#dont get me started on the whole palpatine thing..or what they did to luke

[marunalu]

Honestly, I just can't see AFO being genuinely in love with Inko, even as someone who loves the dfo theory. We've never seen him care about anyone who isn't blood related to him and he mainly just sees people as tools to be used. If anything the Shimura Inko theory is true since I can see him wanting to marry Inko if she was Shimiras daughter as a haha because man he hated that woman. I think he wanted a kid to use as a tool too tbh, as another reason as to why he married Inko, but he does genuinely care for Izuku I think.

Warning: long post and NOT edited 😅😜

I cant blame you for thinking and feeling like that. You make very good points, because we still dont know much about afo as a person and of his backstory. And while Im convinced that afo DOES love both of them, Im very aware that I could be terrible wrong about it. But the thing is, hori did leave the readers enough hints that hisashi/afo loves or at least cares for his family and I will point out a few of that hints. But be aware that there are a lot more, I just write down the ones that come right to my mind while writing this down and other people here can also point out more.

But before I start, I want to point out something that many people either dont want to see or just ignore. The fact that afo IS ABLE TO FEEL LOVE FOR OTHER PEOPLE! That by itself is really rare for the big bad in a fantasy story and its actually the reason why afo is so terrible dangerous! Because unlike other main villains like emperor palpatine or voldemort, afo DOES understand love and unlike them he doesnt underestimate it or laughs about it. He is able to feel it himself - the first confirmation we had about this was afo telling his brother that he loves him. The problem with afo is not that he isnt able to love, the problem is that HE IS and that his way to love is VERY unhealthy and toxic. He himself sees no problem with it, because in his view its normal. Believe me, you would never want someone to love you the way afo did and STILL does for his brother. Its obssession and possessiveness. The kind of love that cant let go. The kind of love that makes the person ready to HURT the people he loves, so he will not lose them. The best example for a fictional character feeling this kind of love for others is anakin/darth vader. First for his mother, then padme and at least luke. Despite the not so popular option of most people, love is not always flowers and butterflies - it can be really ugly and dangerous. Villains like palpatine and voldemort lost in the end, because both underestimated the love of a parent to its child, because both are unable to love others and dont understand that concept. Afo on the other hand does understand, he actually TARGETS the loved ones of his enemys, because he is aware thats most peoples biggest weakness and can manipulate them with that - because once his brother was his biggest weakness too. But enough of that, now I want to point out a few hints in the manga of afo loving/caring for his wife and child. The thing with these hints are, that there are subtle enough, that people can easily overlook them or brush them off as nothing. A hint is only there to give the reader a faint idea about something going on, but not there to confirm anything till the author decides its time for it. So thats why afos care for izuku and inko is not very easy to see and only if you dig a little deeper and geither the evidences, the puzzle starts to take form.

So the first hint I will point out is what happens in kamino during the fight between afo and all might. During the whole fight, afo is pretty calm and collected, the ONLY time he gets SUPER PISSED is after he mentions izukus name and the confirmation that izuku has ofa - a very powerful and destructive quirk, that can easily kill his owner if he is not careful enough - espicially an untrained child. Afo calls all might a terrible teacher (as if he is not worthy to be izukus teacher and lets face it, all might didnt teach izuku anything important concerning ofa, except "dont let the egg in the mikrowave explode") and that he will make him regret a lot of things. Then afos popular quote: "you took something away from me, too". This "something" is so important for afo that he tells all might "thats why I will make sure, you will die a horrible, painful death." Japanese speaking people confirmed that the way afo says the "you took something from me" quote, he could talk about a thing, like his criminal empire in japan that all might destroyed, or a person/a family. But we have more or less the confirmation that it has nothing to do with his empire, because like 20 chapters ago, afo told spinner in the cave hideout that all might destroying his empire in japan wasnt a big lose to him, because he still has his hands in almost EVERY country in the world and "many loyal friends all around it." So that cant be what all might took "away" from him and he is so pissed about for losing, but also not ready to tell all might to his face WHAT it is! Instead he makes a secret out of it.

Also when afo arrived in kamino he destroyed the WHOLE place, except that tiny wall, 5 children hided behind and miraculously was untouched. Afo had "search" already at this point and knew izuku was 10 meters away from him. If he wouldnt care about him, he should have no problem to hurt him in the process of destroying everything around him, kidnapp him or using him as bait against all might. He even could have easily stole ofa from him, because at that point izukus will and confidence as a worthy ofa user was still very weak. Instead afo lures all might AWAY from the childrens hideout, never telling him "oh, by the way, your successor hides behind that wall", to weaken all mights posture and concentration. Also afo "send" visions of their own death to the kids, to paralyze them and root them on the spot. To make sure, non of them would interfere in his fight with all might.

When all might visits afo in tartarus, he confronts afo with the question if he wants tomura to kill him and izuku. Instead of answering him with "yes" or any other notion that he wants harm to come over izuku, he COMPLETLY avoids the question and changes the topic. And he does that all the time if something concerns izuku, he doesnt want to talk about him. Strange behavior for someone who is suppossed to give a rats ass about that boy and wants to kill him.

In the war arc, after the afo vestige took over tomuras body, he PUSHES izuku away with AIR CANON. The very same quirk, he destroyed kamino with and what was the end result? Izuku didnt get ONE scratch from that push, INSTEAD it was shigarafos hand that startet bleeding, because he holded the true strengh of the quirk back, to not injure izuku even more then he already was.

A thing that is also important to know, long before kamino, afo already suspected izuku to have ofa. In kamino he just got the confirmation. Not once did afo ever seem to consider to do harm to izukus mother. A man that is known for going after the loved ones of his victims, enemys and of the past ofa users. He had enough time. He didnt send someone after inko, or did go after her himself. He stayed away from her, a small and physically weak woman with a weak and untrained quirk, who cant protect herself against a villain, espicially one like him.

In the izuku vigilantes arc, afo told his minions to bring izuku ALIVE back to him. We know that afo had no problem killing past ofa users, despite them still having ofa at that point he tried to kill them. After he realized he couldnt steal ofa from banjo and en, he severly injured them and left them to die. He was fine giving ofa up. In their last moments banjo and en were able to transfere ofa to someone else. Read about ot here:

So if afo has no problem to kill ofa users WITH ofa, then why does he want izuku alive? He doesnt need him alive! The doc can take the quirks out of dead people and store them up. So why is izuku special?

Its also very sus that in over 350 chapters the doc NEVER mentioned izuku again in front of any other person, despite him knowing that izuku has ofa. As if he was ordered never to speak about him again, for his protection.

When afo spoke to izuku through the video message, he literally WARNED him, that he choose himself a thorny path and also tells him, that no matter how many people he will safe, all of them will lay the blame on him as soon as he is tired out and makes a mistake. Afo shows clear concern here to izukus mental state. Also his "in prison I never stopped thinking about you!" Big words from someone, who normally refuses to talk about him. Also when the mansion exploded, izuku had not ONE scratch on him and neither the other heroes. So for an explosion that big, it seems like it was pretty weak actually.

And now my personal favorite and in my eyes biggest hint that afo loves izuku. Afo DOESNT trigger danger sense! Thats a big deal! Because we know thanks to toga why danger sense didnt activate, when she tried to stab izuku. Because toga "loves" him. Danger sense needs malice and ill will to work. It didnt work with toga, because her way of loving izuku is "perfectly normal" to her. There was no malice, no ill will. And afo doesnt activate danger sense either. But we know, danger sense DID work around afo in the past, when the 4th still had ofa. Thats the reason why the 4th is the only ofa user that wasnt killed by afo himself. The only ofa user afo NEVER found. Because danger sense WARNED the 4th all the time, when afo was near and so he could run away in time and hide! Afo DOES trigger danger sense, the quirk works on him.... IT ONLY DOESNT WORK AROUND IZUKU!!!

Now I want to talk a little bit about afo and inkos relationship. First, I dont think afo fell in love with inko at first sight or something like that. If the inko shimura theory is true, I believe he wanted to use her against all might. More or less what he later does with shigaraki, minus the turning into a villain part, because inko was already an adult woman at that point. The reason why he may have fallen for her? Because I think that afo is deep down a very unhappy and lonely man, who suffers from abandoned issues (early death of parents, or they abandoned afo and yoichi at a very young age), because he shows clear signs for that, so afo had to grow up fast and also take care for his sickly younger brother, in a world someone like him was hunted and killed for having a "superpower". Thats where his obssession with yoichi came from - the only family he still had left. But while afo always took care for his sickly brother, no one ever really cared for HIM. And at that point, he was most likely still a child or a teenager himself. So when inko came and afo startet to spend time with her more (originally to manipulate her), he slowly startet to develope feelings for her (could be romantic or platonic), because she was the first person since yoichi that CARED for him. Not worshipped him like a god. Cared for him as a person! Inko is a very sweet, loving and understanding person with a golden heart. She may not be perfect and also failed a few times, but she learned from that and if there is something that makes inkos character stick out, its her incredible powerful love for izuku and her support for him. If she was like that with afo too, a man I believe craves for to be loved, it wouldnt shock me if he did fall for her. He even said, after he blew up lady nagant, that "the heart is an easy thing to sway", when she startet to believe in true heroes again. He said that as if he knew what he was talking about. And like already mentioned, not once did afo go after inko, despite having enough time and reasons to do so.

Now I want to mention the whole hades x persephone parallels. Afo is called hades at least 3 times in the manga and was hold prisoner in tartarus, hades realm. The thing is, in greek mythology there is no hades without an persephone. Both are the two sides of the same coin. Death and life/rebirth. So if afo is hades, there needs to be a persephone. And hades fell in love with persephone while watching her picking flowers. He fell in love with her beauty, her innocence and kindness and because she felt as lonely as him (because of her overprotectve mother "locking" her up on an isolated island). Hori used greek mythology in the past already and he knows of hades and where hades is, persephone is never to far away. Persephone is the goddess of spring and the name midoriya means "green valley", fitting inko way to much and gives you an image of spring time.

An other very strong hint for afos romantic feelings for inko, is what he ordered the aoyamas to bring to him when he spoke to them on the phone. He said "Im hankering for a good drink. A 40 year old macallan would be great." The aoyamas then tell him "how about a 16 year old, our son can bring it to you" with afo agreeing. The 16 year old macallan was confirmed to be a code word for izuku. So the 40 year old macallan afo ASKED FIRST TO BRING TO HIM, should be the code word for a person too and inko is 41/42 right now and izuku 16. Also @psychomurderz checked how afo says this in japanese and found out, that he speaks about that 40 year old macallan in a very soft and affectionate manner. He REALLY wanted that drink! But the aoyamas could only offer him the 16 year old. But he was fine with that too. You can read about it here:

And here:

Then when afo talkes with spinner in the cave, afo mentions his 3 main goals. We find out that ofa is only his midterm goal, an information that spinner surprised a lot, because he (and we) thought ofa is his final goal. But afo explains, that he planned ahead for a long life and that he "always wanted to have a chance for once" and he feels like, as if that chance is almost there now. So what is this chance? I talked about here in this post:

When afo shows up in front of aoyama and izuku, the first explains to izuku was afos goals are. To rule over the world by controlling the worlds ressources like water, electricity etc and economics. Afo then praises aoyama, but says this: "very good, but not completly correct. Is that what your parents told you?" So why is it not completly correct? And what is this chance afo wants so badly? I think both go hand in hand with each other. What afo wants to have and never properly had a chance for - is a family. Thats his final, ultimate goal! Yes he wants to rule over the world and shape it in the way he thinks is for the best, but he doesnt want to do it alone. He doesnt want to end alone. In the past he wanted yoichi by his side, now he wants his new family, the one all might took away from him, by smashing his face into a potato, so he wasnt able to return to them, because it would endanger them. Afo is not palpatine or voldemort, who dont get the concept of love. Both want to rule alone. Both want to have all the power for themself. Afo is not like that. He can love other people, its just a very VERY toxic love. He wanted his brother by his side, willing to share a part of his power with yoichi. Forming the world into a better place - together.

There are also more hidden hints, like the fact that hisashi and inko are STILL married and that hisashi is financielly supporting his family. If afo wouldnt care about them, he wouldnt give his money to them. And we know that the midoriyas live a really comfortable life in a very big appartment in a big city, with a lot of food and with lots of hero (all might) merch for izuku. All this things are EXPENSIVE in japan. Inko doesnt have a job, she is a stay at home mom. So the amount of money hisashi sends home is big enough that his family can live a very comfortable life, without to worry for money and inko needing a job. And afo needs exactly THAT money to financial his nomous and other criminal projects. And we know from vigilantes that afos minions are not allowed to spend more money then really necessary. So why should he send HIS money to a woman and child he doesnt care about? Right, that doesnt make any sense! Even IF he only cares about izuku, why didnt he take izuku away from inko years ago and turned him into a villain? Why didnt he kill her if she was just a birthing machine in his eyes and after she gave birth to his son? Even if afo wanted to rub salt into nanas wounds (by marrying her daughter), there was NO LOGICAL REASON for him to do so! A wife could give him a lot of problems. Could snitch on him to the police and heroes, if she finds out the true about him. If he was mainly interested in fathering a child, marrying inko makes even less sense. He could act as her boyfriend, promise to marry her as soon the child is born and then dump her or both of them. He deffinitetly wouldnt send money to them!

