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helbertinelli · 4 years ago

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A Different Hope

Chapter 5 - The End

Leia felt an overwhelming sense of fear grip her as she entered the throne room. She looked around at everything as she had never seen the room before. It was usually her father who had to deal with Palpatine and never her. Leia and Vader stopped by the stairs leading up to the throne. Leia was looking over at Vader, trying to follow his lead in case she had to do anything. She figured he most likely dealt with the Emperor before and he knew what it was expected to do.

"Ah Lord Vader and Princess Organa." Palpatine smiled as he was greeting them. "I gave you a job to do Lord Vader, but I found out you have not been very good to keep to it." The Emperor continued. Leia was switching from looking at Vader and at Palpatine. "Maybe you're overdue for another lesson." He added, his creepy smile still plastered on his face.

Despite being scared of the situation she was in, part of Leia felt good about Vader finally being in trouble for once. Even though it came from the wrong place, there were finally some consequences for him.

As Palpatine readied himself to shoot lightning at Vader, he reacted quickly, igniting his lightsaber and trying to block the Emperor's attack. Leia gasped quietly, stepping back quickly as she was watching in shock the two men going against each other.

"You lied to me about Padme!" Vader growled. "I did not kill her. Our child did not die. I could have been with her instead of doing your bidding all these years." He took one step up the stairs leading to the throne and Palpatine shot another stream of lightning at him that kept him from advancing temporarily. "You knew about everything, didn't you? Why did you send me on this mission? Were you expecting me to kill her too like I did so many others? So you can reveal at the end that she was my daughter?" Vader asked as rage was flowing through his entire body.

Palpatine cackled at his statement. "I have to say I had no idea she was your daughter. But that would have been quite unfortunate for you to experience, Lord Vader." Palpatine pulled Vader's lightsaber out of his hands before resuming the lightning strikes. Vader fell to his knees, screaming in pain as the electricity was frying everything in his suit. "You will learn your place though." Palpatine stood up from the throne, levitating Vader with ease, and he started contorting his mechanical left arm and legs to the point where they were about to fall out of their sockets. As Vader fell to the floor, the lightning resumed and Vader's screams filled the room once more.

"No!" Leia shouted. She was trembling in fear at the sight of Vader being tortured. She hated him, but part of her knew he was not lying about her being his daughter. Just a moment ago he repeated that claim to Palpatine. She knew it had to be true. He was her father. As much as she hated him, she could not just sit by and watch him suffer and do nothing to stop it.

Palpatine laughed again at her plea, stopping his attack on Vader to look over at her. He enjoyed the terror he saw on her face, just as much as he enjoyed the same fear Vader gave off when Palpatine stopped attacking him. Vader was breathing shallowly, his breathing was raspy and sounded even more broken than before. He was relieved that the pain stopped, but he was more worried that Palpatine might hurt Leia for trying to interfere. The Emperor started cackling louder and he resumed his lightning attack on Vader, causing the Sith Lord to cry out in pain once again.

Leia hated this feeling of powerlessness, of feeling nothing but fear and not being able to do anything about it. "Stop!" She screamed. Her shriek was followed by a wave of Force born of her fear and anger at what she was witnessing. It slammed the Emperor back into the throne and it made him lose his concentration for the lightning bolts he was shooting out of his hands.

She looked in shock at what she just did. This was like nothing she had ever experienced before, but somehow it came naturally to her right now. Although the burst of Force was unintentional, she knew it would not be perceived as such. She took deep breaths, keeping her eyes on the body of the Emperor. She did not know what to expect or what will happen if he got up. When the Emperor seemed as if he wouldn't get back up, Leia turned towards Vader to make sure he was still alive.

"Da-..." She started but then screamed in pain. Palpatine was waiting for her to be distracted to get back up and punish her. He shot lightning through her body, laughing hysterically.

"Who knew you really were your father's daughter?" He cackled. "I could teach you to control it. You could be strong. You have so much potential. All you have to do is join me." Palpatine smirked, still torturing her and leaving her unable to respond.

"Nooo!" Vader yelled, his fear of Palpatine turning his attention to his daughter now realized. "You will not take her from me!" Vader growled, clutching Palpatine's throat in a Force choke. He squeezed his fingers together as Palpatine was clawing at his throat and Leia stopped being attacked.

"Leia, go!" Vader pleaded, but she stayed put, frozen in place by fear and pain. Vader continued his choke on Palpatine. Although he was not as powerful as he once was, his desire to save his child from the Emperor filled him with immense strength. In the end, Vader let go of Palpatine once he felt the Emperor's life force gone.

"Leia..." Vader turned to look at her once it was all over. He wanted to say more but his attack on Palpatine along with the torture he just experienced took a great toll on his body and he collapsed next to his daughter.

-- Chapter 6 - Twin Suns

Anakin woke up on the couch of his and Padme's apartment on Coruscant. His head was resting on Padme's lap and Leia, who was about three years-old this time, was sitting on his chest and watching cartoons.

"What happened?" Anakin asked groggily, looking up at his wife, who was playing with his hair.

"You fell asleep watching Bantha Tales with Leia." Padme smiled, pushing Anakin's hair out of his face and running her fingers through it.

Anakin stretched out on the couch, causing Leia to wobble slightly as she was trying to keep her balance on his chest. She looked over at Anakin, frowning at him for disturbing her. He smiled at her reaction.

"I'm sorry, baby." He wrapped his arms around her, sitting up slowly and kissing her cheek. Leia ignored him, her attention dedicated to her cartoons as she started to hum along to the theme song of Bantha Tales. Anakin couldn't help but smile again. Seeing his family together filled his heart with joy.

When Vader woke up from his dream, he found himself aboard his ship. He had new limbs installed and while he was still in pain, it was just the sort that he was forced to deal with everyday. His mask and costume were removed as they both got damaged during Palpatine's torture. He was connected to various machines that ensured he was kept alive and there were droids that were there to assist him.

"Thanks for saving me from the Emperor, Lord Vader." Leia said to him once she noticed he was awake. "We're on your ship, on Alderaan. I reassembled the limbs you've lost. We're even now." She explained dryly. "My father and some other senators are working on a new way to lead the Galaxy now that the Emperor is gone."

Vader listened to her. It hurt him that Leia would not accept him and that he was still Darth Vader in her eyes. He sighed quietly. There were so many things he wanted to tell her. He did not know if she would be willing to listen to it all, but he at least had to try to ask for her forgiveness before anything else.

"Leia... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for hurting you all these years, for trusting the Emperor. I'm sorry for what I did to our family. You and Padme deserved so much better." He looked at her, finally through his eyes rather than through the lenses of his mask. He felt his eyes stinging with tears as his words and his heart were filled with regret over everything that he did and over missing out on everything that could have been. His voice was not distorted by his mask anymore and he was glad to use his own voice too to speak to her.

Leia sighed before taking a deep breath and looking over at her father. She wanted to yell at him, to throw his apology right back at him and chew him out about how it will never be enough to make up for all the pain he has caused not just her, but to everyone else in the Galaxy too. She had no more interest in fighting with him, though. His time was over and thanks to him, Palpatine was no more and the Empire was soon to share the same fate as its Emperor. Seeing him without him mask made Leia realize who Vader really was. He was not some threatening Sith Lord anymore. He looked like a regular man, a man who was hurt and sad. She could see parts of his face still resembling Anakin, but mostly she was glad that he looked nothing like the man she knew to be her biological father. That way she could still love Anakin without having to forgive Vader.

"Please forgive me, my daughter." Vader repeated, noticing the pained look on Leia's face. It broke his heart that he was not be able to help her in any way, that he could not take her pain away, that he could not make her happy.

Leia stood up, taking one last look at him before exiting his chamber and his ship.

Vader became overcome with tears as Leia left. He knew he lost her too. He was not certain that he ever had a chance of getting back to her, but he still had a sliver of hope that she would forgive him in the end and they could be a family. That remnant of hope was all gone now, though and his wails filled the ship. He was truly alone now. For the first time in his life, he realized he was truly alone. He had no more family and even Palpatine was gone this time. There was no one left but himself and the few droids that were looking after him.

He shut his eyes, still sobbing loudly when he felt a pair of hands touch his face. He felt someone pressing her forehead to his and her lips onto his. He opened his eyes to look at the woman standing in front of him.

"I'm never letting you go, Ani. You'll always have me." Padme spoke softly, caressing his face.

"She’s gone." He sniffled, drawing quick breaths as he tried to stop himself from crying. "I couldn't fix it, Padme. She hates me." His tears started again at the mention of Leia hating him.

"She'll come around. She is our daughter and deep down she cares about you too. She's headstrong like her father, but she has your kind heart too." Padme wrapped her arms around him when Vader pulled himself loose from the vertical platform where he was reassembled and he fell to his knees. "Leia isn't our only child. She has a twin brother, Luke." He looked up at her when she revealed that last part.

"We had twins?" He asked, his voice trembling. He felt both pain and happiness. Our family would have been so beautiful, he thought to himself. "Where is Luke?" He asked Padme. "Do you think he'll want me in his life? Do you think he'll want to forgive me?"

"Of course he will. And Leia will, too." She reassured, holding her husband in an embrace. "Take her with you, to Luke. He's on Tatooine."

That night, in the Organa household, Leia recounted to Bail the events that happened while Vader was her bodyguard. She had already told him that Vader was the one who killed Palpatine, but she purposefully left out the details of her being related to Vader. Now she decided it was time to tell him everything.

Although Bail knew the story of Leia being the daughter of Anakin who then turned to the dark side and only existed as Darth Vader, he still listened to his daughter tell her story. When she finished talking, Bail pulled her into a hug and placed a kiss onto her forehead. It was now his turn to reveal the rest of her story and tell her the complete story of Anakin and Padme from when he first met them until the moment Leia came home with him and her brother was sent with Obi-Wan to Tatooine.

Leia was surprised to hear she had a brother, a twin nonetheless. She was sad that they had to be separated and while she understood their reasoning for it, she was still not happy that she had to grow apart from her twin brother.

"I need to go find him. He needs to know too." She told her father and Bail agreed with her.

"I cannot come with you, but you can take C-3PO and R2-D2. They will be good traveling companions. And I will make sure you have everything you need." He smiled as Leia threw her arms around him and hugged him.

The next day, Vader showed up to the Organa residence just as Leia was packing for her journey to Tatooine.

"What do you want?" Leia frowned at the sight of him. She threw some more clothes in a suitcase, before walking back to her closet to grab others.

"Leia..." He spoke her name as softly as he could. Saying her name brought him comfort, it reminded him of his time with Padme, of the time when he believed he still could be with her and their children. "I have found out that you have a twin brother, Luke. He's on Tatooine. I need you to come with me to him. Please." He pleaded to her.

She raised her brows in surprise at his new demeanor. Leia stood silent for a while, considering her options. She did not trust Vader still, but she knew he would not try to hurt her. She was not sure how Luke would react to him, though and she decided that Luke should not have to face Vader alone. Leia knew it was probably futile to try to convince Vader not to go after his son, so she decided not to try that. She knew if she left now, he would follow and there is a chance of him finding Luke first, which she did not want happening.

"Fine. I will come with you, but I have some demands." Leia spoke, trying to sound more official than before while she finished packing. Vader nodded in agreement. "My droids will come with me, too. You cannot hurt anyone at all while I am there. I get to talk to Luke alone before you do. And you have to take both of us back to Alderaan after we find him."

"You have my word." Vader promised before taking one look at the droids, the same ones who once belonged to him and his wife.

"Well, then let's not waste any more time." Leia reached to grab her suitcase, but Vader grabbed it for her first. She looked at him, frowning at first, but then decided to let it go and allow him to help her. She walked with him towards his ship, the two droids were following behind them. He made sure to walk slower than usually so that she would not have to struggle to keep up with him, since she was much shorter than him. Leia kept looking over at him while they walked. She thought about many things. She was wondering how the journey will go for the three of them. She was worried Luke might not like her or even want to leave his current home. She knew she most likely would not leave Alderaan if anyone asked her to. She was also worried about Vader and how going to find Luke together will make her see him differently.

"You could pilot." Vader said to her once they got on the ship. He remembered the times when he was a Padawan and the joy it brought him when he was allowed to pilot. He did not know much of what Leia liked, but he figured that her being a Skywalker meant she also liked flying. He loved flying and even Padme was a great pilot even though she did not spend most of her time aboard a ship.

"Me?" She asked, taken by surprise by his request.

"Yes, if you want to."

"I wasn't that great during my practice lessons." She warned, feeling a bit embarrassed to have to admit that to Vader.

"That's not a problem. I'll help if things go bad." He assured.

"Why do you want me to pilot?" She raised her brow, looking at him. She knew he was trying to get close to her, but she also really wanted to fly. It did not happen too often that she had the chance to fly and her last instructor told her she should never be allowed to fly after Leia let the ship spin out of control before crashing it belly-up above the balcony of the Organa home.

"This was originally your mission, so you should fly." Vader answered. She nodded, not willing to tell him that she would have asked R2 or Threepio to pilot instead. She took the pilot seat while Vader sat next to her.

"Okay, R2, give us a course to Tatooine." She asked as the astromech beeped happily and plugged himself in to the ship's controls to chart a course for them. With their coordinates ready, Leia lifted the ship and took off towards Tatooine.

Notes:

- I might write one-shots about Leia and Vader’s adventures while on the “road“ to Tatooine. And maybe I’ll write the story where they meet Luke. I have some more ideas of Vader teaching her a bit about the Force and even the two of them talking about the Force. Maybe Leia asking Vader to break some of the promises he’s made to her before the journey. I even thought about writing a funny one where Leia gets a crush on someone they meet and Vader is like “panik!“

- Leia will eventually come to terms that Vader is her dad and that he can change and be good again.

Chapter 1 - Her Eyes / Chapter 2 - Dreams

Chapter 3 - Anakin and Padme / Chapter 4 - The Ghosts of Polis Massa

#anidala #vaderdala #anakin skywalker #leia organa #darth vader #skyfam #my fics #a different hope

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unexpectedreylo · 5 years ago

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How Ben Solo Became A Martyr

If anyone were to pull me into a Hollywood studio office or lunch at some see-and-be-seen L.A.-area restaurant (personally, I like The Ivy) and ask me, a lifelong t.v. and movie viewer, what should show runners, directors, writers, and anyone who has a creative say in a production avoid doing, one thing I would say is, “Don’t unintentionally make a character a martyr.”

I don’t mean the sense of being a martyr in-universe but being a martyr to the audience.

First I should define what I mean by “martyr.” In a Christian sense, it’s a particular kind of saint who suffers and dies a horrible death for his or her faith. In a secular sense it can describe anyone who suffers and/or dies horribly for a cause or that suffering/death calls attention to a matter of injustice. This can also be applied in a more colloquial sense, such as when anyone suffers in some way or tries to use the impression of suffering to elicit sympathy.

If anyone at Lucasfilm is wondering why there’s a tribe of people on social media doing Ben Solo hashtags, making pins, and putting blue butterfly emojis on their handles, I’m here to tell Lucasfilm it’s because you guys made Ben Solo into a martyr to the audience.

First, they made Kylo Ren/Ben Solo Han and Leia’s son/Anakin and Padmé’s grandson. This makes him an easy investment for fans who have loved those characters for decades. The killing Han Solo part might have made a certain segment of longtime fans so angry at Kylo they not only couldn’t forgive him but they didn’t even want him redeemed but others could see how the death clearly affected him which elicits sympathy and compassion.

Second, they got an extremely talented, charismatic actor to play Kylo/Ben. Adam Driver refused to play Kylo as a one-dimensional mustache-twirling killing-machine villain. He added subtlety, nuance, and humanity to the role, all the while captivating the audience. That he’s also sexy didn’t hurt. As bad as Kylo could be, we also see the soft underbelly, the hints of the real Ben Solo hiding behind the persona. He managed to create the kind of hero we’d been hoping to see in the ST within a short amount of time and practically no dialogue. That’s extraordinary. Driver took Kylo as seriously as he takes any other role. He could’ve been making a bunch of other Oscar-nominated movies instead and we all know it. Getting him was a gift and some fans out there think it was ultimately kind of wasted.

Third, if TFA hinted at Kylo’s humanity, Rian Johnson made it entirely the point of Kylo’s arc in TLJ. When Kylo destroyed his helmet, Johnson was able to let Driver go nuts with a script that treated its characters like human beings instead of caricatures. While Kylo was still capable of evil and all-around bad guy-ness, we also saw someone who could be gentle and caring, a tortured young man struggling with deep remorse, a lonely soul who can only find connection with someone who’s supposed to be his enemy, and sometimes, a hero. Those pleading puppy dog eyes and trembling lips did a lot to elicit sympathy from filmgoers. That he’s also sexy didn’t hurt.

