#rotj critical

[peachviz]

“Tenderness and Passion are the only weapons which will save man from self-destruction” -D.H. Lawrence

The Order of Death

[antianakin]

The thing is, sure, Anakin's a victim of Palpatine, but he also CHOOSES to be that way. He can always just walk away. He can just stop taking Palpatine's orders. He can stop doing Palpatine's dirty work. He has a choice, in a way that none of HIS victims ever have. The Jedi don't get given a choice as to whether he and the Empire hunt them down or not. The clones for sure never get given the choice because they get literally mind-controlled. Alderaan never got given a choice. He could choose to just... not be the victim.

But he doesn't want to. Misery loves company and if he can't have the things he wants, he'd rather make damn sure no one else does either than just live with that reality. So he'd rather be Palpatine's victim than his own.

So at what point does it kind-of stop mattering if he's Palpatine's victim when he could always choose not to be, and his choice to stay keeps dooming everyone else?

[padmestrilogy]

love reading early george lucas biographies , just endless foreshadowing

[lukeskywalking]

Feeling completely normal over the fact that they took Luke’s backstory, lightsaber, last name, ship, and now his legacy and given it to Rey when they could’ve just wrote the story with Luke in the first place. I’m feeling so normal and understanding and accepting and

[jonberry555]

#fromacertainointofview #returnofthejedi Everyone's a Critic by Sarah Glenn Marsh Review #shorts

[maaruin]

I’ve heard it said that Andor is a response to A New Hope. In a new hope Luke is the hero who saves the galaxy. Andor on the other hand says that you can’t save the galaxy as a single person, but you can join a broad revolutionary movement that saves the galaxy.

But see, in Return of the Jedi the galaxy is also saved by a movement. It is an alliance many different humans, and mon calamari, and sullustans, and ewoks.

There is, however, a different message packaged in both stories. In Andor, the response to the idea that it needs a movement to save the galaxy is to dedicate your entire life to that movement, because it is meaningless outside of the cause (”Kill me, or take me in!”). In RotJ the response to the idea that it needs a movement to save the galaxy is that you can trust other people to do it without you, and it is okay if you just want to save one person (one enemy) who is important to you instead.

Ideologically, Andor might actually be the furthest any Star Wars series has ever strayed from the spirit of Star Wars.

[drunk-on-starlight]

It's kind of interesting to watch people talk about the sequels inventing force abilities (especially in the context of Rey's healing, which is decades older) but also because the phantom menace had qui gon and obi wan use super speed once and never mention it again.

[short-wooloo]

It just occurred to me why certain fans (particularly stanakins) have such rabid stupid hate boners for Reva...

It's because Reva does something rare for a higher canon character, she hates Anakin

See, hating Vader isn't uncommon in universe, most people do, but most aren't aware of anakin in the Vader equation, nor did they know him personally, and of the characters who know both anakin and Vader, most don't hate him

Yoda pities him

Obi-Wan is wrecked with guilt over him

Padme died believing in him

Luke loves him and still believes in him

Really the only one who hates anakin is Leia, but critically, this doesn't come up in higher canon, it's mostly a books/comics thing, the most we get of Leia's thoughts on anakin is shock and disbelief that he's her father in rotj

(Also I notice people give Leia a pass for hating anakin, a combination of "Leia's allowed because she's his daughter" and of course, racism, white characters are allowed to despise a white villain, but if a black character does then they're literally the worst)

But Reva hates anakin, hates him for what he did to her, to her family, for betraying the Jedi, and she's open about it, she doesn't care about the "good man" Anakin used to be like the others (minus Leia) above, she doesn't lend him sympathy

And that drives stanakins insane

[marvelstars]

“You didn’t kill Anakin Skywalker, I did” Darth Vader in OWK

While I believe with some work this phrase could be worked into SW canon, I dislike it´s implications, I think this phrase was the show creators trying to whitewash Obi-Wan role in ROTS when he decided to cut off all of Anakin´s limbs and letting him burn alive, one of the most painful ways to die ever. This tells me not only part of the fandom has a hard time seeing the story as it´s with nuance but also current creators at disney but that´s not how Lucas developed his story.

