#the jedi purge was not a genocide

[underwaterspiderbird]

order 66 was NOT a genocide. you can only genocide people & cultures, you can’t genocide a systemically deified super-religion that wants everyone in existence to either agree with them & exist their way or burn in hell for eternity. any decent ppl who went down with the purge forfeit their lives down the drain along with their family, home & very sense of self. they. had. it. fucking. coming.

from an indigenous person, fuck y’all for even comparing order 66 to genocide & talking all over survivors of real genocides to save face for your evangelical faith & the people you think are good guys. you are not about to disrespect the continent-sized OCEANS of blood that make up our ancestors & loved ones who were lost to real genocide. fuck off.

[istillbelieveinmagic142]

Perfect post.

I can’t remember which post it was off the top of my head but you’ve mentioned how George was explicit that nothing in The Clone Wars directly influences Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side, what about indirectly? There’s the obvious one: Anakin finds it easier to give into his anger as the war goes on. But I was also thinking the events of Hardeen and Wrong Jedi arcs weaken Anakin’s trust in the Order that then plays into the circumstances in which his fall to the Dark Side took place. Like that weakened trust meant Anakin distanced himself which gives context for why he refused to go to Obi-Wan when the visions started.

It also fits with his character because one of Anakin’s flaws is that he takes things way to personally, e.g. he was not the only person the Council lied to about Obi-Wan’s fake death. Then when Ahsoka was leaving the Order after the Council let her down, which they did let her down, she had to remind Anakin that it was about her not him.

Of course weakened trust is nowhere near enough to cause someone to commit genocide and Anakin didn’t seem to make any effort to mend those fences either. And of course none of this would have happened without Palpatine manipulating things. Hence my question of how you think The Clone Wars indirectly influenced his journey to the Dark Side even as none of really tied to why Anakin ultimately fell.

I think you summed it up perfectly, actually.

If you're using Lucas' word as the "be-all, end-all", then The Clone Wars is indeed just an asterisk/addendum to the story of the films.

Its purpose? Providing context for the minor changes between Episode II and Episode III, changes that aren't exactly relevant to the story of Anakin's downfall.

"Anakin seems more mature and less whiny, in Episode III, what happened to change that?" He got a Padawan of his own during the Clone War and when you're put in charge of someone, you grow up real quick.

"He and Obi-Wan were constantly bickering in Episode II, now they're best buds, why?" In Episode II, Anakin was in Obi-Wan's care but felt he needed to leave the nest, whereas Obi-Wan was being a helicopter parent. In The Clone Wars, we see that once Anakin gets knighted, their relationship smooths over, now becoming a more brotherly bond than a parent/child one. Obi-Wan will sometimes worry that Anakin will fly off the handle, but he's also able to recognize his former Padawan is now his own man, whereas Anakin takes responsibility more frequently, now, due to now having a Padawan of his own.

"We've only seen him with hat's the relationship between Anakin and the other Jedi we saw in the background of the movies?" Find out by tuning in to The Clone Wars!

"The clones have names, now? And they're the Jedi's friends, when did all that happen!" You can find out by seeing them fight side-by-side with the Jedi and slowly becoming independent thinkers, only in The Clone Wars.

"The Jedi are more scheming and political in Episode III, they and Anakin are at odds... why the shift in attitudes?" They were drafted into a war, and forced to make compromise after compromise to a point where their values have been rendered pointless and they've become begrudging hypocrites. They're playing politics (and sucking at it) because they've been dragged onto a political chessboard and are trying to keep up with a far more skilled opponent. These terrible decisions impact all of them, even Anakin.

Stuff like that.

But none of that is relevant to Anakin's story, which is more personal, in nature. It's a story about how his own greed turned him into the very thing he swore to destroy, which parallels how the Republic became the Empire for those same reasons.

The films show us this, and The Clone Wars *reinforces* this narrative by giving us further examples of it.

While Anakin is aware of what's right and wrong... the more the war rages on, the more frequently he takes the "easy" path and gives in to his anger and selfish desires, enabled by Palpatine.

Sometimes Anakin does manage to get a grip, he does manage to take responsibility, he does learn to let go... but then something happens (often orchestrated by Palpatine) and he goes right back to square one... then square zero... then square minus one, etc.

He never takes that final step to being a more enlightened person.

The Clone Wars challenges the Jedi at times, questions their actions... but ultimately, the responsibility falls on Anakin's shoulders. The series will show you moments where they fail Anakin, but there's as many moments of him failing them.

Could the Jedi have done more? Yes. But if you think them doing more would've solved the problem, you're missing the point of the story of the Prequels.

Functionally, all that is achieved from the Council/Anakin conflict (again, orchestrated by Palpatine), in Episode III, is creating more pressure for Anakin to cave under. That's it.

They're not a meaningful factor in his turn to the Dark Side.

Padmé is.

When he's hesitating between saving Mace or saving Palpatine...

... he's not thinking "one of them was nice to me, but the other one was mean to me and kicked out Ahsoka, so I'll chop his hand off".

And he's not thinking "this isn't by the book, Mace you hypocrite!"

Lucas tells us what's going through his head, in that moment.

It's about Padmé living. And we've already established that what that's really about is "Anakin not wanting to live without her". So, really, it's about Anakin.

Mace and Anakin butting heads isn't even considered. If Mace had been laughing with Anakin and hugging him on the daily, Anakin still would've ended up chopping off his hand. It wasn't about Mace, it was about Anakin.

If Ahsoka had stayed with the Jedi Order, he still would've joined the Dark Side. Because it was never about Ahsoka, it was about Anakin.

If Qui-Gon had lived, Anakin would've still turned. It was never about Obi-Wan or Qui-Gon by the teachers, it was about Anakin.

Because the message of the story is that:

"Ultimately, it's up to you to take personal responsibility and be compassionate. If you avoid responsibility and give in to your darker impulses for selfish purposes, bad shit happens. The only meaningful change can come from within."

And in Anakin's case it didn't. He zigged instead of zagging at almost every turn.

Now, you can agree or disagree with that message. But that's what it is. Even some of the current Star Wars authors acknowledge this.

The story of Anakin Skywalker is told in the movies.

The Clone Wars is there as an addendum to:

Shine a spotlight/provide context on minor changes between Episode II and Episode III.

Humanize Anakin, to further drive the point that what happened to him can happen to anyone.

[ne0n-garbage-angel]

Mandalorians as Jewish Allegory

First of all, we have this quote right here:

"We'll rebuild [Mandalore]. Isn't that our history? For thousands of years, we have been on the verge of extinction, and for thousands of years we have survived." ―Din Djarin

If you just replace the word Mandalore with Israel, it is a completely plausible thing for a Jewish person to say.

