#while making me actually sympathize and care about the dude who was gonna loose and lowkey root for him

[chiarrara]

the bug man has retreated...for now. but I'll never trust again

[sepialunaris]

The thing is, I know Kyle was gonna be redeemed in the last movie, like almost everybody would know that disney would choose that road. But do I like the way they executed it? No. Its no surprise, its just disappointment. Honestly we were clowns that disney would even break the mold and embrace that their story mustn't always mean redemption, but still deep down we knew it would be like that. We just hoped that it wouldn't be.

Kyle is a metaphor of neo-nazis and shares incel characteristics. There has been no valid reason to root for his redemption, and there has been no significant flashback showing how he was when he was good. We don't sympathize with him and TLJ was supposed to do that and it only made me dislike him when I was neutral with him in TFA. And his redemption fell flat after all the murderous shit he did throughout the era and well at the beginning of the movie. And then his redemption falls flat. So at this point why even redeem him at all? Just make him a full evil interesting villain, an actual reverse Vader. That would make a satifying narrative than a halfassed attempt of redemption that has been thrown away in TLJ and when jj started the movie with him murdering people.

And then people argue, Vader or sometimes Maul, they got redeemed but no one complained. Well because they are not like Kyle. Anakin suffered throughout his life from both Palp's machinations and the world around him, he was a slave and was selarated from his mother Shmi that loved him most and was unable to save her, he has a support system that keeps falling apart (Ahsoka being framed and leaving, Obi-Wan hiding shit from him and him doing the same, Padme being overcome by her feelings that her groundedness when with Ani), and Anakin is overly selfless that it becomes selfish, he is motivated by love but goes to extreme measures that is destructive for himself and the people he loves. It made it easy to see why he fell. Not condoning his actions as Vader but you get a sense of tragicness in his story. Narratively, he got redeemed in the end, but no one, not even in legends, absolved Anakin off his sins. Leia, both in canon and legends, hated Vader, her abuser, even after knowing he is her father. And once she understood why Anakin fell, she still didn't forgive him. Vader is still demonized by the galaxy, and the traumatized people under his rule are validated as well instead of being brushed off as "he's not like that anymore." Anakin might've done one last good thing in his life after decades of evil and he might become a force ghost, but his legacy of terror can never be erased and it is forever tainted, which he does indeed deserve despite how tragic it is.

Maul, was a child that has been abused from childhood to adulthood by Sidious. Stolen from his family and tortured. And then when he 'died' his master cut all ties from him. And he launches his vengeful quest against Obi-Wan. You understand that he jas tragic past too, but unlike Anakin he had no room to grow and try to become good because he was abducted and tortured for so long. He neevr chose this path, Obi-Wan even told him this. But he does have layers and limits, like how he genuinely loved his brother and mother, and regrets their loss when he tried to find Ezra as his apprentice slash brother. You can sympathize with him but you also understand that with no chance to bloom, he is malice and evil embodied. And this means his death was not redemption, he might've had a brief moment of kinship with Obi-Wan but it doesn't mean he is good now. We just feel bad about him that's it, nothing more. And Obi-Wan understands this, that he never had a chance to escape revenge and the dark side, and comforts the person who had hurt him so much in his last moments.

Now Kyle. Kyle had everything. Kyle came from a loving household and people that cared for him. Leia, Luke, and Han cared for him so much and i believe that when they felt Palps or Snoke was influencing him, they tried to stop him, only ultimstely Ben chose to follow Snoke. He had no tragic backstory or any past pain to motivate his fall, its only his quest for power and completing his grandpa's 'legacy.' Palpatine had reason to manipulate Anakin in a guise of doing good, wanting to save the people he loved, but what would he promise to kyle? power. And that's the line. Anakin fell for love, kyle fell for power. All the pain he felt, he inflicted on himself, because he wanted to be more powerful. Killing Han Solo, would make him powerful, kill Han Solo he did. How are we supposed to sympathize with this?

However this doesn't mean this is bad, in fact this makes him interesting. When done correctly it could've been intriguing. Kyle is one of the few dark siders that chose just for the sake of it, and is actually conflicted by the light. Just like how someone in a good family could subscribe to radical doctrines despite their upbringing. The problem is post TFA and the fandom tends to woobify him and his mistakes. Ben solo did do wrong, heck he might've been more wrong than the cooler previous sith lords we already have in the movies, choosing evil for no selfless reason and without a tragic history of pain. There is no reason for erasing this. Yet here we are, we're kyle's inner conflicts sre protrayed as his tragic suffering when he brought it upon himself and he gets turned into some hero character. And I feel like this is why his redemption didn't work. Anakin fell for love, returned also for love (even if it didn't repent him). Ben fell for power and suddenly he went back because he felt guilty about it? We have no clear image of the person Ben was before he fell so its hard to empathize with him or his redemption, then just might as well make him full villain or at the very least if he is to be good at the last second, don't make him romance his enemy/victim and don't treat like his old sins don't matter because.....

