I had a brother, once

When I was about nine, and he was four, I think, he went away. He was so cute, he had a bunch of shiny copper hair, a nice smile and those big blue eyes. I loved to play with him, he was so little and funny. But one day he started moving things around the house, like small things that ran across the table to his little hands, and once he befriended a bird outside the window, it came so close to him that it accepted the food he gave it. My mother didn't believe me at first when I said that, but then she and dad started watching him closely, and I remember they talked of a thing called the Temple, after a while. Dad looked sad for a bit, but mum was so thrilled. She had an old picture, she always told me the woman in the picture was his grand grand grandmother, from centuries ago, and that she went to the Temple, and one evening they came into our room and talked to us. They told us that my little brother, Ben, had a special gift, like the woman in the picture. That he was touched by the light, and he could do great things, and that new people would come to test him and see if he was touched enough to learn how to use his gift for the Galaxy and the Republic. I was so scared, at first, I didn't want my little brother to go away. I screamed and hugged him, and he was so still in my arms. My parents were emotional too, mum said to me that giving a child to the Temple was a privilege and that he could live better with them than with us. I didn't understand at first, but they told me that the Temple was full of people like him, with his gift, and that their job was so important to the Republic, and he would have the chance to become a good person between them. We were just humble citizens, my dad was an architect, like me, and my mom was an artist and a painter. She told me that Ben could become something that they could never prepare him for, and the people at the Temple could help him with his gift and prepare him to be the best person he could be.

Some days after that, people from the Temple came to see my family. There was a tall black man and a creature with a mask on his face and eyes. They played with Ben and asked him a lot of questions, and then they came to me. They asked me if I loved him, and if I wanted him to be happy. Of course, I wanted that. The black man told me that he understand I was sad and didn't want to lose my brother, and he was right. He told me that Ben was going to live a life in the Temple, that he would learn how to use his gifts, and that he would be happy with them, but I was afraid that he would be alone and sad.

So they brought us all to the Temple, and we had the chance to see where he would live and grow. The school and the creche were so fun, and warm, that I even asked if I could stay with them too. But I was not gifted as him, so I couldn't. We hugged my brother for the last time, but every year, for the anniversary of the day he went to the Temple we received a picture and a few words from his teachers. It went on until he became a Padawan, around fourteen, and it was ten years since he left us.

We never forgot him, and I was still a bit sad, but I grow up being proud that my youngest brother went to become a Jedi. I got married and watched my children closely, in their youth, wondering if there was a hint of the same gift that he had, but apparently, that wasn't the case. It was a relief, surely, I didn't have to say goodbye to one of my children at such a young age, because I remember how conflicted my parents were, when we left him on Coruscant, in the Temple. They cried a lot, and I thought that it was because they didn't want to leave him behind, but then I understand. Sometimes it's hard to choose the best for your children, and you wish you can do everything yourself. But it's not always possible. He had great power in his little hands, and with great power comes great responsibility, and sometimes as a parent, your job is to accept that you're not the best fit to teach something important to your children. We knew nothing of the Force, we couldn't help him with it. We wouldn't be able to give him the proper teachings to understand and use his power in the best way, and it could easily hurt him and the people around him. Instead, he went on and became a great Jedi, and now I can read about him, saving the Republic and the galaxy with his power, against the Separatists that want to destroy our way of life.

So, yes, I spent my youth wondering how he was and if he was happy with the Jedi, but now I know he was. And every time someone at work asks me "are you related to that Kenobi?" I always smile.

Yeah... that's my brother.

Reasons I Dislike The Obi-Wan Series

So I've seen an influx of Tumblr posts saying that people who don't like the OWK series or critic it a lot are just delusional, Star Wars haters, weirdos or better yet 'cis het white men with no life and can't let other people enjoy the content' .

