anyone who thinks suicide-baiting and / or dehumanization of other people or groups is okay, regardless of reason, unfollow me right the fuck now.

Go to fucking therapy. Go outside. Go pet a dog. Get off the goddamn internet.

I’m not playing around. That kind of behaviour is fucking unforgivable. Real psychopath bullshit.

of all the star wars movies, which of them do y'all 1) enjoy the most 2) consider the best quality and 3) think you've rewatched the most. add your answers in the reblogs or replies, i'm genuinely curious how much of an overlap there is within everyone's three answers. mine don't overlap at all! they're revenge of the sith, empire strikes back, and the force awakens :^)

The Hero with Dead Parents is not Cliché, it’s Necessary

The staggering number of protagonists in sci-fi and fantasy with dead parents grows every single year. Frodo Baggins, Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker (before the retcon in ESB), almost every Disney Prince and Princess, the Baudelaire children. Beyond the realm of fantasy into action, thriller, romance, mystery, slice-of-life, and bildungsromans.

Dead parents, or parent, is the curse of being the hero of the story and for a very good reason:

Parents are inconvenient as f*ck.

Unless the mom and/or dad is the villain of the story or the entire story is about the relationship with the parent/parents, the “dead parent” trope serves many purposes and while it may be “cliché” that doesn’t mean this trope is bad or, in my opinion, overused.

It’s one less liability the hero has to worry about protecting

It’s one less obstacle in the hero’s path to their adventure

It’s one (or two) less characters to find excuses to stay relevant in the story

It’s a juicy backstory a lot of people can relate to

Trauma. Is. Compelling.

It’s an excellent motivation

And their murder is an excellent inciting incident

Living parents and guardians get killed off both for internal plot reasons, and meta writing reasons: Living parents are a pain in the ass to keep up with. You’re stuck with a character your hero should still keep caring about, keep thinking about, keep acting in relation to how their actions will be seen and judged by that parent. That parent becomes an obvious liability by any villain who notices or cares.

Living parents can of course be done well, unless they’re the villain, but they just kind of sit there on the fringes of the plot, waiting around to be relevant again and they kind of come in four flavors:

There when the plot demands for pie and forehead kisses (Sally from Percy Jackson)

A suffocating but well-meaning obstacle in between the character and their independence trying to do right (Abby from The 100, Katniss’ mom from Hunger Games, Spirit from Soul Eater)

A mentor figure (Valka from HTTYD 2, Hakoda from ATLA)

The only rock this character has left (Ping from Kung Fu Panda)

*Notice how many of my examples lost their partners shortly before or during the plot, thus still giving the hero the “dead parent” label.

Most of these are self-explanatory so I’ll say this:  I think this trope gets exhausting when the parents are written out without enough emotional impact on the hero. These are their parents and a lot of the time, the emotional toll of losing them isn’t there, like just slapping a “dead parents” sticker is all you need to justify a character’s tragic backstory and any behavioral issues they might have.

Like, yes, the hero has dead parents, but you still have to tell me what that means to them beyond obligate angst and sadness. When the “dead parents” trope reads as very by-the-numbers, usually the rest of the story is, too.

How present the parents were in the character’s life should be proportional to the death’s impact on the narrative (as with any character you kill off). If they were virtually nonexistent? No need to waste a ton of time. If they didn’t matter to the character before, they don’t need to matter now unless the plot revolves around some knowledge or secret their parent never shared.

Sometimes, the hero’s dead parents are a non issue. Frodo being raised by Bilbo doesn’t impact his character at all. It’s a detail given and tossed away. On the other hand, sometimes the entire centerpiece of the work is revenge/justice/catharsis surrounding the parent’s death—Edward and Alphonse Elric’s entire story is defined by the consequences of trying to bring their mother back from the dead.

As someone who kept one of my protagonist’s parents alive and didn’t make them villains just to spite the trope, I have all the more respect for this enduring legacy of fiction. You can of course keep the parents alive, but I don't think it's seen as lazy or cheating or taking a shortcut just killing them off, so long as you remember that your hero is human and should react to losing them like a real person.

Okay, I didn't expect a huge Sabezra moment, and I did expect an ESB-style ending, but I feel like there were quite a few scenes or small details that could at best set up a future romance or at worst leave it open for the writers if they are undecided at this time.

But I will add that after the early howler pic yesterday, I expected a single short moment with more romance setup than any of the following (nothing huge though), which we didn't get, however. Oh well. I can live with it.

I'm disappointed that now we have to wait again, nut just for these two, but for most of the story in general. But that's what these kinds of unresolved endings are designed to do, so whatever.

Gifdump time.

She was either thinking about opening up more, or again, at worst, the exchange keeps the storyline possibility open.

Yeah this isn't much either, been there done that in Rebels (although she was passed out) - but I kind of like Ezra's smug look at the end, like: "Shall we?"

