So I saw an article whose title pissed me off so much that I felt like I had to write about it.

I haven’t even read the article.  The title alone fills me with such rage that I know trying to read it would probably cause an aneurysm,  So I’m basically going to react to said title, making this all your problem.  

So the title, paraphrased, was that Luke Skywalker’s actions in  Boba Fett means that he has failed three of his students.

I suppose it’s possible that the title is misleading and the article says something completely different.  But I’ve seen this sort of sentiment before and it pisses me off, so here we are.

Personally, I think Luke has failed exactly NONE of his students, especially the three that we’ve seen on screen.  And I’m going to elaborate on that.

1) Luke never failed Ben Solo.

I actually liked Luke’s plot in the Last Jedi.  I liked that he was dealing with his own shit.  I liked that he wasn’t infallible.  I liked that he goes through his own arc, and comes out stronger by the end.

I even, mostly, liked the reveal of his “failure”: specifically, that moment where, full of fear and forboding, he stands over his sleeping nephew with a lightsaber.  It’s a moment of terrible temptation, which Luke does not actually give into.  

Okay, look, was that experience traumatizing for Kylo?  Probably.  Did he have the right to be mad?  Yeah.  Would I have blamed him if he ran home to Han and Leia and told them his uncle just tried to (or at least contemplated trying to) kill him?  Probably not.

He doesn’t do that though.  He runs off and joins an organization of child-enslaving space fascists, assists them in multiple genocides, murders multiple unarmed old men, orders the massacre of villages, tortures people, and so on and so forth.

Basically he proves Luke’s fear and forboding were 100% correct, and Luke’s only real failure here was to the galaxy when he didn’t skewer the ADULT, TWENTY-THREE year old asshole in his sleep.

Kylo’s not a child.  His fall was his own fault.  Luke made a mistake (though again, was it really?) but Kylo didn’t have to dive into the dark side head first and with bells on.

2) Luke never failed Rey.

I love Rey.  She’s my favorite character in the Sequel Trilogy for a reason.  And when she came to Luke for training and he turned her down, that was heart-wrenching.

But it was absolutely within his rights to do.  Luke at that time was retired, in hiding, full of recrimination and self blame.  Rey isn’t entitled to his training just because she’s super powerful in the force.  That said, he does train her. 

And I would argue that he trains her in a very similar way that Yoda trained him.  (especially when we take the deleted scenes into account).  He’s not a comfortable or comforting teacher, by any means.  He pokes and provokes, he mocks her and tries her temper, he avoids easy answers.

I’d argue though that he’s exactly the kind of teacher Rey needed at this moment. 

Rey is new, green, and incredibly powerful.  Things come very easy to her.  She needs to be challenged before her arrogance puts her in serious danger.  (Unfortunately, the forced mind-link with Kylo pushes Rey into that situation before anyone is ready.  She is arrogant enough to think she can reproduce Luke’s greatest triumph without understanding why, and it slaps her in the face.)

When they meet again, after Rey’s had more than one horrible and humbling experience, Luke is a lot gentler and more supportive.  He’s a force ghost now, but as we’ve seen from Yoda, being a force ghost doesn’t make you less of an asshole troll.  Luke changed his approach because Rey needs something else now, and he gives it to her.

Rey survives to be the first new Jedi.  She survives to be a Skywalker.  That’s because of both Luke and Leia.

3) Luke ESPECIALLY did not fail Grogu.

This is the big one, of course.  But Luke never fucking failed Grogu and I will stand by that.

Look, I’ve said before that I thought there were enough odd aspects of Luke and Grogu’s interaction that I think something else is going on.  I don’t think Grogu’s choice was as straightforward as it was presented, and Luke (asshole troll of a mentor that we know he can be) might well have something else in mind.

But let’s say he doesn’t  Let’s say he means exactly what he says and Grogu really does have to choose between a life with his father and a life as a Jedi.

That’s still not an example of Luke failing Grogu.

If anything, it’s an example of Luke avoiding the mistakes of the old Jedi Order.  Because Grogu, at this stage of life, is a LOT like Anakin Skywalker.

He’s very young, for his species.  He’s very powerful.  He’s very traumatized.  He’s got a parent that he’s very attached to, one who might not be his birth parent but has still provided him with the first sense of safety and support that he’s had in decades.  

I don’t blame the Jedi for Anakin’s fall, at all, that was Anakin’s decision.  But let’s be honest here.  They were RIGHT when they told him no, initially.  Anakin is powerful, he’s brilliant, he’s incredibly talented, but he has never been emotionally suited for membership in the Jedi Order, and a life under their restrictions. 

Qui Gon Jinn was wrong.  He was deluded by the false lures of “prophecy” and “midichlorian levels.”  He was drawn in by Anakin’s power and destiny and decided that this was best accomplished by bringing this very attached, very traumatized child into the Jedi Order against everyone else’s better judgment.

Qui Gon Jinn was a good man, but his failing was pride.  And even granted that he was right, Anakin DID eventually “bring balance to the galaxy”, it was only after he helped make the imbalance like a million times worse.  The galaxy became a worse place for quite some time because of Anakin Skywalker, and they’re still feeling the effects.

Now, is Grogu quite so bad off?  It’s hard to say.  He’s younger than Anakin, maturity speaking.  We don’t know about his species’ biology, so it’s possible that the romantic/marriage restrictions wouldn’t be an issue.  (If indeed Luke wants to keep those in place.)

We do know that there were a couple of times when Grogu was alarmed enough to flirt with the dark side.  When he choked Cara for example.  Or when he thought that the robot was going to kill him in the Prisoner.  Obviously Din saved him first, but look at that gesture and the look on the baby’s face and tell me that he wasn’t TRYING for force lightning in that moment.

So, maybe it really isn’t a great idea to separate a traumatized child from a devoted, loving and protective parent.  At least not until you’re sure said child’s had a chance to recover from his horrible experience.

And the thing is, for the entirety of the Mandalorian, no one actually asks Grogu what he wants.  Din is tasked with returning Grogu with his people.  He sincerely believes that’s what’s best for the baby, and until meeting Ahsoka, he really doesn’t have a way to communicate clearly with the baby at all.  But I remember that Grogu seemed a little hesitant to send out the signal when he has the chance.  And while he does go off with Luke willingly at the end of the season, it is completely understandable that he might have changed his mind.

So Luke finally sits the poor kid down and asks him what he wants: does he want to stay here?  Or does he want to go home to his parent?  And Grogu finally gets to make his own choice.

How is that an example of Luke “failing” Grogu?

(I mean, okay, the dude COULD have brought Grogu to Tatooine himself instead of sending him with chaos robot 1.0, but I feel like that is probably not the gist of the article’s complaint.)

So anyway, Luke did not fail any of his students.  He made mistakes, sure.  But their choices are theirs.

Fueled By Spite, Chapter 1

Trying Something New! Posting the fic itself here instead of just the link.

Before you click read more - this is a VERY Pro-jedi anti Kylo Ren & Admiral Hux fic. Read at your own peril.

Chapter 1 of 3

"Let me go! I'll beat his karking Shebs in!" Ponds strains against Mace's force grip to lunge at the two intruders. He's clearly determined, as even as Mace tries to keep them apart, Ponds still is almost gaining ground. Mace can feel the hatred radiating off his commander.

"See! Even now, they control your actions and take away your free will! The Jedi see you only as puppets to be controlled, flesh droids. They care about nothing an no one, their emotions as false as any of their lies-" The redheaded admiral continues again, and Ponds stops in his fight to instead just stare in shock.

"What in the sith hells?" Is what Ponds spits out in response to that, and Mace knows that he's not the only one in the room who can't believe what these intruders are sprouting. "Where do you think you have the right?" Ponds yells again, and his rage crashes again like a wave over the room. Mace rides it out - it's nothing he hadn't heard before, but it's... refreshing to have someone come to his defense like this.

“Yes! Channel that rage, use it to slaughter the ones who would hold you back! Embrace your anger!” The whiny darksider calls out to Ponds. It is perhaps the most obvious darkersider comment Mace has heard in a long time. He wishes the Sith Lord would be this obvious about being a Sith. Mace does not appreciate these attempts to do… whatever these attempts are trying to do to Ponds.

“Would you kriffing shut your karking mouth?” Ponds screeches in response, Force fluctuating with his sheer rage, and then he flawlessly executes the three sharp movements that Mace has been teaching his men to break free of a darksider’s force hold. Mace feels the impressed surprise from his fellow council members, but he is a little busy attempting to grab Ponds again as the man crosses the room towards the redheaded fascist admiral.

Help? Mace sends at Depa, who’s seated closer to Ponds now, and she manages to hook him into her own force hold, pulling him closer to her, even as Ponds takes a swing at the admiral. He isn’t close enough to land the hit, but it has the benefit of sending a look of surprise across the redhead’s face, and he steps back away from Ponds, fear spiking in the force. His darksider partner sends the admiral a look in response to his fear. The look is punctuated by equal parts distaste and pure sexual hunger, and Mace can’t stop his gut reaction of disgust to that particular situation from bleeding into the force. Given the way the force twists with discomfort from the whole council, he’s not the only one.

“That’s right, I am far more powerful than you ever will be because I allow myself to love, unlike you twisted, unfeeling, repressed Jedi!” The darksider hisses at him, and at this point, Mace is impressed that the dark-haired man can even string those words together, although Mace isn’t sure he knows what they mean. They kind of all contradict each other. Mace doesn’t respond, he just folds his hands into a platform in front of his chest and leans forward to rest his chin on his hands. He never takes his eyes off the darksider.

Never let it be said though, that Obi-Wan and his commander were not every bit the trolls that the rest of their lineage is, Mace, thinks, as Commander Cody’s response to that is to whip his helmet off, lean over, and plant a kiss straight onto Obi-Wan. Mace works very hard to keep a straight face in response to that. Obi-Wan snakes a hand around his commander’s head, pulling them closer together in a move that Mace is sure is not comfortable, but certainly looks like it’s very… involved. In total contrast to the revolting hunger of the previous interaction between the admiral and the darksider, there is a gentle underscore of respect and care in the kiss between Obi-Wan and Commander Cody, despite the obvious joke the two are making. Clearly, the darksider has different feelings, as he makes a noise of disgust and protests.

“You know that he can’t really love you. The Jedi are so blinded by their light that they can’t love. It’s become just as poisonous as the dark.” What the kark? Mace has questions. That’s just… not how the force works. The light is selfless acts, and the dark is selfishness. One is a constant battle to do the right thing and the other a blinding spiral of mistakes. Unfortunately, before Mace can do more than clear his throat to interrupt, the darksider continues. “They don’t know how to love. They hate love. They believe that love is corrosive, evil, and they will never allow themselves to feel it properly. They will never love you.”

There is a spike of pure rage, and then a crack of metal and flesh, and the whole council realizes their mistake. With Depa holding Ponds back, no one has a grip on her commander anymore. To be fair, Mace had naively assumed he could be trusted to be the responsible one. The darksider falls to the ground with one hit, and there’s a scramble by the Jedi present to grab Grey, many of them even getting out of their seats to do it by hand.

“Ren!” The admiral cries but doesn’t actually make any more to help the darksider – Ren, apparently. There’s just a burst of muffled petty satisfaction. “We’re here to help you and the galaxy be free from the Jedi’s tyranny!” He continues, and Mace will admit that at this point, it feels a little like he’s being trolled.

“Do you know what this is?” Grey responds, holding up a datapad displaying what was familiar to Mace even at this distance as a senate certified from. It was too far for Mace to make out details, but he's pretty sure he recognizes the blood-red seal that was on all of the orders that sent his men, Vode and Jedi alike, back out to another deployment. The admiral makes a decisive noise. The spike of violent intent from Grey has Shaak Ti physically lunging to catch him, but she isn’t fast enough. Grey slams the datapad across the admiral’s face, and the redhead crumples to the floor with an angry groan. “These, are the approved adoption papers that my son and I signed. My son, the Jedi Padawan.” Grey grinds out, and Mace feels a swell of love for his grandpadawan. It’s strong enough that it probably came from at least him, Depa and Grey. Mace also knows the papers are a joke. There is no legal adoption that has taken place. But the point is non the less effective.

Shaak Ti collides with Grey at what is clearly a well-calculated angle, sending them both toppling on top of the two intruders while still looking almost accidental.

“Well then. Now that we have this settled, I propose we find our guests somewhere to sleep of their… education and move onto the next item on the agenda.” Obi-Wan proposes from where he is lounging in his chair in the only way a member of his lineage could. Dramatically. Mace feels a headache building.

Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26507122

Worst to best Star Wars Movie

IMHO

Rise of the Skywalkers

I refuse to see it. When you have written yourself so much in a corner that your only way forward is bringing back old nemesis and invalidating the end of the original trilogy - maybe quit your writing job.

Phantom Menace

Yeah yeah, beating the dead horse. But honestly, it is bad. The stakes are trivial at best, the big bad Darth Maul has zero buildup or backstory before he gets killed of, but we got 20 min pod racing instead, Jar Jar Bings, Darth Vader built C3P0, midichlorians...this movie is a mess.

The Last Jedi

All of the big set pieces are recycled. Fighting on a white planet against First Order troops? That was Empire. Battle in the throne room while the rebel fleet gets blown to pieces? Return of the Jedi. Then there is the Guardians of the Galaxy-style humor, that clashes with everything. Smoke dies without any fanfare (come to think of it, in the same way as Darth Maul does - cut at the waist). And my pet peeve is the hyperdrive-attack of general McPinkhair. If you can build a weapon that devastating with just using common technology - why does anybody need a death star? Just strap some hyperdrive engines on a rock and save the imperial taxpayer trillions of credits. But I will point out what I liked. I liked Leas use of the force. Kylo Ren continues to be my favorite bad guy. And I liked the casino planet, even though it felt like a fukkin side quest. Like when you are in a game in a burning castle and you get the mission to immediately get a bucket of water, so you stroll out of the fire, two towns over to the bucket maker, he says ‘yes, but first get me 10 ears of the earless trolls’ so you grind troll ears for an hour, maybe collect some rare crafting materials along the way, all the time your original quest giver is standing in their burning castle waiting patiently on your return.

What was I talking about again?

The Force Awakens

The Characters felt so fresh. A humanized Stormtrooper, mystery, Kylo Ren. But yeah, the plot is almost a carbon copy of A New Hope, just BIGGER death star this time.

And let me tell you how much I love Kilo Ren. That angsty, incel edge lord bitch, trying so hard to be like grandpa Vader. Trowing temper tantrums and having a rage problem. Truly, a villain for the 21st century.

Attack of the Clones

While the sequels got worse with every installment, the prequels actually got better. Attack has still the romance between Anakin and Padme, worked in smooth like a barrel of gravel. But it gets better. And the Memes are great.

Revenge of the Sith

Still has a bad case of ‘remember this?’. There was no need for Chewbacca to make an appearance. Bloated at places. But overall it is the best of the  prequels and still entertaining to watch today.

A New Hope 

It looks its age now. That movie will turn 45 soon and you can tell. Still, the prequels somehow look more dated. Actually, this movie is brought down for me by being constantly ripped of by later Star Wars content.

