#not in a 'he was secretly being good' but in a 'vader has lost everything and now he thinks it's his right to be repayed'

[fakeoldmanfucker]

Thinking about Vader taking Reva in as an inquisitor not because he didn't remember her, or because he thought her rage would be useful, but because maybe some small part of him wanted to keep what was left of his family close to him (albeit, a subset of the population that was more vulnerable to manipulation due to their young age). Not out of guilt, but as possession under the guise of responsibility.

[nevertheless-moving]

Unnamed Extremely Bad Plan to Defeat Darth Sideous AU - SW AU NO 9

Hopefully writing down this star wars au will help me exorcise the cringe demon that helped midwife it. Time travel au where obi-wan and Anakin come up with an extremely SPECIFIC and UNCOMFORTABLE plan to defeat Palpatine because it unfortunately, would actually work, as it capitalizes on one of Palpatine’s easiest to reach political vulnerabilities. This is not a unique plan- there are other au’s like this, but this one is mine. When searching for ways to explain exactly why this anti-sith strategy inspires such cringe and delight in myself I realized, with sinking dread, I have seen this in an Always Sunny episode...which yeah. I might be over reacting but hey, cringe is a personal phenomenon, everyone’s different.

Anyway! Uh here’s a bunch of plot that will eventually culminate in the plan. 

*Too much plot, aaaah*. **All plot actually.** ***Its 1 am and this is still a draft*** ****It’s 2am**** *****This post will be just be background I guess.*****

*******STAR WARS AU NO 9 LAZILY OUTLINED CHAPTER ONE*********

Force ghosts Darth Vader and Ben Kenobi have had time to yell at one another without need for breath, and have more-or-less come to terms with the trainwreck that was their shared life. I wouldn’t call them well adjusted, but they’re more stable then they were the last decade or so of their living existence. 

In haunting Luke, they end up encountering an artifact in an ancient Willis temple that offers spirits the chance to fix the mistakes they made in life. It doesn’t truly unwrite what’s been done, but it lets you create an alternate timeline. So this galaxy will still be what it is, but some alternate galaxy somewhere could at least have it better. Its almost never been used, because becoming one with the force usually lets you accept the past, but viewed objectively, Vader and Ben’s lives involved an extreme amount of yikes. They say goodbye to Luke and are flung backwards and sideways.

Anakin is holding his mother as she dies. Obi-Wan is landing on Genosis. 

Vader just barely manages to avoid slaughtering the tuskens. To be honest, he doesn’t really get why he shouldn’t- his moral compass is still pretty f-ed up. He’s fairly certain the force is just torturing him, but still he controls himself (for Padme for Luke for Leia).

I’m gonna say well-adjusted!Vader sees murder in general as more of a vice than a sin- on par with having a beer. And really well adjusted Vader is willing to admit to himself that he’s an alcoholic, he seriously cannot regulate, its a problem. He really can’t let himself go, because he’ll just end up spiraling. And so he restrains himself and only seriously maims a few of the adult raiders.

Vader figures he can always come back later and slowly torture them to death if this whole ‘save the future’ thing doesn’t pan out.

Obi-wan leaves his shuttle and hides under a rock for 30 minutes. He calculates thats just enough time for him to pretend he went on an extremely effective and sneaky fact finding mission- just in case anyone checks R4′s records. Gets back in shuttle and gets the fuck out of there, much to Dooku’s chagrin, who lost sight of him after the shuttle landed and is now going to have to switch to one of his alternate start-the-war plans. 

On the flight back he reports everything to the council- fallen Dooku and the separatist leaders, the trade federation and the massive droid army, Jango Fett the clone template of the republic army (?) working for the separatists. He briefly comms Anakin, but anyone hacking into their conversations would hear only a nonsensical, rambling conversation. Later, a hacker might turn over the idea that they were speaking in elaborate code, but why would Jedi invent such a thing during peacetime?

The war still starts; at this point in the timeline it was inevitable; the artifact was only designed to give them the chance to correct their own failings, not the galaxy’s. Palpatine still gets his emergency powers. 

The same day the armies are discovered, separatist war ships take off to engulf Ryloth. The Jedi are instructed by the senate to lead the clone army and provide immediate relief-this will not be a repeat of the republic’s inaction on Naboo. It’s both better and worse than the first Battle of Genosis. So many more civilians are caught in the crossfire. The first titanic battle is not contained to evacuated droid factories, but rages across an entire populated world. The battle lasts for weeks.

The main reason this fight is less deadly is solely due to the fact that General Kenobi manages to maneuver his way into high command of the entire army.

 “I believe assumptions were made since I was the first point of contact with Kamino, Masters,” the Knight explained apologetically to the arriving high council members. “I realize its not quite appropriate, but for right now I am the Jedi most familiar with our forces and the enemies. I would, of course, prefer to cede the role to someone else.” 

The assembled Jedi can feel the truth in that statement.

“For better or for worse, advance troops were directed by the senate to land planetside and have met heavy resistance. I managed to redirect them to a more defensible position, where they can provide surface based cover fire for incoming reinforcements. The battle has already begun.” He received a grim nod of approval from Master Windu.

“I feel the need to say now, that if there’s one thing I learned from my time as a general on Melida/Dann, or in working against Death Watch on Mandalore, its that having a clear chain of command is vital for a military to succeed. I don’t need to remind some of you that leadership breakdowns were what ultimately ended both the Stark Hyperspace War and the Yinchorri Crisis,” Masters Koon and Tiin exchanged looks before deliberately sending forth a small force wave of approval, understanding where this briefing was leading. 

“I believe that unnecessarily restructuring command before the battle is won here could do far more harm than good.” The reminder of Obi-wan’s unusually militaristic apprenticeship put some of the assembled knights at ease even as it inspired a twinge of guilt in the older masters. 

“In command you are, General Kenobi,” Master Yoda finally acknowledged. “A Jedi Master you will be, once done this battle is. Have us do, what would you?” 

The battle lasts for weeks, and when its over, the commanding Jedi and Troopers involved will openly acknowledge that had anyone else been in command, it would’ve lasted months, if not years. Facing down logistical, strategic, and tactical problems on a scale unheard of for a thousand years, High General Kenobi does not falter.

Enemy reinforcements seem unending. For all their preparation, every single trooper is new to war, and secretly concerned that should they fall, they will be replaced with cadets who hadn’t even finished their training.

Obi-Wan is putting out fires before they can start. Much to their shock, clone commanders are informed that they will, for the time being, remain in charge of their troops. With a handful of exceptions, Jedi ‘Generals’ were in fact, to be treated as a cross between highly skilled commandoes and advisors with abnormally sourced field intelligence. 

“All of you have spent your lives training to lead your brothers into combat. The Jedi Masters and knights who are being assigned to your divisions have not received such training.” 

General Kenobi addressed the division commanders, some in person, some over holocomm. All focused in rapt attention as their General reordered the shape of their lives using language they could understand.

“The command structure I am issuing is designed to maximize our ability to utilize our respective strategic capabilities, while minimizing potential loss of your life. It will be our great privilege to serve alongside such an army, and while I fully expect a complementary exchange of knowledge in time, for now, focus on survival.”

The Jedi received similar briefings, tailored for their broader array of combat and military experience. Some, including Jedi Master Pong Krell and Grandmaster Yoda, were pulled aside and tasked with the essential mission of infiltrating and destroying the Droid factories on Genosis. If they were to have a chance of winning this war, they they would need to cut off the seemingly unceasing flow of droid reinforcements. 

An elite squadron of Arctroopers and Jedi field operatives were covertly dispatched, Grandmaster Yoda himself in command. Considering Count Dooku had yet to appear anywhere near Ryloth...the grandmaster had the best chance of bringing in the fallen separatist leader alive for questioning.

Shortly after they left, Anakin arrived, having finally turned over Padme’s protection to her regular guard. With the military creation vote past, the assassination risk was considered minimal. The real delay in his arrival came from her repeated attempts to join the Grand Army of the Republic on Ryloth with the intent of coordinating humanitarian assistance. Eventually he managed to convince her that she could do more good in the senate. 

After all, he pointed out, someone would need to followup the military creation act with a bill to grant clones equal citizen rights. Otherwise, the legal grey area that cloning fell under and their non-republic origin would inadvertently make the clones slaves. 

His borrowed Nabooan cruiser entered the warzone with the grace and efficiency as a small neutron bomb.

Those close enough to see its flaming descent watched in horror, realizing that the high generals own padawan would likely be a war casualty before he ever engaged in combat.

The legion nearest to soon-to-be-ground-zero, under the command of Captain Rex of the 501st, were distracted by heated combat, as the temporary barricade they had put up to defend the civilian population gave way to droidika artillery. 

While reloading, several dozen troopers happened to look up to see a speck detach itself from the hull as at spiraled in the lower atmosphere. Hope spread that the Jedi had managed to activate some sort of eject hatch. A skilled shocktrooper could probably control and and survive such a fall with luck, which mean a Jedi almost certainly could. 

A few tactical scouts charged with watching the skies confirmed that the speck was indeed a humanoid. No chute was visible, but even 8 days into the war, rumors had already spread about how Master Windu had passed off his chute mid-air to a troopers who had been damaged by suppressing fire, cushioning his free fall solely with the tank he crushed upon landing. 

Only one trooper, stationed in the town clock tower specifically to track the Padawan’s arrival and issued with a high-resolution farscope, saw the whole thing. Fortunately for his credibility later, in its current setting, the scope automatically logged photos every 5 seconds, ensuring that for years to come Obi-Wan would have a flipbook as evidence that he was not the crazy one.

CT-3609 or Blink (as he was named after winning the division wide staring contest on Kamino two year prior) forwarded the trajectory of the vehicle to command, who confirmed his analysis that it would impact two clicks out from their makeshift fort and not present a risk to civilian or trooper lives. 

As it traversed the stratosphere a figure (desperate repair droid, Blink assumed) emerged from the cockpit to perch on the nose of the ship. As it entered the troposphere, it became painfully obvious that the figure jutting out from the hull of the ship was in fact not a humanoid droid, but an unarmored human. The Jedi stood on the prow of the ship, seemingly impervious to and oblivious of:

air resistance 

centrifugal force

normal space gravity 

Blink’s slack-jawed bewilderment

the flames engulfing the ship below him

At this range, the smirk on the man’s face was visible (man? boy? kriff is he even through puberty?). Several miles above the surface he leaped, diving towards the ground like a bird of prey. 

To the west, the ship made impact with the ground, sending a shockwave that shook the tower just enough for Blink to lose visual in the final moments of descent. Cursing, as while he was confident the Jedi would inexplicably survive, he really wanted to see how. The trooper scanned the droid-engulfed farmland to the north for a crash site, to no avail. Lingering smoke from the burnt countryside negatively impacted visibility low to the ground.

Rather than trying to articulate his report into words, he sent the 50-odd frames the farscope had saved, as well as the coordinates for the jedi’s projected radius of touchdown. A quick radio over to long range electro-ballistics ensured that his landing wouldn’t be marred by friendly fire.

He awaited follow-up questions on the absurd entry method, which, when they came, mostly consisted of variations on “...Is this for real?” and eventually “Can you set the scope to video for a little while?” and finally “Do you think that’s how he got the name Skywalker?”

There was a temporarily lull in fire from the west, likely a ripple effect from the ship’s explosion. From his vantage point Blink could see his batchmates using the opportunity to try and plug the holes in their barricade with broken droid pieces. Regardless of the itch to join them, he knew he couldn’t leave his post until the Jedi actually arrived in camp. Finally, a distant explosion and thick pillar of smoke gave the Jedi’s position away.

He tried to make out details, but the scope had a difficult time focusing through the haze. Manually trying to fine tune the scope’s settings, Blink caught a glimpse of what looked like half a hover tank sailing through the air to impact with a trade federation troop carrier in a fiery explosion. Several more explosions, flying droid artillery, and plumes of smoke were caught on record before visual contact with the source was established. He was mostly visible as a blue blur, lightsaber mowing a meandering path towards their location. 

It wasn’t until Skywalker braced himself in place to punch a droidaka into pieces that Blink caught actual sight of the man. Only his eyes were visible, nose and mouth covered by layers of cloth. He blurred, then reappeared on top a massive missile launcher attached to an absurdly heavily armored vehicle. A minute or so of rapid blue flashes passed, the longest he had seen concentrated in one area. Then Skywalker was gone, movement clearly visible as he for once he moved in a straight line, plowing a rapid path away from the launcher. 

Less than 30 seconds later, Blink had to wince away from the scope, as a burning white explosion temporarily overwhelmed the direct light filter. The trooper panicked for a moment, thinking he had gone both deaf and blind, but the abrupt, sucking silence ended after a moment with a deafening sonic boom. The shockwave rattled the farscope, nearly knocking it over, but Blink managed to steady it and himself in time. 

A cheer emerged from pleasantly surprised vod below. The entire droid legion that had been guarding the missile launcher and apparent ordinance bay was flattened. 

It took a moment for the realization to set in that the background noise of missile and and anti-missile collisions directly overhead had slowed pace. With the northern flank gone, artillery were able to redouble efforts to the east, and a second white hot shockwave ensued, signaling that the tide of battle had shifted. It was almost too easy for the republics electro-ballistics to tactically devastate the surrounding forces. 

Eventually some sort of win/loss programming must have set in and all forces outside of a certain radius began retreating southward, conceding the scorched land to the republic army. It was cadets work to clean up the final suicidal droid charge. 

A commotion ensued as Skywalker leapt the barricade with a mid-air flip. The vod greeted him with cheers, as they correctly assumed his appearance had something to do with the skirmish’s decisive victory.

Blink sent the video of the battle to command and quickly packed up his scope and assorted equipment. Hurrying down the battered tower, Blink thought to himself that this Anakin Skywalker was the best sort of Jedi a trooper could ask for.

uh sorry i got really sidetracked there moving on

Kenobi and Skywalker quickly become the face of the war once again

they grit their teeth a bit, but when they finally have a moment to really plan they eventually agree that to take down Sideous they have to cut off his political power in addition to everything else, and taking advantage of their public personas was the most accessible way to do so (*evil laughter*)

While Dooku wasn’t captured, Yoda heard the truth in his old student’s cryptic warnings about a Sith in the Senate, and the council begins carefully editing their release of tactical plans to the Chancellor’s office in the hopes of ferreting out the spy in their midst.

Pong Krell looses two arms in his duel with Dooku. Obi-Wan successfully hides his smug pleasure at the news. Anakin enjoys makeing comparisons between him and Grievous. 

Kenobi doesn’t allow the origin of the clones to go unexamined, although he agrees that if the public were informed that they don’t actually know who ordered them it would probably cause panic.

The ‘inhibitor chips’ are ‘discovered’ early on and Anakin leads the effort to ensure that they are phased out and removed immediately. This consists of reminding every Jedi who even hesitates about how how he as a child slave had some experience with control chips and unless you want to take a leaf out of the hutts books lets start doing brain surgery chop chop mmmkay?

(This isn’t to say that Vader doesn’t still a twinge of shame at acknowledging his slave roots. But it is eclipsed by the burning guilt that he knowingly acted as slave master to his troops for decades after Sideous wiped their minds. He tried to rationalize it to himself, after all he didn’t immediately understand what Order 66 had done to the troopers. But while the morality of murder was more of an intellectual concern than a personal one, treating people as things...)

The Kamonions are a little harder to budge, referencing contracts that they refuse to allow the Jedi to see

Finally Vader snuck into the Chief Medical Scientist’s home while she was sleeping and straight-up threatened to murder her and burn down her lab. At the risk of losing her life’s work, Nala Se complied.

Vader left with the final threat that in the event that Darth Tyranus caught wind and activated Order 66 prematurely, he would kill 100 Kamonians for every Jedi felled by troopers. Shaak Ti was pleased by the cloners sudden change of heart. Tyrannus, and by extension, Sideous, are in the dark. 

Obi-Wan frequently publicly confronts Palpatine about the troops citizen status, urging him make use of his emergency powers to grant them citizenship and full pay, with the option to leave the army should they so wish. 

Anakin manages to play off his avoidance of the Chancellor as disappointment in his perceived lack of dedication to anti-slavery efforts

Finally Palpatine gives in- regardless of what happens next, the troops will be looked after.

With 2/3rds of the troopers dechipped, Vaderkin is eager to kill Sideous again, but after several intense screaming matches and sparring sessions, the time travelers come to the agreement that even if they succeed in their duel, with things as they were, the perception of the Jedi military coop would cause mass civil unrest. The scattered sith apprentices, while individually weak, were more than capable of magnifying that fear and anger until the galaxy breaks. Darth Sideous wanted to ensure that if he couldn’t have the galaxy, no one would. 

(Vader knows this. Sideous enjoyed monologuing, and much of his plotting couldn’t be safely bragged about until after he had decisively won, leaving Vader as the unwilling receptacle for years of pent-up rants and self-satisfied gloats about the inevitability of his victory)

Continued Here

[neon-junkie]

unpopular opinion: Micah is terrible but he shows instances of having real, human emotions and completely erasing those moments to paint him as a 100% monster is a disservice for the fandom.

arrrrkajslkfjdsglk okay I'm gonna break Micah down and explain why I like him, just bc of everything going on and cause you've summed that up perfectly. Let's make one thing clear - I don't stan his actions, I never have, I never will. A lot of ppl seem to keep ignoring that lmfao. AND we all know that Micah is a fucking piece of shit. He's the devil. We know. Like the list goes on and on and on when it comes down to why Micah's garbage, but I guarantee you, there is NOBODY out there who actually *stans* him. He's a villain and damn good one. Now. Relating to what you've said, this man has just as much emotion as everybody else. I think the people who view him as an emotionless monster have either never seen ANY camp interactions with him, or they just choose to ignore them. For whatever reason. Idk. It is VERY obvious that Micah has 100% been abused by his father, probably physically as well as mentally and emotionally. He openly talks about the monster that his father is, and he KNOWS that he is just like his father. Now, Amos (his bro), on the other hand, has managed to break away from that lifestyle, straighten his ways, and settled down. Micah is so obviously jealous and even takes the time to write to his brother, probably to try and rekindle their sibling friendship or whatever you wanna call it. Amos basically goes 'NO' and slaps that idea right out of Micah's head, so I do feel bad that Micah was rejected. Amos makes it clear that he will only rekindle that if Micah changes, but he doubts Micah is able to change. So now his only 'role models' are gone - his father and Amos - Micah has nothing left to lose. He has no family, friends that encourage his chaos rather than help fix him, and no partner. He's a loose cannon, and without guidance, Micah will only continue to fire. That's why he sucks up to Dutch so much, because he STILL needs acceptance, praise, and guidance, and Dutch gives him all of that. Yeah, it's creepy to see, but that man must be dying inside if he'll literally lick Dutch's shoes just for a bit of acceptance. Micah clearly does try, like his approach to making friends is so cringe, but he's clearly never ever done this before, and he's only following the ways his father taught him. I mean, we see him still try to befriend Arthur at the start of the game, but Arthur barely looks at him and just continues to shoot him down. I know Arthur is probably following his gut, but people can't say that Micah didn't try. And we see him try it on with the women of the camp, he's clearly desperate to at least find a partner, and probably secretly jealous that his brother has that and a family. And if his brother can do it, then maybe he can too? and we do see him try. But Micah's no rapist, and it makes me cringe when ppl say that. There's a good post about it (here) that I won't go into detail, u can just read that for urself. So - Micah has nothing to lose. The camp doesn't want him there, so it's no sweat off his nose if he rats them out. Obviously, I don't agree with it and I think Micah should have just left, but then that'd be a very boring game lmfao.  There's nobody stopping him from causing chaos, and he's just going to continue to do what he was taught to do - be a fucking piece of shit. But to say he has no emotions? You sure about that? It's SO obvious that Micah still craves acceptance in any form, whether it's from a friend, a partner, his mentor, etc. He NEEDS acceptance and he seems very lost without it. And it's so clear that Micahs past trauma still controls his actions, and he clearly has no idea how to even begin accepting and moving past his trauma. That man just needs a therapist asap. Peter Blomquist said it himself, that Micah is essentially just misunderstood. (here) And well, if his own actors said that then why the hell do people continue to ignore it? Because they just want to hate Micah. They view him as an evil and racist piece of shit and just want to hate that, which everybody does cause yanno, it's bad. But they continue to ignore that Micah, like Bill, suffers from a lot of mental trauma and issues, and his past has resulted in the person that he is today. I’ll say this AGAIN, I’m not condoning his actions, far from it, I’ve said many times before that Micah is fucking garbage, we just find him interesting. Honestly, I think if the gang was accepting, or if Micah had someone to shove him in the right direction, then he would have redeemed himself and fixed his ways. Things like racism are taught, and if you can teach it, then you can unteach it, just like Bill begins to learn. Micah is a villain and that's why I like him. Again, I don't support or stan his actions, but it's just so refreshing to see someone so chaotic and loose. People saying that you shouldn't like Micah because he's racist, also choose to ignore the fact that Abigails abusive, so why do y'all still stan her when we see the way she speaks to John? or the way she physically abuses him? So abuse is fine but racism isn't? hmm.  But if we shouldn't like Micah because he's bad then why the hell do we like characters like Darth Vader or all the fucking Disney villains? Have you seen how much merch those criminals have? But a bunch of strangers on the internet having a wank over the ratman is bad? We're allowed to enjoy those but not Micah? big sigh. Peter also said that there's nothing wrong with liking Micah. You're allowed to enjoy villains, it's not a fucking crime, and it doesn't mean you support their actions, it never has done.

PLUS, this is a game full of mass murderers?!?! Arthur does a LOT that is considered questionable, such as beating a terminally ill man into his grave, but people choose to draw the line at Micah. You’re free to enjoy whatever fiction you want, but there’s no line you can draw. Well, you can draw a line for yourself, but you can’t rule what others can and cannot enjoy.

It's just SO tiring (personally) to constantly see happy endings and pure, wholesome, golden characters. I'm a sucker for bad guys and seeing them win, so when I played RDR I was like 'oh yeah, this is what I need' and that's probably why Micah's my fave lmao. It's so refreshing to see, and there's nothing wrong with enjoying it. Some people just enjoy villains, big whoop. We need to stop expecting characters to be pure cause that's just so unrealistic. Everybody has flaws of all different kinds, and that's what makes these characters human. Like, are we just choosing to ignore the fact that Arthur is the most wanted out of the gang, who has probably murdered the most people? Do we just wanna sweep his kill count under the rug and choose to hate Micah based on the one fact of him being racist? The whole fucking gang are outlaws, they're all essentially villains, even the babies like Kieran!! Micah is just as complex as every other character in this stinky game, and people who refuse to acknowledge his layers and just portray him as a monster are whack as shit. And remember, those who tell you what you can and can't enjoy are just as bad as Micah Bell himself. Especially the ones who abuse you over FICTION.

