#lightsaber fights

[jedidryad]

Have you ever thought of getting married, Mara?

Jedi training gets messy as Mara finds herself in the middle of a complicated situation. Lightsabers Are Always Loaded: Chapter 7 is up!

[sambrin]

and that's why i wish they've made the fight scenes slower in tcw, like, more realistic speed. you miss a lot

That s6 episode is also the one where dooku punts obi wan into orbit is it not? top ten Star Wars moment tbh just bc of how fast he forcibly exits stage left

YES, ANON, IT IS

It’s also the fight where Dooku literally rolls Obi-wan like a bowling ball:

But then I was looking at it again (for like, the thousandth time), and I realized just how good Dooku is in this duel. (And how almost good Obi-wan is.)

(And small disclaimer here, I have no knowledge of “real” sword-fighting aside from what I’ve absorbed through general cultural osmosis and a curious google instinct, this is just an interpretation from my over-excited brain.)

Anakin, for the most part, sticks with Djem So as his primary fighting style, incorporating elements of Ataru in his more acrobatic moments. This holds true throughout the entirety of TCW and is the form by which he eventually overwhelms Dooku in RotS. 

Dooku, however, gives a minor masterclass in sword(saber) fighting in this sequence, not only using his preferred Makashi (although I have to say, the man can take on Obi-wan and Anakin at once with one hand behind his back and my gods, is that not evidence of skill), but also demonstrating his ability at

Djem So:

Soresu (at least a bastardized form, but I can’t be the only person who recognized that stance Dooku uses):

and Ataru (I mean, Dooku did train Qui-gon):

But what I really love is the fact that Obi-wan tries to adapt to this, matching Dooku’s *Makashi:

and Ataru (in this case, exactly copying his movements):

Which...I mean, Obi-wan is essentially being a mini-Dooku here, although he isn’t quite at Dooku’s level for a variety of reasons I have discussed previously in terms of Obi-wan never being on his game around Dooku and actually consistently underperforming when he’s in the presence of his Grandmaster.

But you have to hand it to Dooku for not only winning a(nother) duel against two of the best Jedi in the Order, but doing it with style.

I love this evil, old man. 

[andoutofharm]

new old mcr footage in the green day american idiot 20th anniversary documentary!

[bikananjarrus]

can i just say it felt so fucking GOOD to have good, well-executed, fast-paced (!!) lightsaber fight choreography. the fights were exciting! each character had their own distinct style that matched their abilities and size! they were fast!!!!!! hands down the best saber fights we’ve seen in live-action sw in a long time.

[magicalplaylist]

[one-time-i-dreamt]

Taylor Swift and the Pure Vessel from Hollow Knight were fighting for the ownership of Homestuck via lightsaber duel. Pure Vessel won and rebooted the webcomic.

[certainwizardlady]

Careful showing your borrower friends certain shows. I now have to have a steady supply of glow sticks on hand.

[carlyraejepsans]

to summarize an unduly rambly post: our control over kris has been steadily growing more and more distressing for them throughout the story. the snowgrave route, possibly the most gut wrenching, violating imposition of our will on theirs AND Noelle's (*homer voice* so far!), explicitly, thematically, and visually represents possession and coercion through romantic imagery, specifically rings and weddings. it's nauseating. it forces both of them into an implied relationship that neither of them is comfortable in by leveraging noelle's desperate wish to reconnect with her childhood friend. it has exactly the horrible connotations you don't want it to have.

ralsei being presented as both a direct callback to asriel—both the undertale asriel we know, and y'know... kris' brother in deltarune—while also setting him and kris up in a clearly romantic context that kris does not seem to either share or be comfortable with, is not a coincidence. it's not an accident. "isn't that a little incestuous" that's the point! kris' agency being stripped away is one of deltarune's main thematic cores: the game is repeatedly setting up a pattern where that theme is reinforced by putting kris in upsetting, unwanted romantic relationships for OUR entertainment. nothing fits the bill better than pairing them with the nostalgia bait companion that literally looks like their brother.

[stealingpotatoes]

Oh my GOD I've fallen down the rabbit hole of your glorious skywalkers apart AU and quite apart from being ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED, I have to know if my boy Cal is around in it?!

yes but i never really developed it!! ok we all know i'm never gonna finish that comic script i'll just tell u guys -- in said script, after leia and anakin free Padme, they find out Luke was taken somewhere else which, after a family recon mission, they find is FORTRESS GODDAMN INQUISITORIUS! (which they assume is bc luke tried to use the force to stop the initial arrest, big mistake huge)

anyway all this to say cal's involvement was a tiny-mentioned cameo to explain why anakin knew how to infiltrate nur (the exact line i wrote in the never-finished-script was "we met this jedi survivor a few years back" + comments abt said survivor inflitrating nur 10 years ago yes it was that unsubtle) -- the idea was they had run into one another on a short mission in the past and then gone their separate ways!

