... Dean If You Squint

Thinking about Kallus. Thinking about the Empire. Thinking about how a fascist dictatorship can take over the minds of a population. I think more people should think about Kallus' defection the way they think about leaving high demand religions or cults. (not trying to absolve him of the shit he did, I'm just thinking things) I'm not a cult expert or anything, but if you're on tiktok I'm sure you've come across knitting cult lady, she's a cult expert who was raised in the children of god cult and she's mentioned more than once that the US military (which she was also in) is a cult, but people don't like thinking about it like that. But we grow up with all the propaganda about the army and there are recruiters going to schools and doing pull up challenges and there are ads on tv about how honorable and noble joining the military is, and how much good the military does (like technology research, paying for your education, providing jobs, benefits, etc.) to make it seem like it's a benevolent thing to do. And I have to wonder if that's what growing up on Coruscant was like. Ads every commercial break about joining the Republic's Military Academy, recruitment stations, veterans days and memorial days and military appreciation month and whatnot, and from Kallus' perspective joining the military would've been seen as honorable from the jump. Just wearing his uniform out and about for whatever reason got him "thank you for your service" and everything.

Then when you join, men shave their heads and women don't (maintains rigid gender binaries and division within the cult) and rigid body standards are maintained as well. This is something the US military does, too. It doesn’t matter how good you are at your job if you don't look the part, you'll be trimmed down until you do. There are real service members who've left the service that have confirmed as much. And think about it, when is the last time you saw a US army commercial with someone who wasn't conventionally attractive or uber thin. Controlling food is a surefire way to keep people in line, dependent on your organization, and too weak to resist. Cult shit. Worth noting that storm trooper armor is rigid. As far as we can tell, there's no way to adjust the plating, expand it, restrict it, whatever. It must be worn at the size it comes in. Which means body size must be maintained no matter what your body wants to do naturally. Also Leia's famous "aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?", could be she was just trying to antagonize, could be she meant it literally. It's also worth noting that Kallus, like the stormtroopers, wears rigid plate armor. So the people who give him an eating disorder upon his defection, or the inability to regulate his own body's needs are exactly right.

Cults also have the 'skinny-white woman' near the top of the cult. It's the female counterpart to the cults patriarchal leader (doesn't have to be skinny, doesn't have to be white, it's just an archetype). I don't think the Empire has one specifically (maybe in legends, Mara Jade? but I don't know enough about legends, so I could be wrong), but I think that it's kind of broken up into different regions or sects, or there's more than one or something. Because if you look at Lothal, there's Thrawn, who is the local patriarchal leader of the cult, and Pryce, who is the 'skinny-white woman'. She has to defer to Thrawn despite being the Governor of Lothal and Thrawn being a 'guest' so-to-speak in the region. There's also the Grand Inquisitor (patriarchal leader) and Minister Tua (skinny-white woman) and Vader (patriarchal leader) and the 7th sister (skinny-white woman) (though she does kind of share her position with the 5th brother) throughout the series. Kallus always works for the patriarchal leader, and is usually equal to the skinny-white woman in the chain of command, but ISB seems to be its own entity, so he's not quite as dependent on that hierarchy as the other imperials on Lothal, which gives him some leeway that others don't have.

As for the harm he would cause. Yeah, he caused it. No one's denying that. But in the eyes of a Coruscanti, he was still just a vet. Probably had arguments about healthcare with the VA's office, would go home and have the narrative reinforced that he was doing the honorable thing, then would go back out into the field and try to maintain that slim grasp on what he was told was good. And I think this is why a lot of people are very uncomfortable with Kallus. Because he's a veteran and we all want our veterans to be taken care of and we all grill on memorial day and so on. And we don't want to think of our neighbors, and the women who've fought for the right to serve, and the queer people who've fought for the right to serve, as just abject bad guys. Like, yeah we'll critique the military industrial complex all day long, but our vets should be taken care of. Like they weren't all killing the same people for oil. And you can get online and wax poetic about how you're actually the special-special that always saw through all the lies and you think that all vets deserve to get spit in the eye. But no, you and I both know that's not true. I mean, George Lucas has confirmed that the rebellion is the Viet Cong, a militant leftist group that fought against the empire (Americans). And my grandpa fought in Vietnam. Or was it Korea. Or both. You see, I don't even know which one. You know why? I never asked. Either way, he got 'thank you for your service' and military discounts, and respect in his community, and blah blah blah. Because all of us are either directly in the cult of the US military OR directly affected by the cults' propaganda and then to see, accent aside, a US service member be blatantly evil and then acknowledge how blatantly evil he is, repent, turn around, and betray his home world, and the military industrial complex we've all been trained to love, makes us very angry because 'hey, you're not supposed to be self-aware'.

'Well, I don't love the military industrial complex, I'm the special-special >:(' ok what have you done that's helped destroy the military industrial complex other than complain about the healthcare vets receive and try to convince people not to use fireworks on the fourth of July. You benefit from colonialism. The US military is doing all the heavy lifting of colonialism globally allowing the US and Europe to benefit from ongoing systemic neo-colonial efforts, that's why the US military's budget is so overinflated.