Anyway, on to my essay:

History:

Both Mandalorians and Jews have an indigenous homeland that is intrinsic to their culture and belief system, (Mandalore and Israel respectively). Throughout their entire history, they have been consistently under attack from various regimes seeking to commit genocide against them, (Jedi, Empire for Mandalorians, Romans, Nazis, Soviets, Arab colonialism for Jews), and yet each group has managed to remain alive and retain their culture. The Siege of Mandalore has a lot of parallels to the destruction of the Temple, and the Mandalorian Purges are very similar to the antisemitic Pogroms. Both groups are forced out of their indigenous homelands and into a diaspora, under which they are consistently hunted and attacked. Eventually, both groups regain control of their homeland from the colonizers who held previous rule over it.

Culture:

Mandalorians are either born into the culture or adopt the Creed, which is similar to born Jews and Converts. There are groups of Orthodox Mandalorians, such as the Children of the Watch, who observe the traditional laws regarding the Creed, as well as headcoverings, (similar to Orthodox Jewish people). In contrast, there are also more liberal factions of both Mandalorians and Jews. There are specific foods and religious clothing associated with both groups, their own languages, their own mythical beasts. Also, both cultures have a ceremonial bath/Mikvah associated with rituals and conversion.

Overall, I think it's fair to say that Mandalorians are an excellent allegory for Jewish people. Mandalorians are Space Jews. You can't change my mind.

This Is The Way

Am Yisrael Chai

[skykind]

A Clone Wars Episode Deep Dive

I didn't discover The Clone Wars fandom until 2021 and only started watching the show in mid-2023 (finished a few months ago), and I want to discuss and analyze all sorts of odds and ends—years after most people watched. This includes cool stuff in episodes I think some fans understandably skip when doing re-watches and therefore no longer remember well, but I’m digging into one of them anyway. So, have a long post about S2:E11, "Lightsaber Lost," and then come talk to me about it if you’d like!

This episode is saying three things at once, and the closer you get to the symbolic message meant for mostly adult audiences, the wilder things get.

The literal plot: Ahsoka’s lightsaber is stolen, and she recovers it with the help of a Jedi elder who teaches her life lessons along the way.

The morality tale for young viewers: gun control (a bold choice).

An eerie interlude for older viewers: A pair of brief scenes—only 45 seconds or so in length combined—communicate the future purge of the Jedi order via symbolic visual storytelling and a speech that’s being broadcast in the background. No dialogue required.

I'm going to focus on this third bullet point, but I also recommend a re-watch for the gun control angle. (Hint: if you think the writers are only arguing for handling guns responsibly, you haven’t taken the Jedi’s current context into account; also, the writers aren't referring to literal in-universe guns—Ahsoka’s lightsaber is the gun.)

Back to the episode’s message for older viewers: Split over two scenes, the audience watches Ahsoka chase a bounty hunter in possession of her lightsaber, then the bounty hunter partially damage and destabilize an enormous levitating billboard so she can get away from Ahsoka, and finally Ahsoka tumble down and precariously cling to the billboard’s screen. The billboard shows Palpatine delivering a—likely prerecorded—speech that is meant to sound supportive of the Jedi, but is instead priming Coruscant residents to believe anti-Jedi rhetoric; just before this two-scene sequence ends, Palpatine also begins to explain why he needs more executive power in order to support the Jedi.

It's great to pinpoint an example of Palatine's propaganda, but what does the visual storytelling communicate, with this speech for a backdrop?

Note: the text of Palpatine’s speech, shown in captions in the following screenshots, is not in alt text as that would chop the speech up between image descriptions, and is instead in a single paragraph after the final screenshot.

Palpatine's Speech

"I have no doubt that the Jedi are doing their very best to ensure the safety of every citizen in the Republic. The accusations that the Jedi created the Clone War to give themselves more power over the government is absurd and I will not stand for it."

Ahsoka as Symbolically at Palpatine's Mercy

After a scene break, Palatine's speech picks up mid-sentence and we see just how small and vulnerable Ahsoka is compared to Palpatine's soaring and vast projection. She appears entirely at his mercy, and somewhat at the mercy of Coruscant as well.

Palpatine's Speech, Resumed

"…Count Dooku and his droid army. To support the Jedi's efforts in the war, I ask the Senate to pass these new laws, giving more jurisdiction…"

The Genocide to Come

As this speech is broadcast to Coruscant, the seemingly trustworthy and dependable Chancellor of the Republic symbolically collapses beneath Ahsoka and leaves her stranded over a chasm. All while Palpatine spreads propaganda that will eventually convince the public to support her people's genocide.

Perhaps the best way to describe this is:

An unarmed Ahsoka struggles to hang onto the edge of a high precipice, that precipice is a symbol for Palpatine—and in a few years, Palpatine will shove the entire Jedi order off the edge of a much higher cliff.

Given how the sheer visual scale of Palpatine in this second scene represents the power he can wield over the Jedi—as the staging emphasizes Ahsoka's relative smallness and her physical vulnerability—it's clear the Jedi will not be able to rescue themselves when this future betrayal comes; Palpatine has amassed too much power and put too many plans in place. And no one who's bought into Palpatine's propaganda will try to catch the Jedi when they go over the edge.

Ahsoka’s Survival

Ahsoka’s individual survival of Order 66 is signaled here by her ability to get off the levitating billboard, but nothing about the staging suggests this comes down to unique skill—any number of well-trained Jedi could have gotten out of her predicament when the right opportunity (a single speeder that veers out of its lane and passes unusually close to the screen) presented itself.

In both “Lightsaber Lost” and "Victory and Death" (S7:E12, see below), her survival involves flinging herself through open air (and into an out-of-place flying vehicle), a nice nod to Ahsoka’s association with flight and Morai, though I feel like that’s a coincidence (?) as of season 2. Or maybe not. I have no idea if Ahsoka’s symbolic associations—flight in the case of “Lightsaber Lost,” rather than Morai specifically—were planned out in advance.

What About the Propaganda?

Returning to season 2, we come to the final big-picture takeaway of the "Lightsaber Lost" scenes: I’ve referred to Palpatine’s speech as something that plays in the background because Ahsoka doesn’t pay attention to his propaganda, even though it’s literally in her face. What does this mean if we treat Ahsoka as a stand-in for the Jedi, and Palpatine’s speech as a stand-in for his growing threat to the Jedi?   In these scenes, Ahsoka first doesn’t pay attention because she’s trying to stay alive in precarious circumstances, just as Jedi across the galaxy are kept distracted from the big picture by trying to keep themselves, their Padawans, their troops, and civilians alive as war swallows up the galaxy. Then, Ahsoka is distracted by tracking the bounty hunter who has her lightsaber; in the context of this episode (which asks, ‘who should be allowed to use a lightsaber, and when?’), Ahsoka’s lightsaber also comes to represent Jedi’s efforts to fight the Clone Wars as ethically as possible. It presumably takes more time and effort to fight a war when you’re concerned with morals, at least when the opposition is perfectly happy to commit war crimes.   By tossing the Jedi into a war, Palpatine keeps them too busy to systemically search for the Master Sith (in addition to Sith stuff diminishing the Jedi’s ability to use the force), as their time is eaten up by upholding the equivalent of the Geneva and Hague Conventions (etc.) when almost no one else is, by protecting as many other lives as possible, and by staying alive.

