#let's see how anh deals with it

[nocturnalazure]

Author's note: This is not the first time Laurie has that kind of fit - see (1), (2), (3)

[pomplalamoose]

mkay soooo what if when the rebellion was living on hoth u and (like late anh!luke or esb!luke both would be cute lwk) went to a more tropical planet w lots of beaches tghr whilst looking for more possible bases and of course you guys just happen to get stranded n day a few vacation days on the beach!

but since luke is from tatooine n there’s barely even water in the AIR he’s never seen in a girl—specifically you, in a bikini. and since you guys have been on hoth for a time he’s never even seen you in a t shirt. like you just “what’s wrong” n he’s as red as a tomato.

anyway what i’m trying to say is you two making out in the beach n then leads to beach sex please please please oh my god. and don’t hold back on the gross details

18+ !!!

cw: a little bit of pining, a little bit of fluff, eventual smut, like seriously, mdni!

• initially you think nothing of it when the unbearable heat forces you to remove your jacket

• too great is the relief of feeling the gentle breeze cool your sweaty skin that you fail to notice the way your exposed arms seem to impact Luke

• Luke who is trying his hardest to be respectful, who is giving his best not to stare

• Luke who fails spectacularly

• Luke who, upon you sensing his distress and turning around, turns beet red and wide eyed, looking away immediately

• "it's just a pair of arms", he tries to tell himself staring down at his feet in the sand

• this certainly is nothing he hasn't seen before

• Force, he intimatedly knows what a person looks like naked and you are nowhere even near that state, he needs to get it together!

• though no matter how plausible he makes it sound in his head, the reality is, in fact, a lot harder to deal with

• because it's not "just" a pair of arms

• it's yours and he can barely tear his gaze away

• he can't quite recall the moment in which he first let his thoughts wander and they settled on you, doesn't remember when it was that he first started wondering how you'd look under all that thick winter clothing necessary to survive on Hoth

• only, that he never got the chance to hold your hand in his without those damned gloves on

• that it was never a possibility to even touch your face

• that your body was nothing more than an illusion he made up for himself during his countless daydreams

• only, that he half-feared you'd simply disappear into a cloud of cold air without all those warm layers keeping you tightly wrapped together

• but now, sitting before him, is a picture he'd nearly didn't dare to hope ever laying his eyes upon

• there you are, in nothing but a T-shirt and pants, and so close, so real, he desperately wants to reach out his hands

• he longs to finally find out how you feel

• he wants to trace his fingers up and down your arms for no particular reason, wants to touch every single freckle and mole he can find

• is your skin as soft as it looks?

• is the fine hair he sees shimmering in the sunlight when you move a certain way?

• when you raise your arms to fix your windswept hair, so does the hem of your shirt, revealing a sliver of your mid-riff and Luke nearly explodes

• he's at a loss for words, completely helpless in light of your beauty

• there's nothing more except the need to latch on to you and never let go again

• of course, at this point, you would eventually come to realize your appearance's effect; Luke is not being what one would call subtle and the love-drunk look in his eyes is hard to miss

• "have you been to the water yet?" you ask gently, feeling a little shy at being gazed at so intently, hoping to focus his attention on something else

• it works

• Luke, absolutely clueless and very happy to follow you everywhere you want to go is concerned immediately

• "wait, wait...do you know how to swim?"

• of course you do and he's so relieved until he remembers he can't

• imagine his face when he eventually admits to it

• the slight crease between his eyebrows, his unhappy, nearly upset frown

• how is he supposed to keep up with you now?

• how is he supposed to keep you safe?

• imagine his smile returning like the sun rising in the morning when you assure him you don't mind

• you only want to dip in your feet, would he not like to join you?

• imagine his eager nod, the delight in his eyes at the foreign sensation when he's finally standing beside you

• imagine the giggle that escapes him at how the water draws back and returns swiftly with every gentle wave

• at how it washes around his feet, how it feels when he wriggles his toes in the wet sand

• imagine Luke's surprise, the light shock, when you splash him, the droplets suddenly raining down all over him

• then his delight, the childish excitement

• he wasn't aware this was something you, and he too, could do!

• before you know it he's chasing you down the beach trying to get back at you

• with his long legs and ability to move over sand much faster than you are, you don't stand much of a chance

• though of course this doesn't stop you from fighting back as soon as he gets to you and it's not long after that both of you are sopping wet

• imagine him laughing freely, something you don't think you've seen him do before

• your heart beats faster

-

• it's when you're both out of breath, staring each other down to gauge your next movements, that the mood, so playful before, switches

• you can't put your finger on when it happened, can't explain how, but the dynamic between you has changed

• like your little game helped Luke make up his mind, emboldened him even, his blushy look and adoringly shy eyes are no more

• instead you're faced with a determination that raises goosebumps all over your skin, as he slowly makes his way towards you, his strong thighs parting the water with every step

• you don't know where to look

• not when he's suddenly this close to you, so close you can smell the salt on his skin and the wind in his hair

• carefully, as if afraid to scare you away, he reaches out, starts to run the fingers of his right hand up and down your left forearm

• you let him

• his gentle touch makes you shudder and unbelievably so he moves even closer, drinking in your subtle reactions

• "Luke I-"

• your voice is breathy, a little unstable

• but when you turn your head aside in embarrassment, he's quick to reach for your chin

• for a moment it's quiet, words simply eluding you in the face of your confusion and desire

• it's Luke who finally speaks again, who voices aloud what you had been thinking about, secretly hoping for, all along

• "please, may I kiss you?"

• and then, nearly inaudible, with such longing that it makes your heart ache, "just this once?"

• and all you can give in return is a nod

• imagine the light in his eyes, brighter even than the most radiant of stars, as he cups your face in his large hands and touches his lips to yours

• imagine how he slowly, so very slowly, pulls back, clearly not wanting the moment to end already

• imagine the look in his eyes, a look that seems to silently plead for more

• and the relief when he finds the immediate answer in yours

• imagine the gasp that escapes you when he finally, unabashedly, dares to take initiative and pulls you flush against him with a jolt

• imagine the pure joy that arises at being kissed like this, with such fervor and enthusiasm it weakens your knees, for once silencing your mind

• imagine the deep sense of peace that comes with being held so closely in strong arms as if they never plan on letting you go again

• you feel safe

-

• the persistence and thoroughness with which Luke continues to explore your mouth surprises you

• he kisses like he's starving, like he can't get enough

• like he may never get the chance to taste you again

• like he's afraid you're going to stop him any moment now

• meanwhile nothing could be further from your mind and it is without hesitation that you follow his lead, that you let him place you down upon the warm sand as if on the softest, most luxurious bed made just for you

• quickly his lips are on yours again and it's not long before they start to wander, to explore your features and limbs as leisurely as his hands do

• mesmerized, like in a trance, Luke traces the lines of your body, peppers kisses to every inch of you he can reach, his excitement at the ability to draw soft sighs and moans from you palpable

• soon unintelligible pleas start to spill from your lips as your arousal heightens with every passing minute

• you're growing desperate, are aching for more, for his deft fingers between your thighs

• but despite Luke's hardened length pressing insistently against his wet pants and repeatedly brushing along your upper legs, he makes no move to fulfill your wish nor to sate his own desires

• not even when you experimentally roll your hips upwards in hopes of gaining at least a little bit of friction

• he's not done exploring yet

• his attention focuses on your chest instead and you have no other choice but to continue clenching around nothing as he tentatively licks and, at length, begins to suck your nipples into his mouth until you're ready to cry out in frustration

• covered in sweat, the sand has begun to cling to your skin, rubbing against you with even the smallest of your movements and you're not sure what to make of it

• you're overwhelmed, helplessly overstimulated, almost wishing for it to stop

• though when Luke presses his knee in between your legs, giving you the chance to grind against him, it's suddenly not enough

• it's not nearly enough and your impatience finally exceeding your shame, the urge to beg becomes too strong to withhold

• for his touch, his fingers

• his cock

• "please Luke. Please just- just fuck me already"

• this catches Luke off guard though he remains silent, takes time to observe your shaking legs, your flush, quivering skin, the quick rise and fall of your chest, your wet eyes

• it shakes him out of his revery, like your words only now led him back into the present moment, made him realize for how long he's been toying with you

• how painfully desperate he is to seek his own release

• truly, he has no intention of leaving you like this, on the brink of an orgasm and close to tears

• but he's stalling, he knows, holding back, unsure of how to proceed and afraid to hurt you

• what if you're not ready to take him yet?

• lost in thought his fingers move gently along the waistband of your underpants until they dip lower in wonder, his knuckles slowly grazing over the wet spot where your dripping arousal has soaked into the fabric

• he is the reason for this, the reason for your pleasure, he realizes

• and he wants you, has wanted you for a very long time

• having made up his mind he carefully pushes a finger deep inside of you, pleasantly surprised at how easy you allow him entrance

• "no", he breathes when you try to strip off your panties to better grant him access

• "I want you like this"

• Luke makes you cum several times before even considering to free his cock from its confines

• too deeply does he enjoy your cries and twitches growing in intensity to accept for pleasure of his own to distract from it

• too hypnotizing it is to watch his fingers disappear into you again and again until they're deeply coated and practically dripping with your arousal

• too satisfying are the obscene squelching sounds that arise, louder and louder the faster he drives into you

• if it were up to him he would continue like this forever, unbothered by his own urges, content to simply watch

• though as you grow tired he eventually takes mercy

• he fucks you until you're close to passing out with pleasure, your face held tightly between his hands

• until your back is sore with being rubbed over the sandy ground over and over and over again

• until there's sand everywhere, in places you don't even dare to think about right now, and your legs are quivering from how long you had to keep them this far apart

• until he is panting, ruthlessly chasing his orgasm with hard, fast thrusts that shake your entire body and cause your eyes to roll into the back of your head

• until tears are streaming down your face and not even the sounds of the crashing waves are able to drown out the wet slapping noises when his hips meet yours in a near frenzy as he buries himself balls-deep in your throbbing heat

A/N: I'm so excited I finally, FINALLY had the time to work on this request!! Really, I couldn't get it out of my head since you first sent it in and not being able to write it all down immediately was pure torture😩

Thank you for your patience! I hope you don't mind the way this turned out to be a little fluffier than anticipated, I just couldn't help it. I love my Luke being desperately head over heels for the reader <33

[jedi-enthusiast]

Debunking the "The Jedi Are Evil" Theory Made by The Film Theorists PT 2

Point 2 - That Luke was Right in the Sequels

In the Sequels, Luke says this:

"Now that they're extinct, the Jedi are romanticized, deified...but if you strip away the myth and look at their deeds, the legacy of the Jedi is failure, hypocrisy, hubris."

And, after bringing this quote up, Matthew says this:

"While this kind of tea spill coming from Luke was considered pretty sacrilegious, both by other characters as well as the audience, I think that Luke has a point if you examine the movies with a little more scrutiny. His criticisms aren't exactly unfounded."

Now, first of all, what Luke is saying here cannot be trusted as "fact" or anything to go off of, mainly because of two reasons.

---

1. He's trying to convince Rey not to be a Jedi or, at the very least, to not make him train her (which is pretty much the same thing), and at this point in time he pretty clearly hates himself and blames himself for the state of the galaxy. He's been stewing in his rocky hideaway for who knows how long, with nothing but the ocean and his own self-loathing to keep him company.

He's saying this here so that Rey will give up and not make him train her, because he's scared of making the same mistakes he did with Kylo Ren and fucking up the galaxy even more (we see a similar thing with Obi-Wan in the Kenobi show, where he refuses to save Leia at first because he's scared of not being able to save her--like he wasn't able to "save" Anakin).

