#instead of blaming the Jedi/Leia

[shadowmaat]

I adore "Leia murders Palpatine with extreme prejudice" ideas as much as the next nerd, but also consider "Leia murders Palpatine with politics."

She's been in the Imperial Senate, which is even more cut-throat and violent than the Republic one. She knows how to play dirty while keeping pristine. She undermines public confidence in him. Asks "innocent" questions of the crowd during public gatherings, publishes anonymous articles, recreates what she can remember of her high school history project about the rise of the Empire (which she was ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN from submitting by her parents). Palpatine has to take his attention away from the war in order to deal with this nuisance, but he can't seem to find the little rat despite his monumental efforts. (Fox and the Corries are having the time of their life with this because you know they'd be happy to topple the whole government if it meant a chance to relax.)

Oh, she colludes with the Jedi, too. She gives them all kinds of intel about upcoming battles to prove she knows what she's talking about and it starts helping them win more battles. Or at least limit their losses.

And then one day Palps makes the mistake of snapping at a reporter. It seems like a small thing, but somehow his loss of temper is the straw that breaks the eopie's back and suddenly the Delegation of 2000 finds its ranks swelling and there's calls for a vote of no confidence. Ahh, sweet irony.

Of course it all still culminates in a battle, but the Jedi are more prepared this time. Well, prepared for Palpatine, anyway. Despite having gotten to know Leia, she still manages to surprise them by sniping Palps with a slugthrower before he can kill anyone.

She's "arrested" by a very smug Fox, who takes her off for celebrating questioning.

"Remembered, we should have, that Skywalker's child she is," Yoda admits.

They never do find the culprit who managed to sabotage the entire Coruscanti comms network and plant jammers throughout the Senate. Rumors of a blue and silver astromech seen fleeing the scene are dismissed as ridiculous.

Bail Organa finds himself elected interim Chancellor despite his best efforts and finds a (thoroughly vetted) gift waiting for him in his new office. Or at least he assumes it's for him, even though it's labeled "To Dad" and signed "Love, L.O." He's pretty sure he'd remember having a kid, but hey, it's a bottle of his favorite whiskey, so he isn't going to turn it down.

time travel fics where it’s Luke and/or Leia who goes back to the prequels as opposed to prequels characters going back to the prequels are incredibly funny because instead of emotional tension you could cut with a knife and horrible grief overlaying every action it’s just one (or two) ridiculously powerful people running around with absolutely no idea what’s going besides (a) that the chancellor everybody loves is pure evil and plotting the downfall of the republic and (b) that their dad (with whom they have a VERY complex relationship) is, at best, old enough to be barely out of space college. who needs complex and carefully rendered plans based on a million different remembered factors when you can have one of the space twins seeing Palpatine and trying to kill him with their illegal laser sword on sight

[saphronethaleph]

Obscure Legends Reference Bingo

“So how come you got the medal, anyway?” Biggs asked, grinning, and punched Luke in the shoulder.

“Hey, don’t blame me,” Luke replied. “I said you and Wedge should get them too. That was great cover you guys gave, I couldn’t have done it without you.”

He sighed. “I had this… feeling, while you were behind me. Like nothing was going to go wrong. And even when you left, I was sure that I’d do it. I couldn’t describe how, but it felt…”

“It felt like you could feel what was going to happen, right?” Biggs asked. “I could feel that too, I thought I was imagining it.”

Luke nodded, then frowned, then glanced up at Biggs.

“What could you feel?” he asked.

“It was… there was darkness, behind you,” Biggs replied. “Chasing you. Trying to destroy you. And I could feel when shots were going to go past me and not hit you, and I could feel when they were going to go past me and hit you. And… I tried to stay back as far as possible, so they couldn’t get past you, and when a shot was going to hit you, I let it hit me instead.”

He glanced towards the hangar. “Which is why my X-wing’s missing most of a wing. Sorry I couldn’t stay with you the whole way.”

“You did what you could, and that was more than enough,” Luke said. “Tatooine boys forever, right?”

“You bet, Luke!” Biggs agreed. “Man, I’m going to have to tell you how I got here… who would have thought it, right?”

He paused, and Luke knew why.

A voice had just touched their awareness.

Someone is here at last.

“Who said that?” Biggs asked. “Luke?”

“Not me, and that didn’t sound like Obi-Wan,” Luke replied.

He closed his eyes, focusing, trying to draw on the memory of what that contact had felt like.

Can you hear me?

“I heard that,” Biggs said, amazed. “That was you, Luke?”

“That was me,” Luke agreed.

Yes, a voice replied. If you can hear me… I need help. I’ve waited so long for someone sensitive to the Force to come to this moon. You need to contact the Jedi Order and have them send a Padawan.

Luke and Biggs exchanged confused looks.

What’s a Padawan? Luke replied, homing in on the thing he absolutely did not understand.

...hmm, the voice said, thoughtfully. If you don’t know that… how old are you?

“Weird question,” Biggs muttered.

Nineteen, Luke sent back, finding it easier every time. Or, I am. Biggs is older. But… the Jedi Order doesn’t exist any more. I only learned how to do this a few days ago and Biggs I think found out yesterday?

“The day before,” Biggs answered the question. “I first realized it when I was out finding an antidote for an illness Hobbie Klivan had – it’s his X-Wing you were flying, Luke.”

Nineteen, nineteen… the voice said. And you’re humans… well, I have to hope it will do. Come to this temple, please – as soon as possible.

Luke and Biggs exchanged glances as a location impressed itself into their mind.

“I can’t fly until my fighter’s repaired,” Biggs pointed out.

“I’m not technically part of the Rebellion yet, I think,” Luke replied. “Hold on, I’ll ask Han for a lift…”

“So where have you been?” Leia asked, some hours later, as the Millennium Falcon’s ramp lowered. “You know everyone else is busy, right?”

“Yeah, I know,” Luke said. “But this was important.”

Leia’s gaze flicked across to the small, furry animal on his shoulder.

“A pet is important?” she asked.

“No,” the pet replied. “But freeing the souls of an entire race’s children – that is important, and it is what they have done.”

Biggs sniggered.

“Yeah, this was a surprise to us, too,” he said, throwing an arm around Luke. “Turns out nineteen does technically count as a child for the purposes of Sith Magic.”

“...so, you talk?” Leia asked.

“I certainly do,” the animal agreed. “Jedi Master Ikrit, at your service – I am a Kushiban, in case you are wondering. I would be delighted to help teach these two how to use their powers, and-”

“Ikrit?” General Dodonna repeated. “Jedi Master Ikrit?”

He looked completely poleaxed. “You were on snack toys before the Clone Wars! I distinctly remember saving one of them for a nephew!”

“Oh, dear…” the Kushiban said, ears flicking a little. “That is… not precisely the impression I would have expected to make…”

[darthmaclunkey]

seeing last jedi again was so good. i will be fighting in the last jedi trenches until i die. if last jedi has no fans left on earth then i am dead etc etc. some very rambling and incoherent thoughts under the cut:

i love luke so much in tlj. luke skywaker is my all-time favourite character from anything, because he really embodies one of the core messages from star wars: being good is a choice, and it's a choice you have to keep making. right from the start of new hope, we see how luke is just constantly thrust into situations where, time and time again, he's given the choice of the easy way out, or tempted by the dark side. but luke always chooses to do the right thing, even when it's hard. in rotj we do get a glimpse of him as this aloof, emotionless jedi, but then it all unravels in the finale when he is forced to confront vader. i know a lot of the vitriol around last jedi is from people who think it ruined luke's character, but to me, his arc makes perfect sense. sequels luke is a man who has spent his whole life making sacrifices and working hard to do good, until it's all torn away from him by the dark side - a dark side plot specifically designed to undermine luke and the light, mind you - yet he still blames himself, because a fleeting temptation from the dark to take the easy route out and save the galaxy from what he saw in ben almost got him, but it didn't. and he paid for that temptation dearly. i would have hated to see a sequels-era luke who was just some epic version of the distant, quasi-mystical jedi knight we see in rotj (as i've seen some people saying that's how he should have been). what kind of character arc is that? he gets to the end of the OT and then never changes? i'm drawn to luke because of his humanity, the fact that you still see the tatooine farmboy in him years later. his sacrifice at the end of last jedi is so beautiful and poignant to me; a lesser script (cough tros cough) would have had him jump in an x-wing and show up to plow through the first order with his lightsaber. i love what we get instead: his moment with leia, her touching his hands and realising he's a projection - his knowing wink to threepio - the image of him emerging from the dust and smoke, unscathed, and how it clearly puts the absolute fear into kylo ren - the way he doesn't even attack, just dodges and blocks - then, finally, the shot of him on ahch-to, watching the sunset, and, once he's gone, the image of his cloak blowing away in the wind, symbolic of his spirit joining the cosmic force. that's my jedi master luke. funny, powerful, human, flawed, but still, after all this time, making the choice to do good and fight for others, even if it's the hardest thing he'll ever do. whew. luke skywalker i love you.

i love how last jedi looks. with the exception of maybe empire, i think it's the best-looking of all the films. it's stuffed with references to absolutely classic cinema, like the shot in canto bight that's an homage to the café dolly shot in wings, or the classic hitchcockian dolly zoom as finn and rose look over the cliff, and the opening sequence with the bombing run is just a straight homage to old war movies, which is just what the OT did with the space battles being shot-for-shot remakes of ww2 dogfight footage. original-flavour star wars was a love letter to to so many other films and tv shows, so this feels so natural. at the same time, there's a lot of sequences that feel really innovative for star wars, like the montage that accompanies rey's connection to the force on ahch-to, or the film's extensive use of close-up shots and slow-mo. the lighting is gorgeous. finn's fight with phasma looks astonishing on the big screen - the colour grading and visual effects really go off in that scene.

i love all the force skype sessions with kylo and rey, but especially the scene where she's out in the rain and, when they disconnect, you see kylo running his hand over his face then shaking the rainwater from his glove. something I hadn't appreciated before is how well the film sells you on the idea that they are both present in the same space, despite seeing them both shot against different backgrounds. the intimacy of the rain-on-glove thing gets me every time.

i love everybody's arcs. every single member of the main trio has a full arc in the film. rose tico is such a lovely addition to the main cast, i hate how she got totally shafted in rise of skywalker.

on a completely superficial note: the main cast are all at their hottest in last jedi. especially poe dameron. especially poe dameron.

the throne room fight scene is one of my favourite movie scenes ever (and in star wars, it's only beaten out by the binary sunset scene from new hope). i WISH i could relive the first time i saw it at the midnight screening i went to in 2017. i may have been sitting politely, but i was hooting and hollering internally.

rian johnson, they could never make me hate you.

[david-talks-sw]

Luke Skywalker in 'The Last Jedi' (1/2)

Luke in The Last Jedi... love it or hate it, it's a difficult subject.