Maybe this was the biggest "Sabezra moment" in the episode, especially Ahsoka's reaction which I only noticed upon looping it (episode 2 vibes - as she finds the holoemitter). But again, could go either way from here, and it wasn't *that* big of a moment.

The last one ain't much either, but I guess pro: she's happy to go with him, contra: she's just happy she used the force.

The last scene with Ahsoka and Sabine (no gif) didn't do it for me, although it did feel a tiny bit like Sabine doesn't want to "move on" as such and quite as much, but is patient for now.

In my opinion the writers were very thorough in making sure to write this whole season as a middle part to something, and kept everything wide open at the end. Frustrating, but understandable.

Now get on with production, producers, and don't make us wait long (again)!

Oh no, I’m participating in Star Wars discourse.

Uh, so there’s a post floating around that I’m not reblogging mainly because it’s just this person’s headcanon and, whatever, people can have headcanons, but the main points they make in the midst of talking about their headcanon that I’ll be addressing are:

Leia and Han getting married and having kids is the most boring thing you can do with Leia

Leia should be a Jedi like every other dang Skywalker because somehow continuing an assumed dynasty isn’t the most boring choice you can make for her

Leia is more cut out to handle lack of attachment than Luke which we know because of her lack of response to Alderaan being destroyed

Leia and Han shouldn’t get married or even be around each other much because Han is a wandering soul and needs to travel and go places

Leia never expresses a desire for marriage or children in the OT, so removing these things won’t contradict George Lucas’ canon

And, look, these are just…missing the point of the character growth that occurs in these two during the OT.

(there's just a whole-ass essay below the cut if anyone cares to read about the many thoughts I have on Leia Organa and Han Solo.)

So, I'm not saying existing or past canon/EU has done it right, but I disagree with the statement that having them marry and live kind of basic lives is the most boring choice. If that's all there was to it, sure, but those two choices by themselves show a monumental amount of character growth for both Leia and Han. (I mean, frankly, I think "Skywalker = Jedi every time no matter what" is a pretty boring choice storytelling wise, but I also think the Jedi on the whole are incredibly boring characters, so, uh...I'm biased.)

Leia was never going to live a quiet life even if Alderaan hadn't been destroyed. Like, she did not have that option, period. She would have either remained in politics or taken over as queen, may or may not have had to marry for political reasons, and may or may not have been involved with the Rebellion. Her life was chaos starting as a teen and she had no reason to believe she wouldn't die living a hectic and chaotic life.

And then she loses everything. This isn't emphasized in the movies obviously because they are fun family romps and not gritty dramas, but, good night, in a single second, she loses every family member, nearly every person she knows, every place she finds most familiar and comfortable, everything and to top it all off, the guilt that it's happened because of her unwillingness to give up the Alliance will probably always be there. She was tortured, they lost lives in battle, and, yeah, they destroy the Death Star, but at the end of that day, literally all she has left is the Alliance and those three pilots who managed to unlock her cell door without too much trouble.

I don't know about you, but I'd be straight-up shut down emotionally at that point. Like, I don't think PTSD even covers what Leia probably has going on in her head. And I think that's kind of what we see in ESB (I know the filmmakers weren’t thinking in terms of PTSD, but there are still hints of it there regardless). She's angry, she's afraid of losing people (she's obviously pissed Han is leaving after he said he'd stay, but also, there's a scene that was cut -- a good move in my opinion because the dialogue is beyond dramatic and Carrie seems out of it, but it stands that this was the intended source of Leia’s frustration -- where Luke is telling Leia he's leaving the Alliance for Dagobah and she is extremely upset that both he and Han are leaving, goes on a whole rant about how she should know better than to trust anyone but herself, etc.), and when she finally lets Han in, she promptly loses him and nearly loses Luke.

And then the events of ROTJ happen and she finds out that the man who tortured her, who stood idly by while her entire planet was destroyed, who tortured the man she loves and handed him off to the space mob to be murdered, who cut off her brother's hand and nearly allowed him to die, who has terrorized the Galaxy in general, that guy is her bio dad. And that guy is the entire reason she's Force-sensitive.

Leia stopping her Jedi training in the new canon was for a dumb reason, I agree there. Leia not wanting anything to do with the thing that, from her point of view, nearly ruined her life and the lives of those she loves about a thousand times over...I dunno, I think that's way more interesting than her just going, "Ope, I'm a Skywalker! You know what that means! Gotta be a Jedi!" And as far as her being more of a natural at it...do we know that Leia is better at healthy non-attachment than Luke? Like, any response to a planet being destroyed could easily just be a trauma response. Is shutting down like that good, actually? Or is it just going to cause problems down the road, Anakin-style?

