#george lucas as much as i love him is a sexist person

[politicalprocrastinator]

might catch hate for this but padme's death absolutely can be read as the closest thing the series has to a suicide and can also be criticised as a fridging. both can be true at once.

[smokeybrand]

The Force Was Already Female

Lost in all of this rhetoric about Hidalgo razzing Star Wars Theory for crying tears of joy after seeing Luke in Mando and the civil war for the soul of Star Wars at Lucasfilm between Favreau and Kennedy, is the fact that Mando literally discredited the huge reason given for why people disliked the sequels. If you recall, the rallying cry was that the fans were cellar-dwelling neckbeards who hate women. Kennedy and her cohorts literally attacked the fans, calling them sexist, misogynist, incels. She showed up, injected her bullsh*t gender politics into the franchise, discredited every male in the franchise, even the ones she had created, and declared the Force is female. That sh*t i wild to me because the forces has always been female and Mando proved it.

This last season, we saw Bo-Katan Kryze, Cara Dune, Fennec Shand, and Ahsoka Tano. Each of these characters had highlight episodes. Bo-Katan and Cara Dune played an integral part in the entire show, both of which had two episodes to shine. Fennec Shand only got the one, i think, but she got to share the screen with Boba f*cking Fett, becoming his right hand for hi solo series, The Book of Boba Fett. and don’t get me started on my girl, Ahsoka. Her episode was the best in the season for me. I adore Ahsoka and she was portrayed perfectly by Rosario Dawson. I wrote a whole ass essay about that so I'm not going to get into it here, but Tano is slated for her own series as well, probably chasing after another Legends heavyweight, Thrawn. These women all showed up, wrecked sh*t, stole scenes, made dreams come true, and never once did anyone in the fandom object. Full on support for all of them, even the more politically problematic actress who plays Dune, Gina Carano.

The force is, indeed, female and no one has a problem with it. No one ever had a problem with it. Let’s not forget that, along with Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley and Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor, Carrie Fisher’s Leia Organa is considered one of the classic Eighties examples of female bad-assery. Indeed, she was the first to make it to the big screen and, more than likely, influenced the other two to some extent. Leia stayed in those trenches. She has a body count. She chose to be captured in order to end R2 to Obi-Wan. Leia was dope and every bit as capable as her brother and eventual husband, which makes sense because her mom was hardbody as f*ck, too. Padme Amidala as the queen of a whole ass planet at the tender age of fourteen, man. She ruled over Naboo and was a f*cking Galactic Senate rock star, all before the age of twenty. Padme has a body count, too, fighting side-by-side with during the opening battle of the Clone Wars on Geonosis. This is after she lead a straight up stealth mission to retake her throne from the occupying Trade Federation when she was, again, f*cking fourteen. And these are just the accepted canon women. There is a whole ass smorgasbord of Legends females who the fandom absolutely love.

Mara Jade Skywalker. Darth Talon. Bastila Shan. Darth Traya. Jaina Solo. These are just the few off the top of my head. Mara Jade was a massive favorite and the fandom wanted to see her in the sequels more than anything. Darth Talon is so popular that George Lucas wanted to install the character in HIS sequel trilogy as Vader to Maul’s Palpatine. These re facts. This is the reality of the fandom No one who loves Star Wars hates women. We hate underdeveloped, over-powered, Mary Sue ass, “characters.” We hate having all of these great worlds and heroes and lore people had spent decades carving out, thrown away with prejudice, just because the Ego-in-Charge literally hates the thing she was installed to protect from the very thing she did to it. Kennedy lied to Lucas in order to position herself as the executioner of everything Star Wars stands for and spam it with all of the sh*t ideas she had for the franchise. She spent her entire tenure as the Lucasfilm president, sabotaging and handicapping in an effort to bolster her own OCs when, in all reality, all she had to do is write good characters and none of this would have been a thing.

Rey Palpatine isn’t a bad character in concept. I’ve written at length about how to fix Rey and it looks like Favreau’s is going to do just that but retconning her as a Kenobi somehow. I still think she needs to be a Skywalker, but that’s neither here nor there. If Rey was written better in the beginning, none of this would have to be a thing and, according to everyone in the know, from all of these leaks, she was. Rey was, very obviously, intended to be Luke’s daughter. The fact that she could do all the stuff in Awakens was because Luke was using her as a conduit to effectively reach out into the universe from Ahch-To. That’s why when she showed up and presented him with her grandfather’s lightsaber, Luke looked so forlorn. He would begrudgingly train her during most of Episode VIII culminating in a knock down, drag out, brawl between he, Rey, and Ahsoka Tano between Kylo and his Knights of Ren. Ahsoka would take Rey and flee, leaving Luke to be killed, becoming a Force Ghost and haunting his nephew for Trevorrow’s Episode IX. That was the treatment Abrams wrote up for the entirety of the sequels. That was the plan. That’s what was supposed to happen before Kennedy f*cked it all up.

That version of Rey made sense. She felt earned. She felt like a Skywalker. The actual version of Rey we got? Rey f*cking Palpatine? That was a direct attack on the fans. To have The Galactic Emperor, strongest Sith Lord to date, triumph over the very line created specifically to destroy him by installing his seed, his lineage, as usurper of the Skywalker name, was a calculated, cruel, middle finger to everyone who loves this franchise. Not only that, but it was a straight up disservice to Daisy Ridley, who signed for something completely different than what she was eventually forced to perform. Rey Skywalker had so much potential and we as fans would have loved her. I’ve never heard one person who enjoys Star Wars say anything bad about these leaks on the original Sequel road map None of us would have objected to Rey Skywalker. By Episode IX, she’d have earned the level of strength she displayed at the end of VII. Instead, we got Rey Palpatine, the bestest evar! An OC of someone who hates Star Wars with an unearned and absurd amount of power. That’s what fans hated and we are right to do so. Rey Palpatine represents everything wrong with the Kennedy Star Wars. The force is, absolutely, female. It has been for years. We just want better females and Mando delivered that in spades this last season. Favreau showed us the way.

[ladyvader23]

An Analysis Of "Missing And Presumed Dead" by HeartofStars

This was submitted as a submission, and honestly, as an author, I have never felt so honored. I do not cry, but I cried. To know something you’ve written has touched someone so much to write such a lovely, in-depth, super thoughtful analysis of it without being asked or forced to by a teacher... I’m completely blown away. 

I felt that HeartofStars put so much effort into this and it really touched me so I’m reposting, if only for my own self to look at in the future. 

And to my readers, thank you. I’m just writing because I love the drama that is the Skywalker family. If it brings any sort of enjoyment, especially during the insanity that surrounds us, I’m happy to share. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As you know, I’ve been reading your wonderful story Missing And Presumed Dead since around the end of October, and have gushed at you about it in the comments and on Discord ever since. But instead of just squeeing about it for the millionth time, I thought I’d do something more: while I wait to find out whether Vader will indeed find Luke in time, I’m going to analyze just why the story is so good, using all my knowledge of film, media, philosophy, and Star Wars canon.

Ultimately, Missing And Presumed Dead is so good because it does several things well: it creates tension and conflict almost effortlessly, it places the idea of characters before plot without dragging down the plot,and finally, it is not only perfectly compliant with the characters the way they are in Star Wars canon; unconsciously or not, the story actually delves deeper into the characters, creates emotional moments that make us cry, and heightens our love of these characters.

For those who haven’t read this amazing story–and WHY haven’t you?–many, many spoilers follow.

First of all, let’s tackle the “characters before plot” issue. Before I dive into this, I want to make clear that I am in no way saying that Missing has no plot, or that plot is bad. It is chock full of plot, in fact; but the important thing to note is that the plot, first and foremost, is incredibly simple. In stories, the simpler the plot, the better; and the more the audience(the reader) can keep track of it and what is going on. Missing does that, and it also does something else: the hook is strong. A question often asked of screenwriters or filmmakers when pitching a story is, “Could you describe it in one sentence?” And in this case, the answer is, “absolutely.” In one sentence, the story is: following the events of The Empire Strikes Back, Luke is so determined to keep Vader from pursuing him that he fakes his death. There are other things wrapped up in this:

Does Leia know? Answer: Yes. She helps Luke fake his death.

How will Vader respond? Answer: Terribly.

But the reader will find those out as he or she goes along; maybe those questions are at the back of our minds already. They may even drive our interest in reading the story. But regardless, we only need that one hook: Luke fakes his death. That’s enough.

So we’ve established that you create a simple, powerful plot; and from there, what you do is essentially to good storytelling. You put the characters first. You allow them to drive the plot, instead of the other way around; and that, in the end, is what makes it so addicting to read. Luke’s selflessness is what motivates the plot point of him being captured by Black Sun. Leia’s love for her brother is what drives her to travel to Dagobah. Darth Vader’s twisted love for Luke and desire to get revenge motivates him to follow Leia to Dagobah, which in turn leads father and daughter to learn the truth of their relationship…and so on and so forth. Character motivates plot, at every turn; and yet, simultaneously, the plot is never forgotten. It is never “loose,” to use the term; the plotting is tight, leaving no room for plotholes, and yet there are none. (Much as I love the story, I did look for them.) Character and plot are woven together seamlessly, keeping us attached to the story and begging you to know what happens next.

Following on the first point, Missing And Presumed Dead uses this intermingling of character and plot to create intense conflict and tension. Seriously. I’ve read the comments, and everyone–including me–is BEGGING for another update as soon as the chapter is finished. That’s a sign of great writing! As the “guru of screenwriting,” Syd Field, says in his now-famous book on screenwriting, “drama is conflict.” And you sure love your drama. But there are two kinds of conflict that this creates; for the sake of this paragraph, we’ll focus on Darth Vader’s character. In the Hero’s Journey, there are two types of conflicts: internal and external, both different forces working on the character. The external forces are the easiest to create; they’re in the plot. Some of the external forces, for example, are Luke’s apparent death and learning that Leia is his daughter. But what drives him to take action in first trying to get revenge for Luke’s death, and then in finding Luke, are the internal forces. For this story, those are as follows: his guilt–over what happened at Bespin, and over what he did to Leia before he knew she was his daughter–his love for Padme, turned into intense self-loathing, a desire to keep his children from this fate, and finally, his conflicting duties as Sith and father. Eventually, these external and internal forces lead him to express to Luke that he cares about him, in one of the best scenes of the story, which moves the plot forward yet again.

And this leads into my last point, which has to do with the Star Wars characters themselves. What George Lucas wanted to do, in the 1970s, was created a fun adventure film based on serials he’d loved as a kid. And, on the outside, that’s what it looked like. Star Wars looked like a “kid’s thing,” which has led people to dismiss it as such; however, that is far from the truth. Lucas made it for kids; but he also poured themes of psychology and philosophy, stories from myths and universal truths that we all believe, into the story, so that when the same children who watched it in the ‘70s grew up, they suddenly saw those deeper themes, and loved Star Wars even more. This is, no doubt, why so many of us are writing Star Wars fanfiction…but I digress. You have an incredibly deep understanding of these characters, and the philosophy behind them; and THAT is the reason why we’ve kept reading this story, and why it’s grown in popularity.