Return of the Jedi

A great, satisfying end to the original trilogy. Slave Lea might have awoken my sexuality (dont @ me). 

The Empire strikes Back

Maybe the Star Wars movie that added the most new content? Only movie to never set foot on Tatooine or another desert planet. I would love to see more of the cloud city, actually.

Solo

I...did not expect to love this movie that much? An incredible interesting backstory for Han, Chewie and the Millennium Falcon. Seriously, for a movie that establishes a backstory, most of the ‘member this? member this?’ is pretty subdued. If this was shot in the prequel-era they would have revealed that Chewbacca actually build R2D2 or was Uncle Owens weed man or whatever. Loved Lando, loved a new villainous organization and loved the sequel-hook/big reveal at the end. I am a bit sad that it will probably never get a sequel.

Rouge One

It is great. The mood, an explanation for Hopes big thingamajig, morally gray characters. A true sense of the Empires jackboot over the galaxy. A villain that is not a scheming mastermind but a bureaucrat of evil. The tragic ending. This is a great movie.

“Disagreement is okay but be nice to each other!” You’re always so cool about this stuff. Hope all this twitter junk blows over soon. Hugs from a fellow Reylo shipper💜🤗 (no need to really respond to this, just thought I’d send you a hug.) keep being awesome!

Thanks I’m doing okay :). I wanted to use your ask as an opportunity to write down what I’ve experienced and seen in terms of online harassment. I realize I have a bigger platform than most so I did want to speak out about this.

Context and Anti trolling:

I made a joke that some people found offensive, which if they don’t like I can respect that. What I don’t respect is the outright harassment I’ve endured and seen done to others. It’s shitty that a bunch of Anti-Reylo trolls took my tweets, packaged it as an attack on Oscar Isaac’s race (it wasn’t), ran with it, and started a mass harassment campaign. But even shittier that a lot of Reylos and my ex-followers have unfollowed, blocked, or even worse harassed me and have probably been just as bad in terms if not worse than Antis.

Lies:

90% of the things I see tweeted about me are either taken out of context or just straight up lies. I see them claiming I’m an Anti or hate Reylo. I see one Reylo claiming I steal original tweets/memes and is now “stealing content back” by just cropping my username out and tweeting my stuff out (this is really rude). I see multiple people claiming to know my gender and race and then race/gender baiting. I see people taking my DMs when I did reach out to explain the controversial tweets, and then using it to further harass me by tweeting them out as evidence of me “being conniving” and refusing to let me have a say in anything. People have claimed I’ve pretended to be Latino in the past (the evidence being I once used the words “por que”). I see people claiming I’ve blocked them for no reason when in reality, they’ve been harassing me non-stop. I see claims that my first suspension was for either very salicious reasons or that I’m a racist (I actually got incorrectly suspended for “spam”, which Twitter undid on review). 

Harassing me and others:

Not only do people lie, people are engaging in all sorts of vicious attacks. I see people clearly using my username for their own agenda (shipping wars, virtue signaling, etc). People try to report my posts as racist (FYI - Twitter also does not consider parody accounts mocking fictional characters racism per their official message to me so good try). I see Reylos and Antis wishing me Coronavirus. I still see repeated attempts to hack my Instagram and Twitter. I see people going across all my social media to dig up dirt.

It’s even shittier because I see these same people (literally I can recognize the same people) actively doing it to others too. I see them tearing apart a Reylo who said he said he liked The Rise of Skywalker and Rey Palpatine concept. I see someone trying to attack others for liking the character of Luke Skywalker more than Kylo Ren. I see POCs that defended me get harassed and called things such as b*aner, bootlicker, horsefucker. I see non-POCs stirring trouble by continuing to silence POCs speaking up and making threads that encourage POCs to fight over my tweets. I see the same people also doxxing others in their feuds. I have followers who told me they had to unfollow me because of the harassment they were getting from their mutuals. It’s sad to see rabid Anti behavior in the Reylo Twitter community but the reality is this behavior exists everywhere and it’s pretty toxic.

Conclusion: 

I’m not going to name drop anyone (I learned my lesson about that, while my feelings were valid I should have 100% hidden said person’s twitter handle) because I’m not interested in escalating the harassment. This problem isn’t just an Anti problem nor a Reylo problem and it goes beyond shipping. I’m definitely doing a lot better now, a lot of people reached out to me with their support (POCs and not) and I’m grateful. Some of my followers publicly defended me in spite of the harassment and I’m also grateful for that. I’m just trying to move on from it and have fun with my account (my Instagram’s actually really picking up 6.2k followers now, up from 1.5k three months ago!!!). I still love what I do, I’m still a big Reylo, and I’m just blocking a lot more people now.

All this is to say, whether you disagree with someone on Star Wars, their sense of humor, what you choose to ship, it’s not an excuse to go out and be shitty to someone. Thanks! 

Let It Go- Julie and the Phantoms Fanfic

So, I haven’t written a fanfiction in almost seven years. And now this stinking teeny-bopper Netflix show has me so hooked, I couldn’t stop thinking about this all day. So here’s a little unedited drabble I thought up after realizing the guys have been dead for 25 years... and would most likely not prioritize watching princess movies. So they’ve never seen Frozen. Or heard Let It Go.

Let It Go

Julie Molina loved movies.

Everyone knew she loved music, of course. But people often forgot that a really good movie has a really good score. That was one of the things her mother had taught her- music shares emotions, tells a story, connects people, no matter the setting- Rock Concerts, pianos in a theater, or orchestrations swelling though speakers scattered around the studio.

Much like the way the latest Star Wars movie was sounding right now.

She’d tried to ignore it. After all, the guys of Sunset Curve had been dead and missed out of twenty-five years of stuff.

 Plus, to a group of seventeen year old boys, the fact that Star Wars had come back not once, but twice, and killed Han Solo, and introduced Jar Jar Binks… well, it was a lot. And so she was trying to be understanding about why Alex and Reggie were sprawled around the television with her DisneyPlus account pulled up, critiquing Kylo Ren and Rey slashing at each other with lightsabers in the rain. But she had a headache, probably from the calculus homework she’d been working on for what felt like a lifetime.

“…He’s a Darth Vader rip-off. Basically, they took the awesomeness of Darth Vader and his shiny helmet and tried to stick it on this whiny kid-” Reggie was complaining again as Alex nodded. Even annoyed, Julie couldn’t help but smile at them. She knew them well enough now to know that Alex was one hundred percent not listening.

“Alex.” She called his name, watching as he chewed on his lower lip, lost in thought. “Hey. Alex? Alex!”

He shot up from where he was lounging on the floor, blonde hair falling in his eyes. “Huh? What? Sorry. What’s going on?”

“Are you okay? You seem- well, maybe more anxious then normal.” Julie asked.

Reggie chimed in. “Yeah man, I’m not even sure you’re watching this.”

Alex shook his head. “I’m sorry, guys. I was just thinking about something I said to Willie. It was probably the wrong thing. And now he thinks I’m even more of a loser. And that’s impressive considered I died because of a bad hot dog.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.” Reggie said, trying to lay a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder. “And if it was, you can always just blame it on like, death brain, or something.” Alex rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, it couldn’t have been that bad.” Julie smiled at the drummer, who was overthinking his interesting little relationship with the ghostly skateboarder. “And if it was, just be cool and move on. You know? Like Queen Elsa, just let it go.” She wiggled a little dance and giggled at her bad joke. She and her mom loved making Frozen related puns. Mostly because Carlos had been obsessed when the first movie came out and the music drove her dad insane. She hadn’t gotten the guts up to sit through the original, or watch Frozen 2. 

“Who’s Queen Elsa?” Alex asked. That stopped Julie in her tracks. 

“Oh my god.” She gasped. “You’ve been dead for twenty-five years.”

“We know. Alex cried that whole time.” Reggie said.

“Reggie. Seriously, it didn’t feel like twenty-five years, so like don’t-“

“Ap-pa-pa” Julie held up her hands to stop the guys from going off on a tangent. “You’ve been dead for twenty-five years. You’ve never seen Frozen.”

Reggie looked confused. “I mean, we seemed frozen for the twenty-five years- Hey! I was watching that!”

Julie plopped herself down on the sofa, clicking the remote to the main page. “Not anymore, you’re not. We’re watching Frozen. Right now.”

“Is this a princess movie? Cause I love The Little Mermaid as much as the next guy, but I’m not sure-“

Julie cut Alex off with a wave of her hand.

“Trust me. This is not an ordinary Disney princess movie. You’ve missed a lot, boys.” The title page popped up, and Julie hit play, as the image of Elsa and Anna faded into the Walt Disney Castle logo with Norwegian rhythmic vocalization echoing in the background, the film began. As soon as the music started, both boys’ eyes were glued to the screen. And by the time the ice harvesters and baby Kristoff and Sven appeared, she knew they were hooked.

Julie had seen this movie hundreds of times. But watching Alex and Reggie’s faces as they saw it for the first time was probably going to be her favorite time watching it.

                                                             ~

“The sky’s awake. So I’m awake” Anna flopped over her sister dramatically. Reggie’s eyes were wide. He was definitely an Anna.

“Did she die?” He gasped as Anna got hit by Elsa’s ice beams. They rushed her to the trolls. “TALKING ROCKS.”

Alex watched silently as Elsa locked herself away from the world.

                                                             ~

“This is how I feel like when Rey doesn’t answer me.” Reggie mumbled during “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?”.

Julie looked over. “Why would my dad answer you?”

“Ummm, you see- oh see, that’s a better death than hot dogs!” Julie looked back at the screen, to see Anna sitting back to the door for the funeral. For a second her breath caught in her throat. But it didn’t hurt as much as she thought it would. And by the time Anna showed up on screen waking up a mess, Julie actually giggled along with the guys.

                                                                 ~

When the screen turned to the mountain top, and the first notes of “Let It Go” started, the guys’ eyes were the size of dinner plates. Watching Elsa’s transformation, seeing her take control of her power- Julie felt like for the first time, she understood why people look at the band like they’re some kind of hero. The power in the music convinces the audience that Julie and the guys have it all together- even when everything else in their lives or after lives- seemed to be going wrong. Just like Elsa, being a boss while having accidentally started eternal winter.

                                                               ~

Luke poofed into the studio a while later, surprised to find Julie sitting at the piano, playing as Alex and Reggie had shirts tied around their necks like capes and the three of them screaming “Let It Go” at the top of their lungs.

“What the heck did I miss?”

Lily liveblogs: “The Rise of Skywalker,” part two

Neener, neener, world-building is for losers. Not to mention plot, character development, and general coherence.

(Or, fifty ideas in a trench coat pretending to be one movie.)

Look, you get ONE fetch quest per film, and we've already exceeded the limit here, please stop... [does not stop]

Poe literally has to ask to kiss Zorii because she's wearing a mask, lol. I mean, I like to think he would anyway, but... just saying.

They literally slot the medallion into the designated coin slot and that's it, it's over so fast, lololololol.

Like, the FO lets them in because they have a medallion and then only sends two troopers to investigate because Something Is Clearly Up? LOLOLOLOLOLOL.

Okay, they're just going to straight up assault the Star Destroyer. 10/10 for style. Refuge in audacity and all that. Fine, whatever.

Finn ought to have some idea about the layout of the place, didn't the FO teach him that stuff when he was a stormtrooper? Or at least enough to have a hint. Or are they just going to wander around without a clue and magically find the right spot??

Oh, Rey's mastered the mind-trick now, good to know. (*Legally Blonde voice* "What, like it's hard?")

Poe's question if Rey does that to him and Finn is 100% spot on and he is RIGHT to ask that because the mind trick is SUPER INVASIVE and can be badly misused.Given how recalcitrant Poe’s been, I’m sure she’s been tempted.

Rey is so concerned about Chewie until she gets distracted by the dagger, sigh... [Han Solo voice] Convenient. [/Han Solo voice.]

Why do they need the dagger macguffin if they already have the coordinates? What a stupid thing to get Rey alone so she and Kylo can have a moment.

Kylo searching through Kijimi for Rey like he's got no fucking clue, lololol. So much for their "Force bond" here.

Does Finn feel, like, anything for the troopers he's shooting? I mean, obviously not in the heat of battle, but like, ever? Considering that his friend's death on Jakku was what snapped him out of the FO brainwashing in the first place... so he knows it's possible for the others to change. So... what a wasted opportunity here.

Literally, all of the troopers are patrolling either in pairs or alone, that is so dumb if there's actually an alert out on the ship for them.

Is Poe having PTSD flashbacks to the last time he got captured by the FO? Because I would, if I were in his shoes.

Rey picks up the dagger and has flashbacks again PSYCHOMETRY PSYCHOMETRY PSYCHOMETRY PSYCHOMETRY

Okay, the FUCK is going on with this fight scene. Where is she, really? Is she Force projecting? How can she do that when it killed Luke? How can BOTH of them be in two places at once? Ie, it's not that Rey is suddenly having an out-of-body experience and fighting Kylo on a spiritual plane in Kijimi - she's also fighting in Kylo's room, and even though I could see her body moving in time with her mind, is Kylo projecting himself into his room with HER, too? What is happening?

I feel like this scene would be so much more powerful if we established some parameters for HOW THIS POWER FUCKING WORKS so I know what the stakes are. Wouldn't it be interesting if this moved used life force, for instance, the same way that healing did? What are the restrictions/limitations? Why is none of this ever explained? It just happens... waaaaaahhhhhhh

I really love it when this is an open question in works that are thematically ABOUT "is it a dream? is it real? is it a mindfuck?" [see: Inception] but that's NOT THE POINT OF THIS FILM, this is a side issue, so it SHOULDN'T BE A MYSTERY, it should be actually intelligible to me what is going on even if I don't understand all the intricacies.

It does look cool, though. I'll grant them that much. The aesthetics of a night fight in the falling stone are ON POINT. Too bad the fight doesn't really use much of its scenery to any advantage. This could be literally anywhere for all that the characters draw on their surroundings.

"Wherever you are, you are hard to find." So smooth, Kylo.

Rey VERY CLEARLY SAYS "I don't want this!" in response to Kylo's "I've been in your head". Because consent is for LOSERs, am I right? [/sarcasm] ugghhhhhhh

"Your parents are no one...." but turns out they were actually someone! Never mind we never get their names or backstory anywhere! That might make them... interesting! Or even RELEVANT.

Okay, so stuff from Kijimi is literally spilling into the star destroyer and vice versa, is that actually happening or is that just a visual metaphor/dream sequence, I really need to know wtf is going on here.

Kylo using his knowledge of/from Palpatine to manipulate Rey is terrible but actually something he would do... and kinda clever. I'll grant him that much.

Ochi looks just like a twisted version of Maz, except taller... does that mean anything? probably not!

We literally have no connection to these two random new characters so their fate does not resonate as much as it SHOULD HAVE. Which one was Palpatine's kid? How did he HAVE kids in the first place? What was said kid's life like? Why did they grow up to run away and defy their dad? How did they meet the other partner? How did all this, you know, HAPPEN??

And why did Palpatine send an agent to kill them instead of killing/tortuing them himself, since they clearly had info he was interested in? THE FUCK.

I was hoping the Vader mask would finally be destroyed, but NOOOOOOOOOOO.

