#i am just ranting a little bit. i am not a fan of the jedi.

[ban-joey]

list of star wars posts that irritated me. one was along the lines of “why are people so happy to not see jedi in something? they’re what make star wars unique from other scifi/fantasy” 1) wrong 2) let me explain

for one thing the need to have something so deeply entrenched in Multiple Genres be “unique” is very funny to me, because it’s not. og star wars is essentially an arthurian tale in space. add to that the fact that GL’s inspiration came directly from a bazillion ww1/2 films and you’re arguing a point about standing out that.. doesn’t really exist. sure the jedi are a “unique faction” to see in science fiction, but they’re also a religious order of space monks. even somebody who has never seen anything related to star wars could get some idea of the jedi based off that combination of words. 

second, why do you like the jedi so goddamn much? this is the thing that always frustrates me. there’s a difference between force-users and the capital J Jedi. you went from religious space monks in the original trilogy, to a fascinating shift in perspective in the prequels/clone wars in which they are religious space cops serving an increasingly fascist government when they’re supposedly not meant to get involved in government affairs unless it’s basically a human rights issue, but ultimately end up committing sooo many violations of that sort. they’re horrendous to the clones, to droids, regularly treating both groups the same--disposable and not-people. they’re not all-knowing and have absolutely no idea what’s coming for them when order 66 comes around, despite the unsubtle clues. hot take, obi-wan IS partially at fault for what ultimately happens to anakin--because he continued to uphold a dying system and ideology that actively drove people to the dark side and refused to connect on any emotional level with anyone because of the jedi code. 

i love the jedi for their flaws, and star wars is ultimately at its most interesting fantastical point when it criticizes them, as in TLJ. burning the codex was poignant and cool as hell. but limiting star wars to just the jedi is just dull. there’s so much more going on there, politically, sociologically, economically, etc. you get the bare minimum information about that packaged in bad writing in the prequels and the clone wars cartoon, little itty bitty morsels of finally fleshing this strange galaxy out in a way that makes some sort of disjointed sense. andor takes the whole thing at face-value and decides to turn it into something legible and personal in a way star wars hasn’t since the originals. it proves that you don’t need the jedi to make star wars cool, and yet every time there’s a red herring with luthen, I lose my fucking mind, because I love the idea of finally getting an INTERESTING jedi. but i would honestly prefer it if he wasn’t. 

star wars is cool and interesting because of all that (politics & logistics), having cool big huge ships and caring about that design in terms of speed and what those ships are used for (i.e. tie fighters were created to patrol planets, not chase after X-wings, which is why they eat it a lot), time scales that make no fucking sense apart from trying really hard to make space smaller than it is, unique sound design, differing designs of people and planets that star trek couldn’t come anywhere close to, and a lot more. 

also, just because this is the most obvious point. the jedi are fucking dead in andor. yeah yeah certain people escaped. they’re in hiding. do you remember how obi wan went to be a hermit for like 20 years. yall just fucking forget about order 66 as soon as you complain about there not being jedi in something. do you understand the scale of that situation. do you understand how many people were killed. fake fan

[tired-but-willing]

I wholeheartedly do not understand the take of "Luke is Padmés child"/"Leia is Anakins child". I understand it's very popular within the fandom, and it's a way for fans to create a connection between characters— but I just don't see it.

Long-winded rant coming. Hope it makes sense. No spoilers for recent Star Wars media, but I do briefly talk about the Original Trilogy, the Prequels, the books (Legends and Canon), and the comics.

The biggest argument that I have seen for both sides is temperament. "Leia has Anakins temper" "Luke has Padmés calm". But really, that's not wholly accurate. Every time that we see Leia becoming angry, it's righteous anger. She's been taken captive. Her planet has been threatened. Her planet has been destroyed.

Now compare that to Anakin. He's mad Padmé won't return his advances. He's mad the council doesn't trust him— for good reason, but we'll touch on that later in a different post.

A major difference that sits between Leia and Anakin (aside from the obvious), is timing. Leia knows when the time for sarcastic quips is. She knows when the time for angry comments is. And she also knows when to shut it down. If you want to compare her to anyone out of the family, it should be to Padmé; but I'll do you one better. Leia's temperament is all Bail and Breha Organa.

It's plenty sweet to want to connect the twins to the mother they lost, but truthfully, they don't get their personality traits from her. If Leia were to take after anyone, it would be the parents who raised her. The ones who brought her up to be good and kind and care about the people of Alderaan. I went off on a tangent: Leia does not have Anakins temper. Not even close.

Compare her moments of righteous anger to his outburst in the council chambers. Mace Windu— quite fairly, in my opinion— tells Anakin to sit down when his adult self starts throwing a temper tantrum for not becoming a barely-out-of-teens Jedi Master. He's entitled. He thinks he deserves the position, regardless of meeting very few qualifications. I'll likely make another post about that as well. The main point of this paragraph being; for Leia to share Anakins anger, it would need to come from a place of entitlement. It does not.

Now onto Luke. I see people attempting to mould him into Padmé for a multitude of reasons. Some want to, as I said, connect the twins to their mother in a way that is easy. They want a parallel to Padmé and Anakin that can be found in their children. Others, I'm sure, just want to make Luke "softer" (though Padmé is far from soft; some people just lack media comprehension). Luke is not some patron saint of patience. He CAN be patient, yes; but it is not his defining character trait. Throughout the movies, books, and comics, Luke has had outbursts. He's not some holier than thou figure who never gets angry. He just works to overcome that anger. Maybe that is a bit reminiscent of Padmé; but do you know who it reminds me of?

Beru Lars.

The same way his stubborn determination (look at him, look at me in my eyes, and tell me he's not stubborn) reminds me of both Owen and Beru.

There's no crime in comparing the twins to their biological parents. I understand the want. I love parallels in media as much as anyone else. I only wish that Star Wars fans would quit labeling Leia as "just Anakin's daughter" because she got a little angry That One Time when That One Thing happened, and quit labeling Luke as " just Padmé's son" because he's a Cool and Collected Jedi. There is so much more to their characters than just their biological parentage. I am begging people to read more into the characters who actually raised them and gave them love for nineteen years of their lives.

Long-winded and incomprehensible rant over <3 ty for reading.

[kill-me-with-a-spoon]

I know I am a bit late to this discussion but I just came across a post that basically said they were so looking forward to the final duel between Obi-Wan and Maul in the Kenobi series and it just angered me.

We had that, we had that done beautifully. Just because it was in a cartoon doesn't mean it has to be done again "for real". Star Wars especially is a franchise that was carried by it's animation for so long, Clone Wars alone is double the run time of all three trilogies combined, because of that Star Wars fans ignoring the animated show or wanting what has been done in them to be done in live action again just feels like an insult to the great stories that were told in these shows.

Ahsoka, Maul's whole character, Bo-Katan, Dark Saber, Saw Gerrera and many more things that were great in the Disney Star Wars all started in animated shows, Clone Wars in particular.

Not to mention animated series can handle themes better than the movies. I will just give two examples of this:

The Last Jedi has a whole subplot about how slavery is bad during the Canto Bite but it says very little besides that. It just shows some sad slave childeren and then they release some animals but not the slaves. In the end of the movie we see one of the childeren still being a slave. The fact that Fin was a former slave soilder wasn’t brought up at all. Meanwhile Clone Wars has Slaves of the Republic arc that focuses on slavery as well but instead of simply saying "slavery is bad" it shows us the horror of it. It shows innocent people being tortured, treated like property and it has lasting effects on people shown through Anakin.

For my 2nd example lets take a look at how the possibility of our main character is handelled in the sequals and Star Wars Rebels. The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker both tells us Rey is drawn to the dark side and anger(during Rey's meditation scene in TLJ and many times during TRoS) but we never really see Rey deliberitaly use the Dark Side or get consumed by anger. TLJ may have set an interesting start to a Dark!Rey but TRoS didn’t explore that story well in my opinion. Where as in Star Wars Rebels season 3 we explore Ezra's(main character of Rebels) use of the Dark Side and how it effects him. I won’t go into much detail here but we see Ezra is drawn to the Dark Side not because he was just drawn to it but because it gave him power during a time when he needed that power to help others and protect his friends.

Sure Clone Wars and Rebels had more time to focus on these story beats instead of a small part in a 2+ hour movie but I would argue not including the slave childeren would have been better than halfassing the subplot all together.

Not to mention how bigger the animated Star Wars universe is. Star Wars animation intruduced Mortis, World between Worlds, kaijus, brain inwaders, witches and so much more into Star Wars canon. These adition truly makes the Star Wars galaxy feel massive and mysterious, makes it feel like a place where you can encounter anything instead of space battles between two factions that the movies generally show.

These aspects of Star Wars do exist and they shouldn't be ignored just because they are in an animated medium. If you want to see Obi-Wan and Maul face of you can watch Clone Wars and Rebels. If you want to see how the Republic became the Empire you can watch Bad Batch. If you want to see more of the Force you can watch the Mortis Arc and Yoda Arc of CW season 6. If you want to see the early days of the Rebalion you can watch Rebels Andor isn't the only show that tells that story.

This rant has been mainly about Star Wars but it apllies to animation as a whole. Animation is a medium, it can be used to tell stories about anything and for any age range and the stories told through it shouldn't be dismissed just because it doesn't have real life actors.

[lizzibennet]

Honestly, I *DO* like episodes 7, 8, and 9. BUT I would have LOVED if they did everything they did AS PLANNED, and then added the alternatives film (the versions we got) as a bonus. Honestly I hate ROS because Rey is related to HIM. Lbh, NOBODY would have sex with p*alpatine

the problem with episodes 7-9 is that each is a standalone film. that is not a problem in itself since every other star wars trilogy movies could technically be watched as a standalone and with a little context you’d be fine, since they tell an overarching story with three more or less independent characters. episodes 7-9 do not tell an overarching story, they are each chapters to a different telling of rey’s story. ep 7 tells the story of rey nobody, who is both the narrative foil and the in-world counterpart of one of the strongest force users alive, and that’s honestly already a really good premise, buuuuut if we’re going to have a trilogy then that main conflict should be resolved either in the second movie or at the very least in the first half or so of the third because things! need! to! happen! for! a reason! except that they don’t because at the climax of the second film kylo tells rey she’s a nobody, and apparently that changes nothing within her resolve which..... fine, let’s push it and say she’s going to deal with that in the third movie, whatever, but we get to it and actually she’s palpatine’s granddaughter so actually she’s all the jedi which. UGH. the point I’m trying to make is that she is a completely linear character being thrown in three different takes of her story, and I hate to say this because I LOVE her, but after the second movie I totally got it when people said she was a mary sue because her faith in the force and the jedi and her kindness and blahblah NEVER really waivers (except when she gets angry at luke which. saves everyone! how fuckin convenient!) and you could come out and say “lori, if we think like that luke skywalker is also a mary sue”, which, again, don’t get me wrong because he is literally my son but he IS. and in the 80’s that is FINE cause it’s the story we needed - a story about this starry (heh) eyed guy whose unwaivering faith in people and The Magic Around Him™️ may seem a little misguided at first but ends up saving everyone, but that was 40 years ago. and maybe it was silly of me to expect a nuanced take on The Human Specificity Of Empathy from a star wars movie but you know what, I don’t think it was since gareth edwards paved the way with rogue one that is the epitome of analysis of what it really means to be good or bad and I’m not going to rant about how rogue one is the best star wars movie today BUT it set the tone for a less us-vs-them view of the world which was VERY exciting and in line with what I think the 2010-20’s really wants from its heroes in general. so if we want to follow the narrative beats of the first trilogy or at least the first movie (no way of knowing where jj abrams would’ve gone in ep 8) I think that’s fine so as long as you make it your own, and imo jj abrams was, and then rian johnson was like nope lol, and jj abrams tried to fix the narrative 180 rian johnson tried to do, and like. episode 8 is a very fun movie to watch as a star wars fan but narratively it does not make any fuckin sense. I thought so then and now with ep 9 out I think so even more. rian johnson is a very creative guy, he had some REALLY interesting ideas, but WHY give him the creative liberty to do so in the MIDDLEEEEE of the trilogy??? WHY!?!?!? give him a star wars story film! he would KILL it! or you know wait a couple years so the director of the first movie who actually knows what the fuck he’s doing can direct the second, but noooooo the damned fucking mouse wants to wipe his ass with $100 bills so we cannot possibly wait. cohesive storytelling? we don’t give a shit about that in the house of le mouse.

