Category: Uncategorized

diversehighfantasy:

This gem about Kylo Ren comes from @left-wing-reyloist, a highly entertaining faux-intellectual blog that has a “particular focus on deconstructing the validity of anti culture’s supposed progressives.”

I love it. Labeling reylo critical content as empty progressive posturing while blatantly using “left-wing politics” to push meta about how Kylo Ren is an admirable character because….

Well, they haven’t answered that. Everything is focused on antis being incapable to process the nuances of a character who should by all rights be a horrifying villain in the late ‘10s, a sad manboy filled with rage against God knows what who is fully capable of acting on it.

The thing that keeps Kylo and Hux from being truly terrifying is that they lack the competence of their predecessors, and are made to look like fools in ways Vader and Palpatine never were. There is a danger in not taking an incompetent buffoon seriously, as we have well learned since the 2016 US presidential election, but to straight up celebrate and support them is far worse.

Kylo Ren is a perfect villain of our time, and the fact that he wins so many over, not with words but with puppydog eyes, would be fascinating if it wasn’t at the expense of characters who stand for everything our real life disaster-in-chief and the angry white majority who voted for him hates.

On no planet or alternate timeline does Kylo represent the antithesis of the alt-right. Is he “nuanced”? I mean, in the real world, most of the worst people have or had people they love. Many have mothers who loved them. They have feelings. People who commit atrocities *do* have feelings and can even come off as appealing. People should be aware of that. Being human doesn’t make one a hero, or even an “anti villain.”

I find it funny that now, overshadowed by Killmonger as a sympathetic villain, suddenly Kylo Ren is being described as a Well-Intentioned Extremist. Funny, because it describes Killmonger perfectly, but is so far from everything we know about Kylo that it looks like yall are just trying to ride on the coattails of Killmonger commentary because he’s actually sympathetic – and, more importantly, had a goal to lift up the oppressed and downtrodden. Kylo thinks he and the FO are right, but who is he trying to help? As in a plural who, committing extremist crimes because he supposedly has a crush on a woman doesn’t cut it.

Riddick, The Operative, and Boba Fett are anti-villains. Hell, even Loki wasn’t entirely motivated by self interest.

Kylo is a sad monster who looks innocent. There’s nothing scarier than that.

(Final note to left-wing-reyloist: Intellectually honest political commentators, if you’re even being serious, don’t refuse to engage with those who disagree with them. Blocking me – when it’s clear I’m one of the “antis” you’re actively trying to invalidate – is a weakass move.)

So this joker claims to be a socialist (this is from the header, I think I’m blocked too 😂) but calls an explicit neo-Nazi analogue a “well-intentioned extremist?” Mmkay then.

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The first five minutes of Star Wars: Resistance have more worldbuilding than the entire runtime of The Last Jedi.

Mild spoilers for Star Wars: Resistance

The New Republic working closely with the Resistance? A red TIE fighter operating on its own with a hyperdrive? Kaz’s awe at seeing an old Rebel hammerhead ship? Poe calling the ship a “classic” while wearing a Rebel-style orange flightsuit, while Kaz has a more updated look with a blue suit and a sun logo? I’m watching the past and the present of the SW universe interacting here and it’s a thrilling feeling. The New Republic seems about to get a much-needed fleshing out, ironically in a show about the Resistance.

Continued spoilers

Huh, the Resistance is well-known enough in the Republic’s ranks for Kaz to have thought “a lot” about joining up? Poe knew nothing about it back when Leia recruited him (and now he’s taken it up himself, I see) but it looks like the word has spread since, as has probably the seriousness of the FO threat since that’s the whole point of the Resistance. It looks like the Republic military, or at least individual commanders, were already taking action and cooperating with the Resistance out of necessity. Probably helps that a lot of them are Leia’s friends or fans. As always it seems the top echelons of the Republic were the last to make a move against the threat.

That’s the story level, and of course on a meta level Kaz represents the SW fans themselves and their nostalgia, and our desire for adventure and escape away from parental expectations and other burdens. The story ain’t subtle but it doesn’t have to be. I’ve had my fill of clever and subversive stories, hit me over the head with one of those hammer ships already.

Kaz can just decide to join the Resistance like that? He’s not Republic military? Maybe he’s more like a Home Guard pilot kind of deal who just happened to relay information to a shadowy militia?