I don't know, I just think that after living through all of that as well as a freaking war, girly might want a quiet life -- that she gets to choose -- with a husband -- who she gets to choose -- and kids -- who she gets to raise without the threat of the Empire or her nightmare of a biological father looming over their lives. And the very fact that she's able to open herself up to that sort of love and affection when the fear that it might all be ripped away from her is likely ever-present is a big deal. Her having kids knowing they'll likely be Force-sensitive even though that aspect of her biology terrifies her is a big deal. And as far as her not expressing a desire for marriage and kids in the OT...I mean, Leia isn't given the opportunity to express her desire for much in the OT, let's be real (she also never expresses a desire to become a Jedi in the OT either. We can't use what Leia didn't express in the OT to dictate whether she wants or doesn't want something is what I'm saying). They're at war. She's a military leader. She probably can't even hazard wishing for anything beyond waking up the next day. But that's not to say she didn't want such things or grow to want such things once she felt it was safe to do so. We literally don't know, but I don't think the absence of that expressed desire is indicative of anything.

As far as Han goes, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure in every iteration of his story, his itchy feet weren't like...a part of his personality. He had a highly traumatic childhood that left him with few options and ended up living a transient lifestyle out of necessity. He actually seems remarkably easy to keep around if you don't treat him like garbage. I mean, he's given exactly one day of friendship, and he sticks around with the Rebellion for three years before some run-in with a bounty hunter makes him realize he needs to take care of his debt with Jabba. He's not leaving just for funsies or because he's bored or just really needs to be a smuggler again...and he seems legitimately sad have to leave when he's not busy getting pissed at Leia for not having the emotional response he wants her to have (first half of ESB Han is being a big ol' baby and I'm perfectly fine admitting that). And what character growth to see Han "I'm in it for the money" Solo learn to care for his friends, learn to support a cause, learn to love Leia when he's spent so much of his life unattached. Han making boring life choices is indicative of character growth and learning to care about others more than himself. What a lovely thing for this man to learn.

The call for Leia and Han to remain living separate lives but still committed to one another kind of demands that they move backward in character growth in my opinion. We have two people who are in rough places due, by and large, to trauma, who eventually open up to one another and seem better for it and then they...just go back to what they were doing before except they occasionally see each other? Why would they want that? They've grown as people, they've won a dang war, and they're finally able to live somewhat securely. Why wouldn't they want to live basic lives when they were denied the privilege of such choices for so long? And how is them making choices based on their love for another person — love that they had a heck of a time coming to terms with — boring?

As a Star Wars obsessed loser who has read probably hundreds of fics under the "Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader" tag on Ao3, here are, in my humble opinion, the best ones.

Under the Stars - Slx99: Vader and Luke crash land together and have a camping trip, pre-ESB

The Heir - SpellCleaver: teenage Luke is raised by Palpatine unknowing of his true heritage. Vader kills palpatine, discovers his long lost son, and proceeds to make him emperor--without of course, revealing the truth to Luke. Very cute fic.

In Loco Pirates - Izzythehutt: Vader + Luke + Hondo fun

Palpatine Ad Portas - Izzythehutt: continuation of "In Loco Pirates". Family drama on Naboo and the emperor taunts Vader while Piett watches in confusion. There are some hilariously awkward moments. INCOMPLETE

What Lurks in the Dark - DragonFlyonBreak: Luke, wedge and some rebels get trapped in a mine with a scary force sensitive monster. Plus Dad Vader shows up. IN PROGRESS

The Family Tree - frodogenic: Oneshot. Luke and Vader get trapped in a tree during a flood. Some heartfelt moments mixed with humor. One of my favs.

Family Finds A Way - HeartOfStars: The Star Wars-Jurassic Park Crossover you didn't know you needed. A long one that features Aphra, Leia, and the Naberrie family promimently. Technically incomplete but the conflict is resolved very nicely by the last chapter so its basically complete.

Hostage - Slx99: A Luke raised by the Organas is taken hostage by Vader. They discover their relationship and grow from there.

Facsimile - Oneshot. An Anakin Skywalker imposter lures both a hopeful Luke and a ticked off Vader to himself.

And my all time favorite fic thats perfect for Christmas...

The Sith Who Brought Life Day - ophelia_interrupted: a wonderfully written fic that actually contains no direct Luke and Vader interactions. An imperial officer is dared to get Lord Vader a Life Day gift and decides to find the identity of the pilot who destroyed the Death Star. It features humorous and entertaining narration and touching moments.