[starwarjotta]

Day 6 - resolve the resolve to protect those you care about even against impossible odds

[politicalprocrastinator]

some bitches would appreciate the prequels better if they accepted that qui gon jinn is a hard working single mother who braided obi wan's padawan braid every morning and obi wan is that stoner babysitter that didn't graduate college but constantly gives you insane life advice

[sailorsol]

So. I am a member of Saber Guild, a Lucasfilms approved lightsaber choreo group. I've been doing it for two years now, and have helped choreograph several fights both big and small. I'm nowhere near an expert, but I spend a lot of time around people swinging sabers, from beginners to fairly talented people with various martial arts backgrounds they've incorporated into their style.

What I really noticed in the finale of the Ahsoka show was just how uncomfortable Rosario seemed with her sabers. She lacked a lot of fluidity of someone who has practiced a lot. I should probably rewatch the fight with Hayden to really get into it, because Hayden and Ewan spent just so much time practicing that their fighting is so smooth. And I think Rosario just didn't get that insane amount of practice they did.

Like, you mention using stunt doubles, but that entire fight at the end of RotS was Ewan and Hayden. At full speed. Which is *insane* and speaks of so many hours of practice. But a detail I loved in the Kenobi show was when we first saw Obi-Wan pick up his saber again after ten years, how clumsy and uncomfortable he seemed. Until that moment he was fighting the troopers in the Fortress and you see it coming back to him and you finally get his infamous Soresu stance and Saber twirl.

Fights don't have to be fast to look good. Rey and Kylo's fight at the end of The Last Jedi isn't particularly fast, and it is actually a lot of just hacking and swinging, which makes sense for Rey who has never used a Saber and is used to fighting with a staff, and Kylo who values strength over style. Vader is the same way, which is the juxtaposition with how Anakin fought. He valued strength, hence the Djem So, but he also liked being flashy.

They've also changed the way they do the lightsaber choreo since the prequels. It used to be the hilt and a relatively small and light shaft. These days they use the stunt sabers we use for our performances, which generally have a 1" pvc blade with some actual weight to it. And the blades light up, which is how we ended up with the awesome scene in Kenobi with Vader's face cast half in blue and half in red, because the SFX folks finally realized glowy laser swords would, well, glow. And I don't recall if they had that in Ahsoka. But I remember after the fight with the night troopers and she turns her sabers off, you can almost see the transition between her holding sabers with blades to holding empty hilts and how Rosario handled them differently.

I don't much care if the fights are slow or fast, i want character accurate fights. The difference between Luke fighting Vader in ESB versus RotJ, versus him in The Mandalorian. You see his progression and comfort with the Saber grow.

Age should not play a huge factor either, especially for a character like Ahsoka. Qui-Gon and Dooku were both older than that, but you can tell Liam Neeson and Christopher Lee felt comfortable with swords.

So basically what I'm saying is, if you are showing me a character with ~50 years of Saber experience, who could keep up with Vader in his prime, who beat Maul at 17, who could take on multiple Inquisitors at once, and she doesn't look comfortable handling those sabers? Maybe you do need a stunt double, or just to have the actress practice spinning them around a lot more until they feel comfortable.

Fans don’t know what they want: Star Wars edition

Don’t know if I’ll make this a recurring type of post but just something I always think of when watching series that’s been on for a long time from Marvel to Pokémon to Dragon Ball etc

So I finished the live-action Ahsoka show and overall I thought it was pretty solid, the thing was I have the benefit of watching most of Rebels and the Clone Wars so my connection to these characters is different from someone who’s never watched them or not a lot as this series was very much a follow-up of Rebels with the Ahsoka clone wars connection as the connecting aspect

Not going to talk too much about the show as it’s still new as I’m posting this

But one thing I kept seeing online and even since the sequel movies was that the lightsaber fights have been slow and boring etc…

And while I agree in a certain sense that they don’t look as fast as animation or the prequels

The problem is that one of the big complaints of the prequel movies was how they were using lightsabers back then

Like people hated how flashy and speedy they were swinging their lightsabers

And I think that has shaped how they have done Star Wars since episode 7/the sequels aired

The basis of the action standard has been the original trilogy and the closest real-world equivalent in sword fights

