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artist-issues · 3 months

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Hello! My ask is about The Rise Of Skywalker. I would like to read your analysis of Reylo's scenes such as their dialogues in the film, Rey's declaration to Ben ("I did want to take your hand. Ben's hand."), Ben's return to the light side and the reylo kiss. The declaration, Ben's return and the kiss, for me, are the only good things about this film.

I thought all of the Rise of Skywalker was really terrible. Terrible writing, terrible plot, and even some pretty terrible characterizations. (I thought the actors did their best, though.)

Basically, ROS had several threads that TLJ and TFA had braided together. All it needed to do was tie those threads off. But instead, it unraveled them and tangled them up and said “done! All tied up!”

For example:

Thread 1: Finn’s journey from fear to faith.

Thread 2: Leia’s hope for her son.

Thread 3: Poe’s journey from hero to leader.

Thread 4: Hux’s growing, rabid desire for control. (It’s why the organization’s called the First “ORDER”)

Thread 5: Kylo Ren’s learning that power won’t make him feel secure.

Thread 6: Rey’s learning that she doesn’t need to be “somebody” because it’s all about something bigger than herself.

Thread 7: Kylo Ren and Rey learning their respective lessons by finding the answers in each other.

TLJ took what TFA started and got you those threads. Then TROS said “never mind, we don’t like those threads” with most of them. For example, Poe and Finn suddenly have nothing to do. For example, Finn is not doing anything that requires the faith he began building at the end of TLJ; he’s just following Rey around. Poe is not learning how to lead, he’s just info-dumping and trying quick three-man hero missions, unlike the lesson he learned at the end of TLJ. Hux is not strategizing with rabid extremism for control; he’s just pettily throwing his life away to get back at Kylo Ren. Et Cetera. The threads all get unraveled or tangled up or left dangling uselessly.

EXCEPT for Thread 7.

They make an attempt at “Kylo Ren and Rey learning their respective lessons by deepening their bond.” The problem is, without the other threads, that one just doesn’t fit any better than the rest of the story.

First off, I 100% agree that Kylo Ren and Rey would be involved romantically, in some way, eventually. There’s literally no way around it. Romantic attachment is choosing to commit to someone on an intimate level. Because they’re Force Bonded, and because they are the only people in the universe who have similar identity crises and deep family-related angst, they were bound to intimately understand each other. They started caring about each other in TLJ. All TROS had to do was fan the flames of that care up in a way that led to their character developments concluding.

Rey just needed to demonstrate more of the letting-go she demonstrated at the end of TLJ: she wants Kylo Ren to be Light, but she realizes there’s nothing she can do to force it, even if she begs and pleads, so she just keeps doing the right thing on her end and trusts the Force, believing he’ll come to the right conclusion in the end no matter how much evil he’s done. What’s that ladies and gentlemen? It’s called ✨ unconditional love. ✨

Then Kylo Ren just needed to see that love. Literally, just see and continuously experience it. Even if he’s trying to hunt her down and kill her or take everything from her or whatever, she just keeps refusing to kill him and believing he’ll turn good. After all, that’s more than his parents did for him back when they sent him away—and since then, whatever unconditional love Rey shows him is strengthened by the examples of unconditional love Han Solo and Luke showed right before they died. Plus the alternative to accepting unconditional love—murdering everything that might give him a sense of power—hasn’t been making him feel any better. So he was primed for redemption via Rey.

That’s all they needed to do in TROS. Not so hard, just write a reason for her to save his life or spare it again, even after their previous encounter and even given his new status as Supreme Leader. He’s halfway there. Continued pushes are all that’s needed.

Just like Luke Skywalker in the Revenge of the Sith, Rey and Kylo Ren don’t really need to develop much more in the final movie of their trilogy. They just need to put what the first two movies taught them to a big final test.

Anyway. With that in mind:

Let me give you the bite-sized version 😅

The Force-Searching Scenes - I don’t like these because they’re all Kylo Ren searching for Rey, with little to no engagement from her. She feels more like she’s given up on him in these scenes and is just trying to win an argument whenever he barges into her brain. He, on the other hand, might be looking for her, but it’s with one hand on his grandfather’s mask. Which is totally the opposite of him “letting the past die. Kill it, if you have to.” So he’s taking weird steps backward, toward TFA, as if TLJ never happened… and that tarnishes his motives for finding Rey, in my mind. If he’s going back to trusting the past and the idea of his grandfather, then why does he want to turn Rey to the dark side? When Vader failed to turn Luke, he tried to murder him. Kylo Ren knows that. So meditating on a mask he should be giving up on in order to find and turn Rey makes no sense, so it takes the tension out of those scenes for me.

Fight Scenes - Again, it makes no sense that Kylo Ren would still be pursuing turning Rey to the dark side so doggedly. Neither of them could convince the other at the end of TLJ. They split a lightsaber in half to prove it. Now, that doesn’t mean they should be giving up on each other completely. But Kylo Ren should be acting like he’s given up on her, even if just to convince himself. That’s what he’s done this whole time: turned to killing the people who fail him to make himself feel more powerful. She has a reason to keep believing in him: she’s on the Light Side of the Force. But instead, she’s the one acting like she wants nothing more to do with him. He mentions how he’s going to turn her to the dark side multiple times in the movie. But she doesn’t say more than one quipped question hinting that she still wants him on the light side. So the “attachment” focus of their fights loses all it’s tension because again, it doesn’t make sense. After TLJ, he should be at least trying to give up on her and pursue killing her, if anything. And she should be steadfastly believing in him, while pursuing doing the right thing no matter what he does. That’s where they were in their character development. More fighting barely makes sense.

Healing Scene - I liked this scene only when Rey heals Kylo Ren. Their fight beforehand, and her ramming his lightsaber into him, still makes no sense. She’s angry at him because of her connection to Palpatine and she’s fighting him like that’s going to exorcise her identity…but Rey being a dark, angry descendant of Palpatine never made sense (it unravels her whole character development.) So her motivations in this scene don’t make sense…until she heals him. Then, suddenly, there’s a glimpse of that Rey we left on the Millenium Falcon in TLJ: she’s healing him, even though he might just stand up and attack her again, because she genuinely believes he’s Ben and she just needs to show him mercy until he comes around to believing it. And THAT is part of what turns him. So I like that: I just think it was executed really poorly. She should never have been healing him from a wound she caused.

The Kiss - The kiss was just basically the TROS storytellers confirming that they were romantically attached instead of just enemies-to-friends/Allie’s attached. Because…for some reason they had to confirm that visually. I just think, again, that they didn’t set it up and execute it well. They have no conversations and no significant attention paid toward each other between the healing scene and the final battle. They might be force-linked, but the audience needed to see that bond turned romantic, or him turned good before any overt romantic gestures, much earlier on. Other than that, I like that he healed her. I love Adam Driver’s acting in that whole scene. Makes me wish they gave him more to do.

The Death Scene - This should not have happened. It was lazy. Kylo Ren is a character who has been trying to fulfill himself by making BIG, final (emphasis on “final”) choices. Having him make one more big final choice, to end his own life, was not good character development. He should’ve had to live with what he’d done so he could learn from his mistakes. That’s where his whole character was headed. He’s always failed to learn from his past: he thinks he can just erase it. You know what giving up your life for a different hero and then fading away is? It’s nice, but it’s just another “erase” choice. Additionally? It’s terrible for Rey’s story, too. She finally had someone she chose, someone she waited for who actually came back, somebody who understood her…somebody who’s redemption rewarded her long faith…and she’s left alone again. That’s just the worst. Plus, what did she need him to heal her for? What exactly did she die of? He was way more injured than she was.

What they should’ve done was, Kylo Ren and Rey save the day, and then he’s condemned to death for his crimes by the New Republic, but in honor of Leia’s life of sacrifice and belief in him, he’s given enough of a pardon to simply be banished to the unknown reaches. And Rey goes with him, because she can finally stop waiting, she loves seeing the galaxy, and they can learn about the Force together…plus, they’re obviously deeply connected. And that would be a great homage to Leia’s legacy as a character who never gives up on hope, and that hope is ultimately rewarded. Instead of having her give her life to reach him…so he can live for an hour or so before also dying.

Long story short…you’re right! I just think all the elements you liked should’ve been way more central, built up to, and placed where they fit in a better movie!

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incognito-lionbeast · 1 year

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Alternatively, as per considering an SVSSS > MDZS isekai, I’ve unwittingly become quite attached to the crackship potential of

“But I stay silly :3″ scheming artist Nie Huaisang && known appreciator of the arts, former heavenly demon lord Tianlang-Jun. (assuming TLJ is post-canon & we’ve managed to stabilise/rebuild his body)

Been running through the scenario of TLJ dropped into MDZS just shortly after Nie Huaisang escapes with the others from the cave with the Slaughter Xuanwu. Through a chance meeting, ends up acting as Huaisang’s impromptu bodyguard--having dispatched* the Wen chasing him (and/or any other disciples he’s with).

After all, he’s a demon. So, while TLJ may not hate humans, it’s a matter of self-defense & personal interest. Huaisang doesn’t quite realise that Tianlang-Jun is a demon, though this man clearly practises the dark arts. And He Won’t Go Away. He’s.. uh? Nice enough, though?

Huaisang, being relatively weak, decides not to look a gift horse in the mouth. So, they chat along the trek back to somewhere safe (it’s not like TLJ has anything better to do or even knows where he is, so) & Huaisang’s happy to find someone interested in his hobbies. Congratulations on befriending the former Heavenly Demon Lord & Final Boss! Hopefully your brother doesn’t break your legs when HE realises that Tianlang-Jun is a demon.

Though, really, it’s Mingjue’s sabre that notices first. Mingjue himself thinks something a bit off about his little brother’s new “friend”, but thanks to the aura given off by Tianlang-Jun’s mushroom-y body... it’s all a bit muddled. He still doesn’t trust him, but he owes TLJ for keeping Huaisang safe.

So for now >8|

They’ve got other things to worry about.

#bay mumbles #SVSSS #MDZS #Nie Huaisang #Tianlang Jun #i just think it'd be very funny #*dispatch but not kill

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clarks-letterman · 4 months

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Wally anon: omggg you keep getting sabotaged 😫

You know he's strong enough with him being the only killer pulling single duty 👀 Yupppp, exactly. 5 I respect more cause it felt like it was trying. to be Scream more than 6 but at the same time it's soooo funny how obsessed with TLJ when it makes the very same mistakes as TFA/JW in terms of ~reboots made years after the fact trying hard. to recapture the OG while not doing enough new by itself~ & that is something 4 directly. commented on before those kinds of movies even existed. 😶 Works for me cause I have suchhh a thing for Quaid, you have no idea. 🥴 Ugh, I know. Her activity literally doesn't make sense without the lesbian aspect, not to mention how. much more significant it would've been to have Tara as Sam's whole ass sister being a lesbian instead of just, once again, making the queer character the comic relief. 💀 Especially. when Sam thinks the last killer is Mindy like avshdd bad writing fr. But it's cause 5/6 reallyyyy do not go crazy fast trying to balance the characters/plot like the others, but particularly 1/2 do. Like nearly everyyyy single character is introduced, 3 people are dead, AND Sidney is attacked before the 40 minute mark in 2 but 5/6 completely draaaag their feet with bringing the ~legacies~ back & because they have such slow first acts, Vince + Dr. Stone have nearly identical quick death scenes trying to remind the audience that, yes characters die in these, but the quickness renders both characters entirely useless. 😕 Yupyupyup, I'm absolutely right there with you. I give it just. an ever so slight pass in H20 since it leans into the sibling dynamic & the ~reaching out for his hand while he's pinned by the ambulance~ (cause we do NOT validate Res's existence ❌️❌️❌️) cause it's a moment that feels extremely emotional to me. But, for the most part, I'm right there with you on keeping the eyes black (cause you know you can't reason with him when he's abusing your hole & breathing heavy & shit) I do recall Ends was going to play off of that theory at some point, but they changed their minds. 🫣 Oh, no, please continue cause Josh Hartnett in those 90s movies was suchhhh a gay awakening for me, haircut be damned.

(Makes a lot of sense cause that was exactly me when Garfield's movies started & I was still making sense of my sexuality) Of course @ not quite having the same degree of attachment. It's all about when things precisely come into our lives in those defining moments. 👍 agdjd you throwing Tobey into the trash (I can't speak much to Insomniac with my limited gaming experience). 😭 Yupyupyup, I feel very similarly on their bodies. Obviously never turning down Tom when he looks like that 🤤 but Andrew probably had the most "accurate" body type for Peter. Oh, share away. Give into your obsession cause it can likely lead to some prime, self-indulgent results. You'd be lucky he has you stuck up there with his ectoplasm or you'd be falling all over yourself from the sheer force of it. 😮‍💨

(yuppp, you get it. It's you that'll barely be able to speak from all of the attention) And Wally in particular will not be denied your 🥛

Yup, exactly. Truly was doing people dirty that whole movie. 😔 Mhmmmm. It's insane they got someone as good as RDJ cause the writing on its own sure wasn't rising to the occasion. I feel the same way @ selfish. Some of my fav fictional characters skew towards the selfish side cause they're so upfront & unapologetic about it, but the flip flop, insecure handling with Tony was just exhausting to watch circle the drain over & over. 🙄 Yuppp @ fumbled. It's honestly shocking how. much I genuinely like CW with the lengths it goes to, but it goes to show how much I'm a slut for Steve even after all this time. 🫡 (ughhhh him in the beard is his hottest look fr & they should've kept it for Endgame 😮‍💨) But, yup, CW it's perfectly fine as a way to introduce Peter, but jesusss in Homecoming & beyond. It gets to the point where it starts feeling infantalizing instead of just. remaining ~a cute fanboy who also fights crime~ because why can't THE Spiderman function without a constant reminder of Tony when Peter was. Spiderman before he even knew him. 🫤 (Oh, that's insane. I know RDJ is/was a big deal atp in the MCU, but if you're trying thatttt hard to force Tony in where he doesn't belong, I think priorities should've been reevaluated) omg, I know. Like, I can respect an age gap to a certain degree (Steve & Peter have wildly more chemistry in their CW interactions than he ever does with Tony afsd), but that's one of those ships that reallyyyy rubs me the wrong way because the aforementioned infantilization. Honestly, real @ Mysterio (cause Gyllenhaal is hot as hellllll 🥴).

Uh oh @ not the best, but thank youuu ♥️ The reveal about ~you know who~ is particularly devastating cause I think she would've genuinely started to move on had that. not happened. 💔 If you can even handle all of it cause some of it might end up all over your face. 🫣

As to be expected @ fluff/angst. Happy to hear it's bringing itself along cause I know you were a little blocked the other day. 👍 But alright alright, lemme see. I think if your instincts are telling to you skew into a weider direction, you should follow that, especially knowing everything we've been discussing. 🫣 But I know praise would be a major. thing here cause the fluff/angst, probably a little of the size stuff/him unable to keep his hands off the reader, & really anything you're feeling strong about. 🤭

Exactly, he’s sooo🤭 doing it all by himself. He’s a single mom working two jobs basically. And yeah, 5 has the benefit of bringing it into a new era, and re-introducing it to people who never saw the original (idk how but i’m sure some people didn’t.) 4 was just so good… it makes me sad it was around the curve before everyone else started their reboots. Yesss Mindy got so betrayed by being the “haha gay funny character” that she was made into. It would’ve been so much better (and an even better callback) to have both of the killers be dating people in the main cast like Stu and Billy were. I mean Sam + Tara are attacked sort of early in 6 (the gas station? scene is pretty early into the movie) but imo it doesn’t feel tense enough… and their way of making ghostface scary is by having him brandish a gun? Uh… okay😭 Way to not stay true to the character using a knife I guess. Yeah I can see the eyes in the mask being crucial to having him convey more emotion, since he’s silent and all and they were going for more of a Scream-like reboot. (so true about being railed by him with the black eye holes. it makes it hotter what can i say… there’s nothing to reason with except that massive dick..) Ends was just… such a let down it’s crazy😪 I didn’t hate it but it’s so slow and not enough Michael. He’s just stuck in the sewer like all movie until the end sksksj (I’ll continue because he’s sooo🤭 I’m so happy he survived but that we never got to see him in the h20 sequel😭)

(Yeah, Andrew’s came out a little too early for me to really understand or remember watching movies.. 2012… I would’ve been 8 or 9? So yeah, a little too young to really resonate with him. But Tom’s Peter a few years later coming out at around the same age as me, then each movie he’s bumped up a year or two so we were kinda twinning for a while lmaooo) Still love Garfield’s the most for being the most accurate Peter, but I know I’d resonate more with Tom’s. Tobey is just so… not it. I’m sorry, but Sam Raimi didn’t do good with the Spiderman movies and most people rank them pretty low on the list now that nostalgia seems to have worn off. There’s no real redeeming factor to them (aside from some slight horror elements in 3 with venom that are pretty good) Insomniacs is sooo good I love him. He’s like a nerdy adult in that game but idc. Let him be childish and a crime-fighting spider at 28 years old sksjsj. Uhhh if I gave into the obsession we’d be here all day… but Tom’s Peter using his suit gadgets on himself and I know he gets treated as the “whore” of the team in fics… they may not be wrong sksj👀 Oh exactly… man he’s sounding really sticky. Are we sure Wally isn’t spider-man too?? Jkjk

Wally wanting to see you become a mess at his work (not from the guy under you) and milk you of all that cum, letting it hit him and your torso and all🫣

Yeah the writers definitely didn’t know what to do with Tony and it showed. Glad he’s finally got an ending and death so that we don’t have to see it again (but then FFH just reminded us of him the whole damn movie.) So true @ the slur for Steve. He may be built the a dorito but i’ll be the seasoning on the chip🫡 Steve’s probably my second favorite character in all of the MCU (men named steve>>>) with the first constantly changing based on where the movies go. But Steve stays in second and i’m just such a slut for him (it’s criminal i’ve only written one fic for him…) i like his endgame look being a combination of the longer hair with a clean shave, it looks nice but the beard was just the extra layer to make it even better. And you’re so right @ infantilizing. It really showed itself in the fandom, too. I don’t mind that Peter’s a fan or excited to join the Avenger’s but you’re so right about him not being able to function once meeting Tony. I think it’s fine-ish in Homecoming (mostly because I like when Peter needs to realize that he can’t just be a fanboy or use his role as Spider-Man for something flashy. It gave me false hope that HC was preparing to send him off on his own, and that Tony’s inclusion was maybe to help sell the movie itself? Like, they didn’t want it to flop, and this is a much better cameo/inclusion than later movies sooo.) But no, we still got childish Peter in IW for most of the movie (the only good scene showing his naive side is the very end when he’s hugging Tony and saying he doesn’t want to go. The only time i’d accept him doing that because i’d be scared too if I watched like several other people vanish and thought it was about to happen to me.) And then Tony is the main plot device in FFH, and his inventions are integral in NWH when Peter creates the “cures.” Yeah I would rather see Steve/Peter because they actually had some respect for each other in CW, more than Tony ever gave him. Spiderio shipper for lifeee🤭 Jake and Tom are such a good pairing and the manipulation works because he’s not painted to be the good guy!! (cough cough Tony cough cough) and they have more chemistry + Peter using Mysterio’s tech to live out wild fantasies then Mysterio making them come true heloooo

Exactly when she got shown the video and they were in it… I was so sad. The whole reveal had me like “go get that payback girl!!” because i knew she had something planned for him. The scene with the daughter is great too, so tense. Aand there’s a lot that hits your face.. not just a few drops🤭

Yesss i think im almost at 6k without smut if i remember correctly… so I just need to write the smut then it’s all set! All of that sounds good, so I’ll see about writing it in a bit and let you know if there are any issues🫡🫡

#wally clark

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paper-n-ashes · 3 years

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sparks and embers - chapter 13

Characters: Kylo Ren x Original Female Character, Poe Dameron x Original Female Character

Story Tags: Explicit (18+), Canon Compliant/Divergent (Set after TLJ), First Person POV, Love Triangle, Slow Burn, Enemies to Lovers, Porn with Plot, Hurt/Comfort, Kylo Ren hates Poe Dameron

Chapter 13 - Exposure

Words: 5.5k

Chapter Tags/Warnings: Descriptions medical procedures

Read on AO3 or Start from the beginning

“Alex! You’re okay!”