I'm not gonna lie and say that there really aren't those type of people in the fandom but considering most of us who express our criticism of the series 'jobless whites' is a stretch too far. And as a brown woman who's a non-star wars hater and currently with a job (😅), I'd like to critic the show and give a few reasons as to why I dislike the show.

As people who follow me (NOT YOU, P*RNBOTS!) might know, I'm a huge Obi-Wan Kenobi fan. I have been since I've read John Miller's Kenobi (if you guys haven't read it, then please do. It's really good!). I love the prequels Obi-Wan, but the novel really kinda made me go insane about Obi-Wan- his strength, his compassion, his will power, his suffering, his loneliness...... And for every thing he's been through, he's always firmly stayed on the light side. He's a dedicated, hardworking jedi who has sacrificed and served unconditionally; to the order and the republic and to Anakin (yeah no, you can't convince me otherwise).

So imagine my happiness when the first trailer of the series came out. I was SOOOOO excited! I loved the trailer. The hopelessness when Obi-Wan says 'The fight is done. We lost. Stay hidden', the tension in Obi-Wan's and Owen's interaction and the terrifying ominousness of Vader's breathing (I think that's when the whole Star Wars fandom just exploded)

But alas, after the series ended, my view on the series had done a total 180°. It wasn't the worst show I've seen but the plot conveniences, the plot itself, the OOC-ness of some of the characters and the multiple times they broke canon to have the "epic" final fight between Vader and Obi-Wan aren't really unnoticeable or forgivable. Some moments and issues stuck out of the show like a sore thumb and made the whole viewing experience a bit terrible tbh.

Here's a few of the many that i just can't help but mentally scowl about:

Why does Obi-Wan leave Vader to live? After hearing from Vader's own mouth that his beloved former padawan no longer exists. That he was "killed" by Vader. At this point, Obi-Wan knew that Vader had committed heinous crimes, murdered children and innocents, one instant of which Obi-Wan was a witness to in Mapuzo and that he's powerful sith apprentice and a lap dog of the Emporer. Vader was weak and Obi-Wan had the opportunity to kill him, save the galaxy, especially the rebels. Weaken the empire's forces and take the emperor down to free the galaxy..... So WHY THE FUCK did he not kill him? For the safety of the rebels, the Skywalker children, the goddamn galaxy! But he just.... said 'Goodbye Darth' and left like a coward. #Not_my_ObiWan

Why did Vader not command the inquisitors in the Star Destroyer to go after the rebels when he went after Obi-Wan? I know that Vader "killed" Anakin but I'm pretty sure he hasn't killed his intelligence and I'm also pretty sure that the emperor wouldn't let a fool command his fleet. And moreover, Vader is known for his fierce determination and horrific strategies that would lead to his victory no matter the cost. So WHY, OH WHY did he shut down the third brother when he tried to suggest that they follow the rebel ship? Vader had his own ship and i know for a fact that the star destroyer carries many tie-fighters.... Uggghhhh, moving to the next point!

Why did Reva go off to kill Luke? Like what was her point? 'Anakin killed my kid friends so I'm gonna kill the kid who's probably associated to him'. Really??? All she hears from the comm is Owen-Luke-Tattooine and somehow she pieces it together that Luke is Vader's son? This is more embarrassing if you think that she made no connection to Anakin from Luke at all and just went about trying to kill a kid cuz she heard an idiotic man on the comm trying to reach Obi-Wan.

Bringing me to the fact that Bail Organa is fucking idiot. Not only does he not give a fuck about endagering Obi-Wan and Luke by showing up at Obi-Wan's cave UNNANNOINCED, to ask ONLY Obi-Wan's help to rescue Leia but he does that after Obi-Wan refuses to the first time. Bruh.... There are many people capable of rescuing a kid from silly thugs who struggle to catch a 10 year old when they give a "chase". That includes guess what?Ding Ding Ding.... Bounty Hunters. Ding Ding Ding.... the rebels! Ding Ding Ding.... the other Jedi who aren't protecting Luke.... But nah, he just shows up at Obi-Wan's and forces Obi-Wan to concede cuz "Only they know how important Leia is"..... *deep sigh*. Intricacies aside, it wasn't at all convincing to me why it should be Obi-Wan who rescues Leia rather than anybody else.

