#i think it's quite clear from the second part that i am clearly pro-jedi and will always be. BUT i love sith lore also. it's a cool

[psychomusic]

so. I've been reading some posts on the jedi order tag AND i won't talk about my opinion on "are jedi good or bad discourse" BUT i wanna point out some lore to everyone who's complaining about the jedi taking kids into their order: (in the EU) it wasn't always like this.

if you take swtor era (more than 3000 years before the prequels) there were many jedi who joined at an older age. like, for example there was a guy who broke his engagement to become one. most jedi remember their families because they were old enough when they decided to go.

THEN in darth bane's book trilogy (circa 1000 yesrs before the prequels) there is a passage where two sith lords are talking about taking bane, already an adult, to study at korriban. one doubted him because he was too old, ans the other told him he sounded like a jedi, and that ONE DAY jedi will have to accept only kids into their ranks if they really want to find "pure" people that can learn their lessons quicker.

one day!! so it wasn't always like that!! the ongoing wars with the sith, who corrupted and killed many of them, had pressured them into taking always younger people into their ranks.

also, consider a thing that this video explains super well: training to become a jedi is not like exercising, because there is a transformative lesson at the end of the training that changes everything. you can't just do as much as you can, but not finish.

the transformative lesson, as the video explains, is that through the force, everything is the same - from rocks and ships to life and death. at the end of the training you have to understand this fundamental truth.

yoda says "you have to unlearn what you have learned". during times where they were constantly killed off or corrupted by the dark side (and if you haven't learned this lesson you are more susceptible to this corrupting), younger people were taken in to actually finish their training (a training that was ultimately about being a good person AND that you could leave at any point if you weren't sold on that, too)

(remember that for the sith failure = death. like. that was the alternative for force sensitive kids. it's not like sith had any moral problem with taking kids away without consent. sith don't have moral problems: they believe that them being stronger in the force means they can do whatever they want as long as their strong enough to go and do it. there are MANY passages in many different star wars stories, even in different mediums, that say this out loud)

AND (this is more of a critical thought than just stating the lore) the fact that they started doing it out of necessity doesn't mean it's 100% good BUT you know. the whole set up of the prequels is that we're starting off the story in a period of crisis and decadence all around. most of the systems of the times were about to fall. OF COURSE they had problems. if they didn't, we wouldn't have the story to begin with.

that doesn't automatically mean jedi = bad and sith are better, tho. you wouldn't take the last, chaotic and decadent period to jugde something, would you? it's like deciding that the athenian democracy sucked because people at the times of Demosthenes failed at recognizing the new schemes in which the world was evolving into, and still believed that their city would be important as it had been in the previous century. They just didn't fucking expect the Macedons would conquer half the world known and more, and have the subsequent political power. Still, their experiences in the 5th century with democracy were very good, even better than ours on many fronts, if you contextualize a little. the jedi had flaws, and most importantly, they didn't fucking know the future and everything that ever happened, ever, so they made mistakes. that doesn't automatically make the system ill, or bad, or not-working. systems can have setbacks when the world changes. (just like athenian democracy had one when they lost the empire that was funding the democracy. they even had a tyranny for a while and then fixed the problems. that doesn't diminish retrospectively their democracy)

[dellaliz19]

(Spoilers) Star Wars: The Last Jedi thoughts

Ugh, I am so divided on this one. This one was a real pros and cons evening out for me kind of movie, which left me just so...(insert Dark Side/Light Side metaphor here).

So, Going with that metaphor: The Light Side

1) Rey, Finn and Poe are all great again. They feel true to character, and each has their own arc that is really good. Finn learning he has to do more than hate the First Order, Poe learning to set aside his hot head and be a strategist, and Rey finding her way in regards to her place with the Force are all well done and no arc feels tacked on.

2) The landscapes are gorgeous. The fight on the red salt planet, the quiet beauty of space, the Monaco planet and so much more are just lovely and poetic.

3) Leia finally getting to use the Force. It really hits home how much we lost with Carrie Fischer’s passing, because it seems pretty clear that Leia and her Force powers could have played an amazing part of the next story.

4) Luke and Kylo’s final stand off. That was classic quipping Luke Skywalker and I loved it. Flicking of imaginary dirt, I’m not here to forgive you, “see you around kid.” Bad fucking ass.