Fourth, both the films and ancillary material showed Ben was subjected to abuse and suffered greatly for the mistakes of his elders. Ben was targeted at conception and suffered with voices in his head most of his life. A kitchen droid tried to take him out. His parents were too busy doing whatever to really give him the attention he needed, even though Leia was aware some outside force was after her son. His parents ultimately feared him and his emotional freak outs. Han and Leia shipped him off to Luke’s poor man’s version of Hogwarts, leading to some deep abandonment issues. Luke almost killed him in his sleep. The very popular The Rise of Kylo Ren comics series basically acquitted Ben of everything he supposedly did leading up to his fall. Then Kylo is verbally and physically abused by Snoke. This has created a tremendous amount of sympathy for Ben, especially by those who have struggled with any number of real-world problems. They identified with him. Hollywood as of late has coded a lot of villainous or antihero characters as having mental illness or being neurodiverse or having addiction problems as well as enduring physical and verbal abuse. I get that writers want to enrich these characters and make them relevant to a modern audience and that actors like the challenge in playing them but I also think Hollywood is being a little irresponsible about it. Not only is it potentially stigmatizing it also seldom has a solution to those characters’ arcs other than death. How is someone living with bipolar disorder or autism finding a kindred spirit of sorts in Kylo/Ben going to feel about the constant message that such a life isn’t worth living? Ben just suffers and suffers and suffers and gets nothing for it.

Fifth, we’re presented with material depicting Ben’s youth. Ben, when he’s not getting the stuffing kicked out of him by life, is quite lovable and as a child, adorable. At least with Anakin Skywalker, we’re supposed to appreciate the tragedy of a good person who was loved falling to the Dark Side. With Ben it makes us love him 10x more and at the same time make us even more upset they unceremoniously killed off that darling little moppet who played with butterflies, ran around the house naked, and begged his daddy to come home.

Sixth, it didn’t seem like Ben was sufficiently loved either in the films or by Lucasfilm. Or, to put it this way, whatever gestures Han, Leia, or Luke tried to throw Ben’s way were cases of too little too late. I always wondered why, if Leia knew Snoke was manipulating Ben, she didn’t go out to find the mo-fo and kill him? I would! Leia tries to reach out to Ben in TROS but in the movie it comes off as her distracting him so Rey could inflict a fatal wound. In fact, the weird thing about TROS is it feels like Leia was trying to take out Ben all along: the distraction, ensuring Rey takes up her “Jedi path” which Leia knew full well this would somehow lead to Ben’s death, and finally her disappearing the same time he does. It’s weird! Han tries to save Ben but he’s a muggle who’s no match against his unstable son gifted with magic powers and lightsaber abilities. Luke apologizes in TLJ but never had anything to say to his nephew again. Adding insult to injury, the Blue Ghostie Exposition Scene From Hell establishes Luke and Leia as resigned to Ben’s fate all along, kicking their flesh and blood to the curb for a surrogate more to their liking. It’s horrible! The worst is of course his soulmate barely reacting to his death. In the end nobody cared. He’s like the kid who cleans up his act, gets good grades, gets into a decent college, and his family couldn’t care less. The movie abruptly kills him off and it’s on to cheering and celebrations. Nobody remembers or speaks of Ben and he’s not seen again in any form. Four-five months after the film has come out, there’s no official Ben merchandise or collectibles. It’s like “Ben Solo? Don’t know him.” You just know that every time the Star Wars social media team has to mention him or post something with him in it, they’re muttering under their breath, “Oh God, here it comes again.”

So they got a number of fans to empathize with Kylo/Ben and hope for his redemption as well as a chance at happiness after a lifetime of abuse and suffering, only to kill him off in a sudden and graceless manner. There’s no payoff for Ben or the audience. He’s just...gone. To us it doesn’t seem right. It seems cruel and unjust. But fans are also a tenacious lot so they’re hoping Lucasfilm will realize it made a mistake and correct it. In the meantime, Ben lives on in our fan fics, edits, fan art, and fan merchandise.

#ben solo #ben deserves better #reylo #kylo ren #adam driver

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jasontoddiefor · 5 years ago

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Tiny Emperor Luke AU Chapter 10

Also known as “Obi-Wan thinks Luke is dead and grieves on Alderaan ft. Bail Organa”.

Tumblr Tag | AO3

The first few days back on Alderaan passed in a haze. He knew he had all but collapsed in Breha’s arms, running low on energy. Obi-Wan had made it through the worst the war and all that Tatooine’s summers had to offer and yet he had broken down like a youngling, utterly exhausted. The Queen had put him in the same little cabin he’d lived in just a month ago and given him strict orders not to disappear.

It seemed unbelievable. Obi-Wan’s life had changed within the span of days so often, and yet he couldn’t grasp that just a month ago everything had been alright.

Not perfect, far from it, but alright.

He had told Beru that he’d be gone for two weeks while Owen was out working on the vaporators. She had laughed, told him not to worry and allowed him to visit Luke. The boy had been sleeping right up until Obi-Wan had stepped into his room to leave him another toy ship.

Beru had once let it slip that Luke adored the handcrafted ships much more than any other of his toys, much to Owen’s annoyance.

“Owen Lars was a good man,” Obi-Wan said quietly.

Bail took a seat next to him on the sofa. Breha had returned to the palace while Bail had stayed behind.

“He took in Luke without asking another question, loved his wife and his nephew dearly. I think, for all that he resented the pain Anakin represented, he might have loved the chance to have a brother as well.”

During the really dark days, the second year or so he had been on Tatooine, Obi-Wan had wondered whether the reason they didn’t get along was the fact that Owen Lars was an inherently good man. He was protective of his family, devoted, and wanted nothing but to see them happy. He was honorable down to the core and had even brought water and food to Obi-Wan’s meager dwellings when he had come to ask about floating toys and the kind of separation anxiety only Force-sensitive children experienced.

Owen Lars was a good man and Obi-Wan was a monster.

He’d justified all his actions in front of the Council and they had approved again and again as he committed hideous crimes in the name of the Republic and peace. Looking back, Obi-Wan knew that the Jedi had fallen from their path the moment they had stepped up to be Generals, but there hadn’t been any other options. Obi-Wan hadn’t been a proper Jedi in over a decade and that was perhaps the only reason the next words escaped him so easily.

“I hated him,” Obi-Wan admitted. “Still do. He told me to stay away so I wouldn’t get even more Skywalkers killed and I did just as he asked me to because I thought he was right.”

Bail put his arm around Obi-Wan’s shoulder, the hold so reminiscent of the way little Leia had thrown herself around Obi-Wan’s neck on the last day he had been on Alderaan the first time around.

“It’s not your fault, Obi-Wan,” Bail said. “You cannot blame yourself.”

“But it is my fault. I should have been there, begun training Luke so he’d be safer and I would know if anything happened to him. He’d already latched onto me when we had finally made it to Tatooine and that bond never broke. I should have reinforced it. I was already thinking about keeping him, raising him myself, but I thought he would be better off with his family. I walked the edge of their land so often, tempted to steal him away, but I always told myself I couldn’t give him what he needed, that he'd be safer away from me and now he’s-“

Dead.

Gone.

Like everyone else. People always left him behind and not for the first time did Obi-Wan wonder what lesson the Force was attempting to teach him that he always failed it. Maybe he had never outgrown the angry thirteen-year-old child, too attached to everyone around him. The galaxy might be a better place if he hadn’t been in it. Anakin wouldn’t have been trained or maybe he would have gotten a Master who could have stopped him from falling, who’d be able to protect his children and burn the Empire to the ground.

Obi-Wan knew he couldn’t do it anymore.

“It’s not your fault,” Bail insisted. “You Jedi always had a habit of piling the weight of every star onto your backs.”

Obi-Wan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Held it. Exhaled.

“It was our calling,” Obi-Wan said. “We were meant to protect every life.”

If the desert had taught him one thing, then it had shown him in perfect clarity what the Jedi should have been doing. Obi-Wan didn’t know where Palpatine’s machinations had started and ended, how many choices his Order really had been able to make in the end before they were slaughtered, but he could feel in his bruised and broken bones who they always should have been.

And who Obi-Wan never could be.

“And what is your calling now?” Bail asked.

Obi-Wan didn’t have an answer for him. He should finish what he had started all those years ago on Mustafar, show Anakin mercy and kill Vader for his Padawan. He should look for any remaining Jedi, die in the most honorable way, like a star on the verge of collapse.

He should, he should, he should-

He didn’t.

Sensing that Obi-Wan didn’t have an answer for him, Bail began to speak again. Alderaan’s Senator had aged, but by far not as much as Obi-Wan and yet, despite all the marks grief had left behind, Bail still managed to smile kindly.

“After you left the last time, Leia kept asking for you,” Bail said. “’When is Mister Ben coming back?’ and ‘Do you think he can tell me more stories?’ She has taken quite a liking to you and not only because you showed her how to make her books float on purpose.”

“I can’t stay here,” Obi-Wan said. “The first trip here was already a risk and this second- I never should have come back.”

Alderaan was as anti-Imperial as you could be without outright committing treason. They were under constant scrutiny and Obi-Wan couldn’t risk endangering the government of an entire planet. If even just one Imperial spy could see past the image of a haunted man, Alderaan would be made an example of.

“But you did.”

“Because I was desperate.”

The brutal honesty had become one of Obi-Wan’s most well-known companions. On Coruscant, he always had to watch his words no matter whether he spoke in front of Representative or another Jedi. People had high expectations of him and Obi-Wan had lied so often to please everyone around him that the truth the sharp winds of the last years had cut into him was terrifying but relieving.

Bail let go of Obi-Wan and with a sigh unbefitting of a royal, jabbed Obi-Wan’s ribs like they were children instead of grown men.

“You are my friend and you were Padmé’s friend,” Bail said. “You’ve been alone for a very long time, so do me a favor and honor those friendships and let us help you.”

“I’m not a good man, Bail,” Obi-Wan said. “Chaos follows me everywhere.”

Bail smiled and Obi-Wan wanted nothing more but to know how he managed it after all the horrors he had been forced to witness.

“At least this way I’ll always know where it is, instead of having to chase my daughter down.”

“Leia is a sweet child,” Obi-Wan replied.

Happy too, loved and cared for like her brother had been.

“I’m not denying that,” Bail said. “I am simply pointing out that she also happens to be an utter terror with no regard for people who do not have her particular brand of luck on their side. It must be a Jedi thing, Master Kenobi.”

“I’m not a Jedi anymore.”

“You have to be. My daughter is depending on it.”

Obi-Wan was hesitant to try. There were so many things that could go wrong and Leia was safe still and with luck, she’d never need to wield a weapon, certainly nothing more dangerous than a blaster.

But if Luke had been able to, he might still be alive and Obi-Wan didn’t have anyone left. His people had all been executed and all that remained of them were him and Leia Organa, her father’s laughter and her mother’s wit.

“I need time,” Obi-Wan said.

Time to heal and time to think and time to teach Leia to be better than the Jedi had ever been.

“Of course,” Bail agreed.

Obi-Wan could only hope she wouldn’t resent him for burdening her with the legacy of a thousand generations, that someday she might even forgive him for depriving her of the chance to share that weight with her brother.

He wasn’t sure he ever would.

#star wars #obi-wan kenobi #leia organa #bail organa #Luke Skywalker #tiny emperor luke au #fanfic #WHAT'S UP #IT'S SAD OBI-WAN HOURS #he deserves so much better

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zoryany · 5 years ago

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Hi! For those prompts, 25. Why do you have a picture of me? for Luke and Vader?

send me ficlet prompts – optionally include charactersset in the same vague AU as this oneshot I wrote in which vader somehow uses luke to work with the rebellion to bring down palpatine. I still have very few details worked out in this verse but it seemed to fit best with what I wanted to do, so, enjoy!

His father was angry. That, in and of itself, was not unusual – his father was almost always angry, after all – but his anger felt different, this time. He was angry at Luke. Now, of course, that was also not the most unusual of circumstances. The two of them had very different opinions on what was considered ‘proper behaviour,’ and as such his actions tended to put his father into something of a foul mood more often than not. But that usually manifested in something more like annoyance than genuine anger. This…

This felt far closer to the type of rage that rolled off his father before he strangled someone.

He had never been strangled by his father – who claimed he would never hurt him, which Luke tended to believe, most days. In this moment, though, faced with the full weight of Vader’s rage bearing down on him, he was beginning to have his doubts.

“What’s the matter, Father? Aren’t you happy to see me? I made the rendezvous in time and everything!” Luke was fully aware that Vader would not appreciate the flippancy, but the alternative was to display his fear, and he refused to do that in front of his father.

As expected, Vader remained unmoved. Crossing his arms, he inclined his helmet to look at Luke directly. “Do not expect me to be impressed when you have done what is expected of you, boy.” Boy. Not son, or my son, or child – or even Luke. No. He’d said boy. Vader was angry indeed. Several moments passed, Luke not daring speak before his father elaborated. “You have been investigating matters you have no business looking into.”

The fear he’d been working so hard to conceal flared up and Luke let out an involuntary gasp. There was no sense in trying to lie to his father, but he’d really been hoping that Vader hadn’t discovered his particular line of inquiry just yet. “I – ”

“Why do you have this holocron?” he hissed, waving his hand and summoning the crystalline cube from his son’s bag. Leather creaked as Vader tightened his grip on the holocron, and Luke worried he would crush it in his hand. Swallowing thickly past the lump forming in his throat, Luke felt his eyes widen and he took a single step back as Vader advanced on him. “Answer me!”

“How – how did you know I had that?”

“Do not believe that you are my only source within the rebellion, boy.” There it was again. Boy. The tone made Luke’s blood run cold. “You did not answer my question.

Steeling his resolve and deciding not to cower before the so-called Fist of the Empire, Luke tamed his wild expression and set his brows into a scowl, crossing his own arms across his chest in a poor imitation of his father’s previous stance. “Well, what did you expect? The name Skywalker isn’t exactly obscure. People were offering me answers, I wasn’t about to turn them down! Besides, you’re not exactly forthcoming about your past.”

A noise that sounded something like a growl rumbled out of Vader’s vocoder, and his voice was low and dangerous when he spoke next. “The past is best left where it belongs, boy. Let it remain buried. If you cannot leave well enough alone, I will recall you from your mission and punish you accordingly.”

“Father!” Luke took a step forward as Vader began to turn on his heel, apparently angry enough that he didn’t even want to hear Luke’s report. He caught his father’s arm, and instantly he reeled back as Vader whirled around sharply to face him.

“Do not – ”

“No, Father, it’s my past too – my history. I have every right to know.” Luke could feel his own anger and frustration rising in his chest, bubbling in his stomach, washing over him and tensing his muscles. “I’m not going to leave it up to you which parts of my life I get to know about. Stars, I had to find out my own mother’s name from Ahsoka –” He instantly clamped his mouth shut, teeth clicking together, and his eyes blew wide as he realized he made a mistake.

“Ahsoka Tano…”

“Father, please, don’t, just leave her –”

“I presume she’s the one who gave you this?”

Luke remained quiet for a few moments, debating the merits of lying or refusing to answer before finally sighing and deciding that he was best off telling the truth. “She was. She… always speaks so highly of her former master, about how much she learned from him, admired him… How skilled he was. How – how kind.” He couldn’t bring himself to meet his father’s gaze. “She really looked up to you, you know.”

Several cycles of the respirator echoed between them before either father or son moved or spoke again. Luke wondered, vaguely, if they might stay this way forever, in some state of perpetual limbo, but a tingling warning in the Force caused him to snap his head up and catch the holocron that sailed back into his hands. “I was… unaware that she was working with the rebellion.”

“She serves as a Fulcrum agent.” Luke let a soft chuckle spill out past his lips. “You should have seen her face when I told her my name. Though, I suppose it was a little sad, now that I think about it… Almost like she’d seen a ghost.”

“Is she… aware of our connection?” Vader’s rage had subsided, but his shields were up and impenetrable; Luke had no idea what was going through his father’s mind, and that question really didn’t clear anything up either.

“No. As far as the Alliance is concerned, you’re still just ‘my source in the Empire.’ Nobody suspects a thing.” He was grateful for that, too. He felt bad for lying, but he knew Leia would never forgive him if she found out, at least while they were still at war. “Ahsoka gave me the holocron because… heh, she wanted me to be able to learn something from you. I wasn’t about to correct her. But… everyone always says how much I ‘look like my father,’ and I just – I donno, wanted to see it for myself?”

His father remained silent and still, looking for all the world like a statue, the constant hiss of his breathing the only indication that he was indeed a living, breathing being.

Faced with the lack of response, Luke plowed forward. “I don’t see it, you know. I mean… yeah, I have the same blond hair, the same chin, the same eyes… but I don’t see myself in the man in that holocron. I don’t – I hold myself differently, move differently… I feel like I resemble that man as much as I resemble you now.”

“Ahsoka spoke of Padmé?” The words came out slow and deliberate, bearing a pain that was alien in the modulated voice.

“She did. I was able to find a holo of her, too – just an image, but… she was beautiful. I don’t think I look very much like her at all, either.” It hurt to admit, but there were times when all he felt between himself and his parents was an enormous, yawning chasm. He breathed out his next words in a voice that was hardly audible.“Leia looks more like her than I do…”

“You resemble her far more than you realize, my son.” The pain was deepening, the words spoken with more effort, but Luke felt a flutter of… something ripple through him as his father carried on. “You have her nose. Her stature. More than just her looks. She shared your… passion for justice. Your sense of morals and integrity. And you have both… given me a… purpose… beyond what… others might ask – demand of me.”

