#child slave rebellion

[blissandenigma]

Henry Darger Documentary ~~my love for henry darger~~sublime.

[nicethingsthose]

The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion (1913-38) - Henry Darger

[flaccid-rats]

As much as I love the “Anakin hates Han but loves Din” headcanons it’s honestly probably the other way around.

Like, Din’s sorta got almost everything going against him when you stop and think about it, you know? He’s a bounty hunter (and Anakin, who was born a slave, is probably incredibly distrusting of bounty hunters), and on top of that he’s a Mandalorian bounty hunter. A Child of the Watch Mandalorian bounty hunter. Anakin doesn’t exactly have a good history with Death Watch and Children of the Watch, or just like, Mandalorians in general. And it’s not exactly like Din has the most stellar morals. Din’s got an honor code, yeah, and he does a lot for his Tribe, but he does, can, and will kill people for money, and he’s not exactly picky about his jobs or who he gets them from. Han was just a spice runner. He wasn’t taking bounties from the Hutts or the Empire like Din. Plus, you gotta remember, Din does everything in his power to stay out of conflict and politics. He’s not Han or Anakin. He didn’t drop everything to go rescue a princess and join a rebellion, or save a queen and help free her planet from an illegal occupation. Plus, Din hates droids. You’re gonna tell me Anakin Skywalker, certified droid lover, would look at Din, known droid hater, and go “welcome to the family :)”

Anakin wouldn’t hate Din, he’s got some good things going for him, but Din would for sure be on thin fucking ice for a long time.

[lil-ace-of-spades]

Filled an OTP meme sheet for DinLuke ( o˘◡˘o)

I based Din's age on the child actor's actual age (10yrs old) when he filmed the flashback scene when we assume that the event is near the end of the Clone Wars/Revenge of the Sith.

I think Din is in the ace spectrum, specifically demisexual. He's never really been interested in forming intimate relationships and is content with the familial/platonic relationships he made in his life. The thought of settling down came to mind when he saw how happy Grogu was on Sorgan but he knew deep down that isn't the life he wants for himself. It's simply not him. Then he meets Luke and falls in love for the very first time. He didn't know what these feelings mean at first so it took some time for him to process that the affection he feels for Luke isn't platonic. He eventually does settle down in the sense that he owns a cabin in Nevarro and a home he shared with Luke on Ossus but he still works as a bounty hunter.

Most of Luke's clothes in his Rebellion days were hand-me-downs since he arrived at the base with just the clothes on his back. He never really bothered with shopping for his own clothes, since he was busy and his friends were more than happy to dress him up.

Din likes to have his alone time. He can't relax in crowded places even when his friends and allies are around. He survived being a bounty hunter in the Outer Rim because of that. So it's usually Luke who does the mingling and the talking, whereas Din prefers to listen and chimes in with a few words when he has something to say or he's been addressed. It helps Din's social battery from running out too fast.

They're both great pilots and often race around each other with Grogu on either of their ships. The little speed demon of a son loves it.

Neither of them are the jealous type. For Din, he's never really fallen in love with anyone to feel that sickly green pull in his stomach. When he sees Luke getting along with people (some clearly flirting), he thinks it makes sense because Luke is a very attractive person but he's firm in his belief that HE is the man Luke will always come home to. For Luke, he's never had a partner that lasted long with the life he led in the Rebellion. He doesn't feel possessive of his partners because he knows he cannot own them. Those first 19 years spent on Tatooine (where he bears the name of generations of slaves and he is the first freeborn Skywalker to carry on living) taught him that no being deserves to be owned by anyone. He also knows that he fell in love with a man who would never break his vow to him. Also, they're both adults that went through so much before they met each other. They're both just glad to have met and fallen in love at a time when their paths crossed at the perfect moment in their lives.

Luke would cook Yoda's soup recipe and Grogu would finish the whole cauldron if nobody stops him. Din isn't keen on the taste so Luke has a version that's easier to stomach for non-green gremlin beings like him.

Whenever they're in public together, they act professionally (except when they're handling Grogu between them). When alone, Din allows himself to be vulnerable with Luke. His burgeoning inner romantic emerges and Luke reciprocates with all the love he feels for his husband.

[reepiblog]

"But the question is, Did John Brown fail? He certainly did fail to get out of Harpers Ferry before being beaten down by United States soldiers; he did fail to save his own life, and to lead a liberating army into the mountains of Virginia. But he did not go to Harpers Ferry to save his life. "The true question is, Did John Brown draw his sword against slavery and thereby lose his life in vain? And to this I answer ten thousand times, No! No man fails, or can fail, who so grandly gives himself and all he has to a righteous cause. No man, who in his hour of extremest need, when on his way to meet an ignominious death, could so forget himself as to stop and kiss a little child, one of the hated race for whom he was about to die, could by any possibility fail. "Did John Brown fail? Ask Henry A. Wise in whose house less than two years after, a school for the emancipated slaves was taught. "Did John Brown fail? Ask James M. Mason, the author of the inhuman fugitive slave bill, who was cooped up in Fort Warren, as a traitor less than two years from the time that he stood over the prostrate body of John Brown. "Did John Brown fail? Ask Clement C. Vallandingham, one other of the inquisitorial party; for he too went down in the tremendous whirlpool created by the powerful hand of this bold invader. If John Brown did not end the war that ended slavery, he did at least begin the war that ended slavery. If we look over the dates, places and men for which this honor is claimed, we shall find that not Carolina, but Virginia, not Fort Sumter, but Harpers Ferry, and the arsenal, not Col. Anderson, but John Brown, began the war that ended American slavery and made this a free Republic. Until this blow was struck, the prospect for freedom was dim, shadowy and uncertain. The irrepressible conflict was one of words, votes and compromises. "When John Brown stretched forth his arm the sky was cleared. The time for compromises was gone - the armed hosts of freedom stood face to face over the chasm of a broken Union - and the clash of arms was at hand. The South staked all upon getting possession of the Federal Government, and failing to do that, drew the sword of rebellion and thus made her own, and not Brown's, the lost cause of the century." -(May 30, 1881, Frederick Douglass, oration at the Fourteenth Anniversary of Storer College, May 30, 1881)

[emtmercy]

I feel like ppl are being deliberately obtuse about what’s happening in Palestine and about the very nature of violent response to violent domination

Like to take it away from this issue that everyone wants to be obtuse about I will shift it to smth from the past that most American liberals feel they are on the right side of and that affects me personally

So like take a slave rebellion as example

When I say I am on the side of slave rebellion I’m not saying that the individual actions of all enslaved peoples during rebellions were personally positive or just

im saying that overall those sorts of rare atrocities by the enslwved against the masters families or other women and children in the white communities dominating them are dwarfed by the amount of atrocity committed by enslavers on the enslaved and that when a slave rises up and kills the slave masters baby child I’m not saying I love that act or that that act specifically is just or that it’s even helpful to the cause.