The last is the fact that the whole story was about Leia and Obi-Wan, rather than it being about Obi-Wan on Tattooine protecting Luke in a discrete fashion. Now, don't misunderstand, I love Leia. And I love the little girl who played her really well. But think about it. When Obi-Wan decided to become 'one with the force', why was Luke who barely knew Obi-Wan the only one to feel the anguish at his death? If Leia already knew Obi-Wan and connected with him so much during this whole ordeal, why didn't she react at all at this moment? Why didn't she say anything after, in the entire trilogy??? It doesn't make any sense! Also, I feel that it was a missed opportunity by making the story about Leia, when it should've been about Obi-Wan's life in Tattooine. How he was suffering from trauma after ORDER 66. How he still had to push himself to wake up every day, because he had taken the responsibility to look after Luke. How he overcame all tribulations that he faced with his past and his new life in Tattooine. How he finds hope again, with Luke and with new people that he meets. Instead the story that we get is just....meh.

And here's a few more that made me cringe when I rewatched the show

- The whole chase scene where 4 thugs try to catch a 10 year old who slips by them with ease, while they are coming from different directions.

- Making what should've been an epic scene where Obi-Wan fires up his saber after 10 long years into a pathetic one. (Like, I know he was scared, but then what was the point of him lighting up his saber for the first time after so many years when the moment was just made to look dull and unappealing.)

- Again, Obi-Wan himself not being able to get hold of Leia when she was mostly in his fingers' grasp the whole sequence, in another pitiful attempt of a chase scene.

- Leia asking if he was her father and his reply being 'I wish I was'? My brother in Christ, f*cking elaborate that you mean that 'Any father would be lucky to have you as a daughter'. Cuz it comes off as 'I wish I was the one who fucked Padme'🤐

- Roken saying he can't help Obi-Wan, then immediately agrees to help him.

- Tala just leaving a 10 year old to rescue a grown ass Jedi, only for Leia to get captured by Reva.

- Vader just letting Obi-Wan go after he dragged him through fire, Tala Tala and the robot "rescue" him.

- Reva not sensing that the kid is force sensitive when she's trying to mind-read Leia and gets nothing.

- Vader not sensing that there are no life forms in the ship he's stopping from escaping and ignoring the ship full of rebels and Obi-Wan right beside it.

- People not dying when they get stabbed by a goddamn lightsaber. (Although I don't exactly blame the series alone for this as its a reccuring theme in Star Wars)

- Obi-Wan making a deal with Reva then completely betraying her, even after finding out that she was a Jedi Youngling. #NOT_MY_OBIWAN

- Obi-Wan coming out to face Vader in episode 3, then proceeds to run away like a scaried little coward. I'm sry, I know that he's scared to face the kid he loved and that he's not at all strong as he was once. But there must be a reason as to why he tells Tala to take Leia to safety, right? Because he's willing to distract Vader while Leia gets away, right? So he must have some plan or a strategy (however reckless or useless it is) to draw Vader's attention away from Leia, right? So WTF was he doing running away like a chicken? #NOT_MY_OBIWAN!!!!!

- Beru doesn't wanna out other people's life in danger when she learns that Reva is after Luke. So she says she and Owen are enough to defend the house. But dear, oh dear, they decide to keep Luke in the house knowing that he was in danger??? They could've arranged for something, to keep Luke safe. But nope! Ha ha! That's exactly what they don't do.... 😒

Some of the things I THINK (subjective) should've have been included in the series-

Exploration of Obi-Wan's life in Tattooine (they do show it, but they don't go in depth)

Luke's childhood

Obi-Wan protecting Luke without Luke even realizing what is going on or who the man is (Badass Obi-Wan in hand-to-hand fights and using his wit rather than the force or his lightsaber to kick ass!)

