#sw isn’t perfect but that scene is

[xxxcertifiednerdxxx]

Most of my fave Star Wars scenes are the ones that break me down into tears: Fives’ death, Ahsoka and Rex in Order 66, Kanan Jarrus’ death, etc.

but I also love AP-5’s almost musical number and his dismay at being rescued from floating forever in the abyss of space

[colleybri]

Cassian x Bix and Rebelcaptain: Please let these ships be friends !

I ‘ship’ Cassian x Bix AND Cassian x Jyn. I see there has been some conflict in the past when the “new woman” was first brought in with the series, some that remains now, and I’m both saddened and bemused by that.

Rebelcaptain for me is a canon relationship… to a certain extent. I have no doubt that these brave heroes would have ended up together had they lived. That’s why I love it… the whole beautiful tragedy of what might have been, and the loyalty that binds people together when making a sacrifice like this. Were they actually in love, in canon? For me – no. Not yet. And that’s important for my personal enjoyment of Rogue One, especially its ending. As the novelisation stresses, Cassian dies without knowing Jyn as “There wasn’t the time”. And I simply don’t believe you can love someone without knowing them . But I enjoy the idea of exploring what would have happened had they lived. They are a perfect loyal “battle couple”, definitely my favourite fanon SW couple and great to imagine together. I see Rebelcaptain also as a way of giving them the happy ending they deserved. Oh - and the chemistry between Felicity Jones and Diego Luna on-screen is absolutely electric. In short and again: I have no doubt that they would have fallen in love had they lived and would have been perfect for each other. And they are a perfect fanon ship.

(^^ And I I think this is the exact moment in canon when they both acknowledge the loss of what might have been. It’s just heartbreakingly beautiful… )

Cassian x Bix - I don’t even think of it as a ‘ship’ per se as it is a 100% canon relationship, and one that is currently ongoing as we wait for Andor S2.. It’s fascinating to me – 17 years of friendship that has occasionally blossomed into a romantic/sexual relationship. It’s a genuinely unusual set up too. I’ve read a few takes that they are “over each other” by the time of the start of the series, to which I want to say … watch again, closely! They certainly have moved on to date different people, but it’s also very clear from their interactions (especially in the intense scene in Ep 7) that there is still a lot of extremely deep feeling between them – even if some of it is very negative. In the S1 production notes, the show’s creator Tony Gilroy says that they “are meant to be together… but it’s been impossible all these years. Now, she’s done with him … he’s burnt every last bridge .” Why? The series also provides the answer – Cassian is in many ways an absolute mess at the start of the season and Bix was quite rightly fed up with him as a boyfriend. He’s completely unreliable, likes short-lived affairs (often with married women - so no risk of commitment!), isn’t working regularly and has debts all over the place. This largely stems from his “unresolved childhood trauma”. He has a fear of “leaving people behind” and despite having a lot of love to give “ is so scared of being loved”. But he and Bix nonetheless prove to be incredibly loyal friends and their love in this platonic sense clearly runs very deep indeed. They have known each other since he was 10 so she is also something like a sister figure. Bix is still very protective of Cassian and takes personal risks for him… and he finally comes to appreciate this and pay back his metaphorical debt to her in the finale. The question now is what season 2 holds for them, if anything.

(^^ I love the way she is using her fingertips to push his hand off, as if to avoid the risk of too much touch. The gesture and look that says “Please don’t try and get close to me again because we both know how bad that is for us… but I’m such a total idiot when it comes to you that I will still very unwisely go out of my way to help you, especially when you look at me like that so please just don’t”)

Does loving their messy and complicated relationship mean that I want Cassian and Bix to ‘end up together’ ? No, and the obvious additional point is that they don’t! They are both going to be very different people at the start of S2 and over the following years of the story . Bix has been traumatised; Cassian has been radicalised. And that’s just the start. Perhaps they quickly drift apart. Perhaps some kind of betrayal is involved. Perhaps one or both of them will want to commit again to a relationship, but it’s impossible because of the demands of the rebellion (like Vel /Cinta). Perhaps Bix “ends up with” someone else (Brasso, ideally, especially if they both survive the season). Perhaps they will get back together at least for a while and enjoy a little last happiness before inevitable heartbreak. Perhaps all, some or none of these. But none of that stops me from loving and appreciating what they do have, what they have had up to now, and the intriguing dynamics of when they do interact on screen. Bix x Cassian attracts me as a fanfic ship because it’s all about exploring what is there and how it came to be, which is why I currently don’t write them beyond the present time of series 1. I’m waiting to see what happens next in Canon, as it were, because that to me is an important part of writing them. Meanwhile, I’m enjoying analysing the relationship by imagining them in the past.

So for me Bix x Cassian in no way impacts on Jyn x Cassian or vice versa, especially if you apply… real life principles rather than the ideals of fandoms: “soulmates” and OTPs. Many people – most people – will have a beautifully intense and loving relationship with more than one person at different times of their lives. I’m old – trust me on this one.

^^ Both relationships in these two scenes go way beyond romance. In the first - many years of close and loyal friendship. In the second: a bond created through brave and selfless sacrifice together. And for both: Cassian’s absolute hatred of being “someone who leaves people behind”: the quality that I love best about him. And saving each other. Literally and metaphorically.

And oh… it’s beautiful. Both moments are beautiful.

Edit: I won’t do any speculating here about the content of the sizzle-reel trailers. Except to say that there’s nothing in them that detracts from the emotional power of both ships. They can continue to happily coexist. 

[1-800marvelqueen]

The Door At The End Of The Hall

Marc Spector x fem!reader, Steven Grant x fem!reader

Part Two

WC : 1.7K

SW : No usage of "Y/N," physical appearance and details are left completely ambiguous and are up to interpretation. Mention of guns, violence, fighting, death, blood, etc.

If there's any more warnings to be added let me know!

This is a re-post, all of my old accounts were deleted.

No no no. 

He couldn’t go back there, he couldn’t relive that moment. He couldn’t sit there and watch as you-

But Steven was already running towards you. Towards the memory of you.

Marc had already gone back through his childhood, through the death of his brother, through his mothers abuse, through his death and rebirth as Khonshu’s avatar. Wasn’t it enough? Wasn’t all that he’d shown Steven enough to balance the scales? Why would fate be as cruel as to force him to relive this moment again?

He could hear you yelling in the distance, the very sound of your voice hurts his chest, it rings in his head. He really doesn’t need to follow Steven into the temple, he remembers every single detail of this moment, this memory.

That’s all you were now. A memory.

He remembers it down to the smallest sounds and smells, down to the specks of dust and sand in the air. But this isn’t something Steven should witness on his own. As much as Marc doesn’t want to enter, Steven needs him. 

It was a mission gone wrong. Khonshu had ordered him to go against some pretty dangerous people, a cult of sorts. He knew it was extremely dangerous, that there was a chance Khonshu’s ability to heal wouldn’t save him. That’s why he hadn’t told you about it. 

You were an avatar. You served Sekhmet; the destroyer of the enemies of the Sun God Ra, the Egyptian goddess of war, plague, and chaos. Marc knows that you were the perfect fit to be her Avatar, your embodiment of all that Sekhmet stood for was so accurate, so precise, that if anyone had ever told him you were the Goddess herself disguised as a human, he wouldn’t second-guess it. 

But just like your Goddess, you were hot-headed and stubborn. Once an idea had gotten into your head, it was hard to get it out of there. He hadn’t told you about the mission, he wanted you safe and far-far away from any danger he may partake in, he always did. But Khonshu, being the sneaky bird bastard he is, told Sekhmet. And therefore Sekhmet sent you to aid him. 

How could you ever turn down the chance to protect your loved one?

He enters the cave to the sound of fire whooshing, Marc ducks just in time as a man engulfed in flames stumbles past him, trying desperately to put himself out. If he wasn’t so emotionally drained, he could almost laugh at the sight. When you had first met him, you’d told him you had a fiery personality. He thought you were just saying it in the cheesy way that everyone else did. 

But then you had proved him wrong by lighting the sleeve of his shirt on fire without so much as lifting a finger. 

He thinks he had fallen in love with you at that very moment. 

His attention is pulled to the scene in front of him. He’s on top of some dangerous scaffolding, the planks under his feet looking like they could collapse at any moment. You’re down below, fighting bravely. He can’t make out the features of your face with the mask of your avatar garb covering it. But Marc doesn’t need to see your face to remember what it looked like. He’d spent so many nights laying with you, nights that were fruitless when it came to sleep, he’d trace the features of your visage while you slept. Memorising every scar, blemish, the way your nose would crinkle as he would brush a sensitive spot, the flutter of your eyes under your lids as you entered the deepest part of your sleep, while he remained awake. 

He looks at you as you fight, the spear of Sekhmet is in your hand as you battle it out with a man who wields a large knife. Steven watches on a few feet in front of him, confusion written all over his face.

