I (18F) Went to a dermatologist for my acne, turns out it’s hormonal and I did a blood test and I have high testosterone levels, it wasn’t surprising because of the hormonal acne and how I have a lot of body hair. The doctor gave me birth control pill to control the hormone levels and for acne. But she didn’t mention PCOS at all and she said that this is kinda common among girls (I wasn’t there with her it was just my mom so I couldn’t get to ask her) but ever since that I can’t stop thinking that this means that I have PCOS and I will visit her next month and ask her but I kinda want a fast answer to calm myself if high testosterone levels ALWAYS mean PCOS. Also when I was 14/15 my period didn’t come in a month and I had an ovay cyst but it went away when I took birth control and ever since that I never had my period stopped nor any cysts.

Holy priests are arguably one of the more boring healers in Warcraft to the point that people often refer to them as the ‘default’ healer. I’m sure there are more deep, underlying issues that Holy has but I wanted to try tackling them on a purely thematic level with some minor thoughts on a more gameplay-oriented level.
I aim to make more interesting spells that interact in a fun way that gives the holy spec a little more flavor than, “The default RPG healer”.
Quick preemptive self-defense though. This is all in good fun and purely theoretical. It’s always been interesting for me to speculate what a class or spec could be and rather than hoarding it all to myself, I thought it would be more interesting to see some other people's opinions and possibly inspire others to do the same. With that said...

• Make the Holy Priest a little more bard-inspired

Some of Holy’s biggest cooldowns are Divine Hymn and Hymn of Hope (Renamed to Symbol of Hope now). Singing to help your allies. You’ll notice other spells in the toolkit like shadow WORD pain and power WORD shield. Shadow has a spell called SILENCE for god’s sake. Basically, the implication is that priests are using their voices to channel their spells somehow. Why not...do more of that? Because I can’t lie, having several spells named “Heal” with different variations is killing me inside.
Plus, a bunch of the talent node names already lean into this! A few notable examples are:
Voice of Harmony
Healing Chorus
Gales of Song
Divine Word
Resonant Words
All the Holy Word Spells
Let’s make it so Holy is all about literally singing the Light’s praises. After all, if Shadow and Holy are canonically on two ends of the spectrum with Discipline being the proverbial middle ground, let’s really have Holy Priest’s be truly ‘Devout Feeling’ with their spell names. Double points if the spells end with a sung note or maybe a little arpeggio of a harp or something.
Let’s go through a few examples I’ve thought of and any non-obvious reasons behind each decision.
“Heal” -> “Holy Solo”
“Flash Heal” -> “Divine Etude” (An Etude is a short music piece)
“Prayer of Healing” -> “Holy Motet” (A motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, the name describes the movement of the different voices against one another)
“Circle of Healing” -> “Sacred Cantata” (A Cantata, (from Italian cantare, “to sing”), originally, a musical composition intended to be sung, as opposed to a sonata, a composition played instrumentally)
“Renew” -> “Grace Note” (An extra note added as an embellishment and not essential to the harmony or melody)
And now, I’ve saved my favorite for last. Its effect is decent but the name is so uninspired…
“Trail of Light”? More like... “Light Motif”!
A light Motif is a dominant recurring theme and what’s more dominant and recurring than spam healing?
The point is that there are so many possibilities with having the Holy priest being the spec that heals with singing, and unlike trying to shoehorn bards in as a new class, it makes some sense here.

• Holy’s New Groove

Ok, so all this stuff so far is just replacing words for other words and I know what you’re thinking…
“This doesn’t do anything to fix the fact that Holy is still quite dull compared to other healers!”
You’re dead right. The Priest’s Discipline spec currently rewards thinking ahead of what the encounter you’re facing will bring while Holy just sits back and collects red solo cups after the party is over. Let’s change that.
My main problem is with its mastery. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very “Good” when you’re thinking about the throughput and the pure numbers but it’s also a very “set it and forget it” style of gameplay and reminds me of the Shaman’s sometimes similarly maligned mastery that dishes out healing depending on how much health is missing. There’s no thinking required and frankly, Shaman have a much more interesting toolkit to justify it.
I think we would all prefer it to be more interesting like how Paladins generate more healing based on how close they are to the action which allows them to get in close with their other melee abilities anyway and encourages them to help out with the DPS. Excellent design decision. Win win win.
So the first thing is to fix the mastery and the new system I am proposing is…
“Mastery: Chord Progression”
To start, your basic heal will apply an effect to a targeted party member. This effect will have a very long uptime which can stack called Holy Note. (I’m personally imagining a buff that has a golden crotchet note with a little wing instead of the tail). Now your first Holy Note merely exists on top of the target and does a small heal over time in a similar being to how the mastery currently works, increasing with how much mastery you have.
A second heal to the target will apply a second stack and increase the stacked effect. This will change the buff icon to be two crotchets, stacked on top of one another. This will, again, increase the heal over time effect.
A 3rd heal to the target will complete the stack and heal the target with an effect called “Holy Chord” that heals more depending upon your mastery stat. Instead of just spamming heals over and over again mindlessly to get that powerful Holy Word spell you want back in case you need it, you instead work up chords on friendly targets. Targets that don’t require constant spamming will have heal over time effects up near constantly whereas targets that are dying and in need of healing will receive direct heals instead!
The effect is largely the same but with a little more thought and interactivity involved. If a target has two Holy Notes ready but is only at, say, 70% health, you can wait and focus on other party members until they drop a little more, and then you complete the chord.
So that’s the base outline of the spec. The long uptime of the buff rewards not finishing off the chord until you actually need it and still makes it usable in PvP.
The best part about it is that if we don’t want to be rid of the cooldown reduction mechanic that Holy is currently working with, it can fit very neatly over the top without changing anything too fundamental. The Holy Words might need some very slight tweaking to work but I don’t see any immediate problems with this system.

• New and Reworked Spells

Now, Holy needs some new cooldowns. Over the years, Holy has gone from having one of the most well-rounded toolkits to one that looks very limited in comparison. Shaman's can heal by sharing health percentages. Paladin’s have all their auras, Glimmers, and immunities. Evokers can fly and bombard people with healing, heal through stuns and other CC, and reverse recent damage taken. Monks are dashing around like no one's business and healing by punching them in the face. Let’s find some good stuff to give the Holy Priest.
Guardian Spirit stays right where it is. It’s extremely thematic to the spec identity by this point and I think it works well with the Holy Note system since you can leave a target with Guardian Spirit to die while you work on other targets with Holy Notes in the meantime.
Hymn of Hope (Not Symbol, change it back) can also stay because its raid and PvP utility is interesting and works collaboratively with other healers and DPS. A good singer should strengthen and work off those around them, right? It works thematically with this Bard theming we’ve got going on. Plus, having to drop it isn’t nearly as painful as having to quit Divine Hymn early. Speaking of which.
The first thing to change is Divine Hymn itself! Sure, on paper it feels very Holyish and it’s certainly quite powerful but ask any Holy Priest what its main flaw is and they won’t hesitate to tell you. You can’t move and nothing is stopping it from being interrupted from an interrupt, a knockback, a stun, or a pull, etc. There are so many instances I can think of where I wanted to press it so badly but I knew it would do more harm than good. Added that it’s often a dead button for me if I ever decide to try using Holy for PvP since in the rare event that I’m not being trained or chain CC’d, it’s so AOE-focused that it often isn’t strong enough to help anyone outside of a Battleground from behind a rock. It requires a PvP talent to make it more worthwhile which is very seldomly picked anyway.
I had a thought after playing Discipline for a while and having Ultimate Penitence available to me. It’s an incredibly fun spell that does a boatload of healing and/or damage while making you immune to CC effects and giving you a huge absorb shield to delay damage to yourself. It’s balanced by having a long cooldown that you can reduce but only by talenting into the following nodes in the tree.
I can’t be the only one who’s noticed that Divine Hymn is basically Ultimate Penitence but drastically weakened and less cool looking to boot.
My idea was to give it the same ‘un-crowd-controllable’ effect as Ultimate Penitence and make it do generally increased healing instead of a stacking effect to increase further healing afterward. The new ‘gimmick’ of it would either be that it would either expel enemies from within a certain radius once, like Anduin’s big bubble of light from the cinematic, or gently push enemies back from the priest as the center point. This would not completely negate adds or an enemy player’s walking speed having any forward momentum, but it would definitely aid in players trying to kite adds when they’re dying or from enemy players in PvP where that little extra distance would make the difference, and would also reward the priests choice in a central location. You could inadvertently push enemies INTO players, after all.
To top all of this off, I would prefer to have this ability further down in the tree to make it feel a bit more impactful of a choice rather than ‘almost’ mandatory’ where it is smack bang in the middle. A lot of spells in talent trees that are sat dead center in the tree feel like they're meant to be picked and I feel like Guardian Spirit should be where Divine Hymn is at the moment, not as close to the level 10 talents as it is currently. For example, Soul Swap for Affliction Warlocks, Invoke Yu’lon/Chi’ji for Mistweaver, Dancing Rune Weapon for Blood Death Knights, and Pillar of Frost for Frost Death Knights. I could go on but the list is pretty exhaustive.
Another thing I would like to change is very synonymous with Holy Priests but something that I think, overall, doesn’t see as much use as we’d like. Primarily because it relies on the priest dying.
Spirit of Redemption is a cool spell, the problem is that unless you take the capstone talent to make you revive afterward or you take the PVP talent to make it into a cooldown in PvP, you don’t really ‘want’ to trigger its activation requirements or have a reliable way of doing so in PvE when you want its effects. I do enjoy that now it allows you to resurrect an ally if you die so someone else can continue the fight but it’s more of a consolation prize or at worst, a reward for bad skill expression. It is also basically a required talent in Solo Shuffle as, if the priest dies, your teammates have 15 seconds to get a kill of their own to win the match or you take the PvP talent as a way more powerful cooldown.
What I would like to do is make the Spirit of Redemption a bigger cooldown spell but give it an obscenely long cooldown so you cannot feasibly use it more than once per fight. Like the Holy Word: Salvation spell without the possibility of cooldown reduction. Because you are losing it upon death, the gimmick here would be that it would last the full 15 seconds, you don’t use mana while casting and you can resurrect a party member instantly in that form(Outside of PvP). This would make the spell more central to the spec rather than as an add-on, free up a PvP talent choice node, and make the battle resurrection more readily available rather than having to wait for your death to use it.
Another such spell we could make SO much more interesting is Divine Star. The one people don’t like taking because who the hell doesn’t WANT to take Halo, right? Whether it’s effective in whatever format you’re playing in, it’s much more visually interesting and it just FEELS powerful, y’know?
Now to fix this, I’m going to do none of the work and instead do what Blizzard should have done by taking an idea from their own IP…Anduin’s Divine Star in Heroes of the Storm!
Yeah, I know they’ve stopped doing anything with HoTS but still…
In HoTS, it has had a bunch of effects over its tenure depending on the talents you take and most of them would make the spell more interesting in WoW. Maybe when it comes back to the priest, it could explode and heal party members or deal damage as Shadow near the priest since you’re already in close range due to the nature of the spell. Maybe it doesn’t even buff up the healing of the actual spell itself and instead interacts with your other heals by producing a stacking buff per enemy/ally you hit that increases the power of your next Flash Heal or Mind Blast?
We can also improve the lackluster mobility of the Holy Priest outside of always picking Angelic Feather by giving them the reverse Leap of Faith Glyph back as a choice node between the normal Leap of Faith.
The ability to jump to your allies was a worthwhile drawback to not being able to troll people as hard with the Leap of Faith ability when Glyphs were a thing and frankly, I miss it. I find that sometimes I’d rather be able to jump into the fray, especially as a class with an AoE fear effect, and the regular leap of faith doesn’t reward that playstyle as much. I remember back in Shadowlands that having Door of Shadows to jump in, disorient them with the covenant effect, and then Psychic Scream before running back out was actually really interesting and it’s one of the only things I miss from that expansion.
In terms of a new name instead of being a glyph, our new ability “Light Transposition“ will cause you to fly to your friend’s location just like old times. Stick it on a choice node with Leap of Faith and you have two differing playstyles almost immediately.
Now a major problem all healers have to contend with, especially to compete with the Meta of Discipline Priests and Holy Paladins, is providing some level of damage.
Not gonna lie, this is where I’m not sure about this idea since I already don’t ‘love’ the idea of healer’s DPSing and having to work around the base spells of the class now that they’ve been reintroduced has made this a little clunky so I’d love some other suggestions for this part. I’d prefer that healers offered utility that DPS do not have access to rather than extra damage but that seems to be the direction Blizzard is rolling in. Frankly, at the moment, Smite and Holy Fire interact with very little of the Holy toolkit outside of Chastise and Empyreal Blaze and we also have Shadow Word: Pain and Mind Blast. I fear that they will all just be tacked on to the toolbar with no thought and we’ll just have this myriad of spells to randomly fire off when we’re bored.
Personally, as a basic idea, I would consider removing Holy Fire as a button as, in the theme of removing bloat that War Within seems to be addressing, I think having Holy Fire as an add-on effect in the same way as the Monk’s Chi Wave is being remade would be ideal. It could function in the same way as Holy Note in that every three casts of smite would bring down a blast of Holy Fire which would give way to being justified in making Holy Fire feel a bit more impactful. Mind Blast could be used within this to ‘erupt’ the Holy Fire DoT, causing an effect I think I’d like to call “Discordant Notes” on account of mixing the void with the light which would either do additional damage or perhaps cause an extra effect like a slow or AoE damage around the target.
With this in mind, Empyreal Blaze could remain as a talent and cause Smite to proc Holy Fire two additional times when it next triggers its chord effect. Shadow Word: Pain would likely exist as just an extra DoT you can throw on as it is now or it could be applied through Mind Blast to clear up more bar space.
Anyway, those are just some thoughts I’ve had. I’m sure there are flaws in them and I’m looking forward to hearing them but I hope you found them fun to theorise around!

Stress is an inevitable part of life, but its excessive presence can wreak havoc on our physical and mental well-being. Recent research has shed light on the profound effects of stress on our health, highlighting the need for effective management strategies. In this blog post, we’ll delve into the latest findings on stress and explore actionable steps to mitigate its detrimental impacts.
Understanding the Science Behind Stress: Recent studies have deepened our understanding of the physiological mechanisms underlying stress. Cortisol, commonly known as the stress hormone, plays a central role in the body’s stress response. Chronic stress leads to persistently elevated cortisol levels, triggering a cascade of negative effects such as increased blood glucose, insulin resistance, and abdominal weight gain.
Moreover, stress has been linked to various health issues, including cardiovascular diseases, immune system dysfunction, digestive disorders, and mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. The latest research underscores the urgent need to address stress as a significant contributor to these health problems.
Latest Research Insights: Recent studies have provided compelling evidence of the detrimental effects of stress on health. One study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association found that chronic stress significantly increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks and strokes.
Furthermore, research published in Psychoneuroendocrinology revealed a strong correlation between chronic stress and immune system dysfunction, making individuals more susceptible to infections and inflammatory conditions.
Another groundbreaking study in Frontiers in Psychiatry highlighted the role of stress in exacerbating mental health disorders, emphasizing the importance of early intervention and effective stress management techniques.
Effective Strategies for Stress Management: Fortunately, there are several evidence-based strategies for managing stress and improving overall well-being. These include:

1. Mindfulness and Meditation: Engaging in mindfulness practices, such as meditation and deep breathing exercises, can help reduce stress levels and promote relaxation.
2. Regular Exercise: Physical activity has been shown to alleviate stress by releasing endorphins, the body’s natural mood boosters. Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week.
3. Quality Sleep: Prioritize sleep hygiene by establishing a consistent sleep schedule, creating a relaxing bedtime routine, and optimizing your sleep environment to ensure restorative sleep.
4. Nutritious Diet: Consuming a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains can support your body’s ability to cope with stress. Avoid excessive caffeine, sugar, and processed foods, which can exacerbate stress levels.
5. Supplements: Certain supplements, such as ashwagandha, magnesium, and omega-3 fatty acids, have been shown to have stress-reducing properties. Consult with a healthcare professional before incorporating supplements into your routine.
6. Social Support: Cultivate strong social connections with friends, family, and community members to provide emotional support and encouragement during stressful times.

In conclusion, the latest research underscores the significant impact of stress on our health and well-being. By understanding the science behind stress and adopting effective management strategies, we can mitigate its negative effects and improve overall quality of life. Prioritizing self-care, seeking social support, and implementing healthy lifestyle habits are key steps towards achieving resilience in the face of stress. Take proactive steps today to protect your health and well-being for years to come.

Hi everyone!
Today, let's talk about inflammation markers. Inflammation is your body's way of fighting off things like infections or injuries. However, if it sticks around too long, it can be a sign of something more serious. Two important blood tests that check for inflammation are the CRP test and the ESR test. Let’s break down what these tests are, what they measure, and why they matter.

What is Inflammation?

Inflammation is how your body responds to things like infections or injuries. It helps to heal and protect your body. But if inflammation lasts too long, it can cause health problems.

Key Inflammation Markers:

1. CRP (C-Reactive Protein)

• What It Measures: CRP is a protein made by your liver when there's inflammation in your body.
• Normal Range: Less than 10 mg/L.
• High Levels Mean: High CRP levels mean there’s inflammation, which could be from an infection, arthritis, or other conditions.

2. ESR (Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate)

• What It Measures: ESR measures how quickly red blood cells settle at the bottom of a test tube. Faster settling means more inflammation.
• Normal Range: 0-22 mm/hr for men and 0-29 mm/hr for women.
• High Levels Mean: High ESR levels mean there’s inflammation, which could be due to infections, autoimmune diseases, or other conditions.