[lankoshine]

Star Wars. Far away galaxy forever Khaetskaya Elena Vladimirovna

My preface: I've wanted to post this for a long time. This text literally expresses my attitude to what is happening with my favorite character Anakin Skywalker, and confirms my doubts about the "wisdom" of the Jedi Order (they are not fools, but they are not wise men either). Wisdom should include all aspects and all-round thinking, but at times it "stagnates", "ossifies" and turns into a rotting swamp, in which the light that it should carry is drowning. And as a result, enlightenment turns into extinction and darkness.

Further words of the author:

Jedi: "the era of stagnation"

“The main content of the second trilogy, that is, the prequel, was the story of how Anakin crossed over to the dark side of the Force and how the entire Templar was destroyed ... That is, excuse the reservation: not the Templars, of course. Jedi. All Jedi were destroyed. Except for a few - Obi Wan Kenobi and Teacher Yoda. The first film, The Phantom Menace, portrayed Anakin as a boy; the next two - "The Clone Wars" and "Revenge of the Sith" - a handsome young man.

Anakin's childhood was not that unbearably difficult or completely bleak, but it could have been better. His mother Shmi and he himself (father, by the way, is unknown) were in slavery from the dealer of spare parts Watto, on the familiar "hole of the universe" - the planet Tatooine. Since Anakin from an early age was distinguished by diverse talents (for repairing equipment, for programming), the owner encouraged his studies, and the boy was busy with creativity: he would assemble a racing car from the trash, then he would build a robot and program artificial intelligence for it.

So, by the way, the boy Anakin created, again, the well-known droid C-3PO. Talkative, cowardly, endowed with useless good manners, the bore C-3PO, whom we fell in love with as Luke Skywalker's "funny magic assistant", it turns out that it was once designed by his father. (But then this droid's memory was erased, so he started the "original" trilogy from scratch.)

Naturally, such an outstanding embodiment of the Force as the boy Anakin could not remain unnoticed for long, and soon he was discovered by the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn, who immediately recognized the Young Anakin as the Chosen One. According to ancient prophecy, the Chosen One must restore balance to the Force (by exterminating the Dark Ones). In any case, the Jedi were obliged to take possession of this promising child.

By and large, it was the Light Jedi who brought Anakin the first real grief. It was they who separated him from his mother when they took him from Tatooine for the sake of a "great future" which, for Anakin himself, remained an empty phrase. The reason why the powerful (and, undoubtedly, not in need of funds) light and noble knights left the boy's mother in slavery and inflicted severe moral and psychological trauma on him remains unknown. You can find some kind of "rational" explanations, for example: a real Jedi must free himself from all earthly attachments - but this does not change the essence of the matter. Which of the nine-year-old Anakin is a "real Jedi"? And why should he suddenly free himself from attachment to his mother? After all, this is the most natural and, in general, the most positive of all emotions - love for mom!

Jedi ideology, presented in different ways from the screen, is constantly bursting at the seams. You can, for example, remember how Obi Wan Kenobi, in the form of a Force ghost, appears to Luke in Return of the Jedi: "You must stop Darth Vader." Luke, a mentally healthy and sensible young man, answers quite logically: "I cannot kill my own father." Then the luminous ghost of Obi Wan sighs and says, “Then everything is lost. You were our last hope."  What happens? That the Jedi were urging Luke to commit an unnatural act - parricide? And they did it right from the focus of the Power! If the earthly, living Obi Wan spoke so, it would be possible to write off such speeches for the usual human ability to make mistakes, to be delusional. But Obi Wan is already a ghost of the Force, so he cannot be wrong. Why is he pushing Luke to the brink of a psychological and moral abyss? Maybe this is the last test? Provocation? Harsh - and risky, especially when Luke remains "the last hope" ...

The Jedi's behavior towards Anakin Skywalker looks much more brutal and far more risky. No matter what they argued, remaining within the framework of naked theorizing, in practice the picture looked monstrous: in fact, they raised a man with their own hands, for whom it was the most natural choice to kill all the Jedi.

Moreover, the viewer, on common sense, comes to the conclusion that Anakin, in general, if he was not completely right, then, in any case, was not greatly mistaken when he chose the Dark Side.

Let's try to trace the path that led Anakin to the dark side.

... Qui-Gon took the boy with him to the planet Coruscant (where the capital of the Galactic Republic was located) and demanded permission from the Jedi Council to teach the Chosen One in all the intricacies of Jedism. By the way, the Jedi Council is very pompous meeting in the spectacular Jedi Temple on the same Coruscant. This temple plays an important role in the history of Anakin and consists of five giant spiers. The largest spire, in the center, serves as a sacred place for contemplation. The other four are the High Council, the Primordial Knowledge Council, the Reconciliation Council, and the Reassignment Council. (This structure alone can judge how complicated, even bureaucratic, everything was arranged in the Jedi world ... somehow not in Zen, to be honest!)

So, the Council did not give permission to train the boy Anakin. There is nothing to spoil the child! First, Anakin is too old to start training. The boy is already at a conscious age, he has significant life experience. It will be difficult to brainwash such a guy. Secondly, Anakin experiences negative emotions - fear and anger. Which is not surprising given his past. (The fact that the attitude of the Jedi to Anakin's life circumstances was the reason for the increase in fear and anger is not taken into account.) Quite conveniently, there was an occasion to regale Anakin (and the audience) with the maxim: “Fear is the way to the dark side. Fear breeds anger; anger breeds hatred; hatred is the key to suffering. I feel a strong fear in you, ”says the wise Master Yoda to Anakin during the Jedi Council.

Yoda is right in essence: fear is the father of many troubles and vices. But how soulless and out of place it all is!

Eventually, the dying Qui-Gon will instruct Obi Wan to train Anakin. Here the Council, albeit reluctantly, agrees. Why?

The most logical thing would be to assume that the Council, though slowly, came to the conclusion: it is much more dangerous to leave such a gifted boy unattended at all than to start his training, despite the "strong fear" and other "shortcomings."

At first glance, the choice of a mentor looks somewhat artificial. Obi Wan Kenobi was considered a very average Jedi, so Anakin kept saving his life along the way. The behavior of Obi Wan himself regularly looks completely reckless (if not "stupid"), and the young student had to "clean up" after the teacher. Although it is postulated that they were friends, Obi Wan constantly nags Anakin and actually humiliates him. Then Anakin, and for the umpteenth time, has to pull the "mentor" out of the next pit.

So was Qui-Gon Jinn wrong about Obi Wan Kenobi? Why did he choose such a weak teacher for such a dangerous young man?

According to one suggestion, Obi Wan was just pretending. But in fact ... Secretly ... Carefully hiding from everyone, he was a mighty Jedi. He just successfully pretended to be a weakling. But then why? Where is the logic?

Or maybe the Jedi reasoned like this: since we could not get rid of the inconvenient Anakin, we will give him a frankly bad mentor so that he does not reach the Jedi heights?

But here - in general, it does not even lurk, but lies on the surface - there is a great danger: surpassing the teacher, the student begins to wise up on his own and in the end it is not known what he will think of (which, in fact, happened). No, a strong student needs a strong teacher, and the Jedi could not help but understand this (otherwise how did they even manage to exist for so long).

It seems to us that the answer is simple: and there was simply no one better.

The Jedi in the prequel are reminiscent of the Politburo of the mature stagnation era. A formal approach, indifference to a particular living being, a complete lack of flexibility, undercover intrigues ... Yoda - and he looks ossified in his great wisdom. Humanity will come to the old Taoist much later, when the Jedi are exterminated. Presumably, then Obi Wan will cover his famous ability not to condemn anyone (you see, he had enough time, living as a hermit on Tatooine, to think over everything that happened and analyze his own behavior first of all).

The Jedi actually used Anakin. And this is very insulting: to understand that you were taken advantage of by those whom you idolized, considered the focus of the Power of Light.

By the way, Obi Wan Kenobi had a flaw with the Jedi Code: Anakin did not understand many of the provisions. And then Chancellor Palpatine appears, who begins to secretly, but consistently and intelligently cultivate the seeds of Darkness in Anakin's soul ...

* * *

So, one of the most important factors in Anakin's transition to the dark side was the lack of trust in mentors. And in this, Anakin was right: such mentors do not deserve any trust. Virtually every prominent member of the Jedi Council had a purpose of their own, and Anakin did not like being a puppet of someone else's interests at all.

One of the most important reasons for Anakin's fall is his forbidden love for Padma Amidala.

It is obvious to Palpatine (as to any sane creature) that one who has loved ones is extremely vulnerable. Therefore, noticing Anakin's attraction to Padmé, Palpatine arranges so that Obi Wan and his student receive a responsible task - to be the beauty's personal guard. And then Palpatine could just relax and wait, allowing events to develop naturally.

The Jedi Council further aided Palpatine's plan by recalling Obi Wan for another assignment. So in the end, a handsome young Anakin, not fully trained, subject to all sorts of passions and weaknesses (the Council is well aware of all this, but for some reason no one, not even Yoda, attaches much importance to this), is left alone with a young beautiful girl ... Of course, this girl is formerly a queen, and now a senator, and Anakin is previously a slave of some dealer in spare parts on a seedy planet, and now a Jedi-dropout and a bodyguard ... But when and who was it stopping?

However, yes. After all, the Jedi explained to the young Skywalker that passionate feelings are absolutely unacceptable. Was there an explanatory conversation? Was! What's more?

Only the "era of stagnation" in the Jedi world can explain such thoughtlessness. Here, what is called the “formal attitude” to the personality, its individual characteristics, and its fate worked in full measure.

Didn't it occur to any of the Jedi that it was more than enough to tell the young boy about the "harmful passions"? In order to achieve true dispassion - not the ability to control oneself after a sleepless night spent in hot fantasies, but real dispassion, when a young girl evokes nothing but warm, brotherly or paternal feelings - years of spiritual exercise are needed. And even then there are breakdowns, because all people are human and nothing human is alien to them.

And then for some reason everyone decided that it was enough for a guy overwhelmed by passions to say: "Don't look at the beautiful Padmé, she is not for you, and in general your destiny is celibacy, because that's how it is for us, the Jedi," and that's it, the job is ready , he will obey. What arrogance!

... But we remember that arrogance is one of the greatest vices in the interpretation of "late Ben", "officer and gentleman" performed by Guinness. The true wisdom of Alec Guinness gave us the answers to all our questions twenty years ago ...

However, let us follow how the Jedi themselves dug their own grave.

Anakin's feeling is passionate; his love is earthly, he longs to possess a girl. In theory, such feelings are a direct route to the dark side. In theory. In fact, they represent a completely natural stage in the emotional and physical development of a young person. Demanding that the young man behave like an eight-hundred-year old man, the Jedi actually expected the impossible from him: that he should distort, mutilate his nature. He, in their opinion, should not improve himself, not investigate and subordinate himself to reason, but simply break.

Anakin had the will to disobey. And in his attraction to Padmé, he is absolutely right.

And then the detonator of Anakin's first earthly affection is triggered: in a dream he sees that his mother is in danger. The Jedi were of no help to Shmi Skywalker. They simply took away from her the only living being that she held dear. Well, yes, she later got married, but how can you forget your son, being apart from him? Of course, she was sad and not completely happy.

And then - the raid of the sand people (the very same Tatooine natives, whom we saw in the "original" trilogy, in "A New Hope"), who captured Shmi as prey. This is what caused Anakin's disturbing dreams - he did not cut ties with his mother. The young man already knows: it is useless to ask the Jedi for help in such an "empty" case as rescuing some kind of Shmi Skywalker on the distant planet Tatooine. Serious adults have more important things to do. Therefore, Anakin simply takes the matter of saving mom into his own hands and flies to Tatooine. True, the Council sends him some orders after him, but this is about mom! And Anakin sends the Council to hell.

Mom still has time to die in the arms of her beloved son. And then Anakin is overcome with hatred. Undoubtedly, this hatred affected everyone who treated his mother so cruelly. Including the Jedi Council. But only sand people were at hand for revenge. And, not remembering himself from grief and rage, Anakin exterminated the entire tribe, including the elderly and children.

It was here that Master Yoda felt the "great outrage of the Force." Mostly caused not by the death of a minor barbarian tribe, but by the rage of a young Skywalker. It's time to actually draw at least some conclusions ...

And Anakin completely lost faith in the Light side. What intriguers they are, liars and mumblers! They didn’t really teach anything, they jerked them with discontent, tortured them with senseless (unrealizable) demands, they forbade saving my mother, they forbade me to love Padme, they forbade me to be a normal person at all - but what in return? Never mind! The sacred right to be a brainless tool in the hands of politicians who do not even consider it necessary to explain something to him.

Then another episode takes place, which can be considered the most important step of Anakin on the path to Darkness. To some extent, the Light Ones are again responsible for this step. We are talking about the operation to free the captured Chancellor Palpatine (then he had not yet revealed his true face - for some reason, even the wise Yoda did not know about anything and did not feel any "disturbances of the Force").

The intrigue was complex, but overall it looked like Chancellor Palpatine was captured by rebels - separatists. Their leader, Count Dooku, seriously wounded Obi Wan Kenobi, after which Anakin had to join the battle, who defeated the count. And then Palpatine gives the order: to decapitate the unarmed, defeated enemy - "he is too dangerous to be left alive!" (recalls, by the way, the requirement of the ghost of old Ben: to destroy Darth Vader).

Anakin, however, freezes in some doubts: somehow not chivalrously ... The enemy is defeated, he surrendered, he is wounded and unarmed ... But Palpatine is the chancellor, Palpatine insists, and Anakin obeys.

Why did Anakin obey an inhuman order that seemed wrong to him? And why on other occasions did he violate the wrong orders of the Council?

Because Anakin didn't trust the Jedi at all. And he did not have a clear idea which orders were correct and which were not, so the young man was forced to be guided by one single criterion: his own opinion. If it was about mom, then the advice is not a decree to him: in any case, mom needs to be saved. When it comes to Padmé, the Council is also not a decree: he loves Padmé. But if we are talking about Count Dooku, who is not related to Anakin at all ... here a hesitant young man who does not have clear moral criteria may obey the order. After all, in the end, he was trained: the Council is always right, obey the orders of your elders!

But the Council, as it turned out, was almost never right ...

* * *

Anakin was still with the Jedi — perhaps by momentum, but most likely — because of Padmé. Anakin eventually entered into a secret marriage with her (witnessed by two droids, our old friends R2-D2 and C-3PO).

Meanwhile, the Council is giving Anakin another reason to part with the Light Side. For starters, the young man is publicly humiliated by refusing to be promoted to the rank of Jedi Master. Moreover, he is ordered to spy on his patron, Palpatine. And this is simply low.

And then Anakin had another ominous dream: as if Padmé had died. He remembered well how the affair ended when he had a similar vision of his mother. Therefore, Anakin is terrified.

He is still trying to find some way out of the situation, remaining on the Light side. It seems that the Jedi temple contains some information that could save Padmé. But access to this part of the archive for him - as for the uninitiated - is closed. And the Jedi refused to raise the young Skywalker to the rank of Jedi, despite the high patronage of Chancellor Palpatine.

Finally, Anakin turns to the wisest of all - to Master Yoda: prophetic visions persistently tell him about the imminent death of a loved one ... what to do, what to do?

In response, Master Yoda burst out with a priceless sermon:

“Death is a natural part of life,” he said in his inimitable florid style. - Rejoice for your loved ones, who have transformed into Power. Do not mourn for them and do not grieve for them. After all, attachment leads to jealousy, and a shadow of greed leads to jealousy. You must let go of everything that you are so afraid of losing. Fear of loss can lead to the Dark Side. "

Oh, how wonderful - for eight hundred years! But it is definitely not feasible when you are barely twenty and the woman you love is facing death. (Subsequently, Yoda tried to advise something similar to Luke, but he stopped in time: it did not work with father, and will not work with his son.)

... And Chancellor Palpatine is right there: he promises to save Padmé if Anakin goes to the dark side. The dark side, according to Palpatine, has the power to conquer death.

By and large, there is nothing holding Anakin on the Light Side anymore. And he becomes a supporter of Palpatine - all, "with giblets."

And then finally the truth is revealed to him: Chancellor Palpatine is the very Sith Lord Darth Sidious, whom the Jedi hunted for a long time and without success.

Once again, Anakin’s moral precariousness is evident, and nothing has convinced him that the Jedi Council can be trusted. Discipline required the Sith Lord to be “turned in”. And Anakin reports his discovery to one of the masters, Windu. And he once again demonstrates distrust of Anakin: they say, you wait for me in the Jedi temple, and I will grab a couple of faithful knights and go and figure it out myself. Maybe this was the last straw. Either way, Anakin changed his mind.

Palpatine promised to help rescue Padmé; Palpatine was the only one who treated him with respect and support all this time. Therefore, Anakin at the last moment intervened in the duel between Master Windu and Palpatine and with a sudden blow cut off the Master's hand with a sword. After that, Darth Sidious easily destroys Windu. The choice is made, the die is cast, the Rubicon is crossed. From now on, Anakin finally goes to the dark side and receives a Sith name - Darth Vader.

* * *

It is instructive to compare how Palpatine / Darth Sidious / The Emperor lures Anakin Skywalker to his place and how unsuccessfully he tries to repeat this act with Luke Skywalker.

In the case of Anakin, the entire Jedi order is on the side of the dark side: it was the Jedi who, in their arrogance, finally shattered the moral foundations of a very dangerous young man. In the case of Luke, on the contrary, on the side of the Light side - even as if Darth Vader himself. After all, it was Darth Vader who clearly explained to Luke what an unsightly future awaits him: loneliness, universal hatred and selfless service to the nasty evil old man who, as if on purpose, gets into an important conversation between father and son, shouting: “Oh yes! I can feel the hate flowing through your veins, my disciple! " - although in fact, the Emperor in Luke does not cause anything but irritation in this scene. Palpatine is not just not listened to - he is a hindrance, a buzzing fly.

The success could not be repeated. Why?

It is speculated that because Anakin was vulnerable because of Padmé Amidala. Luke didn't have such a passionate affection.

But love, even passionate, cannot in itself be the cause of the fall. Many additional factors are required.

Everything was pushing Anakin to fall.

And everything kept Luke from falling.

The Jedi paid a terrible price for understanding, but those who remained were able to correct the mistake.

Anakin was unlucky in that sense. Nothing - neither the state nor the knightly order - can exist for a long time in a state of stagnation. At some point, there is an explosion, a revolution. In this case, Anakin - Darth Vader served as a weapon of revolution: he begins the systematic extermination of the Jedi.

Obi Wan and Yoda survived, as we know. In the final battle between his former mentor and former apprentice, Obi Wan managed to cripple Anakin and throw him into the boiling lava. Not bad for a mentor who has failed his mentorship.

"Obi Wan killed your father" - remember? Oh yes, Obi Wan, Master Yoda and all the wise Jedi Council - they all somehow killed "the good man Anakin Skywalker." All of them, with lies, manipulation, arrogance, intrigue, mistrust, insults, inattention, a formal approach to a very gifted and very young person - they all pushed him to the Dark Side.

And when this, quite naturally, happened - they tried to destroy it physically.

However, Darth Vader did not die: burned and barely alive, he was saved by Darth Sidious. Now Darth Vader has to live in a special spacesuit, equipped with a special life support system, and breathe through a mask: inhale - exhale.

Well well. It's time to remember the "prophecy": that the young Skywalker is destined to "restore the balance of the Force." In fact, such prophecies are very insidious: those who know them do their best to ensure that something sinister does not come true - and usually achieve the exact opposite result.

The prophecy said that the chosen youth would restore the balance of the Force ... by destroying the Sith. It is somehow illogical: what kind of "balance" can there be when the Dark Ones are destroyed? This is not a "balance" of the Force, but simply the triumph of Light. If you think about what happened, the Council itself brought Anakin to the point that he ... really restored the balance: on each side there were two left (Obi Wan and Yoda - Light Ones, Darth Sidious and Darth Vader - Dark Ones). What they wanted to get - they got it. “Maybe we misinterpreted the prophecy,” the wise Master Yoda dropped meaningfully on this matter ...”

I apologize for the crooked translation, mainly the translator helped, but the essence seems to be conveyed. After reading it, I stopped believing even more in the "Light Jedi", and indeed in everything that is openly declared as "bringing good and light." In Star Wars, only Luke, little Anakin and Padmé were true goodness and light. And when someone starts talking about what the Jedi Council is the wisest and the kindest, and Obi-Wan is the very embodiment of kindness and fluffiness, then think about what they will do to you if you are not pleasing to them. They will not even lift a finger to somehow save or sort out your problem, and will you be immured in disgusting armor, equipped with prostheses, while morally and physically crippled. Them easy to say that you yourself chose to be bad, instead of trying with your wisdom and experience to understand what drives you. Wisdom should cover all aspects, and not be one-sided and divide the world into black and white. "Only the Sith make everything to the absolute" remember? Oh god! How many times have Jedi done the same thing? Or does it not count? In short, pleasant reading and may the force be with you, my fair ones.

https://biography.wikireading.ru/1240

[elsapheonix]

Wolffe with a halo

“Hey Wolffe, look there's a letter here” Gregor called

“Alright” I called

“It’s for you can I read it?” Gregor asked

“For me? Uhh no I’ll be there in just a second” I said and I left the Bedroom and went the table where Gregor was. He handed me the Letter. My breath caught when I saw the handwriting on the envelope

Return Address:

Wild space Coordinates

G-9 76937-O-930

Commander Wolffe Koon

Seelos

AT-AT Imperial Walker

“Oh my….” I said trailing off and then I tore into the letter before my fear caused me to throw it away.

My Beloved Wolffe Koon,

Kah-ta-yar Wolffe, how are you after all these years? These year go by slow without you here by my side, it’s been so long. I still love you more than anything else. Especially more than my own life. I even discarded rules for you. The Jedi Code was probably the biggest one, but I didn't care and i still don't. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about you, not a day goes by without me missing you, my Angel. It’s so hard being away from you day in and day out. It’s hard to do anything without you. You were, still are, and will always be my everything, my life, my world, my angel and my reason for living, for fighting, for existing. I believe it’s the will of the force that we meet and that I fell in love with you. Too me you are an Angel from the force. I could go on but then I’d need an entire notebook and it’s not easy to put a notebook in a envelope. You would know.

Do you ever think of the good times, Angel? About the Clone wars? I know I do. Almost everyday. The wolfpack was my family, My clan, My Aliit. Although they are not really my Brothers It sometimes felt as they were. Aliit ori'shya tal'din, Family is more than blood. I loved each and everyone of them, no man was just a clone. Losing then was the worst part of Order 66.

I miss everything of the clone wars, i guess when you grow up in a war zone you come too miss it when life changes. I miss taking down clankers, pranking shinnies with boost, leading assaults, hanging out with boost and sinker, destroying astromechs, fighting the sith, disobeying direct orders, Pissing off Rex, being able to use my lightsabers, spending countless hours with you doing ship duties, us breaking rules just so Master Plo would put us on deck duty while they all went down to battle, our countless arguments, even the ones over stupid things, scaring you with my piloting, you spending the night with me when I had the bad dreams, goofing off while doing paper work with you and the time we spent in the med after one of us had gotten hurt. I miss you're singing, and the silly little pet names you had for me. Most of all I miss Master Plo and you. I miss you more than him, Angel.