“Marc, who is she?” hand lightly gesturing towards you as he casts a few glances over his shoulder, not wanting to take his eyes off of whatever was going on. When he doesn’t get a reply Steven turns to look at him, he grows concerned at the fact that Marc’s attention isn’t on him, nor is it even on you, it’s on the man who walks the scaffolding. Someone Marc had tossed to the side to deal with another in front of him. He wonders, if he hadn’t thrown the man to the side, if he’d just taken him out immediately, would you still be here? 

The man bends down to grab the gun Marc had wrenched out of the hand of the man he was currently fighting, the one he had tossed over his shoulder. 

Big mistake.

Steven speaks once more when he sees the man bend down to pick up the gun, aiming it towards Marc. “Marc what is going on,” eyes wide as he turns towards the shell-shocked man, who now had tears welling in his eyes. He places his hands on Marc's shoulders, giving him a few rough shakes. “Marc, answer me! What is going on?” 

At the sound of an exclamation of pain he turns back, thinking it was Marc that had just been shot. But no, Steven watches as the man above turns his aim from Marc to you as you spear through one of his companions. He shouts out while Marc drops to his knees next to him. The man pulls the trigger and the bullet goes flying through the air. It pierces you in your thigh, you stumble. He fires again, it lodges in your stomach. He shoots a third time and Steven watches as it goes straight through the right side of your chest. 

The man goes to shoot for a fourth time but is stopped by Marc. He’s stabbed and thrown off the scaffolding. Marc quickly dispatches the rest of the people in the room. 

He rushes to your side.

Steven can hear the utterances, the string of “No” that is repeated over and over again by Marc as he scoops your upper-half into his arms, cradling your torso against his. He whispers your name, mixing it into the plethora of ‘no’s’. Steven briefly thinks that it’s one of the prettiest names he’s ever heard. He watches as Marc frantically begins pressing his hands into your wounds, desperately trying to stop the bleeding. 

The mask covering your face slips away and Steven can’t help but think you’re one of the prettiest people he’s ever laid his eyes on. He watches as the hand that was pressed against your stomach comes up to smooth your hair away, blood smearing on your forehead with the motion. 

Steven gets the answer to his previous question of who you are when Marc's hand slowly caresses down your face to hold at the bottom of your jaw, and a gentle kiss is placed upon you, between your brows. 

“No,” Steven whispers. Voice wavering as the realisation hits him like a ton of bricks. Watching the way that past-Marc is desperately trying to hold you together with his hands, to heal you with his touch, and the way present-Marc crumbles next to him, the tears that spill down his face, his hands clenching at his sides, his shoulders shaking with the attempt to hold in his sobs. 

This was some of the most emotion he’d ever seen in Marc. 

He watches as you place your hand overtop the one that presses into your chest, your hand trying hard to envelop Marcs’, squeezing with all the strength that’s left in your body. 

Steven thinks he can almost feel the pressure of your hold on his own hand. 

Marc knows he himself definitely feels it. 

“Marc,” kneeling down next to his broken counterpart, “You loved her didn’t you?” Steven receives no words, only a curt nod, he watches as Marc looks away, his eyes clenched shut tightly. “I’m so sorry Marc, I-I would’ve never brought us here if…” 

Steven looks back to see your hand lift to gently touch against Marcs’ cheek, a soft look in your eyes as you attempt to embrace him one last time, face nuzzling into his chest, a gentle kiss placed where his heart would be. 

“Steven I don’t want to be here anymore.” 

Marcs’ voice is quiet, he sounds so different than he normally does. Gone is the confident, self-assured man, the one who never lets anything ever bother him. The man who’s hunched over next to Steven is hollow, and it’s at this point Stevens’ understanding of why he was created in the first place is truly solidified in his mind.  

He can’t find it in himself to argue with Marc, uttering a quiet ‘Lets go’. Placing an arm around Marc's backside, Steven hoists him up, carrying him back towards the door. He casts a glance over his shoulder just in time to see your head flop backwards, neck no longer supporting its weight as you finally give in, all signs of life gone. 

He can hear Marc pleading, to whomever he can think of first. Sekhmet, Khonshu, anybody.  He’s pleading for you to come back, to open your eyes, to not leave him.

 The cries and begs slowly get louder and louder. Steven can feel tears in his eyes, a lump forming in his throat. It’s only when Steven and Marc reach the plain white door does he hear a heartbreaking, gut-wrenching scream echo from the mouth of the cave. 

The guilt overwhelms Steven, curse him and his curious mind. He regrets coming in here, dragging Marc after him no matter how much he begged to not enter the room. The tears fall as they reach the stark white hallway, and it’s at this point Steven wished he had never gone in. That he had never even thought about going near the door at the end of the hall. 

~

Originally posted June 2nd, 2022.

[go-see-a-starwar]

Today’s installment of “I watch Hayden Christensen’s filmography and tell you how pretty he is in it” is Vanishing on 7th Street (2010)

Hayden plays Luke, a local newscaster who wakes up to find nearly everyone in the city has mysteriously disappeared after a blackout. With a small group of survivors he fights to keep the ever encroaching darkness away.

How pretty is he in it?

He’s still in what I call the “Jumper-haircut” era which isn’t my favorite but for a guy 3 days into an apocalyptic event he looks pretty dang good here. (also I don’t know if this will make sense but “newscaster” is a perfect job for a Hayden character, he’s got the “good looking in an approachable way” thing newscasters should have)

Does he get drenched at some point? Sadly no classic Hayden drenching in this one, just some scenes with him very sweaty but still fully clothed. 1.5 💦 out of 5.

How’s the movie itself: I don’t know if it’s because I by default go into these Hayden movies with pretty minimal expectations but I actually rather liked this one? It’s billed as horror but is much more character-driven suspense with nearly no gore, which happens to be just my speed of “horror”. It has an effectively creepy atmosphere and I like the way we learn about the characters mostly through visuals and little clues. It’s definitely light on explanations, maybe a little too light on action and has a “wait it’s over?” kind of ending. The strong performances all around make up for a lot of the movie’s flaws, though does't quite overcome them.

Is the Rotten Tomatoes score unfairly low? Shockingly it’s not. It stands at nearly 50% which feels about right.

Surprise Star Wars!: Hayden playing someone named Luke who at one point is fending off the darkness with a stick of light gets a “I see what you did there” from this SW fan.

In short: I found this to be a decent October evening watch, creepy and moody, with good performances from our boy and the rest of the cast buoying a somewhat thin plot.

[anakin-pilled]

okay i finally finished the star wars sequel trilogy and here’s my opinion and thoughts on each of the movies that no one asked for but i want to share anyway 🤓🤓 spoilers below!

The Force Awakens:

Don’t have a strong opinion on this movie TBH, I think it’s the weakest of the three but it’s a good introduction movie.

Wasn’t expecting Han’s death…RIP TO A REAL ONE😭

Still don’t understand how Rey was able to beat a trained Kylo Ren in battle…she was too OP for the first movie.

Kylo’s back story isn’t convincing enough and I think he’s kind of lame, I don’t think they did him justice.

Transitioning between scenes is so reminiscent of the OG triology and I love it.

The Last Jedi:

THE BEST OUT OF THE THREE!! I really enjoyed this movie; especially all the different sub plots. I loved that we got to see more characters.

I AM A FINNPOE ENTHUSIAST

I AM NOT A REYLO ENTHUSIAST

I liked Rose’s character and her dynamic with Finn!! Kelly Marie Tran did not deserve all the hate she got ): Rose was awesome ):

The scene in Snoke’s throne, Kylo reminded me so much of Anakin in ROTS, from the hair to the expression on his face, I literally think he channeled Anakin’s energy into his performance (think of Anakin when he first pledged loyalty to Palpatine)

Kinda confused on the direction they went in with Luke. You mean to tell me Luke refused to kill Darth Vader because he believed there was light still in him, but couldn’t extend the same hope to Kylo? Idk, Luke’s main characteristic is that he’s the hopeful, optimistic hero and I feel like they completely scrapped that. ESPECIALLY BECAUSE THEY DONT EVEN DIRECTLY TELL YOU WHY KYLO HAD SO MUCH DARKNESS IN HIM, i blame the story tellers

Luke saying no one’s ever really gone…yeah I cried 😭

I knew Luke died from like years ago, but watching his force spirit in front of the two suns just reminded me of that iconic scene in ANH where he’s standing in front of the two Tatooine suns. Literally one of my favorite Star Wars scenes EVER 🥹

The Rise of Skywalker

I think my biggest gripe with this trilogy is that it completely ruins Anakin/Vader being the Chosen One. Like….George Lucas confirms he’s the Chose One and then we see in ROTJ that he helps brings balance to the force, thus completing the prophecy. BUT THEN PALPATINE DIDNT DIE AND HES BACK AND THAT MAKES THE PROPHECY COMPLETELY MOOT AND THATS AN INSULT TO MY POOKIE.

Didn’t expect Leia to die…I know Carrie died (RIP TO A REAL ONE) but I honestly didn’t know she was going to die in the movie and I kept on wondering how they were going to pull it off. And I’m just realizing they killed each of the OG trio 😭

We needed more Rose.

