#I love Star Wars (original trilogy!)

[bibxrbie]

"Luke Skywalker isn’t like the old Jedi. He saves Vader with his attachments!”

Wrong!

Luke Skywalker, at the end of Return of the Jedi, after his confrontation with the Emperor drags Darth Vader through the destructing Death Star. He’s desperate, knuckles white under the heavy weight of his father’s body, a little boy dragging his dad to safety. He sets Vader down for a moment, to catch his breath or maybe to get a better grip. He goes to grab Vader again, but Vader, uncomfortable and in pain, asks Luke to take off the mask. He wants to see Luke through his eyes instead of the eyes Palpatine built for him. Luke refuses, says that removing the mask is a sure way for Vader to die. Luke doesn’t want Vader dead, he wants Vader alive. Not to hold him accountable for his many evil acts, but for the same reason why Luke Skywalker can’t kill Darth Vader; Vader is his father and Luke loves him.

And yet, after a moment, Luke removes Vader’s mask. He doesn’t want to, he hesitates, but he removes the mask with enough slowness to allow Vader to take it back. In that moment, Luke sets aside his desire for Vader in his life, sets aside his desire to see him live, and sets aside his entire mission, the reason he was even on the Death Star in the place. In his compassion for his father, Luke stays with Vader until he dies. It is this moment where we see him be the best damn Jedi he can be. I’d even argue that this moment is the greatest example of non-attached love we see. Because Luke lets Vader go! He lets his father die, and in some ways, by removing the mask, he too kills Vader, he stays with him until his last moment, gives him the kindness of granting his last wish and finally chooses Vader.

And Luke doesn’t have to do this. If Luke Skywalker’s love for his father was an attachment, he would ignore Vader and continue dragging him to the escape pod, put his desire for a father as his central focus and ignore Vader’s wants and discomfort. Maybe he would even save him. But he doesn’t. Instead, he watches as Vader dies.

He builds a Jedi burial for his father and watches it burn the remnants of Vader and Anakin Skywalker away. He mourns Vader, he mourns what they could’ve had as father and son, considers what ifs and maybe-if-I-did-this. Vader/ Anakin is released from his mortal body, from his ‘crude matter’ and Luke lets him go. He says one final goodbye to Anakin. Then, he joins Leia, Han, Chewie, Lando, and the rest of the Rebels and celebrates their victory. He lives in the present and celebrates what he has instead of what he lost.

Luke Skywalker is THE Jedi. Everything about Luke Skywalker serves as the foundational cornerstone of the Jedi, everything about the Jedi as a culture and philosophy is reflected in his character. Luke’s desire for the New Jedi Order isn’t to throw away the values of the old Order, but to vitalise them, breathe life back into dying lungs, and rebuild a path that people set out on their way to destroy. (Yes, his Order is different from the Old, but that’s because it has to be. He doesn’t have the resources or the safety of the Old Order.) The philosophies of the Jedi are difficult and they aren’t for everyone, and like the perfect Jedi that Luke is, he struggles and stumbles and sometimes he even rejects it. But, no matter how far he falls, it is a way of life he chooses again and again and again. It is a way of life that welcomes him back each time

[faint-taste-of-almonds]

yes there's a lot of things to criticize about Star Wars but one thing i will always love it for is being so unabashedly tragic

i'm sure it's been said before, but one of the main things i think powers the SW fandom (fics in particular) is the (in)evitability of it all

time travel fix-its are one of the most popular sub-categories of fics that i've seen (for the prequels at least) but i see it much more rarely in other fandoms. i know each fandom has their own niches that they dig into but star wars fic writers took one look at this decades long story of people who were doomed from the start and said 'not in my house bitch'

and i'm never tired of it, because there's so many places where just one different action could have changed the story entirely, but didn't

was it over the moment Palpatine succeeded in feeding Anakin's fears and his distrust toward the Jedi? the moment the Sith gained control of the senate? what about when the war started, when the Jedi were made generals of men designed to be their executioners? what about when Dooku left the order? when Qui-Gon Jinn died, leaving barely-knighted Obi Wan Kenobi to raise a child he had no idea how to care for? when the Jedi massacred the Mandalorians at Galidraan, leaving Jango Fett primed (hah) for revenge? when Palpatine, and thus the Sith, first gained influence? when the Jedi were tied to the Republic, all the way back at the Ruusan Reformation?

there are so many little moments that turn into this huge web of cause and effect when you take a step back. and in canon, these characters are dooming themselves while we watch, but what reason do they have to do anything different? they don't know they're in a tragedy - its dramatic irony at its goddamn finest

but there's this thing about decisions: for it to be a choice, there has to be another option. and our heroes make their mistakes because that's what they do, while we aren't privy to that other option, leaving that little what-if. it's a favorite human pastime, to think about what might have been.

we start at episode 4, though, fourty or so years after what you could arguably call the start, and find ourselves watching the dominoes fall in place throughout 1, 2, and 3.

and we can hate the choices, hate the tragedy, hate what happened to our beloved characters, but we knew. we had the luxury of knowing.

it's a love story, it's political intrique, it's sci-fi at its finest, and they were dead from the start.

[noramsblog]

Love at first yell

[kyberkanan]

hanleia enjoyers come forth

[archerygun]

It’s always so heartbreaking to me that every time we see Owen display how he really feels about Luke in canon (the books, and Kenobi) Luke is never there to hear it.