obviously I don’t think that any child needs to be killed

but i am saying that if you create a society of brutal violation and dominance you will live in a society of brutal violation and dominance and the people responsible for that are the people who have created a society of brutal violation and dominance

When the slave master lowers their own weapons and surrenders their claim to dominance over an entire people the slave masters child becomes safe

But when the enslaved lower their own weapons and surrender their claim to independence they remain recipients of terror and domination

[bumblesimagines]

The Cold Stars

Request: Yes or No

Summary: Daenerys encounters a lonesome stranger in Meereen who shares a bitter history with Ser Barriston

Pronouns: He/Him/His

TW/CW: Suicide mention

~~~

"I cannot hide behind walls forever, Ser Barriston," Dany spoke gently, dragging her eyes over the small marketplace in the city. She knew the dangers of being out in public but she had trust in Ser Barriston and Grey Worm, her loyal subordinates. They'd never allow harm to come to her, she knew that very well. Besides, she needed to show the people of Meereen that she cared and valued them. Trust had to be earned, not given freely. So, despite the worries expressed to her by Ser Barriston and Daario, she marched forth into the marketplace, eager to see what her people were selling. 

"I know, Your Grace," Ser Barriston sighed quietly, his eyes just as diligent and alert as Grey Worm's, bouncing around from cart to face in search of anyone with less-than-innocent motives. Most of the people watched them silently, the caution on their faces making Dany frown. She needed their loyalty, not their fear. She couldn't comprehend it well. She freed them from their masters, breaking the chains that made them slaves and they'd seemingly loved her for it. But the hesitation and unhappiness on some of their faces made her heart twist. 

"Do you think King's Landing will receive me like this?" Dany asked the older, more experienced man as they rounded a corner, slipping out of the market into an alleyway, her head angled over her shoulder to peer back at the two. Ser Barriston's lips parted to respond but his eyes flickered away and Dany noticed Grey Worm reaching for his sword. Her head snapped forward, preparing herself for the worst only to notice the young man leaning against the wall with an apple in hand, his eyes-

His eyes...

Cold and displeased and undeniably violet. Her mind flickered back to Viserys, to the mentions of her parents and Rhaegar, to all the portraits she'd seen of her ancestors and all the stories told about them. She felt as if the air had been knocked out of her, and she suddenly yearned for her family, for the mother that died moments after having her, and the father that earned the title of Mad King. For Rhaegar and even cruel Viserys. But the man before them lacked the notable silver hair and appeared more... Dornish.

"(Y/N) Dayne," Ser Barriston gaped, eyes large and pale skin as if he'd seen a ghost. "You... are a long ways from home, child."

"As are you, Selmy." His bitter voice seemed to jolt Ser Barriston, his mouth clamping shut and bushy brows knitting together. (Y/N) raised the apple to his lips and dug his teeth into the crunchy fruit, a trickle of juice dripping down his chin. He chewed slowly as he studied each of them, his hardened gaze only momentarily growing indifferent when he turned his attention to the perplexed Grey Worm. "You are far from King's Landing, Ser. As are you, Targaryen."

"You are in the presence of Queen Daenerys Stormborn, child, you will refer to her as such. Your brother fought fiercely for the Targaryens during the rebellion."

"And he died." (Y/N) licked his lips, the apple beginning to crack and drip with juices under his grasp. The bitterness, near hatred in his eyes sent a chill down Dany's spine, yet she found herself unable to tear her own eyes away from his face. "You claim to have loved and respected Arthur and Ashara but where were you when they died? Where were you when Stark slaughtered my brother and my sister threw herself into the sea?" 

"I would've given my life for either of them, you know that." Ser Barriston responded sharply, almost bristling at the silent accusation. 

"You would've given your life for the Prince." Her trance broke immediately at the mention of her brother, of the man Ser Barriston always recalled fondly. Her lips pulled back into a deep frown and (Y/N) turned his attention onto her. "You should've been willing to give your life for Elia and her children. That Targaryen-" The sneer when he spoke said plenty of his opinions on her family. "-abandoned them to die like a coward."

"Mind your tongue!" 

"My siblings are dead because of him!" (Y/N) snapped back at the knight, the apple finally breaking under his hold, different parts flying around while some of it turned to mush in his palm. Dany flinched and stepped back, one piece sliding right up to her feet and almost disappearing beneath the skirt of her dress. (Y/N) shook his hand and scoffed, pushing himself off the wall and barely sparing Grey Worm a glance when he stepped in front of Dany defensively. Ser Barriston's shoulders sagged, the fury dying immediately. "If he'd done his duty as a husband, Allryia, Aran, and I wouldn't be mourning them, Ser."

Dany raised her hand and placed it over Grey Worm's shoulder, meeting his questioning gaze with a reassuring nod. He stepped aside, allowing Dany to step forward, her shoe kicking aside the apple piece before she lifted her head to look at him once more. "Why have you come here, Lord (Y/N)? If not to ally yourself with me, why?"

"To see if the rumors were true. They say you have dragons and you'll use them to take back the Iron Throne. Ashara told me stories of dragons when I was a child. Elia, too. Dorne fought back against them during your ancestor's conquest."

"I have no qualms with Dorne," Daenerys told him softly. "And I am sorry for your losses. I am not my father nor my brothers. I wish to do things differently. The Lannisters, a common enemy between us, rule Kings Landing, do they not? We can ensure they will not bring harm to anyone else, not under my rule. House Dayne of Starfall is a noble house in Dorne with... close ties to the Martells of Sunspear. As I know it, the Martells despise Lannisters as well."

"Why would we fight for you? Justice is a mere action when you'd be getting the Iron Throne. Dorne has been at peace for many years."

"Perhaps..." Dany paused and glanced toward Ser Barriston. The older man met her gaze with an arched brow and a curious, almost concerned glint in his eye. She pursed her lips. She needed stronger allies, she needed angry allies... and even queens require heirs. "Perhaps House Dayne would be more pleased if one of their own became King Consort of Westeros." 

(Y/N)'s eyes only narrowed in response. The crown would be tempting to any man, especially one of noble birth, but he only appeared annoyed by the offer. "I'm afraid my brother, Lord Aran Dayne, is content with his wife, and Edric is far too young to marry. I've had the freedom of being the youngest all my life. Why would I give it up to become a king when I can do whatever I please?"

"Kings do whatever they please, do they not?"

"Kings like Robert Baratheon and Aerys Targaryen, sure. Your brother did whatever he pleased as prince and plunged the kingdom into war. Rulers do what the people want, what they need. You haven't exactly been keeping your people happy, Daenerys. Dorne will only ally themselves if we know we'll win. You may have your army but Tywin Lannister and his dog have been commanding far longer than you and I have been alive. Prince Doran will never allow a child parading themselves as ruler of a city anywhere near Dorne's army. You'll have better luck asking for Prince Oberyn's hand in marriage."