I read your opinions on Ahsoka and while I like her I agree, I think her fandom is making me dislike her, the final straw for me was reading takes that Ahsoka was Anakin's child more than Luke ever was because he spend more time with her than with Luke despite Anakin ALWAYS aknowledged Luke as his son, I mean remember the iconic "I'm your father" scene? And how after that he always called Luke in his mind as "my son"? Anakin may had not raised Luke, but he always loved his son, ever since Padmé told him that she was pregnant he considered his baby a blessing and the happiest moment of his life, so no wonder those feelings resurfaced when he found out that Luke lived between ANH and ESB, I mean, he came to the Light for him! His baby boy. I even read a Youtube comment saying that when Anakin said Luke before dying "Tell your sister...you were right..." now it refered to Ahsoka when those words were for Leia! Yes, we know Leia sees Bail as her father and has zero connection with Anakin, but even so, those final words were for her. Canonically Anakin saw Ahsoka as much a younger sister, he always refered Luke as his son and Leia as Luke's sister and thus, his daughter. I dislike reading how people are trying to server Anakin from his family (from Padmé to now Luke and Leia) to place Ahsoka in the picture, guys, you can have both! (sorry for the rant)

I totally get it. My issue with her character mainly started from the fact that she is shoehorned into anything that involves the skywalkers. Imagine if she was in the movies, I would think her arc would be very redundant in the PT because we are closely following the Jedi masters and council as well as politicians as they are central to the plot and conflict. The fact that she wasn't in it establishes she is an afterthought. And I think she wouldn't have been so bad if she was a character with a standalone arc and story but now she's just everywhere and I disliked her introduction as Anakin's padawan because the PT establishes Anakin is quite young and flawed and its his journey we are exploring from little Ani to Darth Vader throughout the six films. He is allowed to be an innocent kid, brooding emotional teenager and also a hero. He is the Chosen One but not once is he a Gary Stu, in fact he goes through phases that annoys other characters like Obi Wan. He isn't overpowered either because we see him suffer two huge defeats in the films. He makes mistakes and the wrong choices and can be selfish at times, and other times he tries to be a good padawan and follow the rules and sometimes he disregards them, he lets others boss him around too, he is scared but wants to be a good father and husband etc etc. you get the idea. He's not perfect and that's the point and I think Hayden nails the repressed monk persona. The only reason Ahsoka was introduced was part of "fixing" Anakin's character and to make him more fun but it seems so unbelievable the council would assign someone like Anakin with an impressionable youngling (who is strangely rebellious despite having the same upbringing as the rest?). I just don't see Anakin as being a big brother to anyone or bantering with kids when he seemed understandably awkward and reserved. Also, Ahsoka's thick plot armor and her continuously inflated significance just confirms how much of a creator's pet she was and her whole character (especially when she's interacting with Anakin) feels very fanficy and the fact that she has almost zero flaws and she takes over the roles of every other important person in Anakin's life in the original story. I try not to pay attention to Filoni's pet because it just feels like pure wish fulfillment for him at this point. We could just have more of other cool female jedi like Shaak Ti, Depa, Aayla, or Yaddle as they were preexisting characters and weren't dependent on the Skywalkers for their arc - because I doubt Ahsoka would have been popular at all if she wasn't Anakin's padawan or acting like an Anakin wannabe (and getting away with it almost always while Anakin the CO was given no special treatment). At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if Ahsoka is revealed to be the new chosen one or she's some insanely overpowered demigod lol. And I mean I guess her fans like her for many reasons but she just feels like a Mary Sue to me like you know a character is doomed when a creator admits he's too attached to the character for anything drastic and openly shows favoritism. Let's be honest she is kind of a nepo baby and acts like one too in the SWU. I guess some people are just seeing her as one now but I always thought she would be a Mary Sue because even the emotional moments she has and the few hardships or "deep" moments she gets is just by interacting with the Skywalkers or just dealing with things everyone else is going through. So I don't really feel the emotional value if she tells Luke he is like her father when literally anyone else who knew him could have said that. At least characters like Boba don't rely on mentioning Anakin in everything they appear in. I don't think her arc would even be well developed if she was detached from the existing prequel characters so it's like she just reinforces the same emotions we should feel except she's supposed to be fun and badass so the audience and her fans would empathize with the events more.

Like do people even really like her screentime in Rebels except from her fight with Anakin? And that scene's so memorable because it's with Anakin, a much more realistic and developed character. It's really Anakin who carries the scene and the emotional impact. Replace Ahsoka with any other padawan and it seems like she has no inherent value. She only seems to shine in moments she is interacting with PT era characters due to the backstory and flashbacks and the rest of the time she's just a token strong female jedi character. What is Ahsoka when she is not breaking Jedi rules constantly like she's special or getting in Anakin's business or running into other characters and reminiscing about the past? I could watch a standalone show on Anakin, Padme, Obi Wan, Qui Gon, Yoda or even Dooku just in their solo adventures because they bring a slightly new perspective to the SWU and there's some room for individuality. I could be wrong maybe they explored some of her personal ambitions than being a Jedi and making Anakin proud but I'm really not interested when her role is just so interchangeable. Even Padme has an entire movie around her (TPM) where we see more about her. Despite being Anakin's love interest, we can see how she is a main character and can carry a film without any romance with Anakin. Same with Obi-Wan. He had an entire movie solving mysteries and plots while Anakin and Padme were romancing. That's why they should be the main prequel trio because its always been two force sensitives and a non-force sensitive member. Just like Han, Padme brings a new perspective and skills in the team.