“So are you!” I burst, eyes already wet with tears of relief. My gaze darted over the holoprojection of Poe’s face, his brilliant smile beaming through from lightyears away.

“You have no idea how glad I am to see you,” he grinned, leaning closer into the holo. “We’ve been trying to make this contact for weeks.”

A dazzling joy surged in my chest, so happy that my assumptions of being forgotten were baseless. “Did you complete your mission?”

“You’re talking to the best pilot in the galaxy here.” He shot me a charming wink, maintaining his smile. “Actually made it back a few days ahead of schedule.”

Tears continued to dribble out, attempting to calm myself with a shaky exhale. “I’ve been so worried.”

Poe’s expression turned earnest. “I was going to say the same thing.” His expression fell, looking down. “I didn’t want to leave you there. I’m… I’m so sorry Alex. We’re all sorry.”

“It’s alright,” I soothed. “It was the right thing to do at the time. Did you all safely make it back to the base?”

“Left just in time to avoid their tracking systems. So your sacrifice wasn’t for nothing.”

“Indeed it wasn’t,” a woman’s voice agreed, her instantly recognisable image appearing in front of me moments later.

Leia Organa.

“I’m so glad to finally put a face to the person who saved my best fighters.”

I was awestruck at the sight of the entrancing older woman, with kind yet determined eyes looking right at me. “Well… uh… They were the ones who protected me against the Death troopers. I really didn’t do anything.”

She shook her head, smiling warmly. “We all know what you did, what you’ve endured because of your selflessness.”

“What I’ve endured?”

“We have recently gained a Resistance spy within the First Order, the one who directed you to this holoprojector,” Poe started explaining. “They’ve been keeping an eye on you. Sending us intel about your condition.”

I thought of the blonde, curled hair I glimpsed a few minutes ago, not recalling ever seeing it before. Whoever it was had obviously done his reconnaissance at a distance. “The cell stay wasn’t exactly easy,” I conceded, looking sincerely to Poe. “But I’m managing better now.”

A glaring lie.

“One thing they couldn’t tell us Alex,” Leia started, her expression now troubled. “Is why exactly they’re keeping you on the Finalizer. Our spy hasn’t been able to collect any information about the subject. To me, it seems a little... bizarre you’re being forced to work for them.”

I was stuck on how to begin to formulate an answer when a commotion from behind the two figures made them turn around.

“I heard you finally made contact!” Rey’s voice excitedly cheered from somewhere in the room, her image quickly arriving into view, displaying an enthusiastic grin as she huddled in next to Leia. “Alex! I’m so glad to see you!”

I returned a warming smile, her sunny disposition difficult not to mirror.

“Oh thank the maker,” Finn heaved, sliding alongside Rey, the four figures now pressed closely into the outline of the holo, Poe seeming faintly annoyed at the intrusion. “If I had to live through one more day of Poe ranting about this stealth signal not getting through, I was gonna go insane.”

Poe was already looking to me when I glanced at his face, an unspoken understanding exchanging between us. “Well now since apparently we’re all here,” he huffed, “Can we actually get back to the issue at hand? We’ve only got a limited amount of time before this signal becomes compromised, and the hard-lock on Alex’s comm-room door overrides.”

Leia nodded in agreement and looked at me again. “Do you know why they’re holding you there Alex?”

I was weighted with a heavy dose of terror in giving my answer, my stare shooting immediately to Rey. Her smile had faded, instead she wore an expression of reassurance.

She hadn’t told them.

“I… I… uh…” I stammered, a flurry of emotions spinning in my brain. I was so sure she would have exposed me.

“It’s okay Alex,” Rey insisted, her tone calming. “I know why you’re scared. I completely understand why you kept it a secret. But we won’t harm you because of it. I promise.”

All eyes darted to Rey, each face breaking into confusion.

Poe was the only one to say what they were all thinking. “What are you talking about?”

I felt my chest begin to tighten, oxygen becoming a little harder to grasp onto. “I’m not ready,” I whispered.

Rey’s appearance was comforting, yet serious. “It’s time. You may not be ready, but sometimes we don’t get the choice.”

I inhaled deeply, scrunching my lids closed, trying to build some sort of confidence to reject the instincts and rules I had been abiding by all these years. A lifetime of keeping my gift undisclosed, hiding it away, never getting too close to anyone, had left me more attached to my secret than anything else in the galaxy. Fear had always kept it’s hold, guiding my actions, and it was pulling at me again now, trying to warn me of the danger once more. But if I didn’t tell them, Rey would be forced to.

And above anything else, I wanted Poe to hear it from me.

“I can… use the Force,” I said slowly, most likely out loud for the first time in my life. “I taught myself… how to heal others with it, when they were close to death.” There was an excruciating silence as Poe, Leia and Finn comprehended my answer, each wearing a different expression of realisation. My stare was only focused on Poe, trying to properly gauge his reaction to my admittance of lying. “I didn’t want anyone to find out, so I’d also learnt how to hide it - to prevent other force-sensitive people from feeling my energy, from hearing my thoughts.”

“Why?” Leia asked gently. “Why were you so afraid?”

“My parents were distrustful of those who were attuned to the Force after living through a time where Darth Vader wreaked havoc on the galaxy. They told me old stories of little children being taken away from their families to be trained as Jedi, only to have all of them massacred, even the younglings. They made it seem like the most dangerous thing in the world was being someone with that gift. So even as a child, when I felt the power growing within, I pushed it down, hid it away. I didn’t want to fight in any wars, and I didn’t want to be killed. I just… wanted a normal life.”

Both Rey and Leia were nodding with me as I spoke, seeming to understand my decision.

“That’s why you were on Raxus. So isolated,” Poe murmured, not looking at me.

“Yes. I kept it a secret for as long as I could, all through my training, only using this power sporadically through the years. But I was too close to being caught whilst working in a medical camp on the Inner Rim, during a skirmish the First Order instigated on a planet because of their resources. A Stormtrooper noticed me healing one of the planet’s inhabitants, one whom he was sure he’d rendered on the brink of death. He wanted to take me to his leader, claiming he would have good use for someone with my abilities. I managed to escape him and ran, giving up my job, my home, all without telling anyone where I was going. I settled on Raxus, built my clinic, rarely having to use my power, never really worrying about being caught again. Until... Poe crashed on my doorstep.”

“And you had to use it then, didn’t you?” Rey assumed, obviously a question she had been waiting to ask. I nodded.

Finn’s eyes sparkled. “I knew it! I knew there was a reason he healed so quickly.”

The death stare Rey shot to him was severe in intensity, and under any other circumstance I would have thought it was funny. But my focus was centred completely on Poe’s expression as he remained engrossed in deliberation, his eyes still not reaching back to me.

“Is this why they’re keeping you held on the Finalizer? They wish to utilize your power to heal?” Leia guessed.

“They don’t know about it.”

Each of their expressions turned to disbelief.

“How? Surely Kylo Ren would have rummaged through your mind the minute you got on that ship,” Finn burst, turning to Rey. “That’s what he did to you right?” She nodded in agreement, still looking to me for my answer.

“I was able to keep him out, like I did to you Rey,” I replied.

Rey seemed impressed, and a realisation clicked behind her eyes. “That’s why he won’t let you leave. He hasn’t figured out why."

I became uneasy, suddenly worrying about the blame I’d been placing on her. “He thinks it’s because of you, that you’ve somehow placed a block around my mind. And I... didn’t exactly correct him.”

Rey let a sly smile form on her lips. “Well that would be a valuable thing to make use of, if only it were true.”

Finn appeared dubious. “I still don’t understand why you agreed to work for them.”

“I didn’t really have a choice,” I subtly scowled. “It was that or rot in a cell until Kylo Ren managed to infiltrate my thoughts, learning of my sensitivity to the Force, leaving me in a lot worse situation.”

Finn appeared understanding of that answer. It had been Rey’s own powers that made the man obsessed with capturing her. Leia, who had seemed more troubled while we conversed of the Supreme Leader, finally spoke up again. “How long do you think you can hold yourself against… him?”

“I don’t know.” My heart thumped with anxiety, reminded of his last attempt to penetrate my barrier. Thinking about it, with Poe’s image right in front of me, made a familiar sickness bubble in my stomach. He still refused to meet my gaze, his face pained, making an ache begin to surge in my chest.

“Well we have to make some kind of plan right? To rescue her before that happens? Poe?” Finn insisted, somehow rustling Poe out from his inner turmoil.

“Right. Sure. Of course,” he agreed, only the slightest glance in my direction. I had to clench my teeth to hold back the tears wanting to form in my eyes, his indifferent response causing a wave of guilt to wash through.

Leia could sense the tense energy exchanging between us, even through the holo. “Finn, Rey, let’s start discussing our next move. Away from the holoprojector.” She looked firmly at the two, an unspoken communication. Rey shot me a look of both support and sympathy, understanding exactly why Leia was leading them away.

“Hang in there,” Finn added before standing to leave. “We’ll get you out real soon.”

I tried my best to reply with a grateful smile, but it was hard to form through the nervousness I felt at being alone with Poe after my revelation.

One by one their figures receded from the flickering blue picture, leaving Poe alone once again. I couldn’t bring myself to speak first, unsure of what to say. He felt further away than ever, his touch a memory that continued to fade.

Time was running out, the seconds ticking away as we both waited in stillness for the other to break the strained silence. When his eyes finally drifted to me again, I was wounded by the hurt in them, still acutely obvious in the artificial image.

“Why couldn’t you tell me?” he whispered. “You had all that time.”

I dipped my head, conceding. “I was scared.”

“Scared of what?” he shot with unrestrained exasperation. “Scared that I would continue to be grateful for you saving my life?”

I looked back up, stunned by his angered tone. “I didn’t want anyone to find out, let alone someone who had ties with the Resistance.”

“What did you think I would do, what the Resistance would make you do?”

“Pull me into a war I didn’t want to fight! Lead me into a life I didn’t want to lead!”

I could see his jaw tighten, an attempt in calming himself. “The fact you assume I’m the type of person that would force you into anything, let alone war, even after everything I told you, is insulting.”

“That’s so unfair,” I retaliated, my bottom lip on the edge of trembling. “I didn’t even know who you were when I decided to heal you. I chose to risk everything to keep you alive. Doesn’t that mean anything?”

Poe exhaled hard, the sound crackling in the holo. “I will always be in your debt for what you did. But you still lied to me Alex. To my face. You assumed the worst of me, of all of us. You hid the truth because you thought we would take advantage of your power, not caring about what you wanted, what you could choose.”

“You haven’t lived my life Poe,” I argued, a ferocity beginning to rise. “You haven’t lived with the same fear I have all your life.”

He stared at me through the staticky blue light, silence once again taking over. We were locked in each other’s eyes, even through all the distance separating us.

“You pushed me away because of it, didn’t you?” he asked, the sting of his tone now gone.

I didn’t have to respond for him to know my answer. Suddenly there was a loud click of the door behind me, the hard-lock releasing.

Our time was up.

“I’m sorry,” I implored, only a moment before Poe’s face was snatched from my view, the holoprojector powering down into darkness.

My throat felt tight, a new kind of shame gripping tightly. I’d always been so afraid of sharing my secret, but not for this reason. Not because it would make me a liar in the eyes of the one I longed to be reunited with so badly.

I stayed in the darkened comm-room long after the hard-lock was disengaged. No one came to open it. Even if they had, they would have only found my figure sitting against one of the large data configurators, stuck in a motionless trance.

I wasn’t entirely sure what kept me from crying, because there was certainly a hollow sadness sitting on my chest, yet the emotion never seemed to manifest into anything. It was possibly due to the stark realisation that my power, my use of the Force, wasn’t a secret anymore.

And nothing bad happened.

They hadn’t been afraid, judgemental, desperate to use it for their own benefit. They had wanted nothing. Rey even kept it to herself, waiting for me to expose the circumstance in my own time, supporting the decision I’d made long ago to hold the power deep within.

Alongside the sadness, there was an intense shame thumping with my heartbeat. Poe had been right, once again highlighting my selfish and distrustful nature, even to those who didn’t deserve it. He’d always been unconditionally honest, and I had given him lies in return. He was right to be offended, to feel slighted by my deceit, our whole encounter now coloured with my dishonesty.

The only comforting part of the holoprojector discussion, apart from knowing for sure Poe with how we parted, was there was a plan being formed for my rescue. There was still a chance I might make it off this ship, escaping before Kylo Ren saw through my weakening façade. He had gotten closer than ever before in the preceding morning, and it couldn’t be long until he figured out another way to tug at my emotions hard enough to unravel me completely.

My only hope was that it wasn’t my attraction to him, the way he undeniably ignited the fire inside that he continued to toy with in his endeavour to push past the veil over my mind.

When I slipped back through the doors of the Prestige ward I was bombarded with questions from Risha and the other staff concerning the incidents of the night, most of them somewhat impressed with my boldness. While the others thought nothing of my return, assuming that for once justice had prevailed and I’d been seen to act in self-defence, Risha was obviously astonished I wasn’t still sitting in my cell. She followed me to the isolation room, where my intubated patient still lay in critical condition, but fortunately alive.

“How did you manage to convince them to let you out?” she questioned. “I thought I’d be visiting you in that cell.”

I read over the observations, the patient’s vitals seemingly stable during my absence.

I would need to thank Irwin later.

“I didn’t have to convince them of anything. My retaliation was considered appropriate by the Supreme Leader, so he allowed my release.”

Risha physically recoiled in disbelief. “There are like, 20 things wrong with what you just said.”

“It was a surprise to me too,” I agreed, continuing to perform my own assessment of the ill man in front of me.

“Alex, I don’t think you comprehend how unusual it is for the Supreme Leader to involve himself with matters like this.”

“I think we can both agree nothing about my situation is usual.”

“I mean, that’s true.” She folded her arms, still doubtful. “But for him to punish the Colonel instead of you. That’s just…bizarre. Snoke would never have been called to make a decision like that, let alone given any care for your wellbeing.”

I stopped, giving Risha’s answer more than a few seconds of thought. “Maybe he wants to be a different type of leader.”

She snorted. “We all know Snoke was the one who seduced him to the dark side, who turned him into what he is today. You think he would cast away his teachings, suddenly show compassion?”

“You’ve obviously given this a lot of thought,” I murmured.

“Well there’s not a lot else to talk about working on this ship. All we debated in the days after Snoke’s death, and Kylo Ren’s appointment as Supreme Leader, was whether his rule would be the same or significantly worse. No one even had the slightest notion he would be… like this.”

I shrugged, walking back to the progress notes and typing my assessment out. “Maybe he thinks if I owe him one I’ll be less likely to cause anymore issues. Maybe he hopes for me to like it here so I won’t attempt an escape.”

Risha tugged at my arm, making me look to her. “Is that something you were considering?” she whispered.

I didn’t want to give any kind of verbal confirmation to that intention, knowing now the ears always listening into our conversations. I also refused to implicate this sweet person in any of my future plans, knowing it was safer to give an overly dismissive answer. “Of course not. I wouldn’t even know how if I wanted to. I’ll just keep waiting it out. I’m sure they’ll grow bored with me eventually.”

Risha certainly wasn’t convinced, but she didn’t dictate that stance. “So how are you feeling? After… you know.”

“I’m alright,” I reassured, which was a blazing lie. “Better now knowing the Colonel won’t be back on this ward again.”

“Me too,” Risha breathed, showing me a small smile. Mild irritation sizzled knowing what it took to finally have someone to act on a predator like Colonel Wynver, still wishing his punishment would have been more severe. But I had to be appreciative that Risha, and the other women who worked here, could have some comfort due to his hopefully permanent absence from their life.

I farewelled Risha after making sure Irwin had given her an adequate handover of the nights new admits, noticing that more beds were now filled with those who had contracted the heavily contagious illness. There was a part of me that worried about the situation I would return to at the start of my shift this evening, but I was too exhausted to fret for too long.

I made sure to pick up a meal from the mess hall before returning to my quarters, horrendously starving from a whole shift without a chance to eat. The shower I had after ravenously devouring my food was just soothing enough to put me in a better state of mind before settling under the bed sheets to sleep, even with the ache beating slowly in the background of my mind at how Poe and I had parted from our transmission.

My only hope was Rey could make him see sense in the way I had kept my power hidden, maybe make him understand how harsh the fear was that drove me to lie.