that all to say, there is nothing Fundamentally wrong narratively with either of the three movies. they’re fun to watch. even ep 8, possibly my least fav of the bunch, was a fun experience in cinemas. it’s star wars and disney - they know how to make a blockbuster. the thing is that as a trilogy they simply do not make any sense. if you analyze each movie individually all three seem to have different core themes: ep 7’s is “nobodies are people too actually”, 8 is “maybe space fascists aren’t so bad, actually (also luke is here hey luke)”, and 9 is “I take that back, nobodies aren’t a people actually”. it’s satisfying to watch as a casual spectator who goes to the movies, seems some space gays with one braincell between the three of them and is like coolio and then goes home, but it’s not satisfying to watch as someone even the littlest bit invested in the story because there is no cohesive roundup of everything. the original trilogy was like is luke an idiot for being nice? is vader actually redeemable? is han deserving of trust despite being a space nerf herder? and sometimes u were like what’s happenin!!!! but in the end all your questions are answered quite satisfactorily. luke was right, han is sexy, vader was redeemable. in the prequels: how does anakin skywalker become darth vader? how do he and obi juan become the enemies we see in the death star? what happens to padme? and while the sequels are a beautiful mess that I love they do answer the questions they put out when episode 1 begins, so you know, imagine liking the sequels and hating the prequels when the PREQUELS make more sense, the PREQUELSSSS. anywhomst, point is: the sequels are like here is finn. finn is the first stormtrooper we see the face of! he defects! also the first stormtrooper we se defect. the other defector we know is bodhi from r1, who is very sympathetic despite being imperial, and clearly we’re supposed to feel empathy for finn. finn survives! finn finds rey! go finn I love u! and then. WHAT happens to finn? what furthers his character development into a full fledged person when he starts out with not even a name? where’s his anger? where’s his OBVIOUS narrative direction that should be “ex stormtrooper who shows imperials that fascism is bad actually”? nope, goes almost unmentioned from then on. and again, I love finn, he is literally baby, but he also froze after ep 7 because rian johnson decided to fuck shit up and also because disney is racist. poe? the do-good soldier who is supposed to be the Believer™️? actually he is the only one who was any semblance of a coherent role in ep 8... which is promptly retconned when jj abrams makes him a fucking spice runner in ep 9 lol. who is rey? and they’re like she’s a nobody and that’s why she’s spesh, wait no she is a nobody but she’s spesh because space fascist has the hots for her, oh, no, wait, she’s spesh because PALPATINE. what was the theme of this trilogy? what was the thesis? what questions did they set out to answer and did they answer them at all, never mind well? and it’s unclear, obviously, because three movies with three clearly different views behind them won’t magically make narrative sense just because you are trying to piece them together. they’re not pieces at all, they are three independent takes on the stars and the wars. enjoyable as little snacky treats, not as a three meal course. (also I’m not even going to TOUCH on how what was already a narrative mess was made worse by disney’s NONSTOP fanservice. sw sequels and game of thrones last season are the cautionary tales of why fanservice sucks and while a good, intelligent if cliche or predictable story is always better than a Shocking™️ one that doesn’t make any sense. but if I start on that I will LITERALLY not shut up SO AHEM CONTINUE @LIZZIBENNET)

ALL that to say: I agree w/ u and I LOVE your idea of each movie being an alternative version of the story. honestly, that would make more sense than what we have right now off the bat lol. can you imagine ep 7 being the rose colored version of the story via the heroes’ lenses, and then ep 8 being the “actually space fascism is good if ur kylo ren” version of the story, and then, ep 9 is what actually happened... told by rey nobody, who dances the line between the good and bad until there’s not a line anymore. CHEF’S FUCKIN KISS obviously much more risqué than disney would ever go for, but genius! much better than trying to make us care about these conflicts that they make up in the first 15 mins of each movie. ur mad because episode 7 follows the beats of 4? here’s three movies on why you were wrong when you judged it all true and therefore Bad. HUHU I love that

also the galaxy is a vast place... I am sure there are emperor fuckers out there

[letsmellowjello]

I Have Waited So Long To Meet You

Pairings: Rey x Jedi!Reader

Warnings: none

Summary: You left with Luke Skywalker when he went to go live in isolation, and the day has finally come when Rey has come to find him.

Notes: This wasn’t the image that I wanted but it’s fine I guess. Y/n in this gives me major Elle Woods vibes, just saying. There are also so many unnecessary details in this because I am absolutely in love with the idea of y/n being a really powerful precognitive Jedi and basically Luke’s daughter.

Masterlist ~ Prompt/Request

The Force. What a strange and mysterious thing it was. It had been with you in the backgrounds for as long as you could remember but it only took a main stage roll in your life when you were recruited by Luke Skywalker to become a Jedi. 

The Force had given you more than being able to move things with your mind and make people do things, it had given you the ability to see into the future. At first you had hated it, you hated knowing exactly what was going to happen but not being able to do anything about it. But eventually, with the help of Luke, you were able to get it under control and to use it for good and to advise others. 

You foresaw the creation of Kylo Ren, the rise of the First Order, everything, but due to the enormous responsibility that you weilded, you could not tell anyone or try to change to it.

Years ago, you had been a student of Luke Skywalker to learn the ways of the Force and had become quite the strong and powerful Jedi. You grew close with Luke, so when he decided to leave civilization and go away to live by himself, you went with him. 

Unlike Luke, you continued to learn more about the Jedi and exercise your ways with the Force. You knew what was going to happen, and while you could not convince Luke to prepare, you decided that it wouldn’t hurt to be ready.

The wind blew around you as you listened to the sound of the waves crashing below while you meditated. The time was coming, the time when the life in isolation that you and your mentor had lived for many years would be changed. Rey was coming.

Although this was the day that you had been waiting for for years, you set your excitement on the back burner of your brain and continued to focus on the Force. You only opened your eyes when something in your mind began tugging you back to reality.

“Oh she’s here!” You gasped gleefully scrambling off of the rock and making your way out of the cave and back down the mountain. “Master! She’s here!” you called out to Luke as you passed him on your way down the mountain.

“I told you to stop calling me that y/n! And I don’t want to see her! Send her back!” He shouted back but you ignored him. Of course he would see her, he wouldn’t be happy about it but he would see her, you would make sure of that. As you got closer you watched the Millennium Falcon land and the long awaited one step onto the ground.

“Oh stars!” You exclaimed happily as you went down to meet a slightly confused Rey. “I’m so glad you’re here! I have waited so long to meet you!” You gave her a quick hug to which she did not reciprocate, but it didn’t bother you.

“I- I’m sorry, do I know you?” Rey asked hesitantly. 

“Oh no, you wouldn’t, but I know you. You’re Rey-” You were about to say ‘Palpatine’s granddaughter and the savior of the galaxy’ but you stopped yourself from saying too much. “Anyways, my name is y/n, you’re here for Luke Skywalker, yes?”

“It’s nice to meet you y/n, but how did you know that?”

“I foresaw it! Duh! Just follow me! Oh my god you have no idea how long I have been waiting for you, I’ve been waiting for this day since we left. So, tell my why you’re here. I mean, I know why, but I just want to hear you say it.” You said excitedly as you lead her up the rock steps to where you knew Luke was.

“I’m sorry, can we just back up a minute? You foresaw it? How?” 

“I’m a Jedi! I’m able to see the future because of the Force. But unfortunately, I’m not allowed to tell people very much about what’s going to happen.”

“That’s interesting...”

“Yes, well, it’s a lot less cool when you can’t do very much about it. But enough about that, how is Leia? Han Solo? I haven’t seen them in a long time...”

“You know them? How come I’ve never heard of you? I would assume that they would have known if there was another Jedi that left with Luke.”

“Oh they know, I can’t say I’m surprised that they wouldn’t have mentioned me. I’ve never had the biggest fan base in the Resistance. They don’t like me very much since I wouldn’t tell them what would happen in the future.” You shrugged. Not being well liked by the Resistance and seen as an information hog used to bother you a lot, it used to send you off in tears whenever someone would say something about how you were the reason why people were dying, but thanks to that, you now had an incredibly thick skin and had managed to put all of that behind you.

“Oh... I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sure things have changed though. And about Han Solo...” she started.

“He’s gone isn’t he?” Rey nodded slowly and you looked down at the ground. “I thought so. I had seen clips of it but was never entirely sure. It was Be- Kylo Ren right?” She nodded again. “He used to be such a sweetheart. Anyways, Luke is just up there past that ridge.” You pointed up to the ridge.

“Wait, aren’t you coming?” Rey asked when you had stopped walking.

“Nope, this is all you. Besides, I already know what happens. Tell me all about it when you get back! I’ll see you later!” You called over your shoulder as you began progressing back down the mountain.

~

The wind blew against the side of your hut while you were floating in the middle of the room meditating. Then the door flew open startling you and causing you to fall to the floor.

“I can’t believe- oh I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize you were busy!” Rey apologized quickly coming over to you to make sure that you were alright. “Are you okay?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m fine. So how’d it go?” You stood up and went over the little table and pulled out the other chair for Rey to sit in.

“He threw it away! I can’t believe it! Has he always been like this? He also told me that he wouldn’t train me! Ugh, this is unbelievable! I came all this way just for him to tell me no,” she ranted while you listened knowingly. You had gotten very good at acting like everything was new to you, but sometimes you just couldn’t help but laugh a little at people’s reactions to things while knowing what was to come.

“He wasn’t always like this, but he’s given up on the Force. He used to be so great and so powerful. He still is, but he hasn’t tapped into it in a very long time. But don’t worry, just sit tight Rey, keep going. Show him that you are worthy.” You advised. Although you couldn’t tell her exactly what was going to happen, it gave you some comfort in knowing that she was on the right path.

Eventually Luke agreed to train Rey in the ways of the Jedi. You helped out quite a bit and soon became Rey’s companion and close friend on the island. You would spar with her and help train her whenever Luke was in a mood.

~

“If he returned from the dark side we could turn the tide. This could be how we win!” The rain poured down Rey’s face as she confronted Luke about Kylo Ren. You stood off to the side behind Luke, your face hooded from the rain. You didn’t say anything, this was their conversation, you were just there to make sure it went as planned. “He’s our last hope.” She said quietly and turned around to walk away.

“Y/n she can’t go. She’s walking into a trap!” Luke looked up at you for help but you didn’t offer any. Instead you knelt down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Let her go, Master. It is her destiny.” You gave him a small but reassuring smile and nod.

“If you believe that she is ready, then she is ready.”

Rey was packing up her stuff onto the Millennium Falcon when you approached her.

“Rey wait!” You ran up to her as she finished putting her things on board.

“Don’t try to convince me not to go y/n! I’m going!” She exclaimed defiantly.

“I know, I’m not trying to stop you,” you chuckled. “Here, for good luck.” You held out a small charm bracelet for her to take. “My mother gave it to me and now I give it to you.”

“Y/n I can’t take this-” but you had already slipped the bracelet onto her wrist.

“I want you to have it. Oh stars I’m going to miss you!” You pulled her in for a hug much like the first time you met her, but this time she hugged you back.

“You could come with me! I could use you by my side. You can help me convince Ben!” She suggested but you shook your head sadly. 

“I can’t. This is you fight.” 

“I understand. Don’t worry y/n, I’ll come back some day.” She gave you one last hug and then boarded the ship.

“I know you will,” you murmured to yourself as the ship shot away. When she came back, you would be waiting for her. And then you would return back to help fight the First Order alongside her. It was destiny.

~~

Afterward Notes: Okay so I know I didn’t portray it very much, but I absolutely love y/n and Luke’s relationship with one another. Luke respects y/n’s advice and is able to recognize that she knows a lot more than him and that in some ways she might even be more powerful. That’s all.

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

This is just my curiosity getting the best of me but, I noticed you said you liked TLJ, but it felt as if RJ was pushing for Rey to have a romantic connection with Kylo Ren instead of Finn and I'm wondering how you would have written Episode IX to address Rey's connection with those two characters and the rest of the characters such as Poe and Rose?

Okay, first thing out of the way real quick.  I don’t think Rian Johnson was pushing the Reylo train, at least not in the same way Abrams was. 

Abrams clearly wanted Kylo Ren to become a romantic lead.  His framing of the character is much more flattering than Rian Johnson. 

Compare his face reveal in The Force Awakens to The Last Jedi.

Abrams gives him flattering lighting.  His hair is perfectly in place.   His skin is smooth and clear. Abrams even describes him as regal and princely in the commentary. 

