tfa_kink | DISCUSSION/OFF-TOPIC POST

He's a fictional character who blew up fictional CGI planets. And frankly, given the sheer scale of the backdrop against which his actions are set, I see his destruction of the Hosnian system as more of an act of terrorism than of genocide, like Al Qaeda flying a plane into the World Trade Center.

And the reason I'm hesitant to use "genocide" to describe his actions is because:

1) Blowing up a planet is a new kind of crime. Humans haven't actually done this yet. It needs new words. "Genocide" has a lot of connotations in a modern political arena that don't map perfectly onto what the First Order is doing.
2) People keep comparing the First Order to the Nazis and I feel it genuinely limits the way in which we can analyze the movies. If we've decided that they're all Nazis, just Nazis, only Nazis, that removes the possibility of comparing them to domestic terrorists, the possibility of comparing them to the British Empire, the possibility of comparing them to the United States during WWII. To my mind, the First Order has a lot more in common with Al Qaeda or domestic terrorists like Timothy McVeigh than the Nazis, and quite honestly I am sick of my goyische friends calling me a Nazi sympathizer because I'm reblogging pictures of Captain Phasma looking fetching in a tank top.

oh my god

J.J. Abrams has said the First Order was inspired by, influenced by, and written as a fiction version of the Nazi Party.

the author is deeeeeeeeeeeead

NA

To build on that, he said the influence didn't come from the racial and religious superiority, but more the political aspect of the rise of the Nazi Party after WWI.

Would you prefer for them to call you an al Qaeda sympathizer? Like, no matter who you compare this to it isn't going to be good.

Honestly I am in love with Phasma, I enjoy reading kylux though it's not my otp, and I even like the cat. I'm also totally fine with others liking all those things. It is fictional and fandom is supposed to be a good time. Many characters in Star Wars kill a bunch of people. You could make arguments against liking most of them.

My only issue is when people go out of their way to make statements like 'it's not genocide.' That makes me uncomfortable the same way people reading noncon stories debate whether it's really rape does. Understand that some actions are wrong. Call them what they are. And then go back to reading the trash that makes you happy.

I honestly prefer fics that aren't too true to life. Like I love college and high school aus, but high school irl is terrible and college dorms are places of regret and hormonal mistakes. The coffee shops I've been to have loud annoying people and flirting with the baristas tends to look more like harassing someone at their place of work where they have to be nice to you/cannot leave than the cute romcoms people write.

Obviously some research helps so you're not having someone serve an iced cappuccino or something else silly, but for the most part I'm fine with the fact that escapism isn't going to look true to life

I am basically BB-8
-white with orange spots
-very round
-love Poe
-would follow Rey in a heartbeat
-would trust Finn with little proof
-people have trouble understanding me when I talk
-always struggling

A lot of AUs seem to be based on American culture, so I can't really use my own experience in that regard. Some situations are completely different than my experiences, like the high school AUs but some are things I've never heard of, like summer camps. I assume something like that is a common American thing?

I like reading about different settings because I don't have familiarity with a lot of them but if I was going to write about them I would research.

You sound cute, tbh.

NA

I wouldn't say summer camps are a common American thing. Common for families who can afford to send their kids away for the summer, maybe.

I do agree that a lot of AUs skew towards an American cultural bias - and a specific social class - but even those are greatly exaggerated, something influenced by Hollywood's sensationalized portrayal of things like high school or college and working in retail or coffee shops. It's escapism.

I have the oddest feel that it was supposed to be Poe orignially, but they changed the colouring at the last minute to be random man.

+1

Aww. *offers hugs*

+infinity

Because I don't really give a fuck about splitting hairs about whether it's genocide or gigadeath or something else, but looking at political parallels to the baddies in Star Wars is really interesting.

Example: A friend of mine pointed out that the Republic in the prequels can be easily turned into an analogue to the Confederacy, since slavery seems to be legal to the point where the Jedi refuse to "steal"/rescue Anakin and instead try to just...buy him. Like, it's not what happens on every planet, but the Republic's response to planets where it is common seems to be "Meh, it's their culture."

I always saw Star Wars as similar to Ancient Rome. I know there was a rumor years ago that Lucas had based the OT off Ancient Roman civilization and politics, but I'm not sure if there was any truth to that.

that explains the toga esthetic

As a reader, I have a strong preference for people not writing those AUs.

He can be attracted to only women and not Finn at all in canon and people can still ship him with Finn without wanking or crying about it. Why are some people so invested in canon matching up with exactly what they want when the whole point of fanworks is to be more than canon?

Same. The canon setting is half the draw.

I don't mind them until they start becoming more prevalent than fic set in canon. A few AUs is nice, but when that's all there is, it's disheartening.

I identify with Luke, Kenobi and Yoda because I too wish I could run away from all my problems and hide in another isolated planet.

I agree Genocide fits. It would be like eradicating an entire country, people of the same race will still be around, but for the most part you destroyed most of their people and culture. And that is what the First Order did. The people and culture of those planets is now completely gone. As well as a any native species who might not have been found anywhere else.

Kylo Ren really reminded me of the European teenagers/young adults that fall prey to ISIS, and leave their own countries only to come back months/years later to commit attacks. Especially with the discussion between Han and Leia where they wonder if they can ever reach their son again.

From BFA, the New Republic is the European countries between the two world wars. They watched the Nazi party rise to power and didn't do anything when it invaded Austria, for example. From the contemporary era, they're the bad guys; but from their point of view, they were focused on protecting peace, and didn't think the Nazi party was that bad.

DISCUSSION/OFF-TOPIC POST

Re: Character Self-Identification

Re: Character Self-Identification

Re: Character Self-Identification

Re: Character Self-Identification

Re: Character Self-Identification

Re: Character Self-Identification

Re: Writing AUs

Re: Character Self-Identification

Re: Writing AUs

Re: Character Self-Identification

Re: Writing AUs

Re: OP, you are mistaken

Re: Character Self-Identification

Re: Character Self-Identification

Re: Character Self-Identification

Political stuff you see in the Empire/First Order

Re: Political stuff you see in the Empire/First Order

Re: Political stuff you see in the Empire/First Order

Re: Writing AUs

Re: Dreading the Poe comic

Re: Writing AUs

Re: Writing AUs

Re: Character Self-Identification

Re: Character Self-Identification

Re: Political stuff you see in the Empire/First Order