official skadge hate blog

salty, she/her, 27. side blog for obsessing over star wars in general and andor and swtor in specific. if the last jedi has no defenders then i’m dead. main blog is @saltywinteradult.

[darthmarrapologist]

Here’s one dark side choice I will never, ever, EVER make. I don't get why this is even a choice tbh. What kind of monster would I be to not let him make his recordings. It doesn't even cost me anything. What possible reason would anyone have to not let him do it.

[candyskiez]

The fact that people don't think friendship is enough to justify characters doing insane acts of love for each other baffles me. Like have you never loved your friend so so much you want to live in their ribcage. Have you never been really weird about a friend. Have you never wanted to bite your friends parents or shove them down a staircase. Have you never wanted to be buried in the same grave as a friend. Have u never. How do u people live like this.

[darthmarrapologist]

What I wouldn't give to romance Talos...

[darth-bagel]

i love getting my ass into a veteran flashpoint all on my lonesome third time in a row and the game just being like: you're entering a group activity! full group is recommended!

swtor. darling. me and a companion counts as a full group 😌

[darthmarrapologist]

I've said this before but the Jedi Order's attitude toward the Voss is just... So irritating to me, for the same reason that I'm irritated by the way every single Jedi you ever meet when you play as a Sith is so goddamn condescending. You're supposed to be the good guys, stop being such self-righteous pricks.

[leilanising]

guys, this has to be my best one yet :P

basically fanart for someone named Kari in my swtor imperial guild ;3

Btw my commissions are open <3

[darthmarrapologist]

so i got a little impatient after having to wait at the bottom for the dorn base lift and...

[darthmarrapologist]

i'm sorry but why does the inquisitor get stuck with xalek as their apprentice instead of this guy. i should get to pick my apprentice based on who is the funniest

[sithbozo]

Skadge has no right to be acting like that when he looks like a lump of mashed potatoes

[abbee-normal]

[darthmarrapologist]

*screams into the ether* LET MY BOUNTY HUNTER AND MAKO LEZ OUT, DAMMIT

[fellshish]

tumblr is a place where we take turns watching each other’s fandoms burn

[darthmarrapologist]

i jumped into a sarlacc pit and...

i'm pretty sure it was the sarlacc that killed me but sure. lmao

[easel-eisel]

watching a show and it references a film so now i watch the film to understand the show and the film references a book so i need to read the book to understand the film and the book references another older book and now i need to understand everything that is unknown to me

[blackberry-command-cap]

why i changed senya

@ebitenpura i'll do my best to explain it in a way that makes sense!

I guess I should start out with the fact that this is my opinion. I changed Senya because in my own opinion, and my opinion only, it improved the overall narrative. I'm not saying Senya was a bad character, or that the story was objectively bad the way it was! I just changed the story to be something I was more interested in.

putting the rest under a cut so it doesn't clog up the blog

I started out really liking Senya. I loved the idea that a Knight would have interests, and like to sing, and have her own opinions and such. I loved that she's an older woman, when we so rarely get older women in stories like this. It's usually super young hot romancable women which is fine? But I wish there was a bit more variety, so I loved that we kinda got two sides of the Zakuul equation. Koth, representing the people, and Senya, representing the Knights. AND they don't like each other. Excellent

It was really disappointing, in a way, to find out that it's actually just that she's a mom. She's older and she's gentler and she sings and she's also a mother, and those are all traits that people automatically give mothers. So now it doesn't feel like a subversion of anything at all, just playing into a different trope than expected... and that disappointed me.

Plus, it didn't make much sense at ALL to me how Senya could have possibly been involved with the literal Sith Emperor. What little we know about the early years of Arcann, Thexan, and Vaylin's life, I really find it difficult to understand how Senya fits into that.

I'm sure she could, and I'm sure it's possible to make sense of that, but honestly the backstories and arcs and things just make more sense to me if you don't involve a random Knight who also is their mother who also apparently loves Valkorian?? except we never see them together EVER

I especially find it hard to believe that the Sith Emperor, this being of ultimate evil and Dark Side power, also had a somewhat functional and occasionally loving relationship with a random woman. Why????

