#but in poe if you want to read any lore you have to full stop

[visterical]

nothing fancy because I am tired. super long ramble is in tags

[gffa]

Hii I'm new to the Fandom and I'm obsessed with your blog! I ADORE your point of view really its making me love star wars more and more, my question is do you have any recommendations on which books to read to understand more about the lore and where cannon is right now??

Hi!  I’m glad if I can help you like SW lore more and thank you for such kind words, I deeply appreciate them.  And, oh, what a tricky question that is, without meaning to be!A lot depends on which part of the SW lore you’re looking for–are you looking for technical terms or character backstory tidbits?  Lore on Force woo?  The stories that help better inform the structure of Star Wars?  Because I feel like my answers would be different for each of those!So, I’m going to do a “here’s what I think is the best places to start when getting into SW supplementary material” list:1.  THE TV SERIESIf you haven’t watched The Clone Wars and Rebels yet, those should be first on your list!  TCW is there to help give you the bigger picture of just how awful the Clone Wars were, how politics dragged everything down into the mud, and will give you a ton of feelings on established characters.  I’m currently in the middle of a rewatch and its kicking up all these feelings I had and you can really tell that this is what George Lucas’ world looks like when they have the time to explore it.  (Though, hell, even with this show, it only covers things in broad strokes, especially because it is still aimed at younger audiences, too.)And Rebels is just a really great series by itself, but it also does a fantastic job of showing you just how complicated the war against the Empire was, how hard it was to wind together these various minor factions into one bigger Rebellion, as well as it does a lot to show what it’s like for Jedi after the genocide of their people.  It also has some killer cameos and resolution to things started in TCW and moments of confrontation for all the characters.Both of those really only have minor moments of exploring the Force Woo Lore (but there’s really not one singular place that explains it, imo, it’s something you have to piece together to see the bigger picture), but they’re fantastic for echoing the narrative structure of Star Wars and its themes.2.  THE COMICSThey’re the next best stop, they are also really great stories in terms of the character arcs, as well as the next best place to get more on the themes of Star Wars.  There have been so many moments, more than anywhere else, that I have wanted to just absolutely (virtually) SCREAM, because HOLY SHIT THAT WAS A HELL OF A MOMENT or HOLY SHIT THAT UNDERSTOOD STAR WARS SO WELL or just had really amazing moments.  I would recommend starting with:- The Star Wars 2015 comic (by Jason Aaron) and read it concurrently with Darth Vader vol. 1 (by Kieron Gillen), as they’re meant to go together.- Then read Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith (by Charles Soule)- After that, in any order:  Age of the Republic comics (by Jody Houser), Obi-Wan & Anakin (by Charles Soule), Jedi of the Republic - Mace Windu (by Matt Owens), and Kanan: The Last Padawan (by Greg Wiseman).- I also really enjoy the Star Wars Adventures comics from IDW, the Poe Dameron comics (by Charles Soul) are incredible and give a lot of context to the sequel trilogy and Shattered Empire does a lot in the same vein.3.  THE NOVELSNovels are trickier, because some are good for lore but aren’t necessarily stories I would recommend to new fans, others are amazing stories but don’t necessarily have a lot of lore.  So, I’m going to focus on the books that I think do the most bridge work and help you understand the bigger picture of Star Wars:- The Star Wars Battlefront II video game (okay, not a book, bear with me) does an amazing job of giving more context to how the Empire ended and how it connected to the First Order.  You can do a search on YouTube for “Battlefront 2 game movie” or similar search parameters and watch it like a movie, it’s about two hours and it’s wonderful.  Fall in love with the characters with me, understand why Jakku was important, and get some amazing cameos (and stunning planets) for the OT trio!- The Aftermath trilogy by Chuck Wendig also does a ton of showing how the Empire’s fall wasn’t instantaneous after Endor’s moon, as well as the faltering early steps of the New Republic, and a ragtag bunch who hunt down Imperial war criminals and all come to love each other AND I LOVE THEM, sobs.  I would add in the caveat that I think these work massively better as audiobooks, so check if your library has them and maybe you can check them out on-line and be prepared to give the books a little time to grow on you.- Bloodline by Claudia Gray shows Leia six years before TFA and the New Republic still faltering and how she discovers the early origins of the First Order and loses her position in the Senate and starts up the Resistance.  It’s at its best when it’s a Leia book, but it also does do a lot of groundwork for the connections between the OT and the ST!- From a Certain Point of View by various authors, is a collection of short stories, many of which are hits and many of which are misses, but the hits are amazing.  If nothing else, “Master & Apprentice” (by Claudia Gray–not to be confused with the full novel of the same title), “Time of Death” (by Cavan Scott), “There Is Another” (by Gary D. Shmidt), and “An Incident Report” (by Daniel Mallory Ortberg) are all MUST READS.  I read all of them and I’m glad I did, but if a story isn’t gripping you, feel free to skim over it for the next, they’re only connected by theme, not events.- I loved both Spark of the Resistance (by Justina Ireland) and Resistance Reborn (by Rebecca Roanhorse) as books set between TLJ and TROS, where I grew even more fond of the characters getting to have adventures together.  I also thought the Dooku: Jedi Lost audiodrama was probably the best PT era canon book to recommend, too.4.  THE GUIDEBOOKSGuidebooks are more fun when you’re already invested and just want to look up a thing or two, but there’s at least one that I think is a must-read from cover to cover:  Star Wars Propaganda: A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy by Pablo Hidalgo.  It doesn’t sound like it would be that interesting–a history told through art?  But it’s an absolutely stellar bird’s eye view and explanation of how things happened in the GFFA, how the Clone Wars happened, how the Republic fell, how the Empire rose, how the Rebellion fought back, how the New Republic rose, how the First Order knocked it all down again.5.  ANYTHING ELSE?I love the game Jedi: Fallen Order and I think it does an amazing job of staying true to the Jedi Order, their culture, and the themes of Star Wars.  You can do the same thing of looking for a movie-version on YouTube, it should be about four hours long to cover the majority of the game, and I absolutely fell in love with the characters and the world, it was clear they really cared about the story and the lore and making this feel like a game where you got to experience becoming a Jedi.This isn’t a list of “stories I thought were good” but ones aimed at establishing the best understanding of the bigger galaxy, as well as stories that I thought were really good for new fans!  While I put them generally in the order I would suggest them, if something’s not working for you, feel free to drop it and move on to another thing, either coming back later to the dropped one or not, because this should be fun and not boring work.HOPEFULLY THAT’S A GOOD PLACE TO GET YOU STARTED and if someone else would suggest a good Starting Place For A New Fan, feel free to chime in!

[rushmanatalie]

and we’ll watch the world crumble (watch the world burn)

Summary: In a galaxy falling apart at its seams, two broken souls find solace in their forbidden connection. But when darkness threatens to destroy everything they know, Rey finds herself forced to choose between what can, and what could have been.

Chapter One

A/N: Of all the things I thought I would be doing this quarantine, I really didn’t expect writing my first reylo fic to be part of it but I guess here we are! Please be gentle, I’m still trying to get all my Star Wars lore correct :) 

Read on AO3 or under the cut:

Rey couldn’t sleep.

But then again, after everything that had happened since leaving Jakku, sleepless nights weren’t uncommon for her. Even in the comfort of a sizable cot in her own section of the cave, safe in the Resistance base on Ajan Kloss, Rey felt uneasy giving in to the vulnerability of sleep. As exhausted as she was, falling asleep meant putting her walls down and letting the nightmares and monsters in.

Monsters like him.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his. Warm brown irises flooded with desperation, looking at her, no, into her, as the world around them crashed and burned. In that moment, she saw him clearer than he would ever see himself: a terrified boy, pleading for acceptance and understanding, from a scavenger, nonetheless. She couldn’t help but wonder if he saw her too. Did he see how much she had wanted to take his hand? If only for some form of purpose and clarity, for a chance to no longer feel achingly lonely. Or had he seen the moment she made her decision? The moment she went for the saber.

Luke’s saber. Rey eyed the broken weapon sitting on a bench across from her bed. She had felt wrong in keeping it, knowing it was all the legendary Skywalker had left behind, but Leia’s insistence helped assuage her guilt.

“It’s what he would have wanted,” the general said softly, gently wrapping Rey’s fingers around the saber’s cracked hilt. “You might not think you’re the last Jedi, Rey. But you are the last hope.”

And what a burden it proved to be. Since her floating rock stunt saved the Resistance on Crait, everyone seemed to be constantly staring at her, almost eerily wary of her every move. For a girl who spent most of her life alone in a desert, Rey wasn’t used to being the center of so much attention. But what scared her the most was her inability to discern whether people were looking at her with curiosity or fear. Or, as Poe would put it, a healthy combination of both.

Getting to know Poe was, in many ways, like getting to know a droid. It was very clear from the start that the man was programmed for war. More than once, Rey has caught herself overhearing Poe and Leia discussing weaponry, strategies, treaties, and negotiations, all of which sound like another language to Rey. But Rey soon learned that Poe’s skills as commander were equally matched with his penchant for sarcasm and light-hearted jokes as he and Finn constantly bickered during meal breaks.

Finn, Rey was thrilled to see, had made a full recovery since she had last seen him wounded after the battle on Starkiller base. As her first, and now best friend, Finn shared Rey’s anxieties about fitting in with the Resistance. A turned stormtrooper wasn’t exactly a leading example of a light-side warrior, and though he never voiced his concerns to Rey, Rey could tell Finn was trying to prove his place among the Resistance ranks through his enthusiasm in volunteering for even the simplest of missions.

