aware I’m a clone, sir?”

“Yes.”

“Well, twenty years ago, after Shadow Squadron was disbanded, I had a new commanding officer-a non-clone. When he ordered me to kill my gunner - who had been wounded in combat, but not mortally - I refused. And when my commanding officer tried to shoot me for refusing, I broke his jaw. I spent a year in solitary.”

Vader considered the details, then said, “What happened to the injured clone?”

“He recovered, although he was killed several months later during a bombing run.”

“Do you regret your actions?”

“No. sir. Everybody dies. I’m just glad I helped a friend live a bit longer.”

As the spaceport came into view, Vader said, “If you were to serve under my command, would you ever disobey an order?”

“Yes, sir, but only if it helped you live longer.”

Vader was stunned by the aged clone’s words and the implication that he might disobey one of his orders…or that he might consider the Sith Lord a friend. Before he could ask the clone for an explanation, the clone tested the comm and received a loud burst of static. [Vader Adrift]

or mentioned Erv Lerkauf

The assassins paused for a frantic reload.

“Lord Vader…” said Lekauf, but he was pinned flat by the Force, arms flailing.

“Stay down,” snapped Vader. […]

One man dropped instantly without his intervention. Vader lunged forward and sliced through two more, left-right. The fourth lost his arm and blaster in the same slicing movement and dropped to his knees, utterly silent, mouth open wide in frozen agony as he stared at the seared stump. Vader brought the lightsaber down across his neck. The hangar was silent now except for the sound of his own breath. He looked down at the back of the one man he hadn’t killed. The black tunic was still smoking a little.

“Fine shot, Lekauf,” said Vader. He released his Force pressure. “I told you to stay down.”

Lekauf got to his knees and holstered his blaster. “I never rose, my lord. I can fire from a prone position, though, and you made no mention of that.”

Lekauf stood up and went to him as if to check him for injury. It suddenly struck Vader that he was solid and a good height. And he was loyal enough to step in the line of fire, and then-defy him to cover his back.

Good man. At least one possible template, then. [In his Image]

and

""Me, too." Jacen found he enjoyed the company of 967. They all had the corporal's general optimism. "How long have you been in the army?"

"Since I graduated, sir. Four years."

"What made you sign up?"

Lekauf smiled, almost embarrassed. "My grandfather served under your grandfather in the Imperial Army, sir. He always talked about how Lord Vader put himself in the front line. Meant a lot to him, that did."

Jacen patted Lekauf's shoulder. It was humbling to see how loyalty could last generations. Whatever sins Anakin Skywalker had committed as Vader, there were still those who recognized his qualities as an inspirational commander. Jacen decided it might be safe to walk back in time and watch him again. [Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines]

or a nostalgia trip of retired stormtrooper:

Dark Lord told us it wasn’t our fault the Falcon got out from the Hoth blockade. Then he executed half the squad. But you could tell he was proud of us.

or

“Supreme confidence reigned in the heart of every crew member in this Imperial death squadron, especially among the personnel on the monstrous central Star Destroyer. But something also blazed within their souls. Fear - fear of merely the sound of the familiar heavy footsteps as they echoed through the enormous ship. Crew members dreaded these footfalls and shuddered whenever they were heard approaching, bringing their much feared, but much respected leader.” [The Empire Strikes Back]



or

I’ve heard that the regular officers hate him, but the Stormtrooper Corps almost worships him. [Lords of the Sith]



or

and

The Truest Duty by Christie Golden [From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back]

And to be honest, this special stormtroopers’ admiration for Vader is not seen only in “serious” source material but also in humorous variations like Lego Star Wars Vader reading book to stormtroopers  or Droid Tales episode 5, in which C-3PO and Lando distract stormtroopers with a tale about Darth Vader (and how the Lord of the Sith saved rebellion on Endor) and just look at the troopers happily listening about their boss.

So in general, fans may sometimes exaggerate the intensivity of stormtroopers or in general imperial soldiers' loyalty toward Vader but this specific bond between Dark Lord of the Sith and common soldiers is grounded deeply in star wars lore.

[legitimatesatanspawn]

Star Wars EU question: what's going on in the creche?

Okay so I never watched the Clone Wars series and my knowledge of the EU is rather... scattershot. I read a good chunk of the Jedi Apprentice books as a kid (and its been a while). Obi Wan is treated like trash there, I swear. Like constantly facing Soap Opera level problems from around 13/14 years old right up until Qui gets killed off when he's around... 26?

Anyway. If anyone has read the Jedi Apprentice books, you know how Obi Wan was almost "aged out" of the Jedi Temple and got tossed to the Farm sidegroup instead of staying in the temple. This was actually part of a scheme by Yoda to get him paired up with his favorite grandpadawan Qui Gon for... uh... basically child-as-therapy. You can boo Yoda for this. I know I boo Yoda for this.