I had thought I had lost you forever after the purge, I wish I had not left you Angel, it has bothered me for longer than i can remember. I was a fool when I thought we were better a part, when in reality we are always better together. I had an harder time hiding from the empire on my own, I actually have been captured and escaped many times each time changing my name. I now go by Elisa Koon and have not been captured since Ahsoka and I started the rebels. I’ve made many reckless and stupid decisions. Some of them i’m sure would had been prevented had you been with me or had I stayed with you. I was a coward for leaving you and running like i did. I was afraid. I didn't even thank you for saving my life, Didn't even say goodbye. I abandoned you and I’m so so sorry.

I would like to see you again even if you don't look the same as you did before. It’s been so long and Rex says I need to stop pushing people away, I haven’t let anyone get close to me. He’s right I need to stop pushing people away and locking them out, Especially my Angelic Riduur. Speaking of Rex he couldn't figure out who I was and I eventually had to tell him who I was then he told me that you and gregor were camping out in an Imperial Walker on Seelos hunting Juppa's. That doesn't seem like a good way to spend the rest of your days.

Personally I think you’d be better off here with me Angel. I know you don't want too join our fight against the empire and you don't have to if you don't want too. I would never make you do anything. If you were to come I will protect you, I won't let anyone hurt you, never again. You remember that promise I made too you after Kholum right? Well, I’ll still stand too it. No one is ever going to hurt you again on my watch, not if I can help it, Angel.

I don't use my Lightsabers much anymore unless I have too, but I do keep them on me at all times, hidden of course. I mentioned I had to use a different name right? Elisa Koon, I have it as the shortened version of my real name Elizabeth Koon, Force how I hate that name. I’ve lost count of how many I have had. All have been shortened versions of my real one. I’ve used a different last name every time. I’ve been El Vizsla, Eliz Diana, Lily Uma, Lisa Tiana, Lisbeth Bonjo, Ela Vila, Izzy Tuttle, Libby Gulo, Beth Di Angelo, Bess Lupus, Bette Kyzie, Bessie Humble, and once I even used my full name Elizabeth Phoenix. Now I am Elisa Koon.

I decided it was time that I went back to my married name. I have even started to wear the diamond band you gave me again. If you do come I would like to redo our vows or even do a public wedding since the one we had was private. I’m sure you’d like that to.

We have found many of our Vods, Angel. Several of them, like yourself, don't want too fight so we provide them shelter and protection, I’m over that part of the rebellion. Some of them fight only as a last resort if we are really in a pickle, actually that's how all of them are. They like to help with planning and spare small jobs we have that need to be done, Comet, Sinker and Boost are some of the ones that are around.

The rebellion is lead by Ahsoka Tano, Separatist leader Commander Sato, Hera Syndulla and myself. We have been helping many systems who are in need because of the empire. Oh yeah, Senator bail Organa and princess Leia Organa secretly lead us in our fight while pretending to support the empire. I’ve edited my Armor, added extensions to it and made it bigger so it would fit me, I also changed it’s color from purple to grey. It’s markings match the ones on you're clone armor.

If you and Gregor do come I’ll find a cure for your fast aging. We’ve found cures for the ones that are here, aside from Rex, but it’s different for every clone, we have a serem but it has to be altered for every clone, we are currently altering it for Rex and I’m sure we could alter the serum for gregor. Not so sure about yourself since at one point you were a Werewolf. We may have to unblock the werewolf part of your blood, which would make you a wolf again.

I know you might not be too keen too that Idea but I highly doubt the serum could be altered for you seeing as you have wolfblood in you still. It wasn't actually removed like you thought I just used the force to contain it and make it inactive. We will try to do the serum but if we can't i’m going to free the wolf-blood. I don’t want you to die on me anytime soon. I don’t think I could live without you my beautiful Angel. It’s not fair that we are the same age yet you're near the end of your life.

It’s boring here, some of these guys have less personality than some of than some of the shinnes fresh off of Kamino did. And that’s saying something.

After battles were always fun with you and the wolfpack. Especially if Rex and the 501st were involved. Those boys were always having a party. I remember Rex’s favorite phrase at those times “It’s always a party in the 501st”

Master Skywalker is not Darth Vader like we thought he was. So the mystery of who Darth Vader is, is still open. Master Skywalker is currently being held at an imperial complex. Highest security one. I think the emperor is keeping him alive too use his force signature too give to whomever darth vader is too make it seem as if master Skywalker is Darth Vader.

I know for a fact he’s not I came across files, imperial files of where he is being kept and his cell number. That's not information I can put in this letter. I have a few guesses at who Vader is.

I think he is Master Jrul, Master Pong Krell, or Master Quinlan Vos. Though he could be another fallen Jedi I think these three are the most likely. This would be a conversation best for comms or better yet being face to face.

I really wish you were here with me Angel, I need someone who understands me. I need you more than I ever thought my Angel.

If you decide to come you can write and I’ll come pick you up or you can just call Rex, I’m not in the command center often so the chances of them getting a comm message to me is slim.

Hope too see you again Angel,

Love,

Elsa Phoenix-Koon

“I...She….” I stumbled over the words I wanted to say. Gregor took the letter from my hands, I was in complete shock and could feel my eyes starting to water. “She still loves me” I finally choke out

“Of course she does Wolffe, she’s your wife, she’ll love you no matter what” Gregor says

“She’d be safer finding someone else” I say

“You don’t really belive that do you?” Gregor says

“I miss her, but I don’t want to risk hurting her” I say

“I doubt you could ever hurt her, she’s a strong kid” Gregor says, “We should go, sounds too me that she really wants you there”

“But…”

“No buts” Gregor says “I’m comning Rex”

“Wonderful” I say when Gregor leaves the room.

[ariainstars]

Why I Don’t Want Ben Solo to Die

Look, I am aware that Kylo Ren is a widely unpopular character with Star Wars fans. And that seems only legitimate, after all he killed his own father.

But reading and listening to fans’ comments, I come across the same judgement all over again: he is simply hated because he’s not badass.

The moment he destroys the ship’s console in a fit of rage it was already clear to most fans: what a baby.

When he took off his helmet so we could see his vulnerable features: that is supposed to be the villain?! He’s neither ugly nor beautiful enough! He looks normal!! (How awful.)

Kylo Ren / Ben Solo after the patricide, obviously traumatized. What a sissy. He did not enjoy the terrible thing that he did. He’s in pain and sorrow because his father is dead by his own hand, which means that he did love him.

A villain who loves someone? Who doesn’t enjoy the terrible things he does? My, my, how uncool is that. What a bad example to kids watching the show.

Ben watches Rey leave with the Falcon, tears on his face. He’s more miserable than ever, kneeling on the ground, literally having hit rock bottom.

But he’s the Supreme Leader now, folks!! Wasn’t that what he wanted all along? Why isn’t he triumphant?!

Ben Solo / Kylo Ren, like Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader is a split personality. Many fans have never seen Ben behind the mask, not even in his interactions with Rey, because hey, if he was secretly a hero, he ought to be badass. And Ben is not badass, the son of Han and Leia is vulnerable and timid. So there can’t be a good guy in there somewhere, am I right?

Sorry, but I can’t help wondering how people can be so blind. It has been staring us in the face from the start that this man is not the story’s villain, that he is on a painful but ultimately successful way to redemption.

And by “redemption” I don’t mean coming back to the Light, but finally finding and sharing the balance the Force and the galaxy so desperately need. It wasn’t for nothing that he had promised his grandfather that he would finish what he started.

A guy I know claims that the wide-spread sympathy for Kylo / Ben (mostly coming for females) springs from the fact that for some unexplainable reason the role was given to Adam Driver, and that the actor’s personal charisma is leading fans to unhealthy and illogical conclusions. He never wondered why Disney gave Driver of all people this role in the first place, and that there actually might be a very good reason for that.

It’s easier to pretend that the saga is ruined, that Lucas has lost his magic touch and Disney is defiling the saga’s miserable remainders, than to sit down and try to think about it for just a minute. To listen, instead of believing to know everything by breaking down a 9-film-3-trilogies story to “it’s always black against white, ka-boom, the white ones win, the end”. Maybe, just maybe, Lucas had a good reason for telling the prequels the way he did and for selling the rights for the sequels to the Disney studios of all places.

One of the things that annoy me most is that so many fans keep calling Ben “Kylo Ren” and simply refuse to accept that actually they are speaking about Ben Solo, the son of Han and Leia and the nephew of Luke. Hence, also, the stubborn and unrelenting “it will turn out that Rey is a Skywalker / Organa / Solo / Kenobi”, even if in the first three cases these fans would actually be expecting her to kill her own cousin or half-brother.

Many of us have grown up with and loved the Star Wars original saga. I can understand that a lot fans are irritated by both prequels and sequels because used to stuff like Jaws, Rocky, Rambo, Alien etc. they of course expect a diluted and warmed-up rehash of the original story and not a development of themes and characters.

But these antis never seem to consider that Ben dying, and dying unrepentant, is the very worst service the saga could do to the original story. It has been said and shown over and over that Rey is a nobody from nowhere. Ben is, thus, indeed the last scion and heir to the heroes from the original trilogy. If he “gets by his deserts”, all that his family suffered and went through was in vain.

His father sacrificing himself - for nothing.

His uncle - ditto.

But to these fans, Kylo’s miserable death would be the only thing that could still halfway reconcile them with the allegedly disastrous, or at least very unsatisfying, sequel trilogy. If they were “real fans” like they claim, in my opinion they rather ought to pray day and night for Ben’s redemption. If they would dare to look beyond their noses, they would realize that Ben has his uncle’s learning, his father’s slyness, his grandfather’s protectiveness and his mother’s empathy and that these qualities are only waiting for the right spark to ignite inside of him and light the galaxy.

I have my own, personal reasons why I’m hoping for Ben Solo to be redeemed, and I’m going to admit that they are pretty personal.

Yes, I like Ben Solo and I like Adam Driver: not because of their pectorals and arm muscles (although they’re nice to look at 😊) but mostly because I identify with them. I want Ben to change and be happy and I hope for Adam to make a marvelous job of this role. I know he and the rest of the crew won’t be capable to convince everyone, but I do hope that they will make Ben Solo’s character, life and development understandable to as many viewers as possible.

I don’t want Ben Solo to fail and die miserably, unrepentant.

Nor do I want him to become Rey’s pet, only good enough to have kids with her so that she will finally have her own family.

I don’t want Ben Solo to die “because that whiny sissy deserves it”.

I don’t want him to die because he’s sensitive and “a real guy isn’t sensitive”.

I don’t want him to die because “he’s done so much evil and doesn’t deserve to be forgiven.”

I don’t want him to die by Rey’s hand because she’s badass so whatever she does, it’s ok.

I don’t want him to die because “he’s not good-looking so he can’t be the hero”.

I want the last scion of the Skywalker saga, the oversensitive, doubtful, patient, emphatic, funny-looking Ben Solo to prove to the world at large that you can be a hero and find your place in your own place, as a man, even if you don’t come up with any of the common prerequisites for a hero in the common sense of the word.

I want him to show the galaxy and the audience at large that it’s never too late, that you can change, grow beyond your wounds and weaknesses, find your own place among humanity and a happy ever after.

I want him to be a role and an encouragement for everyone like me who is introverted, insecure, thoughtful, sensitive and overall not badass.

For the same reason, I was happy when I saw that my theory that Rey would take a plunge into the Dark Side was founded. Rey is being mistaken by most fans as the true heroine of the saga because we see the story unfold mostly from her point of view, so we tend to identify with her and to overlook the arrogance, stubbornness and aggressiveness that were already hinting at her personal development.

I hope that Episode IX will finally make abundantly clear down to the last fan that even the most pure and intelligent and well-meaning heroine can still go down a dark path. (Louder for the people in the back: Anakin and Ben had all chance to be heroes and they were turned evil by the events around them.)

I want the Star Wars saga to end on the note “you don’t have to be badass to save the world.”

I want Love to be the triumphant end note.

I want vulnerability and empathy to be portrayed, in this action science-fiction world-wide known saga, as qualities that do not necessarily make you weak but can make you strong if you’re in the right place and employ them in the right way, instead of denying them and secretly admiring who has no qualms with going over corpses.

I know that many, many fans will never have compassion for Vader or Anakin. For some reason, if someone is frightening, they are likely to bow down before him and to think he’s right with everything he does, even killing and torturing.

Most fans hated the prequels’ depiction of Anakin Skywalker because he wasn’t a fearsome person like Vader but so desperately human.

They similarly hate Kylo Ren and wish him to end in the most horrible way because he’s conflicted and suffering instead of “enjoying” his crimes.

I know I’m being mean now: but I really hope that the expectations of these fans for “the badass wins” will explode in their faces when Episode IX comes out.

I predict that countless viewers all over the world will howl to the moon in frustration, claim that Disney ruined the franchise for good and sign petitions to start everything all over again.

But I hope that viewers who are less prejudiced will listen with their heart and find confirmation for what, in Lucas’ own words, the saga is all about: compassion and family.

And I also hope that future generations who will watch the saga on the whole, in particular boys and young men, will grow up with the message that you don’t have to be canonically handsome, formidable, violent and cruel in order to be a hero, but that loyalty and belonging to something bigger than yourself are more important; that a true hero is not someone who saves the world all by himself but who overcomes himself and creates a better place for other people and together with other people.

I don’t need to watch the lonesome hero, the cowboy riding away into the sunset. There are more than enough action films like that. Let Star Wars be a glorious exception for that cliché. I want it to give encouragement to people who, like me, are not cool and badass but for this are not useless, weak and have nothing to give to the world. If the saga ends the way I hope, I will assuredly not sign petitions for some of its chapters to be removed from canon but send George Lucas personally an enormous bouquet of flowers together with a card offering him all of my admiration and gratitude.

Do it for us, Kylo, Ben, Adam, George, please. Show the world that it’s always love that ought to win, not violence. Prove in a convincing way to whoever watches the saga that emotionality and doubts are not weaknesses but virtues, and that you can be a worthy and happy person without being cruel, vicious and creepy. I’m right here rooting for you and waving your flag.

See you in December. 😊

[annes-andromeda]

My Star Wars: The Last Jedi Rewrite

Alright, so I’m gonna do a rewrite of TROS (which I’ve renamed Rise of the Fates), but before I post it, I’m gonna do some bullet points of what I’d change in TLJ. Keep in mind, that this correlates to my vision and not actual canon, so expect it to be rather nitpicky:

Han Solo lives. I feel like that’s something I should state right off the bat. He lives.

Also him and Luke are the ones that have the romance and not him and Leia. Yes, I ship Skysolo and I’ll ship it till the day I die.

But anyways, for some context, in the original trilogy they were supposed to be a sort of “forbidden romance” type, since same sex relationships were uncommon back in the day and considered taboo (sorta like in real life). So, to keep their relationship a secret, Han and Leia got married and secretly divorced after having Ben Solo. However, everyone else believed that they were still together and instead separated once Ben turned to the Dark Side. In reality though, Han and Luke were romantically involved while Leia had developing feeling towards Lando (it’s a rare pare, but I ship it hard)

Anyways, back to Last Jedi.

Han joins Rey and Chewie in retrieving Luke from Ahch-To. And no, Luke doesn’t throw Anakin’s lightsaber over his shoulder (that was a stupid move). Instead, he gives it back to Rey solemnly and takes some convincing to train her. Despite feeling bitter after the events of the Jedi Temple and Kylo Ren, Luke has glimpses of his old self when he sees Han and Chewie, and when Leia is mentioned.

Rey and Finn are the ones who have the Force bond, NOT Rey and Kylo. It establishes early on that Finn is Force-sensitive, and not at the last minute like TROS. This also increases their relationship and gives us a properly written friends-to-lovers trope rather than the poor excuse of R*ylo.

Rose is an actually good developed character. She understands early on that Finn isn’t trying to escape, and that he isn’t a perfect hero like everyone claims him to be. Also, her and Poe are childhood friends. This would add some familiarity to the trio and not make her some random girl who was introduced out of nowhere. Sorta like the Lando of the group: someone who has a past bond with one of the main characters.

The mission that Finn and Rose go on is actually meaningful and not some stupid poorly written mess. Perhaps it could be to go on a planet to gain support from the Republic, while also coming across the civilians who cannot defend themselves and live in fear of the First Order. This can add some dimension and we can see how the war is affecting not just the upper class, but the lower class as well.

Rose can also have some development with the mission: showing her compassion towards the civilians and explaining her disdain of the First Order. Similarly to how she comes across some kids in TLJ, the same thing can happen here. She can inspire hope into the younger generation to stand up for themselves and make a change. Think of it as Rose being the heart of the Rebellion, representing those who fight to protect those they love against those who would harm them.

Perhaps on this planet (I don’t have a name for it, sorry), Finn and Rose can come across Holdo and the Republic. Holdo can also be a good written character, who wants to do everything in her power to help the Resistance. And we can even get some moments that imply that she was an old friend of Leia during her time on Alderaan.

Speaking of Leia: how about giving her an actual character arc outside of “There’s still good in my son despite him not showing any signs of real change”? Holdo basically gives us a glimpse of how Leia was in her youth (and I mean before the events of the original trilogy), making us pity how we no longer see Leia smiling as much or letting herself go.

Another thing: there’s no Leia in space moment. Yeah, it was cool seeing Leia actually use the Force, but how about showing it in a way that doesn’t make you wanna snicker rather than gaze in awe (cause let’s be honest, Leia is a space goddess, not gonna lie).

Leia does get harmed in the explosion but is still the leader of the Resistance pack with Poe by her side.

And speaking of Poe: maybe don’t make him an undeveloped version of his character in TFA? Yes, he makes his mistakes but he ultimately learns from them. It’s established that Poe has a close bond with his squadron, and feels immense remorse when some of them are lost to the First Order’s attacks. He learns the true qualities of being a leader and a major theme in the story: failure is the greatest teacher of all.

Despite having help from Holdo and some ships given by the Republic, the Resistance mostly falls to the First Order, forcing Leia to call for evacuation. Poe, however, leads the battle on Crait, showing his development from pilot to leader.

So, now that we’ve got the Resistance storyline out of the way, let’s get back to our dual protagonists AND, our main relationships: Rey/Finn and Luke/Han.

Hey, look, Finn gets some actual character development and information about his past. And he’s not sidelined to be nothing but the comedic relief!

Throughout the whole Finn/Rose mission, we get flashbacks about Finns time in the First Order as a child. He was taken in as a baby and has known nothing but violence and authorities his whole life. However, that doesn’t mean Finn didn’t have someone raising him.

From the time that he was an infant to when he was an adolescent, Finn was raised by a man named Lieutenant Damarcus (a character of my creation). Despite being strict and rather serious, Damarcus was the only father figure Finn ever knew, giving him a sense of safety and security against the First Order. However, that time was cut short, as Damarcus was later accused of treachery and of being a spy for the Resistance. As punishment, he was publicly executed as a warning for those who’d dare defy the First Order. The event scared Finn for his life, leaving him alone in the world until he defected from his masters and met his new family.

If Damarcus sounds unnecessary. Trust me, he’ll be important later on in the TROS rewrite.

This would give us insight to how Finn was in his youth, and make us feel pity for the other children who were brainwashed into becoming Stormtroopers. It would also show that some children would disobey their masters, showing that they had no choice but to fight or die. It’s also implied that Finn was top of his class and had/has impeccable shooting range. So yeah, for any writers who write Finn as some dumb baby who knows nothing: stop that.

Finn and Rose also infiltrate the First Order, which causes Finn to inspire his Stormtrooper brothers and sisters to rise up in rebellion. Because hey, it actually gives Finn some development and shows that now, he wants to be a beacon of hope for those who don’t have the strength or will to fight. Also, he still fights Phasma and yes, he wins. Cause he deserves it.

Alright, Finn is done and established! Now, let’s get to Rey and Skysolo!

So, Rey has some trouble practicing with the Force. In TFA, it’s established that Rey is tough and abrasive, since she had to survive on a desert planet with hardly any food or water and bandits everywhere. She also learns that the Jedi Order was not perfect, and in their mission to create peace, they ultimately created more problems due to their hubris and hypocrisy.

And something very important that needs to be said: REY IS NOT TURNED INTO A REHABILITATION CENTER FOR KYLE RONS CRUSTY ASS. She’s her own character who has her own arc. She doesn’t try to justify Kylo Ren’s actions or try to redeem him when he clearly shows that he doesn’t want to change.

Her parentage is also made important in this. Rey always believed that someone would return to her on Jakku, but she ultimately decided that they weren’t coming back. However, she’s still curious about who her parents are and if they really cared about her. And no, her parents aren’t no one. Rey hears a voice calling to her when she goes into the cave on Ach-To, implying that her parents or family might be alive, but that they chose to abandon her and not return for her.

This can show that Rey has accepted that her newfound friends are her family now, and that whoever left her had given up on her, showing that family doesn’t have to be blood related (But don’t worry. Just like Finn, her parentage is revealed in the TROS rewrite)

Now, let’s get to Luke and Han.

Luke ultimately decides to train Rey because he can see that despite her having pulls to the Dark Side, she has goodness in her. This gives Luke hope that perhaps light still does exist in the Galaxy, and this girl who he’s just met brings out the young farm-boy from Tatooine who wanted more from life and to help those in need.

Han still feels extreme pain from when Kylo Ren stabbed him, but his focus is mostly on Luke. The boy from a desert planet who captured his heart all those years ago. Alongside making sure that Rey learns all this Force business, Han wants to reconcile with Luke. To tell him that it wasn’t his fault, and that now they don’t need to keep their relationship a secret anymore. And yes, there’s a big kiss scene in the rain between them cause I’m a sappy bitch who loves love.

Luke leaves with Rey and Han to fight against Kylo Ren and tries one last time to find the good in him, as he did with his father but years ago. However, he fails as he sees that Ren is too far gone, accepting the Dark Side of the Force. Luke and Han finally make up, and everyone in the Galaxy is like “sis, we’ve been knew”. Also, Luke doesn’t die either.

Now, let’s get to my final change that I wanted to leave for last: Kylo Ren

This punk ass bitch is probably the main reason why the sequel trilogy was such a flop: cause a bunch of teenage/grown ass women made him into a “uwu misunderstood boi who needs a hug uwu” and tried to make him a poor copy of the legend that is Darth Vader.

Instead of whatever the hell J.J Abrams did to him in TLJ, Kylo Ren does have conflict in him. However, it’s more complicated and the conflict is actually of his own making. He’s being tempted by the Light and haunted by the guilt of attacking his father. But despite this, Kylo does everything in his power to prove to Snoke (who has a bigger role in this and is actually a compelling villain) that his allegiance is to the Dark Side. The conflict drives Kylo mad, making him more prone to violence and taking anger out on any living thing he comes across.

