#what can i say? i was always hopeful that vader would be redeemed

[jedislight]

"I can feel the conflict within you, let go of your hate"

nova's 50 follower celebration

a scene that made you feel hopeful from any movie or show

for @chaoticroad

[marvelstars]

I really love Luke as a character but sometimes I don´t like how fandom pictures him as this little flower who would not hurt a fly and always tries to seek peaceful solutions to conflicts, like I get it because I don´t shut up about his part in redeeming his father on ROTJ either but people forget he almost killed his Dad before he did it.

Luke isn´t just a sweet little fellow who would his risk his life for friends and family to the last consequence. Luke isn´t just loyal to fault, he also is a soldier and if he needs to take a life because he is fighthing a War he will do it, no questions asked but he also won´t hold it agaisn´t his opponents if they do the same with him because again, it´s a war.

Another thing I love about Luke is that he truly doesn´t care much about authority, he is concious of it and has not trouble doing what his uncle tells him to do or the rebellion leadership tells him or to seek Yoda and Obi-Wan´s counsel when he has doubts but he also gives his own mind and in the end defines his decisions acording to what he personally believes it´s better acording to his personal philosophy, so he asks the rebellion for permission to train as a Jedi and leaves with or without permission, adds his own little mission on ROTJ to take Darth Vader out of the second Death Star before they blow it up and also tells Yoda and ObiWan in no uncertain terms that he wasn´t going to kill his father.

So in short Luke is this

But he is also this

It makes sense and I love that for him.

PD: Shadows of the Empire is from Legends but pictures Luke so perfectly that I wanted to add it.

There is an episode in which Luke and Leia are trying to fight off Black Sun because some of their operatives have been working with the rebellion but also betraying them, Prince Xizor was playing off the Empire and the Rebellion hoping they destroyed each other. So Leia gets into Prince Xizor Castle to spy on him but he captures her using a mind control pheromone so Luke decides to go with Lando, get Leia out and destroy Xizor´s castle while he is at it.

At the same time, Dath Vader was chilling in his own Palace on Coruscant, he was thinking about how to solve the lastest test of Palpatine in which he has to defeat Xizor ´s criminal organization that was growing too powerful within the empire but without his master having to notice it because currently he is an ally of Xizor and Xizor believes he can take Vader´s place alongside Palpatine.

So Vader is chilling and thinking about an elabore strategy worthy of Games of Thrones or the Padrino when his child out of nowhere makes Prince Xizor Palace explode. This act gives a reason for Vader to destroy the rest of his organization because Xizor was also partially working with the rebels.

There´s not need to say Vader was totally heart eyes for his kid after this. Like that´s his boy, look at him go. Also Xizor messed with his Kid, he is going to lose everything, Xizor is actually lucky he didn´t know Leia was also his kid imo. Those Skywalkers :)

[rexxdjarin]

I have actually so many thoughts about Anakin as Vader and since I’m clever and consider myself to be always objectively correct here’s the thing:

I think of Vader and Anakin as the same person. Because they are. That’s irrefutable and to say otherwise is to detach Anakin from the accountability he needs to accept for all the unmentionable galactic tragedies he directly caused.

But the way I make sense of him is this - think of Anakin, the real Anakin, as the voice inside his head or the Vader helmet lol. his conscience if you will. The guy who makes things right, who KNOWS right and wrong, who cares for others. He is always in there. He never truly goes away.

Vader, his untethered rage, his suffering, misery and anger, just take over. Those feelings are too strong. He totally succumbs to them to the point of losing all trust in his own conscience, his own sense of morality and sense of self. The man he really is. He rejects what his once morally sound heart and mind tell him and let’s all the worst parts of himself dominate his existence. Such is the way of a Sith, a particularly powerful one at that.

Vader is at odds with himself, with Anakin, at all times. It’s a constant battle within between dark and light, in which Anakin always loses because Vader has convinced the light in himself that Anakin has nothing left to live for.

Nothing. Until his son miraculously appears and declares himself stubbornly and determinately unwilling to kill his own father out of love for Anakin. Not Vader. Anakin.

And, in that moment, Anakin finds the strength to realize Vader, and all the emotions that fueled him, was wrong. He has one last thing left to live for and, in his final moments, does what he should’ve done all those years ago. Make the right choice, not the selfish one and redeems himself in the end.

I think a lot of people can relate to an internal struggle like that in which the worst of you keeps the best of you down. Maybe for years, even decades. And all he needed was the tiniest glimmer of hope to find him to get out of that constant war inside his own mind.

Anakin was always in there, he just needed to overcome what he had done and who he became, to find himself again.

He would not be forgiven or remembered with any fondness. But he wasn’t suffering anymore. He was at peace. And for a kid whose entire existence was dominated by a fight between dark and light he was born into, I’d imagine the eternal rest was welcome.

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

I saw you answered an ask about Spider's and I wanted to ask about Quaritch.

You mentioned that you worry Quaritch is going to have a "Snape type" death where he's an asshole the whole time but then he gets himself killed doing the right thing at the very last second so everyone can be like "wow maybe he was a good guy after all" which is honestly what I suspect they will do, but I really hope I'm wrong.

So my questions are: what do you think will actually happen to Quaritch in the sequels? And if you were in charge of the Avatar sequels, what would YOU choose to happen to Quaritch?

Super interesting question, that is a massive fear of mine. It's such a common trope these days and it's such insanely lazy writing, and at this point I think it's boarderline irresponsible. It's always the hot, male, white villain that can die and be redeemed without doing any of the work or suffering any of the consequences of the choices he made. I call it the Darth Vader effect. It's Darth Vader dying at the last minute to save the galaxy instead of, oh, I don't know, going to a war crimes tribunal and seeing all the parents of the children he literally murdered, and maybe facing his daughter whose entire planet he exterminated. Just thoughts.

It's young white fans that are so eager to forget who Quaritch is as a character, and what he's done and represents. People say it's just a movie, well, I'm really tired of that storyline regardless of how harmful it is. Don't you all want better? BUT ANYWAYS, I've been blocked for a year already by most people that disagree with me on this, so I digress.

I think I've given my answer on this before (god knows I can't find any of my posts ever), but I would do this movie the same way but not killed Neteyam. I think you give audiences (and Spider) the whole of next movie to really think Quaritch could change and saving him might've been the right choice. We also get a whole movie more of Neteyam to get to know him and like him even more, and then you have Quaritch kill him. Really like, a deciding moment where he really becomes clear. I would love to have been so mad about him being given a sympathetic arc just for my expectations to be literally played against me. I also think it's a cop out Quaritch isn't the one who killed Neteyam, not that it would stop people as they seem to love child killer Lyle anyway.

As for how I think it will end... I think I've answered this before too, but it's really hard to tell when we're only at movie 2/5. His story has to evolve from there. If I had to guess though, I want to say he struggles to find his place because as a "Na'vi" he doesn't fit in with the humans anymore, and he's in the body of his worst enemies, and it starts to push him to the brink a little. I think that something will happen that means he loses any chance of getting Spider for good, and that'll just drive him even farther into fully crazy spiralling until eventually it's the RDA and just rogue insane stalker Quaritch on the side. I think I'd like to see him devolve slower, we got hints of it closer to his death in the first movie and in the second close to the boat scene. I think he's gotta spiral.

I definitely had a different answer last time I had this question, and that answer is valid as well I'm sure. It just escapes me right now. Hope this is what you were looking for!

[skeletons-eat]

I watched 'the last Jedi' for the first time (for real not only clips n stuff) and here are my thoughts.

Okay can we please talk about the last jedi????? Because!???? I just watched it and I absolutely loved it ngl. I am huge fan of the force awakens but hadn't watched the last two of the sequel films due to the hate n stuff but I adored this film, especially the end.

So let's start at the last scene of SW:TLJ.

That kid telling his friends about what we had just scene beforehand (or perhaps another part of Luke's life as a reference to this moment?), then grabbing the broom with the force and then afterward showing him in a 'Jedi pose' with the resistance-symbol-ring ? Amazing. Especially with the Context of Luke saying beforehand that kylo was wrong when he stated that there will be no more rebellion and jedi.

We as the audience think in that moment of our protagonists i. e. Finn, rey, Poe, etc, but what I believe is more significant is that there will always be people out there who wish to do good and who will rebel in the face of oppression. Neither the Empire nor the first order or any sith in the galaxy can destroy all hope there is because that's something that will never die!

And hope is in star wars synonominous with the light and the Jedi, thus making it the major statement that comes with this movie.

This is also underlined with Luke's final ending in that movie.

When we were I triduced to him in the sequels he was supposed to mirror Obi-Wan from the OT, which we dont think makes much sense at first because we still know Luke as our Luke. The one who redeemed Vader. The one who beet Palpatine. Our chosen one who helped rebalanced the Galaxy and who rebuild the Galaxy.

What we as an audience begin to understand is that even paragons of light like Luke are able to fail. Are able to make mistakes and hurt others in a persute to do the right thing. That even they will be affected by traumas and fears no matter what.

And I believe that that was the right thing to do. We saw Luke in his prime so it was good to see him at his lowest simply because he was able to heal from that. And only because someone believed in him. Someone he had never met but had a undeniable connection to. Which again reflects what he did for Vader in RotJ.

I also loved Finn and Rose in this movie they were amazing and funny and cool and no I dont take criticism.

I also really liked Poe's character development from what one would consider overconfident soldier to true leader that we saw in the movie especially since it manifests to us that these characters are actively growing.

And I can't leave before mentioning rey simply because I love her for her character and hate how the made her pretty dependant to kylo as a character. I am a person who dislikes kylo/Ben and this whole ship since I'd find it better to have more of her alone and less of him but anyway.

Rey was figureing out a lot of stuff in this movie, though I enjoyed her actually verbally beating the shit out of Luke since she has no social etiquette which is AMAZING.

Her whole development with the force training and stuff was also really cool and I simply loved her screen time (except for Kyle).

Getting to my least favourite part (though I kept to the major points here);Kyle Ron/Ben.

I personally greatly dislike him as a Person. The idea behind his Character though is quite good if you think about it. The whole point of the ST is to mirror the OT and twist it up weirdly in the which comes off as 'history rhymes but is ever changing', but in this case it twists it in a way which makes the first order seem rediculous and pathetic.

Which makes sense since eveil generally is.

I like how they made the bad guys actually unlikable and weird and only out to do what is best for themself and don't understand how horrible they come off as, because evil isn't smart ( at Keats not in most cases) .

And it mirrors the Empire in way which worsens that very image because this empire is this big machine of terror and power and the first order just...tries to be that even though they can't. It's truly as easy as that and I love how they redicule evil and make it seem stupid. Because that's what it is simply put.

[padme-amitabha]

Why do you not like Ahsoka?? I mean she’s more interesting than Padme, and Padme never gets referenced in the original trilogy, there’s a reason the final fight in rotj is between Vader and Luke with the emperor in the background and not Padme talking to Vader about how she loves him and all of that, plus Ahsoka is just badass and likeable, Padmes only cool in tcw imo, outside of that she’s kinda boring imo, no better than a character like Rey or Snoke imo, she also has baffling dialogue

Why do you not like Ahsoka?

Must we all conform and like her?