And The Clone Wars communicates all of this in a minute! Though I’ll admit my final point about Ahsoka’s lightsaber representing ethical combat is a stretch. I love it when TV shows and movies make full use of visual storytelling, and The Clone Wars is fabulous at it.

Whew—and that’s that! I’m grateful if even a single person has read this far and would love to know what you think, but regardless, I had fun analyzing this episode and organizing my thoughts about it. Cheers to the Clone Wars fandom.

[autistic-ben-tennyson]

Why the Diamond Redemption Doesn’t Work

About a year ago I wrote a post defending Steven Universe and Steven’s character writing. Since then my views have changed a bit and while I don’t think Steven is as much of a wuss as those Jack Horner or Hitler memes make him out to be, I can understand some of the gripes with the Diamond’s redemption. While Lily Orchard is a shitty person, I do side eye some of the people who hate her especially due to transmisogyny getting worse and her being a trans woman that doesn’t pass well and while some of her criticisms of the show are unfair, others were those black fans already had discussed regarding the show’s anti blackness with Sugilite and Bismuth and I’m going to explain why the Diamonds redemption doesn’t work by comparing them to similar characters.

In most stories that redeemed a fascist, abusive or genocidal villain, something was done to ensure that they would be incapable of causing further harm. Darth Vader, Kylo Ren and Gendo Ikari all died. They may have committed a heroic sacrifice and gotten acceptance from Luke, Rey and Shinji but that’s it. Vader and Kylo did go to Jedi heaven and Gendo was allowed to reunite with Yui in death but they still had to die as their crimes were too great to forgive. People can criticize how well executed these redemptions were but they only reconciled with one person and no one was forced to forgive them.

As for villains who were given a second chance and continued to live, something was still done to prevent them from hurting others. Lord Ozai had his powers taken away by Aang. ATLA has also been criticized for falling into white liberalism but at least Ozai still faced consequences. Ben directly targeted the Highbreed’s racist ideology by forcing them to walk in the shoes of those they tried to genocide by mixing their DNA with the omnitrix’s aliens. Lord Garmadon was corrupted by the Great Devourer and later Oni blood after his resurrection and he had to prove both times he had changed by taking a vow of nonviolence and helping the Ninja. Harumi’s redemption was criticized for being rushed but at least she had lost her powers and was implied to be under police surveillance in Crystalized. All these villain characters got off easy but at least had something done to remove their ability to cause harm.

In some cases a villain would be offered redemption and chose to reject it. That would have been a way to keep Steven a pacifist while still destroying the diamonds via their own actions. Lord Shen was offered a second chance despite everything he had done to Po and rejected it which caused his own death. Emperor Belos tried to manipulate Luz and was rightfully treated as the liar he was. The Diamonds for all we know could be doing the same and only acting nice to placate Steven until he dies, given how little they seem to regret abusing Rose and tried to get a replacement with Steven and later Spinel. They didn’t need to be shattered but as @thewoollyviking said, they needed to lose their powers so they could never be able to take back their empire if they returned to their old ways.

Something else that’s been on my mind is the idea that wanting the diamonds to suffer consequences is a “culturally Christian” or “Tankie” worldview. Like maybe some people are influenced by a punitive view of Christianity but i have also seen Christian fans who insisted that Steven had to forgive them based on their religious views. Wanting someone to face consequences isn’t always to be cruel and unusual. It’s to prevent them from harming other people and restorative justice is not the same as letting people off the hook. They still need to face some sort of justice to recognize what they did was wrong as a catalyst for becoming better people.

I think the problems with the diamond’s redemption came down to it being intended to be an allegory for an abusive family while having them commit all sorts of crimes like purging any gem that didn’t align with their beliefs and creating the cluster to blow up the earth. SU suffers because it used magical girl solutions to deal with sci fi/irl political issues which came off as tone deaf to a lot of people. Not everyone who dislikes it does so because of one person’s video essay and while it didn’t need to kill the diamonds, them losing their powers and being banished from Homeworld would have been more satisfying as a compromise because people like the diamonds will never change in real life and letting them off like that does have real world implications.

[istillbelieveinmagic142]

👆

Just rewatched RotJ, currently having emotions after noticing that the Jedi Temple can be seen in the background on Coruscant at the end. (And then got more emotions from finding out Palpatine made it his palace, SHEEV IS THE WORST AND NEEDS TO STOP.) I can’t really put the importance or the triumph or the lingering tragedy/bittersweetness of this scene into words, but AAAH, PREQUELS FEELINGS, JEDI FEELINGS, SEND HELP

It’s all the more moving because what Sidious did to the Jedi Temple was a violation and desecration of their home.  The Jedi were a religion/culture, when Palpatine sent out Order 66 it was an order for genocide on them just for being adopted by the Jedi, even just for being born the way they were.  It wasn’t about just the adults, but about the children of the Jedi.  About anyone who had a genetic connection to the Jedi.When you realize that, you realize what Sidious is doing to their Temple, to their home, is a desecration of the place that was sacred to them, that was the source of their culture, their art, their history, their traditions.  He took it specifically because it was theirs and wanted to ruin the symbol of everything they were.  So he made it into his Imperial Palace.  He raided their collections for his own personal use, stole their art and artifacts and creations.We see it in several places in the novels and comics, including when Palpatine stands on the steps of the Jedi Temple, Imperial banners hung down its sides, and makes a speech about how the Jedi are no more, standing on their home and showing that everything they were has been violated and ruined.  Including their lightsabers being tossed into a furnace:

But even more so when Jocasta Nu returns after the dust has settled, to retrieve their list of known Force-sensitives, to keep it out of Sidious’ hands.  She’s devastated by what they’ve done here.Everywhere she looks, their statues and walls have been attacked, have been scorched or broken or destroyed.Their home, the place that was beautiful to them and so full of light.

What Sidious did to the Jedi Temple is horrifying because it’s not just about an enemy in a war.  I don’t use the word “genocide” lightly, but that’s exactly what happened, including the horrific violations on everything that was an extension of who they were, just because they were Jedi.So when we see the Jedi Temple in the background as part of the celebration on Coruscant after Palpatine’s death, there’s so much more meaning to it, because now it can be returned to the people it belongs to.It’s no longer stolen by someone who wants to destroy it, but instead it can be recovered by the people that actually belong to the Jedi.

It means something because it isn’t just “oh [x] number of people died in Order 66″, but instead this was an attack on an entire people.Knowing that the Temple was finally freed from that monster is more than just a celebration of freedom, it’s about how a horrific wound to a people can maybe start to heal even just a little bit.  AND I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THAT.