Where sword fights aren’t about the flash and the blades are mostly heavy let alone how sharp and deadly they are so when there’s a sword fight it’s not about the clashing etc It’s about if you get one hit it’s over

So ever since I’ve noticed that they treated the lightsabers more like heavier swords vs these lighter laser blades

But now whether it’s from the prequel kids and enjoyers are now more of the vocal majority or the choreography hasn’t been the best but now people are calling out that the modern lightsaber fights have been slow and boring

So fans went from don’t make the fights like the prequels to make the fights more like the prequels hence fans don't know what they want

Even if it's more than preferences and audience changes over time

For myself, I’m mixed

Like I think there’s definitely a balance, as you can say that some moments in the prequels they were spinning that deadly blade super casually, and those extra moves showed some openings making people act like oh there was the kill shot, but also light sabers aren’t swords, like lightsabers have the inherent benefit of having the clashing and being able to swing more casually given their size, cut metal and other things, and let alone using the force as an excuse for the movements

I understand the want or need for realism in products such as Star Wars it helps keep things grounded and believable but there’s also the fantasy aspect that I do think needs to be embraced more as yes the choreography of the lightsabers needs to be seen as swords so we have a concept for what’s going on but you also have to be creative with it in a way that shows a lightsaber isn’t just a glow stick sword

I think in some cases it’s a choreography thing as without spoiling too much Ahsoka herself isn’t as fast in her series compared to her in animation, part of the reason is that she’s older and they even comment on that as she’s like 50 in the show and was like 16 in the clone wars a pretty big difference but it’s also they aren’t choosing to make Ahsoka acrobatic or fast since they want Rosario Dawson to actually be the character they even have a moment showing that Ahsoka was faster when younger, and they have moments that give that sense of speed and such but mostly lightsaber fights are just sword fights now

I think there’s definitely some work around like the light trail effect of the light sabers is practically gone now and I think that added will give a better sense of speed and effect

And if you’re going to choreograph essentially a sword fight then get stunt doubles or whoever to help make it feel faster and more fluid, and have fun with camera direction to get more excitement from the critics that think it's boring

Overall it’s funny to me that people used to hate (some still do) the prequels but in terms of things like action people now would prefer that to what we have now

And I do think the rise in things like anime has raised standards for how to perceive action as there has now been some anime influence in even things like Creed 3

Not my most formatted post but oh well

[jun-hyungs]

uncle cody took leia shopping while obi wan was at work

bonus:

[dont-let-me-eat-pears]

gonna treat myself to a rewatch of 1x05, i say as if i don't already do this weekly. qimir has the most mesmerizing combat style i've seen in star wars, even when he's mercilessly mowing down jedi, including ones i like, in the dark. the hints of oshamir are just icing on the space cake.

[redbean-nom]

fascinated by the implied fennec-ventress-phee friend group in tbb. even more interesting (funny) when you add boba in there during the tbobf era.

[howtofightwrite]

Just a casual question: What lightsaber style do you prefer out of one-handed, two-handed, double-bladed or dual wielding?

We’ll leave out the Lightsaber Forms from the EU, because they are inconsistently defined between sources.

No, no, no. You ask me what my favorite lightsaber is, you get the answer whether you want it or not. The answer may surprise you. It’s (probably) considered the second dumbest lightsaber weapon ever invented in the extended universe with the exception of the lightsaber nunchaku.

Are you ready? Do you have your guesses?

The Lightwhip.

The chosen weapon of Dark Ladies of the Sith and the Nightsisters of Dathomir back when the Sisters weren’t all dark side practitioners and rode rancors.

(This is my favorite. For reference, Starke’s favorite is single blade Form IV: Ataru. He’s boring.)

Now, I agree with the general fandom that the lightwhip is a dumb, impractical weapon that’s more likely to dismember its wielder than it is their opponent. Only someone with a high level of skill, prescience, and telekinesis could make effective use of a lightwhip’s dismemberment murder frenzy without killing themselves. Fortunately, that’s exactly the base level of skills most Force sensitives possess. Probably most important, the lightwhip is the exact sort of dumb we see with real weapons in the real world. This includes the more wild examples like the urumi, the chain whip, and the three-section staff. And, it should be said, I have watched living black belts concuss themselves with the three-section staff while trying to figure out how to use it. All for the Rule of Cool. So, while I accept its impracticality, I refuse the argument that the lightwhip being any more unrealistic in use or invention than the rest of the lightsaber weapon family. Does it have a high skill floor? Absolutely. Is it a safe weapon compared to the rest of its very dangerous family? Absolutely not. Would a student potentially dismember or murder themselves learning to use it? Yes, and that’s why it’s fun. (I’ll add a small caveat that the average student could also dismember themselves with a normal lightsaber, so this isn’t just a danger posed by the lightwhip.)