And the traits, the "legacy," he's assigning the Jedi...isn't actually the legacy of the Jedi. It's him assigning what he believes to be his own legacy to the Jedi as a whole, because it's easier for him to deal with his own failure that way.

and 2. Luke is framed as being wrong for saying this. None of the other characters agree with him, eventually he does end up training Rey, and eventually he lets go of his pain and fair and grief and "becomes a Jedi again" and faces his "legacy of failure"--Kylo Ren.

It's obvious that the movies are clearly making him out to be wrong when he says those things, you don't need to have a neon sign posted above his head that says "WRONG" in order to see it. So taking his words at face-value is just trying to take a bad-faith reading of the Jedi--rather than the "objective scrutiny" that Matthew is purportedly putting the Jedi up to in this theory.

---

I would also like to argue that Luke's only real knowledge of the Prequel Era Jedi and their actions/beliefs/traditions/etc. is...lacking, to say the least.

The Empire literally destroyed and desecrated every Jedi Temple that they could find, they wiped out all the information they could about the Jedi, and then spread anti-Jedi propaganda through the galaxy for years. Not to mention that, by this point, pretty much every Prequel Era Jedi is dead.

There's no one around to really tell Luke about the Jedi's actions or culture and what little information he might've been able to dig up probably wouldn't have amounted to much. So, when Luke says this, it can only really be taken as a commentary on the Post-Prequel Era Jedi, because he doesn't know enough about the Prequel Era Jedi to make any criticisms.

---

Matthew then says:

"There are certainly examples of the Jedi doing some pretty unsportsmanlike things to innocent victims throughout the old movies, like manipulating-" [plays a video cut of Obi-Wan in ANH, mind-tricking the stormtroopers into thinking that R2 and 3PO "aren't the droids they're looking for"]

This example is pretty easy to debunk, because Matthew leaves out the context.

Obi-Wan has to do this.

Because let's look at what would probably happen if he didn't:

1. He and Luke would be arrested and turned in to the Empire, probably Vader, and Vader would immediately recognize Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan would get murdered.

2. Vader would realize Luke was his son and probably try to indoctrinate him into an Imperial way of thinking, and Palpatine/Vader would probably have Luke "trained" (read: tortured) into becoming an Inquisitor.

and 3. The droids would probably either be memory wiped or destroyed, therefore destroying the plans for the Death Star that the Rebellion needed to destroy it--and the Death Star wouldn't be able to be destroyed, more planets and people would probably be killed.

Aside from the thing with the Death Star plans, Obi-Wan probably knows that that's what's gonna happen--and, if the Empire is looking for the droids, then it's pretty obvious that the droids are important to the Rebellion. So it wouldn't be a stretch to say that Obi-Wan probably understands that the Rebellion would be hurt by their loss.

Not to mention that stormtroopers aren't "innocent victims."

They actively sign up to work for the Empire and take part in the oppression of countless peoples and worlds. And It's not like Obi-Wan pulled aside a random stormtrooper just so he could mind-fuck him, they were approached by the troopers first and he reacted defensively. He didn't even make them do anything bad, he just told them "these aren't the droids you're looking for" and had them go on their way.

---

Matthew's quote, continued:

"-stealing spaceships and crashing them-" [cut to a video clip of Obi-Wan and Anakin in RotS, crashing the Separatist vessel they escaped on after rescuing the Chancellor]

Once again, this is pretty easy to debunk because, again, Matthew leaves out the context.

The Separatists literally kidnapped the Chancellor of the Republic and the Jedi had to rescue him. They had to steal the ship to escape or be captured, and likely executed, by the Separatists--therefore allowing the Separatists (who are literally enslaving and oppressing countless other systems and run by a fucking fascist dictator) to win the war and take over the rest of the galaxy.

Once again, the Jedi were acting defensively.

And I feel like, all things considered, the Jedi stealing that Separatist ship, to escape from a situation the Separatists caused, in order to keep the galaxy from falling into the hands of an oppressive dictatorship and attempt to stay alive...is a pretty damn reasonable decision, don't you think?

And, just for added context, the ship was literally falling apart when they crashed it. They didn't crash it on purpose, it was an emergency landing. If you're gonna say the Jedi are bad for "crashing" the ship, you may as well get mad at every pilot who ever initiated an emergency landing because it's literally the same thing--and if we're putting the Jedi up to "objective scrutiny" then there shouldn't be any double standards.

---

Matthew's quote, continued:

"-or just outright lying about their own powers-" [cut to a video clip of Mace and Yoda talking, where Mace says they should tell the Senate their ability to use the Force is diminished and Yoda saying they shouldn't because it will only multiply their adversaries]

Here the Jedi weren't lying, like...at all.

No one was asking them about their ability to use the Force, so they couldn't be lying. They were withholding information, information that the Senate--as non-Jedi--had no right to know about unless it would actively affect the Republic. Which, again, at this point in time it wouldn't.

But, fine, let's just pretend that the Jedi were lying...

...they were lying for good reason.

Yoda is right here. Even if we ignore the fact that Yoda is a stand-in for GL and what he says is quite literally the canon truth (since he's the creator), the Senate is already pretty at odds with the Jedi, which we see later in AotC when Palpatine and the Senate pretty much strong-arm the Jedi into accepting the role of Generals in the war, despite being told point blank by Mace Windu that they're peace keepers and not soldiers. Do you really think the Senate (read: Palpatine) wouldn't have used this information against the Jedi?

And, are you completely ignoring the fact that Mace is literally saying that they should tell the Senate and Yoda is disagreeing with him?

Obviously Yoda's take on what they should or shouldn't tell the Senate isn't something that the entire Order believes--it's just his opinion on what they should do.

You can't say that "the Jedi are liars" and then play a clip that literally debunks that by having two Jedi disagreeing with each other about whether or not to tell the truth.

[io-lu-art]

just a looong ramble analysing and rethinking Rey's character and turning whatever conclusions I get to into my headcanon without changing any plot points in TFA because I don't have the energy for that....

First things first. With everything I write here and publish on my blog from now on I refuse to believe that TROS ever existed. Everyone is free to have their personal opinions as long as they don't harass or hate on anyone, and this is mine. Almost every choice in that movie has left me scarred, even up til now, 4 years after its release. I thought I can ignore it, like any other healthy human being, but - oh boy, I cannot. If you are interested in reading another ramble on that, here's the post.

Since I am writing my own take on what could happen after TLJ (you may call it a fanfiction, I'm gonna call it a fanscript since that's gonna be its format), this post serves the purpose of getting my head clear around what's the deal with Rey, analysing, and lying down a solid foundation for my WIP. The story I'm writing has barely reached the end of Act I (out of III) at the moment I am composing this commentary, and I constantly notice that I get stuck with Rey's character every time I have to think about her for different reasons I will address down below.

I will make some rewrites as I see fit and necessary along the way for her character to make sense to me. All rewrites are in Tumblr's

chat style

This post will be linked to my AO3 fancifction as a reference for people to understand how I treat her character as soon as that one will be finished... *clears her throat* ...ANYWAY-

Let's have a look at Rey, shall we?

Rey's introduction.

When we first meet Rey, there is already a lot we get to learn about her. She's a scavenger. On a pretty much deserted desert planet. Water and food are scarce. She gathers parts during the day to sell them in exchange for food rations.

She has no friends, no family. She's lonely. And has been for quite a while. And yet, though hard, it looks like a pretty peaceful and stable life. If it were significantly different, we would have gotten introduction scenes of her battling some gangs or other scavengers for parts or something. But instead we were provided with beautiful, peaceful cinematography and John Williams' incredible score.

She manages. She manages because she has to and has never known to do otherwise. This on its own is already a very solid introduction. And it becomes even more powerful as we are provided with additional context later on, as she tells BB-8 that she's waiting for her family.

We know who she is, what she does and what she wants. No more questions, right?

Well, this is where it gets confusing, at least for me: there's one shot in Rey's introduction which always leaves me puzzled about her actual wants. It's the moment she puts on the rebel pilot helmet.

Maybe I am reading too much into it, but it feels like it kinda wants to draw parallels to Luke Skywalker in ANH? What exactly is the purpose of this shot? Is she putting on the helmet just for fun? Is it to show that she is still a kid inside? She seems to enjoy herself. Is it to show us that she maybe wants to be a pilot...? The gesture on its own is too little information to imply that, let alone that she already is a very skilled one, so probably no. Then, is it, perhaps, to show us that she dreams of more? Like Luke, who wanted to get off the planet that is "farthest away from the bright center of the universe"?

The interpretations, especially when looking at it in context to the rest of the movie could go on and on and on.

Quick detour.

The reason it works so well with Luke's character is because from the very beginning, with everything he does and says, it is perfectly clear that he doesn't want to stay on Tatooine. It's his only want when we first meet him.

Luke has friends who tell him about the galaxy. He seeks adventure.

And he's very impatient about it.

Everything he says basically SCREAMS how much he hates it there.

Now back to Rey.

Am I expecting Rey to show the same interest in getting off Jakku with the same attitude and level of energy as Luke, should that have been what TFA was going for? No, of course not. They are (supposed to be) two different characters after all. But I do believe that, given the setup, that helmet scene leaves too much room for confusing and unnecessary interpretation. (More so because I am trying my best to avoid nostalgia bait wherever I can.)

I am not denying the fact that she wouldn't have heard about the wider galaxy, that she wouldn't wonder about what it would feel like, being out there. People travel. And with people traveling, so do stories. So if you want to hint at that, do it subtly, all the while keeping the focus on her biggest want.

I might really just be reading too much into it, but still, in my humble opinion, a way to solve this confusion is cutting out her interaction with the pilot helmet completely. Let me demonstrate.

Inside her home we already see this self-made rebel pilot puppet. Just like the puppet lying around, instead of having her pick it up and putting it on,

the helmet remains part of the environment, stuck in the sand. There could even be a close-up on it as Rey puts down her empty plate next to it when she has finished eating if you really want to show it. She then rests her arms on her knees and looks up into the sky, following the ship that has just departed from the far outpost into the high atmosphere until it disappears. Waiting.

What is achieved by changing the interaction with the helmet is that it keeps her wants just as clear as Luke's. Luke wants adventure. She wants her family back. Period.

...I rewatched this scene after writing these paragraphs and yes, I admit, in the end it happens so fast that one could probably just let it pass and interpret it as Rey being very bored and using it as entertainment to wait out the days. But even if it were just that, the effects this little tweak would have on the following scenes is quite interesting to look at nonetheless.

The tweak I am going with from now on: Having her not actively wonder about possible adventures at all. She doesn't believe those stories to actually be true, because she's never allowed herself to. She's never allowed herself to actually want to ever leave Jakku.

What would it mean for her characterisation? It would make her slightly more serious and grounded. And the movie (except for the helmet scene) actually already treats her that way. Notice how she, while fixing BB-8's antenna, takes a moment to look at him before asking:

She's never seen such a droid before. At least not in such good condition. So, of course, she's curious. But when BB-8 says it's classified, she only laughs about it. "Classified? Really? Me too. Big secret," as if to say, haha, yeah, right. She rejects that possibility. And she doesn't bother asking any further, because when she is confronted with the choice to go and explore, she is reminded of her promise to herself, which is that she will wait for her family until they return.

Now, here is where I insert some very subtle "rewriting". When Rey first meets Finn, she is suspicious of him...