They built up Finn to be a love interest for Rey in the first movie then completely scrapped that idea for Reylo 😭

Not sure how I feel about Reylo. I was really hoping they wouldn’t kiss then BOOM they kissed. Idk I just don’t think the chemistry was there.

I still think they did Kylo’s character building dirty, but I did enjoy his redemption arc. RIP

The voices of all the Jedi guiding Rey, I CRIED OKAYYYYYY

FINNPOE SUPREMACY

I love FinnPoe, but also Finn and Poe separately. Oscar and John were amazing

Seeing all the Death Stars crash, the Ewoks looking up and cheering, the celebration scene 😭😭😭😭 I cried so much IDK it just reminded me so much of the the end of ROTJ and honestly I’m a huge sucker for a good winning final scene.

Overall, I enjoyed the trilogy more than I thought I would and while I do think it’s not PERFECT and I do think there’s a lot to fix, I do think a lot of SW fans are just salty and hated the idea of a more diverse, female led franchise. I would definitely watch again (:

Now I need to know what happens after lol

[angelrtsy95]

Obviously Dracula is really on my mind today...

So I just took a nap, and had a dracula themed dream??? Which is funny mostly because it’s actually fairly rare for me to have dreams about whatever I’m reading at the time... But anyways.

Mina and Van Helsing seemed to have teamed up and gone out vampire hunting, and ended up capturing vamp!Lucy, who they somehow temporarily returned to her living personality - something about her eyes?? She was all sad and regretful and asking them to keep her from hurting others, etc. This actually isn’t the weird part.

I (as spectator? assistant? AVH who otherwise disappeared? idk) walked somewhat away from the trio to look for something, just as Dracula himself arrived and started attacking Mina. Looked away for a second and returned to see someone else enter the scene - Jared Padalecki or Sam Winchester, not sure

(realised just while typing that my brain may have been trying to cast him as Quincy Morris which actually makes WAY more sense)

Dracula dropped Mina and turned to JP/SW/QM and started what I can only describe as fawning over him. ‘What perfection’ ‘Ideal specimen’ ‘Why are the rest of you english so short/small/etc”.

And then woke up. Soooo yeah that happened.

[hxdrostorm]

@corruptedforce​ has sent: Have you made any outright changes to the canon material in order to write your muse the way you wanted (entire scenes you chose to omit, chapters you say never existed, things you assume were never said, etc.)?What is an aspect of your muse’s canon material or canon existence that you never had the opportunity to explore but really want to?What is the general opinion of your muse’s fandom about them? Do you agree with it?For movie or TV muses, what is your muse’s favorite scene? Why? Can you show a screenshot?For movie or TV muses, what is a scene with your muse that you hate? Why? Can you show a screenshot?  (For Rex & Fox)

Questions for Muns of Canon Muses [Accepting]

4. Have you made any outright changes to the canon material in order to write your muse the way you wanted (entire scenes you chose to omit, chapters you say never existed, things you assume were never said, etc.)?

// SW is always changing canon, I can’t keep up with Lucasarts’ speed.

Oh I most certainly have done that! Because, I have been enjoying to mix Legends canon (the one I’m still slowly getting to learn more of) with the current one (which is the one I’m the most familiar with). While TCW is obviously essential to Rex (I have to stick to it, no arguing there), Legends has plenty of material that I take into consideration, for their BGs (pre-AOTC) and how they operate. Even if at times, the EU feels like a whole ass acid trip. Unfortunately, there is still a lot I have to get through. So, until I’m well familiarized with the source material. I’ll be trying to fill in the gaps on my own, so I’ll change them on a later date should I find anything of substance to me.

Fox is the one I did the most obvious/blatant changes to, just so I could expand more on his story (I want him to live more than 5 minutes into the Empire).

5. What is an aspect of your muse’s canon material or canon existence that you never had the opportunity to explore but really want to?

// I have been meaning to do Empire era stuff since FOREVER.

Both Rex and Fox have PLENTY of things to do, in that time period. I’m not watching Andor, not sorry for that. I love that these two are in complete opposite sides, and they are perfect to show the utmost state of disarray that the galaxy finds itself during the early life of the Empire.

And there are also AUs that can be used here... Imperial Rex? Deserter Fox?

6. What is the general opinion of your muse’s fandom about them? Do you agree with it?

// You’re in my blog, you know damn well the whole ‘clones are a family’ fanon shit doesn’t stick here.

Rex’s fanon isn’t that bad, I feel like. Simply because, most people are well acquaintanced with this character.

But Fox? Nobody bothered to double-check, and they are in denial mode that they have uwu-fied one of the arguably worst clones within the GAR. And it will give you whiplash, regardless of where you’re coming from (as in-- your first contact with this character was either through the fanons, or through the current canon or even Legends [which is IMO one of the heaviest/most dark things I’ve seen, out of this source material]).

I’m not bashing or shaming, I can understand why these things are popular. People generally prefer easier to digest things. My problem is that... People try to take it as if it is, some kind of canon replacement. I hear way too often how ‘Fox is the fandom’s OC’. And as sb who LOVES, unpopular characters, this shit sucks for me.

7. For movie or TV muses, what is your muse’s favorite scene? Why? Can you show a screenshot?

// I’m fine :’)

// And this is from when Fives was drugged & we are seeing through his perspective.

8. For movie or TV muses, what is a scene with your muse that you hate? Why? Can you show a screenshot?

// Rebels my beloathed. Rex’s design & looks are fine........... To me the problem was how the clones were introduced in the series. I hate what this babies’ first SW show did. Yeah sure, Ezra calling Rex by his serial number, without any issues? Yeah fine & dandy guys. Wolffe’s PTSD? Comedy for the whole family. Gregor is just a uwu wacko anyway.

// Generally speaking I prefer phase 1 armors for the clones. But IDK, I don’t vibe with Fox’s design in specific. This is a case where the phase 2 armor, was indeed a great improvement. It just looks kinda of bland and forgettable.

[hacked-wtsdz]

What your favourite Star Wars movies say about you:

Original Trilogy — you’ve probably loved SW since you were a child. You feel a deep emotional connection with Luke Skywalker and that dramatic sunset scene, don’t lie. Your relationship with your dad is either amazing or you have daddy issues. Old movies in general > new movies in general. Nice music taste.

Prequels — they’re either your comfort movies or the movies that you feel low-key have an extremely important meaning to you, no in between. You can love things despite them being not perfect or even bad. You’re probably a super fan, you’ve seen everything and even more, and still love the prequels. U loveeee memes. Can’t decide who is hotter, Ewan, Natalie or Hayden.

Clone Wars — ok you are a disaster, just admit it. Fantastic sense of humour. Rewatch movies to find new meanings and details in them. A 65% chance that you’re gay. You have a lot of thoughts on SW, sometimes you wonder, whether that’s even okay. You just think a lot in general. You probably don’t like the sequels. Clones supremacy. You either write fanfiction, posts, create edits, etc about SW.

Rebels — wow ur rare. But props to you for not following the crowd and overlooking the stereotypes (in general, even). In love with Sabine Wren. Either mom friend or disaster friend. Artsy???? Never understand what’s going on but always ready to fight. Low key dream of going to the SW universe and fighting as a rebel too. Creative mind.

Rogue One — you can rewatch it a billion times and love it even more each time. Like to travel. Not really good with emotions but feel a lot of them deep inside. Cassian and Jyn are your favourite ship ever. Independent and straightforward. You can also be quite quiet and just fine with spending time on your own, but value friendship if you have it. Ur just cool.

Mandalorian — you’re probably a new fan?? Baby Yoda is life. You are also activistic. Queer? Yeah, that too. Have style and can look cool, but a huge softie on the inside. Cry during movies. Aren’t very attentive but you’re fun to be around. You have a Tik Tok account, maybe even quite a lot of followers. You love Marvel too. Emotional.

Sequels — Adam Driver means a lot to you. You think he’s super hot. Also you love Reylo. Kind of in love with everyone there? Cosplay. Love modern sci-fi a lot, watch movies for the picture more than for the plot. Dog lover. Also amazing style. Friendly and open-minded, but easy to offend. Have issues with taking criticism. Cute. Hopeless romantic.

This is all made for fun and isn’t 100% accurate. Not meant to offend anyone.

[timetowritesomefluff]

When you are sick

Scott

Scott would simultaneously be an angel as well as a helpless, floppy puppy. Like, you’re sick in bed and he’s sort of just anxiously hovering, hoping and waiting and watching for when you need something. He’s on the verge of making himself faint until you lift the covers and invite him in for cuddles.

He’s more than happy to comply: he’ll give you a few kisses, he doesn’t care how snotty you are or how gross you feel. He doesn’t even care if he gets sick (he won’t, I hc werewolves run extremely warm internal temps: handy if you run cold and want snuggles!), he just wants to be close and make you feel good.

Stiles

Stiles would situate you on the couch, fluffed pillows and juice in easy reach, the Mandolorian playing—he’d been trying to get you to watch it for aaaages, and the minute you were prone and helpless? BAM he got that baby playing.