I wouldn't be too bothered about such claims as they always existed. Ahsoka is closer to Anakin than Obi Wan, Padme, Leia and now more than Luke. It's sad and funny how far Filoni will bend space and time to make room for the OC. As far as I'm concerned, she doesn't exist.

This channel has some good videos on her and I highly recommend these: part 1 and part 2

luke skywalker is neurodivergent headcanons

disclaimer: i have ADHD and a lot of this is based on my own experiences. it's just my opinion and a fun way to take a look at this character in a new light.

shoutout to this post which inspired this. these are SFW except for a few jokey jokes

without further ado:

he's pretty hyperactive and it shows up in a lot of ways. thrill seeking (bullseyeing womp rats in my t16!) is definitely one of them, but i also just think he has a very hard time being still. he's constantly fidgeting - bouncing his legs, drumming the table, tapping his toes.

when he learns how to meditate it's a huge moment. he's finally able to quiet his mind, which has always felt like a speeder racing through the sands.

he likes to draw/doodle to maintain attention in strategy meetings. they tend to be filled with straight lines and a little sketchy, but can sometimes be quite detailed

he misses social cues sometimes. he's pretty great with people, but sometimes they'll make a joke or a saying and he'll completely miss it, or take it hyper literally

(yes this would lead to HILARIOUS innuendo potential)

do you want luke to talk to you for HOURS? ask about his special interests!

he knows LITERALLY EVERYTHING about ships. like to an absurd degree. he probably lectures han constantly about proper upkeep for the falcon

but he probably also has really random, unexpected ones and just blurts out fun facts anywhere he goes. (honestly i could see one of his love languages being fun facts.)

ofc he's pretty impulsive. (hello ESB.) part of his evolution as a jedi is learning to control his impulses; learning to evaluate them, to stop and think before he acts.

he has sensory processing issues but in unexpected ways. i think of it more as a hyper-sensitivity to the Force.

here's an example. so as a Rebellion soldier, i think this would be at its worst after a large battle/dogfight. he would definitely be (sub)consciously picking up all of the heightened emotions - fear, relief, grief, elation. the Force would probably be going insane and he would be picking up on it ALL

especially before his jedi training, it's a whole lot to deal with all at once and very confusing. in this way, it'd present similar to sensory processing issues. he'd struggle especially with sound; if things are too loud he'd just shut down. after a battle he needs a blanket a hot drink and sleep <3 (also maybe sex)

he struggles with properly articulating how he feels. he can get flustered easily and feel like the words won't quite make it out, or that his brain is working far faster than he can process.

he's not naturally inclined to routine but thrives in it. he always wakes up early partially out of habit and partially because he finds it comforting

My best friend is arriving for a visit, but I don't know exactly when he'll get here, so I'm passing the uncertain time with one of my favorite long-standing hobbies: watching Star Wars OT+PT fanvids set specifically to "This Is War."

It is the most SW non-SW song as far as I'm concerned and I always get a kick out of seeing how the vids assign the "roles" from the song: the good, the evil, the soldier, the civilian, the martyr, the victim, the prophet, the liar, the honest, the leader, the pariah, the victim, and the messiah. Everyone does it a little bit differently (though I stand by my long-term opinion that the correct choice for the last one is Anakin, while leader, pariah, and victor fit really well with, and build appropriately to, Leia, Obi-Wan, and Luke).

I also appreciate the comedy of some of them, like pairing Obi-Wan telling Luke about Anakin in ANH with "It's the moment of truth" or "the honest." But there are a lot of options for things like "the victim" or "the martyr" or whatnot (I'd probably pick Padmé for civilian but I saw one that chose Lando for that, which seems very apropos considering his motives in ESB, and I can see her as "the martyr" too).

Anyway. I've periodically done this for years and it's still fun.

❤️💚💜

Gonna switch fandoms to Star Wars for this one:

❤️: Which character do you think is the most egregiously mischaracterized by the fandom?

Luke is definitely the most egregiously mischaracterized, further expansion found in the answer below. I also think Leia sometimes is too, often portrayed with more of her ESB attitude and not as much of her ROTJ softness (which isn't exclusive to Luke!). She contains multitudes y'all!!

💚: What does everyone else get wrong about your favorite character?