I personally stand somewhere in the middle. I don't think Luke was "ruined"... I'd argue that, from a purely in-universe perspective, his subplot actually tracks with what was previously established in the original films.

There are issues, but I think they are mainly found on an out-of-universe/structural level (which I'll get into in post 2/2). For now, let's take a deep dive and unpack why this portrayal isn't all that problematic.

The most commonly-heard argument is that:

"They ruined Luke's character! He would never go into exile or abandon his sister and friends!"

Simply put, Luke used to be:

an optimist

so brave he'd risk his life to save his friends,

aspired to become a Jedi.

Whereas, in The Last Jedi, he's:

jaded and depressed,

hides/abandons his sister and friends, like a coward,

says the Jedi need to die?!

Now the fact is... Luke is 24 years older when he goes into exile, 30 years older in The Last Jedi. People change, with age.

In Luke's case, he matured from an impatient kid who'd rashly run to save his friends, like in Empire Strikes Back, to a grown-up who makes hard choices and restrains himself from doing that, even though he desperately wants to.

Luke tells himself this is a self-sacrifice, this is for the greater good.

"Because he’s the last Jedi and a symbol of that it then becomes this self-sacrifice, he has take himself out of it, when he knows his friends are dying, when the thing he’d most like to do is get back in the fight." - Rian Johnson, The Empire Film Podcast, 2018

And Rian Johnson didn't want Luke to come across as a coward, so he also gave Luke an argument that initially seems to make sense:

The Jedi way is flawed and inevitably leads to arrogance. Proof: the Sith originally came from Jedi. His own new order is no exception to that rule, even if he thought it was (in his arrogance, he believed his own legend).

So if he leaves and stays in exile? No more Jedi, no more Jedi-turned-darksiders that can mess up the galaxy.

The Force will keep trying to balance itself and a new, worthier source will appear (in the form of Rey).

But while his reasoning that "the Jedi are inevitably arrogant" seems sound and reasonable... it's wrong.

Just like Dooku's reasoning that "the Jedi are corrupt" seems sound, but is ultimately wrong.

Just like Anakin's rationalization that "the Jedi are evil" seems sound nope, that one doesn't even seem sound, it's just plain wrong.

Where is it wrong, in Luke's case?

Well, he's rationalizing his actions by blaming the Jedi religion, instead of admitting his own failure.

"The notion of, 'Nope, toss this all away and find something new,' is not really a valid choice, I think. Ultimately, Luke's exile and his justifications for it are all covering over his guilt over Kylo." - Rian Johnson, The Art of The Last Jedi, 2017

"In his own way, [Luke is] trying to disconnect, he’s trying to throw away the past, he’s saying 'Let’s kill [the Jedi] religion. It’s the thing that’s messing us up, thins thing right here, let’s kill it.’ And the truth is, it’s a personal failure. It’s not religion, it’s his own human nature that’s betrayed him." - Rian Johnson, The Empire Film Podcast, 2018

He fucked up, plain and simple.

But it's not because “he’s a Jedi and that made him arrogant and the Jedi mentality is flawed”, as he claims early on in the movie.

He failed because he's flawed. Luke is human and had a moment of weakness where he was scared shitless and acted on instinct.

Yoda's spirit helps him realize this, and he fixes his mistake by allowing Leia and the resistance to save themselves. And as he does it, he acknowledges the importance of the Jedi and their teachings.

And it's also why, in The Rise of Skywalker, he has the maturity to admit that he wasn't staying on the island out of some self-sacrificial gesture, as he kept telling himself. Truth is, he was afraid. Afraid he'd screw up again.

Do the movies go about this in an emotionally-satisfying way? That's debatable. But, on paper, I don't think Luke's behavior in The Last Jedi is too much of a shark-jump considering how

THE ORIGINAL IDEA CAME FROM GEORGE LUCAS!

In the couple of months after the Disney sale, Lucas developed the Sequels with Michael Arndt in late 2012/early 2013, and concept art was made by artists like Christian Alzmann.

Note: the image on the left got a “Fabouloso” stamp of approval from Lucas!

Lucas’ sequels would feature a Luke Skywalker who was a figure like the jaded, reclusive Colonel Kurtz in the movie Apocalypse Now (which, fun fact, Lucas helped write and was originally set to direct).

The reason why Luke was in self-imposed exile wasn’t specified, all we know is that he was:

hiding from the world in a cave,

haunted by the betrayal of one of his students,

and spiritually in a dark place.

Other concept artists, like James Clyne, tried to illustrate the First Jedi Temple and some of the designs were approved by Lucas, such as the one below.

Eventually, Kira the female Jedi-wannabe protagonist (who eventually became Rey) would seek him out so he can train her.

This Luke would be a much more prominent part of Episode VII (instead of only appearing at the end) but still died at the end of Episode VIII.

For sources and more information about George Lucas’ plans for the Sequel Trilogy, read this post.

The only part that wasn't detailed by Lucas were the specifics of why he went into exile. But all in all, this sounds pretty similar to what we got in The Last Jedi.

"Luke would never try to kill Ben!”

I agree. And he didn’t try to kill Ben. He stopped himself.

And this version of the event?

This didn’t happen.

What Kylo tells Rey is his version of the story. And he thinks he’s telling the truth... but his recollection of the event is warped as this was obviously a very traumatic event for him.

"I don't think he's lying actually. In my mind, that was his experience. [...] I think that it's probably twisted a little bit by Kylo's own anger and his own prejudices against Luke, but I feel like he's actually telling her the truth of his experience." - Rian Johnson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi commentary, 2017

The narrative frames the third version of the story as the one that’s objectively how events went down. Because Rey believes him, and Rey is both the protagonist and a stand-in for the audience.

Now, if you think Luke’s word is unreliable and you have an easier time trusting Kylo’s version of the story, go to town.

But I think that if you actually believe would Luke would never try to kill Ben, you’d take Luke's second retelling of the story at face value.

I know I do.

“Okay, but he would never consider killing a child, like Ben. He saw the good in Darth Vader!”

First off, Luke refers to Ben as "a scared boy" because, he's a middle-aged man. But objectively, Ben was 23 years old.

But also, I mean... with Vader, Luke actually had the luxury ignorance.

Do you think would have truly gone on that Second Death Star if he had actually witnessed Vader:

choke his Padmé,

kill Obi-Wan,

actively try to kill Ahsoka,

murder Jedi younglings,

betray and hunt down his other Jedi brothers and sisters,

and cold-bloodedly kill countless innocents, one by one?

There’s a difference between watching him kill Ben Kenobi (who still ‘lived’ as a ghost and talked to him seconds later) and hearing a couple of rebel pilots get blasted in the trench run, and actually seeing all the horrors he’s committed.

Don't get me wrong, Luke knows Vader is evil, absolutely. But if he had seen this side of Vader, the needlessly cruel side...

... I'm not sure he'd have been as compassionate.

Proof: Obi-Wan, someone who deeply loved Anakin (to the point where he could never bring himself to kill him), someone that genuinely wishes that Luke can redeem him... also feels that, realistically, attempting to do so would be pointless.

And hell, even without really seeing all the massacres Vader committed, the second the latter threatened his sister, Luke went berserk and almost killed him!

So the question becomes:

“What could make Luke - trained Jedi Master, long-time optimist and overall compassionate to a fault - consider killing Ben?”

All we’re told is that he looked into Ben’s mind and saw darkness and the destruction, pain, death, and the end of everything he loves.

The specifics are left to our imagination. They could include:

the sight of Kylo slaughtering his parents and Chewie with a smile on his blood-smeared face,

the smell of Han's burning flesh in the air,

the wails of Chewbacca as he's run through by Kylo,

the faint sound of Leia's tears hitting the ground,

the destruction of the New Republic's citizens and planets.

Whatever it may have been, it was intense. Because Force-induced visions are vivid as hell, as has been shown throughout the franchise.

It's not like watching something on a TV, you're there, all your senses are affected in an extremely powerful way.

And the vision Luke experienced scared him so much that even shortly after it, when looking at a sleeping young man, all he sees is that evil monster from the vision. So he tremblingly draws his saber.

But it's evident that Luke wasn't thinking clearly or rationally.

His base emotions had taken the wheel, he was being tempted by the Dark Side.

"He doesn’t give in to the Dark Side, it’s a moment of temptation to the Dark Side. It reminds me very much of when Vader is tempting Luke, when Luke is underneath the stairs in [Return of the] Jedi, lit with that very beautiful half-and-half, the duality of these two sides of him being pulled. And that’s really what that moment is for me, it’s a moment of temptation to the Dark Side for Luke." - Rian Johnson, IGN, 2017

And yet despite seeing all that... Luke catches himself.

It's not the first time that Luke almost does something horrible to a family member and catches himself. Again, 24 years prior, he almost murdered his own father in a fit of rage.

The scene in Ben's hut intentionally parallels that outburst he has in Return of the Jedi.

A terrible future is presented before Luke.

He reacts instinctively, is tempted by the Dark Side.

He snaps out of it.

Even the angle and framing of the shot is designed to match:

"Some of these parallels are just “it’s a close-up of the same character” but this one was very intentional. It’s why I had him look down at his mechanical hand holding the saber." - Rian Johnson, Twitter, 2019

The only real difference is that, in Return of the Jedi, Luke only comes to his senses after a frenzied onslaught during which he actively tried to kill his own Dad.

24 years later, despite having witnessed that terrible future even more vividly than he did on the Second Death Star, he catches himself merely seconds later. Instead of going on a whole rampage, he stops the moment the lightsaber turns on.

I'd call that "progress".

"But Luke should've learned his lesson and known better than to give in to the Dark Side!"

Resisting the temptation of the Dark Side is by no means a one-and-done thing. It's not a power-up that you get, it's a constant struggle.

"I think it disrespects the character of Luke by treating him not as a true mythic hero overcoming recurring wounds & flaws, but as a video game character who has achieved a binary, permanent power-up." - Rian Johnson, Twitter, 2019

Dave Filoni says so too.

"In the end, it’s about fundamentally becoming selfless, moreso than selfish. It seems so simple, but it’s so hard to do. And when you’re tempted by the dark side, you don’t overcome it once in life and then you’re good. It’s a constant." - Dave Filoni, Rebels Remembered, 2019

Hell, even George Lucas stated something along those lines:

"The Sith practice the dark side and are way out of balance. The Jedi aren’t as much out of balance because they’re the light side of the Force. They still have the bad side of the Force in them, but they keep it in check. It’s always there, so it can always erupt if you let your guard down." - George Lucas, The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005, 2020

Learning the lesson once doesn't mean you've learned it forever. Especially with the Dark Side, which poses a never-ending battle.

In-universe examples: Anakin learned to let go of his attachments during the “Padawan Lost” arc of TCW.

