#idk I’m just really not interested in Leia having a relationship with Vader.

[darth-grips]

This might be my toxic trait as a Star Wars fan but I really have no interest in exploring Leia’s relationship with Vader, and to a lesser extent Padmé. Leia had parents who loved her and influenced her infinitely more than some biological bonds to people she either a) DESPISED or b) admired but never knew because they were dead. Leia never recognized Vader as her father, despite wholeheartedly accepting Luke as her brother. Meanwhile, while Luke grew up with guardians who wanted and loved him, he always knew they weren’t his parents. He loved his father before he ever met him and loved him when he died. To me that is MUCH more compelling than exploring a relationship with Vader that Leia neither wanted nor needed.

[qqueenofhades]

so…now that we all know what you DISLIKE about star wars (and 400% fairly so, you have my full support here)…

what drew you into the universe, what keeps you around?

favorite characters, ships (OTPs or actual spaceships lol), overall themes, do you have a favorite random weird creature or robot that you adore? whatever you wanna talk about!

go off honey (again, but supportively 💖💖💖)

tax paid: the very nerdy star wars punk vest i made and the even nerdier matching vest i made for starsky

Lmaooo, entirely valid. You were like "star wars?" and I was like the drunk person at the bar who can't stop shouting about how much their ex sucks. But now that I have gotten all that off my chest, let's talk about why I love it (since if I didn't love it, I wouldn't have such strong opinions). Basically my feelings on the OG SW trilogy are similar to my feelings on the OG LOTR trilogy, as that tumblr post floating around somewhere put it: sure, they have flaws, but also, they're perfect. I have a complicated relationship with the prequels, as do we all, since George Lucas cannot write dialogue or direct actors to save his life (stick to what you're good at, George, hire other people to do the rest), but even they have their moments. Like. Hit me with that "Across the Stars" love theme, John Williams. Gahh. Just like that.

Because... Star Wars wasn't actually this omnipresent corporate global entertainment monolith when it started out. It was a dorky low-budget indie sci-fi film in the 1970s which everyone thought was going to bomb. But it told a simple and compelling story in an interesting way, everyone agrees that ESB is one of the best films/sequels ever made, and then ROTJ gave it a happy ending while it was still okay to do that. My main thematic gripe with the Disney trilogy (I will try to keep those to a minimum, lol, but I have to bring it up to compare) is that it very clearly fell into the "actual happy endings are naive and unrealistic and a cynical postmodern audience won't accept anything less than things being Bad" trap that, yet again, we have GOT to thank for. It obviously existed to some degree before that, but GOT blew it up to huge levels, where the only valid situation or character is that which is Grimdark and Depressing. Which, in my view, misses the heart and soul of what SW is all about??

Like. ESB is genuinely dark. ANH was this fun plucky little sci-fi film where the scrappy good guys won the day against the Nazi stand-ins, as they were supposed to, and then ESB comes along (speaking of John Williams, let us all chant together, DUH DUH DUH DUHDUHDUH DUHDUHDUH, DUH DUH DUH DUHHHH DUHHH DUHHH DUHHHH) and things go... wrong. Leia and Han are on the run for most of the movie, then get captured and tortured by the Empire and and betrayed (however unwillingly) by Lando. The Rebellion is attacked on Hoth (I tell you, those fuckin AT-AT walkers were SCARY when you see it as a young kid for the first time), and forced into hiding. Luke loses his hand, doubts Obi-Wan and Yoda and realizes that his mentors are fallible, makes dumb mistakes, and of course gets hit with The Most Famous Line In Movie History. But it's also just adrenaline and excitement. THE ASTEROID FIELD! THE HAN-LEIA BANTER! THE FIRST LUKE-VADER DUEL! THE FACT THAT YOU HEAR TWO FRICKING NOTES OF THE IMPERIAL MARCH AND YOU'RE JUST LIKE OH YEAH OH YEAH OH YEAHHHH!

But also then... Return of the Jedi. It gets shat upon for the Ewoks and reusing the Death Star as the Big Bad and being supposedly cheesy and not as Thematically Dark as ESB. Which is all kinda silly, in my opinion, but also, can we talk about Luke Skywalker's character arc and how he chooses possibly the most radical compassion ever demonstrated by a hero in an action movie, let alone a space opera. He insists that Anakin Skywalker is still in there somewhere and puts his own neck on the line to prove it. Luke doesn't save the galaxy by being a Badass Jedi. He saves it by throwing away his lightsaber and saying "I will not fight you, Father." He saves it by trusting that even in the depths of darkness, Anakin can come back from the charred ruins of Darth Vader and finally do what he was supposed to do all along. He can end Palpatine for good and all (we don't talk about "Somehow Palpatine has returned" because it's nonsense, obviously). Anakin can avenge the Jedi and what was done to him and all the lies he believed and the pain he wreaked on the galaxy, even then. It's not too late. It's not too late. Like. I don't care if this is Lightweight or Childish or whatever. It makes me CRY every time I watch it. Especially the moment where Luke takes off Anakin’s helmet and sees how ruined he actually is under there, and yet the downfall and death of the trilogy’s chief villain is not triumphant at all but instead utterly heartbreaking. “You were right about me Luke... tell your sister... you were right.”

Excuse me, I need to just /CRIES INTENSELY/

Luke won't be tempted to the dark side for his own sake, but Leia's ("If you will not join me, then perhaps she will"). I likewise hold firmly that Anakin/Vader is one of the best movie villains/antiheroes of all time and likewise have many feelings and Strong Opinions about his arc, prequel writing clumsiness and eye-rollingly tepid love story aside. (See: he and Obi-Wan were deeply in love and in a way they still are, don't @ me. I have no problems with Padme and obviously stan Natalie Portman at all times, but Anakin and Obi-Wan’s relationship is the real love story, the heart of the prequels, and in some ways even the subsequent movies, the end.) And “so this is how democracy dies, with thunderous applause” is... raw af as a line. For being in a Star Wars prequel movie. What?? (Also, the Revenge of the Sith novelization had no business being as good as it was. If only that dude had also written the movie.)

Anyway, my point is: the OG trilogy had plenty of moments of staggering emotional weight and where things genuinely sucked for the good guys and the outcome wasn’t entirely clear. The difference is that it didn’t choose to dwell on them, and it allowed for a transformative fictional space where a happy ending, fiercely fought for and squarely earned, was the right outcome. We didn’t need to go back thirty years later and make everything suck for fear that a cynical modern audience couldn’t connect with it otherwise. (Like I said, we didn’t need the new movies at all, but Disney heard that Cha-Ching of the Almighty Dollar). Star Wars was sci-fi, sure, but it also had the fantasy elements that allowed a happy ending to be the right choice for what we saw the characters go through and the philosophy that carried us through the original trilogy.

Likewise it’s just... Peak as far as dynamics go. C-3PO the fussy metal butler who worries about Everything and R2-D2 who is the droid embodiment of YOLO? Flawless. Sassy scruffy space pirate and badass politician warrior princess bicker constantly, butt heads, drive each other crazy, and then fall in love? Iconic. (And has shaped my ship tastes for... all of eternity, oops.) The above-discussed transformation of Luke Skywalker, whiny ordinary teenage kid, to the truly great man who fulfills what Obi-Wan, Yoda, AND the rest of the entire Jedi order couldn’t manage to do, because of their own flaws and blind spots and black-and-white moral views that didn’t know what to do with a man who loved as passionately as Anakin Skywalker, for better or for worse? The guy who managed to save the galaxy with love? STAN.

So... what? The Disney trilogy decides to retcon all that, throw everything that they’ve fought for out the window, make Han, Leia, and Luke miserable and rejecting the roles they grew into in the original trilogy, and die without ever really reuniting or seeing each other again as a trio? The underlying message was that “these happy endings aren’t satisfactory/realistic/sophisticated enough” and idk, maybe it’s just the shitshow of the last few years, but I’d like to see some entertainment that had the cojones to tell me that despite all the darkness and despair, maybe there’s a chance for hope. (”Rebellions are built on hope,” thank you Only Valid New Star Wars Movie Rogue One.) And Rogue One worked so well, despite being utterly GUTTING as all the heroes died one by one, because we knew what was coming next (A New Hope) and that their sacrifice was going to be worth it. I don’t care if that’s “realistic” or not. As I’ve said before, that’s what stories are for, and if I only wanted things that were Real Life, I would only read the news. Besides, the idea that happy endings never happen in reality is equally bullshit. We as a culture need to accept that more, instead of finding reasons to tear everything down.

So just... yes. The original trilogy might have flaws, but also, it’s perfect. And do I want to rewatch it all now? Kinda.

(Anyway. I warned you this was gonna be long. Oh look, it’s long, and I’m sure there is even more I could say, but still. Ahem.)

sleepover weekend asks

[softieskywalker]

some people asked for more (ehem @tomicaleto) so here are some bullet points for the au that’s basically an excuse to put the twins and ezra in a clone wars setting. i’m calling it Sunrise AU: 

- palpatine is smarter about his scheme and he never reveals he’s a sith. he continues to manipulate anakin and padme and they unknowingly help him rise to more power until he’s voted emperor. 