Let me give you an example. Sigmund Freud, a psychologist in the early 20th century, invented a rather disgusting theory of the relationship between parent and child(namely, father and son because people were sexist back then): that a man’s deep, unconscious desire is to marry his mother and kill his father. It is called the Oedipus Complex, because those two disgusting things are in fact the plot of the ancient Greek story, “Oedipus Rex.” This, Freud claims, is the reason behind the rivalry that exists between a father and his son. Lucas, in the Original Trilogy, at first seems to comply with that; Luke’s greatest enemy was his father, in both a physical and a psychological sense. No doubt any young men who’d been forced by their dads to fight in Vietnam felt vindicated. But then, in the following film, Lucas flipped that idea on its head; the goal of the son, he says, is not to kill his father, but to reconcile with him. At the beginning of Return Of The Jedi, Luke has a need–this is another of those internal forces–to find humanity in his father, because that will mean there is humanity in him as well. It’s like in Lord Of The Rings; Frodo decides to try to redeem Gollum because it will mean that when the Ring is destroyed he, too, can come back.

And you play this out spectacularly. At the beginning of your story, Luke is terrified of Vader, horrified by him; but there is an unconscious need to know that his father is a good person, and more importantly, that he cares about him. So soon after ESB, however, he is tormented by memories of Bespin and ruled by fear; so, even when he is injured beyond belief he still believes that Vader is a terrible person, and rightly so, because Vader has given him no reason to believe otherwise. This ties into Vader’s character; as said before, he struggles with his duty as a Sith and his duty as a father. Essentially, it is the struggle between remaining controlled and becoming free, which is the belief of one philosophy of determinism; we are unfree, our choices determined by everything else, until the motives change and we are aware that we are being controlled. Vader, due to his characteristic stubbornness and self-loathing, does not believe he can become free; he only makes further demands of Luke, trying to tell him that he loves him, yet the words do not quite come out. But thanks to Vader’s relationship with Leia–which, by the way, is a fantastic subplot I did not in the least expect when I started reading this last October, as it delves into a relationship less explored in fanfiction–Vader is eventually able to “stop being a Sith for five minutes” and really talk to Luke. I think I mentioned this moment before, but it is beautiful; it is the moment when both Vader’s and Luke’s arcs reach their full crescendo. Luke learns that his father loves him, as he has unconsciously hoped for the whole time; and Vader learns to put aside fear and Palpatine’s influence and become a father. It made me cry, and it’s a moment built on everything I’ve mentioned thus far: your interweaving of character and plot, the dramatic tension of the story, and the way you stay true to the Star Wars characters. This specific dynamic between them inspired their dynamic in my own story, Family Finds A Way, that Luke and Vader both need these things from one another, they both need to become son and father, but have no way of expressing it because they know nothing about one another.

I believe Kierkegaard said it best: “In ethical terms, Abraham’s relation to Isaac is quite simply this: the father shall love the son more than himself.” This ethical duty is what Vader achieves; and, in turn, begins to improve on his relationships with both Luke and Leia(though he still has a long way to go).

I wish I could say more about this story; I want to say more about how you nail Leia’s character more than I’ve seen before, how you weave Han into the story in a way that is both dramatic and hilarious, how absolutely funny some of the lines are, how human the characters act. But I think I’ve said all this to you on Discord to you or in the comment section; and I wanted to touch on how this is not just fanfiction, what you’ve written. This is art, and I hope you know that it has helped all of us a lot, especially in these trying times, with the coronavirus and all.

So, maybe that was waay too long, but I am not ashamed! I’ve wanted to do a meta analysis of this story for the longest time, and since I’m not on Tumblr, this is the only way I could do it.

Looking forward to the next chapter, and hoping Vader finally manages to find Luke!

-HeartOfStars

[starsandthedyad]

I mean lets face it. Rey is physically fit and very strong (physically, spiritually, and in the Force). She also has brains.

I’ve seen posts about the women’s strength shown in films and tv shows several times. There are different kinds of strength that women have and unfortunately, there is still so much sexism that as soon as a female character is shown to display some strength some sexist audience members are against it or the film makers have to balance it out.

Like here:

Leia Organa in Episode IV is strong woman who uses her voice and knows how to use a blaster. She was soften for Episode V and VI because people (I’m guessing mostly male audience members) were like “she’s a woman. She can’t hold her own.” Whatever you think of George Lucas (I think he’s good. He’s not perfect but none of us) I’ll give him credit for attempting in the late 1970′s to have a strong female character who could hold her own and didn’t really need rescuing. I will say that I do like in the sequel trilogy they were like “she’s still strong. She’s a princess and a general and by the way totally trained to be a Jedi and was probably just as good as Luke but she sacrificed her training to save her son”, which demonstrates a maternal strength.

Padme Amidala - she’s strong with her voice and yes knows how to use a blaster. Her strength is in her ability to try and use the political system to do good for all people of the galaxy, not just her own planet. Though personally I think there was too much emphasis on what she was wearing to highlight her beauty. But honestly that’s a problem people have towards female politicians in real life. Like it’s focused on what they’re wearing instead of their policies, which is sexism. However, I will give it a pass because apparently her outfits were built for defensive purposes.

Rose Tico - she is one of my favorite characters because out of all the Star Wars characters, she’s probably the one I’m the most like in real life. Honestly, her not have a lot of screen time in tros was Disney playing into the bullying against Kelly Marie Tran, which sucks. Do I think the whole Canto Bight storyline could have been better? Of course, I do. She could have been an intelligent spy in the First Order helping the Resistance or something. Or even better, the student that managed to escape being killed by Kylo Ren and helps Rey. Also, Rey and her are besties in my mind. Anyway, Rose is strong because instead of letting her sister’s death weaken her, she uses it to become strong and help. She’s strong in her intelligence and I love her.

Ahsoka Tano - she’s strong in obviously her Force sensitivity, making her physically strong, but she also has a strong spirit. She went through a lot that would have crushed anyone but she still goes on. I also admire that she’ll stand up for herself and let her voice be known when she doesn’t agree with something.

That’s just to name a few of the more well known and fleshed out female Star Wars characters. Obviously, there’s Breha Organa, Jannah, Zorri Bliss, Beru Whitesun Lars (who I’m fleshing out in my own canon divergent way), Shara Bey, several Jedi Masters, Shmi Skywalker (who exemplifies maternal strength), Connix, numerous members of the Resistance, Mon Mothma (why can no one get her character right and also make her seem cold and bitchy just because she’s a woman in power), Padme’s handmaidens, etc.

[onceuponmystory]

I Have Finally Found Peace With The Rise of Skywalker

And it's all thanks to my crazy, wonderful, just-as-obsessed-with-Star-Wars-as-I-am best friends.

But before I tell you how we did it, I have to give you guys two rather important warnings concerning this post. 

First and foremost, please beware that there will be MAJOR SPOILERS for The Rise of Skywalker in this post. If you haven't seen the movie, proceed at your own risk, and don't say I didn't warn you.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, this post is quite critical of the movie. I examine in detail everything I thought was bad about The Rise of Skywalker, and give my opinion on how it could have been done better.

But that doesn't mean this is a negative post - in fact, I hope to achieve quite the opposite. With the help of my friends, I realised that the best way to make your peace with The Rise of Skywalker is to talk through it and play Teacher With A Red Pen on the parts you didn't like.

I have to warn you that I tend to get a little carried away playing Teacher With A Red Pen. There's just so much to say about this movie... But if you're up to reading an insanely long post, I really think it'll be worth your while. 

Now, since this is a free era, we are all entitled to our own opinions, and this is mine. You are perfectly welcome to disagree with me, just please do it politely. And with that out of the way, let's jump right in, shall we? 

First Things First: Ben Solo's Death

I think one of the biggest WHY??? moments in the entire movie was Ben Solo's sacrifice and death. I'll say it now - I hated that twist, absolutely hated it. And not just because I'm a huge fan of Reylo, either. 

To start, it's predictable, the exact mirror of the Darth Vader sacrifice/death scene from Return of the Jedi. And while it worked for Darth Vader, doing it again with Ben was not only cliché and repetitive, but also a slap in the face to the character.

Because Ben Solo deserved better. He really, really did.

Kylo Ren/Ben Solo was from the start a very conflicted character - the son of two of the galaxy's greatest heroes, and the nephew of the last Jedi, manipulated from birth by Emperor Palpatine. Yes, he did terrible things, but he also had terrible things done to him. At the very least, he deserved the chance to atone for some of those terrible things.

While we're talking about slaps in the face, Ben dying made the deaths of Han, Luke and Leia mean so much less. All three of those people gave their lives so that their son (nephew, in Luke's case) would turn back to the light. Especially Leia - she literally used the last of her energy to reach out to her son and turn him back. Killing Ben off makes her sacrifice almost meaningless - didn't she die so he would be able to live a better life? 

And my last point about the Massive Unfairness of Ben's Death has to do with Rey. She and Ben love each other, don't they? They are literally described as "two of us who are one" - which is about as close as we're going to get to soulmates in Star Wars. With Ben's death, Rey lost half of who she is - not to mention the man she loved.

George Lucas once said, and I quote, that "I have always hated that in movies, when you go along and one of the main characters gets killed. This is a fairytale. You want everybody to live happily ever after and nothing bad happens to anybody."

So yes, maybe it's not the most perfect of arguments, but this is Star Wars. And after all these years of love and admiration, we all deserve that happy ending. 

And While We're At It: Ben Deserved A Proper Redemption Arc

I know I've just spent a long time ranting about why Ben deserved better, but I'm not quite done yet. Because yes, Ben absolutely deserved better - and most of all, he deserved a proper redemption.

Now, I don't know how many of you have seen Avatar The Last Airbender, but that show contains a prime example of a really good redemption arc. It's not simple, and it's not at all easy, but it's worth it.

In ATLA, Fire Prince Zuko starts off as the villain of the series, but ends up seeing that the way he was raised was wrong. He decides to make amends by joining his former enemy, Avatar Aang, and helping him save the world.

But what makes it really good is that it's not easy for Zuko. He struggles, he genuinely does, and he has to really work to earn the trust of the people who used to be his enemies. And time-consuming and difficult as it was, it ultimately ended up being worth it a thousand times over.

That, my friends, is a redemption arc. It takes time, and work, and real atonement. More than anything, I wanted to see that for Ben. I wanted him to struggle, and be distrusted, and hate himself, because that is the only way he can really redeem himself - by rising above all that and saying, "I was wrong, I'm sorry, and I'll take whatever punishment you want to give me, because I really want to change."

Death is taking the easy way out - in fact, it's lazy writing. Ben didn't have to die - his whole story, which is already so defined by struggle and conflict, would have been far more meaningful if he had had a final struggle, this time to prove that he really had changed. 

Unfortunately, the writers chose to take the cliché easy way out, killing off the character instead of giving him a much deeper, more meaningful ending.

If there was one thing - just one thing - I could change about The Rise of Skywalker, it would be that. I would give Ben the chance to properly redeem himself, because he really, truly deserves it.

Moving On: Rose Tico

With the Ben arc out of the way, I can move on to the next biggest issue I had with The Rise of Skywalker - and that's the horrible sidelining of one of my favourite characters from The Last Jedi, Rose Tico.