Any other being in the galaxy saying those exact same words would sound cold, uncaring, unkind, but coming from Vader… It was the peak of warmth, care and affection. Luke felt a smile bloom across his face, and though he did not say the words out loud, he sent his sentiment out along their bond – I love you too, Father.

Vader stiffened slightly, acknowledging the thought not with words, but a general feeling of affirmation before relaxing again. “Very well. You may… keep the holocron. And I will not recall you from your mission. But I will ask that you keep any conversation about… the past to a minimum with others. Do so and I may concede to… discuss certain matters – ones of my own choosing – with you further myself. Am I understood?”

At this point, Luke couldn’t help it – he was positively beaming. Nodding vigourously, he snapped off a salute. “Perfectly, sir!” The image of rolling eyes flickered briefly in his mind’s eye, which only caused his grin to grow even wider.

“Now,” his father continued, steering them away from sentimentality and back into the comfort of business, “I’ll have your report and we can be on our way.”

Rattling off the report felt mechanic and insincere to Luke, after what he’d just shared with his father, but he knew they had to be quick so as not to raise too much suspicion. He did feel a twinge of reluctance as they said their goodbyes – from him and his father both – but Vader did manage to surprise him one last time before they went their separate ways.

For the briefest of moments, a flash of affection danced along their bond. He felt it for him, but he also felt it for Ahsoka. Along with that, the word ‘Snips’ flickered briefly, attached to Ahsoka, before the bond shuttered and Vader withdrew into the unreadable stone wall he typically was. Still, as he greeted Artoo and climbed into his X-Wing, Luke couldn’t help but feel that Anakin Skywalker wasn’t nearly as dead as his father claimed.

#luke skywalker #darth vader #luke and vader #sw fic #spellcleaver #spell cleaver #my writing #ask prompt reply #I cheated a bit and didn't use the quote exactly #since vader ain't gonna admit anakin is him #but usually i see it done with stalker vader having a pic of luke #which is valid and hilarious #but also i wanted to do smth different #SO. we have THIS instead.#every verse where vader has luke #for any stretch of time #he's softer bc the boy does that #tho this is probably vader's like #'niceness quota' for the rest of the year KASDKH

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anghraine · 5 years ago

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“the jedi and the sith lord” - chapter five

Last chapter:

“I don’t know who you are. I’m Lucy Skywalker, though.”

Unexpectedly, the man tensed, his eyes flying wide. “Starkiller!”

“No, Skyw—”

With no further warning, he relaxed again. “Now I understand.”

“Well, I don’t,” said Lucy.

This chapter:

“I feel like—have we met before? Before all this? You don’t look familiar, but I could swear—”

The man laughed. “You’d remember me if we’d met, little Starkiller.”

“Why do you call me that?” she burst out. “It’s not my name! I’m a Skywalker!”

“You’ll have to forgive me,” said the man. “I’m sure you have accomplished other things, but destroying the star does rather stand out.”

chapters: The Adventures of Lucy Skywalker– prologue, chapter one, chapter two, chapter three, chapter four, chapter five, chapter six, chapter seven, chapter eight, chapter nine, chapter ten; The Imperial Menace–chapter one, chapter two, chapter three, chapter four, chapter five, chapter six, chapter seven; The Jedi and the Sith Lord—chapter one, chapter two, chapter three, chapter four.

Lucy felt numb.

“Senator Amidala was my maker?” she repeated, then gave her head a shake. “My mother?”

“Oh, yes,” said Tuvié. She paused, then added, “At least, she contributed half of your genetic material.”

Amidala, Lucy thought blankly. Amidala was her mother?

A senator? A founder of the Rebellion?

A protégée of the Emperor’s?

She wished, with more intensity than usual, that she could see. See her hands and veins, her face, dredge up some image of Amidala—there must be one somewhere, surely, with all of her things lying around?

A chill crawled over her skin. Why did Vader have so many of her mother’s things? He must have stolen them—but why would he have stolen Amidala’s clothes?

Had he captured Lucy because she was Amidala’s daughter as well as Anakin’s?

A dull throb pulsed in her head, the forerunner to a piercing headache. Lucy rubbed her temples, then folded her arms, the silky fabric of her sleeves—her mother’s sleeves—fluttering against her skin. Was it even true? How would she know?

She didn’t have any idea. Nevertheless, that evening, Lucy interrupted Vader before he could start lecturing her about the Dark Side.

“Can Tuvié lie?”

Vader fell silent for a moment. Lucy thought he might just go back to his usual spiel, or refuse to answer, or something worse—he was Darth Vader, after all! But all he said was,

“Certainly.”

She nearly rolled her eyes, but self-preservation confined her to an impatient sigh. “Okay, does she lie?”

“Not that I have observed,” said Vader, his modulated voice gaining a distinct edge. “I tire of this. What is the point of these questions?”

“She said that Senator Amidala was my mother!” Lucy burst out.

Vader’s respirator cycled once, then twice, then three times. At last, he said,

“Obi-Wan never told you about Padmé?”

“He didn’t have time,” said Lucy quickly.

Really, it wasn’t as if she needed to defend Obi-Wan against the man who’d killed him. It should be the other way around, not that she felt inclined to defend Vader against anyone. But something about his tone unsettled her; she didn’t feel threatened by it, at least not directly, but—there was something she should be picking up here.

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised,” he replied. “There is a great deal Obi-Wan never told you.”

Lucy prickled. “How do I know you aren’t lying?”

But she guessed what he would say before he said it.

“Search your feelings, Lucy,” Vader told her. “They will tell you what is true.”

Say what he would about Obi-Wan—sometimes he really did sound just like him.

“The Dark Side can guide you,” he went on.

And sometimes he didn’t.

Lucy hated doing anything that Darth Vader told her to do. She did trust the Force, though. If she could connect to it, let it flow through her, she would know the truth in her feelings. But it had to be the Light Side.

After she returned to her quarters and changed into one of Amidala’s more reasonable nightdresses, she meditated yet again, trying to summon some fraction of Obi-Wan’s deliberation and Yoda’s discipline, while dismissing anything that might lead to the Dark Side.

Calm, she thought, pushing the castle away from her consciousness. She couldn’t think of that. Be calm and peaceful. Passive.

Passivity was the hardest of all. Lucy breathed in and breathed out, letting her mind reach out. She could feel the Force, at least—the heady weight of the Dark Side, punctuated here and there by the glimmers of the Light. It was here. But she couldn’t demand anything; that would only push it away. She had to give herself over to it, and the Force would give in return.

It’ll be all right, she told herself, more frightened than she dared admit. I serve the Force. It’ll be all right.

And with the next breath, the Light Side flowed through her. Energy crackled over and under her skin; it felt warm, as if a star shone on her. The world around her sprang to life: droids scattered across the castle, a smear of fury and pain that could only be Vader, the corridors and doors and rooms she’d explored with her unseeing eyes. She didn’t see them, exactly, but she—everything was connected. Not just life. Everything.

Lucy dared not resist the current rushing through her. She could only think, My mother? Amidala? Padmé?

She felt a tranquil ripple of affirmation. What it might have felt like with the Dark Side, she didn’t know—would never know, she told herself—but in this moment, she felt the truth of it. Whatever else Padmé Amidala may have been, she had brought Lucy into the galaxy.

The Force, and Tuvié, had returned her mother to her.

Lucy jumped off the bed.

“Miss Lucy! What do you need? Let me help—”

“It’s all right,” said Lucy. “I just want to try something. It won’t be dangerous, I promise.”

Calm and something like happy, Lucy latched onto her connection to the Force and took a step forward. She could still feel everything around her in crisp edges; she had only to trust the feeling. Lucy blinked into the darkness, then strode forward confidently, walking around a table and chair and past the door to the fresher. She wove around more furnishings, trailed her fingers on the wardrobe as she passed it, and ended up at the chair by the window.

“You’ve recovered your optical faculties!” cried Tuvié.

“No,” Lucy said, smiling. “I haven’t.”

The ceiling rose high, very high, above her. On impulse, Lucy launched herself into the air, somersaulted, and landed lightly on her feet just beside the bed.

“Very impressive, Miss Lucy,” Tuvié said, sounding bewildered.

Lucy swept her a deep bow. “Thank you!”

With that, she sprang onto the bed and pulled the coverlet back. Her heart wasn’t even racing.

“Are you sure your … your vision hasn’t returned? At all?” Tuvié asked.

“Oh, yes,” Lucy told her. “But anything is possible with the Force.”

Tuvié gave a restless click. “That is what the Maker says.”

Unavoidably, the reminder unsettled Lucy. Still, she wasn’t going to be so single-mindedly contrary that she let Vader estrange her from the Force. This was the path she had chosen, and her father before her. It was her point of connection to Anakin and Obi-Wan, and she believed in it with her whole heart.

“Well, he’s right,” said Lucy. “About that. Goodnight, Tuvié.”

She had fallen asleep before Tuvié could respond.

Lucy opened her eyes, and found herself in Massassi Temple on Yavin 4. Rebels strode here and there, talking indistinctly and gesturing. Some climbed onto X-Wings, some repaired droids, some delivered orders. She thought she could even make out Leia, but an oddly insubstantial Leia, appearing here and then reappearing halfway across the hangar, always distant.

At first, Lucy felt a jolt of pure contentment at the familiar sights and sounds. But her rational mind reasserted itself swiftly. Nobody seemed to notice her. Nobody veered from their paths or their tasks. Now, she remembered the desert city.

When Lucy saw her commander, she figured she might as well double-check.

“Wedge!” She waved at him.

He didn’t respond. None of the familiar faces did. Lucy sighed. What was the point? Just a dream?

“Why am I here?”

“I had the same question.”

Lucy spun around. The blind man from before sat comfortably on a pile of crates.

“It’s been a long time since I visited this place,” he went on.

Lucy walked over to him, settling on the nearest crate. “You’ve been here before?”

“My husband and I had some dealings with the Rebellion,” he said. “Rather disappointing ones, I’m afraid, until the end.”

“The end of what?” Lucy asked. She frowned. “I feel like—have we met before? Before all this? You don’t look familiar, but I could swear—”

The man laughed. “You’d remember me if we’d met, little Starkiller.”

“Why do you call me that?” she burst out. “It’s not my name! I’m a Skywalker!”

“You’ll have to forgive me,” said the man. “I’m sure you have accomplished other things, but destroying the star does rather stand out.”

She felt both proud and sheepish. “Oh! The Death Star, you mean. Well—I guess—yeah, I did. Lots of people helped.” Lucy dropped her eyes to the floor of the hangar. “Lots of people died.”

“I know,” said the man.

“You seem to know more about all this than I do,” Lucy said.

“My situation is … different,” he replied. “It allows me to perceive certain things that you cannot, even now that you have opened yourself to the Force.”

“Then it is the Force doing this?” she pressed.

“The Force, and you,” said the man. “And perhaps even me.”

Lucy waited for him to elaborate, but he settled into an easy silence, adjusting his grip on his staff. She set her teeth.

“Me? I’m not doing anything!”

“You wanted help,” he said. “Someone like you can’t say please to the Force and expect nothing to follow. Perhaps not what you wish, but …” He shrugged.

“With all due respect,” said Lucy, “I don’t feel very helped.”

He laughed outright. “I imagine you don’t. Well, in this realm, we may be able to achieve the impossible. It’s happened before, with someone of your strength in the Force.”

Amidst her confusion, Lucy felt a spark of alarm. “There’s someone else? Do you mean Vader? You’ve helped him?”

At that, the man finally showed an expression other than contented serenity. His lips tightened.

“Certainly not. That may be in your power, but it is not in mine.”

“He wants me to help him,” Lucy said, “but I won’t. I won’t turn to the Dark Side.”

“Good,” said the man, though he still frowned a little, as if disbelieving. Or perhaps just confused.

“But what do you mean by the impossible? If you’ve done it before, then it can’t be impossible, can it?”

“Hm,” he said. “Not usually possible, let’s say. The Force flows through us both, particularly now. That is one thing. But the others would like to see you. In the waking world, it would be truly impossible. And last time we managed it, it was—splintered, unclear.”

“What are you talking about?” said Lucy. “The others? Who … what …”

“You must help me bring them to you,” the man replied.

Lucy felt more blank than she already had.

“How? And why should I?”

“You wanted help,” he reminded her. “We can offer a little. Perhaps it will be enough. I can’t say what your circumstances are, but you are in danger—very great danger.”

“I know,” she said glumly. Then she remembered the Force, still wrapped closely around her.

Can I trust him?

She didn’t receive anything so straightforward as yes or no. But her feelings settled into a soothing calm.

“All right,” Lucy said. “I’ll help with the … whatever.”

“Close your eyes,” said the man.

Lucy didn’t like losing her sight for a moment longer than she had to, but the Force gently urged her on. She let her eyelids drift closed, her breaths evening out. Her hands went loose in her lap.

“Good,” the man told her. “Very good. Feel the Force flow through you.”

She could. It surged through every particle of her body, powerful beyond expression. It would be easy to forget herself before that awesome strength; she almost found herself less Lucy than an amplifying vessel for the Force, a vehicle for its passage as it threaded its way through the galaxy. Even the Light Side could devour her; she felt as if she belonged to it in some odd way. But she didn’t. This was choice, not subjection; she was Lucy still.

Then, with one last burst, it drained from her. Not entirely, but she could barely feel it now, barely feel anything. It took an effort for her to open her eyes.

A pale, faintly blue wisp floated before her. She eyed it doubtfully. All that, for this?

“This is most improbable,” the wisp said.

“Uh,” said Lucy. “Sure?”

Another wisp appeared behind the first, and then two, three—no, five more, and others hovering in the distance. But these began to shift into shapes, vaguely humanoid shapes. Then the shapes sharpened, and before her, Lucy saw a mass of humans. They all flickered with blue light, just like Obi-Wan; in fact, they looked exactly like he did, apart from differences in build and features.

“You’re dead,” she said without thinking.

“Oh, quite,” said the blind man.

The first wisp morphed into a short, squat form. An … astromech droid? Lucy stared.

“You’ve almost got it!” a man said encouragingly. A dead man, she thought. And a dead droid?

What?

Oddly enough, the newest man looked familiar—more familiar than the blind one. He stood beside the only woman she could see, one taller than Lucy but considerably shorter than everyone around her. Lucy could only vaguely make her out through the four men crowded closely around, so she focused her attention on the man who’d spoken to the droid. He stood very straight and had fine-boned features, the sort that could look sharp and striking in one moment and attractively forgettable in the next. But she knew she’d seen them before—yet she felt reasonably certain she’d never seen him.

Sure enough, he said, “Is this her?”

“The Starkiller—yes,” replied the blind man. “Lucy Skywalker.”

“I’m right here,” Lucy said.

Another man, one with big, solemn eyes, said,

“Lieutenant Skywalker, isn’t it? It’s an honour.”

“I—”

She’d seen him, too. Not in person. In … she returned her gaze to the sharp-faced man, and abruptly was thrust back to those first hours after she’d blown up the Death Star, after she’d found out that she’d be allowed to fly for the Rebellion after all, in the new Rogue Squadron. After they’d told her about their namesake, the team that had brought the plans to them in the first place, and died for it, and she’d talked to Leia and heard about them: ex-criminals and ex-Imperials and Rebels like them. And Leia had shown her what pictures the Rebellion had of the Rogue One team: clear for their own men and the ones wanted by the Empire, but vague for—

Lucy’s eyes went wide. Without thought, she saluted.

“Captain Andor!” she exclaimed.

He stared at her, then smiled faintly. “It’s been awhile since I heard that.”

A wind whistled past, lighter and warmer than the one in the desert city.

“Captain Andor, and you must be Jyn Erso, and—and—you’re the Rogue One team,” she breathed. “How is it—is this real?”

The astromech shifted into a protocol droid.

“How should we know what’s real?” it said.

“Yes,” Erso told her.

“You’d better hurry,” said the blind man. “She doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

Lucy should remember his name, but she couldn’t; the holo had been so grainy, and she’d only heard him mentioned in passing. It was the leaders and Rebels she heard the most about: Andor and Erso, and Sefla and Melshi and—

“I’m so sorry,” she blurted out. “I’ve failed you.”

“Hardly,” said one of the men she didn’t recognize. “You destroyed the Death Star.”

“Yes, but I—” Her breathing came fast. “I deserted Rogue Squadron. We named it for you, I was lieutenant, and then I left.”

Several of them glanced at each other, but their ghostly faces were unreadable.

“Why?” said the man with the big eyes. Rook came into her mind. That was right. Bodhi Rook, the Imperial.

She scrubbed at her face.

“I want to be a Jedi like my father. I left the squadron to train under a master, but then I left him too, and Vader laid a trap for me.”

The Rebel base flickered, and the walls of her bedchamber in Vader’s castle closed in, half the ghosts fading in and out. Tuvié stood guard, but seemed no more responsive than any of the other background figures had been.

Lucy gestured around.

“This is his—I’m a captive here. I don’t know what will happen now. The Rebellion—we lost our base, we lost … maybe everything, I don’t know.”

Slowly, the blind monk said, “There’s something strange here.”

She was almost sure he’d been a monk, anyway. Or something like that.

“There’s a lot strange here,” said Lucy. “But—” She bit her lip. “What can I do?”