Obi-Wan may have not groomed Anakin like Palpatine did, owned him like Watto but he certainly tried to kill him on behalf of the Jedi Order and he was convinced he only could kill him off , in fact it´s Obi-Wan the one who started the fight on mustafar activating his lightsaber first while Anakin wasn´t looking at him.

Obi-Wan´s mission on mustafar was to kill off Anakin plain and simple, when he saw him burn alive he didn´t feel pity or mercy, he feel disgusted, in lucas words, Obi-Wan thought he was a thing, a thing of the darkside and when he discovered Vader was alive he planned to train Anakin´s Son, use his memories of Anakin to convince Luke to kill off Vader, his father, then tried to deflect blame when confronted with the truth by Luke.

This doesn´t mean Obi-Wan didn´t love Anakin at some point but he believed in "once a sith always a sith" for someone who told Anakin only Sith deal in absolutes, he had a very "absolute" way of thinking, the only thing Obi-Wan tought he could do for Anakin once he fell to the darkside was kill him off, at no point does Obi-Wan in the OT tries to deny that´s his intention so it´s unnecesary for the fandom and some creators to try to do mental gimnastics over this fact and by the way Obi-Wan learned of Anakin´s actions, you could even say he was justified even if his actions were cruel.

That said the story is clear that there are two types of deaths, the physical one and the spiritual one when people fall to the darkside, the jedi believe killing a sith is ok because they are already dead and so they are not killing the same person, that´s the logic Yoda follows and Obi-Wan when it came to Anakin and Dooku but they are also hypocritical in this choice of words when they act as if revenge wasn´t a big factor on it but at least they accepted they played a part in what happened to Anakin even if they are trying to fix it by killing him.

This is what makes Luke reject their orders, because he doesn´t want to commit patricide for revenge, he respects and loves his teachers but that´s something he knows he can´t do without falling to the darkside as well and despite all the reasons he had to hate Vader, he also has felt his care for him in the force and that´s why he wanted to save him.

Anakin tried to convince himself that he was spiritually dead and lost until Luke went to rescue him and that´s why he told him he already saved him even if he was dying.

Obi-Wan was totally surprised when he discovered Vader turned back from the darkside and when he realized Anakin was going to join the force he realized he wasn´t going to see him as himself again, unless he teached him how to become a force ghost(this is tackled in the novel version of Obi-Wan´s pov in ROTJ), so ironically, it was Obi-Wan´s need to keep Anakin around, on his side, what promted him to teach him how to become a force ghost, because he discovered he still loved him as his friend and wanted his friend back.

It´s pretty clear in the story, this isn´t about criticizing Obi-Wan, this isn´t Jedi bashing, it´s how literally the events happened in star wars and those are part of Obi-Wan´s personality as well as some of the Order povs on the darkside this doesn´t contradict their good intentions or Obi-Wan´s sassy lines and warm demeanor with friends and family.

[dailydragon08]

I hate the “no attachments” rhetoric so much and I hate that both Ahsoka and Luke in Mando and TBOBF fell straight back into it. Cuz they especially should know more than anyone that the feelings of isolation, feeling like you’re not in a safe space to healthily process your emotions—which requires actually feeling them and being in an environment where you’re allowed to feel them—and feeling like you have a support system where you can speak your feelings without judgment to get guidance and support is REQUIRED for Jedi to stay on the light side. Cuz loneliness, feeling like a burden, feeling like if you have one bad emotion it makes you all bad because of rules around feelings that are unrealistic and too rigorous makes you way more susceptible to the dark side.

Trying to beat bad emotions out of people completely is unrealistic. Expecting literal children to not feel those feelings and just know what to do with them cuz you’ve created a space where those feelings are forbidden is unrealistic. Pushing feelings and emotions down and “burying” them (re: obi wan telling luke “bury your feelings deep down” in ROTJ) and expecting those people to be perfectly healthy is unrealistic. Wanting this level of control over people, their thoughts, and their emotions, and this black and white thinking is not only toxic and dangerous, but is akin to cult culture. The PT era Jedi were extremists in this way and just too blind and couldn’t accept any criticism enough to see it because for some reason, a bunch of old guys decided evolution was not allowed and they’d just keep running the system the same way they always had with no room for change and that would somehow be this foolproof path to survival—which is a complaint a lot of people have about our current irl political system and is causing a lot of damage, btw.