This is our first look at Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi.  There are bags under his eyes.  His skin is rougher.  His hair is drench in sweat.  He’s not a regal dark prince, but a pathetic little boy.

Framing is everything.  Please go back to The Last Jedi.  Rian Johnson is constantly subverting these moments that with just a slight tweak one can perceived as romantic (and many Reylos have), but are just a bit awkward.

It is very easy to make Adam Driver look attractive.  So, this odd costuming with the bad hair and high waist-ed pants is not the “oh no he’s hot” moment fans want it to be. 

Rey’s expression isn’t arousal it’s awkward repulsion like walking in on your cousin changing.

But the most telling moment in The Last Jedi and Rian Johnson’s expectations for Reylo is everything that happens after the throne room fight.

“You’re nothing.  You’re nobody, but not to me” is NOT framed as romantic by the characters, the setting, the camera work, or any other aspect of the story.  The story tells us the Kylo Ren is fundamentally wrong.  Rey proves that he’s wrong and ultimately rejects him.

She essentially slams the door in his face in the last shot of the movie, telling herself and the audience in so uncertain terms that she is not going to be the reason for his redemption.  Kylo Ren has isolated himself if he is going to be redeemed he has to do him all on his own.

RIAN JOHNSON DID NOT INTEND FOR REY TO BE KYLO REN’S REDEMPTION!!!

Okay, now that I’ve got that rant out of the way, I can finally answer your question.

There are two ways we can handle this question.  A) We take the basic beats Abrams wanted to present (Palpatine being back, Kylo Ren’s ultimate redemption etc) or B) we sake fuck Abrams and his intentions we do what we want.

If we go with option A) then Kylo Ren has to be working toward his redemption form the word go.

Palpatine has returned, maybe we add a scene just after the events of The Last Jedi.  Kylo Ren returns from the battle of Crait only to find Hux waiting for him looking terrified.  Kylo is surprised by this, but not nearly as surprised as the Knights of Ren escorting one of the superior generals to him. 

The general then says “Supreme Leader Snoke wishes to speak to you.”

“Supreme Leader Snoke is dead,” Kylo responds.

“Never the less,” the general says. 

The Knights of Ren stand tall and ignite their lighsabers.

“Supreme Leader Snoke wishes to speak to you.”

Kylo Ren knows he could probably take on the guards, but he feels something in the force; something dark, angry, and also amused.

He follows.

They enter the room to see a dark figure sitting in the throne of the Supreme Leader.

“Well done my apprentice,” a voice speaks.  It sounds like Snoke, but something is wrong.  Like another voice is battling just beneath the surface.

Kylo Ren approaches.  The figure is indeed Snoke, but his body his slack in the chair.  His eyes are blank.  There is no movement in his chest.

“But it will take much more than to kill me.”

Snoke’s lips move, but nothing else, like a poorly controlled puppet.

“Who are you,” Kylo Ren asks.

The being chuckles darkly.  “I am who I have always been, Master of the dark side,  Master of the galaxy, and Master of Skywalker.”

Kylo Ren jerks back as the voice becomes something else, a voice he has never heard, but knows all too well: Emperor Palpatine. 

The being laughs, an eerie deafening sound coming from a lifeless mouth.

“You cannot defeat me with such a simple trick,” he mocks.  “I am more than a body.  I am the darkness on the wall.  I am the anger in your heart.  I am the voice in your head.  And you are mine!”

And then boom.  Start of a new Star Wars.

Opening crawl: Kylo Ren has escaped The First Order which is now under the direct control of now fully revealed Palpatine.  Kylo Ren is attempting to get word to the Resistance about the Emperor Palpatine’s hidden secret Sith base.

So, the first mission of the film is rescue Kylo Ren.

This is a chance for all of our characters to work together: Poe, Finn, Rey, Chewie AND Rose, because fuck you Rose is part of the squad.

During the rescue Leia sacrifices herself to save her son using the same Force projection Luke used at the end of Rise of Skywalker. This is Kylo Ren’s final come to Jesus moment where his sole motivation is now just to kill Palpatine rather than take back control of The First Order.

The Resistance gets in contact with Poe and the rest relaying Leia’s death and that Poe has now been placed as General of the Resistance. Kylo Ren tells them about the holocron and how it’s the only real plan they have to face down Palpatine, they all must then work together to get the job done.

This allows us more time with Kylo Ren being a good guy and building interesting dynamics with the other characters.

Maybe Kylo Ren is the first to really test Finn’s force abilities since we get a hint that Kylo Ren could sense him through the force during The Force Awakens.

At some point in the film Rey and Kylo Ren are disarmed when fighting some sort of monster.  Finn in a moment of desperation reaches out with the force and calls Anakin’s lightsaber to him using it to defeat the monster.

Finn is getting a lightsaber in this movie, don’t @ me.

Finn and Rey then have a discussion about the force, how he felt in, and how long he had been hiding it from her.  Finn tells her his own doubts of being able to use the force at all given the fact he was a Stormtrooper and he still carries misgivings about that.  Rey assures him that he has always been his own person.  She’s from no where too.  The Force doesn’t care where you’re from. (Mutual love and support baby!)

Kylo Ren and Rey discuss their force connection and realize that while they can sense each other through the force, the connection they had in The Last Jedi was forced upon them and unnatural.

I want Rose to taser Kylo Ren’s ass as soon as he get on board the Falcon after they rescue him and will do so again at a moment’s notice.

And at the end of the film, I want Rey and Finn to be the ones to defeat Palpatine.

Rey and Finn are both nobodies from no where and they are the ones to continue the Skywalker legacy.

Not the most detailed, but that’s what I’ve got. Option B will have to be it’s own post if you want it to be.

[warzofstarz]

star wars Thoughts at 4 am

ok so rise of skywalker happened,,, and i have mixed feelings. i didn’t hate it but i didn’t love it either (and i usually love star wars movies), so i am in desperate need of a little rant about both the good and the bad in the conclusion of the saga

DISLIKE

1. JJ ABRAMS DISREGARDING ALL OF THE DEVELOPMENT WE EXPERIENCED DURING LAST JEDI. this is what i am most upset about. you don’t have to like tlj, but you can’t pretend it never happened. it’s like he was trying to completely backtrack on everything that happened in tlj bc it was ~his~ vision for the franchise. i think that is disrespectful to not only rian, but to fans who grew attached to the development of the characters. we see finn revert back to first movie finn (lovesick puppy lowkey), rey become an invincible child of the sith, the end of the skywalker family line, complete abandonment of rose, and a total shift in the message of the trilogy. all jammed last second into the film. the next few points all have to do w this

2. the fact that in tlj it is revealed that rey is truly nobody- she’s not some all-powerful descendant or some with royal blood- and tros completely ignores this and makes her a palpatine. the whole point before was that she’s normal, but that doesn’t make her any less powerful, smart, or strong. the message from the first two movies was that you don’t have to be in these elite categories to be special and powerful, which is an important message to every single child and adult watching. it empowers us as viewers to believe that we have the capability to be great, no matter our status, birth name, ethnicity, class, or where we are from. you can find family when you have none. you have the power to change your life. when jj decide LAST SECOND to make her a palpatine, with no clues thrown into the first two movies to lead us to believe this, it feels like a joke. the rey we had come to sympathize with is suddenly an all-powerful sith, seeming stronger than even anakin and yoda, even though she had never even completed training. this reveal is not emotional and literally loses respect rather than gaining any from the audience. a cop out. i felt less emotionally attached to rey than in the previous two films bc of her sheer perfect power

3. rose being 100% sidelined even though her character was incredible in last jedi. her arc was one that i truly couldn’t wait to see finish and sadly we never got it because she was completely abandoned so it could just be a trio once more. i love her. the disrespect.

4. the sudden introduction of zorri just so that poe has someone to flirt with??? like if you wanted to prove he was heterosexual make him flirt w someone he has actual on screen history and chemistry with, like uhhhh idk? rey?????? dont get me wrong tho she is a badass and i love how she shuts poe down!! queen

5. how they throw it in there that finn is force sensitive but don’t fully explain it?? and he never even tells rey??? this is SUCH a cool concept yet it’s never even hinted at until the third movie and its not further developed as to why. likewise i wish we saw the stormtroopers before they left the first order. see what they dealt with and the abuse they endured bc it’s such an important facet of the trilogy and literally drives finns character

6. how we never touch on why poe felt it when rey was tortured?

7. i wish leia hadn’t died and she rallied support w lando

8. if they are a dyad why didn’t rey and ben fight palpatine together?? then no one would have died??

9. i’m just really sad that they chose to kill ben because even though rey takes their name, the skywalker bloodline is gone, while a palpatine lives on. the entire purpose of the first six movies is anakin bringing balance by defeating palpatine. somehow, palpatine survived this (never explained!!!!), which completely defeated the purpose of the first six films and strips anakins chosen one status and ultimate sacrifice of any true importance. in the end of tros, the palpatine bloodline lives on while the skywalker bloodline is gone, and i can’t help but to feel like that contradicts the theme of the original saga in which the skywalkers defeat palpatine and hope lives on.

10. lastly, i just don’t think george lucas would have wanted ben to die. when people kill off main characters to make the movie more emotional, he has literally said “i don’t like that and i don’t believe that” he goes on to say that he hates when main characters are killed, stating “the whole point of the film, the whole emotion that i am trying to get at the end of the film, is for you to be real uplifted, emotionally and spiritually, and feel absolutely good about life. that is the greatest thing we could ever possibly do.” so, i’m sure some of you could see why i have a little issue with killing someone who has finally recognized the error of their ways and wants to be better. yes, he has done awful things that cannot be separated from his new identity as ben, but i think that it would have been even more impactful to make him live with the crimes he has committed and still make him keep fighting his demons to join his legacy on the light side. overall, bens death left a sour taste in my mouth, and for that reason i don’t walk out feeling uplifted. i just wish i knew what george lucas is thinking right now.

LIKE

1. ben solo’s arc and han. now, before some of you pop off at me, i still think he was awful and horrible and didn’t deserve instant forgiveness, but i also think that someone who has grown up his entire life being treated like the spawn of satan by all adults who are supposed to love him would fuck him up majorly, like it would to anyone else in that situation. i think that he deserved another chance at experiencing love and happiness, and i absolutely adored the scene with him and han solo. it was honestly one of the best parts of the whole movie. thank you harrison ford. the whole “i don’t think i’m strong enough” and him tearing up to his dad CUT DEEP. AND THE “dad-“ “i know” LIKE LITERALLY MY HEART. bringing back the “i love you” “i know” so they are LITERALLY TELLING EACH OTHER THEY LOVE EACH OTHER!!! i’m at peace. adam driver’s acting was absolutely phenomenal. so much respect for him. truly incredible.

2. i loved poe and rey’s bickering. lowkey thought it built some chemistry between them. and how poe seemed quite jealous that finn knew stuff about rey that he didn’t, literally asking him more than once (1nce) about it, like???? han leia vibes. tea. but also poe and finn

3. i really liked jannah SOOO much (and i usually am not one for introducing a character so late) but, like i explained in detail above, i wish they had built that backstory better and introduced her a little bit sooner with more screen time. but i loved her and finns connection and understanding of their trauma.

4. FINN AND POE BEING THE CUTEST HUMANS EVER. that’s all. i just love how they care so very much about each other like stop. cogenerals.

5. ALL THE JEDI VOICES WERE SO FREAKING COOL. CHILLS.

6. i honestly think that’s all. i don’t have anything more

7. OH WAIT HUX BEING THE SPY. i ate that shit up. yes. we stan. AND the hint that he was going along w poe’s phone call in tlj so that the resistance could escape (that’s how poe KNEW it) like YES

8. the animation of young luke and leia made my heart weep

9. that lil sketchy bitch babu and the new cone droid that talks,, mmm

10. OH THAT THE FORCE BOND LETS THEM TRANSMIT OBJECTS THRU IT LIKE THE VADER MASK SCENE WAS ICONIC

11. this is so sad that i am putting this in my “like” parts but the fact that they didn’t kill chewie and that they showed him being so torn up about leias death

12. OH AND CHEWIE GETTING HIS MEDAL THAT WAS SO HYPE

13. rey burying the skywalker lightsabers and looking into the sunset, perfectly tying back to luke doing the same 42 years ago

overall, if i don’t think too hard, i did like it and felt kind of at peace. BUT it could’ve been much better @ JJ :/ i feel like it didn’t do the saga justice as the “conclusion of the saga” bc there is still so much left unanswered. but, like i said, i did enjoy it a lot and have so much love for this world. rant over. i love u star wars. thank u for everything. <3

[neutronstarsign]

The Rise of Skywalker left me a bit peeved: a rant.