[moonlit-imagines]

Headcanons for being another displaced Padawan with Cal Kestis

Cal Kestis x jedi!reader

warnings: angst, STAR WARS JEDI SURVIVOR SPOILERS

a/n:

prompt:

you and cal went way back

like, jedi padawan back

so after the purge, about five years later, you guys reunited by chance. thanks to cere junda, no less

and, god, seeing someone so familiar after trying to get by on your own, someone who knew the feeling of the trajectory of your life being thrown off before you were ready, that wasn’t easy to come by

“you’re here” -cal

“i’m here” -you

“we survived” -cal

“just barely” -you

cere was delighted that the two of you could have lifted each other’s spirits so much, which was very much needed in desperate times, as you two were just given a very important mission by a former jedi master in your order

you and cal kicked some serious ass together, helping one another relearn old lessons your masters had taught during your youth

“i think running across walls was the hardest thing i was ever taught” -you

“it took me forever to get that right! i could only get two steps in before i plummeted to the floor!” -cal

you shared a lot of stories and emotions during travels, in private

and not all of them were positive, but this was the first chance you’d had in five years to face these emotions, to air out your feelings

“do you miss the clones? i was so fond of our battalion, they were always so kind to me” -you

“i think…i think that was the worst part. the people who defended us in battle, gave me pep talks before training, always there, that same face at every turn suddenly behind the blaster that was meant to put me down” -cal

“i miss them” -you

cal and you had your missions together…and separately. you’d be on one planet and he on the other, trying to race the empire and inquisitors to the holocron

“it could happen all over again” -you

“it could be the key to saving the galaxy” -cal

“or we’d be creating a generational tragedy” -you

“so would the empire” -cal

“you’ve got me there” -you

cal gifting you ponchos from his travels (lol)

“any chance you like pink?” -cal

“well…” -you

braving zeffo alone while you knew cal was somewhere far more dangerous, you had a bad feeling about it

but your teachings from the order were always the same, no attachment. mission first, feelings second…no, last

but on cal’s adventure, he found merrin, a nightsister from dathomir

you hadn’t seen any nightsisters since ventress, which did happen to make you feel a bit off

“cal…you sure?” -you

“trust me, y/n. things have changed. merrin is just like us” -cal

“cal told me much about you. another survivor. a pleasure” -merrin

you and merrin grew quite close actually

she was truly spectacular, and swapping stories with her was sort of educational

“wait…the jedi responsible for the nightsister genocide? you said lightsabers, plural? how many?” -you

“four” -merrin

“two green, two blue?” -you

“precisely. how did you know?” -merrin

“hang on, no way—” -cal

“my master killed him shortly before we were split up…when the clones turned” -you

“grevious? really? master kenobi finally got him?” -cal

“who is this ‘grevious?’” -merrin

“general grevious, he was a separatist general—a cyborg. he wasn’t a jedi, he stole lightsabers from his kills. he ordered the attack on your home” -cal

“i’m so sorry, merrin” -you

you three were still healing from many scars, but doing it together was much more achievable than trying alone

it was a wonder you even made it to fortress inquisitorius

you, cal, cere. all three of you fought like hell to save those kids.

now, cal and you, you two had much different perspectives than say, cere or trilla

displaced padawans. little guidance. cal was barely old enough to even be a padawan learner, but times were desperate and the order called upon the youngling to start quite early. you were in a similar boat. it made you two see eye to eye better than most

trilla, a padawan with much more training and insight, one who was failed by the order that she was most loyal to. failed by her own master.

cere, a devout jedi master who failed many people who were counting on her. who lost herself to a side of herself that every jedi is supposed to fight.

and just before any resolution could come of all of you together, the famed and feared darth vader showed himself

and the sinking feeling you felt before he arrived froze you

“what is it, y/n? y/n?” -cere

*ominous breathing sounds*

you shook off the feeling, fleeing instead

cal and you were split up when you swore vader made a point to hold you back

“run cal! get out of here!” -you

“y/n l/n, i was hoping i would see you” -vader “where is obi-wan?!”

“i thought you were dead” -you

“is that what he told you?” -vader

“you’re going to kill me to get back at him? i haven’t seen him since the purge, anakin! i left!” -you

“there is no anakin!” -vader “did you leave, or did he leave you?”

“are you just going to let cal get away?” -you

“he can’t get far” -vader

“my journey is not important to you” -you

“you are like me, y/n. obi-wan failed us. these inquisitors are weak, impressionable, disposable. but i know how you think. i know how he thinks. i give you the opportunity to join me. fight with me.” -vader

“i saw the holotapes, anakin. i saw what you did to the younglings and i will not let you do it again. we are not alike, obi-wan did not fail me. i took a page out of ahsoka’s book, i found my own path. and it is not beside you.” -you

“this is not over, y/n. i trust you’ll find your way out” -vader, force pushing you off a ledge

you did find you way back out and merrin was quick to save you before going back for cal

you were left completely unharmed, as well, which was quite the surprise to everyone else

“what happened back there, y/n?” -cal

“nothing i’d like to relive” -you

cal nodded and let it go, focusing on the holocron floating before you all

your mind kept replaying memories as they discussed what to do with it

memories of anakin’s massacre. vader’s speech. younglings you couldn’t save. luke and leia somewhere across the galaxy. the inquisitors.

“destroy it.” -you

in one quick swipe, cal took his lightsaber to the glowing blue cube. no questions asked

and from there on, it was no longer about the order. you remembered why you left in the first place. the purge, the politics, your master couldn’t contain himself. your troops turned their blasters on you. everything you were taught was bantha fodder. and you were just a padawan

it was now about disassembling. scaring the people in power while giving the little guy some hope.

“this is a much better gig than obi-wan playing by the rules” -you

“from what you told me, him and anakin never played by the rules” -cal

the name made you shudder, but you pushed past it

“well, anakin was known as the rulebreaker. obi-wan always tried to reel him in. but, i’ve noticed a rule or two that master kenobi had bent” -you

“anakin has a padawan too, right?” -cal

“he did. she was also a rule breaker. when she left the order, i almost followed her. last i heard, she went to mandalore with half of the 501st. i, uh—” -you

“right…” -cal

you were still haunted from the encounter on nurr. still hadn’t told cal and it was eating you up inside.

but the fighting made it feel better

dismantling, stealing, helping

and then merrin left. and cere. and greez settled down. and you and cal were just two makeshift jedi knights with your tragic pasts and your need to keep your place in the galaxy

and keep each other close

but not too close

those rules you followed, the one’s obi-wan followed, you threw them out a long time ago. the jedi order was corrupt. you examined each council master postmortem and decided that they were all flawed despite their rank. you hated them for it.

but decided the one teaching you would follow would be to lose hate, a step to the dark side.

you didn’t really even know at this point, what was the difference between right and wrong anymore

cal and you continued fighting. joined up with saw gerrera. never left each other’s sides

which…sparked feelings you’d never really been taught or told how to deal with

only aversion, really. but it wasn’t like you didn’t really talk about it

“i don’t really see the problem with it. look at everything else we do, that’s not exactly the jedi way” -you

“it’s dangerous” -cal

“love is dangerous?” -you

“attachment is” -cal

“i figured you already had attachments. we were all a crew before this” -you

“i let them all go” -cal

“and you’d let me go?” -you

you began constantly questioning these ways and trying to fight for a new future with cal, without pressing too hard

but it was hard to ignore those feelings and harder to constantly be denied by your old life

and it was harder when the new crew always teased you two

“come on, kestis. if you don’t, i will” -gabs

“yeah, just go for it. who’s it hurting?” -bravo

“i’m just not ready to go there” -cal

you were more bothered than you let on

but you always put the mission first

up until your trip back to coruscant

“this is just a reminder of how little it all matters now. there’s no one left.” -you

