#I almost left the cinema when Kylo Ren died

[struggling-author]

I have that struggle with all media tbh, and even internally. I think in many cases character death can be fitting and improve the story on a thematic level, there is something more raw and real about these stories and it raises the stakes and the drama exponentially by making you doubt if there’ll ever be a happy ending

on the other hand though, it is the single thing that can perhaps most easily ruin even an otherwise great story, because no matter how well written something is, if your favorite character dies, or the one you most relate to, or the ship you were desperately hoping to be endgame is torn apart by death, then there’s not much holding you to the story. Even if you make it to the end, even if it’s meant as a happy ending, it will probably feel empty to you

The rare JJK small mention, i think last one was when you got a finger

Yeah I don't think I'll ever actually watch JJK I've heard it's one of those shows were alot of the characters die and I'm not a fan of those types of shows it's the same reason I could never get into attack on titan or the walking dead I fear getting really invested in a character only for them to die

[chocolateslatte]

🚨The Rise of Skywalker Detailed Review and Spoilers Ahead🚨

George Lucas: “If the boy and girl walk off into the sunset hand-in-hand in the last scene, it adds 10 million to the box office”

The “fairytale” we got: A long long time ago in a galaxy far far away, there was a curse of pain and death in a family that just went on and on.  They were never able to break it and they all die, the end. 

Well, you did it JJ, you little punk...you ruined 40 years of cinema. Kids are coming out of theatres crying, they can’t understand. I guess this was the “fun and hopeful ending” you were speaking of during the press tours.  Are you on crack or something, or just sadistic....why would you promote it like that!? Did you forget Star Wars at its core is a story of hope, light, a fairytale in space for children? They did it...they united Reylo’s and Fanboys through hate. 

JJ you do realize tragical romances are only tragically romantic if there was romantic buildup? Romeo and Juliet married in secret, Anidala did as well and flirted in the fields. How was this supposed to be satisfying? A five-second beginning, middle, and end. How this went through multiple execs is beyond me.... I would have understood if Reylo was Rian’s creation. BUT JJ LITERALLY was the one who told Rian to go forth with it...he created Reylo so you can’t say the last Jedi derailed things on that front. JJ wasn’t brave enough for his own vision. This movie was like “the crimes of Grindlewald”, a lot of stuff happening that made me feel nothing. 

Okay, first things first. The OG trilogy was necessary, the prequels were necessary to set up that Vader did not start off bad. What was necessary about the sequels? They just dismantled everything the Skywalker family worked for. Why did we have to see ALL of our favorite characters die? Was the aim that a villain can only be redeemed through death? How original. I’m convinced what they were planning for since force awakens was a journey from villain to hero...but instead we got this a 10min redemption resulting in death a la Vader. Why call Adam Driver’s character a “Disney Prince”?When did Happy endings become so controversial? We go to the movies to feel hope, to escape reality...George Lucas understood that. JJ’s trilogy is uninspired, bland and contributes nothing to the saga. JJ went as far as to recon his own “The Force Awakens”.It had the chance to define generations but no. Literal and utter garbage. Rian made some odd choices but he was bold, unafraid and had the vision. HE knew emotion was at the heart of Star Wars.

WHERE DID THE SKYWALKERS RISE? MORE LIKE RISE OF PALPATINE,  HE BLOODY WON

BUT my problem is not with the ending, it’s the bloody entire movie. This movie made me realize that it's not Reylo that I am a fan of, it was Ben, Leia, Han, Ani, Padme, and all those other characters. I’m upset because this movie is not my Star Wars: of family, love and above all else hope. This is just a 2.5-hour video game with no emotions. This trilogy was all angst with NO payoff.

Okay, you will never ever convince me Palpatine was planned the whole time. This whole movie was retcon for the Last Jedi that pissed off the fanboys. Lucas films did not have an outline for the three films and Rian derailed whatever they wanted to do....except they didn’t even tell him what they wanted! This should be a cautionary tale of why you need to plan. Kylo ain’t bad, Snoke is gone....well pull out Palpatine I guess. This whole film is JJ’s mad scrambling.  Alright, I will humor you, tell me how Palpatine came back when he fell down a shaft and exploded....not *boom boom because of force*. The force in this movie is not canon George Lucas force, it’s just an easy out whenever JJ wants one. 

1. Opening Crawl: As soon as I saw this I knew all the leaks were true, I wanted to bolt from the theatre. When I saw them in August I laughed cause it was so ridiculous it couldn’t be true. How could Disney let a whole movie leak? The plot seemed like a bad fan-fiction. Actually, fanfics are way more true to lore. Anyway, so Palpatine “announces” that he’s back. Is this the shrewd Chancellor Palpatine we know? Certainly, not...why in the world would he announce it rather than keep on the DL and just attack. Yo Palps ain’t this dumb why would you let them (the resistance) prepare?? Because of plot...well okay. 

2. Did Last Jedi even happen:  this film is the sequel to the force awakens, like TLJ never happened...except it’s acting like there was some movie in between that JJ made. Okay, so why is Kylo trying to run Rey over with his tie fighter...he doesn’t really want to kill her. It’s just meaningless action shots.  And don’t get me started on exposition, the dialogue: “hey look its the Knights of Ren”. Except they do nothing. Cool cool.  Kylo’s character goes back to Force awakens era like no development had occurred...except he’s not even there he’s just messing around not even being a real villain.  JJ’s specialty is set-up and he does this beautifully....but he can not wrap up and follow through. 

3. Rose Tico: yup last Jedi never happened, she has nothing to do. She and Finn are irrelevant. Finn has reverted to being obsessed with Rey. Cool Cool.  I honestly feel so bad for the lovely Kelly Marie Tran. How did you relegate a relatively big character into the sidelines?? Why introduce two new characters this late. Rose could have filmed in for them...but alas we must snub Rian at every turn because that’s just how petty JJ Abrams is. ( don’t get me wrong Jannah was cool)

4. The Rise Of Poe Dameron: Finn has been relegated to a side character who does nothing and just yells “REY!”. It was a great setup, a stormtrooper who was force sensitive but doesn’t want his life to be fighting for nothing. You could have explored trauma, the discovery of the light but nope nada. Tell me the point of his character journey. So flat and static. And with Jannah and the ex stormtroopers they could have gone with the arc of these lost, sad kids coming together to find family. 

5. Leia:  Okay you’re telling me our Princess would give up on her son before he was born, just throw away her lightsaber and accept Ben’s fate? Cool alright. And she knew about Rey Palpatine and didn’t say anything...my princess would never.

6. Mary Sue Rey: Ahh Rey this girl feels no emotion in this movie...just like the audience. Sure she’s trained but she can just do stuff with the “force” that even Jedi masters can’t. Stopping a whole starship, something even Yoda could barely do...yup she can do it. Beat Kylo all the time except one, yup she can. Manipulate the force in mind-boggling ways, heal people...sure Luke couldn’t but Rey certainly can.  Cause she is the chosen one...hell even Ani wasn’t this talented and he had years of training. Poe and Finn have a genuine connection, Rey just seems disjointed (totally understandable why)...but if so the ending is even worse. She doesn’t even find peace with her friends. She’s not realistic and human like Luke and Leia were. 

 Force sensitivity in the galaxy:  What a perfect setup, the boy with the broom at the end of TLJ that was force sensitive. The message is that the power to use the force was spreading through the galaxy. No longer confined to the elite. People were hearing of Luke’s battle of Crate and rising.

7. Kylo/Ben: I still maintain that he, other than Ani was the most nuanced character in the whole saga. His arc from Force Awakens to Last Jedi had progressed. How great that even someone from the legendary line of skywalker and solo could fall to the dark again. He wasn’t flat, he was a tortured boy that was conflicted since the first movie. How great would it have been to see him as a conflicted supreme leader, which was set up in TLJ. But *gasps* a plot of his very own, no can do, this is the nature of JJ’s crush on Rey and Daisy. 

Disney released comics that made us sympathize with him, to see that all along he was manipulated by Snoke, and Palpatine the voices in his head. Neglected by those who were supposed to love him. Adam Driver was cast perfectly, he had almost no lines that weren’t related to Rey’s charcater arc. If he were a woman I’m sure everyone would be offended. That single line’s delivery “Dad-”

Come on Poe had more lines than him, and Driver according to JJ was half of the protagonist. He was pitched an arc opposite that of Darth Vader that’s why he signed. Man JJ really did do everyone dirty. 

8. Ben had no lines while redeemed other than “ow”...I am so sorry ADAM that this nasty ass JJ did this to you...this part was 100% improv by Adam, I am willing to bet my life on it. You know why “ow” was brilliant? Cause it meant he felt pain and emotion, he was no longer hiding behind the hardness of Kylo REN. Adam’s performance as Ben left me speechless, he was convincing as Kylo, intimidating...but as BEN he shines in the way only Solo’s can. The way his eyes become determined once he accepts he must give his life, and he does so happily for the love of his life. His soulmate. Star Wars and JJ never deserved the talent that is Adam Driver.

9. They are supposed to be equals in the force yet they missed the opportunity to fight Snoke together. Tell me how they are equals. He existed only to further Rey’s plotline. 

Oh and the other Jedi including Anakin whisper and help Rey...when his own grandson has been asking for help in distress for like 30years. Nice real nice.

10. Finally Reylo:  it felt unearned cause there was no buildup, JJ just threw it in for kicks forgetting all the P&P parallels he was shooting for. An afterthought. Driver and Ridley’s acting saved the day, they had no lines.  Adam Driver is truly one of the finest actors. You could see the difference between Ben and Kylo in his subtle gestures...the sass was pure Han Solo.  

11. And then the death: I wouldn’t even say we won, but at what cost. We won in no way. Had he died fighting I would have understood, but this death was so unnecessary and put in just for the fanboys. Let me say again I would have been okay with death had it been justified.  How is this any different than Vader x Luke. JJ can only copy not create. How crazy that you can just bring people back from the dead...Anakin is here like, am I joke to you? I could have brought Padme back say what???? What was the point of his whole fall to the dark. The force is infinite, that’s the whole point...once you know how to use it you can’t run out of it like juice. Oh, and Ben did not become one with Rey but rather the Force according to the Disney website. So why pray tell did he not appear as a force ghost? I’m convinced JJ was on crack.  

12. No Mourning BEN no acknowledgment:  5 seconds! And then she moves on from losing her soulmate, half of her soul. She loses it over Chewie but nothing, no emotion not even a second over her other half. Seriously? No one ever knows Ben came back...nada. JJ set up Reylo, time and time again he has said that he crafted the story around the romance. He was left scrambling after Last Jedi and this was a last-ditch shock ending. No Reylo theme song, no across the stars

13. Last Jedi told us you don’t have to come from a powerful family to be important. THE WHOLE thing was that you could be force-sensitive and be a nobody. Nobodies can become somebody. A Hero is not born but made. The force lives in all beings, not just powerful families. It inspired me, what a great message to young guys and gals. Kylo’s line, “you come from nothing, you are nothing...you have no place in this story” finally turns out true. You have to come from something to have a part in the Star Wars story. And Rey had darkness inside her cause she was human. Because none of us are pure, we are shades of grey. But no, it’s cause darkness only runs in families. In the Last Jedi when she wants to see her family all she sees is herself and a shadow (Ben) who joins with her. Please do explain this JJ. And if this granddaughter thing was set up I would have had no problem...but they pulled it from their asses. You can have nothing but mean something. But no pander to the fanboys. In the end, a Palpatine lived and all the skywalkers ended....and we are supposed to have hope. Palpatine really did win. 

14. Rey’s biggest fear was ending up in the desert alone, we were told “the belonging she seeks is ahead not behind” and “there’s someone who could still come back”. They mentioned she felt just as alone with the resistance. Only the other half of her soul understood her. This is truly tragic and sad...I am so heartbroken for her. And don’t tell me she isn’t there to stay...the soundtrack is called “a new home”. Enjoy the rest of your days being exactly where you started Rey....but hey at least you got a droid boo. I’m convinced this is not the balance JJ envisioned in the first movie. At one point in TFA Rey looks up sees an old woman alone, scavenging in the desert. This rattles her to the core and it starts her journey of wanting a better, different life. I am so sorry Rey. Okay so you may say she has the resistance and her friends...but let’s consult the last Jedi. In the end when everyone is on the ship...Rey is surrounded by friends yet looks more alone than ever. No one but Ben, maybe Luke, Leia, and Han understood her pull to the dark.