More arguments between Owen and Obi-Wan about Luke

People trying to pry into Obi-Wan's secluded life and trying to include him in shit he doesn't wanna involve himself in (This could've been really funny, lol!)

Obi-Wan finding out about Vader but not actually facing him at all (We could've seen how this information actually completely breaks him. But at the same time, this increases his responsibility towards protecting Luke)

Some snippets from the Kenobi novel like how others feel and think about Obi-Wan

Flashbacks from the Clone Wars era where Obi-Wan and Anakin fight side by side, protecting and being there for each other. And Obi-Wan in that armor 🥵(No!!!!! Why wasn't this there!???)

The writers wanted to subvert our expectations, so they made the story to be about Leia and Obi-Wan, rather than about Obi-Wan, Luke and Tattooine. I'm not a fan of this, but i understand if many people liked it. Vader could've been shown to be terrifying and evil outside the plot. But the writers didn't bother showing anything else about him other than his obsession with Obi-Wan. They could've expanded on Vader and Reva's stories to go in depth about Reva's motivations and her hatred towards Obi-Wan and Vader.

It's not just the writing that's the problem here. The cinematography also sucks. Why are most of the places the characters go to so damn bland and lifeless (metaphorically)? The duels between Obi-Wan and Vader were made to be a dull affair because there was nothing environmentally to influence the fight scenes. Compare both the duels with the Mustafar one. That one was dynamic, bright, engaging and a spectacle tbh. While the fights in this show looked literally dull.

Coming to the fights itself.... Deborah Chow cannot film any to save her life. She's done well with the other scenes, but when it comes to action sequences, they were horrendously done. The shaky cams, their weird moment around the characters, the not-so-great fight choreography, the dull environment and the borderline OOC-ness of the characters fighting. (Be honest. Do you really think Obi-Wan would start throwing rocks at his former padawan with a smirk on his face? As if to show his power over him. Cuz Obi-Wan doesn't care about power. He cares about saving people!)

So yeah, I didn't like the show at all. Even if I consider it a standalone one, it would still be bad. Most of you might say I'm nitpicking, but we all have different boundaries and limits.

That doesn't mean I'm not open to different perspectives and that I'm shitting on your opinion. If you loved the show, you loved it and I respect that. So don't hesitate to comment your opinions on this post.

My NEW rating for the show- 5.5/10

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Rewatch Part 3

We open on Reylo - heart eyes - about to have their second Forcetime.

Rey checking on her boy Finn or attempting to. She walks outside and enjoys the rain. Yes, Rey enjoy this water. Dance in it for a moment. Rey overlooks the water, Ren overlook the machinery. Ren hears the crashing of the waves, Rey hears the spark of the electricity and connection.

Ren "Why is the force connecting us. You and I" well he caught on quickly.

Rey "Murderous snake" Rey with that temper

Ren Immediately looks hurt

Adams "Ah, you do" is like a verbal orgasm.

It's interesting that Ren constantly walks up on her in these forcetime interactions. It's very clear he wants to be understood and is starting to embrace this connection. Rey tries to resist it and not feel anything for him.

I didn't need the Canto Bite morality lesson. It would have been just as effective to point out that ultimately the very wealthy are the least effected by war and conflict. It's easy to ignore and they go on partying. It's a great sequence between the fashion, the characters and the touch of humor.

The scene where Rey begins to practice with the lightsaber would've been a great scene to bridge her mind with Kylo Ren to show that she's learning fighting techniques from him. It would've served to illustrate that Kylo Ren really is her guide not Luke.

Luke "At the height of their power they allowed Darth Sidious to rise, create the empire and whip them out. It was a Jedi Master who was responsible for the training and creation of Darth Vader."

Ain't nothing but the truth here. The Jedi had flaws first pointed out by Anakin and then further stated by his son, Luke. We think so highly of the Jedi that we ignore their faults. Faults that led to their destruction.