(Disclaimer: I am not deep in the fandom or its lore. I’m a casual viewer who likes queer things and spaceships going boom)

Little clarification on why I am personally pissed off about TROS (so many spoilers so if you do not want to know anything do not proceed):

This movie doesn’t know whether it wants to 1) continue The Force Awakens, 2) shit on The Last Jedi, 3) give the whiny fans what they want, 4) all of the above in different measures OR 5) continue the movies without any of the above.

So some good stuff first. I loved the trio and was so happy they got to do a bulk of this adventure together and flesh out their dynamic. For the most part the new characters worked in the story and I appreciated how many women there were. The action and cinematography were fucking wonderous. It was lovely to see Carrie Fisher and I know this movie was very hard to piece together after her passing. Kylo finally getting his shit together felt well earned, even if it happened a bit late in the story and could have been explored better.

However. As much as I liked The Last Jedi these parts were direct continuations to The Force Awakens.

Now to my grievances in a list form:

a) Just to set things out, the sidelining of Rose was so disgusting and they were so blunt about it to the point I am not sure why they didn’t write her character out in a dignified manner. She deserved better.

b) You can’t just open a movie with a text that says “Hey just so you know Palpatine is back and he sent a Youtube video about it to the galaxy”. At least show the transmission and people’s reactions to it. Where did this asshole come from again? Fuck it he’s a zombie now.

c) Rey as a Palpatine felt like stupid bloodline pandering to appease fanboys and to give the movie a villain after Snoke got killed off in the last movie. I actually rather enjoyed the fact that she came for nothing, precisely because quaranteeing force sensitivity to one or two families is dumb on a philosophical level. I suppose they really ran with the midichlorian theory.

d) Moreover, what the fuck did they do to Hux and why? At least keep him around so I can give a shit about all these villains you’re about to destroy, I don’t give a damn about general fuckface and zombie Palpatine. Utilise your villains better.

e) Look I’m not big on Reylo but everyone in that debate was left unhappy.

f) I know why Ben’s turning point happens so late in the story, but I still don’t like it because I’m a character driven viewer and I want things explored properly. Yes, his ending is bittersweet but rings slightly hollow because it literally didn’t pay off for his character to do this. He didn’t gain new friends, insights, struggles or resolutions, he got obsessed with a woman, saved her and promptly died. His journey feels unbalanced because he starts the movie off where he effectively was at the end of The Force Awakens, and that’s because his character arc was almost cyclical in The Last Jedi.

g) I find it hilarious that this entire trilogy milks out the nostalgia factor to a distracting degree and not once did they actually utilise the prequels in a constructive manner. Get Obi-Wan to do some spirit guiding here at least for fuck’s sake. Make Jar Jar Palpatine’s second in command. Do something creative.

h) Everything is so straightwashed that I am starting to think Star Wars is owned by a homophobic megacorporation that likes to market itself as queer friendly but actually cares more about brand integrity amongst conservative cultures in the US and abroad. Oh wait. Finn/Poe is life guys. I have an agenda and so does Disney. Neither is blameless.

Imma stop there because I have better things to do with my life than moan about a children’s movie for hours.

[sparda3g]

The Seven Deadly Sins Chapter 293 Review

You know the series is ending when a character’s trademark is removed; for some, it means the character has reached its end. While that line is debatable for this particular character here, it is certain the trademark that made him standout is gone. Case in point, Ban. The decision from Nakaba is bold albeit the finale is approaching, though can lead to outburst from the fans. For what it’s worth, I thought this was a nice chapter with mixed-to-positive thoughts of the aftermath.

This is practically a Ban’s chapter. In the last chapter, I was left impressed and hyped by his arrival with a newfound spirit. I was looking forward to his first action after months in Purgatory. He tells Elizabeth that Meliodas is indeed fine and he will return for her very soon. In short, his journey was a success. Before he can do some serious ass-kicking, he has a personal thing to take care of. I knew he meant Elaine, especially since she’s on the verge of dying for good.

It’s been hectic over where Mael and Meliodas respectively located. I thought, “Say, whatever happened to Howzer and others?” This chapter returns back to the scene and if you thought they’re just waiting like Dragon Ball Z characters in the last arc, you thought wrong. The double page spread is nicely drawn, capturing the war aspect well. There’s good enough of details to follow clearly; many panels capturing different viewpoints of each character’s struggle. The good guys are doing fine, but they’re slowly losing their stamina.

Howzer was about to get pummeled until Elaine saves him. I don’t recall her participating in combat earlier, especially since she’s nearly out of energy, indicating that she has been fighting for a while. I guess this is Nakaba’s way to open up a moment for Ban to save her out in the open. In due time. Gerhearde rushes to help Elaine, but she reminds her and the fans that her death bed is nearly here. Oh how lucky she is once Ban arrives.

Out of everywhere there, Matrona was holding on pretty well. It’s a good thing too; I would have thought she was downgraded significantly. That said she was wearing out and outnumbered by top tier demons by this point. Once she goes down, everyone is in deep trouble. Luckily, Elaine is powerful, using Tempest Force to protect everyone. If she were to die, at least, she’s going out with a bang. The fairies are praising her, but they have no idea she’s on the verge of death.

I would assume her line about fighting explains why she’s out of her bed. She knows Ban was fighting in Purgatory to save Meliodas, it encouraged her to fight as the Holy Maiden. How sweet of her. Sadly, her wings disappears, so that clock is ticking. Although it was hinted or blatantly said Ban has a way to save her, I still found her words a bit charming.

In the last chapter, Ban had a really cool entry; leaving a strong impression for his newfound self. For someone like that, he got to have a really cool rescue and that’s exactly what he earned. As Elaine falls down, she says her farewell to Ban before demons devour her. Ban arrives and in one arm movement, he takes out everyone around her. Damn. Now that’s an upgrade. Similar to the last chapter, characters are reacting to Ban’s arrival like they have seen their lord and savior. Like many pairing fans’ dream, Ban catches her in a bridal hold. Love is back in the air. It’s a shame that she is going to die.

As happy she was to get her body and wings back, all she wanted is to be hold by Ban one last time. It’s a farewell speech that understood that the fans won’t buy into it. It’s already said he has a way to save her, so we won’t be fooled by her “end.” It’s no wonder her farewell ends rather normal and not dramatic like Ban’s Gaiden. It’s like in Dragon Ball Z; we know they will come back, but it does suck that they won’t be available until then. It’s why the reactions went by quickly, so Ban can deliver his ultimate technique: Gift.

Before this moment, I was under impression that Ban is sharing his energy within to Elaine; basically, use the power Full Heal in RPG term to save her from death. However, it turns out that he’s actually transferring his Fountain of Youth’s power to her. Not just partial of it, the entire thing. I could imagine this is where the fans were highly skeptical that it’s really happening. Once Ban smiles off Elaine’s warning, it’s confirmed: this is the end of the Undead Ban.

Elaine wakes up, signaling the process is complete and with that regard, she is now the holder of the Fountain of Youth. It’s a full circle; Ban was given that power by her, now it’s his turn to give it back. For some reason, she revert back to her younger self, but I guess that’s what the power do to her? I was fine with her older design. Ban doesn’t care about the immortality anymore. He says his famous line about stealing her someday, and that day is here. They are together at last. While there’s a war going on, once it’s over, they can live happily. It’s a nice moment. It’s a complete circle of development for Ban and Elaine and it was done nicely. That said I can see why people would be mixed.

Personally, I have nothing against the pairing. Story-wise, it’s a nice tale that even spawned a side story manga because how good it is. Understandably so. The only knack I have is not really the image itself, though I understand the “bad touch” feeling, but rather the writer’s possible self-desire. It does appear young girl design (loli) is Nakaba’s fortitude. Why else Elaine all the sudden revert back to young self, alas 10 year old size? We know Merlin’s true self as well, so it’s like it’s gearing for big and small couple. I have nothing against it in real life, genetically speaking, not age. I more or less convinced myself that Nakaba wants the badass men to date little girls (size). It is distracting, yes, but it is what it is. Don’t read it in public if you don’t want to get arrested.

While that argument leans more about “Japan’s society differs here” discussion, the real problem is Ban losing his “trademark” alas immortality. From the glimpse of the community, it sounds like some kind of The Last Jedi rant. For me, I will wait and see how this plays off. Keep in mind, the series is close to the end. Maybe not so close like in 2 volumes to go, but basically, this is the final arc. It is sad that Ban is no longer the character we remember ability-wise. However, I am interested to see how different his combat works from here on.

He is no longer immortal, which means he can’t recklessly go out there and “die” over and over again. That alone change everything and so, his fighting style has to change as well. It also means our torture porn (lack of better word) is gone. Let’s face it, he was there to show us how bloody or gory can he display for us. It’s like switching directors for Transformers film; it’s a whole new feel. Will it be good? Hard to say, but I’m interested honestly. That all said I understand the fans feeling sad to see his “trademark” gone. It was his character. If the change fails to be good, then it’s a mistake. Only time will tell if it’s worth it.

Overall, I thought this was a nice chapter that appears to be a closure for both Ban and Elaine. I doubt Ban won’t fight anymore, but I wonder if he will stay with the Sins after this is all over. On the other hand, there’s been signs that everyone will go on to their new life. Remember, King wants to propose to Diane; expect a new family. That’s looking ahead to the future. For now, Nakaba has pulled a risky move with Ban from a nice, somewhat questionable moment of romance. Let’s hope this payoff well into the future.

[padawanlost]

am i the only one who thinks its unfair for people to harp on anakin for killing the tusken raiders while ignoring the other violent acts that other "good" characters do? like the time mace windu decapitated a man in front of his innocent child? or how the jedi used an entire slave army? or how the jedi continuously bow to criminal lords that thrive on slavery and crime? or how they tried an innocent young person without so much a chance to redeem herself (AND according to old canon, [---1/2---]

[–2/2–]the real guilty person actually continued to be jedi with no apparent punishment)? and if you loved your mother like anakin did you would be just as angry if not more so. i know if i was in that situation, i would be killing too. would it be right? no. would it be human? absolutely. not defending anakin’s murders, just saying if youre hard on anakin you need to be hard on everyone else. sorry for the rant #leaveanakinalone            

I feel you,anon! If you look at it as bad deed = bad person then pretty much every singlecharacter is a bad person too. What Anakin did was unquestionably wrong. It was textbook massmurder. Which, if we are going to be honest, is pretty bad when compared to theindividual wrongs of his peers.

I agree, almost everyone’s mistakes led tosomeone’s death. What sets Anakin apart was his reasoning and the sheer amountof people he killed in one go. There’s also the fact that Anakin and his fansare this fandom’s favorite scapegoat. You can’t make a single post focusing onsomething Anakin did right without someone saying “the killed the younglingsthough”. What it’s excused on everyone else, it’s appalled in Anakin. Make apost about how Anakin was a good husband and you’ll get at a lot of “but hekilled his wife”. Make a post suggesting Obi-wan used Padmé or that Mace was abad teacher and watch the shit hit the fan.

Yes, whatAnakin’s crimes were much worse but it’s unfair how he’s the only character who gets called out for his mistakes like that. I mean, if you say Anakin screwedup you are a wise fan but if you dare to say anyone else screwed up even a little bit you’reanti or a hater who has no idea what you are talking about :/

Personally,I love to good conversation about morality so talking about whether or notAnakin was bad doesn’t’ bother me at all. But no, you’re not the only one whohas noticed there’s a general bias against Anakin when it comes to talkingabout the mistakes characters make in Star Wars.  

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Solo: A Star Wars Story review

As a lifelong fan of Star Wars (I’ve been watching these movies since I was a little kid), there is one thing that has always and will always be true about the Star Wars fandom, no matter how many movies, TV shows, and books come out:

The Star Wars fandom is a malignant tumor on the franchise.

This is not anything new, but seriously, I saw so many people writing this film off before even seeing it – with one guy even going so far as to call it a trainwreck on par with that new David Cage game – that frankly I am confident in saying Star Wars has the worst fans of any property ever. You give them one really divisive film and then they immediately decide everything after is garbage as soon as it’s announced. But hey, I could rant all day about how awful Star Wars fans are; hell, I could write a book about it. But I’m here to talk about the movie they were so insistent would be utter garbage and a disgrace to the Star Wars name. How was it?

It was fucking excellent.