Now, I get that not everyone liked Rose's character - and that's fine. But there was no reason - none at all - for basically removing Rose, who played quite a significant role in The Last Jedi, from the new movie. Additionally, given all the racist and sexist harassment that Kelly Marie Tran suffered at the hands of malcontent fans, cutting Rose from the film almost seems like caving to those trolls.

And that is not acceptable. If you let a bully have his way, stopping him becomes near impossible. So even if it was just to show the trolls that bullying will not get you what you want, Rose Tico deserved a bigger role.

What bigger role, you may ask? Many people have said, and I grudgingly agree, that there wasn't really space for Rose to go along on the whole wayfinder quest. All right, fine. But sidelining her completely is not the right course of action. If you can't take her along on the main quest, then give her a significant sub-plot, for example joining Lando to call for aid for the Resistance.

Remember, Rose Tico was the person who turned Finn from an ex-stormtrooper more than ready to desert the Resistance into a loyal fighter for the cause he believes in - to such an extent that he was willing to sacrifice his own life for the survival of the Resistance. If there's anyone who could give the galaxy enough hope again to send help to the Resistance, it's Rose Tico.

Oh, and some more Finnrose would have been nice. You don't have to agree with me - I know many of you don't - but you have to admit that Finn and Rose definitely had some sort of a bond forged in The Last Jedi, even if it was just a platonic one. Basically ignoring that like they did in The Rise of Skywalker is just bad writing.

So I'm not saying that Rose needed to be the main star of the show - that would have been unrealistic, after all. But I do think, and I will stand by this opinion no matter what, that Rose deserved a lot better than what she got.

And On That Track: Jannah Was An Unnecessary Character

Don't get me wrong, I love Naomi Ackie, and I appreciate that Star Wars is trying to incorporate a more diverse cast. But despite it all, I just couldn't bring myself to like Jannah's character, or see why she was actually necessary.

See, if you take out Jannah, nothing much changes. Yes, it was nice for Finn to have someone to talk and relate to, but it wasn't necessary. We already know that Finn was a stormtrooper, just like we already know he left it behind him.

Also, Finn already had a female character he had a significant bond to - none other than Rose Tico from my previous rant. Why force in an all-new potential love interest at the last minute when you already have one with far more development? Not only could Rose have conceivably replaced Jannah in pretty much every scene, she also has a lot more development and history with Finn than Jannah does, which would have made their interactions that much more meaningful. 

And as for the attack on Pryde's Destroyer with the Orbaks (and no, I didn't know that's what those cow things were called, either, until I Googled it a few seconds ago) - that was a nice touch, but there's a simple way it could have been much better. Instead of introducing an all-new character and cow things with a name no-one knew unless they looked it up on Wookieepedia, bring back the fathiers from Canto Bight and that little Force-sensitive kid with the broom from The Last Jedi.

At this point, some of you may be wondering why I'm not attacking Zorii Bliss as well - isn't she also a brand-new character with very little real development? The answer to that is yes, she is, but she gives Poe Dameron some much-needed backstory. If you cut Zorii, Poe has no significant backstory, which means that she was actually important to the plot. (Also, Keri Russell is awesome, and has stunning eyes. Enough said.) 

So I'm sorry, Naomi Ackie, but I really wish that Jannah <i>wasn't</i> in The Rise of Skywalker. She's just there for too short to have any real development, and I'd rather use the time I gain from cutting her to focus on Rose and the actual plot.

While I'm Talking About The Plot: What On Earth Happened? Is Star Wars A Video Game, Now?

Ah, yes. Another big issue with The Rise of Skywalker is its rather disappointing lack of actual plot.

I'm sure some of you are frowning quite heavily at me right now, so let me backtrack a little and explain.

Upon first watching, The Rise of Skywalker seems like quite a good movie, really. (Except the ending, of course - but We Do Not Talk About The Ending.) It's only when you re-watch the movie that you realise that there is, in fact, very little really significant plot there.

To put it simply, a large part of the movie is a group of characters going to a Place to find a Thing that will help them find another Thing that will take them to another Place where they will save the world. Does this sound like a video game to anyone?

The thing with this kind of plot is that it works well the first time, when you don't know what's going to happen, and when the lack of plot can be hidden by dramatic explosions and cool fight scenes. Oh, and flying stormtroopers.

This is Star Wars, so there just has to be some explosions, as well as a quest of some kind. I don't deny that. But when said quest and explosions fill the story to such a degree that they become the plot, you're in cinematic trouble.

This is pretty much proven when you re-watch The Rise of Skywalker. Where the heroic quest and explosions and jetpack-sporting stormtroopers had you at the edge of your seat last time, now that you know what's coming, you start to see that very little actually happens in these scenes. Sure, they look cool, but they don't really affect the overall movement of the story in a significant way.

And that's a problem, given that most of the movie consists of scenes like these, or exposition. There are precious few scenes in which two or more characters have meaningful development in a way that will continue to affect them and the plot. This, unfortunately, means that the movie falls flat a bit when you watch it for the second time.

How would I change this?

Well, for starters, I would focus less on the actual hunt for the dagger and the wayfinder and whatever and more on the characters. How do they feel? Why do they feel it? And most importantly, how does this affect what happens to the rest of the characters and the plot?

Also, like I said before, more attention has to be given to a) Ben's redemption and b) an interesting sub-plot for Rose. And you know what? The lightsaber fight scenes could have been a lot cooler, as well.

Some More Complaining About The Plot: This Time, It's Plot Holes

Where to start, where to start. All movies have a plot hole of some kind, it's only natural, but The Rise of Skywalker is simply riddled with them.

Of course, this can be attributed to the lack of plot as explained in the previous rant. Since there is so little time spent actually developing the plot, it just stands to reason that said plot isn't the most watertight.

It's sort of spectacular, though, how quickly the first plot hole pops up. It must be just five minutes into the script - you guessed it, on Exegol.

Not only was the Emperor's resurrection never properly explained, but we also have about a thousand creepy Sith guys who are just suddenly there when needed for plot purposes. Who are they? Where did they come from? How did we not know about them before?

The Rise of Skywalker doesn't even try to answer any of these questions. It just gets glossed over in a classic example of How To Write A Glaring Plot Hole.

And while we're talking about Palpatine, let's take a look at his lackey-in-chief, Allegiant General Pryde, who oh-so-dramatically declares that he serves Palpatine "as I served you in the old wars."

Wait a minute. The old wars? As in the Return of the Jedi wars? Well then why on earth haven't we heard of Pryde before?

Sure, maybe he wasn't a major enough character to show in the original trilogy. But if he was such a faithful servant of Palpatine's, shouldn't he at least have made some kind of cameo in The Last Jedi or The Force Awakens? That would also have been some nice foreshadowing for the Emperor's return. 

Also, when and how did Rey fix Anakin's lightsaber? As I recall, at the end of The Last Jedi, it snapped in half. But when we skip to Rey in The Rise of Skywalker, it's perfectly whole again, with not a hint of explanation on the horizon.

Yes, maybe this isn't the biggest plot hole, but it's annoying. At least just have someone mention in passing "Oh well done Rey, you finished fixing the lightsaber" so it's not quite so out of the blue. 

And there's more. When Rey and Kylo have their big fight on Kef Bir, Rey quite clearly takes Kylo's TIE fighter. Since the Falcon most definitely did not stop by for him, how did Ben get off Kef Bir? 

This is never explained. He just pitches up on Exegol, and immediately starts fighting the Knights of Ren so you forget about wondering how he got there in the first place.

Can I just say the Knights of Ren were a disappointment? I was hoping for a lot more... anything, actually. They did pretty much nothing except look menacing for the entirety of the movie, unless you count getting thoroughly beaten by Ben on Exegol. 

I've probably missed another plot hole or seven, but I think I've had enough for the moment. You can only pull faces for so long, after all. I'm moving on.

  Last Thing: Too Much Fan Service

Picking up from where I left off - bad plot - I'll start by breaking a few hearts and saying that I thought Chewie should have died.

Wait, wait, don't run away screaming "Traitor!" like that! Dead Chewie would have been absolutely heart-breaking, I know, but it would have made for a really good plot point.

Rey thought she killed Chewie, and that quite understandably broke her heart. But then she finds out, oh no, wait, he's actually alive, there was another transport in the desert, ha ha, don't worry, fans. 

While that satisfies fans, looking at it critically, it would have been better to really kill Chewie. Very sad, yes, but better.

Let me explain. If Rey killed Chewie, really killed him, she would have been devastated. Being Rey, she probably would have isolated herself so she wouldn't accidentally hurt anyone else. She would have grieved, and her friends would have had to really work to comfort her and get her to trust herself again. This experience would have left Rey that much sadder and wiser, but stronger because of it.

This can be summed up quite simply: sad moments make the happy moments mean that much more.

But unfortunately for Rey's character development, Chewie is not really dead. The fans might be happy that they didn't lose a beloved character, but what they don't realise is that they lost a significant character progression instead.

And, sadly, this is not the only spot where the movie indulges its fans rather than a deeper plot.

For example, Rey buries Luke and Leia's lightsabers on Tattooine, and we fans get a warm tingly feeling in our stomachs because yay, we've come full circle.

But have we?

Tattooine holds nothing but bad memories for the Skywalker twins - Luke spent his entire life trying to get off the planet, and that homestead holds only bad memories for him. Easy as it is to forget, the last time Luke saw that homestead was when his aunt and uncle had been brutally murdered there. I somehow can't imagine that's where he would want his lightsaber buried - that's the equivalent of burying Harry Potter's wand at Number Four Privet Drive, for crying out loud. 

The same can be said for Leia. Her one experience of Tattooine was the infamous gold bikini scene with Jabba the Hutt - totally the place where she'd want to have her lightsaber, her legacy, buried, hmm?

My conclusion is that the "hopeful and uplifting" Tattooine ending scene is really only that way if you don't think too hard about it. Pure fan service, in other words.

Which is sad, if you consider the ending we could have had. We could have had Rey burying the lightsabers on Naboo, because that's where her grandfather came from, to symbolise that she really was leaving the past behind.

And if you have to be fan service-y, at least do it in the right way. Give Rey and Ben their happy ending, because as George Lucas puts it, having the boy and the girl walk into the sunset hand-in-hand adds ten million to the box office. (And a sunset across Naboo's seas would look very pretty, wouldn't it?)

In Conclusion: TROS Being So Bad Is Actually A Good Thing, Because Now We Get To Fix It The Way We Want

Take a moment to consider that. If The Rise of Skywalker was so bad that we no longer consider it canon, well, that means we can invent our own canon, doesn't it?

This is how I made my peace with The Rise of Skywalker - by accepting that the movie Disney gave us needed some severe changes, and applying them in my head. You won't believe how much better I feel now that I have "my" version of The Rise of Skywalker accepted as canon in my head.

That's my message to you all: if TROS has upset you as much as it did me, don't try to deny it to yourself. Gather a group of good friends around you and have a The Rise of Skywalker fix-it session, and talk it out until you've made the movie into what you want to see.

We are the fans, my friends, and we deserve the movie that we want to see. So get out there and make it for yourselves!