“that’s why it matters” -cal

the intensity of this mission made it so it was just the two of you again

and maybe that would spark something…but you doubted it

taglist: @alwaysananglophile // @locke-writes // @sweetheartlizzie07 // @queen-destenie // @captainshazamerica // @ravenmoore14 // @gabile18 // @sweetjedi // @retvenkos // @swanimagines // @randomfandomimagine // @dontyousassmeok // @dindjarinsspouse // @zoeyserpentluck // @summersimmerus // @scarthefangirl // @sheridans-dynamos // @lady-violet // @simsrecs // @xoxobabydolls // @ruvaakke // @simp-legend // @evilcr0ne // @thedarkqueenofavalon // @your-local-simp0 // @elenavampire21 // @pheonixfire777 //

[princess-of-the-corner]

Fun Star Wars fact: the Jedi knew of Order 66 the entire time, and were OK with it. It was part of a series of protocols collectively known as Contingency Orders for the Grand Army of the Republic, to be invoked in case a certain situation happened. Known orders are:

Number unknown: Base Delta Zero (an orbital bombardment so complete that many felt the Death Star was more merciful) in case certain key planets turned traitors.

Order 4: deals with the transfer of authority in case the Supreme Chancellor is incapacitated.

Order 5: same as above, but the Chancellor has been declared unfit to perform his duties.

Order 32 (non canon): break dance with the droid army.

Order 37: a certain individual has to be captured at all costs, including the mass arrest of a civilian population and the threatened execution of the hostages. It's not a bluff, there's also a procedure on how to dispose the bodies.

Order 66: issued only by the Chancellor, your Jedi have turned traitor and you must kill them before they kill you (the use of lethal force only is easily justified because it's almost impossible to capture and contain a Jedi).

Order 65: issued by either the Senate or the Security Council by declaring the Supreme Chancellor unfit to perform their duties, the troops have to arrest them or kill them trying. Order 5 follows automatically.

I bet Palpatine had a blast knowing both that Order 66 was enforced by a chip and that Order 65 easily masked it.

Also, in Canon there was the funniest instance of any Contingency Order being activated during the Imperial Subjugation of Mon Cala: when psychotic Jedi Padawan Ferren Barr was confronted by Inquisitors supported by Purge Troopers, all clones, he pointed out the Purge Troopers were clones, that the Inquisitors were Jedi that pledged themselves to the Empire to survive, and then, with a shit-eating grin, he used the Mind Trick to issue ORDER 66. An Inquisitor got killed, and another lost her leg while Barr ran away laughing his ass off (Vader later killed him, but I think he too laughed when he found out).

I assume they thought that Order 66 was more "A singular Jedi has gone Darkside so lethal force is authorized" instead of straight up genocide?

[jedi-enthusiast]

@confusledqueer apologizes for not responding sooner, it’s been a busy couple days and—honestly—I forgot for a bit.

Moving on-

—————

Me equating some of the things that anti-Jedi people say to antisemitism and, sometimes, outright Nazi-esque rhetoric is not “wild” or “a stretch,” as you’re implying.

Justification of their genocide, denial that it actually was a genocide, a belief that the genocided party “caused” their own genocide, and a belief that they genocided party were wrong or “led astray” while one person was sent to make things right- (via either making them change their ways or outright destroying them/their culture) -are all things I’ve seen people say about the Jedi…

…but they’re also things that people have actually said about Jews.

Take the example I put in the post of someone denying that the Jedi Purge was actually a genocide, and how—by changing “Jedi” to “Judaism” and “Force-religions” to “Abrahamic Faiths”—it sounds verbatim to Holocaust denial.

Or, as another example, people claiming that the Jedi “kidnapped kids to brainwash them”…don’t you see how that sounds like Blood Libel?

So me pointing out that a lot of stuff anti-Jedi people say sounds like antisemitic rhetoric isn’t a stretch, not when a lot of it sounds verbatim to what people are saying with the rise of antisemitism and stuff they have said in the past.

—————

Now, I’m not Jewish, but it’s not just me, your neighborhood White Girl™️, who’s pointing this stuff out.

Actual Jewish people have pointed out the alarming similarities between anti-Jedi rhetoric and straight up antisemitism. So, if you wanna argue about- “you shouldn’t compare real world discrimination to fictional stuff” -then you should probably take that into account.

Go ahead and try telling Jewish Star Wars fans to stop calling out antisemitic rhetoric in the fandom, I’m sure that’ll go down real well.

I also find it hilarious that you’re telling me to be careful about the rhetoric I use in a thread about how I shouldn’t point out that some of the rhetoric other people spout is basically antisemitism rebranded.

And my point in that post wasn’t- “since this is based off of a real world culture/religion, you can’t criticize it.”

My point was- “since this is based off of a real world culture/religion then you need to be careful about how you criticize it, otherwise you might unconsciously be spouting bigoted beliefs and antisemitic rhetoric because you don’t recognize that that’s what it is because you’re saying it about a fictional culture.”

By all means, I get that some people just don’t like the Jedi, that’s their prerogative and we all have our own tastes.

Criticize them, if you feel like it, but don’t go around spouting rebranded antisemitism to do it. I’m sure you can come up with plenty of things to complain about them for without doing so.

—————

Now, I can understand why you might be worried about the slippery slope from this to shit like actual censorship—which, I think we can all agree, is a bad thing. Or how you might think criticizing this could lead to the whole “fandom purity” debate.

My thing is, it all comes down to does it actually harm people?

Perpetuating harmful stereotypes via saying stuff like the Jewish based characters “steal children,” or “lost their way,” or “they caused/deserved their genocide”—that does cause actual harm.

Think about why the “angry black man” stereotype or the “cheating bisexual” stereotype are bad and people- (rightly) -push back against them. It’s the same thing here.

Shipping a problematic ship, calling a fictional serial killer “babygirl,” writing about dark topics*, headcanoning characters as gay or trans…none of that is actively harming people.

(*obviously when writing about dark topics you should tag appropriately so people can avoid triggers, but that’s another topic for another day)

That’s the difference.

And, for the record, I think letting people spout bigotry just because they’re saying it about something fictional is the more dangerous mindset than calling it out.

[frostycatblr-fandom-files]

It's such a simple, silent scene in the very beginning of the game, and it managed to make me so emotional and upset in a matter of seconds. Because seconds was all they needed.

The Jedi Temple, wrapped in the red banners and the insignia of the Empire and cog... The perversion of such a holy place to Force-wielders during the time of the Great Jedi Purge...

This was the first time Cal sees the Temple in years since the start of the Purge, since Order 66, and it no longer looks like home to him. The stonework is the same. The temple grounds probably look the same from the sky lanes, and maybe minimal change has been made to them. But the banners... the wings of the Order are not-so-gently replaced.

