#this is a lot of Thoughts

[merrysithmas]

I was reading through your metas on Star Wars especially Obikin and they amazing! They’re refreshing because it seems to me the majority of this fandom forgets that Anakin/Vader isn’t the bad guy or the villain of SW. It’s Palpatine. And that’s literally the point according to GL at least as far as I’m aware. I know he’s has literally said flat out that Anakin/Vader isn’t the villain he’s just a pathetic broken man who, yes, does awful things but he’s still not meant to be seen as the “true” villain of Star Wars that most people see him as.

I don’t know why people either don’t understand this or if they just choose to ignore it because they don’t like Anakin and we see more of him/Vader than Palpatine/Sidious. It just baffles me how so many want to hold Anakin accountable for his actions and blame him for things but they will in the same breath ignore Palps. Make it make sense.

thank you so much!

I think a lot of it has to do with a certain subset of the audience's unwillingness to see a piece of fiction as a representation of tropes, dynamics, archetypes and fable-esque fantasy rather than direct correlation to Real Life Morality.

obviously in real life Anakin, no matter WHAT, should be imprisoned for life... murder is not good lol.

but in Star Wars, a story, it is obviously to me at least that Anakin is a representation of the ultimate MacGuffin. he is a CLASSIC tragic hero in the grecian sense - not good or ultimately liked or morally decent but destined by nature of his flaws to do something heroic.

Anakin is NOT a human - he is demi god conceived of the Force and essentially a barometer for the health of the Galaxy. He is enslaved, mistreated, taken away from his mother, not given consideration for his unique circumstance by the Jedi, coveted by an irresponsible Padme, prodded by a confused Obiwan, & groomed and manipulated by Palpatine. Anakin is used by the Senate as a war hero and given praise for killing thousands for the Republic. All of those Institutions and people, despite their intentions and lofty moral goals, failed him as essentially "a test" for the Galaxy - the Force was testing the moral health of the Galaxy by creating Anakin.

Anakin is the ULTIMATE slave - he is PREDESTINED by the Force and has no choice in his ULTIMATE destitn which is to "balance the force" and for this he suffers IMMENSELY. The Force created Anakin to defend the Republic, and when it was corrupt and failed (as Padme herself noted), used him to destroy it because Anakin became corrupted same as the Republic did.

Of course, Anakin CHOOSES how to do this (murder) which makes him flawed and villainous, but he is eventually pitted against Sidious because the Force "knew" he'd be the only Force user strong enough to survive the Dark Side for decades, and the ONLY ONE STRONG ENOUGH (guilty and good enough) TO RETURN TO THE LIGHT AFTER ALL THAT.

Anakin suffers in Vader's sarcophagus as punishment for his murderous destruction of the Order & alignment with Sidious - he could have theoretically achieved its "destruction" in another more peaceful way. He could have walked away from Sidious. But he didn't. He chose to do that. Anakin became flawed & corrupt in an image of the flawed Republic. (Obviously Obiwan represents the imperfect Order and Padme the imperfect Senate).

Anakin is a literary device - he is a demi god - he is and his actions are not supposed to represent real life people (that would be instead the flawed Padme and Obi-wan - who despite being good still fail bc of their hubris or selfishness).

Also Star Wars is not based on Western morality - and Anakin's relationship with the Force is one of dualistic origin. He is an angel and a demon, slave and master, kind and cruel, strong and weak, the physical embodiment of strength and the physical embodiment of pain... but Anakin is NEVER free.

He is the Force (light, good, "god")'s creation to be used to fight Sidious (dark, evil, "devil").

Anakin is the most tragic character in Star Wars and by definition is a tragic hero.

When Luke saves him, he sees this, and it gives real life viewers hope that regardless of our destiny-by-circumstance we can choose better.

[yeepof]

I understand that tall men are our POV characters, but surely being like a foot taller than everyone around them would have some occasional consequences

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[sunbentshadows]

So, about that outage, huh

[trainwreckgenerator]

a face you'd find on the side of a milk carton

[stil-lindigo]

lead balloon (the tumblr post that saved me)

if this comic resonated with you, it would mean the world to me if you donated to this palestinian family's escape fund.