But he’d be researching your each and every symptom, to the point where you’d be asking him very nerdy Star Wars questions just to get him to pay attention to you, and he’d be too absorbed in WebMD to expound into extremely complicated minutia about the SW universe.

It isn’t until you slowly, slowly, slowly close the lid of his laptop (he only pulled back his fingers at the very last second), and hit him with the biggest, slightly watery puppy dog eyes that he paused.

Cue Stiles rubbing your feet and excitedly explaining the Mandolorian scene. for. scene. You fell asleep at some point, but he understood it was just because you were sick. When you woke up, you saw him awkwardly situated on the couch, jaw agape and deeply asleep. He’d simply refused to move on the slightest chance any movement woke you up. He wasn’t all that upset when you woke up him, though, and guided him back down with you to cuddle. He’d be sneezing a few days later, but he’d just laugh and tell you it was SO worth it.

Derek

Derek is the errands guy: you need juice? Chicken soup? Heated blankets? Bath salts? How about some flowers, you want some pretty flowers on your nightstand? He’d be just about to head out again when you tugged at his sleeve. “I want YOU.” You’d explain stuffily.

He’d blush, but a soft little smile would light up the mouth of that chiseled face of perfection.

He’d kiss the top of your head, but then pick you up easily.

“You need some sunshine.” He’d say simply, and get you comfortably situated on a lawn chair. He’d sit on one facing your, the two of your legs comfortably entangling in each other.

Derek always has to be doing something, he can’t simply just SIT. So he’d pull out some cards, or checkers, balancing the board between you on his knees. Of course, being sick is no excuse for him to go easy on you: though he might have let you win a few hands when strip poker came up…not that you were complaining.

Isaac

Isaac takes a page from Scott’s book, and becomes an adorable, anxious puppy, but unlike Scott Isaac actually knows exactly what to do. Growing up, he took care of himself when he got sick. He’d have the couch completely tricked out: fresh sheets on the cushions, half a dozen pillows and your favorite blankets, saltines and ginger ale and jello on a nice little tray, your favorite movie loaded up…

You certainly didn’t LOOK sick when you gave him a brilliant smile.

You preferred him to the pillows, resting your head on his stomach. When you grew a little restless after a few hours, he noticed.

So instead of watching movies, he took up one his favorite books—one he always kept in his back pocket, Lord of the Rings. He slowly began the prologue, his voice rising and lowering in rhythm with the text. He’d run his fingers through your hair, gently soothing you until you felt calm, still, and grew sleepy. You barely felt the kiss on the top of your head as you were falling asleep, but you heard him reading even in your dreams.

Lydia

Lydia would know you were sick before you did: she suggested you start taking it a little easier, she’d subtly be passing a bottle of juice to you during History class, just oh-so-conveniently be making some chicken soup that evening. When you started to pick up on her little habits, you might question her—of course you’d just get that cute, dimpling little smirk, and then she’d distract you with some discourse over the latest Bachelor episodes.

Lydia would totally have gotten you over your cold before you even realized you had one: she’s a badass like that.

Of course, if you realize it after and confront her with it straight out, she’d admit you’d been looking under the weather.

It was lovely, having a girlfriend who noticed your littlest habits and things, so much to the point that she’d recognize it. All she’d ask for was a kiss…or two…or three. Now that you’re better, there’s nothing stopping you—right?

Allison

Allison is a firm believer of the ‘sweat it out’ method: you get a little sniffle, and she’s getting your running shoes out. Or it’s weights, maybe a swim if it’s summer.

She’d push you a little—Allison can be a liiiittle intense, and lives life like it. That might work: she’d be making sure you always had your favorite flavor of gatorade, your running socks are always clean, your sheets are always fresh because you’ve been sweating in your sleep.

If that doesn’t work, she will make sure you have the fluffiest pillows, your blankets are always freshly warm from the dryer, fridge stocked with juice. She’d be a little worried…a lot worried. Even if you’re taking a gentler approach to recovery, she’ll continue working out a little more vigorously than usual.

Not that that would mean she wasn’t taking excellent, excellent care of you. And she wouldn’t let something like a little bug come between cuddles and kisses. She could care less a she gently presses her lips to your forehead to check your temperature—and she’d smile as you guided her lower, to your mouth.

Malia

Malia is surprisingly calm (or so you think) about you being sick—though to be fair, you could do with a few less “in the wild” comments....

“In the wild, you’d probably be left for dead. Not by me, though. I wouldn’t eat you, either.”

You’d smile back weakly, and pat her hand.

“That’s nice, dear.”

Malia would smirk at you, maybe wink, and kiss your forehead before getting up to get you some more juice or crackers or whatever your little heart desires.

She’d keep an eye on you, and you’d be totally thinking she’s relaxed until someone else walks in the room....

Malia goes into full on PROTECT mode, growling and baring her teeth. You are the LOVE of her LIFE, and you’re not at full capacity: can you blame her? Just pull her down into bed with you and reassure her you’re fine with some major cuddles, it’s the only way to distract her.

[padawanlost]

Why do people seem to hate Dave Filoni all of a sudden? I mean I'll confess I don't really like the way some characters were changed in the The Clone Wars series, but Filoni and Lucas did do a LOT of things right in that series. Its actually really deep and explores some very important moral and social issues like the impact of war especially on young people. Is it because Filoni has been critical of the Jedi at times? Honestly, I don't see anything inflamatory in what he says, and I don't think he's just randomly pulling stuff out of the air. Some of what he says is supported in old canon materials. The Jedi aren't perfect, I fail to see why legitimate criticism is such a big deal.

Before anything else, this ask was sent before the bad batch premiered so I won’t get into *that* right now.

That being said, this fandom has had a very interesting love-hate relationship with Filoni, so allow me to provide some context before we get into the heart of the issue.

Before The Clone Wars (2008) premiered the anti-prequel movement was still strong. A lot of people still accused George Lucas for ‘ruining’ star wars forever, so when the show premiered filled with action scenes, jedi, sith, badass moments and humor, Filoni was hailed as the savior of the franchise. Finally someone who understood what star wars was *really* about had come and saved us all from the prequels boring issues.

 That mentality last for quite some time. sure, there were voices of dissent but the general vibe was that Filoni had truly fixed star wars and the prequels. It was very similar from what happened to Game of Thrones. When the show premiered HBO and D&D were hailed as these god-like superwriters who could do no wrong. As the show progressed fans started noticing the cracks but most people still believed the show and its creators above criticism. only now that some time has passed that people are becoming more objective about the content and realizing the signs that something was off were always there. Of course, Filoni didn’t have a fiasco similar to Got’s Season 7 and 8 but the long waiting period between TCW’s season 6 and 7 gave people a lot of time to think objectively about the show, which made them realizing Filoni was, after all, just a man. And TCW was not an ‘alternative’ to the prequels, it was just an extension of it.

The themes people hated in the prequels were deeply imbued into the clone wars because a show about war must be, by definition, a show about politics. Whether people are ready to admit it or not, star wars was always about politics. I mean, the OT was about reestablishing a democratic government. It doesn’t get more political than that lol

And we can speak of PT-politics without talking of the Jedi Order. And here lies the core of the issue: people’s sudden realization of this truth. Somehow, for a very long time, some fans didn’t realize the clone wars  (and sw in general) was all about poltical (anti-war) allegories.  

Here’s a Filoni interview from 2013 that discusses the fandom reaction to the jedi:

StarWars.com: I was at the Lucasfilm fan screening of the finale, and I was keeping an ear on the crowd’s reaction to certain scenes. I was kind of surprised at the reaction when Ahsoka doesn’t take her Padawan braid back. Dave Filoni: Right. StarWars.com: Because people gasped at first, and then a lot of people started cheering. Dave Filoni: Yeah! Fantastic, huh? StarWars.com: What did you make of that? Dave Filoni: I was really, really surprised by that. Really surprised. I didn’t think people would be against it. But I certainly didn’t think that people would applaud it, necessarily. I think that there’s a certain element there… I mean, we weren’t trying to paint the Jedi in a bad light, but certainly you understand her reasons for wanting to leave. We’ve kind of taken a generation of Star Wars fans and really made them reassess that whole time period to the point where at the end of it, they’re on the side of this young girl who’s like, “Yeah, this isn’t gonna work for me.” And I think people feel that right now. They are often in a situation that they’d rather not be in and they wish they could just walk away, and maybe she embodies that. Maybe there’s something going on there that we’re not aware of. But I don’t know, I was pretty fascinated by that. It was a pretty surprising reaction. George and I went over those final scenes quite a bit. One of the big things was, the whole scene with the Council at the end used to take place outside where Anakin and Ahsoka talk. And it was definitely George, when we watched the first cut of it, who said, “I want to split this so that it’s half-inside, half-outside. And the outside is just Anakin and Ahsoka.” It was very important to him to separate the two of them out and just have this conversation between them. He wanted kids to know that she didn’t blame Anakin for it and that she wasn’t upset with Anakin. And I thought it was a great call. When I re-shot the scene it was pretty phenomenal. There was a debate about Ahsoka at the end, and her just going back to the Jedi at the end of it, and that was the initial impulse. But I kind of argued, “Well, wait. We have an opportunity here with her out to change her story dramatically.” And I’m always looking for those opportunities, because you’re not sure when they’re gonna come, to just grab something and change it dramatically for her. I thought, to do that whole storyline and then have her come back would almost be expected, so why not challenge that.[x]

Unlike what the narrative sold on tumblr says, Filoni and George talked about what was going on in the show (he was reason for Maul and Mandalore, two fan favorites, being on the show). But because accepting Filoni knew what he was doing means accepting George also knew what he was doing when drawing political and social parallels between real life and star wars, it’s much easier to just hate on Filoni and/or George (depending on what they are saying).