His new friend, Rose, however, was exactly what Rey imagined Resistance members were like. Of course, it didn’t take much for Rey to like Rose given that she had saved Finn’s life, but Rose was truly sunshine personified. Despite the recent loss of her sister, Rose never ceased to smile. Her kindness toward Rey was more than welcome amidst the wordless stares from most others, and for the first time in her life, Rey found herself glad to be in the company of a woman closer to her age.

Rey huffed a sigh at the thought. It felt so strange that almost a year ago she was alone on Jakku, barely getting by on the meager portions she was able to receive, waiting for a family that would never return. Now she’s a force-sensitive fighting a war, no longer hungry, no longer chained by her past. No longer alone.

She tossed around in her bed, her blankets every bit too warm, but the room too cold all at once. Closing her eyes, she tried to sleep, letting her mind drift ever so slightly, but to no avail.

Of course, the recent onslaught of piercing headaches didn’t help either. For the past couple weeks, Rey had been experiencing strange migraines. They all start with a slight disturbance in the force, an unexplainable shift that never fails to give Rey goosebumps. Then waves of pain crash through her mind without any more of a warning, as if her brain is being torn to shreds. Luckily for her, they often leave as suddenly as they come, but they’re never any less painful. Unable to do anything about it, the medical droids left Rey to wonder when the next headache would hit, and which one would ultimately kill her in the end.

“I wouldn’t count on it.”

The familiar presence slipped so suddenly into Rey’s mind, she sprang up from her sheets. How much had he just heard?

“Get out!”

Kylo Ren sat across from her on the bench, next to the broken shards of his uncle’s parting gift. She couldn’t tell where he was, and for her sake and the Resistance’s, she hoped he couldn’t either.

Rey allowed her eyes to roam over the Supreme Leader, a self defense tactic, she decided, to see if he appeared as a threat. She quickly noted the absence of his lightsaber and stopped herself from reaching for her blaster. Even though she knew from their previous encounters that the weapons didn’t work through their connection, it never hurt to be safe. He donned his usual black tunic and trousers, with heavy duty boots to match, but seemed to forego the formalities of his cape and cowl. The wide belt at his waist emphasized the broadness of his chest and shoulders. His folded hands remained gloved as he leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs.

And yet, the one thing that caught her attention the most was the lack of his mask.

Something about his face felt alluring to Rey, and not just in its undeniable vanity. Ever since he had first taken off his mask in front of her, Rey was aware of the vulnerability he allowed himself in her presence. As if she was the only person who could still see the slivers of Ben Solo behind his hardened facade.

Only there was no facade. Not this time. Kylo’s eyes were dark, red-rimmed with sleeplessness and—oh.

Sadness. No, this wasn’t just sadness. This was deeper than that. This was the kind of sadness that eats at the soul, even when there is nothing left but emptiness and a deep, dark ache, and Rey knew the feeling well. But she wasn’t easily fooled.

“I said, get out!”

“You know I would if I could.” He spoke calmly, with little to no antagonization, to Rey’s surprise. If anything, all she could detect was a hint of dejection in his tone.

Rey shook her head in denial. “I don’t understand. Why is this still happening? Snoke’s...”

Kylo’s eye twitched at the mention of his deceased master. “I’m sure you can put it together yourself.”

“He lied,” she finished, more for herself than for him. “Well, I can’t say I’m surprised given how the Sith usually deal with manipulation.” She looked at him to see if the jab had struck a nerve, but was disappointed when he remained passive to her comment.

He stood from his seat and walked to the door-like opening where Rey’s little nook met the larger portion of the cave. Avoiding her glare, he stared out the entrance with a pensiveness that reminded Rey of Leia and Rey couldn’t help but wonder what he was looking at in his perspective.

After a moment’s silence, she added, “So how do we end this?”

He heaved a sigh, his gaze falling down to his feet. Rey tried not to notice the way one of his obsidian locks fell over his face. “I don’t know.” The words sounded foreign and almost disturbing coming from him, but Rey hid her discomfort behind knit brows and a tight scowl.

“You don’t know? You’re the Supreme Leader, aren’t you supposed to know about these things? Or were Force Bonds not covered in the murderer handbook?”

“Not one like this.” There was an edge to his voice now that he was growing more and more impatient, but she wasn’t fazed.

“Fine then, I’ll figure out a way to get rid of it since you won’t, you coward.” She let the insult roll off her tongue and watched as it washed over him.

It was as if she had finally pulled the right trigger because all of Kylo’s anger came bubbling up to the surface as he turned to face her. “You don’t think I want to?” He took a step closer and Rey felt herself backing up against the head of her bed as he neared her. Suddenly, reaching for her blaster seemed like a good idea. “I’ve spent the past three weeks trying to sever you from my mind, but each time I do—” He stops, as if trying to put his thoughts into words. “It feels like I’m tearing my own brain apart.”

That explained the headaches. “So that was you. I felt it too.” A chill ran down Rey’s spine as she came to the ugly conclusion, the one neither wanted to acknowledge. “Does that mean...”

The frustration in his eyes turned into an acceptance as his expression hardened. “That’s the only way it ends.”

A month ago, Rey wouldn’t have thought twice about killing Kylo Ren. Hell, she even had a fair try at it, the jagged scar across his face serving as a constant reminder of his close defeat. But after they had touched hands on Ahch To, things were...different. Somehow, the thought of him dead now made her stomach churn and her eyes burn, and yet she couldn’t figure out why.

“Well, it doesn’t have to be. Not if…if...” she trailed off.

“If what?” he challenged.

“You know what.”

“Say it, Rey.” She shivered at her name, spoken like a curse. “I want you to say it.”

It would be so easy to continue fighting him, but she didn’t see the point. Reluctantly, she said what he wanted to hear. “If you turned. Joined the Resistance.” Joined me. “Why didn’t you?”

This was the first time she had really asked him sincerely, the question that had been plaguing her mind. He turned away from her again, and for a second, Rey didn’t think he was going to respond, but his low voice broke the silence. “The same reason why you didn’t accept my offer.” He squared his shoulders, back still to her, and though his mask was nowhere to be seen, Rey felt as if he had just put it back on. “We are who we are. What’s the use in fighting it if it’s what we’re destined to be?”

She let the question fall from her lips before she could stop herself. “What do you think we’re destined to be?”

The connection cut out before she could get an answer.

[eveninglottie]

hello i am interested in some more deets about song of sunder 👀

WELL SINCE YOU ASKED smash cut to about two years ago when I was so badly wanting to play dnd that I just threw seven characters into a half-baked world and played pretend with myself (I’m not kidding there was actual dice involved). since then it’s been brewing in the back of my head and I only really started to think about it seriously last year. I’m sure some of it comes from my obsession with CR and my fic brain going “dothisdothisdothis” because it’s very much a ‘formative text’ for me, but it’s been this nice little feel good place for me to go back to, especially this year. 

it’s actually at the top of my list in terms of what I’ve been thinking about diving into (since I apparently cannot write fic anymore lol it’s fine), and I’ve been working on it a lot recently just fleshing out the world and the character arcs. 

though, one of the things I have been considering seriously is just how you write a story like this, in a format meant to be read rather than experienced like any other dnd campaign. like is it just seven povs with separate chapters (a la game of thrones) or, and this is the one I’m drawn to but have no idea what it would turn out like, is it a story told from a third person omniscient narrator, weaving interchangeably through perspectives just like a dm would do in an actual game. like a screenplay but with prose. dnd is such a subjective experience, and while a lot of people have had success adapting liveplays to other visual mediums, like animation or graphic novels, I’ve never seen someone do it in fiction. I especially have never done it lol. I only ever write from distinct povs and switch them out, so this would be hard. maybe. I haven’t actually tried it yet. 

the story itself is pretty standard high fantasy dnd, a ‘sundered’ world where the planes all kind of smushed up against each other (familiar? :P) with a bunch of different factions and nations and secrets and wars and people trying to be gods and all that jazz, with a group of assholes thrown into the mix to become big damn heroes (the bones of the world are actually what I used to flesh out DW but shh don’t tell anyone). every arc (9, one for each character and a beginning and an ending) would open with ari, the bard, almost like she’s telling a story to the reader. 

my pie in the sky ideas for it would be some kind of serialized fiction, if I could get my ass in gear to actually do it. I’ve thought about how amazing it would be to do an audio drama one day with different voice actors and music and sound effects and all that shit, like oh my god do I want to do that. I have no idea how to do that, obviously, but that would be The Dream. I’ve even gone so far as to pick out a theme song, because I clearly don’t have enough things to worry about in my life. 