Also, some of you might get triggered, but do I care? Meh

Kylo Ren and Hux have a sort of thing going on. Instead of fighting for power and Snoke’s approval, they wish to rule the Galaxy together, overthrowing anyone who stands in their way. Kylo promises to give Hux a higher position in power, while Hux promises to give Kylo the Galaxy. They eventually decide to commit treason against Snoke and Kylo executes him with his own lightsaber, who represents his unstable mind (don’t worry, Snoke ain’t going away that easily). By the end of the story, Kylo has finally snapped to the point of no return, sporting an uncomfortable composed and unhinged demeanor as apposed to his erratic behavior.

Another bonus point I forgot to make: In one of the books for TLJ, it states that Luke has a trophy pendent made from a Sith kyber crystal. Well, it’s revealed that the kyber actually belonged to Darth Vader’s lightsaber, which was retrieved from the fallen Death Star and then destroyed. Luke believed that one day, he’d be able to heal the crystal, but the events of the Temple left him hopeless. Now, at the end when he finally meets Finn and the rest of the Resistance (meets Poe, Rose, reunites with Leia etc.), he gives it to him, believing that someone who healed themselves from their past trauma can restore the crystal back to its original self.

Second bonus point: Ben Solo actually has a reason for joining the Dark Side. He believed that the Jedi were failures and that the Force shouldn’t just be limited to just peace and tranquillity. So, he meets Snoke and learns in the ways of the Dark Side. Luke confronts him, but doesn’t instantly attack him. He first tried to talk to Ben, telling him that he won’t force him to be a Jedi but still teach him about the Force. But Ben eventually gets violent and burns the temple down, taking some students with him who later become the Knights of Ren. Also the Knights are mentioned and appear in this. Do with them as you wish. Basically, Ben was a privileged white boy who wanted to be more privileged. Motivation established.

Last bonus point, I promise. Yes, Poe is gay. Yes, he did have a crush on Finn, but he knows that he has a crush on Rey. But don’t worry, Poe’s fine. He’s getting some in the TROS rewrite.

So, that’s pretty much it. I’ll be posting the first part of the TROS rewrite later on. Constructive criticism is appreciated and please be respectful.

[lovecanbesostrange]

Okay, it’s almost been a week, the discourse is cluttering my dash already, so here’s that other list of things I’d like to change in TRoS:

(sidenote: people that annoy me 1. Kylo/Ben-stans 2. Kylo/Ben-antis. Only Siths deal in absolutes...)

As mentioned before, the complete sidelining of Rose Tico as a character is bullshit. JJ Abrams ignoring anything from TLJ is the biggest pile of crap ever. You, sir, chose to only do Ep VII, left your precious mystery boxes nobody gives a flying fuck about, because it’s a horrible narrative devise if you yourself don’t have a plan to follow from the get go... it’s your own fault.

It’s such a stupid way to start the film with the crawl and just sprinkling in “so Palpatine is back, has secretly been behind everything and our heroes now try to find and destroy him”. I’m okay with a little jump and skipping a few steps that are easily dealt with with a bit of exposition. But there is so much tell instead of show, it’s not even funny. We skipped a whole movie worth of plot. (And I know it’s tragic we never could see Rey’s whole training.)

I am okay with the overall plot and structure of the film. Mostly being an adventurous scavenger hunt. BUT with just a few tweaks that don’t piss on what TLJ gave us, it’s easily made into a coherent story.

Something I really loved was that ending with the kid using the Force to move the broom. Build on that. Kylo has one thing right - let the past die. Luke was right when he talked about the failures of the Jedi. It’s actually a terrible concept. The Force is everywhere.

You know who is clearly pretty force sensitive? Finn. Holy fucking shit, use that for crying out loud. Yes, Rey’s power is almost unrivaled. It’s raw. The Force likes to run in familes. Same with Kylo. They’re both rather angry people. With extremely different views on how to achieve the somewhat same goal. Kylo puts himself in the center and has no problem killing everybody in his way (civillians included), whereas Rey is the type of person to even help a tiny droid she just met. So let Rey share her power, talk about sharing it, helping Finn to understand what little he has.

Finn doesn’t need to become an adapt fighter doing backflips and making stuff fly. But his intuition, his feeling for right and wrong despite the brainwashing - that is important and a good thing.

A very important moment in the end is when the other ships show up. Lando and Chewbacca rallied the troops, that aren’t actual troops, but ordinary people who have had enough. So just put aside like 10-14min of screentime on this whole sideplot. Let Rose and Finn talk about this, about how common people are affected and that they can rise. Send Rose with Lando and Chewie, give us that kid again with the broom. There is a disturbance in the Force. Because it’s no longer just for a chosen few, it spreads.

Which is something that makes Palpatine shit his pants. Because he is the antithesis to that. He has all the power like nobody before him. This could be an actual theme. (Rey wouldn’t even need to be a Palpatine herself, imagine an truly unremarkable person to have this deep bond with the Force. But the Palpatine-thing makes sense and can work in other ways.)

As great as Keri Russell’s eye make-up is, cut down on the stuff with Zorii Bliss (who is just there as the biggest no-homo for Poe possible -.- ) and focus on the Force spreading and the people rising. Because the Resistance is more than just that bunch of people surrounding Leia. Show me that TLJ ignited a spark.

So, yes, I am very okay with Ben dying. To me this all reads as a parallel to Vader. And well, Ben wanted to be like Vader so much and in the end he learned the important lesson - don’t follow the Dark Side.

Yes, I think Ben had had it rough. His parents shoved him to his uncle, who struggled to built up something he never saw for himself (Luke only knows about the Jedi Order from a bunch of ancient texts, but we needed something new). And Palpatine whispered in his ear, seduced him to the Dark Side. It would’ve been nice to take up the thing from the comics that explained that Ben in fact did not burn down Luke’s temple. Yes, he collapsed a building in self-defense, but he didn’t kill the other students.

Oh, right, dear JJ Abrams, the Knights of Ren. Explain. You brought them up in your first movie and left them shrouded in mystery. Now you brought them back. Without any kind of further explanation. This is what you should’ve shown in your own damn movie.

I like Kylo as the villain. And stop fucking whoobifying him. The whole point of TFA was that Kylo WANTED to choose the Dark Side. And it wasn’t easy. Yes, there is good in him. It took his own willpower to go against that. While I believe that he was seduced, manipulated and mentally abused, he chose to murder people. In secret he hated Snoke and wanted to kill him, which he did, yeah, sure, but he was okay with all the killing that came with it. He is a villain. Built up by the system he seeks to destroy and thus being a part that in the end needs to go.

Sorry, I don’t mind that he dies. Because the thought the movie could make it look like Ben Solo gets to live a life in peace now... yeah no, I didn’t want to see that with Anakin, I don’t want to see that now. He died, vanished and can be a Force Ghost now. Kylo died and Ben was allowed one last heroic deed. I’m very okay with that. Otherwise we would need to have a very long conversation about accountability.

The Skywalkers are dead now and the universe is kinda better for it. Except Skywalker is the name that Rey chooses needs to live on. And here we are back to my main problem - bringing balance to the Force. Such a big topic throughout all the movies. And fucking bring that balance now. I want to believe that this is the legacy in the end. Not one super powerful woman running around, but lots of normal people finding ways to incorporate the Force in their daily lives. (I like that Rey’s saber is yellow, so it is something new.)

I don’t care about the kiss btw. I don’t care if it’s just another moment of passion or a declaration of true love. I don’t have any energy to feel one way or another about it. I’m absolutely neutral. I only feel sorry for people who either think that Rey lost all her happiness and purpose with Ben dying or write long think pieces that Rey is tricked into forgiving someone completely beyond any kind of redemption. See above: stans and antis are annoying the hell out of me alike. More than one onscreen smooch could.

I would’ve liked a smooch between Finn and Rose. A nice sign that they are building a relationship, but then there is this talk where Finn is a bit torn, because he doesn’t want to be separated from Rose, but he also feels this strong pull to be by Rey’s side. And Rose just gets it. She has her own mission, but they are doing it for the same goal and she knows they’ll be reunited. And the thing Finn needs to tell Rey has to do with his force-sensitivity. Because you can’t have this thing of “I need to tell you something” and then never follow through. And then Finn finds the other ex-Stormtroopers and now he understands why he needed to follow Rey. Jannah and her band are a good addition and that should lead us back to Finn’s own backstory.

I don’t want to dissect every scene and change the whole film. Just tighten it up and tying it into the changes TLJ gave us.

Oh right, there is one thing. What if Anakin’s lightsaber stays destroyed (or tell us how that was mended at least -.- ) and Rey would use Luke’s green one instead. So in the end Luke and Leia’s sabers get buried, as the good thing remaining from the Skywalkers. There could’ve been a speech about that. Anakin’s lightsaber snapping in two was an important symbolic scene. But well, Abrams didn’t care... (I know it would’ve required some more work around with the Leia moments. :( )

[saltylikecrait]

Healing - Brightest Stars AU Bonus Fic

For @finnreyfridays; I’m going to release the final installment of the Brightest Stars AU next month. This is a bonus fic that bridges the gap between stories.

I hope everyone has a nice day, regardless the outcome of today’s Episode IX panel.

This fic is a little long and can also be read on AO3 here.

“So this is it?” Finn glanced around the barren, frozen landscape. After years serving on Starkiller Base, he was used to the cold and snow, but Starkiller had facilities and this place looked like no one had stepped foot in the area in years.

Luke stared at the bare tan cliff to their right, crossing his arms. “Yep, this is the place.”

Rey huffed. “Cold,” she complained, trying to bury her nose deeper into her scarf and coat. “Why couldn’t Aunt Leia send us somewhere more… I don’t know… tropical?”

Her father chucked. “Because that would be too easy. Besides, I need you both to focus your attention on getting up to par as Jedi-" he glanced quickly at Rey “-Force-users.”

“Nice save,” Rey commented.

“Finn, here, let’s have a lesson. See what you can do.” Luke gestured for Finn to approach him and stand next to him. “We’re looking for a way in,” he explained. “Tell me what you can sense. Where should we go?”

Rey nodded, understanding what the lesson was about and remained quiet.

Approaching the cliff, Finn looked around a little confused before he reached out to touch the cold stone. Earlier, he told Rey that he wasn’t use to taking time to focus on something that might not be there and was worried that his conditioning and training might make it difficult for him to learn with Luke. In the First Order, all he had to do was follow orders and figure out the best and most efficient way to complete them.

Closing his eyes in an attempt to concentrate, Finn spoke through what he sensed. “I think there’s something beyond this cliff. It’s like a wall.”

Nodding, Luke encouraged him, “Go on.”

“I don’t sense anything alive or moving. No droids.”

“Artoo will be so disappointed,” Rey joked.

“It’s like there’s a space inside the cliff. Our safe house,” he concluded.

“Good.” Luke flashed him a smile. “And can you tell me how to get inside?”

Finn felt around the cliff, searching for something. “I can’t see it, but I know it’s there,” he concluded. “There’s a switch of some kind that will open something.”

They let him search for a couple of minutes though Rey was obviously inpatient from the cold. Then, as Luke was about to offer some help, Finn’s hand hit against a rock, which flipped to the side, revealing a keypad under it.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you to use the Force to hack the system,” Luke chuckled as he went over to enter the code.

With a slight, low rumble, the door became visible by pressing forward from the cliff, then moving upward like the doors of an old private hangar.

“Let’s check out our new home,” Luke suggested.

It didn’t take long for them to settle down. The safe house was spacious, but bare regarding furnishings and décor. They had what they needed, and the Resistance sent them rations every other standard week though they were free to take the snow speeder to venture into town a couple of miles away if they promised to keep a low profile. Finn and Rey were specifically ordered to go visit a doctor weekly to talk to them about their problems adapting into normal society.

Well, Finn followed orders, but Rey was another story entirely.

She tried not to bother him or her father while they worked on their Jedi stuff, sometimes, to avoid becoming out of practice, she would partake in their meditation and sparring, but most days she kept to herself. Finn kept begging her to go into town with him while he went to his appointments, hoping that she would take the plunge and go into one herself, but she either drove him there and wandered around the town to get anything they needed or sat quietly and unnoticed in a corner at the only place that sold a decent cup of caf.

It wasn’t unusual for Finn to chat up the locals and be greeted on the streets already, but for Rey, making friends just wasn’t something she was good at anymore. Part of her wished she was more like him, but she also couldn’t bring herself to trust anyone.

But she couldn’t keep herself away from her hobbies and that seemed to bring attention to herself. One day, she was working outside on the cold streets, replacing a part of the speeder she traded some spare metal parts for and caught the eyes of passerbys. Most were impressed that someone so young could jump in and fix a speeder the way she did, but there were a few that shook their heads and approached her to give her advice for beginners, not expecting Rey to know far more than they did and be salty about it to boot. Those were the people that walked away grumbling and with a bruised ego.

This time, Rey spent her time looking for what she needed to make sure she had a private way to transmit messages and have them encrypted, everything she could do to make sure she wasn’t being traced and that she would be the only one to read them. There was a lot she needed to do if she still wanted to be useful to the Resistance.

She already planted the seeds for her plan by mentioning to her aunt before she left that she had eyes in the First Order still and swore up and down that her sources were trustworthy. No, she couldn’t say she exactly trusted Armitage Hux, but no one had to know that he was her contact and she would ask Finn what he thought about what she was being fed to make sure they weren’t walking into a trap. Hux needed Kylo gone, but he wasn’t an idiot. There was no way he would give Rey anything that might tell them about the happenings in the First Order. What she was guessing was that she would receive tidbits of information: numbers of guards and stormtroopers that Kylo surrounded himself with, a location if Kylo went on-world himself. It would be vague information, but just enough that she could keep tabs on the Supreme Leader’s activities.

Hoping that she didn't appear too suspicious as she sat in the café, she tried a practice message from her datapad to the comm device. When it went through, encrypted and anonymous, she secretly celebrated her success and eyed the sweet warm mash that the locals liked to eat in here. Finn was taking a little longer than normal, so she hoped he didn’t mind that she ordered both of them something.

“Sorry it took so long,” he told her as he rushed into the shop, a little out of breath. “The appointment before me was late a few minutes.”

With a smile, she shook her head. “It’s fine, but I hope you’re hungry. I just ordered us something warm for lunch.”

The mash was perfect for the climate and sweet to the taste. Back in the First Order, she and Finn might have considered something so sugary to be a dessert for special occasions and not something that people ate every day. They grinned at each other like children as they ate.

Rey’s grin felt even sweeter knowing that this time, when she kept something a secret, she would make sure it would stay that way.

Despite the years of estrangement, Rey felt a tug at her heart when she realized that after all the longing, she finally got to spend time with her father. She knew he still hadn’t forgiven her for her stunt on the Supremacy, but she came home alive and Luke didn’t seem inclined to remain angry at her forever.

“Who am I to judge?” Luke told her as he gazed down at his mechanical hand, twisting it before making it into a fist. “I disobeyed my own master’s warning when I was about the same age.”

His confession brought up a memory long lost to time and pain. When the school still stood, her father used his hand as an example, a warning to the padawans that running into danger, especially when they were not ready, had its consequences. He wanted them to know that not everyone needed to play hero, in fact, he’d rather a kid didn’t have to.

She wondered if that was why he always seemed to look at her with regret in his eyes. Her own journey started when she was far younger than he had been. At least Luke had been considered an adult by the galaxy’s standards. Rey had still been a child when she was taken.

One evening, after she made her first contact with General Hux to tell him how to reach her, she found her father alone in meditation. Finn already retired to the bedroom that he and Rey shared for the night while Rey stayed up for a bit longer, too occupied by her thoughts to sleep.

Clearing her throat, she hoped that he wouldn’t be angry if she interrupted him.

“Do you think the light will accept me again?”

It had been on her mind for a while. The pull of the darkness was becoming something she could more readily resist, but she got nowhere closer to feeling the warmth of the Force in her meditation than she had back on Ach-To.

He opened his eyes, frowning. “Do you have doubts?”

She wasn’t sure how to respond, so she only shrugged.

With a heaving sigh, Luke unfolded his legs and gazed at her with seriousness. “Your grandfather found the light again at the end, after years of being so dedicated to the dark. So tell me: if Darth Vader could feel it again, why couldn’t you?”

Weakness, her mind answered for her, but she didn’t want to admit it. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I guess I’m just worried that I never will. That I’ll be stuck between light and darkness forever.”

“Is there something wrong with that?” Her father looked at her inquisitively. “Few people can find balance between the two. You have the unique standpoint of knowing both sides of the Force and have been able to control both.”

She never really thought about it this way and she had originally believed that standing between the two forces would give her an advantage over Snoke and Kylo. So far, that had not proven to be true, but what if she could use abilities from both sides? Briefly, she wondered if she could find anything about the Force on the HoloNet, hoping that the age of the Empire didn’t completely wipe out the knowledge of the Jedi.

“It’ll be all right, Rey,” her father promised her.

Hearing that made something in her break. She found herself with tears in her eyes, not understanding why a single sentence would cause her to cry.

“Oh, Rey.” Luke reached for her, pausing for a moment to gauge her reaction before gently pulling her into his arms.

It had been weeks since they reunited on Ach-To and that was also the last time she embraced her father like this. His grip around her was firmer than Finn’s, but it wasn’t too tight.

For a quick moment, she saw Finn peek from behind the crack in the bedroom doorframe, the hint of a smile on his face before he closed the door.

“Well, son,” Luke greeted Finn the next morning. “How are you adjusting to all this cold?”

Finn laughed. Luke had taken to calling him “dad things” lately, but he took it as a compliment. He assumed this meant that Luke liked him and not only did he want his Jedi teacher to like him, he also wanted Rey’s father to like him.

“Well, it’s not as tolerable without the climate-controlled suits, but I’d take being a Jedi over a Buckethead any day.”

Luke chuckled heartily. It used to make Finn nervous to mention his past in the First Order, but he quickly learned that Skywalker didn’t hold it against him, especially not after learning how he and Rey kept each other going when the worst came to pass.

There was a datapad in front of Finn, showing an application with steps to take a DNA test. General Organa told him about it, thinking he might get a match for a world where he might have been born. Maybe even an actual parental match if his family had lived on a world that was part of the New Republic.

“Thinking of getting tested?” Luke asked. He wasn’t trying to eavesdrop and Finn didn’t mind. The print on the heading for the application was huge and hard to miss. But then, Luke frowned, matching Finn’s own expression. “We’ll have to work on your emotional projection issues, but what’s wrong?”

Finn moved his mug of caf back and forth on the table. “Well…” he hesitated.

“You don’t have to tell me,” Luke replied. “It’s not any of my business.”

“It’s not that,” Finn corrected. “It’s more that I doubt my family is even alive. I mean, the First Order isn’t exactly kind to the worlds they invade. They took me away or maybe I didn’t have a family to begin with.”

Luke placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Are you afraid of what they might think of you if they are alive?” He gazed at his student knowingly.

“I guess so. I mean, I was a stormtrooper that helped the First Order invade those worlds. Jakku…” He shuddered at the memory of the massacre at Tuanul. The screams of the villagers still rang is his ears at night; he was certain he would never forget them. “Or maybe they moved on and forgot me.”

“I don’t think anyone could forget a child they lost,” Luke spoke from experience and glanced at Finn and Rey's bedroom door sadly, “even if they were a baby.” He smiled again and shook his hand lightly against Finn’s shoulder. “It’s up to you. You’re the only one who gets to make this choice, Finn.”

Finn was left alone again at the table, staring at the datapad. It would be another hour before he expected Rey to get up – ever the one to sleep in. In the meantime, he planned to think everything through as he sipped at his caf and stared outside the viewport to watch the snow fall.

Then, after about a half-hour lost in deep thought, Finn picked up the datapad and looked at what he had to do to submit a test.

[mysterious-prophetess]

Anakin vs Danaerys: Why one Fall isn’t as hated as the other.

Though it has been weeks since that finale aired, I think we can all agree that this is a topic people are not going to just stop talking about anytime soon. Game of Thrones was a cultural phenomenon and then it fizzled out like a firework that plunged into water too soon. In watching others’ reactions, I saw that some people compared Danaerys Targaryen’s rapid fall to Anakin Skywalker’s Fall in Star Wars and even I’d thought “even Anakin had more time to go nuts than her.” That got me to thinking whenever it was brought up that Anakin had a nonsensical Fall too but it made more sense in context as to why that was.

The prequel trilogy was not as bad as some might say it is. At least, I don’t think it’s bad 100%. I was a kid/teen whenever they came out and I enjoyed them. Looking back I like them in this ranking: 3, 1, and 2. It’s funny that I like the third film, the one with the aforementioned Fall more than the others but to me it was the one that finally had its stuff together as far as the prequels were concerned. Yet, the reason Anakin’s fall is more believable in three versus Danerys’s 3-4 episode “fall” is we already knew he was going to become Darth Vader. To those who say “you should show it 1,2,3,4,5,6” this is why you shouldn’t. Otherwise the Fall is more abrupt, but still there. Because it starts with the former black sheep of the franchise Episode 2. So, with all that considered, Danerys and Anakin have the same amount of screen time to fall, but why is his more acceptable even without know he was always doomed? Let’s look at what Anakin did in these two movies.

Anakin Skywalker is both not a complex character and yet very much a complex of a character.  We start Episode 2 with Anakin as a padawn and he was your typical whiny teen who thinks he’s more grown up than he is (nineteen is still a teenager). He also has an almost obsessive love for Padme whom he hasn’t seen in ten years.  He then explores this love despite the fact the religion/group he is a member of strictly prohibits forming major attachments like this. He is granted visions of his mother dying and when he finds her dead after being tortured by the local aliens who hate/torment the human settlers, he slaughters their whole village and not just their able bodied warriors who would be mostly responsible for this act of cruelty. He admits this to Padme. They go rescue Obi-Wan, they end up captured. He nearly derails a pursuit to save Padme when she doesn’t need saving. He acts like a teenager and gets dismembered for it. He then ends the movie getting secretly married. Basically, Anakin is a walking talking cluster of red-flags. It’s an instance where foreshadowing and character development are walking side-by-side for the most part. When Anakin Falls in Episode 3, he’s been through a war for the past three years. War changes people and not for the better. He’s also buddy-buddy with a Sith Lord who may or may not be screwing with his head using the Dark Side as well as encouraging Anakin’s worst aspects of himself: pride, impulsiveness, obsession. Palpatine also used other tactics to make himself seem like a safe stable support when he was a trap. In short, Palpatine master manipulator was setting Anakin’s Fall up. When Anakin goes full Vader and marches on the Jedi Temple, it’s shocking but not because we’ve already seen him go and massacre a Tuscan Raider village a movie prior. We know he’s capable of it already, therefore now that he’s murdering those who look to him for security, is horrifying but it’s actually well within his character. Even his force-choke of the woman he’s ostensibly done all this for isn’t too far beyond what we know he’s capable of now that Anakin is Vader. It doesn’t feel too rushed, and it doesn’t feel like it’s out of nowhere for shock value because everyone knew it was coming. Even without having seen the Original Trilogy first, Anakin murdering those Sand People is still enough of a moment to know he’s not going to stay good.