Sleep arrived effortlessly this time, only minutes passing with my eyes closed before I was pulled into slumber.

When I felt my eyes open again, it was obvious I was dreaming, standing on a deserted beach, the horizon a flat line against the evening sky, a lone sun close to sinking past the ocean. It felt peaceful, a melting glow spreading through my body, relishing the sunset scene. But soon I realised I’d never been to a place like this before. I’d never even stepped close to a beach in my short life.

It was then I sensed the presence with me, the strange energy hovering far behind my figure. I went to turn, to face the mystery aura, but I was chained to where I stood, my eyes still viewing the yellowed skyline, the faint sound of small waves lapping against the shore. The energy shifted, my focus trained on its movement as it edged closer, finally taking a position just beyond my right shoulder.

“You’ve been doing spectacularly well,” a familiar voice mused.

I sighed. “I wondered when you were finally going to disturb me again. You’ve been unusually quiet.”

I felt a smile cross the figures lips, although I was unsure exactly what its face would appear as.

“You seem to be managing perfectly fine without my assistance. I didn’t feel the need to intrude.”

“As opposed to back on Raxus, when I couldn’t avoid your constant warnings?” I grumbled, recalling the many interruptions the voice had made concerning my growing attachment to Poe.

The energy moved again, my eyes darting to the space beside me, still unable to turn my head to that direction. I was only able to capture the image of a hooded figure stepping into my periphery, its face almost completely hidden by darkened brown fabric. I could just make out the shape of their lips. Human. And feminine, matching the tone I had heard in my mind for almost my whole life.

“You were making poor decisions,” the hooded woman stated. “Decisions that would bring about damaging consequences.”

“Maybe if I knew the consequences you seem to be so concerned with, I would make the right choices.”

She laughed, a low breathy chuckle that was oddly musical. “That’s not how this works. I can’t interfere with your free will.”

“Can you at least tell me what ‘this’ is? Why you’re inside my head?”

I could see her lips purse, a deliberate silence between us. “It’s not time yet. You’re not ready.”

An unwelcome shiver pulsed, irritation swelling once again. “I would ask what exactly I need to be ready for, but I can assume you won’t tell me that either.”

The woman smiled again, white teeth peeking through her lips on the edge of my vision. “I’m glad you’ve come to that understanding quickly.”

I exhaled hard, growing impatient with the interference of my much-needed sleep. “Is there a reason why you’re here now, deciding to show yourself for the first time?”

“I wanted to ensure you knew you were playing your part well, in the hopes it would encourage you to stay on this path.”

I creased my eyebrows, contemplating how any of my actions in the last few weeks would have been appropriate on this journey I was apparently walking. “And I’m assuming you’ll let me know when I might divert from this destination you’ve got in mind?”

“Indeed,” she nodded, her head lifting in time to watch the sun finally fade completely past the horizon, plunging both of us into darkness. “But I have faith you won’t require my help for the foreseeable future.”

I could only hope such a notion was true, this woman’s voice always having been a horrible strain on my thoughts. But without knowing exactly what I was doing so well, I was unsure if I could keep her intrusions from appearing again. I watched with the woman as stars began to glitter through the sky, reflecting on the stilled ocean, making an even bigger vision of night envelop the landscape. A delicate breeze of wind then brushed against my skin, and she was gone, her energy fading instantly, leaving me alone on the beach once again.

The soothing power of the twinkling scene soon made an overwhelming fatigue encircle my brain, and I was unable to prevent my eyelids from drooping closed.

It was obvious I’d been rustling in my sleep when I awoke again hours later, sheets twisted haphazardly over my limbs. I’d finally managed a full 8 hours, feeling the most rested I’d been in days. Although waking to an impossibly long list of questions I couldn’t get answers to didn’t exactly make me feel relaxed.

I laid on my back, wishing I could will the woman’s voice back into existence, only wanting to know why and how she housed her spirit inside my mind. The spoken warnings and guidance had always been there, pestering me with advice, sometimes threatening. But I always assumed it was a form of my own conscience, born from an unknown area of my brain that battled its morals against my decision making. Knowing now it was something more than that, that it was something or someone keeping a close watch over my actions, was oddly comforting.

Maybe I hadn’t been alone all of these years.

My last overnight duty before returning to the day shift was chaotic to say the least. Almost all beds of the Prestige ward became filled with viral patients, a large portion of the Finalizer Command leaders now in my company. A dark humour would have mentioned to the Resistance yesterday that this sickness was probably more incapacitating than their assaults had ever been, but I honestly didn’t want to place the idea of biological warfare inside their heads.

While my intubated patient had already improved from my last visit, I was now dealing with three more who’s health was extremely critical. I had never been so appreciative for the medical droids who worked here, their ability to recognise deteriorations in vitals being much quicker than my own.

I’d been given a status report from the rest of the ship earlier in the night, which implied the other wards were in much the same position. Although, it was interesting to note the slowing occurrence between Stormtrooper personnel, their armour and helmets seeming to provide an amount of protection that the Command leaders didn’t utilise.

The Bio-med lab had assured they would have a cure and subsequent vaccine within the next couple of days, pressing us to keep as many patients alive in the meantime. Which was easier said than done. Bacta didn’t help in eradicating the virus or it’s symptoms.

Fortunately for my own health I had already been afflicted with a strain similar during an assignment to Lothal in my training days, the illness sweeping through most of our workers, spread by one of the wounded soldiers. Luckily, none of us had been struck down too harshly, and it had left most of us somewhat immune. In knowing this however, I began to feel a looming dread for the medical staff of this ship who most likely had never been exposed before. It couldn’t be long before they themselves would need to be treated, and I prayed it wouldn’t leave me as the sole doctor still well enough to keep working in the time before a cure was found.

In the morning I handed over the night’s events to the day shift, giving strict instructions for the care of the four intubated patients, offering to return if I was required to at any time. I’d been afforded a full day cycle before returning to normal working hours, a day off of sorts, but with little freedoms being afforded to me on this ship to utilise my free time, I was quite comfortable in being called back to ease the load on the Prestige staff.

No such request had been made by the time I’d taken care of my daily routine, sleeping soundly through another 8 hours, this time without the interruption of vivid dreaming. It was early evening, which was only ever evident by the chronometer in my quarters, and I’d found myself too anxious about how the ward was coping to focus on the literature I was attempting to read.

The unease eventually caused me to change into the mundane set of informal clothes the First Order had allowed, wanting to pay a visit to the ward to ease my worry. A pair of black pants hemmed tight against the outline of my legs and a grey sweater which wrapped around my torso, leaving a bow at the back. I hadn’t pulled my hair up, assuming my visit wouldn’t actually require me to do any work. I wanted to appear as casual as possible, hopefully not implying they would be desperate for my assistance.

I was about to slip around the corner of the small lobby outside my quarters, pondering over the fact I’d never seen anyone enter or exit the two other doors, when I was disrupted by the sight of General Hux making his way down the corridor. He was alone, without his usual entourage of Stormtroopers My eyes narrowed, watching him suspiciously as he closed the space between us, noting the stressed expression he wore, his porcelain cheeks slightly red.

“What have I done this time?” I prodded as he stopped in front of me.

“I’m afraid I’m not in the mood for your juvenile mockery Miss Jago,” he snapped. “Come with me, I have a task you are required for.”

I folded my arms. “This is meant to be my day off.”

“You’ll find that I don’t particularly care,” Hux grumbled. It occurred to me how unwilling he seemed to be here, most likely a stern order behind his reason for being in my presence. “You don’t have a choice in this matter. Now follow me.”

“Could you at least tell me what you’re hauling me away to do?”

He didn’t stop his exit. “You’ll find out soon enough. I’m not going to ask you again. Follow me.”

It was curiosity that made me obey his demand, beginning to step behind the irritating man as he led me to an unspecified objective. When we started veering towards a familiar turbo-lift, noting him pressing the floor I’d memorised from the previous day, my whole body pulsed with anger.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I seethed, looking to Hux with a burning contempt.

“It was an order,” he replied sharply.

“It always is,” I fumed, leaning into the durasteel wall of the turbo-lift.

What did he want with me now?

Hux stormed ahead when the doors opened, my shorter strides barely able to keep up as we walked through the darkened hallway. With a simple wave of his hand on the security panel the blast doors opened to the room I had previously been forced into, the huge open view of endless space still taking my breath away.

Hux didn’t stop in the lounge area, instead swerving to the door at the far left, pressing a code quickly into the lock, waiting for me to enter first once it opened. I looked at Hux quizzically before moving past, taking a moment to register the scene I’d been made privy to.

My eyes scanned over Kylo Ren’s figure, now hunched into a ball underneath the sheets of his bed, a sheen of sweat noticeable on his forehead even from the doorway. He was asleep, however it didn’t appear even close to restful, his breaths loud and heaving.

“The Supreme Leader appears to be afflicted with the virus,” Hux stated in a hushed tone, still emotionless as ever. “He requires the care of a medical professional until his health returns to normal. I think you can understand the confidential nature of the task I’m giving to you.”

I nodded slowly, still stunned at what I’d walked into. “But why me? Surely there are other doctors who could do this. Ones who aren’t his hostage.”

“That is most definitely true,” Hux agreed. “But he asked for you.”

Next Chapter

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#poe dameron #poe dameron x original female character #kylo ren #kylo ren x original female character #star wars #star wars fanfiction #adcu #adcu fanfiction #kylo ren x reader #poe dameron x reader

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knightotoc · 2 years

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tros has been around for 2 years + 1 day and I'll say I've forgiven it for everything except the boring costumes

tros costume moments, ranked:

1. the best costume moment is when kylo grabs rey's gifted necklace and tears it off dramatically, and she holds her chest like oh! It's a probably unintentional parallel to the anidala necklace motif, bc that is a gift from ani that comes to symbolize ani's inability to talk about their problems and padme's devotion beyond betrayal and death. For reylo, the necklace is like, kylo confronts her directly about their problems (I mean more to manipulate her than to get real), then steals her present lol, which teaches her the dyad object-transfer power (did he know he could do that or did he just go for it?), and she's like omg my heaving bosom! It's kind of hard to get a read on this scene but certainly, in comparison to RotS, it's like, THESE hot heteros are MEAN! Unfortunately pocahantas did this scene better, which you never want to hear. (Actually now I think of it, pocahantas also did the blue-tinted smooch and grieving spiritual girlfriend ending better... yikes!)

2. another moment I dig was the monkey fixing kylo's helmet while all the knights of ren supervise. I super hate that he fixed his helmet bc it undid his character arc, but at least the way he did it was adorable. We stan a monkey and you KNOW we stan goths uselessly standing around. And the random lady who complimented the helmet did a lot for me. I've got to hand it to the blood-red kintsugi helmet for 1. going for it and 2. having a color, which none of the other costumes do. I don't like it. I don't agree with it. But I accept it.

3. of course we need a shout out to the good boy sweater. Every costume change in this movie got boring, but at least this one's boringness had intention. He's become Normal!!! Look at him killing the goths like a normal good kissable boy would

4. poe deep-v and scarf is good, could have been deeper. finn's look is okay, could have had a deep-v. I do wonder where the finnpoe jacket went? Was that the only object this movie didn't reference?! If they lost it on crait then they should have gone back for it because ohana means family

5. the giant matching jackets on kijimi were iconic BECAUSE 3po had to wear one too, hehe. The others' hoods stayed attached but somehow poe's hood turned into a big sexy collar, which made me wish I was watching Wrath of Khan. Honestly the kijimi scene was genuinely scary but it was so badly lit that I got mad anyway lol

6. on a similar note, palpatine's red-lined robe was alright, too, though we could also barely see it in the dark. However, this fit was, for me personally, the biggest missed opportunity of the film because if only it had been just a little more faboo, I would have gone INSANE. Imagine if his robe had been covered in sequins. If this is the first time you're imagining that, then welcome to my twisted mind

7. I LOVE jannah's hair and I super wish the rest of her and zorii's costumes had done more for me, but they didn't. Though looking back on their costumes on google, they both have some crazy shoes

8. here's the heart of the problem: at the end of tlj, we saw how great rey looks with her hair down and kylo looks with his helmet off. The genie was out of the bottle. But then they go back to the stupid buns that I've always disliked and the stupid helmet. They even make it clear that the buns represent her yearning for her parents/the past, so they're just walking back on her character arc, too. It's a lot like how the prequels showed us that star wars costumes CAN be colorful and wacky, but then in the sequels we're supposed to go back to the drabs and beiges of the original trilogy. Noooooo!!! What makes this boring movie decision even more galling is that the sequels' excellent companion cartoon series, Resistance, is the most colorful star wars cartoon since Droids in the 80s! Bright and colorful clothes are absolutely possible in this very era and they should totally have leaned into that, like, at all

9. I would have supported rey's white nun outfit IF at the end of the film it was absolutely filthy

#star wars #the rise of skywalker

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dalekofchaos · 3 years

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My critique of the Sequel Trilogy Lightsaber duels

My biggest problems with the Sequel Trilogy are the blatant rip off and unoriginality, no clear plan at all, lore breaking bullshit, lack of worldbuilding and poor executions of great character concepts. In this post, one of my My biggest gripes with the Sequels is the terrible Lightsaber fights.

The only good duel in my opinion is Finn vs Kylo Ren. This feels raw and powerful. A hardened soldier who has just became familiar to Lightsaber combat vs a trained dark side warrior. Despite Ren's years on training, though, Finn puts up a good fight and is able to hold his own before having his back sliced up. But.....that's what kills the fight for me. Finn's injuries. If this were in the first 6 movies or anywhere in the EU, Finn would be in a wheelchair or in a bacta tank for life. And guess what? A movie later and Finn’s injuries are never brought up again or treated with any severity.

Like Finn’s injuries, Finn’s rivalry with Kylo Ren is dropped for no reason whatsoever and never mentioned again. Finn and Kylo Ren are narrative foils, yet after TFA it’s dropped??? From the start they have been prominent foils to each other: dark from light and light from dark, both in the First Order but in drastically different positions. And Kylo too obviously has strong feelings about his defection. I also believe that Finn is the awakening in the force that Kylo and Snoke felt. Perhaps that is why Kylo focused on Finn and is so angry about him. Finn is also the first person to use the legacy lightsaber and is the first to actually fight Kylo. TLJ could've focused on Finn and Kylo being narrative foils having a force connection and Kylo wondering why Finn would switch to the Resistance while Finn wonders why Kylo joined The First Order and Rey standing in the middle of it all wondering with the new realization that her family has a mixed past of good and evil and her questioning where exactly does she belong? The way at the height of tfa when Kylo Ren rejected Han Solo’s offer for redemption and killed him he looked over and noticed Finn. Like they both locked eyes and in that moment was a surge of emotions between them— shock (and some fear) on Finn’s end, and anger on Kylo’s as he shouts at Finn that he’s a traitor— and those circumstances set Finn and Kylo up to be the dynamic for the sequel trilogy. They were foils, and the trilogy had the potential to truly expand on that and see their development in a final standoff/rematch at the very end. But it was wasted, because why have good movies.

Rey vs Kylo Ren. This duel was bullshit from start to finish. Okay, I don't care how force sensitive she is. I don't care that she downloaded Kylo's abilities in the interrogation. ANd I don't give a fuck WHO she turned out to be related to. If you are thrown into a tree, you are gonna be out for at least an hour. I will hand it to them that it feels like a genuine fight, but it just feels cheap when Rey won. It also doesn't make it any better that Kylo's injuries doesn't force him to wear the helmet at all times, his facial wounds are non-consequential. Rey has no prior training. Never held a lightsaber. Rey fighting off thieves with her quarterstaff is not the same thing, it is understandable that Kylo was struggling because of his injuries, but Rey didn’t struggle against Kylo. Even Luke struggled with Vader and Anakin struggled with Dooku. What should have happened is as it looks like Kylo is about to win, Chewie from the Falcon fires his bowcaster to keep Ren at bay and both Rey and Finn make it to the Falcon. This way we can keep Kylo Ren strong and show Rey struggling to overcome Kylo. It will also show This is how powerful he is when injured, so imagine him at his peak. Instead we get a pointless fight instead of Rey and Finn just escaping Starkiller base while Ren collapses due to injuries and Rey beating Kylo served no purpose(the end goal to destroy Starkiller Base was already accomplished) and helped derail their villain of the trilogy.

The Throne Room Duel. Everyone knew that Rey and Kylo would kill the Praetorian Guards. This is a fight with absolutely zero stakes. It's one thing if Rey and Kylo dueled Snoke himself, that might be a good fight. But come on, did anyone REALLY think they would lose? There is no tension in the scene and it is pointless. Kylo Ren and Rey are fighting a faceless a group of guards that we know absolutely nothing about and have literally no purpose in the entire story except for this one fight. We know neither of the characters are going to die because these are just faceless red shirts and there is still like 30 to 40 minutes left of the movie. Terrible editing takes away any enjoyment one might have with the fight choreography, if you've got to literally photoshop out the bad guys weapons in post production to not look stupid you might need to recoreograph the shot. There are multiple times where Rey, Kylo and the guards are just doing motions and actions because they look cool but serve no purpose but to look cool. Kylo stabbing the ground? Pointless. Rey twirling her rave stick around while someone falls behind her, pointless. Not even once do we see them displaying their powers is what cheapens the fight. Kylo Ren is powerful enough to freeze a blaster and a person in place and Rey herself unlocked Kylo’s powers, so the two of them could have easily ended the fight sooner than it was dragged out. Kylo is powerful in the force but he SERIOUSLY could not stop a Praetorian Guard choke holding him and Rey struggled with a guard? Rey and Kylo were stronger in TFA and are just made weaker in the duel with the Praetorian Guards. Kylo could have frozen half of the guards and Rey could have mind tricked the other half into killing the frozen guards and Kylo and Rey could have finished them. They are masters of light and darkness, but they are made weaker. The throne room scene is a symbolization of everything wrong with the movie. It’s all flash, but no substance and the more you think about it, the worse it gets.