Why These Tests Matter:

• Early Detection: These tests can catch inflammation early, even before you feel sick.
• Monitor Conditions: They help doctors keep track of chronic (long-term) diseases.
• Guide Treatment: High levels can help doctors figure out what’s wrong and how to treat it.

Conditions with High Inflammation Markers:

1. Infections: Like bacterial or viral infections.
2. Autoimmune Diseases: Conditions where your immune system attacks your own body, like rheumatoid arthritis.
3. Chronic Diseases: Long-term conditions like heart disease or diabetes.
4. Cancer: Some cancers can cause higher inflammation.
5. Injury and Surgery: These can temporarily raise inflammation levels.

Tips for Reducing Inflammation:

1. Healthy Diet: Eat lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains, and lean proteins. Avoid junk food and too much sugar.
2. Exercise Regularly: Stay active to help lower inflammation.
3. Healthy Weight: Keep a healthy weight to reduce inflammation.
4. Manage Stress: Try to relax with activities like meditation or yoga.
5. Avoid Smoking and Limit Alcohol: Both can increase inflammation.
6. Get Enough Sleep: Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep each night.

When to Get Tested:

• Symptoms: If you have unexplained fever, tiredness, joint pain, or swelling.
• Chronic Conditions: If you have a long-term inflammatory disease, get tested regularly.
• Check-Ups: Get tested during routine health check-ups if you have risk factors for chronic diseases.

Conclusion:

Understanding CRP and ESR tests can help you and your doctor spot and manage health issues early. Keeping inflammation in check with a healthy lifestyle can improve your overall health. If you have any questions or want to share your experiences with inflammation markers, leave a comment. Your story could help someone else.
Stay healthy and informed!

Productivity shows up as one of the most important success factors when we work towards our objectives.
But what if I told you that there's more to becoming the most productive person than merely working harder?
It involves understanding how diet, exercise, and mental processes intersect to optimise performance.
Ultimately, productivity is the cornerstone of achievement, reflecting how efficiently we use our time and energy.
Understanding Nutrition's Role in Productivity

• Eating a well-balanced diet with foods high in antioxidants and low in refined sugars can help maintain steady blood sugar levels and prevent energy crashes.
• A colourful salad with vegetables, a hearty grain bowl, and protein-rich foods are examples of healthy meals that can boost productivity.

Exercise as a Catalyst for Productivity
Exercise is not only beneficial for physical health but also plays a crucial role in enhancing mental acuity and creativity.
Different forms of exercise, from cardio to yoga, have unique abilities to boost productivity by sharpening focus and stimulating the mind.
The Perfect Duo: Nutrition and Exercise

• Nutrition and exercise together create a powerful combination for peak productivity.
• A well-balanced diet and consistent exercise routine amplify benefits and enhance brain power, energy levels, and overall performance.
• Success stories show how this duo has positively impacted people's lives by increasing productivity through regular workouts and nutritious food consumption.

Effective stress management, including techniques like meditation and deep breathing, is crucial for peak productivity.
Mindfulness practices extend beyond meditation, encompassing daily activities like eating and exercising.
Reflection and regular review of plans support ongoing improvement in productivity strategies.
If you're eager to supercharge your productivity and cultivate a more positive lifestyle, leveraging the potential of technology is paramount.
With Justly, you'll unlock a seamless pathway to crafting a personalised routine, nurturing habits, and inching closer to your aspirations with each passing day.

Hello everyone!
Today, we’re focusing on an important topic - celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. These conditions can significantly impact your health and quality of life. Understanding the blood tests involved in diagnosing these conditions is crucial for managing symptoms and maintaining good health. Let’s explore what celiac disease and gluten sensitivity are, the key blood tests for diagnosis, and how to manage these conditions.

What is Celiac Disease?

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder where the ingestion of gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye) leads to damage in the small intestine. This damage can cause a variety of symptoms and prevent the absorption of essential nutrients.

What is Gluten Sensitivity?

Non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) is a condition where individuals experience symptoms similar to celiac disease when consuming gluten, but without the autoimmune response or intestinal damage seen in celiac disease.

Key Blood Tests for Celiac Disease:

1. tTG-IgA (Tissue Transglutaminase Antibodies)

• What It Measures: This test checks for antibodies against tissue transglutaminase, an enzyme that is attacked in celiac disease.
• Why It’s Important: It is the most common and accurate blood test for diagnosing celiac disease.
• What Positive Results Mean: A positive result usually indicates celiac disease, but further testing (like an intestinal biopsy) is often needed for confirmation.

2. EMA (Endomysial Antibodies)

• What It Measures: This test detects antibodies against the endomysium, a part of the connective tissue.
• Why It’s Important: It is highly specific for celiac disease and is often used to confirm a positive tTG-IgA test.
• What Positive Results Mean: A positive result strongly indicates celiac disease.

3. DGP (Deamidated Gliadin Peptide Antibodies)

• What It Measures: This test identifies antibodies against deamidated gliadin peptides, which are components of gluten.
• Why It’s Important: It can be useful in diagnosing celiac disease, especially in children under 2 years old or in cases where tTG-IgA is inconclusive.
• What Positive Results Mean: A positive result can suggest celiac disease, but further testing is often required.

Additional Tests:

1. Total Serum IgA

• What It Measures: This test measures the total level of Immunoglobulin A (IgA) in the blood.
• Why It’s Important: Some people with celiac disease have IgA deficiency, which can lead to false-negative results on tTG-IgA and EMA tests. Measuring total IgA ensures accurate interpretation of these tests.

2. Genetic Testing (HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8)

• What It Measures: This test checks for specific gene variants associated with celiac disease.
• Why It’s Important: The presence of HLA-DQ2 or HLA-DQ8 genes can support a diagnosis of celiac disease, but their absence can effectively rule it out.

Managing Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity:

1. Gluten-Free Diet: The primary treatment for both celiac disease and gluten sensitivity is a strict gluten-free diet. Avoid all foods containing wheat, barley, and rye.
2. Nutritional Support: Work with a dietitian to ensure you’re getting all necessary nutrients, as celiac disease can lead to nutrient deficiencies.
3. Regular Monitoring: Regular follow-ups with your healthcare provider to monitor your condition and ensure your intestines are healing.
4. Read Labels: Always read food labels carefully to avoid hidden sources of gluten.
5. Support Networks: Join support groups or online communities for people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity for tips, recipes, and emotional support.

When to Get Tested:

• Symptoms: If you experience symptoms like chronic diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloating, fatigue, or unexplained weight loss after consuming gluten.
• Family History: If you have a first-degree relative with celiac disease, as it can run in families.
• Associated Conditions: If you have other autoimmune disorders, as celiac disease is more common in individuals with conditions like type 1 diabetes or thyroid disease.

Conclusion:

Understanding the blood tests for celiac disease and gluten sensitivity is essential for diagnosis and management. If you suspect you have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, talk to your healthcare provider about getting tested. Once diagnosed, a strict gluten-free diet can help manage symptoms and improve your quality of life. If you have any questions or personal experiences with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, share them in the comments. Your insights can help others on their journey to better health.
Stay healthy and informed!
Hello everyone!
Today, we’re focusing on an important topic - celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. These conditions can significantly impact your health and quality of life. Understanding the blood tests involved in diagnosing these conditions is crucial for managing symptoms and maintaining good health. Let’s explore what celiac disease and gluten sensitivity are, the key blood tests for diagnosis, and how to manage these conditions.

What is Celiac Disease?

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder where the ingestion of gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye) leads to damage in the small intestine. This damage can cause a variety of symptoms and prevent the absorption of essential nutrients.

What is Gluten Sensitivity?

Non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) is a condition where individuals experience symptoms similar to celiac disease when consuming gluten, but without the autoimmune response or intestinal damage seen in celiac disease.

Key Blood Tests for Celiac Disease:

1. tTG-IgA (Tissue Transglutaminase Antibodies)

• What It Measures: This test checks for antibodies against tissue transglutaminase, an enzyme that is attacked in celiac disease.
• Why It’s Important: It is the most common and accurate blood test for diagnosing celiac disease.
• What Positive Results Mean: A positive result usually indicates celiac disease, but further testing (like an intestinal biopsy) is often needed for confirmation.

2. EMA (Endomysial Antibodies)

• What It Measures: This test detects antibodies against the endomysium, a part of the connective tissue.
• Why It’s Important: It is highly specific for celiac disease and is often used to confirm a positive tTG-IgA test.
• What Positive Results Mean: A positive result strongly indicates celiac disease.

3. DGP (Deamidated Gliadin Peptide Antibodies)

• What It Measures: This test identifies antibodies against deamidated gliadin peptides, which are components of gluten.
• Why It’s Important: It can be useful in diagnosing celiac disease, especially in children under 2 years old or in cases where tTG-IgA is inconclusive.
• What Positive Results Mean: A positive result can suggest celiac disease, but further testing is often required.

Additional Tests:

1. Total Serum IgA

• What It Measures: This test measures the total level of Immunoglobulin A (IgA) in the blood.
• Why It’s Important: Some people with celiac disease have IgA deficiency, which can lead to false-negative results on tTG-IgA and EMA tests. Measuring total IgA ensures accurate interpretation of these tests.

2. Genetic Testing (HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8)

• What It Measures: This test checks for specific gene variants associated with celiac disease.
• Why It’s Important: The presence of HLA-DQ2 or HLA-DQ8 genes can support a diagnosis of celiac disease, but their absence can effectively rule it out.

Managing Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity:

1. Gluten-Free Diet: The primary treatment for both celiac disease and gluten sensitivity is a strict gluten-free diet. Avoid all foods containing wheat, barley, and rye.
2. Nutritional Support: Work with a dietitian to ensure you’re getting all necessary nutrients, as celiac disease can lead to nutrient deficiencies.
3. Regular Monitoring: Regular follow-ups with your healthcare provider to monitor your condition and ensure your intestines are healing.
4. Read Labels: Always read food labels carefully to avoid hidden sources of gluten.
5. Support Networks: Join support groups or online communities for people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity for tips, recipes, and emotional support.

When to Get Tested:

• Symptoms: If you experience symptoms like chronic diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloating, fatigue, or unexplained weight loss after consuming gluten.
• Family History: If you have a first-degree relative with celiac disease, as it can run in families.
• Associated Conditions: If you have other autoimmune disorders, as celiac disease is more common in individuals with conditions like type 1 diabetes or thyroid disease.

Conclusion:

Understanding the blood tests for celiac disease and gluten sensitivity is essential for diagnosis and management. If you suspect you have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, talk to your healthcare provider about getting tested. Once diagnosed, a strict gluten-free diet can help manage symptoms and improve your quality of life. If you have any questions or personal experiences with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, share them in the comments. Your insights can help others on their journey to better health.
Stay healthy and informed!

Hello everyone!
Today, we’re diving into an important topic - liver function tests. These tests help check how well your liver is working. Your liver is a vital organ that processes everything you eat and drink, filters toxins from your blood, and helps with digestion. Let's break down what liver function tests are, what they measure, and how you can keep your liver in top shape.

What is the Liver?

The liver is a large organ located in the upper right side of your abdomen. It performs many critical functions, including detoxifying chemicals, metabolizing drugs, and producing proteins important for blood clotting and other functions.

Key Liver Function Tests:

1. ALT (Alanine Aminotransferase)

• What It Measures: ALT is an enzyme found in your liver. High levels can indicate liver damage.
• Normal Range: Typically 7 to 56 units per liter (U/L).
• What High Levels Mean: High ALT levels can suggest liver inflammation or damage from conditions like hepatitis, alcohol use, or fatty liver disease.

2. AST (Aspartate Aminotransferase)

• What It Measures: AST is another enzyme found in your liver and other parts of your body. Elevated levels can indicate liver damage.
• Normal Range: Typically 10 to 40 units per liter (U/L).
• What High Levels Mean: High AST levels can also indicate liver damage, often used in conjunction with ALT levels to diagnose liver conditions.

3. ALP (Alkaline Phosphatase)

• What It Measures: ALP is an enzyme related to the bile ducts. High levels can indicate a problem with the bile ducts or liver.
• Normal Range: Typically 44 to 147 units per liter (U/L).
• What High Levels Mean: High ALP levels may suggest blockages in the bile ducts, liver disease, or bone disorders.

4. Bilirubin

• What It Measures: Bilirubin is a waste product from the breakdown of red blood cells. The liver processes bilirubin and excretes it in bile.
• Normal Range: Typically 0.1 to 1.2 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL).
• What High Levels Mean: High bilirubin levels can indicate liver disease or bile duct problems, leading to jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes).

5. Albumin and Total Protein

• What They Measure: Albumin and total protein tests measure the levels of proteins made by the liver. These proteins are important for various body functions.
• Normal Range: Albumin: 3.5 to 5.0 grams per deciliter (g/dL); Total Protein: 6.3 to 7.9 grams per deciliter (g/dL).
• What Abnormal Levels Mean: Low levels can suggest liver disease or other conditions affecting protein production.

Why These Tests Matter:

• Detecting Liver Problems: Liver function tests can help detect liver inflammation, damage, and diseases early.
• Monitoring Chronic Conditions: Regular tests help monitor liver health in chronic conditions like hepatitis or fatty liver disease.
• Guiding Treatment: Test results can guide treatment decisions and monitor the effectiveness of interventions.

Tips for Keeping Your Liver Healthy:

1. Eat a Balanced Diet: Focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Avoid excessive sugar and processed foods.
2. Maintain a Healthy Weight: Obesity can lead to fatty liver disease, so aim for a healthy weight through diet and exercise.
3. Limit Alcohol: Excessive alcohol consumption can cause liver damage. Stick to moderate drinking guidelines or avoid alcohol altogether.
4. Avoid Toxins: Limit exposure to harmful chemicals and toxins. Use protective gear when handling chemicals and avoid smoking.
5. Stay Hydrated: Drink plenty of water to help your liver function properly.
6. Exercise Regularly: Physical activity helps maintain a healthy weight and supports liver health.
7. Get Vaccinated: Vaccinations for hepatitis A and B can prevent infections that cause liver damage.
8. Regular Check-Ups: Regular health check-ups and liver function tests can catch problems early and keep your liver healthy.

When to Get Tested:

• Routine Check-Ups: Regular check-ups, especially if you have risk factors for liver disease.
• Symptoms: If you have symptoms like jaundice, fatigue, abdominal pain, or dark urine.
• Medical History: If you have a history of liver disease, alcohol use, or use of medications that can affect the liver.

Conclusion:

Understanding liver function tests is key to maintaining liver health. Regular testing and a healthy lifestyle can help prevent liver problems and ensure your liver is functioning properly. If you have any questions or personal experiences with liver health, share them in the comments. Your insights can help others who might be facing similar issues.
Stay healthy and informed!

Hello everyone!
Today, we're talking about a crucial aspect of heart health - cholesterol tests. These tests measure different types of fats in your blood and can give you a good idea of your risk for heart disease. Let’s break down what LDL, HDL, and triglycerides are, what they mean, and how you can keep them in healthy ranges.

What is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a type of fat found in your blood. Your body needs some cholesterol to work properly, but too much can increase your risk of heart disease. There are different types of cholesterol, and not all of them are bad.

Key Cholesterol Tests:

1. LDL Cholesterol (Low-Density Lipoprotein)

• What It Is: Often called "bad" cholesterol because high levels can lead to a buildup of cholesterol in your arteries.
• Normal Range: Less than 100 mg/dL is optimal.
• What High Levels Mean: High LDL levels can increase your risk of heart disease and stroke.
• How to Lower It: Eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly, avoid smoking, and consider medications if prescribed by your doctor.

2. HDL Cholesterol (High-Density Lipoprotein)

• What It Is: Known as "good" cholesterol because it helps remove LDL cholesterol from your arteries.
• Normal Range: 60 mg/dL or higher is considered protective against heart disease.
• What Low Levels Mean: Low HDL levels can increase your risk of heart disease.
• How to Raise It: Exercise regularly, eat healthy fats (like those in fish, nuts, and olive oil), and avoid smoking.

3. Triglycerides

• What They Are: A type of fat found in your blood. Your body uses them for energy, but too many can be unhealthy.
• Normal Range: Less than 150 mg/dL is considered normal.
• What High Levels Mean: High triglyceride levels can increase your risk of heart disease and pancreatitis.
• How to Lower Them: Eat a healthy diet, reduce sugar and refined carbs, limit alcohol, and exercise regularly.

Why These Tests Matter:

• Heart Health: High cholesterol levels can lead to heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes.
• Early Detection: Regular cholesterol tests can help catch problems early, so you can take steps to improve your heart health.

Tips for Maintaining Healthy Cholesterol Levels:

1. Eat a Heart-Healthy Diet: Focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats.
2. Stay Active: Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week.
3. Maintain a Healthy Weight: Losing weight can help lower LDL and triglycerides and raise HDL.
4. Avoid Smoking: Smoking lowers HDL and increases your risk of heart disease.
5. Limit Alcohol: Drinking too much alcohol can raise your triglycerides and increase your risk of heart disease.

When to Get Tested:

• Regular Check-Ups: Adults should have their cholesterol checked every 4-6 years. Those with heart disease risk factors may need more frequent testing.
• Family History: If you have a family history of heart disease, talk to your doctor about more frequent testing.
• Lifestyle Changes: If you’ve made significant lifestyle changes, such as losing weight or changing your diet, you may want to get tested to see how these changes have affected your cholesterol levels.