Finally I want you to look at this volume cover:

The hands here are afos. (No they dont belong to kirishima like wiki claims, because first, kirishimas important role is in the next volume and second you can see the owner of the hands wears a suit jacket and a white shirt, sonething kirishima doesnt wear in kamino. Also the hands belong to an adult). The hand over tomura is that of a puppeteer (tomura is just a marionette for afo) and the one under izuku, looks as if he is about to touch his face in a loving way. (Bakugou in the center, means afo holds his life in his hands).

So while there are a lot more hints then the ones I wrote down here, I hope it gives you some idea anon, why me and so many others believe afo loves or at least cares enough for his family. Of course no one knows for sure till its confirmed, but I think hori left enough hints and still does so.

I like to ask everyone to point out even more hints I didnt wrote about here in the comments or by reblogging. Lets gather as many evidences as possible. @psychomurderz @sayotruepersonal @gentrychild @redoaktreehill @animehime94 @animaatra

[rebel-ezra]

hello friends! another star wars review

here’s what was going on in my mind when I was watching the rise of skywalker:

last one of the skywalker-saga :( also this is a long one I am so sorry congrats if you read this entire thing

why do I have the feeling poe is going to die in this one aklsdjfsk I guess we’ll just have to wait and see

starting it off nice and easy with angry kylo ren lol

what is that glowing thingy

oh he maaaadd he is GOING FOR IT

“JSALKJSDFLAJ  I KNOW THAT FUCKIN VOICEEEEE!!”

it’s Ugly Emperor 

EEEEE THIS MAN IS SO UGLYYYY FUCKING ROTTEN HANDS EEEEW

that…. is a big fleet…

finn an poe <3 my absolute babies

HI REYYYYY HI BB8

why does kylo keep anakins skull around tho

“OHHHH FLASHBACK TO HAN OHHH I WAS NOT READY!! I WAS NOT FUCKING READY!!!!”

the falcon is on fire oh no baby nooo

the absolute chaotic energy that is rey, poe and finn <3

“alone with friends” :’)

wooooow festival!!

OHHH FORCE MIND TRICK AGAIN WHAT IS UP KYLO REN

jdfklsajfl run babies RUUUNN

nice shot but who are you

JALJDFLKA JSLKASJDFL LANDO!!!

‘I got a bad feeling about this’ YEA NO SHIT LANDO ME TOO

OH SHIT THEY FLY NOW

‘excellent job sir!’ ‘terrible job sir’ this is what c3po becomes after spending too much time with poe

WHAT IS THAT?? SINKHOLE SHIT

‘I’ll tell you later’ ‘you mean when poe’s not here’ ‘yea’ ‘we’re gonna die in sand burrows and we’re all keeping secrets’ god I LOVE THEM

‘I dont like bones’ 

THEY GOT CHEWIE

oh god fucking damnit kylo is still alive

OHHHHHH WHAT THE FUCKKKK THE FORCE LIGHTNING CHEWIEEEEEEEE AJDLKFSJFJ

AAAAAA CHEWIE ALKFDJKLJSK CHEWIE IS ALIVE

‘poe dameron spice runner, runner of spice’ I love them so much

BABU FRIK IS ADORABLE

‘one last look at my friends’ AJLKDSFJS SIR

JALDKFJSKLD POE SAID ‘can I kiss you’ well he can certainly kiss mE

THEY SHOT POE

“it’s just his arm it’s just his arm he’s okay he’s fine calm down”

‘hey fellas’ 

terminate them??? LETS NOT NONO DON’T SHOOT THEM

hux u bitch dont do it

OOHHH HUX

“HUX IS THE SPU??”

tell the truth kylo

FAJLKSDJFA REY IS A PALPATINE????

OHHHH HE SHOT HUX!! MANS FLEWW

“don’t destroy palpatine rey that is literally The Path to the dark side”

yea no great landing boys 

rey didn’t have time to just quickly heal poe’s arm nice and easy hmm

OHHHH THERES THAT THING THEY NEED

“OH WHAT THE FUCK DARK SIDE REY???”

oh great kylo’s here as well

of course he is

dick

NOO HE BROKE IT

what if rey is going to die I don’t think I could handle that

HE CANT FUCKING DO IT HAHA it takes big dick energy which you do not have sir 

omg leia pls go and persuade your stupid ass son

“OOOOOHHHHHHHHH REY IMPALED KYLO BUT LEIA DIEEEEEEED”

rey why are you healing him he is literally trying to GET YOU TO THE DARK SIDE

MY DUDE KYLO IS STILL ALIVE WHY DID YOU DO THAT REEEEYYYYY

“DON’T SHOW ME LEIA PLS THAT IS LITERALLY STILL SO FUCKING FRESH SHUT UP”

‘goodbye dear princess’ FUCK OFF

don’t show me crying chewie please U THINK MY HEART CAN TAKE THAT?? SPOILER ALERT; IT CAN’T!

‘hey kid?’ “WHO??”

“OH NO OH NO OH NOOOOOO ITS HAN”

yea no I am full on bawling my eyes out right now

HALDJLSKDFK HE CALLED HIM DAD SHUT UUUUUUP

kylo yeeted that lightsaber

define ‘planet that they know’ please

ITS KJIMI

omg now poe is going to blame himself cause his friend couldn’t get away because she gave him the medal

‘cone-face’

omg rey is on luke’s island

“OOOOOOOO WHO IS THAT IS THAT WHO I THINK IT IS OH MY FUCKNG GOOD HOLD THE FUCK UP IT IS FORCE GHOST LUKE!!”

I am an emotional wreck now

I do love the sound of “general dameron” tho

“poe this speech is making me EMOTIONAL”

WOOOOOW SPACE HORSES

such an epic battle I love this please let them all survive

WHOM THE FUCK?? SO MANY FUCKING WEIRD VOICES

“oh Ugly Emperor is here”

AKSJDKLADJ LOOK AT HIM UGLY ASS NUT SACK FACE

“nice they did it nOW GET THE HELL OFF THAT SHIP"

finn dont do anything stupid

kylo do something good

‘go without us’ NO

“NO REY DONT BECOME A SITH”

hi kylo please go help rey do something good for once

OHHHHHHHH SHIT LIGHTSABER TRICK

kylo with a blue saber tho

OHHHH KYLO AND REY WITH A BLUE SABER OH WHAT THE FUCK IS HE GONNA KILL REY AND KYLO

they’re losing :( POE what now

‘my friends I’m sorry I thought we had a shot but there’s just too many of them’ ‘there are more of us poe’ YEAAAAAAAAAAAAA OH MY GOD THERES SO MANY OOOO 

‘it’s jut people’ ITS THE RESISTANCE U BITCH

please tell me rey is alive

“NOT FUCKING UGLY EMPEROR AGAIN”

KYLO IS ALIVE

OOOOOOOO he went zooming

did he just die 

kylo are you alive

“OH SHITTHATS A LOT OF FUCKING LIGHTNING”

I was so hopeful and now ugly ass nutsac emperor is back fucking bitchass 

REY IS ALIVE

“OBI-WAN OBI-WAN OBI-WAN!!”

ALKSDJFLAD OBI WAN

FALKJDSFKLASJFLKSJF SO MANY JEDI

nut sack is like “oh shit she is alive uuuugh”

‘I am all the sith’ ‘and I am all the jedi’ YEAAAAAAA poetic cinema

poe please get finn or lando whatever  SOMEONE get finn

“REYYY NO REY DID YOU DIE NO NO NO  NO PLEASE GOD NO”

kylo is somehow still alive I gotta tell you he’s got some real strength tho

THIS IS SAD SHUT UP THE WAY HE’S HOLDING HER

can he heal her or at least try it

come on rey come on baby

LAJKLDFJSAKLDFJKSLDJFKLSAJF REEEEEYYYYY

OH THEY KITH YEAAAAAA AAAAA

“lksdjfklasjflsk this is cute this is niceWAIT NO KYLOOOOO!! NO DID HE DIE?? OH MY GOD HIS FINAL ACT WAS TO SAFE REY”

omg they did it they took down the whole fleet

“DID I JUST SEE STAR WARS LESBIANS??”

FINN REY AND POE HUG

OAJDLKFJSDLF TATOOINE???

REY’S LIGHTSABER IS YELLOW

who is that

OHHHH FORCE GHOSTS!!! LEIA AND LUKE!!!

‘rey skywalker’ ALKDJAKLSFJLSKADJFLK YEAAAAAA

oh my god loved it that was amazing

sorry this was so long if you’ve made it to the end congrats

[raw-untamed]

ok... so i’m seeing again tomorrow so that i can really solidify how i feel about what happened but first i really want to make a post about how that could have gone.......so...much.......better... I need to get this all off my back so I can get all my negativity out of the way before seeing it again. So read with the knowledge I am very critical....

TROS SPOILERS BELOW

First off: Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley truly carried that film on their backs and that’s a hill I will die on. The redeemed Ben Solo and resurrection of Rey was great. Everything before and after was.......well... I have to see it again.

Second off:

Please stop saying J.J did what he could with what he had.

No. Especially with how they handled Kylo Ren/Rey/Finn. Rian Johnson left the last jedi so perfectly open ended and a perfect beginning for a conflicted, struggling supreme leader Kylo Ren. 

There was no need to bring the helmet back, and if there was it was such a tiny significant thing that I can’t even remember why they did. Lmao.

They didn’t give me a struggling Kylo Ren. They gave me TFA Kylo times ten. The line that was something like “I will find you and you will take my hand and I will bring you over to the darkside.” I felt I was literally listening to a villian I was meeting for the first time all over again. Like who is this man? I don’t know him....

They could have had literally one scene where Ben starts to realize the First Order is horrible and what they've been doing is horrible and show his struggle with the Light coming back to him. 

And then Hux & Pryde could have realized he was struggling and used it to their advantage.... maybe use it to somehow find out that Kylo killed Snoke alongside Rey. Banish Kylo from the First Order. SOMETHING. ANYTHING LITERALLY ANYTHING OTHER THAN: Hux voice: “I dont want you to win. I want Kylo Ren to lose.” HOLY SHIT THE DIALOGUE..... i was literally laughing in the theater. They fucked Hux over so bad.....the opportunity.....ugh.

Like Kylo could have been banished from the First Order in some angsty emotional confrontation with KOR, Hux & Pryde and THEN when he is banished and left completely alone THEN Palpatine starts to fuck with him.

Because he’s at his lowest. And alone. (Literally would be the reason to find Rey as well. Lead Palpatine to believe he’s going to kill Rey- On the other side Ask Rey to help him defeat the man who’s tortured him and his family.)

THEN MAKE THE PLOT TWIST THAT REY IS A PALPATINE MAYBE. AND ONLY MAYBE THEN. WHEN YOU THINK THEY ARE TOTALLY FINE TOGETHER AND READY TO FIGHT SIDE BY SIDE MAKE IT THAT KYLO IS LITERALLY FIGHTING SIDE BY SIDE WITH HIS FAMILY’S RIVAL BLOODLINE??????? THE ANGST. THE POTENTINAL ANGST.

The fact that they introduced palpatine into the film in the first three minutes literally blew me away. The fact his name was in the opening scroll made my stomach TURN. I immediately was like.............. oh no.... oh god.....

also...........................they did my girl Rey so dirty.

I can’t believe.

The fact she was palpatine blood did not bother me. That’s a theory i had along time ago and was kinda excited to see that. It’s that she took the Skywalker name. Could you imagine the emotional depth of a parallel back to TFA. 

“I’m Rey. Just... Rey.” 

But nope. She took the Skywalker name and looked out at Luke and Leia with NO BEN??????WHAT WAS THE POINT OF SHOWING LEIA FINALLY DISAPPEAR WHEN BEN PASSED AND NOT HAVE HIM BE NEXT TO HER AS A FG AT THE END. that literally broke my fucking heart. 

also.................................................”and I am the Jedi.” good god. good lord in heaven. why was the dialogue like this. i just....i .... 

On a good note, I loved that Leia was training Rey. I love that Rey was so much more powerful in the force. I loved that they showed she had been reading the Jedi Texts. I liked the serpent healing to introduce force healing.....But it could of just showed her healing Ben on the DS instead. Would have made his being stabbed way more emotional because we wouldn’t know yet if she could heal. Would have made Ben healing her at the end way more emotional because PARALLELS. 