The fandom (most of it, anyway) loves to paint Luke as an innocent, hopeful ball of sunshine, and like…he is very hopeful, that’s the core of him, but he’s also insanely badass and takes no shit, and that should be way more prominent in the fandom than it is.

💜: Which character is way hotter than everyone else seems to think?

Attractiveness-wise…I don’t think Luke is necessarily underrated, but he definitely is compared to Anakin. Like…they’re both very attractive, but Luke is comparatively underrated imo

unpopular opinions ask game!

Since when does fandom seem to think Han Solo is dumb? Is it the Solo movie? Backlash? The special edition not having him shoot first??? I always found him resourceful and good at thinking on his feet, just uneducated.

Couldn't tell you, as I have neither watched Solo nor am I actively involved in the (often batshit insane) Star Wars fandom. I just sit in my corner and reblog pretty pictures and have my feelings, but since Han was one of my Original Blorbos back from lo many years ago, I obviously have Opinions on him. And frankly, the "Han is dumb har har har!" seems like it comes in the vein of the other popular fanon about Han: that he is some suave, ultra-smooth, love-'em-and-leave-'em ladies' man who has left a trail of broken hearts across the galaxy. And like, yes, '80s Harrison Ford is indeed very hot, but Han Solo is a walking disaster of a human being who can barely talk to his crush without insulting her, runs screaming at an entire squad of stormtroopers in the Death Star and then promptly runs the other way ALSO screaming, and his best friend is the shaggy weird guy with whom he smuggles pot in their broken-down old VW bus. This man is a loser, is what I am saying. Zero suave detected anywhere. Just see how terribly he fails at playing it cool when Lando is flirting with Leia in ESB. There is practically smoke pouring out his ears. HAN SOLO NO LIKEY!!

Likewise, that is why Han Solo in the sequel trilogy is just bad fanon Han Solo, and nothing else. In the sequel trilogy's zeitgeistian haste to make the whole thing as avant-garde grimdark Dark Sci Fi as possible, they forgot a) the goofy, playful element of SW, and b) how deeply the original trilogy main characters were motivated by love, NOT cynicism. Han is a wisecracking, sarcastic smartass whose idea of flirting with Leia is arguments in the middle of the corridor on Hoth while the rebels just go around them like "welp, Han and Leia bickering again, must be Tuesday." But he is also the guy who says, "I know," trying to comfort Leia as he is about to be frozen in carbonite and quite possibly die, and tells Chewie to stop fighting, giving up any chance to save himself, so that Chewie can protect Leia. Then in ROTJ, he is ready to step aside if Leia loves Luke, only to be totally shocked to find out that they're siblings. (Han's face journey in that whole scene is one of my favorite things.) Like. That is not some suave galactic Don Juan unparalleled in his wooage skills and confident that his crush would pick him. Han Solo is a dork. The end.

Honestly, I don't care if Harrison wanted Han to get killed off. Who on earth was like "oh yeah Han would totally abandon Leia and their son and go back to being a Broody Loner because we think this is very sophisticated and postmodern storytelling?" If they absolutely had to do the Kyle plot, since it involved likewise butchering Luke's character, Han would charge out there, grab Kyle, be like APOLOGIZE TO YOUR MOTHER!!! and then ground him from using the Falcon for two weeks while trying desperately to stay mad at him. Either that or he and Leia would be the ultimate bantering-but-still-crazy-about-each-other middle-aged power couple fixing it TOGETHER, and that is (and remains) the only canon I will ever accept.

thoughts on anakin skywalker?

Anakin Skywalker was an incredible hero, who had a tragic, traumatic childhood, experienced unimaginable hardships, and almost certainly suffered from a myriad of mental health issues because of that, and every single evil choice he made was his responsibility and his alone.

It really pisses people off when I say that, but it’s true. Anakin becomes a sympathetic villain, yes, but he is still a villain. He’s THE villain, in fact. He’s the fucking principle antagonist of two full movies — Palpatine gets like 65 seconds of screentime in ESB. Vader’s the one out there enthusiastically fucking shit up. He’s the Big Bad.

I’ll be the first to admit that I love the guy, because I like villains. They’re fun. But to a lot of hardcore Anakin fans, I probably seem like I hate his guts. I don’t sound particularly gentle or compassionate when I say that he is a grown man responsible for the choices he made and at fault for the unspeakable damages those choices caused. Did he have a hard life? Yes. Am I sympathetic for the pain he suffered? Yes. Do I blame him for the choices he made? Yes.

Yes. I blame Anakin for the choices he made. Even the ones he made out of love. Even the ones he made out of pain. Those circumstances explain why he made the choices he did, but they don’t excuse them. They’re still his responsibility, and I hate, Hate, HATE that that has somehow become a radical opinion. I hate that this fandom has become a minefield where acknowledging that a fictional villain is in fact evil is likely to set someone off.