Conclusion:

Understanding your cholesterol levels is key to maintaining heart health. Regular testing and healthy lifestyle choices can help you keep your cholesterol in check and reduce your risk of heart disease. If you have any questions or personal experiences with managing cholesterol, share them in the comments. Your insights can help others who are on the same journey to better heart health.
Stay healthy and informed!

so i don't know if this is common for a lot of fantasy books because it seems to come with the territory since a lot of the characters are in some way broken & traumatized so they read more mature, but sometimes when the younger versions of characters don't read their age, its so jarring. obviously im not going into fantasy expecting realism but some levels of it would be appreciated, you know.
im about 30% into blood song & im actually loving it so so much. it's so addictive & super easy to read. vaelin is easily one of the best characters ive had the pleasure of following. it also helps that the adult version of him looks like henry cavill in witcher in my head. & this is literally only 30% in so im PUMPED right
but so far, the story has been following him from when he was 10 & gets left at the order & continues to recount his journey in the order. some of the dialogue is just so jarring because i cannot imagine a 12-13 year old saying it. at all. & i know that exceptions exist & sometimes they are just THAT mature but it was bothering me & i had to say it so i can feel a little better 😭 again, i fully know that his circumstances are just different & if it's justified for any child to sound older than he is, it's him. maybe it's his mother's storytelling, probably the order's conditioning or just his ability to speak well, i don't know, it makes sense but at the same time, it keeps taking me out of the story because i have to pause & be like okay, this is warranted, it's fine for this particular 13 year old to talk like this, it's OKAY MOVE ON but man that's kinda annoying to do each time.
is this a common thing that you've perhaps noticed in fantasy books? or even in this book? i feel so annoyed because the rest of this book is 10/10 & this one small thing bothering me is so pissing off & I've to keep gaslighting myself into thinking it's a non-issue 😭

Male 31 years old.
Had some bloods done recently.
2 weeks ago - WBC was 12.5 - Neutrophils was 8.7 - Phosphate mildy low (could have been due to hyperventilation from my anxiety though?)
1 week ago - WBC was 11.2 - Neutrophils went up to 9.2 ****
All my.other complete blood count tests were perfectly normal, esr normal, CRP normal, thyroid normal and iron levels normal.
So my white cells came down, but neutrophils went up?
My doctor said don't worry these levels can fluctuate all the time. I've checked my blood results from years ago and my neutrophils normally sits around a 5.
I have been stressed and anxious lately. No notable infections or anything that I know of. (Other than a bad cold about a month ago). I bite the inside of my cheeks which causes bleeding but not sure if this could be a cause?
My doctor said no need to panic and he will just retest my bloods in a month. Does this sound reasonable advice?
I'm scared of things like cancer but my doctor said no need to think this or test for it at this stage. He said barely any doctors would test for cancer at this stage?
Have I gotten good advice?

Hello everyone!
Today, we're talking about a very important topic - blood tests for thyroid problems. These tests help doctors find out if your thyroid is working properly. Let’s break down the most common thyroid tests, what they measure, why they’re important, and when you might need them.

What is the Thyroid?

The thyroid is a small gland in your neck that looks like a butterfly. It helps control your energy levels and metabolism by making hormones called T3 and T4.

Key Thyroid Tests:

1. TSH Test (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone)

• What It Measures: TSH is a hormone made by your brain that tells your thyroid to make T3 and T4.
• Normal Range: Usually between 0.4 and 4.0.
• Best Range for Health: Often between 0.5 and 2.5.
• What It Means:
  • High TSH: Your thyroid might be underactive (not making enough hormones).
  • Low TSH: Your thyroid might be overactive (making too many hormones).
• When to Get Tested: If you feel tired, gain weight, feel cold, or have mood swings, or if thyroid problems run in your family.

2. Free T3 Test (Triiodothyronine)

• What It Measures: The amount of T3 hormone in your blood.
• Normal Range: Usually between 2.3 and 4.1.
• Best Range for Health: Often between 3.0 and 4.0.
• What It Means:
  • High Levels: Your thyroid might be overactive.
  • Low Levels: Your thyroid might be underactive.
• When to Get Tested: If your TSH levels are not normal or if you have symptoms like fast heartbeat, anxiety, or weight loss.

3. Free T4 Test (Thyroxine)

• What It Measures: The amount of T4 hormone in your blood.
• Normal Range: Usually between 0.9 and 2.3.
• Best Range for Health: Often between 1.0 and 2.0.
• What It Means:
  • High Levels: Your thyroid might be overactive.
  • Low Levels: Your thyroid might be underactive.
• When to Get Tested: Similar to the Free T3 test, get this if your TSH levels are not normal or if you have thyroid symptoms.

Extra Tests:

4. Thyroid Antibody Tests

• Types:
  • TPO Antibodies (Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies)
  • Tg Antibodies (Thyroglobulin Antibodies)
• What It Means: High levels can show autoimmune thyroid diseases like Hashimoto’s or Graves’ disease.
• When to Get Tested: If thyroid problems run in your family or if your thyroid tests are not normal.

Why These Tests Matter:

• Finding Problems: These tests help doctors find out if your thyroid is not working right.
• Managing Health: Regular tests help manage thyroid problems and adjust medicines if needed.

What to Do If Your Results Are Not Normal:

1. Talk to Your Doctor: Always talk with your doctor about your test results.
2. More Tests: You might need more tests to figure out what’s wrong.
3. Treatment: If you have a thyroid problem, regular check-ups and medicine adjustments are important.

Conclusion:

Understanding thyroid tests is key to keeping your thyroid healthy. If you have any questions or personal experiences with thyroid problems, share them in the comments. Your insights and questions can help others who might be going through the same thing.
Stay healthy and informed!

Drakkenheim is no more. An eldritch storm of falling stars devastated the city on that woeful eve, leaving behind a meteorite that would have lasting effects. Fifteen years later, Drakkenheim is a dismal urban wasteland contaminated by otherworldly magic and haunted by hideous monsters. Fantastic wealth, lost knowledge, and powerful artifacts lie ready for the taking by adventurers brave or foolish enough to venture into the ruins. However, even those who survive the dangers of Drakkenheim may not return unmarked by its terrors!
Hello everyone! I’m Emma (she/her) and me and our group (all of us are around 25 y/o) are looking for another player to join our ongoing Dungeons of Drakkenheim game. You’ll be the fourth player in a group that really enjoys roleplay and a DM who will help you bring your character to life - this will be facilitated by a personal quest, which will tie you directly to the world. This campaign strives to be a balance between roleplay, combat and exploration, sometimes skewed to one of the three pillars more depending on what’s currently going on. Your characters and choices matter and will eventually decide the fate of Drakkenheim itself.
Currently, we've got:

• a Scribes Wizard looking to put his brother on the throne,
  
  • an Old Gods Barbarian plagued by visions of the meteor and the crater, and

-a Glory Paladin looking to give missing family members a proper burial outside of the city.
We play on Wednesdays at 20:00 CEST for three hours (with a small break in the middle somewhere).
We’re playing in Roll20. You just need to have a decent mic and a discord account (voice only, no video required). You create your character at level 3, and the module is set to go all the way to level 2. You generate stats with point buy and can either choose a personal quest from a list or work with me to create a custom one. All official classes and subclasses are allowed, as well as material from Sebastian Crowe’s Guide to Drakkenheim. You’ll be given plenty of time to create your character; I wouldn’t want you to rush the process!
THE WORLD
The world of Drakkenheim, in the fifteen years since the meteor fell, has known civil war and unrest. All the while, the city is covered in the Haze, contaminated mists that hide and empower the horrors that wander the ruined streets. It also harbors delerium, strange crystal chips and fragments that are well-sought after by mages and scoundrels alike for their magical properties and high market value. But be warned: not just anyone would dare to face the city. What brings your character there? Whatever it is, it is something they fiercely believe in, something that will drive them to return to the city every single morning and that will face the risks. Not just death awaits within the city; the chance of a horrible death pales in comparison to the monstrous transformation you may undergo once the contamination seeps into your bones.
CONTENT WARNING
Drakkenheim portrays a dark fantasy world. References to the following are common in this adventure:

• Violence, murder, blood, gore, cannibalism, and body horror.
  
• Degenerative mutations that cause physical disfigurement and madness/insanity.
  
• Rats, spiders, insects, demons, undead, ghosts, and other monsters.
  
• Natural disasters, large-scale loss of life, civil war, displaced persons, and refugees.
  
• Moral ambiguity, social/political manipulation, religious zealotry and military nationalism.
  

The campaign does not contain explicit sexuality, sexual assault, racial prejudice, systemic racism, homophobia, or transphobia.
If you are interested, please fill in the following form and I’ll get back to you soon. Love to hear from you!

At 6 weeks I was demeaned to have miscarried. I bled profusely and went to the hospital. They conducted an ultrasound, gave me pain and anxiety medication and told me I’d have to unfortunately “wait it out”. I profusely bled for 5 more months. Each week expressing to them that I don’t believe it’s a miscarriage - it’s something more than that. I just knew it. They prescribed more anxiety medication and told me to “wait it out”. My HCG levels kept fluctuating. 36 then 87 then 113, back to 42, up to 77. “Wait it out. Your body is just removing the cells”. I demanded another appointment at week 11 at this point. I had an appointment with my obgyn.
I went to the hospital the day before the appointment and told them I’m in insufferable pain. I can’t sit. I can’t stand. I’m bleeding blood clots rapidly. My pain was out of this world. They gave me more pain and anxiety me and sent me on my way. Said they couldn’t do anything for me. “Wait it out”. I went to my appointment the following day.
Within 24 hours, I had a ruptured left fallopian tube and 500ml of blood in my stomach. They rushed me to the OR within 2 hours. It was hands down the most traumatic experience of my life. Mentally confused, emotionally numb and broken down. I felt like my body wasn’t my own. It was all so traumatic. I had lyperscopic surgery as they removed my left fallopian tube and 500ml of blood from my stomach.
It’s been 7 months and it’s all in the same. My period still comes every other month ever since. All as clotty as the first time. The pain is horrendous. I can’t walk, my legs go numb, my lower back feels detached but most of all, the pain on my left side feels like a sharp stabbing pain. I typically feel the pain at least once a day if I over stretch or have to use the restroom but during my period the pain doesnt go away. I don’t like taking medication but I’ll take midol and use a heating pad but the pain is still sharpened.
So my question here is, is it normal to still feel so much pain? To speed bleed a heavy flow which isn’t typically normal for me. I become extremely sad and emotional the week before. It hurts significantly when I use the bathroom.
I’ve gone to the hospital when the pain is brutal and it’s the same routine. Pain/anxiety meds “wait it out”.
Im sick of constantly being told it’s my anxiety and having no true help.
Im 28 and I guess I just need some advice.