A year and a half later, he’s butchering kids because he can’t let go of his attachments.

And during wartime, Yoda found himself repressing his darker instincts and ignoring their existence. Thus, when he had to face them, he struggled to acknowledge and control them.

So considering Luke didn't go "rampage mode" with Ben, as he did when he tried to kill Vader, I think he deserves some credit.

Finally, I've heard this insane argument many times, as a response to the above points:

"Yeah but Luke wasn't actually trying to kill Vader! He was holding back, he was trying to keep him alive!"

And, uh... no. He wasn't.

He lost his shit, folks. And almost killed Vader.

Like, right here?

⬆️ If Vader hadn’t moved his saber to intercept Luke’s blade, Luke would’ve stabbed Vader in the face.

⬆️ If Vader hadn’t held his sword up in time, SWISH, there goes the top of his helmet AT LEAST, if not the rest of his head.

⬆️ If Vader hadn’t dodged he’d be chopped in two.

⬆️ If Vader’s arm gave out slightly sooner, if his blade faltered just a little lower, if he loosened his grip on his saber a bit, Vader would be cleaved in two.

My point is that if you swing at someone with a lightsaber? They’ll get chopped. And if you aim for the head or the chest? You’re trying to kill them.

Before Luke got a grip, throughout that whole rampage, the only thing that kept Vader alive was his own skill.

Otherwise, Luke would’ve murdered him in a fit of rage.

If Luke was holding back, then the theme of "resisting the Dark Side" completely falls apart.

There's no indication that he was restraining himself, in he script.

And just look at the imagery.

Luke is surrounded by darkness, symbolizing how he's being seduced by the Dark Side, he's being tempted to give in to his anger towards the man who hurt his friends and took his hand.

Then Vader threatens Leia.

And the next time we see Luke, he's silhouetted, his face is all black.

Luke was originally trying to hold back and talk Vader down, but fails to control his instincts and gives in to fear, to anger, to the Dark Side... and goes all out.

He swings at his father furiously and keeps swinging, until he cuts off Vader's hand... and he is about to deliver the final blow…

… when he sees Vader’s mechanical hand and realizes that by giving in to his anger, that path will inevitably lead him to become exactly like this half-machine half-man laying at his feet. That’s where the path to power leads.

And so he makes a decision:

He’s a Jedi. Like his father before him. His compassion for Anakin is stronger than his hate for Vader.

That's the narrative intent.

It has to be.

Because if he had been "holding back" throughout that entire bit, then the stakes are lowered immeasurably, John Williams' saddening score is misplaced, the lightsaber choreography is misleading, etc.

For the above-listed reasons, I think Luke's portrayal in The Last Jedi doesn't really contradict anything in the previously-established lore. It works, it's the typical "old cowboy needs to get back in the saddle" trope. Frankly, I can defend this subject all day long... so where's the problem?

The problem comes in at an out-of-universe level. While it's not inconsistent... it's also not satisfying.

The thing is, if you...

... take one of the most brave and optimistic characters in the franchise, then open the film saying "well, now he's jaded and in hiding", without giving us context on how he became that way...

... take a character whose arc was specifically about controlling his emotions, then show him be ruled by those emotions without providing context for what made him do that...

... then that kills the suspension of disbelief, for a lot of fans.

And, as such, they'll have a much harder time going along with what you're saying.

Because "show, don't tell" is one of the most basic principles in visual storytelling. And we weren't shown:

"Ben being increasingly violent during training",

"Luke sitting Ben down and having a talk with him, only to be ignored" or

"the horrors Luke saw in Ben's head".

I have no doubt that those things happened, in-universe.

But if we're talking about a movie-going experience, many were left emotionally-unsatisfied.

Because all that stuff was in there... but only subtextually. It was up to the fans to imagine on the details. Normally, I'd argue that's what Star Wars is all about: allowing fans to dream and think outside the box. But in this specific case, I think many fans would've rather had a more complete and explicit story. Because it's Luke Skywalker.

And yet... even these structural and writing issues had a logic behind them, and if you ask me... there was no other direction that this story could be taken in.

We'll explore this in more detail in part 2/2.

[eclipsedrawsthings]

Anything you'd like to monologue on?

Ok since tumblr ate my Han and Leia monologue you get the “Mara Jade should have been in the sequel trilogy” monologue!

Luke’s character in The Last Jedi makes no sense. He believed—and was proven right—than Anakin could be redeemed, and Anakin killed children multiple times. This is not a character who would cause Kylo Ren’s backstory.

Mara, however—based on what I’ve read of her so far—is a much more jaded (ha) and cynical character than Luke is. I could easily see her sensing Ben’s potential for darkness and feeling the need to act, the way Luke did in canon. Honestly, in my opinion, literally everything that Luke does in the sequel trilogy would make more sense of it was done by Mara.

Here’s how I think things should have gone down: Mara senses Ben’s potential for darkness and unintentionally kicks off the second Jedi purge and creates Kylo Ren. Luke attempts to turn Ben back to the light, the way he did with Anakin, and is killed by him. Mara, blaming herself for the death of her husband and destruction of everything that he tried to build, leaves for Ach-To.

Later, Rey arrives looking for Luke and finds Mara. Mara refuses to train her, despite pestering from both Rey and Luke’s Force ghost. I want an exchange between Luke and Mara that goes along the lines of “She senses good in him.” “Look where that got YOU!”.

If you want EXTRA drama, you could even have Kylo be Ben Skywalker instead of Ben Solo (granted, I haven’t read any of the Legends books that have Ben in them so I apologize if that would be like. An egregious character assassination). Imagine a version of Kylo Ren who is Like That because his mother nearly tried to kill him. Imagine Mara telling Rey “What I saw… were the eyes of a scared boy whose mother had failed him.”

On a lighter note, imagine the trio dynamic of Mara, Rey, and Force ghost Luke. It would be so good.

Also, if Kylo’s Ben Skywalker, that opens us up for the inclusion of Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin Solo :D

[garden-bug]

Luke's inner conflict surrounding attachment and the Jedi code from my Dinluke fic

“Love and compassion are the Jedi way.” “But not family.” Luke is again stabbed by that brief, painful conversation. Sometimes moments of it will play out in his head and it’s as if he’s there again, except in his mind he stays and doesn’t leave, and he has an answer for Din when he says that the Jedi way is incompatible with the Mandalorian values of family.  “Luke. It's normal to be afraid for the people you care about, but that doesn't make it okay to push human connection away. Yes, it might be hard to figure this out as a Jedi, but what you're doing right now is avoiding your fear, which isn't going to make you any less afraid or the reality that bad things do happen any less painful.” Leia has always been wiser than him. “I believe the Jedi lost their way. Instead of dealing with how we felt in a healthy way, we were encouraged to push our fear and anger away, and many of us, Anakin included, bottled it up. He was… scared of something, and nobody helped him, or reassured him, because it was about your mother and he’d broken the Jedi code to be with her.” Ahsoka became completely disenchanted with the Jedi. And Luke doesn’t blame her — not after what she went through. It’s no wonder she struggles to associate herself with the name. In her view, the Jedi failed his father, she failed his father — even though there was nothing anyone could have done to prevent him from turning to the dark side.  He… he would never have made the choice his father did. If it came down to it, if it was Din in his mother’s place — “I can’t choose you, I can never choose you. Can you really tell me you understand that?” Din brought a hand up to his helmet. “I don’t know.”  What did Din mean then? He didn’t know if he could understand putting someone above everyone and everything, including what you believe in?  “Had she said the word, I would have left the Jedi Order to be by her side.” And even Ben. Why would he have had to leave the Order?  The point is — It all comes back to — Leia.  “…what you're doing right now is avoiding your fear, which isn't going to make you any less afraid or the reality that bad things do happen any less painful.” He wants to make Din understand, maybe by pushing him down and kissing him, because why the Force shouldn’t he love someone like that? Yes, it’s terrifying, but he’d sure rather love Din and have that than end up like Ben (sorry, Ben) who for some reason had the idea that loving someone equalled selfishness and destroyed your ability to put anything or anyone above the person you love and therefore was the antithesis of the Jedi code. “Attachments lead to pain, pain leads to suffering. The path to the dark side, it is.” But Yoda didn’t mention that pain is caused by fear of loss. Fear of loss is a result of one’s inability to accept that loss is part of life. Attachment does not mean love. Attachment means… a desire for control over things in life that cannot be controlled. Being tied to them. And as much as Luke loves Din he would never want to be tied to him in that way. As a Jedi, Luke must love with acceptance that everything he loves he may one day lose. Otherwise, he risks following in the footsteps of his father. Can he do it?

Further:

Context for the story: Luke is trying to rebuild the Jedi Order, falls in love with Din (who decides to embrace being the Mand'alor after being inspired by Luke), has a terrifying vision that his attachment to Din will lead to pain, and pretty much runs away to Leia on Coruscant where he tries to figure the whole thing out.

Ahsoka has gone anti-Jedi because she had a traumatic experience and still blames herself and everyone for what happened to Anakin. This is a character flaw she may or may not overcome in this story.

When Din says "but not family" implying that he believes family goes against the Jedi code, he is in the wrong and later feels immensely guilty because 1) it's mean (he was upset) and 2) his idea of family is mightily messed up, having been raised by a cult. The extremity of the guilt he feels is, though, irrational, because he has a lot of issues and he was having a panic attack in the scene where he reflects on what he said which messes up your judgement (source: personal experience).

I will revise this section because I don't think it represents Obi-Wan's feelings for Satine (I'll need to think about this more):

he’d sure rather love Din and have that than end up like Ben (sorry, Ben) who for some reason had the idea that loving someone equalled selfishness and destroyed your ability to put anything or anyone above the person you love and therefore was the antithesis of the Jedi code.

Luke fully recognises here that Anakin's own choices led him to becoming Vader. (Something Ahsoka still struggles to accept.) If this is not something you agree with please DNI with this post or with me, because I will not change my opinion.

Save for that, I would absolutely appreciate any comments or insight (I may not take them into account, but I'd be interested to hear them anyway because I want to offer as rich an insight as I can into this issue and discussion is super great for that). Also I think I might have clarity issues in this passage so if anything is unclear feel free to let me know (kindly - I am human).

Also important: I am NOT writing a Luke who 'gives up' being a Jedi because omg Din Djarin! They are both incredibly interesting characters in their own right with their own beliefs that are integral to who they are and I intend to do them as much justice as I can.

If you read the story (which I will link below) please be aware that it is a first draft and therefore I don't feel that it perfectly expresses all of the messages I want to get across. Still, huge thanks if you give it a try!