I mean she’s more interesting than Padme,

Subjective.

and Padme never gets referenced in the original trilogy,

Well, Ahsoka doesn't even exist in the movies until Filoni created her in 2008 and casually inserted her into Star Wars.

there’s a reason the final fight in rotj is between Vader and Luke with the emperor in the background and not Padme talking to Vader about how she loves him and all of that,

Because the emperor is alive and she isn't...? And she isn't force-sensitive to appear as a ghost. She may just be Vader's ghost and anything she says to him will be said only to him. We are following Luke's story. We as the audience don't know Vader would be redeemed and specifically what is going on inside his head. Again, even in ROTJ novelization before Padme even appeared Vader thinks of his wife and that she was very dear to him. Where was Ahsoka again in any of this?

plus Ahsoka is just badass and likeable,

And boring on her own because her story is mostly reliant on Anakin. What is she except Anakin's padawan? We don't see anything else of her except being a Jedi. Padme isn't just a politician. She served in public service as a kid, got elected as a Queen, had things happening to her, had a love life (with Anakin), has her own values and beliefs that weren't taught to her, and has plans and hopes for things outside her work. Ahsoka is a Jedi and can fight with a big plot armor. Totally makes her more likable.

Padmes only cool in tcw imo, outside of that she’s kinda boring imo,

See, that just means you prefer to see her as a Senator and you see Ahsoka as a Jedi. That's going for character stereotypes, rather than the characters themselves. TCW Padme is horrible, unlikable and completely different from her actual character. Filoni had to butcher her to make his pet more likable in comparison and casually insert her into the prequel trio because we all like our own things. He is so "attached" that he can't even kill her. Well GL created the others and let Anakin, Padme, and Obi-Wan die as they were supposed to so the story could be meaningful.

For all of her badassery, it was Luke's (and Padme's) love that redeemed Vader and saved the galaxy. Ahsoka like obi-wan and Yoda failed to turn him back and just went into hiding from him lol. Doesn't seem very brave to me. And when there are two Jedi who failed what was the point of her again? She was pointless as far as the Skywalkers were concerned. I wouldn't mind if she had her own story independent of the skywalkers but Anakin being 20 and assigned an even younger padawan makes no sense. Obi-Wan was older than ROTS Anakin when he trained him. No wonder Ahsoka likes to strut around like she's Anakin junior. It's stupid, unoriginal, and annoying. We didn't need a kid for SW to be relatable.

no better than a character like Rey or Snoke imo,

Rey is the Mary Sue of the sequels and Snoke is a background villain. Yes, totally equivalent to the mother of Luke and Leia who inherited a lot of her qualities that helped them become the heroes they were, a Queen and senator from her planet, the main character in the first movie and a part of the actual prequel trio. Padme was always going to be part of star wars. There's old concepts before she was even named and she was present in a completely different, older version of Star War. There was no padawan kid named Ahsoka Tano and she certainly didn't change anything in the Skywalker Saga aside from adding pointless filler.

she also has baffling dialogue

Maybe you don't understand her character well and TCW's dialogue is easier for you?

More thoughts on Ahsoka: 1 2

[reallybadfeeling]

My Obikin Playlist Masterpost

I'm gonna try to explain my reasoning, but you can give each song whatever interpretation you want. Also, use them however you want if any of them inspire you to make something creative.

(PS: Sorry for my ranting on the first song. I'm very passionate about it in particular.) (Tagging @imtryingsstuff because she asked for it. Even though I was already working on this post before she asked. I have way too much free time.)

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❧ Heart + Bones - Roisin O

I've tried to sit down and write this song out Feels like a thousand times But I was always too scare of what I might find But if I keep on blocking this pain out It might be too late To heal my heart somehow Don't wanna open that wound Don't wanna replay that night Don't wanna think about you You are no longer mine Don't wanna write you a love song When I know that love is gone 'Cause if I let myself think of you I might lose my mind It's the heart and bones It's an empty soul The dreams at night that shake me to my core And I can't get up off this floor It's in the bones of me An empty soul in me The dreams at night that shake me to my core I can't get off this floor [...] Don't wanna think about you When you're no longer mine Don't wanna write you a love song When I know this love is gone [...] The dreams at night that shake me to my core I just can't take this hurting anymore [...] Don't wanna think about you You are no longer mine Don't wanna write you a love song When I know this love is gone 'Cause if I let my mind think of you I might lose it all I've tries to sit down and write this song out Feels like a thousand times

A fair warning: each and every break-up song in this playlist is basically me crying at the idea of a very heart broken Obi-Wan post RotS alone on Tatooine. But for this song in particolar I mention the repetitions with the slight differences because in my eyes they are actually HUGE! The more the song goes on, the more Obi-Wan is spiraling! The way it specifically tells that the empty soul is his the second time, like he accepts that despite what Anakin did he still thinks there's a soul there to save, and the idea of not doing so makes his soul feel empty. And the switch from "get up off this floor" to "get off this floor", literally him being so desperate he stops thinking that he wants to get up (and the last time it literally becomes "i just can't take this hurting anymore", because Obi-Wan had to see so many people he loves die, he literally can't take any more breaking of his heart). The first "you are no longer mine" is the realization hitting him, but then it becomes "when you are no longer mine" and that feels like acceptance of that realization (but then later in the song it turns back to "you are no longer mine" like he's so desperate he wants to deny it once again, distance himself from it)! The switch from "that love" from "this love", like the first time he's thinking about how Anakin no longer loves him, but then realizes that no matter how much he still loves Anakin, there is actually nothing he can do about how everything is broken. But most of all the first time it's "if I let myself think of you I might lose my mind", which is Obi-Wan still being rational about things, or at least trying not to let his mind linger on the thought of Anakin; but then at the end it becomes "if I let my mind think of you I might lose it all", because he's already thinking about Anakin and he can't let his mind linger on it, otherwise he would realize how much he lost when he lost Anakin, which is everything. And the ending too, by repeating the start, but now it has a feeling of resignation to it, like at first he was literally scared to let himself linger on his feelings because he knew he would find heart break, but now he's just empty and at the same times he knows he'll feel like that a thousand times more, because he just can't let that hurt go, he can't let his love for Anakin be forgotten. ... I love this song and it shows. I mean, the playlist is literally named after it for a good reason. I swear I'll be less wordy for every other explanation.

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❧ Black Hole - Griff

It seems like things are going really well for you I wish that I could say the same about me too I wish that I could say the same [...] Without a trace You disappeared and took some of me with you, babe Like the way I used to laugh untile my belly ached Well, that's all gone away now And boy, you know I've tried to pray, I've bruised my knees I've tried to bring you back to me I've tried my best to find some kind of peace Don't you see? There's a big black hole where my heart used to be And I've tried my best to fill it up with things I don't need It don't work like that, no, it's not easy To fill this gap that you left in me

So, I see this as a song for an AU, maybe a Modern Au. Something basic like the two of them maybe being neighbors and Obi-Wan maybe being a tutor for Anakin when he was a teen, and Anakin having a huge crush on him. But then Obi-Wan marries and Anakin is heart broken. (Don't worry the idea is also that Obi-Wan gets a divorce and comes back to Anakin, but still, the song fits for the first part of this idea). But feel free to see whatever else you want in it.

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❧ Gone, Gone, Gone - Phillip Phillips

I'll lie, cheat, I'll beg and bride To make you well, to make you well When enemies are at your door I'll carry you away from war [...] Give me reasons to believe That you would do the same for me And I will do it for you, for you Baby, I'm not moving on I'll love you long after you're gone

This is honestly a classic. It would fit with any ship, but that line about lying, cheating, etc... That screams Anakin. Like, literally canon that he would do anything to keep the person he loves with him.

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❧ What You Talking About? - Peter Bjorn and John

You used to be my hero Now you're just another boss [...] Five years as your understudy When I can't understand what you talking about [...] Tell me lies and I will listen Tell the truth and I'll be gone Tell me why I need permission [...] Shining in your shadow How could I sink this low? Our acquaintance has been so-so And I can't understand where my patience's gone

These lyrics just give me very frustrated Anakin as a Padawan trying to navigate his relationship with Obi-Wan. Not very romantic or shippy, but still relevant in my opinion.

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❧ Bruci la città - Irene Grandi

(Let) The city burn down or live in fear (that) within two hours everything will disappear anything else will disappear [...] I can't stop (myself) from screaming That I hold you to my heart To protect you from evil That I wish I could soothe Your pain, your pain [...] (Let) The stars explode (Let) The whole thing explode (Let) Everything other than the two of us die At least for a little bit At least as a mistake [...] I want to get my act together Maybe be better And shield you with my heart From catastrophe and fear

Don't really know why, but this makes me think of a quiet moment in the middle of the Clone Wars, just Anakin and Obi-Wan alone in a tent, hoping to have a moment of peace in each other's arms. (If you want the full lyrics translated let me know, I just picked my favorite parts)

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❧ Atlantis - Seafret

We got here the hard way All those words that we exchange Is it any wonder things get dark? 'Cause it's in my heart, it's in my head I never take back the things I said [...] I can't save us My Atlantis, we fall We've built this town on shaky ground [...] Now all the birds have fled The hurt just leaves me scared Losing everything I've ever known It's all become too much Maybe I'm not built for love If I knew that I could reach you, I would go

SO MUCH OBI-WAN ANGST POST-ROTS! Like, the birds that have fled are the Jedi that survived Order 66, the things impossible to take back a reference to the entire conversation between Anakin and Obi-Wan during their duel... And the one thing that always breaks me: "maybe I'm not built for love", which makes me think about that "infinte sadness" thing that comes from one of the novels. *chef kiss*

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❧ No Time To Die - Billie Eilish

I should have known I'd leave alone Just goes to show That the blood you bleed is just the blood you owe We were a pair [...] You were my life, but like is far away from fair Was I stupid to love you? Was I reckless to help? Was it obvious to everybody else? That I'd fallen for a lie You were never on my side [...] I let it burn You're no longer my concern Faces from my past return Another lesson yet to learn

Don't know about you, but this always makes me think of a lonely and bitter Obi-Wan after RotS. There's also another way of reading this honestly. This could absolutely be Anakin spiraling at the end of RotS, convinced that Padmé doesn't love him anymore; and then Vader facing Luke (the face from the past returning) and realizing the one who always lied to him was Palpatine.

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❧ White Flag - Dido

I know I left too much mess and Destruction to come back again And I caused nothing but trouble I understand if you can't talk to me again And if you live by the rules of "it's over" Then I'm sure that that makes sense But I will go down with this ship And I won't put my hands up and surrender There will be no white flag above my door I'm in love and always will be And when we meet Which I'm sure we will All that was there Will be there still I'll let it pass And hold my tongue And you will think That I've moved on

There's no doubt that this song has been overused. And it is a very classic meme, so sometimes it's hard to take it seriously. But I still love it. And I can't help but relate this to something with Vader trying to redeem himself but failing at that too, and his and Obi-Wan's relationship still being broken as fuck.

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❧ Fight the End - The playground

When it's all falling apart I'll be the one who can hold you Console you When everything's getting dark And you can't find the spark To get through I'll fight for you till the end Whatever's broken I'll mend For you If you think it's all gone Just breathe in and hold on Till the end of time

Once again, just some H/C during the Clone Wars kind vibes, but also good for an apocalypse AU of some kind.