Rey " I need someone to show me my place in all this." His name is Ren.

DJ gives me the creeps. Break me out, but don't help me from there. The chase scene on the cute animals blah blah. Yes freedom! Rose and Finn just struggle from a lack of chemistry. There's no real connection between the two of them moving on.

Luke finally does the right thing and checks in with this twin sister.

Reylo third forcetime. This is the first where you get a clue that these two aren't Asexual. She's affected by his presence and he seems his most vulnerable, his most human, with her. He sees straight through to the core of her. They both do. Yes, they hit raw nerves within each other. He doesn't belittle her for her wish to reunite with her parents, he wants to help her move on from needing them.

She goes in the dark side cave. Doesn't see or find her parents. She doesn't find answers. Interesting the one person she wants to talk to is the one person who understands her loneliness and isolation.

This iconic, beautiful scene - even to the haters. Closest thing we'll get to a sex scene in Star Wars.

The interrogation scene might have been the scene where Reylos said we ain't ever letting this go, but this is the scene where Ren and Rey said we ain't ever letting this go. This connection, the visions they saw and the incredible intimacy of it made Ren turn against his master and Rey the biggest Ben Solo champion in the galaxy.

Rey getting the best of Luke Skywalker - sigh - never would've happened but okay film.

It's sad that basically the confusion between Ben and Luke was due to miscommunication. I do understand that for moment Luke though if we could avoid another Darth Vader - well hell, let's do that.

It's nice to see Yoda back. It's a nice scene between him and Luke. It's also confusing to understand where the Jedi are suppose to go from here. Luke was a rather successful master he had other students that didn't have a problem. He had one bad egg and yes he failed him.... so he just gave up?

OK OK OK fuck let me gather some thoughts. I will NOT suck Disney star wars penis I will not but let it be known this show is the first thing I've been genuinely extremely excited about in. Basically this entire era of star wars content.

Let me be a hater first it looks really bad. In traditional Disney fashion. It's too clean and boring with no interesting visuals no interesting cinematography pretty much all the alien makeup looks horrible everyone is dressed boring as hell and the plot so far is essentially exactly the same as the mandalorian's premise. So in that sense it is extremely safe and nothing groundbreaking. A lot of the dialogue is really clunky and some jokes do not land very well at all and did I mention it's Ugly. It looks like a marvel film it's ugly. There's like an odd tone as well I can't really describe it like it doesn't change to fit the type of scene at all it's just an oppressive sameness all throughout. Which I guess is another Disney trademark.

That being said I am a known prequels obsessive and just seeing Ewan back as obi wan makes me emotional I can't help it I just can't. Every reference to Anakin or Padme made me crazy the starving veteran clone trooper made me crazy Hell even Owen Lars made me crazy. I am not well or normal about Star wars.

And ok I know child hatred has reached fucking critical mass because I've already seen people complaining about Leia when she is absolutely adorable extremely believable as a child version of Leia and like. The CLEAR highlight of the show lmfao she is ridiculously cute and most of the jokes that are actually funny come from her. I'm like ecstatic about her being the focus so far. Inquisitor Reva is stupid sexy too I am obsessed with everything about her and very excited to see her interact with Vader lol. But it's annoying as hell that they decided to use a Black woman (of which there are extremely extremely few in star wars media in general) for the uh Angry excessively ruthless and impulsive Jedi hunter who is implied to be of Lower Class Origins like it's not even funny. They haven't gone into her very deep yet but. Come on now. Not that im surprised though Star Wars and racism are congenital.

And OK I've never actually really found Obi Wan attractive LMAO like in any of the movies I'm just not into Ewan McGregor I guess but seeing him like. Wayyy out of practice with Violence half getting his ass beat fighting off the bounty hunters and shit #Street Style in his old raggedy clothes greasy hair flopping around... I was a little into it I won't lie. I will stop here before I lose my marbles.