(it’s a lullaby, like a story, told by a siren, like a bard, get it, get it)

and because I’m feeling indulgent and I spent all day making these face refs (thank you, you little monster) the aforementioned assholes (they all have multiple classes and subclasses because I have the Too Much gene): 

ari (ariannai), an autumn eladrin bard/druid (college of glamour and lore/circle of dreams) from the feywild, soft and sweet and perfectly capable of gutting anyone who tries to fuck with her, has a gold pseudodragon familiar named trill whom she loves like a child, plays a masterful mandolin, her voice is magic (literally), actual snow white, leliana and josephine were huge inspo for her

kayd, a human fighter/warlock (eldritch knight/hexblade and undying) from the frozen north, a charming sailor with a thirst to prove himself (listen I love fjord a lot okay) and a cursed sword (don’t worry about it), likes purple and flirting with everything that moves, frequently gets into trouble because of this, but he can talk his way out of a jail cell (and has!) so it’s been fine so far (don’t think about the cursed sword)

verity, a half-tiefling/half-drow monk/rogue (way of shadow/assassin and soul blade) from the shadowfell, a ruthless thief and a terrible shit-starter running from a dark past, she has a pet rat named poe and loves gossip, looks like a child but is actually the oldest in the group, knife girl, her horns are tiny enough to fit in a hood but not tiny enough to fit in with her elvish family so that sucked but hey they’re all dead now so who came out on top in the end

esher, a human artificer/fighter/sorcerer (battle smith/gunslinger/phoenix soul) from a bustling white city on a hill, an obnoxious noble with a long lineage and a complete disregard for politics and propriety and his own privilege (he’s a younger son so he’s usually left alone and ignored and that’s fine, obviously), he loves nerd shit and his ancient owl, hornsby, and sometimes he sets things on fire with his fingers which would be fine only he sets things on fire with his experiments as well so things are on fire a lot around him

goya (goyzadara), a half-orc/half-elf fighter/paladin/ranger (samurai/oath of the ancients/beast master), a princess in exile, honorable to a fault (which is why she was exiled), big into history and politics, finds a baby gryphon and immediately goes to pieces, Disaster Sword Lesbian, likes embarrassing men by kicking their asses in fighting rings, though she never takes the money, because she’s noble like that, has a weird obsession with dragons, does embroidery in her free time to chill out, can’t cook for shit

sabrathan, a scourge aasimar blood hunter/ranger/sorcerer (order of the ghostslayer/monster slayer/divine soul), a half feral girl from the woods who knows way too much about how to disembowel monsters three times her size, skittish and intense and maybe an angel but don’t ask her about it or she will disappear for a few hours and come back with an elk for dinner, never seen out of the company of her crossbow or her sickles, more comfortable around animals than people

theo (theoderic), a human sorcerer/wizard (runechild/school of chronurgy and conjuration and transmutation (he’s a special snowflake)), the smartest person you will ever meet and he knows it, socially awkward and unnervingly quiet, not actually an asshole just neurodivergent (but also sometimes an asshole), craves Phenomenal Cosmic Power and affection, has anime hair and terrible handwriting, Gay as Fuck

their group name would be Sirenox (the name of the last dragon seen in Sunder over five hundred years ago, whose final act was to grant a group of adventurers a boon to stop an archlich from plunging the land into eternal darkness), and I love them all very much, and definitely already have full romance arcs fleshed out for all of them, because that’s more important than worldbuilding, obviously.

so anyway there you go, my own little dnd campaign that I will probably never write, just think about wistfully until I die 

[kindredsoulsoftimesofold]

Incoming TROS rant

yes, there will be spoilers as I will be breaking down everything I saw tonight. If I manage to type choking on my tears well after the movie finished.

----

FINAL WARNING IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS

Let’s start with a few opening words, this rant will indeed be a long one.

ALL THE LEAKS ARE TRUE. And I mean ALL of them. To a T. As soon as I saw the first half was exactly as I’d read, I was crushed. As I knew what was coming. On that note, i was probably the only person in the theatre who was crying like 15-20 minutes before we were supposed to, I’ll get to that in a bit. I’m saving the WORST for last. Let’s break this shit down.

1. The plot is a mess. An actual mess. I feel like every five minutes I was shaking my head and mumbling ‘what kind of nonsense is this’. The breaking of lore or COMMON SENSE really is substantial. But that is definitely not what I cared about, as I already KNEW this even without the leaks. When you can’t get your two directors to FUCKING WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE A COHESIVE STORYLINE it is bound to grasp for straws and make shit up. IT AIN’T NOTHING NEW.

2. Here’s the kicker. THE DIALOGUE WAS SO BAD, it makes Anakin’s AOTC speech seem like a hymn, or poetry or whatever. They CONSTANTLY say what they’re doing, they’re literally reciting the exposition to each other and it comes off as extremely annoying and makes you feel like a toddler. No hate against toddlers, but I’d rather not be one right now. It feels unnatural, forced and STUPID to the point where I would start WISHING for 3PO to come back on screen because Anthony Daniels somehow managed to snag some actually decent lines for once? I love the man, but the droid usually really annoys the crap outta me. He was literally the highlight of the film. Don’t get me started on the stupidity of all of Lando’s lines, poor Billy. Daisy has to stare angrily most of the time so I don’t really care to recall her lines. Adam, my dear Adam, he tries SO HARD to make do with what he was given but even his lines 90% of the time come off as stupid and out of place. Or the worst type in this movie, EXPOSITIONYY. Don’t get me started on Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford. Boys looked like they didn’t sign up for this shit and were literally force choked to be there. I feel you guys, I feel you. ALSO FOR THE LOVE OF THE FORCE THE TIMES THEY REPEATED WORD FOR WORD LINES FROM OTHER MOVIES I WANTED TO SCREAM. Once is too much, THIS MANY TIMES IT IS A FELONY. And it needs to be punished somehow.

3. Let’s get the positives out of the way because there were FEW. The two scenes I actually REALLY enjoyed watching, for different reasons were:

Ben and Palps meeting. The scene was much longer than the clip and SUPER badass. Sheev’s voice echoes, Ben looks fucking cool and the whole scene is GORGEOUS.

The other is when Ben fights as a Jedi in the end. I’ll get to Ben later BELIEVE ME but without overexplaining, he fights with Anakin’s lightsabre, he’s really speedy and is doing all the Jedi spins and whatnot. I fucking ATE THAT UP. Replay that scene forever please CAUSE I LOVED IT. But I was already crying here so we’ll touch more on that later.

To conclude this segment, the visuals were SUPERB, the sound was AMAZING and (some) of the fights were jaw droppingly cool. But that about concludes the positives!

4. I will comment, as I know a lot of people will care even if I don’t particularily. Finn, Poe, Rose and the merry gang aside from our Jedi are reduced to EH this movie. If you thought you’d never miss Rose boy were you wrong. They introduce new characters and expect you to care about them when they SIDELINED the ones they’d hoped you’d care about BEFORE. And it made me care about NO ONE. Not to mention that, sadly, they are ALWAYS reduced to the boring side plot that really isn’t interested or key to much of ANYTHING. Sure they roused the people and all but would’ve been TOAST if Rey didn’t go all Jesus on the fleet. So at the end of the day, you MAY find some enjoyment with the side characters but their lines were some of the worst, you WILL be force fed new people and you might not really enjoy your previous faves here because even I found myself being completely indifferent this time. (I actually really ENJOYED Finn since TFA. He had a compelling storyline and John Boyega was alright. Couldn’t give two wits about him in this movie. Not a single one. But again, I may not be the perfect person to ask if you really,really like any of these characters.

5. Finally, we have arrived to the main event. THE REYLO.

The backbone of this clusterfuck of a new trilogy. The last Skywalker and Palpatine, coming together instead of apart. The arguably BEST actors (legacies aside) Disney managed to get. Now, I will start this off that I didn’t HATE Rey before this movie. I loved her in TFA, enjoyed her less in TLJ but the novelization fixed that. I was BACK ON BOARD to be her number one stan. In this movie, I couldn’t STAND her. Her lines are basically the director walking you through things, her plotline was obviously made last minute so almost none of it makes sense,  I literally wanted to curl up and DIE from cringing so hard every time someone said ‘you’re a Palpatine’. I thought I was looking at a very expensive rendition of terrible fan fiction. (Not to diss fan fiction in any way, you guys will be my heroes after this catastrophe.) ‘Empress Palpatine’, COME THE FUCK ON AND GET OUT WITH THIS SHIT. Bring back crusty old Snoke for crying out loud! Or even HUX! Who got killed off in a second and had three lines of dialogue, not important I guess? Like a great many things I guess, JJ. But, EVEN Palpatine aside, it was great seeing him again and every scene he was in I got chills, who cares that it makes zero sense at this point. Back to reylo.

Ben. Ben Solo Organa Skywalker. The last hope. The final remnant of something I have loved FOREVER. I grew up with Star Wars, like many others just in a different, post prequel era and they are still my favourites. This might sound ridiculous but Star Wars was part of my heart, my happiness. It brought me joy to watch it, read it, fantasize about it and have it in my life when times were dark or miserable. It MEANT something to me, as I am sure many of you will agree. And Ben was part of that. He was part of something that MEANT something to all of us. He was the last line of the characters we all grew up with and loved. The GRANDSON of Anakin, my favourite character of all time. This was their chance to stop the trend that Loki’s death in IW and Daenerys’ death and turn and many others started and STOP killing people who did wrongs. PEOPLE can change, they can grow and they can learn. Hell, to not stray to far from this franchise REY has killed A LOT of people in this movie alone. She DECIMATES the room full of Palpatine’s followers and never blinks an eye. SHE NEARLY KILLS CHEWIE, DOES KILL BEN (for a minute) and SHE DOESN’T NEED TO DIE. Of course she doesn’t but BEN DOESN’T EITHER. After all that YOU JJ, YES YOU, show me that the LAST SKYWALKER has gone through, suffered, alone and frightened. I would’ve ENDED you if you’d suggested killing him off to me, EVER. He was your chance to do a reverse Vader, AS YOU CLAIMED YOU WOULD. To show a character can come back to the light and be worthy of it WITHOUT DYING. You even set it up as such, which is my next and CRUCIAL POINT.