Lol how Kylo's like "I'm gonna only tell you the rest of the story in person" as if they weren't already fighting face to face in some weird dream-reality hybrid thingy. Kylo, you are so desperate and so so so so dumb.

LOL, Hux being all dramatic here. "I'm the spy!"

This just gets funnier when you remember how Poe trolled the SHIT out of him at the beginning of TLJ, so Poe has NO CLUE (because the writers didn't either until just now, natch), AND why Poe's reaction when Hux says he's gonna "do it himself" (ie, murder Poe) is so on point.

I approve of Rey looting Kylo's room before running off. Too bad she doesn't smash the Vader mask and be done with it. At least Chewie gets his crossbow back.

"I don't care if you win. I need Kylo Ren to lose." 10/10, excellent character motivation, and I approve. Hux is such a bastard and Kylo totally deserves this betrayal. (also: the Imperial philosophy in a nutshell.)

I'm not averse per se to Rey Palpatine, but this way of handling it is total bullshit and an asspull, sigh.

Oh, no, here comes the Force dyad nonsense. "We have no choice but to be together because we're SOULMATES! I'm stalking you because I LOVE YOU and it's DESTINY, Rey!" </sarcasm>

Oh, the destroyer is still in the atmosphere over Kijimi and not in space, I see. getting bespin feels here. This should have happened in the second movie not halfway through the third.

Yup, there's the "join me and rule the galaxy" offer right on cue.

Taking off your mask does not help here, Kylo. No one cares about your puppy dog eyes, you fucking stalker.

yeah, she would have jumped if the Falcon hadn't shown up right at the last minute, lol.

[Honestly, I would have had her jump and land smack on the back of the Falcon, but that may just be my twisted sense of humor talking.]

love kylo's dismay as she gets away. EXCELLENT LEAP. And Finn is wearing an oxygen mask, which is a detail which I <3!

Hux just dies with no drama, which is too bad, but also soooo typical of Imperial/FO management style. Live by the sword, die by the sword. Good thing your pettiness lives on!

(Pryde is clearly the Real Villain now that Hux is Actually Good, I see what you did there.)

I hate how Rey literally shuts Finn out here, when he is TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THING AND REMIND HER SHE'S A GOOD PERSON and Rey is so confused by Kylo's constant gaslighting that she ignores him. Like, psychologically understandable (and sad) but I fucking hate it. Finn deserves so much better than this.

Palpatine talks in Kylo's head... how? why? Why does Palps have this kind of connection with Kylo when he had to make hologram calls to Vader the old-fashioned way? (I know they established at the beginning of the film that they had this relationship, but it's still odd and inexplicable. Like the whole thing that was supposed to make Mara Jade special was that she could hear his voice anywhere in the galaxy... and Kylo's just... got that... for no reason? Because Palps targeted him since he was a kid???

(Keep in mind Kylo was concieved RIGHT AFTER ENDOR, so I dunno what Palps was up to or how long it would take him to get a body or LITERALLY ANY WAY IN WHICH THIS WOULD MAKE LOGISTICAL SENSE.)

It's a moon of Endor, but a DIFFERENT moon of Endor, fine, okay, and we're going to ignore the whole "How did the Death Star ruins get here, anyway?" because that's a world-building problem of an entirely different order of magnitude and just roll with it.

I do believe Rey is mentally running the numbers on Death Star scrap/value of kyber crystals on the open market here, because old habits die hard. And that is such a gorgeous shot, with the cliffs and the churning sea and the ruins.

Oh, I see, the wayfinder was on the moon because it was in the Death Star with Palps and somehow... didn't explode or get sucked out into the vacuum of space. That's a leap, but okay, whatever, fine.

using a macguffin to find another macguffin, wow.

I don't literally don't understand how this dagger is supposed to work as a compass, but fine, whatever. now we will never see it again.

Jannah looks great, I love her character design, but unfortunately, this movie is going to spend very little time exploring the world she lives in because we have to rush onto the next thing, sigh. And apparently, they know about the Resistance! Okay. And they know Babu Frik... or Babu Frik knows them enough to call in some favors...? WHAT.

So it's too dangerous to travel on the water because the waves are so big... which means some killer tides! That is actually interesting, but Rey just overrides everyone and goes anyway (alone!!) so I don't even know why this comes up as an obstacle if it is instantly resolved. This film keeps doing that, and it is not as cute as the director thinks it is.

Finn and Jannah bond over being ex-FO, and this film should spend wayyyy more time on this than it does. THEY BOTH HAD "FEELINGS" ABOUT WHAT WAS RIGHT AND THEY OVERCAME THEIR BRAINWASHING -- Finn is talking about the feeling and calling it "the Force," this is great, AND MY HEART IS DISSOLVING IN A MILLION FEELS AND I JUST... WANT THIS TO FREAKIN' MATTER... why is Finn so sure the Force is real? Faith? Or because he's actually a Jedi, too? (You already know which one I believe here. MAKE HIM A JEDI YOU COWARDS.)

Rey just fucks off and steals Jannah's boat? Where... was it? How did she find it? What... how does that even make sense??

too bad they don't have a working ship, they could just FLY over the ocean instead of surmounting the waves for extra unnecessary drama, lol.

Please keep in mind that Rey grew up in a fucking desert. That she cannot (despite what TLJ might have told you) swim. Yet she is on a boat in an ocean alone. This is a terrible idea. (I'm not going to say it's OOC, because Rey would, in fact, totally do this--just emphasizing how bad an idea this is.)

Finn says, "You have no idea what she's fighting" to Poe... who does know, actually. Kylo tortured him at the beginning of TFA, just like he tried to do later in that film to Rey. Surely Finn should... know this?

If Finn and Poe are going to fight here, fine, this is just a stupid argument. Finn says he and Leia know what Rey is up against and Poe says, I'm not Leia, YES WE NOTICED POE.

Whyyyy is Poe the Team Skeptic here and such a grouch?? not cool.

"That's for damn sure." OH SNAP. And also, actual profanity in Star Wars? Whoa!

Of course Finn is going to go after her.

I will say this: the Death Star ruins look hella cool. also, a nice callback to the beginning of TFA where Rey is exploring the Star Destroyer ruins.

my goodness, the upper arm strength required. I love this scene. they should have made Palpatine's ghost haunting the ruins so we could have the final boss fight here - that would make so much more since than him fucking off to Exegol of all places.

(the ruins are totally my aesthetic, tho.)

And the Sith wayfinder.. is just floating in midair. In the ruins of the Death Star that shouldn't exist. In some sort of chamber with no security whatsoever. wowwwwww. Oh, okay, it's in some sort of suspended chamber thingy, but still.... security measures??

Hey, Rey touches it, and experiences a creepy vision--PSYCHOMETRY, ANYONE? A security measure? Oh, no, just a crazy Force vision... maybe? I don't know anymore. I don't know why.

The double-bladed quarterstaff lightsaber is super cool, though.

Rey fighting her evil self in the crumbling tech ruins is TOTALLY MY AESTHETIC YESSSSSSSSS.

since Rey gets a vision when she touches the wayfinder and is released when she lets go of it, I honestly wonder what the other wayfinder said to Kylo, if he experienced anything when he touched it.

speaking of which, there's kylo! ughhhhh.

Like, literally Rey could have stolen the Sith wayfinder from Kylo if he had left it in his room, and she blew up at least one of his TIE fighters that had it so... I don't even know if Kylo has one anymore. Maybe he doesn't need it? WHATEVER.

Rey is not amused. GIVE ME MY MACGUFFIN!

This is, for the record, the THIRD FIGHT between Kylo and Rey in this film, please just kill him already.

Kylo trying to gaslight Rey about not being a Jedi and how she's proven she's not and she'll disappoint Leia. HOW THE HELL DO YOU THINK LEIA FEELS ABOUT YOU, KYLO??? PROJECTING MUCH???

"Like I can't [go back to Leia]." Ooooohhhhhhh, forced teaming there, way to make your move by claiming to show vulnerability. YOU CHOSE THIS. YOU CHOSE THAT PATH. SHE SENT HAN TO BRING YOU HOME AND YOU MURDERED HIM BECAUSE SNOKE TOLD YOU TO SO YOU COULD LEVEL UP IN HIS STUPID DEATH CULT AND SNOKE TURNED OUT TO BE A PUPPET SO IT WAS ALL FOR NAUGHT, YOU ASSHOLE, and NOW YOU'RE TRYING GASLIGHT REY BY PROJECTING YOUR FAILURES ONTO HER.

And he shatters the macguffin rather than let her have it because he's that much of an asshole.

He doesn't pull out his lightsaber until several seconds in, just moves around because he genuinely doesn't want to hurt her even though he just provoked her into losing her temper to prove a point.

It's raining back on Jungle Planet for ATMOSPHERE and Leia is having a Force Vision of DOOOOOOOM, this was oh so clearly supposed to be for Han's death in TFA, but noooooooooooo we're using it here.

(Also, how is it not raining on the tech, I think there are roofs, but it's so hard to tell.)

Maz is so dramatic about this. "Leia knows what must be done, Artoo." Yes, Kylo is going down.

The aesthetics of the ocean ruins fight scene are 100% my jam, not gonna lie, it looks very cool.

So, once again, the Supreme Leader went off on his own... without backup... not even his own private biker gang.... AGAIN. I just.... can't even... what an idiot. What an absolute idiot.

Good thing Finn and Jannah are here, though I doubt the narrative will actually let them do much. I wish Finn and/or Jannah would just shoot Kylo here once Rey gives them an opening, but no, they're just going to stand there helpless.  

I get why Rey pushes them away so Kylo won't use them against her as hostages, but STILL. THERE ARE THREE OF YOU AND ONE OF HIM. USE THAT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE, REY.

drenched unhappy Kylo Ren is excellent, yesssss.

This is the first time I've seen anyone use the Force to halt the blade of a lightsaber... interesting.

Rey is treating her lightsaber like it's one-half of a quarterstaff, I LOVE it, but it also begs the question why didn't she just make a double-bladed saber (with, say, a split kyber crystal from TLJ?) in the first place instead of using a weapon that clearly doesn't work for her as well????

Leia could have reached out to her son at any moment, but she chose not to because she needed to save her strength... but Palps can talk to Kylo across the galaxy and he's fine?? And Kylo and Rey can be in two different places and be just fine (yeah okay, Force dyad soulmates whatever whatever)??? THIS MAKES NO SENSE.

Rey stabbing Kylo with his own damn blade is POETIC CINEMA and also justice. FINALLY.

I think if there were any questions about whether Rey has killed someone, the answer in this scene is no. I can't tell if she's crying for Leia, for shock, for relief, for grief and regret over murdering Kylo, or what.

WHY DOES SHE USE HER LIFE FORCE TO HEAL HIM? WHY? WHY? WHY??????????? (give me a motivation, I dont know what her motivation is here, I dont know why she makes this sacrifice to HIM of all people and I feel like I really should know for this scene to have emotional impact but it doesn't).

LEIA SACRIFICED HERSELF FOR YOU, REY, AND YOU'RE JUST GOING THROW IT AWAY LIKE THIS???

Now, if this movie were actually serious about Kylo and Rey being a Force dyad or two halves of the same whole, then we, the audience, would realize along with Rey that she can't let Kylo die without hurting herself... which I'm not sure I would enjoy, but would at least be COHERENT and fit into the ESTABLISHED WORLDBUILDING even if said worldbuilding is dumb and personally offensive to me. I'M JUST SAYING THERE ARE OPTIONS HERE, YOU TOTALLY HAD OPTIONS THAT WOULD HAVE MADE NARRATIVE SENSE SO I DIDN’T HAVE TO DO IT FOR YOU ON THE SPOT. 

"I did want to take your hand. Ben's hand." We know that. That was the whole ending of TLJ. Why is this such a shock now??? She already said that at the end of the last movie, so what have we accomplished since? Absolutely nothing has changed on that front, Kylo!!

Also, Kylo--she saved your life when she didn't have to, and you can't even say Thank you? YOU UNGRATEFUL ASSHOLE.

{there's one hour left in this movie WHATTTTTTTTTTTTT how is that even possible}

lol, she just straight up steals his ship.... which is just perched on top of the ruins nearby and hasn't been damaged at all by spray... and which should ALSO have the wayfinder macguffin in it.... so she's going to Exegol, right? The thing she's been wanting to do for the whole movie? The thing that they only have what, four hours left before the attack or whatever?

NOPE. She goes to Ahch-To. Because of course she does.

I hate this fucking movie so much.

Some very long Rambly TROS thoughts

Holy fuck there is so much wrong with this movie.

Let's start at the beginning. Kylo tracks down the wayfinder/holocron crystal thing that will lead him to the sith homeworld. We learn that Palpatine was behind both the Snoke and Vader voices in Kylo’s head-basically the dude has been manipulating him for 30 years. Kylo states very clearly he's gonna kill this motherfucker. This is very in line with the Last Jedi- Kylo wants to destroy everything- the Sith the Jedi the Resistance- because he’s tired of the constant push-pull of rejection and manipulation. BUT THEN HE DOESNT KILL PALPATINE???? At first the film argues that he doesn't kill Palps because Palps promises him the big FINAL ORDER fleet? Okay...but I don’t think Kylo really gives a shit about a big fleet of ships when it's offered by the fucker who has been scrabbling his brains for shits and giggles. Once the ‘Rey Palpatine’ thing comes to light, we are lead to believe Kylo went along with the whole final order plan because he wanted to kill Palpatine together with REY???? Ahh okay? 

So now we switch back to Rey. She's basically a jedi, cool. And I guess the Skywalker saber just fixed itself, with literally no scars or anything. A great visual representation about how this film feels about character development that happened in The Last Jedi. So Rey breaks concentration and fails the courses. According to the film, this happens because sheisapalpatine. If you had two brain cells you would realize Rey could be upset for normal reasons ...like that in order to the Resistance to win she’s going to have to put Kylo down like a dog. Its kinda cool that Leia is her teacher (more on that later).

Soo then we spend the next hour on a pointless adventure with the Trio™. Which would be fun, if they were ever established as a Trio. Arguably the real trio might be Rose-Finn-Poe. More on Rose later. Here is a list of incomprehensible things that happen here:

Kylo reforges his mask. Because Reasons? The knights of Ren. Because Reasons?

A handful of force bond scenes. The first one actually isn’t half bad. By wearing the mask, Kylo is rejecting the intimacy inherent to the connection because he is about to  defile it. Grabbing Rey’s necklace is a physical and emotional violation. It's the first time he has ever used the connection for personal gain.  The other connection scenes mostly just play around with the two of them being able to pass each other stuff. They lack the careful editing of TLJ connection scenes. Disclaimer: I’m a pretty hard core Reylo and these scenes really lacked the magic they previously had.This might be un-purpose Kylo is clearly pretty lost as this point.  Dull, lacking in heart like so much of this film. 

Kylo becomes a cartoon power ranger villian spouting Palpatine exposition and attempting to create suspense by almost catching the trio a couple times. Some of the dialogue is almost Revenge of the Sith Anakin level awkward.  It lacks both the unstable angry energy of FA or the sad tired boi energy of TLJ. 

Rey makes force lighting because I guess she was upset and it's a genetic ability now???