...and should actually remain suspicious,

instead of admiring him and falling into this, let's call it, "excited, fangirly smile"...

She doesn't know him. She has no reason to trust him. Instead, the tone of this line should be one that reflects her emotions as it slowly gets to her that those stories she's been hearing about might actually have some truth to them, that there might actually be a wider world out there. So make her be gradually interested.

Huh. This man I just forcefully hit to the ground, a Resistance fighter, knows about BB-8 and his classified information. What are the odds of that?

"So you're with the Resistance?" Rey asks suspiciously, looking down at the man.

The man stands up, brushes the sand and dust off his jacket and answers, "Obviously. Yes, I am. I am with the Resistance."

Rey frowns, "I've never met a Resistance fighter before," scanning him with her eyes. Why would there be any on Jakku? Nothing ever happens here.

"Oh, this is what we look like, some of us. Others look different."

Rey cannot help a little smile at his strange attitude. She looks back to where BB-8 rolled off to. Puzzled, she tells him, "BB-8 says he's on a secret mission. He has to get back to your base..." Even hearing herself pronounce that out loud feels so surreal to her. None of this makes any sense. Why-

"Apparently he has a map that leads to Luke Skywalker and everyone's after it."

What? "Luke Skywalker?" she asks, confounded.

CUT TO ACTION.

Whether she wants it or not, the plot forces her into the stories she's been hearing of. You don't want to believe they are real? They're real, all right. She has no choice but to run and get along. And later, she does get more and more interested, specifically when she meets Han Solo, the legend himself. Her whole beliefs turn upside down. It's exciting and she embraces it. Why? She's made a promise to BB-8 that she will get him home, and those things kinda come hand in hand.

Rey's physicality.

Rey is very fast to jump into action. She doesn't think twice about what she's doing. She just acts. Because that's how she's learned to survive all this time on her own. When she but hears BB-8 struggling in the distant sand dunes the first time they meet, she immediately reacts and goes to help (which also shows how compassionate she is towards people - and droids - in need of help).

And she's incredibly stubborn about it. If I may even word it like this: it's something she carries with pride.

So she's a good fighter. And I have but one request: DO. NOT. FORGET. THAT. HER. FIGHTING. STYLE. IS. ROUGH. AND. DIRTY. AND. HAS. NO. TECHNIQUE. WHATSOEVER. WHILE. THE. STORY. PROGRESSES. OK? Ok. What else? Ah, yes. Piloting. I don't know which of the two aspects has brought more uproar in the SW community, with the addition of the Force to these 2 points making people call her a Mary Sue, her being overpowered and so on. Let's have a look at that.

Rey's piloting skills.

She obviously knows her way around the Falcon. And it's plausible. "This ship hasn't flown in years!" It's been there for quite a while. Maybe she has had the opportunity to sneak onto it once. What about her flying skills? Well, that takeoff definitely had me worried. At this point I am even amazed this ship is still all in one piece. Which has me thinking... just a thought...

While trying to get those TIEs off their tail, Rey damages a visibly big part of the Falcon's exterior. "Ups," she comments, hastily checking the controls. Ok... The ship still flies. All good.

"What was that?" Finn calls from the gunner position, seriously worried for their lives.

"Nothing to worry about!" Rey quickly shouts back. All in all, the flight is messy as hell, and the Falcon needs some heavy repairs. But they still manage to get out.

"Nice shooting!"

"That was some flying! How did you do that?"

"Thanks! I don't know! I've flown some ships, but I've never left the planet."

(This is me reacting to their dialogue in the new context:) Yeah, guys, good work! You've almost destroyed the Falcon in the process, but you're alive, so I guess it's fiiiiiine.

What am I going for here? Adding to their level of expectations, which are... pretty low, and hopefully Rey's likability.

And then, later, Han is horrified of the state his ship is in, "Who did that?" Rey doesn't answer his question, but instead immediately offers her help, "I can fix that for you," feeling a bit ashamed of handling the ship of a legend this carelessly. And Han is... well, Han about it.

When would the Falcon get those repairs, you might ask? Eh, *hand gesture* there's plenty of time on D'Quar for that while they discuss how to blow up the third Deathst- *clears her throat* Starkiller Base. And obviously it's not gonna be Rey doing those repairs.

This addition tones down her abilities, puts more focus on her skills as a scavenger and makes her more relatable. I'd also argue that it puts more weight to her decision to eventually decline Han's offer to join the crew because of her wants. You see, once immersed into the real thing, the stories becoming true, meeting the legends, she becomes genuinely curious. She asks questions. Why did Luke leave? What fight? She gets incredibly excited when Han offers her a job. And yet, despite all, she still wants to go back.

Nevertheless, Rey displays pretty amazing piloting skills under those stressful circumstances on Jakku. After all, flying the Falcon is....

Her instincts are implacable. One might even say that she*

She just isn't aware of it yet. It is not until some scenes with Han and the rathtars later that we get the first hint.

The Force.

Now I might be wrong, but I have a theory, which is that the piloting performance under high pressure on Jakku might have been it. The Awakening.

The Force calls to Rey through Luke's lightsaber. And she listens to it, not knowing what will follow. She experiences the Force vision, and is horrified.

"That lightsaber was Luke's, and his father's before him, and now, it calls to you!"

"I have to get back to Jakku." Again.

Even when Maz tells her, "You already know the truth. Whomever your waiting for on Jakku, they are never coming back,"

she still refuses to believe that.

Tears run down her cheeks

and she shakes her head. No.

"But there's someone who still could."

Rey frowns. What is Maz implying there? "Luke?" she asks and realises what it's leading up to, and doesn't like it. Her emotions are a mess. She gulps back and keeps shaking her head as Maz speaks.

"The belonging you seek is not behind you. It is ahead. I am no Jedi, but I know the Force. [...] The light. Feel it. [...] The lightsaber. Take it."

Rey doesn't want to hear of it. Any of it.

"I am never touching that thing again!"

Rey just witnessed complete horror. She is in denial. Keep in mind her clear wants from the beginning of the movie. Ideally her want for her parents to come back should be replaced by the character fulfilling her needs at the end of her arc. But we're not nearly there yet. What Maz tells her about the Force completely contradicts Rey's experiences. She cannot just accept the truth. And how does she handle it? She runs away. She's terrified.

She wants to go back to the way things were before any of this mess started. But the plot doesn't let her run away that easily. It knows she has to face her fears, one being her fear of the Force and one the fear of perhaps never making it back to Jakku ever again.

It forces her further into these situations, making it impossible for her to get out of them. She's trapped. Literally and figuratively. And fighting her way out won't work this time, the one ability she always relied on to save herself. It's her darkest moment. And if that were not enough, Kylo Ren, this stranger, this man inside that mask, the man from her vision, shoves all her insecurities right into her face.

"And Han Solo." Rey jolts up. Either out of fear of possibly betraying Han and slipping, giving away a location, or out of rage that Kylo has gone too far into her personal space. Either way, this rage gives her some strength to oppose him. "You feel like he's the father you never had. He would have disappointed you."

"Get out of my head!" He backs away for his own reasons, not wanting to think any more of his father, but still holds onto her mind. Rey does all she can to withstand him, and the longer she does, the more time it gives her to understand what is going on.

And Kylo senses it. What he's trying to do here is not working. Concern washes over his face, which makes him lose control over the situation. The connection opens, inviting Rey to tap into his mind. She's inside his head. Now she understands. She understands she can use this power on him, too. So she does.

And there it is. She's strong with the Force.

And that's intentional. Why? For reasons we discover in TLJ and numerous other fanfictions. (TROS? w-what's that-)

She has found a way out of the situation. Now, has she ever heard of Jedi mind tricks? Maybe? But remember what she just discovered: She just tapped into Kylo's mind. So she tries that again on the stormtrooper. Because when she knows how to act, she just does. She's always been confident in her physical abilities and skills. Why would she have to treat this new power any different? And luckily it works, after 3 tries.

And that's fine. Let's move on. Kylo kills Han. Explosions.

Notice this. Even though she knows she now has these new powers, the same powers Kylo has, she still draws her blaster at him after calling him a monster. She acts on emotion and choses the quick, familiar way.

I actually like to believe that Rey really doesn't know what the Force is and how it works, at all. How would she? Yes, Maz did tell her about it, but how do Force-powers manifest in people? She's never seen anyone use it before, upon meeting Kylo Ren. So in every scene she does use it, she just copies Kylo. That's the only reference she has. Remember how proud she is of her physical abilities. And she is so naive that she just goes and tries it for herself, without thinking of whether it will work out or not. And it works out for her. Because, again, she is strong in the Force.

It's true that her flaw, her naivety, is not really addressed in TFA. It never really backlashes on her. And, to be completely honest, I have no idea how to make room for that without some heavier rewrites yet. But maybe it's not necessary. TLJ takes care of that. TFA just introduces us to Rey as a character after all.

Now, is the force-summoned lightsaber making her overpowered? If you interpret it as "Kylo couldn't get that thing out the snow but Rey could," then yes, yes it is. BUT, if you see it as "while Rey is observing the fight, she sees Kylo trying to summon it, so she copies him, the way she copied him with the mind-tapping, and reaches for it the moment Kylo conveniently gets it out of the snow for her," I don't think it is, though I do agree that in order for the second version to be true, the scene happens too fast with too little shots to explain it. *OP takes a breath* So, here is what I suggest:

Kylo reaches out for the lightsaber. SHOT of the lightsaber in the snow, fidgeting slightly. BACK TO Kylo, pulling anew. BACK TO the lightsaber. It gets free. CUT. Another shot of it flying through the air towards the camera.

SHOT on Rey witnessing that - she is already on her feet again - and immediately reaching for it as well, outstretching her arm towards it.

SHOT of Kylo as he feels the momentum of his pull shift and dodges out of the way. The lightsaber flies past him, into Rey's hand.

Rey has always been fast to react to action. So it would make sense for her to be able to do that. Ok. Now to the fight itself.

*sighs* I don't even know where to start. ...One thing's for sure. Kylo at this point is pretty much destroyed emotionally from having killed his father, but he's still big and strong and aggressive in his movements. Rey, on the other hand, kinda seamlessly knows how to handle a lightsaber, which... is definitely not believable at all.

Let's step back for a moment. Why do we have this fight? Rey needs to get Finn and herself out of there and Kylo is pretty much in the way, so she wants to eliminate the problem. And what does Kylo want? Sure, he is interested in Rey and her raw powers which eventually adds up to them being equals in the Force, so he doesn't want to kill her...

But he also wants that lightsaber, doesn't he?

(God, I am looking at this fight to find any clues and I'm just sitting here, elbows on the table, resting my head in my hands, massaging my temples, wondering, "why the hell are there so many cuts in that fight scene?") (I am no expert in fight choreography, so bare with me as I try to make this work.)

Rey is the one who draws first at him.

She has never wielded a lightsaber before, but knows how to handle a staff... so she treats the lightsaber like a staff within its limitations.

Because remember, HER. STYLE. OF. FIGHTING. IS. ROUGH. AND. DIRTY. AND. HAS. NO. TECHNIQUE. WHATSOEVER. So, pretend we have some well thought out choreography in this part.

Kylo blocks her with ease. Rey is frustrated. The lightsaber feels heavy and difficult to handle. It doesn't take long for Kylo to

get her cornered at the edge of the newly formed cliff.

"You need a teacher! I could show you the ways of the Force!" he exclaims.