All this duel makes me believe is that Rey and Ben should’ve both switched sides in TLJ. Rey gives in to the dark side and Ben returns home. Rey is the most Sith like character if you obey the rules of George Lucas for Light and Dark sides of the force. Ben Solo is more Jedi like throughout the movie until the end. Let me explain. Rey throughout the sequel trilogy has given in to her passion and anger. In the end of TFA Rey gave in to anger and hate to defeat Kylo. and in TLJ she is shown to use anger and hate throughout the movie. She is shown to as Yoda put it “take the quick and easy path to the dark side” gives in to anger and hate in almost every scene before she boards the Supremacy and gave in to the temptations of the dark side water cave. Her dark side actions in TROS speak for itself. Ben is calm and clear minded like a Jedi, he even wants to cut all ties to attachments like a Jedi. Everything we were told of the Jedi and how disciplined they are, Ben displays that in TLJ until after the Throne room fight. Hell, EVEN THE THRONE ROOM FIGHT SUGGESTS THIS. Think about the fact that Ben really does not move or even engage. He just stands there and dodges and swings once when the guard rushes him. Contrast that to Rey, who is clearly being more aggressive with her lightsaber and attacking rather than just being passive. How again is Rey the Jedi and Kylo is the dark side force user in this movie? They’re fighting in the exact opposite way they should be. Rey fights for the kill while Kylo gets a glancing blow in the armor in the opening fight. Their style of fighting in the Throne Room with the Praetorian Guards really suggests that they should’ve switched sides. What they should have done is have Ben realize that Snoke was evil and shows regret for his actions and turn to the light. While Rey feeling betrayed by Luke and the revelation of her family turns to the dark. This would not only be unexpected but would even rival Vader’s “I am your father” twist. And it would logically follow what we’ve seen of these two characters leading up to this point. Rather than just out of the blue Kylo turns angry and irrational and Rey is calm when Ben was calm and rational throughout the movie and Rey was full of anger and hate throughout this movie. You have them follow an arc that makes sense for their individual personalities. Ben is always calm, but he felt betrayed by those on the light, but he comes to realize that betrayal was an incorrect perception and he desperately wants to make amends to Luke and Leia and therefore he should rejoin what he knows in his heart is good. While Rey is full of passion and anger and as that builds up and she realizes that even the great Jedi Luke Skywalker is a disappointment and her family abandoned her, she knows the only person who can live up to her own expectations is herself and that self-centered attitude leads her to the dark side. That would make sense and we would have something to fight for, save Rey from herself or stop her.

Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren. Originally, I thought they were gonna have Luke first send the Walkers’ turboblasts right back at them and use the force to bring down the transports, TIEs and the shuttle and then toy with his nephew like Vader did to him and leave Kylo Ren in defeat and his ruined fleet. In a way he did(minus the ruined fleet), but it took away any tension away by having Luke just be a force projection. He wasn't there. His moment with Leia and 3-PO doesn't feel genuine anymore. And the "duel" if you can call it that is just bad. Luke doesn't have his Green Lightsaber and their blades do not clash. A Jedi is all about defense. But a Jedi will also fight in self-defense to defend others. The argument that Luke did the "most Jedi thing ever" is bullshit. A Jedi will stand up for what's right and face the threat. Instead Luke pulled a practical joke and died pointlessly. I mean if he instead pulled the X-Wing out afterwords and told R2 "Come on R2, we've got work to do." I would forgive that and then we could've gotten a genuine master and apprentice relationship between Luke and Rey and a proper reunion between Luke and Leia. But no, he has to die of force exhaustion. If Palpatine, who uses the force like crack didn't die of force exhaustion, then why did Luke?

The duels in TROS are all equally terrible. Not once did I felt any excitement between Rey and Kylo's duels as I did with Finn and Kylo from TFA. Every Lightsaber duel is forgettable. The fight in Ren's Quarters is just bad. The fight on the Death Star Ruins is just terrible. It's like they both got high on deathsticks and could barley remember that they are both trained with a Lightsaber. Fighting in ruins surrounded by water SHOULD BE EXCITING! But they did everything in their power to make this duel boring, mediocre and lackluster. They act as if they are swinging bats, not Lightsabers. Lightsabers aren’t baseball bats, stop treating them like they are!

The worst part is that THIS was the final Lightsaber duel of the Star Wars saga. A huge step down if compared to Obi Wan vs Anakin in Mustafar and Darth Vader vs Luke Skywalker in the Emperor’s Throne Room, which unlike the previous prequel, had awesome shooting and use of the soundtrack, also being very lengthy.

Then we get the Luke and Leia flashback. The ONLY well choreographed fight scene is a fucking flashback.

Then Ben Solo and the Knights Of Ren. Again, we know the Knights are gonna die. If JJ Abrams bothered to characterize the Knights, then yes they might've had a chance, but like the Praetorian Guards, they exist for background and die pointlessly.

Of Course we don't get to see Palpatine duel wielding his twin Sith Lightsabers and fighting Rey and Ben, cause JJ mr I hate the Prequels can't give the fans any decent Lightsaber fights. Instead of Palpatine facing Rey and Ben in an epic climatic final battle, we get Palpatine killed by his own lightning.

The fights in TFA is adequate at best. TLJ is meaningless. TROS is absolutely terrible and forgettable.

John, Daisy and Adam deserved better choreography than they were given. There's no excuse for the lackluster duels we see in the ST, whether from Rey, Finn or Kylo.

One of the biggest complaints for the Prequels is Lightsaber fights is "they are too choreographed" and anyone who believes this is an idiot. What? You wanted Jedi in their prime to slap sticks like old people? You wanted them to fight like drunken hobos? One of the best things in the prequels was finally getting to see the Jedi finally go all out in some awesome lightsaber duels. The Jedi should be masters at Lightsaber combat. Fight choreography is a good thing. Look at the duels in the prequels. You can like or hate them but the duel between Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon and Maul was great. As was Obi-Wan vs Jango, Yoda vs Dooku and every duel in ROTS. Even The Clone Wars had great fight choreography. There was more planning and choreography in The Clone Wars S7E10 than in the whole sequel trilogy.

Seriously, why wasn't Nick Gillard contacted? He is the main reason why the Lightsaber duels in the prequels were so good. I don't care if too many Lightsabers were a big complaint amongst the Prequel haters, the duels were good. So instead of great fight scenes, you traded great fight choreography for mediocre baseball bat fights?

The choreography is not the issue alone. There is no emotion. In TFA. Starkiller Base was already set to blow, so the fight was pointless. In TLJ there is no emotion at stake for the Throne Room fight and the Resistance already got away prior to Luke's pointless death. Rey vs Kylo doesn’t even matter because the characters HAVE THE SAME GOAL. Both want to get to Exegol via a wayfinder before the duel and both get to Exegol with a wayfinder (or memory of it) at the end of the duel. While Kylo gets redeemed, the duel wasn’t necessary for this part as Leia just needed to talk to him and then give him the force induced memory. The only thing this proves is that Rey is not a Jedi because she gives into anger and blind rage to start the duel.

The duels in the prequels and originals had themes, emotion and meaning. Not just that but they looked damn impressive and was the spectacle that helped made Star Wars, Star Wars.

There isn't any good musical scores for any of the Lightsaber fights either or at the very least, nothing memorable. Nothing as iconic as Duel Of Fates, Battle Of Heroes and the Throne Room fight in ROTJ. I don't remember any themes in the Sequels and that's a problem.

And it doesn’t help that these duels have no meaningful deaths either. A bunch of faceless guards and Luke (through indirect means) are the only deaths via a duel. But this is what happens when you hide the mentor archetype on an island and have the hero and villain go at it for three films.

The Lightsaber duel is no longer an emotional spectacle and a grand duel to the death. It's a bunch of idiots high on deathsticks fighting pointlessly and fighting for absolutely nothing. Rey fights like a Sith but she's a Jedi. Ben fights like a Jedi but is leading the First Order? They don't matter anymore and the duels in the sequels are the most forgettable thing about them.

#Anti Sequel Trilogy #Anti TFA #Anti TROS #Anti TLJ #Rey #Finn #Kylo Ren #Ben Solo

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bittercoldbrew · 3 years

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PLEASE tell me about the alien plant girls im so gay for anthropomorphic fem plants

omg thank you SO MUCH for asking and i apologize in advance for the infodump because i have been thinking about these alien plant people for literal years now, i love them so much. I first started thinking about these guys a little after TFA, because of an oc i was working on for a lil star wars fic that i have mostly abandoned by now--so sorry to the like 3 people who were reading my sidon ithano fic but tlj/tros really killed whatever passion i had for the franchise for a good long time :/ but Mando is great so i've been thinking about them'st again...

anyway i am sticking this under a cut because a) im very attached to these characters and if someone steals my shit i will kermit and b) sweet jesus this got so long, i am so sorry

in the SW universe at least, these plant people (that i still for the life of me cannot settle on an actual name for) were the primary inhabitants of a dwarf planet way out in wild space; they had a pretty symbiotic relationship with a race of sentient insectoid people (basically human-sized bees) who could travel between the planet and their home on one of its three moons (affectionately called the Honey Moon). what the plants didn’t know was that the bees were also able to travel to different planets, and had been doing so for a couple centuries before everything went to shit--but we’ll get to that in a bit.

the plant people weren’t particularly interested in the galaxy around them--they had a decent understanding of astronomy and cosmology, but little cultural interest in journeying to the stars. since the planet was pretty small and distant from the galactic core, it was pretty rare that a visiting ship would even pass them by, and scanners didn’t register them as genuine life-forms separate from the natural flora, so even if someone happened to end up out there it’s not the sort of place anyone would really choose to land. on rare occasions, a pirate or smuggler would try to hide out on what they thought to be an unoccupied planet, and would return to the Outer Rim with tales of mobile, sentient trees and bizarre, organic cities found on some uncharted world; likewise, occasionally a plant person would turn up at the local bar with tales of crashed space-ships and strange aliens that seemed almost like people. neither would ever be taken seriously.

the plants aren’t a particularly verbal people. they understand spoken language (a somewhat-modified Basic, at least, which is what the bees speak hmm i wonder where they picked that up from) and many can talk, but most don’t really bother learning to do so. mostly they rely on an ESP-like combo of pheromones and body language, highly attuned to the point that it’s essentially a kind of telepathy. i think i mentioned in the tags on that post that my character Antheia is sorta kinda a jedi? for these people, force sensitivity tends to manifest as an extra-extra-sensory-perception that causes you to be hyperaware of every living thing in your environment, not just the other sentient ones.

this made her uhhh extremely off-putting as a youth, easily distractable and often disinterested in the other people in the small community she grew up in, where she was already pretty disliked to begin with. there’s quite a lot of diversity among the plant people (a wide variety of skin tones/textures and body types, though few if any secondary sex characteristics; four limbs are most common, though occasionally some have two or more sets of arms; different types of leaves/vines/blossoms/etc in lieu of hair), and though they have a barter-based economy there’s still a lot of classism that’s mostly based around lineage (and thus evinced by one’s appearance and the traits one manifests). to protect (or attempt to bolster) those lineages, prospective parents can apply for a spot in a nursery, where their offspring are propagated and tended--mostly just through infancy before going to live with parents, though sometimes longer, and the very high class have private nurseries that will do all the rearing so they don’t have to.

But, on very rare occasions, certain wild plants will spontaneously develop sentience, and even more rarely will survive on their own long enough to find their way to a community. Hundreds of years ago (or “before the bees could speak”, which is their version of “once upon a time”), these spontaneous growths were revered and cherished, and whoever was first to encounter one would see it as a great honor to be responsible for their care and upbringing. now, with a much more striated society, these “weeds” (derogatory) are considered inferior, feral, dangerous. fortunately for Antheia, the man who found her, tangled in marsh reeds under the light of the Honey Moon, didn’t buy into any of that bullshit. he was a really sweet dad, very attentive and doting on his increasingly-strange adopted daughter; they were very close. but the older she got, the more her unusual ability developed, and the more he realized he was well out of his depth to help her understand that part of herself. eventually, she’s sent away to a kind of temple/convent for other people like her, where she’s trained to hone and control her extra senses, rather than be overwhelmed by them.

many years later, the sudden appearance of several large starships in their atmosphere turns their society on its head. it turns out, the bee-people have been traveling to other planets, forging alliances, brokering deals; they claim they just want to facilitate inter-planetary trade. Antheia is among the first to mistrust these invading aliens and their fleet of well-armed droids who seem hell-bent on mining their planet (which is, apparently, rich with cortosis, which--thank you wookiepedia--is apparently capable of repelling lightsabers and blasterfire alike). She flees her convent, joins up with an underground network of resistance fighters, discovers that her hyperawareness makes her a truly formidable force on the battlefield, and helps lead her people in defending the sovereignty of their home. And then things take a turn for the worse...but we don’t need to get into that right now.

ANYWAY.

my other oc, Shoal, is from the same planet but not even remotely star-warsy; either from a different time period well before the droid incursion, or just like an AU of my own stuff, idk. but she’s great, i love her deeply even though i dont really know what i even want to do with her yet. i mostly just was thinking about what a normal, average person in this world would be like, but then i got too attached. she’s also one of the spontaneous “weeds”, a semi-aquatic plant girl that washed up on a sandbar that occasionally connects a small island with the mainland when the tide is out. she was sort of “found” by multiple people at the same time, since they were making their way across to go trade goods at the mainland market, so to avoid the confusion of who should be responsible for her, she’s just sort of raised by the village as a whole. they name her Shoal, since that’s where they found her (it started as a joke, but then no one could agree on anything else to call her so it just sort of...stuck).

she grows up without realizing that it’s a pretty unusual upbringing. as a teen, she gains the reputation for the island’s best fisher (it helps that she can breathe as well underwater as above, and she’s always been a good swimmer). one thing that’s pretty consistent among all the plant people are their teeth--they all have long, sharp incisors and canines because sexy and also as more of a defense mechanism than a dietary one. they don’t eat much, typically absorbing nutrients from the sun/water/air/soil (mud baths are such a beloved experience, like for the most part they are very dignified people but find them some good mud and they will wallow for days) but when they do it’s pretty meat-heavy. they don’t really enjoy the process of eating very much, especially because they don’t have much gut bacteria so they typically have to swallow some stones to break up their food and nobody wants to do all that. but, at least in the coastal towns near where Shoal grew up, fresh-caught fish is considered a delicacy, and they can trade for quite a lot in return.

as she gets older, though, she starts getting restless. she loves her village, but it’s all she’s ever really known. also, it is so hard to even consider dating when literally everyone your age is practically your sibling, i mean, yeesh. so one day she just packs her bags and says her goodbyes and waits for low tide, then sets off to find her own way in the great wide world. she stops wherever she can, sees everything she can, but eventually settles down working at a tavern in a medium-sized town that’s mostly acclaimed for being a crossroads between bigger and better places. she likes it there, likes getting to know lots of new people and hearing about someone else’s travels more than she actually liked traveling herself. after a few years, the tavern-keeper retires and decides to leave the place to her, and she finds she’s become a permanent fixture in this new community. that’s really all i have for her so far, and i have no idea whether i’ll ever actually do anything with this character lol, but still she is very precious to me so i hope i find a story she’d be a good match for sometime soon.

#my ocs #oh my god this is...way too much i am so sorry #the sad thing is this is me trying to restrain myself there was more i wanted to talk about for both #and still i somehow wrote like 1500 words of backstory orz #but yeah i am hoping to have a bit about antheia and mando written up soonish if anyone is interested?? 👀👀#and wow i really wanna write something with shoal i just. dont know what that something is yet #ugh #thedragonagelesbian #thank you so much for indulging me anthropomorphic plant girls are SUCH an underutilized monster girl its so sad #but i am doing my part to rectify that injustice

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dragonrebelrose · 4 years

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TROS Reaction 12-20-19. AKA my 6 page long dissertation about why I really disliked TROS.

I didn’t think it would be this bad. I truly thought there would be some gleaming moments of redeemability, but no. It’s one...giant...shit-show. What a horrible blow to the end of not only the sequel trilogy and these characters but to everything that came before. It really takes skill to mess up this badly.

A little something nice though, was the guy I sat next to. Really nice (and cute too ^-^ ) and he offered me some of his candy (Buncha Crunch! My favorite!) before the film started and then throughout the film because he said, “Well this is consolation for having to sit next to me.” Aw I couldn’t have asked for a better seat partner, I didn’t even know him! And then when the film ended he knew I didn’t take it well and I cried and shook through many moments and he offered the rest of his candy and I said, “Thanks, I think I need it.” I asked him what he thought overall and he said, “C-3P0 was pretty funny.” I said, “Yeah I agree. I actually knew everything that happened before I saw it, and I thought it was a mess.” He chuckled and said, “Me too, but I didn’t want to say anything in case you liked it.” I said, “Oh, no, I didn’t really like it. But I gotta be honest, Ben Solo didn’t deserve to die. That’s just my opinion.” I think he was surprised by that but didn’t disagree. He just kinda nodded or something and then we said goodbye and he left with his buddies, who also seemed pretty unenthused by the whole movie. Hopefully I gave him something to think about with my comment, but he was really nice and I’m glad he sat next to me.

Pessimism aside for now, I’ll start by listing the things I liked. I gotta be honest, there’s not much here.

Reylo is canon! But, in my opinion, it was handled pretty badly. Ben’s death is only the start of the problems for it, but more on that later.

C-3P0 is funny I guess. Yes he is annoying sometimes like usual, but not more so than other times.

D-O is freaking adorable. Out of everything good I’ve listed I have no qualms with this one. His manner is cute, his speaking is very funny, and his actions are just precious.

Babu Frik is very cute too, just perfect! Lovely little puppet! Don’t know why he was shoehorned in at the end battle but whatever. We never saw him again.

Maz is a puppet now? Okay, cool. Wish that would’ve been the case since the beginning. You had the technology JJ.

The music is good, when it’s given its own time to shine and be noticed. I feel like I barely noticed it was there because sound effects just drowned it out. Really wasted, but still good nonetheless.

Leia’s death and how it affected Ben. Wow. This was the first moment I truly cried. This was handled very well by Adam Driver, and then Maz saying “Goodbye, Princess.” Ouch, that got me.

Ben talking to the memory of his father! This is something I did not know was in the movie and boy am I glad I wasn’t spoiled for it! THIS is where the really hard tears and sobbing came. I was literally shaking and shivering trying to keep it in so as not to disturb everyone else. This. Part. Was. Perfect. Ben looks at him like he wants to say “I love you,” and Han says out loud “I know.” *crazy screaming and crying* Out of all the things they got wrong for Ben in this film, THIS they got right!

