charlottevader

[charlottevader]

the holy grail types of fanfic

[charlottevader]

Force ghost Anakin appearing out of the ocean in scuba gear to the sound of Vader's breathing just to complain about sand and give Finn life advice from the Emperor before peacing out is exactly the Afterlife Disaster ™ energy I expect from a post-Vader!Anakin. In this essay, I will--

[charlottevader]

“Good. Keep failing. Keep getting back up. That is the only way to succeed.”

[charlottevader]

Twi | ins

[charlottevader]

Twi | ins

[charlottevader]

does anyone know any rock/pop songs that would be like, popular if they were in star wars ಠ_ಠ

asking for a friends and totally not a wip fanfic 🤭

[charlottevader]

We need to talk about Obi Wan’s LOVE for Anakin again.

“The way we both lost him, I want to say. To a needless war. To a wild heart. To a doomed prophecy.”

I NEED TO LAY DOWN

Anakin used to sleep on the floor next to Obi Wan’s bed….omg

This sent me over the edge. THE DUMB BEAUTIFUL SON OF MY DUMB BEAUTIFUL FRIEND. 

Obi Wan, i’m crying :(

What if this was my last straw

The way Obi Wan described Anakin…..

MACKENZI LEE WHO HURT YOU?^^

[charlottevader]

Every time AO3 makes an update, there’s a chorus of ‘and can we please please please be able to leave kudos on each chapter pleeeeease?!?!’

In theory, this is a nice idea. We’ve all smashed the kudos button on our favourite fics, bemoaning the fact we can’t give them all the love.

But ya’ll, kudos per chapter would absolutely fucking suck.

For readers, it would suck because it would compound the existing problem of making it hard to find fics that are good and not just long - not that a fic can’t be both! But there are plenty of Pulitzer-worthy one-shots out there that are buried way way down the list when ranked by number of kudos, because they’re beneath a bunch of 50/? fics where the author lost sight of where the hell the story was going 30 chapters ago, but their fic has had 50x the chances to be viewed so has more kudos. It would encourage authors to release their fics in lots of little chapters instead of a few longer ones/one-shots as they might otherwise have done (and as might otherwise suit the story).

And for authors it would especially suck, as it would compound the existing problem of people not commenting. Kudos are very much appreciated, but comments make an author’s day; but so few people bother, and frankly, it’s disheartening. Let people just click a button to show their appreciation for each new chapter? The hits:kudos:comments ratio would get even worse than it already is.

You can already ‘give kudos’ for each chapter of a fic on AO3 - by commenting. Hell you can literally write ‘kudos!’ It will make the author smile, I promise.

[charlottevader]

Fav trope of Vader lives fic: Artoo being super familiar and insolent with him and Vader pretending he's annoyed but secretly being soft and giving his dome pats with his giant Sith Robot Hands of Death

Also: Vader hanging out in the corner with the droids at family gatherings because he's too awkward to interact with anyone but Luke

[charlottevader]

obi wan kenobi was something

[charlottevader]

I feel this in my soul

[charlottevader]

If anyone tries to tell me that there is a character more dramatic than Darth freakin’ Vader I am going to laugh in their face. He uses the force to fly a tie fighter in and make his cloak billow for the effect. He turned off all the lights on his chest panel (including his life support so he nearly died) for the effect (Almost every entrance is him surrounded by smoke in the dark). He lives on Mustafar, the planet he nearly cooked to death on (and had the low ground) for the effect. Not to mention, he didn’t get his legs cut off like some simpleton like Darth Maul, he did a triple front flip over a river of lava. His daughter got away because he spent too long intimidating rebels. He killed a guy and gave his job to the closest person because he doesn’t have time for interviews, he’s busy, gotta keep up with the rebels. Speaking of rebels, he was alone and completely surrounded by a rebel army. The only thing he said was, “All I’m surrounded by is fear and dead men,” and proceded to slaughter them all like younglings (hehe). After chopping off his son’s arm and then revealing he’s the father, he seemed confused and offended that he wanted nothing to do with him, “I did nothing wrong!” Darth Vader, who went to a planet that was planning on asasinating him, killed two of the mercenaries and chopped off the princess’s arm when she tried to shoot him, and then gave her a present that was filled with the last remaining soil from Alderaan. Only to warn her, that is what might come of her planet. Made a dad joke about choking while choking a guy, because if your kids don’t appreciate you, someone else will. Who knows, did Anakin kill Palpatine because he felt the pull to the light or because it was dramatic? And to end the show, I throw this squealing white prune into the void with a flash of blue lightning and fire! How’s that for conflicted protagonist who sees the light at the last minute? Time to take over my son’s trilogy and make the audience demand I have my own! I might even be in my grandson’s trilogy if that scruffy looking nerf herder gets with my daughter!