Now, let’s take a look at Danaerys Targaryen. Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains, yadda-yadda. Since this is the show we’re looking at the books will not be included in this discussion. So, why does her heel turn make no sense but Anakin’s does, you might ask. Let’s go back to the fact Anakin was a pile of red flags whereas Danaerys, until this season, was not. She might have had a flag here or there but she wasn’t on the whole a pile of them. She still pursued an idealists vision of things, but could be selfish. Her descent into madness because “no one wuved her as much as Jon and then Jon wouldn’t act on their love because incest and she felt isolated” is both sexist and stupid. Her lack of foresight to scout ahead because she somehow “forgot” about enemies is illogical and plot convenient that her dragon gets killed to drive her mad. Cersei beheading Missandei is within Cersei’s character but beyond that it was a waste of a character’s death and let’s not even go into the other issues surrounding the only major WoC character being treated as fuel to a “madness” fire. Finally, her decision to burn down the whole city was so poorly defended and so much of a heel turn that no amount of “foreshadowing” can excuse her sudden desire for wanton murder. She burnt enemies last season—in battle. She executed people via dragon—when they wouldn’t submit and she’d given them a chance and it was war. She was distressed when the dragons killed people and locked them up in Mereen. She risked everything to fight the Night King and his undead horde. Yet, all that was so easily undone because a lack of love? No. Doesn’t work. If Danaerys was so unstable then she’d have immediately attacked Kingslanding the moment she got everyone ready to go after resting on Dragonstone. She’d have told Jon to bend the knee or else go away and not helped him if she was Mad Queen material the whole time. Basically, you can’t have an idealist character go in that time from slightly problematic to full blown Mad Queen. Danaerys had the elements to become like that but her actions on the show never fully went far enough to make her out of nowhere decision to burn it all. Which is why it’s not as accepted a heel turn as Anakin’s. Because the work wasn’t done properly for her to turn like that in a show like Game of Thrones where the characters used to be fully fleshed out creations. I actually don’t care if that’s what Martin intends to do with Danaerys in the books, because he takes time to get characters to where they will eventually go and it makes sense every step of the way. This was a rushed chop job of a character angle versus the nice curve of an arc and no amount of “well, actually, it was foreshadowed” will excuse the sloppy execution.

Say what you will about the Prequel trilogy but their whole purpose was to set up the Empire and Darth Vader and they accomplished that. Game of Thrones on the other hand lost sight of anything and everything it was possibly moving towards and became War Bad. Power Mad People Bad. Oligarchy Good Enough. Stories Good.  It all ends up being empty when it’s rushed. Here’s hoping Benioff and Weiss don’t fuck up any character arcs with their new cash cow Star Wars like they did with Game of Thrones but since the most recent Star Wars film-to me- was a meh, the bar for not screwing things up is low.

[comixconnection]

CHOOSE YOUR THREE FREE COMICS!

The following titles will be available at Comix Connection on May 4th (while supplies last!). Everybody gets to pick three! For every food donation* you bring in for the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank you may select an additional free comic book!

*food donations must be at least two months in date to allow for food bank processing time! expired or soon-to-expire items will not be accepted. please check your labels!

We know the line for the FCBD comics can get long (if you want to come in and shop first, you can skip the line and head straight inside!) so in an effort to both entertain you while you’re in that long line and to help it go a little faster by giving you a preview of the various titles so you can decide ahead of time what looks good, the Comix Connection Counter Monkeys have read and reviewed all of the available FCBD books! Take a peek!

CHOOSE YOUR FREE COMICS:

This preview of the Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale graphic novel introduces us to a young, pre-Catwoman Selina Kyle and the difficult adolescence that led her to become everyone’s favorite feline fatale. Plus, get a sneak-peek at the upcoming Teen Titans: Raven graphic novel coming from DC Ink later this summer for $16.99. Want more? Pre-order Raven now or grab a copy of Under the Moon off the shelves today!

CONTENT NOTE: while this sample has been rated ALL AGES it does deal with some heavy subjects, including animal death, and the books themselves are intended for TEEN READERS.

Shiver your way into a galaxy far, far away in this spooky one-shot starring Han Solo and Chewbacca on a galactic treasure hunt during their pre-Rebellion scoundrel days! Want more? Discover the whole era-spanning adventure in the Tales from Vader’s Castle graphic novel, on the shelves now! [ALL AGES]

Marjorie is not excited to go visit her grandmother in the country for Mother’s Day, even though her best friend is coming along for the ride -- secretly of course, because Wendell is a ghost! This down-to-earth haunting pits Majorie against the pressures of growing-up and finding herself, but it’s Wendell who gets the star make-over in this issue! As in the graphic novel, this one-shot deals with the topics of grief and loss in a way that is both approachable and touching for all ages. Want more? Pick up the Sheets graphic novel where the two friends first met, on the shelves now! [ALL AGES]

This two-for-one issues gives you the first ever comic book venture for the beloved video game Minecraft, a teaser for the upcoming graphic novel. in the first story, a cheerful “Griefer” gets some grief of her own when real life consequences collide with her digital destruction. Plus, everyone’s favorite super-siblings decide to give mom and dad the gift of a “Date Night” that gives them more than they bargained for in a short story set after Incredibles 2. Want more? Pre-order the $9.99 Minecraft graphic novel now, or picks up the latest issue of Incredible: Secret Identities on the racks now! [ALL AGES]

A hilarious, lighthearted romp through the world of the Justice League as the world’s greatest heroes answer their fans’ most pressing questions -- such as Superman’s biggest mistakes and Hawkgirl’s dietary preferences. This two chapter preview of the upcoming graphic novel, Dear Justice League exposes the funny side of ordinary super life. Want more? Have us pre-order your copy of the $9.99 graphic novel out later this summer! [ALL AGES]

In this special preview of the upcoming graphic novel Ghost Hog, new ghost Truff the hog gets some lessons in how to haunt -- and the dangers when things go wrong! -- from her friends. Plus, catch a preview of Pilu of the Woods, a sweet graphic novel about family and woodlore as a lost little girl meets a lost little dryad and both have to fight their own dark sides to find their way home. Want more? Have us set aside the first Ghost Hog book for you at $12.99 when it comes in next week, or grab a copy of Pilu of the Woods off the shelves now! [ALL AGES]

It can be hard being a Villain Kid in Auradon and even harder when you’re coming from the Isle of the Lost. Dizzy Tremaine is worried about her first day of school so she seeks out some fortune telling from Celia Facilier, but can she trust what the cards tell her...or Celia? Sneak a peek at this preview of the upcoming Disney Descendants: Dizzy’s New Fortune graphic novel coming out later this month. Pre-order your copy now for $12.99 or grab a previous Descendants story off the shelf now! [ALL AGES]

Discover the beginning of Ash Katchum’s partnership with Pikachu in this preview of the Pokémon The Movie: I Choose You graphic novel -- and if you think it was all smooth sailing for these two famous pair, you’re in for a rough surprise...just like Pikachu! Then, follow Red as he captures his first Pokémon and begins his journey to being a great trainer in the preview of Pokémon Adventures Volume One. Want more? Order the full story of each volume today! [ALL AGES]

A long, long, long time ago -- 40,000 years in fact -- neanderthal siblings Lucy and Andy founded an Adventure Club with their human neighbors to explore their prehistoric world. When they go chasing a meteorite that fell from the sky, they might have found more than they bargained for! But don’t worry: every Lucy & Andy story comes with a back-up feature where modern scientists fill-in the details that Lucy and Andy haven’t figured out yet! Find out more in this one-shot adventure, and then check out their ongoing hi-jinks in the collection of Lucy & Andy Neanderthal graphic novels. Grab one off the shelf or order yourself a copy today! [ALL AGES]

The Lumberjanes are a sensation of adventurous scouts who best magical monsters through the power of friendship, and this issue spotlights two of their stories: first, get a preview of the first part of the upcoming Lumberjanes: Shape of Friendship original graphic novel when a visit to the boys’ camp gets a little knottier than expected and second, enjoy a short story of one time Ripley had to use her wits to save Jen from certain doom! Want more? Pre-order the Shape of Friendship OGN today, or pick up a previous volume of the intrepid scouts’ many adventures from the shelves today! [ALL AGES]

In this collection of short, spooky tales, Casper the Friendly Ghost struggles to stop his friends from pulling mean pranks on one another and goes out of his way (and out of orbit...sort of) to make new friends. Enjoy a haunting from the world’s kindest ghost while you alternate groans and giggles over the antics of his less-than-kindly friends and neighbors. Want more? Grab a Casper issue off the racks today! [ALL AGES]

This underwater one-shot introduces us to Alex the Parrotfish, who is eager to head to the big city of Coralton and find a job! Unfortunately for Alex, his quest runs into a few hiccoughs (some with big, pointy teeth!) that threaten to leave his plans high-and-dry, not least of which is that on the reef everybody has a very specific role in the ecosystem...which you can learn more about in the backup Guide to the Bahamas which identifies all the different fish Alex met along the way, and more! [ALL AGES]

Meet Gillbert, a small sea creature, and his underwater friends. Gillbert is the son of the king and queen of all the oceans, but today he just wants to sleep in! Too bad for Gillbert that today is Everything Day, when you can do Anything...except sleep, at least if you have friends like his! Read the first chapter of Gillbert’s newest adventure by Art Baltazar, creator of Tiny Titans and one of the greatest cartoonists of kids’ comics working today! Want more? Check out the first volume of Gillbert’s adventures, Gillbert the Little Merman vol 1, on shelves now, or grab some of Art Baltazar’s earlier work and see where all that AW, YEAH! got started! [ALL AGES]

One of the classics of comic book history, in this FCBD special Little Lulu is as bold, troublesome, and adventurous as ever! Despite being created in the 1930s, Lulu remains an empowering little girl: assertive, independent, and imbued with expert comedic timing, Lulu was a defining comic of post-war America today this protofeminist icon is ready to bring her gags and giggles to a new audience with a collection of reprints starting later this year. Get in on this not-so-lost treasure early. Want more? Sign-up for the upcoming first volume now, or begin with the John Stanley: Giving His Life to Little Lulu HC and learn about her seminal creator and the history he and Lulu influenced. [ALL AGES]

In this one-shot issue, the Thirteenth Doctor and her friends find themselves in an interstellar amusement park for some rest and recreation (and don’t forget the snacks!) until a rigged game of chance exposes a darker underside to all the shiny, happy fun. Can Yaz, Ryan, Graham, and the newest incarnation of the BBC’s famous Time Lord save the day? Find out here! Want more? Grab an issue of the new Thirteenth Doctor series off the rack, or explore the exploits of the previous twelve incarnations in some of our collected adventures off the shelf or by special order! [ALL AGES]

Written, drawn, and colored by legally blind (no, really!) New Zealander Richard Fairgray, Blastosaurus is the story of the titular mutant triceratops with fists of fury and a heart of gold and the two young kids who become his best friends. Overcoming his beastly nature, good ol' Blasto fights monsters, vampires, and mad scientists who use farts as a weapon. The result is a fun comic with a goofy sense of humor where anything is possible. Think Hellboy running through a MAD Magazine, with a little bit of the bizarreness of Creepy or Eerie thrown in. If you like dinosaurs, punching evil, and think flatulence is funny, this is the book for you (and your kids)! Want more? Grab a collection, or dig into the recent back issue bins for some single issues! [ALL AGES]

This treasury of British comics stacks-up a monstrous plethora of humorous hi-jinks, from sharks to soccer to super heroes and back again! In the grand tradition of classic comic strip funnies, this packed-to-the-brim collection of short tales is ready to tickle your funny bone from dawn to dusk to full moon! [ALL AGES]

Co-created by football star (or “soccer” for we uncultured Americans) Cristiano Ronaldo, this new secret super team stars a fictional version of the famed kicker turning his sports skills toward world-protecting. It’s bright, silly, and kids-centric, fleshed-out with sidekicks like the super-baseball bat-weilding Sita Shaolin and the hammerhead shark-headed hockey stick-swinging Kaiju King, but the key of the team is the power-borrowing sphere that Ronaldo has to deliver to the bad guys via his super soccer kicking skills! Think Teen Titans Go, but with football (soccer). Want more? Keep your eyes peeled for more Striker Force 7 comics in the near future! [ALL AGES]

Brought to you by the producers and animators of the hit TV show and features all your favorite characters; Bob, Linda, Tina, Gene & Louise, this issue reprints three impossible Bob’s Burgers stories: one featuring a carnival ride that does a lot more than just spin, one that involves a magic wish melting with regret, and one of Tina’s fanfiction extravaganzas! Want more? Order one of the earlier Bob’s Burgers collections and relive watching the show all over again! [ALL AGES]

The world of Marvel’s movies might have reached an end point for the moment, but things for the comic book Avengers are dicier than ever! Preview upcoming adventures for two series in this issue. First, Tony Stark finds himself facing eerily familiar faces in a time he never wanted to see, while Namor and the Squadron Supreme heat up the oceans and Captain America and Captain Marvel lead a team of heroes deep into Shi’ar space! Then, read the first chapter of the new Savage Avengers series staring such “classic” Avengers characters as Wolverine, Elektra, Punisher, Venom, Blade, and...Conan!? There’s no slowing these heroes down, True Believers! Want more? Grab the first issue of Savage Avengers off the shelves today, or dive into the ongoing Avengers title for adventures both near and far! [TEEN]

Read the full first issue of Hope, a brand-new ongoing superhero comic. The “Ultras” first showed up five years ago, changing the world with their powers. Some people love them, some people fear them, but for unassuming mom Julie Lavelle they were a carefully-guarded secret...until the car accident that changed everything. Where will the ultra named Hope go from here, and with so much loss will she be able to find her namesake within herself ever again? Find out here, than come back later this summer for Issue #2 where things, somehow, get worse! [TEEN]

Two of television’s most beloved series (one long-running and one far, far too short) return to comics! First, preview the new Firefly series set before the tragic events of the Serenity movie that reveals some ugly skeletons from Mal and Zoe’s wartime closets and strains the crew’s bonds like never before. Then, go back to Sunnydale where everything old is new again with a modern reboot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy is back in high school again for the first time, surrounded by familiar faces...but how different will things be when she’s slaying in 2019 instead of 1997? Enjoy a modern twist with a classic taste (of blood!) and grab your stakes...and browncoats! Want more? Find the first issues of either series on the shelf today, or delve into the classic collections of the previous Dark Horse stories. [TEEN]

This two-for-one issue explores both the darker and lighter sides of the Spider-Man mythos! In the first story, prepare yourself for danger as Eddie Brock introduces us to the brutal beginning of Absolute Carnage, a Venom-event starting this August. Then enjoy the lighter side of super-heroics as Miles Morales and Peter Parker face-off over an epic conflict of their own...who really has the best pizza in NYC? Want more? Check out the latest issues of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Miles Morales Spider-Man, Venom, or Amazing Spider-Man on the shelves today -- or read-up on previous events in our extensive collection of various spider-rific comics! [TEEN]

What if experiencing a school shooting was so traumatic that it, and other natural and human-produced horrors of the 21st century, actually triggered superpowers to manifest in the survivors? That is the brainstorm behind Humanoid’s first ongoing comics initiative, H1. This FCBD “Ignition” preview gives us a story about these brand-new superheroes (and villains!) trying to find their place in the world...and they aren’t content to stand by and watch the status quo! Also take a behind-the-scenes peek into the creative process and characters of this blisteringly topical political premise: Spearheaded by comic book legend Mark Waid, Humanoids looks ready to break into the superhero market with a set of relevant and wholly original stories. Want more? Sign-up for the first issue next month’s debut of Ignited now. [TEEN]

It’s School Picture Day in Riverdale, and that of course means drama -- but there might be more at work today than Cheryl Blossom’s demands for more flattering lighting! When nasty notes turn up anonymously dropped in the yearbook suggestion box, will our small town friends be able to stick together and solve the case, or will someone do something that everyone will regret? The new Riverdale: Season Three comic series features adventures set between the episodes of the hit show, and as always in the town of Riverdale the moment you start digging for answers the more secrets you expose! Also enjoy some behind-the-scenes sneak peeks as well as an excerpt from the prequel novel Riverdale: The Day Before. Want more? Grab the latest issue of the new Riverdale series off the rack, or explore our variety of collected editions from the traditional Archie Digests to the modern re-vamp of the Archie and Sabrina series and, of course, the show-inspired Riverdale comic itself! [TEEN]

Canada's perennial titular superhero has seen sporadic publication since its creation in 1975, but has been appearing more consistently since 2015 as part of Chapterhouse Comics. This preview of the newest Captain Canuck series starts with a "top secret" dossier to catch you up on recent in-world history, as well as background on some of his allies and enemies. We also receive a small hint of the action to come as the Captain and his French Canadian partner, Kebec, fly into an underground lair for some robot-bashing action! [TEEN]

The beloved Robotech series continues with a revolutionary new revisioning! Jump on board for the next big event right here with this mind-blowing first chapter of Robotech: Event Horizon, beginning this summer with Issue #21!  Plus a Curtain Call backup featuring...Minmei!? Check it all out here, then grab a collected edition of the previous issues or sign-up for the start of Event Horizon this summer! [TEEN]

Time-displaced warrior-queen Malika struggles under the burden of the Dragon’s Doom in this preview of her newest adventure, Malika: Fire & Frost. An enchanted sleep sent Malika 500 years into the future but ancient curses do not give up their hold that easily...and neither do her adversaries! The quest for the Dragon Stones is a dangerous one, but what happens when someone new gets caught-up in the fight? Read the first chapter here, then check out the previous two volumes in her epic chronicles: Malika: Warrior Queen on shelves now! [TEEN]

What if one day, all the animals all over the world woke up and started talking? That is the story of Animosity, an epic adventure following human girl Jesse and dog Sandor across the resulting cataclysm. But Jesse and Sandor are not the only ones with a story to tell. In this one-shot, bio major Meredith and Neon, the beta fish who loves her, have to face the terror of life outside the tank. Want more? Grab the first volume of Animosity off the shelves today! [TEEN]

Mel has a secret: she thinks she’s dying. She’s also a clandestine superhero tasked with protecting all of mankind. A chance meeting in a cemetery between the bleeding woman and a kid hiding-out with her sketchbook changes everything...except the fact that being a superhero isn’t easy. Is Jessie up for the challenge? Find out in this FCBD reprint of the first issue of Punchline, the new super-powered super-star from Antarctic Press! Want more? Order the first volume of the sold-out series, Punchline: Blood Sisters, today! [TEEN]

In this adorably meta story, witness the epic throw-down between Sakura and Karin -- both in and out of the game! Can Sakura’s hard-earned skills perfected through after-hours practice at the arcade where she works compete with Karin’s meticulous, expensive training? Who will be the world champion of Super Chibi Puzzle Gem Fighter Ultra Turbo Arcade Edition? Fine out here! Want more? Raid the back issue bins for previous issues of Street Fighter, or grab a collected edition today! [TEEN]

This manga-style two-for-one issue features a story from the world of My Hero Academia and one from The Promised Neverland. In the first, enter a world where 80% of all people are born with “quirks” that give them super-powers! It’s an exciting, hyper-active world full of heroes and villains...but what about the 20% of people who aren’t born “super”? Jump straight into the action with a fight scene that’s more than meets the eye, and find out! Then in the second story, visit the orphanage where eleven-year-old Emma lives with her thirty-seven beloved siblings, enjoying an ordinary life of family, games, and companionship...along with the strange Daily Test, numbers tattooed on their necks, and a fence to keep them from ever going outside! Want more? There are multiple volumes of both manga available now, so grab one today! [TEEN]

Worlds collide in this special FCBD one-shot! When Tala and Eddie, estranged father-daughter duo on the run from good guys and bad guys alike, finally get their hands on an “escape hatch” to another world it seems like all their troubles are solved -- but the world where the Goon lives is never trouble free! When one pair contains a man trapped in the body of a pug and the other contains a newly-minted dogcatcher with a love of violence, is there any way things can end well? Plus, a back-up featuring Eric Powell’s appalachian horror comic, Hillbilly! Want more? Collections of all three series are available now, or grab the first issue of the new Goon today! [TEEN]

Red 5 Comics brings out a two-for-one sampler of high-concept post-apocalyptic stories. In The Dark Age, a mysterious mist destroys all the metal on Earth, immediately plunging society back into a medieval kingdom of wood, brick, and glass. In Afterburn, the world is scorched by a super-powerful solar flare and the story follows a group of thieves and mercenaries breaking into the most dangerous areas of the old world, attempting to recover lost artifacts for the remaining aristocracy. For readers looking for dark, mature stories of a dismal future, this comic is a perfect choice! [TEEN]

In this two-parter from Dark Horse, enjoy a one-shot set in the aftermath of Stranger Things where Nancy struggles to reconnect to her brother and find a way for both of them to return to normal life. Then preview the new series Black Hammer ‘45: Tales From the World of Black Hammer with a foray to the werewolf-riddled battlefields of World War II and a glimpse of the future of the ghostly Jack Sabbath. Want more? Pick up the first volume of Black Hammer, a series that takes the traditional tropes of the super hero world and twists them into new, marvelous, and weird new shapes, or grab the first volume of the Stranger Things tie-in comic exploring Will’s time in the Upside Down off the shelves. You can also sign up for the prequel series, Stranger Things: Six due out later this month! [TEEN]

In the sci-fi/horror world of Midnight Sky, things are always dark. But things are not always what they seem. In this unexpected dystopian tale, we enter a world where light reveals the people who have been replaced...but by what, and why? And how far will one mother go to protect her children when one of them is no longer human, and the other has a strange power that might save -- or doom -- them all? Plus, a preview of Long Live Pro Wrestling, when a fed-up announcer gets a little too honest for his boss and becomes a social media sensation, a short haunting by Gutt Ghost, and previews of several upcoming titles from Scout Comics! Want more? Sign-up for your favorites today! [TEEN]

Discover the strange, steampunk world of Lady Mechanika in this special issue which reprints her original 2010 debut one-shot as well as excerpts from two of her neweer adventures: The Clockwork Assassin and La Belle Dame Sans Merci. The mysterious mechanical woman stalks the streets in search of answers to her own origins -- but could she be a murderer herself? And how will she protect her friend Mr. Lewis from the dangers posed by an even more mysterious woman than herself? Gawk at the breadth of Lady Mechanika’s world, then grab a collection of her adventures off the shelves today! [TEEN]