[phoenix-downer]

Light of the Force

Chapter 3/7 - Ruins

Summary: Anakin goes to the ruins of the Jedi temple on Coruscant to apologize to the younglings.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

Anakin found the Jedi younglings he’d slaughtered at the ruined remains of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Once this place had been a powerful beacon of hope throughout the galaxy, but now it was yet another reminder of the misery and despair his poor choices had brought forth into the universe. He’d cut so many young lives short that awful day, innocent sacrifices in the cruel service of his evil and striving and darkness and greed, and when his own wife was pregnant with their son and daughter. How would he have felt if someone had cut Luke and Leia down in this place? 

It wasn't just the younglings he had to apologize to, but also the parents and families who had given them up to become Jedi. They might not have raised their children, but they would've learned of their deaths. The murder of even one single being had a cascade of cataclysmic effects that rippled out in overpowering waves, destroying lives and leveling bright, hopeful futures that could've been. Should've been.

He could sense the sheer destructive magnitude of his actions on a level so deep that he collapsed to the cracked ground with grief, its waves crashing over him again and again like that time on Mortis when the strange being known as Brother had shown him what he would become. Had given him a horrible vision of all the pain and suffering and destruction and death he would cause. The Father had mercifully erased his memory of the future at the time, but Anakin had to face it all now through the Force, and it was breaking him.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered, his tears dripping on the ground as his voice echoed through the ruined temple. His words were inadequate, but it was better than saying nothing at all. And he deserved to suffer a thousand years for each youngling he’d murdered. He let the pain of it all wash over him and suffocate him, the Force gathering tens of thousands of tears shed for the lives lost and flooding him until his spirit drowned. 

And yet still he remained. Crumpled on hands and knees as sobs wracked his spirit, but still existing somehow. Minutes or decades or millennia could've passed by as he mourned for his victims and felt their pain, but presently, he sensed he was no longer alone. With a deep groan, he forced his shaking spirit to be still and lifted his head to see who had come.

“Master Skywalker,” a young boy said, stepping forward as the others patiently waited. Anakin recognized him as the one who had begged for help because there were too many Stormtroopers. Instead Anakin had cruelly cut him down. Sors Bandeam was his name. How little regard Anakin had had for the boy’s life at the time. Now Sors’ very existence seemed infinitely precious.

“Why are you crying?” Sors asked.

“Because I killed you. I killed you all.” Despite not having a body anymore, Anakin’s heart recoiled at the thought and his stomach churned. But it didn't make his words any less true. Just because he was revolted by what he had done didn't erase what had happened. He didn't blame Padmé for looking at him with such horror in her eyes on Mustafar. He was horrified by himself and his actions, too.

“You did,” Sors said, “but we have forgiven you.” The other Younglings nodded and murmured their assent, and their forgiveness was a soothing balm to Anakin’s tormented soul. “When will you forgive yourself?”

“I can't. There's too much—”

“You can,” Sors insisted, “and you will not be at peace until you do.”

Forgive himself? That seemed impossible. He'd rather apologize a million times, feel the pain of his victims and their loved ones a hundredfold, and make amends over and over and over again than try to forgive himself.

So that was what he continued doing. Some of the beings Anakin approached were rightfully angry with him, including Dooku and many of Anakin’s former underlings whom he'd abused and choked to death over accidents and honest mistakes during his time as Darth Vader. Others were more forgiving, often Jedi he had once known during the Clone Wars, most of whom had died during Order 66 thanks to his betrayal and Palpatine's machinations, but not always. Sometimes beings surprised him with their willingness to forgive given the magnitude of his actions.

And some felt a mix of emotions towards him. Mace Windu was both angry with him and offered his forgiveness, and he made his own apologies for the ways he felt he'd failed Anakin. Anakin felt much more at peace after departing from the Jedi Master’s presence. Taking Palpatine’s side that fateful night instead of Mace’s had been a huge mistake, though of course at the time he thought he was choosing Padmé’s side. Choosing to save her. He should've been worried about the state of his own soul and what he was becoming, a vile, possessive, murderous creature that would wound her so deeply in body and spirit that she never fully recovered.

The bitter irony was not lost on him.

As he continued on, some beings fought their fates—and sometimes him—while others were accepting of what had happened. Of these, some seemed resigned, others at peace. And whatever he could do to ease their pain, give them closure, and help them move on, he did no matter what lengths he had to go to and how much time it took. He drew on his connections to and through the Force to absorb their pain and suffering and take it far, far away from his victims. Sometimes he was directly able to right wrongs. Other times he left a being alone because his mere presence for anything beyond a brief apology was still far too painful. 

He wondered if that was how Padmé felt, or if she would…

No, he couldn't think about that. He had to find the others first, apologize, and make restitution. Only then would he feel like he had any right to approach her.

His soul did feel lighter with each being he apologized to, each soul he made restitution for. If only he hadn't weighed himself down with so many crimes in the first place. But it was like A’Derk, the first girl he’d found, had said: what had been done could not be undone, so all he could do was apologize, make amends, and move forward. 

Forgiving himself would have to come later. Much, much later. He still had so much work to do. He felt deep in his soul he hadn't earned the right to forgive himself yet, and he felt it would be a long time before he could.

————————————————————————

A/N: This story is dedicated to my friend @scoobysnack1107 ❤️ Liv really loves Anakin, especially Anakin being a dad, so I wrote this for her birthday last week exploring his character further.

I am indebted to the moving Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover as well as the excellent Return of the Jedi novelization by James Kahn to inform character voices, world descriptions, etc.

Also, a big thank you to my sister for reading over this story 🙏 She gave me some good feedback, and it was a lot of fun working with her ❤️

Thank you all for reading! And a big thank you to the people who liked and reblogged the story ❤️

See you next time!

[bruh-myguy-what]

If Not Him, Perhaps Me

Hellooooooo frens! It has been a long, overdue update, but here we are! I've had so much going on but you guys consistently reminding me of how much you love the story has really helped me refresh my desire to continue the series! So I am so thankful! I really hope you all enjoy chapter 3! Also I apologize that it isn’t the best chapter I’ve written, but I promise to continue to make each chapter better for you guys :3

If you want to join the tag list, just let me know below in the comments!

Enjoy~

_____________________________________________

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

Pairing- Thrawn x f!reader x Luke Skywalker

Summary- Luke finds out about you being taken by the Empire, and you have another encounter with the Grand Admiral.

Word Count- 2K+

Warnings- Mentions of kidnapping and imprisonment

__________________________________________

"What do you mean they took her?!" Luke's fearful tone echoed off the walls of the commissary area of the Flacon where Lando assisted Chewie in cleaning up the mess made by the intruders.

Han raised his voice over his brother's, "hey now! Don't speak to her that way, it wasn't her fault and you know it!" The older man appeared by his wife's side, arms encircling her protectively. "Besides, what did you expect her to do? She's pregnant!" Han quipped harshly, the blue of his eyes darkening as he narrowed them.

The young Jedi was silent for a long moment, eyes darting from his sister's face to her irate husband. "Well-I…" finally huffing indignantly, Luke growled to himself as his hands found his hips. "No…no, I know it isn't your fault, Leia." There was a loud roar from the other side of the ship where Chewbacca shouted his own defense. "No, it's not your fault either Chewie. I'm just…" The younger man moved one of his hands from his hip to rub the irritation away from his eyes, "this is my fault." Luke choked, placing his hand back on his hip. "I…I should've been here to protect her instead of leaving. They're only after her because of me."

Leia started forward and touched her brother's arm, "no, Luke, don't blame yourself," she insisted, "you can't blame yourself. How could you possibly know she would be in danger?"

"Leia's right, Luke," Lando piped up as he waltzed up to join the group, "none of us could've ever guessed that the Empire would've come to get her specifically. Though," he sent a glance toward the young mother, "I think we can all agree that it was better that they didn't take Leia. Who knows what they could've done to her and the kiddos." The grave tone in his voice matched Han's expression, Luke noticed, as he watched the slight movement in his wife's stomach.

A moment of silence passed between them all before Chewbacca growled softly. "Yeah, Chewie's got a point too. Blaming isn't going to get (y/n) back any sooner." Han huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest, leveling his stern gaze at Luke. "So, Jedi knight, how're you going to get your girl back?"

Ignoring the term he used to refer to you, Luke closed his eyes in thought. Maybe he could reach you through the force…? Maybe you weren't that far away yet and he could somehow reach out to you so he could tell you that he was going to save you. Surely you knew he'd come for you, right? Or had he really placed such a serious wedge between the two of you that you'd even begin to believe that he'd leave you in the hands of the Imperials? What with all of his stupid beliefs of 'Jedi having no attachments' and everything. He accepted that idea, he really did, but…the more he weighed it and considered the look on your face when you smiled at him, how could he ignore the feeling so deeply set in his heart. The way your eyes sparkled at him in the starlight…it just…

Resolutely, Luke opened his eyes and headed to the front of the Falcon.

"I'm going to find her."

_____________________________________________

The dim lights of the Grand Admiral's office were an inviting change to the glaring white lights that consistently welcomed you wherever you were led- though, the silence that plagued the room was hardly comforting.

"So," you spoke up as you crossed one leg over the other casually, the linen dress you still wore draping easily back down your legs, "are we meeting because you expect me to give you more information?" As flattering as it was to be so 'important' to someone so high in rank, the narrowed glare given to you from the other side of the desk was equally as irritating.

A soft smile appeared on the admiral's face, he thought your bitterness was humorous, did he? "Perhaps," he replied curtly, glancing away momentarily to grab his datapad, then returned his glowing eyes back to you. "Though I do marvel at your tenacity just as considerably as any useful piece of knowledge you could offer me." He sure knew how to use his genius to annoy people, huh? Before you knew it, the man behind the desk was now standing and making his way around to you. "I must also admit that I find your eagerness to face a Grand Admiral of the Imperial Navy with such fearlessness very…" he seemed to ponder to word for a second before continuing, "compelling."

Thrawn's full height was accentuated by the way he stood over you in what felt like the galaxy's shortest chair (now with him towering over you). "Well…" you choked out nervously, "I suppose since there is no empire, that means no imperial navy to be a Grand Admiral of, therefore the title has no real significance to me." He could be as intimidating as he'd like but you weren't going to back down now. You'd been here for what felt like a week and, with no real evidence of how long you'd actually been aboard the Chimera, you assumed it must've been as long as it felt- or close enough to it. You’d been sat in this specific seat multiple times during different segments of the day, the fear was starting to lose its luster. Looking up at him once again you were struck by his expression.

He was stoic. He was just gazing down at you.

"Indeed, I suppose you are correct," Thrawn covered his mouth with one of his hands- deep in thought as he removed himself from beside your seat, finding his new position beside one of the large structures holding the ysalamiri- or at least that's what he'd told you they were at another point in a different conversation. "I seem to be continually amazed by your astute wit, (y/n)." He was petting the ysalamiri before him, his broad back facing you so he was unable to see your confounded expression. Was he getting enjoyment from your responses? "I also find it amusing how you consider that I see you as a source of amusement when in fact," Thrawn twisted around to face you, his hands positioned firmly behind his back now, "you are a prisoner of mine, and whatever I desire to know you will tell me."

