#it's so funny how much leia did before anh vs how much luke did

[stealingpotatoes]

may I also recommend the Forces of Destiny ep where Sabine meets Leia (& fake-kidnaps her)?

omg now watched it i LOVE IT but it's so funny bc Leia rlly does know everyone huh. like:

Luke, gesturing to Sabine: Leia, this is Ezra's sister-- Leia: omg hi Sabine! Luke: seriously?! name one person in the galaxy you HAVEN'T met already

[thehollowprince]

If I rewrote the sequels I'd have phasma, hux and kylo be proper villains like they would awful actually so bad and no redeeming qualities just really mean villains

The villains in TLJ where pretty much sitting around and doing nothing for the majority of the film.

Oh, I feel both of these in whatever I have that passes for a soul. It's just another one of those cases of massively wasted potential.

Look, was The Force Awakens just a ripoff/modern retelling of A New Hope? Of course it was. There's a direct correlation between the story, the plot points and even the characters are almost carbon copies of their OT counterparts. But by switching it up a little (making "Luke" into a girl, having "Vadar" chose the dark instead of falling, having "Leia" be a guy) it opened up the possibility of further differences. TFA was like a "What If?" scenario and with the way it ended, while it start out the same as ANH, it hinted at diverging from the OT as the sequels progressed.

But then we got Rian Johnson and The Last Jedi, and we've been fucked ever since.

Aside from the fact Johnson just completley ignored the set-up from the previous movie, he literally just repeated some of the major plot points (Kylo chose the dark again. Finn had to be told how bad the First Order was, etc.) And then there were the so-called "villains". Like I said above, he backtracked on Kylo willingly chosing the dark side in TFA and just had him be "conflicted" again, so despite the fact that we're supposed to look af him as the villain, none of his scenes were shot that way. The entire production was spun to make you think that Kylo was the male hero in this story when his actions constantly pointed the other way. Snoke was just kind of there, making grand speeches before dying so casually. And Hux... Hux was terrifying in TFA. That whole speech on Starkiller Base was very reminiscent of the Reichstag. It was probably the most uncomfortable I've ever been in a Star Wars film, but then Johnson just made him into a joke. A screeching lunatic who is easily thrown around for laughs, and that always bugged me. The First Orded, like the Empire before it, was an allegory for the Nazis, and the fact that Johnson tried to make it seem like we shouldn't take Nazis (fictional or otherwise) seriously. Like they're just something to laugh at. And no! Nazis are not funny. They're not a joke! So putting aside the fact that it ruined Hux's validity as a villain, it also helps contribute to the BS in popular culture nowadays that "there are very fine people on both sides". And that's not even getting into his role in The Rise of Skywalker. That's why they had to being in General Pryde, because after Snoke and Kylo throwing him around like a ragdoll, and Poe just mocking him (and him falling for it), no one would believe him as a villain anymore. And Pryde just came out of nowhere, so we (or at least me personally) didn't really see him as a villain. He was just kind of another remake of Tarkin.

Which brings us to Phasma... I wanted to like Phasma, and some part of me does. Or, more appropriately, I liked her potential (like most of the sequel characters). We're supposed to believe she's this big badass, but her defeat in TFA was comical, and while she did reappear (with no explanation) in TLJ, despite Starkiller Base blowing up, she was barely there. Her fight scene with Finn was amazing and I liked the underscore of Finn fighting back against his brainwashing and conditioning... but again, that was what he did in TFA when he fought Kylo. And in the end, she was taken down by a single hit to the head, only to fall to her death. I much prefer the deleted/alternate scene of her fight with Finn aboard the Supremacy, because it had the elements of the stormtrooper rebellion we all wanted but never got. Plus, he killed her with a big gun instead of her just dying because of circumstances.

And that's a big problem with the sequels, too. Disney doesn't allow their heroes to fully defeat their villains. I don't recall a single instance of Finn, Rey or Poe ever actually killing one of the villains trying to murder them and take over the galaxy. Phasma died by falling to her death. Hux was killed by Pryde, who died because he refused to abandon ship. Kylo died because of his "sacrifice". Snoke was killed by Kylo. Aside from the faceless stormtroopers and TIE fighters, our heroes don't get any major hits in.