How sad that these two hopeless souls who had never known a moment of belonging and true love, found it for all but a few seconds.

I will quote: “preventing female characters with strong, compelling narratives from experiencing love, intimacy, and affection is just as regressive as reducing them down to sexual accessories. Assumes that women must choose between a romantic interest and depth of character”

Men really can not write good female characters, can they? A woman really can’t be a badass and end up with the love of her life

15. The Skywalker’s and Redemption: How truly truly sad that Han and Leia gave their life for their son who also died at a young age. ALL the Skywalkers and Solo’s have a tragic end. This is not what George Lucas wanted. What a tragic way to end this saga...they weren't able to break the curse. AND to all those troubled kids out there that lashed out and made terrible mistakes in their youth....doesn’t matter what you do dying is the only way out. You could have exiled him, made him pay in other ways. Nothing can be done to make up for your sins but death, no amount of good means that you can come home. To the young boys that get wrapped up in terror organizations, sorry the only way you can be redeemed is death...don’t bother changing and coming back. They could have exiled him, had him start an academy with Rey for Jedi kids. He could have spent the rest of his days redeeming himself. Why tell us he was literally preyed upon, haunted, and manipulated as a child. Even in a fantasy world, a victim of mental illness and abuse can not catch a break. Ben as a child could not fall asleep due to the demon-like voices in his mind. Everyone abandoned him in his time of need. Ben never desired power like Anakin, he went over to the dark because “the voice” of his grandfather promised belonging. I am shocked that this is the message Disney sends us. Oh and yeah you can totally take on the Skywalker name for kicks...the disrespect I swear

16. The worst bit is that I am 90% sure there was another ending that was scrapped.  There was a promo shot of Jannah in a field, soft lighting, lush planet. It was exactly like P&P. Daisy Ridley said the lasts scene was known to only Her, Jannah on that panel (Driver was away). Convinced Jannah was looking at Rey and Ben starting a new life away from the desert which she and Luke hate so much. Hence the production of “A New Home” soundtrack. Hence why the “Farewell” song played behind Reylo kiss was hopeful. Why Luke’s soundtrack when he became part of the force was not triumphant. Why the death scene was sudden and cut weird and no sorrow from Rey. CAUSE THEY SCRAPPED THE ORIGINAL ENDING LAST MINUTE.  Everyone knows JJ was still editing one month before. The concept art which was supposed to be released this month has been pushed to March. Why you ask? They need to remove the pages with a happy ending. He just didn’t have the guts, pandered to everyone and yet no one. He was successful in creating a beautifully filmed action-filled movie with none of the heart of Star Wars.

And then she goes and buries Anakin’s saber on freaking TATOOINE. He HATES Sand and Luke wanted to get away from there as soon as possible. Of course, a Palpatine would torture them that way. But nostalgia is the cash cow so. JJ can only generate nostalgia, not create original stories. IF he had any creativity she would have buried it at Padme’s grave.

The fanboys say “leave the romance for the romance movies”....have you seen the original trilogy or the prequels? Star Wars has always had hope and romance entwined with it. 

SO AFTER 40 YEARS...PALPATINE WINS...HIS BLOODLINE LIVES ON

...and people thought the prequels were bad 

JJ you also said that your goal was for people to come out of the movie feeling more hopeful and happy then they went in...yet here I am. My roommate literally had to console me and buy me ice cream. I am just so numb. I am sure the casual fan will enjoy this, as seen from the rotten tomatoes ratings. I think the critics were too generous with this one, 

Star Wars is very simple at its core, Good vs Bad and Dark vs Light. The kids are expected to understand that a Palpatine being the only one who lives is hopeful? That is the conclusion of three generations of Skywalker sacrifice...

This is how the Skywalkers are remembered...In Tragedy and Curse??

[friendships-are-masterpieces]

Is Rey Actually a Palpatine?

Rey’s lineage was purposely left ambiguous in the Force Awakens. This was clearly meant to parallel Luke’s origins in a New Hope, when he’s living on Tatooine with his aunt and uncle. His dad is only mentioned by Obi-Wan, who bends the truth: “A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi knights. He betrayed and murdered your father. Now the Jedi are all but extinct. Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force.” Of course, it’s later revealed that Luke’s father is actually his greatest adversary. This eventually becomes a major obstacle for him, since Luke’s biggest fear is becoming his father. Yoda makes it clear that his fear and anger are gateways to the darkside: “Yes, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice.”

Palpatine senses Luke’s imbalance and tries to entice him to kill his father: “You're hate has made you powerful. Now fulfill your destiny, take your father's place by my side.” But Luke’s empathy and forgiveness in this moment saves them both. Palpatine was unable to manipulate Luke, like he did with Anakin. In the prequels, it’s clear Palpatine is a known liar. He knew Anakin was a former slave, who’s mother died under terrible conditions. He also knew Anakin feared Padmé’s death, so he dangles power in-front of him: “The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power. The only difference between the two is that the Sith are not afraid of the Dark Side of the Force. That is why they are more powerful.” Palpatine most likely knew Padmé would die anyway, so his promises are empty. Anakin falls to disgrace and becomes Darth Vader, and the rest is cinema history.

Fast forward back to Rey, who’s introduced as a lonely, starving scavenger. She has no known family. She’s unknowingly been abandoned, and her biggest fear is being worthless. Kylo Ren calls out this fear in the Last Jedi: “Your parents threw you away like garbage... They did. But you can't stop needing them. It's your greatest weakness.” Rey desperately wants to be apart of something. That’s why it’s so hard for her to accept that her parents were no one. She’s has to find self-worth within herself. It’s the exact opposite of Luke’s problem in Empire Strikes Back. He desperately doesn’t want to believe that Darth Vader is his father: “No. No. That's not true. That's impossible! No!” Once again, Luke saves himself from the darkside by forgiving his dad, and not letting his legacy smother him. That’s why Palpatine constantly dangles Darth Vader’s death in-front of him, because he knows it’s secretly what Luke wants. To kill his greatest enemy. But that would be a gateway to the darkside.

Palpatine returning, in a way, and announcing Rey is from his “bloodline” is very convenient for a few reasons. It gives Rey the knowledge that her parents secretly loved her. This is huge for Rey, and a possible manipulation tactic. It also places Rey’s family at the center of the story. Even if her bloodline is Sith, it’s still a very significant connection. It would make her a main figure in the story. It could also sway her away from the lightside because like Kylo Ren, she’d feel unworthy of becoming a true Jedi now. Yoda even hints at this in the Last Jedi: “Lost Ben Solo you did. Lose Rey we must not.” Charles Soule also said something interesting on a different subject, but could still relate to Rey’s history: “I hate explaining stuff in my work in too much detail, but you need to understand the scenario happening here. The Dark Side is not a reliable narrator.” Palpatine would have everything to gain, and nothing to lose, by making a claim like this. We see in the cave sequence that Rey can’t even remember her parents faces, so it would be an easy lie too. It’s also something Palpatine has done before with Anakin, where he tells half-truths, or he manipulates people by telling them what they want to hear. He’s also talented at manipulating people’s thoughts, as we see with Kylo Ren: “I've been every voice inside your head.”

[stupidsexyfandom]

Armistice

@helsa-summer-event

Rated T // Drama, Modern AU

The gang engage in a classic beat-the-heat activity for people who don’t have central air: going to the movies.

Written for Prompt #5 of Helsa Summer: We’re cool in the summer. 

“Come to the movies with me and Kristoff.”

“I thought you said it was too hot to do anything?” Hans smiled against the phone. He had long ceased to be surprised by Anna calling him up out of the blue to hang out, despite their messy breakup a year before. What he was not expecting was to be invited on a movie date with her new boyfriend. Something else had to be going on.

“I meant that it was too hot to do anything else. The theaters are air-conditioned, and the matinee tickets are cheap. Plus, I hear they have those deluxe reclining seats.” Anna acted oblivious to his probing. It was more likely that she was deliberately avoiding his unasked question.

“Don’t you have any other friends?” He kept his tone light and teasing.

“Well, yeah, but they’re all couples, and I don’t want Elsa to be uncomfortable. I don’t want her thinking this is a date thing.” Ah, there it was. Translation: Kristoff and I want to participate in the storied summer tradition of making out like teenagers in the dark, and I don’t want Elsa to see. Other couples would surely tip her off.

Hans sighed overdramatically and said, with faux grandiosity, “Fine. I will chaperone the chaperone while you and Kristoff get up to whatever it is you kids get up to these days. All I ask in return is a simple cone of Carvel ice cream, given to me at a prearranged time after the showing.”

“Thanks, gramps. You know, it’s a real wonder that you’re my only single friend.” He could hear Anna giggling through her sarcasm.

“Wonder no longer, for the truth is that I am simply too cool for all of you.”

“Sure, whatever you have to tell yourself. We’re seeing the latest Star Wars. Meet us in the parking lot at 4.”

-

It really is too hot to do anything else, thought Hans as he walked across the parking lot. Heat radiated up from the asphalt, the air shimmering with humidity. He saw the others standing by Kristoff’s truck, looking ready to wilt. Anna and Kristoff were dressed casually, seemingly taking their not-a-date act seriously. Elsa looked overdressed in comparison, out of place in her sleeveless button-up.

“Hey, Hans,” Anna called to him. He raised a hand in greeting. Kristoff gave him a friendly nod, while Elsa made no acknowledgement that she had even seen him.

“Hey, guys. I hope I haven’t kept you waiting?”

“No, we just got here,” said Anna, “Let’s go inside, I can’t stand to be out here any longer.”

They purchased their tickets and made their way to the appointed theater. Kristoff filed into their row first, then Anna, then Hans. Elsa sat next to him at the end of the row. Almost as soon as they had sat down, the lights dimmed.

As the trailers played, Hans was keenly aware of Elsa next to him. She perched on the edge of her seat, ignoring the reclining function. Hans figured he had better do the same so she could not look past him to the end of the row. She seemed ill at ease. Even in the darkness, he could see her white hands fidgeting out of the corner of his eye. He wondered if she was ever able to relax. Beside him, Kristoff had already pulled Anna into his lap. Their attention was clearly not on the screen. It seemed to Hans this rather defeated the purpose of coming to the movie theater to cool down, but what did he know?

Just after the opening crawl, he heard Elsa hiss, “I’m getting popcorn.” She stood up abruptly. Hans did the same, attempting to shield Kristoff and Anna from view. The sudden movement filled his vision with white. Let it never be said that he did not take his role of chaperone seriously. He followed her out of the theater.

When they reached the lobby, Elsa did not join the concessions line. Instead she kept walking out onto the sidewalk. The sun beat down on them, and Hans was instantly too hot. She whirled to face him, looking irritated.

“Look, I don’t need a babysitter!”

“A babysitter?” Hans feigned innocence.

“I know Anna wasn’t expecting me to say yes when she asked me to come. She thinks that just because I’ve never has a boyfriend, I don’t know what she and Kristoff are up to. I know, and I don’t care. But I do care that you keep hanging around my sister. How dare you, after what you did to her?”

Ah, he should have figured. Anna had never been one to hold a grudge. She may have given him a whopper of a black eye, but they had managed to awkwardly patch up their differences. It might even be said that they were now friends. Elsa was a different story. She had always come off as restrained, but Hans had suspected that a quiet intensity lay beneath the surface. The thrill of being proven right paled in comparison to the discomfort of being the recipient of her ire.

“Anna invited me here. We’ve worked things out.”

“Unfortunately for both of us, Westergaard, Anna is a far better person than I will ever be. That’s why you need to stay away from her!” A few wisps of hair had escaped from Elsa’s updo. They glowed golden in the light of the late afternoon sun. It struck him that she was very beautiful when she was angry, but he pushed the thought away. For one thing, Elsa was always beautiful. For another, that information was really, really not helpful or relevant right then.