In 1992, Todd McFarlane’s Spawn burst onto the comics scene. Today you can relive that moment with this reprint of that very first issue, complete with an exclusive new cover by Francesco Mattina. Enjoy a look back at the moment that started it all...or if you’ve never read Spawn before, now is the perfect time to jump on board before the movie! Want more? There are almost 300 issues of Spawn out there today, available in back issue singles and collections! Grab some today! [TEEN]

This two-part issue from Valiant Universe begins the newest saga in the life of nanite-infused ultimate soldier, Bloodshot, as well as setting the stage for the events of the Fallen World event due later this year which will pit the aforementioned Bloodshot against Rai, a haunted cyber-samurai. First witness Bloodshot at his most unstoppable as he seeks to save a doctor from those who would use her talents to make more beings like him; then explore the strain between truth and faith when “heaven” falls out of the sky in the opening salvo of Fallen World. Want more? Pick up a collection of Bloodshot or Rai or sign-up today for their new adventures in either the solo series or the Fallen World mini-series! [TEEN]

Return to the classics with this excerpt from Zagor: The Alien Saga. Originally created in 1961, the story of Zagor combines science fiction, horror, and westerns in one adventurous whole. Here, discover how the titular Zagor and his friend Chico first encountered beings from another world...and the darker, more familiar face beside them! Want more? Order a collection of this classic comic book today. [TEEN]

The main story of this one-shot features Dragonfly and Dragonflyman -- the same hero, but in two different worlds: one colorful and campy, the other gritty and dark! Juxtapose the biff, bam, pow! aesthetics of old school heroism with the grimdark hyper-violence of the nineties and today, and see how familiar faces can turn strange. But what will happen when cheerful Dragonflyman and grizzled Dragonfly change places in The Wrong Earth? Lay the groundwork of their worlds here, and then check out the back-up features introducing Captain Ginger, the feline captain of a ship full of interstellar cats, and a quick trip through the unfriendly world of Edgar Allen Poe’s A Snifter of Terror. Want more? All three series have collections available now! [TEEN]

When humanity left planet Earth behind, fleeing a dying world for a new start in the stars, they nuked it behind them in an attempt to wipe-out the vampires left behind. Unfortunately, in the shadow of that nuclear winter, those vampires evolved. Now with the bloodsucks on the brink of achieving space flight and coming after their wayward food source, humanity has one last chance to save itself: the Interceptor program. One surgically-modified, heavily-trained, even more heavily-armed warrior to wipe-out the vampire threat for good. But when she gets to Earth, she finds something she never expected... This kinetic, fast-paced, tongue-in-cheek comic sets up a battle for Earth the likes of which you’ve never seen! Want more? Pre-order the $17.99 graphic novel due out later this summer that reprints the original series, or jump straight to the sequel with the new four-issue Reactor mini-series, available now! [TEEN]

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the first appearance of the Vampirella character in Vampirella #1, a Warren Publishing horror magazine and sister publication to the company's Creepy and Eerie magazines. As is befitting such an anniversary, Dynamite Comics is bringing out a new series with a new creative team to craft stories for the wry badgirl vampire. In this preview, we see our favorite scantily-clad bloodsucker endure assaults on social media, determined to discover her whereabouts and her secrets. The real treat in this FCBD exclusive is a bonus story, originally published in 1993, written and illustrated by comic book legends Kurt Busiek and Arthur Adams. Want more? Sign-up now for the new ongoing Vampirella series beginning later this summer! [TEEN+]

Jump in mid-action to the latest adventure of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as they race through the city to save their friend and survive multiple ambushes! Then, discover the history of the saga back to the very beginning a long, long time ago in the back-up feature. Want more? Check out the reading order in the back of this issue for where to get started and then grab one of the TMNT’s collected editions off the shelf, or just keep going from here with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turltes #94, out later this month! [MATURE READERS!]

Jump feet first into the frenetic world of Deadly Class, ongoing comic and hit television show! What do kids going to assassin school do to blow off steam? Hit a concert, of course...but sometimes the work comes with them. Does making art actually change the world? What about revenge? And can you hold onto who you are when the world is trying to shape you into something else? If all that can be packed into just one issue, imagine how much goes on in the entire series...or stop imagining it, and pick up the first volume today! [MATURE READERS!]

In 2017, Emil Ferris published her first graphic novel, the unprecedented and brilliant My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, an exploration of everything from the trauma of a lonely childhood, the Holocaust, and totally awesome horror comics, all drawn with ballpoint pen and a perspective never seen before in comics. This only came about after Ferris experienced severe brain damage from a severe case of West Nile Virus and used drawing with a ballpoint pen as a form of physical therapy. This FCBD-exclusive provides an inside look into how My Favorite Thing Is Monsters emerged from that tragedy and includes Ferris's own guide to drawing monsters. Want more? Find the original graphic novel on our shelves today! [MATURE READERS!]

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT SUPPLIES ARE LIMITED AND ALL FCBD TITLES ARE FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED! WE SUGGEST YOU HAVE IDEAS IN MIND FOR BACK-UP BOOKS IN CASE YOUR FIRST CHOICE IS GONE!

Many of these books tie-in with comic series or graphic novels currently available in our stores, while others are previews for books that are soon to be released! If you enjoyed your free comics, or if you saw an interesting one in the list that you didn’t have the chance to grab that you’d like to read, ask one of your friendly neighborhood Comix Connection Counter Monkeys for help! We’ll be glad to give you more information -- or even order you some goodies!

[lycorogue]

Gabriel Agreste: A 3-Part Character Study

Part 3: How Gabriel Agreste and Hawk Moth SHOULD have been written

Welcome back, and welcome to the final part of my essay series with regards to Gabriel Agreste.

In Part 1 I explained my reasoning to write this series in the first place. If you haven't read that yet and would like to follow my train-of-thought, feel free to go back and read that part here.

Part 2 consisted of my headcanon of what Gabriel's life was like, and his basic personality, prior to the viewer meeting him within the structure of the “Miraculous Ladybug” TV series. At no time did I attempt to justify or condone his actions, but I did try to explain them. It isn't anchored in any sort of canonical facts, but it does ring true for me. If you're interested in this psuedo-narrative short story, you can find it here.

In this final part of the series I want to talk about how I would have written Hawk Moth and Gabriel Agreste for this show. I focus on ways of making him the sympathetic villain Thomas Astruc seems to be aiming for, but without the “hiccup” of child abuse/neglect/endangerment. Because, honestly, Hawk Moth could very much be the Ladybug equivalent of the Batman villain Mr. Freeze. The basic structure is there: a man madly in love with his wife, keeps her “alive” in a tube-like coffin (for Freeze it's because he has his wife in a cryogenic chamber), and turns to a life of crime as a means to revive his wife as quickly as possible.

This would have worked beautifully. It could have been the same sort of homage to a sympathetic villain as Ladybug is an homage to Spider-Man and Sailor Moon. It's a shame Astruc didn't calculate for Adrien. There was probably a reason why, when Dave Wood and Sheldon Moldoff created Mr. Freeze for the Batman franchise, they didn't have him be a father.

I explore a way to both keep Hawk Moth as Adrien's father, as well as make him a sympathetic villain. One where we won't know if we should cheer against or for him. One where we hope he can be redeemed. One where the inevitable battle between him and Adrien becomes a much more powerful, heart wrenching, and emotional encounter.

Let's start out by saying how beautifully painful it is that Hawk Moth and Chat Noir are actually, and secretly, father and son. It has a sort of Darth Vader/Luke Skywalker feel. It's always wonderfully heartbreaking when family are forced to attack each other. So, bravo on that. It's a shame that in creating this dynamic and “plot twist” (we all saw it coming, but okay...) Astruc ended up creating a sort of casual and brushed off outlook on child neglect and endangerment, as well as mental and emotional abuse. I don't think Astruc realizes he created this blasé attitude about poor family dynamic. I believe he thinks he created “dynamic” characters by having Adrien being this sweet, good-natured, always look for the good in people, used to disappointment kid who should have become a villain (especially with the power of destruction) but instead followed a brighter path. I also believe that Astruc thinks Hawk Moth is sort of his Darth Vader, and can have a similar “self-sacrifice at the last second for the love of his son” level of redemption. That in the end Hawky will FINALLY realize what truly matters and will give up everything for Adrien, and the audience will forgive Gabe and think “what a tragic character.”

And there could be audience members that will think that. Those, like me, who never experienced the pain and trauma of unkind parents, might fall under the spell of the story Astruc tells, and might feel that sympathy. I have to admit, I felt a twinge of sympathy when I saw Gabriel collapsed in that chair in the beginning of Queen Wasp. I felt how deeply he loved his wife, and how crushed he was at potentially giving her up. In that moment I forgot about Adrien and everything that poor boy has to endure. So, Astruc may very well get away with this storytelling angle. I'd hate to admit it, but it's possible.

However, there is a toxic element of letting Gabriel get away with how he treated Adrien. It will definitely send the wrong message if Adrien forgives his father for everything. If they do end up bonding in the final episode; the Agreste men now having the family they both desperately yearned for. It's not a good message to send out to any child watching who is experiencing similar abuse/neglect/endangerment. It's a painful slap in the face of those who survived parents like Gabe. The whole thing just cannot end well for Mr. Agreste.

If Astruc wanted Gabriel to be redeemed, if he wanted Adrien to get his father back, if he wanted Gabe to realize as much as he'll miss Emilie he still has his family, if he wanted the two of them can find a way to revive Emilie and be one big happy family, if he wanted any or all of that to happen, all he had to do was change one thing. Just one.

Have Gabriel Agreste actually be a loving father.

That's it! He can still be Hawk Moth. He can still attack Paris. He can still direct akumatized supervillains away from where Adrien should be so his son could be safe (oddly enough, he's shown doing this sort of thing more in the first season than he has in the second...). He can still be so maddeningly in love with Emilie that he's willing to do all sorts of evil things as Hawk Moth in order to try to revive her. Hawk Moth as a whole could be basically the same, just change key factors of Gabriel.

Have Adrien call him Dad instead of Father in order to show that the two did bond and have a connection, at least until Emilie disappeared. How much more devastating would it be if Adrien “lost” both of his parents when his mother “disappeared”? He went from a warm, loving family unit to a broken one with a father who doesn't know how to get over his grief, and therefore pulls away from his son.

What if Adrien looks upset in the portrait of just him and his father not simply because he’s grieving his mother (they are in black... such a weird time to get a portrait done...), and not because now he’s stuck with the parent he can never bond with? What if he looks depressed because he noticed a change in his father and he fears “losing” a second parent?

Adrien can still be used to these negative feelings by the time his father becomes Hawk Moth so he doesn't trigger an akumatization. Either that, or Gabriel is willing to do anything to bring out LB and CN, except for akumatizing his own son. Then Adrien can feel as depressed or angry or scared as he wants, but never calls an akuma to him because Hawky refuses to send one. How bittersweet would it be if Gabriel’s Miraculous alerted him that someone was set to be akumatized, only for him to realize it’s Adrien? He could then feel guilt about failing his son and GO TO HIM to try to help cheer him up.

Adrien never becoming akumatized even when he knows the trigger and knows he’s experienced it could easily be written off by Adrien as “I have a Miraculous, so I can't be akumatized” and he would only start to question his lack of being akumatized after Queen Bee turns into Queen Wasp (as seen in Queen Wasp). Which will be great because it will add a sense of mystery for Adrien now, as well as a new level of angst. Not only does he not know who Ladybug is, but he's questioning if Hawk Moth knows him and is protecting him. He may begin to question the adult figures in his life, just as Gabriel is questioning if Adrien is Chat Noir.

There could be a very – excuse the pun – cat and mouse game going on between the Agreste men, in which Gabriel wonders if his son is Chat Noir, but various things, such as both “Adrien” and Chat Noir being seen together in Gorizilla, makes him doubt his deduction. Likewise, things like Gabriel becoming akumatized, as seen in The Collector, could throw Adrien off his father's scent.

But now there's that unease. That questioning. That element of mystery and pull at trust. Especially if Gabriel is now a loving father. Adrien already lost his mom, he couldn't possibly believe his father is a supervillain, could he?

Adrien doesn't have to be isolated all the time. Gabriel could have his lunches with Adrien. They could bond after work/school. Gabe could purposely set up his at-home office hours to coincide with Adrien's school work and numerous after school activities. That way he'd be an available father for when his son is home.

You can also still have Gabriel be a very driven fashion designer. Maybe Adrien is used to his father pulling away for a month or so as the deadline for a new line premiere approaches. He's not a fan, but he knows his father loves him, and he's proud that his father is doing something he's passionate about. He gets it. He hopes to become that passionate and dedicated to something some day. Gabriel can still be a recluse, which is why he won't show up for things like Career Day or competitions. That way Adrien still tries to coax his father outside, and gets disappointed that he can't convince him. That way Nathalie still adorably carries around the tablet to Facetime with Gabriel at events the designer should be at. That way it's still The Gorilla and Nathalie taking care of Adrien outside the mansion.

It's not because Gabriel is neglectful. It's because he's agoraphobic, or because he's hounded too much by the media, or because he is grieving Emilie. Something sympathetic and at least a better excuse than “he's a dick and doesn't want to leave his home because he's stubborn and has to be near his lair in case he can akumatize someone.”

As for school, perhaps Gabriel and Emilie really did fear putting their celebrity child in public school, which is why they homeschooled him. Perhaps Adrien's only friend was Chloe growing up because the Bourgeois were the only friends the Agrestes had who had children, let alone children Adrien's age. It wasn't purposeful isolation, it was to try to protect Adrien from the media, and they couldn't find a way to branch out. Gabriel and Emilie tried to make up for this by being Adrien's playmates. Even The Gorilla and Nathalie could have been his extended friends. Which is why Nathalie and Gorilla seem to have a familial bond with Adrien.

If it were crucial that Adrien had to “fight” to get into the public school in the Origins episodes, then perhaps Gabriel was just so fearful of losing Adrien like he lost Emilie that he became overly protective. “I don't want you leaving this house. There's nothing for you out there. I want you here so I can protect you,” instead of Gabe's actual BS of “You are my son. You aren't like everyone else.”

This paternal panic could have really given him sympathy points. Most parents would understand the want to just bubblewrap and lock away your child to protect them from the world.

As for the modeling? Maybe Adrien likes to do it. Maybe it's a way for him and his father to bond. I will never attempt to sell my crocheting, but that doesn't mean I don't like doing it, even when I'm stressed because Christmas is right around the corner and HOLY CRAP I DON'T KNOW IF I'LL GET THIS PROJECT DONE IN TIME! I HATE CROCHETING! WHAT AM I DOING!? So maybe Adrien is the same way with modeling. He likes it. He's good at it. He finds it fun. Maybe he does kind of like the attention... when it's from afar... he just doesn't want to make a career out of it once he's out of school.

Adrien could really enjoy sports as well, which is why he is in fencing and basketball. Out of all of his activities, the only one that he could be “forced” into might be Chinese. And that could just be a loving parent pushing their child to learn a language that might become very handy for him in his future. While my mom didn't force me to take Spanish, she did very much encourage me to chose it (over French or German) because she felt it might be very useful for me in the future. Especially with more and more Americans being native Spanish speakers.

So, even with this change of Gabriel actually being a loving parent, you can still have Adrien’s character build be basically the same. He could still feel trapped at home because his parents kept him isolated to keep him from the harassment of paparazzi. He could feel lost because he lost his mother, and in doing so, his father feels like he's pulling away too. He can still be disappointed that his father won't show up for things like Career Day, concerts, and competitions, but still used to it because his father has a presumably legitimate reason for being a recluse. He can still have the busy schedule, but this time WANT to be that busy. He can still depend on his bodyguard and Nathalie as extra guardians. He can still be his wonderful sunshine self despite the tragedy in his life. And he could LOVE being Chat Noir because it means he can be free.

Adrien can be goofy and wild as Chat Noir, things he self-imposed on himself that he can’t be, after being taught that he's always in the public eye. Gabriel and Emilie didn't force him to be that reserved, he did it himself out of respect for his parents. (Trust me, I did the same thing. I was a pathetic goodie two-shoes growing up simply because I didn't want to shame my parents in any way. I was only goofy while around my dad because he was goofy and I felt safe acting the same way around him. I have since fully embraced my “chat noir” side thanks to my hubby)

As for him not being able to hang out with his friends in order to keep up that dynamic? Maybe Gabriel plans Family Nights in order to stay connected with his son. I know many parents who demand their kids do these bonding nights with them, especially when the child is a teenager and the parents are afraid of losing that precious connection. They're worried they aren't going to know what is going on in their child's life. It's annoying to the kid to not be able to hang out with their friends all the time, but the forced familial bonding is done out of love. And it could be for situations like in Glaciator where Adrien is just grabbing ice cream with friends. “No, Adrien, you’re not grabbing Lover’s Ice Cream with your friends. Are you even dating anyone? Nevermind, you’re staying here, and we’re playing Parcheesi.” 

In truth, we got to see a lot more of Adrien hanging out with Nino in season one, so why not keep up with that dynamic?

Random after school meet up at the zoo (Animan)? Going to a TV station to help support Nino (Simon Says)? Meet up at the local park with the New Girl to discuss superheroes (Volpina)? Rock concerts (Pixelator) or pantomime plays (The Mime)? An afternoon training for a video game tournament (Gamer)? Loaning out services as a translator for the afternoon (Kung Food)? Watching a foot race with classmates (Timebreaker)? 

Honestly, it didn't seem like Adrien was really barred from any sort of socializing in the first season. He was even seen casually riding the subway by himself in Puppeteer. The writers just needed an excuse for Marinette to become upset about her lack of interactions with Adrien, and therefore turn towards Luka. I love Luka, but.... it's a lame excuse to change Gabriel's behavior to be more of a controlling dick, and less sympathetic.

Speaking of, that scene from Sandboy where Gabriel showcases how much power a holder has over their kwami? Yeah. Just. Don't do that. That's about par with the Writing Cardinal Sin of killing the dog (or kicking the puppy).

Instead of Gabriel being the evil slave driver we see canonically, how about this take? Nooroo could be concerned about being misused to create supervillians, but what if Gabriel and Nooroo bonded the way the other holders did with their kwamis? What if Nooroo understands Gabe's motivation and is willing to help in order to revive Emilie? This way the audience isn’t fearful for Nooroo, Gabriel isn’t doing another harsh thing that makes him irredeemable, and it adds a whole new level to the show. I'll get back to this point later when I talk about the Final Showdown. In the meantime, let's talk more about Gabriel as Hawk Moth with this new “loving father” character trait in play.

I already discussed the concept of Gabe organizing his work life around Adrien's school life so that they could bond whenever his son is home. Well, thanks to Sandboy, we know that his broach blinks when someone is feeling negative feelings. Gabriel doesn't have to just wait around in his lair all day. He gets an alert.

We also know that Nathalie is in on the whole Hawk Moth ploy, as seen in both The Collector and Style Queen/Queen Wasp. Gabe trusts his secret with Nathalie, and she's always right there. What if, while he's having bonding time with Adrien, he passes the broach over to Nathalie. Then, when it blinks, Nathalie can feign an important work emergency which would call Gabriel away to his office. As they reach the office, she can hand him the broach so he can transform.

This way Adrien can still feel upset with his father's new flaky behavior roughly once a day (assuming Hawk Moth didn't already transform someone while Adrien was at school or out with friends; and yes I am of the headcanon that Hawky can only akumatize one person per day to make up for his lack of 5-minute count-down). It can also still create situations like in Glaciator where Adrien complains about being forced to stay home, only for his father to abandon him to be alone for the night. That can still very much be a valid dynamic, and give Adrien the “Adrien might not be able to leave, but Chat Noir can” attitude.

Alright, so I think I've firmly showed how Gabriel being a loving and compassionate person could both change so much of the basic dynamic between him and Adrien, but can also be done so not too many elements in either of their characters need to be changed. Now let's get to the real reason why this is the better way of writing Gabriel Agreste: The Final Showdown

With the canon dynamic, when we finally get to the point in the series where Adrien finds out that his father definitely is Hawk Moth, it will be painful. He will feel betrayed, but he might also see it as fitting. It could very well be the point of no return for Adrien. Up until that point, he has forgiven his father and gladly lapped up any attention Gabriel has given him. But to find out that his father is also his arch nemesis? The man who has been terrorizing Paris? That may be when Adrien finally gives up believing his father is a decent man. He may even give a “Mom wouldn't want this” speech that tears Gabriel deep. It will be a rough moment in the series, but in the end, Adrien may find it easy to take his father down. The man deserved it.

Now, let's think about that Grand Reveal moment from the perspective of Gabriel is a loving father.

Adrien finds out that his father, a man who has protected and nurtured him, a man who has struggled to still bond with his aging teenage son, a man who has tried to provide for him, and a man who represented the last of his family, THIS is also the man who has terrorized Paris? Adrien can't comprehend it. His father is a good person! His father is a caring and nurturing person! His father isn't capable of doing something like this! There must be a mistake. 

And you know that trope that appears in a lot of fanfiction/fanart/fancomics? The one where Chat Noir is tempted (or is completely swayed) to help Hawk Moth in order to save Emilie? Yeah. I can’t see Adrien doing that under canon circumstances, but if Gabriel is a loving, nurturing father? 

Adrien might be persuaded to think that everything WAS for the greater good. Gabriel had no choice! He HAD to become a villain in order to find the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses. That’s the only reason he did what he did, and he couldn’t pull a 180 and ask for help once LB and CN came onto the scene. Why would they believe someone who just terrorized Paris? Poor Gabriel had no alternatives; it wasn’t his fault. Besides, with Ladybug’s powers it wasn’t like Paris was ever REALLY in danger. Gabriel wasn’t REALLY threatening anyone. He would have made it all right if he won. Of course he would, because he was a good person! He was only doing everything out of love!

Ladybug would have to either fight both Hawk Moth and Chat Noir alone - and how painful would it be for her to be betrayed by CN and have to take him out too - or Adrien would be forced to take his father down even though he wants the same thing: for Emilie to be brought back to them. Especially when Adrien might find his father’s methods valid.

Adrien could even still give the “Mom wouldn’t want this” speech as he tries to convince Gabriel to give himself up. In the end, Ladybug would win. Gabriel and Adrien would weep over what they had to do to each other; what they had to take from each other. Gabriel would be devastated that all the time he’s been attacking Chat Noir he was actually attacking his precious, beloved son. And they would have to give up Emilie together, because Master Fu already explained to Ladybug how dangerous it is to use the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses together. 

Adrien and Gabe wouldn’t want to fight each other, but they both HAVE to in order to protect their ideals and goals. Or Adrien would HAVE to choose between fighting the love of HIS life, or giving up his mother again.

And Nooroo? Remember when I said I’d get back to him? Yeah. Imagine Gabriel Agreste actually being a decent human being? A true villain of circumstance? He hates what he’s doing but feels like there is no other option aside from giving up Emilie, and he just CAN’T do that. Now imagine that he convinced Nooroo to join him. They’ve bonded and are just as close as Adrien and Plagg, Marinette and Tikki, or Fu and Wayzz. Nooroo is there, along with Nathalie, to comfort Gabriel whenever he fails to defeat LB and CN.