- order 66 doesn’t happen. palpatine uses anakin’s place in the council to influence the jedi. also the jedi are not that involved in politics so they’re like “well i guess we serve the empire now” because the empire it’s not 100% transparent with fascism like in canon.

- the clones are still around and they keep making more. also clone and jedi culture get mixed up as the years pass. the concept of lineages ends up including clones as “clans” or something of that sort. 

- ok the interesting part: luke leia and ezra grow up as jedi in the temple. the three of them are really close friends. leia is usually the mastermind of their antics, ezra the executor and luke the angelic face that gets them out of trouble. even if he was 100% on it. 

- mace windu is ezra’s master, ahsoka (yeah she’s back) is luke’s, and plo koon is leia’s. ezra has a close relationship with caleb dume because they’re close in age and from the same lineage. luke is in a constant battle with anakin (who’s a lot more involved in the military) and looks up more to obi wan, who is more focused on scholar jedi studies. he’s also yoda’s favorite from the disaster lineage. leia is a lot more combat focused and she gets in constant arguments with padmé about the empire’s military policies. 

(more under the cut)

- luke, leia and ezra have a “someone is always a third wheel” dynamic. luke and leia have an incredibly strong bond, so much that as children they didn’t separate themselves as two individuals in the Force. they understand each other a little too much. luke and ezra are boys™ and they have very compatible personalities. they had a small rivalry when they were around 13 but grew out of it and became best friends. they spent most of the time together and sometimes leave leia out because eww girls. leia and ezra speak the same language. they’re both firing passion and natural leaders. they both love luke a little too much to be normal for a jedi. 

- luke is the first one to become a knight at 21, with yoda overseeing his trials, around the same time the galactic civil war starts to become a big issue. he and ahsoka, along with mace and ezra get sent on missions together a lot, until a year later ezra saves everyone from a mine explosion and gets knighted at 22. 

- leia is low key jealous because she grew up being the best at everything (and also her parents didn’t exactly suppress her huge ego) but master plo doesn’t think she’s ready for the trials. she’s too angry, too full of pride. they also take a lot of diplomatic missions so she can’t have a huge heroic moment that earns her knighthood like ezra. and leia is furious at the council’s blatant favoritism for luke. she thinks they like him because he has all the power anakin and her have, but he’s docile and doesn’t argue with them. luke is very offended by this, and thinks she’s just jealous. but leia does have a point, that luke doesn’t question the council when he should. 

-  anakin is very high on the military -he has basically the same power vader has in canon but only in the navy. so leia convinces him to take her on missions with him, and they discover she has the ability of battle meditation. suddenly she’s crucial to the victory of many key battles and by the end of the year she’s knighted -and is given the title of general. because there’s been so many years for the military to grow and organize, other jedi knights like luke and ezra only got commander. padawans didn’t get military rank, and only senior padawans went to battle with their masters. only masters got general or more, which is huge for leia. 

- padmé is not happy about this. she tries to convince leia to step down, that she’s too young to be in such a position, but leia argues she’s in the exact same position anakin was when they were born. they argue for weeks until padmé is killed in the middle of diplomatic discussions with the rebellion. this causes a chain reaction where anakin is pretty much vaderkin, wanting to get revenge. luke closes himself off emotionally and is basically a robot jedi for a while. leia resents both of them, and only has ezra as emotional support. she’s convinced it was an inside job, and gets to the bottom of the conspiracy until she discovers palpatine ordered the strike against padmé and the other senators. she keeps digging and discovering corruption and terrorism from the empire.

- she confronts anakin with this information, and he doesn’t believe her. she tells luke and ezra, and while ezra believes her, luke is skeptical, and she goes nuts. she ends up leaving the order and joining the rebellion against palpatine. she believes the jedi became cops and they’re basically aiding a fascist system. 

- luke is under a LOT of pressure from the council because leia left and now that she’s on the opposite side the rebels actually have a chance, because her battle meditation is making them lose battle after battle against her. she has him blocked from their bond. ezra is growing skeptical of the empire as well and after a battle where he’s ordered to basically bombard civilians he ends up defecting too. 

that’s pretty much all i have for now, idk if i’ll ever write this thing but i have a couple of concept art and sketches drawn if anyone is interested lol

[moonlit-imagines]

hi and congrats on 4k! i was wondering if i could participate in the shipping event? the fandom is star wars (any trilogy) with my extra choice being a parent. i’m réka, a bisexual girl (she/her). my likes include reading, writing and watching movies 24/7. i’m passionate about social justice, history, and psychology, so i feel like i’m always reading up on at least one of these topics. i’m also interested in art history, though i myself seriously lack any and all artistic talent. i love learning but i despise school. i also dislike socialising lmao not because i’m ~different~ but because it gets me overwhelmed and i genuinely just don’t enjoy it. i have a tiny circle of close friends whom i love and that’s enough. i hate doing sports though i do enjoy watching football and f1. i also obviously hate any and all forms of prejudice and bigotry. about my personality in general; i’m quite reserved and cold when i meet new people and i don’t normally initiate conversations. once i’m comfortable around you though, i’m quite chill, laid-back and understanding. though i’m sarcastic and snarky most of the time, even with friends and family, it’s just banter and i don’t actually mean any harm. and even though i might not be the most empathetic person ever, i still try to be kind and thoughtful. i think i’m quite critical though and have a tendency to be exceptionally hard on myself, so i’m constantly setting goals for myself which i take very seriously. and lastly (idk if this is useful information but) i’m an intj, virgo sun, and slytherin. thanks a lot, i hope it’s enough xx

thank you!!

s/o: luke skywalker and you had definitely crossed paths from time to time, but he’d never really gotten to know you until his life truly started. when he discovered his past and embraced his future, leaving tatooine with you and your father. you went through it all and it was a struggle, but it only strengthened your relationship, making you one of the most powerful couples in the galaxy.

enemy: darth vader was a menace to the galaxy. you’d learned that the hard way once seeing him with your own eyes and once you did, you sensed something inside of him. your father warned you about this and your first instinct would have been to run, but you faced him with your crew and made sure they’d know you had their back and you wouldn’t succumb to the fear instilled by the dark side.

best friend: leia organa was a captive when you met her, but she sure didn’t act like it. she was string and bold, an unstoppable force needed in a time like this. and she was a remarkable friend who refused to give up on you. she saw when you struggled and she aided you as best as she could to get you back to your A game. as a friend of hers, you knew you’d never be left behind.

parent: obi-wan kenobi was your father, and quite a secretive one, as well. you knew that his relationship was forbidden by his previous organization, but he waited until you were a bit older to explain the situation with the empire, the jedi order and code, the chancellor turned emperor, and more. you then learned that you were force sensitive, and he gave you a choice to further explore that, veering away from the mandatory jedi training he was taken from his home for. you chose to explore the power more, and it paid off once you joined the Rebellion.

[galacticwildfire]

Account update/notice/ blah

if you wanna know what I’ve got in the works read below

Ya’ll I have a shit tonne of unfinished fanfics I started on wattpad (I couldn’t get my Ao3 ac to work properly until like a month ago), I know everyone here hates wattpad, I do too, but I’ve posted there for a couple years because well I was fifteen when I started, I just don’t read on there and since I’ve been a lot more active on tumblr and Ao3 I’m moving content to here. I posted mostly acotar, got and spn, which I took down to rewrite but my lazy ass knows I’m never going to finish that long ass got fanfic I started so I’m just gonna cut to the Oberyn bit, rewrite, and turn it into its own mini series on here.

Also got a Poe one I really liked, Poe dating an OC who is Leia and Han’s daughter, few years younger than Ben. She was a senator on Naboo, there was a lil first order conspiracy  and ended up being forced to be Snoke’s apprentice for a lil while, where her and Poe were ‘enemies’ then she ends up joining the resistance and well... that boy loses his mind. I had the first few chapters written, and like fifty bloody one shots that I was gonna turn into the rest of the story. I’m thinking I’m gonna publish that here and try to continue it because I really liked it and had it fully planned while I figure out where this Din one’s gonna go.

The Poe one’s pretty dark in the beginning, torture, imprisonment, killing, very very heavy content to do with depression in one of the chapters and then later ptsd. What’s written so far regarding that content is kept vague but as a person who has had very serious mental health difficulties I know it still could be triggering, which is why those chapters would have very clear and appropriate warnings. The OC’s story heavily mirrors Anakins, or rather Snoke (palpatines puppet) is trying to get another chosen one to turn and become what Vader couldn’t be because Ben is a disappointment. But inevitably after multiple encounters with Poe she gets out, finally becomes a rebel because she sure as hell can’t be in politics anymore and from then on its far far more lighthearted, some ptsd but that heavy content is only vaguely referenced. Her and Poe are “i almost saved her” to enemies to enemies who want to fuck to reluctant co-workers who then want to fuck to frenemies who really want to fuck to friends to pining to ride or die to sort of to sleeping together platonically to i dont need you to after heaps of angst inevtiably getting together and horribly, and i mean horribly failing to hide their relationship from leia who little do they know has been rooting for them for months because she wants Poe as her son in law and Lando calling out their bs

I’ve also got some one shots in the works which are x reader, but my series are all first person oc because that’s just what I’m used to writing which I don’t see much of on tumblr. I know those fics definitely aren’t as popular here but if people are interested in reading them I’ll definitely post, and it’s already available on wattpad and Ao3. All accounts r under this name.