“I’m sorry about what I did to her— to both of you. I can’t tell you how sorry I am. But all I can do is try to be better and to leave the past in the past. I hope you can give me that chance.”

“This isn’t about me. I can leave behind your petty games. I can leave behind the way you tried to snipe that internship out from under me. I can even forget how you spread rumors that I was having a nervous breakdown and should be ejected from the program.” Hans wanted to retort that the rumors had mostly been spread by Duke Weselton, and anyway, wasn’t the nervous breakdown thing true? But the past year had taught him that sometimes the snappiest response was not the best one. Half the battle of becoming a nicer person was just keeping his mouth shut.

Instead he said, “But you did get that internship. All I got was academic probation, which I’ve only now been removed from. I’m sorry that I hurt you, but I don’t know what else I can do.”

“I told you, I’m over it. But I can’t leave behind the way you used my sister because you thought our name would further your career. I can’t forget how cruel you were when you dumped her. And I’ll never forget how you left her at that party afterwards, drunk and alone. She could have died! Thank God Kristoff was there. He had to take her to the ER!” Elsa’s voice had risen, the tension between them as palpable as the humid air. Hans felt his own temper coming to a boil. His flaw in arguments had always been escalating to match the other person.

“I didn’t realize it was her first college party, and I certainly didn’t realize she had drunk so much! Yes, I shouldn’t have said those things to her. But it’s not like I was her only reason to get wasted. You never did her any good. She was so lonely because you were never around! She was always telling me how you never answered her calls. She invited you that night, and for once she thought you were really going to come. But you weren’t there!” Hans regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. If half of not being a jerk was shutting up, the other half was taking responsibility for his own actions, and he had just blown both in one shot. Elsa stared up at him with such anguish in her eyes that it almost hurt to look at her. She reacted like an injured wildcat.

“You say that like it makes you any better! Yeah, I may be barely holding it together, and I may be failing Anna in every way that matters! But at least I’m not an asshole like you!” She looked close to the breaking point both physically and emotionally, as if she might collapse at any moment. Hans fought the sudden urge to reach out and comfort her. She might seem helpless in the moment, but he knew she would sooner bite off his head than cry on his shoulder.

“Elsa, I didn’t mean—” But her pain had been replaced by cold fury.

“Save it, Westergaard. I need to cool down. Here’s what’s going to happen. I will leave Anna and Kristoff to their covert activities, and I suggest you do the same. But first, I’m going inside for fifteen seconds to splash some water on my face. When I come back out, you had better not be here.” Elsa’s voice was cool and sharp as ice.

“Don’t you at least want to see the rest of the movie?” said Hans, although he was certain this situation was beyond saving. Elsa gave a harsh laugh.

“Hardly. I read the spoilers online, and I have no desire to watch Kylo Ren get redeemed on the big screen.”

“So you don’t believe in redemption? Not even for love?”

“People don’t change, Westergaard. Not through love, and not through death. Some things can never be forgiven.” And then she was gone, the theater door slammed shut in his face.

Hans did not want to see what would happen if he ignored her directive, so he walked to the grocery store next door. Through the front window, he watched Elsa emerge from the theater and storm into the Carvel across the parking lot. She sat at the counter with only a water, her head in her hands. After watching her for a few minutes, he decided to kill time until the movie ended. He walked up and down every aisle, fantasizing about climbing into a freezer case. The air conditioning and the familiar surroundings eventually calmed him down.

When he felt enough time had passed, he made his way back to the cinema. He slipped into the back row of the theater to catch the tail end of the movie. As the credits rolled, he met up with Anna and Kristoff outside the door to the lobby.

“Did you guys like the movie?” he asked, “What did you think of the part where they revealed Palpatine was merely a puppet controlled by Obi-wan Kenobi?”

“It was great,” said Kristoff at the same time as Anna said, “Palpatine was in this movie?” They stared at him blankly until he started laughing.

“Oh, the looks on your faces! Speaking of which, Kristoff, you’ve got a little something…” He gestured vaguely at his face. Kristoff wiped away a smear of lip gloss as Anna giggled.

“Where’s Elsa?” she asked, “I thought you were together?”

“She’s at Carvel. I’m afraid we had a bit of a blowout. I’m not exactly her favorite person. I’d better take a raincheck on that ice cream; I don’t think she wants to see me right now.”

“Oh no! I’d better go make sure she’s all right. I’m sorry about the ice cream, Hans. Next time!” She raced out of the theater, Kristoff trailing behind her. Hans watched through the window as they comforted Elsa. Although he remained in the cinema, his mind drifted back to the earlier argument. Christ, he really had behaved like an ass. By the time the trio had finished their ice cream, he realized he had been standing there too long. He made his way towards the door.

“Excuse me, sir!” He turned. One of the cinema employees was approaching him, waving something in her hand.

“Your girlfriend left these in the rest room.”

“She’s not my…” But Hans shut his mouth when he saw the medicine bottle he had been handed. As he read the name of the drug, several things dropped into place. He thought he understood now why she seemed so anxious all the time, why she rarely went out, why she didn’t answer her sister’s calls.

-

They met the next day on neutral ground, in the movie theater parking lot. The weather was cool and gray after the rain the night before. Elsa was already there when Hans pulled in, standing next to her car. There was still something stiff and formal about her appearance, but today it was softened by the voluminous braid over her shoulder. She looked as if she hadn’t slept.

“Give it to me,” she said as soon as he stepped out of the car. He produced the bottle from his pocket and handed it over. She snatched it from his grasp as if she were afraid he was going to pull it away at any moment.

“What do you want? Money? I can’t give you much, Anna will be suspicious if I withdraw from our trust account. Academic help? I can’t write your papers; they’ll know my writing style. But I can proofread and do your literature review. Or is it pull you want? I can speak to the dean, get the probation taken off your transcript. I’ll say I made it all up. Or I can talk to the board of my father’s company, I’m sure they’ll have a job offer for you. I’ll do anything you want, so long as you don’t tell anybody. Well, almost anything.” She wrapped her arms around her chest, protecting herself from some imagined fate. Hans was baffled.

“What? I don’t want any of that.”

“So you’re just going to tell everybody? My boss, the dean, my advisor? You won’t even give me a chance to buy your silence?”

“No, I’m not going to tell anybody,” he insisted. Did she seriously think he was about to blackmail her?

“Right, because I’m willing to cooperate. But you have to tell me what it is you want.” Her eyes were pleading, and she fidgeted anxiously with her hands.

“Elsa, I promise I’m not trying to blackmail you.”

“You’re not?” Her fidgeting stopped abruptly.

“No! God, no. What made you think that?”

“Your text. It was a bit cryptic.” She seemed more relaxed now, almost bordering on exhausted.

“I wasn’t sure if Anna knew, so I didn’t want to be specific.” In all the times they had discussed her sister, Anna had never mentioned Elsa’s illness. Considering how much she talked about her, Hans found it unlikely that it just never came up.

“I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. I know it sounds paranoid, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about the rumors last time. I couldn’t go through that again. And I was so certain that you hated me enough, especially after yesterday.”

“I don’t hate you. I never hated you” Hans leaned against his car, waiting for her answer. After a few moments, she leaned next to him.

“You were right yesterday,” she said, “I’ve never done Anna any good. I couldn’t even protect her from you. You know, when you started dating, I saw the red flags. I thought, ‘What’s this grad student doing with a freshman?’ But I ignored it. I thought that you might be a more stable presence in her life. I thought that even if there was something up with you, it couldn’t be worse than me.”

“Look how that turned out,” said Hans wryly. They stood silently for what could have been a split second or an eternity.

“Anna doesn’t know,” said Elsa suddenly.

“Hm?”

“You said you weren’t sure if she knew. She doesn’t.”

“Don’t you think you should tell her?”

“I don’t know how. That night in the ER, I was so scared. I thought I was going to lose her. And I realized something had to change. If something happened, I couldn’t live with myself knowing that I had spent my whole life pushing her away. She’s all I have, and I love her dearly. It’s been hard this past year. I’ve been trying to let her in, but I don’t know how to do it without hurting her. And I don’t know if she can ever forgive me for what’s already happened. I wasn’t there when she needed me most.”

“I think we can agree,” said Hans, “that I have turned out to cause Anna far more harm than you have. But you’ve seen how readily she has forgiven me. If she can do that, I’m sure you won’t have any trouble. After all, she loves you.”

“I hope you’re right.” Hans reached out tentatively and patted her shoulder. She stiffened momentarily, but then she relaxed into the touch.

“Anyway,” he said, “you are not an asshole like me.” Elsa seemed surprised to find herself laughing, and Hans found himself joining in.

When she had pulled away from the car, Elsa said, “You know this doesn’t make us friends.”

“I would never dare to suggest such a thing. All I ask is this: truce?”

“Truce,” she replied decisively.

“Well,” he said, straightening up, “in honor of our newly-signed armistice agreement, I propose we go see a movie.”

“All right,” she agreed, “but only if we get ice cream afterwards.”

-

“Well, Elsa, what did you think? Did it make a case for the redemptive power of love?”

“I will concede that love is powerful enough to motivate change for the better. But change isn’t instantaneous. Redemption is a long process. You have to work for it, and it has to be earned time and time again. Death is just a lazy shorthand, and it’s bad writing.”

“You want to talk bad writing, what about my man General Hux? The guy just switched sides in the third act with no warning. The foreshadowing was nonexistent because they were too intent on fooling the audience. It was just a plot twist for the sake of a plot twist, more for shock value than because it added anything to the story. That’s bad writing.”

“I don’t know, I kind of liked him.”

“Either you’re saying that to be contrary or you just have a thing for redheads.”

“I am not being contrary!”

“So you like redheads, then?”

“I don’t!”

“You answered too quickly.”

“I didn’t!”

“Yes, you did.”

“Look, are we getting ice cream or not?”

***

Author’s Note: Modern AU is something I thought I would never write. But I did say I was apologizing today. Unfortunately, this did not turn out as light and fluffy as I had hoped. Some apology, huh? At least you got some Star Wars references out of it. Thank you all so much for reading! <3

[crmediagal]

I Have A Lot of Thoughts...

Okay. I just got back from seeing TROS. Bearing in mind that I already knew the main spoilers involving my precious boy, Ben Solo, and my beloved ship Reylo, I still have So. Many. Questions. And a flippin’ series of disappointments to whinge about, so get ready.

!!! WARNING: #TROS SPOILERS AHEAD !!!

Lets start with the main and, for me, most important factors: Reylo and Ben Solo

At the end of the day, if Reylo wasn’t ever intended to be end game, I could have lived with that. I’ve shipped whatever the heck I wanna ship and written those ships in fandoms I’ve loved for years, regardless of their basis (or more often, not) in the canonverse. I’d have survived if there was no kiss at the end.

Back in early 2016, when people were still speculating that Ben and Rey were related, I was writing them as lovers and doting parents, so, erm, again, for me, the ship wasn’t contingent upon them becoming canon in order to hold legitimacy/meaning. It shouldn’t for anyone, really. Ship whatever you wanna ship, guys! Love them regardless of screen time or lack thereof!

That being said, I will cherish That Moment™ forever when the Reylo shippers got a glimpse of what this incredible coupling could have been. And in the actual canon material, no less. That’s more than I'd have ever expected to receive and, frankly, was enough for me to be satisfied.

HOWEVER.

I was fully invested in this trilogy from start to finish for Ben Solo.  And that is where I've been most letdown, disheartened, and pained.

At the off, sure, Kylo Ren made for an interesting archetype “villain” in TFA, but the moment we learned of his true identity, the Bad Boy™ appeal, for me, melted away. I fell in love with the tortured young man who had never really had the freedom of choice; who had the burden of war heroes for parents and a royal bloodline that traced back to Vader; who was abandoned by his family and left to navigate the enormity of his powers and abilities on his own. I was taken with Ben Solo’s troubled, many-layered complexity and this character took on a whole new meaning for me after TFA.