So. For me, personally, I liked Arcann and Vaylins' stories better when Senya wasn't involved at all, so I prefer to just stick with that rather than doing a huge amount of mental gymnastics trying to make Senya make sense with the larger story.

More importantly: from what I understand, Senya's whole thing was that more than anything, she just wants her children to be alright. So she'll say other things, she'll do what she needs to, but it's all with the end goal of saving her kids. For example, she promises she'll do what it takes when she gets to Arcann, but then. well. she straight up disobeys direct orders to save Arcann and escape with him. She fights Vaylin, and could have killed her, but doesn't.

And that's... all well and good. But I felt like it had a detrimental effect on Arcann's arc for a couple reasons.

First of all, Senya taking over and having the whole confrontation with Vaylin and Arcann... it was really good! But it also felt out of place. It felt like Senya was taking the spotlight away from the Outlander, and kind of taking the choice of it all into her own hands.

I thought it was really cool that Senya couldn't bring herself to kill Vaylin, but also... this isn't her story! That would have been amazing in a movie, but in a story where I want the main focus to be on my characters and how they are reacting/interacting with the characters and world, having decisions made by an NPC doesn't feel the best. It feels like agency over the narrative is being taken away.

I had all sorts of ideas for my own characters to interact with Arcann and Vaylin! And so when Senya had all the big emotional character moments, and the Outlander wasn't even there... it felt like they were kinda getting left out. Like this isn't their story. And YES I know that it kind of isn't. But that's why I am here, is to play a story that my character can engage in. And if my character can't engage, that's a problem.

More importantly (and I think this is actually the thing that irked me more than everything else above): Senya rescuing Arcann and taking him to a healing center and doing a ritual that makes him magically "good" again is really not something I like. The vibes are troublingly similar, in my mind, to a parent taking their grown child to conversion therapy, or a parent otherwise deciding for their grown child that they know best and taking away that child's ability to choose for themselves.

And... I dunno. I know a lot of parents who grieve over their child's decisions, and many parents who are right! Where the child does something and it really is bad for them, and the parents are right that it's bad for them! But that doesn't change the fact that it is wrong for the parents to step in and force their grown, adult child to do the right thing. I think to have someone step in and force you to do what they want, and tell you that your opinions and instincts are wrong... that makes you lose something very important.

So. It makes sense to me that Senya would want to depose Arcann, because he's hurting millions of people. But for her to save his life, when he seemed like he honestly was ready to die? For her to subject him without his consent to a ritual that fundementally changed his view/personality?? It feels, to me, like even if her methods were effective, it takes away something very important from Arcann's story, especially when he was so insistent that he wanted to choose his own destiny.

Arcann tried for years to escape his father's shadow, to establish his own path. For his mother to then do the same exact thing, and force him into this thing that she believes is good for him? How is that any different? Isn't that just the same exact thing? I think the message that it's okay to force someone to follow your vision of their life as long as you're on the "good side" is a really really problematic message. Even letting Arcann choose to go out fighting, and refuse to stand down... at least then, he died by his own choice.

SO! My version of events does not have a magical "cure" ritual that magically makes Arcann into a good person. It also does not put Senya in Arcann's story at all, because I believe they both have better arcs without that connection. Hopefully this post made it easier to understand why I did it, even if you don't agree with me. But I'd love to hear some discussion about this. I really haven't seen much about Senya on here at ALL. Folks who liked Senya's arc... why did you like it??

[forcemalarkey]

First of all I love your take on Arcann and his in game "redemption" was such a letdown for me so I love seeing what you would do differently. While I enjoy Senya as a character I also think all your points are spot on so here are some reasons why I enjoy her arc and what I feel like her relationship with Arcann brings to both of their character arcs (and the things I would personally do different with her)

(I also have a laundry list of things that bother me about how she is written or rather, the lack of supporting lore surrounding Zakuul and Senya specifically - BECAUSE i enjoy her character concept so much - but that is not for this post)

She is incredibly compelling as a mother character to me because of how flawed she is. Most often in media if there is a "mother" character she exists only to dote on those around her. Senya is shown as having strong morals and opinions but also as having contributed to the ongoing problem of why her children are so fucked up. She tried to raise them, tried her best, and constantly failed - not just because she made mistakes but also because of factors out of her control.