Ben Solo is the Solo boy we always wanted. Running in with a t-shirt, gun slinging, blasting opponents without even looking. THIS is a true son of Solo! But of course they give him no lines except “Ow.” THAT was a bad idea.

And that’s it. Yes those are the only things I even remotely liked, but I have to be honest, each one of these has some kind of problem attached to it which sours the real enjoyment.

On to what I disliked. Strap in lads, this is going to be a long ride.

1. The pacing. OH. MY. GOSH. SLOW. THE. FUCK. DOWN. For fucks sake I couldn’t even process what the hell was happening before we were on to the next thing! This was the biggest problem with the movie, BY FAR. Yes I know the story is terrible, we’ll get to that, but the pacing just completely took me out of the movie. I couldn’t feel invested in anything because it was all in one ear and out the other like ten-fold!

And this is part of the issue I have with how Reylo was handled. It. Felt. So. Rushed. And. Unfinished. There weren’t enough scenes with them and the scenes we did get were so fast and then over with that it felt like no progress was being made at all! It felt, for lack of a better word, unearned. And I know, that’s not really the case since they’ve had plenty of build-up in the last 2 films, but there wasn’t enough time with them spent NOT fighting and hating each other and opposing each other. Yes, I know, Kylo kept trying to get Rey to take his hand, but it doesn’t feel genuine because even Kylo feels out of character, and Rey too, big time. Now this isn’t the actor’s faults, they did what they could with the shitty story they were given, so I put all this blame at JJ’s desk.

In any case the overall film pacing was too fast, too much, too soon, too many things onscreen, too many things happening at once, not enough character, not enough motivation, not enough letting scenes breathe and just play out naturally. Everything felt forced for the sake of the “plot.” Oh we gotta get this thing, and then that thing, to get this thing, so we can defeat these guys! LET. US. BREATHE.

2. The story. My gosh, they couldn’t have picked a worse storyline to follow. Everything truly felt like it was written by a fanboy who wanted to retcon everything in TLJ, even down to the dialogue. Everyone keeps saying to Rey “You’re a Palpatine.” But it sounds SO strange, like nobody says things like this. I get it, it’s a space fantasy, they talk weird mumbo jumbo but it just sounds like a fanboy ghost wrote this. Like we gotta have everyone know now she’s a Palpatine! You’re a Palpatine! You’re a Palpatine! Palpatine heir! All bow down to the Palpatine! Give me a break.

3. Yeah, let’s talk about Palps. The old raisin himself. You know, I never really liked ROTS, but Palps was always a great thing about it. He was sinister, diabolical, he had a plan and knew what to do with it. But this Palps. *le heavy sigh* What a waste this was. For one thing, the lightning effects that lights up his face is really annoying, even for someone who doesn’t get seizures, I can’t even imagine what it’s like for those who do, I’m so sorry. And like, he has this whole legion of Sith followers? The fuck? Where the hell were these guys before? I’m sure they existed BEFORE the last Sith Lord died, right?

I digress. I have a question though: why does he want Rey so much? Why didn’t he try to get his son to take over? Wouldn’t that have been easier? Also, WHO DID HE FUCK TO GET A SON?? HOW DID HIS SON GET AWAY FROM HIM?? WHY DID HIS SON APPARENTLY TURN TO THE LIGHT?? THERE’S TOO MANY QUESTIONS HERE AND NO GOOD EXPLANATIONS. AND NO DISNEY, I DON’T WANT A 10-PART COMIC ON THIS. GO FUCK YOURSELVES.

The only interesting thing about Palps in this film is that his face gets melted off like a Raiders of the Lost Ark knock-off. He better not be coming back. Ever again.

4. And hey, while we’re on the subject, let’s talk about Rey’s parents. So apparently they’re both good people. *le sigh* But what kind of good people leave their daughter alone on a harsh and unforgiving planet with a blubber guy? And don’t tell me they didn’t know he was an abusive asshole, they LIVED on Jakku, they HAD to have known him, ESPECIALLY if they truly were junk traders, they would have DEALT with him. Oh, and apparently the “I’ll come back for you sweetheart, I promise” line is changed up a bit and given to her father after all. No. Screw that. That line was meant for Ben, I don’t care how petty this sounds, this is terrible. So yeah, fuck Rey’s parents, I don’t care how “good” you try to make their intentions, they’re badly shoehorned in and they screw up anyway. Next.

5. Ben’s story and his fate. So yeah, obviously I hate that Ben died, but more than that I hate how his story was handled here. It was so rushed, it didn’t feel as natural as it should have. It needed time to BREATHE. A lot of time! And I feel like they really shafted Kylo/Ben’s story off to the side to give more time to the hereby named GoldenTrio. (You know who I mean...we’ll get to them.) It really seemed like JJ didn’t even care about Ben’s fate anymore, and just kind of put it in as an afterthought. His death scene? Not even given a fucking minute to process because WE GOT TO PARTAY. All in all, his whole story is so terribly sad that I don’t even know if I can watch TFA or TLJ anymore, knowing how it ends.

6. The GoldenTrio. Oh for fucks sake, JJ, you should have killed Poe off when you had the chance, because now the story is all about THEM. Boom! They’re literally front and center in the movie. I don’t even think Reylo gets as much screen time as them. I mean really, Ben’s death scene and Rey’s grieving gets 1.5 minutes, tops. GoldenTrio reunion and threesome hugging? 5 fucking minutes of nothing but them hugging. I’m not even exaggerating. (Okay maybe I am, but it’s given more focus and time to “breathe” than Ben Solo’s fucking death. I’m getting a headache remembering it.)

Hey, remember in ESB and ROTJ where the trio got split up and had their own story lines and own purposes to fulfill without each other hanging around (apart from Han and Leia because their story lines are interconnected)? Yeah, I miss that too.

Also, Rey keeps wandering off being “pulled” to something, and every...single...time, Finn is like “Rey, wait! Poe we gotta get her! rEy CoMe BaCk!!” This happens at least 5 times, pretty consecutively too. It gets old real fast. Boy do I miss the days of TLJ where people got to be away from each other to discover new things without interference.

Which leads me to another point: They tried to shove FinnRey in here while shitting on FinnRose quite literally. What. A. Slap. To. The. Face. This is horrible treatment, and I hope Kelly will never do another interview for Lucasfilm again. She doesn’t deserve this.

7. The Ending™. Wow. What a way to show that your characters haven’t progressed at all by showing them in the same environment that they started in. Let’s do an overview: Rey starts out alone on a desert planet and meets a droid that isn’t hers. Rey ends up alone on a desert planet with a droid that still isn’t hers. PROGRESSION 101!! *slaps forehead* I mean, don’t even get me started on the fact that Ben isn’t there with her and that literally one half of her soul is gone (how is she not in agony right now??), but then to add more salt to the wound she’s just like “oh yeah I must be the rightful successor to the Skywalker name, even tho I’m a Palps...makes sense to me!” Fuck off. You don’t deserve that title after hating Luke for not doing what you wanted him to do and for hating Ben for most of this movie too.

Can we also acknowledge that this is THE ABSOLUTE WORST POSSIBLE WAY TO END A 40 YEAR SAGA AND FAMILY LEGACY? So, Palps had a kid who had a kid. This kid is then deemed a-okay by the family that was affected most by Palps and they welcome her like the sunshine child she is, yet shun their own offspring for being damaged goods because he was being manipulated by said Palps. Okay, it’s official now, everyone’s an asshole...except Ben. He seemed to be the only one to understand his faults and right his wrongs and not be an idiot. Then the kid who was abused and manipulated is killed because “reasons” or “problematic” or whatever and the offspring of Palps lives while the family that Palps manipulated is ultimately gone forever because it’s last descendant wanted to save the offspring of Palps out of the goodness of his heart. Now the offspring of Palps doesn’t even give a flipping thank you and steals their name. wHaT a SaTiSfYiNg EnDiNg!!! Someone gag me.

8. Luke’s X-Wing being raised out of the water and it’s in perfect working condition. What. The. Fuck. I don’t know if you guys realize this, but this completely undermines Luke’s arc in TLJ. That X-Wing was sunk and dead to show that he had no desire to return to the outside world. He was staying on the island. For good. And he buried that thing in water to make sure he couldn’t use it ever again, but it was still visible to him to remind him of his conviction if ever he questioned it. But no. That thing is a-okay and ready to fly. No need for parts, there’s no rust or any sea salt corrosion, ready to go skipper! This was just added for easy call-backs to ESB but boy this had absolutely 0 weight to it. I literally yawned or looked at my watch around this part thinking “oh my gosh isn’t it over yet?” Pretty much sums up my entire experience.

9. Rose got shafted to appease the fanboys. This one needs no further explanation or analysis, it just sucks and has no real reason to exist.

10. Luke was barely in it and offered not that great advice. Poor Mark. His performance really peaked with TLJ and never went back up.

11. Rey is suddenly the Avatar now? You can now talk to all previous Jedi’s who existed? What buffoonery is this? Oh, but Ben doesn’t get a single. fucking. word. from Anakin, the man he looked up to. I’m so tired right now. What’s left?

12. The message changed from “it doesn’t matter if you’re a nobody, you’re a somebody to me” to “you’re a somebody with a bad bloodline, but that doesn’t define you (except when it totally does)”. That sort of message would be fine if it had been the message since TFA, but it wasn’t. The message since TFA was “I’m a nobody, but I can become a somebody regardless of my lineage or my childhood.” Why change the message in the 11th hour? To appease fanboys. Literally anything that makes no sense in this movie can be attributed to fanboys. There’s so much contradiction and hypocrisy in this film from both the narrative and the characters that it’s insulting.

13. Hux was utterly shafted too. What a waste of a well built up and conniving little bastard who in the end gets shot for shock value and laughs. It’s like what TLJ did but way worse because he’s actually killed. Hux as the spy? Just no.

14. Jannah was kind of wasted too, not enough screen time. I get her and Finn kind of bonding over being ex-stormtroopers, but it’s not really delved into. Also the whole “nature vs. machinery” thing kinda briefly shows up at the big battle and feels unearned too, because there was nothing before in this movie or others to suggest there was a war between the two.

15. Poe is treated more as the heir to Leia than Ben is. Poe gets to fly the falcon and gets to wreck it up (dishonoring who it belonged to before), gets to be by Leia’s deathbed, etc. Not earned at all.

16. The pointlessness of random cameos or thrown in references. Not a single person in my theater noticed John Williams as the bartender, nobody pointed out or said anything about any reference from previous movies, it was silent.

17. What the hell was even the point of the whole “Dark Rey” vision? Oh, she shows her scary pointy teeth ala Bilbo style. No thank you.

18. Why the hell does it feel like these characters aren’t the characters from TFA and TLJ? They feel so different and it’s noticeable.

19. Finn is Force sensitive. Literally tacked on like nobody wouldn’t notice. We noticed JJ. We notice everything.

20. Rey and Kylo/Ben fighting for way too much of the film and their interactions. Not enough caring or understanding, not enough longing looks, it feels like their romance was almost cut from the film entirely.

21. Oh yeah, Rey floating at the beginning? Looked stupid as hell. And the “Be with me” line? I thought maybe, just maybe, she meant Ben, but no. She’s trying to reach “her past selves” like the fucking Avatar and she’s even floating rocks around like Aang did. Ugh.

22. Anything else? Oh yeah, this movie sucks completely and wholly...FOR NOT GIVING ONE FUCKING LINE OF DIALOGUE TO BEN SOLO AFTER HE HAD BEEN REDEEMED. HOW HEARTLESS CAN YOU BE THAT YOU LET HIM DIE WITHOUT SAYING ONE FINAL THING?!?! DAMN J.J. YOU’RE STUPID.

And that’s it. Kudos if you read the whole thing. I ramble a lot.

#tros #the rise of skywalker #tros review #reylo #tros rant

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damn-stark · 4 years

Text

Child of Ren Ch.5

A/N- Hope you guys liked it :) and I’m just saying that I liked writing Kylo’s p.o.v and if you guys liked it too I wouldn’t be against writing in his p.o.v again or any other character like Poe or Rey, lemme know!! Let me know what you thought!!

Warning- LONG CHAPTER, swearing, light mention of abuse, angst, Slow burn

Pairing- Poe Dameron x reader x Rey, Kylo Ren x reader (platonic)

Takes place- after TLJ & before TROS

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

———

(KYLO REN P.O.V)

Alone.

Utterly alone.

That’s what he felt again. Y/N had filled a void in Kylo, one that had been empty for too long. He would never admit it to her, or even admit it to himself but she had, but she was gone now all because the Scavenger, Rey, had filled y/n’s head with doubt.

She was fine before, everything was fine, she was slowly learning control and that was all lost the moment Rey crossed her path, and that filled him with rage. The thought of her placing doubt in y/n’s mind angered him; it did when he first heard y/n speak about it, he wanted her to forget it all, but she didn’t and she left because of that doubt that spread into her finding out the truth he had hid for years, and that hurt him.

Y/N leaving hurt him, the words she said to him hurt worse.

“I trusted you, admired you and even if I never said it...I loved you,”

“I’m going to kill you Kylo Ren, not today nor tomorrow, but I will, I promise you that. You will pay for what you did.”

But the words that hurt him the worst, the words that tugged at his heart, were the words of hate towards him, “....I HATE you! I hate you! I hate you...” it hurt him in ways he could never express.

He knew that he should’ve never grown to care for Y/N the way he did, it was against everything in his code to get attached to someone, it only brought pain, something he didn’t want to feel and when he watched y/n storm out of the throne room he felt that pain. His eyes watered with tears that he didn’t let show, instead he took a shaky deep breath, his lower lip trembled but he pressed his lips firmly before he clenched his jaw tightly, turning all that pain into anger. He then formed his hands into tight fists, the material of his gloves making a rough sound as it rubbed against one another; he began to pace back and forth, part of him wanted to go after y/n, but he didn’t let himself.

If she wanted to leave then he was going to let her, he didn’t care—

—and yet he did and it pained him; but he needed to turn that pain into anger...he needed to turn it into anger, turn it into anger, turn it into anger, “Fu—Aughh!!!” He snatched his lightsaber hilt from his side and quickly ignited it, the crimson color radiating from the unstable blade basked his face in a cold manner, showing off the pain in his eyes.

The words she uttered to him kept replaying in his head, hurting him, but he would quickly remind himself to turn it all into anger....turn it into blinding anger—in a swift motion he pulled his lightsaber up, before swinging down at anything that happened to be in the way. He swung down his lightsaber at everything and anything in the throne room, destroying everything that was contained inside of it, the chair meant for him, but never used, everything in that stupid room.

All the pain that he turned into raging anger was let out with every mighty lash, swing and strike until their was nothing left to destroy—his eyes wandered the now trashed room, the lightsaber he held fell from his hold while his chest heaved up and down heavily. The sound of the door sliding open snapped him from his trance as he whipped his head towards the direction of the door, his heart skipped a beat as he hoped that it was her, only to be let down as it wasn’t.

The officer that walked into the now destroyed throne room gasped as he saw the mess that was caused, but he didn’t dare comment anything about it, instead he left that question in the air and said what he was here to say, “Supreme Leader some of the other officer’s have spotted The Child of Ren, taking a vast amount of weapon crates before escaping in a freighter, should—”

“Leave her! She left at my orders, don’t let anyone go after her I’ll kill them myself” Kylo barked before shoving past the officer and leaving the subject the way it was with no further comment or command, leaving the officer baffled and a little frightened.

Kylo stormed down the halls, making anyone that happened to be walking down the same hall, turn around or quickly walk past him as they saw as he practically fumed; all except one person, the only person who didn’t care of his mood, Hux. The sight of him only made Kylo angrier and Hux noticed but he ignored it the best he could.

“Supreme Leader, The—”

Kylo groaned before he interrupted Hux, already knowing exactly what he was going to say, “Leave her. She’ll come back home.” He began to walk past the ginger, but stopped in his steps to say one more thing, “I’ll be in my quarters, don’t let anyone disturb me.”

—

Kylo knew, he knew that he never should have gotten attached, it was a mistake on his part but it was also something he couldn’t control, before he knew it he already had gotten attached to this girl; a girl that he had destroyed the life of, he had taken and orphaned her all in that same day and he only made things worse that day when he took her to Snoke.

Snoke had really ruined her life for the worst, Snoke had hurt, traumatized and brainwashed her, while also implanting fake memories of Kylo and her. Memories that Kylo couldn’t even share with y/n, as she was the only one that contained them and Kylo was supposed to pretend—he had to pretend that he like her shared the same faux memories, when he didn’t.

He remember’s when they had finished with brainwashing her and implanting her with fake memories; she had went into that room sobbing and fighting, but when she came out she was down for a weeks but then their was something new about her. She was happy, their was a sparkle in her eye when she saw Kylo for the first time—well first time in a sense.

Kylo though didn’t share that same happiness when he saw her, he actually despised her, mostly because he was left in charge of training her when he himself was hardly trained in the ways of the dark side. The fact that she had these memories of him only made him despise her that much more; she would share them, she would attempt to talk and get close to him. That only made Kylo ice her out, it made him act cold towards her for months and the first couple of years, she would notice—hell yeah she would notice, but he did nothing to ease her pain, he would only tell her to...

“Turn that pain into anger and use it wisely or else it will get that best of you.”

It wasn’t probably until the third year of her being there, training alongside him when he began to feel a spark of something towards her—not in a romantic sense at all, never in that way, but he felt that need to protect her and once in a while ask if she was okay, but nothing beyond that.

Not until one day, it was the first and real memory they both genuinely shared together, not one only she had that was made up, no, this was one was real.

She had missed training and Kylo remembers well that he had gotten pissed at that fact. He stormed down the halls until he made it to her room, he stomped inside expecting her to be asleep because he knew she had the tendency to sleep in, but when he was inside she wasn’t. Her room was clean and it seemed that she was not in there for hours. He then followed by leaving her quarters and searching for her everywhere, their was no trace of her until he found the commotion that was about her.

Y/N wasn't with the commotion but rather balled up and in tears somewhere else. The room had been dark and cold with nobody else except her, her silent sobs filling the room. Kylo had hesitated to even go beyond the door to help her, but then he had heard her call out to him in a low and broken voice.

“Kylo?” Said man looks towards the direction of the voice, finding its location in the furthest corner, balled up, her head only peaking up to spot him. He hesitated to move any further, part of him wanting to bolt out before she could say more, but the sound of her broken voice calling out to him made him stay for reasons he had yet to understand.