Like so many other Ben Redemptionists, I desperately wanted to see Ben Solo free of the torture he’d suffered all his life. And that life wasn’t long in years, unlike Anakin’s. By the end of Anakin’s life, he was more machine than man and middle-aged.

All the more reason that I needed to see Ben redeemed in this story...and allowed to walk freely in the sun. 

SW is built on forgiveness and redemption, after all, so why would they not bring Ben Solo back to the Light and take him where Anakin’s story never could go? The groundwork was laid in two films and reiterated in countless interview quotes the creators dropped on us for four effin’ years. Disney and the creators seemed as invested in Ben Solo’s redemption arc as the fans were, so I wasn’t too worried about seeing it come full circle. 

Hooooo boy. #MyBigFatMistakeThatIWillNeverMakeAgain

Ben Solo’s redemption, while earned in the last few minutes of TROS, was horribly cheapened when the creators decided to ‘play it safe’ by making him sacrifice himself. It wasn’t romantic and tragic, as I’m sure JJ and the creators were aiming for, but, rather, a Grade F example of very poor, very subpar writing. We got to see Ben for a few moments as himself whilst much of his storyline and importance in TROS was cruelly (and, it would seem, very purposely) reduced in the last film, too, when such plot for his character was supposed to be centre stage.

Less time devoted to Ben’s arc and then killing him off sends so many terrible messages, particularly for kids. You’d think Disney would understand that better than most.

Death is not hopeful. Redemption in the form of a young man, who was barely given the chance to live in Light and Love, dying as soon as his true self was realised isn’t hope. It’s been done before in this saga, as it has in many others, so it just makes the whole play-by-play defeatist and devastating. And after 40+ years of Skywalkers and Solos suffering in this universe, haven’t we ALL had enough of that, JJ? Disney?

They made Rey a Palpatine--a ‘surprise’ that had me actually laughing in the cinema and asking myself nervously, ‘Is this a joke?’--who takes the name of Skywalker to renounce her own bloodline but in the end, JJ, Disney, and the creators still sent us the same damnable, harrowing message: that Palpatine won.

#YIKES. That isn’t hope either, JJ! Disney! ABORT ABORT ABORT!

I thought JJ and the creators would be bolder than this PG-level crap. I thought Ben’s journey would be a true reversal of Vader’s, just as the director himself quoted not too long ago, and what did we get instead? Dusty old tropes and the sour takeaway that redemption will always come at a price rather than at its simplest, most exceptional form: the beauty of a second chance. 

In the end, Ben Solo’s never to know freedom from Darkness? He's never to have the opportunity to make right of his wrongs by living in the Light? He's never to grow old? Instead, he’s to die a too-young death in the hands of a woman who actually loves and cares about the role he has to play in this whole saga; perhaps, the only one who cares at that point?

That’s cruel, JJ. Disney. And, again, utterly hopeless.

Hell, Ben’s not even one of the Force Ghosts Rey sees in the last scene of the movie! (A convenient loophole, yes, and the flicker of an opportunity to, perhaps, bring him back but it’s a wildly overlooked mistake if that wasn’t intended by the creators...and I don’t think it was intentional to make him Not There™.)

I don’t get this saga anymore. I failed to grasp the overall message of Hope in TROS. At all. I’m beyond disappointed at the assassination of Ben’s character to give others, who shall remain nameless, more screen time and a beefier storyline which was, frankly, always quite thin to begin with. I feel like I’ve been cheated on...and it hurts so badly to be so letdown by something you’ve loved and supported for so long.

And some other ridiculous absurdities in TROS while we’re still here:

Why was this film ALL about Rey’s lineage, a direction that seemed to come out of nowhere when it was already established in TLJ that her background wasn’t important or crucial to her part in the story? She came from nowhere, so why did this become a central thing?

I’ll admit that I never really cared whether Rey was a Skywalker or a Kenobi or had any given name. I rather enjoyed the idea that she had built herself up from nothing. That was an empowering message, in fact, and a strong one, I think. It was certainly leaps and bounds better than the, ‘HA! GOTCHA! SHE’S PALPATINE’S GRANDDAUGHTER!’ reveal that was laid onto us way too thick in the Final Act.

Ew. Gross. No thanks. I hate it. Take it back. It’s a passe trick to try and pull on the audience at the last minute.

One of many more examples of poor writing by the creators, I suppose. 

Also, since when is Finn a Force sensitive? Did I miss something in TFA or TLJ that suggested he possessed that gift? No? Ah. More lousy writing.

Additionally, why does Finn spend the entire movie running after Rey? Why was his romantic storyline with Rose completely dropped and nonexistent in TROS?

It’s almost as if JJ and the creators were giving TLJ director, Rian Johnson, the middle finger throughout the entire finale that was this garbage of a movie. Nice work in undoing all the innovative things Rian brought to the saga, JJ. TROS is even worse™ than the Prequels...and THAT’s saying something.

Why did all the voices of Jedis past speak to Rey but never the helpless Ben Solo who had Palpatine raping his ear from the time he was a baby? It seems sketchy and unfair?

Again, lots of TROS makes little sense. It felt like an entirely separate movie to me--separate from the rest of the saga--and doesn’t wrap 40+ years of this series up all too nicely. It’s anything but. It’s confusing, heartbreaking, and leaves one without much hope.

So...we come to the end of my ramblings and wailings:

Ben Solo was the most interesting, convoluted, and beautifully crafted character from this new trilogy and a true redemption would have served the legacy upon which the SW saga is built--Hope™--so much better, including but not limited to its utilisation in making Han’s death carry meaning. Because his son would have not only returned to the Light but gotten to Live™ and experience it fully.

What a remarkably hopeful ending that would have been...

Instead, we got garbage writing and the redundant SW tropes.

Ben Solo deserved better. JJ and the creators absolutely wasted his potential in this story and I’ll be forever crestfallen..and retreating more and more into my own Ben Redemption fics because to hell with this elementary-level bullsh*t.

Han Solo deserved for his son’s part in his demise to not be utterly pointless at the end because, hey ho, guess what? YOUR SON DIED ANYWAY?!

Leia Organa deserved to not only see her son redeemed but to have that emotional reunion many of us were craving. She had already lost so much, but I guess JJ and the creators decided to just...serve the general more pain in the end. Wow. Rude. Such disrespect. Carrie Fisher wouldn’t have stood for it.

And Rey... My gawd, she deserved better, too. She should never been tied to Palpatine in order to make her seem more important. That grossly underserved her character.

She also should have had her other half. The yang to her yin. The only other person in the entire ruddy galaxy who understood her: Ben. She deserved to not be left alone at the end of TROS, just as she had started in TFA.

I’m going to go work on my WIP Reylo fic now and try to forget TROS entirely.

[brehacrgana]

just watched TROS and i have NO WORDS... (except i also have many). what was that

at about half of the movie one guy stood up, put on his jacket and left...I don’t think he was wrong

spoilers below (the bad and the good - however little that might be). please come to talk if you’ve seen the movie

first of all...WHAT THE FUCK. what the fuck...i sat through the movie and i had to laugh at times because whatever was happening was so absurd shit i couldn’t even imagine. at other times i just sat with my mouth open and could not believe they really went there...it was that bad. how in the world is this the end of star wars

the way the movie started... in the title sequence...”THE DEAD SPEAK” lol. palpantine’s return or whatever shit announced immediatly (which i didn’t expect would happen); then the first scene of kylo ren in slo-mo killing some random people (literally who was that) in some woods and then finding palpantine’s cave or something where palps told him “hurr hurr i created snoke...i was every voice in your head...kill the girl” - sir how are you even alive. i literally don’t remember if this was explained in the movie and i don’t think so

rey - jesus christ. girl. i don’t know what they did to her character. but anyway. in the beginning of the movie leia did some jedi training with rey and i loved that...especially when rey adressed leia with “master”! but in the start of that scene rey was flying in the air while doing some meditation and that was absurd imo / i laughed lol. then kylo ren showed up because of that force bond shit and rey messed up her training which sucked

nice scene: finn and poe returning from some mission and meeting/reuniting with rey on the rebellion’s home base - rey and poe bickered a bit, rey and finn hugged...i liked that

rey finn and poe and chewie went to a desert planet where some party was going on. nice scene: rey talked to an alien being there and it was a cute, nice interaction that would have been heartwarming

lando shows up, points them to some cave, where a big snake or something was which had an injury lol...rey gave it some life power through the force  and healed it. LOL: foreshadowing...

kylo ren and the knights of ren (lol who are they even) show up on that planet. while the others try to make a ship ready to leave, rey (why...) goes and stands in the middle of the desert waiting for kyle ron to show up or whatever. he does of course and races at her with his ship, she does that jump from the trailer and cuts his ship in half. it crashes and explodes. no, kylo somehow doesn’t die from that. meanwhile poe and finn told chewie to get rey bc they have to leave (knights of ren approaching), but while rey is busy doing whatever the fuck that was, chewie gets captured by some stormtroopers and is led on their transport ship. it takes off. finn screams to rey “they have chewie” and rey uses the force to try and drag that ship back to the ground...kylo emerges and also uses the force on that ship, and they have a force battle until rey does palpantine style force lightning on that ship. it completely explodes. everyone thinks chewie is dead. i was really horrified, not gonna lie, like rey...

but lol. SOMEHOW chewie was on another transport ship (lol???? where was that) and is alive after all. they go to rescue him. while they fly to the stardestroyer where chewie is being kept prisoner, rey says that “yada yada people say they know me but nobody does” to finn and it is awful... arrived on the star destroyer, finn and poe want to free chewie, while rey fucks off to do her own thing and go to kylo’s quarters. force bond kylo appears, they fight blabla, he tells her...

“oh you wanted to take my hand, i kNoW YoU you’re a palpatine, he was your grandfather” ................................................ i read the spoilers so i knew this was gonna come, but seriously???? what a crack fucking theory. REY PALPANTINE!  I QUIT!!!

flashback to rey’s parents who look like nice people who tried to protect her by leaving her on jakku. palps killed them after they didn’t tell him where rey was

meanwhile finn poe and chewie are captured, stormtrooppers are going to execute them. then hux steps in hilariously, kills the stormtroopers, and is like “i’m the spy for the rebellion.” i laughed

who is zorii...or whatever her name was.

the trio gang goes to that planet where the remains of the death star are...they meet a group of horse riders, one of them jannah. i loved her! i really did. she was one of the bright spots for me in that shitshow. her and finn talk, she also used to be a stormtrooper and has the same story as finn

also Finn was shown very clearly to be force sensitive! loved that

rey does another solo trip and goes to the remains of the death star...where she meets dark!rey which was hilarious and absurd. they fight and at one point dark!rey hissed and bared her teeth at rey - i actually scream laughed

well then kylo ron came to that planet, the water fight scene happened, and actually rey fucking killed him!!! he died! cut to leia. she says “ben” and then somehow just actually dies too. seriously. just like that. FROM WHAT???

anyway rey feels that leia has died and lol idk she’s like oh know and resurrects kylo with the force. yeah. lol. she’s then like “yeah i did want to take your hand...ben’s hand” and cries and leaves

really...who is ben. why do you care. what

on the rebellion base people are gathered around leia’s dead body and i don’t remember her name, but lupita nyongos character say “farewell, dear princess” and that almost made me cry

back to kylo. he’s looking at the ocean in contemplation. suddenly a voice behind him says “hey, kid”. he turns around and it’s han fucking solo. LOL

they basically play out the same scene as in tfa just before kylo killed han except this time he doesn’t. han says kylo ron died and kylo yeets his lightsaber into the water.

ok, another hilarious absurd scene: rey goes to luke’s exile planet and sets kylo’s ship (which she took to fly there) on fire. she’s throwing the lightsaber in the flames but oh! a hand yeets out of the flames! it’s force ghost luke who caught the saber and is like oh you should be more careful with a jedi’s weapon.

luke then shows her LEIA’S LIGHTSABER and there’s a flashback scene of LEIA AND LUKE DOING JEDI TRAINING !!!! a good part of the movie

rey takes both lightsabers and flies to palpantine’s planet. she meets him in his cave. palps does he’s usual unimaginable power shit...”i want you to kill me...then my soul will go over to you and all the siths that have ever been will live in you”. whatever