When Owen faces down the inquisitor and declares that Luke IS his son, Luke is already way out of earshot (even though I do sort of consider the Kenobi show non-canon). When Owen talks to Beru after the argument with Luke on the day they die, telling her he feels bad about having to squash Luke’s dreams and wanting to find some way to make it up to him, he never hears it.

Owen’s relationship with Luke WAS complex, and it was rocky sometimes. I’ve always read this as Owen having difficulty being emotionally open, at least as far as the ANH novel and Kenobi show have shown. Owen loves Luke DEEPLY, right to his core. But he doesn’t know how to put that into words. He’s an awkward man! He’s been raised on nightmare hell planet where becoming too attached to someone might end up in them being killed or sold into slavery and you being miserable! Look at what happened to both of his mothers!

When someone you love dies, you look at all their actions with a new light and deeper introspection. Can you imagine the absolute world-shattering thoughts Luke must have had after Owen and Beru died?

Realising he was more deeply loved than he could have ever realised, even if Owen had a harder time showing it.

And Owen’s parental anxiety is shown in Kenobi! Owen Lars, one of the most dedicated fathers in the galaxy, probably died wondering if his son would ever know how much he really loved him.

Owen probably died with so, so many regrets. Owen probably died wondering if he deserved to raise Luke (which he DID) and if he had done enough to prepare his son for the world (HE DID).

Owen Lars has always been a heartbreaking character for me.

[randomtheidiot]

Hate it when Big Media takes blorbo-able scrappy young main characters and turns them into generic paragon mascots with no distinct character flaws aside from “cares too much” because they’re marketable to children and children are supposedly too dumb for nuance.

I got the 69th like so that you fucks can’t brag about it in the comments.

[skyshipper]

HAPPY STAR WARS DAY - MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU THE ORIGINAL TRILOGY (1977-1983)

[moonyflesh]

-> Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” - (2017).

[froglover7789]

ok so the obv follow up to luke skywalker getting eloped at somepoint and not telling anyone is leia doing some serious meddling. like. shes bossy as fuck and at some point post rotj decides that shes sick of luke bothering her all the time (hes just annoying) and tries to set him up with someone.

imagine it please. please imagine with me. itd be so fucking funny. she'd keep trying to introduce him to people at galas or be like "ive got this friend i think youll like him" and luke has not a clue whats going on bc hes stupid and too busy thinking about the hottie hes banging. i love star wars. the sequels shouldve been leia getting increasingly frustrated that luke doesnt realize hes on a date/ being asked out until (insert your favorite luke ship here) tells him. and luke still doesnt believe it. and continues to go on the terrible dates leia sends him on. bc why would his sister send him on dates when she obv knows hes been married for forever? (she does not know this. no one knows this. luke is a fool)

it finally stops when luke tells her he cant visit with whatever mystery man of the week it is bc its his fifth wedding anniversary with (insert your favorite luke ship here) and theyre renewing their vows! isnt that so exciting leia! and he shows her their rings and starts yapping and leia promptly bangs her head on her desk bc how could she have missed that

[thelesbianthespianposts]

the Star Wars fandom makes a lot of jokes about Din Djarin not knowing anything about Star Wars and dating Mr. Star Wars himself. And while that is true and very funny, I would like to point out that Mr. Star Wars doesn’t know anything about Star Wars either

[ziggyyyystardust]

A detail I love in Star Wars is the use of diversity to show who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. In the OT whenever we see imperials they all look the same - old white men wearing Nazi uniforms. Compared to the rebellion with numerous women in charge, other species, ect. Then in the prequels, while we definitely see much more diversity amoungst the bad guys (Maul, trade federation, ventress, ect) the main bad guys generally fit the criteria (Dooku and Palpatine). But the Jedi order is extremely more diverse, the Jedi council is run by people of different genders, races, species, ect.

It’s a really cool detail to show both their political leanings and all, especially in the OT where the casting for the empire and the small details (the uniforms!!) just show so well that they’re the bad guys, it wasn’t until I rewatched it that I realised why the empire just felt so off putting. The choice to have the good guys be a diverse and overall happier cast really work to show who we as the audience should be rooting for

[darth-kote]

Random memes are all I have the energy to create rn. Enjoy (or don't)

[r-2-peepoo]

Coriolanus Snow and Anakin Skywalker are perfect examples of really interesting characters who had every chance to do the right thing but repeatedly chose wrong even though they were surrounded by good people, all because they had one person whispering in their ear and convincing them to be selfish and to hurt people instead. There is no point where they have to do what they do, it’s their choices that make them compelling.

They’re also both incredibly controlling over the women they claim to love but are quick to try and physically harm them when they realise that they’re actually human beings who will not blindly follow them. It’s very clear they were possessive, not actually in love. To sincerely love is to respect someone’s agency and neither of them were capable of that.

Another trait they both share is that, despite being layered and well written but fundamentally flawed characters who turn to evil by their own free will, if you cast an attractive actor to play them, there are always going to be people who blindly ignore the entire plot just to defend them and justify their actions. Being a victim of abuse or oppression does not excuse you from being a perpetrator.

[noramsblog]

Jedi leia organa save me... save me jedi leia organa

[meteor-moon]

there was a boy with stars in his eyes

[weregonnabecoolbeans]

I haven’t said this enough recently but I’d like to take a moment to remind everyone…or idk…whoever sees this post…

That I love Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Thank you.