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❧ Hanging On A Lie - Striking Matches

I'm not mentioning a specific part of this song, because the entire thing in my head is just the whole journey of Anakin turning to the Dark Side and then turning back to the Light right before he died. Seriously, up until the first chorus, it's just Anakin talking about what he feels like about Padmé's supposed betrayal. ("Baby you've been up to something / don't you tell me it's not what it looks like" but also "I might have been naive but I'm not blind" and "Don't you know you should know better than this / Than to cover up the truth with your poisonous lips/I'm not falling for it this time"). The second half of the song is Vader facing Luke. ("I'll be the one who got away from you when you / finally figure it out / you won't find me"). And the last part is Vader realizing all the lies Palpatine told him all alon. ("I'm not fallin' for it this time/try and try too little too late" and again the "you should know better than this/than to cover up the truth with you poisonous lips") A bit of a weird interpretation, that's for sure. But look at me making a song about cheating all about Anakin's journey!

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❧ Bloodsport '15 - Raleigh Ritchie

Your love is worth it and for that I will wait And though you hate me when you have a turn I drive you crazy, but you always return [...] Although you love me, sometimes we're mean Things can get ugly, but we're still a team We are an army that breaks from withing but That's why we're stronger and that's how we'll win [...] I've got your back, and though it's stacked against us I've got your hand, it's us against consensus And I will burn the people who hurt you the worst and I will no learn Cause I am too young and too dumb to consider the terms of breaking the law And I'll curse the day that they return With a smile on my face as their heads hit the floor And they're done, now it's curtains, the bloodlust's a clusterfuck, it hurts but it's working And even if you ask me to stop, it's too late because I've already decided their fate It's not a distaste, it's pure hate and it pulsates and it works its way around my brain Anyway, what I'm trying to say is I'll protect you till the day I meet my maker So don't fight me now cause you might need me later Loving you is a bloodsport Fighting in a love war It's not what I'm in love for, I'm yours I don't know if you can help it, maybe I'm just being selfish

Soooo, basically Anakin doing to Obi-Wan what he did to Padmé: loving him so much he thinks he has to turn to the Dark Side to save him. The first part I can almost imagine said by Obi-Wan, actually. Like, he's aware that sometimes Anakin hates their dynamics, but also that they are both in love... Which just ends with total madness.

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❧ Sweet Love of Mine - Joy Williams

I was broken, I was blind Lost in a moment I thought I left behind Then you woke up this dark soul of mine Carrying a light I thought I'd never find When you found me, I was all alone The whole world around me, but nowhere to call home I heard your voice sing like heaven's choir Gathered up my fears and threw them in the fire

I'm well aware this song is about pregnancy and how the singer found herself in the experience of becoming a mother. BUT, hear me out: what about an AU with either one of them being a Sith and the other one is still a Jedi. Instead of fighting each other, the Jedi tries to save the Sith, because they realize that the Sith actually never had a chance to be anything else since they grew up with a Sith as their "parent" and Master. But if we still want to keep the pregnancy element, fuck it! It's perfect for an Omegaverse AU, with Anakin maybe about to fall when he finds out he's pregnant and that is how Obi-Wan and their unborn child save Anakin. (Is this very specific? Yes. Do I care? Nope, and that's why this song made it into the playlist.)

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❧ Senza fare sul serio - Malika Ayane

There's a post on my blog already about why this song makes me think about the Jedi Order in general. I know I should probably keep it in a different playlist. Alas, it's still here. Have a link to my previous post if you are interested on reading a complete translation and the explanation of my reasoning. HERE!

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❧ Conversations in the Dark - John Legend

I will never try to change you, change you I will always want the same you, same you Swear on everything I pray to That I won't break your heart I'll be there when you get lonely, lonely Keep the secrets that you told me, told me And your love is all you owe me And I won't break your heart [...] And we, we got places we both gotta be But there ain't nothing I would rather do Then blow off all my plans for you

It's just such a lovely love song, I couldn't help myself. This seriously gives me sappy Obi-Wan vibes in any way, shape or form.

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❧ If You Ever Leave, I'm Coming With You - The Wombats

You know I'll do Whatever you want me to [...] Take you out of this You reluctant optimist And if you ever leave, I'm coming with you Stuck to the gum that's stuck on your shoe If you ever leave, I'm coming with you [...] Am I losing you in the dark baby? No more breaking stuff No more acting up Filling your head with doubt

A song about the obsessive kind of love that hints of a way too dependent relationship? Something that mentions losing themselves in the dark? Of fucking course I relate this to Anakin and the way he loves people!

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❧ Transplant - Sea Girls

You're breaking all the promises tonight I'm always dancing by myself as the music plays I'm always one step behind, off-beat, out of place Now I'm looking for you, you're looking away [...] Your heart changed Mine stayed the same I don't recognize your voice when you're saying my name Your heart changed And mine beats the same way [...] Wish I could be back in the moment We were shining, we were making mistakes 'Til your heart changed Mine stayed the same

Have I mentioned that I have a lot of RotS feels? Yeah, so, in my head the "dancing" works like an analogy to fighting and the "music" is literally the sound of battle. Which is why this fits perfectly as far as I'm concerned. An even the "always one step behind" part is just Obi-Wan not realizing Anakin was slowly turning to the Dark Side. But it can be related also to how Anakin basically felt like he didn't truly belong with the Jedi.

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❧ Read my Mind - JONES

Can't control my thoughts But I'm trying every day [...] But sometimes I want impossible things When you hear my voice, what does it say? Need a language, we're lost in translation From impossible thoughts and feelings Why don't you know before I know? What I need to say, before I can How come you don't have the answer Before I asked you the question? Wish you could read my mind [...] It's been a long time since we've been together In the same world, just want you to look at me Like I was everything you ever wanted again [...] Just hold me like I'm everything you wanted again

A good song of the two people pining will always make me think of those two dorks. And their feeling are definitely lost in translation even in canon, with Anakin never realizing how much Obi-Wan actually cares for him because of Palpatine's manipulations.

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❧ So Much It Hurts - Niki & The Dove

Oh, I ask you where you've been 'Cause you always come home late nowadays What a fool was I to think we were safe From the thieves in the temple [...] Oh, won't you bring it back? After all that we've been through together Is it now you gonna throw it all away? Oh, a love like ours Tell me, was it worth it? Oh, the thieves in the temple Oh, but you said that For better for worse You would always be there for me Always be there for me Always be there for me like I'll always be there for you Good times and bad times

So this screams Padmé being cheated on. Like, Anakin still married to her, yet he is always sneaking away after they spend time together to be in the Temple with Obi-Wan. Like, Obi-Wan is literally the thief in the Temple that steals Anakin away from her. (Which I'm sure is actually a metaphor for how the couples' marriage is the temple and someone is disrespecting it by taking away the other's lover. But look at me making this literal, 'cause why not!).

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❧ Power & Control - Marina

Give a little, get a lot That's just how you are with love [...] Think you're funny, think you're smart Think you're gonna break my heart Think you're funny, think you're smart Yeah, you may be good looking But you're not a piece of art [...] Power and control I'm gonna make you fall I'm gonna make you fall We give and take a little more 'Cause all my life I've been controlled You can't have peace without a war

Another song for an AU, this time one with both of them being Sith, most likely being enemies too at first. Before they decide to work together against Anakin's Master.

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❧ No Hero - Elisa

Don't you shut your eyes And hide you heart behind a shadow 'Cause you can count on me As long as I can breathe [...] I've fallen from grace Yeah, I'm much less a saint than a sinner Oh, no I ain't no superhuman 'Cause that's just in the movies, I know But I'll carry you throught the night Through the storm Give you love, always love in return I can't jump over buildings I'm no hero But love can do miracles I can't outrun a bullet 'Cause I'm no hero But I would take one for you [...] 'Cause I'm no hero But I'd spill my blood for you If you need me to I'll be there

Another song from an Italian artist, but this one is in English! And I totally see this song for a scenario where one of the two isn't a Jedi or even for a Modern AU. But it can totally work for Canon compliant too because Anakin is the one every calls hero with no fear. It fits then if Obi-Wan tells Anakin that he doesn't feel like a hero, but he would do anything for Anakin.

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SOOOO, this post is getting way to long (like, it was way too long even just with the first song). And I made it to an even 20 songs. I feel like this a nice place to stop for now. Don't worry, these are just the first 20. I have more in my private playlist, but I want to make another post like this when I add them to the public one. Because I can. And that's what I'm gonna do.

[hothian-snow]

The Jedi are colonisers. Period.

It is obvious in SWTOR that the Jedi has strayed from their main purpose. Instead of simply adhering to and advocating for the philosophies of the light (encouraging the pursuit of knowledge, creating harmony in the galaxy etc), the Jedi has shifted their focus to become a reactionary force. Rather than promoting the light, they have chosen to destroy the dark.

Except, in my opinion, the force doesn’t work like that. Dousing out a flame will not create more water. Killing the dark will not bring you more light. The mindset that the dark is something that can be destroyed has permeated the beliefs of the Jedi, leading to the rise of ‘warriors’ among the Jedi ranks. And yet, Jedi are supposed to be peacekeepers. It’s the ultimate oxymoron: fighting for peace. You do not bring about peace by waging war. The fact that the Jedi have a title of ‘Battlemaster’ says a lot.

What irks me is the philosophy of Master Gnost-Dural. Below is a quote by him.

“But the Sith are another matter entirely. Even if the Empire falls, the followers of the dark side will continue to exist in hiding. That is why I have devoted myself to studying the Sith. I am determined to find a way to cleanse the galaxy of their corrupting influence, putting an end to the eternal struggle between the light and dark sides of the Force.”

As a POC, the word ‘cleanse’ reminds me too much of ethnic cleansing. It should be noted that Sith here isn’t just Palpatine and Darth Vader like in the Rule of Two Era- there is a whole civilization, an entire culture of Sith. Yes, the dark corrupts, but so does the zealous light which blinds. A fervent belief in the light blinds the Jedi to seeing that their enemies are people too. And not only is it implied that Gnost-Dural is advocating for genocide (something which certainly has happened before), but he willing to push other Jedi who are tired of fighting - who are traumatized and clearly suffering from PTSD - to go to war against the Sith once more. Task Force Nova isn’t a step towards peace.

Now, Master Tol Braga is an interesting case study. Below is a quote from the Jedi Knight storyline.

We’ll capture the Sith leader, bring him to Tython… and redeem him to the light side of the Force. A perfect victory. Defeating the Sith through violence accomplishes nothing. We must embrace them as our own.

Master Tol Braga’s idea of defeating the Sith is certainly less insidious than that of Master Gnost-Dural’s. Tol Braga is a genuine advocate for peace: a peace that speaks of harmony, not just a peace caused by a lack of conflict. He is the man who talked down a Dark Council member and turned a Sith into a Jedi through discussion and debate (along side some sparring, of course). However, the word choice still makes me uneasy. Redemption implies a fall, an inherent wrongness that must be corrected. Embracing the Sith as their own is a beautiful statement, but also a double edged sword. Assimilation sometimes result in a lost of culture; ask any immigrant how bittersweet it could be.

Is it possible though for the Sith to acknowledge the light without losing the dark that makes up their identity? Could there be a sincere middle ground between the Jedi and Sith?

I hope there is.

Recall this conversation between Gnost-Dural and Lana Beniko:

Gnost Dural: Intriguing, I suppose the Sith code never specifically calls for the usurpation of the master by the apprentice- merely the pursuit of greater power

Lana Beniko: Precisely. It’s only natural that the strongest should lead, but the goal should be strength- not necessary leadership. If one is truly strong, leadership comes inevitably.