Like wasn’t that the whole point of showing the Jedi’s fall? And doesn’t clone wars especially show how this thinking created all these cracks in the system that Palpatine was easily able to exploit and manipulate and Anakin was just someone who wanted change in the order and he was ostracized for it, so Palpatine latched onto him and Anakin was like “oh finally someone values me,” just to be manipulated and abused and have his whole life blown up to the point that he thought the empire was his only option (obv not excusing the atrocities, just saying I can see how he got to where he did mentally by ROTS)? Like he literally tells Luke that they can team up to overthrow the emperor and in ROTJ, when Luke tries to get him to run with him pre-throne room battle, he says “it’s too late for me,” so he KNOWS this is bad and only going to get worse, but has resigned himself to it.

Like wasn’t the whole point of the OT and the “I can’t kill my own father/there’s still good in him/I can turn him back to the good side” meant to prove that Jedi DO NEED healthy connections in order to thrive and stay on the light side? If they wanna forbid anything, they should be forbidding possession and control, but the PT Jedi Council instead used that for their own benefit and lacked any self awareness to see they’d just become what they were preaching against.

Like give me a post-OT Jedi council who teaches healthy connection and letting things go that aren’t meant for you to control and that friendships and relationships can be powerful things that bring you back to the light in your darkest moments, and a more Legends-esque New Jedi Order that values emotional health and well-being and is a safe space for not only the galaxy, but Force sensitives, no matter how they’re built instead of trying to force everyone into the same box. This is the order I wanted to see Luke cultivate in canon and I will forever be salty that this isn’t what we got.

[writingforfun0714]

So I wanted to wait and let the new Bad Batch trailer sink in before posting about it.

Warnings: Spoilers, some thoughts/opinions will be critical

Alright so I don’t think it’s any secret that I don’t care for the Bad Batch. Even ignoring the horrible, incredibly RACIST clone model, the writing is mid/passable at best and not even watchable for me. Most of S1 and 2 combined is the typical ‘mission of the week’ type of story where only a few Empire-focused episodes stand out. There are also instances of ableism concerning Echo in particular (CF99 are also super dismissive of him in general—going along with that whole fucking ‘superiority over regs’ thing—seriously wtf).

Most episodes were very bland and predictable. S1 had no stakes despite its finale. By Mando/ST it’s clear that something has happened to Kamino. Didn’t really need to see a 2pt ep of the city getting wiped. Plus AZI should’ve been sacrificed. Even Ahsoka learns the lesson that you can’t save everyone in S1 when she disobeys Anakin and Admiral Yularen. TBB S2 had no character development from anyone besides a little bit for Omega (and Tech—but that was always speculated by fans since S1 and he’s dead now so it doesn’t really matter). A lot of the dialogue felt…basic. I think the only thing that TBB does well is the music. It’s really amazing and beautiful along with the smooth, crisp animation/scenery. Shame they ruined it with racist clone models, racist tones with the ‘reg’ dispute in both seasons, and being ableist and dismissive towards Echo.

Which brings me to the trailer. Oh boy. First, right off the bat I noticed how similar the trailer opening is compared to the S2 trailer. I do like that Phee is back. She did take time to grow on me but I do like her character and am curious to see where they will go with her.

It’s interesting we are seeing Crosshair back with the group so soon. Personally I do believe that is Crosshair and not just someone else wearing his armor like some think. I like the idea of Omega and Crosshair escaping early on but Omega gets recaptured/separated and taken back to Tantiss.

I’m interested in Hemlock and his backstory (is his gloved hand robotic?). I wish they’d create more interesting and unique characters like Phee and Fennec Shand instead of relying on cameos of established characters/fan-favorites like Ventress. I loved Dark Disciple and I thought it was a great ending for her.

I know it’s officially said that Ventress’ story will follow Dark Disciple but I don’t see how unless they retcon her death or pull a ‘somehow she survived’. Either way that sucks. Reminder!! DAVE FELONY DIDN’T EVEN FOLLOW REBELS FOR AHSOKA. SABINE IS NOT FORCE SENSITIVE IN REBELS. DAVE RETCONS THE SHIT OUT OF EVERYTHING. I have no faith that they will remain loyal to DD. Anything that will be ‘canon’ will be mid at best because even Crosshair’s arc has been messy (which is due to the weird S1 ‘reset’ the characters go through. Like they totally should’ve appreciated ‘regs’ by the end of TBB arc in TCW S7–there was no need for that awkward food fight scene in S1).