"It almost sounds as if you believe you can do a better job than me... if so, join my council. You'll have your freedom and when the time comes, you'll have your justice. Perhaps then, you'll feel more inclined to accept my proposal. I know Dorne is known for its... queer customs. You view bastards as equal, women are seen as fine rulers, and having multiple lovers is common. Many have their opinions of Dorne but... I'd be rather happy with a Dornishman. I will grant you the freedom of doing as you please, if you become my consort, as long as we have a-" Her voice nearly broke, forcing her to pause again and clear her throat. "A healthy heir. What do you say now, Dayne?"

[3rdeyeblaque]

Today we venerate Ancestor & Hoodoo Saint Nat Turner on his 223rd birthday 🎉

King Nat was a Seer, prophet, preacher, & Freedom Fighter who used his intuitive gifts to spearhead one of the greatest slave rebellions in U.S. History; one that would shift the trajectory of Black lives under Maafa for decades to come.

King Nat was born enslaved on the Benjamin Turner plantation in Southampton Co., VA. He was a highly intuitive and gifted child. He could easily recall events that took place in his life as early as 3 or 4 years old. He also foretold of events that occurred before his time. His grandmother was a deeply spiritual elder and nurtured his spiritual development. His mother and many of those enslaved on the Turner plantation knew that he would become a prophet & was surely destined for a higher purpose.

For his "uncommon intelligence ", Nat learned to read & write at a young age at which time he was also indoctrinated into Christianity. His interpretation of the Christian bible convinced him that the Christian God condemned Slavery. This inspired him to become a preacher.

By age 21, King Nat was a prolific Seer & was known as, "The Prophet". Nat received many visions & Divine messages over the course of his life. Much of which guided him to avenge slavery & free our peoples from bondage. He had a series of 3 visions that would set him on course to fulfilling his highest purpose, thus forever impressing his name upon in U.S. history.

The 1st vision came as he was following in his father's footsteps, fleeing the plantation. To everyone's astonishment he returned of his own volition after spending 30 days in the woods because, “the Spirit appeared to [him] and said [he] had [his] wishes directed to the things of this world, and not to the kingdom of heaven, and that [he] should return to the service of [his] earthly master.” One year later, the devil died.

On May 12, 1828, Nat he received a 2nd vision, as he witnessed a solar eclipse. He “heard a loud noise in the heavens, and the Spirit instantly appeared to me and said the serpent was loosened, and Christ had laid down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and that I should take it on and fight against the serpent, for the time was fast approaching when the first should be last and the last should be first.” This, he believed to be the sign he had been promised.

On, August 13th 1831, Spirit delivered a 3rd message; in the form of lights across the night sky. At which time, an atmospheric disturbance across the sky in the aftermath of an eruption at Mount St. Helen's (3,000 mi away) caused the Sun to appear bluish-green in color. Nat prayed to learn their meaning. For Nat, this reaffirmed the work that he'd been called to do; to move forward with his mission to avenge Slavery & free those he could. From then on his plans were set into motion.

At 2am on August 22nd, King Nat led his peers & allies into rebellion. They struck their slaver's household first; slaughtering the entire family. From there they went from house to house, killing every single devil in their path. By noon, they marched toward the neighboring town of Jerusalem where a White militia of 3,000 men lie in wait for them.

Most of the rebels were either captured or killed - except for Nat. He managed to escape & eluded Virginian authorities for 2mo. He hid in the woods just miles from his former slaver's plantation. He was discovered on October 30th by an armed farmer who stumbled across him hiding in a foxhole. Emaciated and weak, he surrendered willingly. After his arrest, Turner was taken back to Jerusalem where he stood trial & was convicted, then sentenced to death by hanging. Nat was killed on November 11th.

To our deepest disdain & no suprise, he was denied a formal burial. Instead, his body was taken to doctors for dissection, to be distributed among affluent White families. He was skinned to make their purses. His flesh was turned into grease. And his bones were divided up into trophies. These became heirloom souvenirs to be passereceive among these affluent White families for generations.

Although King Nat did not end slavery as he had hoped, he & his allies avenged those who wronged them, and they did, ultimately, achieve their freedom from this world. Nat became immortalized as a symbol; of warrior strength (for us) & a catalyst of White fear. King Nat single-handedly shook the institution of Slavert at its core. So much that it stretched the divide between Pro-Slavers & Abolitionists. Pro-slavery advocates began calling for greater restrictions on "Freefolk" & demanded that Abolitionists cease their interference with Slavery. In Virginia, politicians saw Nat's intelligence & education as a major threat, thus outlawing the practice of teaching enslaved Peoples how to read or write. Abolitionists' efforts to end Slavery only intensified. This set the stage in U.S politics for the Civil War.

"I had a vision - and I saw white spirits and black spirits engaged in battle, and the sun was darkened - the thunder rolled in the Heavens, and blood flowed in streams - and I heard a voice saying, 'Such is your luck, such are you called to see, and let it come rough or smooth, you must surely bear it." - Nat Turner; "Confessions of Nat Turner".

Let us remember that it was more than bravery, nerve, & standing ten toes down that drove King Nat's rebellion to success. It was, first and foremost, leading with Spirit & trusting in our intuitive/Ancestral gifts.

We pour libations & give him💐 today as we celebrate him for his gifts, Divine trust, bravery, and sacrifice. May we lift him up in prayer & offering in gratitude & lace toward his elevation.

Offering suggestions: prayers toward his healing/elevation, a Methodist bible, libations of water - especially on the battlegrounds of rebellion in Courtland, VA/Benjamin Turner plantation/, read & share his confessions

‼️Note: offering suggestions are just that & strictly for veneration purposes only. Never attempt to conjure up any spirit or entity without proper divination/Mediumship counsel.‼️

[marvelstars]

Anakin´s politics

After reading many takes in fandom of Anakin´s politics as well as many fics, I believe Anakin´s political leanings are often reduced or misunderstood, in part because Lucas didn´t delve too much into them, because Padme and Obi-Wan kind of dimiss htem and also in part because we have two different ideologies, Anakin´s political ideology pre Vader and Anakin´s political ideology post Vader which are similar but not the same.

Early Vader/Just fallen to the darkside Anakin asked Padme to become his Empress but given that at the time he was in a deep, deep breakdown and practically out of his mind deep into darkside force energies which Lucas has compared to a drug, I personally don´t believe even Vader "post dark side high" would have exactly the same idea.

Vader in general was of the mind that the galaxy needed order, that there was a role the Emperor had to play but given Leia´s and Vader´s whole conversation about the Sentate in ANH where Leia accuses Vader of acting outside the Senate approval to which Vader answers that she was a confirmed traitor to the Empire at this point, so her ship could not longer be considered a diplomatic vessel unlike all those other times Vader let her go to do her "mercy missions" which he knew were a front for her pro-rebellion missions, all this means Vader also was often around seeing Sente proceedings, right allong with his military meetings.