“ben” also shows up of course, he kills the kights of ren with the lightsaber that was magically teleported to him by rey i guess

rey and “ben” face palps together. he is like oh your bond is so strong, let me take all your energy...very reminiscent of dementor’s in harry potter movies sucking out their souls lol. they drop to the ground, unconscious. palps lifts “ben” up and yeets him into a big abyss.

there was a nice scene in between of poe grieving for leia and saying he doesn’t know what to do/how they can make it, but then lando shows up and they talk about how lando and the old trio back in the day didn’t know how to make it either, but they still tried etc. and made it

ok another nice scene: while palps is doing super force lightning to destroy the rebel fleet or whatever, rey is on the ground gatherig strength and she hears the voices of old jedi masters...obi wan! anakin i’m pretty sure also!

then there’s a nice shot of her standing up and facing the emperor with lightsaber in hand.

she kills him, but dies doing it.

but wait lol...”ben” somehow crawls back out of that abyss to cry over her dead body. he also revives her with force power. they look at each other sappily and kiss.......no words. they fucking really went there

actually when that happened the people in the cinema made a lot of sounds, some said ew lmao others just laughed

then “ben” dies for good lol. people scream laughed

in the end there was a nice rebellion victory celebration scene, i always like scenes like that

rey goes to tattoine and buries the lightsabers of luke and leia who show up via force ghost. somehow rey then has a yellow lightsaber in her hand. some old woman comes along and asks who are you? rey says...i’m rey.....skywalker and then watches the sunset. the end.

in spoilers i read it was said that rey says she feels incomplete without kylo and goes to live on tattoine alone for the rest of her life. maybe i blacked out and didn’t get that, but i did not see it. it did not happen, right?

when the movie ended some people in the cinema actually started clapping.

lol. i don’t know what that was...yeah it had some good moments, but it really was the worts star wars movie of all times for me. it was wild and absurd and stupid as fuck and i am so, so disappointed. TFA i loved, there was so much potential there...but then tlj happened and somehow tros eneded up even worse than that. i don’t know what the worst part for me was, rey palpantine, leia’s death in that manner, reylo... it was a mess. it actually makes me really sad. bye felicia

[ramblingshit]

The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

• a growing list of my thoughts on episode 9 -- spoilers bruh spoilers--

▪︎ His death was really best case scenario for him - imagine returning to the light side to be faced with what you've done: killed his father yes, but also literally millions and millions of other people including entire worlds. Everyone knows who he is and what he's done. There's nowhere in the galaxy he could hide. But imagine knowing that you've done all that he had - how could he possibly live with himself, there's literally nothing he could possibly do to make things right, and the memories in his head of what he's done with his own hands. So, to die having saved Rey from the Emperor and from herself, and inadvertently helping to end the Sith and the war that he helped begin, held in her arms, knowing that he is loved and that he's finally done the right thing - it's really the best end a redeemed villain could ask for.

• Rey killed Kylo Ren with his own saber, and literally healed Ben Solo. Poetic cinema.

▪︎'Dad--' // 'I know.' (!!!!!!!!! kill me)

• They should have had the three together bouncing off one another from the start - that's always been the greatest part of Star Wars, people being friends and bickering and having each other's backs. Actually had an interest in their relationships and in their characters this time. Their hug at the end was emotional and satisfying.

• Rose was always a nothing character to me, she should have died during that crash to make a point to Finn about doing the right thing or fighting the war or whatever. Also love that their kiss was never mentioned again (thank fuck).

▪︎On that note tho - plot holes. Plot holes everywhere. Not even just one or two. A million plot holes. Things mentioned briefly but never explained. Things glossed over and ignored. It's like they made this enormous tale that needed to be smoothed and simplified so you're not distracted every two seconds tryna figure out what matters and what's never gonna be mentioned again

• Chewie falling to his knees and roaring in agony when he finds out that Leia is dead is finally respect to his character and his relationships with his friends who are all fkn dead

▪︎legit nearly walked out when they suggested that Chewie was dead - that would have been 100% unforgiveable

• Ben Solo's death was 100% glossed over and Rey's reaction could have been a lot more poignant and long lasting. Anakin got his funeral, why can't Ben?

• Every minute of every force bond chat and fight was 10/10.

▪︎Fkn hobbit had more screen time than half the characters combined like who tf

▪︎that lil droid was legit funny and adorable but so so clearly another cash grab damn

▪︎Been a long time since I've seen anything sexier than everything that is light-side Ben Solo.

▪︎the ow, the shrug, the smile - little glimpses of the man he was supposed to be, instead of the diabolical, tyrannical, genocidal torturing, manipulative monster he became (rip Ben Solo, your family let you tf down)

▪︎Air punched and almost yelled YES in the cinema when they fucking kisssssssseeedddd!!!!

▪︎Actually really happy with her being a Palpatine, it's the only thing that could make sense and I legit didn't see it coming - being a Kenobi would be too predictable and though Obi Wan defeated Vader at Mustafar, it was because he was so blinded by rage, not because Kenobi was stronger than him

Upon further consideration Rey should have just been Rey. People were so obsessed with who her family were because of course a person is defined by their parents and no way could a random person step up and defeat the bad guys (/s). She didn't have to be related to any legacy character. Heroes are made, not born. She followed the light because she's a good person, and she struggled against the dark because she's human. Gah.

▪︎Actually cried out in shock when she used force lightning to destroy the transport - that is a dark side move my dude, (and Palpatines fav party trick)

▪︎ loved the rehash of Ben and Han's final moments - he said himself he was just Bens memory, and Ben then did what he deep down wanted to do the day he killed him

▪︎Luke snatching the lightsaber out of the air like what the fuck do you think you are doing young lady

▪︎legit woulda been down for Rey to become Empress of the Sith what an ending that would be ey

▪︎Anakin should have showed up

▪︎Once Ben turned light-side he should have been talked to by his dead family members, not Rey.

▪︎Ben, the last Skywalker, should have been the one to defeat Palpatine, who was the one to begin the saga of the Skywalkers. Instead he got yeeted into a hole and spent the final battle time tryna climb out of it.

▪︎Ben should have been a force ghost standing there with his parents, reunited at last

▪︎And when they were both still alive Ben and Leia should have 110% reunited like what the fuckkk

▪︎ Rey should have proudly said that she is 'Just Rey.'

▪︎Finnpoe should have 100% been canon - Oscar Isaac literally admitted scorning the Disney 'overlords' for being cowards, and he played his role as Poe as being romantically involved with Finn. 10/10 best LGBT+ ally.

▪︎why tf would she go to Tatooine? She hates sand. Anakin hated sand. Luke wanted to leave and his last memory of that place is leaving the smoldering bodies of his aunt and uncle behind. Why put his saber there. Leia's never even been there. Why not go to Naboo or some green beautiful place where Rey has always wanted to be? Only fanservice moment really that irked me

▪︎all along all she's wanted was a family - she's made one and found one and yet the movie ends with her standing alone in the sand on a planet shes never been to, with two droids, looking at a horizon that means nothing to her.

▪︎that lightsaber tho (wish we had seen her make it, or decide to make it and explain at all why it's yellow)

▪︎Finn is fkn force sensitive and that's hella cool but like... address it more, make something of this discovery - this is the last movie and this is only just coming up? To be forgotten like all the other plot holes

▪︎liked Palpatine as the all over enemy - should have been more hints throughout the films fo sure to make it feel less outta left field as it did but still could've been a lot worse - but what the fuck is he doing on that Glados arm thing he shouldve been a Sith ghost ala Marka Ragnos not weird zombie sith man

▪︎lightning powers fucking up an entire fleet is fkn siiiiiiickkkk

▪︎would his dumbass really fall for the same ol bounce his own lightning back at him trick? Mmmmmnghhh??

▪︎if someone could explain why/how Leia died and became one with the Force only when Ben died that would be g??

▪︎thought they did Rey's struggle between the dark and the light pretty damn well like shout out to Daisy Ridley

▪︎ wish we had a shot of that vision she had with she and Kylo on the Sith throne together like damn son whhhyyy deprive us of that?? that shit would make my lifeeee

▪︎just everything Adam Driver tho what an actor like damn

▪︎in a story about love and family and winning by saving what you love, there's a whole lot of lovers dying and family members being torn apart and never reconciling. The entire Skywalker line did nothing but fuck up and make mistakes (excluding our Princess) - Anakin was so scared of losing Padme that the power he gained by turning darkside to save her overwhelmed him and resulted in her death, Padme thought it was a good idea to help Anakin defy the Jedi and marry him thus leading to his fear of losing her, Luke went full dark side when he sensed a growing darkness in his nephew and instead of trying to have a chat about his feelings he decided the obvious answer was to just murder him (like what???) thus fully pushing Ben over the edge to become Kylo Ren.

And then every single one of them die. How the fuck is that a satisfying conclusion to their story? I'm sorry but a happy ending to the Skywalker saga is Not the entire family being fucking DEAD. There is no happy ending to their story. Because they're all dead. This is some bullshit.

▪︎give us the almighty rumoured alternate ending you cowards

▪︎Honestly, the Skywalkers deserved better.

[silverducks]

Star Wars IX - The Rise of Skywalker

Saw TROS for the first time last night and, as if often the case, I just need to get a few thoughts out there.

I’ve always loved Star Wars, but more in a just love watching the films way, rather than being involved in the fandom. Maybe that’s way, and I know this is an unpopular opinion, I really enjoyed the film, and indeed the whole of the new trilogy.

I was soooo disappointed in Avengers: Endgame earlier last year; that I just didn’t try to expect anything from the final Skywalker Star Wars film. I couldn’t take another favourite franchise ending in disappointment! Maybe that’s another reason why I just, overall, really enjoyed it and came out of the cinema feeling overall happy with it. For me, it was a shaky start, but an overall action packed and satisfying ending to the saga.

I will say, the original trilogy which began over 40 years ago is still by far the best, but this trilogy was also very, very good and I loved it! It brought me back to a world I loved so much, with some of my old favourite characters returning and giving us some fascinating new ones. The prequel trilogy was entertaining enough, but I didn’t connect the same to the world and the characters as I did in this, newer trilogy. Maybe that’s another reason why I just really, really enjoyed this.

Spoilers below:

I will say though, it could have been better ��� the plot was a bit too messy, which makes me think it got re-written too many times. I know some re-writes were inevitable after Carrie Fisher’s sad death, but I think this was the main reason the film suffered. The plot was too all over the place. It also didn’t tie in well enough to the last film – due no doubt to the different directors having different ideas. I think it would have been better if they’d started to search for the Sith homeworld, and the hints of Palpatine, in TLJ rather than the what was mainly a film filler adventure between Rose, Finn and Poe. This would have given much more cohesion and they would have had more time in the final film to finish story and character arcs properly.

There were a few missed opportunities, too many characters weren’t given the screentime they deserved and perhaps, at times, it just tried too hard to echo its original predecessors.

At first, I eye-rolled at the idea of bringing back Palpatine, but then, as the story went on, I grew to really like it. It helped explain a lot of the questions that were still unanswered from the first two films, such as why the First Order came to power so quickly, and who was the real puppeteer. And yes, the film took a lot of narrative short cuts, lots of little things were suddenly introduced to explain things like, oh the Sith can do this now, etc, but as this is a fantasy/sci-fi series, those sort of things don’t bother me too much, as long as they’re kind of plausible. Which, for me, they were.

It had all the elements I love about Star Wars – the light sabre fights, lots of different planets, the rebellion almost being over, but rising again and defeating the evil empire, lots of fights/battles in space which are just so entertaining to watch. I really enjoyed all that and once the film got into the second half, it felt much more settled and balanced and I was swept away in the awesome epic world of Star Wars once more.  

And I’m a bit of a Reylo shipper, so I was very pleased to see this continue in this film, with Rey wanting to see Ben return to the light side. And I’m glad that it was actually through his parents (and not just Rey), that he finally did come back to the light side. I do think they could have made more of Ben/Kylo Ren’s character arc in this, and I would’ve loved a longer fight seen with him and Rey against the emperor. But I’m just really pleased he did redeem himself and that him and Rey finally had some (albeit small) time together.