I hc Kaz as Japanese Latino btw. His first name is very Japanese while his last name looks both Japanese and Latine, and the way his father has an Asian-sounding accent and he doesn’t smacks of immigrant coding.

YOU’RE GOING AWOL BITCH

@thehungryvortigaunt RJ took one for the team and lowered the bar for the entire franchise.

On balance, I liked the (ahem) pilot episode. Kaz’s struggles to get out of his father’s shadow and the utter mess he made once he got the freedom to make his own mistakes were oh so relatable like ouch. I was leery at first of Neeku being an offensive autistic stereotype, but was relieved to find he actually had his own goals and saw Kaz as a possible way to reach that goal. I like that Kaz wasn’t handed an unrealistic victory, too, and still has a long way to go despite his talent. (You’re awol, you’re so awol…) Yeager seems to have a story and I will be on the lookout for it. Tam’s accent, her initially and understandably hostile interaction with Kaz, and the fact that she’s a mechanic in less-than-posh circumstances reminded me of Rey.

re your Poe meta post: EXCUSE YOU???? WHO GAVE YOU THE FREAKING RIGHT? You broke my heart and sent me in a Dameron family feels spiral, are you happy? I hope you are, because now I am going to retaliate with fics. You asked for this. This is entirely your doing. [insert mandatory Soraya meme-jpg]

(Does this mean I’m going to be killed in Spanish?)

Oh no! Not Familia Dameron fics! That is by no means exactly the response I wanted, have mercy please!!

The terrible meta in question

Spanking Is Ineffective and Harmful to Children, Pediatricians’ Group Says

Recent studies
have also shown that corporal punishment is associated with increased
aggression and makes it more likely that children will be defiant in the
future. Spanking alone is associated with outcomes similar to those of
children who experience physical abuse, the new academy statement says.

There are potential ramifications to the brain as well: A 2009 study
of 23 young adults who had repeated exposure to harsh corporal
punishment found reduced gray matter volume in an area of the prefrontal
cortex that is believed to play a crucial role in social cognition.
Those exposed to harsh punishment also had a lower performance I.Q. than
that of a control group.

Spanking Is Ineffective and Harmful to Children, Pediatricians’ Group Says

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The first five minutes of Star Wars: Resistance have more worldbuilding than the entire runtime of The Last Jedi.

Mild spoilers for Star Wars: Resistance

The New Republic working closely with the Resistance? A red TIE fighter operating on its own with a hyperdrive? Kaz’s awe at seeing an old Rebel hammerhead ship? Poe calling the ship a “classic” while wearing a Rebel-style orange flightsuit, while Kaz has a more updated look with a blue suit and a sun logo? I’m watching the past and the present of the SW universe interacting here and it’s a thrilling feeling. The New Republic seems about to get a much-needed fleshing out, ironically in a show about the Resistance.

Continued spoilers

Huh, the Resistance is well-known enough in the Republic’s ranks for Kaz to have thought “a lot” about joining up? Poe knew nothing about it back when Leia recruited him (and now he’s taken it up himself, I see) but it looks like the word has spread since, as has probably the seriousness of the FO threat since that’s the whole point of the Resistance. It looks like the Republic military, or at least individual commanders, were already taking action and cooperating with the Resistance out of necessity. Probably helps that a lot of them are Leia’s friends or fans. As always it seems the top echelons of the Republic were the last to make a move against the threat.

That’s the story level, and of course on a meta level Kaz represents the SW fans themselves and their nostalgia, and our desire for adventure and escape away from parental expectations and other burdens. The story ain’t subtle but it doesn’t have to be. I’ve had my fill of clever and subversive stories, hit me over the head with one of those hammer ships already.

Kaz can just decide to join the Resistance like that? He’s not Republic military? Maybe he’s more like a Home Guard pilot kind of deal who just happened to relay information to a shadowy militia?

I hc Kaz as Japanese Latino btw. His first name is very Japanese while his last name looks both Japanese and Latine, and the way his father has an Asian-sounding accent and he doesn’t smacks of immigrant coding.

YOU’RE GOING AWOL BITCH

lj-writes:

lj-writes:

The first five minutes of Star Wars: Resistance have more worldbuilding than the entire runtime of The Last Jedi.

