#Star Wars Novelizations

[disast3rtransp0rt]

religious trauma and star wars discourse: an inside perspective

I see a lot of posts like “You can’t blame the Jedi for Anakin’s downfall! They did everything they could for him and he chose to be fucking stupid!”

And sure, yeah, I see your point. But not everyone has read the novelizations and not everyone will (myself included) for one reason or another, and their opinions are based solely on the text and subtext provided by the films. 

So consider this perspective from someone who was raised in a strict Evangelical household and is still working through a lot of religious trauma: Anakin Falls because he feels trapped by the Order and their expectations, which is a nuanced and complicated issue depending on which textual source we decide to pull from. 

Anakin Skywalker was a little boy who’d been freed from slavery by a Jedi Knight, a group of warriors and protectors that he looked up to. That same Knight was then threatened with eviction from the Order for helping rescue, just so we don’t forget, a literal child slave. Of course Anakin’s going to feel indebted to Qui-Gon and to the Order for letting them both stay (and then additionally for letting Obi-Wan train him after Qui-Gon’s death). 

He sees everything transactionally. That’s how he was raised. No matter how much meditation you do, some of the Council were right: He was too old to let that shit go. And there wasn’t enough time in his teenage years to process it properly before the Clone Wars began.

He has to step up to the plate and become the Hero With No Fear. He’s the Chosen One, the son of the Force. His body isn’t entirely his anymore, because it’s been commodified and claimed by the Jedi Order (whether or not they realize or acknowledge it). 

So, as someone who was raised to identify hardcore with the ideology that sex = gender (which I no longer subscribe to at all), I was treated very differently from my brothers as a kid. I was always in the kitchen, always watching the babies, always cleaning the dishes etc. 

But high value was placed on my usefulness as a “nurturer”, so I felt validated. This was good work. I was doing something helpful. I was being good in the way the people surrounding me expected. Until I got old enough to understand how exploitative and shitty Evangelicalism is and got the fuck away. 

Can you see how I might relate to Anakin, then? How it might be hard to have incredible pressure placed on you to serve serve serve all the time, even though you were supposed to be free from that? No time to breathe, rules that dictate private areas of one’s life... Kinda like his childhood but just a little bit different.

Of course he’s going to want to rebel, but that guilt and that debt is so deep under his skin that he can’t shake it. Can’t let it go. If he’d been able to sit down and process the issues he faced as a child, without fighting a war as a slightly larger child, then maybe... I don’t know. Maybe he wouldn’t have Fallen. 

Maybe he simply would have said his thanks, said his goodbyes, and left to raise his children with his wife. 

But I was lucky enough to escape to college and outgrow the idea that my body would always be some kind of bargaining chip. I let go of the ideology I’d been raised with because there was space enough to work through my childhood bullshit. Anakin doesn’t have that luxury in canon. He’s got shit to do.

And as someone who still has issues eating dinner before my boyfriend after almost 6 years of therapy and a ton of self-discovery, that guilt-and-debt feeling I mentioned can hit hard. And it’s tough to get rid of. I’m still working on that at age 26. 

So yeah, I don’t particularly care for the Jedi Order. 

I don’t care that other people do like them, of course. I know it’s all just fiction and these are a bunch of made up dudes in costumes running around a set. It’s just been tough to read a lot of these posts that are so pro-Jedi from a context that I do not have or wish to have (the novels) and feel excluded or invalidated.

Anyway.

Thank you for coming to my literary analysis. 

#star wars #star wars disc horse #the jedi order #jedi #the jedi #religious trauma #literary analysis #star wars novelizations #star wars movies #the prequels #star wars prequels #anakin skywalker #anakin skywalker character analysis #personal #perspective #mace windu triggers me so hard y'all i have to skip his scenes or i cry #just cause he reminds me of my pastor #anyway

[waldeinsamkeit-feeling]

still thinking about artoo telling anakin to look for a datajack in his ass

#obikin #star wars #anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #obi wan #anaobi #artoo #r2d2 #rots novelization

[gffa]