--

no creative notes because this isn't that kind of comic.

I know I don’t owe any of you anything but I still felt compelled to write about my long term absence. And I feel far enough away from the dangerous spot I was in to be able to make this comic. I have a therapist now, and she agreed that making this could be a very cathartic gesture, and the start of properly leaving these thoughts behind me. I am still, at seemingly random times, blindsided by fleeting desires to kill myself. They’re always passing urges, but it’s disarming, and uncomfortable. I worry sometimes that my brain’s spent so long thinking only about suicide that it’s forgotten how to think about anything else. Like, now that I've opened that door for myself, I'll never be able to fully shut it again. But I’m trying my best to encourage my mind in other directions. We'll see how that goes.

I am still donating all proceeds from my store to Palestinian causes. So far, I've donated over $15K, not including donations coming from my own pocket or the fundraising streams which jointly raised around $10K. In the time since I made my initial post about where this money would be going, the focus has shifted from aid organisations to directly donating to escape funds.

If you'd like to do the same, you can look at Operation Olive Branch, which hosts hundreds of Palestinian escape funds or donate to Safebow, which has helped facilitate the safe crossing and securing of important medical procedures for over 150 at-risk palestinians since the beginning of the genocide.

[daincrediblegg]

OK THIS IS NOT A FUCKING DRILL EVERYONE FUCKING REPEAT AFTER ME. THIS IS WHAT YOU WILL DO WHEN YOU WATCH MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL THIS YEAR:

You will navigate to the page on disney plus (and it has to be here. Unless someone has actually uploaded the REAL movie anywhere else you cannot get it elsewhere)

BUT YOU WILL NOT HIT PLAY. You won’t do it. Because it’s NOT THE REAL VERSION OF THE FILM AND DISNEY IS FUCKING LYING TO YOU AS IT ALWAYS DOES

You will scroll down HERE. To EXTRAS instead. You MUST GO HERE. This is non -negotiable

THEN YOU WILL SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE EXTRAS AND YOU WILL THEN HIT PLAY ON THIS BAD BOY: THE FULL LENGTH VERSION

And you will watch it. And you will thank me for having been so blind and led astray by that stupid fucking mouse. You’re welcome.

[sadclowncentral]

I think if a fairy showed up at my house like yeah they are not real but there is narrative precedent for that. a fairy, if it existed, would show up at a house. i just need to suspend one disbelief everything else tracks. it's a big surprise, but a singular one. i would know how to get with the programm pretty quick.

if a walrus knocked at my door there would be many more fucking questions than one. a walrus showing up at my house? knowing that knocking is the required social etiquette? having reasons to knock on my door and somehow the ability to do that despite having no arms? said walrus coming to me of all people?? a walrus being real is the least of my concerns at that point why the fuck does it need my help what kind of problem can I solve that a socially aware and apparently findextrous walrus fucking can't

[evercelle]

bust... or maybe i'll take it all!

[chiptrillino-art]

(ID in ALT text)

some of these were conzepts i drew for @ranilla-bean fic the iconoclast. others are just me doodeling zuko in SEA inspired clothing (khemer or siam style/ so cambodia or thailand)

[yeepof]

Local PHD student at wizard school HARRASSED!! FOR SHAME!!

[twobeesornottwobees]

watching ally beardsley transition over the past five years has been really wonderful and affirming but also hilarious. they went from looking like siobhan to looking like brennan. truly the entire anglo-saxon spectrum of gender.

[jeanivere]

arthur morgan tiddies and tummy thats all im gonna say

[manstrans]

life hack: imagine your ocd intrusive thoughts are anon hate so you can reply "the reading comprehension on this site"

[indigo6f00ff]

need to share an experience i had 30 minutes ago

(edit: thanks to @walks-the-ages for providing and reminding me to put alt text, sorry it slips my mind alot lol)