Also, YOU SHOWED ME NOTHING OF FINN’S BACKSTORY. you were so close so many times too. Finn is force sensitive. Great. Love that. Could have maybe made Jannah force sensitive too? Would explain being pulled from the Stormtrooper brainwashing. And yes yes, i Get it. They did do that. “It’s....a feeling.” No. They could have made it so that there were literally Force sensitive children in the Stormtrooper training. Like maybe have Finn actually use the Force maybe just once other than looking really confused or really sad with “a feeling”. Which was basically all he did during this movie. 

On a good note, really enjoyed the trio banter but more so Poe and Finn. Such potential for a good love story there.... it was so wasted.... especially because they didnt even give my girl Rose more than a minute of screentime. 

As a whole, it felt very.....rushed. And a bit hollow.

Again, I’m going to see it again tomorrow with my family and maybe seeing my little sisters excitement will bring back a small spark of classic star wars happiness.

[moonlitalien]

ALRIGHT here come my thoughts about TROS spoiler warning obviously!!

It was honestly SO MUCH BETTER than I expected after the shitshow that was TLJ, even if i knew it was obviously not gonna be as bad but like?? honestly TROS was the best movie of this trilogy for me, it wasn’t perfect by any means & still had some ridiculous/cheesy moments but they were barely noticeable next to all the other really great moments

i was FLOORED @ the Rey Palpatine revelation bc i honestly expected her to be some kind of Sith alchemy baby (based on that mirror scene from TLJ, as terrible as it was I still had my theories based on this movie) but ultimately it was a good plot twist and it really fixed a lot of plot holes & made the whole trilogy so much more poetic for me

bc obviously i was!! SO HAPPY at the Reylo kiss at the end!! lmao i’ve been lowkey shipping them since TFA and this kiss was perfect & such a good way to conclude the whole story (and Kylo’s smile right before he died?? i was sobbing like a baby AHSKD) i haven’t even started diving into the spoiler tags on tumblr/twitter/etc but i KNOW people are going to be pissed that Reylo is canon and not whatever ship they had imagined for Rey and I love it. I love it because it was so poetic and so well done and even if imo the whole redemption arc for Kylo should have started in late TFA/early TLJ it was still so good and i’m so over people imagining things in their heads and then throwing a fit when it doesn’t end up being canon like...grow the fuck up. ur tears hydrate my skin

lots of little things I loved in no particular order: - the mini flashback scene with young Leia and Luke training, i sobbed a little bc it’s so good that they made Jedi Leia canon & that she had her own saber and everything....so so perfect - the Han hallucination/memory scene where he talks w Kylo and we FINALLY get to see him break down and show that killing his father has been literally tearing him apart since TFA...bruh....yes... - Rey using Force lightning like YES!! finally!!! - Rey’s yellow saber!!!! - all the fun bickering scenes between the trio and chewie/c3po - Leia and Rey hugging :(( - Hux’s shitty ass death was so perfect and i LOVED it thanks!! nazis dont get good deaths bye bye!! - i want to hope it was done on purpose but. Kylo’s scar seemingly disappearing after he and Rey kissed...hnnfhuhg

some cons??: - honestly no major disappointments tbh?? a bit sad we didn’t get to see a Anakin Force ghost or a big Force ghost scene with all the Jedi though - some more awful alien and critter/creature designs like those hairy horses the stormtrooper lady and her crew were riding but honestly ignoring existing alien designs and creating more shitty ones instead is like, the trademark of this whole trilogy so *shrug* lmao (still no Twi’lek?? no Zabraks?? Togrutas?? hello??) - wish we’d have gotten a better explanation for Palpatine’s survival/how he got himself to the Sith homeworld/why and how he created Snoke/how did he populate all those Star destroyers???? - still no major EU ref like Korriban...sigh - they kept introducing more and more humans and at this point idk what to say lmao give us the fucking aliens!!!

but yeah overall it was honestly, surprisingly Good and while it wasnt the best Star wars movie ever it was def the best one in the trilogy and everyone did a really good job despite the whole TLJ mess 

here’s hoping Disney will keep improving their shit after TROS bc it’s honestly a good start!! 

[witchylittlefox]

My Thoughts and Feelings About Star Wars as of 2019

I held off sharing my complete feelings on this franchise/fandom because I wanted to wait for TROS to be out. since I have seen it now I’m ready to share how I feel about disney owned Star Wars, the fandom war, reylo, and TROS. Heads up these are my opinions and if we disagree that’s okay! But I would appreciate some respect when it comes to nasty comments because some of the things I’m going to say can be..... controversial in the reylo community.

Preface: I have been a Star Wars fan since I was 4 years old. I somehow figured out how to used a VHS machine and I would insert Return of the Jedi and rewind to watch it over and over again. To this day that movie is my favorite out of all of them. Star Wars was something my brother and I shared together and he would lend me all the EU books. I loved all the stories about Jacen and Jaina Solo at Luke’s jedi academy. I grew up with the prequels and yes, I am a prequel defender but they were corny as hell. So not to toot my own horn but I was very much invested in the lore and commited to the series before Disney bought it.

Disney Star Wars: Disney had absolutely no idea what they were doing with the movies (atleast when it comes to the Skywalkers + everyone related to the OT trio). They spat on the OT character’s legacy. They turn Luke into a character who seems to care nothing about helping his sister. No way in the world would Luke just throw a lightsaber off a cliff. Han and Leia are treated a little better (more so Leia), but Disney is passive agressive with them and make them out to be these horrible parents that decide to send away their son because they’re scared of him. No wonder Ben turned out the way he did. Rey, well......they could of written her better and don’t get me wrong I love aspects of her but this should of been Ben’s time to shine. HE should of been the main character of all the movies. Finn? Would of been cool seeing more perspective from an ex stormtrooper but nahhhh let’s just make him fawn over rey in the first one and then in the second give him this whole arc making us think he’s getting somewhere and then another badly written character ruins it. Poe? Well he atleast got more of an arc than Finn but he’s still so flat.

The Fandom Menace And the Fandom War: I decided after TLJ came out that I was not going to label myself in this fight. It seemed like (or atleast on Tumblr) that you couldn’t be a Reylo if you hated Rian Johnson. Rian was made out to be this “savior” of some sorts, just because he focused the movie to be more Reylo centered. YES he is talented. YES I’m thankful he gave us more of a Reylo plot, But jeez that guy is an ass (I didn’t want to cuss in this but oh well lol). Calling out fans on Twitter? Calling them names? Ridiculing Mike Zeroh? Which say what you will about Mike (not a huge fan of him tbh) but god he’s a fan of the series why are you making fun of him? But those people who are apart of the Fandom Menace are not innocent. A lot of them (NOT ALL, but most) only make videos on Youtube hating on Star Wars because it’s cool. They use the hate to get attention. I’m just not all about that. I agree with them on a lot...but seriously at what cost do we have to allow this. Both sides are annoying and immature and I choose not to take a side. I will like what I want about Star Wars and dislike what I want about Star Wars. I am not going to be a sheep. So yes... I am a Reylo, hardcore since TFA came out in 2015 and yes, I think Rian Johnson is a crappy person and I won’t be seeing any of his movies ever again (besides rewatching TLJ) because I don’t want to give money to someone who fuels the fan war. That being said, I dont support (whether that be my viewership or money) anyone who is in the “Fandom Menace” and does the same for the other side.

Reylo: The only thing I really cared about in this sequel trilogy was Reylo. I honestly started to care less about the other characters like Finn and Poe, which in my opinion is sad and just goes to show how bad Disney was at writing these characters. What got me so choked up about their relationship was how raw it was. It wasn’t some unrealistic clean romance. There was no love at first sight (at least on Rey’s end.. can’t say for Ben). It felt so real to me. They reached a level of intimacy that honestly in my opinion reached higher than sexual intercourse. Unconditional love is something that I hold close to my heart, it may be because of my faith, but the fact that Rey saw through Kylo and could see that at his core he was just Ben, emotionally hurt and lost, just wanting someone to believe in him. And she did! she believed in him when his uncle and mother easily gave up hope for him (again horrible character writing bc uhhh sry but isn’t hope supposed to be a theme with them???). And Ben loved her in return!! He protected her and not this stupid patronizing crap that Finn does (Which side note: THAT PISSES ME OFF SO MUCH LOL. John Boyega was wasted with this stupid character). Ben knew her strength and worth and only did what a man should do in a relationship, not overstep, not take control but add his part to the relationship, creating symbiosis. If you look up the meaning of “Dyad”, this comes up:

specifically, sociology : two individuals (such as husband and wife) maintaining a sociologically significant relationship

They are equal. No one is better than the other. They are two sides of the same coin and they complete each other.

And at last....

TROS: Well crap. This movie was...... not amazing. I will have to say that I have only seen it once at this point and may make an edit to it if I change my mind. Honestly though... I can’t see myself changing my opinion but it may happen after a second viewing. I had been following the leaks and yup pretty much all true. And yep... Ben dies. Not only does he die but he barely gets any time to shine when he is redeemed. I am grateful we finally got the Reylo kiss we all waiting for but did he really have to die??? I know lots are saying he didn’t die because we didn’t see him show up as a force ghost in the end but obviously there is no confirmation from Disney on this. The fact that he died for her to live just supports everything I have said above. But where was her emotion? I expected her to be crying? it seemed to appear like she couldn’t care less, yet she was the one who went in for the kiss first and then she seems to be fine when everyone is rejoicing and hugging in celebration? Why didn’t they add him in as a voice in her head or something (ooh fanfic idea! :) ) Why did Rey call herself Rey Skywalker?! I’m sorry but she DOES NOT desserve that title plus she is still a Palpatine! That does not change anything. Don’t get me started on Palpatine.... bringing him back was the dumbest decision ever and undid everything that Anakin did. Now I would of been slightly okay with it if they got Anakin in to help to defeat him but we only got his voice and a bunch of other jedi’s voices sharing words of guidance (which ngl it was nice hearing Ahsoka) but holy heck you could of atleast added ben to the mix. They could of both heard the voices and ended Palpatine together? Also what happened to Rey and Kylo fighting through the various scenes of the past movies? I thought that was a leak? They did absolutely NOTHING to tie up the OT and PT. It has no ties to PT, besides Anakin’s voice and some of the other jedi in the mix (Mace Windu, Ayala Secura, Yoda, Ahsoka Tano, etc..). I know I’m nitpicking but I am atleast grateful we got their voices I just wish we actually got to see their faces. That’s a lot of negatives though so here is what I did like:

Babu Frik.

Rey’s kind heart ( you see that when she greets the little girl on Pasaana, helps D.O. and the snake creature)

The banter between Finn, Poe, and Rey

C-3PO ( they really did him justice)

Ben (just all of him everything about him)

Lando was pretty good

Seeing Wicket at the end with his child ( I think that’s his child?)

Wedge Antilles showing up for like one second ( although that could be a negative because I thought he was going to be in it more because of the book Resistance Reborn. WHICH OH YEAH..... this movie retconned that book btw! So not only was it a horrible book but everything in it doesnt matter)

Conclusion: So yeah, I am not happy. But in the end I will always love Star Wars no matter what. This franchise has taught me so much about hope, love, and even redemption. It was such a fun ride on here. There were ups and downs ( anyone remember that Reylo discourse a while back lol) but we made it. Even though as Reylos, it didn’t end the way we wanted it... we still were proved right. We fought hard against the antis when they kept trying to tell us Reylo wasn’t a thing and boy were they wrong..... they were very wrong. I don’t know what the future holds in store for Reylo’s story or even Star Wars but all we have to do is look forward and have hope for Ben because just as the great Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker once said:

"No one is ever really gone."

May the Force be with you all.

[elaineintokyo]

Final (maybe) thoughts - the Light (good) side.

OTHER RESOLUTIONS:

There were a lot of things I really really started to hate about the episode after rewatching it more and more. It’s like the more I watched it, the less it made sense, the more I felt the episode COULD HAVE done things better. But that said, I do rewatch the movie to see if I can get a different take out of it, so here are some resolutions I kinda got after some rewatch.

These parts cover the things I first hated about TROS, and then somewhat found resolutions within myself for them.

Finn

- In Episode 7, there most likely wasn’t any inclination at all by the creators to make Rey and Kylo a romantic thing. Most likely, they were probably more interested in a darkside-lightside struggle and battle. It’s really, in this case, Rian who made it a tad bit more interesting by putting in a romantic aspect and then with J.J. having to justify and to use Rey-Kylo’s connection by making them a force dyad.

- So then, which left us with Finn. Poor guy. I think he really got sidelined with Rey. Whether it be racism or just out of a story necessity, while Rian is popular with fans for his “support” of minorities in leading roles, there was a definite move to separate Finn and Rey in Episode 8, so that Rey and Kylo’s relationship can be developed.

- so that said, Finn was FUCKING ANNOYING in Episode 9. Like seriously, it made him like this guy who’s constantly chasing after a dog in heat. Seriously. INCREDIBLY fucking annoying. His character could’ve been used to do so much more! (Like in Episode 8!), but instead he was just made to be like this lovelorn guy WHILE the whole time, Rey is battling this demon inside her while being egged on by her jerk ex-crush whom probably she knows as much as she hates him, he’s probably the only one closest to understanding how she feels.

