#maylovely

really difficult to do alone but you still do it and I’ve loved this blog so much, and I’m sure other people have as well! So again, thank you so much and have a wonderful night (2/2).

Thank you, that means a lot and, frankly, this is an incredibly sweet message, I had to read it over a few times over before I could properly respond. 

This is actually the first side blog I’ve ever run officially, and I have to say that I’m far from being a pro on all things Star Wars or Clone Wars but answering questions about the show is probably one of my favorite things. 

Thanks for this. I’m really glad people are starting to realize this but sad at the same time. I can’t even begin to explain how uncomfortable I was with Satine being seen as a peace icon by fandom when she is responsible for the exile/genocide of a non-white culture. And many people had trouble accepting that Satine was racist which made bringing up this issue in the fandom almost impossible.

And one could argue that Satine eradicating Mandalore’s warrior culture is a ‘good thing’, but the warrior culture is a diverse culture and that is how mandalore thrived. Satine erasing a diverse culture and replacing it with her “pure” white culture is extremely racist. It's very similar to white people in history coming up foreign non-white lands and regarding the culture/people as savages right before colonizing and replacing the culture with their own.

I understand Satine was meant to be a symbol of peace, but if it's peace at the sake of cultural genocide then is it really peace? Sorry for my ramble, it makes me so happy that someone is speaking about the topic of Satine and racism, and it’s being so well received.

You’re absolutely right tbh. Especially 

but if it's peace at the sake of cultural genocide then is it really peace?

I’ve asked that same question, many many times.

But, as can be expected when dealing with any fandom, but especially star wars in general ... The Clone Wars fandom has a very real problem of ignoring, and avoiding, dealing with racism --- especially its own racism. 

I’ve been ... around in mandalorian fandom for a long, long time. The most upsetting thing for me, when it comes to Satine and the New Mandalorians, was the way in which prior sympathies were radically flipped.

What I mean is that the larger Clone Wars fandom doesn’t seem to understand the context, or how fans were ostracized, made unsafe, with the introduction of Satine / the New Mandalorians. As you’ve said, 

It's very similar to white people in history coming up foreign non-white lands and regarding the culture/people as savages right before colonizing and replacing the culture with their own.

Exactly this ... and, as reflected in the show, so did it reflect in the community in the real world.

At the time the Mandalorian arcs came out on The Clone Wars show, the only canon representation of mandalorians we had were the Fetts. And people ... don’t seem to understand that. At the time, mandalorians, as a people, were not white because the only canon mandalorians we had were Maori: Temuera Morrison as Jango Fett, and Daniel Logan as Boba Fett.

The Clone Wars did three things in one fell swoop:

stripped the Fetts of their cultural heritage and identity

presented mandalorians, canonically, as only white (and a specific type of white, in that)

and set up an in-universe environment and explanation that pointed to mass exile as The Right Thing To Do

Regardless of intent, the show made mandalorian fandom spaces unsafe for non-white fans because these three things, together, vindicated the already present white-supremacists whom have previously used Death Watch and mandalorians as an analogue for white supremacy. 

So, not only did they have Death Watch in Legends, but Satine Kryze and the New Mandalorians presented a heroic image of white supremacy in action. Suddenly, the very people we could easily recognize as villains had become heroes --- the people we were supposed to sympathize with, care about, root for.

And the fans of Satine Kryze, and the New Mandalorians, were not and still are not able to deal with the discomfort of looking at just how they vindicated the ugliest parts of fandom, and how close in image and action Satine Kryze is to the very, very worst in the community.

So it goes, nonwhite fans pointing out racism and how they’ve literally been made unsafe was, and is, just a single sound in an echo chamber---because fandom would rather isolate and ignore than work together to improve the community. Fandom would rather ignore racism than deal with it. Fandom would rather call it “drama” than take a serious and critical look at themselves and protect the most vulnerable in the community.

Just like how the larger fandom ignores blatant acts of racism under the guise of “keeping the peace,” the larger fandom venerates and adores Satine Kryze without any criticism or critical look at her policies because she is, ultimately, the radical extension of that philosophy.

What better way to keep the peace than to remove all of the dissenters from the premises? What better way to remain a pacifist than to ignore the racism present in fandom spaces until it “takes care of itself” in whatever obvious conclusion that means? 

I saw how The Clone Wars’ New Mandalorians vindicated the racists in mandalorian fandom. I saw how it made fandom spaces unsafe. And I saw, and still see, how the mandalorian cosplay community fails, utterly and completely, time and time again, to eradicate the racist elements in their communities.

The New Mandalorians made fan spaces dangerous for fans over something that was completely avoidable. And I don’t think the larger Clone Wars fandom understands that, or has seen that, or cares about it. And I don’t think that Dave Filoni, nor Pablo Hidalgo, have ever really understood what they contributed to.

Either Gandalf or Elrond tbh

how can u read the same manga everyone else is reading and then come up with that assumption. like how can u look at hide and kaneki, and go "hey they're father and son". like i'm so confused.

This occurred to me and I feel it’s worth posting since I’ve never seen any talk on this?

The One Ring doesn’t make you invisible. 

Why would it? Seriously, what purpose on Eru’s green earth does that serve? Sauron forging his ring of power in the heart of a volcano, thinking to himself, ah yes, invisibility would be a good trick to build into this thing! No. Cause you know what? Sauron’s ring does not make him invisible. And he certainly did not intend for anyone else to ever have it. So what’s it really doing?

Two words: Dimensional shift. 

I believe that when mortals put on the ring, they experience a dimensional shift in which they are pulled (stretched, transported) into a higher dimension, the plane on which the true spirit forms of the Ainur (and wraiths) exist. This would effectively render them invisible to those on lower dimensions, but the wearer would be able to view them with altered enhanced perception. Such as the effects we witness as described by those who have worn the ring. Especially well portrayed in the films is the ability to see the souls of others, particularly the ringwraiths (the battle on Weathertop is a good example, as well as even in Battle of the Five Armies when Bilbo is in Dale), black and white shadowy souls clear as day but invisible to the naked eye, as they exist on a different dimensional plane. It’s quite possible to me that the ëalar of the Ainur are in a higher dimension than that of mortal fëar, but that’s beside the point. They’re at least a couple dimensions removed from our reality, and thus invisible until one puts on the ring. 

Now, why would the ring have this power? I think, if I recall correctly, that Tolkien at one point did state that it was not intentional, that it was a byproduct of its making. Again, it does not turn Sauron invisible - it wouldn’t, he already exists on that plane. Mortals are bound to their bodies and so would not be able to perceive that higher dimension, but Ainur are not. I think most plausibly, this effect exists because Sauron infused a piece of his own soul into the one ring. The consequences of this are not well understood (it’s not like it’s a common practice) and we know in other ways, it is so strong in its desire to hearken back to its master, it can even influence the wills - a product of the souls - of those around it. I would not be surprised in the slightest if having a piece of Ainur ëala in an all-powerful object would result in the ability to bend reality to attempt to match the wearer to the properties of the owner. It would bring the wearer closer to Sauron, and allow him to perceive them, thus furthering its purpose to return to the whole from which it is a part. 

moodboards: poc tauriel

she walks in starlight in another world.

maylovely hat gesagt: into a god awful excuse for a dress that actually fits in the time period. idk, the trailers were so uninteresting bcs they didn’t do anything differently, an that ofc raises the reason as to why they needed live action if they weren’t gonna do anything differently, in fact like you said, it also seems extremely dull and boring. if i’m gonna see it, it’s literally just because ewan mcgregor is the candle, that’s it :|