Rey considers, out of breath, "The Force?" Rey takes a moment as her mind connects the dots. So that's what these new powers are? Kylo watches her, waits for her to make a move. No time for pondering about the Force any more. Rey moves. Kylo LETS her duck and free herself from his block. She runs, backs away from the crater. He follows her. He outstretches his arm. Rey is stuck. She's literally petrified. Again. Kylo draws nearer. He twirls his saber, now holding it backwards (you know, Ahsoka style). "No," she hisses through her teeth, struggling. Heavy breaths. She closes her eyes. When he almost touches her hand holding the lightsaber, "No!" she RESISTS his force-cage and GOES FREE.

Because, you see, even though Maz told her to "close her eyes" and "feel the light", Rey has never done that before, and when under stress, I do believe she would rather choose a quick, familiar way to get out of the situation. The only thing she knows how to do with the Force at this point is to copy or resist Kylo. She wouldn't know how to to draw power from the Force, yet. She'll have plenty of time to learn that from Luke later, should she survive this fight, so we better continue.

Kylo stumbles back as she draws at him. Rey goes for a swing to hit from above, which Kylo manages to block last second, bringing his lighsaber up from behind his back. As their lightsabers are crossed again he quickly reaches for her right hand, which is holding Luke's saber, with his left hand and moves it aside to his right towards the ground, using his crossguard for more momentum to force her down. He steps his left foot accordingly to keep himself stable. Rey cries out from the unexpected movement. They are kinda back to back. His left shoulder against her right one. The position is uncomfortable. He squeezes Rey's wrist. Rey cries out in pain. Then, she realises how close they are.

Time for some close combat, ladies and gentlemen.

She gives in and lets go of the lightsaber, lets it fall to the ground. Kylo releases her to reach for the fallen lightsaber. But before he can pick it up, Rey KICKS his left hand away with her right heel and PUNCHES his JAW with her right elbow from below. Kylo's head rocks back. He stumbles backwards from the harsh impact, causing him to turn his back to her in order to catch himself. Rey summons Luke's lightsaber back into her left hand, and ignites it. When Kylo turns back to his opponent, left and unprotected side first, Rey is ready to stab him in his left shoulder.

Kylo stumbles back some more, she brings her hands together for another strike leftwards, he barely blocks it, he stumbles back some more, it leaves his posture open, Rey strikes again, rightwards, lower this time, wounding his leg, he falls to his knee, leaving Rey the final blow to provide him with his scar.

The reason I started writing this entire ramble in the first place is a conversation I had with my friend which brought up the fact that Rey should be able to beat Kylo by using her rough, unpredictable moves. Shout out to my friend who, bless her, is willing to listen to and survives every one of my sw rants and who pointed this out in the first place!

Is this a good fightscene now? I have no idea. I hope so? I do have it very clear in my head now though, so I might go and have some fun storyboarding it in the nearest future.

You know the rest. The ground splits, she runs to Finn, Chewie picks them up. . . .

There are some more moments which I believe need some tweaks, like the meeting with Leia, which is just so unfair to Chewie, really, but if I go on and on about this, I would end up changing the entire movie, which I do not have the strength for atm. This ramble was supposed to be about Rey and her alone, so I am done here.

I guess in the end Rey does realise her needs and is able to let her wants aside for a bit longer and focus her hope on actually helping the Resistance and get Luke. Hope that, with finding Luke, she will get to understand these new powers. I do feel like the movie could have provided us with a more emotionally rich reactive scene to the fight and her abilities, and generally just more of those, but then, what am I expecting from a JJ Abrams film? We have Rian for that.

My conclusion? I'm bad with conclusions and summaries, so here you have it, my take on Rey by only adding to the existing dialogue, changing some attitudes here and there, adding a scene, and changing the fight sequence at the end and how she treats the Force.

I do have a clearer understanding of her character now, which was the entire purpose of this ramble, so I guess, mission accomplished. Congratulations on having made it till the end. It was a long ride. I did consider splitting this beast into 2 parts, but while writing this, at one point I just decided to fully commit to it.

You are totally free to, of course, agree with me and stay tuned for my WIP fanscript or disagree, never read through this thing ever again, ignore it and leave it to die on Tumblr's graveyard.

Before you ask, because I also considered doing that just for the sake of having fun with GIFs on Tumblr (all text gifs are taken from YARN btw), I will not do a post like this on TLJ, since I have no problems with Rey's character there at all. Props to Rian Johnson at this point, for managing to make sense of her with what TFA gave us.

[antianakin]

Question for your Caretaker Luke AU, since you've said that you think Anakin would need a Jedi Master, rather than someone like Luke, to help him actually face and leave the Dark Side...

How much would change or how do you think things would go if Obi-Wan was the Jedi Master there to help Luke manage Anakin instead of Quinlan? (We're going with the "he survives ANH" version of this, since you also said you hate Force Ghosts in that post)

Do you think Obi-Wan would be better suited for it, since he does have more of a past connection to him, or do you think that Anakin would just double down on his "I'm Not Facing Jack Shit, Leave Me Alone, Screw You" nonsense, just because it's Obi-Wan?

And how do you think this would affect the new Jedi Order? Do you think Obi-Wan would even want to deal with Anakin at all, after everything, or would he instead prefer to help rebuild the Order and trust that Luke can handle the responsibility on his own?

I think that if Obi-Wan is around that it turns the Caretaker Luke AU into a Caretaker Obi-Wan AU lol. Because Luke is young, he's the hope for the future, Obi-Wan is NEVER going to let Luke just waste away years of his life sitting in isolation watching over Anakin when Obi-Wan can do the job just as well and free up Luke to help Leia rebuild the Republic and the Jedi. Luke would VISIT obviously, but he would not end up Anakin's primary warden/caretaker in this case. Obi-Wan is also going to see Anakin as his responsibility, not necessarily even primarily due to their relationship, but because for all intents and purposes, Anakin is still a Sith and that's still Obi-Wan's responsibility as a Jedi to handle. And this particular Sith is one that Obi-Wan has history with and knows he can handle and contain. The two of them are, in many ways, bound by fate. And, of course, some part of Obi-Wan will always love Anakin, and want to help him if he can. He gave up on the possibility of ever truly reaching Anakin or saving him, but now, the possibility is THERE, for the first time in decades. I don't think he'd ever throw that away or walk away from it, no matter how painful the journey might be.

I actually think Obi-Wan would probably be one of the best people to get through to Anakin, to resume the role of a teacher to him and guide him away from darkness. Specifically because yes, he DOES have that history with Anakin that means he knows exactly what buttons of Anakin's to push and, unlike people like Ahsoka or Padme, Obi-Wan is not attached to Anakin. He is capable of walking away if he has to and being firm about Anakin's choices, but for as long as Anakin has even the slightest hint of willingness to try to do better, Obi-Wan will be there.

Obi-Wan's also come to a lot of peace by ANH, he's not super ruffled by shit anymore, up to and including weird old former Sith with stupid grudges against him. I think he could face Anakin with relative equanimity despite all of the pain and difficulty it's going to cause. Anakin's going to WANT to get a rise out of him and so the worst and best thing Obi-Wan can do in response is to literally just not react (which does not mean he won't have a snarky comeback, just that he won't get ANGRY back). The more Anakin rages and throws temper tantrums at Obi-Wan without driving Obi-Wan to leave or rage back, the more it probably just... starts to drain out of him a little. What's the point in raging if Obi-Wan doesn't rage back?

I think the dynamic between Obi-Wan and Anakin would be very different than with Quinlan and Anakin, obviously. Quinlan would need to work through all of his own shit about Anakin's betrayal at the same time as he's helping Anakin, while Obi-Wan's already done all of that and let it go years earlier. Quinlan's going to probably be a LOT less nice about how he handles the situation than Obi-Wan would. Obi-Wan's going to be very firm about it and not let Anakin get to him, but Obi-Wan also loves him and isn't going to lash out at Anakin. I think Quinlan is going to have zero compunctions about reminding Anakin of just how much pain he's caused sometimes, he's not necessarily going to hand out praise when Anakin does something right. He doesn't love Anakin. He learns to have compassion for Anakin, but he does not love him personally in the way that Luke and Obi-Wan do. What love he may have had for Anakin as a friend died when Anakin betrayed them all and it's not coming back.

So yeah, I think Obi-Wan surviving ANH would provide a much cleaner and softer version of this AU actually. Granted I also think there'd be a lot of OTHER changes to canon if Obi-Wan survived that might cause some ripples, but if we're assuming all goes mostly the same as it does in canon aside from Anakin's death, then Obi-Wan being around afterward is probably the best thing that could possibly happen to him.

[darlin-djarin]

Hiya! I've been lowkey stalking ur blog for the last few weeks bcs i recently got rllllllly into dinluke and saw ur recent post about fic, so now I'm wondering if you have any reccs (dinluke ofc)?! I like ur content and read ur tags so I'd say our taste in fic probably overlaps. Hope you have a nice day!! 🌻

hey!! and yeah i’ve got a few fics that i think a lot of dinlukers might like

first let me link @transmascskywalker's list because that’s where i started out originally!!

now as for my fic recs~

some of these fics might overlap, i’m just putting down the ones i loved most. i’m sure i’ve read tons more but these are the ones i found that you can busy yourself with :)

The Storm by shirozora

Din Djarin needs a new ship.

Greef Karga makes him a deal - do some work for the guild and he'll get a brand new gunship. One such job takes him to a planet with a volatile storm system to track down a double-crossing bounty hunter. What he doesn't know is that the bounty hunter is there to loot an ancient Jedi temple. What neither of them know is that someone else is also on the planet searching for the temple.

And then the storm rolls in.

in-universe

sfw

multichapter/parts

my comfort fic btw ^^ i’ve read it so many times

Mystery Man by snapdragonpop007

Luke is seeing someone, apparently.

And really, it’s none of Anakin’s business.

Really.

modern au

sfw

multichapter/parts

one of the best, funniest fics i’ve ever read ^^

Unfold by SilverScriptings

Han can’t help but be suspicious of a certain Mandalorian who’s been spending an awful lot of time at the Jedi Temple…

in-universe

sfw

multichapter/parts

A Little Farther Down the Line by Chromat1cs

Austin, Texas, 1973. Din Djarin plays the guitar, worries about his kid, and runs aimlessly from a past that pulled the roof down around his ears. When a stunningly-talented duo of up-and-coming performers turns Din’s plans of being a simple session musician clear on their head, Din must decide between the safety of mundanity or the unlooked-at thrill of following his heart lest the tape run out on this track of his life before he’s through recording it.

modern (1970’s) au

nsfw

multichapter

the warmest bed i’ve ever known by ceedawks

pre-original series, din djarin is injured on a remote planet and found by an incessantly chatty farm boy named luke skywalker || i won't ask you to wait, if you don't ask me to stay || aka "making out with hot farm boys doesn't count as breaking the creed if he's blindfolded during it".

pre-ANH/meet on tatooine au (in-universe)

nsfw

multichapter

We Two Scorched the Earth by annathaema (moony)

That left Luke with a much bigger problem: The Sand People knew he was here, they’d likely sabotaged or stolen the speeder by now, and he was stranded in a cave with nothing but a rifle with three rounds left, a survival pack good for only a couple of days, and no transport home. Great. Luke leaned against the wall of the cave and tipped his head back, thumping the back of it against the stone over and over. He closed his eyes and wished for rescue.

Someone groaned.

pre-ANH/meet on tatooine au (in-universe)

nsfw

oneshot

Never leaving well enough alone by DarkIsRising

or Five Times Din and Luke Met (and one time they never parted)

He’s drunk, and he isn’t quite sure how that happened. That’s not true, Luke does remember vaguely how it happened, more or less, and it all started with Han.

in-universe

nsfw

multichapter

Yoda’s Academy for Li’l Padawans by MissDinahDarling

Being a new student is hard.