Also for found. next chapter is nearly done, I just hate writing action so that’s what’s taking a while, after that it will diverge from canon and there’ll be a couple episodes before they meet up with Ahsoka and by then tensions will be highhhhh.

Also I want to apologise in advance, idk how but everything I write is angst. I hate reading angst because ouch but I love writing it. So buckle up.

Also x reader Din smut is coming soon. It started as fluff but ended in a blowjob. But fuck it, he deserves it.

[atamascolily]

okay, not quite finished with Aftermath: Empire’s End but here are some Opinions thus far:

turns out Mercurial Swift is such a metal name it has to be a pseudonym - his actual name is much less exciting. The good guys threaten his mom because they are gritty antiheroes who do the work that the NR doesn’t want to acknowledge and that’s how they roll. Except they keep not shooting Swift and then being surprised when he keeps showing up to interfere with their plans.

Han bringing so much jogan fruit to Leia because the doctor recc’ed it and he loves his wife so much and just doesn’t know how to handle all of his feels. <3!

okay, I know the Ben Solo stans argue that the darkness that Leia senses in those scenes is Snoke reaching out to corrupt him in the womb, but... the writing is awfully vague, and could mean literally whatever you want it to mean. It’s an interesting theory, but I feel like if that was actually meant to be canon, it needed to be a little more spelled out. (of course, it’s so hard to tease out what is canon and what isn’t with that character)

nobody likes Dengar, lol.

Apparently Lumpy is still canon! (IDK about the Star Wars Holiday Special, but... nice to see him re-united with his father, even if the whole situation on Kashyyyk remains a Colonialist Hot Mess. (thanks for nothing, New Republic!!)

there’s an interlude with Jar-Jar Binks of all people on Naboo - he got ostracized by the Gungans AND the humans, who hold him responsible for putting Palpatine in charge, which just seems so unfair and also really sad. Look, he’s not my favorite character, but can this guy ever get a break??

something something political shenanigans something something corruption something something crime syndicates

I enjoy that Space Customs becomes a major plot point.

we get to see a few of the characters from the previous “Interludes” again: Malakili the Hutt-tamer, that pirate queen who reminds me of Booster Terrik, the weird Vader cult on Corellia, the Cult of the Force returning kyber crystals to the “wild” (???). I guess my question is, what’s the payoff for all these digressions? Are they relevant to stuff later on in other tie-ins I haven’t read or are those just plot-threads that got dropped and never picked up again?

(I did appreciate seeing the HoloNet reporter come back in one scene in the main plot, though.)

(LANDO and LOBOT in Cloud City!! But WHY ISN’T LANDO WITH THE NR GOVERNMENT/MILITARY INSTEAD OF REVERTING BACK TO HIS OLD ROLE??)

Sinjir DOES have a heart after all, and he and his slicer boyfriend continue to be adorable.

(apparently THAT was what got the “fanboys” upset enough to harass Wendig on social media?? ughhhhhh. no wonder we haven’t seen any gay characters since. for shame, disney, for shame.)

(there are many things I do not appreciate about this novel but Sinjir and Conder and their relationship are one of the main highlights).

also, Sinjir and Mon Mothma have this great relationship which is SO FUCKING GOOD, I want to read a novel about this instead.

There’s literally nothing about Jakku that distinguishes it from Tatooine. They even have their own Hutt, Niima (who I guess Niima Outpost is named for in TFA? That’s random, but okay.)

Niima has this weird cult around her with face-painted acolytes with literally sealed lips and mechanical body parts and there’s a caravan through the desert, and it feels very much Mad Max: Fury Road to me.

Mr. Bones is so cool, so obviously he doesn’t get to survive.

likewise, Brentin is toast because Wendig wants his OC to hook with Wedge, sigh. (I have nothing against Wedge/Norra, but POLYAMORY IS A THING, too!)

Jas breaks her own bones to escape, and wins, we stan.

meanwhile, that figurehead on Coruscant nobody actually cares about is rescued by the so-called “Anklebiter Brigade,” (yes, REALLY), a group of feral street kids. um...

speaking of feral children, Galli Rax is so proud Brendol Hux has kidnapped all these kids and indoctrinated them to serve, so he orders them to murder all the trained actual stormtroopers, which they do, and THEN he hands their command over to Brendol’s son Armitage, whose first act is to immediately abuse his power over them. O...... kay.

(I have so many questions about this)

One of the Imp higher-ups sincerely believes that Palpatine is gonna come back from the grave and Galli Rax is all smug believing it to be a lie he’s using to control the dude... that aged well. ;)

I don’t think we needed this much backstory to explain Why Jakku Is Interesting After All, especially since Jakku ends up having almost no relevance to the larger plot of the ST at all.

everything about the Contingency continues to be really dumb, and it keeps being played for maximum drama and it’s annoying. I’m saving some of that rant for a separate post because it involves some wonky world-building fails.

[emelkae]

The Rise of Skywalker takeaways

Do not click open if you haven’t seen TROS/don’t want to read TROS spoilers! I'm on mobile so hopefully this has the Keep Reading thingy. This is from the perspective of someone who liked TFA and disliked TLJ.

The Good: I did like it, generally, for nostalgia reasons. I would say I was satisfied with it as an ending to the sequel trilogy, and some of the things that critics ripped apart felt like no big deal to me.

One critic said watching the trio quip and banter with each other was boring and that it seemed like their scenes were supposed to be interesting merely because they were together. They lamented the lack of earth-shattering dialogue between them and said it felt more fanfiction-y than dialogue should be coming from a professional franchise, but honestly, seeing the three together doing literally anything was something I wanted to see more of, and I loved every second of them sharing the screen. And why should dialogue between friends always be earth-shattering? They were just hangin’ out and it was wonderful. There was so much hugging and shoulder pats.

It was visually the best-looking thing to come out of this franchise. You could take any shot from this movie and stick it on a poster and it would fit. It did sometimes come off as them cramming every piece of concept art into the movie, but it was so beautiful I didn’t even care.

Carrie’s Leia scenes were not as clunky as the critics said they were. I think going into it knowing they were deleted scenes made them seem slightly more “off,” but if I didn’t know that I wouldn’t have found anything wrong with them.

The parallels to the original trilogy were numerous and were obvious fan pandering, but I ate it up. I 100% expected that from J.J. Abrams. Same with the cameos. I got all emotional at the last “be with me” scene, I’ll admit that unabashedly, and I liked the scene at the end with Force Ghost Luke and Leia.

Kylo Ren became basically a Vader clone and I was here for it. I was like “you go you absolute edgelord meme I hate that I love this terrible character so much”

Lando gets to fly the Falcon again ahhhhh he’s reunited with L3 :)

The Palpatine stuff was weird, but I thought it was super cool anyway. Probably it was the visuals that got me, but Star Wars has been weirder, so no complaints from me there.

THE SCENE WITH HAN AND BEN OOOOOOOOOOO BEECH I WAS SO HAPPY. And Luke lifting the X-Wing and smiling directly at the camera like a little shit god damn you you are really just like Obi-Wan in your ghost life ain’t cha?

I didn’t see what all the praise was about with Adam Driver’s acting as Kylo Ren until his transformation into Ben Solo. His whole face smoothed out and it seemed like his eyes got bigger and softer? Catch me being thirsty but I did actually want to see more of him as Ben. His fighting mannerisms were just like Anakin’s, too. And he was just so gentle ghjkjhg

The Bad: Okay…Although I liked it, I do have complaints. Some minor, some major.

It was too long and too much was going on at once. Because there was so much packed in there, the pacing was weird and the scene transitions were very awkward and jerky. They could have cut like a quarter of all that and it would have been fine.

Finn never tells Rey that he’s Force sensitive, and I only knew from context clues and actor interviews that that was what he was going to say to her, so of course they never explore Finn’s relationship to the Force or even mention it any point.

There are soooo many parallels to Leia and Han with Finn and Poe (not to mention the chemistry), but of course they don’t end up together. They introduce some random new female characters who, while badass, are completely flat and are obviously only there as love interests and new action figures to sell. Idk, maybe I’m just salty because my ship isn’t canon. Speaking of new toys, the new droid they introduced was another thing they obviously just wanted to stock shelves with. It was cute though.

Most of the major plot points were out of completely nowhere and were not foreshadowed at all. Rey being a Palpatine and Hux being a spy for the Resistance come to mind. Also, there could have been some really interesting character development with Hux being a spy, like Kallus in Rebels, but then he is just unceremoniously killed by a superfluous random character. Leia’s lightsaber and her whole “oh actually she’s been trained in the Force this whole time” was a cool concept that also came out of nowhere.

The scene with Rey and Kylo fighting above the ocean was just awful. It was twice as long as it needed to be, the fighting was clumsy (a critic said it was like they were swinging baseball bats at each other and it absolutely was), and some parts of it were so needlessly dramatic that I was laughing at what was supposed to be a serious scene.