'Well, Kallus still committed genocide,' so did your cousin that enlisted. In Star Wars, Anakin slaughtered a village of Tuskens and Padme married him and had children with him. Then he killed all the Jedi and Alderaan and got his redemption with Luke. Kylo Ren destroyed the entire Hosnian System and then got the girl. But yeah, those guys are space wizards and that distances them from real people so we don't think too hard about them. All the bad guys look like nazi ripoffs, so they're obviously evil and they stay evil for the most part, and all the good guys were always good guys. To us, at least. Sabine created a weapon that was designed specifically to slaughter her own people and their cultural heritage but that all happened off screen, so it's just interesting backstory for later. But Kallus? From space USA, not a wizard, and his about-face happened in real time for us. He looked right at us, holding up a mirror to us and our complacency and people had viscerally negative reactions to him, because we didn't like our own reflection. His redemption is so, so, so, so fascinating. Fascinating look at the US military. At least for me, I have so much fun doing analysis like this lol

I would've loved for Rebels to get into the weeds here, but I also understand why they didn't. He was a secondary antagonist from an animated kids show on Disney XD. So, naturally, they weren't going to get that in depth, especially with the military contracts that Disney has. I don't think they were planning on redeeming him at the beginning of the show. Sometimes characters kind of, come alive in a way, and say 'nu-uh, I wouldn't do that. Give me the pen, I'll write it,' and I very much get the feeling that's what Kallus did. If they had known from the beginning that they were going to redeem him, I think his backstory would've been different, but given the limited budget, and limited time, and the fact that he wasn't a main character, you know, these things happen. Real world stuff affects what happens in the writers room, and that's a bummer. But I'm also kind of happy I get to speculate and theorize the way I do. Like I said, it's fun. Anyway, I just think he's neat. I think his redemption is neat, and it was good enough for Zeb and his people, so it's good enough for me.

anyway, be nice. i'm just riffing to riff.

If i see one more drawing where Kallus' waist is smaller than his head i am going to commit an actual crime

[x] *Bonus:

just when you think youre cured. here comes the Blond Man again

it’s unfortunate that (some) people in fandom spaces are starting to get too comfortable complaining and being rude to writers and artists who create contents they personally don’t like (“why are you making this character a top when he’s obviously a bottom? omg do you even understand his character?” “I’m so sick of seeing fan art and fanfic where this character is portrayed as a sadist when he’s actually misunderstood in my opinions, therefore anyone who disagrees with me is wrong and should be shamed” just to name a few I’ve seen) instead of curating their own fandom experiences by engaging only with contents they do like.

you want more fics where (x) is written in this specific way? either write one yourself or politely expressing your opinion about how you hope there will be more fics where (x) is written in this specific way instead of making fandom a toxic place by being rude to writers and artists who dare make contents that are not to your Personal Liking.

if the universe does not revolve around you, strangers and fandom spaces don’t have to cater exclusively to your personal preferences either.

to all my beloved writers and artists, write whatever you want, draw whatever you want. portray that character in whichever way you want to portray. I hope you have fun doing what you love. don’t let anybody tell you what you can or can’t do with the blorbo. go wild. I will always support you

Mutuals who I don't know very personally yet I am holding a sugarcube out in my hand in the hopes that you will approach me like the noble horse

How about another Lyste AU because I feel like some crack.

Imagine we have Kallus somewhere on a mission when he runs into Lyste and decides that maybe he messed things up for Lyste the first time but he can do right by him now. So he tries to recruit him and it actually works because Lyste has been having doubts about the Empire after the way they treated him because of his blunder (not well). And all is well and good until it turns out they have to use some advanced maneuvering to get away from the Empire which is fine for Kallus, he's used to it, but not for Lyste.

Oh boy, not for Lyste.

So by the time they get back to the base Kallus is overjoyed with himself. He's just snagged his first recruit and he made it up to Lyste.

And next to him.

Next to him is the most traumatized human being you've ever seen. Someone who looks like they've been dragged through hell and back (because they have) with the thousand yard stare to match.

They ask him what he wants to do to help and he just says he wants to stack crates for a while. Or something like that. There's silence and someone goes to ask but then they take one look at him and decide that yeah, okay, maybe they should let the guy stack crates for a while. Or find him some therapy.

Needless to say, no one wants to go on missions with Kallus after that.

Kallus: "Alright here's what we're gonna do. We're taking the Senator hostage."

Lyste: "Wh-?? Can't we just sneak in and steal a ship or something?"

Kallus: "Security's too tight for that and I don't feel like it. Let's go."

(later)

Kallus: "Change of plans. I'm taking you hostage instead."

Lyste: "?????"

Kallus, loudly: "Nobody move or I blow this civilian's head off!" (to Lyste) "Act like a civilian."

Lyste, hysterical: "I'm panicking, what more do you want me to do???"

Kallus: "I need someone for an infiltration mission. Who wants to volunteer? Lys-"

Lyste: tripping over tables and chairs to get away

Kallus: ...

Kallus: Was it something I said?

Consider. Kallus overworking himself and not eating not because he feels unworthy or the need to be useful. But he has adhd and without the structure the Empire had he’s got no idea what time it is and won’t realize until 5pm that he forgot to eat all day.

the obsession with twink death is so sad and weird I can't stand it. oh nooo he got fat and hairy... as if those aren't two of the hottest things you can be. get real!!!