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phoenixyfriend · 1 year

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2. A fic you've reread several times?

Fic Recs (Ask Meme)

I want to answer with more than one because lbr I love doing recs. (I've tagged those I could find a tumblr for, but some don't have immediate links that I can find with a cursory search.)

Catvengers by nyargles (@defractum) - I read this probably once a year because it's just an eternal favorite

Bargaining by proantagonist - no longer available on AO3 (not actually sure why), has made me cry every time, which I've found is pretty hard! EDIT: It's back on AO3! Also, op has a tumblr, @proantagonista.

#standbylegion by esama (@esamastation) - a haunting but hopeful fusion of the MCU and Kingsman.

(The rest are Star Wars, promise.)

Lion Jinn, also by esama - I'm a sucker for a reincarnated-as-animal fic. This one is incredibly cute.

edge of providence by adiduck (book_people) (@adiduck), whimsicalimages (@keensers) - I am perhaps at this very moment rereading this one. Shhhh don't tell.

the massive machinery of hope by Killbothtwins (@killbothtwins) - I've read this one SO many times, it has one of my absolute favorite Qui-Gon&Obi-Wan dynamics of all time.

Dead Peanut Gallery by tanarill - IDK what to say about this one other than that it's very fun. Ghostly Obi-Wan pokes Vader into defecting when he finds out Luke is his in Episode V.

Kneading by Threebea O (ThreeBea) (@threebea) - Have you ever wanted a canonverse bakery AU that's actually undercover work and ends with our precious idiots getting kidnapped to Kamino? Because this fic is great. Everyone's got idiot moments, and also Boba is three, and adorable.

R2-D2 Saves the Galaxy (Okay, so Obi-Wan helps a little) by kj_feybarn (@feybarn) - One of my absolute favorite fics. Nothing liked Artoo POV, especially when interspersed with Obi-Wan.

there is no death (there is a wedding) by virdant (@virdant-writing) - one of my early forays into Jangobi, and generally just a very fun approach to things like Petty Legal Battles With Grandpa Who Thinks You Married Wrong.

Encrypted Channel by qigiined (@deniigi) - Do you want OT-era Rexwalker, but infinitely more stupid despite theoretically being too old for this shit? Do you want it in chatfic format? Do you want Vader to be following Rex around (metaphorically) with puppy eyes (less metaphorically) and being upset that Rex doesn't want to get with him after all the many crimes? Yes. You do.

A Star to Steer By by dogmatix, norcumi (@dogmatix, @norcumii) - I have reread this so many times. I'm not even in Stargate fandom, and yet this crossover verse owns me. (Still thinking about how Ventress and Narec and the entire Rattatak situation might have gone down ngl.)

Although He Smiles by AutumnChild22 (HonestlyHelen) (@autumnchild22) - we love a time travel fic that has people redefining the natures of their relationships to one another.

Blue Tooka Guy by Millberry_5 (@the-writing-mill) - This one is just a very fun little feel-good romp.

The Desert Storm and Rise and Fall by Blue_Sunshine (@blue-sunshine-mauve-morning) - Okay I admittedly haven't reread this multiple times, but I have reread parts of it multiple times, if that counts? (The two series together are one and a half million words, so.)

Realign the Stars by CrystalRainsWriting, TerinAngel (@terinangel) - afaik this is discontinued but it's so good and shaped a lot of my early approach to SW time travel fic.

Of Queens, Knights, and Pawns by chancecraz (@chancecraz) - Do you love Leia? Do you love hypercompetent future Leia who's cranky about being nineteen again because nobody takes her seriously? Read this.

Shifting Sands also by chancecraz - still a hypercompetent Leia, but further back and Still Old and also the most recent chapter was 65,000 words.

Don't Look Back by acuteneurosis (@this-acuteneurosis) - another Leia time-travel, this one focusing very heavily on political maneuvering and things like trade routes. We got economics and supply route fic.

Force of Many Sights by DAsObiQuiet - There's something magical about fics that go into such detail about the time and effort that therapy, especially therapy for Darth Vader, takes.

Viridescent Skies by DarthSnug (themikeymonster) (@themikeymonster) - listen I just really love age/role swaps and this is a REALLY good one.

Living in Borrowed Time by smug_albatross (@scribbling-albatross) - Another one of those fics that I'd say really shaped my early approach to characters of this era. The handling of Rex and Ahsoka is magnificent, honestly, and we all know I love a good time travel plot.

Senator Obi-Wan AU by BeanieBaby - incredibly fun. Yes there's Senator Kenobi, but there's also Fox being pursued by two different Jedi (Kit and Quin), a variety of topsy-turvy character interactions that make sense in a funhouse mirror sense (e.g. Obi-Wan preferring blasters to sabers because he didn't grow up with the Jedi), and Anakin repeatedly almost kills Palpatine by accident.

Soft Wars by Project0506 (@thefoundationproject) - no explanation needed. Is cute.

Dominoes by meridianpony (@meridiansdominoes) - we don't need to go over my intense love of time-travel fics again. really.

Sith Lord Swell by AMournfulHowlInTheNight (has a blog but not for fandom stuff) - Luke falls back in time and decides to handle it by pretending to be a Sith Lord. It works (somehow).