Erso stepped out from behind Rook, her face exactly as Lucy remembered it from her Wanted For Crimes Against the Empire picture.

“Remember who you are,” Erso said. “Nobody can take that from you. Not Vader. Not anyone.”

“Keep your eyes and ears open,” said Andor. “Find out everything you can. Be ready.”

Lucy nodded, almost frantically. Her head was spinning.

A burly man beside Andor told her, “Don’t spend your life without reason.”

“That’s right,” said Rook. “You can always do more alive than dead. Remember that.” His voice faded towards the end, then strengthened. “Remember.”

“I will, I will.” Lucy calmed a little. “Will I ever see you again? I can’t do this alone.”

The burly man said, “You are never alone in the Force.”

She swallowed. “Right.”

“You aren’t alone,” said the blind monk. “There’s someone there who can help you. Who will, if you follow your feelings. You have only to find them.”

“Who?” cried Lucy.

“Oh, I have no idea,” he said cheerfully. “But the Force is with you, Lucy Skywalker—and you are one with the Force.”

Note: part of the reason it took me so long to update this fic was that I decided to stop until Rogue One came out to see if I wanted to integrate into the Lucy canon, and then got swept away by RO fandom for ... several years. But I’ve always envisioned a RO scene/vision/thing to parallel Leia’s vision of them in until the last chance is spent, a Lucyverse fic right after the destruction of the Death Star (which this one references, though I don’t think it’s necessary to read it). It was very satisfying to write it at last!

#another chapter wherein lucy has many mood swings #the jedi and the sith lord #anghraine's fic #rule 63 #tuvié #/#//#///#lucy skywalker #star wars #luke skywalker #anakin skywalker #genderbending #long post #there are a lot of other characters to tag but i'm not going to until later #:)

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co-mixed · 5 years ago

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What’s wrong with the characters in TROS

Obviously, Spoilers.

None of the characters were treated properly in this movie. And, before we go one by one, there are some things to consider. First and foremost, Rian Johnson went deep with trying to understand what each one of them would do and why. So, in a way, he’s given JJ the perfect outline of what they should do next. The only thing he had to do is listen. But somewhere it went wrong, so we went back to one dimensional archetypes, lifted straight from the OT. More mythical, less human, more standard, less unique. Let’s take a look.

Finn

Let’s face it, if and when somebody really stole John Boyega’s script, the only thing they found there was the line “Rey” randomly scheduled for different points in the movie. There is an attempt to make up for that with Force-sensitivity, but that’s a hint that you just don’t drop in the last movie of a trilogy. And that’s what TROS is supposed to be, a finale to the two movies that came before. And with Finn’s complete lack of knowledge or understanding of the Force that we’ve seen in the comics or books, it really has no place there. Where was that famous story group? Maybe taking a day off.

Finn has nothing to do in the movie, since there was no story for him. He just tagged along with Rey or Poe, became a general through nepotism, even though there were much more experienced people for that job, and ultimately, he was just there as a plot device several times.

Rose

That’s one of the worst cases. JJ spent a lot of time saying how glad he is to Johnson that he’s cast Kelly. Then he simply didn’t write a story for her either. Because you know, galaxy is not a place for a righteous optimistic girl. (Unless she’s a Palpatine)

And I would’ve written more, but well… it was wrong and that’s just it.

Poe

Poe already has a backstory. So what do you do? As a writer, you try to understand how to work his guilt from TLJ into TROS. But as someone who’s trying their best to undo TLJ, you just throw it all away and play off of similarities with Han. He’s charismatic, shoots well, flies well. Done, make him a smuggler. The whole unnecessary retcon kind of might work for general audience, since most people never learned anything from his past. With TLJ they’ve learned who he is now, but did they even need more? He already went through all the needed changes, to get him to lead the rebellion.

The only in-character moment was his rant at Rey, where he says that she is the best fighter, and they need her.

The most out of character moment is him blaming his so-called friends for being an ex-stormtrooper and a Scavenger. Man, you chose to do that, they were forced into it.

Zorii

Why was she even there? Nepotism maybe? Cool costume? Merchandise? I don’t know, but she was not there to serve the story.

Allegiant General Pryde

Pretty much the same thing as Zorii.

Hux

Poor character. I mean, really. He was a fanatic of the First Order, of the Empire, and all the evil regimes. This was pretty well pictured up to the point when one brave writer decided that his hate for the newly self proclaimed Supreme Leader is stronger than his hate for… let’s call it lack of Order. It seemed from his story, that he’d be the first in line to pledge allegiance to the Emperor. But surprises never cease in TROS. Not for a moment. Also, JJ deals with him in a matter of minutes. Done, and done. Next.

Jannah

What a cool character, for a show or a spin off. She has potential, I’ll give her that. Naomi Ackie is likable enough to carry her own show. But there was no need for her in TROS. Partly because it’s way too late for new characters, and partly because she’s also not given much to do. That mumbo-jumbo about the Force and troopers defecting, that’s a nice sentiment. But also could have been done by any random trooper.

Leia

Let’s not talk about her being in the movie, let’s stay on character topic. Her Jedi training was just a very random last minute concept, probably straight out of Legends. And she could’ve just as well been giving Rey pep talks or reach Ben without it. So that’s more of a “just why” moment. The part would have been the same, the lightsaber wouldn’t have existed, but that is still very fixable.

Palpatine/Snoke/All the Sith

Just why would you even bring him back? Anakin brought balance, killing him, got his redemption, taught the audience the primitive rule that only death is truly redeeming (which worked fine in the 70s), and Palpatine died. But then he was back because reasons, and we don’t need to see how or why. He also now is All-the-Sith-in-One, and very very powerful. Apparently, at least one character spends their off screen time learning. So… good for him?

If they wanted ancient evil, I’d rather they went with Plagueis. He could’ve seen the rise and fall of the Empire, he could’ve fooled death and he could’ve easily fooled his apprentice along with Kylo and obviously Rey. It even works perfectly within the concept of balance where “Darkness rises, and Light to meet it”.

To be even more honest, I’d prefer that TROS was just concluding the trilogy, without bringing up old bad guys. There is still plenty of those in the next-gen.

Rey/All-The-Jedi

As every imaginable critic has already stated, one of the most inspiring messages of The Last Jedi was “you could come from nothing and become something”. And this way Rey would have been a perfect representation to any girl of how you build yourself with the help of your friends. That is what fairy tales are usually about. That or space princesses, heirs to Palpatine, who, we have to believe, had a son. At this point it would be way better if the stranger on Pasaana did randomly name her Solo (imagine that).

But my verdict is that Rey’s story in this movie wasn’t necessary, and was a rehashed story of Kylo Ren. Think about it, he was fighting the light in his bloodline, and tried every imaginable thing to destroy it, but still couldn’t. Not that it’s a bad idea, it’s just that we’ve seen in already in 2015. The character had a clear path ahead of her after TLJ, but again, she was forced into a completely different story. Just because she wants to be a Jedi really bad, doesn’t mean that she is immune to the Dark Side, because she’s not immune to fear. One scary vision of her on the Dark Side, and that’d be enough. Not to shoot lightning, but to go a bit dark, effectively pushing her adversary closer to the Light. And that would’ve been fine.

But she had to be All-The-Jedi instead, didn’t she. Funny how that’s now a thing, and we still have separate Force Ghosts of Luke and Leia (but not a certain Solo). This whole things falls apart, and if someone just reread the story at least once the day after it was finished, they would see it.

Somehow, the movie comes down to Palpatime defeating a Palpatine, and Skywalkers were in this Saga there for the show.

Kylo Ren/Ben Solo/The last Skywalker

His story feels fairly well done, except for a few moments. Because in TLJ, hу killed Snoke, we were lead to believe that he would come into his own. We also know what a nerd he is, so he probably has some knowledge of who Palps is, and how his kind operates. Now when he delivers the line “I killed Snoke, I’ll kill you”, I believe him. When he starts asking questions, I don’t. And that’s because it’s written, it’s there on paper, but that’s something the character refused to do willingly.

This happens a few times, and probably the cringiest of them all is when the writer forces him to say that Rey is a Palpatine. Because that’s the first time we hear that out loud, and aside from thinking “No-nо-no not that”, we experience a case of disbelief. That’s not how we wanted this to go, and that’s not how the story was supposed to work.

Then there are wonderful scenes with Rey and with Han, the ones we were always supposed to get, and then the awaited redemption. That was the story, the one that resonates with his character. What does not is what happens after — yeah, the pit. The last Skywalker spends his final battle, the destiny of his bloodline in the pit, while the Jedi choose to support Rey.

His death is another choice that I deem unnecessary, and a bit lazy. You need to live with your mistakes and learn to forgive yourself, while working through your issues. But sure, death it is.

Overall

Probably the biggest mistake of this movie is letting a Palpatine take the Skywalker name, and letting the last Skywalker be pretty much forgotten. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Rey’s supposed bloodline defines her, but it just doesn’t sit well with me. She’s lost someone important, a soulmate, and so many fans felt the loss, imagine how she supposed to feel. Her next stage would be Dark Side, because she by no means can live with that. And that’s far from a hopeful message.

A happy ending for this space fairy tale would’ve been the only reasonable choice.

#tros #the rise of palpatine #the rise of skywalker #tros spoilers #reylo #rey #kylo ren #ben solo #finn #poe #rose tico #general hux #star wars #long reads

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silver-and-stars · 5 years ago

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Okay fix it pseudo-fic cause I can’t handle this.

It takes place just after the kiss.

I’m too tired and lazy to do a full epilogue on the Resistance.

So it’s only about Ben and Reylo.

Also I’ve never written a fic before, English isn’t my native language and I’ve only reread it once, so yeah, the language may be so-so.

Let’s call this therapeutic writing.

Ben smiles brightly at Rey and she didn’t think he could have that sort of happy expression, but suddenly it fades and so does hers as he starts falling backward, eyes closed. She tries to grab him but before he could touch the ground two hands reach his back and hold him. It’s the force ghost of Luke and Leia who is cradling her son. Behind then stands another ghost, a young man with mid-long curly hair and something in his face that seems familiar. He has Luke’s eyes and Leia’s mouth. Their father. Vader, no Anakin Skywalker, she realizes.

“Palatine has token too much from this family, and the jedi, already.” says the man.

He puts his hands on his children’s shoulder and close his eyes. Leia and Luke do the same, concentrating. Rey can both see and feel the light, the force, he adds to their and send to Ben.

They forehead crease as their frown in concentration. It’s not enough. Rey touches Ben’s leg and adds her energy. Still not enough. She tries to stay calm, to control her energy. It has to work.

She looks up when she feels another presence. A small green creature is standing beside Luke, its three-finger hand on his arm. Master Yoda! On each side of Anakin are two older and bearded man. One with white hair, whose picture Leia had shown her before. It’s Master Kenobi. The other has long grey hair. Maybe Master Jinn?

They all gathered here, in this place tainted by the dark side. They are pooling their energy, gathering the Force and passing it into Ben, trying to save the last member of a tragic family that, in their own way, each tried and, at some point, failed to protect.

Ben eyelids flutter, then open. Rey lets out a small relieved laugh. Confused he meets Rey’s eyes before looking up and seeing the ghost of his mother. He looks behind them trying to understand what happened. Master Jinn and Yoda ghosts’ have already faded but he meets Obi-Wan eyes and then Anakin’s, who gives him a small nod before disappearing too. Only Luke and Leia are left. He sits up and look at the later.

“Mom...”

She shushes him with a loving smile, and take his hand in her. In this moment, he knows she loves him and forgives him.

“What you did for Rey and against the Emperor, it was the right thing. We’re proud of you for it.”

She gives an encouraging look to her brother who puts his hand on Ben’s shoulder.

“You have a second chance, a chance for a new life, Ben, don’t waste it in the past. Focus on the future.”

Saying this, his eyes falls on Rey and he gives her a knowing smile.

Leia helps Ben stand up and Rey comes to hold him steady, he is alive but still injured and tired.

Standing before them, the twins slowly fade away.

“Wait!” says Rey. “Leia, Lando told me to give you his love.”

Leia and Luke both smiles.

“Tell him- tell them, we are always with them.”

“See you around, kids.”

–

The X-Wing isn’t meant for two and though it’s design so some pretty big non-human species could fit in it, it’s really uncomfortable. Ben tries to make himself as mall as possible between the seat and the metal wall while Rey pilots the thing. She is receiving many triumphing calls, the first one from Finn who welcome her back warmly.

The fleet divides, going back home or to other planet in need of help during the insurrections. While the Resistance fleet, in dire need of a break, goes back to base with a few more ships that they had come with.

Rey lands the X-Wing away in a meadow near a cave and Ben gets off to hid in there.

“I’ll come back!” she swears.

Then she flies off, lands in camp and happily reunites with BB-8, Finn and Poe.

–

The night had past and the sun is rising and with him Ben is waking up slowly. Suddenly he hears movements in the bushes and jumps on his feet, wincing as the movement tears on his wounds. He hopes it’s not a member of the Resistance. Most people don’t know his face as he used to wear a mask most of the time but he has no doubts the Resistance knows the face of one of their worst enemy, of their general’s son.

He is already thinking about what he should do if they find him when the bush beeps and R2-D2 comes out of it.

“R2 ?!”

The droid beeps happily and advances toward him without hesitation. It has always been around Luke, and friendly with his parents but he never got to interact with him since he was a child.

“What are you doing here?”

The droid stomps and beeps. He wants him to shut up and to show him something.

“Alright, alright, go on.” Ben replies sitting back down.

R2 projects a hologram and it’s Leia, sending a call for help to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ben’s namesake. Then it switches to Leia her long hair undone, wearing a fluid dress, her arm around Han’s and smiling at Luke and Chewie. They look so young and Ben can hear Ewok celebrations. This must be Endor, after the Emperor was vanquished. Then it’s a young Luke, training with a remote. Then old Ben Kenobi talking to R2.

It switches to unfamiliar face. A young man, a padawan judging by his hair cut and his robes, with an artificial arm and a woman wearing a veil, kissing. A wedding. C3PO stands near them. Were they Ben’s grand-parents?

“You’ve been with my family for that long?” wonders Ben.

R2 shows him another one. The droids is in a fighter, piloted by a blond child. Then it’s the same blond boy activating what seems to be C3PO without plating. Then a table in a small house made of sandstone, around which are sitting the boy - Anakin he realizes -, a woman who must be Anakin’s mother, Padmé, a jedi master and his apprentice that he recognizes with some difficulty as young Obi-Wan.

“Why did you registered all that ? Why are you showing me?”

Before he could answer C-3PO complaints arise in the calm morning air.

“R2 where did you go?”

R2 cuts off the holograms and beeps angrily at the protocol droid.

“Don’t be rude! If you hadn’t run off... Oh my! Kylo Ren! R2 what are you doing, we have to warn-” R2-D2 beeps coarsely “Fine? What to you mean? It’s-”

Rey voices cuts him off.

“Yeah, it’s fine, don’t worry. He is one our side now.”

She enters the cavern and drops a bag beside Ben.

“Sorry I couldn’t slip away sooner. Everybody wanted to talk to me… and then I felt asleep.”

“Well, so did I and of course they want to talk to you, you are a hero after all.”

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you” she responds with a smile, holding his hand and giving it a squeeze. “Also someone wants to see you...”

He hears Chewbacca roaring before he sees him. The Wookie comes striding toward him and Ben is quite certain he is going to be at least punched. But R2 comes between them and projects another hologram. It’s Han and Leia around Chewie, looking at what the Wookie is carefully holding in his arms. A baby.

“Don’t drop him again.” says Han’s voice.

“I’d catch him again if he did.” replies Leia’s.

“It’s fine R2, we’ve talk.” explains Rey.

“Yeah, we’re cool” adds Lando as he joins them in the cavern.

“We are?” ask Ben clearly doubtful.

“Did you know I once sold your parents to Darth Vader? Han ended carbon-frozen and Leia sold to Jabba the Hutt as a slave.”

“You did what ?!” exclaimed both Rey and Ben.

“What I mean is, I made some pretty bad decisions in my life. It’s nothing compare to yours. Although it helps that Palpatine wasn’t whispering in my head I guess. My point is I turned over a new leaf, I wanted to be a better man, to do the right thing. So I did. And So should you kid. You should right your wrongs, that’s how you’ll can redeem yourself in the eyes of others. In your own eyes.”

“I think so too” adds Rey, while Chewie shouts his approval. “I think we need time away from all this, to find ourselves. What do you say?”

She smiles encouragingly at him and extend to him Luke’s lightsaber.

“You won’t tell the others?”

"I... I thought Chewie and General Calrissian deserved to know that Han’s son came back. And I’ve already told the truth to Finn and Poe. But I don’t think the other needs to know."

“People need time to heal and forgive. And if you want them to accept you one day you should earn their forgiveness” adds Lando.

Chewbacca’s rumbles fill the cave again.

“Ha yes, you’re right.” says Lando

“Indeed, the name Ben Solo is not unknown of several First Order’s enemies.” mentions C-3PO.

Looking at the saber in Ben’s hand R2-D2 beeps a suggestion.

“Yeah...” mutters Ben. “That’s a good idea.”

–

The Falcon is away from the camp, ready to take off. Rey hugs Finn and Poe goodbye. The two of them plan to keep helping the Resistance rebuild the planets freed from the First Order.