Mild spoilers for Star Wars: Resistance

The New Republic working closely with the Resistance? A red TIE fighter operating on its own with a hyperdrive? Kaz’s awe at seeing an old Rebel hammerhead ship? Poe calling the ship a “classic” while wearing a Rebel-style orange flightsuit, while Kaz has a more updated look with a blue suit and a sun logo? I’m watching the past and the present of the SW universe interacting here and it’s a thrilling feeling. The New Republic seems about to get a much-needed fleshing out, ironically in a show about the Resistance.

Continued spoilers

Huh, the Resistance is well-known enough in the Republic’s ranks for Kaz to have thought “a lot” about joining up? Poe knew nothing about it back when Leia recruited him (and now he’s taken it up himself, I see) but it looks like the word has spread since, as has probably the seriousness of the FO threat since that’s the whole point of the Resistance. It looks like the Republic military, or at least individual commanders, were already taking action and cooperating with the Resistance out of necessity. Probably helps that a lot of them are Leia’s friends or fans. As always it seems the top echelons of the Republic were the last to make a move against the threat.

That’s the story level, and of course on a meta level Kaz represents the SW fans themselves and their nostalgia, and our desire for adventure and escape away from parental expectations and other burdens. The story ain’t subtle but it doesn’t have to be. I’ve had my fill of clever and subversive stories, hit me over the head with one of those hammer ships already.

Kaz can just decide to join the Resistance like that? He’s not Republic military? Maybe he’s more like a Home Guard pilot kind of deal who just happened to relay information to a shadowy militia?

I hc Kaz as Japanese Latino btw. His first name is very Japanese while his last name looks both Japanese and Latine, and the way his father has an Asian-sounding accent and he doesn’t smacks of immigrant coding.

lj-writes:

The first five minutes of Star Wars: Resistance have more worldbuilding than the entire runtime of The Last Jedi.

Mild spoilers for Star Wars: Resistance

The New Republic working closely with the Resistance? A red TIE fighter operating on its own with a hyperdrive? Kaz’s awe at seeing an old Rebel hammerhead ship? Poe calling the ship a “classic” while wearing a Rebel-style orange flightsuit, while Kaz has a more updated look with a blue suit and a sun logo? I’m watching the past and the present of the SW universe interacting here and it’s a thrilling feeling. The New Republic seems about to get a much-needed fleshing out, ironically in a show about the Resistance.

Continued spoilers

Huh, the Resistance is well-known enough in the Republic’s ranks for Kaz to have thought “a lot” about joining up? Poe knew nothing about it back when Leia recruited him (and now he’s taken it up himself, I see) but it looks like the word has spread since, as has probably the seriousness of the FO threat since that’s the whole point of the Resistance. It looks like the Republic military, or at least individual commanders, were already taking action and cooperating with the Resistance out of necessity. Probably helps that a lot of them are Leia’s friends or fans. As always it seems the top echelons of the Republic were the last to make a move against the threat.

That’s the story level, and of course on a meta level Kaz represents the SW fans themselves and their nostalgia, and our desire for adventure and escape away from parental expectations and other burdens. The story ain’t subtle but it doesn’t have to be. I’ve had my fill of clever and subversive stories, hit me over the head with one of those hammer ships already.

The first five minutes of Star Wars: Resistance have more worldbuilding than the entire runtime of The Last Jedi.

Mild spoilers for Star Wars: Resistance

The New Republic working closely with the Resistance? A red TIE fighter operating on its own with a hyperdrive? Kaz’s awe at seeing an old Rebel hammerhead ship? Poe calling the ship a “classic” while wearing a Rebel-style orange flightsuit, while Kaz has a more updated look with a blue suit and a sun logo? I’m watching the past and the present of the SW universe interacting here and it’s a thrilling feeling. The New Republic seems about to get a much-needed fleshing out, ironically in a show about the Resistance.

‘The last jedi is about moving on from the past” oh its also definitely not about shitting on women and black men for being co protagonists of the movie and reclaiming tropes and rhe past that seen as for white men. And fucking over Rey and Finn’s and other characters personalities. Being sarcastic. Sometimes wanting the past can be a good thing like maginalized people trying to reconnect with their people’s past

It is just so unbelievably oblivious, not understanding–or wilfully ignoring–how important a connection to cultural nostalgia can be for less-represented groups. It’s like white women declaring that male-female romance is boring and regressive the moment Black women are in the role of the soft and cherished love interest, especially to a white male lead.