SO much of the Zakuul expansions are based in how deeply childhood trauma has affected Vaylin and Arcann. Even early on we are set up to sympathize with Arcann and even work with him. You can flat up tell Jorgan that Arcann is as much Valkorian's victim as the galaxy. We are told through Senya that Arcann and Thexan were influenced through Valkorian more than her, and that she struggled to connect with them.

The family dynamics are fascinating to me. I always got the impression Arcann was the black sheep of the family, as Thexan had a closer relationship with Vaylin and was favored by Valkorian. Arcann was intentionally made by Valkorian to feel less than Thexan, to feel unwanted and isolated until he was pushed to the brink because of Valkorian's neglect.

Then there's Senya, who left for a variety of reasons but says that she doesn't even think Valkorian noticed she was gone because of how distant he had grown - very similar to the way he neglected Arcann whether intentional or not. The fact that Senya experienced something similar and had little relationship with the twins puts her in the perfect spot to support Arcann. Unlike with Vaylin, he is willing to accept her support because while their relationship hasn't been good, she hasn't actively let him down like she did Vaylin.

Redeemed & romanced Arcann is constantly talking about how he is afraid of the way his father raised him. How he still feels too strongly and how he reacts too harshly. But I think my favorite thing about Redeemed Arcann is the way he so clearly is trying to emulate Senya. They have so many of the same lines - I send them on gathering quests and chuckle when they say the same thing. I feel like Senya offers an important counterpoint to Valkorian for Arcann specifically. The person he is was shaped by Valkorian, and now he can learn from Senya without Valkorian's influence clouding his judgement of her.

I also love the way that Romanced Arcann & Commander could potentially mirror Senya & Valkorian. The complete devotion he shows to the Commander, the person that he himself credits heavily to making him a better man and saving him, reminds me a lot of the reverence that Senya has talked about Valkorian with. A Loyal Protector and a Powerful Ruler. That could apply to both relationships and I like the parallels.

AS FOR the Arcann redemption itself. I wish that it had been based in Arcann and the Commander's relationship. I wanted to befriend him and coax him over to my side. I would've loved for the choice to kill him be the one you make right after the duel. Imagine if you defeat him and have the choice to talk him over to your side but! The ship is falling apart!!! And the two of you are forced apart!!! Then Senya swoops in and rescues him. That would've been so much more satisfying than having to make the decision to let Senya go or not - which virtually has no effect on the outcome of the situation anyways. (Don't even get me started on how much i hate the Voss ritual. I think everything you have to say about how his agency is taken away is spot on.)

And with Vaylin. I feel like its widely known that her arc and characterization... struggled. I genuinely have so many issues with the second expac that I could not even know where to begin but as for Senya specifically. In the case of being completely unable to redeem Vaylin, on my first playthrough I thought they were going to make Senya and Vaylin go down together. Their characters are so closely tied together and we have already seen Senya sacrifice her life for Arcann - we needed that for Vaylin. It would've been consistent with Senya's characterization, the reason she joined you in the first place was to take responsibility for the part she had in her children becoming this right? I think it would have been gutting to see her sacrifice herself to take down Vaylin, understanding that she is partially responsible for what Vaylin has become and that she loves her daughter still but the only option left is to stop her. It would be an ultimate act of love but also would repeat the cycle of hurting Vaylin. I just think it would be poetic and would've wrapped up their arcs so nicely.

Not necessarily related but I was also disappointed with the lack of player agency in those expansions. The character writing is phenomenal in places but it is more suited to a fixed storyline rpg with a set protagonist. I love that the characters have complex relationships with EACH OTHER but i wish that the player character could have more complex relationships with them. Funny enough, that character complexity is also what makes Knights my favorite expansions in the game, despite the fact that half my player characters don't suit it.

[darthmarrapologist]

These are some excellent points, by both of you. I’d like to add my thoughts just because I had fun writing them down.