Being a new student whilst your socially awkward father avoids the school at all costs and your new teacher pines uselessly over a man he’s never met before is even worse.

But by god, Grogu is gonna get through this.

modern au

sfw

multichapter

Just Like Heaven by Kushana

At first, he watches.

Then, he touches.

in-universe

sfw (both aroace ^^)

oneshot

Romance As a Series of Debacles by The SexierEvilerCora

Han stumbles on a golden opportunity to make life difficult for Boba Fett, and drags Luke along as backup to crash a Mandalorian party.

Things do not go as planned for anyone involved.

modern au

nsfw

it’s unfinished with only one chapter but it’s still worth the read

Honey Lemon Popsicle by coffeecatsme

“Good morning,” Luke chirps, not even looking up from the stove, “my honey bunches of oats.”

Din blinks several times, trying to get his muscles to unfreeze, and opens his mouth.

Then closes it.

Then opens it again. “What did you just call me?”

5 times Luke calls Din increasingly weird pet names, and 1 time he finds out Din likes it.

modern au

sfw

oneshot

Restraint and Relaxation by Aureutr_Accoredge

Queen Amidala is sick of watching her son run himself ragged for every good cause he finds. When he collapses at his sister's engagement gala, it is the last straw.

Luke balks, so she summons one of her Mandalorian Knights to take him to the family's lakeside villa to make him rest.

By any means necessary

in-universe

nsfw

oneshot (v good ^^)

these are all the ones i recommend for now! i’ve read other really good fics, but these ones ^^ are the ones i’ve found myself return to at least one way or the other.

please let me know if you're looking for something more specific as well!! i'll do my best to find something for your tastes

[marvelstars]

ObiWan Show(late review)

I agree with many of the critics that said the quality of the show wasn´t the best but I believe they made it a bigger issue than it really is, yes part of it was the lighting because some scenes are just too dark to tell for sure what the characters are doing but it isn´t the worst I have seen.

I personally don´t think it was a bad show it had some good scenes, I liked seeing Obi-Wan´s emotional crisis and seeing Anakin´s ghost or the clone soldiers, those were very heartfelt scenes, I especially liked Leia and the Organa family, especially the suggestion that Leia´s adoption wasn´t something naturally accepted by the Organa family which makes sense given they are an hereditary royal family who are in charge of whole planet, I would have liked to see Leia deal with more of this kind of tension.

I didn´t like Reva as a character in the sense that I didn´t like her personally but she and her story made a lot of sense, I liked the suggestion that Vader knew all along about her and trained her with the other inquisitors just waiting for her to do her move on him. It makes sense for both of them given Vader does understand personal vendettas agaisn´t him especially her being a survivor youngling of the temple, that will not stop Vader because at this point he believes his work in the galaxy and the Empire are neccesary but he understands her motives and yet if she was able to survive their duel to go to Tatooine to try to kill Luke, this means Vader let her live, not sure if this was the writers intention or a problem of continuity.

Which leads me to the issues I had with the story are mainly because they break continuity or don´t make sense for the characters:

Why would Vader leave Obi-Wan alive after he got him in the fire, the only answer I can get is that Obi-Wan needs to survive to be on ANH but I am a sentimental Anakin fan so my take is that he let him go out of sentiment.

Why would Vader attack a whole village just looking for Obi-Wan?, yes I know fandom has this yandere image of Vader because of Anakin but this isn´t some random fanfic or fanart or fan animation this is a proffesional show and this move doesn´t make sense for Vader.

Vader isn´t an overly emotional character, given the many years he spend connected to machines this has given him a different psycology in which he sees things and events very matter of fact even when he is furious, when he kills he is overly clinical and cold about it and usually has a purpose be it his perception of a failure(ESB) in his men, rebels getting in the way in fragant attack on the Empire(Rogue One/ANH) and even in those cases he took prisoners(ANH), protection of the Emperor(ROTJ) or self defense(ESB,ROTJ,SWR). Vader killing villagers out of nowhere and just he can do it acomplishes nothing, it made him look like a monster acting in a choreographed show made to scare away tourists instead of a believable character and moment in the story.

Why would Bail Organa leave essential information about Leia and Luke for anyone to find out about when he is supposed to be a founder of the rebel alliance and knows how to be a spy in the Senate since he teached Leia how to do exactly that?. I see how this helped advance the plot for Reva´s character arc but it didn´t made sense for Bail´s character.

Why would Obi-Wan leave Vader alive if he had the oppotunity to kill him only to leave that duty to Luke, Anakin´s own Son, it isn´t a good look for Obi-Wan to leave the matter of killing Vader to his Son for some nebulous reason, this actually makes him look cruel and it breaks continuity because if he was able to do that then there is not reason for him and Yoda to keep being in hidding for another 10 years if they can team up to kill both Vader and the Emperor. This is why in the original story they no longer were able to defeat them and that´s why they needed Luke and Leia´s help.

So in short I liked the show, some scenes like Vader´s and ObiWan final duel were hearfelt and very well done but I didn´t like the fact they bassically did copy and paste of Vader´s confrontation with Ahsoka, except for the part of "I am not your failure Obi-Wan" but as a whole I believe it could have been written better to make the story work in continuity with the prequels and the original trilogy.

I would be in favor of a new edition of the show in which they correct those mistakes, yes I am also waiting for frogs to rain but well, those are my two cents about this show :D

[brianhanes]

Why Star Wars Attack of the Clones Wasn’t That Bad

A lot of times Attack of the Clones get slack from Star Wars (especially Original Trilogy fans) but it honestly was a decent film even if it wasn’t great for Star Wars standards. 

1. The Prequels faced a very high standard

As previously mentioned, the Original Trilogy is one of the best trilogies of all time. Many consider it to be the best trilogy in cinema history. They were known for having great acting, stunning graphics, and a compelling story. This means people expected to see all the same from the Prequels and anything it fell short on caused people to ignore it’s strengths.

I’d honestly argue Attack of the Clones had better pacing than A New Hope. I’m not saying it was a better movie but for me, many of the scenes that took place in the middle of the film (in the Death Star) were dull. We also need to keep in mind the Vader vs Ben Kenobi duel was poor and the movie made stromtroopers look like a joke with them constantly missing. But nostalgia can fix many things. Don’t get me wrong, the start of the ANH was very strong and the end of it (trench run and celebration scene) brought about some of the best moments in cinema history. 

2. It reduced the sting of Jar Jar

The main reason and many viewers enjoy Attack of the Clones more than the Phantom Menace is because of Jar Jar Binks. That character had constant, over-the-top comedic scenes that just weren’t funny. Many thought he killed the movie and Attack of the Clones was at least watchable in most scenes. More so, it made such an annoying character become a mature senator. He ended up being more mature than Anakin!

3. People Took it Too Seriously

This honestly is the biggest reason people didn’t enjoy the film as much as they could have. Attack of the Clones is easily one of the funniest if not the funniest Star Wars movie of all time. I watched it as a kid, so I was able to see this, and I watched it again as an adult and enjoyed it even more. It isn’t a Rogue One type of story and shouldn’t be treated that way.

4. We get to see Anakin simp as soon as it starts

When I rewatch, this scene always has me cracking up. Perhaps some people had gotten so old that they forgot what it was like to be young. If you understand what it’s like to be a teenager and young adult, then much of what Anakin does should make you laugh. I’ve known so many Anakins in my life and honestly don’t know what we’d do without them bringing flavor in this world.

Anakin loses it with Obi Wan all because he’s flipping out about some girl. But it’s not just about that, he’s a young man who wants to prove who he is. Like many recent high school grads in the work force and college graduates. Anakin at this time was 19, still a teenager who wants to rush too quickly which gets him into trouble. I myself have had to learn this lesson so many times, to slow down.

Every time I hear Anakin impulsively say, “WHY??!!” I bust out. Even Jar Jar gulps in fear when he witnesses Anakin’s outburst. And pay close attention, you’ll notice Anakin is still staring at Padme when everyone else has moved on. Lucas knew exactly what he was doing lmao.

5. Anakin is so realistic

People like to make fun of prequel dialogue even if they believed Anakin was a decent or good actor, but I have another argument, the dialogue wasn’t even that bad. At least not as bad as many people were making it out to be. For me, realistic acting is never bad acting because the point of acting is to mimic reality.

 Let us think about Anakin’s past shall we. In the last movie he was a slave. Taken away to join a group of detached monks for ten years. For all his highschool age and younger years he never learned how to deal with women he liked. He never kissed a girl, probably had no idea what flirting was, and wasn’t trained on dating etiquette. Whether people would like to admit it or not most of us wouldn’t figure out and many of us still haven’t in better circumstances found out how to talk to people we are attracted to. 

I knew awkward adults in college and high school when it came to women. Why then is it strange for Anakin to be awkward when they who at least had more opportunities to learn about dating approaches were just as awkward?

PADME!!! 

6.The first conflict was fun

I did not watch Attack of the Clones in theaters, it was a bit before my time. The first Star Wars movie I watched in theaters was Revenge of the Sith, but I was still quite young then. I don’t know how people initially reacted when the saw the movie. but it had a strong start. There was a conflict, we knew a bounty hunter wanted to hunt down Padme. Anakin had simp tension, and an epic chase ensued throughout the Corsucant streets.

7. Anakin killing the Tuskens was also realistic

Remember when I said Anakin was only 19? There are soldiers who at 19 snapped and wiped out villages. Killing men, women, and children. More so, Anakin himself is a former child soldier. Who was recruited at 9. Jedi in the Clone Wars TV series fight at 14. Anakin in a legends comic killed someone at 10 years old. Perhaps that could have been more fleshed out, but when you are fighting at such a young age your mind is at risk.

Not to mention they just killed his mother in cold blood. I also loved the scene itself. Seeing Anakin rage and slash up Tuskens was great. I thought his acting was amazing. He was clearly ticked off and people often blame others when big incidents happen (like how he blamed Kenobi). Some people criticize Padme for staying with Anakin knowing he slaughtered tuskens of all ages. But Padme’s reaction was realistic.

I recommend people watch a movie called “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” about Tina Turner. It’s incredibly underrated. Women stay with abusive men all the time. In this case, she had a clear way to justify it because they killed his mother and Tuskens had terrorized the local villages for years. The Tuskens themselves have probably cleaned out households, so while Anakin’s actions weren’t justifiable they are not surprising and remember Anakin is from Tatooine. 

For all we know, he may have heard bad stories about them for years even while he was gone away as a Jedi. He might have been anxious about his mother well before the movie.

8, Jango Fett vs Obi Wan

This fight was epic and Jango gave us everything Boba didn’t in ROTJ, an amazing fight! Jango was the first to really show us that you don’t have to be a Jedi in Star Wars to take them on.

9. Jango vs Obi Wan in Space

Ok honestly, this was one of the best dogfights in Sci-Fi history. There I said it. It was phenomenal 10/10 the entire time. And it even did things to make it stand out as a showdown such as...

10. Seismic Charges

Jango’s use of a homing rocket was also a nice addition to the space showdown.

11. No Dull Moments

How anyone can watch Anakin riding that animal until he gets bucked off without laughing is beyond me. It’s gold and the CGI only makes it more comical. 

12. The sand joke

Big deal, Anakin said sand is rough, course, and irritating. Is that not true? Sand really has all of those qualities. Is it more irritating that he said everything is smooth on Naboo, perhaps but is it that big of a deal. I’ve heard plenty of people make weird statements before and remember this is a monk who was not able to party, date, or do anything wild. 