To clarify, I now know that there are different definitions of the word “ship”, but for the purposes of this article and to keep things simple I will use the definition of “a relationship that’s rushed and/or forced with no real development.” I hope you can understand as I do not know of any other single word to describe that concept. If you do, perhaps you can tell me. Also, fair warning, this is long form content (some 10 pages), if you like it but can’t read it all at once you can save it and come back to it over a period of time, or you can stop reading whenever you get tired of it and still discuss those parts of it with me that you have read. But keep it civil if you want a civil response.
With that, to qualify the title, no, Ezra and Sabine do NOT absolutely have to be a couple, but if they were to become one, it would NOT be a ship. Ezra and Sabine’s relationship has had years of development. Could they remain as simply friends? Yes, but ironically, it was their “friendship” that felt like more of a ship. It felt like the Ahsoka show, helmed by Dave Filoni, was going out of its way to tell us: “no, they’re not a couple, they’re just friends.”
I believe that Filoni made some very poor writing choices to stress something that didn’t really need to be stressed, such that it almost felt like he was in denial. The line “I love you like a sister” was never in Rebels, Filoni essentially had that retconned in, and like many I was put off by their (largely) emotionless reunion. Even if they were “just friends” I believe there would be a great deal more emotion displayed between two people that hadn’t seen each other in some ten years, especially when one of them was in a precarious situation when they parted. I also believe Ezra would be far more curious about Sabine being Force sensitive, perhaps even offering to help train her when she told him that her training hadn’t gone as well with Ahsoka. He did help to train her with the Darksaber, didn’t he? Why that never came up is another discussion, but for now, let’s focus on shipping.
In case you think I’m desperate to have them as a couple, no I’m not. I’m about the furthest thing from it. Like many millennials and Gen-Z’ers (and perhaps some Gen-Xers and boomers) I DESPISE shipping. Absolutely DESPISE it. With a flaming passion. Perhaps for this reason, and maybe some others, like many millennials and Gen-Z’ers (and perhaps some Gen-Xers and boomers), I’m generally wary of nearly all romance in fiction, and generally avoid it in my own work. The sad reality is that romance is perhaps the most abused genre in all of fiction, all throughout history. It has been so badly abused that many people, including myself for the longest time, have equated romance with shipping, though I’m slowly beginning to see that they are not the same thing, and one does not necessarily have to go with the other.
But sadly, many writers, through time immemorial, have not been able to separate them, going back into ancient times and perhaps even into pre-history, that is before languages were actually written down. Some of what is considered great literature; classics like Romeo and Juliet, are predicated on shipping, though at least the consequences of this “whirlwind romance” are shown to be fairly stark. Star Wars itself is no stranger to shipping, resulting in a very awkward incestuous kiss when Luke was shipped with Leia, then Leia was placed with Han and Lucas made Luke and Leia brother and sister, apparently having forgotten his original ship. Later Lucas essentially shipped Anakin and Padme, resulting in some of the most cringeworthy dialog in the history of film. Many fans of the Prequels even have been somewhat critical of Anakin’s portrayal, particularly in regards to the “romantic” scenes, with many describing them as “creepy”. Some have speculated that this was intentional, though personally I think it was just the result of bad writing on the part of George Lucas, and an impatience on his part for Anakin and Padme to become a couple, hence “shipping”.
One might wonder why this is so prevalent in fiction, and tragically, one does not have to look far. Fiction is merely a reflection of reality, therefore the reason that shipping is so common in our stories is that we fall so easily into it in real life. Indeed, entire cultures may be based around shipping, or at least very heavily wrapped up in it. Throughout history arranged marriages have been the norm, and the idea of marrying for “love” is something relatively new. To be fair, I’ve actually met people in arranged marriages who seemed to be fairly happy, but those same people were very open in telling me that many despise that aspect of their culture, and that it is quite normal for those in an arranged marriage to try to get out.
People might come together for “love” without marrying, but even then it often creates expectations that might turn into a burden. Even when a marriage is voluntary and for “love”, people are often left unsatisfied, such that today in the West the divorce rate is something like 50%. Happy, stable, long term relationships seem to be the exception across cultures and across the breadth and width of time. And yet pursuit of love and some kind of relationship seems to be the highest calling for many people, both in real life and in fiction. And it could be that the accumulated disgust is finally starting to boil over.
To be fair, this may not be the first time in history that the pendulum has shifted. You may recall that in Victorian times attitudes changed drastically, as compared to the previously bawdy Elizabethan times. Looking at a play from Shakespear, if you can understand the language, you’ll see all kinds of vulgar references, as well as what I believe are fairly sappy romances like in the aforementioned Romeo and Juliet, though I can’t say for certain whether Shakespear was actually endorsing that type of attitude towards “love” or presenting it as a cautionary tale, maybe even something to be ridiculed in some of his other plays.
But regardless, Victorians as you may well know had a very conservative attitude towards anything to do with romance, and would often avoid the subject in many places, or tread very carefully around it, as if walking on eggshells. It’s not that people stopped being romantic, in fiction or real life, but it was treated as something very serious and even dangerous, with many urges repressed or even suppressed entirely. This had all kinds of effects on society, both positive and negative. On the positive side, it reinforced the ideal of people being committed to their partners, and of marriage as a sacred institution rather than a “casual hookup” as was more common in Elizabethan times. Likewise it reinforced ideals of modesty and chastity, which may be coming back into vogue, though under different names. But just as there were positive aspects to these attitudes, so were there negative ones.
Just because the urges I described were repressed did not mean that they disappeared. In fact, they often morphed into things that many would consider “unhealthy”. From one statistic that I saw, in Victorian times about one in every 60 houses was a brothel, with the modern rate being closer to one in 6000. Additionally, the rights of women were often repressed, such that they could not fully express themselves and find their own identity, and path in life, as individuals. Just as Elizabethan ideals gave way to Victorian ones, so did the Victorian ideals gradually begin to erode.
Perhaps it began with the Jazz Age of the 1920’s (the “Roaring Twenties”), or with the increased interconnectivity of people traveling to different parts of the world during World War I, not to mention the cynicism that pervaded throughout the West in response to failed old ideals leading to the deadliest war in history up to that point, but many Victorian ideals began to be seen as a joke, and even resented for their “oppression”, which to be fair was not entirely unjustified. But regardless, people gradually, and at times not so gradually, became more and more “liberated” and promiscuous. This culminated in the Sexual Revolution in the late 1960’s, when what had previously been seen as a vice and even a sin was now seen as not only “normal” but as a healthy form of expression, a virtue even. And just as these ideas were embraced in real life, so too were they reflected in our films, TV shows, and other media, often to the consternation of older people and institutions, like the Vatican. The Catholic Church even went so far as to “ban” certain films, that is to declare them immoral for good Catholics to watch. Many of the films that were banned back then, or at least controversial, like The Graduate with Dustin Hoffman, are fairly tame by today’s standards.
It continued through the 70’s, at times warming and at times cooling through the rest of the century, until you could argue it reached a kind of crescendo in the early 21st century with the advent of so-called “dark romance” and the publication of books like Fifty Shades of Grey. (Ironically, many of the themes within this “dark romance” can trace their roots back to the Victorian era, yet another indication that repressing urges without addressing them often doesn’t work out as one might hope.) But as happens all too often, just as something reaches peak popularity is when it begins to go out of style, and that is what we may be experiencing right now. As weird as it may sound, we may actually have come full circle and may be on the cusp of a “New Victorian Age” (complete with “dark romance”, even). Web sites like Porn Hub and OnlyFans, as well as other similar sites, may be the new “brothels”, and what was once openly celebrated may be going underground, to an extent. The effects of this on society have been interesting to say the least, and at times I would even say bizarre.
Whilst many younger people seem content with these changes, many older people are concerned. I’ve seen a number of books, films, and other media receive positive reviews for example based specifically on their lack of romance. Many of these books/films, etc. fall into the “young adult” category, meaning that it is young adults obviously who mostly consume them. At the same time I’ve heard a number of older people, mostly boomers and Gen-Xers, criticize these same books/films for their lack of romance. Even some older millennials seem upset by the changes, as perhaps evidenced by Jennifer Lawrence’s latest film No Hard Feelings (though to be fair that film may be lampooning the older generation’s frustration as well as the younger generation’s frigidity). So just as in the past older people were concerned about the promiscuity of the youth, now it actually appears that many older people are concerned about the youth’s lack of promiscuity.
Who could have seen that coming? But to be fair, the younger generation hasn’t gone completely frigid. As stated earlier, much of the promiscuity has gone “underground”, or online, which many would argue is not very healthy as it might undermine actual relationships, whether they are romantic in nature or simple friendships. And speaking of that, friendships within stories nowadays often aren’t portrayed in a very authentic or compelling manner, perhaps because in ditching romance modern writers haven’t quite yet learned how to replace it with something else. In other words, the “New Victorian Age” may not be an exact repeat of the previous one, but may have its own twists and turns, for better and for worse.
This may all essentially be a manifestation of the Human Condition, in that we just can’t seem to find a happy medium, neither in real life nor in fiction. Thus we keep swinging from one extreme to the other, apparently getting wilder with each swing.
So where does all this leave us? What is it that we really want in our lives, and in our stories? Especially in regards to relationships? I think at some level we all want to see good and healthy relationships between people and/or characters, whether romantic or platonic. I believe at some point we would like to see good examples of both friendship and romance, and I would argue that the best examples of romance have them combined. Even a toxic relationship, if well portrayed or documented, can be instructive and serve as a good example of what to avoid in our lives that we might be happier and relate better to each other. A good relationship, by contrast, can give us something to aspire to and inspire us to not only look for the right kind of person to complement our lives, but to make ourselves worthy of that person. And here I’ll add that I’m perfectly aware that in real life (and thus in fiction) relationships can be very complicated and heavily nuanced, with elements of both “good” and “bad” in them. Just as people change over time so can the relationships between them change, at times getting better and at times worse, sometimes breaking entirely and sometimes growing stronger. Relationships can have just as many layers and dimensions as characters, more even perhaps, and a skilled writer should be able to reflect this complexity. At other times a relationship can be fairly straightforward, simplicity sometimes being the best approach. But regardless, the audience should be able to relate and identify with what they are seeing, such that hopefully they can incorporate the lessons from it in their own lives.
Where can we find good examples of relationships to study? There may be a number of them in the real world, but the trouble with studying real world relationships is that they’re often much more complicated than fictional ones (just as real people are more complicated than fictional characters), and for many of them it is almost impossible to know all the details and nuances because they are often kept private, understandably so, and even if they aren’t it can still be difficult, due to unique circumstances, to see how to relate them to our own lives. Additionally there may be far more disagreement about a real life situation than a fictional one, with many more points of view. To keep things simple, for the purpose of this article I would like to focus on fictional relationships. (And fair warning, there will be some spoilers.)
One of the best places to look, I would argue, would be the films of Hayao Miyazaki. (And this is pretty significant to Star Wars as you will see in a bit.) A film of his that stands out to me the most is Princess Mononoke. Like many of Miyazaki’s films it has elements of romance, and yet subverts them in a way that makes complete sense and feels very genuine, without taking away from any of the accompanying charm. It starts with two young people, San and Ashitaka, and as soon as they encounter each other there is a kind of expectation of romance. This may be inevitable to some degree when you have a man and a woman of about the same age encounter each other in a story, especially if they happen to be adolescents. The expectation may not be inherently bad, and Miyazaki does play with it. Both characters are thrust into dangerous situations, at various points end up saving each other’s lives, and at a certain point I think it is obvious that they have feelings for each other. I was certain that at the end of the film, they would be together, and if things had gone that way, it would make complete sense. Instead, they go in different directions, but remain good friends, and considering their backgrounds and differing worldviews, this ends up making even more sense to the story.
Essentially, Miyazaki could have gone for the more conventional, tried and true “love conquers all” narrative, where the characters’ feelings for each other would negate everything that comes between them, they would somehow find a common ground in spite of their differences, the romance would not only take over the narrative but somehow also solve all the problems in the story, and then the couple would live “happily ever after”. Such an approach is not inherently bad or wrong, and is fairly common in Western media and storytelling. We can see it in films like Fern Gully, and more recently James Cameron’s Avatar, both of which have been compared to Princess Mononoke. As you can probably guess, the problem is that at a certain point such a narrative can become fairly simplistic, and lack nuance.
Miyazaki’s films, by contrast, are very heavily nuanced, and are anything but simplistic. In Princess Mononoke the characters San and Ashitaka don’t help each other simply because they are “in love”, but because it is the right thing to do, regardless of how they might feel about each other. Yes, romantic feelings are certainly alluded to, but they are not essential to the plot, for it could have worked just as well without any romantic allusions. And ironically, this makes those allusions even more valid, even if they are unrequited. How so?
Consider that if love is essential to a given narrative, is it not relegated to being nothing more than a plot device? Again, this is quite common in Western media and storytelling, and is not inherently bad or wrong, but when it becomes a trope or cliche, I believe it is the essence of where shipping comes from. Many storytellers get caught up in this, usually without realizing it, and while a story can still work even with shipping, I believe that it usually works that much better without it.
This extends not only to Miyazaki’s handling of romance but also to other things like environmentalism, the conflict between man and nature, and the contrasting ideals of human progress vs. preserving the natural order. Movies like Fern Gully and Avatar, as already mentioned, handle these themes in a fairly simplistic and I would even say hamfisted manner, whereby all progress and technology is shown as being inherently “bad” and in service to “evil”, while everything that’s “natural” is shown to be inherently “good”. Even our notions of good and evil, and right vs. wrong, are challenged by Miyazaki, with nearly all of his characters having complex motives and multiple dimensions to them, as well as understandable reasons for doing the things that they do. Rarely can any one of his characters be branded as a simple “villain”, and rarely is any one individual the source of conflict in his stories, again in contrast to most Western narratives.
I’ll reiterate once more, a simple, straightforward narrative is not inherently a bad thing, whether the themes being dealt with are romantic or anything else. Sometimes it is in fact the best approach. But the best stories in my opinion are usually the most nuanced, that challenge our notions of what we believe to be true, and that force us to think about what we do with our lives and what we could do differently. To that end Miyazaki introduces all manner of themes and motifs within his films that are familiar to us but shows them in a light most of us might not have considered, thus giving more dimension to our understanding of things.
“How is any of this related to Star Wars?” you might ask. It is quite related, and you don’t even have to look all that closely to see it. A very influential figure within Star Wars was very heavily inspired by the works of Miyazaki, and that figure is Dave Filoni.
This video shows the connections in some detail:
https://youtu.be/Q_4L0BbSpHo?si=04jDo6qFCnZT135w
But to summarize if you’ve seen any of Miyazaki’s films, especially Princess Mononoke, I think the callbacks in Filoni’s work will be all too obvious, especially in Star Wars Rebels. Some of the scenes in Filoni’s work look like they were taken directly from Miyazki’s films, and many of the same themes and motifs often come up. The relationship between San and Ashitaka I would argue is very similar to the relationship between Ezra and Sabine, and not just because both couples rode wolves together.
Incidentally, Dave Filoni was also heavily involved in Avatar: The Last Airbender, which I would also argue was at least to some degree inspired if not by Miyazaki then by Japanese anime in general. The relationship between Aang and Katara was developed with great care and was allowed to build very slowly, as opposed to simply shipping them. Likewise other characters very gradually developed as individuals and in their relationships, at times stumbling as they did so, and making mistakes, before finding their way back to the right path.
All of this is in stark contrast to George Lucas, whose character development is often very rushed at best, and at times some might say almost non-existent. So essentially, even though Lucas has said that Filoni has been “like a son” to him, and I believe referred to Filoni as his “padawan”, I would argue that Filoni is ultimately as much a student of Miyazaki as he is of Lucas.
Again, you might ask, “What does all this mean for Star Wars?” It means a great many things. It means that Dave Filoni has taken Miyazaki’s lessons to heart, and can handle things like romance, as well as other kinds of relationships, quite well most of the time. Like Miyazaki he can play with romance, tease the audience with it at times even, leave the romance unrequited, and yet still have it feel satisfying. A prime example of this is the love triangle that Ahsoka was involved in with the young Separatist Senator, Lux Bonteri, and Steela Gerrera. As wary as I am of romance and as much as I despise shipping, love triangles I normally despise even more, but this one seemed to actually work. It never took over the main story, and even though Ahsoka’s feelings were ultimately not reciprocated, she still learned from the experience, and grew and developed further as a character because of it. The other characters involved in this triangle also grew and developed from their involvement, though unfortunately not all of them made it. All in all it was a good bit of storytelling and gave the audience something to consider.
When a relationship in one of Filoni’s stories does bloom into a full blown romance he also generally handles it quite well. For one Filoni is sparing with actual romance, so that when it does occur, it can be that much more appreciated. And rather than rushing or shipping it, Filoni normally takes his time to build it up. An example of this is the relationship between Kanan and Hera. Some might argue that this is perhaps the best developed romance in all of Star Wars, at least in Canon. Built up over four seasons, at times it wasn’t certain whether it was a romance or a friendship, or perhaps even a professional partnership. Perhaps even the characters themselves were not certain, though it was hinted all throughout the narrative that something was going on. To this day I don’t believe anyone can say definitively when it became an actual romance, and I believe Filoni did this intentionally because he wanted to be subtle, rather than making things too obvious and having the romance take over the narrative, as it usually does. When it finally did become obvious as to what was happening, it felt very much earned, in a way that is seldom accomplished in other works of fiction, including Star Wars.
The relationship between Ezra and Sabine was also fairly well written, for the most part anyway, at least in Star Wars Rebels. Ezra was almost immediately smitten with Sabine, but being a young teenage boy, it was understandable that he would feel that way about an attractive girl. Over time he learned to see her more respectfully, as a colleague and even as part of his adopted family, not just as a pretty face. Sabine for her part found Ezra annoying at first (c’mon, what teenage boy isn’t?), but as he matured and she found out more about him she came to understand and respect him more, and see him as a friend and almost a brother, with there being potential for something more.
There were times when the relationship could have been better written, like in the episode “Blood Sisters”, where Ezra was written to be a bit too immature to make Sabine look wiser. But overall, the bond between them developed fairly well; both saved one another at various times, and took risks and made sacrifices for each other’s sake. Both reassured and comforted the other when they needed it, and it was endearing to hear their banter when they became more familiar and trusting of each other.
So why then was I so disappointed in how they were portrayed in the Ahsoka show? The thing is, after how well their relationship was built up in Rebels, as I’ve already mentioned it was strange to see how lackluster and uninspired their reunion was.
Within the Ahsoka show itself Sabine was shown to be almost obsessed with finding Ezra, living in what used to be his home, watching a recording of him over and over again, and calling out his name as she woke up in the middle of the night. She even risked bringing Thrawn back into the Galaxy, which ultimately happened, just so she could see Ezra again. After all that, when she finally does encounter him, her reaction seems fairly casual, as does his, as if they’ve been apart for no more than a week, rather than 10 years. Not too much happens between them afterwards either. Like I said Ezra does not appear all that curious about what happened with Sabine, how she found him, and how it was that she was now Force sensitive. Sabine likewise did not seem curious about what had happened with Ezra, and how he had gotten away from Thrawn. And with Ezra rescued and returned home, suddenly it didn’t seem as though Sabine was all that interested in him anymore, nor he all that concerned with her, though they were just as far apart as they had been at the start of the show. To be completely honest it made me wonder what the point of the whole show was. Were they just working to set up Thrawn’s return to the Galaxy? As some have said, Ezra felt like nothing more than a Macguffin in the show. Was Sabine and Ahsoka’s search for him just a plot device?
Considering how skillfully Dave Filoni had written his stories in the past, what happened in this latest project of his does not make much sense. Was he so concerned about “shipping” and so desperate to avoid it that he inadvertently “shipped” them in the other direction? Was there some sort of external pressure on him about how to write this story to have more of an appeal to “modern audiences”? Maybe some combination of those factors?
And here I’ll add that when I say “modern audiences” I don’t mean that in a contemptuous sense, though you may think I do. If there is any contempt on my part it is for those in charge of telling our stories, or those in charge of those telling our stories, who do not seem to grasp these basic truths. The truth is that audiences at their core don’t really change throughout the ages, only superficially so. Trends come and go but certain truths and ideals are eternal, and universal. How people relate to each other fundamentally does not change, whether they are friends, or more than friends. And deep down, I believe everyone (or nearly everyone at least) wants the same things. Nearly everyone at some point wants some kind of a connection with another human being, to know that they are not alone in the world, and to know that there is someone else who sees and understands things as they do. While this desire can certainly lead to abuse, and absolutely has, it is still innate to us and is not inherently wrong. Finding ways of connecting and relating to other people is one of the great challenges of life, but many would argue it is the most worthwhile of challenges. It may be the whole point of life if you think about it. As complex as it may be, many would argue it is what makes life worth living, and likewise makes for the best stories. Just as it may be the whole point of life many would say that is what most stories are about at their core: people trying to relate to one another.
Sadly, just as in real life, most stories unfortunately don’t quite get it, and the Ahsoka show in my opinion was an example of this, made all the sadder by the fact that Dave Filoni had done quite well with these characters up to that point. We may never know for certain what exactly went wrong and why, or if it can ever be “fixed” at this point, but I can’t help but feel curious. Maybe in the future Filoni will find a way to make it make sense, but I’m not sure how. And to be completely honest I don’t feel quite as enthusiastic to find out as I used to.
Also for the record I would like to add here that there are other factors that put me off from the show, such as Sabine’s Force sensitivity, that came about without much build up. But in this article I specifically wanted to focus on shipping because there seems to be so much misunderstanding around it.
I hope that I was able to clarify some, if not most of this misunderstanding, so that people could better appreciate what shipping is, where it comes from, as well as what it isn’t. Many people today are understandably sick of shipping characters, myself included. But I hope people realize that in overcompensating for something, we often come back around into the very thing that we are overcompensating for. Or sometimes, into something even worse. This may apply to nearly every facet of life, by the way, not just shipping. Finding a happy medium in how we portray our fictional relationships may help us to better understand relationships in real life, as well as how to navigate them. Neither fictional nor actual relationships can ever be perfect but they can always be better. To this understanding then I hope that I was able to give my own modest contribution, and if nothing else I hope we can connect on that.

This might be a dumb question but does having the right electrolyte levels help you lose weight? I have been doing keto for about 6 months now and I have never added vitamins, supplements, or electrolytes. I am going to start taking collagen in an attempt to minimize loose skin (not as a source of protein) as I have a lot more weight to lose. I had blood work done a while ago and my magnesium and potassium were a bit low. I have read the FAQ and know electrolytes are important for making you feel well and avoiding the keto flu, but does taking electrolytes help with weight loss? That is my primary reason for doing keto and I have been averaging a loss of about 10 lbs a month. I am not having any keto flu symptoms or other bad effects of low electrolytes. If I were to start taking electrolytes, should that speed up my weight loss or is it done more so just for making sure you are feeling as well as possible? Thanks!