First of all, Senya taking away Arcann's agency like that is a shitty choice. I suspect it may have been a result of KOTET having to wrap the story up so quickly, so I tend to just ignore that altogether.

I do however love the idea that Arcann chose to let Senya save him, so that’s my preferred headcanon. There needs to be something that makes Arcann go from being ready to die to being willing to live and atone for his crimes. In my headcanon, the thing that changed everything for him is the realization that after everything he’s done, his mother still loves him. And since I romanced Arcann with my main Outlander, I like to imagine that realizing Senya still loves him in spite of everything makes him understand that it isn’t impossible for someone else, like the Outlander, to also care about him.

The fact that Senya still loves Arcann and believes he can change is also a huge reason why any of my characters were willing to let him live at all. None of them would take that risk if they didn’t trust Senya. So because of that, and because of pretty much exactly the reasons prev stated about Senya being there to support Arcann, I can’t really see Arcann’s redemption arc working at all if Senya isn’t part of it. (I do agree that the Outlander should’ve had a more active role in redeeming him, though.)

The player character being a supporting character in the Zakuul Royal Family Drama is a problem of execution imo. The fantastic character writing is one of KOTFE's biggest strengths - it's just a shame that it often comes at the expense of the player character's own development. And I really do think that Senya is a fantastic character on her own. 

It's not just that Senya is a deeply flawed mother who is trying to rectify her own mistakes as a parent - it's also that she is neither demonized nor let off the hook for her failures. It would've been so easy for the writers to portray her as a complete victim of Valkorion and that none of this is in any way her fault. Or, conversely, to portray her as a bad person for not protecting her children from Valkorion.

Instead, Senya gets to exist in the grey area in between. She gets to be messy and complicated and have real agency, for better and worse. She understands that the man she loved was a monster, and that her children are dangerous and need to be stopped, and she takes it upon herself to stop them despite the obvious turmoil it causes her. That is very admirable and makes her incredibly compelling to me. It also means she’s very well suited to support my main Outlander, a Sith Warrior who has forsaken the Empire and has very complicated feelings about having once been a loyal servant to the same monster she is now trying to defeat.

Lastly, I think that Senya being Valkorion’s ex also makes him a more compelling villain. It means that there was once a side to Valkorion that another person could fall in love with. And granted, that might have been an act, but the way he talks about his relationship with Senya implies that it was real love, or at least the closest thing to love that he is capable of feeling. That does not make him the slightest bit sympathetic, but it does make him more complex. If Valkorion isn't just an evil, planet-consuming megalomaniac, but also someone who is capable of treating people decently sometimes, it means the Outlander can never be entirely sure where they have him. That makes the dynamic between them more interesting, and it makes his attempts to manipulate them into doing his bidding feel more dangerous. It also helps sell that Valkorion really could have been a decent and beloved ruler for Zakuul, and why someone like Koth would have such a hard time accepting that he is a monster.

[blackberry-command-cap]

also additionally you mentioned that you headcanon that Arcann chose to redeem himself of his own free will rather than undergoing a force ritual, how do you imagine that happened? :] out of curiosity-

WELL.

I came up with a lot of this before I actually saw KOTET! I was... very attached to Arcann, and I knew that he was gonna be romancable at some point. So as SOON as the confrontation on that flagship happened, I was thinking about all the possible ways that could result in Arcann joining the Alliance or otherwise getting some kind of Heel-Face turn.

ALSO important to mention: my version of events does NOT include Senya in any fashion. She's there, but she isn't the mother. And yes, I know that removing Senya also removes a substantial part of the arc... but. in my humble opinion, her involvement in Arcann's story diminished the entire story and his entire redemption and it's just much much better without her. So she is a regular Knight of Zakuul who deserted, and she's around, but no more than Koth or Lana or Theron. (i have a lot to say on this, but the post is already very long. So we shall save that for another time)

With that out of the way...

Arcann's taken power because he's trying to prove something to his father. But it's really not something he's good at. The entirety of KOTFE he's trying to find ways to resolve things peacefully, he's sitting on his throne. He's paralyzed, he's not taking decisive action like he should. My interpretation of that: he's a warrior who's trying to be a leader. Like Ulysses Grant, who was an amazing general and pretty bad president.