However.... the other kwamis don’t realize any of this. They still think Nooroo isn’t capable of helping a villain. They still think he’s a slave, and in desperate need to be rescued. So that whole dynamic doesn’t change on that end. We still get that beautiful moment of Plagg being worried about Nooroo in Sandboy, and even still have the plot device of the kwamis all getting together to try to find Nooroo.

Except, Nooroo maybe informs Hawk Moth how to send his will back in order to try to track down the rest of the kwamis? Nooroo could point out Plagg and the fact that he’s CN’s kwami?

And in that final battle, when Plagg thinks he’s saving Nooroo, only to find out that the moth kwami was a willing accomplice the whole time? That Nooroo is just as broken as Gabriel that his holder’s wish can’t be granted. Nooroo even YELLS at Plagg and Tikki for interfering instead of helping.

ALL THE ANGUISH! ALL THE FEELS! ALL THE BITTERSWEETNESS TO THE HEROES WINNING! Sure, Paris is saved, but at what cost? Can these relationships heal?

SEE HOW MUCH BETTER THE WHOLE SERIES WOULD BE IF GABRIEL JUST HAD THAT ONE CHARACTER CHANGE!? If he was just a loving father? If he was a decent human being? If he hated having to be a villain, but truly sees no other way?

Well, thank you for spending the last hour or so with me. Hopefully it was all worth it. What are your thoughts on everything? Please let me know in the comments.

[stairset]

So admittedly I'm not sure EXACTLY what I'd do differently if I rewrote tlj, bc there's so many problems and lots of stuff to consider that it'd take forever to rewrite everything. But I do have some very messy miscellaneous ideas:

-Instead of starting off right at the second where tfa ended, skip ahead like, maybe a month or two? I dunno like a time skip that's fairly short, but long enough that both sides could plausibly be able to regroup and regather their forces after the losses they suffered from in the last film.

-Rey's been training with Luke and learned a few things but not a ton. Finn woke from his coma a while ago but still needs to get his back injury looked at regularly.

-Finn and Poe regularly talk to Rey and they give each other updates on how they're doing throughout the movie. This way we can have like, actual character interactions despite our trio being light-years apart.

-Like in the film, a fight between the Resistance and FO fleets towards the beginning results in some heavy casualties for our heroes. However these casualties are not the result of Poe being ooc and doing dumb shit for no reason.

-Poe's main character arc is still learning to step up and lead, but this time in a way that actually makes sense for his character. Maybe he beats himself up for losing so many people bc he's lost someone important to him before, and he has to accept that no leader can save everyone. Accept what you can't change and have the courage to change the things you can. Or something else like that. Just something that does his character justice.

-Paige doesn't have to die. Like I never expected her to have a big role bc there's so many characters to keep track of, but I'm sick of this franchise killing woc right after introducing them so let's say Paige just gets seriously injured. Enough to motivate Rose.

-Somehow Rose and Finn meet but in this version she has a consistent personality and they actually become friends and she doesn't taze him or talk down to him.

-I haven't thought of EXACTLY what I'd do with Rose's arc so if anyone has any ideas feel free to add on.

-The tracking the Resistance through hyperspace thing can stay bc it is interesting in concept, but there has to be a little more to it. Maybe the Resistance is trying to figure out how the FO is even getting all this super advanced tech and how to beat it.

-Finn doesn't know everything but he does know the FO has funding from many corrupt new Republic senators and other officials. So Leia sends Finn, Poe and Rose (plus BB-8 and 3PO bc 3PO needs something to do) to Canto Bight, which is actually designed well in this version.

-While they're doing that, Leia and Ackbar lead the Resistance fleet to the Crait base with the FO fleet hot on their tail, hoping to send a distress signal to their allies.

-At Canto Bight they meet up with Lando who was already on a separate undercover mission for Leia. He helps them get the I they need from some skeezy rich bastards who help the FO and tags along with them.

-Rose is the hacker bc it simplifies things a bit.

-They don't spend nearly as long on Canto Bight. Instead, sneaking around Snoke's ship takes up the bulk of their half of the plot. The animal subplot is taken out entirely bc it's pointless. They come for Lando and the info and go.

-Meanwhile with the force stuff:

-Snoke telling Kylo to stop acting like Vader didn't make sense. He should want Kylo to act MORE like Vader to make sure he stays away from the light and shit or something.

-Snoke takes Kylo to Vader's old castle on Mustafar to complete his training as he said he would in tfa, and the Knights of Ren tag along bc they seem cool and ignoring them in favor of the lobster guards was a mistake.

-Mustafar is not only significant to Kylo's family's history, but also canonically was once the sight of a sith temple, a perfect place to complete Kylo's training. Plus as a bonus it connects the prequels and R1 to the sequels in a natural way.

-Kylo's Mustafar training serves as a parallel to Luke training Rey on Ach-To.

-Luke actually teaches Rey some cool shit insteas of just being grumpy and wasting precious screentime with pointless crap, and they have a meaningful relationship.

-Instead of just giving up and going to Ach-To to die, Luke instead came for Important Plot Reasons.

-Basically, we learn that Snoke is an ancient and powerful dark side weilder, far more powerful and more sinister than even the Sith themselves. The very first Jedi knights formed the group to stop Snoke, and during the battle they gave him his injuries, severely weakening him, and imprisoned him in the unknown regions of space.

-Through the force, Snoke witnessed the history of the Star Wars galaxy as we know it unfold. The centuries of war between the Jedi and the Sith. The near destruction of the Sith. The creation of the rule of two that allowed the Sith to rise again and get their revenge. The Clone Wars. The creation of Darth Vader. The fall of the Republic and the Jedi. The rise of the Empire. The Rebellion. Snoke watched it all from behind the scenes, waiting for the right moment to return.

-His opportunity came with the end of the Galactic Civil War. The New Republic exiled the remnants of the Empire to the unknown regions, where they ran into Snoke and he somehow convinced them that he had the power to help them restore their precious Empire.

-So we now know Snoke's backstory, but his exact plan isn't revealed just yet. There are hints, but save the big reveal for episode 9.

-Luke didn't go looking for the first Jedi temple for no reason. He went in hopes of learning about Snoke, and more importantly, how he was defeated the first time to give an idea of how to stop him now. Unfortunately, he hasn't figured that part out yet.

-Make no mistake, Luke may not be bitter and hopeless here but he's not without his own problems. That crap with him almost killing Kylo doesn't happen, but he does beat himself up for not saving Kylo. He was so sure that if Vader could be turned than so could Ben. But the sad fact is that you can't save someone unless they want to be saved, and Ben didn't want to.

-And the big one: Somehow, maybe through that weird force mirror or something like that, Rey and Luke discover that they are in fact father and daughter. Because like it or not that's very obviously what tfa was hinting at. And like it or not, her being his daughter adds more weight to everything. Rey finally concludes her arc of finding her family. And through Luke's training she becomes the worthy successor to the Skywalker bloodline that Kylo failed to be.

-As for how she ended up on Jakku, why Luke, Leia and Han didn't recognize her sooner, etc. That I haven't thought of a good answer to yet, but I'm sure something plausible could be figured out if given enough thought. Maybe Snoke wanted to make her his apprentice but Kylo was jealous and somehow tricked everyone into thinking he killed her and left her on Jakku to die? Or something? Idk. Again, feel free to give ur ideas.

-Back to the Resistance plot. So while all the force shit is happening, Finn and co. have been undercover on Snoke's ship to not only destroy the hyperspace tracker, but hopefully find a way to stop the FO's whole flow of supplies from their sympathizers.

-Since Snoke is away on Mustafar training Kylo, Hux is in charge of the Supremacy. Unsurprisingly, it didn't take him and Phasma long to discover that they had intruders, and they've been onto them the whole time, adding tension for our heroes to hurry the hell up.

-Finn runs into a small group of his old friends and former squadmates from his stormtrooper days, and discovers that his defection inspired them, and they've been secretly sabotaging the FO in small ways.

-So these defectors take the heroes to some important database or something where they can get the information they need.

-While there, Finn also ends up finding a big secret in the FO's database, who his parents were and where he was born.

-For who his parents are, there's lots of interesting paths to take, maybe they're members of the New Republic, or royalty, or Mandalorians, or force sensitives, or something else interesting. Either way, it's possible they could still be alive, leaving things open for them to play a role in episode 9.

-Back to force stuff again, Yoda ghost can stay but only if Anakin and Obi-wan are there too, with Hayden and Ewan reprising their roles of course. I don't know what exactly they'd do, as long as it's plot relevant and more interesting than what we got lol. Also Anakin and Kylo especially have to have some sort of conversation.

-Maybe Anakin tells Kylo how he turned back to the light, and tells him that if he truly wishes to finish what he started, then he should too. Kylo decides that the great Darth Vader he looked up to all this time is weak, and he destroys his helmet, deciding to do things his own way.

-Kylo somehow finds out where Luke and Rey are, maybe through a force vision or something. Instead of telling Snoke, he goes himself with the Knights of Ren as backup, believing he can capture them himself and prove himself.

-So we get Rey and Luke (plus Chewie and R2) vs Kylo and the Knights of Ren on Ach-To. After the epic battle, Luke eventually surrenders himself if it'll get Kylo to spare the others. Luke is only doing this because at this point he has yet to accept that he can't save Ben, and is attempting to save him by doing the same thing he did with Vader, but tragically it won't work out so well this time.

-So Luke is taken back to Snoke's ship where Snoke plans to finally destroy him, and the Jedi with him, thus eliminating the biggest threat to his plans. Rey, Chewie and R2 stage a rescue mission.

-They somehow manage to rescue Luke, and he finally realizes that his nephew is gone for good and he must accept this.

-Meanwhile, Finn, Rose, Poe and Lando got the info they needed, but have been caught, and like the film, Phasma attempts to have them executed.

-3PO and BB-8 find the defected stormtroopers who rescue our heroes right before they can be executed, resulting in a huge chaotic battle of stormtroopers vs stormtroopers.

-During the chaos, Rey, Luke, Chewie and end up in the same hangar and all the heroes meet up.

-Finn has his climactic battle with Phasma, only here it's a little longer with more buildup, thus making it more intense and satisfying. Also that bit where he reveals that she shut the shields down stays bc it was so cool.

-During the course of the film, there are many hints dropped at force sensitive Finn. These finally pay off during his fight with Phasma where she knocks him down and attempts to stab him with her spear. He throws his hands up and accidentally force pushes her back, giving him the upper hand he needs to defeat his powerful opponent.

-So after a short but epic fight Phasma is killed, and our heroes all gather in the Falcon and meet up with Leia and the rest of the Resistance on Crait.

-At long last, Rey, Finn, Poe, Rose, Luke, Leia, Lando, Chewie, R2, 3PO and BB-8 are all united, the hyperspace tracker has been sabotaged, and they have information on how the FO gets their resources which they can possibly use to beat them in the next film.

-Celebrations are short lived however, as the FO fleet followed the Resistance fleet to Crait, and the fight is far from over.

-During the space battle, our heroes, like in the film, board the shuttles to the planet below, and Ackbar stays behind to pull off the epic sacrifice that helps them get down there safely.

-Like the film, they send out the distress signal to their allies.

-As everyone is preparing for the coming battle, Finn and Rey have A Moment and kiss.

-So Kylo and Hux lead the assault on the Resistance base. The battle of Crait is epic and intense with all our heroes using their combined skills and abilities to fight their attackers.

-Like in the film, the Resistance is eventually overpowered and pinned down, and Luke walks out to distract Kylo to buy them time, only this time it's the real Luke with Rey by his side.

-Luke and Rey have another epic duel with Kylo and his Knights of Ren, but this time things go a little different. The distress signal pays off, and the remnants of the New Republic fleet (possibly led by an older Hera Syndulla, not required but it'd be awesome) arrive to help the Resistance.

-Our heroes manage to escape Crait, and now have the Republic fleet aiding them. Luke has reunited with his sister, and comforts her over Han's death. Lando promotes our newer heroes for their actions, the defected stormtroopers join the Resistance/Republic, maybe Paige wakes up and has a small moment with Rose, and Finn and Rey are set to become the first of the next generation of Jedi, and to uphold Luke's legacy when Kylo couldn't. However, Snoke, Kylo, Hux and their army are still out there, and we have yet to learn what Snoke is planning or how to stop it, leaving plenty of things open for the final chapter of the saga.

As stated before this is all just random ideas, and there's probably some stuff I forgot to mention bc there's a lot to think and talk about with this film, so if anyone wants to add anything go right ahead.

[matronoftheblackrose]

New Lore? My thoughts?! Is this clickbait??!

No. As in no, it's not clickbait, I just titled it as such because I can and I'm cruel.

So! Let's get into this, shall we?

My thoughts on the new lore are...are...

Unimportant.

I've been lurking here and there my darlings and dears, and I have kept silent watch. So, what am I going to be posting about if my thoughts on the new lore is unimportant? Well, I'm going to detail why it's unimportant.

What exactly is dissecting the new lore going to yield? Nothing. If you enjoy it you enjoy it, and it should spark your creativity and it should spark new thoughts and possibilities and you should enjoy it, and not be ashamed that you do. I stopped all of my posting because well, I do not enjoy it and even if I do a Mr. Plinkett equivalent style rant, what's it going to actually yield? Nothing, because my opinion's not been asked for, and whatever my thoughts may be on it, well, do you really care? Really? Does someone dissecting it into the core and the meat of it really sway your thoughts and your opinions? The answer's no, because this is not the platform for it.

So, something I've been seeing from the sidelines is how characters are changed, and I won't lie I've done that too. But hey, at least Swain's still the leader of Noxus, and hasn't gone and become a vigilante like Warwick nor has he gone and ascended and lost his native country like Soraka who is now Targonian in her new updated biography but keeps her old biography when you click onto the League entry. Normally I'm not an extremist in the sense of "You must hate everything, or you must love everything", but I think by this point it should be evident to everyone (except Riven because no one remembers her in writing) that the lore is going to change for every champion. You have to accept that it'll happen because it's not your world, not your work, and if you want to keep at it then go ahead, but that's why it's a fandom- you're the fan.

Now I'm not one to defend the new lore (go ahead and read my archives, I hide nothing- or do I? dun dun dun), but I need to make something very, very clear: Noxus being related to Rome is not something I disagree with. Is making them more "morally grey" a bad thing? Maybe it is, maybe it's not, and although they don't have the literal goddamn skull mountain anymore (Thank fuck they got rid of that, that thing was stupid) they have a literal Palpatine Khadgar Hot Daddy Sauron's Human Form Fan Idea as the leader. Triumvirate or not, they want to pull historical references, there were 2 Roman triumvirates: Caesar's and Octavius'. Guess how those went- the 3 people bickered, turned on each other and one came out on top. If that doesn't happen with the literal Love Child of Darth Vader Ozzy Osborne Motherfucker at the helm of all this then colour me surprised.

Is Riot's writing nuanced? No. As far as what I have read it is not nuanced, it is not deconstructing the genre it is not groundbreaking it is not subverting expectations. Didn't before, didn't now, won't in the future. However, when criticizing the writing, something I want to make abundantly clear is this: Make sure you know what you're talking about.

Reading Noxus' colonial methods of conquering places and forcing people to fall under their foot or be crushed, is it problematic? You can say the word choice is off, but the point is being missed. Is it being justified? Maybe, but is that because of sloppy writing or because they're trying to secretly inject the idea that colonialism or absolutism in government control is the best and if you go against the state you need to be removed (I wonder who owns Riot!). But you cannot say in the same breath that Riot are sloppy writers who are also encoding colonial ideas into their writing because that takes actual talent to do so without being overtly obvious.

No, the question isn't "Is Riot Secretly Condoning Colonialism!?" or "Is Riot Condoning Masters Raping Slaves?!" (yes this is something I read) when the question you should be asking is, "Who the hell is this colonialism happening to?" Not in reality, I mean in the bloody story I'm not making the argument that it doesn't happen in reality so on and so on.

If I say Roman expansion I know that cultural assimilation was a common Roman tactic which is how the expansionist empire came to be and people like Augustus tried to stop it so the Roman empire wouldn't collapse from the sheer size. Who did it affect? Well let's see, Rome conquered Britain, Syria, Byzantium, Carthage, Gaul, Spain and parts of Germany from the few cultures I can remember.

Who the hell is Noxus conquering? Shurima? Ionia except they're losing the war still? The Freljords? Piltover/Zaun? Some place we never heard of?

If you say any of these fictional countries are scored for Noxus' conquest then ask yourself this- why wasn't this ever addressed in any of the past lores? Because this is what happens when you write by the literal seat of your pants and you are expected to turn out whatever it is you can. It took them 6 years to make that Annie short (Granted 2 years in production), and I am making the argument that there's not enough time to actually sit down and create a fully fleshed world for 130 independent characters who maybe have to all be protagonists in their own right.

When this question cannot be answered confidently, then why the heck is there any discussion about the moral relativism or moral absolutism or the acceptance of colonialism when the very basic premise of it all is missing. This Noxus is morally grey?

As morally grey as this guy maybe:

(Let's give him a hug)

So maybe it'll be rewritten so Noxus has conquered some who gives a crap lands, maybe Alistair will be remembered maybe he won't, but the main fictional countries have no reason to really dislike Noxus. There's no narrative reason. When the very premise of it all fails, ask yourself: Is it poor writing, is it rushed writing, what's the actual issue at hand? It's not those Dove commercials that can be easily misinterpreted, it's "This will work for now and we'll see next year if we have to make changes". Tell me if I'm wrong, then I'll point you at every champion (except Riven) that's been changed. Spoiler: More than 100 of the champions have had their lore changed.

There are reasons I can come up with, and reasons you all can come up with, and I hope you do because it's a good exercise in writing, but you are looking at a company that is juggling ladders, didn't change Singed's lore for literal years then forget to change Soraka's lore to be her new Targonian aspect.

https://puu.sh/zimaX/143cc47a72.jpg

https://puu.sh/zimbz/03ee62681c.jpg

Word choice is their last concern. But is it worth nitpicking all of this?

Yes and no. Yes for your own development, no if all you do is just sit there and whine every time something new comes out and you decide you need to make everyone else feel stupid for liking it.

My favorite Batman movie is "Batman and Robin". I shit you not, I dare you to fight me on it, I'll have that Bat credit card in hand ready to defend it to the death, just like the ice age killed the dinosaurs. Ice pun.

The point is guys, honestly, just freaking go have some fun. That's the point of the fandom. Go have fun, go worldbuild, and if it's not going the way you like guess what- you can pack your stuff and make your own things. Funny things about archetypes- everyone uses them, and just because you developed it here it doesn't mean it's invalidated in your own work. Just bloody have fun with it, poke fun at it, but don't get all uppity about it because guess what- all that time, all that energy I know that I've spent, was better spent in just pursuing my own thing.

Heck, I see a lot of people in the fandom who adjusted, had fun and are actually pursuing things in Riot, and that's great for them! Legit, that's awesome and I'm so glad to see people do that! You're furthering your careers, you're having fun and you're doing something you like!

Just because I may not like the new stuff doesn't mean I should invalidate, or drag you down so you can feel bad about it too.'

Also Swain looks hot as fuuu-

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #170: “... Though Hell Should Bar The Way!”

April, 1978

Oh, hey, Jocasta is back! Good ol’ unfortunately named Jocasta!

And this is a very good DC Silver Age-esque comic cover. Heroes acting inexplicably only to be sort of explained kinda on the inside. I can’t wait to see how this scenario does not even come about.

Remember the cover where Mantis was protecting Libra from the rest of the Avengers but inside she tried to beat him up for pulling a Vader on her?

Also, “The Return of the Bride of Ultron” is a very Hammer Horror-esque title. Drop the definite article and its basically one.

But enough admiring the cover. Lets get into it.

Last time: Back in issues 161-162, Ultron gave Hank Pym amnesia as part of a weird plan to trick him into turning the Wasp into a robot for Ultron to marry. It was foiled when the robot wife summoned the Avengers with ants and Iron Man threatened to destroy her, forcing Ultron to back off.

But also recently, there’s some unrest in the house of avenge. A series of overpowered foes have been battering the Avengers esteem and as a result one stalwart chums are at each other’s throats. Cap blamed Iron Man for his absentee leadership but then Scarlet Witch went OFF on Cap’s own performance recently.

The Avengers consist mostly of hurt feelings and bruised egos at this point, basically.

So we start with Cap taking his frustration to the gym.

Beast also tries to cheer him up, in his own inimitable way.

Problem: I don’t think Cap has ever been a fan of Beast’s sense of humor. There’s been several instances since Beast has joined the team where Cap has told him to stop clowning.

And he once again does so here.

So Beast tries a different strategy. He offers to tell him about some sexual escapades.

Because in the past, Cap seemed into it. It’s the closest they’ve come to bonding as teammates.

But Cap is in a Mood so he fakes a fall to freak out Beast before catching himself on the uneven bars.

Not cool, Cap.

He then angrily pumps some iron.

Because as someone pointed out to him, he’s been useless lately. And he doesn’t have superpowers unlike some people he could mention so he’s got to keep his few skills sharp.

Beast: “You know, Cap, you’re a lot like Witchy in a way -- you both take everything way too seriously! Now, me, I never take --”

Cap: “Get lost, Beast!”

Rude.

And then Iron Man shows up which just gets Cap more tightly wound.

Iron Man just wants to have a word with Cap in private.

So Beast, in his own display of pettiness, effortlessly picks up the 500 pound weight that Cap was working out with to put it away.

Savage.

Anyway, as soon as Beast is gone, Iron Man tries to start the word in private with Cap but Cap claims to be busy and passive-aggressively starts working out with the mobile stunblaster while Iron Man is trying to talk.

The mobile stunblaster is, of course, a work out machine that follows you around and tries to shoot you with punch beams while you have to block it with special gloves.

I expect that all gyms have one. Its basic workout equipment.

Cap isn’t really receptive but Iron Man manages to get out what he wanted to say.

Iron Man: “Look, Cap, what I came to say --”

Cap: “Let me guess, Tin Man -- you want to tell me I was way off base criticizing your leadership -- since I haven’t been earning my keep lately!”

Iron Man: “No. I came to apologize for myself and for Wanda! None of us have been setting the world on fire lately! She had no right to judge you!”

Cap: “It doesn’t matter! I’ve judged myself... and in my own eyes, I’ve fallen short! Maybe I’ve been lax lately --! It won’t happen again, Tin Man! Never again!”

Iron Man: “Fine! I want you to know Cap... I feel the same way about the job I’ve done as chairman! I’ve made some bad decisions... let other matters occupy time I owed the Avengers... and when I was around, I tried to do it all myself! I guess I felt guilty... and I kept trying to prove my worth! Just wanted you to know -- I’m aware of my failings! I -- I’ll try harder, Cap... or, if you think I should, I’ll step down! You can take over!”