Poe gets a female love interest, becuase hes heterosexual. HeTeroSeXUal.

Poe and Finn flirt for a whole hour while Poe checks out some new chick and Finn now has a harem thing kinda. 

Poe is now a spice trader. BECAUSE YOU KNOW HE'S THE HAN SOLO OF THE TRILOGY. Let's just forget that TLJ establishes that Poe is his own character, probably loyal to the resistance since birth. His parents are rebellion alumni.

Two death fake outs. I don’t know why they had to give 3PO his memories back. He lost them at the end of the Prequels and R2 loved him anyway. Chewbacca capture was a missed opportunity to get some resolution to him shooting Kylo in the gut. 

Hux is the spy. Lovely. He is the ultimate weak bitch. Tbh the most consistent character development. Arguably my favorite detail on the entire film. Perfect execution. Domhnall Gleason is a gift. 

Now onto Endor. Endor has so much potential and squanders most of it.

Finn meets other people who left the stormtrooper program. Cool. Weird how it's tied to force sensitivity. I like the idea of the force putting Poe and Finn in the right place at the right time, but I think to imply people’s ability to escape slavery is tied to force sensitivity brings us to the problematic terrority of the sequels. Also the only one who talks to Finn is also black. And Clearly has a romantic vibe. Okay…..

The Rey Palpatine thing is made explicit. Even though anyone will half a brain figured it out 90 minutes ago. More wierd implications…..who would agree to fuck an old man Palpatine? So Rape i guess. Rey’s parents were normal...is this some kinda side material hook to read more about them or some shit??? Kylo refers to Rey’s parents as ‘filthy junk traders’. He's right. THEY SOLD HER INTO FUCKING SLAVERY. However Rey’s parents are good people??? WTF THIS IS THE JEDI COUNCIL ALL OVER AGAIN.

 Soo Kylo destroys the wayfinder to force Rey to work with him. Anti-Reylos will often get their panties in a twist about how it’s an ‘abusive relationship’. This is the only scene that really comes off as manipulative- in a way it never did in TLJ. Partly because they play up this idea of power-hungry Kylo (which has little basis in reality. In FA he just wanted to make Snoke his daddy. And TLJ Kylo is just soo fucking lonely) rather than sad boi Kylo trying to hold onto someone. Damn the TLJ throne scene is soo careful with getting that energy right, balancing the heartbreak with a little gaslighting (sorry off topic).  Then They Fight. Kylo doesn’t even pull out a saber at first because he literally has no intention of killing her. Rey fights because she's mad. Leia decides to intervene at this time, which is weird because Kylo still has no intention of hurting Rey. Apparently Leia sending Kylo a text is enough to freak him out. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN THE TIME FOR FLASHBACKS, MAYBE A ‘YOU’RE MY ONLY HOPE’ TO TIE HIM BACK TO HIS NAMESAKE. 

Instead Rey gets him in the gut. She then heals him, something that should have been really intimate. This would have been time to kiss him in that wistful ‘ I wanted to know what it would be like before I exile myself forever way’. This is one of the scenes that desperately needed more breathing room AND GIVE KYLO SOME FUCKING DIALOGUE YOU COWARDS. Healing him combined with Leia stuff should have reduced Kylo to a pile of tears. I think he would find it completely overwhelming that someone thinks he is worth it, worth a part of their life source, worth their final breathes. 

Oh woah surprise Han Solo. This kinda works for me because unlike robot Leia and fairy godmother Luke, Han looks alive. Plus Han is only a memory so Kylo has to save himself, make his own choice. Aww fuck this got me the closest to tears becuase he looks so fucking sad about the fact that he can’t go home. Damn you Adam Driver and you’re big weepy eyes. His mother is dead and I don’t think he ever truly realized that she wanted him back. I guess with the way things went with Luke, he just assumed he was unwanted. Even now, Han is the only one of the 3 Ben can really imagine taking him back. Who knew Han was such a softie.  At the same time there is something so unintentionally sad about the fact that Ben’s whole family can become force ghosts and not a single one gives enough of  a shit about him to show up at the turning point of his life. 

Also the implication that Ben turns to protect Leia’s lifework is strange. Leia’s legacy is the Rebellion, a democratic senate, a planet wiped off the map, NOT SKYWALKER JEDI #2 JJ!!!!! Ben doesn’t even interact with any of the larger powers at work, he just saves Rey. 

Also while Ben’s guilt and shame about killing Han (his true sin) keep him on the dark side, this doesn’t address the 8 million other reasons he left the light. Also why do Leia and Rey never discuss this???? His own fucking family repeatedly rejected him because of his ‘Vadar-ness’ which is ironic considering…….

Then we cut to Rey’s fairy godmother-esque trip to Ahch-To where she arms herself with all of the Skywalker’s personal effects:

Mad that Rian Johnson denied you that ESB fanservice call-back of Luke being able to pull his x-wing out of water?? Don’t worry JJ has got you covered. 

Mad that Leia didn’t have lightsaber? Don’t worry JJ has got you covered, Leia was always prepared to be a back up to Luke because she doesn’t have her own perspective or anything or like a whole fucking political system to run. Also she stopped training because apparently completing her journey would end in Ben’s death...ooo SmArT foreshadowing that Rey using her lightsaber will end in one dead Ben boi. 

Leia and Luke ALWAYS knew about Rey Palps. Which is funny because they threw their own flesh and blood in the trash because he seemed kinda Vader-y. I guess it's wrong to judge people by their bloodlines unless its your own bloodline. I can’t even. 

There is no mention of Ben at all- even though Leia and Luke both died for him and Rey put her whole heart into saving him.  

Now to Exeger or whatever again. Almost two hours in and we’re back at the planet we were on in the first 5 minutes.

Spaceship stuff happens. Take out your checklist to get those pilot and ship cameos. Ooo look its The Ghost! OG trilogy pilot! Lando is there! WOOO! Poe’s girlfriend lived somehow! 

Ben’s last words are ‘Ow’.

Palps wants Rey to kill him because I guess that will make her evil? Since when does killing people make you evil? I don’t think killing Palps to save the world in the same as ‘striking your enemies down in hatred’ or whatever. 

Oh Hey Ben is here. Palps doesn’t care much I guess even though trolling Skywalkers is his whole life’s passion. 

Palps drains the life out of Ben/Rey. They don’t die. Ben goes flying into a pit. Rey has to face Palps alone because I guess even though Ben/Rey are stronger together and are cosmically linked the lone jedi thing will happen anyway?? Is feminism about doing everything on your own rather than building meaningful connections with your equal partner. Honestly only Men would think a women has to do everything alone to prove her worth, Rey has been wanting allies and family her whole life LET HER HAVE IT. 

Also okay sooo Palps did technically kill Rey’s parents and she had about a whole 5 minutes to think about that. Multiple generations of Ben’s family have been tortured by this guy, so I think it would be rather cathartic to see him play a bigger role in the end of Palp.

Rey enters the Avatar State. Cue more fanservice cameos (I love you Ahsoka, but you said it yourself, you ain’t a jedi). In another backhanded slap to TLJ were back on the TheJediDidNothingWrong line of thinking. Anakin is present ...I wonder if anyone else is interested in talking to him…...

Rey dies. I’m not sure why. Palps legit sucked the life of her and she lived, but the Avatar State killed her. 

Ben crawls out of pit. Damn Adam Driver has legs for days. He heals Rey, its kinda sweet but it's also really really weird that he hasn’t said anything. Not saying we need an over the top love declaration but even his emotionally constipated parents managed to get an ‘I love you’ out. 

Ben saves Rey. The thing Anakin thought the dark side would give him the power to do. Interesting bookend. Sad that my boy has such low self preservation, he gives her his life without hesitation. Why do we have to die for other people? It’s much harder to have to live for other people. To move and grow beyond the past. To try and be our best everyday, even when its hard. Isn’t that real redemption? 

Ben kisses Rey. Awww. Its missing some of the elements of a big romantic drama kiss, which I would be okay with ...if it was followed up with a big romantic kiss with a sunset on a new planet before the credits roll. Alas this does not happen. The audience is somewhat befuddled since their had been almost no dialogue referencing their emotional connections. The ‘no one knows me./I do.’ dialogue from the trailer did not appear in film. 

Ben smiles. It has all the boyish charm and innocence Anakin wished he had in the prequels. Aww he really has never kissed anyone. I wonder when the last time he smiled was. HAS THIS MAN EVER HAD A GOOD DAY HIS ENTIRE LIFE. I am emotionally moved until approximately 2 seconds later….

Ben dies. There is no funeral. No mention. Rey doesn’t shed a single tear. This dude literally gave you his life without hesitation. Is Reylo one-sided? Or at least not equally felt? Ow. U The Resistance doesn’t wonder what happened to the Supreme leader. We know at the end of TLJ Luke became a legend, I do not think this happens to Ben. 

The Resistance parties. Cue Return of the Jedi film reel. Poe and Finn are heterosexual. No resolution to the stupid ReyFinn force sensitve thing. Two women kiss. It will be cut out of the Chinese release. 

Rey buries the lightsabers on Tatooine because you know Luke lived there and Leia once wore a metal bikini there. Rey choose the name Rey Skywalker. Which is interesting because she didn’t get along that well with Luke. She finished her training with Leia Organa Solo, Princess of Alderaan who just happens to have been a result of a sperm donation from Anakin Skywalker. She found a father figure in Han Solo. She loved a guy named Ben Solo. I’m not saying she should name herself Rey Solo, but it certainly is better than Rey Skywalker. I mean it's almost like a person's worth and ability aren’t dependent on either a bloodline or acceptance into the galaxies most powerful family. Rey nobody would have been fine.  I’m not going to get into the feminist angle of a self made women tying herself to the legacy of a man. Cue theaterwide groaning. 

Twin suns. Cool. I liked them better in The Last Jedi.

Rey has a yellow-ish lightsaber and maybe made out of her staff. Wonder where she got the crystals from and why they didn’t introduce it earlier. Possible implication she's going the way of the ‘grey’ jedi? idk some Jedi have yellow actually. Ahsoka had a yellow one. Not sure since this film is back on the JediwayisBest bullshit. 

We see Luke and Leia's force ghosts. Ben’s last word was ‘ow’.

In Summary, some odd implications:

Rey Palpatine is quite possibly the worst idea of all time. Worse than midichlorians. The highest level of fanboy pandering and Rian Johnson erasure. Rey has a lot of very real things to be angry about - her rough childhood, the deaths of her mentors, loving someone as dense as Ben Solo, having to come to terms with the fact that her parents didn’t love her. 

Return to prequel-esque thinking on slavery. Apparently it is not that bad if you sell someone as long as you do it with LOVE. 

Making Finn force sensitive is not character development. Its just half assed pandering and additional exposition in a film filled with exposition.

There is some truly awful dialogue in this film. Its shot composition and editing is so sloppy compared to FA or TLJ. 

The force in balance means killing everyone on the darkside. 

Rose is completely sidelined. She is the only Asian character on screen. She is seemingly replaced with a black woman who has a similar background to Finn and is a scavenger like Rey. Yikes. Why does this feel like an anti-interacial relationship thing. 

Said Black women Jarrah talks to Lando, another black character in a bizarre dialogue that vaguely implies all black people are related. I might be really misreading this, but its weird. I would have liked her to talk to Rose instead because female solidarity. 

FinnPoe is played up a LOT. But we are also repeatedly reminded they are attracted to women. This does not feel like woke Bisexual culture. This is pandering without making a commitment. 

Rey’s worth as a character is related to her connection to powerful people in the Star Wars mythos, not her own traits. 

Ben’s character resonates really strongly with abuse victims and outsiders. His lack of dialogue strips him of a lot of his agency.  His estrangement from his family is not resolved. Vader, who arguably did a lot worse things gets a whole dying monologue and force ghost thing. 

Oh hey C3PO said the festival is every 42 year old….OG came out 42 years ago. heh.

In Summary:

Watch the Clone Wars animated series

Fall in love with Ahsoka

Watch Star Wars Rebels or at least all the episodes with Ahsoka and also the series finale, it's got some cool force stuff in it. 

Think about the cool force stuff in Star Wars Rebels and the cool force stuff in The Last Jedi. Woah.

Apply all this cool force stuff to your own personal version of the Rise of Skywalker

Wait for clone wars finale Feb 2020

Rinse and Repeat

Peg Kylo Ren

Oscar Isaac is the Captain on the FinnPoe Ship. 

The Last Jedi was the Best One. Fight Me. 

Find the fanfiction where Rey tells him what a good boi he is which reduces him to a puddle. Find the fanfiction where he cries during sex the first time, the second time, every time. Find the fanfiction where his force ghost gets a hug, where his family welcomes his back. 

Read Fanfiction:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21852886

What I would do instead:

Delete Rey Palpatine

Ditch the mask. You have a fucking Oscar nomiated actor hiding under it. 

After the Endor part, have Kylo join either Rey or the Resistance. Personally I think him hitching a ride on the Falcon would have been wonderfully awkward. And maybe give some closure the calling Finn a ‘traitor’ thing. This is fanservice-y, but no more fanservice-y than the rest of the film. And maybe finally answer the question of who does/doesnt know who Kylo Ren is. Would like a verbal declaration that he identifies as Ben Solo or least Ben or something. 

Ben can still die I guess but maybe give him some kinda funeral. Or reuse the golden dice symbolism. 

Slow everything done. Let the audience feel sad, feel happy. Oh and cut out those fucking death fake outs. 

SW fandom rant

To be honest, I don't really know how or where can I start talking about this. If you aren't interested in any of the Star Wars drama that is going on then skip this post, cause its gonna be long... these goes for the SW fans we are concerned about the whole situation itself. I barely have the strength to do this and exposing my opinion about certain things makes me uncomfortable but it's been a long while since I'm keeping things to myself. There's much information I have to process so please be patient with me since I barely know how to express my emotions in the right way (that's why I'm holding myself back a lot here: it will seem I'm calm... but I'm not. I'm angry and tired at the same time).

DISNEY CANON

We all know where it all started. The Force Awakens premiere in 2015. We will start from there.

As ANY star wars movie, there will be people who liked it, people who loved it and people who hated it. And there is where some fans clash with the others. Fans who enjoy practically every movie or SW related things and those fans who demonize every movie (specially the ones from the new Disney canon) and the only thing that matters for them are the episodes IV, V, VI and the Legends canon (some of them also defend the prequel episodes I, II and III, fact which I'll talk about it later). And they bash against everyone who likes the Disney sequels.

BOI IM SCARED OF TELLING PEOPLE THIS WAS MY FAVOURITE SAGA SO FAR. And I already had problems with Legends hardcore fans.

Let me tell this straightaway... Star Wars are movies for kids. They've always been. George Lucas said it. They seem to be thirsty for feeling again what they felt when they were kids whenever a SW movie comes out but they always exit the cinema with a feeling of extreme disappointment.