I was pretty disappointed they killed his character off though – I know why they did, because they wanted to echo the Darth Vader story arc, because there’s still a very strong notion that to be fully redeemed you have to give the ultimate sacrifice and die and because they truly wanted to end the Skywalker line. But it would have been much more interesting if they’d kept him alive and he’d been able to redeem himself by doing more good works throughout his life. And it’s a shame that all the Skywalkers have now died – all via a sacrifice for someone they loved. The end of a dynasty like no other, and I’m happy Rey took their name, a nice way to remember them.

Although, because they did kill off all the Skywalkers, the ending overall felt too bittersweet. Star Wars was always about hope, but (whilst the evil empire is gone for good), for Rey it looks like she’s got a lonely life ahead, just carrying on as the last Jedi. She’s outgrown her friends now and has a great burden to carry, with nothing really left to hope for. If they’d have saved Ben Solo, they could have had a peaceful life together.

I also like how they stayed away from a love triangle too – Rey and Finn were definitely just friends now, even if at times it hinted Finn still had feelings for her. I hope now he can move on and either fully accept the feelings he has for Rose (who sadly was in it too little), or perhaps that new character who he met – the ex stormtrooper like himself.

I will say again though, the film wasn’t without its faults. It was perhaps trying to spin too many plates and give fans too much of what they thought they wanted. It tried too hard, and lost some of the focus and character/story arcs that it needed. And as much as I loved Rey’s journey as a character, it felt too much all about her at times. I would’ve like to see more of Ben/Keylo Ren’s journey too, as he was the other half of the main characters and the young Skywalker. It felt a little disappointing that, for the last film in the Skywalker saga, the last Skywalker wasn’t given as much focus.

I do think as well, his death was a bit sudden. He sacrificed his life for Rey, joined the light side once more, but he just suddenly disappeared and that was it. There was no mourning for him really, no long look at a grieving Rey and he didn’t even get to show up as force ghost. Although, part of me wonders/hopes that there is a reason for this – that perhaps he came back to life as well. That when Leia’s body disappeared, the last of her spirit went into Ben and saved him, so he didn’t appear as a force ghost because he’s not really dead...

Anyway, like a lot of film series these days, I would say the reason the film and trilogy wasn’t as good as it could have been (although I did still love it) is because too many different writers and directors get involved, each with their own, often conflicting ideas. This lack of cohesion and continuity I think is the film’s and trilogy’s biggest downfall and I truly hope that when they make another Star Wars trilogy, they have the whole story and character arc mapped out in advance, and the same team of people are involved in the whole production.

[surrogateself]

Star Wars The Last Jedi: How Movie Magic Dies

0.5 out 4 stars

This is a bad movie. There are barely any redeeming qualities, and it manages to take a huge dump on everything that came before it and everything that will come after it. If the first movie was about a “new hope”, then The Last Jedi is about “no hope at all”. And I say this not just as a fan of Star Wars, but as a fan of cinema in general, including the previous films from director Rian Johnson. Make no mistake, I am not alone on this, many feel the same way about this movie, but for the sake of this piece I will write solely on how this movie affected me personally, and to do that we have to go back to the beginning.

It was the fall of 1986 or maybe it was 1987, I don’t quite remember, but I think I was 7 years old. At this point I had a pretty good idea of what movies were, I had already seen both E.T. and Back to the Future. This time, however, the local tv network was announcing a Star Wars television event, all three original films were going to play continuously starting on a Sunday afternoon. The movies I’ve been hearing about from older people were going to be accessible to me. My cousin, who is 5 years older had a really cool collection of Star Wars toys, the original ones created by Kenner. I loved playing with them.

Watching the original trilogy at the age of 7 has become one of those memories that has never faded. I can’t tell you exactly how I felt in each particular scene, but I do remember where I was and I remember acting out some of the scenes between commercial breaks. Now, stop and think about that for a second. For a 7-year-old boy to be that engaged and excited it's almost magical. This is why Star Wars has transcended cinema and has become an iconic piece of pop culture. And at the center of this phenomenon stands one of the greatest hero archetypes ever created, Luke Skywalker.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Fast forward to 2017, and Luke Skywalker has been replaced by a weird parody version of himself. He’s an old hermit, who’s constantly angry, doesn’t give a fuck about the force, doesn’t give a fuck about his friends or family, and above all, is a complete coward. What happened? How did it come to this? Well, rather than dive into the complexity of these questions, writer/director Rian Johnson creates a half-baked excuse for his exile and concludes that he simply left everything to go die in some planet that contains the oldest Jedi temple. And thus we are exposed to this mess of a film.

But this isn’t how the movie opens, even though The Force Awakens ended in that very epic shot of Luke receiving his father’s lightsaber. The movie opens with some crap jokes and a battle in space that doesn’t really make a lot of sense, the ships are slow and they drop bombs in space…WTF? Ok, I get it, this is Star Wars and its meant to be fantasy, so let's have bombs that drop with no gravity and a remote detonator that also falls in space when the ship’s hatch is open. I accepted it, even the slow motion was welcomed. The problem is that literally 10 minutes later they blow the bridge of general Leia’s ship and she’s floating in space. So which one is it?… how does space work here?

I could end my review right there because everything that follows is these weird random moments that contradict or neglects what was said or happened a few scenes before. I’ll try to continue. So, after the space battle the rebels jump to light speed and vanish, but 5 minutes later the first order arrives and begins an assault that has Kylo Ren considering if he should kill his mom, and thus we get the scene I described before, followed by some force voodoo shit that Leia pulls off. Yes, we know the force is strong in her family but again, they never alluded to this kind of ability in any of the other films. So Leia is literally a god who cannot die in space, don’t question it, its meant to be meta… bro.

The rebels are stuck in this poor excuse for a plot, they have enough fuel for one jump but they can’t because they'll be tracked, so for the next few hours/days (there’s really no sense of time in this movie) they’ll fly with the big bad ship chasing them. Even though a few scenes before, the first order unleashed an assault that almost killed them, why isn’t the first order keep doing this until they’re wiped out? Well… maybe because they’re a bunch of morons, for example, General Hux is portrayed like a buffoon in this movie, while in the force awakens he was menacing and almost had this Nazi behavior about him. But in The Last Jedi, he’s become a character from Space Balls and that only ruins the movie because he ceases to be a threat.

After Finn wakes up from his coma, in what looks like a giant leaking condom, he notices the situation that they’re in, and rather than join the fight, he once again decides to make a run for it. However, his character arc already demonstrated that in the previous movie, he was a trooper than ran because he was scared but developed courage to go up against Kylo Ren and The First Order. Now he’s reverted back to being a coward?… I don’t know why they did this, perhaps it was to build the scene where he meets Rose Tico or what has become the most pointless character in cinema. The entire scene when she meets Finn is awkward and written horribly. But she’s there and she knows what’s causing the first order to track them and suddenly Finn knows too. Then, they communicate this to Poe who then decides to call Maz Kanata, and she tells them to go to the nearby planet where they’ll find a codebreaker that will help them infiltrate the enemy ship to deactivate the light speed tracker. FUCK… I’m pretty sure that’s a run on sentence. This movie is so frustrating that writing a review for it is painful, and that’s how watching the movie feels. I won’t get into this part of the movie because it really doesn’t amount to anything.

So... Luke Skywalker, lol. While all this non-sense with Finn and Rose is happening we get cuts back and forth between Rey and Luke on the island. There’s no training but rather 1 and a half lesson that Rey gets from Luke. She then begins to telepathically connect with Kylo via the force, so at this point, I’m thinking they’re siblings since Luke and Leia did that in Empire, but I’m not sure that’s the case. To be frank, at this point I don’t care. We are now two movies into a new trilogy that follows another trilogy where the heroes won and defeated evil. Yet we have no information about how the first order started or where Snoke appeared from. And to give Luke “fucking” Skywalker this role is just a fuck you to everyone that has enjoyed these films. The man barely knew anything about his evil father and he was ready to die to save him. He gets a quick glimpse of his nephew’s dark side and has a thought of killing him??? Sorry, I don’t buy it. That’s not Luke and even if it was, the reasons for his exile would have to be much more dramatic than that.

This decision in the writing is bad, just as bad as giving Batman a gun or making Harry Potter a rapist. It simply doesn’t make sense with the behavior of the character. Mark Hamill said it himself, and a good director should’ve listened. As for Snoke getting killed and the matter of Rey’s parents, sure it was a wasted opportunity and no, it wasn’t mind-blowing. I wasn’t one of those people that started to theorize, I just wanted a solid movie. Also, to all those defenders out there that are claiming that this movie was feminist and it was about women power, you’re all wrong. Let me break it down for you, Leia, Holdo, and Rose were all written in such a forced matter that you can feel their propaganda behind their actions. Yes, its good to be feminist, but do it with respect, make it part of an engaging story. For example Rey, during the Force Awakens, she was introduced as an independent strong young woman, who happens to fall into this larger than life adventure. But in the Last Jedi she was written off as the girl from Twilight, suddenly she has to help the boy, and suddenly she finds him attractive because of his nipples. I’m sorry but this is the opposite direction of feminism.

The Last Jedi is the mutant child of Empire and Return of the Jedi. Nothing in this movie works, even at its very last few minutes when I said to myself “if they pull off a great battle between Kylo and Luke I may forgive everything that happened before”. But that was once again a let down, Luke pulls off some Matrix moves and its revealed that he is actually not there but still stuck on the island from Lost, then he looks at the two suns on the horizon, much like in A New Hope and then he vanishes, I guess becoming one with the Force. The scene felt rushed and out of place; I wonder if Mark Hamill even knew that it was going to go down this way. But fuck it, that’s it for me. The last Star Wars movie I watched was Revenge of the Sith. For all the shit the prequels get, I still enjoy watching them, sure they’re flawed, but never to the degree of this garbage. If you had asked me back in November I would have said The Force Awakens is the last Star Wars movie I watched. But The Last Jedi is so bad that it ruined the movie that came before it.

[hopegave]

Okay, so...since every one is sharing their opinion about Luke’s characterization in TLJ, I felt I also I had to share mine since I roleplay, in fact , Luke Skywalker. He’d always been my favorite character since the first time I started watching Star Wars saga. What drew me to him have been many things tbh ( NOT ONLY MARK HAMILL’S BEAUTY LMAO ) his kindness, his innocent naivete, his progression during the movies into a wise loving man. In other words , I always enjoy watching how he grows up as a character. Luke Skywalker is always full of surprises tbh. For real tho, you don’t know what expect from him. He can be ‘ soft ‘ but damn badass too. BUT !!! that isn’t what I wanted to talk about. 

Obviously , there will be TLJ spoilers below so I suggest you to not read if you still have to watch the movie. :)))

At first, I have to say--The last Jedi left me deeply perplexed. Tbh I’m still having conflicted feelings about this movie----mostly is because of Luke’s characterization---- other things too, but I’m not going to focus on these and call the film ugly because overall , apart few things , I really enjoyed the film.

I didn’t even know there was a discourse on Tumblr about the movie tbh, but I kind of figured that out while I was watching the movie because some scenes just---left me confused. LIKE REALLY CONFUSED. Especially some Luke’s scenes at first (  TIDDY MILK , THIS SCENE WILL REMAIN PRINTED IN MY HEAD FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. ) but what left me astonished even when I walked off the cinema have been Luke’s behavior. I KNEW when I was going to watch the movie that Luke had changed MUCH during the years. That I wasn’t going to see the same innocent farmboy he was in the original triology. Like , I sort of expected old grumpy / depressed / Luke lmao, but in some scenes Luke seemed just---kinda...out of character for me. But I kept watching the movie because I felt there must have been a reason if he was behaving like that ? and in fact there was a reason. That vision part left me really angry because I felt as if they were placing ALL the blame on Luke for Kylo Ren’s turn . And Luke ??? attacking a defenseless teenager ?? LUKE SKYWALKER ?? The man who refused to kill Darth Vader ? the man that saw past the darkness around his father’s heart and decided it was worth to bring him back to the light ? that seemed like bullshit to me tbh. The more I think about it the more angry I get because that gives something  to hardcore Kylo stans for shit on Luke and place all the blame on him for Kylo’s actions because the ‘ pOOR BoI HAVE bEEN aBUSED !!!1 ‘

No, Snoke or not Snoke Kylo is responsible for his actions. As Vader is responsible for his wrongs and---even Luke.