If you live a socially deprived like you might make lame statements too. All we can reasonably expect Anakin to do well is fight well and he did that. Outside of that, we could somewhat expect him to conduct himself professionally, but there is always an immature person out there. Like many young people, rock stars, class clowns, and others. There is always that person, why can’t it be Anakin. 

13. The Droid Factory

This was a visually stunning scene with great action. We also got a good humor bit with R2 and 3P0. They are always 100 percent on character. Their argument about leaving the ship was noteworthy as well.

Also mentioning humor, when Obi Wan said he wanted to be left alone and Anakin literally wanted to ditch him after he was captured, I was in stitches. Seriously felt like a comedy skit. Padme of course does the mature thing and emphasizes that they need to rescue Obi Wan and lets Anakin know that she’ll be looking for Obi Wan. Anakin then has no choice but to also look for his master.

Maybe he was seriously, lol. Perhaps he had been nagged one too many times. Perhaps he was yanking her tail and knew Padme would insist. I guess Kenobi would have to hope that was the case. 

14. The Arena creatures

A great nod to Star Wars in general. Creatures have always been an essential part of Star Wars and Anakin never missed his mark. Especially when Anakin took command of one of them. That was iconic. 

15. The Arena Battle

Here Lucas did something really novel. In other depictions, we always only saw one or two Jedi around. Lucas gave us a scene with 200 Jedi fighting together as a group against a massive droid army. Like the Battle of Hoth, speeder chase, Mustafar duel, Phantom Menace duel, and Battle over Coruscant this was a staple moment in Star Wars. 

Though the scene itself might not have been cinema gold, the idea was. it really deserves to get remade more in Star Wars video games. I hope to see more scraps like this in Tales of the Jedi’s next seasons.

17. C3PO switched out

Hilarious, who’d ever imagine fighting him? Him nearly blasting Gunray made it even better.

18. The Clone Troopers

One of the most beloved aspects of Star Wars. What later became a staple of the Clone Wars 2003 miniseries and 2008 Clone Wars series. It all started here and there was something special about the early clones. While the second phase of clones was my favorite (episode 3 timeline), I really enjoyed the uniform, professional, and mysterious vibes we got form the early clone troopers.

19. Count Dooku

One of the most iconic, beloved, elegant, and unique Sith Lords of all time emerged. Dooku is a staple Star Wars character (like Maul, Vader, Grievous, Jango Fett, Luke, Obi Wan) who is listed in many fans top 10 Star Wars characters. Not only is he an amazing villain but he makes for a great anti-hero or anti-villain in the Tales of the Jedi tv series. And they picked someone who was 80 years old yet still seemed powerful at all moments and someone who they can still make a lot more content about in a new show.

20. Mace Windu

Mace Windu is a classic prequel character. He has been shown in countless tv shows, comics, and novels. He is known for his dogmatic nature, being a mighty force user, and exceptional duelist. Mace really shows us what it’s like to look at an intimidating Jedi Master. His showing against Jango Fett further displays his dominance. 

Dude is just OP!

21. Yoda in action

I’ve heard that people reacted by cheering in the theaters while watching Yoda’s first lightsaber duel. I remember watching the documentary and seeing how the Prequel devs created a unique acrobatic fighting style for the legendary Jedi master. He dueled in a way that made him seem terrifying and inspiring despite his size.

He showed he had the force feats and saber skills to easily match a lethal Sith Lord who just beat two top tier duelists. This was another groundbreaking moment in Star Wars much like Obi Wan’s duel with Grievous and the fight in the Phantom Menace with a double bladed lightsaber user. 

22. Geonosians

Star Wars has many fascinating cultures and races such as the Wookiees, Ewoks, Mandalorians, and Twileks but what makes Geonosians particularly inspiring is their insect like appearance. More so, most of them seem to have an ability to fly and they have unique weapons that make them lethal warriors. The vicious nature of Geonosian warriors was further explore in the Star Wars Republic Commando video game which came two years after the release of Attack of the Clones. 

23. Kamino

I don’t know how I skipped this but I skipped it. Kamino was an awesome water world. Similar to how Mustafar was an awesome fire planet and Naboo was stunning. Bespin was a gorgeous land in the clouds and Hoth was a nice arctic tundra. Kamino is another fine addition to Star Wars’s collection of intriguing locations.

24. It builds up beautifully with Revenge of the Sith

Especially the scene where Anakin has his vision and his mother dies. It really explains the peril he feels when Padme is also at risk. Anakin didn’t have a lot of people that he loved that weren’t involved in the Jedi Order. And that really matters because all the Jedi that he knew (even the ones he liked) constantly reminded him (whether intentionally or not) of the rules and obligations he desperately wanted a break from.

The scene where Anakin vows to never again let someone he loves die and how he reacts to his mother’s passing is huge. It really lays out why he isn’t willing to risk Padme’s death in Episode 3 and how his biggest issue is an inability to accept that some things are beyond his control. Furthermore, it laid out the foundation for the story of Darth Plageius the Wise.

My rating of ATOC is 7 out of 10 stars but I honestly enjoy it more than that rating.

25. Obi Wan’s sass

Ok how did I miss this? Anakin doesn’t get to hog all of the comedic points. Kenobi definitely deserves to join in on this fun. If you didn’t notice his blatant sarcasm during the “rescue attempt” I really don’t know what to tell you.

26. The Fireplace Scene

One of my friends mainly agrees with me, he tells me most of the scenes in this movie are decent. Some were a bit cringey but they made sense (like how Anakin acted around Padme) but the fireplace scene was just atrocious. I’m going to argue with him. I’m going to argue it was delicious. But seriously, this is an all or nothing scene. 

Either you love it or hate it and I love it to pieces! Perhaps not so much if you care about Anakin’s dignity, I mean he really went way to far here. Like I said, the sand quote wasn’t embarrassing, it wasn’t an odd thing to think though uncommon to express. But the I CAN’T BREATH, you’re in MY SOUL TOURMENTING ME! That would get a man ghosted very quickly.

Still, fighting in the battlefield and almost getting killed alongside each other might change things. I mean, maybe Padme was intending to ghost and friend zone until that happened. Being a hero, slashing droids in half, that definitely can win a woman over.

And to be fair, if a woman meets with you in a nice gown and you’re supposed to “protect her” I’m not quite sure what her real motives are.

27. Deathsticks

Brilliant, brilliant, absolutely BRILLIANT! Seriously, drugs in Star Wars were makes it feel much more real. But what’s even better about this is Kenobi himself uses his trademark jedi mindtrick to convince a man to clean himself up, stop selling drugs, and change his life. That’s inspiring, Lucas was dropping golden nuggets and making people laugh in a Star Wars movie. 

28. Little Boba

This was honestly a nice touch. Boba at this point in the story a goofy little kid, it added personality to his dry yet cool persona we saw in the OT. Which was appropriate for the Original Trilogy, but it is important to know that people are people, there is a reason they act however they do. 

Boba Fett yelling, “Get him dad. Get HIM. FIRA.” It wasn’t that bad and hey he was a kid, just rooting for his father. Boba also showed maturity by doing as Jango ordered without hesitation and being able to operate the Slave 1 on his own even managing to use it to hurt Obi Wan.

The most important scene here was him witnessing his father’s death, it completely explain how he became such a ruthless and cold bounty hunter later. But like his father Boba had some values, unfortunately AOTC didn’t do a good job showing the values Jango had or how he passed them down to his son.

29. Dexter’s Diner

It was a nice dive into a more casual aspect of the Star Wars universe. I felt the same way about the glimpses we got into Coruscant, the Jedi Temple, Naboo, and the public transport in the film. The nice thing about Star Wars is getting different themes and narratives each movie. it can’t be all doom and gloom like Revenge of the Sith, Rogue One, and you get it.

30. Look at what it led to

I pretty much wrapped it up but I want to add this. I’m not focusing on projects that came out Revenge of the Sith, which in my opinion was the best movie lore-wise (not in general) in Star Wars history. Attack of the Clones and the Phantom Meance may not be the best Star Wars movies by any means, but they were decent (well TPM is decent without Jar Jar) but lore-wise I think the Prequels as a whole are on another level to anything else Star Wars. 

Star Wars Republic Commando (2004)

One of the best video game series of all time. It was outright phenomenal and delved more deeply into the mysterious, sci-fi, war, and clone aspects of the Clone Wars that Attack of the Clones introduced us to.

Star Wars Clone Wars (2003) Volume 1

This series was epic and action packed. It really showed us the huge battles, vast frontiers, mysterious worlds, great array of vehicles, and different climates that were shown in Clone Wars battles. This is a distinct vibe from the later Clone Wars which has more of an episode 3 vibe. The biggest difference is by then both the CIS and Republic are much more developed and begin to fight in more populated and crowded worlds. 

The 2008 Clone Wars series initially gave us a blend of both feels that were in Episode II and III but eventually (post season 3) became more centered on the Episode III tone of war. The same was true with the second volume of the Clone Wars (which makes perfect sense) but the first volume is largely regarded as the favorite. And what really made it special was that peculiar vibe the era had, you never knew what you were going to encounter.

When invisible droids engaged Yoda on Illum or when Ventress dueled Anakin something about it was so new and fresh that isn’t easily implemented in other eras. And for good resaon, they all have something special about them.

Star Wars The Clone Wars (2002)

It was a phenomenal vehicle based video game that existed in a Star Wars setting. It had a compelling story, epic battles, unique vehicles, and diverse multiplayer modes. This game just showed how much potential the AOTC era had.

Star Wars Republic (2002-2004 content)

While Republic initially came after The Phantom Menace and many of it’s great comics were inspired by the character Quinlan Vos, much of it’s content that came after 2002 was influenced by Attack of the Clones. But likewise Attack of the Clones was influenced by the comic series. 

Many people though Aayla Secura was created in Attack of the Clones, but she actually first appeared in Star Wars Republic back in 1998. Still, the Clone Wars timeline brought many interesting storylines to this series.

[this-acuteneurosis]

In response to Leia's knowledge/reactions to people having feelings for her - it seems like her general approach is "god I can't deal with this right now there is freaking WAR, if they don't bring it up then I'm not bringing it up either". Which is a very fair response! But it makes me wonder if the only reason she and Han ever actually got together (also during a war where Leia was under a lot of stress) was because Han, uh...wasn't exactly diplomatic about it hahaha

I mean, he was definitely straightforward and literally in Leia's face about his interest, and I think that played a big factor in them actually getting somewhere. Partly in a practical sense, and partly from a character/relationship story development perspective.

We aren't told directly in the OT movies that Leia isn't interested in romance or Han because Trauma and War, between ANH and ESB the almost explicit reason is that Leia doesn't take him seriously. Either doesn't see him as competent or sees Han as too selfish. And arguably he can be both incompetent and selfish, but he's also pretty good at living in the moment, which is something Leia is pretty actively avoiding trying to do.

It's sort of interesting because I don't know how intentional this was, but Leia learning to be a bit selfish about loving Han and doing things for him (like dropping rebel missions to save him from Jabba) was a good setup for her allowing Luke to be selfish and do the same to go after his father. Her immediate reaction after Luke leaves, in fact, is to selfishly turn to Han for comfort. Even when he believes she's well on her way to choosing Luke over Han. (The hijinks of that triangle are just hilarious.)