- While some people said that Rey pushed Finn back with the force (more like shoved!) to protect him, I didn’t feel that way. Not even after watching so many times. It was clear she was angry with Kylo and this was between HER and KYLO and she was clearly telling him to BACK OFF!

Resolution:

I talked to a friend and told him about how I hated that Finn was soooooo pathetic and annoying for chasing Rey, but he told me that he was chasing after her to prevent her from falling to the dark side.

That actually made A LOT of sense to me and I really think so. Finn was trying to tell Rey the whole time that he’s force sensitive, so he probably understands her feeling and he knows what she’s going through. So he’s trying to stop her from going to the dark side.

He said it to Poe

Finn: We need to go after her. She’s not herself. You dont know what she’s going through.

Poe: And you do?

Finn: Yeah I do. And so does Leia.

I think he says “and so does Leia” because it implies force users.

And when he goes to the Death Star, she’s already possessed at that point and completely giving into the dark in her rage to hill Kylo, and that’s why he keeps going to her.

Then she fucking shoved him away, like, it really shows she’s in the dark now!

So Yeah... looking at it from the point of view that he’s trying to protect his bestie, not from Kylo Ren, but from herself, I think his whole fucking REYYYYYYY!! REEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYY! REEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! the whole episode ain’t that annoying afterall.

Dark Rey

- I think this one I kinda blame not just J.J. and the team but I also think part of it is due to Daisy too.

- Firstly, seriously, Rey is lightside as fuck! Like okay not lightside, but she really DOES have the purest of hearts and there is NO WAY IN HELL (or Exagol) that she would EVER turn dark.

In her lowest of low, saddest and loneliest moment, she had REJECTED Kylo and his proposal to rule with darkness.

It was COMPLETELY unbelievable and so so so so shallow that she would ever turn to the dark side just because she finds out that she’s a Palpatine.

Haaaaa? WHAT?????? Completely unbelievable! Utter rubbish!

So anyway, to leave the whole Palpatine Sith thing aside, and let’s just talk about “dark side” of force fighting, Rey has always been fighting with dark side haha.

Rey is always emotional in her fights, always charged with some kind of strong emotion (whether trying to defeat Kylo in Ep 7 or wanting to KILL SNOKE in ANGER Ep 8, or knocking Luke down and almost killing him in Ep 8), she’s always fought with emotions, which is NOT the way of the Jedi.

So that aside, to talk about the context of Episode 9 and Rey’s struggle, which is why I think Daisy is definitely an inferior actor compared to Adam.

I think Daisy plays anger and sadness well (Ep 8 in all her loneliness and also in the throne room when Kylo breaks her heart), and she does strong emotions very very well, but she doesn’t play subtleties well, and absolutely not to the degree that Adam mastered it with Kylo.

Like you can’t tell the difference between Rey’s emotionally charged fights/moments in the past, with her seemingly becoming more and more dark in Episode 9. They all seem the same to me.

Except for that scene in the ship when she talks to Finn after killing Chewy where she did fear incredibly well, in the other scenes you can’t tell if Rey is feeling anger or fear or what? How is she turning dark? You can’t see the change.

This is unlike Kylo where Adam’s slight relaxation in his expressions show hesitation (Kylo not blasting his mom away), or even just the slight quiver in his voice when he says “(you can’t go back to her) just like I can’t”, or the desperation is Adam’s little “please”. A fleeting moment, so subtle, yet so powerfully conveyed.

Sorry, but Daisy didn’t deliver Rey’s conflict anywhere close to that of Adam with Kylo.

I think the biggest failure of this were in BOTH of the MOST CRUCIAL scene for her character’s development.

The first: in the hangar where Kylo tells Rey her parentage.

Yes, you could see first the shock in Rey, and when Kylo gives her his hand (not again) and says “you know what you must do, don’t you?”..

Then the camera is on Daisy and Rey is thinking, then she says “I do”.

Then she flees.

Like, firstly, her expression when Kylo offers her his proposal was unclear. Was she conflicted? Did she want to give in this time? Was still still in shock?

Then when she changes and says “I do”.

You can see her facial expression change, but it’s not clear enough to convey Rey’s decision to kill Palpatine.

The “I do” felt more like “yeah I do know I don’t want to fucking take your hand so goodbye!”, instead of the life changing decision of “I’m gonna kill that motherfucker who killed my parents and robbed me of a family!! Die you fucking asshole!!”

Nope.

Totally not obvious in that scene.

Took me like 3 watch to figure out that OHHHHHH she meant she knows she have to kill Palpatine! 🤦🏻‍♀️

The second failure: In the confrontation with Palpatine.

I don’t know but maybe Daisy AGAIN didn’t convey the weight of that moment subtly but powerfully enough (sigh.....), so it’s really unclear what drove her to say okay. I think Daisy’s acting, as I said, is not at all on par with Adam’s level when it comes to portraying a change of emotions at the turn of a coin.

Actually maybe actually in this case I lay the blame on J.J. who was probably horrendous in conveying to Daisy what her character was feeling. So as a director it was HE who fucked up directions.

Coz I thought Daisy played a conflicted Rey well in the love-disappointment-hate really, really, really, well in Episode 8’s throne room scene between and unrepentant Kylo and a heartbroken Rey.

Butttttt the ENTIRE ending sequence dialogue between Rey and Palpatine was sooooooo vague.

The entire sequence where she looks up at the Rebellion fleet being destroyed, you can’t tell if Rey is angry? Sad? Desperate? Devastated? Fearful?

The emperor mentions hate hate and anger first but when she first saw the emperor I felt Rey’s feeling was FEAR.

Then when she really defiantly says “you want me to hate you but I don’t”. Like it just takes away the anger motivation.

Which is when the emperor opens up the roof to show her the rebellion and she has some sort of reaction. But the look on Daisy’s face is not of anger or hate but more of like fear and heartbreak and sadness that her friends are in trouble and are dying.

You can’t tell at all, whether Rey indeed was hating the Emperor but it was CRUCIAL to know her feelings because it’s the impetus that drives her decision to be a Sith or not, and according to Sith/Jedi ways of fighting, the emotions behind the kill is what differentiates the two.

If she kills in fear to save her friends- it’s self defense is it not? Hence how can the sith posses her then?

But if she strikes in anger, then the sith can.

But it’s incredibly vague what she was feeling and NOT AT ALL CONVINCING that Rey is being engulfed by darkness.

Unless of course it’s despair, which leads to the darkside, and I think like if that was indicated, Rey’s pull to become the Sith would’ve been clearer and more convincing.

At last, it ALSO rang cheap and hollow.

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

Resolution (somewhat)

So watching and rewatching the episode again, I realized that.. Rey was super angry with Kylo... lolololll

I’m not sure if this is considered Rey becoming Dark, but she was super pissed with Kylo, and he always drives (hm!) the anger in her tempting her to the darkside, somwhat almost succeeding this time.

So in their first showdown in the second force tug-of-war over Chewie’s transport, it was when Rey got super angry with her asshole ex-crush that she unleashed her darkside force KABOOM!

Then, in the second showdown his his quarters (sexy), the moment he called her name “Rey”, fucking hell, she drew her lightsaber immediately andddd instead of reacting in FEAR “oh shit! Supreme leader found me!” it was more like “not you fucking asshole again! Fuck off!!!!”.

And the more he talked, the angrier she got. And like, I don’t think Kylo was taunting her like he did in TLJ when he called her nothing, he was trying to get her to accept what she is, but she’s the one who’s in denial and got more and more angry with him trying to tell her to face the truth (albeit for selfish reasons of his own to make her realize she can’t resist the dark side).

So at that time, you kinda feel Rey’s angry and she’s just attacking Kylo. That totally not fucking Jedi way of fighting! But then again... she was just trying to shut him up???

And finally, the Death Star scene, which is pivotal to say the least! (for both Kylo and Rey!)

I’m still not too convinced that meeting Dark Rey in the imperial vault was Rey’s turning point to the darkside. I felt the vault is like the dark cave in a Jedi’s training when they face their worst fears. Dark Rey is Rey’s worst fear. So I don’t think it’s what she has become.

That’s why when Kylo says “look what you have become” and “you can’t go back to her (Leia) now”, I don’t think it’s too true. Not yet anyway.

But I do think that Rey was fucking pissed off at Kylo from the get go and when she snapped “Give it to me”, it was pure anger and Adam inserted a slight reaction there which I still interpret as “oh shit scarryyyy!!”. Haha.

Scary!Rey!

Then, when he crushed the Sith Wayfinder, I think that’s when Rey really fucking snapped!

I’m not sure if she snapped because (1) fucking Kylo Ren ruined my chance to find and kill the emperor!! Or (2) fucking Kylo Ren give up already! Do I have fucking kill you to break up with you??? Fucccckkk dieeeee!!

From then on, you can really see that she’s fighting with hate and anger towards Kylo.

Will probably write a separate thing about Kylo-Rey fights but Rey hasn’t really fought will Kylo with totally intent to kill. She’s always been fighting him off to FLEE, but on the Death Star, at the beginning, she was really fighting to kill him once and for all.

And in the part where she force pushed away Finn, her last thread of sanity to the lightside, she’s really warped in the sole intent to kill Kylo in her anger and hate.

And she DOES fucking stabs him to death when after he INTENTIONALLY dropped his own lightsaber and was technically HEY! **UNARMED!!!**

So basically Rey killed an unarmed person in anger and hatred.

And if you look at her facial expression when she stabbed the fuck out of Kylo, it was anger!

Anddddddddd it’s only when she sensed Leia’s death that she snapped out of her trance and realized OH FUCK! What have I done?!?! Oh shit!! I killed her son!!!!!!!!!

Anddddddddddd which is why I think her reaction after that was soooo extreme that she decided to run off and become a hermit in Ahch-to, coz she knew what she could become and HAD BECOME indeed in that fleeting moment.

Kylo on the other hand, I think at first, he was not intending to kill her (the only way you’re coming to Exagol is with me), but the last part where Rey flies above the waves but then Kylo just comes through the wave MASSIVELY (as Daisy would put it ;) ) and walked directly to her, I think Kylo did decide to kill her at that time and which is why FINALLY he got the upper hand.

Rey’s reaction to Ben’s Death.

Ive already touched on Ben’s death in another post, so I’ll touch on her reaction (or lack of one) instead in this post.

Many maaaaaannnyyy people were complaining and upset that Rey didn’t even so much as shed a tear when her force dyad died. No mourning or anything at all. In fact she was even sadder when Finn was almost killed!

Which is allllllll true and valid arguments which added to my feeling that Ben Solo the last true Skywalker was completely discarded.

Resolution

I’d like to think of her reaction, firsr when he falls, you can see that she was about to cry, then suddenly she relaxes and looks relieved holding on to his hand as his body disappears and becomes one with the force.

I want to believe that Rey could feel his presence in the force, even though his physical body vanishes. And, being a dyad in the force, and also since he did transfer all his force energy to her, perhaps just perhaps, his half of the dyad force reunites in her at that moment, which is why, she doesn’t feel sad, and which is why his force ghost doesn’t appear. He is now part of her, technically, recombined back together in her.

Also like.... I think... Ben would not have wanted her to be alone and lonely, because he know how lonely she has been her whole life.

But making the choice to give his life to her, he wanted her to be alive.

And I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have wanted her to be alone. So, I’m sure she still feels his force connection somewhere in the force. Plus remember the force voices telling her “alone never have you been” (Yoda).

Or so I want to think.

(My heart is going with oh please just let them fuck and have babies instead and combine their force in them babies instead!!! Bleh)

Other Observations/Realizations

Kylo’s transformation into Ben Solo

So a lot of people have already pointed out how Kylo’s demeanor had changed 180 degrees after he became Ben Solo.

There’s a whole brilliant thread somewhere here on Tumblr or Twitter (I think it’s Twitter), that analyzed Adam’s facial portrayal of Kylo and Ben. How Kylo is always wearing an expressionless unnatural mask even without an actual mask on but how his espressions completely relax and become natural after he comes Ben Solo again.

(Dude if this theory is true, just adds another feather on Adam’s hat! Seriously!)

And of course, there are also other similarities between Ben and the Solo moves he pulls, like using his blaster without looking, and how he’s like “heh, bring it on” with the Knights of Ren.

But I think, one of the biggest change in Ben that can be seen was Adam’s very last line: “ow” when he lands on the chain after jumping into the hole in Exegol.

Like everyone was saying in Episode 7, that even after being blasted by Chewie’s bow, Kylo toughens himself up by hitting his wound and seemingly showing no signs of pain.

But here, just with one word: “ow”- Ben Solo reclaims his humanity.

Brilliant!

Ben Solo’s arrival to help Rey

In the end, I would like to think that.. haha.. Ben defied his father’s advice to return home and “what she stood for, what she fought for, that’s not dead”.