He sighed, but closed the door behind him, he attempted to turn the light on but she quickly reacted by shutting it off from across the room, letting out a soft “no” before she dropped her head back onto her hands.

“What happened?” Kylo strained his eyes to see her, only getting to see the outline of her figure through the darkness.

Her shoulders shook as she let out another quiet sob before she pulled her head up and rested it on the wall behind her, “I-I lost control. I just wanted to talk with some of the stormtrooper kids my age...I just wanted to talk to someone...since you won’t talk to me.”

Kylo shifted his eyes down, swallowing thickly as a response to her comment, feeling the smallest amount of guilt of how he was towards her; but he only responded with that now by getting closer, her face was still hidden in the darkness but she was more visible than before. Nonetheless he could still feel her anger, sadness and fear most all, radiating off from her.

“They began to say stuff, tease and doubt what I could do....and-and I got mad...I-I lost control and-and I—” she cut herself as she let out another sob, running her fingers through her hair and feeling more sadness and fear rather than anger. “..I killed one them....I-I didn’t mean too, Kylo I didn’t mean to hurt or kill any of them...I swear I didn’t mean too, I didn’t want too.” She let her head fall back into her hands letting out a louder cry and making Kylo freeze and question on what he could do to ease her. She had never been this upset before, then again she had never lost control like that here before either.

“I-I’m a monster,” she mumbled, her words finally catching Kylo’s full attention—She lifted her head high enough to meet his eyes, before continuing, “that’s why you don’t talk to me at all, because you think I’m one. You’re afraid of me like I’m afraid of myself.”

Her words caught him off guard, but not for speaking “the truth” but because she didn’t, because if anyone was monster here it was him, he admitted that about himself, but never about her. Kylo never could think she was one and he was never or could ever be afraid of her, hell the thought never crossed his mind. Hell being afraid of her would be idiotic, stupid, foolish.

Someone was once afraid of what Ben Solo could do and he was almost killed because of that person’s fear. Kylo could never let y/n go through what Ben went through; alienated, forced to not be at his full potential because of that fear, but he was not going to let y/n go through that, ever.

“I’m not afraid of you nor do I think you’re a monster, you’re anything but that,” Kylo paused finally walking the distance that kept them both apart, looking down to meet her tear filled eyes. “You’re powerful, strong, you have the potential to be the greatest. What you have is a gift. Use your anger wisely and I promise that they’ll fear you instead. Never be afraid yourself, never.”

Y/N smiled sadly, the words Kylo told her being the thing she needed to stop crying. He offered her his hand, the first but smallest ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, making her increasingly much happier at the sight before she took his hand.

Kylo pulled her up to her feet, and she quickly caught him off guard by giving him a hug. He dropped his hands to his sides, his mind blanking on what to do for a the longest minute, until his mind slowly came alive again and slowly moved his arms around y/n to return the embrace.

In that moment, that single and smallest moment of kindness that she gave him that day was one he had not received in a long time, in that moment is when he knew it was a mistake to get attached because that’s when he felt a flicker of light return to his dark conflicted soul. It was in that moment that he should’ve pushed her away but he didn’t and he got attached.

And now she was gone....perhaps it was for the best....but it wasn’t, like hell it was. She still needed him, she’s due to lose control and he wasn’t going to be there to help her, she needs him and he knew that. He needed to get her back home, he was going to get her back home.

Soon, Y/N was going to be back home. Where she belongs.

—

(Y/N’s P.O.V)

“I know exactly who you are,”

Your eyes went wide at General Organa’s comment, a thought crossing your mind, or rather invading your mind like wildfire, that being that she would kick you out for being exactly who you are; for being the monster that has been made what they’re fighting for that much harder.

You knew she had the power to do so, she was the famous Resistance General, that also was once a rebellion hero, and shes the mother to Ben solo—Kylo Ren’s past self, after all. You would have nowhere to go, but you wouldn’t question her choices...it’s not like you could if you wanted too either way.

“Rey told me. You’re my son—the Supreme Leaders pride and glory. You’re famous, powerful, you have a life there, what are you doing here?” General Organa continued, shooting you a questioning look. A look that over all for you intimidates you, not just that certain look, but just her in general, you had every right to feel so, it would be foolish not feel so, considering what she stands for and who she is.

You sigh and try to find the courage to speak up, your eyes nervously wandering the floor—if Kylo was here he would have scolded you for not looking at the person you were talking too, saying that in a conversation they had to be intimidated by you, not the other way around. Either way you felt nervous but ultimately spoke up quietly,

“I had a life there, before I knew the truth. I’m here because I want to do better...I think...I know that I’m not a good person and you have no right to trust my word about helping out here, but I do want to do that, I’ll do anything to stay.” You finally turn your eyes up to the General and Rey, who was standing next to her, hearing every word you had to say. You saw as they both turned to each other, sharing a quiet and unspoken conversation about your fate here, before they both turned back to you.

Before they could say anything, you part your lips to speak first, “I know what my reputation is, I know what I stand for, but considering that I’m not in cuffs or getting dirty looks by everyone here, my guess is that neither of you have told anyone that I’m the Child of Ren.”

“It’s not our secret to tell, they have every right to know—”

“Than why not tell them and put me on a death sentence?” You interrupt the General quickly, making her go quiet for a second before she let out a deep sigh and answered you.

“Because I have a feeling about you y/n. You’re young, a girl forced and imprisoned to a side she didn’t choose. I have a feeling that you’re not a bad person, just like my son isn’t. I know that you’re going to do what’s right and well you had the chance to kill Rey and her crew before, but you didn’t. You went against your command and did what was right.” General Organa smiles softly, walking up to you and tilting your chin up, showing a kindness that you didn’t expect, a kindness that you weren’t used to.

“But I destroyed what they were after, I hurt them—”

“And you did what was right at the end, that’s what matters.” Rey interjects, her interruption surprising you.

“I don’t want to be that person anymore, I want to be me, y/n. Even if I don’t know who I am, I want to find out. I’m done being who they created me to be.” A tear rolls down your cheek, but a small smile replaces your frown.

General Organa moves her hand to your shoulder and gives it a light squeeze, “then welcome to the Resistance, Y/N.”

—

The memories of what happened with Kylo before leaving base, still very much invaded your mind like a nasty plague, they didn’t leave much room for anything else but that. It’s something you hated but you had nothing else to keep those memories away and being alone in some far corner of the jungle didn’t help with that problem either.

Well...alone, alone wasn’t true, you could hear distance footsteps crunching the foliage on the ground from miles away—whoever it was would be and is a terrible spy.

After a couple seconds the footsteps came to a stop just a couple feet behind you, making you wary and swiftly pushing the point of your vibroblade to the tips of your fingers so you could throw them or warn whoever was trying to hide behind you. Hastily and quietly you leave the spot you were at and circle around to where you knew the person was hiding so you could get a jump on them...just scare them a little so they knew that they had failed miserably on whatever it was they were trying to do.

After quietly coming behind them, you spot a familiar man from before, the Pilot. You see as he looks past the tree to see if you were there, but once he notices that you’re in fact gone, he steps to the open space and mouths something you couldn’t catch. You continue to sneak behind him, walking close enough to move the tip of your vibroblade to very delicately touch the back of his neck, making him go stiff at the touch and for his arms to slowly rise up.

“Fu-what the hell?!” His voice gets high and you can sense his fear and lack of amusement by the way he spoke.

You roll your eyes and snicker, “you’re a terrible spy, I heard you coming from miles away,” you pull you’re hand away before stepping back and leaning on the tree to your side.

Slowly he lowers his arms to his sides and turns around to face you with a deep frown, “I wasn’t spying—”

“No? You TRIED to sneak over here, you were hiding behind a tree, I call that spying. Not good spying though.” you shrug your shoulders before throwing your vibroblade to the the tree across from you.

His eyes follow the blade before shifting back to you, his stance and demeanor changing into a more nervous one after you had pointed out the truth. He parted his lips to retort but you said something first.

“You thought I was going to call some sort of attack, am I right, that I was a spy?” You pause and try to give him a minute to respond, but he stood quiet, placing his hands on his hips before following the second vibroblade you successfully threw to the same spot as before.

“I mean yeah, but that’s because you’re out here in the jungle, alone and well our previous encounter wasn’t all that friendly.”

You shake your head and throw a third blade in the same spot without looking. “I don’t have any friends here to talk to anyone and to our previous encounter, it was all business....mostly all, anyway.” You shoot him a quick smirk, the both of you holding each other’s gaze before you quickly look away.

He goes silent again, this time his stance shifts, the tension around the both of you eases, feeling more relaxed, while a hint of tension of something else you couldn’t quite describe.

“I thought you said you knew Rey?” He finally asks.

“I know Rey, yes, but I wanted to see what Ajan Kloss has to offer.” That was all true, every word, except that you had left out that being around so many people without your helmet on felt strange, after being used to only being around a couple people in a stupid ship for most of your days. And well after being in the void of space for so long it felt good to be in a place where the air felt less...faux and where there was actually trees and a sky that wasn’t just in a hologram or wasn’t disguised behind a dark helmet.

“Well as long as you don’t pull out anymore blades on me or try to kill me, we can, I don’t know try and be friends.” He says sincerely, making you really think of what he had said, making you feel bad because he didn’t know who you actually were, what part of your life you were hiding; but it’s also a part of your life you didn’t want to expose, even if you knew everything comes out eventually...but for now you were going to hide it and you were okay with that.

You bite the inside of your cheek and nod your head in disapproval, “sorry I’m not friends with terrible spies.” You bite back your smile before force pulling your blades back to your hands and making Poe grow a shocked and surprised expression on his face. Before he can say anything you speak up again.

“I tried to hurt you and attempted to ruin your mission....why are you talking to me?” You question, your smile fading and his face growing serious, but he doesn’t hesitate to answer almost like he had already thought of the answer before hand,

“because you’re here now, and you brought weapons, ones you were trying to keep away, and maybe you didn’t bring ships but you did what was right at the end and well I can’t judge why you did what you did, you were following orders, I understand that.”

You try and hide the smile that threatened to show, but he had caught sight of it without you knowing.

“So, friends or what? Or are you friends with the trees?” He asks in amusement and pride at his own joke.

You let out a small chuckle and shake your head, “yeah sure whatever you say Starboy.” You both began to walk towards base, sharing a small and quiet conversation between the both of you, until an idea came to your mind on how you can help them with the other problem you couldn’t solve.

“You know, I know a place where we can get sh—” you cut yourself off and your face gets hard and your shoulders stiffen at the sight of the one and only, Traitor.

You knew that you shouldn’t think of him like that anymore, but it was out of instinct, part of your mind still very much accustomed to thoughts from the first order.

He notices you next to Poe, and his face grows serious too, a slight and noticeable hard glare only meant for you, neither of you really getting a liking to each other like Poe and you had. You notice as he studies you, almost like trying to figure you out, almost like he had an idea of who you really were, but wasn’t sure, just a theory in his mind, one he was going to figure out.

A Wookiee comes and joins your unwanted gathering, he looks at you up and down, standing too close to you as he attempted to intimidate you. You don’t move and instead stay grounded in your spot showing that you didn’t fear him, even if you really should.

“Wow, hey buddy it’s okay, she’s not going to hurt us, she’s fine, she’s with us now.” Poe frantically explains as he notices the Wookiee’s demeanor.

Seconds later the Wookiee argues against Poe, explaining that he shouldn’t trust me after what I did to both him and the traitor next to him. You exhale loudly and cross your arms over your chest, you try and stay out of their bickering but it all got too annoying so you butted in, talking directly to the Wookiee in Shyriiwook, surprising all three of them.

The Wookiee after your explanation about you meaning no harm and wanting to do better, calms down and sees you in a different and less threatening way, but still doesn’t fully trust you—which is understandable. He follows by introducing himself as Chewbacca, which you simply respond with your own name.

“How? How do you—”

“I learned Shyriiwook as part of my language studies.” You interrupt Poe nonchalantly, purposely leaving out the fact that you actually knew more languages because you were forced to learn them before.

“Oh, that’s...impr—cool...well you may know my friend here from before, his name is Finn.” Poe introduces the traitor standing across from him, both of you offering each other feigned smiles.

“Yeah...I remember him...I’m y/n.”

“Pleasure.”

“I’m sure.” The both of you stare each other off, challenging each other in a way, neither of you saying a word before you look away and catch sight of Rey walking your way. Your stance eases for some strange way and your face softens before she stands next to Chewbacca, a small smile on her lips as she sees all her friends.

“You know everyone here, y/n?” She asks looking between you and the group gathered around.

“yeah.” You nod in agreement to her question making her smile.

She gets more of a cheeky smile, “getting along?”

“With some more than others.” You shoot Finn a discreet glare before turning your attention to Poe, “as I was trying to tell Poe before, I know a place where we can get ships. You were after that too, and by the looks of it you weren’t successful, I can help.” You offer, the group of friends sharing a look and unspoken conversation.

Unexpectedly Finn is the one to speak up before anyone else can, “are you sure we can trust you? Considering that the first time we met you were trying to kill us and destroy what we were after.”

You clench your fists, and let out a deep sigh, “I guess you have to just go with it and trust me then, right? Theirs no other choice, unless you want to fight the first order with no ships, because trust me you don’t want to do that, they won’t hold back in the last fight.”

A thick tension begins to surround the group, mostly just between Finn and you—well just between Finn and you.

Rey notices and tries to ease it by voicing her opinion “She’s right, Finn. We need those ships, we can’t fight without them, we have to trust her word.”

“What do you think Poe?” Finn questions.

Poe looks down at you with a slight smile, “I trust her, and it’s like she said, the first order won’t hold back, we need more ships and if she’s trying to help, than I’m not against it.”

You bite back your smile and try to hide the blush you feel spread on your cheeks—so much for being a cold dark daughter of darkness.

“It’s not going to be easy, and it might take a while, theirs people I need to go talk too, to get ahold of those ships, but I can get them.” You explain to all of them, hoping that they agree with what you’re planning to do.

They all again share a unspoken conversation, while Finn let’s out a loud and annoyed sigh before nodding in agreement.

Poe nods, a grin appearing on his face, he looks at his friends before turning to you to voice what they agreed too. “okay, we’re with you and we trust you, let’s do this.”

Tagged- @jennibradley , @xxrouge-lexxx , @daniellajocelyn , @tweedlydumbtweedlydoo , @star-marvel-fangirl , @leilei-draws , @briesangel , @itslints , @madamepsicose, @constantdisgrace , @1-800-depressedlesbian

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jimtheviking · 3 years

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So now that it's been a while since the ST ended, I'm gonna talk about why, of all three movies, the only one that worked for me was TLJ, and why The Mandalorian, Rogue One, Rebels, and Clone Wars are the best bit of New EU out there.

Okay so, first off, the basic thesis of this is that, when Star Wars works, has always been a story about one thing, and one thing only: Hope. And when it hasn't worked, it's been about how Cool and Badass and Edgy and Dark things can be in the Galaxy Far, Far Away.

So, let's start with the beginning, shall we?

The Force Awakens is a bad remake of A New Hope. And I don't say that just because JJ Abrams can't write or direct for shit (he can't, btw, but I'll get into that later.) I say that because, well, it's true. It's almost a shot-for-shot remake of ANH, except that unlike ANH, there is no sense of hope in the entire movie. Rey, Finn, and Poe are thrown into a Terrible Situation and they never once have any display of fear or doubt. They're confident and plucky and ready to win the day. At every point, even their lowest, they're plucky and scrappy and fighty and are never allowed to feel anything. And that means they can't hope for better things, they can't fight for a better world, because to their characters the better world is already there. It's the world they're in, because they can get what they want through Pluck and Scrappiness and Fighting Spirit, and never have to worry that it won't be enough.

Don't get me wrong, TFA is, of the two JJ films, better by a mile. Mostly because it has a coherent plotline. But it's still not good. Even when Han is killed, there is no chance to mourn him. There is no "I just can't believe he's gone" moment. There's a duel and a celebration. Leia feels his death and that could have been interesting to explore, but nothing gets done with Rey or Finn. Rey attaches to Han as a father figure, but it was Finn whose character was hamstrung most by Han's death. Finn should have been mentored in the ways of Roguish War Heroing by Han, just as Luke would mentor Rey in Jedi-ing, and Leia mentored Poe in Leader-ing. That is how the new Trio was shaping up to relate to the Original Trio, and should have gone that way. But no, JJ had to kill Han off for absolutely no purpose.

And there was no purpose to Han's death. I will get to that in a minute.

When Obi-Wan died, he died knowing he was buying the Trio time and that his sacrifice would help the Rebellion destroy the Death Star and ultimately prevent future Alderaans from ever happening again (and it did!) Obi-Wan dies in A New Hope because he knows that, like Leia said, he was her only hope. The only hope for the Rebellion. For the Galaxy. And, right after Scarif, he was the only hope she had. But now? On the Death Star? Surrounded by Storm Troopers, facing down his old padawan, his brother, his best friend? Now there is A New Hope (see what they did there?) and it's in Luke and Han and Leia and he doesn't die in vain. He sacrifices himself and that lets hope live on.

When Han died, it was, thematically, the exact opposite of Obi-Wan's death. Because Han wasn't expecting to die. Han's whole walking to meet Ben thing was him expressing hope - hope that his son would return to him, that there was good left in him - and then he was killed. Hope gets you killed in this movie, and it doesn't help anyone do anything. It doesn't save uncounted billions. It doesn't stop an evil Empire from terrorising the Galaxy. It doesn't inspire other people. It just gets you a lightsaber to the belly and kicked into an abyss. Han's death served no purpose except to show that Ben was evil. As if massacring untold hundreds of civilians to find the location of Luke wasn't indication enough. We knew Ben was evil. It was the entire point of the character. Killing Han was just to reinforce that hope is foolish.

Luke, as well, was terribly served in TFA. Luke Skywalker, who triumphed over evil despite hovering so close to the edge of it time and again, who does the right thing all the time, who every chance he gets tries to help and save people? That Luke Skywalker? He just fucked off to who knows where. Gone. Entirely. No explanation. Luke, who constantly failed in his Jedi training, but never gave up hope that he could become a Jedi, like his father before him. Luke, who knew he wasn't ready to confront Vader on Bespin but hoped he could get there soon enough to save his friends. Luke, who knew that there was no way he would be leaving Jabba's palace without a fight but still had hope that the Hutt could be negotiated with. He just...gives up. No explanation or reason given. Just...goes.