The red of his eyes darkened significantly enough to drive a cold chill to straight down your spine. Perhaps the Empire was no longer a danger, but this man, this alien, he sure was. Taking a beat to regain your composure, you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding. "A-Alright," of course, your voice would fail you now, "I understand that you are my enemy and the things I know might be crucial to you, but-"

"Tell me, (y/n)," Thrawn interrupted as if you weren't even speaking, "why are you traveling with Skywalker and his crew if you are as useless as you say?" Thrawn truly seemed curious about the answer as he made his way back in front of his desk, towering before you, awaiting your response. "What was your profession before you were a 'freedom fighter'?"

Cocking your eyebrow in challenge, you wondered where your sudden boldness came from after he was so forward about where you stood in his eyes. "Why ask if you already know?" You hated talking about the life you had before you joined the rebels. The Empire wasn't all bad, the idea anyway. You actually preferred the organized structure of the government over the scattered nightmare of the rebel cause, or even the Republic you'd learned about prior to the Empire. The current ‘New Republic’ wasn’t doing much better either. But, after meeting Luke- after he saved you- it was more of a loyalty to him than to the cause. Upon seeing that Thrawn was still silently waiting for your reply, you huffed. "Fine. I was an artist. A painter. I sketched or painted nobles, moffs," your voice trailed off and the admiral hummed in understanding.

"Admirals as well, I assume," it was less of a question and more of a statement. Of course, he knew and, rolling your eyes, you nodded.

"Yes, admirals as well. Though I suppose I wasn't in the Empire whenever you rose to command because I've never met you before now." You knew you hadn't, his warm red eyes would have been burned into your memory.

Thrawn nodded in agreement, "indeed, I myself would have remembered you." He rounded the desk to return to his seat. "Though I have seen your art before," the man commented as a hologram of a painting you'd made years prior to your disappearance materialized between you. "It is quite astounding. I enjoy art, myself. I believe it can give insight into a person, or people." He clarified coolly and you noted how intently he was studying your art. The scrutiny of one of your pieces made your cheeks warm in embarrassment, you'd not had anyone ever really stare at it the way Thrawn seemed to.

Curiosity struck you, "w-what do you see in my art?"

Thrawn seemed unfazed by your question, but took his time before replying to it all the same, "you despised your subject." The honesty struck you to the core. How could he even know that? He was completely correct, but…how? The dumbfounded look on your face caused Thrawn to continue, "but, while you hated the subject you were instructed to paint, you treasured the creation itself. Which I admire. Your talent is," the pause in his voice again made your cheeks burn as you awaited more of his surprising critique, "unmatched."

Too stunned to immediately thank him for his honesty, you blinked dumbly. Eventually, you nodded at his comments, "well…thank you," you whispered softly, hands suddenly more interesting than anything else.

"Have you made very many paintings since your disappearance from the Empire?" His question startled you slightly. Why was he so curious about your art? What was he trying to gain? Thrawn hadn't asked about it any of the other times you'd spoken recently. So why now?

Shaking your head in response, you figured it was useless to lie to him anyway. "No, unfortunately, I haven't had the time…or the funds to be able to continue." You sounded more distressed than you would've thought if asked about it. Though now that you thought about it, the topic never really came up between anyone on the Falcon.

The hologram disappeared, leaving Thrawn gazing directly at you now, scrutinizing you as if you were now the artwork. "No, I would presume not," was all that was said, simply.

Again, the silence retrieved its choking grasp on the atmosphere and you glanced up at the exact moment the Grand Admiral waved his hand in his normal dismissal, "you are free to go for the evening." His tone was casual yet as stern and stoic as usual, but not having the white-clad troopers come in to grab you and lead you out was…new. So, awkwardly, you stood from your seat and waited a moment, quizzically looking at Thrawn. After a few seconds of no argument from the admiral, you slowly made your way to the door, jumping only a little as it whooshed open revealing Rhuk.

"Come now, Rhuk," you heard Thrawn chide stoically from his desk, "do not scare my informant. She is," he caught your eye with a small smile, "essential." The look in his eye seemed mischievous but you weren't certain if that was something you should be worried about.

As you returned to your cell, you settled down for the night on the solid structure they called a bed on this ship. "Alright, before you get all cozy," you heard a familiar trooper voice and sighed when you had to sit back up. You weren't as annoyed with the troopers anymore, they'd actually kept decent company and most of them were kind enough.

Once fully sat up, a trooper reached through the bars and held out a larger notebook full of paper. Curiously, you reached out and took it, along with the set of pencils given to you. "W-What is this?"

The trooper shrugged, the plastoid tapping against itself with the movement. "Beats me," he replied, "the admiral asked one of us to bring it to you. He said you deserved to continue what you love, even as a prisoner." Then the trooper was gone.

Gaping at the notebook in awe, you were awestruck, silent. Thrawn gave you this notebook? Out of…generosity? 'There's no way,' you thought to yourself as you set back against the wall connected to your cot, opening the notebook. Upon the first page was a beautifully written script, reading; 'I thoroughly acknowledge that you will see this as a means to acquire additional information from you, however; I would find it regrettable if you were incapable to resume such excellent work due to confinement. I, myself, am not an artist, though I can speculate how it must feel to be suffocated by the inability to do what one loves. So please, sketch. Thrawn.'

Tags:

@blueberry-thrawn @myevilmouse @agenteliix @blackmonitor @coffeeorsomething-irl @torchbearerkyle @rebelmarylou @danger-xylophones

[pomplalamoose]

Endor luke has me going insane so if you could can we please get some hc’s? 💗

YOU AND ME BOTH ANON Endor Luke deserves all the love in the world😭

I really had a lot to say too, so this is kinda all over the place, I'm sorry

(thank you so much for your patience🩵 work really took a toll on me and I desperately needed to take several naps instead of writing. I really wish I could post Luke thoughts as a living instead)

• I really like how Luke is portrayed in RotJ and how far he has come when you compare him to the boy he was at the beginning of ANH

• I think how he acts and carries himself on Endor is a very good example

• we already got a glimpse of it in Jabba's palace when he comes to save his friends

• but Endor Luke is peak Luke (or as close to his prime we've ever got to see him aside from his last fight with Vader and TboBF) and I love how this comes across in very simple and subliminal ways without being too flashy or over the top

• he still makes mistakes 

• he struggles with himself and those around him

• he's far from being perfect

• and yet he tries so hard to leave his doubts aside to act in everyone's best interest 

• in the most dire of situations he only thinks about his friends and family and how his actions could possibly have an impact on them

• he just loves them so much and it's, among other reasons, what eventually makes him refuse to join the dark side 

• in the book it says that he hopes Han will never disappear from this universe 

• when Leia goes missing Han asks if he wants some time to gain his strength again and all Luke says is "I want to find Leia."

• I see him blaming himself for a lot that happened, especially regarding what his friends had to go through 

• he's definitely one to mull over a situation in his head again and again, going "I should have been there, I could have done this and that, I should have...etc.

• he has such a hard time acknowledging anything apart from what he could have done better 

• and at the end he's ready to die, to get himself killed, if it means saving the people he loves 

• he'd rather die than let his weaknesses put them in danger again

• I'm sure he will eventually learn how to overcome his past and accept it as it is because that too is part of becoming a Jedi

• but he's not ready for that yet and that's okay

• because there was so much happening over the short span of only a few years, he didn't get the time to deal with his losses and trauma 

• how is he supposed to move on from his guilt without properly saying goodbye and forgiving himself 

• let that man grieve for god's sake 

• (and someone give him a stable father figure please)

• he doesn't let others see what's going on inside of him 

• even those closest to him are often times unaware of his inner struggles until he opens a conversation about it himself 

• in the book it's described how he sometimes banishes all emotions from his face and wears it like a mask as to not trouble anyone

• eventually Leia is the only one realizing there's something eating at him 

• I think one reason for this is the awareness of his position at the head of the rebellion, of how many look up to him for guidance

• he wants to set a good example, wants to be strong for those who are scared or feeling hopeless 

• but while he might feel inadequate and often tired he makes an impression wherever he goes

• I don't think he's aware of the impact he has and how great he actually is

• he doesn't give himself enough or any credit for how much he has grown and changed in a good way too

• he's calm, collected and exudes quiet confidence to a point where it's hard to shake him up or make him loose his cool like he would have earlier 

• he has a strong presence, even when he's set on keeping in the background 

• when he gives out orders they are well thought of and highly respected by his subordinates 

• they put lots of trust into him and his judgement

• rarely does the impatience of his younger years get the better of him

• in the same way it has become unusual for him to raise his voice at all

• it's said in the book that the rebels chosen for the mission on Endor are a wildly thrown together group of people, some of them charged criminals 

• and while I believe them to be invested in their cause, I think Luke would do a great job keeping them in check should someone act out of line 

• he even SMILES in critical situations 

• you know, like in that one scene where he, Han, Chewie and the droids are captured by the Ewoks

• and Han is so offended at them waving their lances in his face, yelling and threatening them 

• meanwhile Luke is just very amused 

• (I'm on my knees for him, like that's so hot I cant- )

• no longer does he act on impulse, but rather takes time to observe a situation before carefully trying to negotiate 

• this not only shows his character development but also how much their relationship evolved 

• at the beginning Han was definitely some kind of role model for Luke 

• he's a pilot, has his own ship, something that Luke always wanted

• he has much experience and many stories to tell about his adventures

• to someone who never had the chance to leave their planet before he must have seemed grand and beyond impressive 

• but I feel like Luke has grown so much he eventually surpassed Han and now smiles at his friends antics

• he's now able to see him the way he really is, instead of blindly idolizing him, which really balances out their friendship

• to round off this post I want to talk about how his fighting skills developed as well

• I already mentioned in some of my other posts that I think Luke is really strong but during the scenes on Endor we get to see glimpses of it too

• he's not only strong with the Force but physically capable as well

• he easily stops Han from pulling his weapon on the Ewoks with ONE hand 

• during the chase scene with Leia we see him throw a man off his speeder bike like it's nothing 

• he simply grabs him and he goes flying against a tree

• (it's even wilder in the book, where they describe Luke "grabbing the man's neck" to "sling" him away and into the tree with "bone crushing force")

• (please grab my neck and crush my bones too, daddy👀)

• in addition he is a very quick thinker and calm enough in stressful situations to come up with well calculated manoeuvers 

• neither do his capabilities falter when put to the test

• the best example for this is the scene with the speeder bike racing towards him while shooting 

• Luke easily deflects the laser bolts and then, like in afterthought, steps aside to cut off the front part

• and then he walks off like nothing happened 

• like SIR-

[foggysirens]

lukes grief and its very important effect on his character development is something that i want to keep talking about because i think a lot of people try to play it off as him just ‘becoming more of a jedi’ and maturity and while, yeah, obviously those are elements of it too- but i can’t stop thinking about the sheer amount of people that luke loved and cared for and lost in such a short period of time. owen, beru, obi wan, biggs. one right after another and the lonely soul inside of me can’t help but wonder how much he blamed himself afterwards. how he must have thought it was him, the broken common denominator in all of his loved ones losses. him. how that loss and grief and pain manifested in him pulling away from those we saw him once so easy and comfortable with. leia, han, chewie. not fully distant, but reserved, cautious. like he’s walking on eggshells trying not to lose them too. the fear of losing more of those he loves too painful to think about. and maybe it was then that he decided just following the jedi path was best. it was what he seemed to be good at, could feel it more natural than anything through the force. maybe if he did that, it would save them. if he stepped back. but even then, even at his most isolated from those he loves, he cannot hide the depth of his care. because as i have said before and will scream from the rooftops time and time again the core of luke skywalker is his goodness. his love, his hope and his care- and it is born of that do we see that intense and violent reaction when palpatine threatens to turn leia to the dark side instead of him. and it just makes me so emotional because what other way was there for him to react? luke gives love like sunlight to plants but takes it like a broken air conditioner. and intertwined with it all, is his grief. his world-changing, life-altering grief that shapes and drives his love into something that can ignite the stars and bring a sith back to the light- and that is so important to me.