#marvel #mcu #star wars #I've excluded the Very Rated fics because sharing E-rated recs just seems like a hassle #phoenix answers memes #phoenix recs

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hamliet · 2 years

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A redemption arc works well if the character has several redeeming qualities and virtues, is antagonized by a worse villain and they're doing what they do for sympathetic reasons and are fairly conflicted about what they do. Some characters don't have to or should be redeemed and redeeming a character because you like them will be forced and awkward.

Well, I think you're speaking in very general terms and I'm not quite sure what your argument is as a result, sorry!

Like, that qualifies as "sympathetic" varies based on each individual audience members. Redemption itself and what it looks like varies based on work and isn't always the same as forgiveness or reconciliation. Redemptive death does work at times, and I've talked about how and where it works before (Darth Vader, Hazel in RWBY, I think it will work for Cinder in RWBY but who knows). And then you have some characters who are extremely sympathetic but don't get redemption, and the point is that it's unfair and that's a key component of tragedy (specifically what is in colloquial terms called Shakespearean tragedy, aka becoming the worst version of yourself--see Hamlet, Othello, Eren Jaeger in SnK, James Ironwood in RWBY, etc).

So, I agree that you don't have to redeem a character just because they're likable. But I also don't think anyone is making that argument (okay maybe the RWBY fandom is but they're the Twilight Zone). In general that's not what the post I reblogged--if that is what you're responding to--was saying. It's saying that the narrative needs to earn its every twist and its every point, and it's creepy that people stick their heads in the sand because they want to believe in a simple black/white moral view.

Redeeming a character just because, even if there's no narrative buildup towards it, is bad writing, just like not redeeming a character despite narrative build up is also bad writing. Throwing monkey wrenches just to shock your audience doesn't make sense. There has to be build, direction, framing. There are absolutely narrative tricks that will be used to create sympathy for a character and that frame others as lacking in positive traits, and that will be used to frame how the audience should view them. "Save the cat" I've discussed ad nauseum, vs. "kick the puppy", etc. Narrative tricks and framing should be used for reasons, and should help your reader put the clues together so that the ending is satisfying (whether that's happy or tragic or bittersweet), and beyond satisfying, makes sense for the story. (For example, some endings are not my taste because I prefer X type, but I can't deny they are well done.)

I like Eren Jaeger, Hamlet, Othello, Ironwood. I also didn't think they could be redeemed according to the themes of their individual stories, their character traits, the framing, and other aspects. If it could be well done, I would be pleasantly surprised. As things currently stand, I don't think Cinder can be redeemed and survive and have it make sense, but I am very open to being wrong. To keep going with RWBY, I also think Mercury and Emerald have to be redeemed and survive. The why is because of narrative tricks, framing, literary devices, structure, and shared patterns in stories that are used across the world.

I've talked about this before, but here's the tricky balance an author has to strike. You (an author) are writing for yourself primarily, yes, but you want an audience to read it, I'd assume. Don't write to please the audience, by any means, but you are probably writing because stories are powerful, and you know that. Hence, if you encourage sympathy for a character, take responsibility for that. Don't punish an audience member for feeling what you asked them to feel (sympathy or likability). Use that to give the character a fitting end, redemption or not. Framing a lack of redemption as tragedy, as something you *should* feel sad over, works for this.

I've seen other people say this, but the worst thing a story can do is make a reader feel like an idiot for caring in the first place. You do owe your reader a story that makes sense, even if it isn't to everyone's taste. Yet there's nuance there too--authors are human beings, not machines, we have lives and stress and those must be prioritized over their products. (This balance between what an author owes their audience and what an entitled audience can do to an author is one of the reasons I think MXTX's Scum Villain's Self Saving System is brilliant as a novel--it comments directly on this). So if you intend to make a character likable, have a reason for that that isn't "your feelings are stupid." Of course some fans will like characters who are not designed to be likable (are there Tyrian fans in RWBY? There are I'm sure) and that's something you can't avoid. So again, there's no perfect answer.

#ask hamliet #redemption #writing

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thewriterowl · 3 years

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Something that isn't really explored is a possible AU of Luke being royalty to Tatooine, (perhaps some other desert planet who knows) but he is a child of the two suns and destined to a life of luxurious flood pillows, bright extravagant colored robes, fine shimmering sparkling jewelry from the top of his head to waist belts to toe rings and anklets. All hail the desert prince. Holy shit he was just captured by Jabba and Daddy Vader goes after him with the help of a bounty hunter who may have met Luke in the market during one of Luke's runaway from the palace to have a breather escapades.

A royalty family of Tatooine is so different! That would be something for sure. Like Beru and Owen were the leaders of Tatooine and Luke became their heir when they were given him (like Leia to Alderaan).

Luke being raised in a beautiful golden palace of earth and sand, who knows how to read storms, who can hear the songs of the heated wind, who knows all the stars and constellations by heart, and who has this amazing ability in finding water--like it calls to him from some unknown force.

He jumps out windows and loves to speed across the dunes and is so happy to just be out under the twin suns, laughing joyously. But he also loves to sneak out into the market, to make sure his people are alright, to ensure everyone is happy and taken care of. He loves to talk with his citizens over harsh drinks. He loves to play around and push at danger almost too much. He is all smiles and sparkling eyes that look to be jewels gifted from the sky.