Vader he doesn´t care as much about the type of goverment there is in the galaxy as long as it´s effective and less corrupt than the Old Republic was. "Lest bring Order to the galaxy"

Anakin is a different matter, as a child he just knew he wanted to free all the slaves on Tatooine and do his part to support a more equal and fair galaxy "the biggest problem in the galaxy is that no one helps each other".

As a Jedi padawan, when he was talking to Padme about how the system didn´t work, precisely because Padme told him that it was hard for the senate to do anything because they almost never agreed, he suggested someone to "make them agree" "someone wise" and in that way fix the problem of the current system, Padme was talking about the issues of the working system and Anakin suggested a way to fix those inconsistencies.

Here we can already see Palpatine´s hand in Anakin´s political perception but I believe we often forget there is another important body that influenced Anakin political pov´s in his younger years, when Anakin talked about "Someone wise should make them agree" he pretty much was describing Master Yoda and Windu role in most decisions of the Jedi Council when the Council didn´t agree on something.

So my guess is that Anakin was suggesting someone like Yoda and Palpatine supported this idea because it would make it easier to make the change from Yoda to himself.

Here Padme sees it as a dictatorship but I believe here Lucas didn´t really thought things too deeply, because there are Hereditary Monarchies in the Republic and her own role as Queen of Naboo had an almost absolute authority but well I disgress.

Anakin didn´t believe the the Senate needed to be taken down, in fact in ROTS he gets mad at Padme precisely because she was asking him to ask Palpatine to leave his emergency powers and Anakin believed that was something that had to be taken to the Senate instead of using Anakin´s apparent influence over Palpatine, which was non-existent but neither of them knew that.

My point is that Anakin himself wasn´t suggesting to take down the Senate or the Republic, his pov was that the system itself didn´t work as a system that actually got things done for the benefice of the people of the Republic. Anakin´s priority is to fix the system to get things done, not hold an ambigous ideal that only exists for some people.

Lest remember Shmi´s words in TPM "The Republic doens´t exist out there, we have to take care of ourselves"

This was Anakin´s early relationship to the republic and all those diplomatic missions as a jedi in which he mostly helped the elite of each planet didn´t serve to convince him the republic was good for something other than serving the elite.

So while Padme and Obi-Wan saw the Republic as an ideal that could be fixed with time if only because that´s what they had to work with, Anakin thought that it´s alright to hold republican values, in fact he went to war for the whole "keeping the republic together" but this republic "Is functional?" "It works for what it says it works?" and the answer is no, the system is broken, something Padme found out in the first movie, when she saw how the occupation on her planet by the Federation could be ignored because of their influence and it would take months if not years to do something about it while the Senate discussed it but Padme as a Senator hoped to help fix it but then they were at war and there wasn´t time.

So in short, Padme and Obi-Wan see the Republic as something worth fighting for on itself on principle even when they knew the politicians of the senate often were trash while Anakin sees the republic as something that could be fixed but isn´t worth fighting for on itself if it really doesn´t seek to serve the people outside of a few elites. This is something that he understood because he was directly wronged by the dysfunction of the republic.

It isn´t coincidence Anakin as a general in the clone wars tried to serve not only the needs of official Republic allies but also citizens that just happened to be in the crossfire and didn´t have the means to defend themselves but also weren´t anyone´s priority. (Example: The farmers, Saw Guerrera, the slaves who were not allies of the republic trapped on Zigeria, etc) and on this Anakin showed he prefered the people, citizens to take matters into their own hands instead of having to depend of the Republic, Senate or Jedi to act. Just give them the tools to do it themselves.

Vader is the opposite, no longer trust the people to make the best choice but he believes of having order for everybody.

This is interesting because I don´t believe Padme or Obi-Wan ever took seriously Anakin´s political ideology and so they didn´t discuss it with him, they just expected him to support them because they were his wife and master respectively but they didn´t ask for his pov either and Anakin didn´t try to talk about this with them, only Palpatine seemed interested in his political ideas and so Anakin didn´t want to create conflict with people he considered family, it was easier to go along with them than fighting with them over the details.

So while I think he sometimes disliked Padme´s role as a senator for the time it took from them as a couple, he knew it was important for her and he wanted to be supportive, he definitely resented the republic and it´s politicians hypocrisy.

Now Vader is perfectly capable of discussing and getting mad with Palpatine over political issues, the main problem is that he is pretty much broken emotionally and so isn´t so willing anymore to try to make changes, just fix what little he sees he can fix but his perspective is a lot more authoritharian than it was when he was young. He belives if he had to fight some rebels to expand the Empire towards the outer rim, take down governments and give them a similar way of life to the core system, including education and work, he is totally going to do that. The end justifies the means for Vader

[fatehbaz]

As early as 1700, Samuel Sewall, the renowned Boston judge and diarist, connected “the two most dominant moral questions of that moment: the rapid rise of the slave trade and the support of global piracy” in many American colonies [...]. In the course of the eighteenth century, [...] [there was a] semantic shift in the [literary] trope of piracy in the Atlantic context, turning its [...] connotations from exploration and adventure to slavery and exploitation. [...] [A] large share of Atlantic seafaring took place in the service of the circum-Atlantic slave trade, serving European empire-building in the Americas. [...] Ships have been cast as important sites of struggle and as symbols of escape in [...] Black Atlantic consciousness, from Olaudah Equiano’s Interesting Narrative (1789) and Richard Hildreth’s The Slave: or Memoir of Archy Moore (1836 [...]) to nineteenth century Atlantic abolitionist literature such as Frederick Douglass’s My Bondage and My Freedom (1855) or Martin Delany’s Blake (1859-1862). [...] Black and white abolitionists across the Atlantic world were imagining a different social order revolving around issues of resistance, liberty, (human) property, and (il)legality [...].

---

Using black pirates as figures of resistance [...], Maxwell Philip’s novel Emmanuel Appadocca (1854) emphasizes the nexus of insatiable material desire and its conditions of production: slavery. [...] [T]he consumption of commodities produced by slave labor itself was delegitimized [...]. Philip, a Trinidadian [and "illegitimate" "colored" child] [...], published Emmanuel Appadocca as a protest against slavery in the United States [following the Fugitive Slave laws of 1850.]. [...] [The novel places] at its center [...] a heroic non-white pirate and intellectual [...] [whose] pirate ship [...] [is] significantly named The Black Schooner [...]. One of the central discourses in [the book] is that of legitimacy, of rights and lawfulness, of both slavery and piracy [...]. About midway into the book, Appadocca gives a [...] speech in which he argues that colonialism itself is a piratical system:

If I am guilty of piracy, you, too [are] [...] guilty of the very same crime. ... [T]he whole of the civilized world turns, exists, and grows enormous on the licensed system of robbing and thieving, which you seem to criminate so much ... The people which a convenient position ... first consolidated, developed, and enriched, ... sends forth its numerous and powerful ships to scour the seas, the penetrate into unknown regions, where discovering new and rich countries, they, in the name of civilization, first open an intercourse with the peaceful and contented inhabitants, next contrive to provoke a quarrel, which always terminates in a war that leaves them the conquerors and possessors of the land. ... [T]he straggling [...] portions of a certain race [...] are chosen. The coasts of the country on which nature has placed them, are immediately lined with ships of acquisitive voyagers, who kidnap and tear them away [...].

In this [...], slavery appears as a direct consequence of the colonial venture encompassing the entire “civilized world,” and “powerful ships” - the narrator refers to the slavers here - are this world’s empire builders. [...] Piracy, for Philip, signifies a just rebellion, a private, legitimate [resistance] against colonial exploiters and economic inequality - he repeatedly invokes their solidarity as misfortunate outcasts [...].

---

All text above by: Alexandra Ganser. “Cultural Constructions of Piracy During the Crisis Over Slavery.” A chapter from Crisis and Legitimacy in the Atlantic American Narratives of Piracy: 1678-1865. Published 2020. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.]

[bestworstcase]

And what does Salem want? Narrative has been saying “end the world so she can rid herself of the curse,” and sure, that might not be it because it’s based on faulty assumptions. But wouldn’t her end goal be to get out of immortality?

well. the narrative has said a lot of things:

to “change the world,” qrow says, “is exactly what the enemy wants” (v4)

salem “can’t be stopped, can’t be reasoned with, and will not rest until humanity crumbles at her feet,” says raven (v5)

salem’s rebellion sought to “destroy their old masters” and “claim the powers of their creators for themselves, and in turn, perfect their own design”

millions of years after that crushing defeat, she tells ozma they could “become the gods of this world” and “create the paradise the old gods could not”—same goal.

”why spend our lives trying to redeem these humans when we could replace them with what they could never be?”—in essentials, irrespective of how you read her specific meaning, this is “why should we try to go back to the old ways when we could make something new?”

salem is doing all this to “tear down the huntsmen academies,” ruby says (8.5)

“you’ll only be helping her bring about the end, for all of you!” oz shouts in a desperate attempt to scare cinder out of bringing the staff to salem (8.6)

hazel believes she’s trying to create a “new world order” with no huntsmen academies and no kingdoms (8.7)

oz deliberately misrepresents the nature of salem’s immortality to support his claim that “all she craves now is release. death,” while trying to scare hazel into turning against her

tyrian believes she’s “destruction incarnate” and “wishes to see the end of it all!”

salem tells cinder “in pursuit of a new world, no cost is too great” (8.14)

in WOR episodes and her soliloquies, salem speaks highly of humanity and of the democratic councils but is utterly disdainful of the huntsmen academies (which exist to “protect a lifestyle,” in her view) and of ozpin’s “guardians” and “monuments” to a “so-called ‘free’ world”—her protégée grew up a slave in the heart of atlas, ozma’s crowning achievement—and she declares that his guardians will fail him, his monuments will fall, and that she “can’t wait to watch [him] burn.”

so… on balance, not only is “salem intends to change the world” the first thing we’re directly told about her, it’s also the narrative that aligns with both salem’s history (on three separate occasions in 6.3, she rejects the divine order and envisions a new world without the brothers) and everything salem herself has said (“in pursuit of a new world” + her specific ideological problems with the “lifestyle” huntsmen uphold, a lifestyle that turns a blind eye to child slavery, inequality, genocide—remember the faunus had to fight a war to stop the human kingdoms from trying to forcibly “centralize” the faunus population in menagerie (1.12)?—and relies on using children as cannon fodder while restricting all training in self-defense to an elite warrior class that more or less exists above the law, bc people who live outside the kingdoms don’t need huntsmen)

the only character who truly, unquestionably believes that salem wants to Destroy The World is tyrian, who is off his rocker.

everything oz says about her plans in v8 has to be taken into consideration that he’s 1. a practiced liar and 2. actively trying to manipulate salem’s agents by appealing to their fear of her, so he has a strong incentive to distort the truth—which he does, by misrepresenting her immortality as a ‘curse’ and lying about what the end clause is. (the brothers didn’t curse her, per se; they dropped her into the fountain of life and told her she could “rest” only once light was satisfied that she’d learned her lesson).

and then raven phrases “she will not rest until humanity crumbles at her feet” in an ambiguous way that could mean either “salem wants to destroy humanity” or “salem is going to confront the gods and get everyone killed again” depending on how much raven actually knows.

the other factor to consider is that. it’s really strongly implied in the lost fable that salem accepted that she might never be mortal again before she even incited the rebellion. “if she were to turn humanity against light and darkness, she could rid herself of their curse, or at the very least… she could make them suffer.” <- she hoped that she could find a way to become mortal again, but she knew it wasn’t a certainty. the god of light implied to her that only he and his brother could restore her mortality; she dedicated herself to destroying them anyway.

like. she made a choice, then. that she wanted to topple the brothers even if it meant she would never ever be able to die. and even after they butchered the world and left her deathless in the ashes for millions of years, even after she became desperate enough to throw herself into the pool of grimm… when ozma told her there was a way to call the brothers back and plead for mercy, salem didn’t hesitate even for a second before saying no. she has no interest in redemption.

if she wanted to die the only thing she’d have to do is go to ozma and tell him she’s ready to repent. they both know that’s what it will take for the world to be spared, salem humbling herself before the gods to repudiate her rebellion. and it’s not like salem has any pride; she says “it’s all my fault” with her whole chest and describes exactly how she erred with cinder in front of her whole inner circle (and ozma), and she calms down when yang tries to provoke her on purpose.

it doesn’t matter if she’s actually repentant or not. she knows the brothers aren’t omniscient; all she has to do is bow down and say the god of light was right about life and death and she’s sorry for being so selfishly arrogant. and then she could rest.