I wish they would've left Threepio's memory wiped. They made the wipe such a huge emotional deal and then were like "nvm Artoo can just stick a thing in his head and it's all good" and I was like "...oh so all that was for no reason then I guess"

The Ugly: I. Do not. Ship. Reylo. I don’t ship it and have never shipped it. I don’t get aggressive toward people who do (ship and let ship, y’know?), but it personally makes me uncomfortable and just feels creepy. So as pretty as I find Ben and as gentle as he was with Rey, I kinda imploded at the kiss and was so upset that I said “Nope nope nope fuck no” out loud in the theater and closed my eyes. Especially since I think the comics established that Palpatine is Anakin’s dad, and he’s also Rey’s grandfather, which I think makes Ben and Rey like…first cousins once removed or something. That was the only thing that made me genuinely really pissed off about the movie, that Reylo is…I guess canon? Even though Ben died right after? It was very very weird and I hated it. And it made NO SENSE. I liked watching Driver as Ben, but I didn't think Kylo deserved a redemption and certainly didn't want it to be that sudden and short. Him dying was also done weirdly.

Overall: Most of my complaints are just me nitpicking, with the exception of the last one. I am actually glad I went to go see it. The good does outweigh the bad for me. While I can definitively say I liked TFA and hated TLJ, I can only say this one made me feel mostly good when I left the theater. It was bad as a movie, but good to just romp nostalgically through the Star Wars universe with.

[yavinceremony]

luke

put this off for so long and i have no idea why? i’m bad at expressing my thoughts :/

send me a character and i’ll list-

favorite thing about them?

i could go on for days about things i love about luke skywalker. i think now though, after seeing the sequels; i have a lot more respect for his unconditional love for those around him. he doesn’t even have to think, he just cares! he just loves! people he doesn’t know anything about, he cares!

something that immediately comes to mind is luke seeing del meeko struggling, crying out for help... in his imperial uniform. and yet, luke didn’t hesitate for a second to help him.

this is something super important to me because that is such an important personal belief of mine, and i think a lot of that might have to do with growing up watching star wars: we have to love other people. and luke does, and i love him for that! 

least favorite thing about them?

there’s nothing now that i don’t like about him (keep in mind, i don’t count the sequel trilogy. i just can’t.), so i’m just going to say what i thought as a child: i never saw why everyone liked him so much! like yeah, he’s great and i liked him, but i was always so confused as to why princess leia wasn’t the face of star wars (as a child), because she was truly a badass and as a kid i thought luke was kinda a pussy. also i thought han solo was far more interesting, and was always upset that (growing up as the prequels were coming out) the only original trilogy toys we would see at the store would be luke and vader. i just didn’t get it. now, obviously, i’m gay and i understand :)

favorite line?

god these questions are so hard. i mean there are lines that i definetly think are important to his character (”I can not leave you here, i’ve got to save you.” etc), or certain scenes i tend to favor (the “take care of yourself, han” scene in iv, checking to see if dak is still alive before the at-at crushes the speeder), but there isn’t a specific line i like the most?

edit from while i’m working on questions further down: when he yells “Han? Leia!” and falls, and of course right after “but they’re my friends, i’ve got to help them!” definitely ties back into how much he loves other people (especially his friends, even if his love puts himself in danger), and his loyalty. something i was thinking about the other day is that there are a total of three scenes in episode v where he interacts with han (one of which he’s practically dead, and the other is mostly spent just looking at one another), and yet, you never get the feeling that they’re growing apart, or moving on, have better things to do etc. 

brOTP?

 i love how close luke and chewbacca get in even just the course of the first movie! i’m also always a sucker for luke and leia being like best pals even before they knew they were twins. I love the idea of them just like chillin’ in eachother’s room. not even really talking, just maybe leia is doing some paperwork and look is reading or something. we love to see it.

OTP?

i’m a skysolo bitch, i’m sorry. I just think they work so well together! even not in a relationship way, it’s hard to not think that they came into eachother’s lives at such an important time for them- a time when that’s exactly what they needed. it’s something i think about quite a lot, that let’s say for whatever reason my boy george made luke and leia both girls. there’s not a DOUBT in my mind that luke and han would have been the most popular “ship” at the time of it’s release. idk. i think about it. come talk to me about skysolo please! or better yet, send me a fic request! (absolutely no nsfw requests though.)

that being said, if we’re going off of canon and not the one that has been filtered through daydream after daydream for 10+ years, and that han/luke’s relationship is never established, here are a few of the people that i think luke had a relationship with: biggs, wedge, del, definitely lando at some point. idk. luke’s got a lot going on, LOVE that for him!

nOTP?

leia/luke, obviously.

random headcanon?

i day dream about star wars a lot. i have so many. I think my favorite though is that tattooine has really intensely spicy foods! luke would definitely be that guy who puts tabasco sauce on everything. I have this whole theory that han solo, while he loves other cultures and foods from other planets, just absolutely can not stand even a little spicy- it kills his stomach. one time, luke was casually eating roasted veggies and offers one to han and it was so spicy that he nearly threw up. luke never let him live it down, and insists that it “wasn’t even that bad”

on the other hand, leia eats spicy food (though she doesn’t really care for it), but is always sure to decline luke’s offer whenever he offers her any sort of snack. she makes fun of han too much to be caught in a similar situation.

unpopular opinion?

okay. hear me out. i think luke is obviously an amazing jedi and i love him to bits, BUT. i don’t think he’s as powerful as everyone makes him seem! like yeah he absolutely is more powerful than most jedi ever, but there’s not a doubt in my mind that leia was the mor advanced one when it came for force sensitivity. i can’t imagine luke doing weird force things as a baby (while i absolutely can with leia. just like imagine her spinning the crib mobile above her head as a baby!)

if y’all ever saw doctor sleep, i always imagined luke as a child more like the baseball kid. he just gets a feeling about things sometimes! which is great! 

this was honestly more of a hc than an unpopular opinion. but anyway. i’m right. can’t wait for the kenobi show. all i’ve wanted since i was a kid was a show about luke and leia growing up! glad we’ll get to see it!

favorite picture of them?

y’all i literally just spend half an hour trying to find at least one picture from this photoset. and i found one single one. here it is.

the black shirt with han’s pants? we love to see it.

also, one im not in the mood for finding: the behind the scenes one where he’s got the blue t shirt all torn up? iconic.

[twilightofthe]

sw asks: 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 24

Which era do you find most compelling?  It’s gotta be the Prequel Trilogy for me.  It’s got Obi Wan and Anakin in it and all of the other characters that I love and ugh, I just adore how Lucas wrote Anakin’s tragedy in three acts and it was beautiful (TCW made it even better) and I’ll always love the artful and creative and heartbreaking story and its political commentary and pretty actors and amazing saber duels and EVERYTHING BLARGH, idc what other ppl say, it’s the best

Whose wardrobe would you steal?  Idk what other answer there could possibly be besides Padmé Amidala, every outfit she wears in the movies is stunning and if I could have even one of her pretty dresses I’d wear it every day for the rest of my life (I am not including her TCW outfits, out of all of them I think they designed like one non movies-based one where I didn’t find something about it I didn’t like, I am disappointed in them -_- )

What’s the worst headcanon you’ve ever seen?  Oof ouch I don’t really like to put down other people’s headcanons...

That being said, I’ve made it known that I despise with my entire being the fanon-turned-possibly-canon about Anakin not being a Force Baby and was actually just a Dark Side creation made by Plagueis and Sidious

I don’t like it when people say that Han and Leia were bad parents

I really don’t like it when people headcanon Anakin and Obi Wan as having this cold, uncaring, cruel relationship between them and put other side characters as being closer with them than each other canonically are

This is silly, but I get ridiculously worked up over that popular Tumblr post going around about “Oh Leia is OBVIOUSLY a Slytherin” and I’m just stomping my feet because are you kidding me???  She’s the Gryffindor-iest Gryffindor there is!!!!  Star Wars has Slytherin heroes, but Leia isn’t one of them.

What’s your favorite fan art/work? (bonus: reblog and tag the creator if you can) Ooooh there’s so many good SW fanart and works, how could I possibly chose one?  It’s flat out impossible for me to choose a favorite, per say, but I guess I can say two works that were instrumental in getting me back into the Star Wars fandom were: 

The World Undone by @writegowrite (lilyconrad on ao3), that fic got me full on into the prequels as well as convinced me to start writing fanfic again, it’s an AU Obikin fic with some of the most gorgeous writing I’ve ever read (all their works are superb 10/10 recommend)

No specific work in particular, but all of the Rebels comics and art pieces done by @lotldraws, Rebels was my first forage back into SW land and I found their art fast and it’s just some of the funniest, charming stuff, it really makes you love the Space Family and I still look back on their art when I need a smile!

Most interesting force power?  Hmmm that one’s tough!  I honestly gotta go with being able to manifest as a Force Ghost, since there’s just so much we don’t know about it and it’s really freaking cool

If you could swap places with any character for a day, who would you swap with?  That’s not fair, everyone in Star Wars has an awful life xD  I guess I’d say Anakin?  Pre-Vader of course, so then I could legit go up to the Council and be all “hey fun story so Palpatine’s a Sith Lord and the clones all have murder chips in their heads, have fun taking care of that I’m just gonna be off far away from here so I can’t get corrupted ok bye!” and then I guess I’d like lock him in somewhere he couldn’t escape if they failed to take care of Palpy in a day

Who would be your best friend?  My prequel faves are all intimidating as hell, so I’d probably say Luke!  I think if I met him on Tatooine we’d end up getting along pretty nicely!