[charlottevader]

anakin's real voice mixed with the modulator

obi-wan saying 'anakin' and begging for forgiveness

anakin telling obi-wan he was not his failure but his own and that he killed himself

vader calling obi-wan his master

obi-wan finally letting anakin go and acknowledging he was 'dead' and killed by darth vader

obi-wan unable to deliver the killing blow when he cracked his mask and saw anakin's face, his true self under the mask, and was reduced to tears

anakin screaming obi-wan's name as he walked away from him again

[charlottevader]

*puts on my anakin apologist hat again* anakin as double-agent of the Force

The force created Anakin specifically to be the Chosen One (demi-god) bc it needed an INHERENTLY GOOD PERSON who was both powerful enough to learn and withstand the DARK SIDE and powerful enough in his inherent goodness to RETURN FROM IT.

It couldn't have been anyone else BUT Anakin. It had to be the most powerful force user in the galaxy who was so good his soul would withstand (& survive under) the Dark Side he was destined to shoulder for decades.

In order to full the Prophecy, Anakin had to essentially survive both years of torture (borne of the Dark side) and survive the GRIEF AND REGRET from falling (borne of the Light) without completely losing or giving up on himself and submitting to the Darkness eternally.

Someone weaker in the Force could never accomplish this because if they fell they wouldn't be strong enough in the Light of the Force to withstand a fall & return. they'd just fall. Essentially the Force, by creating Anakin, is saying no one else could have done it - not Yoda, not Obi-wan, no other Jedi, or person, or Sith. Only Anakin.

Anakin was essentially a "double-agent" of the Force. Unknowingly.

Padme was always right. There was good in Vader. She saw the truth. Obi-wan also eventually saw the truth, seeing good in Vader (perhaps eventually realizing it was Anakin mercifully freeing him from guilt in OWK), causing him to sacrifice himself in peace for Vader's destruction & Anakin's assured return.

The Force created Anakin specifically to fulfill the Prophecy of falling in both the eyes of the Jedi and Sith because it knew that his inherent goodness would remain in tact enough for him to destroy the Sith (Sidious), not claim the Dark throne for himself afterwards, and also hand control over to the Light (Luke).

BECAUSE he felt GUILT STRONGLY ENOUGH (his goodness) after ALL THAT TIME (20yrs) BURIED IN THE DARK (necessary as per the force to get palpatine in a vulnerable spot) to STILL RETURN TO THE LIGHT afterwards (by killing him Palps/saving Luke).

The Force put him in the hardest possible position because it KNEW that no matter what the dark could throw at him:

ANAKIN WOULD SURVIVE AND PULL THROUGH BECAUSE HIS true ALIGNMENT WITH THE LIGHT (as a demi-god) WAS THAT STRONG.

Anakin was a demi-god created to fulfill a Prophecy and was tortured and misunderstood for this by everyone, including himself, which is what absolved his human half and allowed him in the end to become a Force Ghost. He didn't see himself as a demi-god with free reign to create chaos. And thus he felt genuine guilt for his crimes.

He accepted culpability for them (despite being predestined) which is what makes him a tragic hero. It doesn't matter if it was a prophecy or destiny, if he could help it or not, Anakin still feels regret.