At the end of the day, I'd say that was one of the biggest problems of these sequels. Well... aside from their lack of cohesion and direction and the repeat of the Empire vs. Rebellion storyline, but that's a different matter for another time. The villains in these movies didn't feel like villains. We didn't see any big moments of villainy, with the exception of something we got in another movie (destruction of the planets). And because our villains were so lacklustre, our heroes didn't get to feel like heroes. We didn't get to see them struggle the way Luke, Leia and Han did. And it led to discussions about how useless our heroes were, because they didn't get to do anything, or talks about how overpowered Rey was (I loathe the term Mary-Sue and i saw it too much in regards to that character).

[gffa]

hi! i really want to get into the EU stuff, but i have absolutely no idea where to start. can you point towards a few good books, maybe? thank you, and i absolutely love your account btw!

Hi!  Thank you for the kind words, I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog.  ♥  Recommendations for EU stuff often depends on what you’re interested in, because there are a lot of books I really enjoyed, so I’ll organize them by era, since that’s how fans are often divided.  I’ll also include comics, because often times the comics are some of the absolute best stuff!If you haven’t watched The Clone Wars and Rebels yet, those are absolutely the places to start as they’re key to the fabric of the bigger story, imo.  Not that you can’t understand the movies without them or anything, but TCW is especially important for understanding just how grueling the clone wars really were.  And Rebels is important for showing the fates of a lot of the TCW characters and seeing the Empire vs the Rebellion (it does a lot to flesh that out, too).PREQUELS:

Any of the Star Wars Adventures comics that contain the prequels characters are great.  Well, ALL of the Adventures comics are great, but the prequels ones are adorable, funny, and yet really well-told.  They’re light-hearted and largely oneshots, but the IDW comics have been incredible for still being some of the absolute best SW content out there.  Especially a not-miss is #12-13 and the 2019 Annual for the Padme&Leia&Breha story.

Obi-Wan & Anakin comic by Charles Soule.  A five-issue mini series that has the most stunning art of all the comics I’ve ever seen pretty much, it’s also a really good look at the time of Anakin’s apprenticeship and provides some interesting glimpses into their early days together.

Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith comic by Charles Soule.  This comic was an absolute phenomenon to read month to month and one of the comic series that I’ve spent the most time analyzing and felt it’s really held up to scrutiny, which shows just how much thought went into it.  It’s 25 issues of Vader fresh off Revenge of the Sith, over the span of a couple years, and really does an AMAZING job of exploring Anakin Skywalker as Darth Vader, all the choices he made and the themes of the comic are all about showing he can’t admit to the HUGE mistakes he’s made.  It was incredible.

Choose Your Destiny: An Obi-Wan & Anakin Adventure by book Cavan Scott.  I’m not usually a fan of Choose Your Own Adventure style stories, but this one was worth it to me to get an absolutely DELIGHTFUL book with Obi-Wan and Anakin, who are cranky with each other, but ultimately show that they can come back together and obviously care about each other.  Sprinkle in some other cool stuff (Jedi details, Bant Eerin being recanonized) and it was lovely.

Dooku: Jedi Lost audiodrama by Cavan Scott.  If you’re interested in Dooku, Asajj Ventress, or the Jedi at all, this drama was pretty amazing, it gave a ton of worldbuilding detail, but also did a lot to fill in the backstory of Dooku and gave us a long look inside Asajj’s head as well.  Qui-Gon makes some appearances, he has an amazing dynamic with Dooku, and my heart as always skips a beat for how much I love the Jedi.

Age of the Republic comics by Jodie Houser.  Holy shit, these comics were SO GOOD.  They’re a series of oneshots about the various heroes and villains of the time, a glimpse into the lives of all of them, and Houser really nailed it here.  My favorite is the Obi-Wan one, because the conversation he has with Anakin about Qui-Gon is a must and delves deepest into the characters’ stuff, but all of them are worth reading.

