It's a magical world

audio: Fall Out Boy, "Bob Dylan"
length: 3:18
download: 285MB on MediaFire
summary: I'm obsessed, do you love me like that?

AO3 page | tumblr post | YouTube link

Lyrics on AZ Lyrics

Made for Variations at fanworks 2022 (theme: Past and Present)


Well, I made a vid about my blorbo and my little meow meow. I love them a lot.

In some ways I feel like this vid is a counterpoint to "Congratulations"--that vid was Obi-Wan talking to Anakin, this vid is Anakin (Vader?) talking to Obi-Wan. (The answer to the question, of course, is "No.") But making it also made me realize that if Obi-Wan was finally able to do the Jedi thing and move on from his pain and despair over Anakin by accepting that Anakin is dead, that it wasn't entirely his fault, that Vader killed Anakin and that it's okay to let Anakin go, it's also the case that Anakin didn't love Padmé or Obi-Wan enough. He knew what the right thing to do was, but he made the choice and stepped into the darkness willingly anyway. And that is the real tragedy, and also what drives his obsession. He wanted to have it all, and then when that blew up in his face, he blamed the people who loved him best instead of himself.

Perhaps naively, I was not fully prepared for the level of feelings raised by my anticipation for the start of The Clone Wars' final season last week. It's been…a really long time since I was fully anticipating new Star Wars content when it came out. I was hopeful for The Last Jedi, but not all-in; I totally missed The Clone Wars when it first came out and didn't get onboard with Rebels until early in S4. Maybe it was 2002, for Attack of the Clones? In any case, a really long time.

(My top three Star Wars regrets: not seeing The Clone Wars movie in the theaters, not going to Celebration in Japan, missing the costume exhibit. But I really only blame myself for that last one.)

But! The resurrection of TCW was a very good excuse for a rewatch. I didn't have time to rewatch the whole show, which is a shame, because picking and choosing the arcs I did really brought home to me how as the show went on all of its disparate threads were playing into some powerful statements about the saga overall. If you like Star Wars and you haven't seen The Clone Wars, you absolutely must. Do it in the chronological order. 

I prioritized Ahsoka, Maul, and Mandalore in my selection, which meant that some backstory to some of the elements in these episodes got cut. In particular, there's almost no Asajj in these episodes, which is really unfortunate because she has one of the most interesting arcs in the saga. There's also very little Padmé, which is a shame as TCW really fleshes out her and Anakin's relationship believably and gives her a lot of the political scenes that were cut from the movies. The advantage of this selection, however, is that most of these episodes are also backstory to stuff in Rebels.

( A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… )

source: Star Wars (all movies)
audio: X Ambassadors, "Renegades"
length: 3:15
download: 240MB on Dropbox
summary: Rebels and mutineers/Go forth and have no fear

AO3 page | tumblr post

Lyrics on AZ Lyrics


My wiscon_vidparty premiere!

I made this vid for a lot of reasons, but the ones that really got me motivated were the in-jokes. If you spot either of them, the Force truly is with you. I also color corrected a lot of the footage, and honestly I'm pretty pleased with the result. 

I actually found this song thanks to the gifset I linked above, because I was curious about the words, and I liked it okay once I heard it, okay enough that I decided it would be cool to make an actual Star Wars vid to the song. And while I love the Jedi, I decided that I wanted to make a vid that was not about the Jedi at all. I probably should have tried to integrate animated clips into this vid, but I was working under a pretty tight deadline, and I was very happy that I got to show off what I consider to be some overlooked characters and moments, such as Holdo, and Nien Nunb, and Padmé's storyline in TPM. Also, you know, Sabé. (Justice for TPM!) And finally, I guess you know it's a Star Wars vid by me when it makes extensive use of the prequels deleted scenes.

source: Star Wars Rebels
audio: Sia ft. Kendrick Lamar, "The Greatest"
length: 3:24
download: 250MB on Dropbox
summary: I'm free to be the greatest, I'm alive. Or, Hera, Sabine, and Ahsoka survive the Rebellion.

source: Star Wars Rebels
audio: Fall Out Boy, "The Last of the Real Ones"
length: 3:56
download: 303MB on Dropbox
summary: You're just the last of the real ones. Or, Kanan & Ezra find in each other what they need.





AO3 post | tumblr post


Premiered at Bitchin' Party 2018.

I watched all of Star Wars Rebels over the last year or so. I started out not caring about Ezra Bridger. Before the final episodes aired, I would have told you that I still didn't really like him. It wasn't until I started sobbing halfway through the last episode and didn't stop until well after it ended that I considered that I might actually feel differently. I love them all so much, including Kanan and Ezra, and this vid is about them be(com)ing Jedi together.

( Lyrics )

What I'm Reading
Wicked City by Alaya Dawn Johnson - The second Zephyr Hollis book and the last ADJ book I haven't read. She needs to write more! I just started this, so no comments yet other than that I stand by my observation about Zephyr being in denial about who she is.