I was talking about the last movie with my co workers at the beginning of the year and they complaint it was "too Disney". And that's precisely what I'm trying to explain! It's ok whether you like the sequels or not like them. Everyone has his own taste. I just find funny complaining for a whole saga originally made for kids for being "too Disney". I dont know if you get my point here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEsOqEpNF0k&list=PL8SlwcJuVWR2FNtL-6Wo5QUP6LMjpNJUA

LEGENDS CANON

Then there's those who hated the prequels, that said there was nothing worse than the phantom menace, those who hated on George Lucas for doing such a crap, but now praise the prequels because Disney is satan for them and they want the old canon back. George Lucas ended up selling SW to Disney because, he ain't no fool, he knows this fanbase is one of the most toxic and ungrateful that has ever existed. And he saw it with the prequels feedback... Then they now have the guts to demand him to continue the old canon? Smells like hypocrite-crying fanboys to me.

My whole point is....It's ok if you are a new/Disney sequels fan, it's ok if you are a prequels fan, it's ok if you are a SW original movies fan, Legends canon fan, OG fan, casual fan, hardcore fan... as always you understand that not everyone will agree with your point of view, not everyone will like or think the same way as you do, or live SW the same way as you do. There's a difference between respecting and agreeing with, concepts which sometimes get mixed and taken as the same thing, which is not. Respect other fans mean "I don't agree with you but I know how much this means for you, so I won't intentionally mock you" WHICH THING LEADS US TO THE NEXT TOPIC:

JOHN BOYEGA

*takes a deep breath*

Man. I dont know. He's a full grown up man and he's behaving like a 5 yo on his social media...... John is the actor who gives life to Finn (the ex stormtrooper). It all started with this sexist comment he responded to a fan in his IG. 

Then people (naturally) got offended, specially reylos. But instead of apologizing he kept on going, remarked what he said and also did a video to mock the reylo community.

You think I'm only defending a ship here but no. Its bigger than that. He has the right to feel left out in this saga because I agree with him IN THAT FACT. He is probably the actor which is more into the SW world, he was always a big fan (of the whole cast I mean). Thats why fans love him do much. And I did love him too. And he (naturally) wanted to have more spotlight on this saga ( I think Finn was one of the most wasted characters of these movies tbh) But instead of taking it the mature way he's having a tantrum on his IG because Finnrey did not become a real thing, he's trolling reylos and encouraging SW haters and antis to bully them whose are already having a hard time with TROS end (which I'll talk about later because I dont like their attitude about it either).

And it's not just raise the hate on shippers thing dude you could just apologize because you said something sexist and offended a lot of people who ship reylo and really means a thing for them. The whole thing that the greatest achievement a man can have with a woman is sex is just DISGUSTING. Rey kissed Ben but now he's gone Finn has the road clear and can fuck her? BRUH.

This is all so wrong and he was the one who started it.

ADAM DRIVER

I'm really relieved Adam does not have any social media because omg I would be suffering so much rn...

I honestly have never emotionally connected with an actor so much as I did with him. His whole acting is so good and I could really notice on this last movie. I'm starting to watch his other movies. And not just his acting, he's so professional off camera too.

I'm really happy and proud of him for his Oscar nomination, he really deserves it TT

But I'm worried this whole John Boyega thing affects him. Idk how I would feel if I were in his shoes, if my coworker was saying those things on social media and then smile at me like nothing is happening. But honestly what hurts me the most is he's having a worse time with "reylos".. I think the rumors of him having an affair with Daisy Ridley was what messed things up. I honestly dont know if its true, I've got some info but it's hard to believe. Because there are so many haters manipulating fake info that I dont trust anything and anyone anymore.

And this is where I talk about:

REYLOS AND DAIVERS

BOI OH BOI

This is gonna be hard....

First of all, I don't consider Daivers (Daisy x Adam shippers) as part of the reylo community. I'm sorry. But its fucking disgusting you going to demand Adam to divorce from his wife, abandon his son and then start dating Daisy because of this rumor or because you can't separate fiction from reality.... I read he even recieved death threats ARE WE NUTS??? They (Adam and Daisy) having a good chemistry working together doesn't mean they are in love, kids...

Driver has an awesome wife and a lovely son. Daisy is currently dating someone.

Infidelity is gross. No more. And I would be so disappointed at them if this turns out to be true. But seeing all what's happening around the actors and specially having all this haters out there... I'll say this was all false information.

Daiver is not real and won't be. So stick only to the fictional ship.....

About Reylo itself. I find REALLY funny how people who dont know shit about what this ship means say it's an abusive relationship. Bullshit. I wouldn't be shipping them if so.

Also the people still stating it's not real/canon hiding themselves behind the "Ben solo is dead lol" argument. Do you stop loving someone when they die?

Yes, they love each other. No, it wasn't always reciprocated love. They started being enemies in the force awakens, friends who understood and cared for each other through force dyad in the last jedi and ended up being lovers at the end of the rise of Skywalker. Rey wants to revenge her family (her falling to the dark side) but also wants Ben Solo back, and he wants to be the most powerful leader on the galaxy and still being kylo ren. But they eventually meet in the middle between light and dark and Leia finally reaches out to him to make him turn to the light.That's their fight. That's the angst. That's the tea. "No one is ever really gone" there's always hope. Star Wars is centered in HOPE. And their story represents it at its finest.

NOW. The reylo community.

Despite you liked it or not the end they gave to the saga... I think JJ Abrams doesn't deserve all the hate he's receiving... he probably did a lot of things wrong but seriously... just stop. Not only from reylos but the whole fandom.

Sending hate won't lead to anything now...

I enjoyed The rise of Skywalker. Indeed I spent half of the movie crying and I loved it.

You can cry as much as you want the loss of Ben (although I have hope for him still being alive in a way, there are plenty of theories) but that doesn't give you the right to death threat JJ. And I think I'll stop here cause I'm already tired.

Everyone has their own taste, preferences, favourite characters, ships, whatever. I pray for people stop judging others for their tastes, specially in this cursed fanbase. Sorry if I ever misbehaved trying to defend what I think or like. I just want this place to be supportive and safe for everyone and everything what's happening is not helping... We are all SW fans and that's our connection point. Dont discredit others for having another point of view...

I'll leave it here, but I'm open to debate or talk about anything I said in a respectful way.

Why I’m Fed Up With “Lucasbashing”...

When the Star Wars movies came out:

A New Hope - It’s violent and warmongering.

The Empire Strikes Back - Darth Vader was lying and Leia should have chosen Luke over Han. Also, it’s a dark story, and we don’t want Star Wars to be dark.

Return of the Jedi - Han has become an idiot. The Ewoks are embarrassing. It’s not serious enough, it’s childish with all of the puppets. The bad guy redeeming himself? The “hero” not winning through fight but through pacifism! The villain is only a broken, sad old guy? How uncool is that?!

The Prequels - It’s not like the classics. The classis were soooo good. The design is different. The setting and costumes are different. Vader was the coolest villain of all times, Anakin Skywalker is a whiny, oversensitive brat. The Jedi are oblivious and arrogant, and here we always thought they were heroes! What is George Lucas thinking of, is he toying with us? We want to see Vader being badass, not to have compassion for his suffering!!!

The Force Awakens (side note: a film made with parallels to “A New Hope” this time in hopes to reconnect with the audience after a pause of ten years) - How boring. It’s an embarrassing rehash of “A New Hope”.

The Last Jedi - We thought Kylo was Vader II (although he’s the whiny sissy type of villain)! We thought Rey was Luke’s daughter or at least Luke II (although she’s a Mary Sue)! It’s all so different!! They are their own persons!!! They have their own character development!!! Disney is ruining the franchise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*banging my head against the next wall*

  Who wants superhero stories, please stick to the Marvel movies.

Who wants sex scenes between Ben and Rey, please read fanfiction. There are heaps of stories describing nothing but the two of them going at it like bunnies.

George Lucas had a layout for his saga from the very beginning, hence the “Episode IV, V, and VI” over the titles of the classics. He’s not repeating, diluting and rewarming a movie that was good and successful over and over, only to make more money. This is his lifetime project, not Jaws I, II, III etc. Who expects instant fanboy gratification, please watch something else where you don’t need your brain or your heart to explain to you what the story’s about: compassion, family, forgiveness, love, belonging. It’s not about good against evil, the coolest guy wins, ka-boom, the end; it’s the story of the Force struggling to come into Balance. A man making bad choices because he was pushed to the limits of his endurance almost all of his life and then being redeemed and getting another chance through his grandson who’s in a similar situation is not immoral only because you don’t like the idea, or because you dislike the “villain” personally.

I’m fed up with Lucasbashing. At least we should have some respect for his lifetime work. Or, if we believe we know so much better, think up our own story and see if we can make it as beloved as his. Good luck with that.

Anyone is entitled to his preferences, tastes and expectations. Also, anyone is entitled to self-insert himself into a story and to think what he / she would like to happen or how he / she would have reacted in a certain situation. But please at least try to be as fair as not to mix them up with the actual story. Just because it doesn’t go your way doesn’t mean it’s badly written, not thought out etc. The saga has its flaws of course, but it always had a stringent narrative. That one doesn’t get it or doesn’t even want to get it doesn’t mean it’s not there. The Star Wars saga roots deeply in ancient legends and it contains a lot of symbolism. If you apply the rules and patterns of our modern world and our every day’s experiences to it, you’re naturally in for disappointments.

I have watched all movies and spin-offs last year (the prequels, the sequels so far and Episode IV and V twice), and I have read and thought and written about it ever since January 2018. I daresay I know what I’m talking about.

I may be wrong of course, but I don’t think that I am completely wrong. E.g. I said to my husband that Kylo’s / Ben’s story most probably is the story of a redemption after two days of research. Then I saw the parallels (narrative and visual) with Anakin, read Mark Hamill’s trolling, heard Kylo’s theme ending on a triumphant note in the teaser trailer opposite to Anakin’s theme which has bright notes and ends with The Imperial March. I also remembered that Anakin was a child without a father and that Kylo / Ben is the only Force user we know whose sword looks like a cross, and that he had promised his grandfather that he would finish what he started. Anakin killed the old Jedi Order, putting an end to their arrogance and denial, and started a family of compassionate Force users.

I was not and I am not imagining things. I’m listening.

Have a nice day. :-)

So, The Rise of Skywalker was a thing

I laughed, I cried, I sighed in disappointment, but somehow, despite everything, I liked it. (Major fucking spoilers for the whole movie btw)

Okay, I don't know where to start so I'm gonna talk about the Palpatine thing. This film feels like the writers went in and tried to "fix" alleged plot holes in the previous films. As someone who loved TLJ, Rey being no one special was something I found engaging about that film. The Star Wars franchise is really obsessed with legacy and blood and heritage (especially that of your male line) and Rey being nobody was a refreshing break from having to justify your character as a protagonist by proving them to be the special. I'm really annoyed that Rey couldn't just be Rey she HAD to be someone special, the granddaughter of someone IMPORTANT to 'explain' her talent and skill with the force and to justify her role as protagonist of this franchise.

On top of this, revealing Palpatine to be the master manipulator of this whole conflict felt so cheap to me. TLJ completely shifted the status quo and took the Star Wars franchise to places we haven't seen before. So returning to the plot line of "we must defeat the evil Sith" betrays the ending of TLJ. I was excited to see where this franchise was going next after the explosive ending of TLJ and finding out that we were just going to rehash plot beats from 40 years ago was more than a little disappointing.

The sequel trilogy has been a balancing act between pulling on our nostalgia strings and telling a new story and The Rise of Skywalker, in returning to Palpatine as the villain and making Rey his granddaughter, tipped the scales of this trilogy to boring rehash and it all feels like such wasted potential.

The romantic subplots in this one were... messy (to say the least). It felt very clear to me that the writers didn't know where they were going with Finn's romantic arc at all throughout this series. I'd like to start by saying RIP to Finn/Rose shippers because the writers utterly dismissed Finn and Rose's ENTIRE relationship. It's not even acknowledged that these two even know each other outside of the context of co-workers. The complete sidelining of Rose in this story is almost shameful. I can only assume this was done in response to the massive harassment campaigns targeted at Kelly Marie Tran post-TLJ. Not only was caving to the racist trolls and removing Rose from the story disrespectful to Rose's character, but it also made Finn's romantic arc so incohesive. They brought back the Finnrey dynamic from The Force Awakens, but then never developed on Finn and Rey's relationship in any meaningful way. It seemed as if they were going to make the stormtrooper defector, Jannah, a love interest but then never really went there either (thank god). It was messy and unfocused and I had no idea where they were going with any of it, and it turns out they didn't either.

They also decided to give Poe a love interest. out of nowhere. in the last film of this trilogy. Pour one out for Stormpilot shippers because that ship sank harder than the titanic. In trying to fully assert Poe Dameron's heterosexuality they felt the need to add a completely irrelevant and frankly out of place romantic subplot for Poe. Did doing this add to the story in any way? No. Did it add anything to Poe's characterization? No. So I have to assume its there to make sure everyone in the audience knows that Finn and Poe could never, in any way, shape, or form, under any context, ever, EVER be in a romantic relationship despite their obvious chemistry. Legit, the scenes with Poe and Zorii in Kijimi felt like an ad for a Poe Dameron tie-in prequel novel.

Kylo's redemption arc isn't the best I've seen. I'm generally not one for redemption arcs being motivated by external factors (ie your mother dying) rather than an internal realization and growth. There is an argument to be made that Kylo has been explicitly shown in struggling with the light the whole trilogy, but I still would have liked more lead up to his eventual switch and for the choice to be more his own rather than compelled by his mother's death and his girlfriend giving him puppy dog eyes.

Absolution through sacrifice is also a big pet peeve of mine, but somehow it worked for me in this one. It's probably because Ren's redemption is really isolated to his relationship to his family and Rey. Given that his most egregious actions were to his immediate family I wouldn't could it as a flaw in the film and it certainly made it easier to buy in to arc. And I never got the feeling that TROS never fully absolved Kylo of his crimes against the galaxy. Similarly to how despite his final sacrifice, Darth Vader is still seen as evil by the wider galaxy, I get the sense that Kylo Ren despite his heel turn will be in a similar position. I won't begrudge anyone who thinks his shift to the light feels to sudden, or that his motivations felt a bit weak, or those who generally just can't buy it, but it worked or me. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Now's probably a good time to mention that I'm a massive fucking Reylo and ate every scene of Kylo and Rey up like it was candy. I get why some people don't like this ship and I think if you're not on board with these two by the end of the film the ending to Ren's story won't be very satisfying. Given that I already loved these two's relationship that Ren's ultimate sacrifice got me straight in the feels and that contributed to my ultimate satisfaction with the film.

Okay, That's everything I wanted to be analytical about. Now here are just some random, unrendered thoughts.

*I absolutely adored the main trio in this movie. Their dynamic was fun and they all clicked so well together and made me what a whole nother trilogy about these three precious beans. Imma be reading a LOT of jedistormpilot fics after this because that unit was fantastic.

*I'm a bit peeved that they fake out 'killed' C-3PO cause his final goodbye was actually really touching. Bringing him back undercut what I thought was a really touching farewell.

*I don't think I've gushed enough about how much I adored all of the force bond stuff that happened in this movie because that shit was beautiful. I could not get enough of the Reylo force battles. Their final scene was *chef''s kiss* and I'll be rewatching it as much as I do the praetorian guard fight.

*Shout out to this film for remembering force sensitive Finn was a thing. I respect that.