His genuine guilt for his misdeeds & evil and his acknowledgement of them in the end yet again proved what the Force knew to be true. Anakin is inherently good.

Through his young life Anakin didn't say "hey I'm a demi-god I can do whatever I want" he fought the Prophecy for a very long time. He longed to be a Jedi and dreamed of helping others.

Yet, when he confronts Padme on Mustafar he says exactly that! Exactly what an all-powerful god turned to the dark would say. "We can rule the Galaxy. Make things the way we want them to be," going mad for a moment with power. But then he mourns and regrets his fall for the rest of his life (even as Vader he mourns Padme, spares Reva, absolves Obi-wan, he is struck silent & numb by slavery in the Empire in the comics). With his guilt, he returns from the dark as predicted.

This, as per the Force, proves Anakin was good at heart and had to fall to destroy the Sith. He committed predetermined deeds but he recognized his deeds as morally wrong regardless and mourned, suffered, and burned for them as Vader in the context of the Tragedy. This was the Force "punishing" his human half despite making committing these deeds essentially his destiny.

He was absolved because he genuinely regretted it. He couldn't get off scott free despite being a demi-god because he is also half humanoid. He needed to suffer for his choices despite his situation being predetermined. That's another thing he endured. As Vader he was to suffer and "pay" for the evil as a human would by human standards. He fully believed he was deserving of this and damned himself continually.

Yet after all that he was still strong enough in the Light to withstand that suffocating darkness and emerge again - saving humanity alongside understanding the totality of the Dark Side (!!!), achieving universal balance (!!! inner and outer), and sacrificing his own soul to give the Galaxy future hope in Luke and Leia.

Vader was both his test and destiny - forging a true tragic hero who accepts the outcomes of his actions. A god of balance who lived a life realizing the truth of our souls is often in the middle, whether we our actions are good or bad.

Vader may have been the Force's destiny for Anakin, but he chose to make Vader/his actions his responsibility, and that is how he displays his inherent goodness and worthiness of the title Chosen One.

[charlottevader]

#THIS IS THE MOST IN CHARACTER OBI-WAN AND ANAKIN I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE #HOW DID THESE TWO IDIOTS ALMOST WIN A WAR?? #100% THIS IS EXACTLY HOW ALL THEIR FIGHTS WOULD GO

[charlottevader]

LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation | August 5th, 2022 #I LOVE THAT NOT ONLY IS VADER ON A BEACH #YOU KNOW WHERE THE SAND IS #HE HAS TO LISTEN TO PALPATINE TALK ABOUT HOW HE REALLY BURNS #MAYBE TRY BEING DUNKED IN LAVA AND THEN SEE HOW YOU BURN SHIT LORD #DRAMATIC EXHAUSTED SIGH #NOBODY’S LIFE IS AS HARD AS DARTH VADER’S LIFE IS

[charlottevader]

YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW INCREDIBLY GOOD THIS COMIC IS UNTIL YOU REREAD IT FOR LIKE THE THIRD TIME AND ALL AT ONCE AND THINK ABOUT WHERE ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE COMING FROM AND WHAT THE HEART OF THE JEDI’S ISSUES ARE AND OH MY GOD THEN IT HITS LIKE A FREIGHT TRAIN. Okay, maybe that’s just me, but I reread this coming in one sitting again and it just smacked right into me how incredibly spot on this comic is about the main issue and what it’s doing to Anakin.  The story is that there’s a war that’s been raging for centuries on a planet that has torn it apart, the Open and the Closed all want each other dead, no one even really knows who started it or why they’re fighting, only that nothing matters more than winning this war just for the sake of winning the war.  There’s a Scavenger who is dropping kites in from the sky, pieces of salvaged art and culture, so that it might spark a memory of how they used to be more than this, but ultimately the Scavenger wants to furiously kill all the older members (and maybe even the Jedi sent to help them because he didn’t side with her and kill all the older Closed and Open) and “start over” with the younger ones, who say, wtf, no, whatever else is going on, this is our fight too.  These are our people! Interspersed with this is a story about Palpatine strong-arming the Jedi into letting him spend an afternoon with Anakin to thank him for his help with Naboo, to help mentor him while Anakin’s rage is having difficulty getting it under control.  Palpatine takes him to the Underworld, where Senators are gambling away and Palpatine spins a story about how they’re corrupt, if we could just make them slip up a little more, we could go after them, because the system is hampering us.  Anakin nudges the dice (which is what Palpatine wanted him to do), then the Senator loses his game, Palpatine takes Anakin back and says, oh, if only I could do more.  The Jedi can’t just wipe him out, even knowing he’s corrupt, and my hands are tied, too.  Oh, if only there was some other path outside of the system.  By the way, have you ever considered leaving the Jedi and coming to work for me? Anakin is considering leaving the Jedi, he fully intends to and has made those intentions to Obi-Wan known, who says he’ll respect it, if that’s what Anakin truly wants, but he believes Anakin is better off with them.  In the end, Obi-Wan saves the day through calling in the Jedi, by saying there was a source of Tibanna gas on the planet, who cares if that’s actually true, the point was that he wasn’t on his own, that he was working to use and make better the system that he was working with, because they’d have died if they were on their own.  Being part of something bigger is what saved them, what allowed them to give this planet any kind of chance at all. THAT IS EXACTLY AT THE HEART OF EVERYTHING THAT’S GOING ON WITH ANAKIN AND THE JEDI.  Everything in this issue is designed to be an echo of what Anakin is going through, right down to how he thinks the Open vs the Closed are like the Jedi fighting the Sith, which is what Palpatine will also tell him one day in the future, that they’re both “evil” from a different point of view, that both want power, and it completely sidesteps that the Jedi and the Sith are not mirror images of each other (no matter how much marketing makes it seem that way sometimes), that the Jedi do not want to win a war just for the sake of winning a war, and it’s not about fighting the Sith because they’re Sith, but because they go around murdering people and oppressing entire planets, that you can’t say one side is “just as bad” as the other when one side is going around murdering entire peoples and planets on purpose, you can’t say it about the Rebellion or the Resistance or the Republic, because there are legitimate reasons to fight and real people being fought to protect.  But it’s sure going to be a handy excuse for Anakin, who is going to strip context out of everything, when Palpatine is dangling the possibility of saving Padme in front of him, that Anakin doesn’t necessarily want to think that way, but if there’s wiggle room to justify what he really wants (saving Padme), then he’ll jump on it. But at the heart of this moment, the question is:  Do you remain as part of the system that is deeply flawed because it’s the only way you can see to make any kind of actual betterment for people?  Or do you leave the system all together, doing whatever you want, where you can act more directly against things that are wrong, but you have no weight behind you other than your own? Palpatine is planting the seeds in Anakin for the latter, that going outside of the system seems like an appealing idea for someone who feels he’s not doing enough, that the Jedi won’t just go in and clean up the mess.  And Palpatine makes it seem appealing because he’s deliberately side-stepping the consequences that would happen if the Jedi did that, that we see incredibly clearly in books like Master and Apprentice or Queen’s Shadow that these methods would not work.  Padme goes around the Senate in TPM and pays for it for years, in her inability to actually get anything real done.  Qui-Gon is only able to help the people on Pijal because he’s part of the Republic, if he’d left it, the slaves would have been absolutely fucked and Czerka would have gotten away with it.  He understands that, if they just take out one Hutt, in a few months, a new one will take their place and everything will be back to where they started. Obi-Wan’s point is that the only chance they have–deeply flawed and imperfect as it is (he says it directly when Anakin says “this entire world is just gone because that’s the system?”, “I don’t like it either.  But, yes.  The system is… not perfect.”  “Then the system should change.”  “Perhaps someday it will, Anakin.” THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR THE RESOLUTION OF THE STORY.)–matches up with exactly what Obi-Wan has always believed, that you work from within the system to change it, to make it better, because that’s the only thing that actually seems to work beyond just a few months at most. And it’s precisely what happens:

The Jedi could go storming onto that planet and separate everyone, but as soon as they’re gone, the fighting will resume.  They’re only 10,000 in a galaxy of quadrillions and they have other people who need their help, too.  The only way to get anywhere is to be part of the Republic, to have that weight behind them, to be allowed to negotiate in the first place (if you’re not part of the Republic, then whatever treaty you negotiate doesn’t mean anything because no one’s going to honor it, the Republic isn’t going to honor something they never agreed to, never gave anyone the authority to offer on their behalf, NOR SHOULD THEY, otherwise Cad Bane can just go in and make a fucking awful treaty and have that be honored, too), to use the system as best you can to make changes for the better, which ultimately Anakin agrees with, hence deciding to stay with the Jedi. But the seeds have still been planted and they’re definitely going to grow.  Anakin’s desire to just go where he wants and do what he wants is going to be constantly at war with his desire to stay with the Jedi (with Obi-Wan) and his understanding that Obi-Wan has a point–as powerful as Anakin is, he’s not an entire system of government, that being part of something else makes him stronger, allows him a reach and an authority he would not have on his own.  It’s not until he thinks he’s strong enough to be that entire government (and he’s deep in the grips of the dark side and his own fear at what he’s done to save Padme’s life) that he’s willing to truly step away from the Jedi.  It’s not until Palpatine has engineered an entire war to completely overwhelm the Jedi’s attempts to change things (and there’s a very strong recurring theme in canon about how the Jedi keep trying to nudge things towards the better, keep trying to appeal for better decisions, and are consistently turned down–hell, that happens in this comic, when Mace tries to say no to Palpatine, who then strongarms him into being forced to agree) so that they’re too busy putting out tire fires and being in triage mode to actually make enough change anymore, especially when they have so little real authority themselves, as compared to the Senate and the Chancellor, that Anakin will be willing to step away. What Palpatine does here is masterful, he lets Anakin think that doing something illegal and outside the system (ie, a small taste of just doing whatever it is you want to do, when you want someone taken out) will lead to clearing away some of the corruption in the system, instead of addressing the far more complicated questions of how easy that kind of power is to abuse and why it’s actually a really awful idea to go down that road, even if you think you’re doing it with good intentions.  The system should change, pretty much every single person is onboard with that.  (Except Palpatine and the other corrupt Senators who benefit from it.)  That’s not the argument.  The argument is about how that should change–radical action or steady work from within and what each of those entails and when you’re stepping over a line that you’ll pay for (which isn’t about yourself, but about the good you were doing, the people you can help, if you’re allowed to help them) and how Palpatine just threw a giant ball of mud into the pond that is Anakin’s understanding of all of this, because he needs those waters muddy to turn Anakin towards him.  To take all those good intentions and all that power Anakin has and continue to use it for his own ends, rather than Anakin actually truly helping anyone on a long-term basis. ALL WRAPPED UP IN A COMIC THAT ALSO HAS THE MOST GORGEOUS ARTWORK AND AN EXCITING ACTION STORY AND SERIOUSLY LOOK AT THIS COVER:

I went into this thinking, okay, I’m going to scream about Obi-Wan being amazing and Anakin’s star-struck face any time Obi-Wan does something and yell “I FEEL YOU, ANAKIN” and how Obi-Wan was planning to leave the Jedi Order with Anakin if that’s what he decided and just have fun. Instead, I got a comic that just fucking nailed everything about one of the central conflicts between Anakin and the Jedi in a way that wasn’t really even that apparent until I actually started thinking about it (and have been yelling about it a lot recently, as my understanding of the GFFA evolves) and how there’s legitimate frustration and grievances there, but Palpatine strips out context and twists everything around to get his own desired result and it seems perfectly reasonable until you stop to think about it and how he played Anakin perfectly.  That it showcases how there aren’t any easy answers to this, only people trying to do their best within deeply flawed circumstances. THIS COMIC WAS SO FUCKING GOOD.