Funniest moment in Star Wars:  All of it???  I’m sorry, I’m a loser and if I’m not crying over Star Wars for being so sad, I’m cracking up over it because all of the main characters are ridiculous drama queens and their antics amuse me endlessly

Saddest moment in Star Wars:  Revenge of the Sith from the moment Order 66 is executed (oof TCW is gonna make it hurt so much worse) till the end of the movie, Mustafar hitting the hardest Anakin why?!?!?!?

If you could make one thing from the Star Wars universe real, what would it be?  Look, I understand that the world already has enough issues with dangerous weapons in the hands of those who don’t need them and shouldn’t have them, and I also know that I would have zero reason to actually use one, but god DAMN IT I WANT A LIGHTSABER xD

[gffa]

So... I've seen a /lot/ of your thoughts about the prequel-era of Star Wars, and the original trilogy of Star Wars is pretty much loved by everyone... but that latest meta got me thinking. What exactly are your thoughts about the new trilogy so far? What do you love about it, what do you hate about it, and where does it fall in the end?

My feelings are pretty boring, to be honest!  I like the sequels’ characters pretty well, but I’m middle of the road on the plot and the worldbuilding.  There are things I like about it very much, there are things I dislike about it, there are things I’ve dug out of the whole thing that I like, there are things I’m never really going to get over, and mostly it just doesn’t really sing to me like the prequels and originals do.Things I like about the sequels:- The characters are all pretty darling and I very much want to know more about them and their stories!  Rey and Finn and Poe are precious, I really love Maz a lot, I’m interested in Ben Solo, I appreciate TLJ bringing us the Leia/Amilyn potential, I WILL FIGHT A MAN FOR ROSE TICO, etc.- TLJ actually made me really think about Luke Skywalker a lot, how I see him and how fallible he was in the originals, versus the Pure Cinnamon Roll that was all I saw for a long time.  And it really, really helped me understand his character a lot better.- The supplementary material has been really good to me.  Whether it’s the absolute batshit of Phasma (SHE MADE HER ARMOR OUT OF SHEEV’S YACHT, THAT IS THE SINGLE GREATEST THING HER CHARACTER COULD EVER DO, LOL) or the sheer adorable feelings that Cobalt Squadron gave me about Rose Tico or how Battlefront II’s storyline connected the dots between the OT and the ST really well for me, how much I legit enjoyed some of the lines from Jason Fry’s TLJ novelization, or the Poe Dameron comic being amazing, or a whole bunch of other things!  The ST has given us the chance to have these things that I really love and I cannot (nor do I want to) full divorce those things from the movies in my mind, which means I have affection for the movies because I love the whole big picture that Star Wars is building with these characters and the galaxy!Things I don’t like about the sequels:- TLJ is something I don’t mind in and of itself at this point (mostly because I’m just so tired of the arguments) but it’s never going to be what my heart wanted, it’s never going to be satisfying for me in that sense.  Yes, I get where they’re coming from, I think it’s a fascinating look at showing that yes the dark side/dark emotions is a LIFELONG STRUGGLE to overcome, that Luke fell back into them because it’s not a one-and-done thing, but that means that’s the ONLY story we got for Luke from the sequels, as played by Mark Hamill.  If we’d had more stories of Luke with Mark, I think it would be easier to take, but this is the only thing we’ve gotten so far with Mark Hamill on the big screen, so it has all the weight of our expectations on it, and because it’s undoing so much of what ROTJ worked so hard for, it’s never going to be satisfying.  I think it’s justified in what it did, but it’s never going to sing to me.  (I would like to hope that TROS will stick the landing and make me change my mind, I’m absolutely willing to be won over, but I’m skeptical.)- Rey’s being wrapped up in the Skywalker themes, they’re going to have to step really carefully to stick that landing for me as well, and so far I haven’t been satisfied by the story.  I don’t necessarily need her to be a bio-Skywalker (though, that would be my preference), but I need her connection to them to be thematically coherent, and so far it’s not enough for me.  It’s not the worst ever, but so far it’s not singing to me, either.- The worldbuilding in the movies has been very lackluster.  The planets all look like Earth locations for the most part, the aliens aren’t very creative, there’s a weird eschewing of established aliens, like they don’t actually want this to be Star Wars in setting, and there’s no sense of this being a bigger galaxy in the movies.  The supplementary material does a lot of this lifting and I live in that space, so I’m not as cranky about it as I might have been (ie, god bless Battlefront for its gorgeous planets omg), but it’s pretty noticeable in TFA and TLJ.- The squandering of the OT cast.  I’m actually okay with Han’s death in the movies, but I’m frustrated by totally taking out any impact it has on Luke and Leia, that they weren’t even there.  Leia briefly feels Han’s loss and staggers over it, there’s mention of it in the TLJ novelization, but that’s about it.  She feels Luke’s death, she gets a moment to talk with him in TLJ, but it’s so brief.  Ben only briefly feels her and doesn’t pull the trigger on her, until one of his squadmates does.  And, hey, I get it, this isn’t the OT’s movie, they had their movies, this is the ST’s movies.  But I feel like there was a way to give them more meaning, to have their presences actually felt in the characters’ lives.  TLJ at least started us on Luke and Ben’s relationship, but for all the weight it’s supposed to have, it’s barely a blip compared to how much time he and Rey spend together.  There’s barely any interaction between Leia and Ben at all in the movies.  Han and Ben get one scene.  It’s harder for me to connect to Ben when he’s so disconnected from the people who he grew up with and so I’m told he’s part of this legacy, but I don’t feel it in the way I wish I did.Contrast this against the prequels, where Obi-Wan and Anakin’s dynamic is expanded on, that those interactions give such weight to their battle on the Death Star, to the way Vader won’t shut up about Obi-Wan, the way Palpatine’s influence on Anakin’s life has more weight now that we’ve seen what went down with them, and why it was such a huge thing for Anakin to break away from him, why seeing Obi-Wan and Anakin and Yoda standing together as spirits has so much more meaning, now that those connections were established.  You can add in new characters (like Padme and Ahsoka) while still building up what was already there, but I feel like the ST really hasn’t connected the dots that well.  There’s still this HUGE gap between ROTJ and TFA/TLJ and maybe one day I’ll come around on that, I certainly have enjoyed what we’ve been given so far, but there’s a disconnect between the ST and the OT/PT so far that’s hard for me to overcome.Where it all falls in the end:I’m hoping that I will come around and fall in love with the ST, but I’m skeptical because the ST is what brought me back to Star Wars, it’s where I started out after I watched TFA, that was where my investment was, until I started spreading my wings a bit, and the PT/OT really just bit into me hard in a way I never expected.  I started out as largely a blank slate (I was a fan as a wee thing, but my feelings back then are pretty much the opposite of what they are now, other than that I Liked Obi-Wan Kenobi, apparently that’s my one true constant!) and one part sang to me and one part didn’t.  I’m not sure TROS (especially not in the hands of JJ, who made Alias, which, look, I loved that show, but its ending was not strong, and don’t get me started on his Star Trek, SIGH) can change that for me.  I hope to be proven wrong!  There are a lot of things I will focus on and yell happily about–I love the characters, I actually genuinely enjoy looking at Luke’s character, I’m enjoying the worldbuilding of the books, comics, and games SO MUCH, but idk I just don’t have the same passion for the ST despite that I love the individual pieces a ton.(AS A NOTE:  If someone really loves the ST and has fun with it, I would like to request that you continue to do so, because people loving things always wins me over, like, the most fun I have is when someone goes, “I love that thing!  And I also love this thing!” and it makes me want to love that second thing, too!  That kind of positivity always wins me over more than anything else.)

[kingofattolia]

hi! I saw your post about padme's writings and so I thought I'd ask do you have any recommendations for where to start with the star wars novels? my knowledge is v v basic (like seen all the movies once or twice) but I'm really itching for a good sci fi series and your post looked sick haha. idk if this is a stupid question but I was under the impression theres like a million sw novels lmao, only answer if I'm not annoying and you have time ~

This is a GREAT question! There are, in fact, like a million Star Wars books. As for where to start, I would recommend picking your favorite era and going from there. Would you rather read about the prequels: Padme, Anakin, and the Jedi? Or the original trilogy: Luke, Leia, Han and the Rebellion? Or the sequels: Kylo Ren and Poe and the First Order?

Some terminology:

Canon: I’m sure you already know what this means lol. These books are contemporary content, considered “true” in the current Disney-owned Star Wars Universe.

Legends/Expanded Universe: These books are from before Disney bought Star Wars, not necessarily “true” in the current SWU, and may be overwritten by anything newer that gets put out. (Disney SWU tends to at least echo old Legends stuff, so nothing here is probably going to contradict newer stuff too badly, but it’s good to be aware of.)

Since you mentioned Padme, I’m going to assume you’re at least somewhat interested in the prequels. I have a lot of recs from that era (since it’s MY favorite and thus where I do the most reading) but I’ll include the other eras too. All of these books should be pretty close to the movies and not confusing. They should work well as starting points, without making you spend hours studying arcane Star Wars trivia.