FRIENDLY REMINDER that Luke is a human being and HE !! IS !! ALLOWED !!  to commit mistakes !!!

‘ He is pure and would never hurt anyone ! ‘

yes and no.

I do believe that Luke would do ANYTHING when it comes at protecting his loved ones. He is KNOWN for have made harsh decisions ( reckless like his dad before him lmao ) but he would always come back to himself before doing something that goes against his beliefs. Example ; Luke attacking Vader on the death star during the duel in the throne room and ALMOST killing him. But he did? no. He realized what he was about to do and threw away his lightsaber. I do believe the same thing happened with Ben. LUKE NEVER WANTED TO KILL HIS NEPHEW. HE DIDN’T WENT TO BEN FOR KILL HIM IN HIS SLEEP AS MANY PEOPLE ON THIS HELLSITE SAY. Luke went there for TALK to him, but he found Ben asleep. Now I don’t remember what they said in that scene very well but Luke felt the the darkness had already taken over his nephew and decided to look into his heart for see if what he felt was right. Whatever thing laughed at his face ( I do think that it’s been Snoke to plan everything tbh though it’s pretty much canon I think ? ) scared him because he saw the death of so many people and the destruction of the temple , and made him raise his lightsaber BUT NOT, FOR STRIKE BEN. I do think he raised his lightsaber during that vision for strike at whatever thing was inside Ben’s head at the moment ( SNOKEEE E E  ) . But after he realized  what he was about to do and that in front of him there was BEN , not that creature , he felt an immense guilt and shame of himself that tbh changed him forever tbh. That’s my theory tbh the books will explain more about that scene. But if the creators have in mind to make Luke seem evil during that scene then fuck off I will go down with my theory forever :))) that is about Luke raising his lightsaber. That’s the only theory I will accept because I HIGHLY refuse to believe he raised his lightsaber for kill Ben. That’s not Luke. The Luke I saw in TLJ left me much perplexed because he was just so much apathetic you know ? like as if he’d lost interest in everything after that night and retired on that island for die. WHICH HAPPENED AND IM STILL NOT OVER THAT. I knew they were going to kill off Luke at some point during these movies but IT  WAS JUST SO SOON. But they couldn’t sadly make him live forever and tbh I would rather prefer Luke dead being a force ghost and living happily with Han , Anakin and Padmé , rather than have a Luke who is full of remorse and hates himself that much to retire on a island for isolate himself for the rest of his life.

Depression can do shit, people. Depression can change people. Luke is a character that has a soft heart and feels very much strong emotions so no , I’m not angry for depressed! Luke.

He just doesn’t think himself as a myth anymore. People believe he’s a sort of ‘ god ‘ but instead he only thinks himself as a failure and this hurts me so much because Luke’s just so broken during TLJ . It looks like he’s about to cry during that scene where Rey tells him she hasn’t intention to fail him as Ben did. Luke has lost faith in himself and in the people.  He isn’t an  innocent farmboy anymore, he has TRULY grown during the years and learned to see the galaxy the way it really is. But there is still hope. And he died giving Hope. He will always be a hero.

Okay, so. At first I wanted to keep this more short as possible but I lose my mind when talking about Luke because I just??love?? him so much ?? and tbh I wanted to find a way for not hate his character in TLJ because I haven’t only liked the movie, but also Mark Hamill’s performance in it. THAT MAN ALWAYS GET ME LMAO.

Said that, that is the only way I will accept Luke’s behavior in TLJ. He is a human being and he’s allowed to make mistakes. He is allowed to feel emotions and most importantly he is still a damn.badass.hero. AND HE DIDN’T WENT THERE FOR KILL BEN, SO IF YOU THINK HE DID UNFOLLOW ME IMMEDIATELY BC I WILL NOT ACCEPT SUCH SHIT.

But if disney wants to make appear Luke as a evil man and Ben as a ‘victim ‘ of his family, then I’m totally going to ignore canon and pretend as the new canon doesnt exsist and tbh jump back definitely into my good old EU legends.

I’m going to be slighlty canon divergent on his blog, meaning that for the moment I don’t agree on a few things of Luke’s story but I recognize other things about his arc too. That goes when interacting with sequel! era characters tbh or when using that verse for do things. Just wanted to tell ya’all my point of view so hopefully people doesn’t think Luke as a bad character or as the full cause for Ben Solo’s turn. Because I believe with all my heart he isn’t. 

I’m going to RP Luke as a broken man that has lost hope in himself. A man that is just tired of fighting and just wants all of that darkness to end.That until Rey comes on the island ( Ya all think I’m over Reysky ? lMAO I DONT BELIEVE KYLO AT ALL THO ) and brings a flicker of hope in him. I’m going to Rp Luke, as the hero he is and will always be, and that would never dare to hurt the ones he loves.

PEACE AND LOVE THO 

[ofcacthuxandkylosaur]

Shook in a good way or a bad one?

Hello Anon, thanks for asking and sorry for my late answer (busy days, sleepless nights :/ ) This got bit long and also took time to write…

I’d say Shocked because I was so not excpecting this…unfortunately, althought I did like some stuff in the movie and I could have actually enjoyed it had it not been a Star Wars sequel, it was not a really good surprise… Too much OOCness for me.

I am also left with some frustrations and a lot of worries about what will happen in ep IX and what will happen to the fandom…

I put more details (a lot of it being kylux related) under the cut (beware for spoilers (obviously), me being the anxious and dramatic bitch I am, rambling and probably poor english (I am so tired,sorry)).

So first of all, as I said, there were things I liked: Rose (being a badass), Finn wanting to find Rey, BB8 being a badass ass well, Luke being critical of the old  jedi order, Kylo not being able to kill Leia despite trying, Leia being alive at the end of the movie (I didn’t thought It’d hurt so much when I though she died!), R2D2 showing Luke Leia’s message, all those new alien spieces (loved those big cat-horses!!!), lightsaber duels (wow), new and interesting ways to use the force (I am now craving for long distance cuddling/sex thanks to the force), getting to see a lot of Kylo’s face and hair (dashing!),Kylo dropping his robe Obi-Wan style,…

But my main and big problem was how OOC felt most of the characters…

Luke. Luke with a lightsaber above a sleeping Ben and wanting to kill him. No. I mean, they did explained he never wanted to kill but lighted it on out of pure reflex when his jedi senses went tingling, but still…

Hux. Come on, Hux is not an idiot! He is competent and rutheless and sassy. It didn’t bother me seeing Poe making fun of him. I mean Hux is his enemy, of course he would take on the occasion to diminish him/make him look like a fool. What did bother me was Hux’s reaction. Like he wouldn’t realise what was happening!! Only at the end of the movie did I feel like I recognised him (It was relieving reading I was not the only one in the case)! Also I didn’t see him repeating Kylo’s orders as a joke but rather as a proof the he was the one in command (they did obey him!).

Kylo may be the one that upset me the most thought! He turned from Snoke too fast if you ask me (Rey too was prompt to “accept” Kylo) . And him being unable/unwilling to kill her! So what he can kill his father (even if it shatters him) but not a girl he met twice?? This plus the topless scene makes me fear they could make Reylo happen (I do respect people shipping it but I really don’t like it). Since they obviously won’t make Stormpilot happen (I did not have a lot of hope but well) my only hope is now that Finn and Rey end up together (and that the “purpose” of that kiss with Rose was to introduce unecessary jalousy in their relationship (and not a way to destroy all the other parings involving Finn, making Rey “available”)).

And the way he treated Hux hurt me. I know I sound dramatic and all but it did (I was uncomfortable with the strangle and actualy yelled in protest in the cinema when Hux was pushed against the wall). I know they kind of hate each other and that Snoke himself made sure to maintain a rivalry between them, but that was unessessary (I could even argue that if Snoke took the calculated risk to encourage the rivalry, it was because he knew that Hux had the shoulders to take on the competition and that Kylo somehow respected him enough to not kill him/damage him (otherwise the co-commandship would have been compromised)). You don’t see Vader strangle Tarkin, and I can’t imagine him doing so even if the Emperor had died. Plus, Kylo may be a bad guy but he was never shown taking pleasure in inflicting pain for the sake of it, so I don’t see him enjoying hurting Hux for revenge.

On a side note, as much as I like how “Supreme Leader Kylo” sounds, part of me still fail to understand why would Kylo want to be Supreme Leader in the first place and why he didn’t just…leave. Maybe he would want to “take” his master’s position, but the fonction is also highly political, and at that point Kylo was pretty much “fuck the resistance fuck the order fuck them all”. Of course ruling the Order would mean he has troops and equipment at disposal (useful to track Rey, Luke,…) but for that he would need Hux… And where are my Knights of Ren anyway??

I am scared for the Kylux fandom right now. With a new movie coming, the perspective of gaining new shippers was real. But now I feel like Reylo will be the (only) ship that will gain a lot of popularity (again, I don’t mind people shipping it, as long as no one spread hate, but it makes me still sad for Kylux (+Finnrey and Stormapilot)). To be honnest, had I only see TLJ, I would have never shipped Kylux (hopefully I’ve seen TFA and I don’t intend on stopping). The relationship was depicted differently, in a way I don’t like. I am aware I may seem like an oversensitive bitch but I need a relationship to be balanced for me to ship it  And I absolutely hate anything that looks like an abusive relationship to me (of course I am not talking here about consensual practices between responsible adults). I don’t fancy seeing Kylo raising hands on Hux and I would basically rather have had no scenes of them together than having had those. I have read meany beautiful Kylux fic, were I found them to be on character and and I didn’t have this feeling during the movie.

This somehow terrifies me because I felt like there was a Kylux dynamic (now of course everyone has their own headcanons, that’s not what I’m saying) and I am so affraid that all this could be lost. That they may be seen as a violent/abusive couple now besause no. That is never how I’m gonna see them. And that is not how their relationship was depicted in TFA (and yes I know I am not completely stupid, TFA did not declare Kylux canon I am just talking about their interactions in general). And I know my anxiety may seem stupid and ridiculus and anxiety episodes might often look that way, even from the point of view of the anxious person but it doesn’t stop it from deeply shaken you because for you it’s important and frightening. And I have really not been good lately with a weight on my stomac (wella big weight that hurt) since leaving the room and my mind running wild on bad thoughts so.

But enough with my state of mind, their are also two other main things that bothered me and that was

-Snoke’s dead. WTF???(I was in shock in the cinema with my mouth open, yes) How did Kylo turned against him so fast (I can consider the fact that killing his father made him reconsider things but still it was a big turn) and mostly What? Like that? So fast? It was almost too easy! And won’t we have any explainations about him?!? Who is him? What are his motives? Why is he so force-powerful? What was he even doing on this ship in person after being a distant hidden figure during ep VII? (and where did he find those golden bathrobes??). At this point I am almost convinced that he is not dead, that his presence aboard the ship was a force projection (like Luke’s) and that it all was part of the plan, and I am going to be pissed if he is not in ep IX (and if we don’t at least get information about him!).

-The second thing was Holdo’s actions. I was waiting to see her and was happy to see the actrice again (I am also happy everytime 35+ looking actresses get a job) but I found the character frustrating. I can’t find a single reason why she woudn’t inform her fellow resistance members that she did have a plan (a retreat planet waiting for them). Was she afraid of a mole? Was she afraid Poe was a mole (he was strangely careful in the begining of the movie but that’s a bit extreme)?? If not why did she not just told him what was planned? And if she thought there did was a mole or had any other valid reason not to tell it, why did she not at least tell “Yes, I have a plan. I cannot explain it to you yet but there indeed is an other option than to run out of fuel and be killed”. When there begins to be this much tension inside the group it may be time to do something so you don’t destroy each other before the enemy can! ‘You don’t have to wait for the day to believe their is a sun’ well at least tell me there is a sun so I can believe in it and wait for it! How can people trust you if you don’t inform them their is something to trust? If you don’t tell people there is an option of course they will try to find one?!