It’s kind of like selective hate. When Anakin is being abusive or when Padmé is being assaulted Filoni is a fucking mastermind. But when he’s criticizing the Jedi Order he’s a dumbass who doesn’t know shit about star wars. Or at least don’t know as much as people who have never talked to George Lucas, talked to anyone linked to star wars or has explored the full contents of the star wars lore know.

Look, I’m not defending Filoni here. He’s made plenty of decisions I don’t agree with it, but I find quite surprising how people can’t be rational about it. or, at the very least, be critical of the things that truly matter and have an affect on people in real life like racism, sexism and abuse. Idk, I just find interesting how the fans hating on him for being slightly ‘critical’ of the jedi Order seem to have no problem with the racism, whitewashing and sexism in the show. It really shows what people’s priorities are.

[kylorengarbagedump]

Back again to gush over your writing. I finished Little Bird a while ago (months ago, I believe, and it actually made me want to watch Handmaid’s Tale, which was also a fantastic and grueling thing to watch), but I’m pretty sure your ask box was closed (so happy you’re back publicly thirsting over Kylo, it feeds me in a totally not weird or strange way at all). Anyway, I have so many thoughts, feelings, mental breaks, but literally 0 complaints.

Of course, the obvious. As always, another astounding portrayal of everything that makes Kylo who he his (and completely spitting on the trope of good kylo = ben solo *round of applause*). The translation of Kylo’s ever present struggle between darkness and light in SW to his struggle between power in Gilead and his Little Bird was *chef’s kiss*. The way I felt everything LB was feeling and going through while still being able to sympathize with Kylo’s own trials and tribulations was a head rush. The little moments of falling in love contrasted by the emotional torture he’d subsequently put LB through pulled me at the seams. I felt the high and lows LB experienced with the hope of having a life with Kylo to the crushing realizations that he couldn’t give her all the things she wanted, needed. AND THE SCENE WHERE THEY’RE COMPLETING THE MONTHLY RITUAL AND HE HAS TO FAKE FINISHING BECAUSE HE REALIZES SHE ISN’T INTO IT LIKE BEFORE, was ridiculously hot. Maybe that’s fucked up, but I’ve read all your works, so I have no shame. It was hot. He’s stunning. He’s never not attractive. The garden scenes were beautiful. Even when they weren’t emotionally fruitful, the way your writing put together the images in my mind made it feel so classical literature-esque. The car chase scene made me sob, tears of joy and grief. It was a beautiful declaration of love from Kylo, always a man of action over word. In the end, I was truly in gut-wrenching suspense. I was on the fence for his survival, unsure which direction you were going in. I cried like he was dead. Mourned the loss of what could have been (EVEN THOUGH I KNEW THERE WAS MORE BECAUSE I STILL HAD ROOM ON MY SCROLL BAR) And then the ending… oh how I love how it ends. I adore how it ends without more, because we know what will happen. Kylo will continue to love and protect LB as he has. Doing acts of love for her instead of saying it because I know you would never patch him up like a broken toy for the sake of perceived perfection. LB will cherish her freedom and her lover. She will cherish being able to love him openly and raise their child in freedom and kindness and in her own arms. We didn’t need more. We knew. You told us throughout the story. But you gave us more anyway. The drabbles (?) collection is held as dear to my heart as the main story. The little snippets of their life afterwards fed my aching LB soul. Your writing has forever changed me, and I appreciate you so much for what you have given to us (even though certain members of a certain fandom were obnoxiously relentless in their negativity). Anyway, this is super long, I think, but I just wanted to repay you a little for this piece of art, in words as they are all I can give. I hope all is well with you, and continues to be (and if not, I hope that you will find your way to it soon). On my way to read your newest fic like the greedy little fan I am <3

This is far far too kind to send to me, but I couldn't be happier this was your response to Little Bird--it shows me the things I set out to achieve I managed to achieve! At least in some way! Thank you so so much for sending me these extremely thoughtful sentiments. I don't know if there's any way I could return the generosity, in any way. But it means so much to me. <3 <3 <3

[giggles-and-freckles]

i don't know if any of you are familiar with the concept of 'enneagram types.' if you're not, you can check it out here. lots of fun stuff to click around and read about if you're interested in what this even is. but i've been thinking about it in reference to some of our fave sw pals and have decided to do some character study via enneagram. first up: anakin skywalker in all his angsty glory.

Anakin Skywalker

Eight--The Challenger

Basic fear: of being hurt or controlled by others

Basic desire: to protect themselves and their loved ones

Anakin is an eight. Everything for him comes down to power and control. I believe his childhood as a slave is what really impacts this. He lived his entire childhood under the control of another and wanting to get out. Then, he found that freedom and essentially came under the control of something else (this is not to say that the Jedi Order actually functions as a slaver...but I think Anakin perceives it as that on several occasions). After the fall of the Republic, he becomes a slave to Sidious and the Dark Side. I would argue that the only time Anakin is every truly free is in his death, when he makes the completely independent decision to kill the Emperor. That dialogue between Luke and Ani is really telling, in my opinion.

“I’ll not leave you here. I’ve got to save you.”

“You already have, Luke.”

Because that’s all Anakin ever wants, really. He wants to be saved. And he never quite understands that only he can save himself. This power complex is very aligned with an eight. He so desperately wants control...but so easily falls into bondage over and over again.

Eights commonly have a childhood trauma or Moment that “flips a switch” for them. It takes their innocence once and for all and replaces it with a hardness that wasn’t there before. I think a lot of arguments can be made for this. Perhaps it was some unseen moment offscreen prior to The Phantom Menace. Maybe he watched a fellow slave die. Maybe he watched his mother suffer in some tangible way. Maybe it happened between TPM and Attack of the Clones. But for the sake of this analysis, I’ll use the Tusken Raiders as the Moment. We see it affect him in all the ways one of these “loss of innocence” moments for an eight normally does. It’s a game-changer. In canon, it’s Anakin’s first touch of darkness. In the real world, it’s him dealing with insurmountable pain and suffering. Interestingly, we see that this “loss of innocence” directly counters the basic desire of an Eight, as well. Protecting self and loved ones. He fails to do that. He watches the one he loves the MOST die in his arms. Which--for an eight--is the ultimate form of pain. To lose a loved one feels like personal failure. You LET them die. You LET them suffer You could have SAVED them. But you failed. We see Anakin deal with this onslaught of emotions and then...we see him take action.

Eights are a part of the gut triad. This means before they think with their head or feel with their heart, they act with their gut. Their impulse. I don’t think anyone would dare to make the argument that Anakin leads with his head (sorry buddy...but you are Himbo Certified), but I can see arguments for Heart. My only real counter here is that the two greatly influence each other. And we see him ACT in tandem with his feelings. He doesn’t just sit in his emotions and mope. I’ll continue to use the Tusken incident. Immediately, without any hesitation, he acts on his anger. Anger is not a primary emotion, it’s secondary. I’m not in Anakin Skywalker’s head, but as an eight...I feel like I almost see where he’s coming from, even in his worst moments. Doesn’t mean I agree or that I would partake. But I understand (and it hurts me). I see so much fear for him. Fear that he’s not as strong as he wants to be, fear that he wouldn’t be able to protect other loved ones if something like this happened again, fear that he’s weak when it really matters. Like when the time comes to protecting loved ones. That’s why everything spirals so fast with Padmé. He immediately gets put into that fear mindset. That “weak” feeling of “I can’t do it, I can’t save her…..but I have to.” That conversation between the two of them on Mustafar is evident of this. “Love can’t save you, Padmé. Only my new powers can do that.” Because that’s what it comes down to for Anakin. His worth lies on his ability to save himself and the people he loves. That’s why his perception of love becomes very selfish. He begins to care about the act of salvation more than the person them self.

One of my favourite moments is the classic “this is where the fun begins.” It’s such a silly quick moment but it’s so revealing of Anakin’s character. Eights feel adrenaline like no other number. Their vitality is completely based in their ability to turn their raw energy into something GOOD. For example, doing dangerous dives and spinning (because it really is a good trick) for the sake of the Republic. It gives Anakin a sense of “YES! See how good I am? See how I’m using my aggression and strength for good?” Especially important for someone who has committed atrocities and inspired destruction. To turn around and use that energy and skill for good? That’s invaluable. I think that’s a reason Anakin fails to see the hypocrisy of the Republic.

“What if the democracy we thought we were serving no longer exists, and the Republic has become the very evil we have been fighting to destroy?”