And that is the most wildly, painfully out of character moment in the entire ST for me. Because Luke was always Hope in the OT, and in the Filoni shows, and having him become Hopeless and leave? An absolute affront to the character.

But I digress.

I won't get into what TLJ did right (almost everything re: Luke, Rey, Leia, and Poe, and that throne room fight especially) and wrong (the handling of Finn, Space Monaco) but suffice it to say that TLJ at least understood that Hope was what made Star Wars good. Because Luke's sacrifice at the end of it was done just like Obi-Wan's. Luke did what he did, knowing he would die, but also knowing that it would buy time for Leia to escape. So long as Rey could get to her in time. He had Hope in Rey, and he had Hope in his own actions, and that Hope was rewarded. Luke dies, and dies a hero, dies giving Hope to the Resistance, dies a meaningful death for a hero to die.

And then we get to TRoS.

Oh god TRoS.

So, you know how I said JJ can't write or direct for shit? Here's a great example. Because we had Rey, a Jedi now like Luke had been, and ready to discover what being a Jedi means to her, and how she fits in the wider, larger Galaxy as a nobody, as a regular person who somehow became Greater than she started. As someone who isn't from a line of Force Users or other Super Special People becoming a hero and finding her place. Rey, who began her story on a desert planet, hoping desperately to be a part of some bigger dynasty, not having any confidence in herself being Rey from Nowhere, finds out she IS Rey from Nowhere, Daughter of Nobody, but becomes a Jedi, a Protector of the Galaxy, an important person in her own right, the Saviour of the Resistance. And then we find out she's the granddaughter of one of the most powerful Force users ever. And she makes herself a part of the Super Special Force User Dynasty. Completely destroying any character growth from the previous movie, because it's no longer Rey succeeding on her own, it's Rey being a Dynastic Heir.

Rey begins on a desert planet, digging things out of the sand, and ends on a desert planet, burying things in the sand. Rey begins not knowing who she really is and desperately wanting to, and ends up finding out, rejecting it, and claiming some other random legacy. Rey is no longer Rey from Jakku, she's Rey Palpatine and she wants to be Rey Skywalker so she just...claims it. There was a chance for Rey to be a beacon of Hope for other people who aren't from Force user lineages. But no, she's the child of a clone of the Emperor and decides she's a Skywalker because of an unexplained phenomenon that linked her to Ben. So without the Super Special Lineage, what hope does anyone have of changing the world for the better? None.

And, back to character deaths, Leia and Ben dying were two of the most hopeless scenes in all Star Wars. Entirely without hope. Utterly.

Why?

Well, let's start with Leia. Apparently, in the novelizations, she'd been forcing herself to stay alive to run the Resistance because no-one else could (despite like, a massive increase in operations staff, and, you know, Poe having been Leia's protogée in her Leadership Crash Course) and had been hearing Luke tell her it's okay to just let go and become one with the Force (what??) And so when she does decide to do that, it's when she transfers her life-force to Ben, to redeem him (maybe? At that point Ben hadn't had his weird Harrison Ford dressed up in Han Solo's costume hallucination, and it's not really clear why she's doing this in the film) and thus have him the Galaxy. Okay, that could work, but then Ben dies. And then dies again. Twice. (Though, really, only once, because apparently he got caught on a rock and broke his ribs and twisted his ankle when he fell in the pit, but you only learn that in the novelization. But I digress.)

So Leia's sacrifice to redeem her son is ultimately futile, because Rey managed to kill Palps on her own anyway, with the help of all the Jedi in the Force, and Ben was mostly dead. Then Rey dies from the exertion of it all, and that would be a shitty enough ending, bleak and hopeless - the only way good triumphs is by destroying itself - but then Ben comes back! And saves Rey using the healing powers Obi-Wan Kenobi used on Luke in A New Hope and Rey used earlier in the movie! Leia's sacrifice was meaningful! It redeemed Ben, who saved someone's life!

And then he dies.

Which makes Leia's death pointless again. Because she used the last of her life force to make her son Good, and then he just...dies.

And Ben's death is Hopeless in and of itself too. I'm not a Reylo fan - that dynamic just does not do it for me, generally, though there are some few well-written execptions - but how do you begin to say "The Power of Love can triumph over everything, even death!" and then kill off the person who did that? Like...that just says that Love and Sacrifice for others is pointless. That Hope is pointless. Because with Ben dying, Leia's sacrifice means nothing, and his own death means nothing because Dying Saving Someone You Love is just Suicide with Extra Steps if there's no Hope of Survival to it. The tragedy happens when a character dies hoping they can still make it back to the person they love. Ben, on the other hand, just...dies. The movie tells us that he's not worth surviving this, but Rey is. And so what, exactly, was the point of either Leia's sacrifice or Hope for her son?

Now let's get to the Filoni shows.

Clone Wars was a tragedy. Clone Wars, from the very beginning, was going to end badly for everyone involved. And it did. But even up to the end, they held out Hope that it wouldn't. And even after it happened, the survivors still Hoped that they could bring a return to Good. Obi-Wan sees literally everyone he loves die in front of him. Whether it's Satine or his fellow Jedi or Anakin, they all die. And yet he continues to Hope that the Light Side will prevail. Ahsoka loses everything and leaves the Order, but she still has Hope that she can make the Galaxy a better place. Rex loses his entire family, but Hopes that there are others out there who, like him, were able to avoid Order 66.

Rebels shows us that Ahsoka and Rex's Hope wasn't misplaced. That there was still a chance for them to do Good and for the Galaxy to resist the Empire. For Rex to find other Clones. For Ahsoka to find a purpose again. The crew of the Ghost hoped that what they would do would bring about a positive change. Kanan sacrificed himself knowing that Ezra, Hera, and Sabine would be able to help the Rebellion. Like Obi-Wan, he knew that he was not the only Hope - that Ezra and Ahsoka and Obi-Wan would continue on the path of the Jedi, even if the latter wouldn't join the Rebels, and that Hera's leadership ability and Sabine's connection to Clan Wren would help the Rebellion in coming battles. He died hoping that there was a greater good being served with his sacrifice, and it wasn't that he wanted to die - him looking back to Hera was all the proof that was needed - but that the survival of Hope was important.

Rogue One is pretty self-explanatory. Rebellions are built on hope. What did they send us? Hope. Always, every time, when it comes to it, Hope for the better is what people sacrifice themselves for. They don't do it because they don't feel like their lives are worth it. They do it because if they didn't, then Hope would die instead. And Hope is what makes life possible.

The Mandalorian keeps up this trend, too. Din was doing his thing, collecting bounties and not caring about anyone or anything but The Way until he meets the Child. And at that point, he feels something, a greater purpose, and when he's given his task by the Armourer, he accepts it. At first, he wants to complete a Quest, but as time goes on, he bonds with the Child and, once he realizes that, everything from that point forward is Din Djarin, the Mandalorian, a faceless and ruthless hunter, hoping that he can make this child's life better in some measurable way. When Din finds a settlement that's in trouble, he could just get what he comes for, but he knows that the people are suffering and you can't ignore that he has the Hope that the Galaxy will, one day, be a better place, and he can make it a bit better by doing what he does. So he does it. And keeps doing it. Because the people are hoping for salvation and, even if he's not what they want, he can at least fake it well enough that they don't realize it.

So yeah.

Hope is what good Star Wars media is about. It's what it's always been about. And when it's ignored, we get TFA and TRoS.

#Jim rants #about Star Wars #I'm not tagging it as Star Wars #because I don't want to get into Discourse with folk I don't know #but hooooooo boy

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amairauthor · 3 years

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The Fear of The Last Jedi

By Andrew J Mair

The Last Jedi is one of the most controversial installments of the Star Wars Saga. It seems to garner even more hatred than Jar Jar Binks. But in my opinion, it is one of the best. The Last Jedi is critically acclaimed, and audiences reported loving it, but many fans hate it.

Milking weird aliens on cliffs aside, the power of The Last Jedi comes in its point of view. It turns the expected Star Wars story expectations on its head, which is why, in my opinion, many fans feel betrayed by the movie. And if you think I am overly dramatic, troll any Star Wars fan site and search for comments about The Last Jedi, and you will see that I am holding back by using the word betrayed.

With those types of theorit’s and others, it is amazing how quickly long time star wars fans turned against this movie. Many of them stating something like, “That is not my Luke!” in much the same way many Americans proclaimed, “Trump (or Biden) is not my president!”

The reaction Star Wars fans have to The Last Jedi, in my opinion, is mirrored in the Jedi Order from the prequels.

The Jedi had grown far too proud and set in their ways. Many of them believed that the Jedi Order contained the galaxy's moral compass and acted as if they were above other people.

For an order supposedly built around humility and detachment, they seemed pretty attached to their traditions, or at least their dogmatic view of their traditions. Pride has a way of telling the person who thinks he is acting in humility that his devotion exalts him above others.

Let’s take two examples and look at them closer.

First is the comment Anakin makes about love. When talking to Padme about whether a Jedi is allowed to love, he say’s

“Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is essential to a Jedi's life. So you might say that we are encouraged to love.” Anakin Skywalker, AOTC

It is likely evident to the audience that this is a veiled attempt to justify his growing feeling for Padme. But it shows that the Jedi order identified compassion as “essential to a Jedi's life.”

A lesson that it seemed the padawan of Qui Gon Jin, even Obi-Wan Kenobi failed to learn. When Obi-Wan referred to Anakin as “another pathetic life form” at the apparent chagrin of his master Qui Gon, one of the most compassionate Jedi’s we meet.

It seems that through his years as a youngling, the training Obi-Wan received had either not taught him the needed compassion or had instilled in him a feeling that he was better than another life, or a mixture of both.

The Jedi may have given compassion lip service, but they were bereft of any real compassionate feelings. One of the best examples was how they dealt with the presence of Anakin Skywalker.

The boy, who had more raw force talent than any other, since possibly Master Yoda, was treated with disdain and distrust because the boy had not fit into the perfect box the Jedi expected.

The Jedi allowed their expectations of what a youngling should be to supersede a compassionate response to Qui Gon presenting him to the council.

The second example is the Jedi reaction to the prospect that the Sith had reemerged.

The Jedi believed that the Sith could not have returned without them sensing it. Their pride told them that they were so powerful with the force that any change to the balance they believed they had would be detected.

Yoda was the first to recognize that they had possibly allowed their pride to cloud their perceptions.

By the time the Jedi recognized that not only had the Sith returned but that the Sith Lord had infiltrated every level of the government, the game was over.

Similarly, pride and lack of compassion present themselves in Star Wars' fandom, especially in their reaction to The Last Jedi and eventually the entire sequel trilogy.

In the movie, Luke has isolated himself on the island. He has left the galaxy behind because he fears the possibility of creating another Kylo Ren. He runs from his past, and he sees the folly of the old Jedi order when he tells Rey:

“Now that they're extinct, the Jedi are romanticized, deified. But if your strip away the myth and look at their deeds, the legacy of the Jedi is failure. Hypocrisy, hubris… At the height of their powers, they allowed Darth Sidious to rise create the Empire, and wipe them out. " Luke Skywalker, TLJ

Luke might as well have been talking directly to the Star Wars fans. Those fans that believed that if a storyteller came along and took one of their beloved characters in a direction that they didn’t foresee or prefer, then the whole thing is ruined.

From social media posts to blog articles, fans displayed fierce reactions. And they took a turn for the worst when the vile reaction from trolls drove Daisey Ridley and other sequel trilogy actors from social media.

These supposed fans of Star Wars learned none of the lessons taught in the original trilogy. Lessons of redemption, courage, and compassion became replaced by anger and fear.

What did Yoda tell the young Skywalker boy when Anakin first stood before the Jedi Council?

Ki-Adi-Mundi: Your thoughts dwell on your mother.

Anakin: I miss her.

Yoda: Afraid to lose her I think, hmm?

Anakin: What has that got to do with anything?

Yoda: Everything! Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you.

(Jedi Council Scene, TPM)

#stat wars #dark side #luke skywalker #the last jedi

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spicy-ryls · 4 years

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Ranty TROS stuff below. I wrote this on and off days so it might sound disconnected but yeah. Sorry it’s kinda long and my spelling and grammar might not be the best but I just wanted to let my feelings out.

I’m still trying to accept this movie. I watched it on the night of 19 December, the premier date for Malaysia, and I still remember my visceral feeling towards this movie. I remember feeling so empty, baffled, sad and shocked, almost like I just lost a relative or one of my cats, and I’ve experienced that multiple times in my life and it sucks.

Sometimes I think, how could I be so attached to this trilogy? I’ve literally spent so much energy defending TLJ and the ST from the backlash in the local fandom to the point where I couldn’t stand it anymore and I removed myself from the local fanbase as much as I could. But I’ve never felt so betrayed and almost embarassed that I was so invested into it.

I never grew up with Star Wars. Instead, I started watching TFA while I was in that age period between 19-20. I was a little shit and I was still adjsuting to adulthood, so it pretty much was almost like in the process of being born again as an adult. At the time I was making a series of webcomics under the title ‘Gods Among Men’ and I was pretty much drawing almost exclusively Hades/Persephone stuff and I was drawing Hades as this typical tall, dark & handsome guy. At some point, my friends and I just joked at how much I loved that trope that’s it’s like my type in fictional guys, and yes I still love it.

So my friends just said to me “hey, watch the new Star Wars, you’ll love it!”

And I was HOOKED.

I got so into it. I watched all of the other movies, even the Christmas Special. And I loved the character of Kylo Ren so much. Initially I wasn’t instantly into Reylo. But after some fanart or fanfic or two I fell down the rabbit hole of this ship that I loved so much and the two characters of Rey and Kylo/Ben whom I had such a strong connection to.

Q4 of 2017 was the best year for me as a fan of this franchise. I was so excited for TLJ. I was super involved in a lot of local Star Wars related stuff and at that point people just knew me as “That Rey (cosplayer) who liked Reylo and Kylo Ren a lot”. I had made many friends and acquaintances over the year. And then TLJ came.

And the community was divided.

A lot of male fans I knew were so enraged by the movie. “TLJ ruined my childhood!!” they shouted on their facebook wall. “RJ and KK ruined Star Wars” they yelled. It just cemented the Star Wars Fanboy trope so badly that it was laughable that grown men 3 times my age with family AND KIDS were yelling about it for TWO WHOLE YEARS and because I was the one publicly championing the ST, all they talked about to me was about how much they hated it, and it’s still brought on in passing conversation to this day. I hated having to meet these people at events because my encounters are always unpleasant.

Time passed. The Reylo community was prosperous and it really was a golden age of content. We were excited to see how the ending of a saga was going to be, with a definitive Ben Solo redemption and Reylo being canon. And then came the announcement of JJ returning to direct Episode IX. I instantly had a gut feeling that it was not gonna be good, but I will hold my trust to him since he directed TFA. BOY I WAS WRONG.

The TROS panel at SWCC ended in a somewhat hopeful note. Later in the year, interviews were being published, and in the beginning it was all fine and dandy. I can’t remember when the news of reshoots started popping out, but even then I gave them the benefit of the doubt that because this movie was going to tie in all of the other 8 movies and surely they had to do something right about it. Then came in a lot of red flags in merchandising, marketing, cast interviews, etc. Daisy’s and John’s infamous interview felt so OOC for me that I couldn’t believe what I was reading. And at this point, my hopes were very low. I felt something was very off in everything and I was almost inactive of soc med or any TROS news because I wanted to watch the movie with no outside influences. I didn’t even read any leaks and only heard about it in passing.

Then came the week of the premier. I was putting my expectations super low. I just thought of all the bad things that could happen like Rey Palpatine or Kylo/Ben dying and I went into it with that thought. Before the movie, I had to sort of minggle with the crowd of a private screening event as Rey. But I just had so much anxiety before I could even get in costume to the point where I did cry. And it didn’t help that some of the other cosplayers and minders had already seen the movie the previous day and were having borderline spoilery conversations, which did upset me further. Eventually I calmed down enough, but I was still feeling a little down. It sort of helped that the attendees who are usually normal people are usually the kind to take pictures with the more masked or sith-looking guys or my friend who was masked Kylo so I could usually be left alone.

And finally, it was time to watch the movie and I can still remember how dumb I was for thinking this movie was going to be smart. There was just too much going on and I was so in shock of how poorly written, edited and directed it was. There was hardly any cheer or gasps in my cinema throughout the whole thing, although there were one or two who tried to whoop at the Lucasfilm logo but they kept quiet for the rest of it too. It was such a different experience from the one I had of my first TLJ screening. 80% of the time I just had a blank expression on my face and the only time I sort of got excited for were the Rey and Kylo/Ben scenes, except that ending. I really did not like this movie. I did not feel hopeful at all and the ending the just felt so off. I was relieved to see that I was not the only one who thought of it that way.

This movie effected me so much that I had trouble sleeping, loss of apetite, loss of focus and random bouts of crying in my car for how hollow I felt for about a week+. There was a huge convention on the same weekend and everyone who knew me pretty much came up to me and ask how I was and what I thought about the movie, and a simple glance and head shake was enough to convey how much I felt, and I just did not want to talk about it on a busy con day. But after a busy con weekend, I went in full force on venting it out on Twitter and finding myself in discord support groups and I’m glad I was not alone.

Now it’s been 11 days since I’ve watched TROS and I’ve sort of clamed down from being mad about it. But I don’t think I could accept an ending to a saga for how botched it was which stemmed from fan pandering and corporate greed. But I have never been so proud to be in the Reylo community, who are tirelessly finding concrete evidence on how badly edited it was and just how messy things were behind the scenes. I’m glad to have met all of you and even befriend some thanks to this ship and our love for Rey and Ben Solo and every character in the saga. I am very saddened at how badly treated every character was from Rey to Leia and everyone in between, but it’s not going to stop us from creating good fan content and what we’ve had so far is incredible.

Stay strong and save what we love. ❤

#rant #tros

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estelofimladris · 4 years

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Poe Dameron: Free Fall - Thoughts & Feelings

This is kind of a review. It’s also the ravings of a crazy person who just really loves Poe & Star Wars.

