Thread by @PoeHotDameron

*long beleaguered sigh*

We're talking about it.

I'm gonna put a CONTENT WARNING on this thread, because I'll be talking in detail about the plot of this comic, which may be troubling to people who have been abused, gaslit, or who have ever felt unsafe in this fandom.

Stay safe, everyone. And please be decent to each other.

We begin with an (unnamed--yikes) Imperial medical worker who breaks ranks just to get a glimpse at Vader. Right out of the gate, this probably feels familiar to fangirls; she is the Little Mermaid, defying the Sea King's wishes just for one look at the human prince.

Of course, she is physically dragged away by her (unnamed) superior officer, who berates her and calls her "stupid," but it's clear that he can't tame her spirit. Again, as a fangirl, this feels SUPER FAMILIAR because it follows the same beats of so many female power fantasies.

Except, right away, something feels off. The heroine's (I'm just gonna call her "the heroine" because she deserves no less) fantasies are immediately treated with scorn. Her romantic daydreams of Darth Vader are harshly paralleled with reality, where he doesn't notice her at all.

She has daydreams of removing Vader's mask and kissing him, not unlike Christine removing the mask of the Phantom. Except, in the context of this comic, the heroine removing the monster's mask isn't treated as empowering. It's treated as a stupid young woman deluding herself.

This one in particular gets to me because Christine removing the Phantom's mask is hugely important to a lot of female fans. It resonates STRONGLY with a large female fanbase (TPotO has been running for HOW MANY YEARS?) and you shouldn't dismiss that iconography carelessly.

Vader has an outburst in the medical bay. He Force-pushes everyone in the room except for the heroine. This is when her fantasies shift--suddenly, she imagines Vader protecting her from her male superior, her tormentor. The man who belittles, berates and physically controls her.

And AGAIN I start to get super frustrated because.... WHY IS THIS FANTASY BEING TREATED AS A JOKE?!?!? MALE POWER FANTASIES AREN'T TREATED WITH THIS LEVEL OF SCORN. Obviously, our heroine is gaining some sort of empowerment from this fantasy, and that shouldn't be shameful.

oh gosh buckle up we're only getting started

The heroine recovers a scrap of Vader's armor from the medical bay. Turns out, she has a "collection" of such objects hidden in the vent of her living quarters.

You know, just like Dexter, with his blood slides. Except Dexter was framed as cool and badass.

Narratively, this is meant to show us just how "unhinged" our heroine is. Because, you know, collecting massive amounts of Darth Vader stuff is only cool when boys do it.

AND THEN THERE'S THIS SCENE. THIS. SCENE. The heroine tends to Vader alone in the medbay. This inspires a fantasy where she saves him on the battlefield, and again...... why..... is this...... a joke....? THIS SHOULD BE EMPOWERING AF.

I've definitely read scenes like this is multiple fanfics and stories, so at this point my skin begins to crawl. Out of the eighteen people credited in the creation of this comic, only two of them are women, and neither of them had anything to do with the story.

That helps explain to me why this scene reads as a.... .a parody of female power fantasies. It feels derisive. It feels.... like they're mocking the stories that fangirls write for other fangirls.

When his surgery is done, Vader leaves behind his cape. The heroine takes it for her collection. She dances with it and imagines dancing with Vader himself.

YET AGAIN, this scene is hauntingly familiar to me. As a fangirl, I feel directly called out.

It's clear that this story isn't a fangirl writing about her own experiences, it's about outsiders looking at the fangirl experience and creating a parody of it. Mocking us for as "silly fantasies" and ideas that empower us.

The heroine is caught by her superior officer, who takes not just the cape, but her entire collection, and throws it down the garbage chute.

This is... a violation. This is a man coming into your PRIVATE SPACE, passing judgement on your treasures, and destroying them.

Because she's crazy, right? Because this is what's best for her.

"So help me, Ariel, I'm going to get through to you. And if this is the only way so be it."

That scene is heartbreaking in The Little Mermaid. It's heartbreaking here, too. No man has the right to do this to you.

The heroine is, of course, undone by this violation. She crawls into the garbage chute to find her treasures, but they're lost.

This is so similar to Ariel, sobbing in the wreckage of her secret trove; except the heroine is clearly drawn as wide-eyed and insane, not sympathetic.

Suddenly, her fantasy shifts. She is no longer Vader's consort, but a Sith Lord in her own right.

THIS IS WHAT MALE STAR WARS FANS DO EVERY DAY WITHOUT SCORN.

THIS. SHOULD. BE. EMPOWERING.

That's the last image I'm going to show from the comic, because after this.... it gets worse. So much worse.

The heroine goes to Vader. She sees him without his mask, and loves him. Like Christine with the Phantom: "This haunted face holds no horror for me now."

And then Vader kills her without a word. The final panel is her grotesque, twisted body laying on the floor.

See, fangirls? That's what you get for indulging silly little fantasies. Stay under the sea, Ariel. Marry Raoul, Christine. IT'S WHAT'S BEST FOR YOU.

This is comic is...... cruelly, coldly, surgically precise in how it takes tropes from beloved female power fantasies (the Little Mermaid, The Phantom of the Opera, STAR WARS FANFICTION) and mocks them.

In my opinion, it is a huge misstep for Star Wars comics, which has worked very hard in recent years to make their stories more inclusive for all fans.

I hope that they hear our criticisms and learn from them.

Thank you all for your support!

OH HEY if you want a happy epilogue, @SmolsD had the idea to call the heorine "Daaé," in honor of Christine Daaé from The Phantom of the Opera.

I *love* this idea because it means the heorine could be from Naboo, which is why she fantasizes about Vader on the shores of Naboo!