Anakin is complicated, and complex, and tragic, and sympathetic, and relatable, and I love him, and I am proud of him for returning to the Light at the end of RotJ. But I also hold him completely accountable for the unforgivably shitty things he did from episodes 2-6. It’s satisfying to watch him reap what he sowed. I’m perfectly content when justice is served and Anakin has to, somehow, try to atone for his barbarity. I don’t shy away from fics and AUs where his victims choose not to forgive him, where he is punished, even if I don’t actively seek them out.

TL;DR: I personally consider myself a rather gushy Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader fanboy, but I am also justifiably critical of him. Anakin is hated and beloved very passionately in this fandom, and while I certainly don’t hate him at all, I would sooner put a gun in my mouth before I would ever call him “my poor little meow meow who did nothing wrong ever 🥺” put the onus for his countless atrocities on anyone other than himself.

Hi! I’m still new to the SW fandom and I’m starting to delve into the different books, but do you mind explaining the different types, like the difference between “legends” and “cannon?” does that refer to things published before the force awakens?? Or is there more to it; how many roughly are there?

Hello, and welcome to the fandom! 🎉 The universe of Star Wars content is huge and it can be as hard to navigate as an asteroid field, but I'll do my best to explain 🙂

The Legends vs Canon difference refers to content published before vs after Disney buying Star Wars (so we can call is BD/AD 😛).

Legends used to be known as the EU (Expanded Universe) before Disney bought Star Wars. It goes as far back as 1978 with the book Splinter of the Mind's Eye, which was a sort of unofficial sequel to ANH when they didn't know if ESB would get made! The EU was never sanctioned as canon by George Lucas, although he did offer his input and borrowed from what other authors had already done to maintain some consistency. It was re-labelled as Legends by Disney as a way to somewhat dilute the fandom regard of it as canon.

Canon, or Disney canon, refers to the continuity published by Disney. While it includes everything published after The Force Awakens, it also includes things that were published by Disney way before the movie's release, starting in 2014.

So you can think of it as two parallel universes. Both Legends and Disney canon have errors of consistency and, in my opinion, both are flawed.

As for how many books there are... oof, I don't think I can answer that question. Too many! But Wookieepedia thankfully has these amazing lists:

Full list of books (both Legends and Canon)

Timeline of Legends books

Timeline of Legends comics

Timeline of Canon books

Timeline of Canon comics

I hope that's useful!

~ @otterandterrier

1, 19, 42 (for 19 - I don’t remember the title, but the spooky fic where Anakin/Vader possessed the doll, please 🙏🏻 )

1. What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work? (In other words, what do you think is the best introduction to your fics?)

Ooh, this is a tough question! I think if this person had read nothing of my work (and I didn’t know how they felt about the sequel trilogy era, but they’re interested enough to try a Han/Leia fic), I would probably pick something set between Star Wars original recipe and ESB, with a bit of romantic tension but also more of the missions, Han and Leia working together, that sort of thing. For that, I’d likely go with A Betting Woman or Tear Down the Walls because they give you a sense of Han and Leia’s growing friendship and attraction, see that blooming into romance, and some of the essentials of why they work together, in my opinion.

19. If you wrote a spin-off of All the ghouls come out to play (the spooky fic where Anakin/Vader possessed the doll), what would it involve?

Ha, ha, this was fun to think about. I think there’s a few different options for spin-offs that could be fun. One would be to follow the doll after it ends up at the Alderaanian Museum, in case there are further shenanigans with it, or to see Leia attempt to come up with a reason why she decided to donate it. Another one would be if somehow after the incident Leia is comfortable enough to hang out with Force Ghost Obi-Wan (who was a big help getting Anakin out of the doll) from time to time, and somehow even though Han doesn’t have the Force like Leia does, he can see Obi-Wan too, and eventually Force Ghost Obi-Wan even gets to meet Han and Leia’s baby, so Anakin is even MORE jealous because Obi-Wan gets to hang out with Anakin’s family and Anakin is definitely not invited. (It even takes a while after the doll incident before Luke will talk with Anakin again — Luke’s one of those people whom it takes a lot to make mad, but once he’s angry he tends to stay that way for a bit. And he’s very protective of his sister.)

42. Have you ever received a comment that particularly stood out to you for whatever reason?

Oh, yes, definitely, many that stand out for me. Many generous commenters out there! A couple I will mention: I had someone write me a long beautiful comment thanking me for writing Epic Love and giving Han and Leia the characterization and relationship they felt was missing in TFA. But I think one that especially stands out was a comment where someone told me I nailed Leia’s voice and characterization, that they could hear Carrie saying those lines when they read my fic. Which made my little heart very happy for quite some time. Still does, really.

Thank you so much for the ask!