“If you ever need my help, you know where how to find me.” declares Rey.

“Yeah, same goes for you. Take care of yourself will, you.” says Finn, casting a disapproving look toward Ben who chooses to ignore him and to instead watch D-O bidding farewell to BB-8 and rolling into the ship toward R2-D2 and C-3PO.”

BB-8 beeps sadly.

“Don’t worry buddy, we will see them again soon.” affirms Poe.

Rey and Ben join Lando and Chewie in the cockpit, standing behind the seats.

“So where to children?”

Rey and Ben exchange a look.

“Naboo” he says.

“and then Tatooine” she adds.

They spend a few weeks on the lush world of Ren’s grandmother. There they rest, laying low for a while, enjoying the water and the greenery. They build themselves new lightsabers. Rey picks a yellow kyber crystal and Ben a blue one.

After a while, they leave the planet to go somewhere that carries a lot of meaning for the Skywalkers. For the landing Lando gives the pilot seat to Ben, who accepts only after a few grunts and gestures from Chewbacca.

C-3PO and R2-D2 chose to keep going on some adventures with Lando and Chewie, so on the sandy planet Rey, Ben and D-O alone find the farm in which Luke had grown up. It had been abandoned for quite a while, but it could be restored, it could become a home.

Near Shmi, Owen and Beru Lars’s grave then bury together the lightsaber of Luke -of Anakin- and Leia.

As the suns are setting, an old woman passes by and wonder who they are.

“There hadn’t been anyone here for a long time.” she comments.

“I’m Rey, and this is Ben.”

She takes his hands in her, smiling peacefully.

In the corner of her eyes she notices Luke and Leia’ ghosts watching fondly other them as Ben declares “Rey and Ben Skywalker.”

#okay I feel better know #it's gonna last until i see the actual canon again #but yeah better a little than nothing #sw9 #sw9 spoilers #tros spoilers #reylo #reylo fanfic #fanfic #tros fix-it fanfic #the rise of skywalker spoilers #the rise of skywalker #fix-it fanfic #bendemption #bendemption fanfic #my posts

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kyloreyorgana · 5 years ago

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STAR WARS 9 ! TROS SPOILERS !

In case this is not obvious enough, this post will contain SPOILERS for the last Star Wars movie, which I’m just now coming home from. These are my first thoughts. I have tried to tag as best I could so that people who mute the tags don’t see my post. Do not proceed f you don’t want to read any spoilers.

You have been warned. Long (and I mean LONG) post ahead.

First of all, I’m happy to be back y’all! Just with TLJ, I come from months (or has it been years already ?) of inactivity to jump right back into the fandom, as obsessed as I was back when I came home from TFA. Which is funny because at the time TFA came out, I had lost all interest in Star Wars and heard so many critics from people who’d seen it and said it was horrible and that Disney basically sold the franchise to the devil that I didn’t even want to see it, to keep the good memories closer to my heart. One night, one month after its theatrical release, I thought “aw fuck I might as well see it, at least for Carrie, Mark and Harrisson” so I went to the cheap theater that was near my home... I had zero expectation, and really I think it’s the reason why I loved the movie so much. I didn’t chose to ship Reylo, this ship whacked me like Harley Quinn’s oversized hammer with the Hades and Persephone aesthetics. When I came out, completely mesmerized with what I had just seen, I jumped on Tumblr as soon as I got home, and I ended up creating this blog just days later. I wanted more and more, fics, metas, fanarts, headcannons, theories, cracks, I could never get enough. For TLJ and TROS, I had lost most interest in the fanfics and the fandom (because as much as I love the movies and some people in the fandom, most of it can eat shit as far as I’m concerned). I heard so many critics of TROS already, I was afraid I was going to be disappointed. But I loved it. Only Star Wars can make me go from utterly uninterested to “Wow I can’t wait to see this new Star Wars in theater, what a time to be alive”, to a stage of total obsession that lasts for months. And that is the reason why I don’t give two shits about anyone disliking the movies. It’s sad you didn’t like them, but it made me feel the same way I felt right back when I was a child watching the original movies with my father. It feels like home. And that is the best thing I could ask for.

Like in TLJ, I cried as soon as I heard the first note of the opening. The last Skywalker story, the last time I ever see my Space Mommy on the big screen...

I know the Reylo community is about to be nuts. The whole movie, like TLJ before it, is basically a series of things we’ve already done in fics and theories. I am 100% positive I have read a fic where Rey and Ren try to hold back a ship with the Force and Rey ends up involuntarily shooting lightning. Whichever one of you did it is probably going to have a stroke in the theater. I nearly did.

And really, I wish I could see the look on the Antis’ faces when they see the movie. I’m sure it is a sight to behold. I wanted to scream “TAKE THAT, BITCHES” more than once. As in TLJ.

My biggest fear was what they would do with Leia. I knew Disney said they wouldn’t use CGI and chose to stick with the scenes Carrie had already shot, and I was afraid it wouldn’t honor Leia’s legacy. Well I... have mixed feelings. While the way they used Carrie’s scenes and made it look like she really is here is to be lauded, it sometimes feels like Leia had nothing interesting to say but they tried to put her in a dialogue anyway, because she needed to be seen doing (or rather, saying) something in the Resistance. And about her death... I still can’t put my finger on what exactly I didn’t like about it but I felt like something was missing. Watching the scene, at first I didn’t know if she was having a heart attack or if she stabbed herself or chose to give up her life because she somehow felt it was the moment, I’m still not sure just why she did what she did. I wish they put something more to motivate her decision and explain what exactly she does. I don’t know, a flashback of Leia holding baby Ben, a little more dialogue, something. Not just Leia suddenly getting up and going to bed whispering her son’s name.

I knew I was going to be disappointed. Among all the celebrities’ deaths, Carrie’s is the one that affected me the most, and believe me I was a wreck when Bowie passed. I miss her, I think about her every single day. And Leia deserved more, much more. When I saw TFA, part of the reason why I loved the movie was that, even though it pained my heart that Han and Leia’s son turned out this way, I thought they would make it right. I spent hours imagining a scene in the 9th movie where Ren would defeat Rey (incapacitate her the Skywalker style cutting her hand or something) and approach to give the killing blow, and Leia would enter the scene, pick up Rey’s lightsaber, look her son dead in the eye and say “Over my dead body, son”. Because Leia would never give up without a fight, even with her son. And she would get her son back, and her story arc would have been completed. I would have paid good money to see this.

Episode 9 was supposed to be Leia’s movie, just like ep. 7 was Han’s and ep. 8 was Luke’s. When Carrie died, I knew it would be compromised and it broke my heart, because Leia deserved better. She lost everything. Her parents, her planet, her father, her husband, her son, her brother, the Rebellion, the Resistance, everything. She fought all the way, all her life even faced with the worst odds she never gave up hope, she inspired hundreds of people to keep fighting for what is right, and she would never have a satisfactory ending. What a fucking heartbreak. She didn’t even get to see Lando. Leia deserved more. Every little girl in this world who grew up with her as a role model deserved more. But c’est la vie, as we say in French... My only solace is that I know fanfics and fanarts are going to make me feel a little better about it.

Of course I cried every time I saw her on screen, and especially when they honored her body, as we all honored Carrie when she passed away. This was one of the many fanservice moments, and surely the one I liked the most, although there was some concurrence (more to it later).

Another thing I didn’t like is what they did to Poe’s character. Many people disliked TLJ because of it, which they attributed to a political agenda of hate on men. This is so ridiculous and has already been debated enough that I won’t get into it. I did like the evolution of his character in TLJ, because for me it was an interesting character development as well as a good message: wartime is not only about barging in fights head first, shoot first think later, as is, let’s be honest, everything Anakin ever does. At one point, the narrative of the reckless hero who saves the day when a situation seems impossible and everyone begs him not to do it gets old. Sometimes in war, you have to think ahead, to plot, and yes, listen to what your allies have to say. And it actually was a good critic of toxic masculinity. Could the conflict between Poe and Holdo have been avoided with minimally sane conversation ? YES. But the message was here (as were Holdo’s hair and dress and WOW gurl) and I thought that was it, and Poe would evolve into a wiser person.

But this Poe is, at least in the first half of the movie, not very likable. Hear me, I never really liked Han Solo (never been into macho men) but I really loved Poe in TFA because he was genuinely nice and brave. Here, he’s bitter and annoying. I told myself that he was jealous of Rey because he heard of Finn’s crush on her and he wanted to keep Finn all for himself, which I know is just a crack headcannon, but hey, anything to make it better I guess.

Of course, I’ll never forgive Disney for not making FinnPoe a thing, when even Oscar Isaac ships them hard. And trying to make Poe flirt with the other girl (whose name I even forgot and whose face we didn’t even see, now tell me again how Star Wars has been corrupted by feminists... sigh) Speaking of, it is me or did two women kiss at the end ?

I liked the new droid, it reminded me of my puppy. But at the end, it was just another fanservice moment, it didn’t really do anything useful onscreen apart from being cute and funny.

When Rey was finally revealed to be a Palpatine as I hoped, I giggled like a wee girl. Watching TFA, I begged the old gods and the new that they wouldn’t make her another Skywalker, because it would’ve spoiled the Star Wars spirit for me. The whole franchise, in my opinion, is a story about fighting for what you believe is right, no matter who you or your parents are or where you come from. Even though Luke and Leia’s ended up being Vader’s children, they weren’t the only meaningful characters. Anakin was basically a Space Jesus and went from a total nobody to the Chosen One. I didn’t want Rey to be a Skywalker because it would mean that your importance would only ever lay in your bloodline, and that is depressing and totally against the spirit of the Rebellion/Resistance: no matter who you are, you can fight for what is right. For this reason, I wished for Rey to be either a real nobody or Palpatine’s granddaughter, which is also why I liked the fact that Han and Leia’s son turned out bad, even though it made me sad for them (Leia didn’t deserve this). No matter your bloodline, you can always make things right, or fuck up badly if you let yourself be taken away. And, of course, the reveal that Rey and Kylo Ren are two sides of the same coin (aka one of the many times where I picture us Reylos screaming CALLED IT in our seats) was exactly what I hoped for, a beautiful balance. I didn’t share Palpatine’s implication that a Palpatine and a Skywalker are meant to work together, though. That is not how I choose to interpret this duality. That is not what they end up doing, anyway.

Speaking of that old pal Patine, seeing the trailers I feared I would feel nauseated that they chose to reanimate the Big Old Villain, just like they reanimated the Even Bigger Death Star in TFA (how lazy can you be ?). But I enjoyed it. What saved it was Palpatine’s will to be killed by Rey to perpetuate the Sith rite of passage. I don’t even care if it’s cannon or not. I was afraid they would recreate Vader’s dilemma in ROTJ with Rey, but I liked the choices she made. And the throne scene worked for me. Like the rest of the movie it was flawed, for instance we don’t even get an explanation on how he survived. Just like we don’t even get what Finn wanted to tell Rey, even though it was emphasized several times. Was it a love declaration ? What happened to the rushed romance with Rose in TLJ ? (What happened to Rose, actually). While we’re at it, why did Palpatine want Ren to kill Rey ? So many questions. So many flaws.

And, of course I cannot comment this film without mentioning my sweet star-crossed lovers, Rey and Ben. First, I’m really eager to see your reactions. We did it, Reylos! Years of hate and slander and we were right all along. Let’s rejoice.

I like Rey’s evolution. For the moment, I don’t feel like I have too much to say about it (which is fine because this post is way too long already). I like the way she handles her emotions, I like her choices and her character evolution.

And Ben. Oh, sweet Ben. Although I think the part where he gets his old mask fixed wasn’t necessary, I kinda like what they did with him as well. I must say though that I liked his hair in TFA better. Oh boy, I loved Kylo Ren but I absolutely adore Ben Solo. And I think the way the movie depicts him even surpasses some fics. The moment when Rey gives him the lightsaber and he gets up and does the Han shrug ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I almost lost my mind. This ties with the hommage to Leia’s body as my favorite fanservice moment.

And their relationship... Look, I know I wet my pants really enjoyed myself in TLJ when they held hands, but that scene felt rushed even for me who ships them with the force of a thousand suns. Like many things in TLJ (and, as I said, also in TROS) it felt like things I had already seen in fanfics, but in the fics I enjoyed the most Rey had tried to kill him at least 5 mores times before even agreeing to have a one-on-one conversation with him. Their romance in TLJ felt like it was hormone-driven, but I get Johnson couldn’t really do a slow burn in 2 hours. When Leia died and they both felt it in the Force, I could feel that Rey wanted to touch him, to confort him, to grieve with him. I’m glad she didn’t. It wasn’t time. And I really like that she told him she wanted to hold Ben’s hand, not his. And Ben, the Dork Knight, finally realized that if he wanted The Girl, he shouldn’t, you know, threaten her and chase her but get back to the Light Side like she begged him multiple times. Because he really isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, this is apparently what makes him choose to tip over. That or the fact she saved his life. I was still frustrated by Leia’s death so I don’t know if I’m not entirely convinced because it happened just after, I’d have to watch it again. I liked Han’s moment, though.

And in my opinion, Rey and Ren’s fight on the wreck of the Death Star is as good as Anakin and Obi-Wan’s. My Reylo heart will always have a special place for their couple fight in TLJ (aka the best non-sex sex scene in cinema, don’t @ me) but I also liked this fight in light of their relation. Surprisingly, it reminded me more of their fight at the end of TFA, when we see Ren holding his blows and Rey barging in. I thought it was endearing.

The end. Oh my god, the end. I can’t wait to see the first gifs and I really really can’t wait for the HD gifs, because oh boy, I now only live for Ben Solo’s smile. That’s it, I found my will to live, my depression is cured. And the way he handles Rey’s body with the utmost care (while Finn apparently watches it and does or says nothing). And that kiss... And the SMILE. And the KISS.

Oh, dear gods. Oh dear.

I can’t wait for the first fics in which Ben doesn’t die and they live happily ever after on Tatooine or Naboo or wherever they damn want. Or the fics where he is indeed dead and they still share a beautiful relationship (if Force Ghost Luke could get his X-Wing out of the water, I’m eager to imagine what Ben would do with his Force dick, tongue and fingers. Forgive me, it’s getting late and I’m still flustered thinking of their kiss)

And the fact that she declares herself a Skywalker ? I know a lot of people are disappointed in this, but apart from the fact that she completely deserves the title in my opinion when she inherited the will of both Luke and Leia, which is reason enough, she is absolutely married to Ben and deserves her place in that family. Also, it’s again a beautiful way to remind you that bloodlines don’t matter as much as what we choose to do with our lives. And while I’m glad they showed Leia’s Force ghost (I would’ve been really mad if they didn’t) I’m super frustrated they didn’t show Ben’s. What am I to believe, that he gave his life for her, became one with the Force and vanished into litteral nothingness for him to never be seen again ? Like hell I don’t. Again, counting on the fics and arts to right this wrong.

The movie sure has its flaws, and I still have many unanswered questions, like what the fuck is the badge Maz gives Chewie, or how Rey does her lightsaber staff at the end, and I wish they explained some things better. I wasn’t sure if the saber Leia wanted Rey to have was hers or her mother’s. Most of those questions will be answered by bigger geeks than me in this fandom, so I really can’t wait to read from y’all.

I know a whole lot of people are going to hate the movie. The antis, the gatekeeping trve fans (already I’ve seen people say that those who enjoyed the movies are not Real Star Wars Fans and welp, we’re going to see a lot of shit). The manbabies who genuinely believe in a feminist takeover and see equality as a direct threat. I’m specifically happy they will be disappointed while I got the privilege of enjoying Star Wars as much as I did. It’s not my fault, or Disney’s fault even, that they turned out to be on the Empire’s side. And the day has not come when I defend a megacorporation.

Leia was the first SJW. The Resistance lives on. People will always fight against evil, like it or not. I know the world is a shitty place and we don’t have much hope nowadays for things to get better, and Star Wars has always motivated me to keep going and stick to my values and my convictions. I felt chills several times in the movie, like at the end where everyone comes to fight, and now I’m more willing to keep fighting than ever. For Leia.

Godspeed, Rebels!

#star wars spoilers #tros spoilers #star wars #the rise of skywalker #ben solo #rey #kylo ren #palpatine #alright now I go to sleep

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lovecanbesostrange · 5 years ago

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Okay, it’s almost been a week, the discourse is cluttering my dash already, so here’s that other list of things I’d like to change in TRoS:

(sidenote: people that annoy me 1. Kylo/Ben-stans 2. Kylo/Ben-antis. Only Siths deal in absolutes...)

As mentioned before, the complete sidelining of Rose Tico as a character is bullshit. JJ Abrams ignoring anything from TLJ is the biggest pile of crap ever. You, sir, chose to only do Ep VII, left your precious mystery boxes nobody gives a flying fuck about, because it’s a horrible narrative devise if you yourself don’t have a plan to follow from the get go... it’s your own fault.

It’s such a stupid way to start the film with the crawl and just sprinkling in “so Palpatine is back, has secretly been behind everything and our heroes now try to find and destroy him”. I’m okay with a little jump and skipping a few steps that are easily dealt with with a bit of exposition. But there is so much tell instead of show, it’s not even funny. We skipped a whole movie worth of plot. (And I know it’s tragic we never could see Rey’s whole training.)