“I don’t believe that. And you’re sounding like a separatist.”

When Padmé merely questions the point of the war he so immediately snaps back and makes it a personal betrayal. He’s so quick to turn down the slight implication that he’s fighting for the wrong side. Eights are all about sides. All about choosing. Anakin can’t begin to consider that maybe his Side isn’t so altruistic. It would crumble at his very core. This is where the Challenger (the moniker of an eight) comes in. They love to challenge the world around them but absolutely cannot handle when someone else is challenging it in contrast to them. Well...an unhealthy eight anyway. Healthy eights see the importance of contrasting beliefs and the power of refining conversations.

Eights want to ‘leave their mark’ on the world.

“I’m not the Jedi I should be. I want more. And I know I shouldn’t.”

This plays into the ‘deadly sin’ of an eight. Lust. This isn’t explicitly sexual (though I guess it can be, at times). It’s more of a desire for MORE. A need for more. It’s all about that power and control. An eight never quite feels satiated...at least not in their unhealthy state. Which Anakin invariably is in. An eight is always seeking things to satisfy them. Through people and power.They’re not concerned with the actual accomplishment, in the societal standard. Before Anakin is granted a seat on the council, we never see him express a desire to even have it. It seems like that’s completely a Palpatine thing. I can’t help but put myself in Obi-Wan’s shoes there. Seeing Anakin’s overreaction and wondering where it’s coming from. Because Anakin has never seemed like he wants to be on the council. Quite the opposite in fact. His tantrum about being denied the rank of master is really evident of the stake Palpatine has already dug into Anakin’s mind. Ann eight’s desire is personal. They don’t care if they have the top title or the most power from the POV of the world. They worry about their own standards. Which is difficult because we never quite manage to meet our own standards and end up in a lot of disappointment. Anakin holds himself to a hard standard. Obi-Wan, Padmé, and Ahsoka all seem to recognise that in him.

“But be patient, Anakin. It won’t be long before the COuncil makes you a Jedi Master.”

“To be angry is to be human.”

“Maybe, but I have to sort this out on my own. Without the Council and without you.”

These encouragements are so unique because they ground Anakin in a very human way. They hit at his insecurities and remind him it’s okay. He doesn’t have to be all-powerful or perfect. Which they know he needs to hear because he can’t quite recognise these truths on his own. He needs the emotional coddling. Unfortunately, in these moments their words aren’t enough. Each of these conversations is characterised by impending sadness.

Eights are seen as the bravest people. I think this aligns well with what we know of Anakin. He has little to no hesitation when putting his life on the line. He volunteers for the most dangerous missions. Doesn’t bat an eye at horrific scenes. He’s willing to do the hardest and scariest things. He’s brave. He’s determined. When talking about Ahsoka, he says “no one has her kind of determination” to which Plo Koon immediately responds, “Except for you.” But this is such an interesting part of an eight to me because I believe eights are actually the most fearful of any number. Because what they fear is fear itself. They are so horrified at the prospect of being afraid it becomes almost dangerous. They will do whatever they can to mask that fear. Which is what puts a lot of eights into that anger reactionary position. A sort of ‘people can’t know I’m scared if I’m the one scaring others’ sort of mentality. The bravado, the courage–it’s all a facade to hide the fear that eights very uniquely do not feel qualified to experience on even the micro-level. It leads many eights to become dictatorial in the way they love others (which isn’t really love at all in the end). Pushes eights to commit atrocities in word or deed all for what they consider to be the ‘greater good.’ They push and prod at the lines a normal person knows not to cross. Not only do they cross them–they plow through them, hoping that it causes enough of a scene to distract from the fact that they’re just like everyone else. In fact, they’re even more vulnerable because no one has taught them how to exist in a state of need. No one has showed them how to ask for and accept help. Instead, they bottle it all up over long periods of times, releasing small bits in dramatic bursts of energy...until that line is crossed and all bets are off.

The goal of a healthy eight is to find a way to channel the aggression and drive into being the ultimate helper and advocate. Unfortunately, Anakin doesn’t get to this until the very end of his life. His fears guide him down a path of darkness. And we see him mask that fear with anger and hatred over and over again. That’s the way of the Dark Side so it’s no wonder it was so appealing to someone who had already been doing that without proper teachings. Anakin Skywalker had the potential to be one of the greatest forces for good in the galaxy. And for a split second at the end of his life, we see him do just that. It’s all the moments before, though; when he chose fear and anger and lust over and over again. Shoving strength and bravery into the vacancies of emotional competency. Until it all became too much.

[himmelheim]

For now, after last episode I'm more and more convinced Omega isn't force sensitive, especially because throughout all of SW media force sensitive characters (even secondary characters) all getat least one scene where they use the force on an animal/creature (even for those who aren't animal-inclined).

The fact that the setting was perfect to introduce or hint at that but instead she solved the situation using her smarts (I'm so proud of her, fandom that's our girl) indicates to me she isn't force sensitive, but further highlights her very strong observation skills, so I'm personally still betting on empath or copycat as her special ability. Also, it was pretty refreshing.

[zandracourt]

I’ve been reflecting a lot on Cas’ recent confession of love and the responses I’ve been seeing across tumblr and Twitter. As a Destiel fic writer, I am thrilled to see this become canon and as a queer woman, also really touched to see how much Misha has embraced this as a really significant thing. I already ordered my Only Love merch. So I’m content with it all as much as it is. SPN has never made queer representation its issue. SPN *has* responded to its fanbase, who have both pushed the importance of representation and also brought the actors into a realm of growth over queer issues that they may never have come to without this show and this fandom. For that reason, I don’t think it’s helpful to be mad at Jensen or the Showrunners for Destiel not being perfect. You don’t have to celebrate them as allies, but the anger and vitriol just doesn’t help, in my opinion.

BUT...where my thoughts have been going is around what it means to be an actor in a ‘ship and what the impact of the story has on the actors, the fandom, and the constant dance of who controls the story because I think this has been something that even with straight characters has had serious impacts on how fans feel about an ending.

My first fandom, Starsky & Hutch, was mostly written by a gay man who wrote “straight” characters because that was what they had to be in 1974. The characters and show plots were such that the actors felt the love underneath the words and acted accordingly. Back then, it wasn’t so much queer baiting as queer coding. I find it amazing that my parents never thought for a minute Starsky and Hutch were gay, but even as a 7 year old, I knew they were in love and saw them that way. And anyone who watches the show now, it’s so clear that it’s almost laughable. When their show won the Peopel’s Choice award in 1977, David Soul said in his acceptance speech that the best part of being on this show was that people saw two men who “could be anything”. He knew that queer folk read their characters as gay and that straight folks saw them as straight and he was happy for both to be true. While the show never had an explicitly romantic declaration, the characters held hands, hugged, and in the final episode, their final scene is Hutch crawling into Starsky’s hospital bed with him, something done with amusement, but was completely coded to mean something else. It was never “canon”, but the ‘ship has lasted 46 years with new fic being written even now.

In the new SW films, actor Oscar Isaac was not at all quiet about his feelings that his character, Poe Dameron, was in love with Finn. He stated he played him that way (and was not directed otherwise) and he even explicitly asked for that ship to be made canon. He was told no and that is not how the story ended. The romance plot was instead focused on two other characters. Some fans liked that. Many didn’t. In general, though, the story is open-ended enough that shippers could have Stormpilot be their ship and there is nothing that really contradicts that. In that scenario, Oscar had his sense of who this character was and felt strongly about that, but in the end, it wasn’t his story, so the ending was what it was.

Hawai’i Five-0 ended its 10 year run last spring. Actor Scott Caan said in an interview during the show’s 5-year mark that he wanted to see his charcter have a romantic story line with his other lead, Steve McGarrett. And while Scott did not go so far as Oscar Isaac did to say he made his acting choices based on that, watching him and Alex play their characters, there was definitely some intention to show their characters as loving one another. Actor Alex O’Loughlin voiced a few times over the years that he felt his character would not get back together with Catherine, a woman his character was on-again, off-again with, because he felt Steve had reached his limit with what Catherine had done to him. The series made a decision to end with Steve leaving Hawai’i behind and flying away with Catherine. Neither actor has commented much about the show’s ending, but clearly it went against what both actors had publicly expressed in the past. Again, they don’t control the story, but they do understand their characters after playing them for so many years and they are invested in that. In that sense, the actor’s subsequent silence about how the show ended says quite a bit. And McDanno fans were very unsatisfied with the show’s ending, myself included.