5) Yoda. God Yoda was fantastic. Lightning from the sky, jokes and the fab line “Masters. The true tragedy is we are what they outgrow.” Right in the feels.

6) Rose was a great new character, and a good foil for Finn. She felt raised in the Rebellion, and her viewpoint was a great contrast to Finn’s.

7) Snoke got what he deserved. Fuck that gold robes wearing ahole.

8) Admiral Pink Hair. Love her. Bad ass lady, and her last stand was just...cinematic. Hot damn.

9) Rey’s parents. I love the idea that they were nobodies and that Rey is just some girl, with the Force, choosing her own way. The great part of the Original Trilogy is that anyone could be a hero, not just a chosen one. The prequels clouded that, and I’m so hoping that the last movie doesn’t go “just kidding! Rey’s a secret Kenobi or something.” Just no, please no.

10) The humour. This was a funny movie, but it never got to be too much. The frog nuns, Luke, some physical humour; it all felt smart and clever and fit well with the tone. Like Poe fuckig with Hux at the start: A+ fucking with a space nazi.

11) You lift those rocks and hug that boy girl. You go girl.

Now, The Dark Side:

1) Kylo Fucking Ren. Look this one is not going to be true for everyone, but I am %100 not interested in THE REDEMPTION ARC OF KYLO REN. I do not want it. I like Kylo a lot as a villain, and I think Adam Driver plays him excellently. But Kylo Ren is beyond redemption for me. He’s not the scared child in Luke’s training camp anymore, still teetering on the edge of his choice between Light and Dark. He killed children, burned the Temple, committed mass atrocities with the First Order, killed his Father and is now leading the Space Nazis.

He chose. And not MURDERING HIS MOTHER and killing Snoke don’t make up for that. There’s a reason Vader didn’t live out a long an peaceful robo-life after killing the Emperor. Give Kylo a noble death, but he doesn’t deserve a nobel life.

2) Too many space battles. I get that the second movie in a trilogy is the heroes at their lowest point. But holy crap these kind of odds really strain credulity. Yeah these 15 people are going to take down the First Order. And yes they’ll get more allies likely off screen before the first movie but damn that was a little bit to much. You didn’t need quite as many “man we got out of that” set pieces. It was just so much. They were really good battles though, I’ll say that.

3) That we never really got “Master Luke, Jedi teacher.” I do appreciate Luke’s arc, and it made narrative sense, but I just felt so robbed by never getting to have Luke properly train Rey. Like it’s funny that the epic “Rey passes Luke the lightsaber scene” actually results in him chucking it away like hot garbage but damn it, I WANTED what they were selling with the first one. I wanted Master Luke.

4) Porgs. Look the Porgs were cute but they got to Ewok levels really fast. I’m down for the Porgs, but less Porgs please.

5) Benicio de Plot Waste. His character served a narrative purpose but that was about it. Can’t say I’m dying to see that character again. No Han Solo, is all I’m saying.

6) I’d love some more back story on Snoke. Like, how did this guy get trained for his Sith powers? I want that story. It made more sense when he was using Kylo because he didn’t have powers of his own; giving him his own powers really made him the Emperor V.2 and I found him a lot more compelling before.

7) The Carrie Fischer question. I really liked her role in this movie, but I can’t help but wonder if it would have been better if they’d had her die. I know they are saying hey won’t use CGI for the 3rd, and fine whatever they chose, but it does really leave a void in that the Original Three are gone now. Mostly I’d like to have her die in some way that isn’t murder: something mundane. A heart attack, a disease, something that no one caused or could have prevented and then have the rest of the characters have to accept that.

8) Why was Maz in this? She added very little, and her union joke was funny but she was pretty clearly crammed in. Give her something to do or don’t add her.

9) Same with Phasma. I hope they didn’t pay Gwendoline Christie by the word because she’s critically underused again. The last shot where you see a real person is under there was gold; that’s what Phasma could have been, but she just served as a set piece for Finn to get some closure which is fine, but really, could have been so much more.

Overall The Last Jedi is a good movie that I did really enjoy. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting but it didn’t suffer too much in that view. It’s a visually stunning movie and the characters are well acted and real. Still, it left me...wanting, somehow that I can’t quite explain. I’m interested to see the next one, but I’ll admit I’m not as interested as after The Force Awakens. Good movie, certainly, but it wouldn’t crack my top 3 Star Wars movie list.