Questions for fic writers

The reason Star Wars canon can’t be taken seriously at this point (and also probably the reason you love the original trilogy and hate a bunch of the new things)

Original Trilogy: Fun adventure romps for the whole family! If you literally take any plot point too seriously, you will be plunged into a deep depression, so we just don’t do that! Luke grieves the murders of the people who raised him for like five seconds! Leia doesn’t cry when her entire planet is destroyed! Han’s treatment of everyone for 90% of the first movie is the actual worst! Don’t get me started on what everyone’s damage is at the beginning of ESB because I’ve written 51k words of well-received fanfiction about it and I still couldn’t fully make some of what was going on make sense! Anakin’s dying words are the most heinous things you’ve ever heard if your name happens to be Leia Organa rather than Luke Skywalker! Don’t think about it too hard! It’s all just lightsabers and goofs and the Power of Friendship!

The rest of the franchise except for maybe Solo and that Ewoks TV show that’s not canon: Dark, serious explanations for how things got to be the way they were in the OT both politically and spiritually. Only, the more you retcon, the darker it gets, which makes the OT seem tonally unhinged. But you can’t fully divorce the OT from the new stuff because sometimes these new things involve the actual characters from the OT, which just raises more questions about why they’re doing what they’re doing and if that character would actually act that way or do that thing and there’s no good answer because maybe 1977 Luke Skywalker wouldn’t do XYZ because he was just a mellow, whiny farmer with a desire to not be one of those things, but 2017 Luke Skywalker would because everything. is. dark. and. serious. now. and, if we’re talking how real people act instead of telling a fantasy story about liberating the galaxy and the friends you make along the way, yeah, that’s probably the future you’re looking at, my guy.

Like, I love some realistic, gritty fiction. I really do. My current fanfiction project is Leia-centric but, like, on the more realistic side. But also, there’s a reason none of the new stuff (prequels included, at least in my opinion) will ever make you feel the way the OT did. Things started going realistic, and if you go realistic with literally any Star Wars plot point, stuff gets less Friendship is Magic! and more What’s Even the Point? real fast.

Sooooo...apparently some people are saying "ack! You can't blame the Jedi or say they were wrong because of the old Extended Universe! That doesn't count now!"

I already responded to this in the OP, but since that is getting very long I'll post something new too. Dude, nobody is citing the EU as a reason the Jedi were wrong. Not overall. While I did give the examples of Jaesa and Ashara, everything else is current canon. It's generally really helpful to know the source material before commenting that something isn't source material or canon.

I'll cite the works below, but just saying:

If we want to talk Extended Universe and Legends, both are actually a hell of a lot kinder to Jedi characters than either the original films/media or Disney canon. In the EU of novels and such that were discarded, the Jedi Order is under the control of Luke Skywalker, who very clearly says "this thing about estranging families is sick and wrong" and cites it as a reason the old Jedi Order was flawed.

Luke in the Extended Universe is the antithesis of what we see in The Mandalorian. Because EU Luke would never make a baby choose between his parent and the Jedi. If anything, current Disney canon is doubling down on the cruelty of the Jedi in pulling children away from their parents and erasing their family ties and emotional attachments.

In Legends, specifically SWTOR, we still have the Jedi being Jedi, but we also have people like Satele Shan and Kira Carsen, who eventually form alliances with Sith, as well as entire factions of grey Force users who are neither Jedi and Sith. Again, that's a hell of a lot kinder overall than the current canon or Lucasfilm.

Works cited in my other post:

1. Ahsoka being thrown under the bus by the Jedi Order is the 5th season of Clone Wars.

2. Book of the Jedi is put out by Disney and is thus their canon.

4. Yoda telling Anakin to drop his attachments is in Revenge of the Sith. You know, the canon prequel film.

5. Baby Ludi's story is shown in a Clone Wars episode and is mentioned in some of the advertising for Attack of the Clones, the second prequel film.

6. "In the original trilogy" suggests I'm discussing the original film trilogy which is canon, not EU. And, um, if you have seen the films, I've described the plot of ESB and RotJ.

7. I've already 'works cited' Ludi. Deepa Bilaba is in The Phantom Menace, the canon prequel, and some related media for it. Sar Labooda is in the canon prequel Attack of the Clones.

8. I've described what happens in the canon prequel The Phantom Menace.

9. What happens to Ahsoka after being thrown under the bus by the Jedi Order is depicted in the Clone Wars, described in the 2016 novel Ahsoka which is Disney canon.

Again - if you think the Jedi taking babies from their parents, stripping them of their family ties, telling them "there is no emotion" and conscripting them into military and religious service for the rest of their lives is cool, hey, you enjoy the fandom as you wish. That's the source material, after all. You can certainly keep pretending the source material doesn't say that, but it still does. Some of us may take the opinion of old EU Luke Skywalker, though, and think that the Jedi were very wrong to do this.