BUT! He's also too prideful to admit this, and besides, there aren't any other options. If he steps down, Vaylin takes the lead and anyone with a brain can see that would be a bad idea. So sure, he's not very good, but he's kinda stuck here at this point... and he's determined to act like this was his plan the whole time. The more things go downhill, the more he digs in his heels...

Then he loses the throne. SCORPIO and Vaylin take it... and. honestly, it was coming. he could have tried to get it back, but he didn't. And sure, you could say that he was blinded by his desire for revenge, but I also honestly think that deep down, he didn't really want the throne all that much. At this point it's all falling apart, and he's sick of trying. So he just lets it go

THEN! He fights the Outlander, because at LEAST he's going to deal with his father once and all. He might be doomed, but he's not letting his father get the final word. That was what this was all about, anyway. One way or another, he's getting closure. He's dying, or he's beating his father for good...

Except. Well. It doesn't go like that. His father doesn't even show up. He's fighting an empty battle, and he loses. And then, the kicker -- he doesn't die. He was ready to die. He knows he's messed up, he can see the pieces falling down around him. The decay arc is complete, and he's doomed, and that's all there is to it.

And then he doesn't die. Which he did not expect, and now he doesn't know what to do. He isn't emperor, but he never wanted that anyway. But he can't be a warrior anymore, either. There's nobody to serve. He can't go back to Zakuul even if he wanted to, but even then, he's not sure he wants to, because look at everything he did. He's no longer blinded by pride, and he can't delude himself that any of it was justified anymore.

Somehow, some way, he ends up on Voss. Most likely, he goes there because he's been very injured, and needs Force healing. The House of Healing is sworn to heal all who come, and protect them. It's basically a neutral zone. It's the only place he can go that won't kill him on sight or sell him out to bounty hunters or something, and his injuries are far too serious to deal with on his own.

While he's there, he does quite a lot of thinking. There isn't much else to do. And he's got to deal with quite a lot of things, but stuck in there, with nothing to do but face his own choices and do some serious sorting out of identity... well. He has no idea what to do with himself, but he knows he seriously messed up and he feels like he owes something to the universe. Essentially, he gets to roughly the headspace of redeemed!Arcann.

As for why he decides to join the Alliance... well. Still working that out. KOTET didn't do much for me in the way of plot and honestly I'd rather just ignore the whole thing and figure out my own thing. But one big reason is... well. He meets someone while he's there.

See, Galen is having an incredibly rough time as well. He defended Odessen, of course, but spiritually and mentally and emotionally he is exhausted and burned out. He has been fighting back against Valkorian's mental attacks and manipulations for weeks. He's been trying to be a leader, when he has no idea how to lead. He's been dealing with people who don't get along and disagree on how to do things, and meanwhile he couldn't care less about Arcann or any of it because the Force-foresaken EMPEROR is in his head. the emperor that disturbed the balance of the Force so badly that it almost killed Galen and put him in a nightmarish coma for months. and now he's in his head. and meanwhile people want him to deal with politics???

SO. yeah. he is exhausted and he is tired and he needs a break. He needs healing. There is a crater in his mind where Valkorian used to be and he cannot keep functioning and so. On a whim, or maybe a nudge from the Force, he goes to Voss, for healing.

And. well. the rest is history i suppose.

[darthmarrapologist]

Man, it feels SO weird to not be in any hurry whatsoever to get caught up on the SWTOR story. Nymh is the only character i’ve taken through most of the story, but only up to Ruins of Nul. And it’s not like I don’t care to experience the rest of the story (not to mention seeing the Empire side of it since I still haven’t played an imp character further than Fractured Alliances). Not at all. And I don’t even mind that I’ve had some story elements from further down the line spoiled for me.

It’s just that, well, there’s so much fun story content to do in this game and I truly am in no hurry to get to the point where I’ve experienced all of it. I only just got back into SWTOR about two years ago. I am more than happy to take it all in slowly.