One day he sees someone new, a bounty-hunter (not too surprising given Tatooine's location and large guild) but this one is covered in shiny silver and held himself so differently. He was this quiet force in the corner. None braved to come close to him and any drunk enough who did found themselves scampering away with their figurative or literal tails between their legs.

Luke goes over to meet him.

The man has a distant rumble of thunder as a voice. Raspy and low. His shoulders are broad and his body strong. Luke is fascinated instantly.

He refuses to leave after the grumpy and cold response and offers to buy the man a drink. He refuses. Luke just smiles at him, not about to be scared off.

He follows the Mandalorian around like a love-sick puppy, asking for attention and stories of his adventures. Soon he has to head back to the palace but is dreaming about the man with the voice of thunder.

I love this idea that yeah, something happens, the palace is attacked and Luke is captured. How Din comes in to rescue him, claiming it is only for the reward, but that isn't quite true. How the attack comes out to the galaxy and captures the attention of the Emperor, a man in a dark mechanical suit, who realizes this is not just a child of his distant relatives--he knows this is more and he goes and demands the right to his son.

Lads of possibilities with it.

#owl inbox

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bekaroth-reads · 6 years

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Luke Skywalker x reader

You were completely baffled. How on earth was he still like this? Luke Skywalker had gone though so much and matured through out the years that you had known him, and yet he still managed to be like the boy from Tatooine more often than not. You didn't blame him for being exhausted, or even wanting to have at least something go his way after all the hardships that had happened to him, but recently he had started going overboard. Luke had started to revert to his whiny days. You know, back to when Han and you used to call him "Crywalker". He was constantly talking about how he wanted certain things for dinner. He was thirsty, but only for blue milk, which wasn't common in this part of the galaxy. Then it was horrible that the vendors charged that much for it and, "I could find it for half the price almost anywhere else!" The what he was saying wasn't even as bad as the how he was saying it, however. There was a voice that only a complaintive Luke could do, and you swear that if he used it on the Empire they would have all given up and fled to the farthest star on the edge on the other edge of the galaxy just to get away form it.

Sighing as you carefully removed the food you were cooking from the heat, you decided that maybe you were overreacting too. After all there was no way after all of the life lessons and somber events that Luke had gone though that he'd still be almost pitching fits like a child that was told to eat healthy food before dessert. Anyone can have a bad few days,(or weeks as it felt like to you) and he was sure to get over it soon after he's had the time to rest. Or, perhaps the rest was what was making him this way in the first place. There was a good chance that going from practically doing everything all the time, to nothing of great significance most days did affect him somehow. He was probably just stir-crazy or something. In fact, that's one of the reasons you were cooking for him. One of Luke's favorite dishes was actually something that you had on that moon of Endor. It was one that you had actually learned to cook from one of the Ewok mothers that you helped by protecting her children during the fight there. They all acted like it was perfect when you made it, so you figured that it was pretty good for not being from your original food culture. You figured that something like that would be a good thing to help raise Luke's spirits.

"Luke? Luke! Food's ready!" You call out the door of where you two were staying. The two of you were actually traveling around to see some of the places his father and Obi-Wan had traveled to during their time in the Clone Wars. He was interested in his past, and you were a major history buff, so the idea sounded great to you. Right now you were on the planet Kamino, and it was no surprise that someone that grew up on a desert planet was extremely mesmerized by the constant rain falling from the sky and the boundless waves of the sea below. Luckily you were somewhere that was completely inside a building aside from the landing pads, because you could picture Luke standing out there in that constant drizzle for hours.

When he didn't come right away, you went out into the hall just outside of your room and up to the window he was looking out of. "Luke." You said his name softly this time as you put your hand onto his shoulder to get his attention. "I heard you. I'm coming." He huffed like a kid that was just interrupted while playing a game. You almost said something to him about it, but decided that you'd let it go. There was no need to start something out here in the hall where everyone could witness. You went back into the small, apartment-like room, and he followed a minute after, the door automatically closing behind him. He sat down and look at his plate of food. He gave an unconvinced hum before he started to eat. "So, how do you like Kamino?" You asked between bites. "Too much water. This is just like a desert, but it's a desert made out of water. I'm so tired of deserts!" He responded in kind. Alright, conversation topic number one was a bust. After a minute or two, you asked, "Would you like something to drink?" Luke gave an almost disgruntled snort before snarking, "Sure, I guess. There's no lack of water here at least." And, he was still pouting about that whole blue milk thing.

You walked into the other room partially to get what you needed and partially to cool off before you lost it on Luke. While you were there, you couldn’t help but let your mind wander. Did most Jedi act like this? You didn’t know much about the religion because the Empire did its best to destroy all evidence of their existence, so having a way to look up and compare behavioral patterns betwixt Jedi was basically impossible. Wait, if Vader was Luke’s father, did he act like this at some point? Did he complain about things like food, scenery, or maybe, like stupid little things like sand? Well, you couldn’t actually blame him if he didn’t like sand. It’s coarse, rough, irritating, and it gets everywhere!