These two are coming to some kind of understanding, that the dark side is not always vile, that the Sith code does not translate to evilness. Although, I feel like Gnost-Dural would probably view Lana as being an exception to the rule rather than how Siths generally are. He’s not wrong in that regard, but there are good Siths in the Empire who were good even before they consciously chose to step into the light. Take Lord Praven as an example. Praven is a war criminal. His actions have led to the painful death of countless people, and nothing excuses that. However, he does have a code of honor which was present in him long before he was ‘redeemed’ to the light side.

Friendship between Sith and Jedi is possible too, see Kira and Scourge as an example. If the Jedi could acknowledge that being a Jedi does not mean one is inherently good (otherwise, why all the training to control your emotions?), then in the same sense, the Jedi could and should understand that being a Sith does not mean that one is inherently bad. I believe that there can only be genuine peace only when such an understanding occur between the Sith and Jedi. I believe that both the Sith and Jedi should work with one another, learn from each other, in order to better themselves.

[skywalkersolos-blog]

That's not even what I am saying.

Toga wants to destroy society all because the world never expected her for what she was. She wanted to drink blood but she wanted the system and everyone in it to die. (That is where she is incorrect with her actions-you can't justified mass killings.

Most of the villains were not abandon to die. It was the current system that made people think they couldn't help a child in need. They always thought a hero would come-but that is not what happened because most people became too depend on the current system.

Heroes are protecting the system and anyone that supports it when the League and Toga want to kill anyone-even though that have lived in it without much care about what happens with society- in a mass killing. Anyone that does not support their way of things they want to kill. While the heroes-some know their are problems but problems that can not be fixed over night.

Stain new that some heroes were fact within the current system, but how he went about things did not paint his view in a good light, but it did show the flaw in the system. Only Stain didn't believe someone could change their view points very quickly, but Iida did because Stain later did knowledge him as a true hero. But he was not originally planning to allow Iida to live long enough to change.

While Hawks didn't have much of a choice when it came to Twice. Hawks was raised on the Hero Commission's rules. To carry out whatever order he is told to do...he originally didn't plan to kill Twice but didn't see another way out because Villain's that don't give up are dangerous. Plus, Dabi kinda did want Hawks to kill Twice because he was carrying a cam recorder in his hand recording the whole thing.

Ochako could handle the Twice clones. She could've easily gotten the knife out of Toga hands and end it right their. (But she is not that kind of person), making her better than Toga.

Plus, it's confirmed at Toga did kill the woman in the Japanese's version.

As for Ochako stopping the twice clones. Again-Pixie Bob's Quirk that allows her to create a variety of enormous Golem/Beast-like creatures out of the ground. Which are called Earth Beast. Plus, you can’t say she couldn’t because they were surrounded by a dirt filled area. So, enough with the excuses.

Ochaco didn’t have to redeem Toga to make the Twice Clones by go bye bye. Plus, Ochaco Quirk could’ve handled the Clones easily by touching them and floating them until it evolved and would’ve been able to destroy them…like at the end in one blow. (Also…she trained off screen…so getting your Quirk powered up seemed to be the thing. With the MHA ending for almost ever single character.)

You clearly have never seen Star Wars or read the novels-Your just forming a false narrative. Luke just wanted to bring back Vader to the light-or at least show their was some good within his father still because he had some hope due to what he had seen from Vader. Only Vader understood that their was no way he would join the rebels or even could live a normal life with his son because what he'd done-but Luke just wanted to show their was some good within Vader. Luke never planned on bring Luke to the rebels to help out or anything. Plus, Luke was going off old stories about Anakin that he heard from R2-D2, old research about his father, and the fact that Vader didn't kill him in Cloud City when he had the change. (That's all he had and he knew the chance of death could happen at his father's hands...but he choice to try it)

Most people still don't believe Luke's story about Vader turning back to light as true within canon. It was smart for Luke to go alone to try to redeem Vader. The only person endanger would be Luke if he failed and not his friends (who would have tagged along if Luke told them his blame. It didn't put them in the situation of getting killed with him-that is what I am saying your just twisting words to fix your simp Toga). Plus, Luke had to go confront the Emperor, who Luke knew could end up killing.

So...you support everything Toga has done. By saying killing people that only know one system within life should die. That's proves my point...You can only blame society, the people, and a power for so long within your life for all your problems. Because you can't...everyone is part of the flawed system. Even Toga who just wants to kill people for sport...all because they can't understand her due to her Quirk and her way of love.

Toga's parents are not to fully blame. They tried to get her help within this Quirk society. Toga's parents grew up only knowing one way and were told that the therapy should work for their daughter. (Did the parents go too far at times...yes... but they were doing what society said to do and thought it was the right thing.)

Plus, blaming the parents is always something people due. Especially when you get little information about Toga's life with them. All we see in flashbacks is Toga crying about the bird and asking a question about what makes her love different. But that's all we get of Toga's past with them before Toga drank her classmates blood-you have years left out. So, we don’t know what her life is truly like between childhood and that moment. Or her relationship with them. Because people can paint any parent character as the bad guy in a situation based on what they want to show or let you know about them. (But that is never the whole story).

Finally, Toga dying does not ruin Ochako character at all. Because the two barely even knew or interacted within each others lives expect for about three to four times. (And most people can agree they barely have a connection.) Plus, remember what Gran Torino said about death being a form of solvation to some...that would be the only time that Toga could or knew peace would be within death.

While to Ochako...Toga is a girl that she couldn't fully save by life. But she saved Toga's soul before death. Letting Toga have some peace of mind-even though many people do not agree with the whole Ochako and Toga fight as a whole.

We’re going to talk about Toga’s end arc and why I personal dislike her character and arc all together in My Hero Academia.

Her Arc started going sourer the moment Twice died when she said she began to ask herself why did the heroes kill Jin and was he not a person in their eyes. In all honest this is when the worst part of her storyline started. Keep in mind Toga has killed people and never seemed to once think about or show herself feeling guilty over killing people herself, but when Twice dies the heroes apparent go over the line. What is this Bullshit?

Toga has killed over several people before the series even starts and she started wondering when do heroes drawl the line in killing…when she should be asking herself where her and the league of villains drawl the line as well. Because of course heroes will try to kill you if you are trying to kill them right back you.

Keep in mind when Toga does to ask Uraraka the question about what happened to Twice will happened to hero. Toga somehow got blood from an old lady and Uraraka clearly stated that Toga killed an old woman just to come talk to her.  Toga, killed in innocent old lady, just to get her blood and shows on guilt or remorse within the chapter or in future chapters.

Uraraka actual gives Toga an honest answer about what would happen to Toga. She would go to jail and have to face consequences for her actions…which Toga didn’t like the answer too. What else would you expect if you go around killing people, regardless of having a Quirk that makes you want to drink blood.

Then we get into the Final War Arc, where everyone in My Hero Academia wants to save the mass murders all because of sad backstories.

Uraraka, regardless of calling Toga crazy to Izuku, actually wants to help Toga, or at least understand. (It feels weird that this understanding and wanting to know what if going on with Toga happened all off screen…plus, with barely any idea how to do it.) But Uraraka decides to redeemed Toga at the worst time possible and put many heroes lives in danger.

The moment Toga made Clear that she didn’t what to Uraraka or even listen to her anymore should’ve been a hunt that she was done playing around. Only…Uraraka didn’t take the hint and Toga used twice’s blood to make twice clones to attack everyone.   

Here s the problem…whenever anyone goings to redeem a villain you don’t have other people get hurt around you.

For Example-Luke left alone on Endor to confront Vader and the Emperor, but at least, none of his friends or people that he carried about, came with him and could’ve been endanger as well…this is smart because Luke would be the only one ending up hurt or dead if he did end up failing.

While Uraraka decides to endanger everyone with heroes getting hurt by mountains of waves of Twice Clones because she wants to talk to Toga. This is the point in everyone’s mind (at least the sane people’s minds) where you should deal with the threat of people getting hurt from the Clones First before redeeming Toga. (So, even if you did have to kill Toga…it would’ve saved and prevented harm to all those heroes that do end up getting hurt.)

Now Toga redemption…it’s cheap…and you shouldn’t really be feeling sorrow over her death.

Because keep in mind everything is being recorded and showed on the internet. Keep in mind Toga has killed people and any of the victim’s families that saw this redemption would not have wanted to see it or care about it because Toga called someone that they loved-and a hero calling Toga cute is just a slap in the face to everyone that Toga ever harmed.

It’s like saying you should forgive a murder-or Serial Killer- for killing your loved one. All because killer had a hard life and was mistreated.

Keep in mind Toga is basically this person within the manga. Your supposed to forgive them because their Quirk forced them to be drawl to blood…keep in mind she didn’t have to kill her victim…only take some or transform into her victim again to give them back blood (which she later on did for Uraraka at the end of chapter 395) without letting all her victims bleed to death.

Toga doesn’t show sorrow or anything on her face when she beginnings attack about the people that she killed. She even quotes; I want to live as Himiko Toga and do whatever I want. (It’s clear she didn’t want to face anything that she ever done or serve time in jail.)

The same can be said when she openly admitted to Uraraka that they league also wanted to destroy everything and Toga was all for it. All for killing innocent people. Plus, Toga didn’t want to go to jail afterwards.

The main problem with Toga’s arc near the end is that the theme is that Quirk society and how it’s ran is to blame, but people tend to forget that Toga did all those things willing. She drank blood and her parents can’t be blamed for it. How does a parent tell their child they can’t drink blood of those that they love?  They can’t.

Overall, Toga was a threat to people within the society and in the end, she was always going to die…regardless of how it happened.

[sillylovesongsk]

I cried way too much during the duel. I just can’t… ever since they announced the series I hoped they would do the mask thing (just like in that scene from Rebels with Ashoka) and they did.

I'm in awe at the beautiful way the series was done. So painful and beautiful at the same time... just like a great greek tragedy.

It was way too heartbreaking seeing Anakin’s eyes full of hate but at the same time this constant conflict (the memory of love) when it comes to Obi Wan. Him trying to torture Obi Wan by saying he destroyed Anakin himself, knowing that for Obi Wan it would mean even more of a failure because he was the one that taught him everything… so then did he also fail to teach this man self-love? Because behind all that pride, I think Anakin still hates himself. And for Obi Wan to know that he wanted to destroy himself, meant that even when he went against the Jedi code by loving Anakin (“You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you”), Anakin couldn’t love himself. So he failed even on this. And Anakin knew it would also hurt him.

His voice mixed between Anakin and Darth Vader had me crying and having to rewind every time. Obi Wan telling him that his friend was really dead and saying goodbye… and that final scream with his crackling voice. It was all too painful and beautiful at the same time. But even in the end, we see that when it comes to Anakin, Obi Wan is always the perfect contradiction… even after “acknowledging” that his friend was dead, he can’t bring himself to killing him because there’s still a part of him hoping that Anakin is there. I think because, just like Padmé said “there is good in him”, he believes that there is still a certain light side to Anakin. That he can still be good… and we know that there is (by redeeming himself in ROJ after killing Sidious and bringing balance to the force). It’s just that Obi Wan always knew it which was why he contradicted himself, because his mind knew that what was expected of him was killing Darth Vader, but his heart knew that Anakin was still there… good was still there.

[jorrynoftheroundtable]

Ok I think I can explain this a little better than I have previously

The whole “Defect that decides they’re the paragon of their clone species” thing is amazing but personally they have to be in some way disadvantaged from the rest of their race.