So I recently made my first post here on this subreddit and my first post in general ( still new on Reddit even though I made the account years ago ), about getting a change from Tilidin to Tapentadol. I was taking Tilidin for my back pain for 10 years and Doc and I came to the conclusion that it is time for a substance change without increasing the overall dose too much. It is often heard that just changing around the substance is helping many people in dealing with their pain and Doc was not opposed to it, luckily. ( Found myself a great one ) Now I been to the doc again to discuss the latest ECG and blood test. Nothing worry-some there except a low-ish hemoglobin, and I told him about a pain I don't really get controlled for the last 4-5 weeks. It's right between my shoulder blades on the spine including the muscles left and right from it, and it makes walking and sitting a tragedy, but worst, totally messes with my sleep.
I do take 150mg of Tapentadol in the morning and evening and it was always really effective in what it did, just that this pain always punched through again after some hours. The IR Tapentadol I had ( 50mg/pill ) was not the best help. I had to take two sometimes three to tackle it so I can sleep, or move right after waking up from pain. He doesn't like me being dependent on so much IR medication, which I can totally understand ( the IR comes with a high, which makes an addiction "worse" and so on ), so the decision was made to change the substance again.
The surprising part is, that he went very high in the list instantly. Not a small jump to Morphine or Oxycodone, no. I will now test some Fentanyl Patches for a month. Damn. I have a lot of respect for that. Being from the medical field I know of its potency, and also dangers, so while I am thankful, I am also approaching the whole situation with a lot of respect. It's the 2nd lowest dosage of patches you can get, so we didn't go overboard there, but it still is a significant jump. That said I am happy that he listens to me and we approach everything on a professional non-judgemental level. After having been through years of terrible experiences with doctors in my youth. It's reaffirming and makes me happy / good for my psychological well-being to have such interactions. I am "excited" to see how this will turn out. I have high hopes for it and don't mind at all going over to patches and away from pills and IR pills. As I told my doctor: " I don't get happiness from being high, I get happiness from being able to live my life and do the things I love without pain stopping me from doing them. " I still don't have a proper diagnose, which is sad, but I get more than proper treatment ( many different medication , physical therapy, soon psychological therapy and so on ) so I really can't complain. A new set of diagnostics will be done in a few months in a special clinic focused on muscle / spine / etc pain. Maybe that will shine some light in the dark.
So...that was a lot longer than expected. I don't have any friends to share this with, so I thought I share it with you people. The ones that are the most likely to understand. Thanks for reading, and as a good measure, sorry for any spelling mistakes or impropewrong words. English is not my first language. x) Enjoy your day, I hope it's as sunny and warm as mine. C17

To clarify, I now know that there are different definitions of the word “ship”, but for the purposes of this article and to keep things simple I will use the definition of “a relationship that’s rushed and/or forced with no real development.” I hope you can understand as I do not know of any other single word to describe that concept. If you do, perhaps you can tell me. Also, fair warning, this is long form content (some 10 pages), if you like it but can’t read it all at once you can save it and come back to it over a period of time, or you can stop reading whenever you get tired of it and still discuss those parts of it with me that you have read. But keep it civil if you want a civil response.
With that, to qualify the title, no, Ezra and Sabine do NOT absolutely have to be a couple, but if they were to become one, it would NOT be a ship. Ezra and Sabine’s relationship has had years of development. Could they remain as simply friends? Yes, but ironically, it was their “friendship” that felt like more of a ship. It felt like the Ahsoka show, helmed by Dave Filoni, was going out of its way to tell us: “no, they’re not a couple, they’re just friends.”
I believe that Filoni made some very poor writing choices to stress something that didn’t really need to be stressed, such that it almost felt like he was in denial. The line “I love you like a sister” was never in Rebels, Filoni essentially had that retconned in, and like many I was put off by their (largely) emotionless reunion. Even if they were “just friends” I believe there would be a great deal more emotion displayed between two people that hadn’t seen each other in some ten years, especially when one of them was in a precarious situation when they parted. I also believe Ezra would be far more curious about Sabine being Force sensitive, perhaps even offering to help train her when she told him that her training hadn’t gone as well with Ahsoka. He did help to train her with the Darksaber, didn’t he? Why that never came up is another discussion, but for now, let’s focus on shipping.
In case you think I’m desperate to have them as a couple, no I’m not. I’m about the furthest thing from it. Like many millennials and Gen-Z’ers (and perhaps some Gen-Xers and boomers) I DESPISE shipping. Absolutely DESPISE it. With a flaming passion. Perhaps for this reason, and maybe some others, like many millennials and Gen-Z’ers (and perhaps some Gen-Xers and boomers), I’m generally wary of nearly all romance in fiction, and generally avoid it in my own work. The sad reality is that romance is perhaps the most abused genre in all of fiction, all throughout history. It has been so badly abused that many people, including myself for the longest time, have equated romance with shipping, though I’m slowly beginning to see that they are not the same thing, and one does not necessarily have to go with the other.
But sadly, many writers, through time immemorial, have not been able to separate them, going back into ancient times and perhaps even into pre-history, that is before languages were actually written down. Some of what is considered great literature; classics like Romeo and Juliet, are predicated on shipping, though at least the consequences of this “whirlwind romance” are shown to be fairly stark. Star Wars itself is no stranger to shipping, resulting in a very awkward incestuous kiss when Luke was shipped with Leia, then Leia was placed with Han and Lucas made Luke and Leia brother and sister, apparently having forgotten his original ship. Later Lucas essentially shipped Anakin and Padme, resulting in some of the most cringeworthy dialog in the history of film. Many fans of the Prequels even have been somewhat critical of Anakin’s portrayal, particularly in regards to the “romantic” scenes, with many describing them as “creepy”. Some have speculated that this was intentional, though personally I think it was just the result of bad writing on the part of George Lucas, and an impatience on his part for Anakin and Padme to become a couple, hence “shipping”.
One might wonder why this is so prevalent in fiction, and tragically, one does not have to look far. Fiction is merely a reflection of reality, therefore the reason that shipping is so common in our stories is that we fall so easily into it in real life. Indeed, entire cultures may be based around shipping, or at least very heavily wrapped up in it. Throughout history arranged marriages have been the norm, and the idea of marrying for “love” is something relatively new. To be fair, I’ve actually met people in arranged marriages who seemed to be fairly happy, but those same people were very open in telling me that many despise that aspect of their culture, and that it is quite normal for those in an arranged marriage to try to get out.
People might come together for “love” without marrying, but even then it often creates expectations that might turn into a burden. Even when a marriage is voluntary and for “love”, people are often left unsatisfied, such that today in the West the divorce rate is something like 50%. Happy, stable, long term relationships seem to be the exception across cultures and across the breadth and width of time. And yet pursuit of love and some kind of relationship seems to be the highest calling for many people, both in real life and in fiction. And it could be that the accumulated disgust is finally starting to boil over.
To be fair, this may not be the first time in history that the pendulum has shifted. You may recall that in Victorian times attitudes changed drastically, as compared to the previously bawdy Elizabethan times. Looking at a play from Shakespear, if you can understand the language, you’ll see all kinds of vulgar references, as well as what I believe are fairly sappy romances like in the aforementioned Romeo and Juliet, though I can’t say for certain whether Shakespear was actually endorsing that type of attitude towards “love” or presenting it as a cautionary tale, maybe even something to be ridiculed in some of his other plays.
But regardless, Victorians as you may well know had a very conservative attitude towards anything to do with romance, and would often avoid the subject in many places, or tread very carefully around it, as if walking on eggshells. It’s not that people stopped being romantic, in fiction or real life, but it was treated as something very serious and even dangerous, with many urges repressed or even suppressed entirely. This had all kinds of effects on society, both positive and negative. On the positive side, it reinforced the ideal of people being committed to their partners, and of marriage as a sacred institution rather than a “casual hookup” as was more common in Elizabethan times. Likewise it reinforced ideals of modesty and chastity, which may be coming back into vogue, though under different names. But just as there were positive aspects to these attitudes, so were there negative ones.
Just because the urges I described were repressed did not mean that they disappeared. In fact, they often morphed into things that many would consider “unhealthy”. From one statistic that I saw, in Victorian times about one in every 60 houses was a brothel, with the modern rate being closer to one in 6000. Additionally, the rights of women were often repressed, such that they could not fully express themselves and find their own identity, and path in life, as individuals. Just as Elizabethan ideals gave way to Victorian ones, so did the Victorian ideals gradually begin to erode.
Perhaps it began with the Jazz Age of the 1920’s (the “Roaring Twenties”), or with the increased interconnectivity of people traveling to different parts of the world during World War I, not to mention the cynicism that pervaded throughout the West in response to failed old ideals leading to the deadliest war in history up to that point, but many Victorian ideals began to be seen as a joke, and even resented for their “oppression”, which to be fair was not entirely unjustified. But regardless, people gradually, and at times not so gradually, became more and more “liberated” and promiscuous. This culminated in the Sexual Revolution in the late 1960’s, when what had previously been seen as a vice and even a sin was now seen as not only “normal” but as a healthy form of expression, a virtue even. And just as these ideas were embraced in real life, so too were they reflected in our films, TV shows, and other media, often to the consternation of older people and institutions, like the Vatican. The Catholic Church even went so far as to “ban” certain films, that is to declare them immoral for good Catholics to watch. Many of the films that were banned back then, or at least controversial, like The Graduate with Dustin Hoffman, are fairly tame by today’s standards.
It continued through the 70’s, at times warming and at times cooling through the rest of the century, until you could argue it reached a kind of crescendo in the early 21st century with the advent of so-called “dark romance” and the publication of books like Fifty Shades of Grey. (Ironically, many of the themes within this “dark romance” can trace their roots back to the Victorian era, yet another indication that repressing urges without addressing them often doesn’t work out as one might hope.) But as happens all too often, just as something reaches peak popularity is when it begins to go out of style, and that is what we may be experiencing right now. As weird as it may sound, we may actually have come full circle and may be on the cusp of a “New Victorian Age” (complete with “dark romance”, even). Web sites like Porn Hub and OnlyFans, as well as other similar sites, may be the new “brothels”, and what was once openly celebrated may be going underground, to an extent. The effects of this on society have been interesting to say the least, and at times I would even say bizarre.
Whilst many younger people seem content with these changes, many older people are concerned. I’ve seen a number of books, films, and other media receive positive reviews for example based specifically on their lack of romance. Many of these books/films, etc. fall into the “young adult” category, meaning that it is young adults obviously who mostly consume them. At the same time I’ve heard a number of older people, mostly boomers and Gen-Xers, criticize these same books/films for their lack of romance. Even some older millennials seem upset by the changes, as perhaps evidenced by Jennifer Lawrence’s latest film No Hard Feelings (though to be fair that film may be lampooning the older generation’s frustration as well as the younger generation’s frigidity). So just as in the past older people were concerned about the promiscuity of the youth, now it actually appears that many older people are concerned about the youth’s lack of promiscuity.
Who could have seen that coming? But to be fair, the younger generation hasn’t gone completely frigid. As stated earlier, much of the promiscuity has gone “underground”, or online, which many would argue is not very healthy as it might undermine actual relationships, whether they are romantic in nature or simple friendships. And speaking of that, friendships within stories nowadays often aren’t portrayed in a very authentic or compelling manner, perhaps because in ditching romance modern writers haven’t quite yet learned how to replace it with something else. In other words, the “New Victorian Age” may not be an exact repeat of the previous one, but may have its own twists and turns, for better and for worse.
This may all essentially be a manifestation of the Human Condition, in that we just can’t seem to find a happy medium, neither in real life nor in fiction. Thus we keep swinging from one extreme to the other, apparently getting wilder with each swing.
So where does all this leave us? What is it that we really want in our lives, and in our stories? Especially in regards to relationships? I think at some level we all want to see good and healthy relationships between people and/or characters, whether romantic or platonic. I believe at some point we would like to see good examples of both friendship and romance, and I would argue that the best examples of romance have them combined. Even a toxic relationship, if well portrayed or documented, can be instructive and serve as a good example of what to avoid in our lives that we might be happier and relate better to each other. A good relationship, by contrast, can give us something to aspire to and inspire us to not only look for the right kind of person to complement our lives, but to make ourselves worthy of that person. And here I’ll add that I’m perfectly aware that in real life (and thus in fiction) relationships can be very complicated and heavily nuanced, with elements of both “good” and “bad” in them. Just as people change over time so can the relationships between them change, at times getting better and at times worse, sometimes breaking entirely and sometimes growing stronger. Relationships can have just as many layers and dimensions as characters, more even perhaps, and a skilled writer should be able to reflect this complexity. At other times a relationship can be fairly straightforward, simplicity sometimes being the best approach. But regardless, the audience should be able to relate and identify with what they are seeing, such that hopefully they can incorporate the lessons from it in their own lives.
Where can we find good examples of relationships to study? There may be a number of them in the real world, but the trouble with studying real world relationships is that they’re often much more complicated than fictional ones (just as real people are more complicated than fictional characters), and for many of them it is almost impossible to know all the details and nuances because they are often kept private, understandably so, and even if they aren’t it can still be difficult, due to unique circumstances, to see how to relate them to our own lives. Additionally there may be far more disagreement about a real life situation than a fictional one, with many more points of view. To keep things simple, for the purpose of this article I would like to focus on fictional relationships. (And fair warning, there will be some spoilers.)
One of the best places to look, I would argue, would be the films of Hayao Miyazaki. (And this is pretty significant to Star Wars as you will see in a bit.) A film of his that stands out to me the most is Princess Mononoke. Like many of Miyazaki’s films it has elements of romance, and yet subverts them in a way that makes complete sense and feels very genuine, without taking away from any of the accompanying charm. It starts with two young people, San and Ashitaka, and as soon as they encounter each other there is a kind of expectation of romance. This may be inevitable to some degree when you have a man and a woman of about the same age encounter each other in a story, especially if they happen to be adolescents. The expectation may not be inherently bad, and Miyazaki does play with it. Both characters are thrust into dangerous situations, at various points end up saving each other’s lives, and at a certain point I think it is obvious that they have feelings for each other. I was certain that at the end of the film, they would be together, and if things had gone that way, it would make complete sense. Instead, they go in different directions, but remain good friends, and considering their backgrounds and differing worldviews, this ends up making even more sense to the story.
Essentially, Miyazaki could have gone for the more conventional, tried and true “love conquers all” narrative, where the characters’ feelings for each other would negate everything that comes between them, they would somehow find a common ground in spite of their differences, the romance would not only take over the narrative but somehow also solve all the problems in the story, and then the couple would live “happily ever after”. Such an approach is not inherently bad or wrong, and is fairly common in Western media and storytelling. We can see it in films like Fern Gully, and more recently James Cameron’s Avatar, both of which have been compared to Princess Mononoke. As you can probably guess, the problem is that at a certain point such a narrative can become fairly simplistic, and lack nuance.
Miyazaki’s films, by contrast, are very heavily nuanced, and are anything but simplistic. In Princess Mononoke the characters San and Ashitaka don’t help each other simply because they are “in love”, but because it is the right thing to do, regardless of how they might feel about each other. Yes, romantic feelings are certainly alluded to, but they are not essential to the plot, for it could have worked just as well without any romantic allusions. And ironically, this makes those allusions even more valid, even if they are unrequited. How so?
Consider that if love is essential to a given narrative, is it not relegated to being nothing more than a plot device? Again, this is quite common in Western media and storytelling, and is not inherently bad or wrong, but when it becomes a trope or cliche, I believe it is the essence of where shipping comes from. Many storytellers get caught up in this, usually without realizing it, and while a story can still work even with shipping, I believe that it usually works that much better without it.
This extends not only to Miyazaki’s handling of romance but also to other things like environmentalism, the conflict between man and nature, and the contrasting ideals of human progress vs. preserving the natural order. Movies like Fern Gully and Avatar, as already mentioned, handle these themes in a fairly simplistic and I would even say hamfisted manner, whereby all progress and technology is shown as being inherently “bad” and in service to “evil”, while everything that’s “natural” is shown to be inherently “good”. Even our notions of good and evil, and right vs. wrong, are challenged by Miyazaki, with nearly all of his characters having complex motives and multiple dimensions to them, as well as understandable reasons for doing the things that they do. Rarely can any one of his characters be branded as a simple “villain”, and rarely is any one individual the source of conflict in his stories, again in contrast to most Western narratives.
I’ll reiterate once more, a simple, straightforward narrative is not inherently a bad thing, whether the themes being dealt with are romantic or anything else. Sometimes it is in fact the best approach. But the best stories in my opinion are usually the most nuanced, that challenge our notions of what we believe to be true, and that force us to think about what we do with our lives and what we could do differently. To that end Miyazaki introduces all manner of themes and motifs within his films that are familiar to us but shows them in a light most of us might not have considered, thus giving more dimension to our understanding of things.
“How is any of this related to Star Wars?” you might ask. It is quite related, and you don’t even have to look all that closely to see it. A very influential figure within Star Wars was very heavily inspired by the works of Miyazaki, and that figure is Dave Filoni.
This video shows the connections in some detail:
https://youtu.be/Q_4L0BbSpHo?si=04jDo6qFCnZT135w
But to summarize if you’ve seen any of Miyazaki’s films, especially Princess Mononoke, I think the callbacks in Filoni’s work will be all too obvious, especially in Star Wars Rebels. Some of the scenes in Filoni’s work look like they were taken directly from Miyazki’s films, and many of the same themes and motifs often come up. The relationship between San and Ashitaka I would argue is very similar to the relationship between Ezra and Sabine, and not just because both couples rode wolves together.
Incidentally, Dave Filoni was also heavily involved in Avatar: The Last Airbender, which I would also argue was at least to some degree inspired if not by Miyazaki then by Japanese anime in general. The relationship between Aang and Katara was developed with great care and was allowed to build very slowly, as opposed to simply shipping them. Likewise other characters very gradually developed as individuals and in their relationships, at times stumbling as they did so, and making mistakes, before finding their way back to the right path.
All of this is in stark contrast to George Lucas, whose character development is often very rushed at best, and at times some might say almost non-existent. So essentially, even though Lucas has said that Filoni has been “like a son” to him, and I believe referred to Filoni as his “padawan”, I would argue that Filoni is ultimately as much a student of Miyazaki as he is of Lucas.
Again, you might ask, “What does all this mean for Star Wars?” It means a great many things. It means that Dave Filoni has taken Miyazaki’s lessons to heart, and can handle things like romance, as well as other kinds of relationships, quite well most of the time. Like Miyazaki he can play with romance, tease the audience with it at times even, leave the romance unrequited, and yet still have it feel satisfying. A prime example of this is the love triangle that Ahsoka was involved in with the young Separatist Senator, Lux Bonteri, and Steela Gerrera. As wary as I am of romance and as much as I despise shipping, love triangles I normally despise even more, but this one seemed to actually work. It never took over the main story, and even though Ahsoka’s feelings were ultimately not reciprocated, she still learned from the experience, and grew and developed further as a character because of it. The other characters involved in this triangle also grew and developed from their involvement, though unfortunately not all of them made it. All in all it was a good bit of storytelling and gave the audience something to consider.
When a relationship in one of Filoni’s stories does bloom into a full blown romance he also generally handles it quite well. For one Filoni is sparing with actual romance, so that when it does occur, it can be that much more appreciated. And rather than rushing or shipping it, Filoni normally takes his time to build it up. An example of this is the relationship between Kanan and Hera. Some might argue that this is perhaps the best developed romance in all of Star Wars, at least in Canon. Built up over four seasons, at times it wasn’t certain whether it was a romance or a friendship, or perhaps even a professional partnership. Perhaps even the characters themselves were not certain, though it was hinted all throughout the narrative that something was going on. To this day I don’t believe anyone can say definitively when it became an actual romance, and I believe Filoni did this intentionally because he wanted to be subtle, rather than making things too obvious and having the romance take over the narrative, as it usually does. When it finally did become obvious as to what was happening, it felt very much earned, in a way that is seldom accomplished in other works of fiction, including Star Wars.
The relationship between Ezra and Sabine was also fairly well written, for the most part anyway, at least in Star Wars Rebels. Ezra was almost immediately smitten with Sabine, but being a young teenage boy, it was understandable that he would feel that way about an attractive girl. Over time he learned to see her more respectfully, as a colleague and even as part of his adopted family, not just as a pretty face. Sabine for her part found Ezra annoying at first (c’mon, what teenage boy isn’t?), but as he matured and she found out more about him she came to understand and respect him more, and see him as a friend and almost a brother, with there being potential for something more.
There were times when the relationship could have been better written, like in the episode “Blood Sisters”, where Ezra was written to be a bit too immature to make Sabine look wiser. But overall, the bond between them developed fairly well; both saved one another at various times, and took risks and made sacrifices for each other’s sake. Both reassured and comforted the other when they needed it, and it was endearing to hear their banter when they became more familiar and trusting of each other.
So why then was I so disappointed in how they were portrayed in the Ahsoka show? The thing is, after how well their relationship was built up in Rebels, as I’ve already mentioned it was strange to see how lackluster and uninspired their reunion was.
Within the Ahsoka show itself Sabine was shown to be almost obsessed with finding Ezra, living in what used to be his home, watching a recording of him over and over again, and calling out his name as she woke up in the middle of the night. She even risked bringing Thrawn back into the Galaxy, which ultimately happened, just so she could see Ezra again. After all that, when she finally does encounter him, her reaction seems fairly casual, as does his, as if they’ve been apart for no more than a week, rather than 10 years. Not too much happens between them afterwards either. Like I said Ezra does not appear all that curious about what happened with Sabine, how she found him, and how it was that she was now Force sensitive. Sabine likewise did not seem curious about what had happened with Ezra, and how he had gotten away from Thrawn. And with Ezra rescued and returned home, suddenly it didn’t seem as though Sabine was all that interested in him anymore, nor he all that concerned with her, though they were just as far apart as they had been at the start of the show. To be completely honest it made me wonder what the point of the whole show was. Were they just working to set up Thrawn’s return to the Galaxy? As some have said, Ezra felt like nothing more than a Macguffin in the show. Was Sabine and Ahsoka’s search for him just a plot device?
Considering how skillfully Dave Filoni had written his stories in the past, what happened in this latest project of his does not make much sense. Was he so concerned about “shipping” and so desperate to avoid it that he inadvertently “shipped” them in the other direction? Was there some sort of external pressure on him about how to write this story to have more of an appeal to “modern audiences”? Maybe some combination of those factors?
And here I’ll add that when I say “modern audiences” I don’t mean that in a contemptuous sense, though you may think I do. If there is any contempt on my part it is for those in charge of telling our stories, or those in charge of those telling our stories, who do not seem to grasp these basic truths. The truth is that audiences at their core don’t really change throughout the ages, only superficially so. Trends come and go but certain truths and ideals are eternal, and universal. How people relate to each other fundamentally does not change, whether they are friends, or more than friends. And deep down, I believe everyone (or nearly everyone at least) wants the same things. Nearly everyone at some point wants some kind of a connection with another human being, to know that they are not alone in the world, and to know that there is someone else who sees and understands things as they do. While this desire can certainly lead to abuse, and absolutely has, it is still innate to us and is not inherently wrong. Finding ways of connecting and relating to other people is one of the great challenges of life, but many would argue it is the most worthwhile of challenges. It may be the whole point of life if you think about it. As complex as it may be, many would argue it is what makes life worth living, and likewise makes for the best stories. Just as it may be the whole point of life many would say that is what most stories are about at their core: people trying to relate to one another.
Sadly, just as in real life, most stories unfortunately don’t quite get it, and the Ahsoka show in my opinion was an example of this, made all the sadder by the fact that Dave Filoni had done quite well with these characters up to that point. We may never know for certain what exactly went wrong and why, or if it can ever be “fixed” at this point, but I can’t help but feel curious. Maybe in the future Filoni will find a way to make it make sense, but I’m not sure how. And to be completely honest I don’t feel quite as enthusiastic to find out as I used to.
Also for the record I would like to add here that there are other factors that put me off from the show, such as Sabine’s Force sensitivity, that came about without much build up. But in this article I specifically wanted to focus on shipping because there seems to be so much misunderstanding around it.
I hope that I was able to clarify some, if not most of this misunderstanding, so that people could better appreciate what shipping is, where it comes from, as well as what it isn’t. Many people today are understandably sick of shipping characters, myself included. But I hope people realize that in overcompensating for something, we often come back around into the very thing that we are overcompensating for. Or sometimes, into something even worse. This may apply to nearly every facet of life, by the way, not just shipping. Finding a happy medium in how we portray our fictional relationships may help us to better understand relationships in real life, as well as how to navigate them. Neither fictional nor actual relationships can ever be perfect but they can always be better. To this understanding then I hope that I was able to give my own modest contribution, and if nothing else I hope we can connect on that.