“(Name)?” Luke called from the other room shaking you from your thoughts. He was probably making sure that you didn’t need help with something. You went back and handed him his drink as he thanked you. After a moment or two you asked him, “So, how is your food?” Luke response was, “Pretty good. It tastes different from when we had it on Endor, though. Cooking it over a fire gave it more of a smoky taste.” At that point your blood was at a boil. You knew that he wasn’t trying to insult you or your cooking at all, but he was still complaining! If he said or did one more thing to complain- Right as you were thinking this, Luke gave an unsatisfied groan as he looked over the rest of the food that was sitting on the table. That was that shot that made the Death Star explode.

“LUKE SKYWALKER!” You snapped at him, causing him to startle. “What?” Luke said in the whiniest voice possible. That just added to your fury. “You have done nothing but complain for almost a week now!” You scolded him in an almost motherly tone. A very, very, angry, motherly tone. “I do NOT complain!” He responded in a tone that let you know he was more aware of the problem than he was willing to admit. “You complain all the time!” You said drawing out some of your words to make a dramatic emphasis. “Prove it!” The grumpy Jedi across the table challenged you. You quickly retort, “You were still complaining that you never got those power converters from Toshi station TWO YEARS after the you didn’t get them.” This made him start to pout as he crossed his arms and muttered under his breath, “I still never got those converters...” as much as you wanted to say that response surprised you, it didn’t.

There was a time of silence between the two of you, where the air was heavy with tension. Finally, Luke gave a sigh and looked at you, his gaze now softened with a decent amount of guilt in it. “Look, after everything that’s happened, I’m having a hard time with handling things. But, I shouldn’t have let my pessimism get out of hand so it was horrible to try to be with me. I’m sorry.” Luke offered as an apology. You wanted to still be mad at him; you really did. But, it was impossible to do so when those sad, blue, puppy dog eyes were looking at you like that. You did decide, however, that you could at least pretend that you were still angry, so you stood up, and unconvincingly stomped off to the large seat at the other end of the room.

Luke must have known that you weren’t really angry at him anymore because he got up and followed you; something he wouldn’t have done if he knew that you needed space to cool down. He sat down behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist before asking, “Do you forgive me?” You sighed in defeat, and turned around in his hold so you could look at him. “You’re lucky you’re so cute, Skywalker.” You said in mock sternness. Luke just chuckled and kissed you on the forehead.

#luke skywalker x reader #luke skywalker #young luke skywalker #star wars #star wars fanfiction

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bonbon1000 · 7 years

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Caitlin Busch Star Wars April 28, 2017 It has been 15 years since Hayden Christensen first appeared on-screen as Anakin Skywalker in 2002’s Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, and y’all are still giving him shit about it. It’s time to get over yourselves and accept that Christensen really wasn’t that bad as Anakin. There were a lot of things that lent themselves toward people complaining about Christensen as Anakin. He was young and inexperienced, so his acting wasn’t up to par with the rest of his big-name Star Wars compatriots, Anakin is just a bad character in general, and George Lucas’s dialogue is infamously horrible. But none of that is worth Christensen having been so hated by Star Wars fans that he spent a solid decade not attending Star Wars Celebration. The only character more widely disliked is probably Jar Jar Binks, and that’s really saying something. It’s time to leave Hayden Christensen alone. He has suffered long enough. Here are six reasons why he wasn’t that bad. 6. Sand Really Does Suck, Okay? Since its beginning, the Star Wars franchise has been known for tongue-twisting dialogue that’s almost hilariously in-universe. It’s partly what’s made the fandom so passionate about the series since the beginning in 1977, but it’s also spawned years of the actors mocking Lucas for his writing. Lucas’s prequel trilogy added yet another layer of bad dialogue in that most Star Wars fans will be the first to admit that the prequel trilogy dialogue was just really bad. Christensen took the brunt of the blame, but it’s really not his fault. Plus, the guy’s a really good sport about it now, so leave him alone. Small, angry child Small, angry child 5. He was 19 in Attack of the Clones Yes, there is a myriad of talented, unrealistically amazing child actors out there in the world, but the average 19-year-old can barely make a grilled cheese without burning it, let alone carry the weight of an entire generation-spanning franchise on their backs. Christensen was playing a 20-year-old Anakin Skywalker at 19 with the world watching, standing next to the likes of Ewan McGregor, Samuel L. Jackson, Natalie Portman, and Ian McDiarmid. Up until being cast in Attack of the Clones, Christensen had been playing one-off roles in various television shows and soap operas. His experience was minimal, and most people will tell you that he got better over time — his acting in Revenge of the Sith and later roles was, objectively, much better. Everyone please chill. 4. Would You Really Have Rather Liked Future Darth Vader? Anakin Skywalker was never meant to be a sympathetic character. At least, not really. If anything, Christensen and his mini-Anakin predecessor, Jake Lloyd, made Anakin sympathetic because they had really good sad puppy dog faces. Anakin was written as a somber, disastrously unlikable character from the beginning. Everyone already knew he would be going to the Dark side and transition into Darth Vader, so why waste the effort in ever making anyone like him? On some level, you should probably thank Christensen if you’re that angry about it.

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amorremanet · 7 years

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Star Wars, the trilogy of ur choice for the ask meme!

I am indecisive as Hell and couldn’t pick and as such just did all three of them, ooops?

original trilogy

my all-time ultimate fave character: um. I have loved Darth Vader since I was five and decided that he was my husband now and this meant that he was going to hold my stuff while I ran the galaxy and also buy me a puppy, because my parents wouldn’t let me have one but he’s the head of an evil empire, so I assumed that he had enough credits to buy me a puppy. Anyway, my answer hasn’t changed. He’s garbage and I love him.

a character I didn’t used to like but now do: Lando is a sort of complicated answer, because it was never that I disliked him?