Excluding other media, the Vader in the original trilogy has never been shown to be explicitly killing innocent people as often. The Death Star may or may not count but it wasn't his direct doing. Kylo already killed villages of innocent people personally (because we disinclude DS so I'll disinclude Starkiller Base, even if Kyke never showed disapproval of it unlike Vader). There is a jarring conteast on how kyle is frequently shived to our faces as a "murderous dude that likes to common cultural cleansing" while Vader in the movies is more of a "cruel general to his enemies." Because of this his redemption in the movie doesn't feel flat, yet the other media show us he is truly more than that and his past sins and actions still echo through the galaxy. Kyle is murderous on screen and when he suddenly gets redeemed without any remembrance of the victims he killed, my reaction would be like "wait what how about the innocent peeps that didn't know about him that he killed at the start of the movie." Its a thread that left loose to facilitate the white boy redemption that didn't need to happen. And Rey herself treats it like an afterthought too, kissing the evil incel boy despite knowing what he has done.

Tl;dr: Kyle is a worse villain than Ani because he chose the dark side for power while ani did it for love, which would've made his character interesting if they didnt treat him like some tragic angel

[mynamehan]

Crush Culture - Peter Parker imagine

A/N: Totally got inspired by the AMAZING song called Crush culture by Conan Grey (check him tf out if ya haven’t). 

warnings: none I think? minor swear words maybe. some angst but fluff mostly

word count: idk exactly but a bit on the longer side soz it’s worth it tho

paring: Peter Parker x Reader

summary: Your recent feelings towards Peter have been getting you down lately and when Valentine’s comes around, you feel yourself growing tired of it. Just as you plan on completely ditching your crush something unexpected happens.

.

Valentine’s Day.

A day most people viewed solemnly as a consumers trap. Even though you’d never actually had a proper valentine, you didn’t mind that other people did. Any day to celebrate kindness was a win in your eyes, and you had never had any problems with the slightly gimmicky day. At least, not until now. 

Recently, feelings for the shy, sweet and kinda nerdy guy most people recognized as Peter Parker had surfaced, which put you in quite an unfortunate position. It didn’t take a genius to notice how he felt about a certain Liz Allen, seeing the way his dreamy gaze always seemed to lock on her in the hallway. For an observant person like you it was glass clear, he had fallen head over heels for her. As if that wasn’t enough, you being good friends with Michelle and being Ned’s childhood friend landed you some pretty juicy inside information on Parker’s more private thoughts. 

Now, at Midtown High, Valentine’s Day wasn’t that big of a deal really, only a few decorations in hallways and the cafeteria were hung by members of the student council. A small contest involving guessing the right amount of Hershey’s Kisses in a large jar was an annual thing they arranged. To enter, you could either team up in two or go solo, and after carefully looking at the jar from all sorts of angles, you wrote down your name, class and guess. Last year, you and Michelle teamed up as a joke and ended up winning the entire jar of Hershey's, which you ended up sharing with Ned and Peter. This year though, you weren’t in the mood for sweets, really all you felt was bitterness.

I don’t care if I’m forever alone

I’m not falling for you

'Cause this baby is love-proof

You glanced over at Peter as he stood with Ned by his locker, nerding out over something and you pursed your lips in aggravation. Nope, you were not going to do this to yourself. Crushing on someone who isn’t interested in you is a bad move and also not a very healthy one. 

“Hey loser, why ya looking so cranky?” 

Michelle slammed herself into the locker next to yours, scrutinizing your facial expression. The bang she caused snapped you out of your stare but you continued furrowing your brows as you let your gaze fall on the darkness in your locker.

Crush culture makes me wanna spill my guts out

I know what you’re doing, tryna get me to pursue ya

Your eyes set on nothing in particular as Michelle gave you a light nudge in the side. “Dude, are you in a trance or som-“

“Michelle, I need you to distract me today.”

“What are you tal-“

“Just please.” 

Cutting her off, you subtly let your gaze wander over to the two boys again, feeling your heart flutter as Peter let out a giggle over something Ned said. “Take me somewhere or tell me weird stories, you’re full of those.”