Do not reblog this I will show up at your house.

SO. I watched the Luke episode of the Book of Boba Fett and it was. bad.

Generally I'm having so much fun with these shows!

But this episode. But Luke. What a fucking disservice to what to me is the very heart of the OT. To have Luke, who looked Palpatine in the eyes with the words I'm not gonna turn, I'm a Jedi like my father before me, whose love reached Vader so that ultimately he turned on the Emperor - not for the galaxy, not for the Rebellion, but to save his son… And this love canonically guided Vader back to the Light… To have this Luke say to a kid that they have to choose between possibly ever seeing their father again and being a Jedi… There is literally nothing to defend here.

And with the amazing Luke&Vader/Grogu&Din parallel they did in the season 2 finale! Vader in his last moments asking Luke to take off his mask so he could look at him with his own eyes, and Din breaking his Creed by taking off his helmet to say goodbye to Grogu face to face. You make this parallel, you make the whole show about love between a parent and a child, and then make the Original Character with the exact same theme demand that a child make a choice because attachments bad. I totally understand Ahsoka and why she found this dangerous and was meddling, funnily enough. I cannot make my peace with Luke doing this.

I do enjoy some fun criticism of the Jedi Order - Jedi are criticized plenty in canon too - but I'm not like, a full-on Jedi Order hater. I'm not hating on the "no attachments" rule just for the hell of it either; I like it explored more, I like to prod at it in fannish setting and shake it around to see what falls out, heh. Plus we've already had so many amazing examples of love that did not lead the Jedi to the Dark. Obi-Wan and Satine, had she said the word he'd have left the Jedi Order!! Kanan and Hera, and Kanan's ability to recognize when he was compromised, him asking Ezra to lead the rescue mission to save Hera because in his own words he knew he couldn't be objective because of how he felt about her. Obi-Wan's love for Anakin! None of this love was of possessive, dark kind; canon makes a point of how Anakin's was. And while I'm not asking for revolution in canon about the attachments rule, and I recognize there may be some philosophical stuff that flies over my head, it's all still… it's in canon. These relationships are already canon, and they were never shown as dangerous. So there is a difference between love and attachment that canon recognizes but also weirdly doesn't? Luke's faith, love and compassion for his father is tied to the very climax of the original movies, and you tell me Luke would demand total separation of the child and the parent if the child were to be a Jedi without even giving them a chance, to see if it can be a healthy, stable relationship??

EVEN IF you build more around it and make sound arguments for it, hammer in love/attachment distinction, SORRY - it's just a bad choice all around to have Luke Skywalker do this with regards to father&child relationship in particular.

I know it's because they kinda wrote themselves into a corner with that one. The story is about a Force sensitive child. It had to eventually end up with a Jedi, and there is Ahsoka, who would not take him and it makes sense, and Ezra's missing and also no one watched Rebels like, comparatively, so it leaves Luke. But Grogu had to return to Din at least in some form, and they can't feature CGI Luke too much, lol. (By the by, while having Luke and Ahsoka interact in canon was !!! for me, the whole episode felt just weird. I'd much rather not have Luke at all. His scenes were cute! It was fun seeing him, like, conceptually. But if I ever felt fed fanservice, and boy isn't it basically the point of SW now to have at least some, this was so heavy-handed it was kind of cringe-worthy. BUT I DIGRESS.) So they had to make a clean cut. I get it. Nothing clearer than "there are two completely irreconcilable choices one of which means we don't have to CGI a young Luke Skywalker anymore, guess which one the character is gonna make *wink*". But it's not. hm. good.

(That being said, HOLY FUCK PLEASE LEAVE LUKE SKYWALKER ALONE. Please no more. Enough. I really REALLY hope I'm right in the above paragraph and we'll never see him again like this.)