I always wondered about that line, like was Han asking him to go to the rebellion base to help the Rebellion? Like isn’t that home? Or was he asking Ben to help the rebellion.

I think it’s the latter of course, but of course by help, he races to find Rey. Lolololll

On the first watch, I always thought that Rey didn’t sense Ben’s presence right until before they force connected themselves when Rey was holding the lightsaber.

But on second watch and subsequent viewings, I realized that she actually felt his presence the moment he landed.

The introduction of Ben Solo on Exagol was a side profile shot of Adam coming into frame, then he runs into the massive building.

The side profile shot of Ben cuts to a side profile shot of Rey, who until that moment was frozen in terror of the choice she’s being forced to make.

But once Ben arrives, she just turns to the emperor as if nothing and just nods her head like “yep ok sure let’s go with what you just said” and easily agreed.

And if you look at Daisy’s acting and how Rey turns to face the emperor when she senses Ben’s presence nearby (but not her ForceTime her) .

And remember every time before they actually ForceTime connect, they sense each other’s presence FIRST, then only connect and exist in the same space together.

So this was the moment they felt each other before, they finally dailed into each other’s physical presence later here:

I don’t know but maybe Daisy AGAIN didn’t convey the weight of that moment subtly but powerfully enough (sigh.....), so it’s really unclear what drove her to say okay. I don’t think Daisy’s acting, as I said, is to Adam’s level when it comes to portraying a change of emotions at the turn of a coin.

Actually maybe actually in this case J.J. was also probably horrendous in conveying to Daisy what her character was feeling.

The entire sequence where she looks up at the Rebellion fleet being destroyed, you can’t tell if Rey is angry? Sad? Desperate? Devastated? Fearful?

You can’t tell at all, and I think it’s so important to know because it’s the impetus that drives her decision to be a Sith or not, and according to Sith/Jedi ways of fighting, the emotions behind the kill is what differentiates the two.

If she kills in fear to save her friends- it’s self defense is it not? Hence how can the sith posses her then?

But if she strikes in anger, the the sith can.

But it’s incredibly vague what she was feeling.

But anyway, whatever it was, I feel on more viewings, it’s clear she probably felt Ben’s presence, coz she turned around really quickly and like hiding a secret, to keep the emperor from realizing, she just nods “yes”.

And then she gets more and more and more fearful and worried as she moment approaches to kill the emperor but her boyfriend’s late.

So I think when she finally feels him close enough and the opportunity is there, and their FaceTime finally gets through, she completely relaxes and knows it’s gonna be okay.

Transferring the lightsaber via their upgraded ForceTime2.0 was a brilliant move.

And I really really like that after Ben defeats the Knights of Ren, he like snaps out of it and you can see him “oh no! (My girlfriend) Rey!” and anxiousness floods his face and he quickly runs to the sith throne room.

TIE fighter & the X-Wing

While some Reylo’s read this one specific shot of Ben’s TIE fighter and Rey’s X-Wing being side by side as proof that the both of them were meant to survive and go back together, I didnt think nor feel so.

I think the shot was representation of the decades-long fight between the empire (the TIE fighter) and the rebellion (the X-Wing) parked side by side, coming together, UNITED and AT LAST fighting side by side together.

Kylo-Rey Battles

I realized that Kylo never really seeks to kill Rey EVER.

ALL his fights were to actually get her to join his side.

Even from the very first fight in the forest, her tells her “you need a teacher. I can teach you the ways of the force”.

And from then on, he never actually kills her.

Even after his vow to destroy Rey and the rebellion at the end of Episode 8, does he actually goes out to kill them? NO. Instead he’s hunting for Palpatine. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Except for the lightsaber tug-of-war, there’s no Kylo-Rey battles in Episode 8.

Which leads us to Episode 9, where they had a total of 4 confrontations.

The first transport tug-of-war frigging Rey’s the one who slices his TIE fighter. Then he doesn’t kill her or tries to fight with her, instead they engage in a toy-fighting. What.

Then second in his chambers and Kajimi. As I mentioned in an earlier post, SHE was the one striking him, and he merely just wanted to talk. What!

Then the third in the hanger, AGAIN, ample opportunity to fight, but instead, they just talk AND he proposes marriage, AGAIN!

Then finally at the Battle on the Death Star wreckage, it was REY who drew her lightsaber AGAIN first!

And you could see Adam doing Kylo like dropping his hands “not again girl, aren’t you tired of fighting??”

Anddddddd so on the Death Star, as I had mentioned, I don’t think Kylo wanted to kill Rey at the start of the fight, which I felt was the usually defensive fight.

But, at the very end when Kylo is walking determinedly towards Rey, he FINALLY makes up his mind to kill her, which is why FOR ONCE he actually got the upper hand and was able to overpower her.

BUTTTTTTTTTT watching and rewatching the episode, i also think that it’s possible that when Rey cried after being disarmed, Kylo hesitated for a moment to deal the fatal blow and it’s in that split second of an opening that Leia reaches him. And he completely senses his mother and discarded his saber..... 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭💔💔💔💔💔💔💔 so sadddddddd so in the end he’s just mommy’s boyyyyyyyyy wanting to be loved by his mommmmm!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭💔💔💔💔💔💔

[narkinafive]

this one’s a doozy

(i feel like i should have done sth like this for the prequels/the clone wars but oh well. i'll get around to it eventually! maybe! gotta do something while waiting for ix right lol)

oh, rebels. rebels rebels rebels. i know it's probably unbelievable, but i was so gutted by the clone wars cancellation that i really Did Not Like rebels at. it took... idk about two years for me to give it a real chance (and i was still deep in a previous fandom hole, so i didn't really get into it until like. the start of s4) (if you can guess what fandom it was you get a cookie) i am so glad i tried it again.

of course, ezra bridger is, was, will always be my favorite boy. i really did not expect him to waltz away with my heart! anakin has always been my favorite (and he still is, tbh), bc that kind of character and that kind of arc is so on brand for me, like. i LOVE my dark tragic messiah demigods, i really really do!!! but then this doofy dumbass kid with big blue eyes and a big blue heart and his many cat friends just punched me in the gut!

it's been a year and i've had time to digest the whole package. let me preface by saying that rebels is absolutely 100% perfect and my favorite piece of expanded sw media by a LONG mile. NOW. that doesn't mean that there weren't things i didn't like (going under a cut!)

many times, it tried too hard to tie into the greater saga - bringing in palpatine, the wbw, all the saga cameo characters, like... some of them worked better than others. the r2d2 and c3po cameos were the worst, w obi wan coming in at a close second. the best saga character cameo was definitely mon mothma (and bail). i really liked leia's episode, but. idk. it still felt a little shoehorn-y

i wish ezra's descent into the dark side had been more ... present? he gets some great, great moments. but it's kind of sudden (i've touched on this before so i won't keep going)

someone else has brought this up (and i ................. do not remember who sdfkjlsdfjlk) but pushing aside the Great Rivalry of thrawn and hera for the force stuff is... idk. that's a whole other thing

now i love the force shit. like i LOVE it. but i think rebels might have been stronger if it focused less on force shit and more on the early war effort, in the same vein as rogue one. i know it'd be more difficult to fill out four seasons rather than one movie, but as it got into s4 and closer and closer to episode iv... idk, put the force shit at the beginning of the season? idk. i really love how they did it, but... idk! it's complicated

oh, and speaking of complicated - maul. i love what they did with him, i love this sad garbage pile and watching him recreate his trauma onto others as a way of dealing with it... but i think it was a weird choice. maul is so... idk, grimdark? for such a lovely sweet show

kallus going to lira san better be bc he's being tried for war crimes lmao

sabine staying on lothal is... a choice. not one i hate. but i still don't quite understand it

and my biggest gripe, ironically one of my favorite parts of the show: ahsoka lives.

dont' get me wrong; i was so happy that ahsoka lived, i nearly threw my computer across the room when ezra yoinked her into the spacetime continuum. i am a diehard ahsoka fan and i will fight somebody to defend her honor. THAT SAID. the narrative of ahsoka going down at the hands of her former master? as he desperately tries to erase every part of his former identity? the great commander tano, clone wars veteran, an early casualty of the rebel alliance? it's so good. it's SO good. having her story end there would have been just some phenomenal shit. just superbly poetic. i'm glad she's alive! and the emotional impact is still the same, even with her coming back, but my god.

now. the things i love.

the character arcs. all of them. ezra bridger, war orphan, street thief, cast out by his people, finding he is stronger than he ever thought could be possible, giving his life for his people because he forgives them, and because it's the right thing to do. kanan jarrus, jedi knight, reclaiming his heritage and his jedi legacy (and yes, watching him die still hurt just as much as the first time aroundd) (and also, thanks to @aspiringwarriorlibrarian and @greatlakesrebel for pointing out many many many things, but first and foremost tonight, that dume the wolf was of course voiced by fpj) (i’m slow ok shut up). hera syndulla, who unfortunately had to learn the hard way how to balance love and war so she didn't become her father, pushing away everyone she loved for the greater cause. zeb orrelios, finding his people, learning he's not the last of his kind, leading the refugees to their ancestral home. sabine wren, forgiving herself and freeing her planet from oppression. and not just the hero arcs - the villain arcs, too!!!! darth maul's single minded obsession that kept him alive for 30 years ending in a 3-hit fight on a backwater planet because he just couldn't sustain that hate for so long. all of thrawn's cleverness couldn't predict the force. i don't have an issue with a single one of these!

THE FORCE (TM)!!!! there is so much delicious crunchy force nonsense, i could DROWN in it

among my many, many issues w the old EU, one of them was demystifying the force, quantifying and trying to label it too much. some things were quantified bc they needed to be (the holocrons, the sith code, etc) but most of it was kept as vague and nebulous as possible, which is GOOD. when it comes to mystical magic, less explanation is mostly always more

i love that we don't have clear cut answers for the loth wolves and the lothal temple, i could ponder that shit for WEEKS and never get bored

it does feel like a mostly self contained story. "been there made history" can get overused very easily (see: hbo rome) but rebels used it just enough to fit it into the larger saga

having rex survive both the clone wars AND the galactic civil war??? fuck yeah

kanan and ezra. kanan and ezra. there is so much i could say about kanan and ezra. it's everything to me. war vet finds plucky young orphan and adopts him? sign me tf up!! their relationship as it grows from mentor/mentee to peers is really really well done

and speaking of growth, ezra and sabine going from obvious romantic interest to battle forged siblings is not something that i was expecting but is definitely one of the best parts of the show

kevin has some really incredible tracks in this show: top of the list is 100% kanan's end credits, followed closely by it's over now. wow

and speaking of, the entirety of the last ten minutes of twilight of the apprentice deserves its own bullet. that shit is right up there with vader v luke round 2

the planet designs, mostly malachor and lothal, but when hera and sabine launch the dome, and the lothal sky suddenly turns to blue as the pollution is leeched out and destroyed... that shit is breathtaking

and so much more. like so much

this show holds such a special place in my heart :") now if only dave could bring back my son... like. PLEASE 

see you all in rogue one!

[oflgtfol]

because im procrastinating on my homework, here's my vague outline of the sw x razia AU that tortures my brain every few months

PREFACE: my main idea is that the sw characters are playing out the storyline of razia's shadow. act 1 follows the prequels with minimal changes. act 2 follows the original trilogy, but the storyline has some major tweaks to fit better. the most important thing to mention is that the adakias/anhura romance is scrapped entirely. also some major changes to the star wars storyline to fit as well. such as luke knowing that darth vader is his dad and being like, raised with him from day one

characters:

ahrima = anakin

nidria = padme

toba the tura = obi-wan

o the scientist = the jedi council and/or specifically obi-wan??? i guess i'd pick and choose which fulfills which role depending on when the story calls for it

barayas = palpatine

adakias = luke

anhura = leia

pallis = darth vader

sangara = darth vader's assistant guy i cant remember his name. absolute side character but i thought it would be funny to add LOL

bawaba brothers, unified into one person = yoda

doctor dumaya = palpatine as well

act 1 story:

the angels are the jedi. padme is there too i guess. anakin is the prodigy angel, the best of them all, but he feels unacknowledged by the council and obi-wan. they entertain his idea that he's the best, but don't ever actually recognize it in a way that satisfies him. he finds consolation in padme who supports him through it

to prove that he IS the best, he creates the lamps. idk what the lamps would be in this AU. but again, the council doesn't spare him the time of day. defeated and angry, he storms off into the darkness..... where palpatine greets him, and tells him tall tales of just how great he actually is. go ahead and destroy the lamps, he tells anakin, then they'll finally see how great you are. one day they'll see and appreciate your power

so he destroys the lamps. the whole world is in ruin, everything is destroyed. people have died en masse. i guess padme dies during it too

and there, at the end of it all, obi-wan confronts him. they battle it out, and in the end, anakin is kicked into the flames of his own making. he burns yada yada like in canon, obi-wan leaves him to die

a 20-year, minute-long intermission:

aka this is the fall of the republic and the rise of the empire, anakin becomes darth vader, but since its taking place in razia's shadow, then its actually the world is being separated into dark and light. although i guess maybe i'll shift it, so that it's not perfectly half and half. the dark would be the empire and so a majority of the world will live there, but the light would be i guess like rebel "planets," so it's much smaller. and i would say there's no war really going on, it's just that the light is the last bastion of like, good life left i guess, hidden away from the dark lol

act 2 story:

luke is a prince of the dark. he lives with his father, darth vader, who has expectations of him as a prince of the dark. but luke finds that he can't quite fit in with whats expected of him - he tries to be all dark and mean and cruel, but he can't bring himself to do it. instead, he dreams of a better life - he's heard stories of the kingdom of light, and of the prophecy that one day the dark will fall and the two will be reunited once more. he dreams that he will be the prophecized one to reconnect them again, much to his father's frustration

and one day he sneaks away and travels to the light anyway. once luke's absence is noticed, darth vader is sent to fetch him back to the dark

meanwhile, as luke enters the kingdom of the light, he finds leia. she, too, had been feeling like she was destined for more. she dreamed of reuniting the dark and light just as luke had. they instantly connect as close friends, and together they go to HER parents, the organas, who lead the kingdom of light.