*RIP Hux. I know I'm one of the 7 people who actually care, but I'm upset that he was given such a minor role and killed off by nameless first order general guy. Like he couldn't have even be killed by Kylo. smh

*The new droid was super cute. 10/10. Would buy a lifesize plush of that guy.

*This movie made me imagine Sheev Palpatine impregnating someone and I can never forgive it for that.

*The Knights of Ren were so unintentionally comedic to me. I genuinely burst out laughing every time I saw them because they were these back goons with these silly weapons that did basically nothing. I feel bad for anyone who was hyped to see them cause they were so inconsequential. The porgs in TLJ had more characterization than they did. One of the best moments in this whole movie was when a random stormtrooper that saw them and simply said "squad goals". I almost fucking died. That stormtrooper and Cait Salt-Licker are absolute legends.

*This may be the least visually interesting movies in the sequel trilogy. Don't get me wrong there is some gorgeous cinematography and shot composition in this movie. Every single scene with Palpatine was amazing and gave me chills, but it did feel like there were less jaw dropping stunning scenes in this one compared to The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. No one moment really sticks out to me as much as say, the Holdo maneuver did in TLJ or the forest lightsaber fight in TFA.

I don't think this movie will be well loved by many people. People who've hated the sequels thus far may be won over by the return of Palpatine, but I don't think it's enough to win over the detractors. I think people who genuinely liked the direction these films seemed to be taking after The Last Jedi will be disappointed in how this one plays out. There was a lot to love about The Rise of Skywalker, but there was also a lot of missed potential.

Rise Of Skywalker (NonSpoiler Review)

What's funny is that I changed my wallpaper right before I left because I'm superstitious and didn't want a wallpaper to come back to disappointed and the ending of TROS is very reminiscent to that wallpaper but you won't know what I mean unless you've seen my wallpaper ;D

For some background, I went into the theater and it was chilly because that was the only theater room with broken heat but it was the earliest showing for the day so they warned us but I didn't care...that is until I got there, I warmed up a little but then I had to pee so I came back and had to warm up again, affected a little bit of my experience, shaking the whole time.

Let me start with the opening, as much as people might complain about TLJ, one thing I can gather from a consensus of the fans is that the opening, though flawed with the gravity aspect, was a pretty good opening. This one's opening doesn't excite me quite as much but more just kind of jumps into it, which I can respect. They have a part where they have that ugly yellow alien, I guess his name is "Klaud", he is on one of the first poster leaks but he only pops in here, but he has no business being on the Millennium Falcon, why? That's one part I never understood.

I can tell they at least listened to some feedback with some of the inclusions and such but don't get me wrong, I don't mean fan-service, they have a moment or two of just nostalgia but I mean something like "Rey is too inexperienced to be that powerful." I never really had a problem with it but they, for one, explain it, and for two, have her training. That and some other complaints I've heard before. They do try to play "Oh, you liked this? Well let's put it in there." It does have Palpatine after all.

They don't really explain everything, like they'll just kind of brush over some stuff and then over others, I never felt like they went knee deep into anything. They had some really great parts and some great LOOKING shots but for one, it doesn't do too much that's "new" and I don't mean that as if it's like any particular movie, it doesn't seem like a retread.

And the stuff that it does do new, like I said, they just kind of brush over, such as new characters. Zori Bliss? Yeah she doesn't remove her helmet so don't get your hopes too high.

Why is Kylo's mask back? Well...to fit in with the boys. Which brings me to another topic, Kylo not being intimidating, nobody follows him. This is something that we have dealt with for quite some time, after the beginning of TFA, he just kind of stopped being scary, and in a way they take note of that but again, nobody follows him so it's kind of like "if Kylo doesn't follow the original plan then we're not following him." which doesn't make much sense and kind of just makes it seem like they wanted something to do with those characters. What about the beginning? They didn't seem to mind following him then, was that apart of the plan too? That's not rhetorical, it IS a possibility.

They do have a bit of a problem with a common trope movies fall for, I won't mention what it is but I mentioned it in my Frozen 2 review and you might be able to see it through that.C-3P0 is in a good amount, I'm surprised since he's an old character.

I thought about how each movie seemed to be focused on the single one and while that might be fine and is how even the original trilogy was done, it seems like it's not too clear of a vision or path between the 3 movies. Given the two different directors, it's in a way to be expected but also kind of hurts the movie because I can think of the path the prequels had, and yes it took time to fully realize it and everything as I'm sure this one will too.

One of the problems with the prequels was that it had good content and had the puzzle pieces but wasn't quite put together in the right way, you had to view it in a different way in order to get the vision in it's whole. They mentioned how a lot of the people that worked on the original trilogy made it what it is, that the source content was all there but it needed to be realized and cut in a specific way, this movie seems to have that same problem, it has the content but isn't sure what to do with it. It doesn't seem like it really drags, I'm not sure if it tries to cram things in there or what the problem could be pinpointed to but it was brought to my attention (afterwards) that some people think that this is JJ's telling of both 8 and 9 more or less summarized so that it will fit together. If you try to imagine this movie into two separate entities, I feel like it's possible but I also feel like there's a lot of content that was cut in order to fit the mark and be that mashup so it won't be clear until we figure that out.

I'd hate to admit it but part of the problem IS that it takes place many years after Episode 6, it makes it clear because there's a small flashback that I really liked and thought maybe in another world that that would be 7,8, and 9. But George also had scripts for these 3 films that would take place around the same time as the current ones, so I wonder if it would be any better or if it really is that kind of problem. So, LUCASFILM, RELEASE THE ORIGINAL SCRIPTS!

They take things from previous movies that might have been surprising and made them less impactful because they reuse those abilities. I suppose it's fair because a fan could argue "well why didn't they just do this?" so it's not a big deal.

"Is it surprising?" "Did it make me mad?" "Did it disappoint me?" "How does it stack up against The Last Jedi?" Well it does have genuinely surprising moments, none of that fabricating crap from TLJ imo. I didn't feel sour or mad like I did TLJ, I went in expecting stuff to happen, sure, some stuff kind of did happen that I didn't want to happen but what can you do? But there was some stuff I was hoping for that did happen too. They did, however, tease stuff while promoting the movie that I didn't see at all such as a connection to the Mandalorian, I will say that there is ONE thing from the last episode that I saw in this movie but it's not a character, maybe that was the secret, they don't flat out say it but I have a feeling that it connects to "why" they want Baby Yoda? I think it is better than the Last Jedi and before you ask, no, I don't think there are any parts like the Canto Bight sequence. I am...a little disappointed, not gonna lie, I don't regret that I saw it, I liked it but it's not the saving grace I might have wanted or "the best Star Wars movie", I did like The Force Awakens more. Probably the best thing about this movie isn't something I can say, it's an aspect, not a specific scene btw...

There's something that looks like a General Grievous hand in the droid shop scene we saw in the trailer. Also a weird little tidbit is that they put Colin Trevorrow in the credits, odd, I thought he "parted ways" as Disney would put it, and I didn't stay to watch them all, I think his name was as early as the second screen, I'm pretty sure it said "Written by:" This wasn't Trevorrow's take on Star Wars though, I really don't understand and I don't want to be the one to say it but did they do that to throw him under the bus? If not that then is this some kind of weird morph of Rian Johnson, Colin Trevorrow, and J.J. Abram's version? (It sounds scarier than it actually is but still...)

It's weird because I started reading reviews after the movie and they say completely different stuff, not from trolls or haters either, I know it's all a matter of opinion but some stuff like the "training" thing have been mentioned in reverse so these are my raw thoughts after going to the theater. I'm going to try and make a "spoilers" review, either when the DVD comes out so I can rewatch it or just later when I get a better formed opinion of it, as time goes on, my thoughts will be different, I'm almost sure of that, whether it's one way or another. If you're going into it, go into it expecting it to be a new addition, not the big bad end to "the Skywalker Saga", it's like ending it on a technicality. Big payoff to everything Star Wars has done? Not so much, a few things here and there pick up from other places in the timeline but nothing too big.

No I’m not trolling you and I’m sorry if the ask came off baiting - honestly I think my cousin might be trolling me because he knows I like Reylo. He also told me he’d seen concept art of Rey killing Kylo so...okay yeah. Sorry I came into your inbox like that, I think I just got worked up because he’s the only person I know with halfway credibility, but I could just be gullible. He texted me about this out of nowhere, so it’s probably fishy. Ugh, sorry

All right, sorry to be dismissive. I do get sent a lot of bait and it’s hard to tell sometimes. It’s okay.

Anyway, yeah, he’s trolling you. Rey killing Ben is about as plausible as her being a secret Palpatine/Luke’s hand clone baby. I’ve already written extensively on why each of those things you mentioned don’t make sense, so it is occasionally a bit frustrating getting ‘but what if [totally insane scenario]?!’ asks wanting me to reinvent the wheel for the fifth time without bringing any new reasons I should. Sure, LF could be hilariously incompetent and off the rails of any and all narrative logic, but a) there is no evidence to suggest that and b) if that were the case there would be no point speculating or caring at all.

Take a step back and try to be objective. Cynicism isn’t objective no matter what the Internet says. Never in the history of this franchise has it been celebrated or condoned by the canon narrative for an heroic character to soberly and deliberately kill a humanised villain. I mean, brass tacks, leaving aside the vast bulk of the compelling arguments, this is all you need to know to understand that Rey’s climatic moment of heroism will not be causing the death of a sympathetic character.

For End of the Year Writing Meme: All the questions sound super interesting so just use this as an opportunity to answer whatever questions interest you most

So funny story I put this in my drafts to complete in the quiet time of New Year’s Day, but then I forgot about it completely. BRACE YOURSELF.

A. If you could rec a piece of music to accompany one of your fics, what would you pick? Why?

Lies by Marina and the Diamonds, to accompany the latter half of Valse Melancolique. It’s a really good song to show Irene’s POV at that point, especially her reluctance to accept that the webs she’s spun are basically collapsing around her.

“I just want it to be perfect / To believe it’s all been worth the fight,” is the most relevant set of lyrics, IMO.

B. Who’s your favourite side-character from something you wrote?

I really enjoyed writing side characters like Rose and Finn, though Rose just edges it because I’ve been enjoying writing her in Don’t Complicate It. Finn runs a very close second.

C. Get any good comments on your stuff this year?

Sure! All comments are good comments, let’s be real. Unless they’re an obvious troll comment or those “update now!!!” kind of comments. Those aren’t so good.

D. Any drawings or pictures that had a big influence on your writing?

The artwork of the late 18th century and Roberto Ferri definitely influenced the tone of Valse Melancolique. Many scenes from certain stories were driven by a single image I had in my head as well.

E.  Who’s your favourite main character you’ve written?

Though I do enjoy delving into Ben/Kylo’s psyche, I enjoy writing Rey more – she’s more enclosed, and I love chipping away at characters to get to their truths.

G. Where do you think you grew the most this year?

Towards the end of the year, I began to realise that writing can actually be fun like it used to be. I’ve been so aware of the way the world is currently that I’ve been convincing myself that my writing must have a message, or it’s not ‘worthy’. I need to understand that I started writing not to pass on any morals or messages, but as a release and a way to find enjoyment in the constant buzz.

H.  How do you write? Paper, pen, computer? Music, no music?

All of those. I write on my phone, on my computer, on pen and paper. Music and no music, it depends. Most often I’m listening to a playlist/album which then stops and I cease writing an hour or so later realising I’ve been writing in silence.

I.  What’s your favourite work you did this year? Why?

I’m always tempted to answer this kind of question with my most recent story. But I’m going to be really honest and say that star among the stars is a personal favourite. And it’s not just because of the pegging.

J.  What are the best jokes you told this year? Any jokes you thought were funny that people didn’t catch? Vice-versa?

I’m completely blanking on this one.

K. Who have you killed this year? Why did they have to die?

Qui-Gon Jinn (to match with canon), Molly and Sherlock (hey it was a story based on Dangerous Liaisons, and I was reading classical Russian literature at the time of plotting) and Kylo Ren a bunch of times (metaphorically).  

L.  Which character did you most write about this year, and why do you like ‘em?

I wrote more about Rey. As mentioned before, it’s because I like chipping away at a character’s surface but also it’s because I really relate to her, especially in regards to her feelings of loneliness and her tendency to put on ‘a brave face’. Plus I really admire her compassion and her strength. I envy it.

M. Meta! Have any meta about a story you’re dying to throw out there?

Not particularly -- just headcanons and reasons behind why I write what I write. (I’ve never been very good with meta anyway.) I really like it when other people meta my fic, or pick up on something I didn’t! That is an AMAZING feeling. 

O. Do you believe in outlines? Show us one!

I do indeed! I love my outlines. For some projects, I’ve got whole folders with docs labelled Initial Ideas, Plot Summary, Chapter Outline, etc. etc. I’ve got my notes app on my phone stuffed up to the gills with mini-outlines. I frequently use my story structure template, which is technically more for screenplays, but the breaking down into acts thing helps my brain figure things out. 

P. What are your pet peeves in other people’s work?

When an author relies too much on UST and ruins the pacing. Like, an author drags out the first getting together because they believe that the anticipation is the only thing generating comments. If it’s right to have them bang, have them bang! The awkward morning after is a delicious opportunity for UST -- just a different kind. 9 times out of 10, your readers are there not for the smut because they’re invested in the story and like your writing.

Q. Quote three bits of writing you read this year. Can be your writing, or not.

Let’s mix it up.

“ “Why did you do that?” he demanded as they ducked into a side alley. “What part of ‘keep a low profile’ is difficult for you to understand?”

“I’m a good haggler,” Rey said through a full mouth. She didn’t have any idea what she was eating, and she didn’t care. It took so much effort to chew each bite instead of gulping it down whole. “He was trying to cheat us.”

“You didn’t haggle. You pushed.”

“I did not. Why would I knock him over in the middle of his stand?”

Kylo just stared. “You need a teacher,” he muttered. He watched her eat for a moment, his expression somewhere between thoughtful and disgusted, before taking a bite from one of his own skewers. Disgust won out. ” -- Symmetry and Black Tar by audreyii_fic. (Grumpy smuggler Kylo Ren, spunky scavenger Rey, canon divergence. Excellent.)

“ "Ben," Rey breathes once Kylo's mere inches away. It's the name Luke introduced him with, the only name she knows him by, and he's never bothered to correct her. Why hasn't he corrected her? The question flees from his mind as she closes her eyes and he leans down into the space between them, kissing her full on the lips. It's not gentle, he doesn't know how to be, but she opens for him the way the flowers she loves so much bloom in the sunlight. ” -- the surface of last scattering by diasterisms. (It’s the apocalypse, it’s exactly the right time to meet the love of your life, right? Read for utter devastation.) 

“ Rey could spend hours in the Falcon’s inner workings. She’d spent so much time in the belly of hollowed-out Star Destroyers, which were horrific remnants of old worlds, cold and grey. The Falcon is alive, speaking a strange language she’s just about half-deciphered. Sometimes, on days where she misses the connection most and dreams of a boy reaching across the stars to find her, it feels like the Falcon doesn’t want to speak to her. It shuts down. Sparks spit at her, and mechanisms develop odd faults.Today, a jet of steam blows directly in her face, not harmful, but almost like a snarl of 'go away'.