“Oookay, um, I plan on stylishly tearing apart some clothes after school to make them more grungy and I guess I could need someone to help me-“

You slammed your locker shut, keeping your gaze on the sweater wearing boy before abruptly turning on your heel and grabbing onto MJ’s arm. “Great. Let’s go talk about that.”

Oh no, don’t look in their eyes, 'cause that’s how they get you

After lunch and another two periods of trying to completely ignore the fact that all you could think about was Peter, the bell rang signalling the end of class. Scrambling your books, pens and papers into your arms, you got up and quickly started making your way out of the classroom. You didn’t get very far though until you felt a light tap on your shoulder to which you turned around sharply. As your gaze locked on a set of far too familiar brown eyes, you felt the air go out of you. 

“Y-you dropped your, uh, your pen.” 

Peter held up the blue pen with a shy smile on his lips. 

“Hmm. Thanks.” You replied stiffly before turning to walk off but once again Peter stopped you. 

“Hey, uh, Y/N. Are-are you okay? You seem kind of upset…” 

Standing still in your spot, you closed your eyes and took a sharp breath. “I just, I’m not in the mood today, Peter.” 

Your voice dripped with bitterness which made Peter frown slightly. “Well, are you sure, you seem-“

“I’m fine.” You snapped, not looking back the slightest as you hurried away.

And no I don’t want your sympathy, all this love is suffocating

Just let me be sad and lonely

Throwing your books into your locker, you held onto the blue pen just a few seconds longer before throwing it in with the rest. Sighing deeply, you let your head rest against the locker. Why couldn’t you get the stupid crush out of your head? Resting your temple against the metal, you frowned slightly, feeling a mixture of sadness and frustration. 

Grabbing your calculus things and closing the locker you set off to go find MJ in the library where you had planned to meet up briefly before class. Passing by the doors to the cafeteria you couldn’t help but look at the table where Liz and another member of the student council were standing, managing the Hershey’s guessing contest. It was no wonder why Peter found her so attractive, hell, you were sure everybody did. Besides her looks, her all-around kindness and charisma were charming enough to win anyone over.

I don’t care what you’re saying, I don’t wanna participate in your game of manipulation

“Hey, Y/N! Wanna try for a kiss?” Liz’s preppy voice cut off your thoughts and you forced a smile. Walking up to her, you placed a strand of hair behind your ear, swallowing hard. 

“Hey, Liz.” You greeted, taking a look at the nicely decorated table with the jar. “Wow, looks great this year. Have you been here all day?” 

She nodded, giving you a beaming smile as she went on to talk about all the effort she and the others put into it. You couldn’t help but stare at the way her eyes lit up as she talked, which made you think of Peter’s eyes whenever he was excited. 

“Are you gonna compete? Defend your title as the reigning queen of Hershey’s?” The both of you giggled at the nickname she gave you, and after a deep sigh, you bit your lip and took the piece of paper Liz held out for you. 

Taking a close look at the jar of Hershey's you furrowed your brows as you tried to count them. Giving up after reaching 32 you shook your head lightly before scribbling down 68, adding a couple more thinking it couldn’t hurt. Handing back the pen and paper to Liz, she gave you a wink. 

“Good luck, Y/N. Oh, and don’t forget that the winner is revealed at 3:30.” You nodded and said goodbye to her thinking to yourself that you’d probably be well on your way to MJ’s by then. 

A sudden slam hit your body and almost made you lose your balance. A wave of rage boiled up in you and you swore to god that if the universe won’t stop putting you in situations like this, you’d lose all sense of hope. His warm eyes now had a worried and slightly scared look in them and you sighed heavily when you were once again face to face with them. 

“Oh my-my god, Y/N, shit, I-I’m so sorry. I didn’t, I wasn’t watching where I was going a-and suddenly you were there-“

Shut your damn mouth, you’re talking too loud

“It’s fine.” You averted your eyes and tried to push past him, but he caught you by your arm. 

“Hey, is everything okay with you Y/N..? You’ve been so off the entire day, actually a lot lately… Did I do something to upset you? Please t-tell me if I did something wrong because we all know I’m pretty clueless most of the time.”

“More like oblivious…” You muttered out, barely catching his attention. 

“W-what?”

You shook your head softly, dismissing his question. He kept his confused puppy eyes on you and eventually you dared to gaze up at them. Big mistake. 

“Y/N, you can talk to me, you know that. I-I know we maybe aren’t super tight friends. Y-yet! But, um, I’m totally here and up for, uh, for venting-“ He rambled on, worry lacing his stutters. 