[sillyromance]

Good day everyone!

I’d like to reveal some more information about the character Nyx mentioned in my story about count Dooku (which is partially different from my original headcanons) since I’m preparing some content about these two, but it won’t make any sense without proper explanation. This woman is my OC for Star Wars AU – she is Dooku’s padawan, later his wife and a queen of Serenno. Here I will talk only about the part of her life which is connected with original trilogy and the prequels, but I should assure you there is a second part which, however, will be told only if it’s needed.

Main events of the original SW story are kept as they are, though there are some important changes: the accents are made on the story of Serenno, Nyx and Dooku’s past, Obi-Wan doesn’t die in Episode IV, Anakin survives as well and his body is regenerated, after the end of the Empire Far-Far-Away Galaxy is ruled by a senate almost equal to the one described in prequels – and Luke is the leader of the senate, meanwhile his friends are in charge over the planets aka Naboo (Leia and Han), Tatooine (Anakin Skywalker), Coruscant (Obi-Wan Kenobi) and Bespin (Lando Calrissian). It’s difficult to tell everything about Nyx in one post since her story is big and complicated, but there are some main points:

In the very beginning of the story, Nyx, or Amanda Cooper (which is her real name), was a normal girl living in the same universe with Sara Branton. She had always had force abilities, but they didn’t really have any practical use in her original world (she managed to master telekinesis and telepathy by herself, though).  Her parents participated in the war as well as Sara, but never returned home. When the girl got news about their death, her dark hair immediately turned grey and stayed like that for the rest of her life. Nyx was bullied by her classmates because of the strange appearance and quiet, shy character. Due to the trauma and desocialization, she started smoking and drinking alcohol, hang out with people of questionable reputation, turned mean and aggressive. Her parents were Sara’s close friends; she tried to help Nyx, but Amanda was too mad at her: she thought it wasn’t fair that Sara returned home, and her mom and dad did not (unfortunately, sometimes hurt people tend to blame others for what they can’t control).

My AU includes a theory, that almost each movie, videogame and book actually describes a parallel universe existing aside from ours. The only people who can “sense” alternative universes are the people of art. And, when someone creates anything, a portal to the particular universe openes for a short time. Nyx lived in the 1970-80-s. And she was one of those who witnessed Episode IV release (though, she has never seen the movie). So, she accidentally went from her world to Star Wars’ world when they got connected. At that moment she was 17 yers old.

Despite the fact it was Episode IV which was created first, she ended up in pre-Clone Wars times (timelines in different universes don’t synchronize). There she found herself in count Dooku’s domain. He sensed great potential in her, so the man decided to train her to make the girl a valuable tool for himself. However, since she didn’t know practically anything about that universe (and the count knew she wasn't lying when Nyx told him that), Dooku was bound to teach Nyx not only participating in combat, but reading, writing and more. They grew attached to one another, and as the time went by, their attitude to each other turned into something much more intimate than teacher-student relationships, especially since they had much in common and saw things in similar ways. They had gone though a lot together; there was even an incident when during a fight with some Jedies Nyx ran into by accident one of them blinded her – and Dooku refused to kill Nyx, though she thought he would do exactly that as a Sith. Instead, he taught her how to fight without her eyes and, when he got an opportunity, paid for the implants which would return the girl an ability to see. After the surgery, Nyx could fight in any situation and sometimes preferred doing it with her eyes closed because it was more efficient. This feature had given her a nick name “The Blind Warrior”.

Dooku was murdered when Nyx was 25. After his death, fate of Serenno happened to be lying on her shoulders. She took his place as a queen, but lived outside the planet since her presence there would put her and her plans at risk she couldn’t afford. Nyx convinced her people to fake their loyalty to Palpatine (who she hated as well as Anakin Skywalker), but, in reality, they would create an army under her command and destroy occupants in the future. To accomplish that, Nyx flew over the Galaxy, searching for Jedies who survived Order 66 – and tried to hire them as teachers. Also she and her agents provided Serennians with reliable information about everything that was happening in the Empire.

Twenty years had passed. While travelling, Nyx met her old rival she had never actually seen – Obi-Wan Kenobi – and Anakin’s son Luke on Tatooine (Episode IV). They worked together since then, so Nyx participated in many events of original trilogy and even made the story go differently (she saved Kenobi from Darth Vader and helped Anakin Skywalker, though it wasn’t for his sake, but for his son’s because she subconsciously treated Luke as her own child).

After that, Nyx returned home and announced her reign officially. Also she met with Dooku’s force ghost for the first time after he died. The thing was, the man was suffering on the other side without her and blaming himself for leaving her alone; he didn’t want to submit to his fate, so other spirits chained him up and held captive until his old padawan Qui-Gon helped him run away.

Dooku was determined to stay with Nyx; all that long years without one another only made their feelings stronger, and simple sympathy turned into love. Therefore, they started ruling Serenno as husband and wife.

Additional facts about Nyx and AU's lore:

Nyx is neither Jedi nor Sith. Dooku gave her a chance to choose any of the schools, but Nyx found both of them too narrow-minded. So, she just calls herself a separatist.

Nyx is a nickname Amanda came up with when she was a child after reading some Greek mythology. It referres to Nyx, the Goddes of the Night. When Amanda met Dooku, she didn't want to tell him who she really was, so she used the nickname - and didn't use her real name ever again.

As a duelist, Nyx practices Form II - Makashi.

Nyx has had heterochromia since her birth. Despite being bullied because of this in the childhood, when she was asked about the color of her eye implants, Nyx chose to keep this feature for she saw it as a part of her individuality.

Nyx’s lightsaber color is pink. It represents wisdom and balance between Light and Dark sides of the Force as well as purple color.

With her eyes closed, Nyx sees people and items as they will look like some seconds after the present moment. It gives her an advantage in battles; however, it also requires a lot of energy to stay like this for long. That puts Nyx in danger since, in such cases, she has to use her negative emotions (another words, she gives in to the Dark Side of the Force). That’s why she uses this ability only in critical situations.

Other Nyx’s Force abilities: force choke, force lightning, healing/reviving powers (in my AU they have side effects for a force user aka running out of their own life energy or even their death), future gazing, telekinesis, telepathy.

Nyx violently blames herself for her master’s death. Nyx saw a prophetic dream at the night before he left and tried to warn Dooku about Anakin, but he “didn’t listen” and went for the fight anyway (the count kept Nyx’s existence in secret from everyone, so he decided to engage in battle with Anakin because the man wanted to keep the girl safe from any danger that might occur if he didn’t answer Palpatine’s call; Dooku thought he was able to win over his less experienced opponent, furthermore, Palpatine insistet on the duel being just a test for Skywalker).

Dooku had plans about finishing the line of monarchs at his planet and creating a republic. So, as Dooku's enthusiastic follower, aside from preparing the army, Nyx secretly provided education materials for Serennian children, so they would become a generation which would be ready for such changes.

When Nyx was a padawan, she made friends with a palace gardener’s son Nicolas who was considerably younger than her. Later that boy became a capitan of her army and one of the most important people in the government. Nyx has chosen him as her heir (the ruler of the new Serennian republic). Aside from Nicolas and Dooku, Nyx is quite close with a palace butler Favian and a chef cook Penny who have been serving Serenno family for their entire lives. These two are her advisors and confidants. Also Nyx has many acquaintances among the locals; civilians of the capital know her very well.

Serenno family's crest includes a silver unicorn (reference to The Last Unicorn cartoon) surrounded by four figures: two silver swords on the left and on the right, an open book beneath and a crown above. Everything is on an azure field. Nyx often wears gloves with unicorns painted on them.

Serenno is home for many wonderful creatures which we know by fairytales: unicorns, dragons, phoenixes etc. However, there are some specific species: giant spiders, purple bears (bears with violet fur, six eyes, eight legs, and transparent blood), and leavies. The latter are half-animal and half-plant creatures looking like formless bushes of various colors. They make strange noises, move quite fast and shapeshift. Leavies are herbivore, they can be successfully tamed and taught to keep themselves in one particular form. These creatures are used by Serennians as equivalents for horses. Dooku has a cyan leavy called Blizzard and Nyx has a lavender one called Star.

Count Dooku is Serenno's national hero. When Dooku was young, he saved the planet from his evil elder brother Ramil who treated Serennians as slaves and had very low morals in general. Besides, Dooku had an elder sister Jenza who was killed by Ramil during his and Dooku's confrontation. Jenza was the only one who ever treated Dooku nicely in Serenno family, so he mourned her death more than anyone. Lady Jenza is one of Serenno's saints.

[theburningsunset]

Sometimes I think about the choice Luke faces in ESB. Daddy Issues Sr. has set a trap for him specifically with the bait of Han and Leia. blablabla, we know the story.

But what about through the lens of Star Wars' central theme: attachment defined as the fear of loss and how it as a driving force will corrupt and dismantle your values unless you learn to let go and accept the inability to control fate and recognize the fallacy of possessive love.

Even Jedi Masters struggled with attachment, but Padawans especially found it difficult (because it is!). Luke was a Padawan, and Vader knew that the surefire way to get Luke in his sights was to prey on his attachments - make him so afraid of losing his friends that he would intentionally spring the trap of a Sith Lord who outclasses and outguns him a thousand to one. Luke abandons his training and is driven by reaction instead of response, letting fear decide instead of deciding. And who can blame him, right? What else was he supposed to do, let his friends die? What was Yoda and Ben thinking? Except they *were* thinking. These are old Jedi Masters who had seen that exact scene play out so many times, not least of which was Anakin's, having culminated in genocide and the violent installment of a fascist regime. Like father like son, they worried. And that was such a valid concern.