it starts getting shaky here because the original story depended on adakias being a little piece of shit and i dont think luke would act that way. so idk. if i followed the original story, then luke's status as a prince of the dark would be kept secret, and his Dark Presence would start poisoning leia and then they'd go off to find a cure instead of like, idk, him coming clean about who he is and not putting her life in fucking danger........? but as i said, i dont think luke would do that. idk.

so perhaps the organas know who luke is. but they want to keep leia safe, so they dont reveal the fact that they're twins, and therefore leia is also related to darth vader...? they just warn her that oohhoh this boy is Dark. stay away...... like how everyone didnt want the twins together in canon or something idk.

and so luke and leia still leave anyway. again idk why they'd leave. but they still leave. luke is feeling guilty about being related to darth vader, doesnt tell her that he's a prince of the dark, etc. but i guess since theyre twins she wouldnt get sick actually anyway lol

OH maybe they go leave the light because of jedi shenanigans and thats how they find: YODA! who regales them stories of the fall of the republic, darth vader, and all that, while teaching them about how to be jedi

and then i guess they go to confront palpatine. who is playing the RS role of the doctor but instead of looking for medicine bc leia is dying, they're just going to fight him as the emperor. and then darth vader finally catches up to them in the final showdown. he's like, luke, i am here to take you home, step away from the light princess. and luke's heritage as the prince of the dark is revealed, wah, and then also somehow the fact leia is luke's sister is also revealed, probably by palpatine? again, i said it's very shaky here. so all the family reveals cause all that drama

and then somehow there's a scuffle. i guess once vader hears from palpatine that leia is his daughter that's when he turns on palpatine. and then palpatine fucking dies but vader gets stabbed. and so then he slowly dies surrounded by luke and leia and he has that whole thing he did in canon about liek let me look at you with my own eyes or whatever but also now his daughter is here too. and then he dies . rip. and then the dark vs light divide falls. bc like how adakias was the prophecized one in RS, and anakin was ~the chosen one~ in sw, his death now is the prophcized way to reunite the dark and light. IDK.

the end. and the beginning <3

WAIT IM SO STUPID. the dark vs light kingdoms could be such a great way to facilitate sith vs jedi stuff too AUGHGHG. i really have to do homework now so i dont have time to sprinkle that into what i've already written but just imagine

[tornhoodie]

TLJ spoilers, don’t read this bit if you ain’t seen it

Italics is the thing I’m responding to. Bold is me.

Expectations in film can be strange. Most audiences love to know what to expect when coming into a film, familiarity is comforting and helps us escape. Subverting expectations can help surprise us and transcend the movie experience into something more substantial than an escape, maybe into something great. Unfortunately, The Last Jedi fails in this regard. It does subvert audience expectations, but the price the film pays is not worth it’s price. The things set up in The Force awakens are thrown aside for something surprising, and it succeeds in this, but the story and film are not stronger for it.

*** I can't agree that the mysteries set up were "thrown aside" for something surprising. All reports indicate (including direct from Johnson) that this WAS what was planned, in concert with Abrams and the Story Group. They just weren't resolved in the usual Star Wars fashion. ***

Luke Skywalker’s character is turned on his head. The film starts with Luke throwing his beloved lightsaber off a cliff, which shocked everyone in the theatre. He is an eternal optimist in return of the jedi, even succeeding in turning his father from the dark to the light. Where others gave up on Vader, Luke remained hopeful. Luke remained true. Given all of this, we are supposed to believe that he almost kills one of his own students because he sees the dark has overtaken him? Surely not more than Darth Vader, surely not more than the absolute darkest version of a human being (seriously, the imagery of darth vader is just brilliant). Luke’s failure and reason for his exile does not align with his character at all, making his behavior shocking and surprising, but not interesting. Now that Luke is dead, we won’t get to see him return to the Luke we once knew. There is an argument here that this film is about failure, about coming to grips with and tackling failure to see the good failure brings. Luke should be allowed to fail, but not in a way that contradicts his every thought and move from other films. His greatest failure could have been many things, but almost killing a student doesn’t work.

*** BUT YOOOOOOOOOOO. Let's break this down.

-That Luke would fail Ben and retreat into seclusion is SO CHOICE AND ALSO COMPLETELY EXPECTED. Look at his mentors! Obi-Wan failed Anakin, and went into hiding on Tatooine. Yoda escaped Coruscant and hid on Dagobah. Luke had BARELY any training, only a few books, and a sister strong in the Force. And he was just supposed to train a dozen Force-sensitives including the grandson of Darth Fucken Vader and have it turn out okay? Hell no! He was terrified! Consider everything on his plate, and then consider the three versions of events we get. They all converge to one thing: Ben was becoming tainted, Luke knew it, and Luke was scared. Here's the extra wrinkle to this story though, that takes it away from being just like Luke and Vader: Luke was the old man now, the teacher. And he had historical precedent for how these things went. He knew what would happen if he failed, and his apprentice fell to the dark side. It would be Vader all over again. His fear took control of him, and he acted, and Ben saw this fear take control, and he reacted. Luke was afraid of becoming Obi-Wan, and he let the dark side guide his actions, and he BECAME OBI-WAN. It absolutely totally makes sense within the context of who Luke's mentors were.

-This movie is aaaaaaaaaabsolutely about failure and what we do in the face of it. This was Luke's failure. It is possibly the biggest failure he could have had, and boy howdy he brought it about.

-I mean if there's one last thing that'll cement this its that this old hermit gets a swift kick in the junk by R2-D2 playing Leia pleading for his help. The same message that got Obi-Wan back in the fight.

-and then and then that fear hasn't gone away! He continues to resist training Rey, and eventually tries to burn the Jedi books and end it all, because he's still terrified of failing another student and creating another Vader/Ren. It is only through Yoda coming back and blasting apart the tree that he wakes up and realizes "hey, you know what, maybe its time to clean up my mess." Failure, and what we do in the face of it. ***

Snoke is now dead, and we know nothing about him. His death had an impact on me. I involuntarily put my hand in front of my mouth at his death, shocked at what had just happened. However, his serves no purpose other than to subvert expectations, not to serve a better story. We know nothing about Snoke, we know nothing about how he came to lead the first order, we know nothing about his haggard appearance, and so many great possibilities died with that character. How was he trained as a sith with all of them dead? Where are the knights of Ren and his connection to Snoke? How did he come to lead the First Order (as the SUPREME COMMANDER, not just a high ranking member of the empire like Vader). Snoke’s death surprised everyone, but that’s it. A moment of subversion that does nothing to serve the story.

*** -Snoke ultimately wasn't important to the story of Rey and Kylo. For Kylo, he was a means to an end, and that end was power. Kylo cut him down when he thought he was done with Snoke, when Snoke threatened the one thing Kylo thought he'd made a real connection with: Rey. Snoke held no other true importance.

-It's not the failure of THIS MOVIE (or, even, the entire trilogy) that you thought he was going to be explained, but rather your expectations for what this movie was going to be. Let's get into that:

-Think real hard back to the Emperor. We had one scene in ESB of Palpatine talking to Vader, and that was it. In ROTJ, we have more, but he's still just a scenery-chewing evil wrinkle without explanation. We dont know where he came from, how he got his powers, or how he came to lead the Empire beyond assumptions: dude was strong and people were into it. I mean we didn't even know the dude's name without the novelization. In fact, that's where a lot of the info about his rise to power came from. It was only later, through movies and series and MORE novels that we got his life and backstory fleshed out.

-If you went into TLJ expecting to get the deets on Snoke, or that he was going to be the big bad and last until the end, that was you projecting your own expectations onto something that definitely wasn't promising answers. I mean, the trailers did everything they could to get you to throw those expectations away, with them specifically playing Luke's line: "This isn't going to go the way that you think." That theme, expectations and how our own are dashed constantly because we rely on them too much, IS SO IMPORTANT. It is the keystone to everything, especially the whole bit about Failure we talked about up top. Luke fails because he expects to be able to train all those Jedi. Rey fails because she expects that she's gonna be the next Luke Skywalker. Kylo fails because he expects Rey, whose past is filled with pain just like him, will throw aside her new family, just like him.

-We aren't done with these themes but I've GOTTA move on here ***

Also, The First Order has to be one of the laziest enemy factions in film. We know nothing of their origin. Say what you want of the prequels, we get a very good overview of how the mighty evil empire came to be, an origin story that makes sense in the universe. Even though TFA didn’t give any explanation as to the rise of the First Order, I had held out hope that once we learned about Snoke (the SUPREME LEADER, insinuating he is not only the figure head but the reason for the existence of the order a la Hitler), we would learn about the First Order. But, of course, because the director was so eager to subvert our expectations, we get nothing from either. This leaves The First Order as a lazy, uninteresting antagonist for the rest of the series. “The First Order Reigns” indeed.

*** -I mean, we knew nothing about the Empire in ANH and ESB either, beyond "welp the Emperor dissolved the Senate." As you said there, it was only through prequels and books and games and comics that we got more information, an origin story. Nothing about the run-up to this film indicated that we'd learn about where they came from. Again, the expectations. If you went into the movie expecting clarification, something that wasn't promised, that can't be laid at the feet of TLJ. If it were crucial to the narrative for us to understand exactly where Snoke and the First Order came from, we'd have heard about that stuff in TFA. That was the first movie in the trilogy, that was the one to take the time to tell us all about the bad guys. But it's not! It's not important. It's just not at all important to the story being told here. Here's what was important: the new main characters, their histories, their dreams, their hopes. these are the bad guys, these are the good guys. it doesn't matter what fringe conflict lit the spark of the first order, right now. it doesn't matter where snoke was born or how he got his powers. what matters is that the first order grew in power, created a super weapon, and destroyed the republic. what matters is that snoke was immensely strong and reveled in the dark side, twisted ben solo into becoming kylo ren, and leads the first order. that is PRETTY MUCH the exact amount of information we had in ESB.

***

Leia being a superman in space is one of the worse things I’ve seen in the movies. This doesn’t have much impact with my overall thesis but I have to mention this. Leia is out in space for a long time, we know she is strong with the force, but there could’ve been so many other ways to show this other than this scene. Also, Ackbar dies without fanfare before that scene, which is dumb.

*** -No, this was great if only for the experience of Jessica seeing Leia, floating in space and presumed dead, and her whispering "OH FUCK YOU" in between sobs. I will always remember this scene because it was so raw emotionally for everyone in that theater. THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE when she reached out with the force and pulled herself to the blast door.

-I absolutely get if the scene didn't hit for you; not all scenes do for everyone. I have my problems with some of the more humorous bits in TLJ. But "one of the worst things I've seen in movies" is really strong? Stronger than I think that deserves? I dunno, man. You feel what you feel and I can't tell you otherwise, but I'm certain I could point to like INFINITE scenes and have them be worse than this one.

-but hey. If it didn’t work for you, I can’t argue that.

-Ackbar is a fun character for easter egg purposes but the dude is not nearly as important as the internet wants to make him. The movie was two and a half hours long, and spending more time than they did mourning Ackbar would have been a waste. For all the thinkpieces saying "thank you for mourning ackbar" you'd see just as many thinkpieces saing "TLJ is too long and it's because of ackbar." ***

That leads me to this next part. Admiral whats-her-name that takes over the resistance capital ship is a terrible character all around. When she sacrificed herself at the end for the fleet, there was no emotional impact at all (even given how great the cinematography is during the suicide scene). The director should’ve let Ackbar go out this way, why try to make us attach to some random admiral we know nothing about? Ackbar has history as a character, has a weight to character. Having him go out the way the admiral did would have made a great impact, and seen a great character go out in a very satisfying way. Instead, he is thrown out without fanfare and replaced. The only distinguishing feature of Ackbar’s replacement is that she had purple hair and argued with Poe. Which brings me to another not only throw away character but throw away plot section.