You shook your head slowly, gaining solid eye contact with him. “I don’t, I don’t know how-” 

You sighed defeated, filling Peter with an unsettling feeling. His kind eyes bore into yours and you felt trapped in a corner. What the hell were you supposed to say? Confess? You opened and closed your mouth a couple times and pressed your eyes shut before giving him a sad smile. “I can’t.” 

Merely talking to him pained you. How could such a minor thing like having a crush make you feel like absolute garbage? You scurried away to the library only to see Ned sitting with MJ, making small talk. Slamming your book down as you sat next to MJ, you let your head fall to the table. 

“I am having a horrible day today. I feel like I’m being punished.” Your words were muffled by the book, but Ned’s sympathizing hand on your shoulder made you look up. 

Resting your chin on your hand, you managed to sit up just as Peter made his way into the room, cheeks pink and eyes bright. “I thought it would only be us two.” You hissed to MJ, to which she shrugged. 

And no one cares if you two made out

“Holy crap, guys, you won’t believe what just happened. I went up to Liz and we actually had a solid 5 minute conversation. She, a-and me!”

“That’s great, Peter!” Ned uttered excitedly. “Maybe you can ask her out later then?”

“I-I don’t know, may-maybe? I might talk to her as she reveals the Hershey’s winners. Tell her I’m really impressed with the set-up or something.”

You and MJ shared a slightly annoyed look before turning back to the boys. “Congrats, you actually had a conversation with a person. Color me impressed.” MJ muttered out in her normal manner.

Peter rolled his eyes before continuing to blabber on. You couldn’t help but feel sick hearing him talk so fondly of her and not you. 

“I’m gonna go home actually, I’m not feeling good. Sorry MJ but we’ll have to reschedule. Uh, good luck with Liz and everything, Peter. See ya, Ned.” With that you said goodbye to the trio, leaving them all pretty confounded. 

Making your way down the halls and to your locker as fast as you could, you practically ran to the nearest subway station. Locking your front door behind you, you went straight to your room, ignoring your dad’s confused question as to why you were home so early. He knew not to press you on the subject so he let you cool down for a while. Throwing yourself on your bed, you let out a whimper as you felt tears prick at your eyes as you lost track of time. Being too caught up in your thoughts and self-pity, you didn’t even hear the doorbell ring about 30 minutes later or the knock on your door. Suddenly a familiar figure creaked your door open and leaned against the frame. You caught glimpse of him in the corner of your eye and practically flew up into a sitting position. 

“Peter? What are you doing here?” You asked in utter confusion, furrowing your brows together.

He bit his lip gently as he took a step forward, revealing what he carried in his arms. The jar of Hershey’s. 

“Uh, we, both won. They called a tie.” His eyes flickered between you and the floor. His nervous stature almost made you feel nervous as well. 

“Oh, um. Well, thanks for coming here to tell me that. That’s very sweet of you.” He shrugged as you pursed your lips shut in the slightly awkward silence.

“Yeah, no, no problem at all. I-I was going to ask you if you wanted to share them o-over a movie or some-something?” Peter’s eyes met yours and you shook your head lightly, thinking you misheard him. 

“What?”

Peter’s cheeks instantly flushed, thinking you had rejected the offer. He scratched the back of his neck as he stuttered out a response. “W-we don’t have to, I-I just thoug-”

“No!” You exclaimed, a bit louder than you intended which took Peter by surprise as you got up on your feet. “No, of course Peter! I-I’d love that.” 

Putting some hair behind your ear, Peter offered you a shy smile. “G-great! Um, I-I’m free whenever really.”

Your smile grew as you took a few steps closer to him, taking the jar as he held it out to you. “Honestly, I thought you’d be busy, you know, taking Liz out or something...”

I’m sick of the kissing cult

Peter raised his brows momentarily before shaking his head. “Nah, she made it pretty clear that she was off limits, actually.” You gave him a confused look as he continued. “After revealing the winner, I went up to her to accept the prize and as we were chatting, some dude came and kissed her, so...” He shrugged and broke your eye contact.

“Oh, Peter, I’m so sorry... Well at least you have me as a back up.” Bumping your elbow on his arm in a jokingly matter, he looked up at you smiling.

“You’re not a back-up plan, Y/N.”

At a temporary loss for words, you chuckled as your heart fluttered. 

“I, uh, it would an honor to accompany the two-times reigning master actually. Celebrate our victory.” A hint of red creeped its way up Peter’s neck.

As a grin made its way to your lips, you took a small step closer, now seeing the small details of his beautiful brown eyes. “Can’t wait.”