To me that can be a scary word. I love fiction writing, but when you write articles, you have to fact check!!! Well, maybe you don’t have to, and there’s plenty of evidence that people don’t always do that. But since I want to be the best writer I can be, I make sure that, unlike my fictional stories, my articles aren’t a pile of messy twists and turns and imagination-driven roller coasters. Instead, I still have my creative flare, but I don’t lie to you.
Here is an example of one I recently wrote for Charity’s magazine.
This is the link to her blog’s post:
https://charitysplace.wordpress.com/2015/10/31/femnista-halloween-2015/
And I encourage you to check out her magazine. As for the article itself, I must warn you that it’s a Geek fest. But I love Star Wars and I am a Geek, so I hope you at least appreciate the article for what it is.
The Dark Side Feminist
Asajj Ventress
“Star Wars is not short of tragic tales and hard-hearted warriors. While Darth Vader may be one of the greatest villains of all time, there are plenty of women in the Star Wars universe who chose the dark side of the force. You’ll find several strong women in this galaxy, for how else would these tales be so epic in nature?
Have you ever heard of this dark side feminist? This character in particular was a former Nightsister, Asajj Ventress.
She once thought she would be great. She was, in her mind, supposed to be the next Sith Lord, and with more luck, she probably would have been. If not for the treacherous disloyalty of Count Dooku, the lonely Asajj may have successfully taken the place beside Sidious, and trained Anikan Skywalker.
Asajj was no stranger to war and cruelty from an early age. Stolen form the clan of witches she was born into, the girl was raised as a slave, taken by pirates, then trained by a stranded Jedi. While she had always been force-sensitive, she was able to master the Jedi style of combat. However, her world was not one of peace. It is no big surprise that after her Jedi master was killed, she eventually embraced the dark side.
Perhaps it was also the clan of witches she had been born into, for they are no friends of the light side of the force. But all she knew was betrayal, and loss. Looking back at many Sith Lords, those of the dark side are no stranger to loss, so perhaps this is another reason it was so easy for her to turn. Wanting to prove herself, she accepted Dooku’s offer to train her.
Little did she know, she would be another pawn.
During the Clone Wars, it became a game of proving your loyalty, strength and power. Asajj had strength and power, as she had demonstrated in her lifetime. But would she be loyal to Dooku? That is a more interesting aspect of Ventress. While we watch her journey through the Clone Wars, the subtle hints and mysteries we witness may say more than actual stories and episodes.
When I watch how much she began to hate Dooku, it was clear that there was more than just the desire to become a Sith Lord. She had been raised and trained by a Jedi, though without the traditional aspects of the Jedi Order. In other words, he had been more of a father-figure in her life. Perhaps she was trying to fill that place, trying to fulfill the desire to have someone accept her. But eventually, she learned the truth: there would be no plans to keep her around. Sidious never intended to keep her, and Dooku could only follow the will of Darth Sidious.
Before she was betrayed, Asajj enjoyed herself immensely, reveling in making the clone troops suffer, planting fear in the Jedi, and watching each victory over the Republic. Her content state of being, though it was short-lived, was proof that she truly believed the next position of Sith Lord would be filled by her. Yes, she was cautious, but there was no one else who wanted her place. Her rival, General Grievous, was no Sith, and Count Dooku was old. She had every chance in the world to take her place in the ultimate position of power. But of course, that was not to be.
After she was betrayed, however, who did she hate more? Count Dooku, or herself for letting her ambitions blind her? She survived an assassination attempt, and went back to her home world, only for her Nightsisters to be slaughtered before her eyes.
Asajj had no other options but to find her identity. Not in her home world, her power or position, but in herself, alone.
And in time, she began to have a change of heart. She never was one to murder without cause, slay or ruthlessly strike fear in the innocent. Perhaps this was because, when she had been trained as a young girl, she had been protecting innocent people from pirates. Instilled in her was not the desire for blood, but for justice, be it her version of justice and not the Jedi’s.
What happened after she became a lonely wanderer was a change, but not so much an unexpected change. She began to do what she could to help others. Others like her. Right after the slaughter of her family, she tried bounty hunting. This led to her helping a young kidnapped girl from being forced to marry. Later, Ahsoka Tano, a loner in her own right, was aided by none other than Ventress at the end of the Clone Wars series. And it was not just girls she helped, but those who had once been her enemies, even some Jedi. While she may have struggled inside, wondering if she was to be an overlord or a savior, she ultimately chose to be a hero of sorts. Perhaps what she did with her time after her struggles says more about who she is. She could have chosen to become even harder, and let her scars of war define her. But her roots, those of turmoil and strength, proved that she would never bow to weakness.
Instead, she became a feminist of sorts. After all, how many women could say they had survived training, assassination and slaughter from warlords? Perhaps she also saw her past self in the women who she saved later on. She had been each of them; a slave, a padawan, and a victim. But now, she created her own destiny and her own legend. A Star Wars feminist, who just so happened to embrace the dark side for a while.”
Lizzy Gabe
Femnista, October, 2015
charitysplace.com
lizzygabe 