The reason why Obi Wan was nearly tossed was because of anger issues. Anger issues that were because he's a human kid in a stressful position knowing he's gonna be Too Old soon and he lives with a huge bully who keeps goading him into fights.

The bully is Bruck Chun by the way and he is salty about "Oafy Wan" and just...

So there's this wild theory I have as to why this sort of thing was allowed to happen in spite of the Creche masters having the Force on their side and should've been on the ball about the Baby Jedi in spite of narrative convenience making them ignore the bullying and be unable to see the truth.

The two main ideas: one/some of the Creche masters are at the tipping point of Falling from sheer stress, because let's face it young kids are HARD even if you have the best intentions and burnout is real and Force Sensitive kids would probably be both easier and harder. Or... the Sith plot that we vaguely saw revolving around hemming the Jedi in and manipulating the Senate to make things Actively Worse all around had a part in it.

If Creche Masters are known to be more likely to fall from constant stress then there'd be a better watch on the creches so unfortunately it's likely to be the Sith Plot. Which actually makes sense!

The Jedi have been purposefully or not reacted hard against being anything like their Sith counterparts in the wake of the Ruusan Reformation. Their Code while good in itself is imperfect and the way things have built up, there's a huge misunderstanding in how the Jedi are perceived versus how the Jedi are intended. The Senate limits what the Jedi can do and in some cases the Jedi are treated more like Space Attack Dog Cops.

But...

What if there was a subtle shift in how the Jedi babies and Initiates are treated because of the Sith Plan? It's not intentional on the Jedi's part as a whole but there's a slight bend to how the Baby Jedis are handled. Even in IRL bullies are given more leeway and bullied kids are judged harder but a Jedi should be able to tell who really started things and who's lying.

The arrogance, pride, anger issues, and even issues with self-confidence (some Knights/Masters might be less willing to take on someone who doesn't properly display their skills with the saber) cause more would-be knights to phase out of the Temple whether they are like Bruck or like Obi.

The would-be Padawans either find better lives outside of the Temple or they possibly become bitter. The ones who WANTED to be Jedi Knights but were seen as being bad or wrong or ill-fitting. The kids who become Padawans could be too good at hiding their negative feelings, some peacock about, and some of them are mostly good until they reach a tipping point and become Worse. (A canonical example of someone known to be a jackass but trusted until the reveal: Krell).

The colder Jedi and the ones who come off as douchebags and dicks feed into the cultural perception of Jedi as Aloof Asshole to be feared. We straight up see people in Coruscant react to "Jedi Business" in Episode 2 like cops: don't get closer, don't draw attention to yourself, the person getting their arm lopped off did something but you Don't Know and Don't Want To Know, and one Absolute Idiot just moments before tried to sell drugs to a Jedi only to get Force Mind Tricked "I don't want to sell you Death Sticks, I want to go home and rethink my life".

And then of course we get Episode 3 with the Jedi as "war mongering people" who fight in the "civil war" against Ex-Jedi Dooku only to get thrown under the bus by Sidious who claims that they tried to kill him and now the Galaxy will be safe from the threat they pose. 3 years could be enough to make a shift but... considering all the faff about the "grand sith plan" then it'd make more sense than it's been centuries of prep and getting everything Just So not only for taking over the galaxy but RUINING how the Jedi are seen and how the Jedi raise people trusted to them.

Deliberately sowing discord not merely among the various planets but also setting the Jedi up to Fall or be crushed no matter what happens? That'd definitely take generations of Sith to get right.

(Partially inspired by a discussion with @evilminji .)

[opinated-user]

I've seen people cite Aliana glassing a planet in TSR as en example of Lily writing dictators suffering no consequences for their actions and making it so their always in the right. Before I continue, I'm gonna preface this with I'm not defending LO or her writing choices.

IIRC, back when I still followed her on Tumblr, she had said the reason Aliana did that was because there was an outbreak of the Rakghoul plague, which is basically space zombies and is canon (prior to Disney wiping the EU clean but I digress). So Aliana glassing a planet over a Rakghoul plague outbreak is not unreasonable, if the plague had spread across the entire planet and infected a large majority of the population. However knowing LO part of me suspects this isn't what happened but I might be wrong.

In Knights of the Old Republic, there's a mission early on where you have to help a doctor on the planet Taris try to develop a either a cure or a vaccine against the Rakghoul plague and it succeeds, but the Sith glass Taris and the cure is destroyed. And given how dangerous the Rakghoul plague is, it makes some level of sense to just declare a planet suffering an outbreak a lost cause.

HOWEVER, because a cure was at one point discovered, that means it's possible, and given Aliana is just the fucking leader of the galaxy now, she definitely has the resources to be able to put together an effort to find or rediscover the cure, so her glassing a planet was ultimately pointless and poor writing, especially if the Rakghoul outbreak was small scale and not planetwide.