Shriek by Jeff VanderMeer - I loved the Southern Reach, and this is more obviously weird fantasy than those books, which has its pluses and minuses, but I love it so far, particularly the fact that it focuses on a sibling relationship.

What I've Read
Whoops, I've built up quite a backlog. Here goes!

Charles Soule et al, She-Hulk vol. 2 - Apparently this was always meant to be as short as it was. Siiiiiggh I would read many more volumes of this kind of thing, the "how X thing or Y institution or Z non-superhero person is affected by a world of superheroes" thing is honestly more interesting to me than many superhero stories. A+, will totally seek out more Charles Soule comics in the future. Has anyone read Letter 44?

Michelle Sagara, Cast in Honor - The newest Kaylin book, and with this, I have read all but one of Michelle Sagara West's novels (except the Sundered books, which I honestly found unreadable). I enjoyed it very much, I continue to enjoy Kaylin's growth as a person and the exploits of her motley crew (found family ftw), and I am looking forward to the next book on multiple levels, not the least of which is: Aerians!

Diane Duane, Interim Errantry - This is "the Young Wizards volume 9.5," and since it's been a few years since I read A Wizard of Mars, I'd forgotten a little how much I love Duane's writing and the Young Wizards in general. The bit in the Halloween story where Dairine is a Jedi, for example--perfection. And all the characters I've loved for so long getting to do things that are slightly less "stereotypical plot diagram," particularly in the novella in the collection, Lifeboats, which I adored. (Also, how married are Tom and Carl in Lifeboats? Super married.) In many ways these three stories were like the best kind of fanfic, which expands a slice of the canon beyond what we get to see in the actual published works. I can't wait for Games Wizards Play.

Martha Wells, Razor's Edge - Martha Wells wrote the last novel in the old Star Wars expanded universe, and it's about Princess Leia, set between ANH and ESB. I liked it a lot (particularly semicompetent!Luke, lol), and you know, I love Star Wars. You can put that on my tombstone. I also love Martha Wells' writing, and I'm psyched to read more of her books. (Even her SGA tie-in novels, because in the year of our lord 2K16 I am not going to apologize for enjoying tie-in novels.)

Diana Wynne Jones, Dogsbody - More DWJ! More terrible parents and parental figures! More plucky heroines and brilliant writing! I feel like I understood this book, which is told from the perspective of a star who gets reborn as a dog, which probably means I'm missing things. The ending felt abrupt, but also completely neat and tidy; it was brilliant and painful and great.

Gillen/McKelvie, The Wicked & the Divine vols. 1 & 2 - My dear sibling introduced this to me with "This is what American Gods wanted to be," and I stand by that assessment. The art is beautiful, the story interesting, the concepts compelling, but I have to say the characters mostly left me cold. That said, I'll still keep reading, because I want to find out what happens after the Shocking Twist!™ at the end of the second volume.

Kelly Sue DeConnick et al., Bitch Planet vol. 1 - I feel like most people have probably heard of this comic by now, with its non-compliant women and its smart take on exploitation tropes and intersectionality. I liked it; like The Handmaid's Tale, it seems both a bit too plausible for comfort and also in many ways a story about what's happening now, as well as a near-future fantasy.

Noelle Stevenson et al., Lumberjanes vol. 1 - This was so great! As a Girl Scout, I got an extra kick out of the story of a bunch of young Lumberjanes at summer camp, I loved it, and I need to read more of it. (I also loved the little in-jokes of the palindromes in the cave, ngl, and also the camp chief's name and appearance. AUGH, it's so good!)

Becky Cloonan et all, Gotham Academy vol. 1 - I've liked Becky Cloonan's work for a while, and this was exactly the kind of story I like, as I said above, following as it does a group of misfit students at Gotham City's most prestigious private school and inventing some old history for the city, as well as featuring an independent take on its present. Also, important to note, the Batman in here isn't the full-on manpain Batman, which makes the whole thing more palatable--there's darkness, but there's also light, and most important of all, I love Olive and Maps and would read many more volumes about them.

Gillen/McKelvie, Phonogram vol. 1 - This feels like a dry run for The Wicked & the Divine, and given that it was about an obnoxious dude, I was mostly into it for the liner notes. Who knew so many people had so many feelings about Britpop.

Octavia Butler, Bloodchild (2nd ed.) - This is the late Octavia Butler's only (and entire) short fiction collection. Xenogenesis, fraught parent/child relationships, taboo subjects--Butler was great, and reading the back of the book talk about her in the present tense is still a wrench.

Gail Simone et al., Wonder Woman: The Circle - This volume collects Simone's first issues on Wonder Woman, telling the story of Diana's attempt to save her mother from the DC-equivalent of HYDRA Nazis invading Themiscyra, mostly. It was good! I like Diana and her friends and her sense of honor! I am still going to drink in the Batman vs Superman movie!

What I'll Read Next
Who knows. Hopefully a lot of it.