But when I was younger, I bought into all of the nonsense about him, “betraying” Han, Leia, and Chewie (which is ridiculous, because: 1. he was trying to save his entire city,

and 2. Vader turned the tables on Lando and sprung a bunch of shit on him that Lando cannot be held responsible for, because Vader is the one who made it an issue and it’s not like Lando didn’t read the fine print because there was no fine print for him to read)

—and yeah, basically, I never disliked him, but have come to appreciate Lando more.

a character I used to like but now don’t: …well, it isn’t that I dislike Yoda or Obi-Wan (though the latter benefits from the prequel trilogy a lot here, since Ewan McGregor kinda saved the character from the gigantic dumpster fire of GLucas’s bullshit retcons and Alec Guinness being a huge tool), but when I was a kid, I took everything they said at face-value and have since learned that both of them are totally bullshit unreliable narrators, at best.

a character I’m indifferent about: idk, the Emperor, probably. Like, my biggest feelings about him in the OT are, “Excuse me, you’re in my seat. Trophy husband, please be a hunny and murder him for me so I can get back to my ridiculous power-fantasy daydream of being an overpowered evil overlord with no chill and an OTT evil laugh like a bad girl in a late 90’s anime.”

a character who deserved better: Lando Calrissian, full stop.

a ship I’ve never been able to get into: uh. ……pass?

a ship I’ve never been able to get over: Han/Leia remains one of the only m/f ships worth caring about, for me, but ijs, Han/Luke is good, too.

a cute, low-key ship: Luke/Wedge, Luke/Lando, or Luke/Biggs.

an unpopular ship but I still enjoyed it: Han/Lando (it’s not unpopular in my particular corner of tumblr but for most people out there, it’s Not A Thing that they can see happening). ……but come on, they act like exes! If they aren’t secretly married (probably under questionable circumstances, for pretty ridiculous reasons) in at least two star systems, I’ll shave Jean-Ralphio’s head.

a ship that was totally wrong and never should have happened: —technically, my answer never did. But when ROTS came out back in 2005, there was a commemorative issue of Rolling Stone that I stole from my Dad because it had a special feature about Darth Vader, and in it, Kevin Smith proposed the idea of Vader/Leia (which he apparently kiddie LARPed with a girl he liked before they knew that Vader is her bio-father), and…… ew, Kevin Smith, what the fuck. Like, even without the parental incest factor, ewww.

my favourite storyline/moment: if it happened in Empire, I will probably never be over it because I am a human cliche and Empire is my favorite (but in my defense: it was not written by George Lucas, and that has a lot to do with why it is noticeably better-written than the other two OT movies). If I had to choose? “I love you” / “I know,” or the final confrontation between Luke and Vader.

Because I am a human cliche, that’s why. …Also, fun fact: when they originally shot the Infamous Scene, the big reveal about Luke’s parentage was kept so under-wraps that even David Prowse (the guy who physically portrayed Vader) thought that the twist was that Obi-Wan killed Anakin.

a storyline that never should have been written: Okay, it isn’t that I object to how the parentage twist meant that GLucas had baited sibling incest with Luke/Leia. What I object to is that GLucas acts like this was intentional, and wants to erase and retcon real-world history (there’s a whole book about it, documenting what actually happened and how GLucas tried to retcon reality), all to make himself look like a genius Auteur™ when, actually he is a fucking hack who stole the credit for the movies’ success from the actual creative people involved.

my first thoughts on it: “pew pew pew, i love star wars, i want a lightsaber, i want to rule the galaxy, pew pew”

my thoughts now: “pew pew pew, i love star wars, i shouldn’t be allowed to have a lightsaber at all bc i would totally mishandle it, fuck george lucas with barbed wire, pew pew”

prequel trilogy

my all-time ultimate fave character: *points above* …like, I have never had it in me to hate the prequel trilogy — the closest that I got to it was, “Okay, it’s not the OT, and it’s kind of silly, but it’s not bad” — and I could never hate it because it’s primarily about Anakin Skywalker, and that’s my trophy husband. He’s space trash and I love him.

I also never hated Hayden Christensen. Like, most of my friends in high school did, but I loved him, and I said things like, “Maybe he’s not the greatest actor but he’s not exactly working with a great script here” but that was the worst he ever got from me (and if I’d known then just how shitty a director GLucas actually is to the actors in his flicks, I would’ve been even more generous).