This film is just a fun, exciting space adventure; think Indiana Jones… IN SPACE! While it doesn’t reinvent the wheel or really do anything particularly new story-wise, it’s just a fun, thrilling, adventure film with heist film elements sprinkled in, it is the first Star Wars film in ages that actually invokes the feeling of fun and adventure that the original trilogy did. Do what exactly happens in this film that is so much fun? Well, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

...Han was living on the streets as a petty crook, serving some nasty criminal to stay alive and help find money to get himself and his girlfriend Qi’ra off the planet. Of course, things get complicated when they try to escape, and she’s dragged off while Han is left to join the army to fulfill his dream of being a pilot. Promising to come back for Qi’ra some day, he joins the Imperials, where he meets the thief Beckett and his crew, as well as his soon-to-be BFF Chewbacca. They decide to team up to pull off a heist that will have them rolling in money, but things go awry and soon Han and Tobias find themselves having to do ANOTHER heist for crime lord Dryden Vos, lest they wish to be killed. Can the gang pull off the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs, or is Dryden Vos gonna add their skulls to his collection of jewels, statues, and Indiana Jones props?

So this movie is easily the best Star Wars movie Disney has produced yet – and for the record, I enjoyed at least two of the previous Star Wars films. The reason I call this the best, though, is it just recaptures that fun, adventurous feeling the old movies had in spades, but ALSO because the movie invokes the other great Harrison Ford character, Indiana Jones. There is a lingering taste of Indy to  this movie, and man is it nice to see two of  the best adventure franchises’ spirits blend into one fun package. If you ever wanted to see an Indiana Jones movies with aliens that is inarguably excellent, BOOM, you’ve got it.

The cast is actually the biggest surprise, especially Alden Ehrenreich, who had insurmountable odds stacked against him as he is playing a younger version of what just might be the most beloved character in the entire franchise. Thankfully, your worries will be erased only a few short minutes in; while this is clearly a younger and more idealistic Han than the bitter, cynical jerk with  a heart of gold we all know and love, the inflections, facial expressions, and “everyman who keeps getting dragged into crazy shit” feel of the character is all still there. I fully believed this Han and the later Han could be the same character, giving a level of prequel consistency that has on occasion been missing in Star Wars films. I’m looking at you, backflipping super Yoda.

Of course, the rest of the cast is excellent as well. I don’t think I need to spend any time convincing you that Donald “Childish Gambino” Glover is probably the most perfect casting choice in the universe for Lando; as soon  as everyone heard this casting choice, it was just collectively agreed this was the most perfect casting imaginable. Lando really steals the show when he’s onscreen which is the least surprising sentence ever typed out. Chewie, of course, is as good as ever, but is that really a shock either? What’s really a shock is how good the supporting cast is. Beckett is the least surprising with how good he is, because he’s Woody Harrelson, a man who just exudes greatness. Qi’ra, on the other hand, is a bit more shocking, seeing as she’s one of those love interest characters who is obviously doomed by canon despite this, she’s given quite a bit of characterization and depth, to the point it really is kinda sad things between her and Han don’t work out. Then there’s Lando’s droid gal pal L3-37, who despite the stupid name and a rocky start actually becomes very amusing and enjoyable as her screentime progresses. Dryden Vos is a suitable villain for a story like this, with Paul Bettany giving a great performance. And then there’s the badass space pirate Enfys Nest, who sadly I cannot go into great depth without spoiling; just take my word for it, Nest is awesome. Overall, this is a really solid cast of characters we got here.

One of the best things about this film, though, is just how fresh it feels why still incorporating all sorts of old ideas. This film actually canonizes a lot of stuff from the Legends continuity, so if you were sad about some of that stuff seemingly being rendered non-canon, well boy are you in for a treat! Planets, areas, even parts of Han’s backstory, all of it appeared in the old EU before appearing here. For some of the more fresh stuff, we get a lot of cool new alien and droid designs, and while there’s obviously some CGI mixed with practical effects, it’s not ridiculous, and when we get cool aliens like Therm Scissorpunch, the Summa-verminoth, and Lady Proxima, it’s really hard to complain. There’s stuff here for everybody, old fans and new. You can’t really complain about them not caring about fans anymore now.

Sure, there are some really corny moments and some dumb, nitpicky things here and there, but that’s really in line with the spirit of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films this movie most emulates. It’s just a fun, exciting adventure film showing how everyone’s favorite lovable rogue got his ship, his best friend, and learned the tricks of his trade, and it doesn’t try to overachieve and push things to new heights, which is a problem I have with The Last Jedi. This movie knows what it is, and it just wants you to have some fun. Casual fans will love the exciting thrills and the backstory, and longtime fans will enjoy all the shout-outs to the expansive lore of the series and appreciate the cameos and appearances of some characters, particularly a certain villain who has a brief appearance at the end. This is just a seriously great and fun film, which isn’t really something I’ve been able to honestly say about Star Wars in a while.

People who initially wrote this off and have seen it have reacted positively to it, so I guess not all hope is lost for the salty Star Wars fans out there. But the fact so many wrote this off due to the overblown hateboner for The Last Jedi is just ridiculous to me. Give this movie a chance, because whatever you feel about Star Wars right now, this will probably improve how you feel. Don’t go in expecting a reinvention of the franchise and just go in expecting a fun time like A New Hope or Raiders of the Lost Ark and you’ll be golden.

My only real issue with the film is that they did not once reference or use this song at all:

Come on, would it have KILLED them to play this over the credits?

[sanguinecrusader]

Javick Skalda intro

(The first of many stories I intend to write about my multiple characters! Hope you guys enjoy! Sorry if the ending feels a bit rushed I actually really needed to head to bed. This has been something I’ve been working on for a long time and should keep you guys busy until I start showing off more from the settings I’m creating. If it gets enough attention i could possibly ask who you guys wanna hear about next. Enjoy!)

It took 10 years. Ten long years since he decided he was gonna retrieve what he believes is rightfully his. Since he began his search high and low, hearing of it being exchanged around like a damn toy or trophy. It wasn’t some damn trophy to sit in some arrogant sith’s trophy room, to him it was his birthright. Ever since he first heard of the sacking he prayed, pleaded even that his secretive father was still alive. He was never a fan of the jedi and their ways, forbidden to see his own father because of their self righteous creeds and dogmas. Though he also respected such a sacrifice for what they believe is right.

The Zabrak shakes his horned head as he snaps himself out of his little rant and looks on to the planet he was landing on. Dromund Kaas, Capital of the sith empire. Wouldn’t be the first time he came to this place, last time he was here he was chasing an imperial defector through the streets. The poor bastard didn’t take Aishi into account, little akk dog tore him apart and definitely gave a scare to anyone else thinking it would be this easy to conspire against the empire.

Landing in the local starport wasn’t too much of a hassle and security didn’t give much of an issue “make sure no one gets in ehh girl?” He says to the barely away akk dog as it opens its mouth wide open in a yawn as it lays down for a little nap. Javick gave her a little scratch on the head on the way out and strolled out of the port into the jungle. “Now if I remember correctly it’s being held by some rogue sith out in the jungle… maybe it wouldn’t hurt to collect a few bounties while I’m in there.” Getting through the jungle and swamps wasn’t the issue, the beasts were kept away easy enough through fire and loud noises but the multiples of troops, rogue sith, and whatever the hell else this “lord grathan” has in that fortress of his is gonna be a different of matter… though fire will help…

He scaled the wall bypassing the security, now it was all a matter of trying to find what he came for. His father’s lightsaber, no way he was going to let something from his family rust away like that. Dodging the patrols he made his way into the main building and started searching the rooms. Looking through the less secure ones again and again eventually made him fed up and he snuck up on a nearby trooper putting his blaster pistol to his back “take me to the trophy room and I won’t put a hole in your spine”

“And who the hell are you supposed to be!?” this was answered by a swift punch to the kidney shut him up real quick a grunt being heard echoing down the hall. “Nevermind who I am just show me the trophy room and if I see you turn toward me you are dead” the man slowly nodded and walked down the hall, nearby he saw an enemy patrol walking towards them. “Keep. walking.” the man kept quiet as the squad walked past sith in the group gave javick a blank stare as they both walked out of site an came upon the door. “See that wasn’t so hard was it?”

“How many have you killed to get in here?”

“Oh noone… at least not yet. Now open the door” He says jabbing his pistol into the man's back. “Punching in the code to the door he slowly looked back at the mandalorian’s face, his red, black, and gold helmet was the last thing he saw before being promptly knocked out as he was struck across the head. “I warned you di’kut.” He mutters as he slowly drags the man into the room propping him up against the wall and getting a good look his face ”hmm… no one important, guess i’ll leave in alive…” Javick skulked through the room of glass cases and fancy stands. Grathan had an eye for presentation he’ll give him that much.

Then he spots in in a case he slowly pulled off and set on the floor. A Black and gold lightsaber, he knew immediately gazing upon it that this was indeed his father’s lightsaber. As he picked it up he felt a sense of serenity, a feeling like he has reunited with his father in spirit. “Udes o'r naak, buir” just then behind him he hears the sharp ignition of a lightsaber slowly turning he sees 3 troopers pointing blasters at him as well as the same cloaked sith “By the authority of lore grathan I order you to drop the lightsaber and surrender!”

“You think I’m gonna come this far just to surrender to a bunch of grunts and a no name sith?”

“You do not need to know who I am alien!”

“Oh I don’t really give a damn. Listen I’m only here for this” He says brandishing the unignited saber. “And what does a mandalorian want with a lightsaber”

“Let’s just say it has a certain… sentimental value…”

“You are trying my patience alien”

“And my trigger finger is getting itchy so I suggest you and your cronies get out of my way before I get angry!” He says slowly reaching for his blaster, the troopers immediately opening fire Javick instinctively igniting the saber and blocking the shots as he jumped for cover “... well that was definitely a fluke…”

“Hold your fire! The boy is obviously force sensitive. I will deal with him! Come out child so we may duel!”

“... fine… I’ll humor you sith” He gets up the saber still ignited as the sith removed his cloak showing off his greyed skin and blackened veins. “Ohhh now you… you look important…”

“Just shut up and fight!” he said charging at him javick clumsily blocking the strikes until he gains some kind of momentum and began taking swings of his own, a lightshow of red and yellow across the room as the two men fight. One of the soldiers start reaching for the alarm button as the sabers clashed together, Javick promptly unleashing a wrist blade and jamming it in his leg, the man letting out a grunt and a shoulder check sending him to the ground. “No you don’t!” he says outstretching his hand, a wave of kinetic energy slamming the runner into the wall disorienting him. The remaining two firing potshots at him as their master got up attempting to ignore the pain and charge him from behind. “Damn!” as he dodges out of the way he gets a lucky shot on the third trooper nailing his shoulder and collapsing to the ground. Luckily the armor he bore was strong enough to withstand the bolt. Activating his jetpack he charges the last trooper, taking a bolt to the arm and slashes the trooper across the abdomen.

This little victory was cut short as electricity coursed through him and dropped him to the ground.”Haar’chak!” once it was over he was left breathing heavily in a near smouldering heap. “You definitely do have a fire in in… But your power is something to be desired” Javick slowly got up “yeah? Think I could get some pointers darjetti?”

“Yessss… join me. A mandalorian sith can make for a very powerful man”

“Heh powerful huh? What if I told you to shove that offer up your grey-skinned ass” Lightning crackled in his hands ”then you can die here…”

“Hmmph… guess I don’t have much of a choice huh?” He says outstretching his hand the sith shaking his “then from this day forward you shall serve me and lord gra- thhk!” the sith looked down to find the mandalorian’s wrist blade in his sternum “guess I forgot to mention…” he leans in and whispers into his ear ”I serve no one…” he says dropping the man too the ground, firing his blaster into him to make sure he’s dead. “Guess all that hot air clouded his sixth sense…” with his helmet cam he snapped a picture of the sith’s body and headed out, saber in hand. As he made his exit the alarms went off in the compound. “Damn… guess he wasn’t knocked out as long as I had hoped… oh well too late now…” he made his escape and back to the spaceport and onto his ship, Aishi running up worryingly whining at him “hey hey it’s ok girl I’m fine…” He says assuredly, petting the top of her head as he made his way to the cockpit” Now let’s get on with that bounty on the rogue apprentice…”

[stonedandstudying]

Solo: A Movie Review

Ya know, Solo ended up being a little more of an interesting experience than I thought it would.  There were highs, and lows, and hidden Easter Eggs for fans; John Powell's score was pretty solid, and the action sequences were fun.  When it comes down to it for me, I am never going to see Harrison Ford in Alden Ehrenreich's, and you may call that nit-picking, but whatever.  Aside from that you can tell Ehrenreich spent the time trying to bring Han's mannerisms, wit, smirks, and self-confidence into the role, and I can appreciate that effort.