I’ve been a reylo since 2015. Their dynamic has always been fascinating to me and beautiful. I LOVED all the moments in TLJ, LOVED THEM. In this one, every time they force bond (terrible dialogue aside, again) I was happy. I had a hope that she would bring him back from the darkness and he will keep her balanced. WELL, JJ, guess fuck me huh? And anyone with common sense and human decency. JUST WHEN you shove Ben’s turn in my face, you make him talk to Han, you make him strut in to fight alongside Rey in full Ben Solo Jedi mode, hair blown and casually dressed. It was when he runs onto Exegol that I started weeping. Because knowing that he dies as I did, it broke my heart how it was done. You give me the scene where he fights and you give me hope of what his future could’ve been if only you’d listened to reason and done what was supposed to be done. He is chucked into the pit, WHICH MIGHT I ADD WOULD’VE MADE ME MAD IF THAT WAS HIS END BUT WOULD’VE BEEN SOOOO MUCH BETTER THAN WHAT WE GOT, comes back. And now comes the scene that cemented this as the ABSOLUTE WORST insult to me as a fan, possible. Ben is heartbroken that Rey is dead, the moment is sad and he cradles her dead body and hugs her desperately. Which would’ve been a beautiful and GOOD DIFFERENT type of ending. Or rather not having her die at all and being NEAR her death and him saving her and both living happily ever after BUT NO. JJ AFTER THAT has her come back, smile happily when she sees it’s him, her love her hope and the other half of her SOUL literally (the diad or whatever it’s called is so rare that Palpatine was thrilled they’d formed such a bond, basically space soulmates), he has them kiss, then hold each other and smile at each other with genuine feeling of joy and belonging both of them had sought all their life AND THEN YANKS IT FROM UNDER YOU. The scene where Ben falls flat onto his back is quite comical and I couldn’t help but laugh in my misery and sobbing. Rey doesn’t even cry, we don’t even LINGER on his body or mourn him afterwards or even mention it or EVEN SEE her, THE PERSON WHO LITERALLY FOUND HER SOULMATE AND WAS SO HAPPY WHEN SHE KISSED HIM AND WAS LITERALLY SAVED BY HIM, but no guess that doesn’t require a scene, sure, fuck it LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE. The cheery music that plays up until the moment of his fall, YES THE FALL OF SKYWALKER MIND YOU NOT A FUCKING RISE, was an insult to every fan everyhwere, lifelong or recent or otherwise, it was a punch to the gut, a slap in the face and after this happened I no longer paid attention to the movie. I’d been crying for some time leading up to the moment, I knew what was coming and the execution only made it worse and a more desperate cry rather than only sad, I was hoping it wouldn’t happen somehow. I choked back tears until I finally got home and cried. One of the things which MEANT so much to me, was dead. I no longer have any doubts, that this was intentional. Look at Game of thrones, that was this year. It seemed intentional to make series stop, right? Everyone agrees. They wanted to finally bury the Skywalkers so they could make something unrelated? They kill off all the Skywalkers. Well guess what disney? YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO BRING THEM BACK IN THE FIRST PLACE, YOU MONEY HUNGRY PIECE OF SHIT. No one would have minded a new trilogy, with new characters doing NEW things. Why even drag the Skywalkers and the leagies into this if YOU DON’T WANT THEM HERE? All you got was millions of lifelong fans of the old movies who have already felt or are only now beginning to feel BETRAYED. I swear it disney, I don’t want to feel this misery again. You won’t take Star Wars away from me and the joy it brought me. I will without a care in the world dismiss this new trilogy as something completely separate from canon. You’ve killed your own fanbase. You could’ve had us but you LOST us. You dangled something we wanted in front of us for our money and then you ripped it apart.

If you are anything like me, anything like me at all and have loved SW for however long. if it MEANS ANYTHING TO YOU, I beg you not to see this movie or at the very least, pay for it. You WILL feel betrayed, insulted, heartbroken, devastated and miserable, as I am feeling right now. I was supposed to go see this movie another two times but i cannot and will not spend another CENT on a company that chooses to alienate me. Fine, have it your way. I’m done.

This concludes my rant as I am tired and upset. If I missed out on anything and you are interested in anything else, please do DM me or leave a comment :) We’re all in this together now, the reylos the antis the new fans and the old. We’re all in the same heartbreaking boat, I love you all. And I will love Star Wars. The REAL Star Wars forever. I wasn’t even sad the ‘FRANCHISE’ was ending because it wasn’t. It had ended a long, long time ago.

[coe-lilium]

TroS reaction (1st view)

Necessary premise in bullet points:

- I liked TFA when it came out and still do but as I dug into the franchise/canon (Disney only by choice) my enjoyment of it became more lukewarm. Came out of it dreading a potential Reylo but liking the two charas on their own. 

- went into TLJ worried I’d hate it, came out with it being my favorite saga movie and sold on the Rey-Ren connection, whatever road it would’ve taken. Loved the “Rey’s powerful on her own/bc the Force wants to set Kylo’s wrongs right”. It felt good after two years of being bombarded with “this fucking Mary Sue can have any power only if she’s connected to powerful men of the saga, she has otherwise no right in being powerful” in forums spaces.    

- went into TroS non-spoiled, wary of Palpatine return but relatively hopeful if soured about the “JJ our lord and saviour pleease save us from evil evil Jonhson” (HA!). The rumors about lore from the tv series being featured into the movie had me excited.  

That said, here goes: [SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE MOVIE, ENDING INCLUDED, RIGHT OFF THE BAT]

I didn’t like it. I really hope to warm up to it more in future views, there’s absolutely stuff I liked or even loved, but as it stands now it was overall a massive disappointment on many sides and -worst of all- threatens to retroactively ruin my enjoyment in other previous stories. 

First, the positives: 

- Parentage notwithstanding, Rey was good. Her rage, her fears, her good heart, her commitment to the fight and the training, her longing for guidance… truly, if the bloodline revelation hadn’t retroactively ruined my investment in the character and themes I’d have fully, 100% loved her even if every single other part of the movie had been the same. 

Except for a brief war flashback to Starkiller game abilities (I lolled) I wasn’t even troubled by all the new abilities or their scope. Movies’ been inventing new powers since the beginning and the Force does what the Force wants. Again, fuck the genetics “twist”, garbage stuff. 

- Kylo, next to… 95% that involved him? TLJ did a great job selling him to me and surprisingly this movie added to that instead of retconning it away. More competent but still stupid and petty from time to time. I’m glad he came back, glad he choose right and glad he was allowed more time on the right side than Anakin. I love redemptions and he was portrayed as wavering the entire trilogy, I don’t even really care that it could’ve done better. I’m happy for him and his family, that’s all. The kiss got a laugh out me but not a malicious one, I was kind of running out of reasonable reactions by then. 

I’m just conflicted on how I feel about his death. Back when TFA was released I wanted him to survive to face what Anakin didn’t: justice (the kid-friendly setting prevented a death sentence anyway), atonement and growth from there, I still wish it happened and maintain that a different pacing would’ve allowed it. On the other hand, I’m also kinda okay with him dying. He righted at least a bit of his many wrongs, he saved a person he cared for, that his parents cared for and that could help the galaxy much more than he ever could and he was at peace. It was a good death.      

- Kylo’s vision/illusion of Han. A surprise but a very pleasant, well acted one. Would’ve I maybe liked Anakin more, as Ben idolized him so much and for all the wrong reasons and because I love that disaster? Yes. Does Han work much better in the economy of the movie and trilogy story and do he and Ben have a much rawer relationship and history? Absolutely. I am a teeny tiny bit baffled as  for why Luke didn’t also show up, but the actual scene was good enough I forgive it.  

- Rey and Kylo bond and connection was one of the saving graces of this mess and I utterly loved it. Both actors worked their asses for for all their scenes and it payed off, oh if it payed off. Their DSII duel was perhaps a tad long but great nonetheless (Republic era Jedi jumps!), the hurt and the sense of absolute loss and grief they both conveyed -and shared!- after Leia’s passing was incredible, Rey regretting the near kill and softly going “I would have stayed, had you renounced the dark side”. She cared, yes, but not to the point of ignoring the horrors (something Anakin never quite understood). The “dyad” stuff was a bit overkill, just call it a force bond, we can see it’s freaking powerful, but the Force Skype and sharing of objects that came with the package, that I loved. Surprise lightsaber, Ren fuckers! :D Bet Anakin and Obi Wan were really jealous, that would’ve come in handy during the war.       

- Finn was now fully invested in the cause, at ease, visibly happy to be with his friends, ready to bond and reach out, quick to plan, to act and to adapt to the situation, brave but cautious and calculating. I wish it was given a bit more focus, but I loved he found other young FO defectors. Also fuck yeah, he’s force sensitive and his ability is used, not just thrown in as a useless wink. Jedi Finn in future material, c’mon!

- Poe’s also grown. He was probably going to have more screen time with Leia had Carrie not died but there was nothing to be done for that. I’m not as happy as for previous 3 charas for the backstory retcon I’ll tackle in the negatives.

- Jannah was cool, the addiction of other FO defectors a welcomed one and the scene were she and Finn excitedly went over their “I broke free” moment was adorable. Good bean, I’d read more about her and her company. 

- A bit lot annoyed at Bloodline being kinda tossed outta the window but getting Leia with lightsaber was nice. Give me some ancillary material to deal with the clash and I’ll fully forgive it. 