Invader Zim is by all means an absolute genius, but his compulsive/destructive nature mean that he’s generally a hazard to be around, which is what initially led to his exile. This is exacerbated by his narcissistic (affectionate) nature in that he refuses to listen to anyone else because how could he, Zim, fail? This is explicitly a character flaw, yet it makes those moments where he rejects the idea of being defective so much greater.

Meanwhile with Hordak, he’s very physically weak. Off the top of my head I don’t remember specifically what his condition is called, but the necrosis on his limbs being very different from other horde clones means that despite his best efforts, no matter what he does, he will always be defective in the eyes of Horde Prime.

What both of these characters do is show very obvious flaws that nobody can twist around and say “No, actually, that just makes me better than you”. It’s not like saying “Zim is too kind”, his very being is a flaw that inhibits his goals.

And yet, when these characters get the upper hand against someone who would otherwise be equal, it gives the writer a chance to show them struggle. This in turn raises the stakes for that character and increases the tension.

I think part of this is because whenever a character seems invincible, it’s more a question of if than when they’ll die. You can’t build up an almighty war machine as a villain, only for them to keep being an Unstoppable Terror by the end of the story. I mean, “Yay, we stopped the death laser- but Darth Vader is still trying to kill everything that breathes. OH WELL!” would be pretty anticlimactic, no?

With the Defective Paragon, though, you don’t know how their story ends. If they escape to live another day, the heroes might not think them worth the trouble. Or, they might show up to be a nuisance at the climax- for better or worse. Do they get redeemed (Now that I’ve typed that, Prince Zuko kind of fits this archetype) and join the heroes? Do they lose hope and retire forever, only to be hunted down by their kind? The possibilities are endless.

tl;dr: There’s something amazing about Defects who decide that actually, no, I’m better than the rest of my kind. Whatever their idea of “Better” is.

[jackdaw-kraai]

i just remembered an ask you got a while ago abt like whether or not vader was going to be anakin skywalker again and i rly liked the way u responded to that because from what u said, it seems like vader’s story is going to focus less on redeeming and more on repenting, which are two very different things and i’m really excited to see where that goes

Honestly, I’m pretty excited to get to write what I have in story for Vader, as Vader’s arc isn’t going to be about apologizing or repenting to people so much through words, but through his actions. 

He’s always going to be kind of an asshole, not gonna lie, and personally I think he’s much more fun to both read about and write this way. But that also means that if you’re expecting any kind of teary apology or groveling in the future to characters like Obi-Wan or Ahsoka, you’ll be waiting a long time. Vader might apologize and express his regret, but as I envision him it’ll be very much with a kind of “alright, if it makes you feel to hear me say these things, fine, but don’t expect a production” attitude. Less of “I can’t ever apologize enough, how could I ever expect you to forgive a monster like me” and more of “I regret my actions, and I don’t expect forgiveness, but what makes you think I need your forgiveness or permission in the first place?”

Because at the core of Vader growing beyond the monster he was forced to be, I think lies the ability to finally, finally learn to let go in a healthy way. Not by not trying to save people he fears for, not by not trying to prevent disaster, not by blindly accepting things as they are, but by accepting that he cannot change the past and needs to let it lie. I think the secret to letting go for Vader doesn’t lie in what the Jedi would preach as letting go, but rather in giving himself permission to properly grieve the past at last, mourn it, truly experience it, and then let that dark cloud pass by so that he can focus on what he still can save. 

Vader is a protector at heart, and that’s a nature he cannot, and should not be asked to change. But at the end of the day, when the fighting is done, and when he’s given all he can to preventing disaster and finds that it still wasn’t enough, he need to know how to accept that, mourn, and move on to the next fight while keeping hope that this time, this time it’ll be different.

It’s not the easy path, but then, Vader never did ask for easy. Only for something to protect and a chance to do so unhindered. 

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

ohh i saw your answer about the sequels of star wars. id love to read you tear through the whole trilogy

Well, I’ve avoided this ask long enough. Part of the reason is this is really a huge topic, far too much for one ask, so I’m going to have to do this at a very high level.

In short, the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy is what one gets when you slap together the goal of selling merchandise and making tons of money, being as risk averse as humanly possible, adding a handful of warring directors with incredibly different visions, and having virtually no imagination when it comes to the imagining and writing of characters.

And we get this beautiful, awful, franchise that for reasons beyond me people seem to actually like (though interestingly, no one seems to like all of it, they may actually like one or two of the films, but no one says all three are actually in any realm of good).

With that, let’s begin.

The Force Awakens

For me this is easily the most tolerable of the sequel trilogy: it’s not great, it’s not terrible. It’s thoroughly watchable, you can be taken along for the movie’s journey and not raise your eyebrows too much at the action and leave the theater feeling this maybe wasn’t a complete waste of your time.

There’s a good reason for that. That reason is called the most blatant form of plagiarism I have ever seen in cinema in my life.

“The Force Awakens” is just “A New Hope” wearing a mustache. Only, it’s one of those cheap mustaches you get from a party store that, if you stare at it too long, just looks like the most false and awful thing you’ve ever seen. The mustache actively makes it worse. “The Force Awakens” is “A New Hope”, but worse.

Seriously, every major character, every major plot point, every major scene I can go directly back to “A New Hope”.

Our story begins when the Resistance, at great cost to our valiant heroes including torture at the hands of the Emperor’s second in command, sends a file out into the wilderness to be received by his people. This file contains plans for the Death Star.

The film then focuses on Luke, er Rey, getting involved in the Resistance, boarding the Death Star, and successfully destroying at the same time even at the lost of a beloved mentor that she just met (trading in Obi-Wan for Han Solo). 

Our evil empire is run by an evil emperor who is so evil he sits in a chair, is served by very Moth Tarkin-esque human storm troopers, and has a second in command who revels in the Darth Vader get up (for no other reason that it makes him feel cool but we’ll get into this).

It’s “A New Hope”. Rey is Luke, Han Solo is Obi-Wan, Poe is a kind of Han Solo, Kylo Ren is Vader, Snoke is Palpatine, Hux is Tarkin, BB-8 is R2-D2, etc.

“But that’s not terrible,” you say, “I liked A New Hope?”

First, it is terrible, it gives a very bad sign of where the sequel trilogy is headed and is just lazy writing. It means that those who produced this franchise were so terrified of taking risks, of possibly ending up mocked as the prequels were, that they will deliver exactly what the original trilogy was. And what’s that? Uh, evil empires, scrappy desert kids, AND MORE DEATH STARS!

That brings us to point number two, the world of Star Wars after the events of the original trilogy shouldn’t support such things. And, if it does, my god what a bleak existence this place has turned into.

The First Order being able to rise easily from the Empire’s remains means that Luke accomplished nothing. Anakin sacrificed himself and had his moment of redemption for nothing. There was no happy ending to the Original Trilogy, our heroes failed miserably, and there is no indication that our new band of heroes can possibly succeed in their place. (More on this as the movies progress).

We now are in a galaxy where this new Republic is so pathetic that Leia doesn’t even give it the time of day and builds her own private army to battle the Empire. The First Order is able to not only rebuild a massive army by raiding villages on many different worlds and stealing children and do so successfully for at least ten years but is able to build a Death Star bigger than any we’ve ever seen before. 

And the movie tries to convince us these are completely new problems, that Luke Skywalker is a hero (remember this is TFA, not TLJ yet), and that somehow these things just sprung up out of nowhere. BUT YEAH, RESISTANCE, WOO!

As for Rey, she’s like... a worse version of Luke. Her only motivation through the entire series is her trauma at being abandoned by her parents. That’s it, there’s nothing else to her, nothing else she ever wants or feels conflicted by. She struggles with the dark side because... the dark side? Genetics? Unclear? She’s absurdly, ridiculously, powerful in a way that’s acknowledged but never that acknowledged (we’ll get into this) and the movies just fail to sell me on her in any way.

Honestly, an easy fix for me would have just been making Rey a much younger character. I could believe a fourteen-year-old having stayed in the desert, scrounging for scraps, believing her parents are coming back every day now. As a twenty-something year old... It starts getting hard to believe she never left. (Also, this gets the benefit of getting rid of Reylo, which is always a plus for me).

As for Kylo Ren, I legitimately walked out of TFA thinking he was supposed to be comic relief. He’s what happens when someone desperately wants a likable, redeemable, villain and we get... Well, as a reminder his opening scene is one of genocide: he pillages and destroys a town with no regret and brutally tortures a man for information. We’re told he’s like this “because evil evil Snoke” and that may well be but throughout the film (and the series) it becomes clear that Kylo Ren’s main motivation is he deseprately wants to be cool. He wants to be a badass like Vader, he dresses in Vader cosplay (either ignoring or not knowing that Vader only dressed like that because his body was completely destroyed), he has these huge temper tantrums and nobody respects him because he’s a toddler in a Vader suit. 

He murders his own father, his parents who (at least in the films themselves) show every willingness to take him back and forgive him what he’s done, so that he can fully embrace his own “evilness”. In other words, he commits patricide to feel cool about himself, then it doesn’t work. 

And the movie series really banks on me feeling conflicted about Kylo Ren or at least wanting him to be redeemed. Granted, the wider internet seems to love him, I just can’t.

Oh, before I forget, the other thing I love about Kylo Ren is that the movies insist he’s a) strong in the Force b) is equal to Rey. Rey consistently beats the shit out of him with 0 training. Kylo Ren has been training in the Force for years. Guys, they are not a Dyad, Rey is far far far stronger than he is and for whatever reason the films never want to admit it. Because I guess we like things coming in pairs now.

But yes, “The Force Awakens”, at a distance not great nor terrible, but a rip off of a movie we’ve already seen that left me going “Welp, the next one’s probably The Empire Strikes Back then I guess we’re getting Ewoks”. I was sort of right on that and sort of wrong.

The Last Jedi

So, JJ Abrams clearly had a vision of where he wanted this sequel trilogy to go. He set up these big questions such as what’s up with Finn, who are Rey’s parents and why was she left on this nowhere planet, will Kylo Ren be redeemed and how, who is Snoke, etc.

Now, I’m not saying these aren’t stupid questions. To be frank, they kind of are. Finn being Force Sensitive was the most inconsequential thing I’ve ever heard of, Rey’s parents should not have been used to drive the plot the way it was, as spoken above I’m clearly team gut Kylo Ren, and that Snoke was actually just Palpatine being the world’s largest cockroach is a beautiful but hilarious answer.

That said, what Johnson did was he decided, “You know what, I’m going to take every trope of Star Wars and completely flip it on its head and absolutely doom the sequel to this movie.”

And by god, he did.

We get a weirdly pointless movie in which Poe, SINGLEHANDEDLY, completely obliterates the Resistance. He first obliterates their bombers by failing to follow command, then goes and bitches about how he’s not put in command when he clearly shows no ability to understand how a military works, actively subverts orders which in turn obliterates the entire Resistance fleet until the only survivors can fit on the Millenium Falcon. They have no ships, no weapons, barely any people, and are ultimately doomed doomed doomed.

We have Finn’s weird subplot with a suddenly introduced character Rose in which the pair aid in Poe’s blowing up the resistance (they send sensitive information using the communication equipment of a guy they do not know, who fully admits to being shady and out for his own skin, and are flabergasted when he betrays them). 

Rose herself is this weirdly sweet person who seems forced into the plot to a) provide a love triangle for Finn and Rey b) provide this forced sunny outlook that I didn’t really need in the film.