The way Han and Chewy meet should be pleasing to fans as the premise didn't change from what has long been known about these characters' histories.  Han, a member of the Imperial Navy, deserts with an enslaved Wookie, and up until now we only had comics and Extended Universe novels to see that play out.  It was great seeing Chewy get so physical, but it should be no surprise either.  If we're going to get chronological with this, the last time we have seen Chewy prior to Solo: A Star Wars Story was on the shoreline on Kashyyyk, at the end of Episode III.  So not only do we know that he has no love for the Empire, but he's a proficient warrior as well. 

I'll go into these two a little more if we talk about it on the show, but overall, I think the relationship between Han and Chewy developed in a believable and genuine way.

The other thing about Star Wars has always been the ability to personify inanimate objects, making them essential characters in the process.  Anakin's Lightsaber, for example, which was tossed around, and anticlimactically destroyed in The Last Jedi —many Star Wars themes were destroyed in The Last Jedi— had been an important relic of in the franchise, since 1977.  The Millennium Falcon is no different. 

It is always great to see the Falcon because it never disappoints. It's always going to be that same nocked-coin shape; it's propulsion systems are always going to rev up with a familiar high squeal, resulting in a blast of bright blue plasma; and, like our favorite droids, will always be back at the end of the film, in good working order, no matter how beat up it gets along the way.

Which brings me to some of my lows:

L3, Lando's droid that won't shut up about Equal Rights for Robots.   

Whoever programmed this droid to be such a stick in the mud was a sadistic son of a bitch.  It's one thing to listen to an alien creature complain about being low man on the social totem pole; it's another thing to listen to a droid, whose personality was programmed into them, complain about droids being made to fight each other in cage combat.  I was GIDDY when this thing got blown to bits, but nothing compared to watching Lando struggle to drag the torso of L3 across the battlefront as if it were a scene from Platoon —it read more like Tropic Thunder.  And this is why C-3P0 and R2 were always kept firmly within the realm of comic relief—they're droids! 

How many times as 3PO been torn limb from limb, only to return at the end of every episode, reassembled and shined up like new?  As L3 and Lando had their Forrest Gump/Bubba  Vietnam moment, was anyone else thinking to themselves...uh, just keep L3's head and you'll be able to get her all fixed up.  I'm sitting there saying to myself, "What the fuck am I watching right now?"  The kids sitting next to us were laughing, too.  

Which brings me to my last point, for now—and it's not even really a "low":

Lando.  Donald Glover did a fine job. I had always envisioned what those games of Sabacc between Lando and Han were like— the card games that lead to the Han and Chewy winning the Falcon.  Lando's still the same style-obsession, self-assured swindler, and I loved it.  But you now what?  Aside from coming on to the gorgeous Emilia Clarke, Glover's character never showed more sexual interest in anything or anyone in the way he was interested in money and status.

Which leaves me to a new recurring Star Wars/Disney point:

Why on earth did Jonathan Kasdan say what he said about Lando's "pan-sexuality"?  Why can't these people help themselves? 

Before the release of Rogue One, writer, Chris Weitz, felt the need to get onto Twitter and draw lines of comparison between the Empire and White Supremacy and our newly election President, Donald Trump.  He wanted people to go into the theaters paying special attention to how the Rebellion was a multicultural force, lead by strong womynz.  So, naturally, people get pissed off and wary of the release, which is unfortunate because Solo wasn't anywhere near the cinematic disaster that was The Last Jedi.  So, why are any of these Social Justice public service announcements necessary, or allowed?  Why do they do this?  It's a huge part of the reason why the franchise is going to continue to drop off and wither on the vine—the numbers on Solo and the mum reviews should be a telling sign in itself. 

The reviews aren't even that bad, but there's just no juice for it... Perhaps if Disney had more than half of the people who gave life to Star Wars in the first place still on board, this would be a much different outcome?

To me, It's one thing to accept that Star Wars is controlled by Disney, which is controlled by a gaggle of progressives who can't allow themselves to create something for all people to enjoy.  It comes through in their plot-lines, their characters arcs, their casting, and the promotion therein.  It brings the conversation to a whole other level when they actually do a decent job (Solo & Rogue One) for fans and these freak-show writers still can't control themselves enough as to refrain from giving people viewing instructions when they watch the film.  

Alright. Rant over. There's more to say but maybe we'll talk about this to close out a broadcast this week.

[superherotigerarchives]

My Last Jedi review...

Now it’s finally time to talk about my opinions on The Last Jedi!

The short answer is: I enjoyed the movie for the most part, and I appreciate that it was able to subvert expectations and take a different route than normal.

Now for the long answer, one most of you probably won’t stick around for :P

(P.S Forgive me if I mention things out of order. My memory isn’t always the best!)

For a little background, I went to see the Last Jedi at the midnight screening with my cousin and 15 of his friends. I was dressed as Rey, keeping with the tradition of cosplay at midnight screenings as I had for the past two years at both TFA and Rogue One. I’m telling you this because every time I see a new Star Wars movie, I have the most amazing, awe-stuck experience, and hence, my opinion will be biased and faults that others may realise can be glazed over by myself as I had such fond memories of these movies. So no, my opinion is not perfect, but to me if I enjoyed a movie while watching it that’s all that really matters.

Now to the review!

Starting off, I really enjoyed the first space battle, and I felt it was a great way to start off the movie. I was a little jolted out of the Star Wars universe at first due to the different camera techniques that are not often seen in these movies, but I like that they’re branching out into more cinematic shots and willing to explore their techniques more. Seeing Carrie Fisher and her daughter on the big screen did make my heart throb for a moment, and I still love Leia as much as ever, especially the dynamic between Poe and herself. They were very much a mother-son dynamic, and I still love Leia’s snappy little “You’re demoted” with an equally sassy slap!

I enjoyed where they went with Hux. He wasn’t fleshed out, but he was able to be a comic relief in my opinion, one you often didn’t expect. Some people may not like this, but when both screenings I attended to laughed at the first scene between Hux and Poe, I know I’m not the only one that enjoyed the humour. I thought it landed well, and because of my twisted sense of humour I quite enjoyed Hux becoming the ragdoll to the powerful force users. Just a little light-hearted fun in my opinion.

So basically, the first space battle was great, and I think it was a strong start to a strong movie.

Now, I’ll move onto the Rey plot as Finn’s one wasn’t really explored much until after Rey’s started. Everyone expected this massive moment when Luke got his lightsabre, something huge, something spectacular! And to be honest, I really liked that he metaphorically and literally threw those expectations away. So often the passionate fans of Star Wars lose sight of the fact that we, the audience, do not have control. And we shouldn’t do! How boring would a movie be if it always went the way we wanted?

To the fans that lightsabre is important, something passed down through the Skywalker legacy. But to Luke, it’s a memory of that traumatising day when he lost a limb, almost fell to his death, lost his friend to a bounty hunter, and most importantly, found out his father was one of the most evil figures in the galaxy! To be honest, I wouldn’t want to hold on to something like that either! There must be so much bad energy surrounding that sword, and that’s not even mentioning all those younglings that were slaughtered to the blade.

So yes, I do think it was appropriate for Luke not to care about the sabre. I wasn’t expecting him to do it in such a drama queen fashion, but we’re talking about the Skywalkers here! When have they ever done something not over the top?

Now, I’m going to mention something really quickly, because I’m going to write its own post for this topic.

How the KRIFF is hyperspace tracking a new technology?! Everyone’s acting like it’s the most original idea they’ve ever heard, and people are mentioning that Rogue One hinted to it, but I’m like “Hey, how about that episode of Rebels where THEY WERE LITERALLY TRACKED THROUGH HYPERSPACE WITH A TRACKER?!?!?!” Is it just me, or did this just feel really off? I mean, if the Empire had already at least started that kind of technology, surely the First Order with all their fancy equipment would have that right? And how did the Rebels not know about it? Was the Ghost crew just all chill after that death defying attack and like “We won’t let the other cells know they can literally be tracked through hyperspace by the Empire and destroyed within seconds.” But that’s just me, a Rebels nut that tries to connect Rebels to anything imaginable.

Now that my little rant is over, we’ll move on.

After finding out the ship is being tracked through hyperspace, Finn tries to leave so that Rey won’t accidentally stumble into the battle and get destroyed in the process. Now, I REALLY love this scene between Rose and Finn. It’s great chemistry, and the part where Rose goes “I’ve had to taser 3 other people today trying to escape in this very pod!” and Finn’s all like “That’s disgraceful” *Desperately trying to shove his escape pack out of view*

Anyways, love it, it’s great.

One thing that confuses me is how Finn knows the layout of every First Order ship when he was just… a janitor? Like I get it, funny joke and all but how would the guy that presumably had only worked on Star Killer Base know the layout to Snoke’s ship? And how would Rose, who is supposed to be just an average resistance fighter who’s always in the background, know how to disable something like that? They obviously didn’t even know this technology existed, so how did they know all that information about the tracker and how to disable it? I imagine a hyperspace tracker would work differently to a normal respect in some way or another. But that’s just me.

Now, Kylo Ren in this entire movie was AMAZING! Adam Driver played him so well, I’ve never seen someone be able to express such conflict in merely facial expressions alone! Especially the scene where he’s in the elevator and his eye is twitching, and you can tell he can’t handle the literal roast Snoke just gave him and smashes his helmet to the wall. I love it so much, and just Kylo Ren/Ben Solo was portrayed so well in this movie! And yes, I am one of those people who believe Kylo Ren will get redeemed. Not in the sense that he will come to the light, but in the sense that he and Rey and will balance the force together. I’ll get more into that later.

Okay, now I’ll get to the part that really tripped me out. You all have to admit, that scene with Leia flying through space was pretty strange right? Now, it’s not impossible for a character to survive space. Actually, Kanan Jarrus survived being ejected into space twice, and he still lives at the time I’m writing this. But in those cases Kanan was either A) Saved by someone else as he was unconscious or B) Had things to cling on to and propel himself off long enough to get back into an oxygenated area. Leia on the other hand really surprised me, and not entirely in the best way. She just suddenly… willed her way into the ship? It looked very out of place, especially in a Star Wars movie.

The best way you could fix this while still keeping the theme is to have the TIE’s blow up the command room, but not let their bodies get like… flung so far out? If you kept their bodies floating within the area of the now broken and exposed command room, you could have Leia use the debris to get to the door and then save her. I don’t know, I just feel like that would have been a bit more believable. The force is strong and all but I don’t know if it can go that far.

Anyways, briefly mentioning Holdo, I wasn’t sure how to feel about this character at first. She was giving off a really shifty vibe so naturally I thought she was a spy or at the very least was trying to sabotage their escape, but turns out she was in the right. That’s great and all but it still doesn’t explain why she didn’t tell anyone this plan of hers? Like, if she had just told Poe from the start, he wouldn’t have immediately jumped onto Finn and Rose’s risky plan. Little bit of a plot hole but I can glaze over it.

So, this is getting super long and I’m going to go analyse each plot thread separately now:

The Finn and Rose plot:

Though I think the relationship sort of jumped out of nowhere, I did enjoy their dynamic, and I would like to see them get to spend more time with each other. The casino did feel a little dull on the Star Wars scale, but things like the water ship that became airborne when it left the water was awesome, and I like those animals that they eventually ride on. For those of you who’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know I threw out the suggestion that DJ was Ezra, and at the time that seemed fitting as I was hellbent to get Rebels in there somewhere! But I’m pleased to say that I enjoy DJ as his own separate character. He’s quirky, and just really laid back and relaxed. I really enjoyed that, and not ever really knowing who’s side he was on was great. Like, you think he might be untrustworthy after asking for payment, then he gives Rose back her necklace, and then he ends up betraying them again when his life is put at risk. I love his character, and the little things like BB8 and him discussing who owned the ship was great.

Finn: This isn’t your ship, is it?

BB8: *Beeps*

DJ: *Laughs* He said I stole it. *Glances at BB8* We stole it together.

It’s just bits like these that are the icing on the cake.