DEX FEELING GUILTY ABOUT TELLING OBI-WAN ABOUT KAMINO, GIVEN HOW IT LED TO DISCOVERING THE CLONES, WHICH LED TO THE GENOCIDE OF THE JEDI, LED TO A THOUSAND YEARS OF PEACE, REDUCED TO DUSH, THAT HE BLAMES HIMSELF FOR SOMETHING HE COULD NEVER HAVE KNOWN WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. AND HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW IF HIS FRIEND DIED ON THAT DAY, IF HE PLAYED A PART IN HIS FRIEND'S DEATH, THAT PRECOCIOUS YOUNGLING HE MET ON LEHNARA, OR IF OBI-WAN HAD TO LIVE TO SEE THE MURDER OF HIS ENTIRE PEOPLE AND CULTURE. HI THANKS STAR WARS I'M GONNA GO FLING MYSELF INTO THE SUN NOW THIS IS TOO MUCH TO HANDLE (Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi: "The Veteran")

#lumi.txt #star wars #obi wan kenobi #dexter jettster #meta #novels #novels: from a certain point of view: return of the jedi

[littlekhada]

#star wars #eli vanto #eli n vanto #mitthrawnuruodo #mitth'raw'nuruodo #grand admiral thrawn #thrawn #thrawn 2017 #thrawn novels #thrawn books #thranto #thrawn x eli vanto #my art

[yiliy]

"The callousness of it all struck Obi-Wan profoundly. Units. Final product. These were living beings they were talking about. Living, breathing, and thinking. To create clones for such a singular purpose, under such control, even stealing half their childhood for efficiency, ..."

"Obi-Wan looked up at the Kaminoan, to see his eyes glowing with pride as he looked out upon his creation. There were no ethical dilemmas as far as Lama Su was concerned, Obi-Wan knew immediately. Perhaps that was why the Kaminoans were so good at cloning: their consciences never got in the way.

Lama Su looked down at him, smiling widely, prompting a response, and Obi-Wan offered a silent nod.

Yes, they were magnificent, and the Jedi could only imagine the brutal efficiency this group would exhibit in battle, in the arena for which they were grown.

Once again, a shudder coursed down Obi-Wan Kenobi’s spine."

Star Wars - Episode II - Attack of the Clones Novelization

by R. A. Salvatore

#Star Wars #ObiWan #Jedi #Star Wars Clones #Attack of the Clones #Obi Wan Kenobi #Jedi Order #Jedi positivity #Star Wars prequels #AotC #in defense of the jedi #obi-wan kenobi #Attack of the Clones Novelization #SW prequels

[klazje]

#star wars #thrawn #my art #mitth'raw'nuruodo #grand admiral thrawn #chiss #chiss ascendancy #chiss navigator #vah’nya #eli vanto #eli n vanto #aralani #ar’alani #admiral ar'alani #thrawn ascendancy #thrawn trilogy #thrawn 2017 #thrawn alliances #thrawn treason #star wars art #star wars fanart #star wars novels #star wars comics #star wars memes #thranto

[magnusbae]

been having some rough few days in the sw books tags

#it all sort of just glued together under that 'i'm better at hiding it' moment from tcw and now i am just LIKE NO OBI-WAN YOU'RE NOT BETTER #AT HIDING IT YOU'RE JUST LUCKY ANAKIN IS BLIND DEAf AND AN IDIOT ON TOP OF IT ALL #bloody touches his cheek tenderly and PRAISES HIM ALL THE TIME and wants to die with him and misses him till the point of FURY #cool cool cool cool coooooollll #obikin #obi wan kenobi #star wars #buns.misc #buns.all #sw books #star wars novels

[go-see-a-starwar]

The dedication page of Wild Space by Karen Miller

#she was so very real for this #karen miller #wild space #star wars novels #ewan mcgregor #same karen same

[comebackali]

HE BURNS LIKE THE SUN INSIDE!! I WOULD BEAR YOUR BURDENS FOR YOU IF I COULD!!

#jude giving me psychic damage #a critical hit #anakin skywalker #otp: more intimate than lovers #obikin #star wars #jedi quest #sw novels #jedi quest the moment of truth #the moment of truth #allie reads jedi quest #wizard #pt

[intermundia]

palai pote en kosmō prosōtatō hode mythos palai en kosmō prosōtatō etukhon. hēdē telos ekhei. ouden an tonde metaballein poioito. erōtos kai blabēs mythos estin, hetaireias kai prodosias, tharseos te thusias te kai tou oneiratōn olethrou. tēs amaurās diaforās metaksu tōn hēmeterōn aristōn te kai kakistōn mythos estin. tou teleos aiōnos mythos estin.

here's a version of the prologue of matthew stover's revenge of the sith in ancient greek, because he studied greek theater in college and decided that the fall of anakin skywalker deserved a tragic structure (and he was right).