[youremyonlyhope]

The Last Jedi

Here we go. The most controversial Star Wars movie ever (unless Rise of Skywalker has reviews that are just as mixed. I haven’t read any so I don’t know how it’s been received yet.) I actually really really enjoyed the Last Jedi, but I haven’t rewatched it since I saw it in theaters.

Also, unrelated, but literally just a few hours ago I met Oscar Isaac. I was doing a caroling event where I work, and he came by with his son to watch. During one of our breaks, he asked if his son could try the microphone and he held him up so he could whisper and sing stuff into the mic. It was adorable.

I seemed to be the only person who recognized who he was, though one of my co-workers said he had thought so too but he wasn’t sure until I confirmed it. So I went up to Oscar and said hi, asked if he was Oscar Isaac, shook his hand, and thanked him for coming. He says that it was great and that his son loves to sing.

I always joked that I’d bump into Oscar one day since he lives in Brooklyn, but I didn’t think it’d actually happen. And not while I’m wearing a Star Wars shirt and Star Wars socks (which he obviously couldn’t see since I was bundled up in a coat and a scarf and boots but whatever). And definitely not the day before I’m supposed to see the Rise of Skywalker.

I’m still freaking out oh my god. Ok. Time to rewatch the Last Jedi.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... This was the first Star Wars movie I’d seen in theaters in like 12 years at this point. Seeing those words on a giant screen again was amazing. “Certain that Jedi Master Luke Skywalker will return and restore a spark of hope to the fight.” I love that line. I love any and all comparisons of Luke to hope. Yes I am biased. But also, restoring the spark is exactly he does in the end so yes, I love it. It’s just now hitting me that we’re picking up exactly where we left off. Having 1 night between the two movies is every different than having 2 years. ...Was that whatsherface from Game of Thrones, Catelyn’s creepy sister? (IMDB says yes) *BB8 beeps* “Happy beats here buddy, come on.” BB8 sort of said the thing! Also, OH MY GOD I JUST MET OSCAR ISAAC AND NOW HERE HE IS ON MY SCREEN WHAT THE HELL. Was today even real? Oh General Hugs. “Skinny guy. Kinda pasty.” Knowing Oscar and Domnhall are friends makes this better. Oh BB8. Very honorable of Billie Lourd’s Lieutenant Connix to make sure she’s in the last ship leaving the base so everyone else leaves before her. I forgot about the chain reaction of bombs destroying their own Resistance ships... You know, Paige dying while dropping the last of the bombs was already emotional. Rewatching it after you know she’s Rose’s sister makes it worse. First Binary Sunset of the movie. General Hugs has a very good upset face that makes me not feel bad for him at all. More like I want to punch him. Snoke can use the Force across the galaxy... forgot about that. I realized I didn’t mention this in the last one, but I remember the crew complaining that when they filmed the end of Force Awakens it was a cloudy day, but then when they went back to the island for TLJ it was super sunny. And now that it’s been pointed out, I noticed it immediately. Luke throwing the lightsaber. I can’t remember if I was spoiled for this but I feel like when I watched it, I wasn’t that thrown off by it. Something else I didn’t mention at the end of Force Awakens is that I LOVE this set. The stone houses are amazing. Oh porgs. Also, that porg looking into the lightsaber always gives me anxiety. The first words we hear Luke say in 40 years are an annoyed “Go away.” which at least is less whiney than the Tosche Station. Oh Chewie’s like “DUDE. WE NEED YOU.” “Wait... where’s Han?” Awww. Throwing in a little Vader’s theme in there. More temper tantrums. People getting mad at Luke calling a lightsaber a laser sword (in a purposefully mocking way) even though George Lucas himself called them that in some interviews. Yes, it’s not a laser sword, but Luke is trying to show how ridiculous he thinks the idea of him taking down everything is by calling a lightsaber that. I remember being like “Luke... no let’s not just milk that thing... oh ew” I do love the shot of Luke using the giant stick to cross to the other cliff and kill the fish. God that’s a steep hill. “No one’s from nowhere.” “Jakku.” “Alright that is pretty much nowhere.” That’s funny. “It’s time for the Jedi to end.” Remember when that line in the trailer made the fandom literally break down? I love knowing that behind the scenes, Carrie had to slap Oscar a billion times. Also, I do not blame Leia at all. So many people were mad about Leia and Holdo demoting Poe, but Poe was too fearless in that moment. Yes, he destroyed the ship and it worked out, but they lost so many people and they already didn’t have many to begin with. It was worth it, but at a very high cost. So I don’t blame her. Heyyyyyy it’s that girl from that Black Mirror episode and what was that other show? Chewing Gum or something? (IMDB says yes it’s Michaela Coel) See and Poe’s already learning a little by asking permission. Of course... later on he doesn’t ask permission... but whatever. Leia’s Theme... causing me pain. Oh, Kylo didn’t kill his mom. We’re supposed to be happy about that? The bar is on the ground. The utter horror I felt the first time the control room was destroyed and Leia was pulled into space. Oh I love the moment when Leia flies in. Because I’d heard that in the books and comics, we get to explore Leia’s Force abilities and stuff but we don’t get it in the movies besides “I feel that Luke’s in trouble.” Which sucks, because she is the “other” if Luke didn’t work out, so she’s just as strong as Luke if she got trained. They should have just trained both kids honestly, why did they pick the boy? Not saying Obi-Wan and Yoda are sexist... but they’re probably sexist. Also, foreshadowing. I actually noticed the hologram of the ship and Leia flying through this time. Oh Chewie. I like the porg that literally has his jaw dropped in horror. Knowing now that the dice were kind of a symbol of Kira (was that Emilia Clarke’s character?) and Han’s relationship makes me not like them as much. Still, cute throwback that they’re still on the Falcon. We can just ignore they weren’t there in Force Awakens (I kept an eye out and didn’t see them) The way Luke laughed when he said “R2!” I just... my heart. “Nothing can make me change my mind” *R2 plays the Leia hologram* I literally just went “AWWWW” out loud because I forgot that that’s why R2 started playing it. Oh my heart. That hurt the first time. Luke standing over Rey, but offering to help her. Parallels. Oh Admiral Ackbar. I love Holdo’s dress. I love the draping. Someone teach me how to make it. “Thank you for making me aware.” Yeah Poe, she already knows. Stop mansplaining. This is literally a case of mansplaining, why would Poe think he’d have to explain to a commander that there’s no fuel? Yeah it’s a little harsh, but is Holdo wrong? All of these fanboys complain about Canto Bight, but forget that it was Poe’s idea. Then they go and say Holdo was too mean should have put Poe in charge. Guys. Poe’s impulsive. We love him, but he’s the ultimate Gryffindor with no fear and will just do anything without considering consequences. I do wish Holdo had been more open like “I have a plan. You don’t need to know all the parts of it. Just let me do what I need to, ok?” instead of “Just follow my orders.” but still. Oh poor Rose. “Doing talking....” Oh she’s so cute. “I’ve had to stun 3 people trying to use this escape pod.” We love a girl who can fight. Yeah. Once again. Not mad at Rose. Finn does have some selfish tendencies, he’s well meaning but ultimately selfish (or at least, only thinking of Rey). So I do not blame Rose for stunning him.

And now I will take a nap since I have to go to a show tonight. And then I will finish the last 3/4-ish of the movie when I get home later.

Annnnd I’m back!

See. Rose has good reason to be mad at deserters. Ok so it wasn’t Poe’s idea to go to the Star Destroyer it was Finn’s. I will give him that. But still Poe went along with it. “That... wasn’t exactly my...” Oh 3PO. I wish Maz had had a bigger scene. More Lupita please. I have one question: from what angle is this hologram filmed? And how does the camera follow her? I guess it’s multiple hologram cameras, but still, it followed her as she rolled and ran around. Also, did Finn call Maz or did Poe call her? Because as far as we know, only Finn knows her. It seemed like they both had the idea to call her, but that Poe had it first. Did Finn tell Poe about Maz? I’m glad they showed Finn handing Poe the binary tracker thing, since for a second I was like “What if Rey had popped up next to Finn on the Star Destroyer?” I’m glad Rey’s first instinct is to shoot Kylo. “Can you see my surroundings?” “You’re gonna pay for what you did.” “I can’t see yours.” Why do I remember that line so vividly? Why does it make me feel so unsettled? Rey, my sweet Rey, I wish you had just told Luke that you saw Kylo. I love Luke’s explanation of the Force. And him messing with Rey was funny. I love when Rey’s reaching out and feeling life, death, peace, violence, etc. And I love Luke saying the Force doesn’t belong to the Jedi, because it doesn’t. The Jedi failed years ago. “You didn’t even try to stop yourself.” Luke’s horrified. But also, Rey’s just like an extreme version of Luke. Yoda knew that Luke’s emotions could make him vulnerable to the dark side, Rey’s already vulnerable. Yeah, I don’t blame Luke for being scared of Rey after he feels like this is Ben all over again. Oh my god. I love the porg that has a metal piece over its head. That actually made me laugh out loud. Poor Chewie.

I just had to refresh tumblr because my draft wasn’t saving. It brought me back to my dashboard. Where there was a spoiler for the new movie and it wasn’t tagged. PLEASE tag your spoilers people.

The water hitting Kylo still confuses me. Say what you will about the Canto Bight plot... the costumes are AMAZING. The costumes literally make the whole side plot worth it to me. Literally I was just in awe by all the costumes during every single scene. And the set! The set’s fantastic too! I literally just paused every single second to take in all of the costumes. Do I care if the Canto Bight trip ended up pointless? Nope! Because it gave me some of Star Wars’ best costumes. Oh... to be an extra in the Canto Bight scene... Just show up... And put on a beautiful outfit... And do nothing else but pretend to drink, talk, and gamble... That’s the dream. Oh hi Mark Hamill! That was cute that they let him voice that little thing. I remember noticing the thing and being like “...is he important?” and nope, it’s just Mark doing an extra voice. Oh I love the Fathiers. Aww and it’s the little Force sensitive boy. I have thoughts about that kid that I can get into later. The way BB8 jingles with the coins. I love it.

Rey: *Does a move with her stick* Rey: *Does the same exact move with the lightsaber* Fanboys: She’s too good too fast! Mary Sue!