I know people are saying this plot was unnecessary and all, but I really enjoyed it and I think if they had taken this plot out and only focused on Rey and Luke, it would have lost of a lot of it’s impact. The Rey and Luke scenes are great because they’re scarce, just like how Luke and Rey don’t actually interact that much. What would we even see? Rey practising stuff while Luke silently tries to figure out his own stuff? I think people forget that sometimes less is more, and I think it applies well to the Luke and Rey plot. I enjoyed the Canto Bite plot, and it was an interesting way to show how those outside of the Resistance and First Order stand in terms of the war.

Okay now to the Poe plot:

This was an interesting one. There wasn’t huge amounts of it from memory, but when it did show up it always made me think. After all, we saw this plot from Poe’s perspective. We love Poe, and even though we all know he can be reckless, everyone knows he has the best intentions and roots for him. We follow him as he tries to help Finn and Rose the best he can, while locking horns with Holdo, a character we don’t know very much about. That puts us in a position where we stand on Poe’s side because we trust him as a person more than Holdo, and it ultimately could have ended in all their deaths. It’s pretty interesting when you think about it…

Now to the meat of the story! The Rey/Luke and Rey/Kylo plots:

Luke and Rey have an interesting dynamic. You can tell there’s a part of Luke who’s curious who Rey is, and naturally wants to help her in some respect. But he’s held back by the fear of failure. That he will lose Rey the same way he lost Ben. So he pushes her away to protect her from himself, only to push her straight into the one who was pulling her to the dark. It’s such a brilliant dynamic, and I think that’s what’s so brilliant about the Yoda scene. My favourite line is “The greatest teacher, failure is…” because it’s so true! You learn so much more from your mistakes then you ever could from constantly being correct. Luke made a mistake with Ben, and he lost him. Now he could choose to wallow in that mistake, or use it to use advantage and learn how to stop it from happening next time. It’s a really good message, one I think should be encourage more often. It’s alright to do something wrong, it’s alright if you make a mistake. We shouldn’t be punishing kids for low grades, and instead encouraging them to learn and grow from these experiences.

The Rey and Kylo dynamic is even more interesting! I definitely found it the most interesting part of the movie by far. Basically, Kylo and Rey become connected through the force and are able to see each other and converse across the galaxy. I love how we see their dynamic go from ‘Immediately shoots at and fight of where Luke is again’ to,

“I’ve never felt so alone in my entire life…”

“You’re not alone…”

“Neither are you…”

AHHH! It was done so well. There’s definitely something awesome about these two characters getting to learn from each other. Rey can sympathise with Ben’s feeling of abandonment, and Kylo and sympathise with Rey’s feelings of loneliness. They are two sides of the same coin, and they compliment each other so well. I think it’s important to note that Rey cares about Ben Solo, not Kylo Ren. And even though Kylo Ren is saying to do whatever it takes to rule, Ben Solo is yearning for the compassion that Rey gives him.

Kylo Ren and Ben Solo are two different people. It’s not uncommon in the Star Wars universe to identify themselves as two different people. Darth Vader was considered different to Anakin Skywalker. Caleb Dume was not the same as Kanan Jarrus. And if you go a bit deeper characters like Count Vidian was different to his old former life before he decomposed due to disease.

It’s an interesting concept, but Rey and Ben work so well together, as seen by that AMAZING throne room fight scene! Seriously, best fight scene in Star Wars to date! It really displays each of their powers really well, and shows how much stronger the light and the dark are together than apart. Speaking of which, the idea of balance is pointed to heavily in this movie. When Rey is meditating, she says things along the lines of “Warmth, cold. Life, death. Peacefulness, chaos. Life, death. And in the middle, a force…” The force is the balance, and they’re using the concept of yin and yang in that one cannot exist without the other, and both are needed to be complete.

Rey is the light, and Kylo is the dark, as shown by Snoke’s quote of: “Darkness rises, and the light to meet it,” and also while speaking to Rey “I warned my young pupil that as he grew stronger, his counter in the light would grow too.” (Or something along those lines.)

I really like where this is going, and even though Kylo wasn’t redeemed in this movie, I do believe he and Rey will work together to start a new Order of Grey Jedi by episode 9. I’ll probably get more in depth about this stuff in another post, but I just thought I’d get that stuff off my mind.

And also, for those upset that Snoke was useless, let me tell you this. Snoke is just a stepping stone to exhibit Kylo’s power. No where was it explained that Snoke would be something bigger. That was just an assumption fans had imposed onto the character. Same with Rey’s parentage. No where did it indicate she was part of the Skywalker legacy, that was just something that was assumed because the saga is about the Skywalkers (even though Kylo is there as the Skywalker but that’s an argument for a whole other day). Basically, the Last Jedi reversed the expectations by making Rey a nobody (thank the force for that), and making Snoke just a tool for Kylo’s rise to power. And it does NOT make it a bad movie for doing that.

In my opinion, I think people had something they carefully theorised on for two whole years, a movie of their own, and were disappointed when they got something different. It’s alright to want to think things out guys, and I’m glad so many people are so passionate about something that they think out their own plan of events. Heck, even I’m guilty of it. But when you let those expectations grow so large that it’s impossible to please, the only person you are hindering is yourself.

Anyways, this post is so long, so I’m going to make a list of things I like and things I didn’t like about the movie to sum it up:

  Dislikes:

-Leia floating through space like a wizard

-Luke milking a creature on screen, like wtf?

-Initial shot of Yoda when he appears. (Once the tree is burning and he takes on more of his original puppet behaviour than CGI it’s much better.)

-Finn knowing the layout of all First Order ships even though he’s just a janitor

-Hyperspace tracking being a new technology

-Rose somehow able to disable a technology that is supposedly new and never heard of.

  Likes:

-“Well when you see Hux let him know Leia has a very important message… from his mother.”

-“I believe he’s tooling with you sir.”

-BB8 plugging the wires with his kriffing head

-Awesome yet sad sacrifice of Rose’s sister

-Carrie Fisher’s daughter on screen

-CARRIE ON SCREEN!

-Consequences to risky actions

-Big deal, Big Deal, BIG DEAL!

-“Finn, leaking, naked, what?”

-Luke throwing the lightsabre like a drama queen

-Chewie breaking down the door like hulk

-Rey literally reaching out her hand

-Luke using a freaking blade of grass to mess with Rey.

-“I feel something!” “Yeah? That’s the force!” “Oh my gosh I feel it!” “You’re really strong with it!” “Really?! I-“ *smacks her with said grass*

-PORGS!

-R2D2 and Luke reunion!

-“Hey holy grounds buddy, watch the language.”

-Force bond

-Rey, the whole way through

-Ben Solo, the whole way through

-Luke Skywalker, the whole way through

-Finn, the whole way through

-DJ and BB8, holy damn they’re like partners in crime

-Yoda sending a flipping lightning bolt cause Luke can’t finish the job

-“Page turners, they were not.”

-“The greatest teacher, failure is.”

-Hux being a kriffing ragdoll

-Crystal foxes!

-Throne room fight scene

-“Bring it on Chrome Dome!”

-“You were always scum…” “Rebel Scum?” *Mic drop*

-Holdo’s sacrifice

-Crait. Just the entire salty, little planet

-Luke and Leia reunion

-Luke brushing off his shoulder like the drama queen he is-

-Realising no footprints were left in any of the Luke battle scenes on Crait

-Rey lifting all those stones like a boss

-Rey and Finn reunion!

Basically, I love the movie, and you’re allowed to agree or disagree about it. That’s the brilliant part about opinions. We’re all allowed to have one, and no one should be disrespected over it. I doubt many of you made it through my analysis, and I’ll probably go into certain points in more detail in the future, but thanks anyways. Hope you have a great day, and may the force be with you always!

-Superherotiger

[megabadbunny]

it’s fuck-all-o’clock in the morning and that means time for a star wars rant right???

Btw any darlings who may be reading this: if you like The Last Jedi and reading criticism about it upsets you, or if you haven’t yet seen the movie and would like to avoid spoilers, I would highly encourage you to turn back now! <3 <3 <3

So here’s the thing: Rian Johnson made TLJ the way he did for the sake of something “new” and “different”, right? Like he wanted to subvert audience expectations, take Star Wars in a new direction, out with the old, in with the new, no more fancy remakes/clusters-of-parallels-dressed-up-with-new-characters-and-special-effects, yes?

Okay but STAR WARS HAS ALREADY FUCKING DONE THIS BEFORE. This isn’t new. It isn’t! All of his bullshit “fresh” perspective? IT’S NOT FRESH BECAUSE STAR WARS HAS ALREADY DONE IT.

You want a darker take on the Star Wars story? Look at The Empire Strikes Back. Of course, now we all know the twist about Luke Skywalker’s true parentage; the movie’s been out for nearly 40 frikkin’ years. Even if you’ve never watched the movie, there’s a pretty damn healthy chance you’re familiar with the infamous “No--I am your father.” But this is 40 years later. In 1980, when the film first screened--no one fucking expected that! Audiences were shocked! Folks were certain Vader was lying, that’s how shocked they were. Not to mention, the hero’s hand gets chopped off--what the fuck, man??? His hand gets chopped off by the biggest baddest worst man in the galaxy, who also happens to be his father? That is some fucked-up shit! Then Luke decides he would rather die than subject himself to the presence of his father for even one more minute, so he just lets himself fucking fall, ostensibly to his death.

You want to see a story about a hero who runs headlong into danger without any regard for the consequences and then suffer the repercussions? Long before Poe ran disastrous suicide missions in space, we had Luke Skywalker freaking out on Dagobah and deciding to forsake his training despite Yoda and Obi-Wan basically telling him flat-out that it’s a frikkin’ trap. He was so certain that he was the only one who could save his friends and runs blindly into the situation despite the obvious danger. And you know what? He loses his hand because of it. (In real-life terms, of course you couldn’t blame someone like Luke for the loss of his hand, but in storytelling terms, the narrative is clearly punishing Luke for his thoughtlessness.) 

By the end of the movie, none of our heroes have successfully completed their objectives. Leia couldn’t save Han; he’s been captured and spirited away to god-knows-where (and for all audiences knew back in 1980, he wouldn’t survive). And of course Han did not get any sort of happy ending with Leia--barely managed to coax her into so much as admitting her feelings before he got turned into a Han-sicle. Lando couldn’t protect Cloud City; despite his best efforts under a series of worsening circumstances, it’s now under Imperial Control. And Luke doesn’t actually contribute, at all, in any way whatsoever, to the aid or protection of his friends. He doesn’t contribute to the rescue effort for Han at all, and if Luke had never come to Cloud City, Leia and Lando and Chewie still would have escaped. Luke turned his back on Yoda and Obi-Wan, forsook his training, lost his fucking hand, for nothing.

Which brings me to my next point: you want to see a story about a hero who, despite their best efforts, doesn’t actually end up helping at all? See above, re: Luke forsakes his training to help save his friends and doesn’t even end up making a damn bit of difference. For goodness’ sake, Leia has to turn right back around and fly back to Cloud City to save him! He actually hampers their escape! Long before Finn and Rose disobeyed orders to take a pointless detour to a pointless casino planet full of pointless half-arsed social commentary bullshit and other pointless garbage that basically just existed for the sake of giving their characters something to do (and we didn’t even get to see Lando, what the ever-loving fuck, are you kidding me, a casino planet would have been the perfect place to find him????), Luke disobeyed orders only to end up with no helpful contributions, making things worse for himself in the end. But at least The Empire Strikes Back has the decency to show you how crushed Luke is by the whole thing.

It’s easy not to think about it in these terms because those of us who love the story have probably watched it so many times that its impact has now diminished into something comfortable--especially knowing how things wrap up in Return of the Jedi--but face it: The Empire Strikes Back is a dark movie, kids. For those of us who weren’t around at that time, can you imagine waiting three fucking years to find out what happened next???

Also, are you interested in a story about a once-noble warrior who is now a grumpy and curmudgeonly hermit reluctant to take on impulsive new trainees? Long before we had Luke deciding that “the Jedi need to end”--for no real reason, if you really think about it...? Like, what have we actually seen in the movies that demonstrates that the Jedi shouldn’t exist anymore? It makes sense for Luke to feel guilty about his personal actions, and I could buy Luke making this argument just because he’s so tired of the fighting and bloodshed and heartbreak, but instead the screenplay is written like a stoner’s “Hey man, like, what if the Jedi were actually not all that perfect?” thread on a subreddit and we’re just supposed to accept that this bullshit meta-discussion-telling-instead-of-showing is good enough motivation for Luke to let the Jedi die out, but ANYWAY I DIGRESS--long before that useless horse-turd of a motivation, we had Yoda, aka a once-noble warrior who is now a grumpy and curmudgeonly hermit reluctant to take on impulsive new trainees.