So we come to Destiel. Over the years, this ship has been very controversial in part because one actor (Misha) has clearly been OK with his character being perceived as being in love with Dean, while the other actor (Jensen) has not. At times he has been very negative about it, and that has been taken by some fans to imply how Jensen feels about homosexuality in general. I’m not convinced it does, but I understand why people feel that way. Over the 12 years since Cas’ introduction on the show, there clearly has been a shift from the writers and showrunners avoiding the topic entirely, to talking about it, and now to having Cas confess his feelings of love to Dean in canon. In the days since, Misha has been unequivocal in saying Cas is romantically in love with Dean and that he has played him that way, at least for this season and likely longer. Misha is proud that he was able to advocate for Cas to be gay and he clearly understands why it is important for the show to have made this choice. For Jensen’s part, however, he has stated he has not played Dean that way and from video clips of him talking about the show’s ending, it appears that he needed some convincing to accept this as the story. To his credit though, once he was convinced that this was something show creator (Eric Kripke) could envision as part of Dean’s character arc, he was on-board with this ending and feels statisfied with it. And I think some of the frustration folks feel stems from both in how the actors portrayed their characters and in which takes were chosen to be in the final cuts of episodes. In that way, the show has fed this ship, whether the actors realized it or not, and that is why Destiel has felt particularly painful at times. The fanbase has been gaslighted for seeing it at all (from actors and showrunners) while the directors have seemed to go out of their way to choose shots where the actor’s choices were more tender and affectionate and write lines where characters make explicit statements about Dean and Cas as romantic. I can’t help but wonder if Jensen really didn’t see Dean as being in love with Cas, but that we saw Jensen’s own affinity for Misha bleed through in their incredible chemsitry together or if Jensen has just been in denial of this ‘ship having teeth for his own personal reasons. I don’t know and so far, he hasn’t been willing to talk about that. Maybe he will once it’s over. Maybe he won’t and I’m not going to be angry with him for it. He’s an incredible actor and he’s lived this character for 15 years, so he has a right to who he believed Dean is and isn’t.

The issues of representation continue to be pressing and what I see happening with Destiel and these other ‘ships is exciting because it shows growth on all sides. We have audiences able to voice not only how they perceive characters without shame but can express a desire for characters to be together. None of that is new for straight characters, but it is for queer characters. We have actors who not only can see these same things, but feel enough ownership of their characters to expresss what they believe their characters would do or feel. And we have showrunners who are going to make their story, sometimes in response to feedback from their fans and actors, and sometimes in spite of it.

What Destiel becoming canon gives me hope for is that as new shows come into being, characters that take off, actors who have unexpected chemistry, and ‘ships that gain a life of their own, will lead to shows that are less inclined to care if those ships are queer or not and just go with what fans respond to. That it will normalize that people can (and do) come out an all different times of life, even after being het-married, having kids, or presenting as straight to everyone else for 40 years. That it will reflect that sometimes, it’s not about having been queer or straight from the beginning, but be about that ONE relationship that just is different, special, or grows into a deep love regardless of the genders of the people. I hope we can get to a place where deep intimacy between same-gender characters doesn’t have to be a war over romance vs. platonic and the story can just develop without the pressure of representation because queer characters will be so prevalent that we don’t have to feel like we must cling so tightly to every one we get. I hope we can come to a place where sometimes relationships don’t go romantic because one person (regardless of gender) just doesn’t feel that way, because that is very fucking true in real life. I want to watch shows where the sexual identity of any character doesn’t have to be etched in stone from the word go, never to change ever because that’s boring and limiting, and honestly, not real life.

I am deeply grateful for actors like Isaac, Caan, and Collins who are willing to see characters outside the heteronormative lens and to advocate for queer romantic arcs. I’m thankful to showrunners who are making shows with greater queer representation than ever before. And I’m grateful to actors like Ackles, who while it wasn’t who he thought his character was, was able to expand his view enough to go where the story was going to go. The arc of the universe does bend towards justice, and we will get there. Until then, there’s fic. And thank God for that.

[meg-noel-art]

Why do you believe that Catra never got over her what you called "obsessive and selfish love" for Adora? Because I didn't see that.

-gestures vaguely to all of the show-

Okay, you know what, let’s get into this. Because I’m honestly tired of it all. First let’s start with this: In popular media, is there a common theme of erotic subtext between rivals? Uh, yeah. Hell yeah. Tension between two people looking to one up each other that can be read as romantic or sexual? Oh absolutely. So, let’s, for the sake of argument assume that was the type of dynamic that Noelle and Co. were going for all along, as they’ve stated. Because they weren’t the first to play with this dynamic and they won’t the last.

So again, tension and subtext between rivals that escalates into passion or eventually real love? Yes.

On the other hand: betrayal, emotional manipulation, physical maiming and injury and outright seeking the utter demise and failure of you ‘rival’ because they made you sad by making a better choice than you did? That doesn’t equate to love.

But, for the sake of argument, let’s approach Catra’s motivations as all based around this deep love she has for Adora, which I will argue through this post is more of as passionate and selfish obsession than actual love. (And honestly, that’s a super cool character motivation, but pretending that it’s an epic love story is gross and I hate it.)

So, let’s return to Season 1

One of the first real battles we see Catra and Adora in takes place at the end of the season. This comes after ‘The Promise’ wherein Adora tries again to get Catra to come with her, but Catra doubles down on her desire to spite Adora for hurting her and leaving her, by being as nasty as she possibly can and putting Adora in just as much emotional pain. Here, she not only fights Adora, but cuts her down to her deepest insecurities. Catra knows Adora and she knows how desperately she wants to be a hero. It’s an aspect of Adora that Catra has always disliked because it made her feel lesser. In order to fully cripple her rival here, Catra tugs at the strings she knows will hurt the most.

“You will fail them (you failed me)”, “You’re friends will hate you (Just like I do)” “You will never be the hero you want to be (I will be the reason you can’t)”. If you want to talk about subtext in this scene, Catra’s unhealthy and obsessive desire to be the only thing Adora needs/wants/thinks about is literally all over the place. If you want to argue that she’s saying all of this because she’s hurting, then it’s literally the cruelest possible way she could say it. And the show doesn’t bother selling us on the fact that Catra is in pain here, it just hammers home the idea of how badly she wants Adora to fail so she can feel that pain too.

In no universe, would I call that treatment of someone love.

Next up, this moment in Season 2:

I remember everyone losing their minds over this scene, and again, arguing a sexual tension between rivals, then yes, that makes sense. But in the context of this entire episode and the ones leading up to this point? This statement from Catra is disgusting. And it gets worse.

In the next scene, we see Catra literally planning to use Adora as her own personal weapon (an aspect I find personally icky when considering the struggle Adora has with destiny/her own autonomy at the end of Season 4 being use by Light Hope as a weapon. Catra literally has the same idea.)

And moreso than that, Catra won’t just use her as a weapon. She will use Adora to cut down anyone else who has ever cared about her or shown her affection. It’s a new level of jealousy/possession that is touched on even moreso as the series goes on. But what’s crazy to me is that it seems to have developed from Season 1. In the Battle of Bright Moon, Adora could only fail them. Now, however much later this is, Catra wants her to hurt them too. Adora will hurt, her friends will hurt. Everyone will hurt like Catra does. Because she’s possessive of Adora’s affection. It makes her feel like she has meaning. Which is an entire other can of worms about Catra’s motivations and character, but we’re gonna move ahead to season 3.

This is a fascinating moment to me. At this point, Catra has essentially flunked out of the Horde, but she’s NEVER been more determined to prove herself to Hordak, to SW, to Adora, to everyone. But here, Scorpia points out how truly happy she is when Adora isn’t even in the damn picture anymore. The poisonous environment of the Horde is gone, Catra is claiming respect for her abilities and personality. Adora has nothing to do with it and she’s happy.

And then:

Look, I am remise to sound like a total asshole, but the entire show is pointing this out for me through even it’s dialogue. Catra’s pain and hate and obsession returns when Adora mentions that their shared abuser Shadow Weaver has chosen her yet again. Suddenly, nothing matters. None of Scorpia’s kind words, or the achievments she made in the Waste. All that matters, is beating Adora. Hurting her. Being better and more loved than her.

Honesty, at this point I’m losing the thread of ‘love’ entirely. Now it just feels like a total mission for vengeance.  But, once again, okay, let’s argue she’s really just angry and wants Adora’s love back. So what does she do to get it?

She opens the Portal to hurt Adora. As Adora screams don’t, begs her not to, tells her what it will do to their world, Catra does it anyway. Because Adora must hurt. She broke Catra’s heart and Catra must break it back. That’s how love works, I guess.

Once again, if the show was working on selling me on Catra’s motivations being sympathetic and fueled by love all along. It is failing.

Now, let’s talk about the Portal world that it takes them into. What everyone called their “perfect universe”.

So we have this moment, where Adora gets to the heart of the issue and asks Catra about her real pain. Catra avoids it, once again. Yes, of course she’s wanted this, they both always have. I suppose at this moment you could argue her true motivations come through, but it also just emboldens my point that Catra is not growing. She’s not gaining any character development. If she did just always want Adora by her side, this scene shows us that Adora has moved past these Horde induced childhood dreams they have. She has seen a bigger world and a bigger issue and Catra is still holding onto the hope that they will keep this promise to always have each others backs.

Which, is an ironic thing to hold onto considering Catra was the first to break this promise, by not going with Adora when the time was right. And yet she believes Adora is the one who owes her the apology. Now, this would be great set up for an arc about Catra coming to terms with the fact that she is the problem and Season 4 seemed ready to set that up but then... didn’t.