Rey climbs out of the hatch, fetching tools. She works with that fault first.

“I’m not thinking about him,” she promises to no-one but the ship she’s looking after. ” -- If I was born as a blackthorn tree, by me!

R. If you had to rewrite one of your stories from scratch, which one would it be? What would you do to it?

Going to cheat here and head back to 2017. I’d rewrite Two Stars Aligned. What I’d probably do is make it a post-TLJ fic, where Rey and Ben decide to run away after getting involved in a secret relationship, but get shot down by the First Order -- after landing in Giaca, they become embroiled in Game of Thrones style politics and the ruling families, while the Resistance and the First Order conduct searches for them. I’d cut out the weird Force shit and make the redemption arc thing more organic by giving the whole story room to bloody breathe. Two Stars Aligned is actually the reason why I now try to stick to oneshots for exchanges and any anthologies I get involved in.

S. What’s the sexiest thing you wrote this year?

Sexiest thing written in 2018... It’ll have to be the pegging in star among the stars.

T. Themes, motherfucker, do you have them? What are they?

Feminism. Females being allowed to be as fucked-up and broody as the men they love, and perhaps, even broodier. Make women afraid of commitment, 2k19.

U. Any stories that took an abrupt U-turn from where you thought they were going?

If I were a blackthorn tree took a pleasing turn away from the initial outline. The initial idea was lots of secret trysts and stuff like that, but I much prefer the quiet romance with a note of hope at the end that it turned out to be.

V. Which story was the most viscerally pleasing to write? Tell us your narrative kinks.

Huh. Hm. Don’t Complicate It is turning out to be kind of fun to write; when I’m not allowing myself to be crippled by the brain goblins that is (they’re strong lately). It’s a combo of writing a trope/kink I’ve been wanting to write for ages -- A/B/O -- and remembering that it’s okay to have fun with it.

W.  Who are your favourite writers?

@kylo-wouldnt-like-those-chips - @conchepcion (every time I think I’m out, she pulls me back in *shakes fist*) - @introspectivenavelgazer - @audreyii-fic - @kylorenvevo - ambiguously - @fettuccine-alfreylo and SO MANY MORE (this post is long enough already!!)

X.  What’s your least favourite work of this year?

My least favourite has to be In Cars. It was an ambitious idea, which I didn’t really fulfil, I feel. Curse of being a perfectionist. I want something to be amazing. World-changing! Tear-jerking! I want Vestal virgins to weep golden tears over my words, already delicately transcribed onto ancient parchment by monks. Obviously, that’s an impossible standard, but I can’t help being cross when I don’t reach it.

Y. Why did you write? For fun, for a friend, for acclaim?

During 2018? Mostly for acclaim. It made 2018 a very difficult year for writing, and just a difficult year in general. I’m trying to make sure I have fun during 2019 with this stuff. Striving for perfection is a punishing task that no-one can ever accomplish because perfection doesn’t exist. Contentment does, though. As does happiness. And those should be more important.

Z. If you could choose one work and immediately finish it, what would it be? How would you end it?

I’d finish Sanctum, my priest Kylo fic. I’m split between continuing or rewriting anyway (the rewrite would include relocating the action to the medieval era, around the time Luther wrote that damned essay and pinned it to the church door). But I do know the exact image I want to finish on, which will remain whether I end up rewriting or not. It involves a name, a scrap of material and a rather fetching colour scheme. 

Ooh. Cryptic.

Anyone can be a hero: Why female superheroes matter

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/anyone-can-be-a-hero-why-female-superheroes-matter/

Anyone can be a hero: Why female superheroes matter

You’ve probably heard by now that Rotten Tomatoes recently made some changes to the layout of their website. This is because trolls decided to bombard the site with negative early ratings for “Captain Marvel,” even before they’d seen the film.

It’s disheartening to see people trying to create negative buzz surrounding Marvel’s first female-led film, simply because the film stars a woman. And even though I’m glad Rotten Tomatoes is making changes, I fear those same trolls will be bombing the site with negative reviews as soon as the film releases, not unlike what happened with “The Last Jedi.”

I love being a geek, but sometimes I just feel…tired. I’m tired of the negative discourse that takes place online surrounding my favorite fandoms. I’m tired of the anger, and I’m tired of the controversy.

And yet, I also know that ignoring it doesn’t make it go away. Sometimes, we have to talk about it — to pull this discourse into the light and examine what is really happening, so that we can all grow better together.

As a female geek, I feel like many of my favorite franchises are making a real effort to help women feel more included, and that means a lot to me. Yet when I see trolls complaining about female superheroes like Captain Marvel, it steals some of that joy away. It makes me feel sad and invalid as a fan; if female lead characters aren’t welcome, am I unwelcome in the fandom also?

I’m not sure what we can do about the situation, and sometimes that makes me feel discouraged.

I’m blessed to be a part of many wonderful geek discussion communities online, including WordPress bloggers; the ESO Network and the Story Geeks podcasts; the Star Wars Cantina group on Reddit; to name a few. I love the people involved with these groups, and I’m proud to call them my friends.

Yet how do we stop the trolls hiding behind their computer screens, who are complaining about women in geek films and acting as gatekeepers as they try to keep out the influx of new fans? Do we call them out on social media when they make an inflammatory post, or does that only fuel their fire? How can you teach someone that their behavior is hurtful, when they’re so entrenched in their own opinions that they can’t see beyond their own point of view?

Change takes time, and we may never completely wipe out this negative undercurrent from fandom. But I do believe that change is possible, and I think it starts by sharing our stories. Stories have power — we know this because we’re all passionate geeks, and stories are what bring us into these fandoms in the first place. We have to keep sharing why female heroes matter, on a personal level.

Here’s why they matter to me.

When I think about the impact of female heroes in film, the first movie that comes to mind is “Wonder Woman.” I wasn’t prepared for how deeply this film was going to move me. Walking into the theater, I was excited to see a female-led superhero film, but when it came to the part where Wonder Woman climbs up the ladder and starts walking across No Man’s Land, tears actually filled my eyes.

I hadn’t realized how long I’d been waiting to see a female superhero have a big, badass moment in her own movie. Wonder Woman was out there in the line of fire, unapologetically fighting for justice and freedom and saving the day with her courage and compassion. Not just as a member of a larger ensemble, and not relegated to the role of “love interest” — it was just her, burning as a bright beacon of hope in a desolate war zone.

About a week after I watched “Wonder Woman,” I received a life-changing medical diagnosis. Even though “Wonder Woman” was just a movie, this story gave me hope in a difficult time. And as I struggled to adapt to my new reality, that scene from “Wonder Woman” became an important metaphor for me, inspiring me to keep persevering. Wonder Woman was strong, and I could be too.

I felt something similar when watching “The Force Awakens” for the first time. There are many things I enjoyed about “The Force Awakens” — seeing Han, Chewie, and the Millennium Falcon again; hearing John Williams’ famous Star Wars theme and watching the opening crawl; and so many other special moments. But the scene that stood out to me the most is the lightsaber fight between Rey and Kylo in the snowy forest on Starkiller Base.

Kylo reaches out through the Force, trying to call Anakin’s old lightsaber to him, but it doesn’t respond…until Rey reaches out through the Force and it snaps into her hands, the music swelling.

I got a little teary-eyed then too. Star Wars has had great female characters in the past, but there was something especially moving about seeing a young female Force user as a main character in a saga film for the first time. Rey is a character that continues to inspire me, and cosplaying as her at geek conventions brings me so much joy.

I know I’m not the only one who feels this way, either. About a year ago, I went to a Star Wars cosplay panel at a con, featuring one of the major Star Wars costuming groups. The speaker commented that they’d seen an increase in interest in their costuming group as part of the Disney Star Wars era — and a lot of that had to do with people wanting to dress up as Rey.

Rey, Wonder Woman, and now Captain Marvel as well mean a lot to female fans, regardless of age, but I think it’s especially important for young girls. I can’t wait to introduce my 2-year-old niece to characters like Rey and Wonder Woman. I want to share these stories with her and show her that yes, she can be a hero too.

However, sometimes I fear what my niece may experience in the fandom. I hope that some of the things that have happened to me will not happen to her, and I don’t want online trolls to take away the joy she could experience.

It hurt when someone I didn’t even know found my tweet on Twitter about why Leia and Rey mean a lot to me and then “explained” to me in a very condescending way why I shouldn’t like Rey because she “was not an interesting character.” It hurt when a stranger walked up to me in an amusement park because he saw my Star Wars jacket and eventually ended up lecturing me on why I shouldn’t like “The Last Jedi,” not even letting me speak for myself or share why I thought the way I did. It hurt when I saw people complain about “SJWs” in “Captain Marvel” or the new female “Doctor Who,” because I felt like what they were really saying was “I just don’t want women as main characters in my favorite movies. You are not welcome in this fandom.”

Fellow female geeks, don’t let the negative discourse stop you from being involved in fandom. Keep sharing about why characters like Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman matter to you. Leave positive comments and reviews, and share your stories. These female-led movies are clearly resonating with audiences — just look at the box office results for films like “Wonder Woman,” the Hunger Games series, the new Star Wars films, and the projected $100 million+ opening for “Captain Marvel.”

We are not alone, and we CAN change tone of the discourse. Whoever or wherever you are — you have a voice and a place in fandom. When my niece reaches the age I am now, I hope she’ll find a fandom that is even more welcoming and full of rich female characters that she can look up to.

Like Captain Marvel, let’s reach “higher, further, faster” together.

OUAT 2X11 - The Outsider

Hey everyone! Don’t even SMEE-k to me until you’ve read my thoughts on the episode below the cut!

Press Release Mr. Gold finds an unwilling test subject to see if a spell he has concocted will allow him to cross the border of Storybrooke – without losing his memory – and go in search of his son, Bae; Belle stumbles upon a vengeful Hook in the Storybrooke harbor whose main goal is to eradicate Rumplestiltskin; and Mary Margaret and David go house hunting in search of a bigger place to live. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, Belle meets Mulan as the two set out to slay a fearsome beast called the Yaoguai, who has been ravaging the land. General Thoughts - Characters/Stories/Themes and Their Effectiveness Past What I like about this segment is the pair up. Both Mulan and Belle provide something that the other wants and while their story of “person with no experience befriends hardened mentor or friend figure with more experience while simultaneously melting her heart with friendliness and trust” is pretty simple and is about as predictable as these tend to go, Belle and Mulan are interesting enough that it works.

That having been said, Belle and Mulan don’t get nearly enough quality time together as they should, and it does hinder Mulan’s resolve to let Belle kill the monster and for a couple of reasons. First, Mulan has been characterized as really freakin’ stubborn thus far in the series and those scenes all take place after this one. Why would she be so willing to give in to fighting the Yaoguai, especially given all the love she has for her village? Second, Belle brings up the good point that she’s not a fighter but instead a researcher and Mulan doesn’t give her much of an answer to it. And when she does, Belle having something worth fighting for isn’t reinforced at any point in the episode, making her resolution weak. Also, Belle’s overall story is just weird. Is she trying to just prove that she can be a warrior? Is it about being a female warrior? Is the story about accepting magic when it’s light? Fighting beasts with kindness rather than violence? There’s a lack of clarity here and it’s makes Belle’s story here feel undefined and because of that, her defeat of the Yaoguai and resolve to go t Rumple afterwards doesn’t strike the powerful note that it’s clearly supposed to.

Finally, the approach to the hunters in this episode is weird. Why not have them on their side? Yeah, they’re douchey, but it’s not like in “The Girl in the Tower,” when Alice and the hunters had diametrically opposed reasons for wanting to go after the troll (Alice wanted to protect the trolls and the hunters wanted to kill the troll). Here, they all want to take the troll down. They also don’t establish the men as sexist, yet the episode tries to paint them as it later on. They’re just a weird blend of evil, but it does nothing to establish Belle’s conflict. Present I have a large problem with a lot of this segment. They’re trying to set up that Rumple is losing sight of getting back to Bae to deal out vengeance (“Tell me this is just about getting the shawl back” is a crucial line in the Rumple/Belle fight scene at the shop and it’s made to be a big point that Rumple doesn’t answer this) while not having established that as a conflict Rumple’s actually going through. His actions haven’t been excessive when this instance of dialogue happened, and they only get excessive after Belle is threatened and Killian goads him on. Even his interaction with Smee isn’t all that different from his interactions with the man in previous episodes. And I do recognize that they finally get to showing him act excessively aggressive, but the moment isn’t helped by the lack of appropriate setup earlier.