*** -Vice Admiral Holdo

-WHAT

-ARE YOU KIDDING ME MY DUDE

-MY DUDE I CANT WITH THIS

-im putting a placeholder here because i feel A MIGHTY NEED to come back to this and straighten you out but also i just need to move on because how DARE you i dont have time for this section right now

-i came back to this one just to say that you weren't paying attention to Holda and Poe's interactions. You were too excited for an old hero of the rebellion to get his due (ackbar) that you missed the tactic brilliant tactics and heroic sacrifice of of the hero in front of you (holda) which is exactly why it is so important that poe thinks holda should look different. She's not the person he expected, and that colors his opinion of her.

-"argued with poe" my dude, she didn't argue with poe. poe mutinied because she didn't tell him the plan, because he's a fuckin scrub that got their entire bomber fleet decimated in one attack that didn't even do much, because he's too concerned with being a hero of the resistance that he didn't stop to think about the actual tactical necessity of such an attack. which holda and leia did.

-BECAUSE HES A FUCKIN SCRUBLORD AND SHES A GODDAMN VICE ADMIRAL im real angry about this and the Rose paragraphs my man ***

Finn’s entire story was unnecessary and should have been cut. Why are we, as an audience, supposed to care about this story? It does nothing, doesn’t expand anything about the characters, other than being able to see Finn fight his old boss, but the whole story turns out to be a red herring. Rose (Finn’s companion throughout this story) was introduced without fanfare, and we are supposed to feel connected to her at the end when she saves finn, but I have trouble remembering her name. She had a sister that died, and she was sad. That’s all I got. I feel that you shouldn’t introduce a new character into an ongoing series if you won’t do anything significant with development. Finn’s partner and the admiral were both throw away characters. Compare this to someone like Lando, who is introduced in Empire Strikes Back but steals the show in his direction. We get a full fledged character, interesting and flawed, and all in one movie. It can be done, it was just done poorly in The Last Jedi.

*** -Dude you're straight up losin' me now. I have my problems with the casino world of Canto Bight and the things that happen through it, but you're kinda throwing a completely-fleshed-out character into space, and I can't really figure out why? Rose absolutely has motivations and character development. Shit, we know more about her than Poe:

---Sister was on the bomber that destroyed the first dreadnought, but she's not just SAD about her sister, she's PROUD of her sister (she talks about her sister, we know she shares the other half of the necklace, this is all clear stuff)

---She's steadfast in her duty and believes in the resistance, going so far as to protect the escape pods they have from being used by deserters, even when they're all running for their lives (she talks about shocking 3 or 4 people before finn shows up, which is honestly a big deal considering the stress everyone is under?)

---She absolutely believes in doing the right thing for the right reasons, and for standing up for the "little guy," even against the people you thought were your heroes. (again, shocks finn, a hero of the resistance who she ACTIVELY admires and fan-girls over, because he disappointed her, and also tells it like it is to finn re: the war profiteers and who the casino people are)

-She is the fucking emotional core of the movie, man. Her entire thing is hope. She carries the spark of hope within her, like literally she says this and they talk about the spark of hope over and over and over (she delivers that spark to the children of Canto Bight's goat-horse racetrack, and one of them turns out to be force-sensitive yo!)

-We get more about Rose and see more about why she's important than we ever get with Lando. Again, think REAL HARD about Lando's character development. Dude turns on Han, then turns back around and lets the resistance go. We know he originally owned the Falcon but that's basically it. The rest of his character (WHICH HEY, AGAIN, AINT THAT MUCH) comes in ROTJ. ***

There are some good things about this movie. Luke’s final shot with the two suns is a great piece of cinematography, and the cinematography overall is really incredible. The sets were great, and we of course get a cool lightsaber brawl that had some great choreography. Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley are really good in their moments alone, both of them steal the show in this film. Kylo Ren is by far the most interesting character in this series, and I hope he gets a good send off in the last film of the new trilogy. Mark Hamill was not given much to work with, but he did what he could. Even given that, I was enamored with his performance. I am a bit of a fan boy of his voice work, so I am definitely biased in this regard.

*** -Look I know this is the paragraph where you said there are good things but man, I really need you to go see this thing again. Look at all the bullshit Hamill is throwing down. The scene where Yoda comes back, Luke is instantly 30 years younger and complaining to that old puppet about how he tried but it's all too hard. And yeah, that's because Hamill is great, but also its because Rian Johnson fuckin knew exactly what he was doing, and the script gave Hamill so much damn screen time it's ridiculous. He had more time than Ford did in TFA, and knocked every scene he had out of the park. Damn, he was great. ***

I am not upset with the things you would expect, porgs didn’t matter, I thought they were cute, I didn’t care for the animals that were there clearly to only sell merchandise. I didn’t even mind the constant humor, which I think there is an argument that the constant humor weakens the film over all. The film tries to tackle dark themes which the humor brings levity.

What I lament most is the missed potential. We have been given fantastic explorations of the Star Wars universe in books and video games, some great explorations of the Light and Dark side that give a more nuanced view of the Star Wars universe. Luke even starts to mention the Hubris of the jedi, which I hoped he would elaborate on more and go into why he thought the jedi were wrong. I also hoped he would go into why we avoid the dark even though the jedi are wrong, I hoped Luke would explain how he came to these conclusions other than one student that fell to the dark. I hoped so much for so much more. There was a real opportunity here to make this exploration part of the main saga, but we instead get subversion for the sake of subversion, surprise for the sake of shock. There were some great things to build on from the previous film, but those are tossed aside for the sake of surprise. The Star Wars saga is worse because of the director’s decisions, and I’m sad it happened that way.

*** -I'm gonna toss this graph back up to the top. Things that you hoped for, I absolutely understand. There's something to be said for hoping for things. But a lot of what you said sounds a great deal more like you expected one thing, and got another. Your expectations led you to believe that you knew how this was going to go, and you were surprised and disappointed that you weren't right.

-You talk about "subversion for the sake of subversion" but, is that really true? What was subverted? Your expectations for how the story would go? For how the information would get doled out? I mean, lets get into that. Star Wars has trained us to believe that everyone is connected in some grand way to the Skywalker legacy, that history is just going to repeat itself. The prequels did that (fuckin, C3PO, damn), they cemented that. But hey, can I ask you something?

-We all kinda expected this to be another ESB right? After TFA being an homage to ANH, it kinda felt inevitable. Film has taught us to expect the "dark middle chapter," the "Empire" of the trilogy. There were story beats that you/we figured would come up.

-But can you really call it "subversion for the sake of subversion" when NOTHING WAS PROMISED from the very beginning?

-Movies have taught us to expect that the hero's past is mysterious, that they are tied in some mystical way to some dynastical destiny. That the villain at the head of the table is all-powerful, awe-inspiring, and has some rich backstory about how they came to power. But TFA and TLJ don't promise that any of that is coming. Indeed, they follow in the grand tradition of the original trilogy: give as little information as needed to follow the story of a resistance fighting back against a tyrannical empire, and the key players of that resistance.

-TLJ delivered on that legacy. It answered the questions that needed answering while at the same time ensuring that we weren't simply rehashing ESB. It set fire to the sacred jedi text tree, while ensuring that those texts weren't destroyed; they're in the hands of someone else, a new generation who might be able to do some good with them. ***

“It’s time for the old ways to die”…. Maybe they should have thought about that a little bit more before Yoda called lightning down on the Jedi tree.

*** THEY DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIID THATS WHAT THE MOVIE’S ABOOOOOOOOUT, BURN IT ALL DOWN AND START ANEWWWWWWWWWWWWW, LIGHT THE SPAAAAAAAAAAARK ***

[nspx]

a non-cohesive rambling post about tlj

buckle in boys because what the fuck

also. spoilers. so many spoilers

right so i’ve been reading some posts and mainly it’s all ‘rian johnson u asshole’ and ‘star wars is ruined forever’ BUT i dont think it is?? not completely anyway?

i thought the movie was. good? i mean. coming out of the theater i thought to myself i like this, it’s fine. and it is fine, but not. not it, you know? it had its ups and downs and honestly im surprised it’s getting so much hate, because i actually kind of. liked it? but there was some bullshit, yall 

l u k e s k y w a l k e r

my sweet son what did the bad man do to you?? i mean. i. i??? 

LUKE “THERE IS STILL GOOD IN YOU, I CAN SENSE IT” SKYWALKER TRIED TO KILL HIS OWN NEPHEW???? BECAUSE HE WAS AFRAID OF HIS POWER??? THE LUKE THAT T H R E W AWAY HIS LIGHTSABER IN FRONT OF THE EMPEROR BECAUSE HE //BELIEVED// IN HIS FATHER??? TRIED TO KILL A TEENAGE BOY - HIS FLESH AND BLOOD!!!!! - IN HIS SLEEP??

right, so. i believe that luke is a nuanced character with flaws. and i believe that there have been times when he struggled with his own grasp of light and dark, this being one of these times. but?? trying to murder his nephew??? 

during the movie i thought that maybe luke looking into ben’s darkness made him fall into his own a little bit? because i just don’t see luke that way. luke always believed in the good in people. he saw the good in vader - v a d e r - who was so far gone he didn’t even believe it himself anymore. and you’re telling me he truly didn’t believe kylo could be saved? or even helped? that he deserved to die, even if he believed this just for a moment?

other than that. i found luke had his good moments in the film as well. using the force to trick kylo, so that the rebellion had time to escape. or the beautiful moment where luke was looking at the sunset, the end of his journey in parallel to the sunset in anh, the beginning of his journey. pure poetry. a+

sitting with yoda and watching the tree burn? turning into a force ghost? threatening to haunt kylo forever?

leia and luke sitting down together? luke kissing leia on the forehead? good shit

but. the scene with luke squeezing milk out of that creatures tits and drinking it savagely. i... that could’ve been avoided. i mean. it did make rey see that she didn’t necessarily find what she had been looking for, but? honestly this movie disrespected my son, luke skywalker, so bad but also. the scene where he wiped nonexistent dust off his shoulder? such a badass move

(”see you around, kid” my soul descended from this astral plane to another, i love u luke)

snoke 

what the fuck

what the fuck what kind of bullshit. hes so weak. hes such a bullshit character, honestly. general grievous would’ve eaten him for breakfast and grievous is a pussy bitch. he wouldn’t have survived a day in the clone wars. palpatine would’ve projected his ass into the cold reaches of the galaxy with a mere look. fuck this snoke guy how am i supposed to take him seriously

that dumb speech?? fuck that guy. seeing him die was cathartic but at the same time anticlimactic cuz like?? too easy. -12/10 villian

onto the next point

K Y L O R E N 

or should i say, ben solo? who even are you kylo? make up your damn mind

like. you want to be good but you also kinda wanna be the leader of a new fascist government. you kinda love rey but also?? ‘you’re nothing’ MMMMM i think the fuck not boy “but not to me” nice save loser

honestly..... i have such a love hate relationship with kylo. because the way this movie was set up and what r*an did to luke.... u kinda see that he made it so that everyone just knows that.... LUKE FAILED KYLO OK. he truly did. luke was afraid of ben and he could never truly offer him the support that he needed because /fear/ *cue to yoda cackling like a maniac (what the fuck was that all about, also)* drove him to madness, i guess?

but then again kylo also burned everything down right after he collapsed a whole building on his uncle and went on a 10 year long murderous rampage, so? how am i supposed to defend u kylo get it together already

BUT THENNNN, like. this snoke character manipulated him all along? that doesn’t excuse kylo’s actions but ya know. hm. idk. all snoke did was abuse kylo and then he was like “ah my shining beautiful strong apprentice i have always believed in you”. what the fuck. at least be a little intimidating. 

honestly kylo should’ve just clocked him in the face with his dumb fucking mask instead of ruining the elevator, what a missed opportunity and waste of resources

kylo ren/rey

honestly. i mean. im not here for or against this ship. because i see both sides of it (like, kylo is a murderous asshole that abused rey and murdered millions, but also - redemption arc? i love a redemption arc bitcc fuck me up)

personally i’m less interested in their ~love bond than i am in their force bond because it’s so fucking epic, my dudes. e p i c 

we always had anakin or luke as these two all-powerful people that carried the entire balance of the force by themselves but now we have two people, so completely different and y e t they r two halves of one whole and i love that so much

they’re both incredibly strong. i like that there is both light and dark in both of them. they complete each other. i don’t see their ~relationship happening tbh like we won’t get an anidala level of romance, i just think this force bound destiny thing is an interesting idea

their long distance skype call force connection? loves it, the force is magical

(”you’re not alone” “neither are you” i cannot believe. i cannot believe. “can you cover yourself up” *crickets* i’m dead)

rey’s parentage

mmmm. i keep seeing people complain she isn’t a skywalker. i was 100% sure she was but now i’m kinda glad she isn’t? the force sure loves her tragic desert children

she came from nothing but now she’s the very last jedi, the last hope for the galaxy, and i LOVE THAT. 

the rebellion

ok. ok. i am devastated

the rebellion truly did lose so much in this movie. sooo much. i’m crying. what for? was that necessary? 

and poe? my son. i love him. general hugs? i cried laughing. my son

but whaaat the fuck was the deal with admiral purple hair? ever heard of communicating like a normal person? like, telling poe what she was planning would’ve saved them sooo much bullshit? but telling poe would’ve cut the movie in half sooo

so many lives were lost because?? felt like really no reason at all, just miscommunication and people - the good guys - fighting each other?? it was sooo unsettling

like. so much of this movie i felt like the characters started out doing one thing and in the middle of the writing process the writers were like mmm no wait let’s go in a completely different direction which has 0 to do with anything at all yes brilliant

but then poe’s speech at the end? the last of the rebellion all together in the falcon? there is hope there is always h o p e 

honorary mention

general hugs 

i hate him but also kinda. respect him? he’s an asshole but he was ready to shoot kylo ren, he was ready to go

other things i found (REALLY!!) bothersome

the lack of finnrey

the lack of finnpoe

just the mains interacting?? 

things i really liked

rose!! and her sister!! their backstory was so touching! also, rose is force sensitive and so is finn. don’t fight me on this. did you see the bond between rose and animals? a ~force bond. d o n t fight me.

l e i a - i cried, ugh. this really was her movie

the humor!! this really was a funny movie

the cinematography - some of the shots really were breath taking

i saw a lot of little tidbits alluding to the other sw movies and also other sci fi movies, i liked that

THE KIDS IN THE CITY!!! 