He was definitely one of the guys who I “had crushes” on, back when I was still trying to convince myself that I wasn’t into girls at all, and all of the lingering fondness for him was a huge part of my, “okay, but were any of my crushes on dudes legit or was there a lot of compulsory heterosexuality that I didn’t get because I was a teenager with homophobic parents who went to a high school where we couldn’t even talk about the homophobia that went on because everybody wanted to think that we didn’t have a problem with it just because nobody got, like, physically assaulted or anything that we assumed happened at other high schools in the area, regardless of how we had almost no evidence one way or the other”

……In retrospect, a lot of the, “crush” that I had on Hayden was that he was a soft-featured pretty boy who was, “like… almost pretty enough to be a girl” (—all I have to say for myself is that I was an ignorant teenager), and I found him attractive because he was: 1. soft and pretty; 2. playing my favorite space trashcan; and 3. hella famous and therefore unavailable

anyway, I love Anakin and…… well.

a character I didn’t used to like but now do: …uh. I have no idea?? The closest I get here is that I went from not caring about Palpatine in the OT to thinking he’s actually an interesting and well-done villain in the PT.

a character I used to like but now don’t: can I pass on this one, too? I don’t have a lot of characters like this in any of the Star Wars movies tbh???

a character I’m indifferent about: Count Dooku (the late Christopher Lee was always amazing but Count Dooku just… really doesn’t interest me as a character), and General Grievous.

a character who deserved better: Padmé Amidala, Mace Windu, and I want to say Anakin, but not in the same way as Mace and Pamdé (who got the shit kicked out of them unfairly and got robbed of some of the moments that they deserved).

Where Anakin deserved better is in how the narrative handled his fall and the issues of agency, responsibility, how he was manipulated and how it affected his ability to be held responsible vs. all of the ways in which he was responsible for his actions and where, how spending his formative years as a slave affected everything, the ways in which the fucking Jedi Order was also culpable for some of this and how their approach to literally everything is emotionally unhealthy, and so on.

Because GLucas handled all of those issues with the grace and tact of a drunk rhinoceros. Which I feel is an incredible insult to both alcohol and rhinoceroses.

a ship I’ve never been able to get into: any Qui-Gon ship that isn’t Mace/Qui-Gon, and I will fully admit that that is just my headcanon and my feels of, “Oooh, that could be cool.”

a ship I’ve never been able to get over: Anakin/Obi-Wan and Anakin/Padmé because I am a human cliché.

a cute, low-key ship: Obi-Wan/Dexx (or however you spell the name of his smuggler friend from AOTC).

an unpopular ship but I still enjoyed it: well, these days, Anakin/Obi-Wan and Anakin/Padmé are apparently on the Shipae Non Gratae list in this fandom, to the point that people who ship them will get harassed, dehumanized, bullied, and suicide-baited for shipping them, all because a small but vocal contingent of assholes don’t like them and want to enforce their own ideas about the morality or lack thereof of whatever ships they like or not on everyone — but they weren’t unpopular until very recently, so

otherwise, basically all Mace Windu ships are unpopular by default but come on, Mace/Qui-Gon and Mace/Obi-Wan would be cool

a ship that was totally wrong and never should have happened: uh. Padmé/death, Mace/death, and Star Wars Fandom/suicide baiting people over ships when they’re doing everything that they can reasonably be expected to do in terms of tagging responsibly and respecting their fellow fans.

my favourite storyline/moment: I’m sorry but actually not, but… I love ROTS, and I love the game of torturing myself by watching it like, “Maybe Anakin won’t make all the wrong choices this time. Maybe if I lovingly yell at him loudly enough, he won’t break my heart.”

Also, fuck everyone, his, “I don’t like sand” thing is endearingly doofy, and I can’t flirt any better than that so it is not unrealistic (not least since he hasn’t exactly grown up or come of age in an environment that’s conducive to developing decent social skills or learning the social scripts that one uses when doing things like flirting without saying, “I don’t like sand, but you are very not like sand, and I appreciate that you are dissimilar from sand because sand sucks”)

—I mean, I’m not saying that Luke Skywalker: actual gay space autistic has a father who is also an actual space autistic? ……But, see, I’m totally saying that, and that I also believe the borderline!Anakin headcanon that I’ve seen around

a storyline that never should have been written: idk, I just want my space babies to be happy

my first thoughts on it: “…pew pew pew, i know it’s not the OT but it’s still fun can everybody like stop hating on it, wouldn’t it be more fun to LIKE things, i love star wars, pew pew”

my thoughts now: “pew pew pew, fuck everybody, the entire prequel trilogy deserves better than it got and fuck george lucas especially, but also fuck the jedi order what the fuck, that life isn’t healthy, fuck the haters i love the prequels, i love star wars, pew pew”

new trilogy, inasmuch as i can say with only one movie (since rogue one isn’t in the trilogy and i still haven’t seen it):

my all-time ultimate fave character: Finn or Poe or Rey, it depends on how I feel at any given moment

a character I didn’t used to like but now do: *shrugs*

a character I used to like but now don’t: Well, it’s not that I outright dislike KyBen, but I was so excited for him when the first trailer came out, with his lightsaber that looked so cool, and him being all, “*aggressively fanboys Darth Vader*” — and then we got the actual canon, and like? It’s impossible for me to completely hate him when he’s so fun to make fun of, and he loves his grandfather almost half as much as I do? But…… wow, have you ever met someone who is like a letdown in human form? Because I have and his name is Kylo Ren.