but… “we finally had freedom.” and “your monuments to a so-called free world.” and her song: “you can’t have my life/i'm not your sacrifice/you can try, but i’m free/and you won’t conquer me/i won’t crawl/most of all/i won’t fall/for you.” and hell even the myth she quotes to ozma when she rejects the mandate: “This land is no less hospitable than where we came from,” the people on the beach said. “But here at least we have control of our fates, free from the influence of others.”

freedom. over and over and over again, what salem wants is to be free; first from her tower, and then she finds her freedom in ozma’s eyes, and then immortality is her prison only for as long as she’s trying to kill herself to reunite with ozma but becomes her greatest weapon the moment she turns her attention to liberating the world from the tyranny of the brothers, and then she believes she’s found freedom with ozma again until he admits his true his intentions and:

she’s back in the tower again.

the divine mandate, ozma’s endless crusade to destroy her, to rid the world of her influence, to keep her in exile by casting her as the root of all evil while he tries and fails and tries and fails again to unite the world without her so he can summon his gods and be rid of her forever—that’s her tower, now. salem just wants to be free.

[ecce-felix]

Stans claiming sjm isn’t a zionist are so delusional. It’s not even about her traveling to Israel and ‘feeling proud’ (which is zionist in general for several reasons but I digress) Her books are full of zionist and colonialist ideology. In TOG her protagonist is a literal colonizer who thinks she should conquer the world to ‘help’ it. The human rebels in TOG are written like cowardly ineffectual idiots who only get in the protagonists’ way. In ACOTAR, an ex slave is shat on by the narrative & the main characters for…*checks notes*…manipulating and then killing a slaver. He’s treated like a villain even after he proves himself (at BEST he’s considered morally grey by the end). In CC she specifically portrays the human rebels to be LITERAL child killing psychopaths who murder innocent vanir for no reason. A rebel leader shoots several vanir who were helping them. Like they bring them supplies and she has them killed on the spot. Just bc she’s EVIL I guess. And then the protagonists sabotage the rebellion’s weapons and ruin one of their bases because of it and it’s portrayed as this great act that will preserve peace (in a society with literal slaves where certain minorities are ALWAYS born slaves or second class citizens). The vanir (some of whom LITERALLY EAT HUMANS) are portrayed as innocent victims of violent extremism, instead of being portrayed as colonizers who willingly benefit from the suffering of humans/slaves. (I say the Vanir are colonizers bc in the w second book we find out the Vanir came from other worlds and the CC world originally belonged ONLY to humans but humans aren’t even viewed as full citizens and are more often slaves). These are Zionist beliefs. Focus on more than the smutty bits and you wouldn’t be so shocked.

[1533-secrets-from-history]

Mistakes in Magnificent Century part I

In part I I would like to speak about mistakes they made while writing characters. Their ages, titles, origins etc.

Let's start with Ayse Hafsa Sultan:

Several things about her were done wrong. First of all, She was not Crimean princess. There are two possibilities that although contradicts one another counters her royal origin. 1. There was another concubine named Ayse,who was daughter of Crimean khan, while she was called Ayse Hafsa for that reason 2.( I agree with that possibility more ) there was no concubine from Crimean family Sultan Bayazid would never let Selim, who was not his favourite, to gain such allie, nor would khan of Crimea risk to marry her daughter to non-favoired prince. Besides, Selim did not have much of a support from Crimea during his Rebellion.

As we more or less agreed that Ayse Hafsa was not Crimean, now we have to agree on where she was from. Legendary mother of the Magnificent sultan was actually converted slave of Caucasian origin, therefore she was either Circassian or Georgian.

Third thing about her is her title. Screenwriters both demoted and promoted her in this case. She was not "Valide Sultan" as we know today, first holder of that title would be Nurbanu 40 years after her death. She was Sultan and respected mother Padisah yes,but those two honours never joined for her. She was simply " Mother of Sultan Suleiman",who had title of Sultan instead of Hatun. While Nurbanu was full fledged "Valide Sultan" and was addressed so. Despite not being Valide Sultan, she was the first slave in Ottoman history, who was elevated to Status of Sultan that was never underlined in the show.

Other mistakes about her are how they represented her pre-1520 life, which I will discuss in Part 3 about "Titles, ranks and traditions" and her relationship with daughters- in law, that will be discussed in part 2, that will be specifically about relationships.

2. Ages of Suleiman's sister.

In the show Suleiman Seems to be older, followed by Sah or beyhan, Fatma being somewhat middle and Hatice as baby of the Family, while actually going backwards. One thing I want to make clear is that all the full sisters of sultan were older than them(before 1522 of course), half sister could have been either younger or older. So Fatma, Beyhan and Hatice despite being portrayed as younger sisters were definitely older. A more accurate sequence would be:

Hatice- c. 1490

Fatma: 1491-92

Beyhan: most likely 1493

Suleiman: 1494

Hafsa: 1495

Sah-huban: 1500

Suleiman also had at least three brothers orhan, salih, who seemed to be older than Suleiman, a sister who likely died during childhood and Shehzade sultan or Hanim sultan, who was either another sister or perhaps she never existed and all the little sources about her is actually about hatice.

3. Origin of Sah Huban Sultan.

She was not the daughter of Hafsa and older sister of Hatice, she was actually the youngest of shown siblings,born as the only child of an unknown concubine registered as " The mother of Sah Huban Sultan".

4. Origin of Hurrem

In the show she was portrayed to be Crimean and was addressed as " Russian slave" numerous times. However, she was actually from Ruthenia, it was then part of the Polish crown, now it's part of Ukraine, so definitely not Russian.

5. Forgotten Children

Apart from the six children that were shown in the show, Suleiman had four other children. Three sons and a daughter.

Shehzade Mahmud and Shehzade Murad were born before Hurrem arrived and had different mothers. Mahmud was the eldest born in 1512, Murad was younger than Mustafa born in 1519. Raziye was born between 1513 and 1518, but most likely she was born in 1513-14 as she seems to be the second child and old enough to be considered Mahidevran's(which is by the way false). All three of them died in 1521 as the result of the plague.

The fourth child Shehzade Abdullah was born as the fourth child of Hurrem and Suleiman, born in 1525 and died in 1528. His date of birth is kind of troubling, some historians argue if he was born in 1525,some even say he was Mihrimah's twin, but considering no birth of twins registered, definite ages of other kinds and his appearance in Hurrem's letters Abdullah seems to be born in 1525.

6. Nurbanu's Triplets

Mistakes about the birth of Selim I daughters are more or less clear, let's speak about Selim II as well.

In the show, triplets- Sah, Esmahan and Gevherhan were introduced as younger twin sisters of shehzade Murad. In reality, all three were older but certainly not twins, Sah was not even Nurbanu's daughter, she shared the birth year with Gevherhan though, both were born in c.1544, then was Esmahan in 1545, Murad in 1546, at this point Nurbanu stopped giving birth to any more kids, last of Selim II's kids was Fatma born in 1559.

7. Origin and death of Gulfem hatun