This line in particular has always stuck with me because it broke their relationship entirely for me. At this point, Catra could apologize all she wanted in a possible redemption arc, but the damage was done. She admitted a pain so deep that it would change her and Adora’s relationship forever. Her hurt ran so deep that she would rather die, see everything end, than see Adora find happiness outside of her.

I could stop this post here and honestly, my point would have been made. But we’ve got more to go.

I was so excited after the moment. After an entire season of snapping under the weight of her own choices. It is the image of Scorpia, who loved her unconditionally, who tells Catra that she is the problem and she always has been.

At this point, I was ready. Catra had hit rock bottom, there was nowhere to go but up. She would approach her pain and figure out who she wanted to be as a person. She would team up with the Rebellion because she knew it was the right thing to do, she would atone for her mistakes. By the end maybe she would go on her own adventure to find herself?

And.... No?

She doesn’t.

Season 5 rolls around and suddenly she is right back where she started, scrambling up the ladder for power and respect. It sure doesn’t work for Horde Prime, putting her in real danger. She even gets a few moments to connect with Glimmer (maybe apologize for the Portal...no... oh okay.) 

In fact, she saves Glimmer! But.... why does she do it? Certainly not for Glimmer’s sake, a character who has been stated by the crew to be literally her narrative foil, her other half. But...

Like...? At this point I don’t even know what the show is going for anymore, it’s a fucking mess. You could even argue that up to this point, Catra HAS been manipulating Glimmer to trust her so that she could in turn save Adora. Which is all kinds of fucked up, as we see in the conversation with the BFS squad that Glimmer WANTS to save Catra, and trusts her.

And then this memory that incited Catra’s desire to save Adora was:

I could have just answered with this screenshot and saved myself an hour. You wanna argue love? Fine. 

Then Catra has NEVER let go of her frankly concerning obsession with Adora’s attention and affection and that is no more clear that this memory where she also physically assaults her and steps on her, and Adora goes crawling after her trying to comfort her.

Oh? Are you, Catra? Well that’s cool. You are allowed to be sorry. But that doesn’t mean Adora owes you literally anything at this point. No one is ever obligated to accept any apology no matter how heartfelt it might be.

At the end of the day, this love story their trying to sell me on is so twisted I can hardly stand to watch the final season. Because it’s never worked out!! Adora immediatedly forgives every moment I’ve listed in this post and more. Catra never apologizes to someone who deserved it most, Scorpia. 

And more than that, Catra never grows into who she should have become as a character. She is stuffed into an OTP the show wanted from the beginning but failed for 5 seasons to make convincing or compelling.

Also Adora has such a huge heart she deserves someone who would treat her better than Catra could. Catra can’t. Catra can’t even treat herself right.

Like... Yeah. I don’t even know what to say anymore. Hope this answered your question. 

Obsessive, possessive....Gross. I’m tired. C/A won at the end of the day I guess, but at what cost?

[itsclydebitches]

I just read your crosshair post and I agree with everything you said BUT…

Let me put on my own tin foil hat for a sec and talk about….

The burn mark thats supposed to cover the chip removal scar. Doesn’t it seem to be in a slightly odd position? Every other clone has it straight above the angle of their jaw/before the ear. I get that the burn was “placed” on that side of his head by writers for suspense and so it wouldn’t be apparent that his chip is out(thus showing Hunter checking it). But is the message here “oh he has this burn that’s close enough”? Also the scene where he was getting blasted by that engine could have easily scarred his face or at least affect the area closer to his face. I expected it to be over the temple too. But no it’s only that spot. (Now I know people will say “it’s Disney cartoon” so the scarring is minimal due to that)

Then it just kinda surprised me to hear brad Rau go “oh yeah, chip is definitely out, have you seen the side of that guys’d head? Lol” Followed by Jen’s “the eagle-eyes fans would notice all along”. Because now I feel like a clown for thinking I WAS being eagle-eyed and NOTICED that it was in the wrong place to really hide the chip scar. And if I’m correct to assume she meant that it was after Bracca that makes crosshair’s line “a long time ago” even weirder since there is no way Bracca happened that long ago.

And what was the point in showing Hunter checking the burn mark? We don’t really see his reaction. We don’t ever see him commenting on it later. It seemed like a big deal to him given how shocked he looked and how insistent he was on knowing when exactly was it removed. (“Does it matter?” “YES!”). And then he suddenly doesn’t care and never brought it up again. Even when they got to a relatively safe location or back to their ship.

I don’t think it’s a good sign that we have to rely on an interview to be sure about such an important plot point. I would be disappointed if this matter won’t be addressed at least in some way next season.

We’re all just passing the tin hat back and forth at this point. This is fine and we're handling the hiatus beautifully lol

But YES to all of that. Every detail here has two (or more) possible readings attached to it, which makes it impossible to figure out what we’re meant to be prioritizing. So, to summarize:

Yeah, despite my own claim that the burn scar is “exactly” where the chip scar would be, there is a slight difference. Is that a significant difference then, or just down to the animators not mapping Crosshair's design down to the inch?

Is the burn mark (almost) precisely where the chip would be to show that there’s a chance it’s still there (you can’t see the surgery scar), or to show that enough damage happened there to make the chip’s removal inevitable?

Yet "enough damage happened there to make the chip's removal inevitable" is a pretty big assumption that the show never set up. So are we meant to view the untold number of clones who suffered other head injuries throughout TCW as evidence that the chip must still be there—after all, they weren’t de-chipped due to head trauma, burns, etc.—or are we supposed to ignore that because #Disney cartoon, not everything is gonna have such long-term consistency?

Is the placement of the burn deliberate and the lack of any other facial scaring suspicious, or (again) is that just because #Disney cartoon doesn’t want to disfigure his whole face?

Is the scene where Crosshair has his chip enhanced another clue—the chip appears to be a bit higher up than others’ in his scan—or just an animation inconsistency?

Was enhancing the chip important, or just used for the drama of that particular scene?

Does Hunter think that the burn is somehow evidence of the chip’s removal, or is he just taking Crosshair at his word?

Is Crosshair’s lack of clarification meant to read as him being evil—he doesn’t care what was the Empire and what was him—or another hint that something else is going on?

Finally, most fans agree that, if the chip is out, it had to have happened after Bracca so… yeah, how is that “a long time ago”? Is that line meant to imply that Crosshair has been misled (perhaps with the Empire lying to him, claiming his chip was removed before the season even began), or are we supposed to believe that a significant amount of time has truly passed (making TBB’s lack of a rescue even worse in my eyes…) Even other evidence we might point to is pretty useless. “Well, it could be a long time because there was enough time for him to heal from those burns.” But is that because time actually passed, or did the Empire us SW’s super science fiction magic to heal him up quick? Idk the canonical time it normally takes burns like that to heal with bacta and I doubt that's consistent across the lore either. But regardless, the SF aspect means that a healed face isn't good evidence for a lot of time passing, like it might be in another genre. For all we know, Crosshair was healed in a few days.

So yeah, what in the world are we meant to make of all this? It’s too ambiguous, too confusing, and each answer—chip or no chip—comes with apparent contradictions. None of that reflects the certainty seen in the interviews. In order to reward “eagle-eyed” viewers, you need to be on top of all those details, both in terms of the writing and the animation. Yet it doesn't appear like the writers were. With all of this combined with the confusion I mentioned in another post regarding side-character clones overcoming their chips with ease… I don’t think this is a good sign either. I love TBB and had a blast watching it, but this particular aspect feels like it could unravel into a tangled, contradictory mess very quickly. The sort of situation where many in the fandom will accept the plot and argue strongly that here, Crosshair's canonical chip situation is supported by X, Y, and Z. Whereas others will point out that yeah, that’s true, but it’s also not supported by A, B, and C. Even if we’re willing to ignore those moments of confusion and disjointedness, it’s a big letdown to feel like you’re following along with what the show’s hinting at… only for the show to turn around and go, “Lol nah. None of that was important.” Shows with twists and reveals—which TBB very much is at this point—are built on the fandom’s investment in the details. If you don’t treat those details carefully, the fandom will quickly begin to resent the expectation that you be invested in the mystery... but not so invested that you "read into things."

Intense flashbacks to the later seasons of Sherlock.

BUT right now for me the larger issue is that even if we don't care about these details, the rest of TBB absolutely should. The fact that Hunter doesn't question what's up with the burn, Tech isn't interested in trying a scan, Wrecker's experience under the chip has no impact on how he approaches this, Omega seems to accept that this is the "real" Crosshair, and Echo doesn't push to rescue him like they did for Gregor... all of that is at the emotional heart of the show and arguably more important than getting a perfect resolution to these chip questions. Obviously I'd prefer to get both, but if we can only have one, I'd prioritize tackling the group's reaction to these events, rather than trying to smooth over every potential inconsistency revolving around the chip. Ultimately, I'm more interested in the show explaining why four brothers and a sister didn't fight for Crosshair when, as far as they knew up until he said otherwise, he was a prisoner of the Empire just like everyone else they helped was.