And who knows exactly what has been done to the interior of the Temple in the time it was restored after Operation Knightfall. What replacements were made when everything was gutted, leaving only the outer walls as they were; a husk of what the Temple once was.

What became of the Room of a Thousand Fountains? What took the place of the vast libraries and archives? The meditation chambers? The rooms where the initiates were once cared for before their time as padawans began?

How gleefully was that all destroyed, replaced, painted/sealed over or melted down and whatever else when Palpatine turned the Jedi Temple into the Imperial Palace?

Cal sees the Temple while flying over Coruscant, sees what it's been turned into, and immediately he must know he'll never be able to return to what had once been his home. It would never be the same even if he did drive the Empire from those hallowed halls. Every stone would echo with pain and anguish to him. It would reek of the extermination of his kind. To Cal, with his psychometry, the Temple likely becomes too great a wound in the Force for him to bare.

JEDI: SURVIVOR (2023)

[rebelscum218]

Sometimes when I think about the Ahsoka series, I think of how much I would have preferred if Sabine was the one who pulls Ahsoka out of her jaded and weary self. The more I think of Ahsoka and Sabine's respective stories, the more I think the show has missed the opportunity of bringing us a fleshed-out and strongly-connected relationship, because there is much these two have in common.

They both share a similar eagerness when they were younger, a desire to prove themselves (Ahsoka to show she's not too young to be a Padawan learner; Sabine wanting Hera to trust her with more details of the Rebellion), they were both survivors of genocide (Order 66, the Mandalorian purge), they both know what it's like to be named a traitor by their family (Ahsoka being accused of bombing the Jedi temple, Sabine being shunned by her clan after creating the Duchess), they both knew what it's like to walk away from home, as well as being a wanderer without much purpose (Ahsoka tagging along with the Martez sisters, Sabine being a bounty hunter with Ketsu), they both have a snarky sense of humor etc etc. The list can go on even longer if we look deeper into their stories in the animated shows.

So to bring these two characters together in the Ahsoka series and not touch on any of that is a pity, because I can imagine the interactions they could've had that would give us much more reason to invest in their relationship. (For example, finding solace and understanding in knowing that they are both relics of a past they could never return to, comparing notes about Jedi and Mandalorian values/training methods, how they reminded each other of previous dynamics with other people while working together, how Ahsoka is not affiliated with the Jedi anymore but still behaving like one is similar to Sabine's own confusion about whether she can still identifiy as a Mandalorian given her new role as Jedi apprentice etc etc.)

And as much as I enjoyed Sabine in the series, I couldn't help but think how it would be like if she was a character that acts as a reflection of Ahsoka's Rebels-era self: centered and reserved, but still forging ahead with a clear purpose. And that she was the one calling the shots during their journey, the one who reminded Ahsoka what it's like to believe in and fight for something again, and how much Sabine represented the youthful optimism she once had, making her realize how much she's hardened and changed, liberating her from the ghosts of her past and returning her to the Ahsoka Tano people once knew. It's difficult to come up with an arc for a character that has been developed for over 13 years already, but by bringing Sabine into play, the depth and dimension of the story as well as the possibilities it could bring are still yet to be fully utilized.

Anyway, these are some stray thoughts I've had from time to time, and it's been on my mind long enough that I feel like putting this out here. Comments and thoughts are more than welcome.

[gffa]

Did an official Star Wars book actually state the Jedi Purge as a genocide??? Like, we all knew it was, but THEY ACTUALLY FINALLY SAID IT??? GODDAMN THIS BOOK IS NOT PULLING ITS PUNCHES. [Star Wars: The Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear | Alexander Freed]

[inquisitor-apologist]

hi I would personally LOVE to read thousands of essays on your thoughts about the inquisitors, so if you feel comfy posting them just know they will be received with gratitude :)

Alright, I’ve got a 4-hour car ride, so nothing but time.

The first thing that I’d say is absolutely essential to my understanding of/obsession with the Inquisitorius is that they’re expendable. Both in-text and out-of-text, they’re disposable and that is absolutely essential to their whole existence.

On the Doylist level, the Rebels team created them/reincorporated them to canon to be the replaceable early series antagonists. They're there to build the characters up to face the real threats of Maul’s temptation to the dark and Thrawn’s existential threat to the Rebel cause. The rest of the Star Wars media that shows them only reinforces this.

In Kenobi, they're there in the background, to set up Reva (who is, in the show, functionally not an Inquisitor) and Vader, in J:FO they're scary bad guys meant to be defeated and killed for Cal's growth (though, notably, J:FO is one of the only pieces of Inquisitor media that views them as victims worthy of empathy), and, while I haven't read (all of) the Vader comics, they're in the Vader comics, not in their own stories.

On the Watsonian level, they’re a sort of… buffer between the true power of the Sith and the public. They’re the one attacking the regular Force-sensitives and taking babies (someone much more qualified than me could probably talk a LOT about the very interesting ways the Jedi, Empire, and Inquisition (like, come on) parallel and draw from Judaism and historical antisemitism) and they’re the ones the Rebellion direct their anger about the Jedi Purge at. It’s easy for the two masterminds and main perpetrators to hide behind the atrocities of a dozen faceless subordinates.

This is really clearly shown in Kenobi, where the Inquisitors are dismissed as “Jedi who turned to the dark side. Now, they hunt their own kind”. They’re not seen as victims who’ve been forced into self-destructive monsters, but as the perpetrators of their own genocide, personas that they readily claim. I mean, Reva is literally a survivor of the Temple Massacre who was turned into one of the Inquisitors that Obi-Wan dismisses as traitors. They’re very convenient, effective, scapegoats.

That’s honestly a very underrated part of Palpatine’s genius; one of his most important traits is his ability to manipulate the media. By creating the Inquisitors and delegating most of the work of completing the Purge to them, he distances both himself and Vader from any public outcry against the actions of the Inquisitorius (and, to some extent, their own actions), allowing Vader to be seen as a more legitimate military officer and extension of the Emperor’s will, which is itself legitimized by that distance.

The lines between the Emperor, Vader, and the Inquisitors are also very important. There's a very clear distinction between the Sith and the Inquisitors in of autonomy, which is the second thing that defines my view of the Inquisitors. The Inquisitors are largely pawns for Palpatine’s ends, manipulated and indoctrinated kids, and as such there’s kind of a spectrum of the Empire’s Force-sensitive hierarchy between Sidious, Vader, and the Inquisitors.

Sidious is the first extreme, where he chose everything; he Fell on purpose, became a Sith on purpose, consolidated power and killed the Jedi on purpose, became Emperor on purpose. And then there’s Vader, who very much chose to Fall, kill the Jedi, and become a Sith, but he was manipulated and pushed to it by Sidious. He chose, but Sidious kind of underlies all those choices, driving him to them. Lastly, the Inquisitors chose nothing; they were hunted and persecuted by Vader and the Sith, then tortured and indoctrinated to serve Sidious, brainwashed into continuing to serve. It’s really a gradient of autonomy, if you think about it; Sidious is the only Dark Sider afforded full choice, both by the narrative and in-universe.