As I said throughout all of the Force Awakens, she’s just applying the skills she already had. If anything, a lightsaber’s easier since it’s half the length and she doesn’t have to worry about the back of it hitting her. LOL, remember when we thought this shot was an epic shot of Luke training her? Good times. Oh that poor fish nun. Everything Luke says about the Jedi is true (also did I not say they failed earlier in the post? Luke agrees with me). Rey’s right that a Jedi got Ani to come back from the dark side, but the Jedi’s system enabled him to turn in the first place. Soooooo yeah. Oh Luke. Don’t blame yourself. Kylo was already basically gone. Sure, seeing his uncle standing over him with a lightsaber definitely didn’t help... but it’s not the only thing that made him turn. Who is this captain of the medical ship? He looks familiar. (IMDB says he’s Danny Sapani. I probably recognized him from the Crown) Oh BB8. Finn, did you learn nothing from Rey? Put the cover back on the vent! Awww the Fathiers have such sad eyes... I love the Resistance ring. Can I buy one? Ok. The shot of the bubble egg lady singing felt like it was much longer the first time, but it’s really only a split second. I. LOVE. THE. CANTO. BIGHT. SET. I know it’s a real town in like Italy or somewhere near the Mediterranean. I want to go. I love it. I love that the first thing Luke does when he decides to use the Force again is to seek out Leia. Oh poor Adam became a meme after this. He just has a very wide and bulky body, ok? God Luke looks so scary in Kylo’s flashback. “Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.” That reflection scene is so visually stunning. So in a way, it’s like Luke is failing Rey like he failed Ben. He’s not helping her in the way she needs, so she’s being lured by the dark side instead. I love the walls falling around Luke. “Did you do it? Did you create Kylo Ren?” Rey, he already told you earlier that he believes it’s his fault, so the answer from him is yes. I can’t remember if we hear this story of Luke and Kylo one more time after this or not. “Then he’s our last hope.” Ok ew. No. Kylo is not allowed to be compared to hope. Only Luke, Leia, or Obi-Wan can be. Oh for a second I thought that torch was a lightsaber. YODA!!!!! I think I had been spoiled for Yoda showing up. It was definitely still exciting though. “The sacred Jedi texts!” Oh Luke. Oh memes. Not as whiney as I remembered. “But that library contained nothing that the girl Rey does not already possess.” Because Yoda knows she stole the books. Oh Yoda. I love Yoda. Oh Rose. Ok, so I will give it to Poe that at this moment it doesn’t seem like Holdo has a good plan. Abandoning ship isn’t necessarily cowardly, but on the surface it does seem like it puts them in more danger. Literally earlier today I watched a video about the layout of the Millennium Falcon, and the escape pods were mentioned. And I thought to myself, wow that must be something from the novels since we’ve definitely never seen that in the movies. Welp... I was wrong... Rey’s in one now. I was about to be like “Do they not care that an escape pod just docked?” before I saw Kylo. LOL the iron coming down like a ship. I feel like I remember being completely terrified when Rey stepped in front of Snoke. Oh BB8. Bumping into stuff. I remember being super relieved that DJ (has he told us this is his name yet? I can’t remember) gave back the medallion. Captain Phasma! Hey girl hey! Leia shooting Poe is still funny to me. Also Lieutenant Billie Connix is smart.  I love the scene of Holdo and Leia saying goodbye. Also, Holdo’s purple hair with her bright blue eyes is super striking. Good choice. Snoke puts down the lightsaber. Unknowingly sealing his fate. Literally when Snoke reveals he connected their minds, I was like OF COURSE. Because the whole time I’m like neither of them are strong enough to do this. “She was more interested in protecting the light than she was seeming like a hero.” See. And that’s the flaw in both Poe and Finn. And Rey to an extent. They’re thinking about the big picture, but in context of smaller things like seeming like a hero, saving Rey, saving Kylo, etc. But Holdo’s thinking of only the big picture. I knew DJ betrayed them, I just forgot how badly.

And here’s another annoyance (which I was sorta trying to touch on earlier). Everyone hates the Canto Bight plot, yet they complain about Holdo trying to take charge. If Poe just let Holdo take charge and ignored Finn and Rose’s idea, then her plan would have been a complete success. No Canto Bight, no DJ to betray them, all the transports make it to Crait unnoticed, and the First Order eventually destroys a ship that’s empty except for Holdo. They complain about Holdo, but don’t think about the fact that Holdo could have prevented another plot they hated if the main characters had just listened to her.

And then Snoke hits Rey and literally puts the lightsaber back to where it will kill him. Ok literally I just misread a caption that said “Lord Vader” as “Lord Voldemort” and I was very confused. Taking a second to say that I love this set of Snoke’s throne room. Been thinking it forever, but Kylo picking up the lightsaber off the ground and seeing the reflection in the smooth red floor is amazing. Kylo igniting the lightsaber through Snoke is amazing. Also, I typed “Ben igniting” before literally freezing for a second and being like “...ok that’s a lot to unpack” I guess when he does something good my brain thinks of him as Ben instead of Kylo. ALSO, arm #16 and #17, I love that Snoke’s arms were cut off too in true Star Wars fashion. And I am VERY excited to see this fight scene again. I told myself not to pause at all during the Kylo and Rey team up fight, but I paused literally a second into it because Binary Sunset yes.

And my idiot brother and my mom are texting in the family group chat so it’s popping up on my screen throughout this scene. Ugh.

All of these red knight weapons are so cool. And I forgot about the one that gets chopped up... Oh my god one is a sword that transforms into a whip. LOVE. IT. And I love the quick lightsaber ignite through the head. Love it. Woah how is there still 44 minutes? I remember this battle being much closer to the end. I was wondering when the red walls went away, but I rewinded and saw that they had been slowly burning away after Rey made something hit them. Nice touch.

Ugh my brother and mom will not stop texting.

“You have no place in this story.” Wow Kylo, harsh. Oh shoot I forgot about the lightsaber breaking until they started their Force tug of war with it. I’d always wondered what would happen if someone lightsped through something... I want to say that I realized what she was doing before they told us, but now I realize that they basically told us what she would do when the First Order guy said “they’re preparing to hyperspeed.” so I guess I just caught on to the obvious hints.

God that moment still gives me chills. The silence. The way it sort of goes black and white. The multiple angles. So good.

I know for a fact that I spent the rest of the movie from this point on with my hands over my mouth in a constant stake of shock/fear/anxiety. Oh BB8. Some people thought this was ridiculous. But I had just spent the last few months rewatching the prequels before seeing this, and compared to the stuff R2 does, BB8 clumsily controlling a walker is nothing. Oh how I love Gwendoline Christie. I FORGOT THAT WE SAW HER EYE IN THE MASK. I hope Phasma survived. She’s so awesome. Ok my quality is like horrendous right now so I’m gonna refresh. LOL I FORGOT ABOUT GENERAL HUGS NEARLY ATTEMPTING TO KILL KYLO. Oh I forgot how much I love Crait as a set location. OH AND THE ICE DOG THINGS! LOVE THEM! Poe petting BB8 when he comes back kills me. I like those space age two person laptops. “People believe in Leia.” *Binary Sunset plays* My heart. Ok for a second I was like “This first person camera is like a war movie” and then it turns and we see the trench and I’m like “...ok... ok fine but that was very literal.” The red footsteps. Just... guys this set is so AMAZING. Ugh, these red streaks of dust behind them are so amazing. And when Finn passes in front of the camera, it gets covered in the dust and blurs part of the lens. Just like the Rathtar goo in the Force Awakens. I wonder if that’s going to be like... the thing of the sequels. One shot that has the camera lens partially covered by something. Also, I just wasted time trying to figure out if there’s an official name for that or not... oh well. The winding stripes left behind as they weave around... just... amazing. YEAH! GO CHEWIE! GO REY! Oh my god I forgot about the porg roaring. “Oh, they HATE that ship!” I’M DEAD. Look at the salt and how it forms the crystals in the trench. I love it. I FORGOT ABOUT THIS SHOT OF THE CAVE FULL OF THE RED SALT. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. I remember when the trailer had the first shot of the gorilla walkers, and I didn’t notice at first that there were normal AT-ATs next to them, and then I realized these things were twice as big as AT-ATs and I was horrified. See, and now Poe has learned that you can’t always be a hero and is making a good decision. I forgot about Finn’s speeder literally melting as he gets closer. I don’t understand the people who were mad that Rose stopped Finn. I for one was HORRIFIED at just the thought of Finn dying this way and thankful she stopped him. “That’s how we’re gonna win. Not fighting what we hate, saving what we love.” The kiss is pointless but I love the line and sentiment behind it. Oh god. Ok. Here come the emotions. Binary Sunset is playing. I was a wreck. And a little of Han and Leia’s Love Theme as she sees the dice. I remember actually noticing that in the theaters and half-sobbing. Oh god the forehead kiss. Oh and he winks at 3PO as he walks by. My heart. This is the specific shot of the gorilla walkers and the AT-ATs in a line that freaked me out. That shot of Luke standing up against all the First Order walkers and ships. Amazing. That shoulder brush though. Kylo’s so dumb, he literally just watched that lightsaber get destroyed, he HELPED destroy it. He should have known something was up, it couldn’t have been repaired that quickly. Purposeful shot of Luke’s feet not moving the salt. That Matrix back bend though. “I will have killed the last Jedi.” He said the title. Also, is that the only time it’s said? Because they say it a lot in Force Awakens but I don’t think so yet in this movie.. “And I will not be the last Jedi.” Ok so now it’s said again by Luke. Purposeful shot of Kylo’s shoe leaving a footprint as he runs to Luke. I’m pretty sure I probably shrieked when he tried to slice Luke in half.

I just now remembered that I’d actually kind of wondered if he’d be a Force projection or something when he first showed up. Because I’d just watched Return of the Jedi like a week earlier and saw Obi-Wan do it, so I wondered if Luke was doing it too. Especially when Poe said Luke was distracting the First Order. It passed my mind and was confirmed when Kylo couldn’t hit him. And here’s where I started to feel like my world was crumbling...

Oh god. My eyes are wet. It hurts. But when I watched it the first time, I really felt like my world was absolutely falling a part and ending forever while I watched Luke die. With the stupid binary sunset in front of him just like when he was a teenager and when he was a baby. One of the first things he ever saw was the binary sunset. I was like “This is beautiful, but that doesn’t mean I’m not completely in pain and dying.” That shot from above of Kylo with the stormtroopers, mirroring a shot from the prequels of Ani. Nice. So do they still have that connection even if Snoke’s dead?

HEY! Hey. Those dice were still visible to Kylo even after Luke was dead... was Leia Force projecting them to Kylo? It wouldn’t take as much work as doing it to everyone else at once from lightyears away. One person, your son, would be easier. So maybe... maybe Leia’s the one continuing the projection of the dice. I’m gonna stick with that theory thanks.

Awww BB8 asked Rey about his antenna, just like when they first met. Remember when people were like “Are Poe and Rey gonna be a thing?!?!?” and of course I’d much prefer that over Reylo thanks. The books! Somehow, that obvious shot of the books goes over so many people’s heads. So many complaints about the books getting burned, when they literally show us that Rey saved them. I had never noticed the bunks in the Millennium Falcon either until I saw that video earlier, and I’m glad I got to actually see one in use since Rose is sleeping in one.

Oh GOD the entirety of the Resistance can fit on the Millennium Falcon... that is NOT good.

I LOVE the scene of the kids retelling the story of Luke. I must have already gone in depth about this 2 years ago, but I love it. Luke became a legend in the end. He didn’t necessarily want to be one, but he’s become one. It was exactly what was in the opening scroll, he restored the spark of hope. That subtle use of the Force by that little boy. With Binary Sunset playing. And I love that last shot of him holding the broom up like a lightsaber.

I nearly forgot that they put in “In loving memory of our princess, Carrie Fisher” at the end. That’s what got me to finally cry. 40 straight minutes of covering my mouth in anxiety, then feeling like my world was crashing down around me as Luke died. Having it dedicated to Carrie made me just start sobbing so hard. Watch that happen again tomorrow.