Cap: “Wait! Iron Man, I guess my problem is that I’ve seen too many friends die in battle -- and when it seemed as if your job with Stark outweighed your Avengers’ duties -- as if you were taking your responsibilities lightly --!”

Iron Man: “I wasn’t! But... about Stark. Cap -- I should have told you long ago that --”

Cap: “No... keep your secrets, Iron Man! You lead... I’ll follow -- that’s enough!”

MmmMMMM. That is some good open and honest communication.

I love it. The me who first read this a couple years back was a fool to come off this run with the impression that it was just the Avengers getting their asses kicked and yelling at each other.

Its the Avengers getting their asses kicked, yelling at each other, and then having productive, emotionally honest conversations. It is my JAM.

Canonically, the first Civil War wouldn’t even have happened if Cap and Iron Man had set their feelings out like this.

I like that Cap passive-aggressively working out during this conversation keeps it from being talking heads because we get a bunch of unnecessary ACTION POSES as Cap works out.

But while Cap and Iron Man SOCIAL LINK GO or perhaps SUPPORT CONVERSATION depending on where your interests lie, out in the living room some other Avengers have less dramatic bonding.

Vision and Wonder Man play a game of chess together, Jarvis and Scarlet Witch admiring what good friends they’ve become off-screen. Much improved from existential angst causing Vision to try to punch him a lot and then they have to fight a gravity jerk.

They do, after all, have a lot in common. Like a brain.

But they get a phone call from Hawkeye who reveals that Two-Gun Kid has vanished. Disappeared even!

He tells Scarlet Witch not to bother coming. There’s nothing to find at the scene of the crime. So he’ll come to them.

Meanwhile, in Attilan, the Inhuman city in the Himalayas, Quicksilver is moody. But that’s nothing new, he was like that before.

He’s sitting on a balcony gazing beyond the city.

His wife Crystal asks if Attilan confines his spirit, having to stay in a secret city after all the glory and daring of being an Avenger. The battles, the thrills, the running full speed into a wall and breaking every bit of your skeleton bone.

But just as Quicksilver is saying he would never leave her, he vanishes mid-reassurance.

No, he didn’t run away in the most supremely dickish way ever. Like Two-Gun, he’s been disappeared.

What is going on here?

A story for later.

But for meanwhile we’re back to the Avengers Mansion where the Wasp shows off her new costume.

I don’t know what to say about it. Its not the worst she’s had. You don’t see as many superhero costumes that are orange and yellow. And Jan knows that branding is important because she put W for Wasp all over herself. Her gloves are cut to suggest Ws as are her boots. She’s got cleavage W and an abdomen W too.

Yellowjacket actually warns Wonder Man that if Wasp notices him in civvies, she’ll get him in a new costume so fast!

Wonder Man defers. He’s decided he’s not the costume type.

The thing about the Wasp is even if she makes a costume for someone else, she often makes it to appeal to her own tastes. Like when she made a costume for Angelica Jones, Firestar, with a pluuuuuuuuunging neckline. To Firestar’s lament.

So what I’m saying is that if Wonder Man let Wasp dress him, he’d definitely end up in thigh boots and with W’s all over his clothes.

Although, Wonder Man does become an actor later on who plays oiled up big muscles tiny shorts roles. So he’d probably rock it.

And then some colorful comic relief blue collar characters show up.

Wasp put her foot down and told Hank that she would not live with a Real Doll version of herself in the house so Hank hired Meyer and Mack to move her into his lab in the mansion.

Meyer is a real ‘seen it all’ type. Nothing impresses him. Avengers? Pssh. He moved Neil Sendaka’s ‘pianer’ once. Yellowjacket starts monologuing “[Jocasta] was conceived in evil, and yet while Ultron was transfering Jan’s life into her metal body, she unselfishly gave up her own existence by summoning us in time to stop the process and save Jan!” and Meyer all but taps his watch and reminds Yellowjacket that he’s on a flat rate.

Now Mack on the other hand? Mack is sure impressed.

And possibly discovering he has a new fetish.

Elsewhere in Saugerties, New York, the Guardians of the Galaxy secretly watch over a young Vance Astrovik. They’re sure that any day now evil cyborg from the future Korvac is going to try to knock off Vance to prevent the Guardians of the Galaxy from ever forming.

That is, if young Vance doesn’t manage to get himself killed first.

Since he’s playing baseball in the middle of a dark street and if Charlie-27 hadn’t been there, a truck would have run him over.

How he survived in the original timeline without future people being his guardian angels is a bit of a mystery.

Charlie-27: “It’s a wonder anyone reaches maturity in this idiotic backward era!”

An era where people toss spheroids in the middle of the road and where strange pieces of paper can be exchanged for food items. What strange customs.

The takeaway here is that, yes, the Guardians are busy guardianing Vance Astrovik and even though Korvac actually has bigger fish to fry and their vigil over Vance is misguided, its not pointless.

But meanwhile, back at the plot, Meyer and Mack finish carting the Jocasta crate into Hank Pym’s lab.

And just as Mack is marveling at how ‘real’ Jocasta looks (presumably for someone made entirely of metal with silly metal hair tentacles and also robot eyelashes) the robot girl awakens and OH YEAHS through the crate.

Jocasta: “He has awakened me! He calls! I must go to him! Let nothing stop me!”

Meyer and Mack flee the lab and run into an unhappy Yellowjacket who heard the crash of the OH YEAH and assumes that they fucked something up.

Which is probably not the case.

After escorting the movers out, the Avengers (Vision, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, Yellowjacket, and Wasp) run towards the lab.

But listening to the voice in her head, Jocasta finds the button that locks down the lab and then obviously locks down the lab.

Yellowjacket and Wasp managed to slip through the door before it closed. Doors never really bothered Vision anyway. But that leaves Wonder Man and Scarlet Witch locked out.

And the door is really tough! Its made of a special alloy almost as impenetrable as adamantium. Although the fact that it doesn’t get a name here sort of implies its going to be back to the drawing board.

But either way, the whole lab has been reinforced with it. For security reasons.

Scarlet Witch is sure that if she concentrates her probability altering powers, she can get the door to crumble but in the meantime, Wonder Man is going to keep punching like it personally insulted him.

Inside the lab, the three Avengers discover Jocasta up and about and creepy. She talks with Jan’s voice except cold and metallic. (Its never discussed whether Vision sounds like Wonder Man but since his body was the Human Torch’s I think probably not).

Vision isn’t creeped out. Somehow Ultron activated the Jocasta robot from afar and makes her speak like Jan hoping the Avengers will hesitate. But Vision won’t.

Drama is passed down in the family and as Ultron loves breaking Hank Pym’s things, so too will Vision break Ultron’s.

Except apparently Ultron planned for this. When he does the thing he always does and tries to intangible inside the robot to disrupt her circuits, he discovers an anti-matter booby trap.

It fills him with deadly energies and also copious amounts of pain.

Meanwhile, Beast has arrived at the door. He’s been looking for Thor but Thorry no Thor to be found.

That’s not one of his jokes. I just couldn’t resist.

Scarlet Witch is finally ready to do the thing she do and make probability weep but apparently the door has personally insulted Wonder Man by now. He proclaims a grudge match and finally punches it down.

Maybe its because it didn’t initially fall when he reminded everyone that his punches are approximately on the level of Thor’s hammer.

He says that a lot. That and the fact that he was created to fight the whole original Avengers roster.

I think its to remind the audience what Wonder Man’s deal is. But it also fits in with him being insecure, especially since nearly every time he talks about his fists being on the level of Mjolnir, the fight goes bad for him.

Inside the lab, Wonder Man, Beast, and Scarlet Witch find the Vision who tells them not to touch him because of the deadly energies. But that they need to pursue Jocasta.

Who has left the lab and is in the courtyard.

...

So all that effort to punch down the really expensive door was for naught? Did they really have no one guarding the other exit from that room?

Geez.

In the courtyard, Wasp and Yellowjacket fail to do anything to prevent Jocasta from strolling away, punching random plants.

Wasp: “Hank, I’m afraid Ultron’s strategy is working. I can’t bring myself to hurt her! It’d be like hurting myself!”

Yellowjacket: “I -- I know what you mean!”

Lets ignore, for once, the obvious and terrible irony involving future events. Lets go right in and focus on Jan not being able to hurt anything bearing an image of her.

Her one weakness. She just loves what she sees in the mirror too much to ever raise a hand to it.

The two heroes try to use their respective ranged attacks at low power to drive Jocasta back into the mansion but then Yellowjacket makes the mistake these two heroes always make and flies in too close.

She nabs him out of thin air and starts squeeeezing

Then Beast do what Beast do. DYNAMIC ENTRANCE, BOOT TO THE HEAD!

Then because Yellowjacket distracts Beast asking him not to smash Jocasta if he can help it, Jocasta shoots him in the face with eye lasers.

Because, of course, Ultron built her with eye lasers.

The family that slays together, right?

Wonder Man goes to punch her to scrap but she has a force field. Of course she does.

And even though he could punch through it eventually, in the here and now she shoots him in the face with eye lasers.

Scarlet Witch uses her power over nature (I guess she does just have both skillsets interchangably. Neat) to wrap Jocasta up in a tree in much the way a tree does not and cannot do.

Jocasta just flexes her way free. Because she has robot super strength.

Ultron, your wife is too powerful. You’re shaming the rest of us with your unstoppable killing machine wife.

The Avengers regroup and think about this. Maybe if they use teamwork and work as a team, assemble if you will, maybe if they strike as one they can overcome this robot lady.

Before they can, Iron Man comes in blasting.

Not at her, at them.

Iron Man: “Leave her alone! The first Avenger who harms her answers to me!”

And then Thor appears out of nowhere, calling it a long-delayed return (weird time stuff is still going on with him). Instantly deduces a battle is happening and decides that it would be a really cool way to enter the battle if he smashes this mysterious robot woman with his hammer.

I’m not saying that Thor always goes for the move that will fit best on an album cover but I’m sure that it runs through his mind sometimes.

Captain America is confused that Thor doesn’t recognize Jocasta since he was there when they stopped Ultron from putting Jan’s soul in her. And he’s not sure where he’s flying in from since he was just in the mansion minutes ago.

BUT HE HAS TO SAVE ROBOT GIRL!

And he throws his mighty shield and even Mjolnir must yield.

Also, after their little talk, Iron Man and Cap are back in the whole friendly pal/chum kind of thing. Like. Almost exaggeratedly so. Like Cap is making a real effort.

-Iron Man catches Cap after he jumps off the roof to throw his mighty shield-

Cap: “Thanks, Iron Man!”

Iron Man: “Good work, Cap! Took a heck of a chance, though!”

Cap: “Not really. I figured someone would catch me! After all, teamwork’s the name of the game!”

It practically screams I’M GOING TO BE POSITIVE!!

The other Avengers criticize Iron Man and Cap for letting Jocasta go. Which she does by literally walking through the wall. Geez. Ultron your wife is so strong.

Anyway. Iron Man explains the obvious thing. His armor sensors have locked on to Jocasta’s electrical patterns. Obviously they’re going to follow her and she’s going to lead them to Ultron!

Hot damn! Avengers being proactive! Kinda! I mean, Jocasta waking up was on Ultron but instead of just letting the killer robot lurk around somewhere and make a new plan to be murdery and oedipal, Iron Man is going to do something about it!

Unless this is a trap!

But that’s just the hazards of the job.

Also, I guess the cover was more or less accurate. The exact scene didn’t exactly happen but the spirit of it basically. Although Iron Man never blasted Wonder Man. In fact, he apologized that he had to blast near him to stop him.

So this is my second read through this run on Avengers. So like the brown bear I know ALL. But the first time around, I’m pretty sure I didn’t see Jocasta coming back.

I mean, it was only eight issues back. But that’s over half a year. Generally a loose end like Jocasta either comes back in the next issue or is teased throughout to remind the readers that its totally going to be a plot device.

If not, usually the loose end doesn’t come back so soon. And just gets brought back by the first writer who remembers it was a thing.

Apparently Jocasta has just been propped up in Hank Pym’s living room the whole time with Jan growing more and more disgruntled with it.

There’s not much to say about Jocasta herself. She’s kind of like the Wonder Man zuvembie. More plot device than character right now. But an intriguing one.

So next time: more of this. The Revenge of the Return of the Bride of Ultron. But it won’t be called that, alas.

[ariainstars]

Balance in the Force

“Don’t lecture me, Obi-Wan! I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the Dark Side as you do.” (Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith)

„If once you start go down the dark path, forever it will dominate your destiny.” (Jedi Master Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back)

Did anyone ever suspect that even Grand Master Yoda might not be quite right?

Are the Jedi entirely good? Is the Light Side meant to be “virtue”?

The Jedi we get to know in the prequel trilogy are neither free from flaws nor are they perfectly wise. They like to believe they are so, but looking at the facts they often don’t see what’s going on under their very noses. As Luke himself pointed out many years later, it was their hubris that led to their downfall.

We are speaking of a Council that had a Sith Lord among them for decades without realizing it.

Yoda wanted to preserve peace, but by teaching Jedi adepts for centuries to choose the Light Side, he unwittingly created an unbalance which favored the ascent of the Dark Side users, the Sith.

Besides, what was it with taking small children from their families, forcing them to become Jedi (i.e. having to live a life of sacrifice) whether they wanted it or not? And why did they equip children with a deadly weapon?

Both Obi-Wan and Yoda wanted to push Luke to commit patricide, Obi-Wan even telling him an obvious lie (that Vader had been Anakin’s murderer) for the purpose. In the Mos Eisley cantina, Obi-Wan cut off the arm of an importune although he had not attacked him, displaying an unnecessary cruelty. When he still was Anakin’s teacher he suppressed him, belittled his ideas and his need for approval, even denied him the right to worry about his own mother. Yoda did not take Anakin’s fears seriously either. The Jedi’s code of non-attachment was fatal because it made their commitment to compassion hollow. They were so far off from “mortal” issues in their ivory tower (it literally looks like one) that they no longer saw what was really important.

Are the Sith entirely evil? Is the Dark Side meant to be “evil”? 

We are led to think that the Dark Side is all evil, but looking closer, it’s not: while Obi-Wan and Yoda try to manipulate Luke, Vader is always brutally honest. 

Anakin never was in denial. He got married despite the Jedi code. He decided to embrace his feelings, including his sexuality. Not only was he obviously calm and serene (balanced and strong) after his marriage;

had he not married Padmé the children who would later bring down Palpatine’s Empire would not have been born. These children always reached out to others, no matter what they went through. 

Palpatine himself had encouraged the Jedi Council to set Anakin at Padmés side to protect her, most probably speculating that the two young people would fall in love and thus Anakin would have another weak spot; he assuredly did not imagine the role the children of this couple would play, as little as he imagined that Luke, lured to the Death Star by compassion for his father, would in the end refuse to turn, pushing Vader to redemption. 

It was Snoke who bridged Ben’s and Rey’s minds, with the purpose of manipulating Rey to come to him; he did not count with the strong connection that would arise between the two, and that this would finally mean his end. 

I remember that I was initially irritated when Han seduced Leia - I thought he was giving Luke, who was his best friend, a backhanded turn making a move on the girl they were both crushing on as soon as Luke was not around. But eventually this turned out to be the right thing, because Luke’s crush on Leia faded before he found out that she actually is his long-lost twin sister. 

Luke briefly considered killing Ben because he was afraid of losing everything he loved, yet in doing so he pushed his nephew to the Dark Side, which on the long run caused the death of Han Solo, who had been Luke’s dearest friend. 

So, from something that is or may seem bad, good can come, and vice versa. Dark and Light are not intrinsically separated from one another as Jedi and Sith like to believe. Ironically, they are very alike in this fundamental mistake. 

Looking back, I believe that Anakin was not “consumed by the Dark Side” as was said by Obi-Wan and Yoda. Half of his descent to darkness began with his training as a Jedi; when we see him again in Attack of the Clones he is already teetering on the edge, he is no longer the pure and idealistic boy he used to be. Palpatine manipulates his weakness, but that weakness was - albeit not consciously - caused by Jedi’s efforts to stunt him emotionally. They wanted to force him to make a choice, but Anakin couldn’t; he instinctively felt that it was wrong and that the Force is naturally made of both sides. He was told over and over that it is wrong to care for others, but that was the one sacrifice he was not willing to make in order to become a Jedi. 

Darth Vader’s “creation” visually illustrates this, too. Anakin is almost killed by Obi-Wan, the Jedi, and Palpatine the Sith creates Vader from his miserable remainders. 

My impression is that, being the strongest Jedi of all and the central figure in the conflict, he got between both sides and was crushed. The fact that beneath all of his power he was indeed physically and psychically broken would emphasize this.

Also, it would explain why Palpatine did not immediately contaminate Anakin’s mind but left him to the Jedi first: he needed both Forces in him. Vader’s enormous power did not come from the Dark Side, but from the conflict raging inside of him. 

In A New Hope, Vader is still mostly Tarkin’s lackey; in Return of the Jedi he is oppressed by Palpatine, his master. He is at the height of his power in The Empire Strikes Back, where he is on the hunt for his son! Which means he is yearning for the Light. (See also the symbolism of “animus” hunting for “anima”, a common trope in fables and myths.) Vader did come back from the Dark Side in Return of the Jedi; and his son could feel the conflict inside of him. But if there was a conflict, this obviously means that Vader had not chosen one side once and for all. 

Luke said to Palpatine “I will never turn to the Dark Side.” However he did so, if briefly, when he contemplated killing his own nephew. A further proof of the fact that with the Force, one cannot make a decision and pretend to stick to it for the rest of one’s life. Temptation can come at any time. 

Luke’s / Anakin’s blue light sabre, the one that calls to Rey, is commonly seen as a symbol of hope and justice. In his time as a Jedi, Anakin indeed often used it in order to help others. However he also used it when he raided the Jedi Temple and killed everybody, including the padawans. 

Kylo felt so torn apart by the conflict that he was willing to commit patricide to finally join the Dark Side for good. To no avail; he was traumatized, regretful and deeply hurt, proving that there still was good in him despite the horrible deed.

His power, too, came from the fact that he grew up with a good (at least well-meaning) family but was secretly influenced by Snoke all of the time. Like his grandfather, he was at his strongest while on the hunt for his equal in the Force: in this case, Rey in The Force Awakens. 

And both of them are never so impressive as while they fight the Praetorian Guards together as one.

The Force As the Human Psyche?

From the psychological point of view, one might say that the Light Side represents human conscience (Superego) and the Dark Side the impulse (Id). Now the Id is not “evil”; aggression and sexuality stem from the Id, which often leads to believe that it is. But the Id also means impulse, creativity, belonging. In other words, the Superego alone without the Id cannot know love. Without love, an individual cannot reach out to others, and who does not reach out to others is not evil but also not really good. For evil things to happen, not only the active participants are responsible but also the ones who do not see it, or see it too late to do something against it. The Jedi are a tragic example of this. 

Though we get to know the Jedi as the “good ones”, one of their major faults is that they live in denial. Anakin / Vader never is in denial, and neither is Ben / Kylo: both are brutally honest, to themselves as well as to others. Which is often painful for their surroundings, but both Luke and Rey need them to tell them the truth, and to force them to look at it. Luke was traumatized learning the truth about his father, but afterwards he finally became the last and strongest of all Jedi; Rey was deeply hurt when she had to accept that her parents not only were dead but had indeed not wanted her, yet later on we saw her so grounded in the Force that she could make massive rocks float. 

It may seem the most natural thing to do, and also a great honor, to become a Jedi (or a Sith) if one has the Force; but so far, we have never seen any Force user, Skywalker or not, finding happiness with this choice, whether he made it himself or whether it was thrust upon him. 

I assume there must be a way that someone can learn to use the Force without having to choose to be a Jedi or a Sith. Both of these extremes do not ensure peace and happiness, neither for the Force user nor for the ones around them. Only a balanced Force user can find happiness, and bring fulfilment to others, too. 

Leia would be a very good example for this: she always used her power for knowledge and defense, and she embraced her desire for belonging and her sexuality, too. She is very rightly paired off with Han, who used to be a small criminal but never was actually evil, and later used his shrewdness, earned through his many adventures, to help others.

So, what does this mean for Episode IX, the ending and culmination of the saga? Since the classic trilogy ended with the victory of the Light Side and the prequel trilogy told us the victory of the Dark Side, it can only end with Balance.

However, I am not sure that Ben Solo and Rey will “bring Balance to the galaxy” with their union. They must first and foremost find balance within themselves, and thus be the first of a new kind of Force users.

Rey was not tempted by the Dark Side yet; I am positive however that it is an important experience she must make, and her approaching the ruins of the old Death Star, where Palpatine is most probably lying in waiting, would hint at something like that.

 Ben Solo, on the other hand, must prove that he has overcome the resentment in his heart. He needs to be an example for the fact that someone can go down the dark path, come back to the light and survive, and still want to reach out to other people. He needs to find forgiveness and new life despite his sins, not to be punished for them and forgotten. 

Ben and Rey need to show the galaxy at large that Balance is possible; that a Force user, whether he is a Skywalker or an absolute nobody, needs not choose one side but that they can very well use the best from both sides; and that to preserve peace and justice one does not need to become a Jedi, but that anyone can do so who is balanced inside. 

Because in the end, the Force is neither simply Light and Dark, nor is it grey; it creates diversity and binds everything and everyone together.

“You refer to the prophecy of The One who will bring balance to the Force. You believe it’s this boy…?” (Mace Windu to Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace) 

It is largely believed in the fandom that Darth Vader ultimately brought the much-needed balance by killing Palpatine. However, that act meant the destruction of the Dark Side and the victory of the Light Side of the Force: and if one side remains stronger than the other, that does not mean balance. Which could explain why, when we see our heroes again about 30 years after their “happy ending”, they do not look happy at all and we learn about a lot of disappointment and disillusion which they had to live through. 

Nevertheless, I do believe that when all will be said and done, we will realize that Anakin Skywalker was indeed the Chosen One. 

“Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” (Yoda in The Phantom Menace) 

Logically this must also mean that trust leads to serenity, serenity leads to love, and love leads to happiness. The old school Jedi may have been wise, but we never saw them display affection for anyone. Their fear of the Dark Side and philosophy of detachment was literally their doom; they feared Anakin Skywalker too much to show him the love and offer him the belonging he so desperately wanted. 

It is true that fear and anger lead to the Dark Side, but the quickest way to fall prey to fear and anger is to deny that one feels them in the first place. Denial was the Jedi’s first step down the path that led to their doom, and plunged the whole galaxy into darkness. That he never denied the truth of his own emotions, nor of anyone else’s, was perhaps Anakin’s greatest strength of all. 

To value love enough that he was willing to die for someone he cared for was perhaps the hardest, but most important lesson the Chosen One had to learn, and which he passed on to his successors.