In "Magnificent century" Gulfem is portrayed as Suleiman's first concubine, who bore a son,but lost everything after he died. In reality, Gulfem was one of the highest ranking harem managers, whom Suleiman trusted Hurrem to, she was overseeing her education and well-being, bonding with future Haseki Sultan in the process. Gulfem actually became the closest friend and Confidant of Hurrem, about which I will speak about in part II.

Her death was also portrayed inaccurately. She was not killed for the attempted murder of Suleiman, The closest rumor to it is him executing Gulfem for rejecting him,but she actually died of old age. Suleiman had no reason to execute Gulfem,there is a version were Gulfem exchanges her Night to other concubine to for money to build complex,but there are so many flaws in this theory:

1. There was no such thing in harem as "my turn and your turn"

2. It was strictly against the traditions to call harem servant, especially one from the highest ranks, and considering when it happened in kate nineteen-early twentieth century at caused some probmens,which means tradition was never broken before

3. Gulfem had right to send concubine to Suleiman and even reject one already chosen.

4. Suleiman had no known concubine that time

5. Gulfem was not building anything as all of her projects was already finished.

6. Even if she was building something, it would cost so much mere concubine would never have enough money to help it. Gulfem's daily stipend was 150 akches, which is almost four times as much as Mahidevran's and almost as much as imperial princesses', while titles concubines were receiving 1-6 depending on their status.

7. Even if she needed something she would ask it to either Suleiman, Mihrimah or Sah huban as we know it had happened before and they thought her as family member.

8. Even if we just jump these 7 reasons and somehow accept that Suleiman realy called her that night , he would never kill her for that, she broke no rule, she needed money for project, he would understand this.

9. Gulfem was childhood friend of Suleiman, she was already a high ranking woman when mahidevran came,so she was certainly older than her,who was likely born in 1498-99, she was even older than Suleiman most likely. She was a childhood friend of one of Suleiman's sisters so her date of birth could vary from 1490 to 1493. That would make her between 69 and 72 in 1562. Dieing at such age is nothing strange even today, live past 60 was actually achievement in her era. There is no need to look for intrigue where there is none. Several theory existed,but show chose most dramatic one,that happened to be least likely.

8. Safiye's arrival

I have nothing against the portrayal of her origin, but about how she got in Murad's harem. Accord- ing to MC she was Mihrimah's gift. However,in real life she was raised and educated at Humaşah sultan's court,who later gifted Sifiye(then called Meleki) to her cousin.

9. History of Kösem

In Magnificent Century Kosem young Anastasia was kidnapped as a gift of Safiye to Ahmed per his accession. Actually, Kösem, then called Mahpeyker, was a servant of Handan Sultan and met Ahmed in his mother's personal Gardens. Ahmed developed a "Childhood crush" towards her and Handan,aware of what it could cause, had Kösem beaten up and exiled. When Ahmed ascended her recalled her and brought back.

10. Another forgotten child.

In the show, Şehzade Mehmed died without any kids, while in reality, he had a posthumous daughter born in 1543 named Humaşah. Who grew up to be one of the most powerful women in the Ottoman empire. She was one of two favourite grandchildren of Suleiman and Hurrem and due to the death of her father, she was raised in the household of her grandmother, so she would have been deeply involved in their later life. However, her existence was completely cut out, while the role and importance of Ayse Humaşah, daughter of Mihrimah Sultan was reduced into nothingness.

[deathbirby]

K here are some terrible takes I have collected. Short thoughts for each one.

"Rhea intentionally caused famine by not sharing knowledge with Faerghus"

We have no idea what kind of knowledge she shared. And pick a side! Rhea has to stay out of human affairs because she's not human, OR she has to involve herself with human affairs because otherwise she's bad?

"The Church is homophobic"

Nowhere is it even implied that same-sex relationships are frowned upon in Fodlan. Hell, the archbishop, goddess, and many devout characters are queer, and nobody raises a fuss about their love lives in their endings.

Their holy book also says that the goddess does not deny love.

The whole crest stuff is not the church's fault. They tell you not to abuse crests, and had no hand in the creation of them. Humans did. And speaking of humans, Edelgard says that the people are the ones who elevate crest bearers, not the church.

The Church also has no control over the nobles, who would be the homophobic ones in this scenario??

"Cyril is Rhea's slave"

Cyril was an actual slave at House Goneril until Rhea saved him, something he is expresses his gratitude for by doing chores. He wants to feel useful in some capacity. This is a child who wants to feel useful and takes on extra chores because of that. He's a stubborn little lad, and we love him for it.

"Rhea keeps Cyril uneducated on purpose"

Cyril says in his and Lysithea's support that he keeps his illiteracy a secret because he doesn't anybody to feel like he's not up to a task because of it. AKA: He wants to help out!

"Seteth is doing propaganda"

I'm guessing this refers to the Shadow Library. Seteth removes books there that are either inappropiate or have information that's extremely dangerous if it got out. Some books talk about bans, but since those books are in the shadow library, that likely means they're outdated.

Or this refers to him calling Edelgard mean things?? She declared war against them; of course he's not happy.

"Byleth regains their humanity in CF"

Byleth was never human. Their mother is VERY much implied to have been a Nabatean, and their heart belongs to their (likely Nabatean) mother and the goddess.

Byleth also embraces their Nabatean heritage. Remember that Silver Snow is called Byleth's Route.

Byleth's Legendary Alt in FEH is their Enlightened One version.

Byleth's Brave Alt in Feh is Sothis's regalia, and they sing the Song of the Nabateans.

Byleth's Halloween Alt is a Duo with Sothis.

Byleth's Summer Alt is a Duo with Rhea.

Byleth's Khadein Alt talks about the Goddess's hand in events.

Byleth's Fallen Alt's Forging Bonds has Sothis taking over their body to protect them.

This argument also implies that it's bad for someone to be Nabatean, which is like... yikes.

"Seteth kills the western church members cuz theyre heretics"

"Indeed. The Western Church is attempting to seize sacred ground by force."

- They explain it to you in the exact same paralogue!

"The Nabateans benefit the most from the current state of events" / "The Nabateans are the ruling/top class in Fodlan"

How does the nearly extinct group benefit most from a system where their people's bones are used as WMDs?

They are walking on glass, y'all. If the truth (or even a lie) got out, they would get hunted down.

"Lonato is a good man"

He incited an armed rebellion against a church and would've mowed down villages to get there. He also goes around the knights to attack the students. No, he is not a good man.

"Nabateans ruled over humans in the past and their rule was bad" / "Nemesis did the right thing by taking out the Nabateans"

The word the devs use for the Nabatean rule is apparently something like "cure."

It is also NEVER stated that their rule was bad? Just that the Agarthans hated it (because they hate everyone).

Even the Agarthans talk shit about Nemesis. Nobody liked him.

And you can't... justify genocide? What?

"Sothis and her kids are colonizers and the Agarthans are the natives who got wiped out"