We get Rey never really being trained, going into the Cave of Wonders for a few seconds, falling in love with Kylo Ren over weird Force Skype calls (where I did not need to see him shirtless, thank you film) and being horrifically betrayed when Kylo Ren turns out not to be a great guy. Never saw that coming, Rey. 

As for Kylo Ren, well... God, we get Emperor Kylo Ren. Kylo Ren, the Emperor. I’m not even that upset about the anticlimactic murder of Snoke (that was kind of funny, especially in the context of Palpatine going, “Bitch, please, you’re in my chair” immediately in the next film) but just Kylo Ren being emperor. And also that the Resistance only escapes at all because he’s so dumb he made their dumb plans seem smart (i.e. concentrates all his firepower on an illusion for ten minutes while Hux goes, “Emperor, sir, we could actually destroy the Resistance right now.”

Now, you’ll notice I didn’t complain about Luke. A lot of people are upset he became a grumpy, miserable, old hermit who sits around waiting for death. Frankly though, in this universe, that’s exactly where he is. He left “Return of the Jedi” thinking he’d saved the world, he’s resurrected the Jedi Order, and all is well. Only a decade later, his students are all murdered by his nephew, the Empire’s back, and he accomplished nothing. He’s an utter failure as a Jedi (though Luke never realizes he knew jack shit about the Jedi Order and was in way over his head but I guess that’s beyond him). Why shouldn’t he go sit on a rock and wait to die? 

Now, did he have to drink that blue dinosaur milk? Well, I guess it was funny, gross but funny so... Sure, I guess he did. But I do like that he gave Rey 0 training, they had one meditation session and then he whined about how Obi-Wan was such a stupid asshole. And then Rey ran off to be with her boyfriend, who then told her that her parents were gutter trash (which again, was funny, but I don’t think that was supposed to be funny).

Of the characters introduced in the movie, the only one I really liked was the hacker, and it was for the actor/the beautiful way in which he gracefully exited stage left with zero shame going, “You all knew I was going to betray you!” You beautiful man, you.

Rise of the Skywalker

First, when something is called “Rise of the Skywalker” you know you’re in for a rough time.

But anyways, TLJ was filled with a controversy Disney didn’t want (half their audience hated it, half loved it, but at least they sold those penguin dolls) so they desperately get Abrams back. Only, what he clearly wanted from his series has been shot to hell, and now he’s left with Emperor Kylo Ren, a completely obliterated Resistance, a dead Luke, a love interest he never planned to introduce for Finn, Rey’s parental crisis being solved with trash people, Snoke just suddenly dead, Hux planning revenge, and then some.

And so, Abrams goes the brave and hilarious route of shouting “PRETEND THAT LAST MOVIE NEVER HAPPENED”

We open to a fully functioning Resistance (their bomber fleet is back, their fleet period is back, they have all their fully trained personnel). We have Rey getting the Jedi training she needed this time from Leia, who is now a Jedi, because yay feminism rammed down my throat to make the audience feel better. Rose says “It’s cool guys, I don’t want to join the adventure this film, I’m going to stay here and work on robots” so that she can gracefully exit the entire plot. Kylo Ren is demoted from Emperor in two seconds when we discover that a) Snoke was apparently Palpatine b) for unexplained reasons Palpatine’s alive (and I am now convinced that man will never die). Kylo Ren tells Rey at the first opportunity that he lied about her trash parents AND REALLY SHE’S A PALPATINE! THIS WHOLE TIME, REY! THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. I’M SUPER SERIAL THIS TIME, REY.

Basically, in the course of an overly long movie, Abrams desperately shoves in everything he was trying to get out of the series, while sobbing, and sobbing even harder when things like Finn being Force Sensitive or Lando having a secret daughter get caught. I actually agree with the Producers on this, by the way, the Finn trying to tell Rey something scenes were weird and indicative of a love triangle but him being Force Sensitive instead... It says a lot that the movies did not change when it was removed, at all. And Lando was just this strange cameo who was in the film to make us feel nostalgic.

And this isn’t even getting to the ridiculous 24 hour time limit (which made me think there should have been some video game style clock in the corner letting us know when Dawn of the Third Day is coming), Palpatine’s other secret army on a secret Sith planet that can be easily taken down by taking out one navigation tower, Rey’s hilarious struggle with the dark side in which she has a vision of herself in a cape hissing, Kylo Ren’s hilarious redemption in which the movie in the form of Leia and Han Solo says, “Alright, Ben, it’s time to stop being evil” and he says “okay”, the fight with Palpatine in which I’m supposed to believe he dies for reals because... I have no idea why I’m supposed to believe he’s dead. The Reylo, god the Reylo, and Kylo Ren’s tragic, hilarious, death.

And then, of course, the ending where Rey decides she’s a Skywalker now.

I actually did laugh all the way through “Rise of the Skywalker”, you can’t not, I mean it’s a hilariously awful movie. The only thing that might have made it more hilarious was if we actually did get those Ewoks.

TL;DR

They’re all bad movies, if you want more specifics than this, you’re just going to have to ask me questions.

[firelxdykatara]

If you think their stories lacked empathy do you think Hama and Jet were redeemable? I don't hate Iroh or Azula or Zuko tbc, I'm just hearing a lot of people say it's unfair that people from the fire nation got to change when the people the Fire Nation hurt weren't.

My answer to the question of ‘could this character be redeemable’ is almost always going to be ‘yes’, unless the character in question is the literal embodiment of all evil or something. Galactus? Probably not redeemable, he’s a massive planet eater with no real conscious thought except, well, eating planets.

Can be redeemed is not the same as should be redeemed, though, and it also isn’t the same as ‘with the way this story has been constructed and executed thus far, I think a redemption would make sense’. Sometimes, the hero just has to kill the villain, or at least put them down/imprison/otherwise depower them to keep them from being a threat. (I’d argue that Ozai could not have reasonably been redeemed, given the story that was set up, and also that he wasn’t actually sufficiently depowered, and that even if Aang wasn’t gonna kill him, he should have been brought before a tribunal and executed for crimes against the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes, and that leaving him alive indefinitely is the reason the New Ozai Society was able to gain traction, because his political power was not intrinsically tied to his bending, but that’s another rant altogether.) And, typically, if there is a villain getting redeemed, there needs to be a Bigger Bad who gets put down in their stead. (Zhao was this for book 1 Zuko. Palpatine was this for Vader. Etc.)

The reason I say that just about any villain you could name (barring, again, eldritch abominations or The Literal Embodiment of Evil) is redeemable is because redemption, when boiled down to its bare essentials, is simply this: the choice to do and be better.

Every sentient being is capable of making this choice, and so that possibility exists for every fictional sentient being, too--whether or not it would make sense for their character is entirely dependent on the surrounding narrative, and also their overall character arc. There is no real ‘point of no return’ for the ability to make this choice--however, there usually is such a point for the audience’s ability to believe they reasonably would make that choice. The farther down the path of villainy the character has gone--the more harm they’ve caused, the more people they’ve killed, the more evil they’ve done--the harder it will be to accept that they would ever actually decide to change.

This can be offset, of course, by giving the villain a sympathetic backstory and reasons for their actions--cool motive, still murder will usually apply, but if you write it well enough, you can believably chronicle the villain’s journey to the side of good. Some of your audience may not think it’s enough--for some people, any villain redemption for someone who did anything worse than say some mean things to another character is ‘villain apologism’ and not to be tolerated--but if the narrative scaffolding surrounding a given villain is sturdy enough, a majority of readers/viewers will accept it.

(As a side-note, a villain redeeming themselves is not--or should not be--reliant on the people they’ve hurt forgiving them. That can also be included, of course, but just as it’s entirely in character for some villains that they just would never make the choice to be better people, it’s in character for some heroes that they cannot forgive someone once they’ve done enough harm. Everyone has a breaking point, and if you’re going to go the ‘everyone forgives and welcomes them to the hero group’ route, that will need to be set up and constructed believably as well.)

Now that I’ve rambled for ages about redemption itself, I come to the actual point of your ask: yes, I do believe Hama and (especially) Jet were redeemable, and I do believe the fact that a man complicit in war and genocide for decades was allowed, by the narrative, to choose to be a good person and do good in the world, while characters who were victims of the war helmed by that man’s family were not granted the same dignity of that potential choice.

If either Hama or Jet had their stories end differently--if Jet had been allowed to heal on his own terms, without being brainwashed into being Nice and then killed off and only referenced once in the rest of the show via an off-hand joke about his casual demise, or if there had been a line or two at the end of The Puppetmaster where Katara expressed regret for what Hama had become and perhaps hope for being able to return for her, after the war, and get her the help she desperately needed (rather than appearing content to leave her languishing in the Fire Nation prison that was the source of her trauma), then it may not have seemed so much like the narrative was saying ‘victims of trauma who do not react in appropriately pacifistic ways will be punished for their anger’. But because both of them were treated so cavalierly at the end of their respective arcs/episodes, it leaves some unfortunate implications, particularly when contrasted with Iroh’s pre-series redemption, and the way so many fans call for Azula to be redeemed because ‘she’s a traumatized 14-year-old girl’ without extending the same to the traumatized 16-year-old boy who was basically murdered on-screen.

Jet was no worse, in terms of his character and his crimes, than Azula--little miss ‘I’m gonna suggest Daddy burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground’ does not have any moral superiority to lord over anyone. Hama was no worse than Iroh, when you consider the deaths he was responsible for as a wartime general with decades of military service under his belt, nevermind the siege of Ba Sing Se that was nearly two years long. If they both could believably be redeemed--if, as Azula stans so frequently claim, she deserved a redemption arc after everything she went through--then so could Jet and Hama. And the fact that the latter did not get that treatment, but instead were figuratively (and literally, really) left to rot by the narrative, while it could be seen as a consequence of the realities of war, still has unfortunate implications when you consider the way the characters who had ‘appropriate’ responses to trauma left by the war were treated.

[ladyvader23]

Darth Vader, Master Hairstylist

This was inspired by @scuddington ‘s post HERE. I absolutely love Scud’s art, and this one just instantly inspired me! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first time Vader learned how important hair was to little children was the day Miss Laena took PTO in the morning for an important doctors appointment. 

He figured he had this. It was just one morning. No big deal. The only difference was that this morning, he’d be the one getting the kids ready for school. That wasn’t hard. He was Darth Vader, Sith, destroyer of Jedi and Rebels alike, Commander of the Imperial Navy! He could handle school. 

He scheduled his own meetings around the conflict, he’d warned the twins repeatedly that he needed them to cooperate, he’d made sure the night before that all was prepared. Bags, lunches, homework. 

Too easy. Maybe he’d reconsider Miss Laena’s salary. 

And the morning did begin smoothly. Until Leia came running to him with a brush in her hand. 

“I gotta be pretty daddy!” She shoved the brush towards him. “Do my hair!” 

Vader froze. He...knew nothing about hair. He knew his wife had been excellent at it. When had she begun to be interested in how she did her hair? He tried to think back, but he couldn’t remember a single time he’d seen her in public without perfectly styled tresses. 

“You are a child. You do not need me to do your hair. Just brush it.” 

That of course, offended Leia. She pouted and glared. “I’m a big girl daddy, and big girls have pretty hair!” 

She literally forced the brush into his hand. 

Well. He’d mastered the Force. How hard could hair be? 

Famous last words. 