I am okay with the overall plot and structure of the film. Mostly being an adventurous scavenger hunt. BUT with just a few tweaks that don’t piss on what TLJ gave us, it’s easily made into a coherent story.

Something I really loved was that ending with the kid using the Force to move the broom. Build on that. Kylo has one thing right - let the past die. Luke was right when he talked about the failures of the Jedi. It’s actually a terrible concept. The Force is everywhere.

You know who is clearly pretty force sensitive? Finn. Holy fucking shit, use that for crying out loud. Yes, Rey’s power is almost unrivaled. It’s raw. The Force likes to run in familes. Same with Kylo. They’re both rather angry people. With extremely different views on how to achieve the somewhat same goal. Kylo puts himself in the center and has no problem killing everybody in his way (civillians included), whereas Rey is the type of person to even help a tiny droid she just met. So let Rey share her power, talk about sharing it, helping Finn to understand what little he has.

Finn doesn’t need to become an adapt fighter doing backflips and making stuff fly. But his intuition, his feeling for right and wrong despite the brainwashing - that is important and a good thing.

A very important moment in the end is when the other ships show up. Lando and Chewbacca rallied the troops, that aren’t actual troops, but ordinary people who have had enough. So just put aside like 10-14min of screentime on this whole sideplot. Let Rose and Finn talk about this, about how common people are affected and that they can rise. Send Rose with Lando and Chewie, give us that kid again with the broom. There is a disturbance in the Force. Because it’s no longer just for a chosen few, it spreads.

Which is something that makes Palpatine shit his pants. Because he is the antithesis to that. He has all the power like nobody before him. This could be an actual theme. (Rey wouldn’t even need to be a Palpatine herself, imagine an truly unremarkable person to have this deep bond with the Force. But the Palpatine-thing makes sense and can work in other ways.)

As great as Keri Russell’s eye make-up is, cut down on the stuff with Zorii Bliss (who is just there as the biggest no-homo for Poe possible -.- ) and focus on the Force spreading and the people rising. Because the Resistance is more than just that bunch of people surrounding Leia. Show me that TLJ ignited a spark.

So, yes, I am very okay with Ben dying. To me this all reads as a parallel to Vader. And well, Ben wanted to be like Vader so much and in the end he learned the important lesson - don’t follow the Dark Side.

Yes, I think Ben had had it rough. His parents shoved him to his uncle, who struggled to built up something he never saw for himself (Luke only knows about the Jedi Order from a bunch of ancient texts, but we needed something new). And Palpatine whispered in his ear, seduced him to the Dark Side. It would’ve been nice to take up the thing from the comics that explained that Ben in fact did not burn down Luke’s temple. Yes, he collapsed a building in self-defense, but he didn’t kill the other students.

Oh, right, dear JJ Abrams, the Knights of Ren. Explain. You brought them up in your first movie and left them shrouded in mystery. Now you brought them back. Without any kind of further explanation. This is what you should’ve shown in your own damn movie.

I like Kylo as the villain. And stop fucking whoobifying him. The whole point of TFA was that Kylo WANTED to choose the Dark Side. And it wasn’t easy. Yes, there is good in him. It took his own willpower to go against that. While I believe that he was seduced, manipulated and mentally abused, he chose to murder people. In secret he hated Snoke and wanted to kill him, which he did, yeah, sure, but he was okay with all the killing that came with it. He is a villain. Built up by the system he seeks to destroy and thus being a part that in the end needs to go.

Sorry, I don’t mind that he dies. Because the thought the movie could make it look like Ben Solo gets to live a life in peace now... yeah no, I didn’t want to see that with Anakin, I don’t want to see that now. He died, vanished and can be a Force Ghost now. Kylo died and Ben was allowed one last heroic deed. I’m very okay with that. Otherwise we would need to have a very long conversation about accountability.

The Skywalkers are dead now and the universe is kinda better for it. Except Skywalker is the name that Rey chooses needs to live on. And here we are back to my main problem - bringing balance to the Force. Such a big topic throughout all the movies. And fucking bring that balance now. I want to believe that this is the legacy in the end. Not one super powerful woman running around, but lots of normal people finding ways to incorporate the Force in their daily lives. (I like that Rey’s saber is yellow, so it is something new.)

I don’t care about the kiss btw. I don’t care if it’s just another moment of passion or a declaration of true love. I don’t have any energy to feel one way or another about it. I’m absolutely neutral. I only feel sorry for people who either think that Rey lost all her happiness and purpose with Ben dying or write long think pieces that Rey is tricked into forgiving someone completely beyond any kind of redemption. See above: stans and antis are annoying the hell out of me alike. More than one onscreen smooch could.

I would’ve liked a smooch between Finn and Rose. A nice sign that they are building a relationship, but then there is this talk where Finn is a bit torn, because he doesn’t want to be separated from Rose, but he also feels this strong pull to be by Rey’s side. And Rose just gets it. She has her own mission, but they are doing it for the same goal and she knows they’ll be reunited. And the thing Finn needs to tell Rey has to do with his force-sensitivity. Because you can’t have this thing of “I need to tell you something” and then never follow through. And then Finn finds the other ex-Stormtroopers and now he understands why he needed to follow Rey. Jannah and her band are a good addition and that should lead us back to Finn’s own backstory.

I don’t want to dissect every scene and change the whole film. Just tighten it up and tying it into the changes TLJ gave us.

Oh right, there is one thing. What if Anakin’s lightsaber stays destroyed (or tell us how that was mended at least -.- ) and Rey would use Luke’s green one instead. So in the end Luke and Leia’s sabers get buried, as the good thing remaining from the Skywalkers. There could’ve been a speech about that. Anakin’s lightsaber snapping in two was an important symbolic scene. But well, Abrams didn’t care... (I know it would’ve required some more work around with the Leia moments. :( )

#TRoS #ramblings

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ariainstars · 5 years ago

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The Skywalker Saga As Parable of a Dysfunctional Family

Ben Solo’s cryptic words to Rey during their third Force connection sound mysterious to this day.

“Let the past die. Kill it if you have to. It’s the only way to become who you were meant to be.”

As many fans like to point out, Rey now has the whole Skywalker legacy in her hands: the light sabre, the Falcon, its co-pilot, the family’s trust and affection. Which leads either to believe that she is the heroine of the story, and / or that she is a Skywalker after all.

Rey does have all the legacies of the past in her hands now, yes. But that is exactly what they represent - the past.

Always the scavenger, intrigued because she has no family and no past of her own, Rey can’t give up her fascination with things long gone. Still in the trailer for Episode IX, we see her approaching the broken shell of the old Death Star, which seems to lure her like with an invisible magnet.

The Skywalker family brought a lot of good to the galaxy, but it also caused a lot of evil. Luke and Leia were not directly guilty for that: their mistake was that they did not look into the past. They were weighed down by the sins of the past and tried to restore the Old Republic and Jedi Order without considering a simple fact - that if those had been as good as they believed, the Empire would not have risen in the first place.

The past is not for Rey to have. Nor was it for Luke and Leia, when they tried to rebuild it. The past is gone, and the only thing one can do is try to learn from it and build a better future.

Rey does have the Skywalker legacy sabre in her hands now, but that is precisely the point: it is not hers. A true Jedi must build his own light sabre himself. The one that Rey has now belonged first to Anakin and then to Luke.

Vader did something terrible when he chopped his son’s hand off, but since Luke had lost the light sabre he had to construct a new one.

The same applied to his attitude: for very long he had seen the enemy in Vader and blindly believed in Obi-Wan’s and Yoda’s teachings. After having learned the truth, he had to find and go his own way, which led him to forgive Vader, sense the conflict in him and risk his life and his very integrity to get him away from Palpatine’s clutches.

The Skywalker’s last offspring, Ben Solo, is Rey’s exact contrary: he is so desperate to leave the past behind that he joined the First Order and killed innocents for the purpose. He is adamant not to continue his family’s course.

And that is both Ben and Rey’s trouble: they do not live in the here and now. Both struggle for something that is unreachable because either dead (past) or indistinct (future).

Luke Skywalker himself wanted to burn the tree with the Jedi texts. Despite the strong conflict with his nephew, he unknowingly was on the same page with him in this important matter: he wanted the past to die. Yoda, too, said to Luke that “it’s time to look beyond a pile of old books” and added that looking always to the horizon one does not see what’s happening right under one’s nose.

Anyone who comes from a dysfunctional or at least conflicted family knows that the past needs to be faced. If the new generations just live on, never realizing and solving the trouble, the past mistakes will be repeated on and on.

That’s why the destruction of Luke’s temple and his nephew’s fall to the Dark Side was parallel to Anakin’s downfall, though on a smaller scale and why, as we see the original trio again after thirty years, we realize that their happy ending was not all that happy and that many things still went wrong.

Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader had gone through immeasurable pain, and caused so much pain to others, to make the way for a new world, one without the stagnation of the old Jedi Order and the decadence of the Republic. His children unfortunately tried to restore the past without honoring the long-term purpose of all of this suffering.

Vader had become the persona non grata, the skeleton in the closet of the Skywalker family. Ben felt instinctively that there was more to him than he had heard of, and literally took the skeleton from the closet (the burnt mask looks like an old skull), deciding to make the most of his grandfather’s inheritance.

Only if something new and better will be created, the nightmares of the past will finally be over. That is what Kylo meant, when he promised his grandfather “I will finish what you started”.

I’m positive that he will.

#star wars #ben solo #kylo ren #rey #palpatine #death star #light sabre #luke skywalker #darth vader #anakin skywalker #skywalker saga #the force #episode IX #The Rise of Skywalker

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vintageseawitch · 5 years ago

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I'd like to thank JJ Abrams

For destroying the happiness Star Wars used to give me. A part of me died when TROS ended and the one truly spectacular character never got a chance to heal from his history of abuse, neglect, loneliness, and despair. He got chance to feel true happiness for a mere handful of seconds... and then you FUCKING KILLED HIM.

Rey calling herself a Skywalker? That makes no fucking sense. Her going back to Tatooine to bury "I don't like sand" Anakin's and Leia "she actually never fucking lived there let alone knew of its existence" Organa's lightsabers in the sand and then looking out towards the double suns a la Luke? That is complete and utter nonsense, pandering to fanboys who will never believe Luke is anything less than perfect.

Rey being Palpatine's granddaughter? God-fucking-damnit, JJ, I was ALL about the narrative that you don't NEED to have someone's blood in your veins in order to have potential! ANYONE can be powerful. ANYONE can be the hero, no matter your background. That was the vibe I got from the first two movies in this fucking trilogy that I like the clown I am have been defending for fucking years, and you fucking destroyed this!!!! Not to mention, it completely annihilates Anakin's story - what's the fucking point of it now when the "actual Chosen One" wasn't actually the fucking Chosen One??? How the FUCK did Palpatine come back??? Fuck, I'm all about enjoying the campy silliness and occasional continuity error in any Star Wars film, but this is fucking too far. Any sacrifices made on Anakin's behalf and eventually Luke's as he was trying to save Darth Vader was for FUCKING. NOTHING.

STILL NO MENTION OF THE PREQUEL TRILOGY, almost like... further pandering to fanboys who glorify and worship the Original Trilogy and regard it in a way like it's a Mary Sue (but they would NEVER say that about those films. It's not a Mary Sue while it totally is but don't SAY IT). NOTHING is wrong whatsoever in those films. They're above reproach, they do EVERYTHING right, the beginning, middle, and end are perfect, there's no errors at all - I mean, or else their perfect eyes would have caught this. As far as they're concerned, the Original Trilogy is the only one that exists that is allowed to exist. Any future installments are just pale carbon copies and only deserve hatred and scorn. Any future installments have no possibility of being perfect, because the Original Trilogy is the only one that will ever BE perfect. THAT'S how fucking ridiculous these "true fans" sound, and these are the ones whose vitriol is the loudest, AND YOU FUCKING GAVE IN TO THEM. They don't like the new characters, so now you managed to fit them nicely into cliché boxes - like Poe and Finn creating a new Han - made them into glorified cameos despite the importance they played in at least one previous film - like Rose Tico - and completely disregarded how their characters behaved because HOW DARE THEY BE LESS THAN PERFECT - like Luke Skywalker. They don't like the sequel trilogy at all, SO YOU FUCKING DESTROYED YOUR OWN FUCKING NARRATIVE FOR NOSTALGIC "REASONS".

Why do people dislike Kylo Ren/Ben Solo so much? The only "reasons" I can come up with are: he killed Han Solo, and he's far too emotional for a man, let alone one who's "supposed to be" the new villain. Han and Leia STILL did nothing wrong I guess. His turnout is only his fault. They don't dare believe their precious parts of the original trio of BFF's have taken part in yet another tragedy in the Skywalker family: that Han and Leia didn't understand and in the end outright feared him, and so they didn't try to help. Ben has only ever felt alone. He was soft and quiet and intelligent and he had a storm brewing within him that wasn't his fault... bUT HE KILLED HAN ANYWAYS SO HIS TRAGIC PAST IS IRRELEVANT. These fanboys didn't care about his struggles, and they don't bother to see that yes, he is not a Darth Vader 2.0 no matter how much Ben wanted to be and how Disney has tried to sell him, because he NEVER will be a new Vader. Ben was only trying to gain approval from someone he thought cares for him, or at the least the one who made a show that he did, which was his abuser Snoke. But fanboys don't want to see this, or don't view it as a serious enough reason why Kylo is the way he is. AND YOU FUCKING PANDERED TO THEM AGAIN.

As far as I'm concerned, the poisonous opinions these "true fans" have expressed are just even more hatred added to a real world that is already full of it. Hate wins too often. Hate is the powerful force here. Hate and evil get away with shit, and those who are good and kind and fighting for those who are good and kind are only getting shit on. I reach out to fiction to escape this real world hate, and you only let hate win there, as well. Star Wars is forever tainted by your hate-winning film. I will never forgive you, or Disney Lucas Films, ever again. Odds are, I dare not approach future film installments, because I will only grow attached to probably main characters that fanboys will once again hate because it's not the Original Trilogy, and in which you will probably kill off because fuck hope, redemption, and happily ever after. I can't even begin to try going to fanfiction to fix this hole. Star Wars has taken over a huge chunk of my heart and soul and has helped me escape from the horrors and sadness of real life, and you RUINED THIS FOR ME. My heart is irreparably broken and will never be the same. I'll heal eventually, but the scar will be ugly and ridged.

Fuck you, JJ Abrams. Fuck you, Disney/LucasFilms. Fuck you, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. As far as I'm concerned, Star Wars has been corrupted by this ending.

Disclaimer: the cast and crew of TROS are NOT included in this rant. They worked hard with the materials and time that were given to them. Adam Driver is incredible and I'm so happy we had him for these films, especially at the end before his tragic and completely unnecessary death. Fuck, they were SUPPOSED to be a dyad!! They're Force-Soulmates!! Damnit, fuck you, JJ.

I knew I wasn't going to be the same person after this film. I just didn't realize it was a more heartbroken, cynical version of me. I don't feel any hope after the shitty ending. My heart will be screaming for a loooooong time.

#anti the rise of skywalker #i hate the rise of skywalker #sw spoilers #adam driver #kylo x rey #kylo ren x rey #i will never forgive them #i will never forgive jj #fuck you disney lucasfilms #fuck you jj #incoherent story telling at its finest #heaetbroken and pissed off #ben solo was saved but at what fucking cost #devastated screaming

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that-shamrock-vibe · 5 years ago

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Movie Reviews: Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (Spoilers)

Spoiler Warning: I am posting this review a few days after the movie first drops in the U.K, so if you haven’t yet seen the movie don’t read on.

Fan-Service:

Alright so before jumping into the character analysis, which I probably should just do because I have a lot to say, I want to quickly talk about a major problem with this movie, and yes I will be saying that a lot, and that is the fan-service.

There is a heeping load of fan-service moments and things just thrown in to either make fans nostalgic of what has come before or just to say they did it and I at large am pissed off because every bit of fan-service here I personally did not ask for and nothing I wanted as a fan was there.

For instance, Lando. I love Lando and will talk about him in his own section further down but I did not see the point of him in this movie. Billy Dee Williams still looks good in the role, but the man did nothing to contribute to the progression of the movie or the mission other than go off and get reinforcements which anyone else already in this trilogy could have done, like Maz Kanata...what did she contribute also?

Also Ewoks, I’m sorry I know the last part of this movie was on Endor because said system is around the place the Death Star fell and Palpatine still resides, but my freakin’ god seeing a split second shot of two Ewoks, who again I loved in Episode VI, but also to get Warwick Davies back to play Wicket (I think that’s the same one anyway)...what was the freakin’ point?

My final rant point is on the quite blatant fan service of LGBT representation. This particular topic is personal to me as a gay man and someone whose academic venture over the last three years has been about LGBT representation.

When you have quite a clear fanbase or sub fandom that are screaming for certain shipping couples, but then refuse to deliiver on the gay male ship in favour of the predictable hetero ship, to the point where this movie gives both Finn and Poe female love interests and makes Finn look slightly like a tool for having two other love interests but still wanting Rey...all of this I can forgive because it is kind of like the “Stucky” ship in the MCU.