- Jedi! MY GIRL AHSOKA MY MAN KANAN! I mean, I sure wish they were in a better movie, but hey, recognition for something more than the OT? No slandering of the Order but all of them collectively kicking Sidious ass once and for all? I’ll gladly take it. Anakin, my dude, I’m sorry your sacrifice was next to nullified but it was good to hear you again ;_;  I didn’t hear Ezra’s voice anywhere so I can still hope he’s alive, well and with the Ascendancy teaching all their Navigators. “I am all the Jedi” remains a terrible line. 

And now, oh boi. Here comes the long list of annoying - bad - stinking shit stuff: 

- If I wanted to watch a 2 and half long videogame cutscenes I’d have done that in the comfort of my home without spending money for tickets. Go to level x to retrieve related macguffin, move to next level to get next macguffin and so on and so on. I liked close to everything in the DS II sequences, but what would’ve that dagger pointed at if the wreckage had fallen even a little bit differently?   

In general, many plot points gave me the feeling they were stolen from the tv series and badly executed, like a mockery (or incompetence?). Case in point: Hux betraying the 1st Order out of personal, spiteful hate? Potentially good! The execution? A poor man’s Rebels Agent Kallus, already over in little more than 5minutes. 

- Palpatine himself is a poorly, ridiculously poorly executed Maul resurrection storyline from tcw and rebels. 

Because Maul was 1. explained and 2. got a good, long arc that made you forgive the undoubtably contrived ass-pull it took to bring him back while Sidious is just… there. You gotta accept it because the writer said so. 

How did he survive? We don’t know and fuck you if you expect an explanation (they really had the absolute galls to have him say the iconic/meme line from Rots and apparently it was supposed to be enough?!) How could he “have all Sith reside inside me” when canon’s clear that Sith do-not-get-to-retain-their-individuality-in-the-Force, do not work well together (lmao) and he as an individual never gave a shit about the Sith except when they could serve his own personal desires? His entire approach to the rule of two and other Sith stuff is “fuck that noise, everything in the galaxy exist to serve me”. He’s fine dying as long as “the Sith rule”? Who IS this character, because he’s not Darth Sidious (as presented in Disney’s own canon, mind). Oh, you wanted explanations? FUCK YOU, screams the movie. 

The mess gets somehow salvaged in the end as he comes to his senses and siphon the life out of Rey and Ben to de-rotten/revive himself to rule in person, now *that* was in character. Was he actually lying his ass off the entire time waiting for the moment he could siphon them? Hopefully but who the hell even knows.

In the end it just wasn’t worth bring him back. A holocron, a different Sith, even a hive-mind of old records/tainted wraiths of Sith (perhaps wearing Palps face to buy the old empire aficionados loyalty, idk) would’ve been better than “actually, Anakin suffered nearly his entire life and sacrificed himself for barely more than 25 years of peace and it still wasn’t enough to rid the galaxy of the monster who destroyed his and countless other lives”. But Johnson was the one shitting on beloved characters legacy and accomplishments, uh? Surely at least he’s got company. 

Ian was clearly having a blast, so there was… that? And the initial sequence being legit creepy and the Sith storm or whatever the fuck was that. That can stay, it was cool.     

- Poe, the latino character, got retconned from former Republic pilot (a backstory established before TFA came out and faithfully respected ever since) into a smuggler and gang member. Classy. What does Lucaslfilm have a story group for if not for stopping stuff like this from happening? Bonus Zorii being used for a “no homo! homo? no homo?” wink wink and for generally being a poor man Solo’s Qi’ra.   

- The movie makes you worry for a character death three (3) times in a row only to immediately backpedal on it. The survivors are grieving, the scene is sober… and then suddenly! they’re alive! isn’t it wonderful? let’s insert a comical scene now that we’re at it! Sigh.   

- The whole Threepio stuff was a contrived waste of time in a movie already full of more relevant plot treads that could’ve put that screen time to better use. 

- Rey’s parents apparently aren’t assholes anymore bc they sold her into slavery to protect her from Sidious, which is… supposed to make it alright, a sacrifice in the name of love? If they had been shown trying to give her to a trusted person and then she was kidnapped that wouldn’t had been their fault, just unfortunate, but the movie shows them leaving their 5yo daughter with her in-all-but-name slaver so?? 

- Rey Palpatine… Rey. Palpatine. Gesù Cristo benedetto che minchia mi è toccato di vedere. That hurt. That was so hilariously over the top bad I just…I started laughing. On top of the entire thing, thank you so, soo much for validating all those fucking assholes who demanded Rey be connected to a powerful man in the saga to accept her powers and value, you hack. Jedi were never about power of blood and then you went and reinforced the very opposite. She ain’t powerful bc the Force recognized her as worthy to stop evil and chose to aid her anymore, she’s powerful bc grandfather was. Lovely stuff. Hilariously, now she has a lot more legit “Mary Sue” traits than before. 

- Rose’s sidelining was a blatant bow to her and her actress haters whims. If in VIII she jumped at the chance of action, now she was fearful and “had to stay behind” studying maps. Fuck that noise. 

- Even if she rejected it, underline is that the Skywalker line is wiped out and the Palpatine one thrives. I… just… wtf wtf wtf. A final “Just Rey” would’ve been more powerful -because now it would’ve been reclaimed- and less corny and in poor taste than a Palpatine taking on the Skywalker name. I’m not sure if Sidious is more offended or if he’s laughing his ass off in space!hell. Probably the 2nd. Bad.      

- The final scene on Tatooine. It rang so empty because the planet brings warm memories only to the audience, not the characters. In-universe, that place brought nothing but misery to the Skywalkers: Anakin and Shmi were brought there as slaves and lived as such for years, Shmi was tortured to death and Anakin began his descent into the dark for crying out loud. Luke had to hide and saw his relatives murdered. Leia had no connection whatsoever to the place. The mera idea of burying Anakin Skywalker lightsaber into the sands of Tatooine and considering it a way of paying respect is… I don’t know, hilariously in bad taste? Rey, dear, what did you have personally against the guy? Put those sabers to rest on Naboo! Ah, but we can’t truly acknowledge the PT now, can we? Wack.   

- It’s not TroS complete fault, that “honor” mostly sit at TFA’s feet but for all its omages, copies and almost slavish references, from a in-universe point of view it’s like the OT barely occurred. 

The same evil man has been defeated (until next time?), the Republic must be rebuilt from scratch, a evil military is all over the place and must be dealt with, the Jedi Order has to be rebuilt… it’s depressing. A new evil taking advantage of the empire leftovers would’ve been one thing, but Sidious? He’s been effectively winning nonstop ever since he was elected Chancellor. He had all the power, all the influence, all the control and he maintained it all even as a rotten corpse in exile, the entire galaxy marching on his tune, controlled by his strings. And as the cherry on top of the cake he even managed to wipe out the family that could’ve, should have been his undoing! He effectively destroyed the Skywalkers. He outlived every Jedi, every survivor, every clone. I hate this. It’s sickening. I can’t even be happy Rex was on Endor anymore.      

In general, the best word I can find for this movie is: coward. 

So blatantly desperate to please, to be “forgiven”, to reference every single irrelevant thing -except the PT and the TV series in a intelligent way-, to throw fanservice after fanservice after fanservice no matter how nonsensical from all over that crossed the “corny” to wander into embarrassing territory many times over (Maz giving Chewie a medal outta nowhere? Come the fuck on now). 

The cartoon series had twenty time the guts of this movie and I vehemently wish for Filoni to take the helm of the entire creative team in a very near future.                  

[popwasabi]

“The Last Jedi” Review: Well, this shouldn’t be controversial...(Part I)

Directed by Rian Johnson

Starring: Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fischer, John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran

 It seems fitting in a year as controversial and divisive as 2017 that the year’s biggest blockbuster would also plunge the debts of fandom into utter chaos and civil war.

Rian Johnson’s “The Last Jedi” is either the greatest Star Wars film ever made or the worst depending on which super fan you ask and its pretty nuts how much controversy can be generated by a film about essentially space samurai and x-shaped starships.

(”Rian Johnson’s a fucking genius!” “Fuck you! He raped my childhood!” “No fuck you! “Fuck YOU!” *Enraged neckbeard screaming*)

But that’s what Johnson’s film is whether we like it or not, and I think fans all around could stand to calm the fuck down a little as in this reviewers opinion it’s neither a masterpiece or a cancer on the franchise.

The film’s strong moments are very strong but its short-comings are downright baffling as well and the result is a movie I can neither love nor hate and I’m sure this will please no one in the fandom reading this review.

I actually contemplated not writing this at all because honestly discussing this film online has become needlessly exhausting because of the strong opinions on both sides but alas I have a duty to perform and I’ll try to convey my meaning in this long-winded write-up.

Picking up directly after the events of “The Force Awakens,” “The Last Jedi” follows the story of The Resistance as they make their escape from The First Order as they attempt to squash the remainder of their forces after the Star Killer base laid waste to The Republic. Poe Dameron attempts a foolhardy mission to destroy a First Order Dreadnought that ends up destroying a significant portion of The Resistance fighter ships that leads to his demotion as they make their escape. Meanwhile, Rey is trying to snap Luke Skywalker from his doldrums as she believes he could be the catalyst to help turn the tide of the war but Luke believes he has already meddled enough due to his past with Ben Solo and believes the Jedi should end with him.

Since there’s a lot to get into here I’m going to break this down in the same way I did “The Force Awakens” a couple years ago and talk about what I liked and disliked in two different parts.

Also, before we go any further, this is again a case of a film being impossible to review without getting into SPOILERS (I mean, it’s been two weeks too) so proceed forward from here with caution.

You’ve been warned…

(Whiners will be served 10 gallons of green milk from the tit of this creature...)