THE LITTLE BOY AT THE END!!! HE’S FORCE SENSITIVE!! THE JEDI WILL COME BACK THEY WILL COME BACK THEY ALWAYS COME BACK!! loves it

the Force (leia surviving space? luke projecting himself all the way to a random ass planet? LUKE OPENING HIMSELF UP TO THE FORCE AGAIN? HOW REY IS SO POWERFUL SHE CRACKED OPEN THE ISLAND?? i love. the force loves all of her children and will go to ridiculous lengths to make sure they stay alive)

anway i’ll be screaming about this movie for a month despite all of its flaws have a good night

[masterserris]

the rise of skywalker = good

spoilers under cut you were warned

we love sheev the movie

best movie? no. room for improvement? yes. a really good movie overall and the characters were good and made overall good/decently logical choices? absolutely.

 fin good. i love him. and the obvious hint he can use the force is 10/10 he did so much work in this movie. i like poe/fin or rey/fin. or all three together, fuck it, they all hugged in the end anyways

poe is good he’s a good boy him and finn are so good. poe gets a lot of development and care and we love that he struggles but loves his friends and wins in the end by believing in others to come. (he did think they lost but only for a second. he was proven right that people would come. thanks lando we appreciate you here.)

rey is amazing and her growth/struggle is great i love that she’s a palpatine that’s so metal. and she stays good oough yess. palpatine wins in the end? or at least A palpatine? the only survivor? no more sith OR jedi. just. rey palpatine and any other new force users like fin. FINALLLY, evil wins! kinda lmao hahhaahhaha

i like how technically the series stared with palpatine and ended with rey. 

it started with a slave child in the desert (anakin) who became dark, and ended with a child soldier in the dark who became light at the end (ben)

-

the sheev-ening. we love emperor step peppers. he’s so good in this. force storm ya’ll!! 

“hiS pLaN MakEs nO sEnSe!!1!”

shut tf up. either he possesses rey once she killed him, or he sucks the life outta her and restores himself once he found out about that bond power with ben or force healing whatever it was if she refused (like he did), or just kills her and sends his troops out to take everything over like. that’s not a bad plan bro. he wins either way. the only reason he lost is because the dummy killed himself with his own force lighting (AGAIN, DIDNT YOU LEARN FROM EPISODE 3 OLD MAN????). she did not strike him down, she defended. he killed himself, technically. she pulled a luke in that sense. it was not the jedi way. (though i guess by the end she is neither sith nor jedi)

plus he made an armada in secret the man was geared for success and had access to cloning tech too, as shown by snoke. if he couldnt have rey, he would have cloned himself or some shit. he has space voodoo, the man is scary and i love him for it. 

-

ben was. ok. kylo was much more intimidating and straight forward with his actions at least. and ben switching sides made sense. what i didnt like was his ending very much. why tf did he and rey kiss????? they were enemies for 2 and 3/4 movies. they didnt even speak until he showed up to help fight palpatine. 

there is a bit of tension but not romantic whatever, he just poofed once he resurrected rey anyways. rip all skywalkers 2019

she is an adopted skywalker and that’s nice.

side tangent bc i’ve been seeing some fans crying over ben’s death, which i get it if you are a big fan of him:

((i guess i was just way more invested into rey as a character than ben solo. he was. there. he was alright, i could see the struggle but the tone-shift from TLJ really threw things wack and i just ended up not caring too much when he died unforntuately. i wish i did more. i mean it was sad, it would have been neat if he lived, but i kinda saw it coming as soon as rey “died”

im like, oh, he’s gonna climb up bc of course he’s fine and then save her since he saw her use force healing, so he’s gonna try it. he’s resurrecting the dead so it’s either gonna kill him or really make him weak. we got the former so. yeah. it was anticipated kinda. leia dying was much more emotional for me i guess. the love between her and her son was way more impactful than ben and rey. 

like i said!! they were enemies for so long!! he tried to reach out, but he was a slimey dark side bitch who was trying to convert her and she knew it and wasnt down with that shit!! that aint romantic ya’ll!! christ! he was only good for 20 minutes before he died and they didnt even talk before he just showed up! if they had more time really getting into it and if he was good and reached out to her to talk, that would have been way better and more convincing is all im saying. 

sure they fought together on snoke’s ship and talked, but it was still very. scary for rey. and then he attacked her friends and rebellion again! bitch, why did she kiss him!?

nothing against reylo shippers, i really dont care, that’s your business, i personally enjoy fin/rey much more, im just saying it seems forced in this situation. they tried to kill each other so many times. that’s animosity, not love.))

WHERE WAS ANAKIN AND OBI FORCE GHOST UGH. at least we got all of the voices of the jedi past helping rey in the climax that was awesome (including jin, obi, yoda, anakin, luke, leia, ect)

yeah also rip leia. she should have died in the second movie but she was good in this and it really hit the feels since carrie is... dead for real.

luke was good in this!!!! helpful boy!!! nice boy!!! i liked the flash back to when he trained leia it was so sweet to see them young again, if only for a moment.

the han solo scene was good ough my heart. 

all of the character’s choices were overall good and made sense in the scheme of things, everything was streamlined bc it had to be.

it kinda felt like 2 movies crammed into 1 but it kinda worked and that makes sense bc of TLJ’s.... choices and changes in direction. 

i dont think this movie was a train wreck. it’d place it as my 3rd fav star wars movie. for now, i may shift things around but you get the idea.

my current rankings so far for main line live action sw movies 

(rogue one would be at 4 along with revenge of the sith and i didnt care enough to see solo.)

1. empire strikes back (obvious pick)

2. a new hope (luke is best boy)

3. rise of skywalker (as listed above)

4. revenge of the sith (clone wars show really got me to like older anakin. and obi is just. 10/10 in general. speaking of generals, i love grievous. and commander rex. rip all clones and jedi tho. F)

5/6. return of the jedi/force awakens (about even) 

[the thing about return of the jedi is that the ending whole section with the death star and vader and palpatine and the struggle against jabba were really good! it just a lot of other stuff is... meh in the film]

7. the last jedi (sorry had to do it to ya. also rip Phasma)

8/9. phantom menace/attack of the clones (ya’ll know why)

im so glad im rewatching the clone wars show it was so good and oughghghg so good. i love the clones so damn much and everyone so much

star wars good ya’ll

anyways, i already loved palpatine and im just wildin’ right now we love a emperor. a queen. a bad bitch you cant kill. just vibin. like damn, iconic. he said “do it” and everything. a meme legend and godsend

in sheev we trust. you belong with sheev. real sheev hours. the sheev-ening. palpatine-ception. you name it, we vibe with it

NOW I WANT A NICE AU WHERE THE CHARACTERS LIVE AND PALPATINE IS JUST A GRANDDAD. scary but nice granddad to rey or some shit. anakin is still around, they are all still around. just silly fun alright?

LMFAO ROTTEN TOMATOES PUTS IT AT A 56% BUT HAS AN AUDIENCE RATHING OF 86% WTF LMFAOOOO THESE PEOPLE ARE HACKS

the reverse of TLJ and i can see why the stupid irony lmFAO

the “thank you rian johnson” tag trending on twitter is wack and it’s dumb. his movie was dumb ya’ll. that’s my take and im not alone. im not some crazy hardcore fan either nor do i care that much about the politics or what ever. the characters in TLJ made REALLY dumb decisions that got their butts kicked and people killed over and over and it was not fun to watch everyone being dumb and dying, alright? wack. bad vibes. 

i didn’t care for the “thank you jj abrams” tag either bc both tags ended up just being one taking pot-shots at the other and it was full of nasty vibes. just a lot of negative bullshit and only a few good comments just saying what they liked about those movies. i appreciate when people just say they like something. even if it’s something i PERSONALLY dont like, it’s neat to see. but when people bitch and moan, even if i agree personally, it isnt that fun. it’s annoying as hell, esp if it’s mostly unfounded or just repeated a million times.

like months later, or also about something from years ago, people still havent shut up about it. that’s when i get pissed off. like, sure, hate something. say you hate it, whatever. your blog your platform, go off queen, but then shut up please and dont drag it out forever. people dont like negativity so expect people to leave your ass behind if you keep at it. or get blocked or whatever. 

negative shit all the time just aint a good look is all im saying. just love what you love and show it. it’s nice. the good part about fandoms is sharing love for media.

but hey, it’s your life. you do whatever, who am i to say anything?

[fangedprince-reblogs]

im having the most love hate relationship with the rise of skywalker rn like?

ben solo/adam driver really did carry this movie huh

That said, daisy ridley was fucking great and rey deserved better

like bitch??? ngl i did actually like rey palpatine it gave that little connection to the OT and PT

but rey SKYWALKER? like damn ben fucking earned that family name for himself, it was his, and rey gets the credit for it because reasons

rey absolutely would not have taken that for herself

an alternative: "rey who?" "rey of the rebellion/resistance/republic" because that's literally WHO she was

her family was ultimately the resistance

a bunch of ppl keep saying palpatine won but like... he didn't? rey and ben literally restored balance like anakin was supposed to?

on that note grey jedi rey was the best decision they could make

also: force ghost anakin/obi wan shouldve appeared

like come on, anakin could get in there one time to give some advice or whatever to some girl he didn't know but had nothing to say to his own grandson who was in so much anguish because of him

if nothing else, obi wan couldve given the child named after him some guidance

this is more of a minor what if but ben shouldve lost an arm when fighting the knights of ren with leia/luke's saber

like, his old saber was unstable and angry but it protected him with the crossguard

so when he accepts the calmer, non-split saber he's accepting the skywalker legacy and the fact that he's no longer protected by his hatred

and as hes accepting the skywalker legacy, he accepts the curse of losing his hand in a lightsaber battle

anyways i owe petty bitch hux my life

someone tell me why poe and finn had to fight most of the movie?

dont make my boys suffer pls

john and oscar pulled it off well tho

honestly if it werent for the acting then this movie would be so much worse

they really killed of Rey's character arc huh

this whole movie was about not having to go it alone but that's exactly what rey did by the end

started off as a loney child on a desert planet, ended as a lonely woman on another desert planet

if they had ended it before rey went to tatooine then maybe we'd have a better ending

also: instead of just having force ghosts luke and leia, all the jedi should've been there

yes that includes PT stuff

im still bitter about the new trilogy trying to erase the events of the PT

like i understand not wanting some of it to be remembered

but SO much characterization and lore was in there

palpatines evil wasn't fully understandable without knowing his actions in the prequels

anyways anakin and qui gon's ghosts shouldve been in the ending

also this movie did really rely too much on references to the OT

i mean yeah the han solo comeback was awesome

and i missed lando a bit

but like... the movie cant ride on the occasional "oh my god"s and "it's ___!"s of the audience

also how did rey find another kyber crystal for her lightsaber those things aint cheap

why did ben have to die after a reylo kiss

my mans just redeemed himself and made himself a likeable character that wasn't a whiny child

and they just... killed him huh

i feel like they were going for an anikin/padme parallel but happier and sis its not working lmao

anakin and padme had genuine chemistry and moments to just be themselves among each other

reylo stabbed some people

still tho... im almost warming up to the pairing lol

perhaps if they'd gotten a few more minutes of being them then things would've turned out differently

but they didn't so ben died for... idk who knows lol

fuckin... they could've held the balance together? if they killed palpatine together then rey wouldn't give into her hatred and become a sith?

in conclusion: this movie was... who knows but i owe adam driver my life