I will say, he is moderately less of a letdown in the novelization of the movie (though I haven’t gotten a copy of the YA novelization and there are apparently some major differences between that one and the “adult” novelization), but: 1. only moderately; and 2. he is even more over-the-top ridiculous and dramatic and kind of asinine in the book. Less of a letdown for various reasons, but still.

a character I’m indifferent about: Phasma, I guess. Like, I am certified lady villains garbage, but she doesn’t really DO anything? She has no discernible personality beyond being the token girl with KyBen and the Annoying Fascist Space Ginger, which could actually be a cool thing — I mean, Gwen Christie is a tall, white, blonde, and physically intimidating as fuck, and it would be super interesting to use Phasma as a Star Wars style reflection of the white women who get involved in the real world movements that inspired the First Order — but?? So far, all she’s done is be an abusive shit to Finn and get shoved in a trash compactor.

a character who deserved better: #Protect Finn Stormbreaker At All Costs.

a ship I’ve never been able to get into: Phasma/anybody — like, I know it’s usually misogynistic to say, “she has no personality” about a lady character…… but Phasma genuinely has no personality, so far, because she has done a grand total of bugger all in actual facts canon.

a ship I’ve never been able to get over: …I feel like it’s too early to say this because this trilogy isn’t even fully out there, yet? But solely in the sense of, “this is my favorite”… Finn/Poe/Rey, because it means that I don’t have to choose between Finn/Poe or Finn/Rey when both of them are so good.

a cute, low-key ship: I am literally only putting Rey/Rose and Rey/Jessika here because we know nothing about Rose yet, aside from how she works in maintenance with the Resistance and is adorable, and I love Rey/Jess, but it’s objective fact that Finn/Rey has more to work with, because Finn is a major character and Jess isn’t.

an unpopular ship but I still enjoyed it: eta: okay, I forgot to do this one, because all I could think of was, “idk I’ve read some Ky*lux fic that didn’t suck because I wanted one of my kinks satisfied and I wanted Star Wars and the only game in town was Ky*lux so I read it, and… eh, it didn’t suck?” — but Ky*lux is objectively not unpopular (it’s unwelcome among some fans and that’s their prerogative but the numbers don’t lie and they say that it’s not unpopular), so idk

Also, the nicest thing I could say is, “those fics didn’t suck” but in fairness that’s probably less a function of them being Ky*lux and more a function of how they’re for one of my kinks, and the writing that exists for said kink is largely pretty…… Not Good.

a ship that was totally wrong and never should have happened: I’m waiting for the reveal that Rey and Kylo are cousins or something, because I’m expecting it to happen, and then a lot of the people who ship it, “because Kylo is totally better than Finn because of reasons that have nothing to do with racism because the shippers said so” will jump ship and I will go, “I told you so, did you not pay attention to Luke and Leia or what.”

Note: I am specifically only talking about that particular kind of Rey*lo shipper, because in fairness, there are plenty of people who ship it in ways where they don’t actually want Rey and Kylo to be together, and in ways where they don’t bash Finn, and yes, it’s a pretty fucked up ship, but there are people who ship it in fucked up ways and tag all their shit responsibly, and I will have nothing to, “I told you so” about at them, in the event that Rey*lo gets jossed by them being blood relatives.

my favourite storyline/moment: the one where KyBen is all, “*ACCIO GRANDPA’S LIGHTSABER*” and Finn is all, “NOT TODAY JACKASS” and then Kylo tries it again and the lightsaber is all, “NO I LIKE REY BETTER” and the theme music swells and FUCK IT YESSSSS

a storyline that never should have been written: … *shrugs*? the trilogy is still being played out, we don’t have a lot to work with here yet

my first thoughts on it: “pew pew pew, i love star wars, i love the theories that kylo ren is actually jacen solo, zoom zoom fights in space and flying in space, whoosh whoosh shiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnng lightsaber noises, i love star wars, pew pew”

my thoughts now: “pew pew pew, i love star wars, lmao i am so glad that kylo ren is not jacen solo, jacen sweetie i am so sorry that i ever wanted that you deserve so much better, finn and rey and poe and rose and jess should all be happy and like adopt a puppy, also luke is gay now because fuck george lucas, i am so proud of my gay autistic space son and how he now wants the jedi to end because he has realized that the only way for the force to have balance is if there are NO jedi and NO sith, whoosh whoosh shhhhiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnng lightsaber noises

“like seriously how has it taken this long for this idea to make it to the main canon (since lbr most people don’t know jack about the EU or KOTOR or anything), i mean wow it is almost like the jedi and the sith are both totally fucked up beyond all hopes of salvaging either faction not least because having either faction in the first place makes humans more likely to fuck up everything with the force because people suck, WHOOSH WHOOSH SHIIIIINNNNNNNG MAKES SAID LIGHTSABER NOISES EVEN MORE LOUDLY TO PISS OFF GEORGE LUCAS AND HE CAN’T DO SHIT TO STOP ME BECAUSE HE DOESN’T OWN THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS TO THE UNIVERSE ANYMORE HA HA FUCKEDDY HA HA HA, #KreiaWasRight #TotallyVindicated, i can’t believe that rey and luke are going to be queer autistic space icons together #blessed

“i love star wars, pew pew pew”

#sikenesque #memes for ts #mine: asks #ask box tag #opinions for ts #star wars #longish post//#mine: star wars

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ohmytheon · 7 years

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Okay I read your tags about the Star Wars AU and am shook but how does Roy's ambitions factor into it, considering the Resistance is already on the side of good? And what are your thoughts about Al? (Bc Ed's motivations in the beginning are entirely to get Al's body back, which- as far as I know, at least- doesn't completely translate into Star Wars/ Luke's original motivations). But ahh thinking about this is gonna keep me up all night! I love it and would read the heck out of it oh man...