“Let the past die. Kill it if you have to…”

There’s a fair amount of fourth wall breaking going on in Rian Johnson’s “Last Jedi” script particularly in this line uttered by the film’s primary villain Kylo Ren aka Ben Solo who makes a big leap from “The Force Awakens” here in this movie. Through lines like these Johnson is trying to convey that the world of Star Wars is changing and what we knew before doesn’t apply as much here.

Going into this movie my biggest hope was that this film would turn the lore of this series on its head a little, after all this is the ninth movie in this franchise now and it’s been long overdue for a bit of a shakeup in what we know about the Jedi and the Force. For me at least, this film does this part of the story well.

The force becomes a little more complicated that simply wielding the light and the dark sides of it to pursue one end of dominance over the other. In this we see Luke convey this idea that the Jedi, even as users of the Light Side of the Force, weren’t necessarily as altruistic or as wise as they seemed and as bad as the prequels were they do confirm this belief. The Jedi council were fools who allowed themselves to be clouded in their judgment and a sith lord essentially ended them because they weren’t wise enough to see it coming.

(Clearly.)

Rey meanwhile is trying to find her place in all this and wants to harness her abilities so that she may become a Jedi too but Luke is having none of it. Rey soon realizes though there’s more to Luke’s past with Ben than he’s letting on, as she discovers in Force connections with Ben. It is revealed in these sequences that Luke couldn’t let the past die, that he grew arrogant with his power, like the Jedi before him and essentially tried to end another era of darkness before it could start by killing it with his “laser sword” as he puts it and in that moment of weakness he inadvertently triggers the next empire of evil through Ben.

As Rey storms off to turn Ben herself, Luke goes to the old Jedi temple where he is greeted by Yoda in ghost form who essentially tells him the same thing that past is the past and that “failure” is the best teacher in all of this. What we knew about the Force before isn’t supposed to be set in stone with the past movies, or the ancient Jedi texts as shown in the movie, how the characters of the previous films fought back against evil isn’t supposed to be the only way to achieve lasting victory. Luke thought he could do it all himself and save the galaxy like he did before and got burned for it and like his previous masters Obi Wan and Yoda, he mopes around instead of actively trying to change what happened.

There are a decent percentage of the fans who chalk this all up to a betrayal of Luke’s character. They’ll say “how can he do such a thing? How can he be so foolish?” but for me this seemed right in line with Luke’s bloodline, which has been responsible for 90 percent of the carnage in the Star Wars universe, the Jedi order being full of problems to begin with and a first time master starting this all again on his own seemed inevitable to me that he would make at least a few mistakes. Like how many times in history have new societies been built from scratch after war perfectly? It made sense to me at least that Luke would screw up a bit and much like how I enjoyed Han Solo being worn down and paternalistic in “The Force Awakens” I liked seeing Luke go through a similar pessimistic world view.

These were welcome changes to the Force, Luke and the franchise’s history that for me at least were enjoyable and one of the film’s stronger points.

Rey-levance vs Ir-Rey-levance

A lot of fan theories were started across the internet in the aftermath of “The Force Awakens” two years ago and most of them revolved around who the hell Rey’s parents were.

The last movie seemed to lean pretty heavily on this at times and emphasized that there was perhaps something important or a big huge twist that would blow fans’ minds but in the end Rian Johnson gave a big middle finger to that and declared Rey’s parents were actually nobodies.

(The average fan looking over two year’s worth of Reddit fan theory blogs after seeing the movie.)

With their theories essentially tossed to side like bantha fodder fans whipped out their torches and lightsabers protesting “How could this be?! We waited two years to be told it was all meaningless?!”

All I have to say is “yup” and honestly I dug this twist probably the most in the movie and I have partly to thank “Blade Runner 2049” for this.

In that movie the character K spends most of the movie trying to find meaning to his life, believing himself to be the child of a human and replicant, destined for some greater purpose only to discover that he was still just a normal replicant in the end.

A nobody from nowhere.

Devastated by suddenly becoming a meaningless statistic again, K all but gives up on the revolution brewing between the synthetics and humans but after remembering the loss of his girlfriend Joi he sets out anyways to save Deckard and turn the tide of the conflict.

(I mean, who isn’t motivated to do great things by tall, naked purple women?)

The essential theme of all this, at least my interpretation, is that you don’t need to be relevant to make a difference in the world and people should stop looking for meaning and start simply taking action instead. Rey goes through this same transformation in “The Last Jedi” and it’s for the most part well executed. Her heritage doesn’t determine whether or not she’s a hero, the fact that she already is gifted in the Force is all she needs to help fight in this war. She can create her own story instead of, again, the past dictating what she can and cannot do.

I had no theories going into this but this was a welcome surprise for me that Rey’s importance to the story didn’t hinge on being a Skywalker, Kenobi or a Palpatine; she was relevant by being herself.

Of course, Kylo could’ve been just fucking with her during this exchange of dialogue and the truth may yet still come out when JJ Abrams resumes the helm of the trilogy in a couple years but I would be very happy if they kept this part of the story the way it is because truly this is a great theme for a story like this and I look forward to watching Rey continue down her own path in the final film.

Kylo “Fucking” Ren

Out of all the characters the one that made the biggest leap for me between films was Ben Solo aka Kylo Ren. I was not terribly fond of the character in the first film and found him completely unintimidating and even whiney like Anakin Skywalker from the prequels.

But Kylo grows on me a lot in this one and this has a lot to do with the great chemistry Adam Driver and Daisy Ridely have together on screen in this film. The two play off each other well, almost like an abusive boyfriend dynamic and it works well during the movie.

He’s less whiney and more angry this time, barely in control of his own rage and manipulative in his exchanges with Rey through their Force speak. Kylo has a great arc though in itself here with again a nod to letting the past die by symbolically destroying the helmet he wears to honor his sith grandfather and forging his own path by killing Snoke (who I will talk about in the second part of this write up…). He’s more assertive here in his feelings and his rage and credit to Driver for really pumping out the charisma in each scene he’s in.

(Also thank you, internet. #BenSwolo)

He’s also mercifully less involved with the slapstick humor of this film than he was in “The Force Awakens” which helps up the frightening level of his power rather than detract from it like before. I would say Driver is far and away the MVP of this film largely because the writing around his character, at least, is much better this time and makes him all the more enjoyable because of it.

 There’s other minor things that were decent about the film too, namely the soundtrack, the cinematography (lots of red), a pretty dope sword fight sequence and the greatest Kamekaze sequence in film history (Albeit extremely ludicrous though) but this pretty much concludes what I enjoyed about the film and now unfortunately it’s time to talk about what really didn’t work and this is what keeps this film from being anywhere near a masterpiece for me….

 To be continued…

Don’t be afraid, fan boys...

[tearlessrain]

Okay. So. I watched TLJ a second time because I took my mom to see it (visiting for the holidays) and I have Opinions. Because in all honesty I did not like it as much the second time.

For spoiler reasons, and because most of it is just me complaining (and/or being pointlessly confrontational and defensive about what I did like), said opinions are quarantined safely under this readmore.

Also just for the record I know I state things like facts as if I think I have answers and should be listened to but this is 100% personal feelings and opinions and I know nothing.

The main takeaway is that I’m okay with how things ended up, I just don’t really like how they got there. If they do a really good job with episode 9 I will feel better about this movie and not be too annoyed that they got a bit lost on the way. That being said, they really did get lost on the way and it was frustrating to watch once I actually knew where they were going with it. I’ll give almost anything a ludicrous amount of grace the first time I watch it. I liked the second Hobbit movie the first time I watched it, let that sink in. My already questionable taste in media becomes vastly worse when I’m watching something for the first time in a theater.

On Luke’s characterization/arc: I’m okay with the concept of it, but the execution was lacking. Responding to a traumatic event by fucking off to a deserted island to sulk melodramatically for years is kind of a very Skywalker thing to do, so I don’t have much issue with that. The logistics of how the Kylo Fiasco actually went down is neither here nor there for me, it’s all being relayed years later by two people who were both not in the best place emotionally at the time of telling so I think taking it with a grain of salt is wise here. And I don’t think his apparently newfound post-Yoda-epiphany snark was inherently bad, I feel like he’s always had the capacity for sass and would fully expect that side of him to emerge with age, but I understand how it felt wrong to people (especially with the transition we got) and I think it would have read better if they’d just had more time to establish act 3 Luke and balanced it with the characterization we’re used to from him. Which brings me to my main complaint about the Luke arc: I didn’t like how they paced it. What I would have liked to see is for the Yoda scene to happen much earlier while Rey is still on the island, then follow that with some scenes of Luke actually being more himself and training Rey (because realistically she has an awful solid mastery of the Force for the two halfassed lessons she got). He can still be opposed to going off to find Kylo on the grounds that Rey really doesn’t know what she’s doing yet even if her intentions are good, thereby prompting her to leave on her own (I mean he did the same thing and then he learned a horrible truth he wasn’t ready to hear, lost his hand, and jumped off a cliff, so I can see him not being jazzed about this).

As an aside, I really don’t like the throwing away the lightsaber thing. It felt too much like the emotional bait-and-switch thing Marvel does a lot and it’s a huge pet peeve for me. I just really hate it. Give me a damn genuine emotional moment for fucks sake. There were ways they could have conveyed the same thing that wouldn’t have felt so jarring and lazily written.