Anyway, that perspective definitely colors, for me, how Leia is handling romance in DLB. There aren't very many people brash or pushy enough in Leia's orbit to break through her bad habits and obsessions to make her admit she wants/needs intimacy and comfort. And those that do so far aren't really interested in her romantically (Shmi, Plo Koon sometimes, ghost Luke).

So they wait, quietly and patiently, for her to let go or get distracted and ask.

(They have a long wait...)

[thewriterowl]

Ms. Owl, I was wondering about the relationship between Obi-Wan, and Jango in your fic "Where We're Finding Home".

How would the two react to potential suitors? Or just someone who is very persistent and wants to hook up with either of them. Would they get jealous? And what would they say? And just how would it go if they ran into Cody again, especially because we know that Cody leaves the Empire.

Also if Vader had killed Obi-Wan like he did in ANH how would Jango, Boba, and Luke react? Would Jango, and Boba decide that they want revenge, or decide to lock up their emotions so they don't have to confront their heartbreak? (Because we all know that Jango did fall in love with Obi...even though he wasn't the type of person to outright say it, and Boba truly did love him as a parent) And how would Luke look at it? Obviously his reaction would be more emotional than it was in ANH since Obi-Wan raised him.

Hello! oh yay! A Finding Home Question! I enjoyed writing that story so it is always fun to hear people are interested in it.

So for suitor situation, i see them both being a bit pouty and jealous if another tries to move into their space. Jango especially would be very territorial over Obi-Wan (and over Luke because it would be a worry that if someone tried to marry Obi-Wan they would try to take his son from him and that is always his biggest concern) but he would be quiet and grumpy about it. Pulling more inward into himself...and growling from a corner at the people getting too close to his Jedi.

Obi-Wan, the master flirt, would be far more open. He would tell Jango he was pleased the man was getting attention as he deserved but it was a bit of a sore point. But, he was raised as a Jedi so it would not be as big of a deal for him as he is willing to let go if needed and if it ensures Jango's happiness. He rarely hides his feelings via words, so I think he would feel it, think on it, understand it, talk about it, and let it go.

Now, as for the NH situation...it would be brutal if that happened. Luke, who would have been trained and raised by Obi-Wan for nineteen years at this point, would be far more Jedi about it. It would be painful, he would mourn, but he would be able to feel Obi-Wan in the Force and would understand about letting go. He would not vow revenge, as neither he nor Obi-Wan go that route, and instead would vow this is all the more reason to save his father. He would try to be there for his buir and brother but neither of them, even after being with Obi-Wan for so long, would be able to handle it as well. It would put a strain on the family but Luke would work to keep them tied together.

However, this would make Jango and Boba fiercely overprotective over Luke as they now realize what that loss will do to them and cannot handle the thought of him being taken away from them as well.

[spell-cleaver]

What do you think would’ve happened if, pre-Bespin, Palpatine just up and died? besides Much Celebration.

Depends on if this happens before or after Vader knows about Luke, but either way: civil war within the Empire. We know from ANH that there are plenty of military leaders who dislike and refuse to respect Vader (understandable, when your job security is based on understanding the machinations of the Empire, and Vader doesn't machinate, he murders). And while I love an AU where Vader becomes Emperor as much as anyone else, I think seriously that there must be plenty of people more politically minded who see Vader as a relic, one that would be especially outdated once Palpatine died. They wouldn't want to support him as Emperor - if you consider the comics canon, then the entire plot line with Vader and Shu-Torun shows that he's more interested in force (ha) than pandering. And that works when you have the might of a unified empire to bring down on one dissenting and small (if wealthy) planet. But not when that empire is fracturing underneath the weight of your own reputation. Because ultimately, the Empire came about as a promise to many politicians and people feeling dissatisfied with the Republic, and Vader isn't savvy enough to even make similar promises, let alone so much as look like he's delivering on them.

So I think that if Vader knew about Luke, he'd immediately seize power and funnel all his resources into finding him now that he doesn't have to fear his master finding out. But the resources would run dry quickly, as plenty of loyal Imperials split and probably support another candidate, who serves their interests and Palpatine's promised legacy more. Less so if Palpatine had declared Vader his heir unambiguously, but that's a big if, and I can see him not doing that just to throw the place into chaos. Plus, look at the Anarchy: England was thrown into war because a bunch of people swore to recognise Matilda as Henry I's heir then just upped and went back on their word, so even if Vader was declared his heir, the planetary leaders and other influential figures might not accept it.

So half the court are clamouring to claim that they are Palpatine's spiritual successor, not his brute of a guard dog, and factions rise quickly. Vader does not have the political acumen to deal with this at all, and if he's hunting Luke, he doesn't care much until it impedes his hunt. If he catches him, that's even worse, because no one will willingly accept this random Rebel barely in his 20s as royalty and that just increases opposition. If Vader doesn't know about Luke, then he is more focused on the fact his empire is falling apart at the seams, and probably murdering anyone who dissents, but that's gonna make the situation worse.

Meanwhile, the Rebels don't really care about who's in charge of the Empire; the fact there is an empire is the issue. Vader was the one hunting them anyway, so I imagine Palpatine was just a distant symbolic figure. They're celebrating his death, but the fight's not done; the system he crafted is still very much in place, and his ideas are still running rampant. The chaos and coups probably give them many more footholds than they would otherwise have, but depending on how competent Vader's opposition are, there's no guarantee they can thrive.

So, overall, I think it would be a mess. Whether that mess is deadlier than the ruthlessly ordered murder machine that was Palpatine's Empire depends on how incompetent at politics Vader is, and how canny his opponents are. But when you've had one man in charge of the galaxy for 32 years, through wars and regime shifts and rebellions, his death is always gonna be tumultuous. And the problems in the set up of the galaxy didn't begin and end with him: he used prejudices and issues that already existed, twisted them to serve his purposes, and that discourse will last long after its enabler is gone.

[redrascal1]

Okay...I’d like to talk about Armitage Hux.

We are understandably furious at how Adam and Loan were treated in TROS...but let us also spare a thought for Domhnall Gleeson, who was also shat on, putting it bluntly.

Let’s take a look back at the OT. In ANH, Vader was actually a supporting villain - the ‘big bad’ was Tarkin. And who can forget the late Peter Cushing’s legendary performance as ‘the guy who held Vader’s leash.’ Cushing proved that you don’t need the Force to be a genuinely menacing bad guy.

Now... a lot of people have argued that Rian Johnson was too ‘jokey’ in how he directed Hux. But, apart from when Kylo used the Force when he threw him across the ATAT cockpit (or whatever you call it), Hux was only an object of ridicule at the very beginning.

Throughout most of TLJ, he was dead serious. 

Hux could have made an amazing big bad in TROS. All the ingredients were there. He despised Kylo. He was highly ambitious, and craved the role of Lord Marshal. Most of all..he was intelligent.

Remember, Starkiller was Hux’s creation. He thought up, in all likelihood designed, the device that tracked the Raddus through Hyperspace. He accused Kylo of ‘daring to command his armies’...which showed the power he had within the First Order.

He was, in fact, far better suited to the job of leader than the volatile, unstable Kylo.

Which is why his fate in TROS was not only ridiculous...it was an insult to both Domhnall and his character.

Hux would never have struck a deal with the Resistance in order to bring Kylo Ren down. He loathed them. He had plenty of other methods to get rid of his enemy.

Hux, as I’ve said, was anything but stupid. An idiot could see Kylo was lying when he told him Rey was responsible for Snoke’s death. No way could a girl who was untrained, and inexperienced, not only kill a powerful Darksider like Snoke but also ALL of his guards alone. Kylo had to use the Force to subdue Hux into accepting him as leader. But, ironically as Leia Organa said to Tarkin:

‘Force never does work in the long time.’

From a perfectly logical point of view...despite his gifts with the Force, Kylo was one man. He didn’t command the respect, or loyalty, Hux had from his fellow officers. And...he wasn’t as terrifying as Snoke. Everyone, from Mitaka to those two humble stormtroopers...knew Kylo Ren had...issues.

And there was plenty of ammunition for Hux to use in a coup to get rid of Kylo. His fascination with Rey. The fact that there were cameras in the elevator that led to the throne room - and in the throne room itself. The fact that Kylo was lying through his teeth regarding Snoke’s fate. Powerful or not, Kylo was one man, and if Hux was able to find evidence that he had murdered Snoke, not Rey... his days as Supreme Leader would have been over.

And then of course, there were the odd experiments Snoke had been carrying out in the Unknown Regions. Hux could have had access to God knows what in WMD to consolidate his role as Lord Marshal and defeat, or at least oust, Kylo.

I am absolutely sure that RJ set up an entirely new possibility for the SWU....instead of a black/white, pure good versus pure evil....we instead could have had a Resistance led by Poe, a far more volatile, violent leader than Leia..’We will burn the FO to the ground’...and a First Order led not by a man with magical powers, but a ruthless military genius whose army was composed of brainwashed innocents. And in the middle we could have had Rey, torn between her loyalty to a Resistance she barely knew and whose methods were starting to disturb her, Finn, who wanted to liberate his former soldiers, not destroy them, and Kylo....ousted by the FO, his only hope would be Rey.

The enemy would have been war itself. The heroes and villains...shades of grey, human even in their inhumanity. And the only way to put an end to the endless conflict would have been the Resolving of Grey...Rey and Kylo finding the balance between them, bringing the eternal conflict between Dark side and Light finally to a satisfying end.

And Hux would be the true villain, and Domhnall  would have pulled it off to perfection. Just look at his face at the end of TLJ as he watched Kylo kneel in the abandoned base...a predator smelling blood. The usurper waiting in the wings, until the right time to strike.

We not only lost the chance to see a heroic Ben Solo ....but a glorious villain in Armitage Hux.

What a waste. Sorry Domhnall. Like Loan and Adam, you were robbed.

[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-

[cienie-isengardu]

Obi Wan Kenobi episode 6 (that I���m gonna ignore as the whole series LOL)

I'm truly grateful to Disney that Hayden and Ewan were brought back to Star Wars and I don't think anything will change this statement. But I'm also so SO GLAD the Obi Wan Kenobi show finally ended and hopefully ended for good. No sequel(s), please, I barely survived this six episodes’ lack of common sense, narrative wise and unnecessary drama that doesn’t add much to established Original Trilogy, including the two duels between Obi Wan and Vader, dragging 10 years old Leia into pretty traumatic mess and Bail having like zero understanding how secrecy works? Sorry, not what I need in my (star wars) life. 

Seriously, though the Obi Wan Kenobi TV series has its good moments and elements (hello, Third Sister, to some degree), it is another reason why Disney!Star Wars doesn't work for me. And yes, I'm aware that some previous animations, movies and other media weren’t always the most coherent sources in regard to logic and world-building (I mean especially TCW / Sequels, bear with my bias), but the whole deal of Obi-Wan's need to sacrifice himself for the rest of group so their ship had time to run away is so SO STUPID. There is a reason why TIE fighters are stationed on big ships, ya know? Tie squadrons should be on the enemy ship's tail from the start (and before anyone will tell me that Vader may have wanted to get Obi-Wan alive then shooting from main turbolasers would not work either. TIEs actually could disarm/damage the ship so that it can be boarded to take people in custody). Even when Obi played the decoy, Vader didn’t need to choose between Jedi and the “rebels” (not mentioning him choosing to destroy a civilian ship would be actually a better choice to hurt Obi-Wan, if he was willing to massacre a village just to get him last time?). Vader could board his own TIE / Lamba class shuttle and simply go after Jedi while leaving rest to the navy. I’m pretty surprised he wasn’t in TIE personally shooting the enemy ship but I guess, that way Obi-Wan would not have a chance to survive LOL.