I haven't really come up with ALL of the mechanics of this Star Wars AU yet, but it's slowly but surely there. So don't mind me: I'm just gonna ramble and write as I come up with things.

I'm thinking that Al and Ed were separated when they were really little (not birth like Luke and Leia), so Ed gets thrown on Tatooine (can you IMAGINE the level of saltiness he would have) and Al is sent to Aldaraan. Ed has really vague memories of Alphonse because they were separated so young, but sometimes thinks they aren't real because Granny Pinako can't tell him the truth for his own safety.

Then, somehow or another, Ed finds out the truth. Al is his brother and was captured by the Empire while on route to send a message that would help the Rebellion. Like C3-PO and R2-D2 show up and Winry is all excited because she works on droids and these are some pretty prime droids. But then R2 plays Al's secret message and Pinako explains to him some things and he's like, YO I GOTTA SAVE HIS ASS. HE'S MY BROTHER." idek i'm flying by the seat of my pants here so bear with me.

Roy and Riza end up on Tatooine upon following the droids or something after Al's ship is blown up and he's captured. (I can't remember A New Hope with perfect clarity, so I need to rewatch it.) Of course Stormtroopers are looking for the droids as well so they've gotta be sneaky. Roy would be the Han Solo character, but already in the Rebellion. His motivations are fairly simple: DESTROY THE EMPIRE. I mean, he's living on limited time. If anyone finds out just how force sensitive and powerful he is, it would be dangerous as hell. As far as everyone is concerned, all Jedis and anyone that Force sensitive is dead and gone. (But if he could just get his hands on a lightsaber...) His mother was a Jedi. Yeah yeah they're not supposed to have kids, but his mother was very headstrong and lived by her own rules. She was killed when Order 66 came about and his father died while guarding Roy's hiding place, so he was raised by his paternal aunt, who raised him as her own and taught him to keep his Force abilities a secret. Aunt Christmas also, of course, has ties to the Rebellion and taught Roy everything she knows about espionage, so he made his way up the ranks as an Intelligence Officer very easily.

Back on Tatooine, Roy and Riza bump into Ed, who is not only trying to find a way off this sand-forsaken planet but also has the droids they're looking for following him around like lost puppies. (DON'T THINK OF NINA OMG) Of course Roy doesn't want to pick up some overly energetic, aggressive kid, but he doesn't have much of a choice because ED IS ON A MISSION and R2 is down with that. So they take Ed, Pinako, Winry, and the droids on their ship and are like, "PEACE WE OUT." Pinako tells Ed the story of how his father was one of the greatest jedi that ever lived but was killed by Darth Vader and how Ed is just as strong in the Force as his father and she gives him his dad's lightsaber. (Roy is jealous tbh.) Ed is a maniac though and is like, "WE HAVE TO SAVE MY BROTHER," and Roy is like, "WE NEED TO GET THE DROIDS TO A SECURE REBEL BASE," and Father/Darth Vader is like, "LOLS jokes on you fools because ya'll are being occupied and forced onto our Star Destroyer ship." (Who is Emperor Palpatine if Father is Vader? IDK i'm trying but I need Father to pretend to be Ed's actual father, who is being held captive or whatnot.)

Winry and Pinako hide on the ship while Ed, Riza, and Roy infiltrate the Star Destroyer, Roy and Riza acting as Stormtroopers guiding their prisoner Ed. Little punk caused a lot of shit for the Empire. They find Al, and Ed is super excited because his little brother is REAL. His memories of Al weren't dreams or fake. But, of course, Al doesn't know him or remember him at all and while they look very alike, he's kinda skeptical. But Ed wants to help him and they've got the droids and they NEED to get off this ship and back to the Rebel base. Shit gets real and they gotta blast their way out. At one point, when they get pinned, Roy uses the Force to get them out and Ed is like, "wait what???" and Darth Vader/Father is like, "exCUSE ME but WHO ARE YOU?" but they can't escape on their ship -- until Granny Pinako sacrifices herself to distract Darth Father and they blow out of town.

Ed is devastated, but even more so when Al explains that Aldaraan, where they were going to deliver the Death Star plans has been destroyed. Like where is the HOPE he thought he felt? Strong in the Force as he is, he doesn't know how to use it well enough and he couldn't save Pinako. Guess who has to awkwardly teach him to use the Force at first even though he's tried to keep his tamped down for years. (OH MY GOD. This means Izumi gets to be Yoda. CAN YOU IMAGINE? Just drop kicking Ed into the swamp when he's a lil shit. "Could've blocked that with the Force.")

Um but yeah Ed joins the Rebellion alongside Roy and Riza and they all go to destroy the Death Star. Shit seems really hopeless at first and people are dying. Ed has never seen anything like this before. But he's got surprisingly mad pilot skills and right when Darth Father almost gets him Roy swings in once more and saves his ass. "You'd think he wouldn't even be able to hit you since you're such a small target, Fullmetal Five." (Fullmetal is his call sign bc PLS.) And then Ed thinks about his father and his brother and the family that he never knew he had and the Force and he SWEARS he can hear his father's voice guiding him, who left so long ago, and he uses the Force TO DESTROY THE DEATH STAR.

my god this was a fucking train wreck. did anyone understand this?

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