As another aside, and this is totally personal bias, I really love the Yoda scene, just full stop and without shame. It resonates with me in particular because in addition to being a very Skywalker thing to do, wanting to fuck off to a deserted island and hide for a decade because of one failure is also a very me thing to do. So that whole scene was just kinda cathartic on a personal level. They got lazy with Yoda’s dialect, though, which was mildly irritating to my pedantic obsession with keeping one’s lore consistent. It wouldn’t have been that hard to rearrange those sentences.

I also love the end with the twin suns callback. I know people feel like it was cheesy and trite. It is. I know this. I know. But I wholeheartedly love it anyway and I teared up both times I saw the damn movie and I will defend that scene with my life. Fight me.

Oh and shoutout to Actual Fashion Icon Luke Skywalker taking the trouble to astral project himself a stylish new all-black ensemble and perfectly trimmed beard to face Kylo in. Our boy’s still got it.

On the whole Finn/Rose plotline: .... why? Why did it happen at all? There was basically no payoff aside from what I guess was supposed to be a kinda heavy handed resolution to Finn’s personal arc but was ultimately just a waste of Captain Phasma as a character. They introduced Rose and gave her skills that should have been useful for what they set out to do but never got around to having her actually do anything, so while I enjoyed her character, it felt kind of hollow because there was no clear reason for her to actually be in the movie. Same with the casino planet, I loved the aesthetic and concept and atmosphere and that they did something new, but there wasn’t any point to it, they could have gone literally anywhere to find the guy they ended up with. If they’d actually picked up Space Dorian it would have been interesting because he’s not an archetype we’ve seen as much in Star Wars. We’ve seen plenty of grungy outcasts, let’s take advantage of the cool new setting you just presented. It even potentially could have made the eventual betrayal better, if they still needed to do that.

Thinking about the social climate and attitude toward rich people right now, if the betrayal had been a filthy rich arms dealer being let off by the empire because of his own privileges/connections and leaving Finn and Rose behind, I think you’d get a strong emotional response to that in a good way. Instead we’ve got... some guy who happened to turn out to be an asshole. And who could have come from literally anywhere in the galaxy and is not really bringing anything new to the table. He didn’t change as a character at any point, and his presence didn’t say anything that hasn’t been said or change Finn or Rose in any way in the end, so why is he here. I mean the whole casino planet was fun, but the way they did it they could have cut almost the entire thing out and the movie overall would not have been affected.

I just generally feel like 90% of what Finn and Rose did during this movie was only for the sake of giving them something to do and once again splitting up the main three and I’m sad about that because I adore Finn, and he has fantastic chemistry with Poe (whether you ship them or not, that’s irrelevant, I just mean they play off each other well but they’re never in the same place for more than five minutes and it feels like such a waste).

Also not liking that they had to throw in romantic tension with Rose, you want to make it a thing in the next movie fine, but it’s too soon right now, we only just got to know her character, can we maybe chill.

On Poe: I like his arc, I don’t much like the context, it was a bit contrived and of course tied in with the entirely pointless Finn/Rose shenanigans. But in a vacuum, I like where they took him and I like where he’s at now.

On Kylo: honestly? They have my attention and my interest. They didn’t after TFA, but he’s turning into an interesting character and I think I like where this is going so far. As long as they keep doing a good job in 9, I can definitively say that I like Kylo as a villain and as a character. If not as a person. He’s a dick. But it’s a good thing. And I’m sorry but I’m endlessly entertained by his entire uncomfortable relationship with Hux, I desperately need some people who can both cosplay and sing to perform What Is This Feeling from Wicked with these two (I propose Kylo on Elphaba’s parts, Hux on Glinda’s, seriously someone do this). Hux is just so pitiful and Done and it’s great. I usually don’t really like when a movie/show makes one character into a designated punching bag, but he’s inherently so damn punchable that I can’t even be mad. His actor did a fantastic job.

I think those are the main points I came away with, anything else is just nitpicking (porgs are the Jar Jar of the new trilogy, not nearly as bad but they still aren’t cute enough to carry the weight Disney has given them). My strongest feelings are regarding the Luke situation and it’s mostly because in my ill-advised hubris I feel like I know exactly how to fix it and could personally have done it better (that’s almost certainly not true but it’s how I feel). I don’t know what to do about Finn or how to better contextualize Poe’s character growth. I dunno.

But hey, at least Reylo isn’t canon and that’s really all I ever asked for.

[dragonsongs-reprise]

Ranpo, Kunikida, and Dazai for the ask meme?

Give Me A Character; And I’ll break their ass down:

Sorry in advance for the long response!

Ranpo:

How do I feel about this character:One of the more interesting characters of the series as he has no ability despite the series focusing almost solely on ability users. A good boy that made me emotional while reading his light novel (okay, I also cried at the Oda scene like the Oda fangirl I am but that’s besides the point). A small boy that I wanna protect.

All the people I ship romantic with this character:Poe: I just,, love how pure Ranpoe is. They are soft boys together.Also, I feel into Ranzai hell because I hate getting new content of the ships I like. Okay, but Dazai and Ranpo have the personalities and capability of having great chemistry together and I just,, I love them smart boys together,

My non-romantic OTP for this character:Yosano: They just have nights where they hang out talking shit about everyone else while also talking about their love life.Fukuzawa: Give me the father/son content that I need! Also: In AU’s where Oda survived, them being good friends, it A+ stuff

My unpopular opinion about this character:He’s not the gremlin man-child the fandom makes him out to be.

One thing i wish would happen/ had happened with this character in canon:More of the interactions Ranpo had with Fukuzawa and the ADA members between light novel 3 and the current story.

Let me put the rest under a read more cause I wrote so much!!

Kunikida:

How do I feel about this character:Uhh, besides the fact that he is one of two characters I’ll cry about for an hour about in this series? Okay, let me be serious here. Kunikida is the best written and developed character in the series besides Oda. He is such a good boy. The fact that he holds onto his ideals and the way of life he set out for himself even when these are constantly tested and pushed over and over again is just so awe-inspiring. Such a noble man and a person of virtue. He so selfless and he just wants to protect everyone he can. And the moment that he fails for whatever reason, the lose hits him hard. And even when he loses someone, he puts his heart out for people again and again. He just wants, no needs, to help people, the consequences to himself be damned. I just,,,, really love Kunikida and I can and will cry about him.Also, he’s a sharped dressed glasses boy with long hair, I was in love with his design before I even fell in love with his character

All the people I ship romantic with this character:Dazai: Since the very first episode of the anime. These two truly understand each other better then anyone else at the agency. Also, they care about each other so much!!! They have their fights sure, but they’re never malicious in nature. Please, just read light novel 1! It’s the good Kunikidazai content, and it shows just how quickly they get to understand and know each other.Katai: Ever since chapter.41 got translated, I fall in love with them. First off, childhood friends guys, the good stuff. But, they truly are such good friends that care about each other so much and would go to any length for each other!Oda: In AU’s where Oda lives. I think the two of them would get along so well, They’re similar in many ways, yet they have enough little differences in their view points and life experiences that they wouldn’t become stale togetherAngo: Glasses boys that deal with DazaiAlso, lowkey ship with Chuuya and Ranpo

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Anyone under 18 in the series are now his kids, no ifs or buts. He’s every child’s parent now. A family can be a 22 year old man and his many kidsFukuzawa: Father/son bonding over training together

My unpopular opinion about this character: Stop making Kunikida heartless and cold 2K17!!!

One thing i wish would happen/ had happened with this character in canon:“Slides Asagiri $20* Please, I beg you. Give me the forbidden Kunikida backstory on how he became the driven man he is nowKunikidazai team up in the manga, please!Also, Kunikatai going to school togetherWhat do you mean I was only supposed to list 1 thing??

Dazai:

How do I feel about this character: I hate this guy *starts sweating* Okay, I love Dazai a lot! But! I’m not gonna be a Dazai apologist, the boy has done MANY things wrong, Yet, I find myself so invested in him, even though he’s one of the biggest asshole in the entire series. Characters with grey morality and complex issues that aren’t explored to their full potential in canon are some of my favorite character types, and Dazai is like my top choice for both of these. Also, he’s so much fun to dissect and break down into meta writing and just trying to understand his thinking is fascinating to me.Also, the man is really fucking pretty. 10/10, no matter what he’s wearing or what era it is

All the people I ship romantic with this character: Kunikida: As I said before, I’m a HUGE Kunikidazai shipper. I love how Dazai actually respects Kunikida and the man’s dreams and ideals. Dazai himself may be a pragmatist, but he loves the fact that Kunikida can still be this idealistic person even when the world kicks him down over and over. They just,,, have a wonderful relationship built of mutual trust and respect for each otherRanpo: These two are the closest in intelligence out of the ADA and both of them have a talent of being able to read people. I think they would have an interesting dynamic together.Fyodor: Purely for the aesthetic and dynamic that a relationship could bring. It wouldn’t be a 100% healthy relationship, but,,, blame the Callme RP circle and my love for ships where both people are so similar in some ways that it’s terrifying for this.Chuuya: Lowkey, but let it be known. The only reason that I started to really like them together was because someone brought up a Yokai & hunter AU and they said they didn’t know anything about yokai lore so they couldn’t talk about it and my yokai loving ass went: Hey!!!! I can write that!!!

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Oda: Their platonic relationship is super important to me. I just,,, really love itFukuzawa: Give me Fukuzawa being a good boss to Dazai and trying to be a positive role of authority in Dazai’s life after he worked with Mori the cuck.Yosano: Give me these two being drinking buddies and going to bars and having competitions with each other over who can have the most people respond positively towards their flirting.Hirotsu: Mafia granddad who still cares about Dazai after he left the mafia, I just really love it

My unpopular opinion about this character: We gotta stop with the thing that people do where they say that Dazai’s past actions are okay because he’s gotten better. Cause that ain’t how redemption works.Also, he isn’t the best written character in the series currently. Even though I can see how he easily could be written better.