But then...what would've been the right call? If Luke had just returned to his training and ignored the visions, would Vader get tired and leave, or become angry that his plan failed and slaughter Han, Leia, Lando and all of Cloud City? Sure, we can't know the consequences of our actions until they happen, hindsight is 20/20 and such, but if we're thinking strategically about the war effort, you can't just leave two generals (one of whom is literally the face of the rebellion by now) and a whole populace of sympathetic people to the whims of a trigger-happy occupying force. Or if you're focusing on lives saved and defended, sure it's dangerous and stupid to take the bait, but with the time and resources available, what options were there other than to take the giant risk of maybe dying and being The Last DEAD Jedi, in order to give the numerous people involved the best chance to survive and carry on the rebellion that sought to save the galaxy? Yeah, the reason of Luke's decision was totally off-course, but was the action or result less than the best possible outcome? Or were their objections solely with the theory, not the praxis? If Luke had gone with "hey, i know it'd be bad to run off to save them purely from fear of losing them, but think about xyz, the protection of these lives is worth more than the risk taken," would they have been fine with it then?

I don't know the answer to all of these musings, I can't be sure there is one, but I sure wish I could wrap my head around what Yoda and Obi-Wan wanted to happen and how it would've both helped and been the Jedi Way™.

[rebelsofshield]

Would you have done something completely different with the Sequel Trilogy?

Thank you for the question anon! I love these.

I'm not sure if you are asking me whether I'd do a completely different story for the Sequel Trilogy or if I would have made changes to the films we got. Frankly, I don't know if I would have changed a whole lot about the basic premise of the trilogy. I love all of the characters and I think its metatextual themes about myth and legacy are doing some interesting things when they appear. But, there are quite a few small changes I would make to The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi and some very large changes I'd make to The Rise of Skywalker.

The First Order vs. Resistance / New Republic conflict is maybe the trilogy's original sin that causes a lot of the problems that follow. I think the idea of having the First Order be a group of neo-fascists that are obsessed with restoring an authoritarian government that few directly experienced is a smart idea and the natural step for a trilogy spanning conflict. It also feels incredibly relevant to today's current political struggles. I think the issues start to show up when they are established as this uber powerful galaxy conquering group instead of a very dangerous and underestimated faction of extremists. On a purely aesthetic level it would help differentiate them from the Empire but it also would put a fun spin on the original trilogy's formula rather than directly copying it. I do also like the general idea that The New Republic is generally dismissive of The First Order as a danger to the galaxy and that Leia had to take things into her own hands to get things done. But! I would've liked to see this explained a bit more clearly in The Force Awakens. If you aren't reading the supplementary material, the exact political make up of the galaxy at the start of the film isn't clearly established and I wouldn't blame you if you missed it entirely.

Nix Starkiller base. I think that in general the criticisms that The Force Awakens is a retread of A New Hope are a bit exaggerated, but the annoyance of having yet another Death Star is where I start to feel that there is some merit. It's unnecessary. It would be just as, if not more affecting, if The First Order had some well planned attack that they were able to pull off right under the New Republic's nose. A fascist government that's able to overthrow a better funded democratic government through tactics and corruption is a way scarier threat than another planet exploding ball.

Make the Knights of Ren more prevalent. I like the current canon of them being their own, self motivated faction of Dark Sider, but the original understanding that they were other disaffected disciples of Luke's makes much more sense and feels more dramatically interesting to me. I would have liked to see them as a more consistent presence in the series. It also would have been a fun payoff if part of the reason that Kylo ends up aiding the fight against Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker is because the rest of the Knights are seduced away from his leadership.

Give Chewbacca something to do. We needed his hug with Leia in The Force Awakens. We needed a grief arc for him in The Last Jedi. We needed to have him find some sort of future or purpose in The Rise of Skywalker. This is one of the most beloved Star Wars characters of all time, but his role for most of the trilogy is minimal despite the clear emotional trauma at its center.

Finn needs his stormtrooper rebellion arc. I actually don't hate the general shape of Finn's story in The Last Jedi as much as most people, but I do think that The Force Awakens sets up a story about his connection to other First Order infantry in a way that is never properly followed up on. I'd love to lean into that further and actually make that a story that is followed up on. Also make him and Poe boyfriends.

No Rey Palpatine. I'm actually not opposed to Sidious being the final villain of the trilogy. I think the First Order being a facet of his resurgence to power makes a lot of sense and I'm even down for the idea that Snoke was a being that was wittingly or unwittingly under Palpatine's control the whole time. But Rey Palpatine is a no go for me. The end thrust of the story where she assumes the Skywalker name could be done without making her the literal progeny of Sidious. Sidious could still want to use her as a powerful Force user without her being his granddaughter. You could keep most of the struggles she has with purpose and legacy in The Rise of Skywalker without having to bubble the full saga down into a war between bloodlines.

No clean cut redemption for Kylo Ren. Star Wars is a series about forgiveness and second chances and I am ultimately fine with Kylo making his steps back towards the light by the end of the trilogy, but I just don't buy him becoming a swashbuckling hero at the end of The Rise of Skywalker and I absolutely don't buy any romantic/sexual relationship with Rey. The most interesting scenario would have been to have Kylo work against Palpatine originally as a way to secure his own power and as an extension of his "burn it all down" ideology from The Last Jedi, but gradually begin to work towards more moments of direct aide for the heroes and more moments of direct selflessness. I'm torn on whether he should live or die at the end of the trilogy, but leave him with work to do is the way to go. So much of the series was about him choosing the dark at every opportunity offered to him, I think seeing him finally choose the light at the end would be powerful, but it shouldn't be an easy path at all.

Anakin Force Ghost.

[ashyybees-art]

An initial character analysis of Ahsoka for the series that I think people should be considering:

I see a lot of people questioning Ahsoka's attitude and decisions and I feel like a lot of people don't realize that this point of time for Ahsoka post-rebellion has been the first time that Ahsoka has taken the time to actually reflect on everything and actually think about who she is.

To elaborate:

Ahsoka's early life was all about the Order, and then the Clone Wars where she was basically a soldier. There's a whole lot that goes into there of how Ahsoka identified and how the rest of the galaxy identified people as "Jedi". But then she walked away from it, with a heavy questioning on who she was and even up to the end of S7 Ahsoka was still questioning that. (She lost faith in the Order, but also the faith in herself)

She never got to answer that question with Order 66 occurring. Immediately everything around her was ruptured. She wasn't a Jedi of the Order, but to the eyes of the galaxy that didn't matter-they roped anyone with the abilities to be one (a skewed perception) and she's forced to hide. She's still in questioning and being hunted by the new government doesn't really give one the time to sit and figure it out clearly.

All the way through hiding and then being part of the Rebellion (all those years) Ahsoka pushed away thinking about who she was and facing this dilemma sitting in her. She just clung to "I'm not a Jedi of the Order/I'm not a Jedi" from back then and the skewed perception the galaxy still held of what it means to be a Jedi.

This is a character flaw/internal conflict in storytelling of avoiding facing one's internal conflicts and issues for x reason and different methods! (Which Ahsoka is allowed to have cause I feel like the appreciation and love for her character sometimes overshadows people letting her being able to have flaws like this or make mistakes)

Ahsoka's world was shaken again when she caught Anakin's presence in Darth Vader (someone she thought was dead this whole time and had no idea he'd turned), and then again when the truth was revealed to her. We see through season 2 of Rebels that Ahsoka still holds a lot of self-placed guilt and blame for what happened to Anakin. In that confrontation she still clings to that and her mindset of "I'm not a Jedi of the Order/I'm not a Jedi" when faced with yet another emotional conflict alongside physical.

But, through this time, Ahsoka met Kanan and Ezra (and the rest of the Ghost crew). She saw a bit of those two claiming the title of Jedi and doing things/follow teachings of before, but also they were just themselves and made being into a Jedi whatever they made of it. They found the balance. We see Ahsoka come out the shell, especially in the World Between Worlds, and take a step forward for herself when she needs to help Ezra. To help Ezra's loss, she must face her own for a moment.

Now there's time missing between after Exegol and then finding Sabine after the Battle of Lothal that we don't know what she was doing. But in the time between what we do know that occurred was Luke and Leia appeared in the rebellion with their lineage revealed, Darth Vader was killed, and the Empire fell. Vader's death probably sat heavy on Ahsoka, especially if she spoke to Luke about it seeing as they know each other in BOBF.

Now does Ahsoka face her conflict yet? No. Instead she turns to trying to help find Ezra. She tries to take on Sabine as an "apprentice" and "move forward" but it went badly because Ahsoka (and also Sabine by the implications) still hadn't faced her internal issues and that let to friction and relenting to avoid things again by breaking off the bond and going back to being by herself. So by the start of this show she's still dealing with not facing these issues, but now it's becoming inevitable and Hera is gently pushing her (and Sabine) to face their issues; together they can help each other.

TL;DR:

Ahsoka has never taken the time to face her identity issues, guilt, and internal conflicts. With it bearing down on her she relents to attitudes and mindsets that have been a pattern of avoidance of facing them/never giving herself the time to with all that's happened to her. And that's the whole point here is that Ahsoka and Sabine emotionally grinded against each other by not opening up and avoiding things, but now they're going to be on a journey of facing it together now.

[dalekofchaos]

Eternal Emperor Vader au

Imagine that Darth Vader and Luke worked together to kill Palpatine like Rey and Kylo did.

Vader cements himself in the dark side by killing his master. Luke and Vader declares a peace that would last as long as one did not attack the other. The Empire regrouped and retreated into the Unknown Regions under Vader's leadership, while The New Republic is born.

The New Republic was born and began to heal the galaxy. Luke's new Jedi Order was founded. Mon Mothma as the Chancellor with Leia as Vice Chair. Han and Lando are the Ministers of Defense and Chewbacca is Ambassador to Kashyyyk. The New Republic did not demilitarize their fleet. They instead build and improve their fleet and build Star Defenders to combat the Star Destroyers. To defend their systems, fight the criminal syndicates and prepare for the eventual upcoming war with Emperor Vader.

The Empire is rebuilding it's strength after the defeat at Endor. Thrawn, Gideon, General Veers and Sloane are Vader's inner circle. Vader killed Rax the moment he learned of Palpatine's contingency plans. Vader found Galen Marek and turned him into his apprentice, his Starkiller, the final Inquisitor. Eventually Vader found Exegol. Killed Palpatine and took the Final Order's Sith Fleet for himself. Anyone and everyone loyal to Palpatine is dead. The Empire has become The New Sith Empire. On Exegol, the SIth Temple was reopened, similar to how The First Order abducted children for the new Sith Order.