The Inquisitors are, fundamentally, kids ripped from their family and people, tortured and indoctrinated into self-loathing and anger. They don’t get names; they’re told they were born wrong and tortured until they believe it, then pressed into service, because, while they might have been born wrong, they were also born useful.

This is why I kind of hate the idea of Inquisitors who choose to join, and one of the reasons I’m not particularly inclined to read the new Inquisitor book (also it apparently implies that the tortured inquisitors were actually just. Force-brainwashed??). One of the most interesting and most fundamental things about them is that they are victims of horrific genocide coerced into becoming their own oppressors. If you take that away, you make them so much less interesting—they turn into stock evil traitors.

The protagonist of the new Inquisitor book is, from what I’ve gathered, a jerk who was already half-fallen in the Clone Wars and who seized the chance to gain more power with the Empire. That’s just diet Vader, and I, personally, have seen too much of both real Vader and diet vaders, so I’m not interested.

So, uh, @stellanslashgeode, you asked me for my thoughts on Iskat Akaris, here they are. Sorry it’s probably not what you wanted.

So, like, there’s my opinion on the fandom-and-canon obsession with Inquisitors who chose the Empire. We literally haven’t seen pretty much anything about how the normal inquisitors join, can we focus on the actually interesting stuff? The Inquisitors' lack of autonomy, their lack of choice, is a huge part of what fascinates me so much about them, because it's very unique. Let's not take that away.

Another piece of why I think the Inquisitors are so interesting is how their abuse at the hands of the Empire shapes them, though this part has more speculation than the stuff above due to lack of clear information.

In canon, we know that inquisitors go through fucking hellish initiation criteria (“Isolation! Torture! Mutilation!”), stuff that absolutely breaks them until they no longer believe that the Empire can be stopped at all (“You can’t stop the Empire!” “She said something about becoming an Inquisitor… like it’s inevitable”). We also know that, however it happens, it's very fast and effective. The Vader Comics are set just months after Order 66, and there's already at least ten fully initiated Inquisitors.

Unfortunately, we never directly see the exact initiation protocols the Inquisitors are subject to, but we do get quick glimpses, like in the flashbacks from J:FO, and with Reva in Kenobi. Right now, I want to look at what those flashbacks from J:FO, together with the dialogue above, tells us about what exactly happens to Inquisitors.

In the flashback, we see Trilla, strapped to the torture chair that Cere's in later in the flashback, being subjected to Star Wars' favorite kind of torture, weird electricity chairs. I'm going to call them shockseats, just to distinguish them from real-life electric chairs. We transition from the torture to some time later, when Second Sister has been fully turned, wearing the Inquisitor uniform and everything.

That, annoyingly enough, is all we get to work with. It's basically the "Being tortured makes you evil" trope, but Ninth Sister's dialogue gives it some nuance. She says "Isolation! Torture! Mutilation!", and, well, we just saw the torture part, and I'm guessing the mutilation is the whole thing in the comics where Vader teaches the Inquisitors by cutting their limbs off, so that leaves isolation, which I think is probably a very significant part of the process.

Based on the vault vision and the Fortress Inquisitorius section in J:FO, most of the Fortress's prison has a kind-of panopticon feel, with see-through energy shields, guards everywhere, and several prisoners in one cell, so I'm guessing there are probably some deeper isolation cells. The isolation is probably where most of the indoctrination happens, because we never hear anyone saying anything during the torture scenes.

This is mostly headcanon from the scraps we get, but I'd say initiation probably goes something like this: 1. a survivor is captured 2. They're taken to Nur, and tortured on the way there (per Rebels) 3 The timeline here is annoyingly unclear but I think the ‘isolation’/indoctrination comes before the rest? 4. They're tortured in an attempt to get them to turn to the Dark Side 5. They're somehow fully initiated into the Inquisitorius with their full title and uniform 6. They're trained ('mutilation') 7. They're a full Inquisitor

obv I have headcanons (ie a full-on not-really canon-compliant system that I think works better than the disjointed 'being tortured makes you evil' bits we have now, but I'm trying to stay as canon-compliant here as possible) but I think this is about what we get in canon, and it’s kind of necessary to have a vague idea about what probably happens in order to understand them, and dang is this very important to basically their entire self-concepts.

In Kenobi, Third Sister is hated by all the others, probably for not going through what they did. We see throughout the show that she’s just as good, or better, than most of them, but because she wasn’t tortured (or, at least, not to the same extent), the rest despise her. She does the exact same things we've consistently seen all the other Inquisitor's do, but she's punished and derided for it. In J:FO, Second Sister goes out and threatens civilians in order to draw Cal out, and everyone’s fine with it, but when Reva does it, everyone hates her.

There’s no rational reason; she does exactly what they do , what she’s been taught to do, but she’s treated differently. The only reason for this, in-universe, is that she’s the only Inquisitor we know of that wasn’t brought in for being a Jedi—she explicitly hides that she was one. The rest of the Inquisitors clearly do hate each other, but it’s on a different level with her, because they do not see her as one of them. She wasn’t a Jedi, and thus she didn’t go through the same things they did. There seems to be a sort-of trauma-induced bond between the other Inquisitors. They hate each other, but they all see each other as Inquisitors, largely the same as them. They don’t share that with Reva because whatever happened to them didn’t happen to her, to the same extent.

Connecting to my earlier point about Inquisitors who chose to join, I think that that's WAY more interesting than a bunch of jerk coworkers who just decided to be evil.

These people were family in the Jedi, and then their whole family died as they watched and heard and felt it in their brains, and they were chased and hunted and tortured until they broke and brought back together, warped and different and told to call each other siblings—and at this point, aren’t they? They were raised together in the bowels of Nur, subjected to the same horror and misery; they’ve been through everything together, in the worst way possible, constantly competing and fighting and killing for anything they can get. Who else could understand them in any meaningful way?

I'm getting off-topic, but the physical abuse and torture of the Inquisitors seems fundamental to their identity, even if we don't know exactly what it entailed. 

So, with the isolation and indoctrination, I think it's fair to say that there's probably quite a lot of mental abuse there. The Dark Side, in itself, is pretty horrible mental health-wise (the Jedi actively use cognitive behavioral therapy just to prevent the possibility of the Dark) and being literally tortured and forced into it must be like. so much worse. Plus, isolation has been shown to be really fucking awful for your brain and the Inquisitor’s utter hopelessness (they literally do not believe that the Empire can be stopped and are really angry at anyone who tries) kind of seems like the whole being unable to believe that things can be better and getting angry at people who try to help part of depression? 

Basically I don’t really know enough about mental health to say definitively, but I’m guessing a core part of Inquisitor Initiation is like. Insane mental abuse to get them to crack.

This last bit is less supported, and I know even less about it, so I’m going to keep this real brief, but I think there’s a possibility of some sexual abuse as well? This is a pretty big thing in fanon with the Grand Inquisitor, and then there’s all the creepy pervy stuff with Seventh Sister that she did not learn from the Jedi, but that’s as much as I’ll say for that because I know nothing about this kind of thing.