I get that Belle isn’t super receptive to Killian’s speech about Milah and Rumple’s evil nature because of the gun, and I swear I get that, but what is the point of telling Belle all of this if she’s not going to change her mindset in any way as a result of this, especially when she’s the one who the audience is supposed to connect with, is generally framed in the right, and is being told about two characters who have established a level of sympathy? Killian’s definitely taking things too far, but we as an audience know that his words about Milah’s death are true and Belle refuses to react to that, making the scene entirely pointless. I understand that the theme of the story is that “when you find something worth fighting for, you never give up,” but this is never challenged and especially as Belle is learning that Rumple murdered someone, that would be the perfect time to challenge that sentiment. But instead, she just leaves the situation at: ”Because his [Rumple’s] heart is true. And yours [Killian’s]? Yours is rotten.” Again, this makes Belle’s doubling down feel so much weaker than it should. Insights - Stream of Consciousness -The town line is glowing! The hell?! -Rumple, wipe that SMEE-rk off your face! -”It’s [Smee’s hat] always brought me good fortune.” You have a very warped perspective on “good fortune.” -It’s so weird seeing such an optimistic character like Snow deliver a eulogy, but when you think about it, she’s probably the best person. Her eulogy is all at once a celebration of Archie’s life, a validity of the sadness of the other townspeople in attendance, and an encouragement to keep on living while keeping Archie in their hearts. -I feel so bad for whoever’s job it is to make tombstones in this world. Between Archie, Rumple, and Killian, they must’ve gotten so fed up with all of the resurrections. I imagine they are like the Cabbage Merchant in Avatar: The Last Airbender! -Bitter segue, writers from the funeral to Archie being tortured. Bitter segue. -Archie, just say “he came to my office one time.” -How does Killian know Archie is a cricket? I’d imagine that Cora told him, but how does she know? -We’ve got our start of the Captain Beauty BROTP here...I love what this is going to turn to, but this is awkward af… -I don’t think I’m ever going to be over the fact that Belle defeated Captain Hook with a fucking BOOKCASE! XD -I am pretty sure that right after that scene in the library is where the hug blooper (i.e. My favorite blooper ever) took place! Update: OH MY GOD, IT TOTALLY WAS! -Rumple, what the hell are you wasting time on? You literally just got what you wanted! -”You expect to defeat the fiercest creature in the land with a book?” No, but give her a case full of them and you might be surprised! XD -Belle’s gambit in that wagon scene was weird. Did she know they were going to push her off the wagon? And if she didn’t, then why lead them the wrong way? If she wanted to go on her own, then why not just leave on her own? -Do platonic relationships have food, because Swan Believer’s is totally Pop Tarts. -Grumpy makes so many good points in his speech to Snow and Emma. Like, the fandom loves to infantize him, but there’s a reason why he’s as in-good with the Charming family as he is: He considers things that no one else will and for the most part, he backs that information up. -”We’re a bit homesick.” My previous point having been said, I’m sad that they don’t really acknowledge this point all that much to my memory. That also having been said, why wouldn’t you want to stay here? I’m with Isaac! Indoor plumbing is the best! -Belle is amazingly inquisitive and I love her no-nonsense approach to learning about Rumple and Killian’s beef with each other. -Rumple, especially considering what happens to Milah in roughly three seasons, fuck you for lying. Now I get it narratively-speaking and it makes sense for him as a character and I get that it’s a half truth. But still...fuck you for lying. -Also, as I said back in my review of “The Return,” I like how to a point, for as inquisitive as Belle is, she reaches a point where she won’t push an issue any further, and I like how moments like that subtly show the differences between Belle and Bae. -Damn, Killian. While I don’t know if you know who that scarf will lead Rumple to, that was EVIL! -I almost hate to make this comparison, but Rumple has a very Kylo Ren way of dealing with his anger (Breaking shit). -”And this is my fault.” Belle, this is so the opposite of your fault. Like, no. This blame game just doesn’t work. -”You’ll cast some spell that gives me no choice?” ...Just play the fucking Rumple irony clip here, okay? -Smee, why can’t you talk? RAT got your tongue?! -Belle rocks. It takes serious balls of steel to walk into an invisible portal, especially over water. -Batten up the hatches, Belle! -Archie, more like “Aren’t ‘chu glad to see me?!” ...They can’t all be winners. -Wow! Seeing Henry call Archie’s answering machine just to hear his voice just breaks my heart. That’s too real! Hell, Henry hasn’t even changed after the funeral. That’s too sad for words! How is this one moment the best part of the episode?! -”It’s just four people and a dalmation is a lot.” Snowy, baby, you have no fucking idea what’s to come! XD -”We could get our own place.” Jeez, Snow! Also, this is another point that’s brought up, but not really dealt with, not even really in the Season where they do get a house. Hell, at least suggest buying a house for all of them to live in together! The Swan Jones house had more than enough room for all of you! -So, Snow’s scene makes no sense. First, she poses that they should move out and then she talks about how they should take the chance for a fresh start that Storybrooke gives them. -”That doesn’t belong to you.” Belle, never change! XD -”It’s just ahead.” This line is the best segue ever! XD -”What makes you think his son wants to be found?” Oooh, with the Killian and Baelfire episode’s information in hindsight, that stings so badly, both as a point on Baelfire and Killian’s characters. Killian of course knows Bae wants to avoid his father after what went down with the portal, and Killian feels the same way about his own father after his abandonment. -Thank you, Killian for telling Belle the truth! Like, I get why this doesn’t prompt any change in Belle because of the gun he has on her, but yesss!! -”He will do anything to hold onto his power. Why do you think anyone who’s ever gotten close to him has either run away or been killed?” -Belle, do not destroy the town to save it! This isn’t “Man of Steel!” That monster is fire and the town is wood! I don’t need to read a lot of books to know that this is bad! -Mal, that was one badass curse! -Wait a sec. Belle left an injured Mulan in the path of a beast without letting anyone know this? -I’m looking at the David and Mary Margaret material, and I feel like if you mix the Season 2 energy with the Season 6 timing and context, this subplot would’ve been so much better. -”Unless we don’t want the same thing.” WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS LINE? -The Cricket Believer hug soothes my soul!!! -”I knew it.” I’m going to be generous and give this line the benefit of the doubt that it was meant to be a joke. -Belle, why are you going on about how you can make Rumple powerless in front of his enemy?! -”What you’ve done cannot be undone.” Suuuuuuuuure Rumple. XD Arcs - How are These Storylines Progressing? Rumple’s Redemption - So, while I don’t think the episode made this come through effectively at all, the lesson of prioritization does hold through for a while, especially at the start of the next episode. Killian’s Revenge/Redemption - Well, Killian definitely gets his revenge! This I felt was also well done because it was effectively set up that Killian was going to go after Rumple’s love in order to destroy him throughout the episode. Favorite Dynamic Swan Believer. It honestly frustrates me that this has to be put down as my favorite dynamic. Now, that’s not because I don’t love Swan Believer. I fucking love Swan Believer, but when so many interesting dynamics are going up against each other, one of them should be theoretically higher than what amounts to a side story! But yeah. Emma’s struggling with and eventual comforting of Henry as he grieves Archie is really good. It’s a great continuation from what we got in “The Cricket Game,” as this is another aspect of motherhood that Emma has to learn if she wants to truly be a mother, and in addition to just generally comforting him and validating his feelings, getting Pongo is a big step (Or would be). That’s not only a cool thing, but it’s a motherly commitment for herself as she and Henry will be taking care of him together (Or would, if Archie was really dead). Writer I am so disappointed. Goldberg and Chambliss were freakin’ legends for me going into this episode, with prior episodes having such a strong thematic presence. How did they drop the ball this badly? Like, there is just no sense of story structure in either segment and it tarnishes what has the potential to be two great stories. There’s no cohesion between the individual scenes and what we’re supposed to be taking away from them. Motivations and framing go out the window and while some of the individual character moments work, little else does. Apart from plot, nothing else changes, and that’s not what a story should ever do. The writing itself is shallow, playing the “tell, don’t show game” to say what the character’s problems are, but not showing how those are problems. Rating 4/10. This episode’s sole saving grace (Aside from great acting, set design, and music, but those are practically givens on OUAT) is it’s fantastic individual character moments, for any sense of cohesion in the delivery or understanding of his story is nonexistent. Belle’s character isn’t shown to grow from any of her experiences (In either story), Rumple’s actions are weak for what the story is trying to make them seem like, and the nuances of Killian’s motivation, while given time to be presented, are completely ignored. As for the flashback, the same lack of cohesion applies as to exactly how Belle is supposed to learn what the episode is supposed to paint her as learning. Additionally, the time spent with the Charming family adds up to nothing. Flip My Ship - Home of All Things “Shippy Goodness” Rumbelle - Something I find so interesting is how Rumple hates fairies, but Belle is so much of the closest OUAT gets to a fairy fangirl outside of Nova. She’s shown to be friendly with Blue, to the point of making her Gideon’s godmother and teaming up with her on more than one occasion and is much more welcoming at the sign of using light fairy magic in her quests. Also, in terms of the episode itself, Rumple and Belle get a lot of cute moments. Their initial scene in the shop screams of puppy love, their hug after Belle’s rescue is so nice, and before Belle’s shot, hers and Rumple’s farewell is utterly beautiful. Grumpy Beauty - I LOVE these two together! Everytime they share a scene, it’s so tiny, but it tells so much about how much they value each other and their emotional supportiveness of one another. The connection to “Dreamy” itself is just great and helps to reinforce when “Dreamy” encourages Belle to join the hunting party. Millian - So it all comes to an obviously dark place, but you really feel Killian’s fervor for Milah all throughout this episode, from Killian’s excitement at the prospect of his revenge to the more leveled way he speaks of Milah to Belle to the fact that he kept Milah’s scarf despite knowing better to the way he so quietly enflares when Belle says she died to the way he tries to goad Rumple into killing him, and to the wide-eyed venom at the town line. The character work here, both as a shared effort on the part of the writers and Colin’s acting, is sublime. ()()()()()()()()() Writing negative reviews are both the absolute worst ones to write, especially when you’re expecting a good episode. They’re easy to construct because it’s easy to explain why something doesn’t work as opposed to why it does, but fun to put together? Not at all. No one wants to see something bad unless it’s something for jokes like “The Room,” and I’m at the top of this list. I remembered loving this episode, and it honestly hurt to see that it wasn’t nearly as good as I built it in my head it to be from memory and nostalgia.

I sincerely hope the next one is better.

Thank you for reading and to those at @watchingfairytales. Season 2 Tally (96/220) Writer Tally for Season 2: Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis: (29/60) Jane Espenson (17/50) Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg (24/50) David Goodman (16/30) Robert Hull (16/30) Christine Boylan (7/30) Kalinda Vazquez (10/30) Daniel Thomsen (10/20) Operation Rewatch Archives

Hi, I sent the original ask about a Celibate Rey ending, I don't know what discourse came out of it, I didn't see it, but I wanted to clear the air. I didn't mean to come off dismissive of female romance/sexuality or of your ship in my ask. I understand it can be exhausting to defend your perspective over and over to people who don't want to listen, so I totally get if you thought I was baiting, though. I'm sorry for the trouble or stress this caused you.

Not asking to troll or continue the discourse, but if you don’t want to continue discussing this topic please delete this. But how can you see a valid Celibate-Rey endgame going? If IX were to end with Rey on her own and to some degree happy (Since this is Star Wars, the ending has to be at least slightly happy or hopeful) what kind of an ending would it be? If Kylo dies or survives, either/or.

Hey, no problem at all, and sorry for my snappish answer (hopefully you realized I was being part tongue-in-cheek, though). Admittedly the “better off alone/celibate” argument is something that cyclically resurfaces in other ships of mine, particularly Jaime/Brienne, which made me skittish on the whole thing, particularly when it’s tied to *female agency* buzzwords and the assumption that it’s the shippers who are arbitrarily trying to force a romance on the character, rather than it being part of the character’s canon narrative (not necessarily your case, but it’s such a popular argument against the J/B ship that I’ve developed particularly nasty anticorps for it)

So re: Celibate Jedi!Rey—

Is it a technically possible endgame for her? Totally.

Is it something I would personally be okay with and find satisfying? Well, yes, if:

a) it acknowledges and gives closure to Rey’s feelings for Ben, and viceversa. This includes admitting a degree of bittersweet in the happily ever after final picture.

Just considering the force bond alone without its romantic implications, Rey and Kylo, just the two of them, are connected on a deep intimate level. This is kind of a big deal, especially for Rey, whose familial bonds were suddenly and irrevocably severed when she was little, after which she was left completely alone with no chance to find her way back to her parents (ironically, now she has a magical tracking device in her head that allows her to communicate with another person even across galaxies. From completely alone, to never completely alone even in her own head. Big deal, indeed). 

Even if the bond is broken (because Kylo dies, or else) and no overtly romantic stuff happens between them, it will still leave a mark on Rey, an empty spot where something magical used to be that can only be partially filled with familial or “muggle” love and the purpose of a “lone” Jedi path. That she would bury Kylo (or watch him leave never to return) and immediately go to join the Resistance’s party original trilogy style as if nothing sad just happened doesn’t make a lot sense to me. In fact, it would infuriate me, as I hate when characters are written as if they had some emotion switch hidden somewhere that makes them go from sad to cheerful in the blink of an eye (and tbh TLJ, for all I liked it, already went dangerously close to that, with Rey’s jarring post-proposal cheerfulness on the Falcon during the whole Crait sequence, imo). 

So if they want to go that route, they need to be ready to tinge their happy ending with a little melancholy, otherwise I won’t find it realistic at all. This especially if Kylo dies, but also if he leaves or they are separated for whatever reason. (if Kylo lives, and redeems himself, and stays, I don’t see any reason why he and Rey should not be together, tbh. I mean it’s not like there’s still a Jedi order around dictating what Rey is or isn’t allowed to do. Like Palpatine was the Senate, she is the Jedi Order now, she can make new rules, lmao)

b) it avoids attaching moralistic implications to this choice (?) of celibacy (”that’s what I’m really meant for”, or “that’s how I’ll live my life to the fullest and be truly happy”, etc).

The figure of the Jedi in SW is, at the end of the day, a caregiver. A magical warrior/monk who essentially devotes their life to other people, denying any sort of personal ambition of satisfaction for himself (self-drive is closer to the Sith way). While the extent of this self-abnegation can be reframed and repackaged in a more “progressive” light (say Rey rebuilds a Jedi order with different rules, or just chooses a different way to be a Jedi, see above), the essence of caregiving and selflessness will probably remain untouched. It’s really funny to me that the people who want this endgame for Rey are the same one who get their panties in a twist at the thought of Rey being “reduced to an emotional caregiver” for Ben (paraphrasing some anti post I’ve read recently). The point is, Celibate!Jedi Rey wouldn’t be simply choosing friendship/family/a career over romance, she’d actually sacrifice her individual (in this case, romantic/sexual) desires in order to become a caregiver for an entire community. And this isn’t something I’d consider an especially subversive or /empowering/ endgame for a female character, quite the opposite, actually. The subtext here needs to be handed carefully, particularly if her endgame involves rebuilding some sort of Jedi school for gifted children: the risk of elevating her to a self-sacrificial virgin mother archetype would be pretty high. It can be done, and it can imply Rey will find happiness in this life, but without any sort of hamfisted *inspirational moral message for little girls*, if you know what I mean.

c) it doesn’t frame Rey’s choice not to be with Kylo specifically (if it is indeed a choice on her part and not something dictated by external forces, aka Kylo’s death or the Willabeth endgame, more on that later) in a moral(istic) perspective.

no “I can’t be with you because you have been mean to people, ewww” bullshit, thank you very much. This sounds like the ultimate anti wet dream, Rey rejecting Kylo because he’s awful, and I think we’re WAAAYYYY past it with all that happened in TLJ.

I hope this clarifies things a bit!

Another anon asked me to explain what I meant with the Willabeth endgame, and:

in POTC III Will Turner kills Davy Jones, so he has to take his place as the captain of the Flying Dutchman, which is a curse for life. He and Elizabeth (who are now married) spend a last day together on an island (during which it’s implied they fuck like rabbits and conceive a child, lmao), and then, at sunset, Will says goodbye, leaving the box containing his heart to Elizabeth, to whom he says, “will you keep it safe for me?”. It’s heartbreaking and a bit sadistic tbh but also incredibly romantic.

How does this apply to Reylo?

Well, Kylo could be 

sentenced to lifelong exile on a remote planet, or 

imprisoned for life, or 

going on exile on his own will, or 

leaving to form a new order of darksiders (or something) as he feels he has no place among the Good Guys and has Redeemed Himself But Not Really, or 

sentenced to death and then promptly freed by Rey, who urges him to leave never to return, for his own safety, or

in general, literally or metaphorically cursed to live an existence separated from Rey as a form of atonement alternative to death;

and Rey obviously can’t follow him, because she can’t and won’t abandon her place among the Resistance, and they both know this, but it doesn’t stop them for wanting each other and swearing they will wait for each other forever, cue pants-dropping emotional final goodbye scene which, while offering complete closure, leaves the possibility of a future reunion entirely possible.

Why do I think it’s a valid scenario?

it’s a good compromise between endgame Reylo and Celibate!Jedi Rey;

Kylo gets to Suffer ™, as y’all hope for;

an unwritten but very common and wise rule of storytelling (whether or not you agree with it) is that a couple who can’t be together NOW is more interesting than a couple who is Just Together and chillin’ on the sofa or something, so this endgame leaves things open enough to be further explored in hypothetical tie-in canon material (comics, novels, tv adaptations, maybe even a standalone Episode IX-bis in five or six years from now, WHO THE HELL KNOWS?);

the fanfictions would SKYROCKET; 

the force bond, if it still exists at that point, would be an INCREDIBLY convenient plot device;

Reylo Sex Island

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