First, he was apparently not gentle enough. He tried to comb the tangles that she’d acquired overnight, and each time he did she began screaming “OW!” and crying. Horrified, he decided to instead hide the tangles and figure them out later. He pulled her hair into what resembled a ponytail and stepped back. “There. Now you will be late for school. Let us leave.” 

The hair wasn’t...exactly like it should be. It was crooked, and he wasn’t sure it was tight enough to stay in, but he didn’t want to hurt her further. And he was pretty sure she didn’t want him to try again, because she didn’t argue. 

He forgot about the incident shortly after the kids were dropped off. Miss Laena came back shortly before the end of school. He was in their home’s personal conference room, doing assignments from home, when he heard the front door open and the telltale sound of children running through the home. 

Miss Laena will take care of it. He thought, focusing back on his work…

Until he realized Leia was crying. 

He hated it when she cried. Luke, he could deal with. But Leia? Absolutely not. 

Shoving the datapad aside, he went to investigate. 

“I’m ugly!” She was wailing when he entered the kitchen. Mis Laena was trying to comb Leia’s hair and having a hard time with it. “I’m ugly!!!” 

“Who told you a ridiculous lie like that?!” Vader thundered. Leia was the image of his beloved wife. Both of them were more beautiful than all the stars of the galaxy. 

But to his surprise, Leia wailed harder. “Everyone! My hair was ugly!!!” 

“Your hair does not reflect how beautiful you are. Hair changes daily.” 

Miss Laena winced. “Lord Vader...many children want to feel pretty when they go see their friends at school.” 

“Leia is beautiful already. I do not see what the problem is.” 

“...She is beautiful, but she may not feel that way when she doesn’t like her hair...and other kids might say something if it looks...different.” 

“She is five.” 

“Even five year olds want to feel pretty.” 

Vader thought it was silly. Leia could have no hair and he’d find her just as perfect as she was with it. But judging on Leia’s reaction, she very much cared about how her hair looked. 

It was something her mother should have done. Had she lived, he had no doubt Leia would never have a bad day...or even Luke for that matter (sometimes that boy needed to run a comb through his hair, if Vader was being honest with himself). 

But Padme...was not there. And it was his fault for that. 

So it was up to him to fix it. 

First, he ordered practice manikin heads, the kind hairdressers used to practice. Then, he found online tutorials on the holonet. He watched them carefully, paying close attention to the stylists finger and brush movements. It was not unlike studying lightsaber technique. Both had a certain art to it. 

He just needed to master it. 

The first many attempts didn’t work as planned. Part of it was due to his cybernetics. They were...not made for the delicacy it took to style hair. The first few manikin heads ended up either with hair ripped out, or he’d grow so frustrated when he couldn’t get a braid right, that he’d throw the manakin off the balcony, where it fell into the lower levels of Coruscant below. 

But he was determined. He would not fail in this task. He would not be so reliant on Miss Laena that he would ruin his daughter's day again like that. 

He would be the master hairstylist. 

It took months (and countless manikin heads) to get things to where he felt he could confidently and safely try working on Leia’s hair. 

One morning, before school, he interrupted Miss Laena as she was about to help Leia get ready for school. “I have no need of your services when it comes to Leia.” He informed her confidently. “I will handle it from here.” 

He did not miss the concern that flashed through the other woman, but she wisely did not say anything. “As you wish, My Lord.” 

He entered Leia’s room. She was already dressed, though her hair, thankfully, was still a mess. “Where’s Miss Laena?” She asked, frowning when he was the only one there. 

“I am here to fix your hair problem.” He announced confidently, spotting the brush and summoning it to his hand. 

Leia did not hide her nervousness. “No, that’s okay daddy, I...I can have ugly hair today.” 

“No. You will sit down and allow me to help you.”

“No--”

“If you do not let me help you, I will ground you from your dolls.” It was an unfair threat and he knew it...but he was a Sith. He’d spent an unsithly amount of time mastering the ways of the hairdresser. He was not about to let Leia stop him now. 

Leia pouted, but sat down. “Be nice to my hair, daddy.” She warned as he approached, and he felt her genuine fear. 

Carefully, he placed a hand on top of her head and smoothed her hair down in what he hoped was a soothing gesture...and began. 

He first worked out the tangles. Carefully, in a way he knew wouldn’t hurt her. Once all the tangles were gone, he began to braid. 

The trick, he found, was not to completely rely on his metal fingers. Doing so would result in failure. The trick was to use the Force for anything that was too delicate and precarious for his clumsy hands. With a mixture of the Force and his own now well-practiced hands, he managed to braid her hair into a crown. 

He stepped back, satisfied. “You look like a princess.” He told her, and he meant it. It was hair that would make any royal princess jealous. He was fairly certain that Padme would have been quite proud of him had she seen it. 

Leia looked in the mirror...and smiled. “Wow, daddy! You got good!”

“For you, my princess...though don’t tell anyone I did it.” 

Having redeemed himself, he could have stopped there. He’d mastered enough to impress any five year old. 

But he didn’t stop there. 

Leia soon decided that she’d rather have him do her hair than Miss Laena (something he was secretly pleased about, though he’d never admit it). As she grew, so too did her tastes in hair. Occasionally, she’d be interested in a style he didn’t know how to do. But if she showed him what she wanted, he’d spend what little off time he had trying to figure it out. Once he’d mastered it, he’d try it out on her. Usually he was successful. 

Soon, he began to savor the moments when it was just him and her. She’d sit on the chair, swinging her legs happily while he worked on her hair. Sometimes it felt like they didn’t share as many interests, but when he did her hair, it seemed like it was their own “thing.” It was unsithly, and his Master would absolutely have a heart attack if he ever found out, but he didn’t care. 

Soon though, as Leia grew into a teenager, she began to need him less and less. But instead, their time together was replaced by him teaching her how to do her own hair. He’d always dreamed of teaching his children the ways of the Force, but with Sidious suspicious of that ever happening, he knew this would probably be the closest thing he could get for Leia. 

For now. 

One day, as Leia finished braiding her hair so that it looked like a blooming flower for a Imperial youth party, she paused. “You know. I’ve never told anyone you learned how to do hair.” She said. 

“That is wise.” He tried not to think of what the media would say if they ever found out Darth Vader knew almost as much about hair as any professional hairstylist. 

“Why? I mean. You’re...you.” 

He looked at her for a long moment. She’d grown to be so beautiful, exactly like her mother. And he decided to be honest. 

“Because your mother was not here to do it for you.” He replied. “I did not want you to miss out on that experience.” 

Leia turned, taking him in for a moment. Then, with a smile, she reached out and gave him a rare hug. 

He...allowed it. This time. 

“Thanks dad.” She said. “You’re the best. I don’t care what anyone else says.” 

He didn’t understand how him being good at hair made him the best…

But he’d accept it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I accept PROMPTS for this or any SW AU! 

[itsclydebitches]

Hello again! Im the tinfoil hat anon with the long ass asks and I finally had the time to read your response. Thank you, it makes my day reading your answers. I honestly just enjoyed them over a cup of coffee like a good book.

Now, the gun pointing scene I mentioned was in fact the one from the droid fight facility like the other anon suggested. But I really liked that you covered the boat scene too, I haven’t thought of it much myself and now I definitely have!

I also would like to mention I love your “candy bar” choice analogy and I 100% agree Hunter’s “invitation” to join back wasn’t welcoming in the slightest. It is very likely just an obligation as you said. Sort of “you gave us a chance, we owe you a chance too”.

And the problem with it is now I am struggling to figure out how the batch members might change their attitude toward Crosshair going forward, especially Hunter. As of right now Crosshair’s best relationship is not with his brothers but with Omega(as surprising as this is). And I think he does realize now she cared about him the most out of all of them during the short time they interacted(both 1st and last episodes). Even between themselves(not counting Omega) I find most of the bad batch members to be cold and distant to each other. They feel less like a family than Rebels for example. And they aren’t even a “found family”(a trope everyone loves) but an actual one! And I get that they’re soldiers and supposed to be tough, I don’t expect them to share all “the feels”. I just can’t put my finger on it but something feels off. I agree with your previous post, the show doesn’t do a very good job showing or even telling they love each other.

Will Hunter and co only start caring about their brother again only after he leaves the empire?(assuming he does at some point). What about Disney’s prevailing theme and message that “family always love and care for each other no matter what”? I guess it’s “family always love and care for each other but only if you’re good guys making right choices”. There is no room for mistakes or wrong decisions. In the last episode everyone form the batch seemed to have given up on Crosshair(besides Omega). For now their attitude seems to be just “you’re not our enemy” and that’s that.

I realize Crosshair is a “bad guy” and consciously made his choice(and we know it’s the wrong one) but to me it felt like he thought he didn’t even had a choice or rather became so lost and confused he actually thought he chose the empire as “the lesser evil”(as in the less shitty choice out of all the other bad ones). We as audience have the benefit to know exactly how atrocious the empire really is but maybe Crosshair still doesn’t realize that.

So what exactly must Crosshair do to get back “in their good graces” as you say? Start saving “the good guys”? Save the bad batch multiple times? There is a popular opinion on how Crosshair can redeem himself. That he eventually heroically sacrifices himself to save them. I personally REALLY hope it’s NOT what’s going to happen but I heard so many people speculating his story is set up to be redemption=death. I know you mentioned you don’t want “Vader style redemption” either. Personally I think it would be a waste of a character who has a lot of potential. And I just think that the batch kind of don’t really deserve his sacrifice(maybe save for Omega) after how they never tried to save him themselves and how they treated him overall. Maybe he will risk his life to save Omega at some point and that will “prove” to Hunter he cares? Although he has already shown he cares by saving her(even if in Crosshair’s own words it’s just so they’re “even”). And the thing is, he doesn’t need to prove that he loves them, he already did that in episode 15 and made it clear he does care. He actually went to extreme by shooting his squad to prove his loyalty. What were the moments the batch demonstrated they care about him? Hunter saying “you never were our enemy” and taking his unconscious body to safety? To me Hunter “not leaving him behind” during bombardment felt more like guilt about the last time it happened and an obligation to Crosshair for helping them with droids, rather than them showing care. And I kinda of think if that was any random civilian(or anyone other than an enemy or a threat) they would carry them out too just because that’s what good guys do and not because it’s their brother. You also mentioned that minutes later Hunter snaps at him with “if you want to stay here and die, that’s your choice” which I agree can be interpreted in different ways. And I think it’s one more point to it being an obligation that in Hunter’s eyes is fulfilled now. He corrected his mistake of leaving a brother behind and saved him this time, now his guilt won’t burden him any longer.

Anyway, I can’t wait for season 2 and I appreciate you and all the anons sharing the tinfoil hat, interacting and speculating together. Those discussions have been a lot of fun!

TLDR: How do your think the relationship between the brothers will mend or evolve in the next season? Do you think S2 will improve in portraying the batch more as a family rather than a group of mercs doing missions together? What are your thoughts on the popular idea of Crosshair’s redemption by ultimate sacrifice? As in, how likely do you think this scenario is?