Fo4 does a lot of things better. Its not just gameplay. Far harbor has a beautiful deep brooding atmosphere. The world building and overal aesthetic has so much work put into it. The entire game is dripping with vibe.
There's so many interesting quests and characters. The level design and individual areas makes exploration very satisfying.
I also think it has the best ost in the series. And The licenced music is at least on par with 3/nv. Atom bomb baby is such a great song.
Plus the settlment building has way more depth than people give it credit for. You really can go crazy. Most people just kind of have raider esc set ups. Getting creative can change the map alot. Because there's settlements everywhere.
Not a fan of 3. Nv definitely has the best story. The sci fi elements stick out to me. But 4 isnt garbage. The synth story lines are very interesting. Again, es·pe·cial·ly when you have nick and go to far harbor.
Fo4 just hits for me. Its so immersive and vibey. And yes the gameplay is just way better. I remember something about them bringing in devs that worked on doom 2016. It shows. The combats works and feels good. The movement feels good.
I hear the same criticisms over and over.

1. The dialog options. Personally, i think they should have left it like vegas. But i see why they stream lined it. Its about pacing. And the quests are still engaging. Just not as sophsticated as vegas could be.
   
2. Rpg elements. Pretty much still have a lot of build options. Again, more streamlined. But you can do some unique stuff that i feel is over looked.
   
3. Factions. I get it. Vegas let you become the character and you could be whatever you wanted to be. 4 has its own character and you play that characters pre determined story. Many great games are like that. Is 4 trash because its different? I think its fine. The pros out weigh the cons. 2 is an incredible game. 3 is nothing like it. Yet 3 is beloved.
   

I went into 4 totally objective with an open mindset. Like the other games didnt exist. It was one the best gaming experiences i ever had. And im pretty snobby with games. I really only like games that are high concept and masterfully crafted. Some examples. SH2, Blood Omen, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy 10, Resident evil 2002 remake, Witcher 3, Gt2, Symphony of the night, Alice, SF3rd strike, Dark Soul, bloodborne, sekiro, Siege lol, mw2, dying light, blasphemous. Those are some of my tops. Many are objectivley undeniable. Is f04 like that? Idk. But it hit like witcher 3 in a lot of ways. I played them both at the same time.
With how dissapointing 76 was i dont get how 4 is so underrated. Especially with this ps5 update. The load times and frame rates makes it even more fluid. 4 gets very cinematic at times. When i first rolled up to the corvega factory at night for that brother hood mission. It was just oozing with cinematic shots. You want to screen shot so often. And thats great world design and art direction. Dont even get me started on far harbor. Basically a remake of 3 in one dlc. Its like a stephen king novel.
The setting of 4 in boston with that sea side town vibe and the rich american east coast history. The Revolutionary war and all the historical themes. I think its great.