I hate that this show has to rely on cameos to get the viewing numbers. Here is a list of every character cameo we’ve seen so far:

—Rex*

—Tarkin*

—Palpatine*

—The Lawquane Family

—The Syndullas/Chopper

—Nala Se/Lama Su*

—Cad Bane

—Bail Organa

—Riyo Chuchi

—Gungi

—Gregor

—Wolffe

—Cody

—Scorch

—Saw Gerrera

—Martez Sisters

—Kanan/Depa*

—Muchi/Rancor from RotJ

—Taun We/Halle Burtoni

—Ventress

*I consider these important/relevant cameos and am not bothered by them like the others*

What a list right? I might even be missing one. These were just off the top of my head. Some are big players, others smaller and almost not-relevant to the plot. Not counting the one’s I asterisked, it’s 15 characters. There are original characters but a lot of them, especially in S1 felt like one off, not important characters. And I hate Cid so much—glad to see she was absent in the S3 trailer. I’m really starting to love Phee and I’ve always loved Fennec Shand, and Hemlock is definitely an intriguing villain and Emerie feels like a total mystery (though the reveal was not shocking due to the similar design and accent to Omega). Like why can’t they create more characters like these? The rest just feel forgettable. And it’s clear that characters like Saw, Gungi, Scorch, Cad Bane and even the Syndulla and Lawquane families just felt like fan service. The rest kind of make sense that they’d show up but it also feels a bit like fan service.

Moving on..

I know a lot of people think that new weird dark trooper at the 1:40 mark is Tech. While I’m inclined to agree as I think the ‘Winter Soldier’ story is an obvious choice to pick, I also think that Tech is dead. I’ve changed my mind and kind of hope that Tech isn’t brought back.

I hope this is someone new. I also wouldn’t mind if it was a bounty hunter we’ve seen before. Due to the frame and stature, I could almost think of Boba due to him being older than Omega but it’s definitely more likely to be Tech than either of these choices.

It’s interesting a lot of cameo characters from S2 do not make an appearance in the trailer. Bail, Riyo, Gungi, Gregor and Cody are all absent from the trailer. Trailers usually show action shots to avoid story spoilers, but with Gungi, Gregor, and Cody all being capable fighters, I’m surprised they didn’t appear (usually stuff with politics is a story spoiler).

Overall I’m skeptical of the trailer. I don’t like Ventress being alive/in TBB being a Dark Disciple lover. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding the story of S3 so I don’t feel like I can give an accurate take on that. I hate how Omega’s longer hair looks. Curly haired Omega is adorable!! The animation (everything but the clone model) is definitely getting better. However, based on how S2 was marketed as a ‘darker story compared to S1’ and was like 80% fetch quest I’m definitely skeptical.

Those of you that made it through this post, thank you for your time and I hope I gave you something to think about. If you wanna learn more about the racism and ableism portrayed in this show, check out @unwhitewashthebadbatch for more info.

[class-a-fanatic]

This really does further empathize that everyone’s media perception is going to be subjective to one’s own definitions and views.

There’s going to be objective fact to canon, but a lot of it is also going to be up to interpretation. The world of cinema would a lot more boring if everyone had the same idea about everything. If the storyteller isn’t directly telling what something is/isn’t, it means that no one wrong OR right about their interpretation.

At the end of the day, you’re just going to be wasting time trying to assimilate others into a singular perspective. Let people develop media literacy! We bring no valuable points to the table by being single minded robots.

Once we stop attacking people for having opinions based solely off of interpretation, I honestly think we can have better fandom discourse and discussion.

Anakin Skywalker and the Semantics of Redemption

So everyone knows that the scene at the end of Return of the Jedi is something of a source of mild controversy. Are we supposed to see Anakin as redeemed because he became a Force Ghost? Is that the intended message behind the story? If it is, does Anakin truly deserve to be redeemed?

My personal take on it is that we are probably supposed to understand Anakin as redeemed, but that it doesn't really feel like a satisfying ending to me because Anakin never really does anything particularly worthy of what I would consider redemption, and that I don't really think Anakin COULD be redeemed even if he had survived.