So, those are really the three things that define the Inquisitors to me: their expendability, lack of autonomy, and how their abuse defines them. I could write more on this, but this post took a fucking month already, so I’ll stick to those points.

[vodika-vibes]

Hiya! I hope you're feeling better ❤️🌸

Can I request some crumbs of A'den Skirata, pretty please?🥺It can be some light angst with Order 66 with Jedi reader escape shenanigans, maybe some comfort or even something spicy? Whatever you feel like writing!

Thanks in advance~

Not Your Fault

Summary: After escaping the purge by the skin of your teeth, you seek comfort in the arms of the person you still trust, A’den Skirata.

Pairing: A'den Skirata x F!Jedi Reader

Word Count: 677

Warnings: some angst, implied spice

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni @imabeautifulbutterfly

A/N: Hi there! I am feeling a lot better. Well, sorta. I didn't stretch my foot properly, so there's an ache and some discomfort, but I'm getting better every day. Sorry that this is so short, but I kind of wanted to write a snapshot of them right after order 66. I hope you like it!

It hurts.

The loss of the other Jedi, of your former master and your padawan siblings, echo through the force. It’s like taking a punch to the chest.

Over and over and over—

Every time you remember that you’re alone in the galaxy now, the pain returns.

A warm hand smoothes over your hair, and you shudder before curling into A’den’s warmth.

He sent you a heavily encrypted message several hours after the Purge happened. He offered you a safe place to hide from the Empire and promised to protect you.

For a moment, you feared that it was a trap, that it was a trick for him to get his hands on you so he could kill you…but if that were the case, A’den would have just tracked you down and killed you.

So you took a chance and came to him.

You’re glad you did.

“How are you feeling, cyare?” A’den asks, his voice quiet and comforting.

“Awful,” You reply, honestly. “I never thought that I would be alone in the galaxy.”

“You’re not.” A’den smooths his hand over your hair and then turns your head so you’re looking up at him, “You have me, and my brothers. We’re not going to leave you alone.”

You lightly grip his wrist, “I’m grateful for it, but it’s not the same.”

“I know, cyare.” He shifts on the bed to lay beside you, rather than sit over you, “How can I help?”

Your hand presses against his cheek, “Can you make me forget?”

He leans in and presses his forehead against yours, “If I could, I would.”

You blink tears out of your eyes, “Did we do something wrong?” You ask, “Did we somehow deserve—”

“No.” A’den rolls you so you’re on your back and he’s laying over you, “No. You did nothing wrong. This isn’t your fault.”

“I survived. No one else did.”

“That doesn’t make it your fault.”

“I can’t help but think—” You trail off, hesitantly.

“Go on.”

“That maybe it would have been better if I died with everyone else.”

A’den pulls back to stare at you, “How can you think that?”

“I don’t know.”

Smoothly, A’den pins your hands next to your head, “I’m glad you’re still alive.”

You sigh softly, “I know.”

“You’re the best thing that came out of this war,” A’den adds, “The only good thing that came from the war.”

“No.” You shake your head, “No, A’den. That’s not right.”

“Cyare—”

“The only good thing that came from the war is you and your brothers.”

A’den stares at you, startled.

“You’re all good men. You deserve better than what we did to you.”

A’den shakes his head and his grip tightens around your wrists, “I love you.” It’s blunt and straightforward, just like him, and you know that he means it. “You didn’t do anything. You, and your people, are as much victims in this war as me and my brothers.”

“It’s not quite the same—”

“You’re right. It’s not. The majority of my vod’e are still alive, after all.” He leans in and presses himself flush against you, “Your people were the victims of a mass genocide. A genocide committed by my people.”

“It’s not your fault either.”

“Oh, I know.” A’den presses his lips against yours, “But you’d be well within your rights to hate me.”

“I don’t think I could.” You admit, “I love you too much.”

“I’m glad for it,” A’den murmurs, he scans your face for a moment, “Do you still want to forget?”

“Yes.”

“Keep your hands here. I’m going to help you forget, at least for a little while.”

“How?” Your face heats when his hands drip under your tank top, sliding the thin material up.

“In a very physical way.” A’den slides down your body and presses his lips against your sternum, “Unless you’d rather not?”

You lower your hands and card your fingers through his hair, “Please, A’den. Help me forget. Just for one night.”

His gaze locks with yours, and he smiles soft and warm, “As you wish.”

[mann-walter]

My latest post, that is my post on Order 66, is a response to another post actually. I’m not really interested in that part of the lore. By and large, I’m never too keen on lore diving when it comes to Jedi philosophy and the Jedi purge. I think the Jedis are popular enough, meaning there have been vast discussions done about them which I don’t know where to begin with and I don’t know what I can contribute meaningfully to—unlike when it comes to Palpatine for example. Order 66 is also something very popular, both the franchise runners and fans have discussed it extensively—some people even complained of Order 66 fatigue—and frankly, it is something cut and dry: Palpatine, a dude from an opposition philosophy/religion, took power and slaughtered the Jedi. But apparently, it is not.

Basically, I encountered a post that denied Order 66 as genocide and was very hostile toward the Jedi. Having been a Star Wars fan on Tumblr for a while, I don’t think these are unusual. But then it got a little crazy when… let’s just say OP blurred fiction and real-world events too much, outright condoning real-world genocide on certain religious groups, dehumanization was aplenty, going as far as calling said groups “parasites” and saying it is merely getting rid of pests when you eradicate them. At the end of it all, they accused people who are pro-Jedi, not only the extreme part of that camp, and even people who are casual about this whole Jedi business but are against Order 66, as supporters, nay, part of this real parasitic religious group. They said such people should just die. They also called the Jedi Nazis.

There is a part of me that wants to believe it was an act of trolling, but it mixed up real-world and fiction too much…. Ish, it was just lowkey disturbing. I still let out a gobsmacked chuckle when I try to remember what the words were.

I suggest you all check out the post especially the reblogs section. It is fucking wild, pardon my French, it is fucking WILD. We got colonialism down there, we got the Nazis, we got religion, and of course we got Star Wars. I don’t put up links to it or straightforwardly reblog it because… because I’m a cowardly bastard and online fights are exhausting. So, check it for yourselves

P.S.: that definition is a little skewed in comparison to the Convention because of its exclusivity (“…minority”.) whereas the Convention is inclusive. But anyway…

[haltraveler]

I swear the pro-Jedi crowd are getting just as ridiculous as the anti-Jedi fans at this point. The Jedi Order was around and a major force in the galaxy for more than twice the length of the Holocene epoch. Portraying them as making a few poor decisions or being on the wrong side of a few issues in that time span is not justifying the Purge or saying they weren't broadly a force for good.

And personally I think a Jedi order that fucks up on occasion and accidentally funds a genocide on Kalee or sometimes has phases of overly rigid dogma is far more engaging as a story than saying they literally did nothing wrong ever in literally twice the length of time that humans have had domestic cows.