Anon, that is just wonderfully hilarious to me. Ah yes, the sunrise, a good cup o' joe, and the overly long character analysis of a snarky, fictional sniper. Exactly what everyone needs in the morning! 😆

You know, TBB is far from the first show I've watched where there's an obvious, emotional conclusion the creator wants the audience to come to—the squad all love each other Very Much—yet that conclusion isn't always well supported by the text. It creates this horribly awkward situation where you're going, "Yes, I'm fully aware of what the show wanted to do, but this reading, arguably, did not end up in the story itself. So what are we talking about here? The intention, or the execution?" It's like Schrödinger's Bad Batch where the group is simultaneously Very Loving and Very Distant depending on how much meta-aspects are influencing your reading: those authorial intentions, understanding of how found family tropes should work, fluff focused fics/fan art that color our understanding of the characters, etc. And, of course, whether someone saw TCW before they watched TBB. I personally wouldn't go quite so far as to say they're "cold" towards one another—with Crosshair as an exception now—but there wasn't the level of bonding among the squad that I expected of a show called The Bad Batch. Especially compared to their arc in TCW. The other night I re-watched the season seven premiere and was struck not just by how much more the squad interacted with each other back then, but how those interactions added depth to their characters too. For example, Crosshair is the mean one, right? He's the one picking fights with the Regs? Well yeah... but it's also Wrecker. While they're trying to decide what to do with Cody injured, Jesse calls out Crosshair on his attitude—"You can't talk to Captain Rex like that!"��and Wrecker's immediate response is, "Says who?" and he hefts Jesse into the air. And then he just holds him there, clearly using his superior strength to do as he pleases, until Hunter (sounding pretty angry) tells him to put Jesse down. If Wrecker had put him into a more classically understood bullying position, like pinning him to the ground, it would probably read as less funny—less "Haha strong clone lifts Jesse up in the air!" and more "Oh shit, strong clone can do whatever the hell he wants to the Regs and few are able to stop him." It's such a quick moment, but it tells us a ton about Wrecker. That he's going to stick up for his brothers, no matter the context (Crosshair deserves to be called out). That he will gleefully assist Crosshair in bothering the Regs (something that is reinforced when he later throws the trays in the mess hall, after Hunter has already deescalated the situation). That he's likely been hurt by awful treatment from the Regs too. That he'll only listen to Hunter when it comes to backing off. Little of this work—that interplay among the squad that shows us new sides to them other than basic things like "Wrecker is the nice, happy brother"—exists in TBB.

Or, at least, little exists after Omega becomes an official member of the squad.

Because, as said previously, she becomes the focus. I don't mean that as a total criticism. As established, I love Omega. But if we're talking about why the squad can feel so distant from each other, I think she's the root cause, simply because the story became all about her relationships with the Batch, rather than the Batch's relationships with each other. Having dived headfirst into reading and writing fic, it occurred to me just how many of the bonding moments we love, the sort of stuff we'll see repeated in fics because we understand that this is where the story's emotional center is, are given to Omega in canon:

Someone is hurt and in need of comfort. Omega's emotional state is the focus + moments like her being worried over Hunter getting shot.

Someone needs to learn a new skill. Echo teaches Omega how to use her bow.

Someone reveals a skill they never knew they had before. Omega is a strategic genius and plays her last game with Hunter.

Someone is in serious danger and in need of rescue. Omega rescues the group from the slavers + is the most vocal about rescuing Hunter. (Which, again, is a pretty sharp contrast to the whole Crosshair situation.) Omega, in turn, needs rescuing from things like the decommission conveyor belt.

Similarly, someone is kidnapped and in need of rescue. Omega is kidnapped twice by bounty hunters and the Batch goes after her.

Someone saves another's life. Omega saves Crosshair from drowning.

Someone does something super sweet for another. Wrecker gives Omega her room. Omega gives Wrecker Lula.

A cute tradition is established between characters. Wrecker has his popcorn-esque candy sharing with Omega.

Someone hurts someone else and has to ask forgiveness. Wrecker is upset about nearly shooting Omega and they have that sweet moment together.

Note that most of these examples could have occurred between other Batch members, but didn't. Someone could have created a space for Echo on the ship too. Wrecker also could have apologized to Tech for choking him, etc. It's not that those moments shouldn't happen with Omega, just that there should be more of a balance across the whole season, especially for a show supposedly focused on the original squad. Additionally, it's not that cute bonding moments between the rest of the Batch don't exist. I love Hunter selling Echo off as a droid. I love Wrecker and Tech bickering while fixing the ship. I love the tug-of-war to save Wrecker from the sea monster. Yes, we do have moments... it's just that comparatively it feels pretty skewed in Omega's direction.

So, as a VERY long-winded way of answering your question, I think we need to fix the above in order to tackle Crosshair's redemption in season two. Now that we've had a full season focused on Omega, we need to strike a better balance among the rest of the squad moving forward. We need to re-established the "obvious" conclusion that the rest of the Batch loves Crosshair and that's done (in part) by establishing their love for one another too. To my mind, both goals go hand-in-hand, especially since you can develop their relationship with Crosshair and their relationships with each other simultaneously. Imagine if instead of just having Wrecker somewhat comically admit that he misses Crosshair (like he's dead and they can't go get him??), he and Tech had a serious conversation about why they can't get him back yet, despite very much wanting to. Imagine if Echo, the one who was rescued against all odds, got to scream at Hunter to go get Crosshair like Omega screamed at them to go back for Hunter. Imagine if we'd gotten more than a tiny arc in TCW to establish the Batch's dynamic with each other, providing a foundation for how they would each react to Crosshair's absence. Instead, what little we've got in TBB about Crosshair's relationship with his brothers is filtered through Omega: Omega's embarrassment that she knocked over Crosshair's case, Omega treating Crosshair's comm link like a toy, Omega's quest to save Hunter that just happened to involve Crosshair along the way.

Obviously, at this point we can't fix how the first season did things, but I think we can start patching over these issues in season two. It would be jarring—we'd still be 100% correct to ask where this "Brothers love you, support you, and will endlessly fight for you" theme was for Crosshair's entire time under the Empire's thumb... but I'd take an about-face into something better than not getting any improvement at all. It is frustrating though, especially for a show that I otherwise really, really enjoyed. For me, the issue isn't so much that the show made a mistake (since no show is perfect), but that the mistake is attached to such a foundational part of the franchise. Not just in terms of "SW is about hope and forgiveness" but the specific relationship most clones have with each other: a willingness to go above and beyond for their brothers. The focus on Omega aside, it's hard to believe in the family dynamic when one member of the family was so quickly and easily dismissed. I couldn't get invested in Hunter's rescue as much as I should have because rather than going, "Yes!! Save your brother!!!" my brain just kept going, "Lol where was this energy for Crosshair?" It messes with your reading of the whole story, so in order to fix that mistake going forward, we need to start seeing the bonds that only sometimes exist in season one. Show the guys expressing love for one another more consistently (in whatever way that might be—as you say, soldiers don't have to be all touchy-feely. Give us more moments like Wrecker supporting his brothers' bad habits) and then extend that to Crosshair. Which brother is going to demand that they fight for him? Which brother is going to acknowledge that they never tried to save him? Which brother is going to question this iffy statement about the chip? In order to buy into the family theme, Omega can't be the only one doing that emotional work.

Ideally, I wouldn't want Crosshair to go out of his way to prove that he's a good guy now. I mean, I obviously want him to stop helping the Empire and such, duh lol, but I'm personally not looking for a bunch of Extra Good Things directed at the Batch as a requirement for forgiveness. Simply because that would reinforce the idea that they're 100% Crosshair's victims, Crosshair is 100% the bad guy, and he's the only one who needs to do any work to fix this situation. Crosshair needs to stop doing bad things (working for Empire). But the Batch needs to start doing good things too (reaching out to him). Especially since Crosshair made a good play already, only to be met with glares and distrust. He saved Omega! And AZI! And none of them cared. So am I (is Crosshair) supposed to believe that saving one of their lives again will result in a different reaction? That doesn't make much sense. And no, his own life wasn't at risk when he did that, but does every antagonist need to die/nearly die to prove they're worth fighting for? As you say, he's already shown that he loves them, far more than they've shown the reverse. Every time Crosshair hurt them (attacking) it was while he was under the chip's influence. In contrast, the group has no "I was being controlled" excuse for when they hurt him (abandonment). Season two needs to acknowledge the Batch's responsibility in all this—and acknowledge that they're all victims of the Empire—in order to figure out an appropriate arc for Crosshair's redemption.

Right now, the issue is not Crosshair loving his brothers, the issue is how Crosshair chooses to express that love: trying to keep them safe and giving them a purpose in life by joining the organization that's clearly going to dominate the galaxy. The only way to fix that, now that his offer has been rejected, is for him to realize that a life on the run from the Empire, together, is a better option for everyone. And the only way for that to happen is for the Batch to seriously offer him a place with them again. They need to make the first move here. They need to fight for him. And yeah, I totally get that a lot of people don't like that because it's not "fair." He's the bad guy. He's with the fascist allegory. He's killed people and has therefore lost any right to compassion and effort from the good guys... but if that's the case, then we just have to accept that (within the story-world, not from a writing perspective) Crosshair is unlikely to ever come back from this. When people reach that kind of low, they rarely pull themselves out on their own. They need other people to help them do that. Help them a lot. But with the exception of Omega's reminder—which Crosshair can't believe due to how everyone else has treated him—they leave him alone and seem to expect him to fix himself first, then he gets their support. It needs to be the other way around. Support is what would allow him to become a good guy again, not "Well, you'll get our love when you're good again, not before." That's unlikely to occur and, as discussed, it doesn't take into account things like this bad guy life being forced on Crosshair at the start. If the story really wanted this to be a matter of ideological differences... then make it about ideological differences. Let Crosshair leave of his own free will, right at the start. Don't enslave him for half the season, have him realize he was abandoned, imply all that brainwashing, give him no realistic way out, and then punish him for not doing the right thing. This isn't a situation where someone went bad for the hell of it—the story isn't asking us to feel compassion for, say, the Admiral—it's a situation where Crosshair was controlled and now can't see a way out. That context allows for the Batch, the good guys, to fight for him without the audience thinking the show is just excusing that behavior. They should have been fighting from the start, but since they didn't, I hope we at least start seeing that in season two.

Ultimately though... I don't really expect all of the above. The more balanced dynamics and having the Batch fight for Crosshair rather than Crosshair going it alone... I wouldn't want to bet any money on us getting it, just because these are things that should have been established in season one and would have been more easy to pull off in season one. (If the Batch wouldn't fight for Crosshair while he was literally under the Empire's control, why would they fight now when he's supposedly acting of his own free will? It's backwards in terms of the emotional effort involved.) But again, it could happen! I'd be very pleased if it did happen, despite the jarring change. I don't want to make it sound like I think they're going to write off Crosshair entirely. Far from it, I think there are too many details like his sad looks for that, to say nothing of Omega's compassion. But the execution of getting him on Team Good Guys again might be preeeetty bumpy. I expect it to revolve around Crosshair's sins and Crosshair's redemption, even if what I would like is balancing that with Crosshair's loss of agency, the Batch's mistakes, and their own redemption towards him.

Honestly though, I just hope that whatever happens happens soon. It's a personal preference, absolutely, but after a season of Crosshair as the antagonist, I'm ready for him to be back with the group, making the Empire (and bounty hunters) the primary enemy. Whether his return happens through a mutual acknowledgement of mistakes, or through Crosshair being depicted as the only one in the wrong who has to do something big to be forgiven... just get him back with the squad lol. Because if the writing isn't going to delve into that nuance, then the longer he remains unforgiven, the longer some of us have to watch a series while going, "Wait, wait, wait, I really don't agree with how you're painting this picture."