That take has garnered me some... interesting... responses from people. I've had people tell me that I'm an inhuman monster for refusing to believe Anakin could be redeemed at all. I've had people argue that obviously Lucas thinks he's redeemed, so nothing else matters. I've seen people say that it's ridiculous to think he ISN'T redeemed, that's the entire point of the story and I've missed the whole theme of the saga if I don't get it. The politer responses have included people telling me what THEIR definitions/interpretations of redemption are and how they've made Anakin's ending fit into that.

If you're familiar with me at all, it won't shock you to discover that this sent me digging through the online dictionaries that seemed pretty reputable (for context, I used Merriam-Webster, Encyclopedia Brittanica, dictionary.com, vocabulary.com, and Collins Dictionary) to seek out "the true definition of redemption" to see if I could put the issue to rest in any way. What I ended up discovering there is no "true definition of redemption" to be found, even in the dictionary. I know. Absurd. How dare they.

Instead, once we eliminate the definitions that don't really apply to the situation (things that are more monetary in nature), most of the dictionary definitions fell into one of three categories: theological, internal, and external.

The theological definition appears to say that being redeemed means being completely freed of sin, totally absolved of everything. My assumption is that, given its origins, this generally means forgiveness by your god because you or someone else has done something to cause that complete absolution.

The internal definition is more about making the choice to improve yourself. It doesn't necessarily matter if other people see you differently (though it seems to be an expected side effect), so the redemption is about what's happening internally in how YOU see the world and your place within it.

The external definition is about how other people see you and, most commonly, about atonement and making amends. Now you could make the argument that the definitions could be implying that just the act of TRYING to atone or make amends is enough to count as redemption as opposed to needing to succeed at it in order to count, but generally the definitions seem to be implying that if you've actually MADE amends, THEN you are redeemed.

All of these are perfectly valid definitions of redemption according to these dictionaries. Redemption is a word that can be used to mean more than one thing depending on which definition you tend to associate with it the most or even just depending on the context or the person you're talking about. One person's definition of redemption is not necessarily the one and only way to view redemption. My definition may not be yours and it's definitely not the same as a lot of other people's.

In the case of Anakin, some people are maybe looking at him through a more theological context and if the Force has forgiven him via his own sacrifice or Luke's, he is then freed of sin and completely absolved for all of his crimes, happy endings all around.

Some people see redemption as an internal choice to do better or improve yourself and so Anakin's one good choice to save Luke at the cost of his own life is enough to redeem him in general even if it changes nothing about the evil things he's done.

Some people see redemption as an external thing that happens if you are able to truly atone or make amends for things you've done and change the way people view you and so Anakin can't be considered redeemed because he just dies before he can DO any of those things. Some of us go even farther and say that he'd never be ABLE to do any of those things even if he DID survive due to how much damage he's truly done and how unchangeable some of his choices are, so he'd never truly be able to be redeemed even if he spent the rest of his life making better choices.

Redemption is going to mean so many different things to so many different people. And that obviously is going to impact our views on Anakin and his ending in ROTJ. It'll work for some, and it won't work for others. But what I'm starting to come to terms with is that there's just no one way to view redemption. So someone who sees him as redeemed isn't necessarily WRONG. But in the same vein, someone who DOESN'T see him as redeemed is EQUALLY correct. Lucas himself seems to have said a few different things on the subject and sometimes sees Anakin as saved or redeemed and sometimes doesn't.

Redemption is a complex topic, obviously, but I'm sticking with my personal definition and interpretation because it's what feels right to me. But if someone else wants to go with a different definition because it's the interpretation that feels right to them, I'm not going to contradict them. Just don't try to come onto my blog to tell me that MY interpretation is wrong and that I'm some kind of unfeeling asshole because my definition of redemption is different than yours. I've got the damn dictionary receipts to back me up now.

[frumfrumfroo]

I'm still reeling from the fact that they decided to include the kiss during a reshoot. What didn't they include during a reshoot? That theory that Rey's parentage was changed during reshoots sounds pretty believable to me now, if they're willing to alter Ben Solo's final moments.

Actual trainwreck is a trainwreck.

