Re: [FT] [OT]Darth Vader's Advice to the class of 99

Since the Great SML vs Banzai Jammer debate threatens to start
generating more heat than light, here's a snippet that should lighten up
the atmosphere a bit.

DARTH VADER'S THOUGHTS TO THE CLASS OF '99

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Vassar College class of '99...embrace the
Dark Side.  If I could offer you only one tip for the future, the Dark
Side would be it.  The long-term benefits of the Dark Side have been
proved by the Dark Lords of The Sith, whereas the rest of my advice
has no basis more reliable than my own meandering cruelty and
conquests. I will dispense this advice now...

Enjoy the power and beauty of your planet.

Oh, never mind, you will never understand the power and the beauty of
your planet until after the Empire has destroyed it in a futile
attempt to find a Rebel Base.  But trust me, in twenty years, you will
look back at photos of your home and recall, in a way you can't grasp
now, how blissfully ignorant you were, and how fabulous your planet
really looked before it was a pile of burning space rubble. Your
planet is not as dull as you imagine.

Don't worry about the Rebellion - or worry, but know that worrying is
as effective as trying to make the Kessel run in a landspeeder. The
real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed
your twisted mind. The kind that fire a direct hit into your reactor
core at 4 PM on some idle Tuesday.

Do in one Death Star officer every day.

Scheme.

Don't disobey the Emperor's orders; don't put up with people who
disobey yours.

Hate.

Don't waste your time on Stormtroopers. They can't hit the broad side
of an AT-AT.

The battle is long and in the end, it's only with yourself. And your
idiot son. Remember the prophecies of the Emperor; ignore the whinings
of your bratty upstart farmboy of a son. If you succeed in doing this,
tell me how.

Keep your old lightsaber, but change your costume slightly with every
sequel.

Destroy.

Don't feel guilty if you have no misgivings about joining the Dark
Side. The most interesting people I know didn't have any respect at 22
for their victim's lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year olds I
know still don't.

Have plenty of minions.

Be kind to your right hand, you'll miss it when it's gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe your son will join you,
maybe he won't. Maybe you'll convince your daughter to become a dark
Jedi and assist you in your campaign of hatred and destruction; maybe
she'll become a rebel leader and marry a scruffy-looking nerf herder.

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate
yourself either. Your destiny is guided by the Force. So is everybody
else's.

Enjoy the Force. Exploit it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it
or what other people think of your "sorcerer's ways." The ability to
destroy a planet is insignificant next to its power.

Kill. Even if you have no one to kill but a meaningless extra.

Listen to what the Emperor has foreseen, even if you don't follow his
prophecies.

Do not take your mask off, it will only make you feel ugly. And
vulnerable.

Get to know your parents. You'll never know when they'll turn out to
be your arch enemies. Be nice to your siblings. They are your best
link to your Jedi lineage and the ones most likely to become Jedi in
the future.

Understand  that lackeys come and go. But with a precious few, you
should keep from crushing their tracheas. Work hard to bridge the gaps
in geography and lifestyle, for as the more desperate you become, the
more you will need to send bounty hunters to do your dirty work for
you.

Live on Dagobah once, but leave before you get foot rot.

Live on Tattooine once, but leave before you get heat stroke.

Travel. Preferably in your own custom TIE Fighter.

Accept certain inalienable truths: rebellions will rise, the Imperial
Senate will have to be disbanded, you too will get old. And when you
do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, rebels were easily
crushed, the Imperial Senate was subservient, and citizens respected
their Emperor.

Respect your Emperor. Don't expect your son to rule the galaxy with
you. Maybe he'll give in to his anger, maybe he'll strike you down,
but you'll never know when he'll whine pleadingly and you'll find
yourself turning to the Light Side and saving his sorry butt.

Don't strike down your old Jedi Master, or he will become more
powerful than you could possibly imagine.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply
it,  or I'll crush your throat. Advice is a form of nostalgia.
Dispensing it is a way of fishing your humanity from the depths of
sin, wiping it off, putting  black body armor over the ugly parts and
redeeming it for more  than its worth.

But trust me on the Dark Side.

-- 
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