Jedi of the Republic - Mace Windu comic by Matt Owens.  A five-issue mini series that, okay, the art is Like That but the storyline really worked for me because it’s a really good look at Mace’s character and his belief in the Jedi Order and how he came to master himself and how the galaxy looks at Jedi.  It’s woven around a fairly typical action plot, but one of the things that always strikes me is the compassion the Jedi show one of their own, even when they’re falling into darkness, as well as this is a comic about Mace Windu’s faith and his work to master himself and it’s SO GOOD.

Kanan: The Last Padawan comics by Greg Weisman.  Stunning art plus a look at some of the characters/relationships that I want so much more of (TELL ME EVERYTHING ABOUT DEPA BILLABA) and more glimpses into life at the Jedi Temple, as well as telling the story of how the character went from Caleb Dume to Kanan Jarrus, all of it heartbreaking and so, so good.

While the Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover is no longer canon, but it does an absolutely phenomenal job of breaking your heart all over again for the characters and expanding on everything that was going on during that time and really, really gets into the headspace of Anakin’s character in a way that was line-edited by George Lucas himself, so I think of it as having a lot of emotional truths to it, rather than being part of canon (which it’s specifically said as not being).

ORIGINALS:

The ongoing Star Wars comic (by Jason Aaron, then Kieron Gillen) + the original Darth Vader comic (by Kieron Gillen) are the absolute best place to start, they’re an incredible addition to the characters’ journeys between ANH and ESB.  The two comics are meant to be read concurrently, so I recommend them together, they often show the same scenes from different points of view, but you can roll with either of them if they’re going well for you.  They’re my favorite for what they add to the story.

Star Wars Battlefront II’s storyline can be watched on YouTube like a movie, which is about two hours long, has some fantastic characters (Iden Versio and Del Meeko are amazing, but also the brief storylines the OT trio have in the game are fantastic) and it does a really great job of helping to bridge the gap between the OT and the ST, explaining a lot about Jakku’s significance and how the First Order popped up.

From a Certain Point of View novel by various.  MY FAVORITE BOOK IN THE EU, FULL STOP.  A series of point of view stories from various supporting characters during A New Hope is exactly what it sounds like and, okay, not all of them worked out for me, some of them are very skippable if you’re not enjoying it, but the Obi-Wan one, the Qui-Gon one, and the Yoda one are all must-reads because they are HEARTBREAKING and fill in so much of what’s going on with those characters in the OT with regards to the PT events.  Also the Motti one is the single funniest thing Star Wars has ever put out.

Lords of the Sith novel by Paul S. Kemp.  While I’ve only read about a third of this one so far, I’ve enjoyed it a lot, as it’s a look at some of the worst parts of SW’s timeline, where Vader and Palpatine are at their worst, where Ryloth is suffering, but it’s done with deftness and gravitas, imo.  Possibly better after you’ve seen TCW and Rebels because Cham Syndulla’s character will have more weight then.

Legends of Luke Skywalker novel by Ken Liu.  This book came out around the time that The Last Jedi came out (or at least that’s when I read it, iirc) and it was a balm for my soul that needed Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.  It’s an in-universe series of myths, so it’s not literal, it’s stories told about Luke Skywalker as he travels the galaxy trying to understand the Force and the Jedi.  It’s lovely!

Thrawn novel by Timothy Zahn.  I still think the first Thrawn book was really good (even if the shine came off the apple after that) and it does a fantastic job of setting up the character’s backstory, intro into the Empire, and creating the character of Eli Vanto, WHOM I LOVE.  It’s a great read and some of the best of Zahn’s Thrawn work.

ROGUE ONE + SOLO:

The Rogue One novelization by Alexander Freed.  I had trouble connecting to Jyn Erso when I first watched the movie, but the way Freed wrote her as this messy, complicated, thorny person who was trying to do the right thing was perfect for making me fall in love with her.  (Freed is really, really good at writing messy, complicated, worthwhile women, imo.)

Most Wanted novel by Rae Carson.  I loved this book a lot, where it’s a young adult novel set before the events of Solo and helps tell Han and Qi’ra’s backstory and is a great space adventure at the same time.