I remember when I left the theater, at first I was like “What if the boys is Rey’s brother?!” but then... I realized that a huge point of the movie went over my head for a second there.

The fandom got so caught up in figuring out who Rey’s parents are, whether it’s Obi-Wan or Luke or Leia or even Palpatine, that they were mad when Kylo said they were no one. But like... guys... not every single Force user is related to the Skywalkers or anyone else we already know. There were hundreds of Jedi in the prequels, because anyone can be Force sensitive. Obi-Wan’s parents were nobody, Qui-Gon’s parents were nobody, Mace’s parents were nobody. They didn’t come from long lines of Force users (at least in movie lore), BECAUSE THE JEDI WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO HAVE KIDS. The Skywalkers aren’t even a long line, it’s just 3 generations at this point. So literally none of the Jedi of the past came from powerful Force users (or at least from ones who got the chance to become Jedi) since that literally goes against the code.

Luke found at least 11 other Force sensitive kids to train alongside Ben, their parents were all definitely nobodies since he’s the last Jedi. Ben is an anomaly, Luke and Leia are anomalies, the Jedi don’t have kids! The fandom got so caught up in figuring out who Rey could be related to, that they forgot that for millennia the individual Jedi were not related to anyone.

Anyone can be Force sensitive. Anyone can be a Jedi. Rey is an example of that. That little boy is an example of that. That’s why I love that the little Force sensitive boy was the final shot of the movie. He was meant to reassure and remind us after the Rey parentage reveal that anyone can end up Force sensitive. They don’t need a famous/powerful parent. They can come from anywhere and be anyone. And I love that that’s the final note of this movie.

Some people were not reassured. Some people couldn’t handle the idea that Rey’s powerful just because she’s Rey, not because she’s someone’s daughter. She HAS to be related to someone to be that powerful, right? But every Jedi before her who was just as powerful wasn’t related to anyone, so why does she have to be?

ANYWAY! I was actually worried over the last 2 years that I’d rewatch The Last Jedi and not like it as much as I did in theaters. I still like it a lot. Even the Canto Bight scenes get redeemed by the costumes and the set being so amazing. But I love the message of don’t be a hero, this is bigger than just you. And I love the message that even if you’re “nobody” from “nowhere” you could still be Force Sensitive and you could still be a Jedi. I love Luke’s send off, I love that he does end up reigniting the spark and being a beam of hope again. I love it.

And I’m excited to see the Rise of Skywalker tomorrow.

[kalbinos]

Why I don’t like the prospect of Black Ariel ?

Yes, this is how I refer to her, because that’s all she is : Disney Ariel, but black.

Disney, in their effort to make us forget about the fact that they underpaid women, decided to make a live action of the Little Mermaid, and it’ll have a poc as Ariel.

Of course, chaos follows, and as the media likes to only one point of view, I’ll use my free speech, my right as a law following citizen, to give mine, and possibly to tell others information they might miss.

1. Another live action…

Okay, this one may not be the main point, but it just add to my arguments later on.

When I heard about live action remake of the classical Disney tales, I was expecting...I guess the word is new. New things, like giving the rights of a franchise to a new director, and see what they can do with the basic ideas, like a new style, or even another pov of a story.

But they just redo the old one with human actors and cgi.

I think it’s a wasted opportunity. A lot of fans are always discussing about 2d or 3d Disney movies (Both are good, I prefer 2d because it’s just more pleasing to me), so to have Frozen in 2d made by somebody else could be interesting. But no, it’s just filming the equivalent of a theater show with more budget. I think the Beauty and The Beast remake is bad, and it’s the only one I saw, so maybe they got better.

Also, freak them for calling the Lion King live action, while they’re all freaking CGI, this is the laziest low they did. Dumbo may have a pass since he’s supposed to be « weird » with the bigger ears, but it’s still lazy.

I love « The Road to Eldorado », made by Dreamworks, as much as « Spirit » or « Treasure Planet ». They’re all unique movies, with unique settings and possibilities for new plots. I would love to see Disney taking a shot at the Monkey King’s tale, with the same sense of humor as Hercules regading gods’s business, with the Jade Emperor being like Hades and pissed about Wukong’s shenanigans. Hell, I’m sure you can find african tales that can be amazing to see animated. So yeah, they can take a new story, instead of just putting up the same thing Todd Howard style and expect praise when nothing is different.

If you say « But it IS different, we have a poc in the main role », let’s get to the second point :

2. The Little Underwater Woman of Colored Skin

« I don’t like the way you said black »

So, we finally have a poc as a main role in a Disney movie. Oh, I guess Mulan, Pocahontas, Jasmine, Tiana, Kuzco (come on, he is a disney prince) and any other that I might have missed doesn’t count.

My point here is that if they want to make a live version of any of the movies those characters are from, they can and already did with Aladin and the Will Smith stand (an odd addition to the lore). I mean a live action Kuzco with the dance numbers could be interesting, if they let someone a new story above it, because you cannot translate all the animated scenes in live action without losing some jokes or essence from it.

Now about the case of Ariel...can a race underwater that doesn’t get any direct sunlight actually get a dark skin ? Just a reminder that Ariel isn’t the only one mermaid in the movie and in the original book, it’s a living race that forbids human interactions, so if Ariel is black, all the mermaids are black. If some are blacks, are they the minority or majority ? Do they have any regards to the skin color, like south or north mermaids ? Are the humans outside white or any other color ? It’s the whole deal with making Ciri’s actress a poc, because it doesn’t fit the setting. And it is as restricting as making an african tale story, because why would an european be the hero in a village deep in the Congo ?

Plus, it’s because it adds nothing, it feels like not important. After all, it’s just a skin color. But it’s the whole point of this action, to promote skin colored actors, so why are they forcing them in remade movies where they weren’t here. Remember white washing ?

3. Disney needs good points for...well, himself

I hope that when you read this, it was easy to understand. If not, it’s fine, it’s either my train of thoughts that tend to go into odd schemes and tracks or simply you that denies facts. I’m open to debate, as an opinion exist to be challenged and is prone to change, not to be kept in a chest and scream « national sozialist » when someone dares to say the opposite...unlike Disney.

Did Disney made some old movies with a lot of what can be considered racism in them ? Yes, if you consider stereotypes to be the same as saying a race is inferior to another. Times were different back then, people thought of them as jokes, other as facts. But we can’t judge someone that doesn’t know a fact. If someone told you all your life that the Earth is flat and you learn the truth, you deny it as first (we have the same reaction to the truth than to death, because in both ways, the world you know will change), but after a while, you accept it and now the Earth is round, or close to a sphere (apparently it’s not a perfect sphere ? I’ll need more details, but it’s not the point). It’s not your fault, as the thing you believe made sense until proven otherwise. But if you deny the truth by believing in your lies blindly, it is your fault and really guilty. So stop saying « this is racist » without context, « this is sexist » without checking when it was made.

This generation thinks nothing can be forgiven, and all is unaffected by context and time, you’re guilty until proven innocent, and white hetero men are shamed to be white cis men.

And I haven’t talk about the politicians and the media.

Disney is using those ideas to promote themselves, because if someone is against them later on, Disney can unleash a horde of SJW on everybody, and media will always follow the richest or the one that can actually harm them.

But Disney made a mistake : Star Wars. They messed up big time, and they need money asap. So they just do anything, especially what can bring discord, to get free publicity and profit from movie sales. They rather satisfy a crowd rather than do something all can enjoy. George Lucas, you were misunderstood...

To conclude :

I’m not saying that the live action remake of the Little Mermaid will be a bad movie, since the original is good, and they have nothing to change (but they will, and it’s going to make less sense), but to simply say that changing the main character race is not something important is denying years of progress against white washing, it’s agreeing that making a blackface is a legitimate move, it’s assuming that race is a character trait, like easy to anger or vengeful, and cannot be compatible with other traits (Can a black person enslave others ? Can a white person be mindful of the people in front of him?).

It’s saying that this Ariel is really not just Ariel from the animated movie, a mermaid that sacrifices her voice to live with the one she loves, who then fights her biggest threat and loves her even if she’s mute, who decided to go beyond the rules of her land to follow her dreams, who is a ginger girl, a trait rarer than being a poc in the Disney Princesses catalog.

It’s believing that Black Ariel is not a Ariel alternative skin.

[elegant-phff]

Eleven.Hollywood Halloween

Prince Harry of Wales

29 October,2015

London,United Kingdom-Los Angeles,California,United States of America

Ever since the phone call with Alexandra regarding the Halloween party,Harry had been rather excited about going to Los Angeles.He didn't even like Halloween that much.Every year he'd spend the festival by staying at his apartment and binge watching Halloween movies.When he was with Meghan,the plan was also the same since she'd spent the occasion filming.

But this year was different.This was going to be their first meeting after they 'got together'.Harry and Alexandra both knew why they were taking things slow.They both had gotten out of very serious relationships and it would take them some time to cope with it.However,Harry couldn't help but feel so drawn towards the woman he had come to know.She was different,different than everyone else he had been with.

She could brighten up an entire room just by her smile,she was unintentionally funny,the way her face would mold into a funny form as a reaction could easily make a person laugh.She loved kids more than she'd like to admit and she was more extraordinary than she thought.She was humble in a oblivious way.She is the type of person who would cancel everything just to make sure you are okay.That is what made Harry attracted towards the woman.Three years ago ,it was his playboy ways for getting her number but as he got to know her more he found her even more incredible.Her looks were just another bonus.

"Harry,make sure to tell Alexa that she has to meet me once she arrives in London,I have a lot of questions,"Kate said pointedly to her brother-in-law.Once she had found out about the couple's blooming relationship,she was ecstatic.She loved Alexandra and she knew that the younger woman was an amazing person."Yes,ma'am,"Harry rolled his eyes.The older couple had been persistent about meeting both of them as a couple more often.

"When is your flight leaving?"William asked entering the living room."Uhh,in a few hours,"Harry replied looking st his watch.William nodded."Want any drink?"He asked his younger brother as he opened the refrigerator."No thanks,might want to be sober for the flight,"He replied.William nodded.

"Uncoo Hawwie?"George's little voice spoke from Kate's lap."Yes,Georgie?"Harry asked in a baby voice,taking his nephew in his lap."Where are you going?"He asked squeezing his uncle's cheeks."I am going to America baby,"Harry spoke,his voice muffled because of George's tantics."Can you bring me some candies?"He whispered,trying to make sure his mum didn't hear it.

"I heard that,"Kate teased.

Harry made a mocking face at his sister-in-law and turned to George."Don't worry,I will bring tons and tons of candies,"Harry smiled,his eyes twinkling towards the little boy who was giggling in amusement.

"You know,I was talking to Pa the other day..."William began,making his way towards the trio.Harry turned his attention towards his older brother as he took a seat beside them."He was talking about Air Cdre Larsson...who happens to be Alexandra's dad,if I am not wrong,"William said suggestively.Harry raised his brows in confusion,"What are you trying to imply?"William huffed in response,"Are you really that dumb?"

"Apparently he and Pa are really close,as he was saying.Don't you think you guys should tell them?"

"I didn't know that they were this close,"Harry began.