I'm not defending LO, I just haven't seen context for that tidbit about TSR and wanted to provide some and in the process further point out how dumb a writing decision that was that LO made.

someone correct me if wrong, but i understood that alaina blows up a planet before becoming officially the leader of the galaxy which opens up the next questions: 1. why it had to be alaina of anyone else on the universe the one to decide to carry out a genocide or not? 2. if this event is not going to have further consequences for the other characters... why is there at all? if my memory serves me right, i think the way this event was handled was just a little bit of angst for alaina and to be an excuse to have some hurt/comfort with rey later on. i don't care about having scenes like that, i just wonder if genocide was really the only thing that we could have used for that. it could have been used for alaina to want to discover that cure at all cost and do her absolute best to eradicate that disease so an event like that never has to happen again... but LO never even mentioned that happening. alaina just destroyed the entire population of a planet, is sad for a few paragraphs and apparently never thinks about it again. never uses it as a motivator to want to save more people in the future. it just happens and then we move on to the next thing. on top of that, remember that LO has a thing about liking to write genocidal dictators whose choice are deemed good just because. before alaina it was lord ryder, who destroyed planet earth because someone was rude. my guess is that LO just likes to have that kind of power. it's part of her power fantasy to just be able to carry out genocide.

[mylordshesacactus]

8, 9, and 10 for Star Wars for the Violence Ask Game?

8: common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

lmao nice try. you're not killing me like that. i wont go out that way.

9: worst part of canon

Significant chunks of the oh-so-precious old EU. it got rebooted for a reason, people. it fucking sucked.

10: worst part of fanon

The terrible burden of being the only one who's right about everything and has objectively correct opinions every single time 😔

[dvdmitri]

I'm largely over the cancellation of the old EU. Honest. A lot of other people ain't tho. Which means there's still a lot of argument about it online. What else is new, right?

All I'm trying to say is that while I stopped caring about the wider Star Wars canon, some of the arguments rub me the wrong way.

>"Nobody took your books away, they are still there."

You see, the point is that the old canon is straight-up dead. Some of the most important signs of life are development and procreation. No new materials are released these days in that old continuity (unless you count TOR, but who the hell does?). So, what we have left is not an old continuity, but a static (dead) body of one. Imagine someone saying having dinosaur bones is just as cool as having living dinosaurs roaming around. That's what I hear.

>"They are reintroducing old elements into a new canon anyway."

And velociraptors have evolved into chickens. The reintroduced elements have different nuances, different backgrounds, and/or different names. Some are better, some are worse, but none of it is exactly the same.

So, please, don't even try to tell me that Legends is anything but a dusty decaying archive. You just don't get it.

[cicerenella]

yesss i live for veneziano having more depth to him. he's genuinely a happy, cheerful person to be around but he definitely looks out for his own interests first. he just gets away with being vain because hes also charming and adorable. i mean this guy will ditch his own besties and make new alliances if it benefits him. normally hes a great friend to have, but when he sees the water start coming in, hes jumping ship. i also think something underexplored with his character is how he can be friendly with pretty much everyone. imagine you have a good friend you think might be a bit useless but makes up for it by being so loveable... and then you see him acting the same he does with you but with your sworn enemies. thats germanys pov lol. i think hes someone who can fit in anywhere if he wants to.

anon i love your take on veneziano (or how i call him, felice)!! it is exactly how i like to think of him relating to other nations, especially since he's one of the most influential nations in the EU nowadays.

you see, i don't really like how hima portrayed his personality. the stereotype for northern italians is almost the opposite of his characterization in canon (less passionate and more hardworking), so i tried to find a middle ground in how he acts and behaves around others while not completely erasing his actual personality. and you nailed it!

i think felice is a very hard worker and cares deeply about his country, and that requires that he's also going to be plenty charismatic. you will always see him smile and present himself perfectly in any formal meeting, referring to others with nothing but politeness added with his natural cheerfulness. contrary to romano, felice is very open to change and likes to have as many ties as possible with other "influential" nations of the Union. it benefits him in the end so why not?

but here's the catch. like you said, he's plenty vain and "nation focused", so if he finds another situation he thinks is going to benefit, he's sure as hell going to pursue it. and in the meanwhile, it's seems he cares little of how this decision might affect the people that surround him. it almost seems he puts this super friendly persona just for his own benefit. almost.

this, combined to the fact that romano has issues relating to others cause of trauma a difficult personality as well, makes their relationship tremendously complicated (something that I would love to talk about in another post). there have been instances during history where feli wronged quite harshly his older brother, making his vanity show in full strength.

so I'm happy to know that people don't see him as this dumb baby that doesn't know how to behave lol. north italy can be an extremely interesting character if you look at his history, old and modern alike. he can be both extremely nice and a complete asshole at the same time, so don't underestimate him! he was, one time, the Republic of Venice after all...