Catalyst novel by James Luceno.  This does a really great job of bridging the Republic era with the Empire era, how the galaxy went from the Clone Wars to what we see in Rogue One, AND expanded a ton on Galen Erso’s character, his relationship with Orson Krennic and Lyra Erso and Jyn, so it made the R1 experience just a ton more valuable for me.

SEQUELS:

Bloodline novel by Claudia Gray.  This book still does the absolute most to bridge the gap between the OT and the ST, to explain the events of what happened in that time period.  Gray’s writing is best when she’s writing Leia as a character and this book works as a novel for her and as a story about the rise of the First Order and some of the problems of the New Republic.

Spark of the Resistance is a young adult novel (so about 200 pages) by Justina Ireland.  I only recently read this one and I just thoroughly enjoyed it, it was Rey and Rose and Poe off on their own adventure, which was typical cute Star Wars stuff, but the chemistry and adorable banter between these three was so good I could have read an entire series for them!  (I also liked her Lando’s Luck YA novel, if you’re interested in his character.)

Poe Dameron comics by Charles Soule.  Soule’s writing is some of the best stuff in SW so far and he does an absolutely phenomenal job of capturing the charisma of Poe’s character, while also giving him an actual character arc to work through.  The comics just fly by, they’re so good and so smoothly easy to read and so damn charming.

Cobalt Squadron novel by Elizabeth Wein.  If you get the audiobook of this, it’s narrated by Kelly Marie Tran, who does a love job of reading it, and was a book that helped me just utterly FALL IN LOVE with Rose Tico.  It’s a book that does a lot to explain her back story and who she is and it’s just absolutely wonderful.

The Last Jedi novelization by Jason Fry.  If you really, really hated TLJ, this might not be the book for you, but I found it to be a book that helped fill in some smaller details that made the movie work better for me and got inside the characters’ heads just enough to help grease the wheels to put me in a better place with the movie, so I always really like it.

[acatbyanyothername9]

Every even number :)

2.                  What is your favorite movie?

AOTC : we got introduced to so much greatcharacters : Dex, Dooku, Jango Fett… We got to see Obi Wan drink and play detectiveand going with the flaw in some of the most ridiculous situation ever shown onscreen, we got to meet the GAR for the first time too! I also loved Kamino aesthetic.

4.                  Do you ship Anidala?

This is a complicated question. I don’t, notreally because I don’t think theirs is a healthy relationship. They jump into amarriage after having lost contact for ten years, Padme just brushes under thecarpet the fact that Anakin committed genocide, they don’t seem to agree onsome of the fundamental things such as democracy. I mean Padme fought untildeath to preserve the Republic and the Democracy, while Anakin was on board fora dictatorship and then brought on the Fall of the Republic. And some of therecent comics have shown that Padme does not trust Anakin (even if it’s only onpolitical matters because of his relationship with Palpatine). Also Anakin doesnot do healthy relationship and that is reason enough to not ship Anidala. On theother hand, I find Anidala fascinating because of all this: it’s a deeplyflawed relationship, yet they did it anyway and tried to make things work.

6.                  Luke or Leia?

Definitly Luke. Leia is way to belligerent forme.

8.                  Did you like Lando?

As a matter of fact I did! I liked his slyhumour, his friendship, the hinted background with Han, everything. I think heis one of the characters of the Original Trilogy that stuck with me the most.

10.                  Did you like the sequels?

Nope not at all. TFA is nothing more than aremake of ANH with characters with a different name/colour/gender (it was likewatching the Beauty and the Beast live action remake), as for TLJ, I still don’tknow what they were trying to do. At least I had some things to say afterleaving the theatre, even though none of them were nice. It’s a Star Wars travestythinking it’s a clever film. And I’m still mad that we saw Yoda and not Obi Wanhaving a talk with Luke. I mean who better to talk about what happened but ObiWan? Especially since the same catastrophe affected the characters in such adifferent way. But no, it would have required the movie to have some substancethat was very sadly lacking.

12.                  Snoke or Palpatine?

Palpatine. I mean have you SEEN what he did tothe Galaxy? He played the game from the inside, become Supreme Chancellor then Emperorand he had corrupted the Republic so much that SENATORS applauded him when he proclaimedthe Empire!!!