Anyway, the start of Obi and Vader duel was pretty nice but then the show of course needed to go with destroying Vader’s mask and armor and I guess this was supposed to be the oh so big emotional moment? But that shock value meant something to me after the first or second time I saw unmasked Vader (and the first time was Purge comics, I think?) but after years of Disney/Marvel maiming Vader on every fucking occassion, I feel only irritation, leaving bad taste in mouth. Ahsoka did so in Rebels. Obi did it here. Comics did damage to armor like, at least once per every Darth Vader run lately? It doesn’t feel special. It feels like just standard Wednesday for Vader at this point. And after this supposed emotional closure in which Vader… suddenly doesn't blame Obi-Wan for Anakin’s death/own suffering??? (“I am not your failure, Obi-Wan. You didn’t kill Anakin Skywalker. I did.) in contrast to the previous episode (I am what you made me?) but it doesn’t lead to anything really? I mean, yes, of course, they couldn’t make Obi Wan killing Vader in this scene but him walking away and leaving (again) dangerous Sith to terrorize galaxy for the next decade is so… I’m lacking a word for what it is. It only makes me feel definitely sure Obi Wan and Anakin should have never met between RotS and ANH and the last two duels were unnecessary and done only for drama. I understand why Kenobi didn’t (couldn’t) kill Anakin on Mustafar but here, him walking away and dooming galaxy is just so, dunno, selfish and fucked up?. But yeah, why not, the new hope (Luke) will be there to ask to finish the job LOL.

(Oh, and don’t let me start about how Disney/Marvel use Vader’s amputated, wounded body for shock value and the feeling of horror. I’m really, really tired of new canon maiming Anakin on screen and comics pages time after time.)

I also finally figured out why seeing Vader sitting on the throne bugged me so much. In previous episode(s?) it felt unusual (unnatural) for him to sit in anything beside his meditation chamber, or even to want to have a throne. But this time, when he is speaking to Darth Sidious, his Sith master? Vader sitting doesn’t make sense. Vader was usually kneeling or simply standing while talking to Palpatine. Here, him sitting set him as either equal or at a better position than Sidious and this doesn’t feel right at all.

Okay, I was ranting long enough to draw the picture that Disney!star wars doesn’t work for me, not in the context of established sources like the Original Trilogy. The Obi Wan Kenobi TV show demands of me too much mental gymnastics to believe in its narrative or logic, or even care emotionally for what is happening. I guess, if that was a stand-alone, not connected to anything else than RotS series, my feelings would be different but alas, it is as it is. 

For those who enjoyed the show, I’m glad for you. Me myself is going to simply ignore it as much as possible, as I’m ignoring lately a lot other pars of new lore like chips in clone brain, domestic abuse in regard to Anakin and Padme, TCW’s portray of Anakin, Mandalorians with aristocracy and Darksaber as their main power symbol. Yeah, lately I’m pretty good at ignoring stuff.

[nocturnalazure]

Wildcard time! Pick 10 questions from the character ask you really want to answer for whichever character you like <3 (only if you want to of course!)

🥊 Does your OC prefer to take the lead or follow orders? With everyone or just with certain people? Is there a reason for this?

As you might have correctly deducted from his behavior, Romeo prefers following orders because that’s what he’s done his entire life. But that’s the path of least resistance. You have to keep in mind that in bed, he’s a power top. :p

💥 Are there any emotions your OC doesn’t know how to deal with, doesn’t understand or hates having to feel? Any reason behind this?

For this one, I’ll choose Erik.

And yes, there are.

That’s it.

🐉 How religious is your OC? Do they pray to any god(s) or do they not believe in that kind of stuff? What is their view of religion in general? Where do they believe people go when they die? If your OC is not religious why not and what do they believe in otherwise?

Religion is the furthest thing from Noah’s mind. He’s never prayed, never believed in anything but himself. His philosophical standpoint has always been that you’re born, you live, you die, end of story. However... Esther’s death shook him. Esther was someone he particularly related to, cut from the same cloth: ambitious, provocative, greedy. She was taking as much as she could before the grand finale. When she died of cancer, Noah was forced to acknowledge it: life is fragile after all and maybe some things don’t have a price tag.

 💧 What is something from your OC’s past they’re the most ashamed of and why? What is something they’re really proud of? And lastly what is something in their past that could make them shake with dread?

Risa’s greatest shame was her affair with Nathaniel (not only once but twice) but paradoxically, she’s always been extremely proud of Ash, even if looking at him is painful to her because he reminds her so much of his biological father.

What instantly fills her with dread is memories of the time she was abducted by Gilles de Rais. Particularly the moment when he had almost assaulted her.

🐟 What was your OC like as a baby? What were they like as a child? A teenager? An adult? How do you think they’ll develop ten years into their future? Twenty years? Will they live to old age?

Kyle is another of those characters that I introduced into the story without background just because the plot required it. But unlike Uli, he never really got a side story of his own. We don’t know who his parents are or why he was in the park the night he met Tim. Most of his life revolves around managing the band for the other two idiots. Even when he finally found a partner in Shana, we don’t really know anything about them as a couple. He’s just that grumpy voice of reason and a workaholic spoilsport that Uli likes to call “gramps”.

I would really like to do him justice at some point.

🍆 What is your OC like in bed? Are they particularly sensitive or have anywhere they really like being touched? Are they loud, quiet, intense? What are their turn ons and turn offs?

Alesha was Laurie’s first, and let’s just say that they were very active during the time that they were together. She discovered that teasing his nipples is the only way to make him moan and that he has a fetish for sex while fully clothed.

Turn-offs? Come on, they were both horny teenagers. Nothing could turn them off.

🧡 What traits of your own do you see in this OC? Are they a little bit self-inserty? Don’t be shy, we all put parts of ourselves into the creations we love!

Ash and Anh are the two characters that are the most similar to myself (come to think of it, it’s funny that their names are also very similar). To be fully transparent, Ash is closer to an ideal whereas Anh is a more honest version of me (although idealized as well). But there is a little bit of me in many of my other characters: Risa, Laurie, Eloise, Pippa, even Hugo to some extent... they all share common traits with me.

💙 How important is this OC to you? Are they a character that’s helped you through some pretty tough times or could you scrap them without feeling a thing?

None of my characters are expendable but one character I certainly could never scrap is Nathaniel. He is one of the cornerstones of my story and the first character whose life I really became invested into, following him from cradle to death. Killing him off was a tough decision but I never regretted it. I love that somehow, he’s even more present in his absence. :3

💜 Do you enjoy working on your OC or are they a bit of a chore? We all have that one character who is hard to develop!

Remember Gilles de Rais? He’s my main villain. But it’s hard to remember because I have such a hard time fitting him properly into the story. He’s all over the place but I haven’t even started to explain his motives!... I’m a terrible writer.

💗 Ramble a bit about this character!

I have big plans for Hugo. I know I say that about many other characters but... I miss him, and I want him to play a bigger role into the story. He has weird obsessions, and being amoral, he has the potential to sway on either side of the ethical tightrope (if that even makes sense).  All I can say for now is that you should see him pop up into the story at regular intervals.

[obionekenobi]

Obi-Wan Kenobi Predictions

We’re four episodes in with two to go, so let’s talk about the various places the plot can go from here:

Leia and Obi-Wan

It’s been pretty well established at this point that Leia and Obi-Wan have bonded, and that this bond is going to play a role in the future.

So, what could this mean for the final two episodes? I think we can safely expect more bonding moments as Obi-Wan delivers her back to Bail. I’m assuming that the quest ends in episode 6, with some more peril between episodes 5 and 6 to overcome. I’m also assuming their parting will be the final scene (or penultimate scene) of the show as a whole. I also think this scene will imply some form of further contact for them (although it may also imply that Obi-Wan will never be able to speak to her again for her own safety).

I think her reaction to him in ANH implies that she remembers him, so I don’t think this time in her life will be one she forgets or never thinks about again.

Reva

We end episode four with Reva revealing to Vader that she had planted a tracker on Leia’s droid with the intention on hunting down and delivering both Obi-Wan and the fledging rebellion to him. So, we’re obviously going to see the fallout of this, with the forces of the empire converging on the rebellion. It’s pretty clear Reva is gonna be part of this as well.

Reva’s overall goal here is to gain Vader’s approval, and ultimately I don’t think she’s going to get it: she’s either going to die in the final episode, or is going to be let down by Vader in some major way. Based on the episodes so far I’m leaning towards the first, but the second may be possible if an emotional direction is established in episode five that could draw her away from Vader. It’s also possible that Vader himself will kill her, which would be on brand for him.

I think if there’s any thread to pull here regarding a potential Reva redemption, it would probably be the hint given regarding the inquisitors being Jedi who have been turned. If Reva overcomes conditioning or any other sort of hurt connected to Jedi, she may go on the path of a redemption arc. This may be a bit far fetched, but I wonder if she was included in that group of children who were running away during Order 66 in the show’s first scene. The scene seemed very deliberately turning our attention to these children, which makes me think they’ll come back into the story in some form, possibly with Reva (if she’s young enough for the timeline to fit).

If that is true, it would make the absolutely chilling shot of the child’s preserved body in the Jedi tomb all that more horrifying: it implies that the surviving Jedi had no choice but to either die, or turn, no matter how young they were.

Vader

When it comes to Vader, I think our biggest question will be whether or not he and Obi-Wan will face off in another duel. It’s certainly possible: Vader very much wants to find and kill him himself, and I assume he’ll be personally involved in the attack that will follow the tracker put on Leia.

However, if I had to guess, I don’t think it’ll happen again. I think the next time they fight will be Obi-Wan’s death in ANH. In fact, I even doubt they’ll have a great deal of interaction at all: I think Obi-Wan will try to avoid being put in that situation again. He may have a conversation as some sort of closure, but I don’t think they’ll go in that direction. While I would prefer more interactions between them, I think they’ll be sparing with them to heighten the stakes of what would come in the future with ANH.

Ultimately, I think Vader’s role in this show is to function as a symbol for Obi-Wan’s failure and as a goal for Reva to strive towards, and any further use of him will be to fulfill one of these storylines.

Force sensitive children

I just want to address this quick reference briefly. It was mentioned earlier in the show that the Empire is hunting down and stealing force sensitive children, and children in general seem to be the heart of this show. I think this thread will be referenced or it will be brought back to connect the show to another SW property with regards to where this practice goes.

Within the Kenobi show, it is possible that the next episode will have them run into a facility that houses these children, and it’ll showcase a scene or mini arc of them freeing these children. Thematically, it would work to restore Obi-Wan’s confidence and show him that he can still help people. It would also bring home that his new role is now specifically to protect children (Luke and Leia in particular) and accept this calling.

Outside of the show, it’s possible this plot will tie into why the empire was after Grogu so aggressively during The Mandalorian. It may also be the prototype for Finn’s origin story two generations later: a force sensitive child stolen from his family and raised to work for an evil empire.

The resistance

Finally, the show has started introducing elements of what will later become the resistance of the original trilogy. I believe the Path will later become or be folded into The Resistance, and thus the final two episodes will feature them significantly as they fight to survive and carry on helping others escape from the empire. I think the show will be a turning point for them, where they ultimately commit to fighting the empire head on.

If this is the case, it implies that Obi-Wan played an important role in forming or adding to the Resistance of the original trilogy, which is pretty significant and cements his legacy within the fight of freeing the galaxy from the empire he feels at least partially responsible for creating.