"Yeah,apparently they play golf together,"William interjected.The three adults shared a chuckle,while the toddler future king began to grow fussy."I think he is sleepy,I will put him to bed,"Kate said,taking George in her arms.The two brothers nodded.

"Anyways,we just got together and it isn't even official yet.I will tell them when we are like together together,"Harry explained.William nodded,satisfied but asked curiously,"Do you wanna make it official?"

Harry thought for a few seconds,"Yes."William's face formed into a cheeky smile,Harry was about to question the reaction but was interrupted by William."Look at the time!You will be late for your flight,"William ushered Harry."Oh crap!Yes,I will get going,"Harry exclaimed forgetting about his earlier thought.

"I will go say goodbye to Kate,"Harry said.William nodded.Once he came back,he hugged his older brother and bid his farewell."Let me know if anything happens,"William smirks.Harry rolled his eyes,"Shut the fuck up,I will see you."

"See you!"William then closed the door of apartment 1A.

LAX,California

"Are you sure there are no paparazzis?"Harry asked his private secretary,Edward Lane-Fox."Yes,nobody is notified of your arrival in the States so the paps are not aware.Although it would be best we move discretely as if anyone from the public notices you,it would be a mayhem,"Edward replied,his words coming out as if he had memorized it by heart.Accompanying Harry to the States was Edward and his two RPOs,Lucas and Mark.The two bodyguards were right behind Harry and Edward in normal clothing trying to blend in as much as possible.

"You sure about staying at Mrs.Jonas's place?"Edward asked as they hopped into their designated vehicle."Yup,"Harry replied settling himself."I was specifically instructed to not stay at a hotel by yours truly,"Harry added snickering.Edward couldn't help but chuckle."She seems to be keeping you on your toes,"Edward remarked."Oh please,she truly is scary,"Harry exaggerated.Even the Lucas and Mark couldn't help but laugh at that.

Ten minutes or so later,they arrived at the very posh and Hollywood filled neighbourhood of Beverly Hills."Are you sure this is the correct address?"Edward asked,marveling at the view in front of him."Yes,this is the location Alex gave me,"Harry said,looking at the address in his phone once again.

"Let me call her,"He added,dialing Alexandra's number."Hey,I am outside,yeah..if you could come out...Thanks,"Harry finished the call.A few minutes called,Alexandra came out of the house--more like a mansion.She smiled as she made her way to the SUV."Hi,"Alexandra said hugging Harry.Her face flushed a deep red and Harry kissed her cheek."Hi,"Harry breathed out.Damn he forgot how breathtaking she was.

"This is my private secretary Edward,and my two RPOs Lucas and Mark,"Harry introduced."Ma'am,"Edward said with a polite smile."Please call me Alexandra or Alexa,"Alexandra said.

"I think we should head inside before anyone sees us,"Alexandra advised."Yes,of course,"Harry responded,prompting for his companions to follow him."Are you sure your sister is okay with all of us staying?"Harry asked as they entered the house."Yes of course,it was rather their idea,"Alexandra reassured.

"Summer,they are here!"Alexandra yelled."Do not yell at me,young lady,"Summer scold wadling down the stairs.Alexa rolled her eyes and muttered under her breathe,"Hormones."Harry tried to conceal his laughter but it turned into a snort.

Alexandra looked at Harry with a bewildered expression."Harry,it's nice to meet you!"Summer greeted,reaching to shake his hand."It's good to know the feeling's mutual,"He flashed his charming smile.Alexandra grinned at her sister's flustered face."How is the little one doing?"Harry asked gesturing to Summer's now gigantic bump.

Summer rubbed her hands around the bump as she answered,"Oh the baby is getting restless,constantly kicking,"He was cut off by Alex remarking,"Definitely doesn't get it from you."Summer was quick to glare at her sister with a murderous look but the younger Larsson only smirked.

"A couple more weeks,so I can't wait,"Summer said looking at Harry.Completely ignoring Alexandra.Harry couldn't help but grin at their banter.It reminded him of his and William's relationship.A lot of teasing and joking.

"Are you planning on keeping all of these guys at your living room?"Alexandra asked sarcastically."Alexandra Chase Larsson I will cut you if you do not shut up,"Summer clapped back.

"Let's ignore my dipshit sister,why don't you guys sit down?"Summer said gesturing to the sofa."Oh yeah,sure but before that do you mind if they check around a bit?"Harry asked rubbing the back of his neck.It was evident that he disliked that part of his life."Yeah,of course,no problem,"Summer smiled. With a nod Lucas and Mark made their way around the house.

"Would you guys like anything?"Summer offered."Oh no,we are alright,"Harry politely declined.Alexandra scoffed,"Bullshit,I am making you guys Earl Grey." "Is it okay with you,Edward?"Alexandra stopped to ask the private secretary.Edward on the other side looked baffled,"Uh-yeah yeah,I it's fine.Thank you."Alexandra smiled and made her way to the kitchen.

Harry turned to Summer and asked,"Where is Nick?" "He is showering,he will be back soon,"Summer smiled."So how was your flight?"She inquired."Not too bad considering the weather,"He answered.Summer nodded understandingly.

"How is the States treating you?"Harry asked kindly.Summer took a deep breathe,"It's a lot of American accent and dumb questions."They both stayed silent before burst out in laughter.

"Everything okay,you guys?"Alexandra asked with her brows raised, emerging from the kitchen with a tea trolley.

"Oh we are fine,I was just hearing about Summer's American adventures,"Harry chuckled.Alexandra snickered as she handed him a cup of Earl Grey."Thank you,"He whispered finally recovering from the laughter fit.

"Ray's stories are worth a Jimmy Fallon Mad Libs scene,"Alexandra laughed,placing herself beside Harry."I am willing to give my stories to them as a plot.Only if the world realised how dumb the people of the great USA actually are,"Summer exclaimed.

"I mean come on,they are so fucking racist and gosh,I never thought they'd be this sexist,"She added."I agree to the racist and sexist part.Especially this industry,they are shit,"Alexandra agreed."The Obamas are great though,"Harry interrupted.The sisters nodded in agreement."Probably the only thing good about this country,"Alexandra rolled her eyes.

"Don't say that,you might cause an angry mob,"Summer joked."Yeah,it would only get worse if they hear me agreeing with you guys!"Harry added jokingly."An international scandal!Prince Harry hates Americans?Is this a sign that the Queen wants to take over America again?!"Alexandra exclaimed imitating a deep voice.The group,including Edward burst out laughing.

"Don't let my Gramp hear that,he would love you say too much for that,"Harry added,containing his laughter.Alexandra threw her hair back with a smirk and sassed,"What can I say?I am very lovable."

Their playful banter was interrupted by Lucas and Mark returning from their tour,"All clear."Harry gave them a awkward smile.Summer-who was quick to notice the sudden awkwardness,changed the topic."You know what?You guys had a long flight,I will let you guys rest before dinner'"Summer exclaimed standing up.She gestured for Alexa,"Alexa why don't you show Harry his room,while I show his fellow companions where they are staying?"Alexandra resisted the urge of rolling her eyes at her sister's cheeky tone.

"Sure,"Alexandra replied with a sarcastic smile before dragging Harry by his arms.They ascended the stairs,with a giggling Harry,"Slow down,I will fall!"

"Under my watch,nothing is happening to you,Prince Charming,"Alexandra threw him a playful wink.Once they reached the room's door,Harry decided to play along."Oh,really?"Harry asked in a deep husky voice---his playful tone long gone.He placed his arms in a secure lock around her waist.They fitted perfectly like a puzzle.

Alexandra could feel his hot breathe fanning over her lips.She has missed him,more than she'd like to admit."I've missed you,"She whispered.Harry finally broke the painful distance between them by capturing her mouth in a slow and gentle kiss.They both were trying to savour the moment but it was long overshadowed by the sudden desire that sparked inside them.Soon the kiss became heated.

"We should probably not have sex,literally the first time after we meet each other,"Harry chuckled breaking the kiss but his arms were still securely wrapped around her waist."You are right,"Alexandra laughed,straightening Harry's shirt."I have missed you so much,"Harry said,staring right into her soul.Alecandra felt her cheeks heat up due to his intense gaze.

She finally looked up---only to be met by his goofy smile.Her lips formed itself into a huge grin.gosh the effect he had on me."You are so goddamn cute,"Alexandra exclaimed,the grin never leaving her face.Harry couldn't help but laugh."Look at you,so whipped,"Harry teased.By now,they had moved to the bed.Both laying comfortably beside each other.

Alexandra simply smiled in response.They both stayed quiet for a few minutes.The silence was not awkward,it was peaceful.Both of them trying to savour the presence of each other."I forgot to tell you,this is my room,"Alexandra broke the silence.Harry,who was facing towards the ceiling turned to look at her."Well for now,but I mostly stay here when I am in California,"She added.She was staring at the fairy lights dangling loosely from the ceiling.The dazzling of the lights reflecting in her green eyes.Her mouth was tugged into a faint smile and her posture relaxed.

To Harry,she looked like an adorable puppy.Excited by small things and definitely by getting attention.It wasn't difficult to make her happy,literally anything could get the job done.

"It has a lot of your element visible,"Harry finally spoke."I always thought of it that way,"Alexandra smiled."What's the point of staying if it doesn't feel like home?but for me the two of them are home,"She added.

That's when Harry knew he was gone for."Be my girlfriend?"He blurred out. "What?"Alexandra asked how facing him."I asked you,be my girlfriend?"He said again,slower,as if her hearing was the only problem."Harr--"She began but Harry cut her off,"I know this is the most unromantic and weirdest way to ask you this but come on,what's normal about us?I just need you,so ?"

Alexandra was speechless.Did he really just ask that?"Yes,"She smiled.She knew it wasn't going to be easy but she knew they were in this together.

Harry's mouth stretched into a huge grin and he leaned forward to kiss his girlfriend.

30th October,2015

The day before Halloween consisted of all the last minutes touches to Harry's costume which was the most basic vampire costume.Although,according to his now girlfriend,he was not going to be basic at all,since he was going to be one of the few ginger vampires and also a prince.To which he couldn't help but feel a bit narcissistic(in a good way).Alexandra had insisted on not doing matching outfits because a)it was cliché as fuck and b)there was not way in hell she was brainstorming or changing her costume since it took her 39273 years to convince Marvel to let her borrow the Scarlet Witch costume.

           "I still can't believe you are going as Scarlet Witch,"Nick exclaimed.Summer and Harry snickered as Alexandra rolled her eyes."I am not original and I do not want to be original,"She responded."I mean come on,I am a superhero which is an amazing thing and I so will go as my character.What's wrong with that?"She added."You would look like a narcissistic arsehole,"Summer piped in.

"Or I would look like a badarse Wanda Maximoff,"Alexandra implied."In my opinion,I know you will look great,"Harry defended.Alexandra smiled largely at the comment.Summer pretended to barf,"You guys already make me want to vomit and it's not because of my pregnancy."

"That's what you guys made me feel like,"Alexandra clapped back,making her way towards Harry to side hug him.