However, to then, out of nowhere, have a lesbian kiss between two Resistance members at the end of the film during celebrations, one of whom was apparently the harbinger of doom because she delivered all the bad news and the other was a pilot, who I know was also Rosa Parks in Doctor Who so happy she has a role like this, but again it just felt forced, out of nowhere, with characters no one cares about and honestly I would have been happier seeing Poe and Finn kiss.

Characters:

Rey:

As I said in my non-spoiler review, Rey truly comes into her own as a Jedi in this movie. I do think The Last Jedi only really serviced her and moved her piece forward on the development chessboard.

However, while it is great to see Leia mentoring Rey at the start of the movie and doing a serviceable job, the fact Luke is still mentoring her from beyond the grave and his teachings are being upheld and honoured by Rey is really great to see.

This does not however justify the end of this movie, which is where we begin with Rey’s character.

One of the biggest mysteries of this trilogy has been discovering who Rey is and where she fits in with Star Wars lore. We know that Finn was a Stormtrooper and Poe fulfills that Han Solo role, but while Rey fills the Jedi quota for the trilogy, fans have long-suspected that she is somehow related to either Luke, Leia, Han or even Obi-Wan Kenobi.

I don’t think anyone was expecting her to actually be revealed as the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine...and to be honest I don’t think anyone actually wanted it.

It’s a losing battle comparing any movie to Avengers: Endgame, but during Avengers: Endgame when big character and plot moments hit, the audience erupted in either shock or cheers. I get the feeling that the reveal of Rey being a Palpatine was supposed to ignite that type of response. I had a moderately full audience and there was no reaction from them.

However, not only does this service Rey as a character for the second half of the movie because her character motivation is not only about battling her inner demons and heritage, but also discovering who she is in her own right...something she has been searching for since we first met the character on Jakku in The Force Awakens

This leads to the last scene of the movie which is a culmination of not just the last three movies but also her confrontation with Palpatine. On Tatooine just outside the Lars Homestead, Rey buries both Luke and Leia’s lightsabers. She then surprisingly pulls out her own lightsaber which happens to be yellow...or gold (if it’s meant to be grey or white the lighting did it no favours) and with her sidekick BB-8 heads off into the twin sunsets, but not before some random old woman asks who she is, she responds with “Rey” but when she asks “Rey who?” she looks to the left and sees the Force Ghosts of Luke and Leia and turns back to the woman answering with, “Rey Skywalker”.

This is what is meant by the title “The Rise of Skywalker” as the name will now live-on in Rey, who has adopted the name only. She is not actually a Skywalker and if you think about the fact Rey and Kylo kissed a few scenes prior to this, it is kind of disturbing that she sees both Luke as a father figure and Leia as a mother figure.

I am not happy with this development for two reasons 1) It’s a cheat, not only is it a cheat of promise in the title but it’s a cheat in practise because Rey wasn’t revealed to be a secret Skywalker she merely decided to use the name as a surname because I guess “Rey Palpatine” would not serve her well.

I also don’t like the idea of a surname being used as a mantle, we now have seen six “Skywalkers” either officially or unofficially so in the movie canon and out of the six, five either are or were Jedi or at least “ones with the force” because both Leia and Ben (Kylo Ren) have never been Jedi at least in the movies but while Ben was a Sith, Leia was an apprentice and both had access to the force.

Shmi I believe (Anakin’s mother) is the only named “Skywalker” to not have any attachment or affiliations with the force. Now I don’t know if Skywalker is her maiden name or married name but aside from her, as I said, everyone with the Skywalker bloodline has at least had a “force sense” so to make Rey the last of the Jedi, that we know of, and also now giving her the name of Skywalker just to honour Luke and Leia and not actually be related does seem a tad cheap to me.

It’s not like when Han and Leia named their son Ben after Ben Kenobi, Obi-Wan’s hermit name, because that was honouring a fallen friend. I get Rey officially has no living family, particularly after killing her grandfather, and choosing to adopt the Skywalker name is both a way for the name to live on in her and to honour both her mentors, but this is supposed to be the end of the Skywalker era and with Rey newly being a Skywalker at the end of the movie and also once again seemingly being on her own (with BB-8) on her adventures at the end it just seems like there is more to come from her and I really don’t think there should be.

I am not saying Daisy Ridley can never come back as Rey in any future Star Wars movies but I’m thinking more in a Harrison Ford/Billy Dee Williams way not a Mark Hamill/Carrie Fisher way, at least not for now.

Also, I mentioned in my non-spoiler that a lot was promised leading up to this movie and something the trailers teased heavily was “Dark Rey”. The two biggest theories surrounding this reveal of Rey as a Sith with collapsible double-edged red lightsaber were that 1) Rey would legitimately turn to the dark side and Ben Solo would be the one to bring her back to the light or that 2) The Dark Rey we saw would be some sort of vision, hallucination or dream akin to when Luke believed he was fighting Vader during his training with Yoda on Dagobah and in fact it was an illusion used as a metaphor for him fighting his inner darkness.

It turned out, of course, to be the latter theory but the movie at least had the reveal of Rey being a Palpatine to explain why the 30 second scene we see this vision in exists...no lie it’s about the same amount of time as Luke battled himself for in Episode V.

Basically when Rey was filled with rage over Kylo Ren while trying to save Chewie from being taken by the First/Final Order, she succumbed to her anger and rather than using the force in the traditional sense she was discovered to have the ability to produce force lightning, as only Sith Lords have been able to do.

While Dark Rey did look cool, I’m glad she wasn’t actually Rey and we actually had to spend a chunk of the movie with her as a Sith, particularly not with that lightsaber.

I’ll be talking about him again when I talk about Palpatine but the only master of the double-edged lightsaber for me is Darth Maul. That’s his thing in my opinion aside from his looks and he owns it.

On the positives of Rey, I do like the fact that they have set her up as the feminist hero in the same sense that Moana and Belle are feminist Disney princesses. I think obviously making Rey the focus of the trilogy meant that more young girls would look up to her as opposed to Leia or Padmé before her and so making her the strong and tenacious Jedi Knight that she is was one of the best things about this trilogy, when done right.

I did also like how she interacted with Finn and Poe, I’m not entirely sure why they have the type of banter they had due to the lack of the trio interacting in this trilogy but I enjoyed the sparring between Rey and Poe over the Falcon damage and BB-8 damage and even when it seemed Finn was about to profess his love for Rey before dying but then not dying and so going quiet about it and Rey effectively calling him out for it.

However, what did Rey wrong throughout this trilogy is just how easy everything seemed to come for her. As I said before she was often off on her own mission without Poe and Finn with only BB-8 and sometimes Chewie for company. The fact we never saw her properly train with a lightsaber or the force before being revealed as an expert with both still annoys me and here, the fact she goes to give up after Leia’s death but is stopped by Luke, a Force Ghost, who then reveals that she is in fact not stranded after burning her ship because Luke has his old X-Wing summoned from the depths of the sea was just stupid.

Also, where did Rey get her new lightsaber from? Because unless Leia left it for her or R2 created it for her we don’t know where it came from or why it is distinctly different to Luke and Leia’s.

Finn:

Finn I feel revealed himself as my favourite character of the new trilogy during this movie, meaning originating in this trilogy, because I haven’t really had one up until now due to the lack of any likeable development throughout.

However, John Boyega really does Finn justice here not only making the character more likeable but also giving him a potentially great character development arc that could see him come full circle from when we first met him during The Force Awakens.

The only problem is, from what we see, this story abruptly goes completely nowhere.

The development comes when the trio arrive on Kef Bir where the Death Star remains are and come across a tribe of freedom fighters led by Naomi Acke’s waste of a character Jannah.

It’s revealed that Jannah and her tribe were once in fact Stormtroopers but, like Finn, decided to rebel against their Sith overlords and vowed to aide the resistance to thwart them.

This could have been how Finn’s story ended had he made the decision to join the freedom fighters by the end of the movie, now granted with no Sith or First Order there’s no need for freedom fighters but just for Finn to have found his people and his place to belong would have been a fitting ending for him.

Also to any shippers out there hoping for a Finn/Poe romance, I think the writers made it quite clear in this movie that both guys have eyes for the ladies with Finn apparently interested in Rose, Rey and Jannah.

The Finn-Poe bromance is in full bloom here though, finally, and it is filled with both the banter that I so hate in laddish behaviour but still enjoy here and also the fact that they can both be real with each other even when it’s something the other may not want to hear.

I am annoyed they never really wrapped anything up for Finn, aside from him finding his tribe but not actually sticking with them. The movie kept throwing out curve balls to do with his story and character but never had them either caught or thrown back, so his story is still all over the place.

Would I want to see John Boyega return? I guess yes if he does return with Jannah and maybe even Lando, I have a theory on where that will go, because at least it is a newer direction for the character.

Kylo Ren:

I never liked Kylo Ren or Adam Driver, I have never really seen the appeal in either of them and believe Kylo is simply Darth Vader-lite. I’ve always hated that mask and even now it has notable cracks I still don’t like it. I just feel as though the mask was always Vader’s thing and Kylo’s is the fact that he has that lightsaber sword.

That being said, once again the most notable plot point in this movie is the relationship between Kylo and Rey. The chemistry is quite easily there, I do see these two as a couple in another reality and Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver do sell that rather well.

I did come to enjoy their shared force communication in this movie particularly as it was noted to have some interesting side-effects, most notably the ability to take something from the other’s location. I audibally gasped when Kylo snatched that necklace from Rey and that’s how he knew where she was, similarly how when Rey accidentally destroyed that plinth with Vader’s helmet on and it fell at Kylo’s feet he knew she was in his quarters.

My favourite example of this go was at the very end when Rey was facing off against Palpatine and Ben (Kylo reformed) was facing off against the Knights of Ren and Rey was able to psychically transport her lightsaber to him. I can’t remember if it was Luke or Leia’s she gave to him but I do hope it was Leia’s because him fighting with his mother’s lightsaber would have been so awesome.

Speaking of his reform, I found that to be the sloppiest moment in the movie. I really did not understand the quickness in which he went from wanting to turn Rey to the dark side to denouncing the Sith altogether. Now yes, your mother dying is going to be a turmoil for any individual and seeing the ghost of your father, because yes Han Solo returns in this movie, is going to throw you...but there was no real internal struggle and it just seemed again very rushed and the almost as if the writers were saying “Well the audience know this is where we were always going to take the character so there’s no need for the internal struggle to be shown”.

Also, I understand that he didn’t exactly have time for a costume change and merely took off his Kylo Ren armour, but then he merely looked like he was wearing pyjamas in that final battle. I wasn’t expecting an Elsa level transformation or anything but something a bit more...more.

Then when it did come to Ben joining Rey in battling Palpatine and Palpatine, quite strategically in my opinion, sent him flying down that pit, the fact that he anticlimactically climbed up the pit I originally thought was the movie saying “See a Skywalker rose” similarly to how The Dark Knight Rises had Batman climbing up that cliff-face. But no, apparently the “Rise of Skywalker” was nothing to do with an actual Skywalker.

The most confusing part of this movie though is what exactly happened at the very end of the movie when Ben died and Leia faded away at the same time. Leia’s “last great act” was to stop Ben from battling Rey, this seemingly caused her to die. However, when Ben died, Leia faded. So are we presuming that somehow Leia enthralled her son to be good? If so, was his redemption a fake? Also if so, did Rey technically kiss Leia not Ben?

Yes, this kiss was the biggest anti-climax in the entire trilogy. Everyone has been pushing for a “Reylo” coupling and it finally happens only for Ben to die immediately after, it was pure and simple fan service.

Poe Dameron:

I have never really cared for Poe, nothing particularly against him or Oscar Isaac but I just felt as if the character was always trying too hard to be Han Solo and failing every time.

This movie not only emphasised how much of a waste Poe had been, but also why you should always be careful what you wish for because it may happen and it may transpire that you are not as attuned to it as you thought you were.

I am talking about Poe now being the General of the Resistance after Leia’s death and effectively leading the Resistance to their doom. I remember when Han was made a general during Return of the Jedi and while he was also slightly incompetent he at least learned from mistakes whereas Poe...got so many people killed he should have been court-marshalled.

Every action he made in this movie seemed to be wrong and he was continuously pulled up on it by everyone, Finn, Rey, Chewie, even 3PO. I quite liked the concept of doing that lightspeed jumping that apparently you’re not supposed to do because it reminded me of Guardians 2, but they weren’t supposed to do it there either and that wasn’t at the consequence of damaging the Millennium Falcon!

Also, they made a blatant reference that Poe had a previous lover in Kari Mitchell’s character, but the only problem with this is we’ve never heard anything about Poe’s history prior to the events of this trilogy so we are supposed to care about it now? When the trilogy is about to end?

Had we heard from episode 1 about hints of Poe’s history and maybe a lost or abandoned lover then seeing their reunion here may have held some weight...but with what we got it didn’t work.

I don’t even know where we left Poe aside from obviously being a war hero for being the leader of the Resistance. But unlike Rey who has gone off to do her own thing and Finn who has the potential to be going off with Jannah and her tribe, Poe doesn’t really have a place.

Even BB-8, who seems to be Poe’s main concern throughout this movie, goes off with Rey, so where does that leave him?

General Leia:

As I said in my non-spoiler review, it is such a shame that this is the lasting impression fans will have of General Leia. I am not saying they should have altered Episode VIII to include Leia’s death but there was something so disjointed about her involvement in this movie.

That being said, I did enjoy some of her lines to Rey at the start of the movie and they did try very hard to make it flow with the story despite clearly being lines meant for another situation. I liked all her pearls of wisdom to her about trusting droids and being comfortable with who you are.

However, this movie’s greatest insult is definitely showing a flashback to Luke and Leia training as Luke was clearly Leia’s Jedi Master at some point after Episode VI.

Now yes, we were shown a de-aged Luke and Leia so they looked slightly like how they did during Episode VI, and it was dark enough a setting that they didn’t look as bad as Leia did at the end of Rogue One, but that one scene sparks a great controversy with this whole trilogy.

Why the heck haven’t we ever had a follow-up movie to Episode VI that simply focuses on Luke, Leia and Han? A movie that shows Leia being trained as a Jedi would have not only satisfied a lot of movie-centric fans curiosities but also would have set up this trilogy slightly better with maybe showing Leia pregnant with Ben and why Luke chose to isolate himself, why Leia and Han’s marriage broke down. Something just to give fans of the original trilogy closure and then introduce these new characters rather than having the original trilogy and new trilogy all try to co-exist and wrap up at the same time.

Also, I swear in this one scene we saw Luke’s lightsaber was green so why were both his and Leia’s lightsabers blue when Rey had them?

Then also with her actual death, as I said with Kylo felt rather anti-climactic and weird. I understand fully that Carrie Fisher’s passing was a complete shock for everyone and so they had to work with what they had, but not only does it simply feel like Leia getting into bed and then death, you have Maz expositioning it before it happens...is that why Maz is back? To be the exposition of the movie?

Again I love Lupita and understand why she was cast in Episode VII because she was the hot ticket to have back then, but she doesn’t do anything in these movies.

I did appreciate her line of “Goodbye princess”, that did spark some emotion that wasn’t annoyance or rage and was sadness for both Leia and Carrie Fisher so the movie got me there.

Lando Calrissian:

Billy Dee Williams as Lando was one of my favourite things about the original trilogy. I loved how similar he was to Han but while Harrison Ford had an almost smouldering rogue quality about him, Lando was suave and cool with this real jazzy vibe about him.

Even seeing him back it was a bright spot in this movie, however, I don’t think he was utilised as well as he could have been. After Leia died and Poe was gathering the Resistance for a mission debrief, Lando looked like that old war veteran that was simply there to lend advice, when in actuality he was the one with the most experience, who fought the Empire once before and won so why wasn’t he saying what was what?

Then at the very end when everyone is celebrating the victory, Lando randomly comes across Jannah who asks where he’s from and he responds “Gold System” while she responds with not knowing where she is from and so he says “Let’s find out”. I don’t know if they’re trying to go down the route that Lando is Jannah’s father maybe but they are definitely pushing for either a spin-off or some form of continuation to this particular story.

Now again, I liked Jannah here, and feel a movie focusing on Lando, Jannah and even Finn would work. But it was so randomly placed at the very end of the movie that it just seemed like the writers had no idea what to do with either character.

Also I did not like the fact Lando never had a scene with Leia in the movie, just simply one scene where the two reminisce about old times or talk about Han would have been good but instead we had another Star Wars alum return and not interact with anyone else from the alumni cast.

The Resistance:

I mentioned the Resistance a bit with most characters but here is my problem with them as an organization, they are not organised! The Resistance was formed in Episode IV to thwart the Empire, they destroyed two Death Stars and seemingly saw the death of the Emperor...when in actuality the Emperor survived and simply rebranded the Empire into the First Order so they failed on their main mission.

Then for the last three movies what exactly have they achieved? Because I cannot point out one successful thing this organisation has managed to achieve on their own. Rey was the one to kill the Emperor which saw the end of the First/Final Order, all the Resistance did was provide cannon fodder.