Now I want to complain about something: I like watching Red Letter Media. I like when they talk about niche films, they're in their element there. But I was watching their old Infinity War review, and I cannot believe that they think the 'subversions' of that film worked better than The Last Jedi. Like, the Marvel films are soulless, if they didn't have Marvel branding, nobody would be talking about them. It's the greatest stunt ever pulled in Hollywood. Sure, they've gone off Marvel now, so this doesn't reflect their current stance as much, but lollllllllll

Endgame is incoherent, if a few steps ahead of TROS on the basis that it's a technically complete film.

Anyway. Star Wars is not fitting for the superhero genre, but they're sure trying.

I've blocked it out now, but for months after it came out we kept learning new depths of what a shitshow it was. All of the most insane leaks were accurate. At this point I would believe almost anything about their level of incompetence pinching out this turd. It's absolutely fucking embarrassing.

Yeah, I like RLM but sometimes they really don't Get It. The Plinkett reviews of the prequels raised some great points and were generally fairly quality criticism, but they also missed a lot and sometimes focussed on things that aren't valid arguments. Their review of TFA I found much less well constructed and more shallow. I don't remember which video it's in, but their discussion of the climax of RotJ shows some serious holes in their understanding of the themes of SW and Luke's character arc. And that's exactly where not getting what TLJ was doing will come in.

Nothing about the narrative shape or character arcs of TLJ should have been surprising to anyone who understands the structure of SW or the literary tropes it was consciously modelled on. The only thing about the main plot which is/was genuinely 'subversive' in concept or shocking was Snope's death.

I've seen them have some dumb takes, mostly in their blockbuster reviews, but it seems to usually come from not bothering to understand a context they're not familiar with or not always recognising when a film is trying to do something different than what they expected. Like the MCU films were mediocre at best from the beginning so it makes sense to judge them as forgettable formulaic entertainment, but there are more interesting conversations to have and it doesn't mean all blockbusters should be judged the same way.

Yep. I spent a lot of time talking about this both before and after tros. So fucking depressing.

[pomplalamoose]

Sorry to message again, but I loved your answer to my ask so much, now I’d love a follow up to how post-ROTJ luke acts once he decides to get rid of the no attachment rule and pursue you 😅

Please don't apologizeeee, I'm having a great time with this!!!! I'm so happy to (hopefully) make you happy with this as well🤠

• it differs from person to person of course but I, for one, am not exactly enthusiastic about the Jedi's no-attachment-rule

• and Luke isn't either

• to leave behind everyone he deeply cares for would pretty much mean to leave behind a big part that defines him

• one of Luke's biggest strengths IS the way he loves and how he is able to see the good in people, no matter what

• it's how he defeated Palpatine and saved his father

• so naturally he struggles a lot with the concept, especially when it comes to you

• on one hand he really wants to honor and correctly carry on a thousand year old legacy, ask well as respecting Obi-Wan's and Yoda's teachings

• on the other hand he is aware of the many flaws they had and has his own ideas and thoughts to add

• I like to think that in building his new Jedi Academy, Luke overhauls a lot of what was before to make it fit with his own beliefs and experiences

• he won't stray too far away from the old code but recognizes that much of it can be rather harmful too

• though this is a process and especially in the early stages, Luke finds himself yearning for something to hold on to, to lead him in his new quest

• even if that means turning a blind eye to his blooming feelings for you

• this, he will later realize, not only hurts himself but you as well

• stuck deeply in his thoughts and with a guilty conscience, neither does he notice the ways in which you look at him

• it aches you deeply, to see him so conflicted when before he was acting so differently towards you

• at the same time you respect that he needs his time and space to figure things out for himself

• you too spend a lot of time thinking and re thinking about the no-attachment-rule and what it means for your life

• (and are ready to immediately throw it out of the window should Luke decide to return your feelings)

• possibly you view the old Jedi code in a more critical light than Luke does and that's what rather often leads to heated discussions that you can't help but take to heart

• at this time you are still very much unaware about what has been going on though

• Luke does not want to drag you into his personal struggle so he doesn't tell you anything at first

• the only thing you notice is the way he's rather hot and cold with you, often leaving you in confusion

• one time he's charming and flirty, making you blush and your heart race

• the next day, however, he suddenly acts as if none of that ever happened and with time you grow really frustrated

• to you it seems like he's playing with your feelings

• but how are supposed to know that he's trying to do the opposite?