One thing i wish would happen/ had happened with this character in canon: Let! Him! Fail! He needs to fall down a peg and he neds to know that he can be wrong! I’m kinda tired of the “It was all part of my keikaku all along!” bullshit(Translator note: Keikaku means plan)Also, can we have more time dictated to show how these problems that Dazai clearly has affects his day-to-day life? Like, show us that sometimes he’s too depressed to even get out of bed for work in the morning.

[bensopinionsonvariousthingsblr]

So what are my favorite games Part 1

So just to make things clear i haven been writing 1.because this is actually my second attempt at writing this i accidentally closed the tab the first time, uh and i only lost a few hours of work. and 2.because I’ve been working at my job a lot more frequently as of late. anyway, i could probably write an entire full length essay on all of these games but I’ll try to shorten things up, oh yeah uh some games on the list might not be that good, as I may include a game from my childhood that i have fond memories of, but maybe wasn’t as good as i remembered it, anyway its a top 10 so lets begin.

First of all id love to start with some outside looking in, all these games are incredible to me and i would love to put them in the top 10 but i couldn’t, if you want to hear my opinions on them (wow thanks, you actually care) you can ask me on twitter and ill do my best!

15.Sonic Generations                                                                                              14.Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege                                                                      13.Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 Platinum (Waterpark&Zoo DLC is amazing)                12.Splatoon 2 (specifically the Octo Expansion, that was really good)                    11.Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition (Def. edition because its portable with good FPS and the extra 3DS content)

OK then Ill get started now :3 Thanks a TON (and I mean it I appreciate amy support i get or constructive criticism) for reading it!

Number 10: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess                                              Developer and Release year: Nintendo, 2006/2016 remaster                                What it can be played on: Gamecube/Wii/Wii U                                                                                                                                                                                              The Legend of Zelda is my favorite game series of all time, thats obvious if you know anything about me, and twilight princess is one I’ve played more recently, and from the start you notice Twilight Princess is definitely going for that early 2000′s edgy tone (is that a coincidence or an actual trend, i dunno i was really young in 06 so...) which works fine, and its a really long game, I mean I spent a week or two beating it, that being said i had work and other things going on at the time, but any way it has been said by many more before me, that it is basically an edgy, long,Ocarina of Time remake with motion controls....and they aren’t wrong, though i have called it edgy but i think its more...dark i guess? any way i actually like this better than Ocarina of Time, before you assault me i loved Ocarina of Time, i just tried to put as few Zelda games on the list as i could, and i just enjoyed the Twilight Princess story, characters, and length a bit more, but back to the remake opinion, i sort of agree yeah, but i thought the mystery around Midna and Zant and the Twilight realm, and the mirror, were all something that sets it apart, so in the end i enjoyed it a lot.                                                                                                                                                                    Favorite Part(s)? Arbiters Grounds. AW MAN, I love the Arbiters grounds, the sneaking, the spinner, the boss, the setting, all of it is on point, even the wolf part is unique with the poe chasing, and also the Final Ganon boss I liked all of it, though his appearance is a bit late i thought it was a fun, long, and intense fight

Number 9: Lego Universe                                                                                      Developer and Release Year: NetDevil and Lego, 2010-2012                                What it COULD ( :( ) be played on: PC                                                                                                                                                                                                              IM GONNA GO AHEAD AND SAY IT THIS IS A PICK COMPLETELY ON NOSTALGIA. Yes, this is one of my favorite games of my childhood and since i cant go back and re-evaluate the game because it’s closed unfortunately (except for some server projects that are happening) I’m talking about it completely based on my memories. One reason I love it is, the game’s story and lore at the time captivated me so much that i decided to write stories about stuff my character(s) did, which basically kick-started my interest in writing, as bad as those stories were, I loved the game, I had it’s official LEGO set (Still do it’s a nice little orange rocket ship that could be used in-game) and convinced my cousins to play it too, and we all enjoyed it, now of course i was an MLGPROBOI at the game so I had rare pets and the best weapons and a RED PARROT GUYS (I believe it was super rare and a big deal) so I loved being really cool n’ stuff, people would ask me to help them take out Butterscorch (that was the hardest boss in the game, a purple dragon, BUT SINCE I WAS AN MLGPROBOI I COULD DO IT MYSELF BUT I WAS NICE SO I HELPED) and even sell them secrets on how to do stuff, yeah i was a cool guy, cant relate now, I’ll never be as cool as my alter-alias Square Von Pancake :(                                                                                                                                                                Favorite Part(s): Me and my brother played i t together all the time and we loved the combat at crux prime the most, Crux Prime was the place with the hardest enemies and bosses and it was really fun to be challenged for a while. plus though it was out for only a year we still have countless memories of it, and they added Ninjago in it which I was SUPER into at the time and enjoyed having my character do Ninjago stuff...  

Number 8: Mount and Blade: Warband                                                                    Developer and Release Year: Taleworlds, 2010                                                      What it can be played on: PC, PS4, XB1                                                                                                                                                                                                      Mount and Blade Warband and its expansion Mount and Blade Napoleonic Wars, is one of my favorite multiplayer, and story games, the story mode is fun because you can do what you want, YOU choose the faction you fight with or not to at all, your class, your stats, and you can make some uh *beautiful* characters, the main story, i believe the objective is to become the emperor of Calradia, and rule the dang place and be rich and cool and have people like you, but I dont usually do that i just fight for factions, make money in the arena and at tournaments, and hire mercenaries and win against armies of 200 with like 30 people, its fun, now second talking point for me is the multiplayer, this is where Napoleonic Wars comes in, it is a fun shooter with muskets , or swords....or screw it you can play the bagpipes, that last one is totally not something me and my friends would do late at night. The Maps are super well designed as well and each look nice, and are usually not unbalanced. The third thing is the modding community, if you have this game, and don’t have the Anglo-Zulu war mod, that is just wrong, I mean it is so fun to get your friends and survive against large waves of zulu, or have some friends with the Zulu, it is just a unique experience for me, and other mods are cool to like the Civil War mod.                                                                                                                                                                    Favorite part(s): The Story mode is awesome in the way that it was a time in m life where i was without internet for a good month or two, but i had my laptop and the story mode kept me entertained for basically the whole time, also there are so many fun memories of the AZW mod and late night spent surviving waves.  

Number 7: Lego Battles                                                                                          Developer and Release Year: Warner Bros., Hellbent and Lego, 2009                  What it can be played on: DS                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Lego Battles is also a nostalgia pick, and also happens to be a Lego game, but the difference is it still holds up to me today, and i can still play it today...any way I love the gameplay, it’s a basic RTS but with fun themes like Wizards and Knights and Pirates and Aliens vs Humans, and each has a different play style, but not too different that it didn’t confuse me as a kid, I always liked the pirates and the aliens, I dont know why, but uh a drawback is that it can be too easy, at the time I wasnt fast or good enough to beat the AI with my first base, but i quickly learned if i just escaped after the destruction of the first one and just built a stronger second one, i would have more time because the AI couldnt find me and i would win pretty much every time, but despite that I enjoyed all the campaigns and loved the cutscenes and the extra characters like Santa and the Skeleton Guy (tm) and the Conquistador and the Alien Queen etc. and the way to unlock them was to find red bricks in the campaign levels, and/or collect studs which i thought was a fun challenge at the time, and today i sometimes like to go back to it for some casual RTS action                                                                                                                                                                                                     Favorite Part: The Gameplay, it’s simple, fun, and  doesn’t take too long, so if i just want to pick up a short game of the RTS genre I usually spring for this

Number 6: Star Wars Battlefront 2 Classic                                                              Developer and Release Year: Pandemic Studios, LucasArts , 2005                      What it can be played on: PC/PS2/XBOX                                                                                                                                                                                                      The fact that this comes in at number 6 on my list really doesn’t tell how much I love and appreciate this game, this is probably THE game I played the most in my childhood, and even still I play it online with the new servers (I disagree with you sometimes Disney, but thanks for those) This game is so replayable and I haven’t even played through the campaign yet, yeah, what I have done though is beaten all the Galactic Conquest stories, probably more than once. So for those of you that don’t know Galactic Conquest is a mode where each team starts with one ship and one type of troop and you fly around a map of the galaxy and take over enemy planets and defend yours and buy troops with the money you earn from the battles, and if the two ships run in to each others then they do a space battle, and Im gonna say it now i grew up playing the PS2 version with my cousins, but now I play the PC version and when we play with our cousins they play the XBOX version on Xbox One, any way the PC version is the best in terms of FPS and general gameplay smoothness, but the console versions have Galactic Conquest multiplayer which is something that we have spent countless hours playing, and in the end Battlefront 2 will be one of the best shooters of all time, and better than the new Battlefront 2 because that one is no where near good enough to share a name with the classic one, any way, i will always love Battlefront 2                                                                                                                                                                  Favorite part(s): Galactic Conquest and shout out to the maps Kashyyyk and Tantine IV, they’re the best

Hey thanks for reading through this whole thing, uh as you can tell this was super long, i planned to do all ten in this one but i figure it’s gettimg pretty long and I’ll just stop here and I’ll have 5 through 1 tomorrow, Thank you so much!                                                                                                                -Ben :3