Also, when Lando finally arrived with the cavelry, I don’t know if they were trying to imply that some of the voices you heard were cameos from the shows but again, I don’t watch the shows. I know I saw both John Williams and Lin Minuel Miranda in cameo roles during the big air battle which I felt were both good and bad elements because they were so random but all in all, I have never been a fan of the Resistance.

Also Greg Grunberg, I like the actor, I liked him on Heroes, I know he is friends with JJ Abrams...but there is doing your friend a solid, and then there is making your movie more pointless then it needs to be. He was unnecessary and I’m glad he died.

Villains:

Okay so I have labelled this section “Villains” because I don’t think even they know what they’re calling themselves anymore. They were originally the First Order, then they changed their name to the Final Order, this got laughs from my audience because it was so stupid. Then Palpatine tried creating his new Empire which lasted all of 5 minutes...there was no order to this First, Final or Any Order.

As for Palpatine himself, his return was very abrupt as it was right at the start of the movie. I did enjoy the atmosphere they set up around the villain with the lightning and the desolate wasteland but what was with that fecking crane? I get he has no legs but the result was him looking more like a Dementor than the all-powerful formidable Emperor Palpatine.

Also, he mentioned how “The dark side of the force grants powers unthinkable”...which still doesn’t explain how he is still alive or reborn after being thrown down that tunnel in Episode VI.

Again, the reveal of him having Rey as a granddaughter came out of nowhere because we never knew Palpatine had a family, despite the fact Palpatine is one of few characters we have seen throughout the first two trilogies.

I did appreciate them establishing Ben and Rey’s bond as a type off life force energy which Palpatine utilised to rejuvenate himself. Although why he didn’t rejuvinate himself back to human form rather than the wrinkled old man is beyond me.

In regards to the First Order, the reveal that General Hux was in fact a spy giving secrets to the Resistance was again laughable, just him revealing “I’m the spy!” was enough to make me laugh.

Again Domnhall Gleeson is a good actor but this role has been so extreme and overdramatic that it has become a cartoon rather than a legitimate threat.

As for Richard E. Grant, people are really quick to insult Idris Elba for Cats but I think the actor who needs a word with his agent is Richard because, as much as he loves this franchise, he wasn’t quite enthralled in the world and rather seemingly playing the part of someone who is lucky enough to be on the movie.

My final point is on the fact that Palpatine claimed he is the culmination of all the Sith, meaning he has all the souls of all the past Sith in him. This is quite reminiscent to me of the Dark Swan arc in Once Upon a Time where Emma, and later Hook, became the Dark One and was able to summon all the past Dark Ones.

However, unlike Rey who was able to hear the voices of all the past Jedi, we only heard two past Sith Lords voices in Vader and Snoke. I know it wouldn’t be right to provide new voice clips for most of them because Christopher Lee, who portrayed Dooku, is sadly dead, but just to hear Darth Maul, Dooku and even General Grievous along with Vader and Snoke would have been a nice touch.

Meanwhile on the Jedi side you apparently had the voices of Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan both young and old, Mace Windu, Luke Skywalker, Yoda...and then you have a bunch of others who I don’t know because I don’t watch Clone Wars or Rebels so I didn’t recognise any of them.

Future:

Alright so where does the future of this franchise leave us...well we know that Disney+ is currently making waves with The Mandalorian and will soon to be hopefully making more waves with the Cassian Andor and Obi-Wan Kenobi shows, however in terms of movies I am not sure where they go from here.

I do feel the most logical step is to focus on rebuilding during the hiatus and then coming back stronger.

Overall I rate the movie a 5/10, this movie was a complete hot mess. There were no solid great moments and aside from some great lightsaber battles between Reylo as well as some okay space battles towards the end of the movie, but the story was practically non-existence and there was no finality that the end of an era requires.

So that’s my spoiler review for Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Movie Reviews as well as other posts.

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padawanlost · 6 years ago

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That excerpt with Vader/Anakin and Leia is somewhat hard to read and certainly stings, but I think people, especially those who call themselves "villain fans" or are fans of Anakin like myself have to accept & realize that the way Leia reacts is allowed and completely within these characters rights. Victims have a right to NOT forgive their abusers/enemies as well as to choose to never want to see the people who hurt them so much again. It isn't petty or holding a grudge, it's a valid stance.

Is thateven a thing? I don’t usually get involved in Leia discourse but I’ve neverseen anyone claim it was unfair for Leia to be mad at Darth Vader. What I’veseen is people being upset with Disney’s canon for not giving Leia a betterlife. In the original canon Leia is rightfully pissed at Vader for everythinghe did to her and the galaxy but eventually let go of her pain for her own sakeand move on. She gets to point where she can forgive and does forgive him.

It seem Disney’sLeia never got to that point, which is also completely understandable even thoughI personally don’t like it (for plot reasons). Hereis the thing, in a world where negativeemotions can affect your sense of right and wrong and heroism is defined byyour ability to let go of your own self and focus on the greater good, it makessense for the original canon to have Leia eventually deal with her issues andlet go of her pain because the alternative would mean Leia would have to facesome dark consequences.

Just likeLuke, Leia had every right in the world to hate Vader for all eternity. It’d be a completely understandable andrelatable choice. And no one should blame them for it. however, that’s not themessage SW is sells, especially in the OT. In that universe, letting go of thebad emotions and the harm they do to you is the way to a good life. That’s theLuke Skywalker way. Not forgiving, not letting go it’s the wrong way. TheAnakin Skywalker way. Look, we can’t look at this as perfect example for reallife. These characters live in a world where magic exists and “bad emotions”make you evil. So, for a thematically consistent narrative, Leia should eventuallylet go of her pain or she end up closer to the dark side.

Just to beclear, this has NOTHING to do with Anakin. It’s Leia’s decisions and it’s aboutHER well being. She does it for herself, same as Luke. They both eventuallyforgive Vader because it’s who THEY are. Because they are wise enough to knowthe anger and hate will only hurt them. So they do it for themselves. This isnot about Anakin deserving forgiveness (or not). It’s about Leia, accepting herbiological “legacy” and dealing with that whichever way she can.

“I have wondered, in the past, why you choseto name him after your father?” [Leia] sighed. “My father, Anakin Skywalker—not Darth Vader—turned against the Emperorand was the agent of his death. He atoned for the evil he had done—perhaps notall of it in the eyes of some, but he prevented future evil being wrought bythe Emperor. Part of me wanted to name my son for him to redeem the name. Atleast, that is what I told myself.” “You have come to think differently on itnow?” Leia looked up at him. “You Caamasi are fortunate in that you can sharememories between you. I have no clearmemories of Anakin Skywalker—and my memories of Darth Vader are still the stuffof nightmares. I know that I contain part of Anakin in me, and I think it isthe good parts of him that came through in Luke and me. But, I also know thedarker parts of him are there, or could be there. In naming my youngest son forhim, I was putting an innocence behind that name. All the things I saw inAnakin, I could imagine having come from his grandfather, through me.” “You sought to purge your fears of DarthVader and what you inherited of him by looking at Anakin as being what yourfather could have been and perhaps once was?” She nodded. “Does that makeany sense?” “It does, very much. Countlessare the parents who, because they were disappointed in their own parents, vowto bring their children up right. Perhaps you are trying to prove to yourselfthat under different circumstances your father never would have become DarthVader.” [Michael A. Stackpole. Onslaught: Dark Tide I

Leiaeventually lets go of her disdain for Anakin because that kind of level ofanger is unsuitable. You end up hurting yourself or others, especiallyin the star wars universe.

Leia’s angerand pain are more than valid, they are justified. But she also has the right toa happy ending, something she would never get (in the GFFA) as long as refusedto let go of those feelings. It’s not all that different than Anakin’ssituation. He was deeply hurt by slavery, he held on to that pain, anger – thatwere completely justified – and all the darkness it caused and it led him to avery cruel and sad life. Leia doesn’t follow that path. She chooses not to. Notbecause Anakin deserves to be forgiveness but because SHE deserves a chance athappiness and in the SW universe, angry force-sensitive don’t lead good lives.

Despite allthe darkness, the message behind SW is actually a hopeful one. People will hurtyou, badly. And you have every right in the world to feel that pain for as longas can or want. But the path to peace and happiness has little room for hate, pain andsuffering and that’s why these characters have to let go, because if we don’t we will endup hurting ourselves and everyone around you.

#ask #anon #anakin skywalker #princess leia #anakin & leia #sw meta #meta: leia

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elizas-writing · 6 years ago

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How I Would Fix The Last Jedi

So it’s been a while since The Last Jedi premiered and with the initial hype and anger settling down, more people are looking at it through a proper critical lens. The more posts I see critiquing The Last Jedi, the more I’m starting to realize it’s got a lot more problems than I thought. Don’t get me wrong, I still like it and found certain elements the best of the franchise, but perhaps I focused a little too much on being positive just to drown out all the anger (which to be fair, most of it was unwarranted to begin with). And thankfully now that most of the more pissy fanboys quieted down, I can post this in peace.

This film’s biggest problem was the lack of a good editor to keep the pacing consistent and allot the right amount of character development for everyone. So I’ll be addressing some of the major concerns with The Last Jedi and analyzing where and how problems could be fixed.

1. Leia’s Fate

Given Carrie Fisher’s death, some fans were anticipating Leia would possibly be killed off during The Last Jedi. But since she’s still alive at the very end, now they’re going to have to find a way to do that off screen unless they have enough spare footage from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi to fill the gaps. To be totally fair with how much they filmed with Carrie, this was probably the best they could do without reshooting most of the film and pushing back the release date. Plus, this is the last time we’ll get to see her--- let me have Super Leia in Space. I think the only way they could work around this would be to record lines mentioning her depleting health given how long she was in space, even with using the Force to save herself. It’d at least give some foreshadowing that maybe she won’t make it to see the Rebellion win and drive our main heroes to follow in her footsteps.

2. No Memorial for Han Solo?

Yes, more than two years passed and the shock of Han Solo’s death faded for the fans, but for the characters, only mere hours passed. Leia lost her husband, Chewie lost a best friend, Rey lost a father figure, and Luke lost a brother-in-law. They should still be torn up about this, especially Luke given all his guilt on failing his nephew. It’s really hard to believe that there wasn’t even so much as a memorial for one of the greatest heroes of the Rebellion. Imagine how much more gut-wrenching the opening would be if they were caught off guard while mourning Han.

I want more of Rey depressed and angry that the one father figure she’s known was offed by his own son without mercy. I want more of Luke’s guilt eating him which increases his reluctance towards training cause he doesn’t know if this will happen again and who else he’ll lose. Han’s death should still have a massive impact on the story and where the Resistance will go without a legendary fighter with such a special spark you won’t find anywhere else in the galaxy.

3. Admiral Holdo’s Reckless Shit

It’s really hard to gauge if I actually like Admiral Holdo because the film is back-and-forth between pulling the rug from under us with the character drama and forgetting the high stakes of their present situations. I get that Poe is hot-headed and needs to learn patience, but c’mon, you’re losing precious ships and lives the longer you stall and don’t just tell this trigger-happy nut what’s going on. She has no reason to be so secretive, and it’s just plain irresponsible given the small size of the Resistance. There’s no effort on her end as a leader to work together with some people, and unfairly talks down to them like children. And I know Leia does this too with Poe when she demoted him, but they have a quasi-mother/son dynamic where it works because they were working together longer than Poe has with Holdo. They might as well be strangers for almost two hours.

I definitely don’t hate Holdo as much as the rest of the fandom does, but we need more of her side with nuance on the divide and finding balance between fighting and self-preservation, especially as she leads in place of Leia and the two were close friends for decades. But you don’t get that connection and how much the Resistance means to her mere minutes before she dies. She comes off way too heartless than necessary for this side-plot. And it sucks because it’s a fascinating struggle between action and self-preservation in regards to rebellion and knowing when to do what to make actual progress, but it’s buried too deep in the subtext underneath the needless bickering between Holdo and Poe. Just show what she’s up to from the get-go, validate her reasoning, and allow her to be a likable character so her major sacrifice actually feels earned and not a last minute sympathy grab for Poe to learn a lesson.

4. What was Benicio del Toro’s Character Again?

Oh yeah, DJ.... I legit had to Google to remember the character’s two-letter name. And if that’s not enough to say he has no purpose in this movie, I don’t know what is. I get that he’s supposed to parallel Lando Calrissian when he tricks Han Solo back in Empire Strikes Back. But while Lando still had screentime afterwards to double-cross the Empire and join the Rebellion anyway, DJ just freaking disappears, and it’s never addressed what happens to him after turning in Finn and Rose. Honestly, if you wrote him out of the movie, it wouldn’t make much of a difference. And it sucks, because this side plot had great themes going on with war profiteering and the apathy towards both the Resistance and the First Order so long as one has something to gain from their deals.

If you’re going to parallel Lando’s arc from Empire, don’t cut it short when it’s getting good and have DJ consider the consequences of his actions, regardless if he joins the Resistance or not. Set up some foreshadowing for the next movie where DJ is completely working for the First Order or the Resistance and realizes how much picking a side does matter with rising authoritarianism. It has great potential for whether or not he’s redeemed with how long his apathy will take hold so long as he makes a quick buck.

Or better yet, just entirely replace DJ with an older Lando who lost his sense of hope with the rise of the First Order and hides away on Canto Bight waiting for age to catch up to him, living in blissful ignorance while the rest of the galaxy crumbles. He’s the decoder Finn and Rose were looking for all along and this was Maz’s way to coerce Lando back into the Rebellion. Much like Luke, Lando is reluctant to fight and see any hope, but upon hearing of Han’s death and Leia’s condition, regret eats him for all the years he spent away from his closest friends and just wasting his life on gambling and drinking. He finally agrees to help Finn and Rose, but they only get so far before getting caught by the First Order, just barely escaping with their lives and reuniting with the rest of the Resistance for the film’s climax.

5. Finn Overcoming Stormtrooper Past

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I think this deleted scene speaks for itself on all the missed opportunity in developing Finn. That’s not to say he’s totally devoid of screentime as it’s still fun to see him with Rose exploring Canto Bight and getting caught up in their own misadventures. But many were hoping this would be the perfect time to explore his traumatic past and how Stormtroopers work in this world. Maybe he’d try to go back, save them from the brainwashing and help them realize they’re just senselessly murdering innocent people for nothing.

Holdo even has a line where she refers to Finn as a Stormtrooper almost in disgust, so you’d think there would be more time to show his change over to the Resistance and proving himself not just as a powerful ally, but someone who is more than their past. Someone who can finally break the cycle of children being taken away from their families to become disposable soldiers. But his battle with Phasma comes and goes so quickly and doesn’t leave as big of an impact as it should, and much like Force Awakens it feels like they’re playing great cards far too early. This deleted scene works so much better when you see the gears turning in the Stormtroopers when they realize their leader is just a massive coward, and it ends perfectly with Finn proudly calling himself “rebel scum.” It’s still beyond me why this scene was scrapped. They either needed to keep this in or have Phasma survive and make a grand final battle for Episode IX.

I want that spark of rebellion to ignite in the Stormtroopers where they realize “wait, what the hell are we even fighting for?” and dismantle the First Order from the inside out by Episode IX. It’d make a great parallel to the prequels and Order 66 but completely recontextualized in a story of rebellion and redemption. Throw in some of the Resistance saving children from growing up into soldiers, tragically epic scenes of sacrifice, and boom, there’s a climax of Episode IX practically writing itself.

6. Shut up Ben Solo-Organa

Now, I like Kylo Ren as a villain-- he’s similar to Anakin Skywalker’s whininess in the prequels except made legitimately terrifying with the fragile toxic masculinity of wanting to be stronger and powerful by any means necessary. However, I can’t do the woobifying, both from large sects of the fandom and Rian Johnson. I would be a lot more forgiving of his character development in The Last Jedi if Johnson made Kylo Ren’s intents more clear without implying any romance between him and Rey-- fucking really (and sorry, not sorry, the only thing I ship Kylo with is a swift kick in the ass).

I get that we need temptations of the dark side as part of the classic Star Wars story, and I love the twist on it where Kylo turning to the dark side was ultimately his choice and not because Luke failed him-- especially as killing Snoke didn’t flip him back to the light like when Vader killed the Emperor. But the heart of that particular recontextualization should be on the student-teacher relationship between Rey and Luke and not Kylo Ren sniveling like an infant. It walks a thin line of making Kylo Ren almost too sympathetic and forgetting how he ended up with the First Order to begin with. I don’t care how many puppy dog faces he makes; as shown by the end of the film, he’s not ready for redemption, if it will ever be in his grasp. His excess screentime of what we already know undermines Rey and Luke’s relationship which should be the focus of the former’s arc in The Last Jedi. But unfortunately, it isn’t as strong as it was with Luke and Yoda or Obi-wan and Anakin because the film has to juggle with a dozen other plotlines and characters.

Hopefully with J.J Abrams back in the directing chair, maybe he can steer the focus back on the films and what the fans really want. Granted, I don’t think The Last Jedi deserved nearly the level of vitriol it got within the last year, but even I couldn’t ignore some of the major problems and missed opportunities to get its themes across.

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#star wars #star wars the last jedi #the last jedi #star wars viii #star wars viii the last jedi #rian johnson #fix it #my writing #opinion #editorial

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