• (please cut him some slack, he's doing the best he can)

• Luke often lies awake at night, thinking about you, contemplating what it is that's leaving him so conflicted

• again and again he vows to not let you too close to him and his heart, deciding it's for the best

• he truly thinks he's doing the both of you a favor, even while your confused and pleading eyes make him want to cry

• at the same time he can't stop himself from sharing exciting news with you, can't help making you laugh and can't ignore how deeply he enjoys to just be around you

• after a while of this going on, you corner him during a quiet moment, demanding to know what the hell he thinks he is doing

• no matter how blinded by love you may be, you won't have him treat you this way

• Luke is horrified by what he hears, he hadn't realized how erratic and hurtful his behavior had become

• he was so convinced he had been fighting his battles in silence and without the knowledge of those around him

• this is when he, very much ashamed, admits to you what has been troubling him recently

• you feel like something punched you in the gut when he reveals to very well returning your feelings but doing his hardest to push them away

• in the end you will yourself to be patient

• whatever choice Luke is going to make, you will accept

• and if that means he will never think of you as more than a friend in order to preserve the peace and the New Republic, so be it

• you cry yourself to sleep that night

• you can't look him in the eye the next day nor the day after that

• thankfully Luke finally decides to listen to his heart

• and was it not the Force that brought you together in the first place?

• how can his feelings be wrong?

• desperate to make up for everything he put you through, he realizes he has no idea how

• he doesn't even know if you like him back

• (I truly believe he can be this dense sometimes)

• I'm sure he'd turn to Leia, who's all too happy to help after suffering through all that drama along side you, listening to your endless tirades about her stupid brother

• after properly setting him straight, she assures him that in no way will you turn down his advances

• still unsure but feeling decidedly better he seeks you out

• you talk for a very long time

• you get the heartfelt apology you deserve

• Luke is still struggling but makes sure to tell you in detail about everything that has been weighing him down and how much, despite it all, he cares for you

• both of you end up crying

• it's almost, almost, a love declaration

• when you describe your point of view he is genuinely upset and apologizes again

• in fact he can't stop apologizing until you tell him to shut up

• in the end you both admit to your feelings but agree to take it slow; it is more than you ever dared hoping for

• and while Luke is not able to let go yet, his thoughts still plaguing him, they are in the open now

• when you are about to leave he takes hold of your hand and kisses you for the first time

• it's clumsy but sweet and you hug after

• you hold each other for a long time, neither of you wanting to let go

[shrinkthisviolet]

Yesssssss a fellow Reva stan!!! Omg the fandom has done her so dirty, despite the fact that in my opinion, she's among the best, most complex characters out of the new Star Wars canon. I love her so much, it's unreal.

LITERALLYYYY she deserves so much better. One thing that irked me in particular (which I mentioned in the tags of one of my reblogs) is how similar she and Anakin are (in temperament, moreso—passionate, fearless, and forthright), yet so many people love Anakin, while so many people criticize Reva. Even though, objectively, Reva is a better person than Anakin is (and I like Anakin as a character, but that’s just the truth).

So many people criticize how she walked away from a duel with Vader (he was toying with her, morons, that’s why) and how she survived so long after being stabbed (Maul, Anakin, and Sabine, anyone?), people even criticized her throughout the whole show for “knowing” things she supposedly had no way of knowing…but of course, the show explained all that (this show in general slots neatly into canon, but the way fans were criticizing it from DAY ONE as though they forgot the concept of patience…).

Now ofc the fact that she was a high-ranking Inquisitor means she did kill Jedi to get there. Absolutely. She’s not a saint or anything, and I don’t think anyone is saying so. But people criticize her for this as though she didn’t turn away from that. The whole point is that after the Kenobi series, she’s on a path to redemption!! Because she does need redemption!! But she also didn’t do anything on the scale of what Vader did (second-in-command and enforcer of the Empire hello his hands are WAY bloodier). She should be easier to redeem tbh…and her redemption could possibly be more of an absolution than Vader’s was (because as much as I do subscribe to the idea that ROTJ was Vader’s redemption…it wasn’t absolution. He could’ve only achieved that if he’d lived and made efforts for decades)

I do have plans for her in the Lucy AU btw 👀 nebulous plans so far, but…you might remember that Lucy has seen Reva’s face and stood in front of Luke against her? Yeah, that’s not an isolated incident. That’s gonna come back (and it has, ofc, but I mean it’s gonna come back in a big way)

[antianakin]

@theneutralmime

I don't believe Lucas himself has ever said this because quite simply it isn't true and it doesn't follow with the themes and messages Lucas put into Anakin's story. If you have a specific quote from Lucas you know about where he claims Qui-Gon could've kept Anakin from turning to the dark, feel free to let me know, but as far as I'm aware, he's never said it because it isn't true.