Prequels:

Queen’s Shadow by E. K. Johnston. This is the book my Padme post was about! It takes place after “The Phantom Menace” and deals with Padme (and her handmaidens) ending her term as queen and transitioning to being a senator instead. It’s not the most “action and adventure-y” story, but there’s plenty of political chicanery and intrigue as you would expect from Padme. (Canon)

Wild Space by Karen Miller. This picks up immediately after “Attack of the Clones.” I’m re-reading this right now so I have to plug it... it’s SO RIDICULOUS and fun. Obi-Wan goes on a terrible road trip adventure with Bail Organa (Leia’s adoptive father). Lots of politics, lots of Anakin and Obi-Wan being dumb, lots of angst. (Legends)

Rogue Planet by James Luceno. This is probably the weirdest book on this list, but I love it so much. Also a post-“Phantom Menace” book, this time following young Obi-Wan and Little Anakin on a dangerous adventure to a planet with sentient spaceships. I said it was weird. (Legends)

Kenobi by John Jackson Miller. This book is sort of a space western, following Obi-Wan just after “Revenge of the Sith,” once he’s brought Baby Luke Skywalker to Tatooine. He’s trying to establish his hermit life there, but can’t let go of a lifetime battling injustice that easily. 100% Sad Obi-Wan hours. (Legends)

I would love to rec more Padme-centric stuff, but the tragic truth is that there literally isn’t any. She shows up in a lot more of the Clone Wars-era books, so I have some more of those if you’re interested, but most of the time she’s sort of a sideline to Obi-Wan and Anakin, or whoever’s carrying the show.

Original Trilogy:

Leia: Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray. This is about Leia as a teenager, forcibly initiating herself into the Rebellion that her parents are secretly co-running. Honestly... I had SO much fun with this book. (Canon)

Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn. This is book one of the Thrawn Trilogy. I’m no expert on Legends, but I’m pretty sure this is THE best starting point, and probably the most “traditional SciFi” of all the books on this list. Plenty of Luke Skywalker being awesome, Leia being awesome, Han and Leia actually having a relationship... etc. (Legends)

Lost Stars by Claudia Gray. This book follows two OCs who join the Imperial military as youths; one grows up to defect and join the Rebellion, and one stays loyal. I’m usually a hard sell regarding OCs, but this book made the whole situation so real and interesting, it totally hooked me. Especially regarding the “how can anyone willingly support a government that would do something as heinous as build a Death Star” question. (Canon)

Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp. Darth Vader gets shot down in the jungle and destroys a LOT of stuff in an extremely extra manner and also is sad about it. If you’re into that kind of thing. (Canon)

Sequels:

Bloodline by Claudia Gray. This is a prequel to “The Force Awakens,” following Leia in her career as a senator, as she fights corruption and the rise of the First Order. LOTS of good politics and intrigue here.

Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson. This is the backstory of Captain Phasma from “The Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi,” and a hardcore science fiction adventure in its own right. There’s a lot more action here than intrigue, and it can get pretty violent.   

These are both canon. There’s not a lot more yet in the sequels era outside of the movie novelizations. They’ve done a little more storytelling in comics format, but we’ll have to wait until “The Rise of Skywalker” to see what else they have in store. Also, as a bonus, if you liked “Rogue One,” the book Rebel Rising by Beth Revis is Jyn Erso’s backstory. (I didn’t even like Jyn that much, but that book had me invested in her.)

There’s a lot more, but I tried to pick some of the best and most accessible. The Star Wars Universe is literally enormous, and I firmly believe there’s something out there for everyone. If you have any more questions, I’m happy to answer them. I hope you find something here that piques your interest!

[ansheofthevalley]

Would you ever ship reylo romantically after 9 m, given the right situation/scenes/interactions? If so, what would you need to see?

Hi nonny!

I’ve talked about Reylo here, but I’ll try to expand on it.

As of right now, I don’t ship Reylo. I can see the appeal of it (hero x villain, death x maiden imagery, dark and light coming together, etc.) but, as I see it, their relationship is really complicated as to just say “yay or nay” to them as a pair.

In TFA, they were clearly on opposite sides, but you could sense the ever-growing tension between them, especially after Kylo “accidentally” bonded with Rey through the Force, creating a link between the two. They’re linked, but they’re still enemies.

This changes in TLJ. Rey starts the movie seeing him as a monster, but through the Force Bond, she starts to connect with him. She sees that behind a terrible man that kills and tortures, is a man utterly afraid and lonely, just like she’s feeling in that moment. It’s interesting how their relationship shifts in Ep. VIII, because they could see each other as partners (not romantically speaking -at least) in bringing balance to the galaxy, but they don’t agree on what that balance is or must be. So ultimately, they fight. They’re still enemies. But now, they have a better understanding of each other, not as the last jedi or the supreme leader, but as people. 

Having said this, there’s one thing about their relationship that stands out for me (and not in a good way)

This is classic gaslighting. That’s a very common thing abusers say to make their partners stay with them. It’s a tactic that plays right into the fears of the abused person (being alone, feeling worthless) and the sad thing is that it works (if the victim has no one outside the relationship). He says to her that she has no meaning, unless she’s by his side. He says that by his side (and by his side only) she will have meaning, purpose. We know this is a load of BS. Rey (for all her issues) knows this is a load of BS. Especially since her last scene in TLJ is this:

She’s not nothing. She’s not alone. She has purpose and people she can call family, people that will be there for her and cares for her just as she will be there for them and cares for them.

For all the “potential” (IDK what other word I can use) I see in them, the abusive undertones in their relationship is something that I just cannot look past.

Now, you asked me what would I need to see in The Rise of Skywalker to make me ship Reylo. I truly don’t know. Because for me, I have to see things first, analize them, see what they make me feel, and then decide. Especially in SW, since TFA, TLJ and TROS are all part of a chapter of the Skywalker saga.

I’d like to see the redemption of Ben Solo. After all, Star Wars is about forgiveness and finding your way to the light. Star Wars is about hope: hoping that good will prevail, hoping that better times will come, hoping that no matter how hopeless something may seem, it can all work out in the end. If Vader could be redeemed at the end of ROTJ, so can Kylo Ren in TROS. How it will happen? My guess is as good as yours, nonny. I’d like it very much though if they abstained from the “redemption through death” trope. It’s been done with Anakin already and I’m really tired of seeing characters (from the ones that fucked up that one time to straight-up villains) go this route. 

Kylo Ren is a complex villain. He knows what he’s doing is bad, but in his mind he’s just too far gone for any kind of salvation. He thinks the best solution for the galaxy is to burn it all down; the jedi, the sith, the republic, the first order. All these things are what brings chaos to the galaxy, so he wants to get rid of them (the thing is that to “get rid” of all those things he’ll have to commit mass murder, so... yeah). He’s also a victim; he was groomed by Snoke since before he was born, he had to live with his voice inside his head all his life. He’s both tortured and torturer. He’s willingly on a path of darkness but at the same time he wants it to stop. He’s alone and hurting and yet he does things that keep people away. He kills Han in TFA but spares Leia in TLJ. He’s a rich character, full of dichotomies and extremes.

What I’d like to see in IX is for him to find balance on his own, get rid of the extremes he’s always measured his life in. I don’t want him to end being the Supreme Leader, I don’t want him to turn into a Jedi. I want him to find himself, to finally be Ben Solo. But I also want him to repent, to go through some sort of penance for the terrible things that he has done, especially since he knows and acknowledges it. To find forgiveness through owning up to what he’s done.

As for Rey... TBH I don’t see a romantic endgame for her. So far it just hasn’t been part of her arc. Her arc is driven by her sense of identity and belonging. Since TFA, she wants to knows who she is, she craves for family, for people that would truly care for her. She also has this huge identity issue. Growing up alone in Jakku, where people work every single day until they die, she truly believes she’s no one, a figure in the background watching life pass by, day by day. By the end TLJ she has found the family she’s been waiting for in Finn, Leia and the Resistance. But she’s also found a sense of self: she’s a jedi, the last jedi, she’s a fighter, she’s a valuable member of the Resistance. After a life of believing she didn’t matter, she ended up being one of the most important people in the whole galaxy. All on her own, all because of her and her power.

She’s a restless hero, always willing to help and do the right thing. She’s incredibly powerful. But she’s also a young girl, with her own fears and insecurities. But she’s strong as hell because of those fears and insecurities, because she manages to rise up above them and keep on fighting and doing the right thing. She’s very compassionate but she’s also extremely fierce when she has to, especially when it comes to fight for the people she loves and the right thing.

I can see Rey offering compassion to Kylo Ren, one that wants redemption and works for it. I can see this happening only if KR is truly commited to move forward in leaving the FO behind and start working in repairing the damage he’s done to the galaxy.

Other than that, I don’t have any other expectations regarding Reylo. I’m trying to go into IX with no expectations, headcanons or theories (or the less amount my good ol’ brain can manage to reduce them to), not because I have low expectations, but so I can be properly surprised. It’s the final chapter of the Skywalker saga, so I don’t want to be spoiled (since I guessed a lot of things when it came to TLJ). When it comes to SW, it’s like a huge easter egg hunt for me: I search for hidden meanings, symbolisms, nods to other movies/materials in rewatching the movies. Rewatching the movies is what makes the whole experience fun!

