The Lightskin Skywalker

nobody looks unhinged quite like hayden, like he’s so pretty but his kubrick stare is terrifying. he’s got the face of an angel and when his expression contorts with pure vicious loathing, it’s awful. the casting for anakin was so perfect it makes me feel feral. every time he loses his goddamn mind on camera i feel such glee. nobody could’ve done it better imho

all hayden apparently needs is a sliver of his face and one visible eye to perform a fragile moment of ambiguity about his identity that tips inexorably into the madness of vader, his little hint of a demented smile after “you didn’t kill anakin skywalker, i did,” the way the light shifts and his gaze fills with an unholy gleam of violence and hatred, it’s perfectly chilling. im so grateful he chose to come back to the role, i cannot imagine the show without him

the fact that Reva felt betrayed and abandoned by Anakin and Obi Wan as a youngling and then now as an adult they are both once again the people who’ve abandoned and betrayed her

the fact that Reva “trusted” Obi Wan to a degree to go along with his plan and he effectively used her and left her for dead after he said they could do this together

the fact that Obi Wan’s decision to leave Reva behind, to effectively fail to save her once more just like he failed her as a youngling, is now gonna possibly put Luke and Leia in serious danger if the secret is revealed

I am massively intrigued where the dominos are gonna fall

“Reva is so insubordinate.”

I swear people come up with the most dumb ass complaints. Ninth Sister literally has enough balls in canon to ignore Darth Vader. The Second Sister sought favor from the EMPEROR. Seventh Sister wanted to be the Grand Inquisitor. The Grand Inquisitor hates Darth Vader but fears him too.

Inquisitor characters, in general, have a streak of ambition and insubordination to a degree some more openly than others. Reva is no exception. I like how Trilla’s character can go behind Vader & Grand Inquisitor’s back and nobody says anything but two episodes in, people already got shit to say on Reva.

Y’all want to see a page from the comics that Haunts Me™

Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Cry of Shadows #5

😬😬😬😬

Anakin Skywalker Darth Vader: Child Killer is such a Theme in Star Wars media. It should just be a cliché. It’s a very easy shorthand to communicate to an audience that a person is losing or has lost their humanity, and is becoming the embodiment of pure evil, and yet, every time, it makes me cringe.

It reminds me of a fascinating sequence when Vader kills his younger self in a vision in Darth Vader (2015) #24. There’s this really charming exchange where he kills Obi-Wan (again) and gets the last word this time (not that he’d probably been obsessing over what he wanted to have said or anything of course not).

“I’m more powerful with every step I take away from you.” Sure, Jan.

Anyway, the memory of young Anakin Skywalker shows up allllll angry because Darth Vader killed his beloved Master!!

They fight, and of course Vader wins (it is his vision after all). He then says it himself:

“You were a child. I am well accustomed to killing children.”

Anakin Vader knows what he’s doing. He knows what he’s done. He is able to admit it to himself, without any self-censure. It’s just a statement of fact. He is an executioner of children. This is the evil of the dark side at play. He’s lost all compassion, all humanity.

It’s very fun to tell stories about ~sexy and morally ambiguous gray jedi~ and easy to avoid engaging with the premise of Star Wars worldbuilding that the Sith and the dark side are evil, and that evil has a real, concrete meaning (aka children die).

I love the comics a lot for not shying away from engaging with Vader’s worst deeds. There’s so much fascinating characterization and worldbuilding going on, and you get to see panels like the first, which can haunt your nightmares! So it’s good times all around, highly recommend 😂😭

It’s apparently impossible to even open a Darth Vader comic without the younglings showing up hahaha sorry after finishing this post I just opened Darth Vader (2020) #7 and this flashback was the beginning haahah it’s almost like Anakin isn’t over it, or something.

Though that makes sense from this from Darth Vader (2017) #21:

What I find so interesting about this motif is the unsaid implication of what Anakin believes he did. Darth Vader is not only an executioner of children but he believes himself to be the executioner of his own child. I have thought so many times about the murder of the children,and specifically his belief that he murdered his own child being the cornerstone of what keeps him in he dark side and unable to turn back when he has so many chances. The comics further do a wonderful job,like in his force vision of Obi-Wan forgiving him,showing that it is his own self hatred and belief of going too far that keeps him in the dark and under the assumption that there is no going back or returning to the light.

And you show perfectly how it’s a reoccurring theme in the comics that it is the children he focuses on and comes back to again and again. For the audience absolutely,it is the ultimate act of evil that humans abhore,the abuse and murder of children,the ultimate innocents. But I think it further illustrates his absolute self hatred,because as you said he knows what he did,and he knows what he is. And that specific self hatred,Anakin Skywalker child killer,Anakin skywalker slaughterer of his own child,it is the root of his own self agony and loathing that keeps him so firmly planted in the dark.

I love the comics for that further layer of nuance it lends Anakin’s redemption and relationship with Luke. We know why and how Anakin is redeemed,but it is interesting to examine that the revelation that he didn’t butcher his own child like he thought,was the slightest,minuscule lessening of guilt and self hatred that could allow the dimmest glimmer of a thought that a return to the light and redemption was a possibility. With the knowledge that there was one less child he slaughtered,it allowed Anakin the forgiveness he had sought all along,not Obi-Wan’s,who would have willingly gave it,but his own,which he was unable to give and why he stayed in the dark.

when are yall heteronormative twats gonna realize that the song finally falling from Victorious was about Tori and Jade

EVERY song in that show was about tori and jade

someone to hold

this is canon

It’s a space battle!

okay so my prediction for season 3 is that the first episode will be through villanelle’s perspective, going through the motions, and as it progresses we see her learn about a new mysterious assassin or killer who lurks in the shadows until it’s revealed at the end of the episode that it’s eve, and now the roles have been reversed and villanelle is panicking trying to search for eve while eve is just chillin.

power rangers + sorting hat

Warriors of Wakanda. 

the deanoru kisses we’ve had so far were amazing and all but what season two really needs is ginny and lyrica shoving their tongues into each others mouths 

me: i love watching soaps beacuse i love!! drama!! suspense is my bitch

the drama: *happens*

me:

ideal show deanoru: they’re together for season 2, something (NOT cheating) breaks it up early season 3, enter victor mancha, nico does her ‘i dont know how to deal with things in a healthy way so i’ll just kiss the closest guy i guess’ thing she does in the comics and they hook up but its not serious, maybe karolina gets a gf and we have some nico pining for a while, then in season 4 or 5 they get back together in a really epic and romantic way and are endgame thanks for attending my tedtalk