This is my attempt at a re-submission due to some misunderstandings on the first attempt. I now know that there are different definitions of the word “ship”, but for the purposes of this article and to keep things simple I will use the definition of “a relationship that’s rushed and/or forced with no real development.” I hope you can understand as I do not know of any other single word to describe that concept. If you do, perhaps you can tell me. Also, fair warning, this is long form content (some 10 pages), if you like it but can’t read it all at once you can save it and come back to it over a period of time, or you can stop reading whenever you get tired of it and still discuss those parts of it with me that you have read. But keep it civil if you want a civil response.
With that, to qualify the title, no, Ezra and Sabine do NOT absolutely have to be a couple, but if they were to become one, it would NOT be a ship. Ezra and Sabine’s relationship has had years of development. Could they remain as simply friends? Yes, but ironically, it was their “friendship” that felt like more of a ship. It felt like the Ahsoka show, helmed by Dave Filoni, was going out of its way to tell us: “no, they’re not a couple, they’re just friends.”
I believe that Filoni made some very poor writing choices to stress something that didn’t really need to be stressed, such that it almost felt like he was in denial. The line “I love you like a sister” was never in Rebels, Filoni essentially had that retconned in, and like many I was put off by their (largely) emotionless reunion. Even if they were “just friends” I believe there would be a great deal more emotion displayed between two people that hadn’t seen each other in some ten years, especially when one of them was in a precarious situation when they parted. I also believe Ezra would be far more curious about Sabine being Force sensitive, perhaps even offering to help train her when she told him that her training hadn’t gone as well with Ahsoka. He did help to train her with the Darksaber, didn’t he? Why that never came up is another discussion, but for now, let’s focus on shipping.
In case you think I’m desperate to have them as a couple, no I’m not. I’m about the furthest thing from it. Like many millennials and Gen-Z’ers (and perhaps some Gen-Xers and boomers) I DESPISE shipping. Absolutely DESPISE it. With a flaming passion. Perhaps for this reason, and maybe some others, like many millennials and Gen-Z’ers (and perhaps some Gen-Xers and boomers), I’m generally wary of nearly all romance in fiction, and generally avoid it in my own work. The sad reality is that romance is perhaps the most abused genre in all of fiction, all throughout history. It has been so badly abused that many people, including myself for the longest time, have equated romance with shipping, though I’m slowly beginning to see that they are not the same thing, and one does not necessarily have to go with the other.
But sadly, many writers, through time immemorial, have not been able to separate them, going back into ancient times and perhaps even into pre-history, that is before languages were actually written down. Some of what is considered great literature; classics like Romeo and Juliet, are predicated on shipping, though at least the consequences of this “whirlwind romance” are shown to be fairly stark. Star Wars itself is no stranger to shipping, resulting in a very awkward incestuous kiss when Luke was shipped with Leia, then Leia was placed with Han and Lucas made Luke and Leia brother and sister, apparently having forgotten his original ship. Later Lucas essentially shipped Anakin and Padme, resulting in some of the most cringeworthy dialog in the history of film. Many fans of the Prequels even have been somewhat critical of Anakin’s portrayal, particularly in regards to the “romantic” scenes, with many describing them as “creepy”. Some have speculated that this was intentional, though personally I think it was just the result of bad writing on the part of George Lucas, and an impatience on his part for Anakin and Padme to become a couple, hence “shipping”.
One might wonder why this is so prevalent in fiction, and tragically, one does not have to look far. Fiction is merely a reflection of reality, therefore the reason that shipping is so common in our stories is that we fall so easily into it in real life. Indeed, entire cultures may be based around shipping, or at least very heavily wrapped up in it. Throughout history arranged marriages have been the norm, and the idea of marrying for “love” is something relatively new. To be fair, I’ve actually met people in arranged marriages who seemed to be fairly happy, but those same people were very open in telling me that many despise that aspect of their culture, and that it is quite normal for those in an arranged marriage to try to get out.
People might come together for “love” without marrying, but even then it often creates expectations that might turn into a burden. Even when a marriage is voluntary and for “love”, people are often left unsatisfied, such that today in the West the divorce rate is something like 50%. Happy, stable, long term relationships seem to be the exception across cultures and across the breadth and width of time. And yet pursuit of love and some kind of relationship seems to be the highest calling for many people, both in real life and in fiction. And it could be that the accumulated disgust is finally starting to boil over.
To be fair, this may not be the first time in history that the pendulum has shifted. You may recall that in Victorian times attitudes changed drastically, as compared to the previously bawdy Elizabethan times. Looking at a play from Shakespear, if you can understand the language, you’ll see all kinds of vulgar references, as well as what I believe are fairly sappy romances like in the aforementioned Romeo and Juliet, though I can’t say for certain whether Shakespear was actually endorsing that type of attitude towards “love” or presenting it as a cautionary tale, maybe even something to be ridiculed in some of his other plays.
But regardless, Victorians as you may well know had a very conservative attitude towards anything to do with romance, and would often avoid the subject in many places, or tread very carefully around it, as if walking on eggshells. It’s not that people stopped being romantic, in fiction or real life, but it was treated as something very serious and even dangerous, with many urges repressed or even suppressed entirely. This had all kinds of effects on society, both positive and negative. On the positive side, it reinforced the ideal of people being committed to their partners, and of marriage as a sacred institution rather than a “casual hookup” as was more common in Elizabethan times. Likewise it reinforced ideals of modesty and chastity, which may be coming back into vogue, though under different names. But just as there were positive aspects to these attitudes, so were there negative ones.
Just because the urges I described were repressed did not mean that they disappeared. In fact, they often morphed into things that many would consider “unhealthy”. From one statistic that I saw, in Victorian times about one in every 60 houses was a brothel, with the modern rate being closer to one in 6000. Additionally, the rights of women were often repressed, such that they could not fully express themselves and find their own identity, and path in life, as individuals. Just as Elizabethan ideals gave way to Victorian ones, so did the Victorian ideals gradually begin to erode.
Perhaps it began with the Jazz Age of the 1920’s (the “Roaring Twenties”), or with the increased interconnectivity of people traveling to different parts of the world during World War I, not to mention the cynicism that pervaded throughout the West in response to failed old ideals leading to the deadliest war in history up to that point, but many Victorian ideals began to be seen as a joke, and even resented for their “oppression”, which to be fair was not entirely unjustified. But regardless, people gradually, and at times not so gradually, became more and more “liberated” and promiscuous. This culminated in the Sexual Revolution in the late 1960’s, when what had previously been seen as a vice and even a sin was now seen as not only “normal” but as a healthy form of expression, a virtue even. And just as these ideas were embraced in real life, so too were they reflected in our films, TV shows, and other media, often to the consternation of older people and institutions, like the Vatican. The Catholic Church even went so far as to “ban” certain films, that is to declare them immoral for good Catholics to watch. Many of the films that were banned back then, or at least controversial, like The Graduate with Dustin Hoffman, are fairly tame by today’s standards.
It continued through the 70’s, at times warming and at times cooling through the rest of the century, until you could argue it reached a kind of crescendo in the early 21st century with the advent of so-called “dark romance” and the publication of books like Fifty Shades of Grey. (Ironically, many of the themes within this “dark romance” can trace their roots back to the Victorian era, yet another indication that repressing urges without addressing them often doesn’t work out as one might hope.) But as happens all too often, just as something reaches peak popularity is when it begins to go out of style, and that is what we may be experiencing right now. As weird as it may sound, we may actually have come full circle and may be on the cusp of a “New Victorian Age” (complete with “dark romance”, even). Web sites like Porn Hub and OnlyFans, as well as other similar sites, may be the new “brothels”, and what was once openly celebrated may be going underground, to an extent. The effects of this on society have been interesting to say the least, and at times I would even say bizarre.
Whilst many younger people seem content with these changes, many older people are concerned. I’ve seen a number of books, films, and other media receive positive reviews for example based specifically on their lack of romance. Many of these books/films, etc. fall into the “young adult” category, meaning that it is young adults obviously who mostly consume them. At the same time I’ve heard a number of older people, mostly boomers and Gen-Xers, criticize these same books/films for their lack of romance. Even some older millennials seem upset by the changes, as perhaps evidenced by Jennifer Lawrence’s latest film No Hard Feelings (though to be fair that film may be lampooning the older generation’s frustration as well as the younger generation’s frigidity). So just as in the past older people were concerned about the promiscuity of the youth, now it actually appears that many older people are concerned about the youth’s lack of promiscuity.
Who could have seen that coming? But to be fair, the younger generation hasn’t gone completely frigid. As stated earlier, much of the promiscuity has gone “underground”, or online, which many would argue is not very healthy as it might undermine actual relationships, whether they are romantic in nature or simple friendships. And speaking of that, friendships within stories nowadays often aren’t portrayed in a very authentic or compelling manner, perhaps because in ditching romance modern writers haven’t quite yet learned how to replace it with something else. In other words, the “New Victorian Age” may not be an exact repeat of the previous one, but may have its own twists and turns, for better and for worse.
This may all essentially be a manifestation of the Human Condition, in that we just can’t seem to find a happy medium, neither in real life nor in fiction. Thus we keep swinging from one extreme to the other, apparently getting wilder with each swing.
So where does all this leave us? What is it that we really want in our lives, and in our stories? Especially in regards to relationships? I think at some level we all want to see good and healthy relationships between people and/or characters, whether romantic or platonic. I believe at some point we would like to see good examples of both friendship and romance, and I would argue that the best examples of romance have them combined. Even a toxic relationship, if well portrayed or documented, can be instructive and serve as a good example of what to avoid in our lives that we might be happier and relate better to each other. A good relationship, by contrast, can give us something to aspire to and inspire us to not only look for the right kind of person to complement our lives, but to make ourselves worthy of that person. And here I’ll add that I’m perfectly aware that in real life (and thus in fiction) relationships can be very complicated and heavily nuanced, with elements of both “good” and “bad” in them. Just as people change over time so can the relationships between them change, at times getting better and at times worse, sometimes breaking entirely and sometimes growing stronger. Relationships can have just as many layers and dimensions as characters, more even perhaps, and a skilled writer should be able to reflect this complexity. At other times a relationship can be fairly straightforward, simplicity sometimes being the best approach. But regardless, the audience should be able to relate and identify with what they are seeing, such that hopefully they can incorporate the lessons from it in their own lives.
Where can we find good examples of relationships to study? There may be a number of them in the real world, but the trouble with studying real world relationships is that they’re often much more complicated than fictional ones (just as real people are more complicated than fictional characters), and for many of them it is almost impossible to know all the details and nuances because they are often kept private, understandably so, and even if they aren’t it can still be difficult, due to unique circumstances, to see how to relate them to our own lives. Additionally there may be far more disagreement about a real life situation than a fictional one, with many more points of view. To keep things simple, for the purpose of this article I would like to focus on fictional relationships. (And fair warning, there will be some spoilers.)
One of the best places to look, I would argue, would be the films of Hayao Miyazaki. (And this is pretty significant to Star Wars as you will see in a bit.) A film of his that stands out to me the most is Princess Mononoke. Like many of Miyazaki’s films it has elements of romance, and yet subverts them in a way that makes complete sense and feels very genuine, without taking away from any of the accompanying charm. It starts with two young people, San and Ashitaka, and as soon as they encounter each other there is a kind of expectation of romance. This may be inevitable to some degree when you have a man and a woman of about the same age encounter each other in a story, especially if they happen to be adolescents. The expectation may not be inherently bad, and Miyazaki does play with it. Both characters are thrust into dangerous situations, at various points end up saving each other’s lives, and at a certain point I think it is obvious that they have feelings for each other. I was certain that at the end of the film, they would be together, and if things had gone that way, it would make complete sense. Instead, they go in different directions, but remain good friends, and considering their backgrounds and differing worldviews, this ends up making even more sense to the story.
Essentially, Miyazaki could have gone for the more conventional, tried and true “love conquers all” narrative, where the characters’ feelings for each other would negate everything that comes between them, they would somehow find a common ground in spite of their differences, the romance would not only take over the narrative but somehow also solve all the problems in the story, and then the couple would live “happily ever after”. Such an approach is not inherently bad or wrong, and is fairly common in Western media and storytelling. We can see it in films like Fern Gully, and more recently James Cameron’s Avatar, both of which have been compared to Princess Mononoke. As you can probably guess, the problem is that at a certain point such a narrative can become fairly simplistic, and lack nuance.
Miyazaki’s films, by contrast, are very heavily nuanced, and are anything but simplistic. In Princess Mononoke the characters San and Ashitaka don’t help each other simply because they are “in love”, but because it is the right thing to do, regardless of how they might feel about each other. Yes, romantic feelings are certainly alluded to, but they are not essential to the plot, for it could have worked just as well without any romantic allusions. And ironically, this makes those allusions even more valid, even if they are unrequited. How so?
Consider that if love is essential to a given narrative, is it not relegated to being nothing more than a plot device? Again, this is quite common in Western media and storytelling, and is not inherently bad or wrong, but when it becomes a trope or cliche, I believe it is the essence of where shipping comes from. Many storytellers get caught up in this, usually without realizing it, and while a story can still work even with shipping, I believe that it usually works that much better without it.
This extends not only to Miyazaki’s handling of romance but also to other things like environmentalism, the conflict between man and nature, and the contrasting ideals of human progress vs. preserving the natural order. Movies like Fern Gully and Avatar, as already mentioned, handle these themes in a fairly simplistic and I would even say hamfisted manner, whereby all progress and technology is shown as being inherently “bad” and in service to “evil”, while everything that’s “natural” is shown to be inherently “good”. Even our notions of good and evil, and right vs. wrong, are challenged by Miyazaki, with nearly all of his characters having complex motives and multiple dimensions to them, as well as understandable reasons for doing the things that they do. Rarely can any one of his characters be branded as a simple “villain”, and rarely is any one individual the source of conflict in his stories, again in contrast to most Western narratives.
I’ll reiterate once more, a simple, straightforward narrative is not inherently a bad thing, whether the themes being dealt with are romantic or anything else. Sometimes it is in fact the best approach. But the best stories in my opinion are usually the most nuanced, that challenge our notions of what we believe to be true, and that force us to think about what we do with our lives and what we could do differently. To that end Miyazaki introduces all manner of themes and motifs within his films that are familiar to us but shows them in a light most of us might not have considered, thus giving more dimension to our understanding of things.
“How is any of this related to Star Wars?” you might ask. It is quite related, and you don’t even have to look all that closely to see it. A very influential figure within Star Wars was very heavily inspired by the works of Miyazaki, and that figure is Dave Filoni.
This video shows the connections in some detail:
https://youtu.be/Q_4L0BbSpHo?si=04jDo6qFCnZT135w
But to summarize if you’ve seen any of Miyazaki’s films, especially Princess Mononoke, I think the callbacks in Filoni’s work will be all too obvious, especially in Star Wars Rebels. Some of the scenes in Filoni’s work look like they were taken directly from Miyazki’s films, and many of the same themes and motifs often come up. The relationship between San and Ashitaka I would argue is very similar to the relationship between Ezra and Sabine, and not just because both couples rode wolves together.
Incidentally, Dave Filoni was also heavily involved in Avatar: The Last Airbender, which I would also argue was at least to some degree inspired if not by Miyazaki then by Japanese anime in general. The relationship between Aang and Katara was developed with great care and was allowed to build very slowly, as opposed to simply shipping them. Likewise other characters very gradually developed as individuals and in their relationships, at times stumbling as they did so, and making mistakes, before finding their way back to the right path.
All of this is in stark contrast to George Lucas, whose character development is often very rushed at best, and at times some might say almost non-existent. So essentially, even though Lucas has said that Filoni has been “like a son” to him, and I believe referred to Filoni as his “padawan”, I would argue that Filoni is ultimately as much a student of Miyazaki as he is of Lucas.
Again, you might ask, “What does all this mean for Star Wars?” It means a great many things. It means that Dave Filoni has taken Miyazaki’s lessons to heart, and can handle things like romance, as well as other kinds of relationships, quite well most of the time. Like Miyazaki he can play with romance, tease the audience with it at times even, leave the romance unrequited, and yet still have it feel satisfying. A prime example of this is the love triangle that Ahsoka was involved in with the young Separatist Senator, Lux Bonteri, and Steela Gerrera. As wary as I am of romance and as much as I despise shipping, love triangles I normally despise even more, but this one seemed to actually work. It never took over the main story, and even though Ahsoka’s feelings were ultimately not reciprocated, she still learned from the experience, and grew and developed further as a character because of it. The other characters involved in this triangle also grew and developed from their involvement, though unfortunately not all of them made it. All in all it was a good bit of storytelling and gave the audience something to consider.
When a relationship in one of Filoni’s stories does bloom into a full blown romance he also generally handles it quite well. For one Filoni is sparing with actual romance, so that when it does occur, it can be that much more appreciated. And rather than rushing or shipping it, Filoni normally takes his time to build it up. An example of this is the relationship between Kanan and Hera. Some might argue that this is perhaps the best developed romance in all of Star Wars, at least in Canon. Built up over four seasons, at times it wasn’t certain whether it was a romance or a friendship, or perhaps even a professional partnership. Perhaps even the characters themselves were not certain, though it was hinted all throughout the narrative that something was going on. To this day I don’t believe anyone can say definitively when it became an actual romance, and I believe Filoni did this intentionally because he wanted to be subtle, rather than making things too obvious and having the romance take over the narrative, as it usually does. When it finally did become obvious as to what was happening, it felt very much earned, in a way that is seldom accomplished in other works of fiction, including Star Wars.
The relationship between Ezra and Sabine was also fairly well written, for the most part anyway, at least in Star Wars Rebels. Ezra was almost immediately smitten with Sabine, but being a young teenage boy, it was understandable that he would feel that way about an attractive girl. Over time he learned to see her more respectfully, as a colleague and even as part of his adopted family, not just as a pretty face. Sabine for her part found Ezra annoying at first (c’mon, what teenage boy isn’t?), but as he matured and she found out more about him she came to understand and respect him more, and see him as a friend and almost a brother, with there being potential for something more.
There were times when the relationship could have been better written, like in the episode “Blood Sisters”, where Ezra was written to be a bit too immature to make Sabine look wiser. But overall, the bond between them developed fairly well; both saved one another at various times, and took risks and made sacrifices for each other’s sake. Both reassured and comforted the other when they needed it, and it was endearing to hear their banter when they became more familiar and trusting of each other.
So why then was I so disappointed in how they were portrayed in the Ahsoka show? The thing is, after how well their relationship was built up in Rebels, as I’ve already mentioned it was strange to see how lackluster and uninspired their reunion was.
Within the Ahsoka show itself Sabine was shown to be almost obsessed with finding Ezra, living in what used to be his home, watching a recording of him over and over again, and calling out his name as she woke up in the middle of the night. She even risked bringing Thrawn back into the Galaxy, which ultimately happened, just so she could see Ezra again. After all that, when she finally does encounter him, her reaction seems fairly casual, as does his, as if they’ve been apart for no more than a week, rather than 10 years. Not too much happens between them afterwards either. Like I said Ezra does not appear all that curious about what happened with Sabine, how she found him, and how it was that she was now Force sensitive. Sabine likewise did not seem curious about what had happened with Ezra, and how he had gotten away from Thrawn. And with Ezra rescued and returned home, suddenly it didn’t seem as though Sabine was all that interested in him anymore, nor he all that concerned with her, though they were just as far apart as they had been at the start of the show. To be completely honest it made me wonder what the point of the whole show was. Were they just working to set up Thrawn’s return to the Galaxy? As some have said, Ezra felt like nothing more than a Macguffin in the show. Was Sabine and Ahsoka’s search for him just a plot device?
Considering how skillfully Dave Filoni had written his stories in the past, what happened in this latest project of his does not make much sense. Was he so concerned about “shipping” and so desperate to avoid it that he inadvertently “shipped” them in the other direction? Was there some sort of external pressure on him about how to write this story to have more of an appeal to “modern audiences”? Maybe some combination of those factors?
And here I’ll add that when I say “modern audiences” I don’t mean that in a contemptuous sense, though you may think I do. If there is any contempt on my part it is for those in charge of telling our stories, or those in charge of those telling our stories, who do not seem to grasp these basic truths. The truth is that audiences at their core don’t really change throughout the ages, only superficially so. Trends come and go but certain truths and ideals are eternal, and universal. How people relate to each other fundamentally does not change, whether they are friends, or more than friends. And deep down, I believe everyone (or nearly everyone at least) wants the same things. Nearly everyone at some point wants some kind of a connection with another human being, to know that they are not alone in the world, and to know that there is someone else who sees and understands things as they do. While this desire can certainly lead to abuse, and absolutely has, it is still innate to us and is not inherently wrong. Finding ways of connecting and relating to other people is one of the great challenges of life, but many would argue it is the most worthwhile of challenges. It may be the whole point of life if you think about it. As complex as it may be, many would argue it is what makes life worth living, and likewise makes for the best stories. Just as it may be the whole point of life many would say that is what most stories are about at their core: people trying to relate to one another.
Sadly, just as in real life, most stories unfortunately don’t quite get it, and the Ahsoka show in my opinion was an example of this, made all the sadder by the fact that Dave Filoni had done quite well with these characters up to that point. We may never know for certain what exactly went wrong and why, or if it can ever be “fixed” at this point, but I can’t help but feel curious. Maybe in the future Filoni will find a way to make it make sense, but I’m not sure how. And to be completely honest I don’t feel quite as enthusiastic to find out as I used to.
Also for the record I would like to add here that there are other factors that put me off from the show, such as Sabine’s Force sensitivity, that came about without much build up. But in this article I specifically wanted to focus on shipping because there seems to be so much misunderstanding around it.
I hope that I was able to clarify some, if not most of this misunderstanding, so that people could better appreciate what shipping is, where it comes from, as well as what it isn’t. Many people today are understandably sick of shipping characters, myself included. But I hope people realize that in overcompensating for something, we often come back around into the very thing that we are overcompensating for. Or sometimes, into something even worse. This may apply to nearly every facet of life, by the way, not just shipping. Finding a happy medium in how we portray our fictional relationships may help us to better understand relationships in real life, as well as how to navigate them. Neither fictional nor actual relationships can ever be perfect but they can always be better. To this understanding then I hope that I was able to give my own modest contribution, and if nothing else I hope we can connect on that.