This WILL contain SPOILERS, so read at your own risk.

I’ll put the lesser spoilery parts of this commentary above the cut. If you like Poe and want to know what the hell about him joining the Spice Runners of Kijimi, this is it. This is the book for that.

It also contains Poe’s teen angst/charm, lots of quality Kes Dameron, fantastic background on the mysterious Zorii, and a fascinating look into the darker trade in the Outer Rim post-First Galactic Civil war. It’s loaded with micro-references and things from all over Star Wars, but most prominently, if you’ve read Star Wars: Shattered Empire, the Poe Dameron comic, and enjoyed his other backstory chunks, this book is written directly for you.

Now, onto the real spoilers.

I’ve dreamed of stories about Poe’s life on Yavin 4 since we were introduced to this wild ace. From his genesis, I’ve been completely enamored with his story and felt very attached to the brief content we’ve been given for Shara Bey & Kes Dameron.

Immediately, this book makes good on a lot of that. There’s legitimately only one detail about that background that is not talked about in this book that will make me crazy forever: they still don’t tell us exactly how Shara died. There’s some obtuse references, but no solid evidence. There’s some implication that she died because of flying, but other than that - nothing.

That complaining aside, Poe and his two dads (Kes and L’ulo) were so satisfying to read knowing where those stories go. L’ulo, Shara’s old wingmate/commander from Green Squadron, is a fixture in all of Poe’s extra-movie content and this book would have felt naked without him. Not only was he there, he was so perfectly the voice of Shara in a way that he was the voice of Shara’s reason for her when she was living.

The book also gives a unique perspective on Kes’ experience after Shara’s death. I wasn’t really ready for it, to be honest. It made me cry almost immediately because for some reason I wasn’t expecting it. It shows a man still grieving for the love of his life eight years after her passing and it was gutwrenching to read after all these years of only seeing his distance from Poe’s perspective. Really really lovely stuff.

Poe’s hot-headed streak, the thing that 100% always causes all of his dumb crap in his life (even as an adult) is his deepest flaw in this book, which is delicious and perfect. His anger towards his dad (and really, the grief & trauma he still hasn’t dealt with about his mom), his frustration with the mundanity of Yavin 4, and his rage at the injustice in the galaxy all play such pivotal roles in this story. They made it feel like getting wrapped up in all the best parts of previous stories about Poe. He’s a frustrating but good-hearted charmer.

The heartbreaking part of the story for me was Zorii and the trajectory of the story with the Spice Runners. I had a sinking feeling very early on that the reason for her being called Zorii Wynn was that she was the illusive boss’ kid. It did peel back some of the suspense on Zorii’s mystery for me only because it all became frustration at how dumb Poe was being. It was all so well-intentioned on both sides, but knowing that all that sweet teenage romance was going to turn into those two salty adults was really heartbreaking to see unfold. Poe is always such an eager puppy when it comes to romance and affection, and to see where that really hurt him in a big, meaningful way, was really potent for me.

One of I think the most successful parts of the book was teaching Poe that big actions have big consequences, but he only learns it on a selfish level, which I think is really clever. He sees injustice and wants to do something about it, but there are bigger repercussions and he hates that, but learns to trust in that just a little, but only if its explained to him by someone he trusts (in this case Zorii). He doesn’t learn to not be brash and chaotic, which he is by nature, but he learns that you can’t just have justice the way you want it sometimes. He doesn’t learn the lessons that would have stopped him from mutinying in TLJ. He only learns a piece of that puzzle.

I think my favorite shockers of this book were Poe’s mistrust of droids and the rollercoaster that took me on. Eevee was really sweet and lovely and for him to understand the loss of her, not once but twice, really lays a nice groundwork for his soon-to-meet best droid friend as well as his very tenuous relationship with C-3PO. Really fantastic touch there.

Another fun surprise was Segura’s not shying away from the ‘overlord’ feeling attached to the New Republic and all the commentary about swapping out one regime for another. Fantastic.

Overall, I got absolutely everything I wanted out of Poe Dameron: Free Fall. I enjoyed the book as a fun adventure story. I enjoyed it immensely as a huge fan of Poe and the people in his life. Alex Segura really nailed this book and I would devour another book about Poe by him in a heartbeat.

Thank you for reading my rambling and if you haven’t already, go read Poe Dameron: Free Fall.

#poe dameron #free fall #poe dameron: free fall #star wars #star wars books #alex segura #spoilers #star wars spoilers

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knightotoc · 4 years

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"I took care of them:" Lightsaber Color Transformation and Identity

Clickbait Title: Why Ahsoka's S7 Lightsabers are Blue

Very vague spoilers for Jedi Fallen Order (and Rebels and the KotORs) below! The JFO spoilers are marked if you want to skip them.

When Luke changes from a blue to a green lightsaber, it signifies both a break from Anakin (and Obi-Wan) and his own personal transformation. (And also, the necessity for the saber to stand out against a blue sky during the movies' first outdoor fight.)

Ezra's change mirrors Luke's -- he also moves from matching his master's color to carrying his own. His experience at Malachor, while different than Luke's at Bespin, was equally harrowing. Both students' fledgling understanding of themselves as Jedi were shattered -- Luke can no longer want to be like his father; Ezra has seen the power of hatred.

The thing which gives a lightsaber its color is its kyber crystal. The movies wisely avoid this mechanism, but the cartoons, videogames, and Disney parks can't get enough of it.

If you buy the lightsaber creation experience at Disneyland, they have you meditate to pick your color. (I didn't go for this, though I did buy Maul's which was more expensive and twice as big. Hey, he's magic and I'm not.) I read a Polygon article that described the meditation as a surprisingly sincere spiritual experience -- a real connection to a specific color. And I watched a GameGrumps where they discussed buying extra kyber crystals on Etsy so that they could have all the colors. You can even change the color yourself with some YouTube engineering.

(I should also point out that as I was messing with my Maul sabers the other day, one light randomly turned green for a second. The integrity of these Disneyland saber colors is fragile indeed. Or maybe I am magic.)

But could an in-universe crystal change color? Luke and Ezra just got new ones -- did the new colors just happen to reflect their new identities? Or did the new identities alter the color?

And what if you were taking care of someone else's?

The KotOR games are the richest example of using lightsaber colors for storytelling. Jedi tradition during this ancient time had the colors signify your specialization -- blue for the hardy Gaurdians, green for the wise Consulars, and yellow for the Sentinels with their, uh, miscellaneous talents. You can change your lightsaber color any time you like depending on what crystals you find in caves or boxes (and they've got almost the whole rainbow out there), but the rules of meaning are written for you to follow or break. Still, you couldn't change any crystal itself until ...

Darth Mom Loves You

... KotOR II. You CAN change the crystal you find at the darkest part of the cave back home on Dantooine -- indeed, you must! As your mysterious mentor Kreia explains:

"That crystal is bonded to you. Through you it acquires its character and strength. And through it, your power is enhanced."

This bonded crystal changes in two ways: its color changes to align with your morality (black for a dark side player, white for a light side player, and three -- count 'em -- shades of gray), and its glow changes to align with your level (below level 12, it is opaque; above level 33, it "radiates an immense amount of light, almost blinding anyone who looks at it").

It is a beautiful way to keep track of your progress in the game as your Exile regains their lost powers and redefines themselves in a scary new world. Especially since you can only change your crystal with Kreia's help -- you need to talk to her about it, go to the workbench, remove it, and hand it over to her, trusting in her guidance and wisdom and the eerily powerful bond you share. (I, uh, love this game.)

She takes care of it for you.

The thing is, this crystal does not affect the color of your weapon. KotOR lightsabers actually mash THREE crystals up in there -- one for color, two for power. Changes in your identity affect your weapon in a tangible, yet invisible way.

Of course, a blindingly bright power crystal doesn't sound especially sustainable -- no matter how fascinating your arc or powerful your bond.

An ad from the brilliant Jedi Academy book series.

***🎸🤖Spoilers for JFO🤖🎸***

JFO is a far more aesthetically-driven game than the KotORs -- not just because it's a lot prettier, but because the rewards in chests only affect your appearance, not your stats. You can find new lightsaber hilts in the same places you can find new ponchos. But unlike the KotORs, you can't find new crystals until you've been sufficiently harrowed. And then, suddenly, it's the most thorough rainbow of all.

You begin the game with the ability to switch between blue and green, with no connotations attached except what you bring with you. But after Cal's own breakdown on Dathomir -- a more internal struggle than those of Luke and Ezra -- and its continuation and eventual healing on Ilum, we are finally inside the mind of a Jedi as they build their lightsaber -- and choose their color. Cal holds his battered crystal up to the light, and as he turns it, we see a spectrum of seven colors, all contained within one kyber crystal. You pick your favorite and go.

His rejuvenation in the Force gives Cal the ability to choose the color of his lightsaber. And he found this crystal in the darkest part of a cave from his childhood -- just like Exile and Luke found theirs.

So is that ... how it works? Do you get to pick? Does the color emerge from your broken little wizard soul?

If any Star Wars media was going to argue that, it would be JFO, where visual customization is so dear.

***🎸🤖End Spoilers🤖🎸***

Skip Here for the Ahsoka Theory

Why do Ahsoka's lightsabers change to blue? Certainly, she has had her own harrowing experience -- but it wasn't followed by any caves nor rambling old ladies trying to get her in touch with her spirit. Just a smug young man and a knowing expression between the two of them. It's cute as hell but why did he do that?

She didn't change them blue; he did. Did he switch her crystals? Why? Do they really need to be replaced like batteries? (The ancient lightsaber Ezra found on Malachor still worked.)

He changed them blue to put his own spirit in them. He missed her; he wants her to stay. It's a symbol of a bond, like the orange helmets -- but while the clones changed their armor to match Ahsoka, Anakin changed her sabers to match himself.

Possessive, yeah. Sweet, sure. Pitiful, maybe. Especially considering the sabers' fate. And that almost all the other Jedi who switch their own saber colors move away from their masters, not towards them (except Luke in his battle on Crait in TLJ ... I could gush about that too, but this is already so long! It's certainly a moving parallel to S7 Ahsoka).

What interests me about these silly crystals is the possibility that they change along with their Jedi. "This weapon is your life" -- then what happens if your life changes? Or if this weapon becomes someone else's life?

What if he changed them blue unintentionally? His proximity to the crystals, his hopeless wish for her return, for them to understand each other -- Darth Dad loves her, too. From her, he acquires character and strength. And from him, her power is enhanced.

Of course there are no caves -- these are city Jedi. The cave is the dorm room. Home is a skyscraper.

He took care of them. They were not better -- they were just his. And she was not.

#the clone wars #ahsoka tano #anakin skywalker #lightsabers #jedi fallen order #sw rebels #kotor #lightsaber discourse #this weapon is your life!#disneyland jokes

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general-fox-hux · 4 years

Text

Fic [6/?]

Fandom: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, post-TLJ (TFA and TLJ-compliant, TRoS will be ignored), except it’s Modern AU with magic and magical creatures

Category: Gen

Warnings: canon-typical violence; Rey’s attachment issues

Relationships: Armitage Hux and Rey (NOT Reyux)

Characters: Rey; Armitage Hux; Leia Organa; Rose Tico; Finn; Poe Dameron; Kylo Ren

Additional ‘tags’: fox!Armitage Hux; fox spirit!Armitage Hux; witch!Kylo Ren; witch!Rey

Please note:

some TRoS elements, like new characters, may appear in the future;

warnings may change and there will be chapter-specific warnings

I’m still torn about which ships are going to appear (as a side part of the story AND as a main ship) if they will, so if you’re concerned about a sudden ship happening that you don’t like, feel free to send me an ask

Summary:

Witch Kylo Ren turns fox spirit Hux into a regular fox and sends him to spy on Rey.

Rey tries very hard not to get attached to the ‘stray’ that found her.

Hux must fight his fox instincts, his hatred towards the Resistance, and his own empathy. Oh no!

________________

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

________________

Hours pass and turn into days. Rey works her five a.m. to one p.m. shifts, then rushes for her two p.m. – eight p.m. classes. At home, she’s too hungry, cold, and tired to concentrate on studying or practicing her magic skills. Maintaining the protective ball around herself and blocking the cursed connection to Kylo Ren is starting to prove difficult. She almost wishes Snoke was still alive so that she could make him take it away.

She worries and feels guilty that she’s not feeding the fox properly, but she can’t seem to find any “Missing fox” posters, nor does anyone respond to her “Found” advertisements. She’s starting to wonder if feeding Gingerball food scavenged from a trash bin would be too risky for his health.

After almost a full week of taking care of him, she resigns herself to research on fox rescue foundations. Her heart is breaking every time she opens one of their on-line pages, all saved in her browser’s bookmarks while she struggles to decide on the best option, because Gingerball, as mean as he can be, has been a really sweet and extremely well-behaved pet, all things considered.

Despite what Rey’s research on foxes had told her, Gingerball never dug any holes in the couch and never once peed in his bowls or anywhere in the flat, even that one time she had to leave him there for full seventeen hours – well, it was his own fault, really, because he refused to get out on his second day at hers. And frankly, he’s never made that same mistake again. She smiles fondly at the memory of his frantic whining that greeted her then, how they both rushed to the main door so she could let him out, and how he somehow looked almost humiliated after she let him back into the building.

Gingerball also keeps her warm at nights, laying still and close to her, even though he’s a nocturnal creature, and lets her pet his soft, soft fur most of the times. The meanest he gets is screaming at her loudly sometimes, sitting with his back towards her, and breaking into the bathroom every evening to stand in the bathtub and bark at her as she’s brushing her teeth. Well, that last one is more weird than mean, but still annoying.

She loves the way he watches the screen of her phone or her laptop every time she’s doing something on them, like he gives a damn about her mundane activities.

He’s out now, so she opens the rescue foundations bookmarks again; she couldn’t bring herself to read through them while Gingerball looked, as crazy as it sounds. Three organisations claim their shelters are full, one requires payment for transport of the fox, and one has some negative reviews on the forums.

Sighing, Rey starts looking for more options, cursing herself for not contacting one of the foundations that are now unavailable earlier, due to her prolonged hesitation. Kylo Ren accused her, not so long ago, of being unable of letting go and not seeing things she doesn’t want to see. She’s self-aware enough to admit he was right. Of course, that changes nothing when it comes to her unwillingness of joining him.

Rey has to admit that she’s lonely, too, and that loneliness does bother her. No, it eats her alive. She was lonely during all the years she spent in Jakku. Then, she found Finn and Han and Chewie and Leia, and they all embraced her like she belonged. But Kylo Ren murdered Han and Rey had to leave, so she could bring Luke back home.

She was so very hopeful that Luke would greet her with his arms open, but him shutting the door in her face, literally and metaphorically, broke her and, she knows that now, left her more vulnerable than ever, so that with Kylo Ren’s connection to her getting stronger, she became almost defenceless against his manipulations. Because, with that connection, she wasn’t alone anymore and there was Ben, lonely and hurting, that she could save from the First Order, from Snoke, and from Kylo Ren. Ben who understood her better than anyone, who knew her weaknesses and didn’t shame her for them, who wasn’t afraid of the Darkness in her like Luke was, who saw her at her worst and said, ‘You are not nothing, to me.’

She now recognises the gaslighting for what it was. He, Kylo Ren or Ben, actually said, ‘You are nothing. But not to me,’ implying that’s what everyone but him thought of her. Maybe he even believed so.

But then, she reunited with Leia and Finn, met Poe and Rose, and she felt and received so much love that she’s been overwhelmed, ecstatic and scared for the whole few weeks they spent together.

Now, it is actually Kylo Ren who’s keeping her lonely again: Finn, Poe, and Rose were sent on a mission that could be jeopardised by Rey’s connection to the new Supreme Leader of the First Order. Is it really so strange that she now clings to the little fox that found her?

Rey wipes at her eyes trying not to think about her friends and focus on doing what’s best for Gingerball. She can’t keep selfishly him if she doesn’t have the means to provide him with basic care.

Clearing her throat, Rey focuses on reading another’s foundation’s information. What she learns makes her blood run cold.

Apparently, foxes bond to their owners quite strongly and forming a new bond is difficult for them, meaning that if Rey gives Gingerball away he might never find a new home again, because he simply won’t let anyone close to him.

Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Rey saves the page in her bookmarks and closes the laptop. She needs to think this through. What could have possibly happened to the fox’s previous owner? Why did Gingerball bond to her so easily? Maybe he is special in that way?

She walks out of her flat and down the stairs to open the building’s main door. Sure enough, a blurry ball of ginger fur rushes in and speeds upstairs not looking back. ‘Nice to see you, too,’ Rey mutters, amused.

When she catches up with Gingerball, who’s sitting in front of her door looking, for lack of better word, smug, she notices there’s something lying on the floor right before his paws. Too colourful to be a dead animal.

‘Whatcha got there?’

He chirps, ears twitching backwards and his tail swaying gently.

‘You look quite pleased with yours― Oh my god.’ Rey stares at Gingerball’s find. It looks like a packet, no, two packets of instant noodles and a piece of plastic-wrapped meat. ‘Where did you get it from?’

Another chirp.

‘No, don’t try to be cute. You stole it, am I right? You’re a little shoplifter, aren’t you?’

Gently, the fox closes his teeth on one of the instant noodles packet and brings it over, lying it down at Rey’s feet.

‘For me? What the hell, fox?’ she hisses. ‘Your owner taught you to steal food for them? What kind of weirdo does that?’

More tail swaying.

‘No. No, you’re going to put it all back where you found it,’ Rey tells him firmly. She picks up the fox’s find and pushes it all under his nose. ‘Take it back to the shop,’ she orders. He turns his head to the side. ‘Okay,’ says Rey bending at her waist and grabbing him by the collar, ‘you will show me to where you found these.’ She gives a little tug. ‘Come on.’

‘AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!! AAAAAAAAHHH!!!’

Rey lets go of the collar as if burned. ‘Okay, okay, shhhh, shh, alright. It’s okay. Don’t scream.’ She strokes his head gently. ‘It’s not your fault your owner is a weirdo.’ She kneels. ‘Your offering has been accepted,’ she proclaims and hugs him. ‘Thank you. Let’s get inside. And please, don’t scream. We don’t want the neighbours to think someone in the building is being murdered.’

Three soft chirps.

#POV Rey #fox!Hux fic

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