14.                  Thoughts on General Hux?

He spends most of his time on screen screaming?I’m not into the sequel fandom so I don’t have to say much about him. One thingfanart made clear however is that he seems to be a cat lover, so he scorespoints.

16.                  Least favorite ships?

Ooh boy, here comes I fear some unpopular opinions:Obikin first and foremost, just NO. Obitine just doesn’t work for me, nor ObiWan/Siri Tachi, despite Ruth Baulding excellent Lineage and Legacy series. Rex/ObiI just don’t get it (not that I mind it’s just I don’t understand why Rex/Obi).

18.                  What is your favourite quote?

« Hello there! » or alternatively ObiWan and Dex : “Cloners? Are they friendly?” “Depends how good your manners are andhow big your pocket money is” It’s just so reminiscent of Obi Wan attachment tothings that are “civilised” (and Dooku attachment too), like Ok, we know moneyis what makes the world go round, but I like this idea that manners and respectare really important too. Thank the Force it’s Obi Wan who went to Kamino. Can’timagine their reactions if it had been Anakin….

20.              Sith Code or Jedi Code?

Jedi Code, wether you agree with it or not, it’sa quality food for thought and meditation.

22.              What is the saddest Star Wars scene?

DO YOU EVEN HAVE TO ASK????? Qui Gon’s death akathe scene that didn’t happen

24.              Han or Luke?

Again Luke.

26.              Favorite villain?

It’s a tie between Dooku and Palpatine. Palpatinebecause a villain of such scale and cunning is an extinct specie in blockbusterstoday and Dooku because he’s fascinating, and it gives me so much Lineage feels!AND he’s played by Christopher Lee.

28.              Do you want Rey to have a love interest?

Noper. Being asexual and seeing how the romanticrelationships are handled by Hollywood (romanticizing predatory behaviour in men,thinking that snide remarks are belligerent sexual tension, pushing characterstogether that have NO chemistry) I would prefer for Rey to be single and allowher character to have some growth on her own before being saddled in arelationship.

30.              Thoughts on Solo?

I haven’t seen it. But from the clips I’ve seen,I LOVED Lando.

32.              What is your favorite Star Wars pun?

I had to look them up, because I don’t think I’ve ever heard/seen one. The one I found genuimly funny was this one : “What did Cody say to his fellow clone when Count Dooku spotted them? “Tyranus saw us, Rex!”

34.              What is your favorite battle?

I haven’t seen TCW so I can’t say much about it (onlythe two first seasons were available on Netflix and since it isn’t in chronologicalorder, I find it very confusing and sort of gave up). So I’m gonna go with themovies. For the lightsabre battle, it’s Obi Wan vs Darth Maul in TPM.

36.              If you could be trained by Qui-Gon Jinn or Obi-Wan,who would you choose?

Obi Wan. Qui Gon would have infuriated me.

38.              Anidala or Scoundress?

Scoundress because I said earlier Anidala is notan healthy relationship.      

40.              Leia’s hair or Lando’s fashion?

Lando’s fashion. I would never wear anything asflashy as he does, but I wish I could rock the capes as he does!

42.              If you could have any creature as a pet, what wouldyou choose?

A Loth-cat.

44.              Yousa like Jar Jar?

I never really disliked him in the first place.Anakin annoyed me more than him^^.

46.              Finn or Poe?

Finn became a joke in the TLJ and seeing whatwas done to his character, I much prefer Poe, who was at least a bit morefleshed out. But I admit I don’t really care about either of them, the sequeltrilogy did nothing to make the character other things than walking/talkingtropes. And as such, I was never emotionally invested in any of them.

48.              What are your top five ships?

My OTP is QuiObi, after that, well Obidala isthe only het ship I like when it comes to Obi Wan. Then there’s Quinlan/Obi Wanbecause these two were totally in a relationship at some point or another. Finally,Han/Lando. Yes it’s only four ships but that’s it.

50.              Who is your favourite character?

Obi Wan. Hands down. Nobody comes close.