The lightwhip is a weapon of the Dark Side. Its battle style would be (and should be) wild, chaotic, and nigh uncontrollable. There’s no way to use it safely and it belongs in the hands of a wielder who is straight up thrilled to cut down both their allies and enemies in equal measure. This is the weapon of a murderous lunatic in black leather, and gets even more wild when it switches to a Cat o’ Nine to bring on nine weaving laser tendrils instead of just one. The lightwhip is the sexy Catwoman reference that transcends its genre when we really start to think about how intimidating it’d be to see that thing on the battlefield in the hands of a novice and, especially, an expert.

The standard use for a whip in the real world is as a support tool for your primary weapon, such as a rapier. The whip doesn’t do much damage on its own, leaving only small, painful cuts and lacerations so it transitions into a means of harassment. The advantage of the whip is that it attacks at odd, circular angles which are difficult (if not impossible) to block and will curve into a strike around the opposing weapon. The rippling movement makes it difficult to see and even more difficult to predict. If kept in constant motion, this difficulty triples because the disparate movements blend together.

Now, take this setup and add the lightshow. Instead of a weapon that does light lacerations, we have a weapon that deals massive burns if it doesn’t straight up dismember. It will cut through everything and everyone. Conventional fighting styles fall apart against it. More importantly, because it is a burning plasma ribbon, it doesn’t need to follow the standard rules of physics. The lightwhip is beautiful in its raw, chaotic brutality, it’s high risk, high reward nature, and I love the way it hard counters the standard philosophy of lightsaber combat with a literal curveball. Any opponent who faces it is forced into new, creative approaches for their very survival.

Lastly, I love what the lightwhip says about its wielder as an expression of their vicious, ferocious, highly aggressive personality. This weapon requires commitment and dedication. It’s absolutely fair to say the person who wields a lightwhip has a fanatical, if not suicidal, bent. After all, they’d willingly risk death to master it. They love destruction. They don’t care about outside consequences or property destruction. They go it alone.

I’ll admit the lightwhip’s true potential is too violent for most of Star Wars and, like most Star Wars weapons, it very much lives on the Rule of Cool. One of the sadder aspects with the lightwhip is that, while I love the weapon and its potential, any discussion of it gets mired in sexism. Every appearance of the lightwhip comes with the sexy NSFW Dark Side Dominatrix bent and leads to the lightwhip not being given the consideration it’s potential deserves.

My favorite saber is Darth Maul’s saber staff from The Phantom Menace, because versatility allows for use of both one and two. My favorite lightsaber form (which should now surprise no one) is Form VII: Vaapad.

All that said, I do enjoy a good Dark Side Dominatrix as much as I enjoy a moody and hooded Dark Side Goth. And I genuinely love dumb and, seemingly, impractical weapons when the reward justifies their risk. If there’s a general writing advice takeaway here, always consider the practicality of an impractical but cool weapon, address i’s rewards as well as its risks, and pair it with a suitable personality. The lightwhip is not a weapon that belongs in the hands of a Jedi or, really, any individual who possesses any degree of restraint. It’s for a character who merrily expresses raw, raging power at every opportunity and willing to risk destroying themselves along with everyone else for victory.

There’s a weird angle with the Star Wars EU where they tried to establish the lightwhip as weaker than the lightsaber (*cough* woman’s weapon *cough*) with less cutting power even when it doesn’t use a physical cord, which makes absolutely no sense. The lightsaber is the more versatile weapon, while the lightwhip is more specialized and circumstantial. Which fits with the patterns of real world weapons technology.

This a long circle round to saying that the weapons we choose for our characters act as personality tells. Which is why it’s important to give a lot of thought and consideration to any weapon’s historic use and purpose before attaching it. Weapons communicate more than we might expect, both via their situational viability and associated cultural myths. It’s important to choose whether you’ll address this, especially if you’re not planning to intentionally communicate that message or make those personality traits part of the character’s identity. Weapons are tools and, like with all tools, different tools attract different personalities. In fiction, we the authors often decide this from an external perspective. Once a choice has been made, always give yourself a chance to think about it from a character’s internal perspective. Why did Character X choose this weapon? Why do they want to use it? What does this weapon do for them that another weapon doesn’t? Or, what makes that other weapon less attractive?

You might find yourself with an answer or story beat you hadn’t previously considered.

Food for thought.

-Michi

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