"We are getting sidetracked,"Nick said,interrupted the moment.The rest of the three rolled their eyes."You are lucky they allowed you the costume from Civil War,or else what would've you done ?"Nick asked.Alexandra shrugged,"I would have worn the costume from Age of Ultron,it's more comfortable than this one."

"How did they allow the new one anyway?"Summer asked.Harry leaned back,listening intendly to the conversation."They released the costume pictures earlier anyways so I begged them a bit and they agreed!"Alexandra exclaimed.

"Lucky bastard,"Nick murmured,only to be slapped on the head by his sister-in-law.

The rest of the day however,was quite uneventful.The married couple were out at Target getting candies last minute since Summer decided to munch most of them.Alexandra and Harry spent most of their time making alterations to both of their costumes.

"I feel odd wearing this costume with blonde hair,"Alexandra commented as she tried on the iconic Scarlet Witch costume."You look odd as well,"Harry replied.

"You don't look scary and fierce like Scarlet Witch,you just look adorable,"He added with a cheeky smile.

Alexandra looked up from the mirror and smiled,"You really are smooth,Wales."Harry simply shrugged in response,"What can I say?I have always been smooth."

"And you ruined it."

Harry smiled."Anyways,what can I expect tomorrow?"He asked,changing the topic.Alexandra looked at him quizzically,"As in?"

"I mean,who are going to be there and what type of people?"He replied.

Alexandra nodded understandingly."I don't know all of the people.But I do know that some of the Marvel cast is going to be there,Kim K,Kendall and Kylie are going to be there and ---Oh David Beckham!"She replied enthusiastically.

"I know him,"Harry replied happily.

"Also,my friends are going to be there so be prepared,"She added in a warning tone.Harry furrowed his eyebrows,"Why?"

"They might just interrogate you,"She said.Harry cringed,"Fuck."

31st October of 2015

"I feel like this makeup is never going to get off,"Harry whined as Mario,Alexandra's trusty makeup artist did his make up.Mario chuckled,"Don't worried sir,it would be out in seconds." Harry groaned,"Please don't call me sir,it makes me feel like I am in an engagement."

"Sure thing."

"How is the progress?"Alexandra asked,emerging from her closet.

Harry looked up from his position,much to Mario's dismay."Holy shit you look hot,"Harry exclaimed with his eyes widened.Alexandra chuckled,"Thank you,kind sir."

"Harry you might want to look forward if you want to get things done,"Mario warned.Harry looked front and apologised.

Twenty minutes later,the group finally emerged from the house and made their way to the Halloween party which was taking place at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

"Fair warning,people here are crazy,"Nick warned Harry.Harry although quite puzzled,nodded.

"My,my,my is that Alexandra?"A Colombian accent exclaimed."Sofia!"Alexandra replied,stepping forward to embrace the older woman.

Sofia looked around the younger woman,noticing her sister and brother-in-law when her eyes landed on the British Prince."Is that Prince Harry?"She asked.Alexandra frantically nodded,"Let's not get things exposed."Sofia nodded understandingly,"No worries,but introduce me!"Alexandra laughed and dragged her to her boyfriend."Harry,meet my good friend Sofia Vergara.Sofia,this is my boyfriend Harry,"She introduced each other.

"Your Highness,it's a pleasure to meet you,"Sofia said politely."Ms.Vergara,please call me Harry.I must say,I am a huge fan,"He responded with his signature smile.They chatted along for a while when Sofia had to go."It was a pleasure meeting you."

Soon enough,the couple met Taylor and Selena,which was rather interesting.They immediately took Harry to a corner and started interrogating him,which much to Alexandra's dismay was out of her eyesight.

The ending to the night was rather interesting."Paparazzis got a tip about the party,"Taylor whispered to Alexandra minutes before they were about to leave.

The party had a no phone rule so nothing inside the party would get leaked for the privacy of the celebrities.The media as well,was unaware of the party until now.

"Fuck,"Alexandra exclaimed."Yeah,paparazzis are rounding up around the entrance,"Selena informed.

Alexandra walked away to make her way to Harry who was talking to David Beckham."Excuse me,mind if I steal him for a bit?"Alexandra asked with a polite smile."Sure,"David smiled.

"What happened?"Harry asked as she dragged him away."The paps are rounding up in the entrance.Which means we will be photographed when we leave,"Alexandra explained.Harry's face turned to a frown,"Shit,what now?"

"Well,we could simply leave separately but the thing is we came in the same car so it wouldn't make sense.Or we could go together--"

"Let's do the latter,"Harry quickly said.

"Harry,don't you think it's a bit too early?"Alexandra asked,concerned."I know,I know but here is the thing.We have to come out sooner or later.Let's do it now.We have each other,we will be there for each other,"Harry explained.

"But we haven't told anyone,"She argued."That's the first thing we do after we leave,"Harry reassured.

Alexandra sighed,"Fine."

Few minutes later,they bid their goodbyes and prepared to exit the hotel."Ready to tell the world you're mine?"Harry asked taking Alexandra's hand."With you?Always,"She grinned.

With that,they exited the hotel.Harry leading the way.The screams of the paps got louder.

And that's how the world found out about the new ground shattering couple.

[intellectual-spaghetti-blog]

My Take on Reylo (and all Ships in General)

Speaking as a member of the 10% of the western hemisphere left that has not firmly taken a side in the Reylo War, I can confidently say after watching...and re-watching...and re-watching...and re-watching...the Last Jedi, that I can see the perspective of both sides and will admit that Rey and Kylo do genuinely have the potential for very good chemistry, regardless of context, going into Episode IX. This said, I will completely accept a relationship between Rey and Kylo, and a Kylo Ben (what I'm calling him until the split-persona war Abrams and Johnson have created ends in IX) redemption arc (or not), if that is indeed how Abrams plans to take these characters in Episode IX, so long as their relationship, Kylo's hypothetical redemption, and Kylo's own actions to achieve said redemption are believable, true to form, and push the plot or Rey and Kylo's own character development---both dependently and independently of each other---forward.

I will not accept a redemption arc or relationship between himself and Rey as official Canon however, in any capacity, if Kylo does not continuously do, and is seen to be continuously doing, the work in IX to earn it himself; completely independent of any outside influences, including Rey and Ghost Luke. Kylo has to own up to any choices he makes in IX because, undeniably, it's all on him now. Luke is dead. Han is dead. Leia is dead. Snoke is dead. His abusers, his manipulators, his champions, his family, is dead. Kylo is now completely and utterly responsible for all of his actions moving forward as, as a free individual, he can make his own choices without the threat of violence and death hanging over his head if he doesn't comply, as was the case with Han's death in TFA, which we see the repercussions of by Snoke in TLJ. Kylo has to realize after seven years of physical, mental, and emotional abuse he is free, decide what that freedom means to him, and come to a firm decision on how he wants to live his life. This includes acknowledging the choices he's made in the past and moving forward, admitting to himself that he cannot always be right, and come to the realization that a functioning human relationship in any capacity requires compromise, trust and the ability to admit that being proven right (because, to a point, he is right) is not more important than the bonds he's forged, or wants to forge, with other people and that it is no one else's responsibility to fix what is damaged inside him but himself.

Now, moving on to the incredible, strong, independent, broken gem that is Daisy Ridley's Rey of Jakku. I absolutely love Rey and I firmly believe she is an incredible audition to the Star Wars universe, and as the decades pass will only serve to further benefit the western hemisphere's greater comprehension, understanding, and further acceptance of woman as leaders and figures of legitimate authority, just as Carrie Fisher did in the 70s. Whether or not this means that Rey will have a mate, or a potential mate, or even wants a mate, be they male or female or aquatic fish monster by the end of this series, is completely irrelevant to the fact that Rey is going to have a significant impact on the world, as her own character, moving forward into Episode IX and beyond, whether the world is ready to accept that fact or not.

Though Rey pride's herself, and rightfully so, on her strength, independence, and ability to competently survive on her own, she also expresses a very deep desire for family. The understanding and mutual acknowledgement of this is one of the fundamental reasons she and Kylo are able to bond so closely together, (and in such a very, very short amount of time) both dependently and independently of their actual Forcebond, throughout the events of the Last Jedi. In the end they're both two lonely sad-sacks desperately seeking belonging and acceptance in a world that has largely isolated them, regardless of romantic inclination. This fact is reinforced by Rey's acceptance of and quick bond to Finn, Han, Leia and Chewie throughout the events of The Force Awakens, and again when she meets Poe at the end of The Last Jedi.

Rey as an individual has more than earned her right to carve out her own agenda and forge her own happiness for herself, however and with whomever she damn well sees fit and there is absolutely nothing Finn or Poe or Han or Luke or Kylo or Leia or Rose or Connix or Chewie or BB-8 or R2-D2 or the Resistance or the First Order or the audience can do about that.

To assume however, that because Rey is a female main character that she is automatically obligated or that it is her responsibility to magickally "fix" whatever is broken inside of Ben Solo, or that because Finn and Kylo are two of three male main characters, as much as I love John Boyega and Adam Driver as actors, that either of their characters "deserves" Rey simply because she is the female lead, is no less sexist than if the situation was in reverse. To assume as well that even if she does find romance, or even wants romance, in any capacity, that falling in love and growing to care for someone somehow automatically "weakens" her as a individual is also a deeply flawed thinking, and I think tells more about how patriarchal cultures, especially in the West, view human relationships, in any capacity, between woman and men and between each other, in much more glaring shades than any human on this planet, including myself, is entirely comfortable admitting.

And this realization, I believe, is the point Abrams and Johnson are trying to make both with Rey as an individual and with her interactions with Kylo. People often forget that despite all the accusations---and gigantic double-standard---of Rey being hailed a "Mary Sue" and perfection incarnate, Rey is still a very fundamentally broken person, just better at hiding that brokenness than as is Kylo. She still needs to realize and comes to terms with the fact that "Yes, despite your past, despite you're shitty parents, despite what people may say, you DO matter and you ARE loved by many, MANY people." (As if Finn declaring her sunshine personified who can do no wrong every five seconds isn't enough).

In the end I think that's what Rey and Kylo both need: time to grow and change apart from each other, apart from the bond, to find out who they truly are as people, so their actions can determine and justify their deserved fates in IX. That's what I believe The Last Jedi and Lord Emo's proposal, was attempting to say---what I think Rian Johnson was attempting to say---in continuing the intriguing dynamic between Rey and Kylo Ben throughout the Last Jedi.

I would love to believe Rian Johnson and JJ Abrams aren't idiots and know exactly what their doing. I have very little confidence in this statement considering the absolute mess Johnson is forcing Abrams to resolve in IX, but both have stated multiple times that they are feminists (I hope to god second-wave feminists) and thus I don't want to believe that they would ever write a story in which any person, especially a female, fixes all of Kylo Ben's turmoil for him through "the power of love," we get a half-assed redemption and unsatisfying conclusion, the bad guys are defeated, and in the end all the characters still alive fly back to Endor or Naboo for dancing and cake and ice-cream with not even one thought on the consequences of their actions. This isn't Return of the Jedi, JJ Abrams is not George Lucas, and we can all only hope and pray that Episode IX concludes with an ending worthy of these incredible characters and the groundbreaking Skywalker saga.

I'm probably wrong about half of this, but I hope not.