This is my attempt at a re-submission due to some misunderstandings on the first attempt. I now know that there are different definitions of the word “ship”, but for the purposes of this article and to keep things simple I will use the definition of “a relationship that’s rushed and/or forced with no real development.” I hope you can understand as I do not know of any other single word to describe that concept. If you do, perhaps you can tell me. Also, fair warning, this is long form content (some 10 pages), if you like it but can’t read it all at once you can save it and come back to it over a period of time, or you can stop reading whenever you get tired of it and still discuss those parts of it with me that you have read. But keep it civil if you want a civil response.
With that, to qualify the title, no, Ezra and Sabine do NOT absolutely have to be a couple, but if they were to become one, it would NOT be a ship. Ezra and Sabine’s relationship has had years of development. Could they remain as simply friends? Yes, but ironically, it was their “friendship” that felt like more of a ship. It felt like the Ahsoka show, helmed by Dave Filoni, was going out of its way to tell us: “no, they’re not a couple, they’re just friends.”
I believe that Filoni made some very poor writing choices to stress something that didn’t really need to be stressed, such that it almost felt like he was in denial. The line “I love you like a sister” was never in Rebels, Filoni essentially had that retconned in, and like many I was put off by their (largely) emotionless reunion. Even if they were “just friends” I believe there would be a great deal more emotion displayed between two people that hadn’t seen each other in some ten years, especially when one of them was in a precarious situation when they parted. I also believe Ezra would be far more curious about Sabine being Force sensitive, perhaps even offering to help train her when she told him that her training hadn’t gone as well with Ahsoka. He did help to train her with the Darksaber, didn’t he? Why that never came up is another discussion, but for now, let’s focus on shipping.
In case you think I’m desperate to have them as a couple, no I’m not. I’m about the furthest thing from it. Like many millennials and Gen-Z’ers (and perhaps some Gen-Xers and boomers) I DESPISE shipping. Absolutely DESPISE it. With a flaming passion. Perhaps for this reason, and maybe some others, like many millennials and Gen-Z’ers (and perhaps some Gen-Xers and boomers), I’m generally wary of nearly all romance in fiction, and generally avoid it in my own work. The sad reality is that romance is perhaps the most abused genre in all of fiction, all throughout history. It has been so badly abused that many people, including myself for the longest time, have equated romance with shipping, though I’m slowly beginning to see that they are not the same thing, and one does not necessarily have to go with the other.
But sadly, many writers, through time immemorial, have not been able to separate them, going back into ancient times and perhaps even into pre-history, that is before languages were actually written down. Some of what is considered great literature; classics like Romeo and Juliet, are predicated on shipping, though at least the consequences of this “whirlwind romance” are shown to be fairly stark. Star Wars itself is no stranger to shipping, resulting in a very awkward incestuous kiss when Luke was shipped with Leia, then Leia was placed with Han and Lucas made Luke and Leia brother and sister, apparently having forgotten his original ship. Later Lucas essentially shipped Anakin and Padme, resulting in some of the most cringeworthy dialog in the history of film. Many fans of the Prequels even have been somewhat critical of Anakin’s portrayal, particularly in regards to the “romantic” scenes, with many describing them as “creepy”. Some have speculated that this was intentional, though personally I think it was just the result of bad writing on the part of George Lucas, and an impatience on his part for Anakin and Padme to become a couple, hence “shipping”.
One might wonder why this is so prevalent in fiction, and tragically, one does not have to look far. Fiction is merely a reflection of reality, therefore the reason that shipping is so common in our stories is that we fall so easily into it in real life. Indeed, entire cultures may be based around shipping, or at least very heavily wrapped up in it. Throughout history arranged marriages have been the norm, and the idea of marrying for “love” is something relatively new. To be fair, I’ve actually met people in arranged marriages who seemed to be fairly happy, but those same people were very open in telling me that many despise that aspect of their culture, and that it is quite normal for those in an arranged marriage to try to get out.
People might come together for “love” without marrying, but even then it often creates expectations that might turn into a burden. Even when a marriage is voluntary and for “love”, people are often left unsatisfied, such that today in the West the divorce rate is something like 50%. Happy, stable, long term relationships seem to be the exception across cultures and across the breadth and width of time. And yet pursuit of love and some kind of relationship seems to be the highest calling for many people, both in real life and in fiction. And it could be that the accumulated disgust is finally starting to boil over.
To be fair, this may not be the first time in history that the pendulum has shifted. You may recall that in Victorian times attitudes changed drastically, as compared to the previously bawdy Elizabethan times. Looking at a play from Shakespear, if you can understand the language, you’ll see all kinds of vulgar references, as well as what I believe are fairly sappy romances like in the aforementioned Romeo and Juliet, though I can’t say for certain whether Shakespear was actually endorsing that type of attitude towards “love” or presenting it as a cautionary tale, maybe even something to be ridiculed in some of his other plays.
But regardless, Victorians as you may well know had a very conservative attitude towards anything to do with romance, and would often avoid the subject in many places, or tread very carefully around it, as if walking on eggshells. It’s not that people stopped being romantic, in fiction or real life, but it was treated as something very serious and even dangerous, with many urges repressed or even suppressed entirely. This had all kinds of effects on society, both positive and negative. On the positive side, it reinforced the ideal of people being committed to their partners, and of marriage as a sacred institution rather than a “casual hookup” as was more common in Elizabethan times. Likewise it reinforced ideals of modesty and chastity, which may be coming back into vogue, though under different names. But just as there were positive aspects to these attitudes, so were there negative ones.
Just because the urges I described were repressed did not mean that they disappeared. In fact, they often morphed into things that many would consider “unhealthy”. From one statistic that I saw, in Victorian times about one in every 60 houses was a brothel, with the modern rate being closer to one in 6000. Additionally, the rights of women were often repressed, such that they could not fully express themselves and find their own identity, and path in life, as individuals. Just as Elizabethan ideals gave way to Victorian ones, so did the Victorian ideals gradually begin to erode.
Perhaps it began with the Jazz Age of the 1920’s (the “Roaring Twenties”), or with the increased interconnectivity of people traveling to different parts of the world during World War I, not to mention the cynicism that pervaded throughout the West in response to failed old ideals leading to the deadliest war in history up to that point, but many Victorian ideals began to be seen as a joke, and even resented for their “oppression”, which to be fair was not entirely unjustified. But regardless, people gradually, and at times not so gradually, became more and more “liberated” and promiscuous. This culminated in the Sexual Revolution in the late 1960’s, when what had previously been seen as a vice and even a sin was now seen as not only “normal” but as a healthy form of expression, a virtue even. And just as these ideas were embraced in real life, so too were they reflected in our films, TV shows, and other media, often to the consternation of older people and institutions, like the Vatican. The Catholic Church even went so far as to “ban” certain films, that is to declare them immoral for good Catholics to watch. Many of the films that were banned back then, or at least controversial, like The Graduate with Dustin Hoffman, are fairly tame by today’s standards.
It continued through the 70’s, at times warming and at times cooling through the rest of the century, until you could argue it reached a kind of crescendo in the early 21st century with the advent of so-called “dark romance” and the publication of books like Fifty Shades of Grey. (Ironically, many of the themes within this “dark romance” can trace their roots back to the Victorian era, yet another indication that repressing urges without addressing them often doesn’t work out as one might hope.) But as happens all too often, just as something reaches peak popularity is when it begins to go out of style, and that is what we may be experiencing right now. As weird as it may sound, we may actually have come full circle and may be on the cusp of a “New Victorian Age” (complete with “dark romance”, even). Web sites like Porn Hub and OnlyFans, as well as other similar sites, may be the new “brothels”, and what was once openly celebrated may be going underground, to an extent. The effects of this on society have been interesting to say the least, and at times I would even say bizarre.
Whilst many younger people seem content with these changes, many older people are concerned. I’ve seen a number of books, films, and other media receive positive reviews for example based specifically on their lack of romance. Many of these books/films, etc. fall into the “young adult” category, meaning that it is young adults obviously who mostly consume them. At the same time I’ve heard a number of older people, mostly boomers and Gen-Xers, criticize these same books/films for their lack of romance. Even some older millennials seem upset by the changes, as perhaps evidenced by Jennifer Lawrence’s latest film No Hard Feelings (though to be fair that film may be lampooning the older generation’s frustration as well as the younger generation’s frigidity). So just as in the past older people were concerned about the promiscuity of the youth, now it actually appears that many older people are concerned about the youth’s lack of promiscuity.
Who could have seen that coming? But to be fair, the younger generation hasn’t gone completely frigid. As stated earlier, much of the promiscuity has gone “underground”, or online, which many would argue is not very healthy as it might undermine actual relationships, whether they are romantic in nature or simple friendships. And speaking of that, friendships within stories nowadays often aren’t portrayed in a very authentic or compelling manner, perhaps because in ditching romance modern writers haven’t quite yet learned how to replace it with something else. In other words, the “New Victorian Age” may not be an exact repeat of the previous one, but may have its own twists and turns, for better and for worse.
This may all essentially be a manifestation of the Human Condition, in that we just can’t seem to find a happy medium, neither in real life nor in fiction. Thus we keep swinging from one extreme to the other, apparently getting wilder with each swing.
So where does all this leave us? What is it that we really want in our lives, and in our stories? Especially in regards to relationships? I think at some level we all want to see good and healthy relationships between people and/or characters, whether romantic or platonic. I believe at some point we would like to see good examples of both friendship and romance, and I would argue that the best examples of romance have them combined. Even a toxic relationship, if well portrayed or documented, can be instructive and serve as a good example of what to avoid in our lives that we might be happier and relate better to each other. A good relationship, by contrast, can give us something to aspire to and inspire us to not only look for the right kind of person to complement our lives, but to make ourselves worthy of that person. And here I’ll add that I’m perfectly aware that in real life (and thus in fiction) relationships can be very complicated and heavily nuanced, with elements of both “good” and “bad” in them. Just as people change over time so can the relationships between them change, at times getting better and at times worse, sometimes breaking entirely and sometimes growing stronger. Relationships can have just as many layers and dimensions as characters, more even perhaps, and a skilled writer should be able to reflect this complexity. At other times a relationship can be fairly straightforward, simplicity sometimes being the best approach. But regardless, the audience should be able to relate and identify with what they are seeing, such that hopefully they can incorporate the lessons from it in their own lives.
Where can we find good examples of relationships to study? There may be a number of them in the real world, but the trouble with studying real world relationships is that they’re often much more complicated than fictional ones (just as real people are more complicated than fictional characters), and for many of them it is almost impossible to know all the details and nuances because they are often kept private, understandably so, and even if they aren’t it can still be difficult, due to unique circumstances, to see how to relate them to our own lives. Additionally there may be far more disagreement about a real life situation than a fictional one, with many more points of view. To keep things simple, for the purpose of this article I would like to focus on fictional relationships. (And fair warning, there will be some spoilers.)
One of the best places to look, I would argue, would be the films of Hayao Miyazaki. (And this is pretty significant to Star Wars as you will see in a bit.) A film of his that stands out to me the most is Princess Mononoke. Like many of Miyazaki’s films it has elements of romance, and yet subverts them in a way that makes complete sense and feels very genuine, without taking away from any of the accompanying charm. It starts with two young people, San and Ashitaka, and as soon as they encounter each other there is a kind of expectation of romance. This may be inevitable to some degree when you have a man and a woman of about the same age encounter each other in a story, especially if they happen to be adolescents. The expectation may not be inherently bad, and Miyazaki does play with it. Both characters are thrust into dangerous situations, at various points end up saving each other’s lives, and at a certain point I think it is obvious that they have feelings for each other. I was certain that at the end of the film, they would be together, and if things had gone that way, it would make complete sense. Instead, they go in different directions, but remain good friends, and considering their backgrounds and differing worldviews, this ends up making even more sense to the story.
Essentially, Miyazaki could have gone for the more conventional, tried and true “love conquers all” narrative, where the characters’ feelings for each other would negate everything that comes between them, they would somehow find a common ground in spite of their differences, the romance would not only take over the narrative but somehow also solve all the problems in the story, and then the couple would live “happily ever after”. Such an approach is not inherently bad or wrong, and is fairly common in Western media and storytelling. We can see it in films like Fern Gully, and more recently James Cameron’s Avatar, both of which have been compared to Princess Mononoke. As you can probably guess, the problem is that at a certain point such a narrative can become fairly simplistic, and lack nuance.
Miyazaki’s films, by contrast, are very heavily nuanced, and are anything but simplistic. In Princess Mononoke the characters San and Ashitaka don’t help each other simply because they are “in love”, but because it is the right thing to do, regardless of how they might feel about each other. Yes, romantic feelings are certainly alluded to, but they are not essential to the plot, for it could have worked just as well without any romantic allusions. And ironically, this makes those allusions even more valid, even if they are unrequited. How so?
Consider that if love is essential to a given narrative, is it not relegated to being nothing more than a plot device? Again, this is quite common in Western media and storytelling, and is not inherently bad or wrong, but when it becomes a trope or cliche, I believe it is the essence of where shipping comes from. Many storytellers get caught up in this, usually without realizing it, and while a story can still work even with shipping, I believe that it usually works that much better without it.
This extends not only to Miyazaki’s handling of romance but also to other things like environmentalism, the conflict between man and nature, and the contrasting ideals of human progress vs. preserving the natural order. Movies like Fern Gully and Avatar, as already mentioned, handle these themes in a fairly simplistic and I would even say hamfisted manner, whereby all progress and technology is shown as being inherently “bad” and in service to “evil”, while everything that’s “natural” is shown to be inherently “good”. Even our notions of good and evil, and right vs. wrong, are challenged by Miyazaki, with nearly all of his characters having complex motives and multiple dimensions to them, as well as understandable reasons for doing the things that they do. Rarely can any one of his characters be branded as a simple “villain”, and rarely is any one individual the source of conflict in his stories, again in contrast to most Western narratives.
I’ll reiterate once more, a simple, straightforward narrative is not inherently a bad thing, whether the themes being dealt with are romantic or anything else. Sometimes it is in fact the best approach. But the best stories in my opinion are usually the most nuanced, that challenge our notions of what we believe to be true, and that force us to think about what we do with our lives and what we could do differently. To that end Miyazaki introduces all manner of themes and motifs within his films that are familiar to us but shows them in a light most of us might not have considered, thus giving more dimension to our understanding of things.
“How is any of this related to Star Wars?” you might ask. It is quite related, and you don’t even have to look all that closely to see it. A very influential figure within Star Wars was very heavily inspired by the works of Miyazaki, and that figure is Dave Filoni.
This video shows the connections in some detail:
https://youtu.be/Q_4L0BbSpHo?si=04jDo6qFCnZT135w
But to summarize if you’ve seen any of Miyazaki’s films, especially Princess Mononoke, I think the callbacks in Filoni’s work will be all too obvious, especially in Star Wars Rebels. Some of the scenes in Filoni’s work look like they were taken directly from Miyazki’s films, and many of the same themes and motifs often come up. The relationship between San and Ashitaka I would argue is very similar to the relationship between Ezra and Sabine, and not just because both couples rode wolves together.
Incidentally, Dave Filoni was also heavily involved in Avatar: The Last Airbender, which I would also argue was at least to some degree inspired if not by Miyazaki then by Japanese anime in general. The relationship between Aang and Katara was developed with great care and was allowed to build very slowly, as opposed to simply shipping them. Likewise other characters very gradually developed as individuals and in their relationships, at times stumbling as they did so, and making mistakes, before finding their way back to the right path.
All of this is in stark contrast to George Lucas, whose character development is often very rushed at best, and at times some might say almost non-existent. So essentially, even though Lucas has said that Filoni has been “like a son” to him, and I believe referred to Filoni as his “padawan”, I would argue that Filoni is ultimately as much a student of Miyazaki as he is of Lucas.
Again, you might ask, “What does all this mean for Star Wars?” It means a great many things. It means that Dave Filoni has taken Miyazaki’s lessons to heart, and can handle things like romance, as well as other kinds of relationships, quite well most of the time. Like Miyazaki he can play with romance, tease the audience with it at times even, leave the romance unrequited, and yet still have it feel satisfying. A prime example of this is the love triangle that Ahsoka was involved in with the young Separatist Senator, Lux Bonteri, and Steela Gerrera. As wary as I am of romance and as much as I despise shipping, love triangles I normally despise even more, but this one seemed to actually work. It never took over the main story, and even though Ahsoka’s feelings were ultimately not reciprocated, she still learned from the experience, and grew and developed further as a character because of it. The other characters involved in this triangle also grew and developed from their involvement, though unfortunately not all of them made it. All in all it was a good bit of storytelling and gave the audience something to consider.
When a relationship in one of Filoni’s stories does bloom into a full blown romance he also generally handles it quite well. For one Filoni is sparing with actual romance, so that when it does occur, it can be that much more appreciated. And rather than rushing or shipping it, Filoni normally takes his time to build it up. An example of this is the relationship between Kanan and Hera. Some might argue that this is perhaps the best developed romance in all of Star Wars, at least in Canon. Built up over four seasons, at times it wasn’t certain whether it was a romance or a friendship, or perhaps even a professional partnership. Perhaps even the characters themselves were not certain, though it was hinted all throughout the narrative that something was going on. To this day I don’t believe anyone can say definitively when it became an actual romance, and I believe Filoni did this intentionally because he wanted to be subtle, rather than making things too obvious and having the romance take over the narrative, as it usually does. When it finally did become obvious as to what was happening, it felt very much earned, in a way that is seldom accomplished in other works of fiction, including Star Wars.
The relationship between Ezra and Sabine was also fairly well written, for the most part anyway, at least in Star Wars Rebels. Ezra was almost immediately smitten with Sabine, but being a young teenage boy, it was understandable that he would feel that way about an attractive girl. Over time he learned to see her more respectfully, as a colleague and even as part of his adopted family, not just as a pretty face. Sabine for her part found Ezra annoying at first (c’mon, what teenage boy isn’t?), but as he matured and she found out more about him she came to understand and respect him more, and see him as a friend and almost a brother, with there being potential for something more.
There were times when the relationship could have been better written, like in the episode “Blood Sisters”, where Ezra was written to be a bit too immature to make Sabine look wiser. But overall, the bond between them developed fairly well; both saved one another at various times, and took risks and made sacrifices for each other’s sake. Both reassured and comforted the other when they needed it, and it was endearing to hear their banter when they became more familiar and trusting of each other.
So why then was I so disappointed in how they were portrayed in the Ahsoka show? The thing is, after how well their relationship was built up in Rebels, as I’ve already mentioned it was strange to see how lackluster and uninspired their reunion was.
Within the Ahsoka show itself Sabine was shown to be almost obsessed with finding Ezra, living in what used to be his home, watching a recording of him over and over again, and calling out his name as she woke up in the middle of the night. She even risked bringing Thrawn back into the Galaxy, which ultimately happened, just so she could see Ezra again. After all that, when she finally does encounter him, her reaction seems fairly casual, as does his, as if they’ve been apart for no more than a week, rather than 10 years. Not too much happens between them afterwards either. Like I said Ezra does not appear all that curious about what happened with Sabine, how she found him, and how it was that she was now Force sensitive. Sabine likewise did not seem curious about what had happened with Ezra, and how he had gotten away from Thrawn. And with Ezra rescued and returned home, suddenly it didn’t seem as though Sabine was all that interested in him anymore, nor he all that concerned with her, though they were just as far apart as they had been at the start of the show. To be completely honest it made me wonder what the point of the whole show was. Were they just working to set up Thrawn’s return to the Galaxy? As some have said, Ezra felt like nothing more than a Macguffin in the show. Was Sabine and Ahsoka’s search for him just a plot device?
Considering how skillfully Dave Filoni had written his stories in the past, what happened in this latest project of his does not make much sense. Was he so concerned about “shipping” and so desperate to avoid it that he inadvertently “shipped” them in the other direction? Was there some sort of external pressure on him about how to write this story to have more of an appeal to “modern audiences”? Maybe some combination of those factors?
And here I’ll add that when I say “modern audiences” I don’t mean that in a contemptuous sense, though you may think I do. If there is any contempt on my part it is for those in charge of telling our stories, or those in charge of those telling our stories, who do not seem to grasp these basic truths. The truth is that audiences at their core don’t really change throughout the ages, only superficially so. Trends come and go but certain truths and ideals are eternal, and universal. How people relate to each other fundamentally does not change, whether they are friends, or more than friends. And deep down, I believe everyone (or nearly everyone at least) wants the same things. Nearly everyone at some point wants some kind of a connection with another human being, to know that they are not alone in the world, and to know that there is someone else who sees and understands things as they do. While this desire can certainly lead to abuse, and absolutely has, it is still innate to us and is not inherently wrong. Finding ways of connecting and relating to other people is one of the great challenges of life, but many would argue it is the most worthwhile of challenges. It may be the whole point of life if you think about it. As complex as it may be, many would argue it is what makes life worth living, and likewise makes for the best stories. Just as it may be the whole point of life many would say that is what most stories are about at their core: people trying to relate to one another.
Sadly, just as in real life, most stories unfortunately don’t quite get it, and the Ahsoka show in my opinion was an example of this, made all the sadder by the fact that Dave Filoni had done quite well with these characters up to that point. We may never know for certain what exactly went wrong and why, or if it can ever be “fixed” at this point, but I can’t help but feel curious. Maybe in the future Filoni will find a way to make it make sense, but I’m not sure how. And to be completely honest I don’t feel quite as enthusiastic to find out as I used to.
Also for the record I would like to add here that there are other factors that put me off from the show, such as Sabine’s Force sensitivity, that came about without much build up. But in this article I specifically wanted to focus on shipping because there seems to be so much misunderstanding around it.
I hope that I was able to clarify some, if not most of this misunderstanding, so that people could better appreciate what shipping is, where it comes from, as well as what it isn’t. Many people today are understandably sick of shipping characters, myself included. But I hope people realize that in overcompensating for something, we often come back around into the very thing that we are overcompensating for. Or sometimes, into something even worse. This may apply to nearly every facet of life, by the way, not just shipping. Finding a happy medium in how we portray our fictional relationships may help us to better understand relationships in real life, as well as how to navigate them. Neither fictional nor actual relationships can ever be perfect but they can always be better. To this understanding then I hope that I was able to give my own modest contribution, and if nothing else I hope we can connect on that.