In the end I felt as if TFA had been made by people who knew and love Star Wars (I had low expectations about it and ended up so happy!) while TLJ was made by someone that wanted to made a sci-fi movie and that’s all. And since I came to see a Star Wars movie I feel somehow tricked…I also had the feeling that things were a little bit rushed, as if this was supposed to be a stand alone movie rather that the middle part of a trilogy… And I am not sure I amgoing to take everything in the movie as canon rather than as the realisator’s own vision…

Wow this got really long, thanks for reading if you did and sorry for throwing my fears and frustrations around but I needed it! And don’t let soft Kylux die please…

[memyselfandmatt]

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” Review

WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW

I’ve never been a huge Star Wars fan. I’ve enjoyed them all (even the prequels to an extent) but they never made me into a die-hard fan. So as you can expect, I walked into the cinema not expecting a lot but holy wow, it was very good. It’s very new. 

The film’s plot is so very different from how past Star Wars films have set out their Plots. I particularly love how the conventional scrolling text at the start of the film basically just recaps the whole story of The Force Awakens to tell us that almost no time has passed. 

There are 3 separate stories going on alongside each other following each one of the main cast: Poe, Finn and Rey. These all connect together at the end and establishes good terms for episode 9.

Let’s start with Rey’s arc within this movie as that’s where we were left in The Force Awakens. People have issues with this a lot because Luke isn’t exactly how we thought he would be, even Mark Hamill was unhappy with how Luke was portrayed in this film...

‘I said to Rian, “Jedis don’t give up.” I mean, even if he had a problem, he would maybe take a year to try and regroup. But if he made a mistake, he would try and right that wrong.’ - Mark Hamill

... However, I think Luke is perfect in this film. He plays a character who’s done with everything. He’s been through a lot and, as revealed later in the film, he’s responsible for the creation of Kylo Ren. Hamill’s performance brings a bit of “old grandfather” vibes to the character whose life has been huge and it’s phenomenal.

Then there’s Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver’s performances as Rey and Ben. There’s so much conflict between these two characters and it really makes you feel for Ben in a weird way. There’s obviously the infamous image of Kylo Ren without a shirt which I find to be a really symbolizing image for his character, as he lays out his emotional struggle with The Dark Side. He’s laying bare for Rey as she tries to convince him to join the Resistance. This also really works to spark fury into Kylo Ren to kill Snoke, it shows how angry he is with Snoke for using him as a puppet. That anger is so present within him he becomes the leader of The First Order without even batting an eye.

Now onto Finn’s arc. He wakes from his stasis sleep and reunites with Poe, during which Leia is incapacitated and Vice Admiral Holdo is left in charge. They get followed through Light Speed and at a constant attack. Finn tries to escape with Rey’s tracker to save her in case she returns early where he meets Rose. This then leads to Finn, Rose and BB8 leaving in a ship to find a master codebreaker to sneak into Snoke ship and disable their tracker.

They go to this Casino planet Canto Byte, and this is where I’ve seen a lot of the hate towards this film directed. I found this to be quite a nice side adventure and really helped to set Rose as this character to care about, instead of just using her as a one time only character. I found Kelly Marie Tran’s performance as Rose to be amazing and really solidified her as part of the new gang of characters. We learned a lot about her backstory within this film and thus learned her morals as a character, which is nice to hear from somebody who isn’t a huge deal within the resistance. Everybody we follow within Star Wars are usually huge within the universe but Rose isn’t and it’s quite a refreshing take to

They then find a codebreaker in prison and enter Snoke’s ship. Codebreaker DJ, played by Benicio del Toro, is a complete outsider to the war. His best interests are with whatever gets him an easy life. Again, it’s really refreshing to see characters like this, where their best interests aren’t with fighting one another, but just with their own lives. DJ selling out Finn, Rose and BB8 really resonates with us an audience as we know he doesn’t care, he just wants what’s best for him and so it both antagonizes him but oddly makes him one a null entity within this story.

But, for now, onto the third and final arc with Poe and Leia. We actually start the film with Poe taking the absolute piss out of General Hux. The whole cinema lit up with laughter both times I saw this film, it was hilarious. Poe then proceeds to take down this Dreadnaught against the will of Leia. This is possibly one of the best moments to start off the film with. In The Force Awakens, we barely saw anything from Poe Dameron and this really helps to solidify his character as an essential part of the new trio. As this provokes The First Order, we see Kylo Ren go out on his ship and attack the Rebel’s himself, where they destroy the Bridge of the Rebel ship.

Now... This is why I needed to see this film again. Obviously, Carrie Fisher died in late 2016 and so isn’t around anymore to film parts for Episode 9. For that reason alone I was just watching out for these moments, seeing when Leia would die, but she never did. This isn’t a critique at all on the movie, but they teased it a hell of a lot within the film and it’s really not great to do that. We know Leia will have to die next movie but it won’t be Carrie, it’ll be some CGI or even just leftover bits they’ve tried to tie into the next film. It’s something I kinda wish they just did so we weren’t stuck in the first viewing wondering when it’s gonna happen.

Back to the story, I found it particularly interesting to have Poe antagonizing the temporary General Holdo. It was nice and refreshing to see an internal conflict within the Rebel Alliance which was dumbfounded. It really painted Poe as this learning fighter pilot who thought he knew everything, but really didn’t. The temporary General’s plan worked until Codemaster DJ gave them up within Finn’s arc. My issue is this arc felt a little bit unnecessary... except for the fact that it led up to the best ship destruction ever. It was beautiful. General Holdo sacrificing herself to blow up Snoke ship using light-speed was possibly the best bit of film I’ve ever seen and I loved it.

This all congregates to this amazing final half-hour of intense speeder attack with Finn, Poe and Rose. Luke returns to the Rebel’s to distract The First Order by catching Kylo Ren’s attention for an amazing lightsabre “battle”. It’s a huge conflict between laughs and genuinely tense moments, I loved it all. It’s superb.

Of course, talking about a more technical aspect, there are the stylized screen wipes as usual along with the soundtrack we all know and love. The cinematography is nothing short of beautiful, shots that I keep looking for to use as wallpapers for my phone and for my desktop. The whole film is beautifully put together, taking into consideration the eye-tracking across the frame - there are moments I noticed where I wasn’t even in control of where I was looking in the frame, we were led to different areas of the screen with characters and ships, it was amazingly put together. It’s an almost perfect film.

The only set back for me is the runtime, I loved every moment but there are just somewhere you can’t help but feel maybe they should’ve left that bit out just to lower the runtime of the film.

Rating: 9/10

The Last Jedi provides an extremely compelling narrative with amazing performances from all of the cast, let down only slightly by the immense runtime.

[fallenangellostindarkness]

I sort of liked TROS, but it was such a mess that it ended up rather shallow

The plot! I loved the fact that we got to see so many places and characters, but there were too many places and characters and it was honestly a waste of essential time that could have been used on something else. Some things were too rushed and some were just unnecessary. It was messy. They forgot that this is the last movie in a trilogy, not the final season of a TV series where you can have as many things as you want. TFA feels like the pilot, TLJ like the following episodes with some fillers and TROS like the second season that got cancelled and they wanted to put everything in the series finale.

I loved the dynamic between the trio and the hug at the end with all of them having pretty much no one else left but the members of this trio. However, they’ve been a trio only in this movie, so it felt a bit too exaggerated. I don’t know what JJ tried to do with romance subplot and all the flirting, because I swear Poe was at some point into Finn, Rey and Zorii, Finn still longing for Rey, bro-zoning Poe and idk what was that with Jannah, whereas Rey was... a mess the entire movie and I think the girl needs a vacation, some tea and therapy. Anyway, to quote my friend, Poe was also a bit tiresome and whereas I love his funny moments and how dedicated he was to the cause, he was often too much like a clown jock from a CW production. And I really hated how he quoted Holdo in the second movie and he did it again with Zorii I think.

And since I’ve mentioned TLJ. Maybe it was just me but there perhaps too many easter eggs and references to the previous movies.

The Knights of Ren were mostly useless and just goth slightly scarier stormtroopers.

Now about Kylo and Rey. They... they were something. Idk if it was meant to emphasize his duality as Kylo Ren vs Ben Solo, but one moment he was ruthless and pretty much mad af and the other moment he was suggesting that he wants to go back to his mom, that he wants Rey as his empress, that he wants to defeat the rotten raisin and so on. He was also maybe pointing that Kylo Ren was the one with the mask and Ben the one without the mask and Rey knew this too, but at the same time he was sort of manipulating her and I think that at some point during their final duel he truly forgot who he was because he went from toying with her and avoiding her strikes to being stopped from killing her by his dying mom. One of the only references I liked was his discussion with Han paralleling the one from TFA where we clearly see that he is free from the voices and hate and willing to reclaim his identity. His final scenes as Ben Solo were amazing and Adam is the best, but almost no lines and the way his death was treated... like whaaat? I cried these past days like crazy, but on the screen it happened so fast that people in the cinema went from recording and photographing the kiss to “where did he go? what happened?” And that was all. He was just gone and forgotten, with only Rey knowing that he died redeemed and as a sort of hero. And his early vicious actions end up appearing as an excuse to kill him cause... yeah... he was a mad despot. It makes his entire existence and suffering seem pointless. The only detail about his death that I liked is how Rey finally gave him his hand and died holding it... and Adam’s acting. Because he’s the god of emotions. And one thing I’ve seen people complain - Rey used her healing force and nothing happened to her, but Ben died. Ben had his life force almost drained, was thrown in a pit and wounded terribly and brought Rey back to fking life. It’s not fair at all, but the poor thing was barely alive anymore.

About Rey... as I said, she needs a vacation, some tea and therapy. I don’t know how I feel about her being a Palpatine, because I sort of like what Ben pointed out - he’s Vader’s grandson and she’s Palpatine’s grandaughter - as in they are these people whose legacies force them to choose a certain path, but in the end it is their choice, but I also am disappointed because Daisy and most fans have defended Rey for so long and the reveal is something out of Riverdale tbh. Rey’s inner conflict was tearing her apart and it was quite obvious as she was also showing this duality like Kylo/Ben. Also we needed more dark Rey. And I choose to believe that in the end she truly had genuine feelings for Ben. I first started shipping these two in TFA with the bridal carrying and her hesitation when he takes off his mask, then in TLJ where she... the entire movie speaks for itself imo. Here she saw once again Ben behind the mask and she showed that she cared about Ben, though she was very pissed at him, and hated Kylo. The moment she decided to save him, it was her “I am done playing this game” moment. It was Nicole and Charlie finally making peace in A Marriage Story. She healed not only his wound, but his scar and it was her way of saying that she loved him and could not kill Ben despite hating Kylo. Now the kiss from her perspective - loved the emphasis on her hand touching his hand, then his face and that she was the one to make this huge step. She finally had the Ben she longed for and he was back for good. Also... the way he pulled her closer... the small details saved this scene! And then he died and part of me thinks that she was in shock, the other sees her thank you, next attitude as a F U from JJ to the Reylo fandom. Also - the Tony Stark vs Thanos scene was cringe-worthy sorry not sorry. Another thing I choose to believe is that her taking the Skywalker name is also a nod to Ben as well. He was last referred as the last Skywalker (tho maybe it was a translation issue with the subtitles and the raisin was referring to Anakin but still implying that Ben is still a Skywalker). She was disappointed and mistreated by Luke and him finally giving her a kind word and some support is not really a reason for me to see him as her mentor. Leia was “Organa” and maybe Rey knew about Anakin, who spoke to her but not to Ben cause F Ben right???, but ugh... So maybe calling herself Solo was a bit too much (tho she liked Han better than Luke imo) and too obvious, but Skywalker is the legacy of those who made her realize that her choice mattered more than her blood (ugh am I quoting Luke now?).

Yeah so... idk what to do right now with my life.