To give you a short answer, nonny. I have to see IX before I can decide or am inclined to ship Reylo. As for now, I’m fascinated by their dynamic, but I don’t ship it romantically. Maybe come back after TROS comes out and I can give you a proper response?

Thanks for the ask!

[mantra4ia]

Expectations coming in to Rise of Skywalker: Star Wars appreiation week (5/5)

Things I Want (although I will try to keep actual preconceptions low)

Get Anakin Skywalker in this movie somehow. If it’s the Rise of Skywalker, you need all the Skywalkers. He needs to be brought back into the fold. It might be interesting if Kylo could somehow see Anakin’s fall (in terms of force ghost or voice), or at the very least when he killed the Padawans, perhaps a parallel to when Luke almost cut Ben down. Or put Anakin’s essence imbibed in his helmet mask, which becomes infused with Kylo’s mask as he uses both kinds of fragments to reforge his own helmet and brings Vader back in that tangential way.

Additionally, give me Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, Yoda, Obi Wan. Their wisdom and voices at least. Bonus if you give me some expanded, in-depth Maz Kenata, not just as a narrator for theme and plot development like TFA and TLJ. I think she could have been an interesting character, but her uses so far have been vastly superficial.

Somehow, someway, bring us back to Jakku. If the new trilogy started there, it would be good to have a touchstone to Jakku somewhere in this film. If not Jakku, Naboo. Cuz if Palpatine is playing a key role, we need to the see his home, post Operation Cinder. 

References to lore and legends material (ex- use it to explain Snoke’s Obsidian ring). Expand the universe, or rather shine a light on the rest of the universe that is already massive and rich with un-cinematically explored history. 

Connect the dots between prequels, original series, and new trilogy. Don’t just Disney canon it.

Make a character-central story. PROBABLY MY NUMBER 1 WISH!

John Williams score. Even if I hate this movie, I know I can AT LEAST rely on the music.

Develop the friendship between Finn, Rey, and Poe. Give us stakes to lose. It doesn’t have to be the Luke-Han-Leia level of friendly back and forth bickering. But it should at least be Anakin-Obi Wan kinship. Give us emotional stakes to win or lose.

If you are going to use Palpatine, do not nerf him or OP Rey

Don’t be afraid to try something new, but use the existing laws of the Star Wars universe as your guide when you ask new questions. Regardless of the fact that I liked the energy of The Force Awakens, I didn’t like how it’s story base was like a cookie cutter remix of A New Hope. However, the parts I most enjoyed of TFA were elements of new what ifs - ie what if a storm trooper turned good? How big of a ripple could that make in a galaxy? Likewise, in TLJ, I like the idea of “what if Luke lost all hope - what would that look like and what would it take to rekindle?” Similarly with Rise of Skywalker, I hope they take the time to fully explore what was teased in the trailer. “I have been every voice you have ever heard inside your head.” If that line is Palpatine to Kylo Ren, think of and illustrate the implication it has on everything we though we knew about his influence and how he uses it to shape future probability so that his force clairvoyance is closer to perfect with each passing day by willing it into being.

Unravel the information naturally through character discovery, not through ancillary exposition.

I hope that “Rise of Skywalker,” if it’s not hinting at Anakin or immediate kin, is an allusion to Ben claiming some ownership to his Skywalker / Solo heritage. I don’t think that he needs to be ‘redeemed,’ in a traditional sense but I do think that somewhere in the course of this film, he needs to embrace who he is for better or worse.

Figure out what is going on between Rey and Kylo, and do it early in the film. I really enjoyed their relationship building, whatever it was, in TLJ. It was interesting. I liked the psychology, the meta. But I don’t want to muddle it throughout this whole new film. Bring it to fruition, and hopefully use it wisely.

Things I Don’t Want

Heavy-handed nostalgia. Yes, acknowledge the past, but don’t make it cheap fan service. I’m not a fan of killing the past, but if it’s a choice between the extremes, I would take letting it die over “same eyes, different people” again. Fans are smart, they appreciate throwbacks more if they aren’t superfluous appeasement, but rather story serving. The former is aesthetic, the latter is Star Wars.

Don’t make it a sci-fi spectacle. Ships are great, battles and lightsabers too, but don’t use the story to serve them, use them to punctate the story of the Force, the mythos. Or think of thing we haven’t seen in a battle before (like wreaking a ship with a Cruiser using hyperdrive to missile at light speed - TLJ). Don’t throw everything all at once against a wall just to get a big but short lived audience reaction

Don’t Disney-fy the villain. If the allegedly deceased Emperor is the big bad of IX, then he’s complex. Be true to the depths of his insidiousness, and do NOT just merc him with a single character.

Killing characters as an act of grand sacrifice to show your appreciation for them. If we learned anything from Luke’s sacrifice in The Last Jedi, it’s that this maneuver does not go over well at all. And while I am at peace with Luke going out that way as long as they continue to grow and use his character in IX (life after death), I would not be okay with this for another character because there’s no next installment to see the ramifications of the sacrifice play out complexly. So if they do this to Kylo (or Poe, etc), I’ll be LIVID.

Ret-conning or undoing the events of TLJ. Whether you like the execution of the plot in Last Jedi, they exist. The best way forward, I believe, is acknowledge, move forward and build. Don’t fixate or plaster over with a new facade.

Things I Expect

Too much action plot, or rather action montage, crammed into too little time. It’s the alleged ending of the core saga, give it time. But I don’t think they will.

I’m reaching for straws, but maybe we’ll see the nightcloak satellites? Maybe that has something to do with the icy clips in the episode IX TV spots. IDK.

I think if this episode pivots on a plot point from TLJ, it’ll be that dark side vision of Rey seeing herself as where she comes from and Kylo later explains as, “your nothing, no one, but not to me.” That scene is one of my favorite moments of Last Jedi visually and metaphorically, but I have a sinking feeling that JJ has rewritten it’s meaning, though I can’t imagine how. Maybe they are going to make Rey a Palpatine or Anakin clone, or some other relation to / pawn manipulated by the Emperor in an attempt to make her extraordinary.That, in my opinion, would be a shame and overkill considering how powerful they’ve written Rey to become in such a short period of time. I like the idea that she comes from nothing, in much the same way as Finn, a trooper among so many alike, could become good.

If I was a betting person, more than likely we’re going to the temple district / Imperial Palace on Coruscant some time in RoS. I’m neither here nor there about that if it serves the stories.

TBC after I actually go to Rise of Skywalker for my post-viewing thoughts.

[narkinafive]

this one’s a doozy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

now. the things i love.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

and so much more. like so much

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

see you all in rogue one!

[sethnakht]

I think we've all thought about AU scenarios in which Vader survived the end of ROTJ; how or if he'd ever re-integrate into society in any meaningful way, what his political situation might be, the kind of relationship he'd have with his children, the Force, Padme's surviving family, ex-Imperials. Do you have any thoughts along those lines?

oh man, most of my thoughts are cribbed from you and @darth–nickels

I’m not great at coming up with fixed head-canons, in part because I have little sense of how the Star Wars universe works (especially after ROTJ). My primary sources are the films, TV shows, the Vader and Aphra comics, and this website. So I’m essentially ignorant about how politics in the New Republic was set up and why it crumbled apart and what happened to ex-Imperials and what Leia’s role ended up being and why she chose not to tell Ben or anyone really about Vader. I don’t even know how she ended up in possession of some of Padmé’s things. Seriously, I don’t know shit about EU canon (if one can disqualify oneself in a fandom, I think I most certainly have disqualified myself in this one). So take the following with a huge grain of salt.

I have had thoughts along these lines. They’re quite changeable, dependent on what it is that the situation is primarily supposed to explore. What makes for an interesting scenario also depends for me on who is telling the story, who is interacting with Vader, whether the point is to be realistic or sketch out an allegory. Certain themes correspond to me more readily to certain outcomes. If a fic is exploring

- choice and determinism, then I want to see body horror and suit discourse. The messier, the better; I particularly love the idea (100% yours) that he would conceal how sick he is, that his already acute communication issues end up only spawning new problems (how are they supposed to save him? the suit is a custom job and any surgery would be dicey. can he stand trial if violently ill? what is one to make of the slave chip (because for me it’s still there and no-one can take that away from me)?). The identity issues that could arise for him and both Luke and Leia are also fun to think about (if he can’t fight, of what use is he to his children? who am I, those children might ask, to be related to this? if he’s out of the suit, does he want to cover up or be seen? what choices are left to him where his body and appearance are concerned?). In this context, I’ve imagined scenarios where he ends up removed from the suit against his will and essentially self-mutilates upon waking, or goes through such a violent reaction that there is debate about restraining him more effectively, about keeping him constantly sedated or in a special prison, that sort of thing. Who has the right to make such decisions? (I sometimes think here about Goneril and Regan treating Lear as a dottering old man, denying him what he desires, so that Lear ends up wandering in a storm, preferring the company of the mad, that is to say going mad.) I also really like scenarios where he undergoes an emergency procedure without having much choice in the matter, but at the hands of a shady or incompetent doctor - necessitating something drastic, like a bacta tank escape - so that he ends up with new damage, something disturbing, idk, like coughing up bloody bits and pieces of dislodged suit at random. This latter scenario is admittedly not quite a post-ROTJ scenario, though; I imagine it in the context of this AU, and so am ending this here before I ramble on and on about it.