The Sith have begun to infiltrate the New Republic which begins a cold war between the Sith and the New Republic. Then one day, the day that destroys everything Leia has built. The revelation that Darth Vader is Leia's father. Leia is shunned from The New Republic and this very event is what tips the balance to making this cold war hot.

Ben Solo's betrayal. Ben feels betrayed. All his life he was told the good man that his grandfather was. Hero of the Republic and Jedi Knight of the Jedi Council and that he died sacrificing his life to save the Jedi from The Emperor. He was lied to and he was consumed by rage and betrayal. Luke attempts to stop Ben's anger, but Ben attacks him and leaves him for dead. He gathers his 6 best friends and together they kill the New Jedi Order and venture to find Emperor Vader.

Ben Solo and his fellow Jedi become Kylo Ren and the Knights Of Ren and Vader's Elite Sith Warriors.

Luke flees to Ach-To. He has failed. The war that he was dreading is here and he has himself to blame for not telling Ben the truth.

Out of guilt and shame for failing his son. Han leaves to be a smuggler again. Hoping one day he can make things right with Leia and bring their son home.

Leia lost her son, her father has returned to wage war on her and destroy everything she has worked so hard to build, her brother went into hiding and Han left. Leia has no choice but to lead The Resistance.

Same things that happen in canon happens, but differently

Finn is abducted by The Sith Empire, but not by Phasma. By Iden Versio. Because Operation Cinder never happened, Iden never defects. Iden becomes what Phasma became, only she's a die hard believer and Finn and his squadron is the next generation of Inferno Squad

Poe Dameron is the son of Rebel heroes and is NOT a drug smuggler(fuck you JJ) he is taught by his father.

Rey is left on Jakku, but not because it was done to protect her by junk traders. It was done because her parents were scum. Her father was rejected by Palpatine and left to die and marooned on Jakku. They had Rey, but had nothing. They saw no value in Rey and sold her so they can get off of Jakku. Rey in a fit of rage kills them with the dark side. The trauma of it cuts Rey off from the force and represses the memory.

Paige Tico is the Y-Wing Bomber in Poe's Squadron and Rose Tico is the Intelligence Officer in The New Republic

Kylo Ren, Julian Veers(Veers' son replacing Hux) and Iden Versio are this version of the First Order's Triumvirate

Kylo Ren and Starkiller are at war with each other, each covet the throne from Vader and all they are waiting for is one sign of weakness and they will kill each other for to become Vader's heir.

However there is one thing that could turn the Empire against Vader. A cult of Palpatine loyalists lead by Snoke escaped Exegol and have one mission. Find the true Emperor's granddaughter. Train her and help her become the Empress and destroy the Skywalkers and bring a new age of darkness to the galaxy.

Or can the heirs of Vader and Palpatine come together and bring balance to the force and end this war and the eternal struggle between light and darkness?

I'd say Episode VII is about Vader's return and the beginnings of the war, bringing Han and Leia together, Han's death at the hands of his son, Rey/Finn vs Kylo, but ending with Finn finding Luke. What about Rey? After defeating Kylo Ren. She heard a voice. "Come find me Rey and find your belonging and your rightful place in this galaxy" Rey went to Snoke, while Chewey saved

Episode VIII. Allout war. After the destruction of Hosnian Prime, The New Republic joined forces with The Resistance and declared war on The Sith Empire. The connection between Rey and Ben is formed. But this gains the attentions of Starkiller. Starkiller saw the weakness in Kylo after his defeat at the hands of the scavenger, but now his sentiment just gives him the need to kill Kylo Ren once and for all. Poe and Paige are on the frontlines. Rose works with Leia to discover a way to disable the Xyston Class Star Destroyer lasers in order to prevent as much destruction as possible. Finn is able to pull Luke out of his exile. How? You see, Finn is Luke's son. The Sith Eternal abducted Finn before Luke and Mara could act. The abduction of Finn and the revelation of Vader being Anakin being revealed galaxy wide is what left Luke open to Ben's betrayal. Now that Finn is here, Luke knows he has to make this right. He spends the rest of the movie training Finn. Rey finds her way to Snoke. Snoke reveals the truth to Rey and this shakes her to her very core. One thing that Leia did not count on. Vader has arrived. He boards her ship like he did so long ago. She allows Rose to escape, while she confronts her father. Vader gives her a chance to surrender and join the dark side, it's the only way she can see her son. Leia takes her Lightsaber "I'm a Jedi, like my father once was" "So be it. Jedi" and so we get Vader vs Leia, while Rose enacts the plan to destroy the Xyston-Class fleet. Think the Mass Shadow Generator from KOTOR II, that is EXACTLY what Rose does. Kylo Ren and Starkiller fights in Fortress Vader. while Rey fights Snoke. Kylo Ren kills Starkiller to assume his place at Vader's side. Rey kills Snoke to free herself, she thought she was free until she hears a sinister voice. "You done well, my granddaughter." Meanwhile In the fight between Vader and Leia. Leia proclaims that she knew he was a good man, that her mother loved him, but that man is dead and all that's left is Vader. Vader aims to kill her and Leia gives herself to the force like Obi-Wan. Luke and Finn comes to the rescue and the New Republic rallies behind them. Vader and Luke have a staredown. Finn meets Rose, Rose is in awe of Finn, but Finn is just as in awe in Rose after Poe told her what she did, they congratulate each other and shook hands, a sure sign of friendship and something more. Finn feels distraught. They saved everyone, but they lost Leia and Rey is still missing. Luke tells his son "we have everything we need"

Episode IX. The battle of Coruscant. Stormtrooper Rebellion and the fate of the galaxy. Luke vs Vader. Rey vs Kylo vs Finn. Finn, Poe and Rose work together to stir up a Stormtrooper Rebellion. Finn faces Iden. When Iden has Finn down where she wants, Rose shoots her and Finn cuts her down with the lightsaber. Together Finn and Rose free his brothers and sisters. Ben has conflict. Despite everything he's done, his mother's death changed everything. She lied to him, but he still loved her. He thought his true place was by Vader's side, but this bond with Rey helped show that it's not too late that he can still come back. But Rey changed, she shut him out completely. Ben goes to Finn. Finn is defensive, but senses this is not the same man he fought on Starkiller Base. The final battle between the New Republic and the Sith Empire takes place over and on Coruscant. Luke faces Vader, while Rey and Ben face Empress Rey. Killing Leia changed Vader. a light he never thought possible was there. Luke tells his father it's not too late. No one's ever really gone. For once in his life. Vader shows remorse. Then suddenly force lightning. Empress Rey seeks to finish off Luke and Vader. Ben and Finn are there to try and reach the real Rey. For a brief moment, Anakin Skywalker returns. He takes the essence of Palpatine within him and tells everyone to end it once and for all. Rey, Finn and Ben kill Vader and Palpatine, ending the war once and for all. The movie ends with Lando as Chancellor and signing a peace treaty with Thrawn and Sloane. Finn and Rose get married, Luke rebuilds the Jedi Order. While both Ben and Rey go on a path of atonement to right their wrongs and a ends on a kiss in the Falcon.

[thechaoticfanartist]

BEFORE THE BEGINNING and POV for the no excuses ask game?

no excuses writing meme, askbox version

BEFORE THE BEGINNING — three sentences (or more) about something that happened before the plot of my current project

Rue sat outside. The sun was setting, and the curfew would be in effect soon. But for now, she looked up at the sky, sitting beside the statue of Queen Amidala. Some of the stars were already visible. She wondered which of them were the suns of Tatooine - or if they could even be seen from here.

She let out a quiet sigh. “I don’t know what to do, Padmé” she whispered to her long-gone friend. “It’s funny, I told dad where I was going, but I ended up here instead.” She closed her eyes.

For a moment, she tried to reach out into the Force, but it was empty. She opened her eyes again. She could hear noises in the distance, and the sun was getting lower. She wouldn’t be able to stay much longer.

“I know I told you this before, but Luke is doing well. Leia is as well I’m sure. Their families love them and are keeping them safe.” She stood up and turned to face the statue. “I miss you. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you either.”

Rue slipped her mask back on and hurriedly vanished into the night.

POV — something that’s already happened, retold from another character’s perspective

Grim & Yoda's reunion in Yoda's POV:

(It got long so it's under the cut)

Yoda could sense Grim before she even entered his home. Her presence was stronger now than when he had last seen her. He could tell already how much she had grown in the many years that had passed.

The door to his hut opened and he was already standing at the entryway ready to greet her. Luke was there as well. He turned his attention to Grim, he hadn’t seen her in many years. Her face had many new scars, and they left no room for imagination. They were burn scars. Similar to those that Master Kenobi had ever since he began visiting as a ghost.

“Master Kennet, know that dying I am, why visit do you?” He asked her.

Even after all these years her eyes held a soft grief mixed with a broken kindness. “Can I not wish to visit a dying friend on his deathbed?” She replied, a sad yet playful smile tugging at her lips. He could tell she was attempting to bring back a bit of the young girl he had known. “I’ve missed you, Master.”

Yoda returned the smile. “Missed you too, I have. Seeing you again, warm feelings it brings my heart. Not seen you since your knighting, I have.”

“It was always too dangerous to visit before, and I knew you wanted to be left alone. But for now, I thought you could use some Jedi company, you shouldn’t have to die alone.”

He was glad to see that even through all the suffering she had endured, she still remained so compassionate to think of him amidst all the war. He was grateful for it. This was the reason he had made her a Jedi Knight, and now he could clearly tell she was ready to become a Master as well. “Thank you, a kind gesture, that is, Grim.” He turned his attention to Luke. “I see that brought your Padawan you have.”

“He was always supposed to be here,” she admitted. “I’m done with writing other people’s stories, I can only guide them. However, by telling Luke and Leia the truth about their parentage, he wouldn’t be here.”

This news shocked him. “Told the twins you did?” He exclaimed. “A secret their relations to Lord Vader was supposed to be.”

“Why was it supposed to?” Luke asked him. “Why wasn’t I meant to know the truth?”

“To protect you it was meant to,” he replied. Then he added gravely. “Knowledge can be a dangerous thing if not know how to handle it one does. A lesson Master Kennet learned long ago.”

She bowed her head. All these years later and she still blamed herself for Order 66. He looked up at her, but she had already shaken herself out of it. “Vader told Luke before I got the chance to. He and his sister both deserved to know the whole truth after that, wouldn’t you agree, Master?”

“Knows, Vader does?” He asked, concerned.

“Only about Luke,” she assured him.

“Troubling that remains.”

“We didn’t come here to talk about Skywalker family secrets,” Grim said. “You’re dying. We came here to comfort you.”

He smiled at her again. “Yes, dying I am,” he agreed. “For the company, thank you, I do.”