#the genitive of description is doing some heavy lifting here #is it the right construction for this? who knows #i liked it so here it is lmao #star wars #rots novelization my beloved #sw #classics #im much better at reading greek than writing it forgive errors

[unspuncreature]

in the end, the shadow is all you have left

thinking about that moment in the rots novelization where anakin admits to himself that he wishes obi-wan would stay with him instead of going to utapau, but won’t say it. mmm i’m fine i’m fine

#anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #rots novelization #rots #star wars #obi-wan kenobi #star wars art #star wars fanart #anakin fanart #obi-wan fanart #scout.png

[inquisitor-apologist]

Thinking about how, at the end of the day, at the fatal moment, the sunset of the Republic, it wasn’t Yoda, or Obi-Wan, or even the Chosen One himself standing in the way of Palpatine. It was Mace Windu.

Mace Windu, the inventor of Vaapad and Master of Form VII, the Jedi's strongest duelist, the only person to ever defeat Palpatine in combat. Mace Windu, Master of the Jedi Council and the youngest Master ever appointed to it, the revered leader of the Order. Mace Windu, who forgave even those who tried to kill him, who risked his life over and over again for his troops, who, after 3 years of desperate war, tried to negotiate with battle droids. Mace Windu, who knew the clones were created by the Sith and chose to trust them, who saw every Shatterpoint in the Republic, and loved it still, and fought for it until his last breath, until he was betrayed by Anakin, who he believed in and trusted despite everything.

Mace Windu, High General and hero of the Republic, the embodiment of the Light, the last and greatest champion of the Order, the best Jedi to ever live.

#I’ve said my piece goodnight #don’t play with me Mace Antis I have receipts for every last one of these #pretty much everyone agrees that he was the best duelist there was and he obviously won the fight #Anakin's choice wouldn't make thematic sense otherwise #also vader did not defeat palpatine in combat sorry he just grabbed him while he was distracted #it literally had to be a fair fight and Anakin had to be the one to choose to create the empire that's what the prequels are about #Star Wars databank calls him ‘revered’ shatterpoint tells us he was the youngest (real) member of the council #Boba Fett (tcw) and Prosset Dibs (comics) tried to kill him and he asked for amnesty and forgave them #literally just watch the Ryloth arc he spends most of his screentime saving his men #in tcw season seven he pleads with the battle droids to surrender hoping that no one else has to die #there's the part near the end of tcw where the council realizes that the clones were created by Dooku but Mace and the rest of the council #trust the clones so much they're willing to ignore it #the scene from Mace's POV in the rots novelization talks about how much he loves the republic and how he was blindsided by Anakin's betraya #because he trusted him!! we see in aotc that he has more faith in Anakin's abilities than Obi-wan #and he defeated the most powerful sith of all time single-handedly #BEST JEDI EVER!!!!!!!!!!!! #sw prequels #star wars prequels #prequel trilogy #sw prequel trilogy #star wars prequel trilogy #sw rots #star wars rots #revenge of the sith #star wars revenge of the sith #galactic republic #pro mace windu #mace windu #pro jedi order #pro jedi

[waldeinsamkeit-feeling]

they will never be normal about each other and I adore them for it

#obikin #star wars #anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #obi wan #anaobi #obi wan and anakin #obi wan x anakin #anakin and obi wan #anakin x obi wan #rots novelization #soulmates #more intimately than lovers

[gffa]

Brb gonna go punt myself into the sun real quick, Obi-Wan seeing Anakin in Leia in both the gentleness and fire of her speeches has me inconsolable. (Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi: "From a Certain Point of View")

#lumi.txt #star wars #obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #leia organa #meta #novels #novels: from a certain point of view: return of the jedi

[mithrandirl]

And why not? What should he be afraid of? Except— Fear lives inside him anyway, chewing away the firewalls around his heart.

Matthew Stover, Revenge of the Sith novelization

#swedit #star wars #revenge of the sith #rots #rotsedit #anakin skywalker #darth vader #tcw #tcwedit #revenge of the sith novelization #* #sad.gif

[leahikol]

the 'Thrawn' novel as famous memes

doodles vol.2

#thrawn #grand admiral thrawn #thrawn trilogy #thrawn books #thrawn novels #chiss #chiss fanart #eli vanto #governor pryce #arihnda pryce #thrawn memes #star wars memes #thranto #mitth'raw'nuruodo #leahikol