- the question of his guilt, then I’m especially interested in details of his imprisonment, whether he chooses to collaborate with the new politicians (or refuses to interact with anyone but his kids), and if so, whether this means he stands trial or “dies” and is resurrected as some kind of secret agent. There are already incredible secret-agent / discarded secret-agent (looking at @darth–nickels) and trial fic (The Librarian knocked it out of the park with The Trial of Darth Vader, and I also still love The Penitent, however incomplete and variable in quality - links here) so I tend to think more about scenarios involving some sort of permanent or lengthy imprisonment. Recently that has manifested as a situation where he’s kept in a custom cell some hundreds of stories below ground, virtually buried and forgotten. Key details are that he has to be surveilled by camera (opportunities for spooky media-antics no-one can quite trace to him), that it takes a felt eternity to travel with the elevator to his cell (there’s a latent hint of horror to it all, for anyone who visits him, but the hassle also seriously deters visitors), and that the cell itself has one-way glass on all sides, so that an approaching visitor should always be able to see him, only that he somehow manages to slip the gaze constantly - anyway, as you can see, this is primarily an extended allegory / excuse to think about how he projects himself in a room / the effects of even more isolation on his psychology / think through a situation where Leia, specifically, realizes that his prison represents her own suppression.

- family communication or, related topic, management of the past and future, then I can see all of the above being interesting, but am also 100% here for stories where prison and a trial are secondary to exploring character psychologies. The setting does matter, though: I tend to prefer scenarios where the thought he might have a meltdown and murder everyone is still sensed as a real threat (and he knows it). Vader in a Psych Ward on Naboo - with the latent possibility that the Naberries might find out what he did and who he is, with Padmé’s grave looming large - is for me kind of ideal, but I also have loved scenarios where he returns to Tatooine and is actually miserable (there’s a fic I can’t find rn where Luke visits him, sick and dying, in a dark hovel of a sort - great stuff).

There’s a … lot more, but I’ve rambled on pointlessly long enough. Would much rather hear your thoughts fleshed out, my friend, you’ve not just shaped my thinking on this question but have made it fun and worthwhile to think about this trashbag in the first place

[thebigreylotheory]

My Episode 9 Wishlist (with a dab of speculation)

Happy May the 4th (Force) My Reylos, Star Wars fans, and others-I-amuse-in-some-way!

So we’ve all heard the May the 4th tale that if you post your wishlist and with a tiny bit of magic maybe, possibly some fraction part of your wish will come true, right???

No?

I knew it was just me, dagnabbit. Me and my delusions of grandeur. It’s just like sand, it gets everywhere. Ugh (I feel like I’ve done this joke a lot, I go back to the well, but it’s dry).

But, but, I’ve been a really good, bad Star Wars fan Reylo this year (all in how you define good and bad…this is what I get when I google it, cause I’m lazy:

) So here goes nuttin’:

My List of Wishes (ok, ok Fan Girl Demands Full of Feels)

Properly honor the Skywalker lightsaber – AHHHH! They broke an antique!! Get some duck tape quick!!

What could happen:

o   Rey uses Skywalker crystal, but designs a new hilt.

§  My feelings: I’m ok with this, this could be an interesting side story or comic. But I’m NOT a fan of her having a two bladed lightsaber similar to her staff or Darth Maul. I was recently in a panel with someone who’s into weapons training at JordanCon and I heard: although something with two blades might look cool, it’s not realistically practical because it makes it more difficult to guard yourself. And my headcanon is Rey is a practical gal.

§  Could it be an interesting unstable blue lightsaber cause it’s cracked? (And be another thing Rey and Kylo have in common…And if Kylo’s cracked crystal was Vader’s we’d have cracked Anakin and cracked Vader and that crack could combine (Captain Planet! No wait…)and Force Balance stuff

o   Rey finds a new crystal, gives Skywalker crystal to Ben as a gift (aww) when he embraces the lights again (aww) (Maybe she gives him a graduation from the dark side to the light party? No? Mmm…ok I’ll fangirl out and say engagement/wedding gift. I went there PEOPLE.

o   Rey and Kylo Ren done broke it together, so they gotta fix it together (aww) So sweet, it could be like a date. Lightsaber Repair AND Chill. Hands on projects are really good for your relationship. *wink wink*

o   Rey and Ben half the crystal (if that possible?) and make two new lightsabers like nifty friendship thingies you see

o   The lightsaber becomes a nice paperweight for Rey’s Jedi Office™ or The Throne of Ren™ (AKA they fuhgeddaboudit)(And if Star Wars rhymes then I guess it goes back to being nothing like it was before Anakin found it? Maybe? Hmm. But that makes me sad.)

Don’t mess with Chewie or the Falcon

o   Right now I’m really glad this is Star Wars and not GOT or Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling killed me when she killed Hedwig…it was just so unnecessary)

§  Ok, our father figures Han and Luke are gone. I want Chewie to stay in this role for Rey, and even for Ben. And with Leia gone, I really, really need Chewie there. Seriously.

·      He was the first to go in the old canon, so now maybe he’s the last?

·      I need him to be grandpa to Han’s grandbabies. I really have to have this. White-haired Gramps Chewie.

§  I’m sure the good ship lollipop will stop flying one day. But I’m not interested in seeing that on screen. Have mercy.

·      Ben Solo Redemption

o   Else, what was this, the tragedy of the Skywalker clan?

§  And, lo, the Force did harden the heart of the last Skywalker Solo and the evil Pharaoh-o Ren™ did perish for the wickedness of his forefather, and, lo, they were wiped from the galaxy, and cursed is the name Skywalker and Solo and none shall utter it ever, ever again, yea, even unto an age.

§  Why you wanna make me sad? Star Wars + Sad = DOEs Not Compute (No, no seriously life is sad enough)

o   There’s no morale to the story for my kids. Or even my cats.

§  Once upon time two of the most beloved space characters of all time Leia and Han had a baby and that baby was Kylo Ren and he turned bad and was Pharaoh-o Ren™ and they executed him. AKA I guess you’re just born bad. If you feel like you’re a bad person, you should probably just give up now cause there’s no hope (This isn’t Star Wars: Episode 9 No Hope™, right? Just checking)

Reylo Fight Round 2

o   Ok in my wildest lil Reylo dreams I never thought Rey and Kylo would fight together on the same-ish side (though how very brief)….I really thought they’d fight each other AND Kylo would openly spare Rey. Anyways call me crazy but I’d like to see them fight each other again. And after the end of TLJ, I think it’s super plausible.

§  If Rey wins:

·      I’d love for Rey to have a “Ben/Kylo join me” scene. We don’t get these scenes with female characters in charge (or in my experience, at least). Give in to your light side!

o   Also, I mean, she thought Ben would return to the light, but did she outright ask him? These peeps need to communicate better.

·      Or, Kylo starts confessing some deep regretful feels at the point of death, I’m talking something equally as sorrowful as his outbursts are rage-filled, making Rey super conflicted about what to do with him

o   Sorta her Ben-returns-to-the-light-wish is granted but it’s practically too late

o   Should/would she trust him?

o   Could she kill someone who wants to be good again??

§  If Kylo wins:

·      He spares her (I done said Star Wars shouldn’t be sad, right?)

o   Cause he confesses his deepest feels for her! (yeah, yeah in my fangirl dreams)

o   Mm, does he kinda owe her a life-debt for not killing him in TLJ when he was knocked out?

·      He takes her prisoner again and we go down the First Order rabbit hole a final time

§  Tie!:

·      Well, I guess they’d just have to learn to live together, cause they could fight until the bantha-cows come home, but it wouldn’t do any good, so, yeah, balance, harmony together and stuff

      Supreme Leader Hux

o   Cause, I mean, can’t the average man get ahead as the boss in the galaxy? It’s always some Force user?

§  Arguably aren’t their more non-Force users? Maybe they don’t want to be ruled over by some mystical dude anymore.

o   I like for people to get their dreams

§  Even if they are short lived…

o   First Order Civil War seems more likely…you really want me to believe NO ONE would help the Resistance on Crait, time jump, Resistance is stronger than ever?

      Reylo Fight United 2.0

o   I just need more of this in my life

A “real” Reylo Kiss

o   Cause regardless of Reylo, there’s not enough kissing in this trilogy compared to the others

o   ForceTime is great and all, but puts me in a Mockingbird “Real or Not Real” state of mind. Eventually the long-distance relationship has to have some in-person one on one time.

o   Arguably, it might, mean more if they kiss naturally opposed to ForceTime.

§  Kinda of, oh-look, they like each other, and it’s not just about the Force

Mountains

o   I dunno, I just wanna see mountains Gandalf.

     Anakin Force Ghost

o   Argh stuff you see in Art Books and the idea gets stuck in your head.

      Luke-y Pooh Force Ghost

o   So long as he’s standing with the others at the end I’m good

o   But just hearding a creepy Luke ghost voice could be cool, too

A Happy Ending

o   IDK, don’t Finn, Poe, and Rose deserve metals?

§  Give the Wookie one, too!!

o   Or do be Senators in a Neo-Senate?

o   StormRose wedding!

o   I see Poe trading in his X-Wing for a boat on the lake and having really great Resistance Independence Day BBQs, but doesn’t translate well on film