#vader meta

I'm dying

Do you think a lot of that is baby obi-wan hoping Vader is as obsessed and devoted to him as he is (and is right) or is Obi-wan just delusional? Or do you think it's the force bond/relationship growth between them that gives him insight? It kind of seems like young obi-wan understands aspects and behaviors from Vader that Obi-wan even as an adult never understood/didn't see.

Yes, this Obi-Wan does have insight into Vader original/adult Obi-Wan did not, because Vader is cultivating an awareness in him that the Jedi Order and Qui-Gon never did. In many books (and TPM) it's discussed how Obi-Wan can see and sense the future, and its one of his strengths in the Force. But because it's rooted in anxiety and only fans out in one direction rather than occupying the present, Living Force, it is not encouraged. Qui-Gon actively discourages it, actually.

It is my headcanon/belief that Obi-Wan doesn't actually flourish in the Jedi Order--he allows it to function as a framework for his OCD and as a result it holds him back from ever healing from his patterns of anxious rumination and chronic repression of his feelings. The Jedi doctrine not only makes room for the maladaptive ways he thinks, it gives him a moral and right way to continue those behaviors. And so it blinds him. Obi-Wan, as he exists in canon, is blinded by love for Anakin and rigid, uninterrogated faith in the Jedi Order that he laminated onto Anakin, instead of being able to discern the ways in which he is using that belief system as a crutch and imposing his own dedication onto someone who has shown, time and time again, he has a different worldview and priorities.

But PLT Obi-Wan is young and malleable enough he has not yet internalized the Jedi teachings he later uses to stagnate in his own anxiety. He hasn't trained under Qui-Gon yet, Qui-Gon who makes him so much worse. Instead, he is being trained by someone who already knows all his flaws and downfalls from having witnessed them. Vader is carefully crafting a more self-aware, more emotional, less repressed Obi-Wan. He is teaching him to lean into his feelings and instincts instead of ignore them (or actively silence them). And it's making a version of Obi-Wan who is sharp and astute and angry rather than self-doubting and terrified of his own potential for darkness.

Without getting too theological, redemption comes from grace. It is not about weighing good deeds vs bad or nobody would ever measure up. Redemption is not earned, it is given. Like forgiveness. Like love. And RotJ clearly shows us that Luke gave it.

Because Luke is the lens through which we view the story, the audience is supposed to redeem Vader as well. The Force gave Vader a redemption in allowing him to manifest in his Jedi form. These are the points of view that matter most. So story-wise, yes Vader was redeemed.

But it isn't that simple. The novel Bloodline shows us that Vader was never redeemed in Leia's eyes. Understandable, she had much worse personal experiences with him and was not present for his final moments of transformation. All she has to go on is hearsay from Luke. 

Similarly the galaxy at large galaxy has not redeemed Vader either. Redemption is not as simple as a yes or no answer. 

Anyways, I just had to say that because you write Vadar in such a fantastic and visceral way, it makes me bite things and I love you.

All that being said, there is obvious potential with suitless vadar and countless fantastic fics involving him but still.

God, I feel you so hard. I really dislike how frequently people act like suited Vader can't fuck or isn't attractive or because logistically it seems impossible or eve inconvenient to them. First off, where is their creativity? Second off---his disabilities are not even THAT severe! It just says a lot about how they perceive disabled bodies, mobility, sex, and agency that they choose to make him able bodied in fics for sexual reasons.

Oh, Love Hannibal/Hannigram, and also love carnivorous characters and being a carnivore in general (teeth teeth teeth) so this is all very relatable.

I theoretically understand why some people enjoy or want to write a palatable Anakin or explore a different future for him in fix it fic, but that's just not personally how I roll. This is not my first fucked up fandom and it won't be my last. It's weird because I have written very wholesome pairings and fics in other fandoms, and often will amass readers in those spaces who think I'm like, a wholesome writer in general. And then get upset (??) when they see all the noncon/underage/incest on my ao3 page and feel weirdly betrayed. This has happened to me a number of times and I find it really frustrating because like, I dunno I enjoy a lot of different media for a lot of different reasons, and some of the things I like are heartwarming and so I write fic in that vein! But it seems so weird to me, to write heartwarming/sanitized fic about characters who are, in canon, disturbing.

There's been a lot of discussion about Anakin/Vader this morning on my blog, and about the extent to which he is or is not horrifying, and the reasons why people may or may not read him like that.

But no matter the extent you view his horror (or if he is a predator/carnivore) he is, in the canon, A CHILD MURDERER AND LATER THE FIGUREHEAD OF A FASCIST DICTATORSHIP. HE COMMITS GENOCIDE. CANONICALLY. Even before that, he is a fascist sympathizer and capable of incredible violence. There is literally no way to look at Anakin Skywalker in canon and erase the terrifying things he's done. There is no way to take his teeth and neuter and cage and rewrite him without ignoring big elements of the story itself and the canon, imo.

You can make him sympathetic. You can acknowledge that despite all these things he is still a victim. But taking his teeth makes him a different character, imo.

God I lOVE VADERWAN SO MUCH I just joked in the tags about how I probably seem like Padawan Anakin is my fave trope (it's def my fave to write and my brand in many ways) but VADERWAN IS MY ACTUAL BELOVED it's just....so fascinating.