And the parallels/ripoffs don’t end there: in both ESB and TLJ you’ve got half of our heroes stuck in a crippled ship being chased by the baddies across space, you’ve got a big baddie trying to manipulate our main hero (via revelations about familial connections or lack thereof) into joining his side while his puppet-strings are being pulled by yet another bigger badder baddie, Crait might as well be Hoth (except wait that one dude ate some dirt and said “Salt!” so I guess we’re good...?) and of course we can’t forget that the dark-side cave on Dagobah is paralleled by Ahch-To’s dark-side seaweed anus. 

Oh yeah, and if you’ll allow me to divert from The Empire Strikes Back for a moment: if you’re interested in a story about a literal nobody rising to glorious heights, guess what? We’ve already got that--the deeply-flawed-but-still-canonical Phantom Menace gave us a slave boy who was the literal Chosen One. The only reason we don’t think of Anakin Skywalker as a nobody is because TPM is a prequel and we already know the ending. But chronologically, his character, the venerable Darth Vader, one of the most feared men in the Star Wars galaxy and one of the most well-known characters in all of movie history, starts out as a nobody. So no, Rey Random is not some revelation; it’s just the same story, repackaged.

But hey, don’t ever forget that The Last Jedi is new and bold and refreshing! Don’t forget how fresh and subversive it is! In no way does it mirror its predecessors every bit as much as TFA did. In no way did TFA actually manage to subvert tropes in giving a face and name and voice and conscience to a Stormtrooper, who, historically, belongs to a group of nameless faceless blank-slated nobodies. In no way did TLJ spend half its runtime retconning or disregarding half the shit set up in TFA for no other reason that the director’s own pretentiousness (for all his discussion of “oh my twists aren’t twists, they’re just the most dramatic versions of honest* moments”, you’d think he would have, oh, I don’t know, maybe gone the route of natural storytelling instead of forcing his own half-cooked thoughts into the mix, or maybe found his honesty from shit that actually happened in the first movie in the trilogy instead of manufacturing his own), and certainly, TLJ is not riddled with incomprehensible plotholes. 

(And, sidenote: TLJ doesn’t even maintain consistency with its own messages. For all the talk of “killing the past” and letting go of the old to pave way for the new, it also seems to talk a great deal about learning from your failures, but how the fuck are you supposed to learn from or cope with your past if, y’know, you sever all ties with it? (Did we learn nothing from The Lion King???) I understand the message that being bogged down by the past, for any reason, ultimately isn’t good for you. But saying “let the past go” and “learn from your past mistakes” feels messy at best and antithetical at worst.)

I’m not saying that there’s nothing good about TLJ--hell, there were plenty of moments I enjoyed. The lightsaber battles were great, the space-battles were fun, the theme of action-and-consequence was good, I liked the whole learn-from-your-failures bit even if it was messily incorporated, I thought Kylo Ren’s arc was well-developed, I loved seeing Leia with a blaster again, and yeah, I got a kick out of the Porgs. And I’m not saying people shouldn’t like the movie! Like what you want, I’m not your mom. I’m just saying that the movie isn’t nearly as “fresh” or subversive as its director or super staunch supporters seem to think it is, and I’m a little frustrated by the criticism aimed at Star Wars fans who didn’t care for the movie. Specifically, I’m frustrated by the accusation that we’re all mindless sheep who are just upset that they weren’t spoonfed the same stories and themes as every other Star Wars movie. Oh, I’m sure there are some fans who are irritated that the status quo wasn’t filled, but for a lot of us, that isn’t the problem.

The problems with TLJ boil down to the following: 1) the movie seems more interested in making “the most dramatic choice” for every moment instead of the most honest, natural, or true-to-the-story choice (i.e., it seems more interested in manipulating the story for the sake of shock value instead of letting the story unfold naturally in any way), and 2) it’s just not a great movie. At the end of the day, it sets out to accomplish too many things, and present too many plot points, with too many characters, and ultimately can’t dedicate enough time to do justice to any of it, so all of it suffers. The original Star Wars movies are simple enough, sure, but rather than commit the mistake of doing a bunch of things poorly, they do a small number of things pretty darn well. And I would argue that that, rather than the decision to do things “differently” than Star Wars movies in the past, is the major flaw inherent in The Last Jedi.

* While we’re discussing “honest” moments--where is the honesty in having Rose talk about love right before planting a big ol’ smooch right on Finn’s mouth when they’ve known each other for like 18 hours??? And unless she’s secretly some kind of idiot, why would Holdo--aka admiral-battle-genius or whatever--withhold valuable information from Poe on a “need to know basis” when he’s in a position that needs to know? Why did Luke leave a piece of his map in Artoo if he absolutely never ever ever wanted to ever be found, if he came to “the most unfindable” place in the galaxy to die? How is it an “honest choice” to bring Phasma back for two minutes for no real purpose??? Why did the story completely omit any mention or sight of the Knights of Ren during Luke and Ren’s flashbacks? Why did the story utterly disregard shit like 1) when Rey touches Luke’s lightsaber in TFA, she not only sees visions of her family leaving her interspersed with images from Luke’s past including Kylo Ren’s attack on the temple, but she also sees events that the lightsaber wasn’t even present for, 2) Maz recognizing Rey’s eyes despite the fact that they’ve never met, 3) “The lightsaber was Luke’s, and his father’s before his, and now it calls to you”? 4) “The Force runs strong in my family. I have it. My father has it. My sister has it. You have that power, too” and 5) the fact that Leia specifically sent Rey to go find Luke? (Why the hell would Leia choose to send some random nobody to track down her long-lost brother???) How is Rey Random the most honest choice given these points and so many other things shown in TFA??? TFA isn’t perfect but it tells a story that has a natural and honest progression--or at least that’s the case until TLJ came along and, through the power of retcon, made it a dirty rotten liar. :D

** OH MY GOD if you want to explore the concept of a nobody having just as much potential to rise to Force-sensitive-greatness as someone with a special lineage THEN WHY NOT DO THAT WITH FINN??? Then you could make it so that the title “The Last Jedi” doesn’t refer to any single person--it refers to Jedi in the plural, being Luke and Rey AND FINN!!! And you could even see how different things are for both of them--Rey’s over here learning about her family lineage, being reunited with family, having this huge family history that represents the very pinnacle of the struggle between good and evil, and Finn is struggling because he feels like he comes from nothing, and because the likelihood of ever finding out his family’s identity is basically nil, he secretly worries that that’s all he really is: nothing. So then you would have the two of them helping each other work through their shit--Finn helps Rey deal with this newfound fame and attention and overwhelming sense of duty, and Rey helps Finn realize he’s not a nobody, he’s just as special as she is, and even if they don’t ever manage to find his family, he’s got her, and Poe, and everyone else; they’re his family, no matter what. OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDD ASLDKFJSOIEJWAOIRSDLFJWSOERIJEROIJ

/rant

[gffa]

Things I really enjoy about Star Wars and Star Wars fandom, in no particular order, except maybe the last one because, look, that’s Really Important To Me and I want you to share in it with me:

LEGO STAR WARS is incredible, LEGO Palpatine never fails to make me laugh and enjoy him as a character, also LEGO Vader is the Vader we deserve, and LEGO Star Wars let Obi-Wan Kenobi have a vacation and nothing bad happened!  LEGO Star Wars is the best Star Wars!

STAR WARS NOVELS, oh my god, there is so much hilarity and heartbreak buried in them, so many times Obi-Wan slaps Anakin’s butt or recognizes Anakin by his butt alone or says that he’s meant for Infinite Sadness or Anakin gave Obi-Wan a Tatooine-woven cloak for his birthday or Ahsoka literally compared them to her parents, THE NOVELS ARE FULL OF GOLD.

STAR WARS COMICS, so hey remember that time Anakin literally sulked because he didn’t get to be the mob boss when they went undercover while Obi-Wan smirked at him? BECAUSE I SURE DO.  Or remember that time Vader had a dream about Obi-Wan and was all “I’m not here for you, Obi-Wan!” and then proceeded to ignore everything else to talk to Obi-Wan?  Or remember that time Anakin borderline asked if Obi-Wan would be interested in him after the war?   Or remember that time when Darth Vader was this close to having a manga-style Magical Girl Transformation?  Or remember the time we learned Vader’s Lightsaber Throw was learned from Obi-Wan?  Or remember--and I am lowballing this number--the approximately eight thousand seven hundred and fifty three times Obi-Wan and Anakin were So Married?  STAR WARS COMICS ARE GREAT.

STAR WARS FIC, because where else am I going to get the characters actually smooching or get fic about fixing the events so that the characters actually have the chance to do something better that they should have been given in canon, because they absolutely would do those things? Or exploring characters that canon doesn’t have the time/inclination to explore?   Or just finding new ways to break my heart or going “yeah fuck sadness, here’s a happy modern AU that’s actually really sparkling and fun” or going “yes but what if Soft Sith AU?  :D?”  STAR WARS FIC IS GREAT.

STAR WARS ART, there is so much incredible art from fans and professionals alike!  The artbooks have some stunning pieces, whether those paintings by Brian Rood or some of the incredible concept art that’s been shared or just really interesting pieces full of atmosphere and mood! Or just straight up hilarious art that leaves me cackling for the rest of the day!  Illustrations from the supplementary universe, giving us an idea of what they might have looked like, the sheer amount of creativity that goes into drawing things the movies and TV show haven’t explored!  Or, hell, just some of those incredible shots of SW space, with ships and planets and landscapes, so much of it is gorgeous.

STAR WARS FANS!  Of course there are always those that behave poorly in fandom, but then there are also people who can be incredibly kind--people offer their talents in fic and art or translations, they add to skit posts because they want to have fun and share giggle-inducing scenarios with others or just adorable situations they’re picturing in their minds! Many people come to fandom for fun and every single person who contributes to that is worth so much in my eyes, because I don’t want to live in a world that’s only ever infuriating, I want to live in a world where there are good things, and people who want to spread around happiness are so good.

But also STAR WARS FANS who reach out to others, who listen when they’re upset, who provide a shoulder to lean on when you’re not strong enough to stand up by yourself for awhile.  Who can rant with you, but also turn you back towards the good, who remind you that not everything is crap, that there is good in this world, whether by shoving cute dog pictures at you or by going I’M GONNA WRITE YOU A FIC AND YOUR MIND WILL LIGHT UP FROM HOW GOOD IT IS FOR YOU.

STAR WARS REFERENCES, oh my GOD this entire universe is so complicated and expansive and, look, Wookiepedia is a godsend, but it’s still a summary and not always 100% correct, so the people who are like *SHOOTS HAND UP* LET ME HELP YOU FIND THE REFERENCES YOU’RE LOOKING FOR and are just genuinely passionate about sharing knowledge and learning more themselves and want more people to come join them, they are so amazing to have around.

STAR WARS GRAPHICS MAKERS, listen you guys I need approximately a dozen gifsets or fanedits of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s swooshy hair per day to make it through to the end and you’re really damn good at supplying this. Whether you’re breaking my heart with sad edits or making me laugh by putting together a hilarious vid or just making something really fucking awesome that makes me want to yell HELL YEAH, a steady stream of graphics is one of the fundamental reasons I get on tumblr, because there is SO MUCH COOL CONTENT.

STAR WARS HILARITY, look, I know I already basically talked about this and already mentioned how there are some amazing people around here, but I need you to know that people who laugh at Star Wars because they love it so much are the people of my heart.  People who laugh at Obi-Wan and Anakin and Padme, but do so in a way that makes me want to spend more time with these nerds (both the characters and the people), who fill me up with absolute utter screaming joy at how much fun I’m having, who make me want to yell I LOVE EVERYONE IN THIS BAR, BOTH YOU AND THE CHARACTERS. Whether this comes in the form of shitposting or talking about what nerd Anakin Skywalker is or how much Obi-Wan Kenobi spoils Anakin or how Padme is just as much of a romantic idealist as Anakin or how the Jedi have to put up with So Much Shit Oh My God or how we all hope Sheev Palpatine is miserable with every bit of paperwork he has to do and we all hope Vader constantly follows him like a sad puppy who needs 24/7 reassurance that he’s doing a good job, THIS IS WHAT I AM HERE FOR.

Star Wars + SW fandom has some really incredible things going for it, some really incredible people going for it.  If you ever forget that or if I ever forget that, just remember everything on this list, that there are some really wonderful people doing some wonderful work to make our lives better by providing hilarious or really sweet or really awesome content to make our days a little brighter.