Plenty of OTHER people have said it, for sure, up to and including Dave Filoni. And there's probably a number of reasons for why they believe this.

Filoni seems to see the Jedi VERY critically as people who are elitist and too stuck in their ways to see the "truth", while Qui-Gon is enlightened and understands the "truth" better than anybody else. He thinks that this is the story TPM in telling and because Obi-Wan is a Perfect Jedi of sorts, it means that he can't really connect to or understand Anakin in a meaningful way, he's always going to try to make Anakin something he isn't and impose Jedi rules on him that are outdated and repressive in a way that Qui-Gon never would.

This is all complete and utter bullshit.

For one, Qui-Gon is only partly right. Yes, Anakin is the chosen one of the prophecy, but he DOESN'T have any concrete proof of this and the Council itself is right that Anakin's future is clouded and potentially dangerous. They're also right that Anakin isn't going to adjust well to the Jedi lifestyle which could make things difficult for him if they choose to waive the rules for him, something Qui-Gon is choosing to disregard. The whole point of the Council scenes in TPM is to showcase that they're BOTH RIGHT because Anakin at this point can go either direction in his life: he can fulfill the prophecy and become a hero, or he can turn to darkness and destroy the galaxy. Neither one is entirely right or entirely wrong in this situation because that's just... not the point. Qui-Gon is NOT more enlightened than the Council is in this instance even though he's not wrong about Anakin being a child of prophecy.

For two, even though Anakin would likely never be ENTIRELY comfortable with the Jedi lifestyle, I think it's undeniable that the Jedi teachings WOULD help Anakin with his emotional instability if they'd been able to do so without Palpatine's interference. This wouldn't ever get him to the point where he'd be a good JEDI, but it would get him to the point where he'd be emotionally healthy and balanced enough to recognize that this isn't the path he wants to walk and amicably chooses to leave the Order to pursue a life more suited to his needs and desires.

There's nothing in canon to support the idea that Obi-Wan struggles with training Anakin or that he has no idea what to do with him. The CLOSEST you get to that is Obi-Wan claiming to Luke in ROTJ that he thought he could train Anakin just as well as Yoda and that he was wrong, but this storyline got sort-of changed in the prequels when they swapped Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's positions in the narrative, taking the narrative of Obi-Wan being arrogant to something very different.

For three, and this is the biggest reason that this idea of Qui-Gon being able to save Anakin is complete and utter bullshit, the primary reason Anakin falls is because ANAKIN CHOOSES TO FALL. It's not about having a better teacher, there is NO other teacher Anakin could've had that would've kept him from falling because the entire POINT of the story is that Anakin made that choice all on his own. He DID have a good teacher, he WAS given all of the tools he needed to make a better choice, he just didn't want to use any of them because he's selfish and greedy and inclined towards attachments. Removing Anakin's agency in his own story by claiming Qui-Gon could've saved him destroys the entire POINT of Anakin's story. It HAS to be a choice Anakin makes DESPITE knowing it's the wrong choice to make or every single theme in Star Wars goes right out the window. There's no meaning to Anakin choosing to save Luke and sacrifice himself if it doesn't contrast Anakin choosing to sacrifice EVERYONE ELSE for power earlier. They're both HIS CHOICE and that's so so important. Qui-Gon being able to train him would change NOTHING. Anakin would still make that choice because it's the story Lucas wanted to tell. And this is why I'm like 99% certain that Lucas himself has never once claimed Qui-Gon could've saved Anakin because I KNOW he's said things in interviews where he specifically discusses that it was Anakin's choice because he's selfish and greedy. THAT'S the story Lucas was trying to tell and he'd never say otherwise.

Qui-Gon would not have saved Anakin, Obi-Wan was not a subpar teacher, and Anakin made his own damn choices and always would have regardless of who trained him.