Fun fact! Despite all my theories, it is never made clear whether or not humans already lived on Fodlan when Sothis got there! The beginning cutscene flashes (Sothis's memories) show us a gorilla first, which implies that either life was not advanced, or humans did not exist by then.

Let's say humans did exist then. Sothis landed there and just started her own family. She never took any land by force? She shared knowledge with the humans which allowed them to build modern cities. That's not colonization. Please look up cases of actual colonization; I beg of you.

Sothis is more accurately an immigrant who shares her own culture with others.

"Sothis is not a god but a space alien"

It's never confirmed if Sothis is a space alien so that's actually just theory/headcanon.

Even if, all of her feats (and the dev's words) say that she's a god.

There are many more takes like these, but these are the ones I remember from the top of my head.

[huntressdarkness]

Huntress' Fics

Note: All my fics are explicit and 18+ unless I say otherwise, and they are all private, so you will need an ao3 account to read them. :)

Anakin-centric

Covenant - Heir to the Empire under Emperor Kenobi, Anakin is instrumental in bringing peace to the galaxy. Though the clones have rights and a way out, Rex chooses to stay with Anakin, especially in the wake of his arranged marriage to end the budding rebellion. - (Anakin/Rex)

Bad Batch-centric

Aloft - Echo rescues Crosshair on a prison transport to Tantiss, and the Batch join him on Rex’s Yavin IV hideout. Having Crosshair back doesn’t automatically erase what happened or mend the rifts that have been torn. - (Hunter/Crosshair)

Alight - Sequel to Aloft - (Hunter/Crosshair)

Deep In Their Bones - Post-E4 in S3 when Crosshair comes back. - (Hunter/Crosshair and Hunter/Crosshair/Wrecker)

Lead Me Unto Temptation - On their first mission for Cid, Hunter is captured by Zygerrians and sold off to be a sex slave before he and the Batch can escape. He contacts Crosshair for an extraction, even though that means calling the Empire. - (Hunter/Crosshair)

Lead Me Unto Freedom - Sequel to Lead Me Unto Temptation - (Hunter/Crosshair)

Poisoned Waters - The Batch rescue Crosshair from Tantiss, but that doesn’t automatically fix everything. A “treasure hunt” with Phee goes badly, exposing Crosshair to an aphrodisiac toxin… and leaving Hunter to “help” him through it. - (Hunter/Crosshair)

Rapture [Series; WIP] - When Crosshair discovers that Tech is behind the mask of CX-2 on Tantiss, he tries to reach out to him to see if something familiar might bring back the brother he knew. And he has to face the consequences of his failure alone. - (Polybatch)

Stardust [Series; WIP] - Captured on Zygerria, Hunter and Crosshair become prisoners of Queen Miraj Scintel. She will try and break them, and their fellow captives, Anakin Skywalker and Captain Rex, through every possible way, stopping at nothing, even rape. But when Hunter and Crosshair have yearned for each other, it may only bring them together the way they've always wanted - and maybe even win them other lovers on the way. - (Hunter/Crosshair to Hunter/Crosshair/Anakin/Rex)

Worlds Apart [WIP] - Though the pregnancy was an accident, Hunter didn’t regret it. How could he? He can’t deny what Crosshair means to him. But the child doesn’t make it, or so Nala Se tells him. Forcibly transitioned from omega to alpha, Hunter has to cope with his new designation as well as grief for the child he never got to know. And then the Empire forms and all his attempts at rebuilding something come crumbling down. - (Hunter/Crosshair to Polybatch)

[ooops-i-arted]

ahsoka still calling anakin a 'good master' after everything he fucking did to her oh my god, ENOUGH!

cowboy hat man won't give it a rest. he wants to throw ahsoka in everything and have her ascend to glorified creator's pet status, but he still can't figure out how to feature her without making her whole worth and existence about anakin. a two year relationship that ended with the master nearly murdering his padawan gets to be highlighted repeatedly, as if it was the most emotionally resonant thing to ever happen to ahsoka and anakin. instead of literally any other relationship that could be explored more.

screw ahsoka's other relationships from the jedi temple or the clones. she can hang out with rebels characters who are reduced to hollow husks of themselves while she has the charisma of a plank. but let's remind everyone how special and awesome she is because anakin was assigned to her for a short time. ahsoka is almost fifty years old now, were the options really that limited? screw respecting anakin's kids who achieved their own legacies and played important roles in the rebellion, defying what he chose to become. luke and leia are barely present in these galactic events and it's rare for their names to be mentioned at all. and who the hell is padme at this point?

ahsoka's writing has been unimpressive for a while now and i haven't cared about her story beyond fandom osmosis. but her show probably isn't even servicing people who actually liked her from tcw anymore, it's about whatever caters to filoni's warped perception of these characters.

Not only is it egregious because we know Anakin is a child murderer, Ahsoka NEVER moves on or comes to terms with it! She just keeps wallowing in it so Filoni can wank off to Anakin licking Ahsoka's butthole. Also: two years. There's no way she's near as speshul to him as Padme (the woman he was in love with for 10+ years and his wife) or Obi-Wan (his Master who was like a brother to him, again for over a decade) or Shmi (his freakin' mother and likely his one point of stability in a chaotic childhood as a slave). Don't even tell me that if Anakin was dropped in the World Between Contrived Time Travel he would save Ahsoka over any of them lmao. Or drop her like a hot potato if he had to choose between Ahsoka and Luke, his son and the last remnant he has of Padme (her son), Obi-Wan (guarded and trained by), Shmi (her grandson) and pretty much the one person he was able to commit an act of true, unselfish love for (killing Palps).

I do feel bad for the fans since I've seen plenty of comments that it's "not her" and that RD's portrayal is just so flat and devoid of smirky smugness/cheekiness/whatever. I personally may hate it but it is part of her character. And you're right, why is it only people she isn't connected to? She barely knew the Rebels crew and mostly as Fulcrum, so a professional relationship, not a friendship. Not to mention Sabine being forced into a Jedi Padawan role despite NEVER showing Force sensitivity or any interest in being a Jedi, and she lived with two of them for years. She had plenty of opportunity to ask Kanan if she wanted to be trained! But nah, we gotta give Ahsoka a Padawan and throw in some forced girl power stuff on the side. (As a former little girl who deeply craved female representation in the male-dominated stories I loved, I can tell you, little girls can tell when it's forced.) (Also Sabine choosing to force herself into a Jedi role out of grief for missing Kanan and Ezra instead of actually being into it or confronting her feelings of loss could've been a really interesting character moment. But nah.)

Side note but I also find it interesting that Rex is barely in this show. Wasn't Rex Ahsoka's clone counterpart? They're very close friends? He's still alive and kicking and could help her out? That would be a really cool relationship to explore? Or did Filoni realize he can't whitewash a real Māori man the way he can animated clones?

(Also I saw this ask before bed and woke up thinking about Mara Jade and Jaina Solo, a female teacher-student relationship that was so badass, and now I want Mara Jade being Rey's teacher and helping her confront her relationship to Palpatine and Rey having the guidance of someone who Gets It, can you imagine. We could've had it alllllllll)