All in all I'll live, and I'll try to not think about it much because that's what I do with SW stuff I don't like. And I am going to continue having fun with these shows. But this here? Heartbreaking to me personally. Hurts right. there. Hence the post, I had to pour my absolute heartbreak out. Am I fine now? No. Do I feel better at least? Also no. Will I get over it? Never. Am I gonna focus now on the things I enjoy and/or hurt good? Absolutely.

From funny things of this episode though, I did find it hilarious how Ahsoka was like "oh you're so much like your father :)" to Luke, followed immediately by "AND THAT'S A GOODBYE SEE YA POSSIBLY NEVER", oh my god.

alright after thinking about things more and seeing the movie a second time (even though i fell asleep for the last half hour because i went to a late showing and bought a giant dumb movie-themes cocktail at the theater) i am ready to talk about TLJ in more detail. I am still feeling pretty torn about it, there were things i loved and things I hated, so here are some lists:

things i liked

the diversity!!!! TFA did this too and again it was such a joy to watch a Star Wars movie and see all these female and non-white background characters everywhere. heroic female Resistance pilots and gunners, female First Order bridge officers, the fact that a good chunk of the Resistance leadership is apparently made up of middle-aged women, i love it

Paige Tico was great, and I loved that Lt. Connix got some lines, Tallie aka Blue Leader is my new space girlfriend 

Vice Admiral Holdo and her purple hair and flowy clothing and no-nonsense attitude and the way she fucking HYPERSPACED THE FIRST ORDER FLEET IN HALF which was one of the coolest scenes in the whole damn movie

every single scene Leia was in was gold and I love her and miss her and i’m so afraid of what’s going to happen in the next movie, and I miss Carrie so much ;___;

Poe and Leia’s relationship was very very good, the part where she bursts onto the bridge in her hospital gown and just stuns him very lovingly was another one of my favorite scenes 

Snoke dying was v satisfying and good, get rekt you evil motherfucker (though i hope we find out what his deal was eventually because i’m still curious, who is this clown) 

the Luke + R2D2 reunion made me so emotional, i legit cried a little the first time i saw the scene where R2 plays the old recording of Leia ;__; my poor kids

same with Chewie breaking down Luke’s door, and Luke asking about Han, and Luke’s last scene with Leia, and the part where he turns out to have been fucking astral projecting himself from the island

i like the possibility that Rey’s parents are just randos (v Taran from Prydain) and i really hope they stick with that and don’t pull a “psych she’s actually related to someone important” because lbr Kylo doesn’t know shit about her parents, he was just saying that because it was the thing most likely to make her come with him. 

i loved Rose, she’s a real sweetheart and it’s cool to have a major character who would be a random background tech in any other story

Poe fucking crank-calling Hux was absolute comedy gold, also Hux pretty much did nothing in this movie except get dunked on which was incredibly satisfying

things i didn’t like

i uh try not to talk about how much i hate reylo because it wasn’t A Thing onscreen in the first movie and i don’t begrudge people shipping whatever they want to ship even if i don’t get it, but i really hate reylo you guys. i don’t mind them becoming friends or helping each other out but if they date in canon the new trilogy is dead to me, i really won’t be able to handle it.

i’m totally on board with Kylo turning but i still don’t give a damn about him compared to so many other characters. why does this movie treat him like a child when he’s almost 30? i really wish he wasn’t the focus of Rey’s storyline, I want Rey to be the focus of her own storyline. I want her relationships with Finn and Leia to be moved to the forefront. I want her to interact with people who aren’t white men

my one consolation is that Rey didn’t go with Kylo at the end, and she didn’t buy his bullshit about her not being important to anyone but him, because that was a gross thing to say and she has multiple people who care about her for real and aren’t just projecting their trauma and insecurities onto her 

one of the reasons I loved TFA so much was the strength and depth of the relationship between Finn and Rey. That was the emotional heart of the NT for me and i didn’t expect them to interact much in this movie but their relationship was shoved aside way more than it needed to be. i do ship them romantically, but whether they get together or not i want their relationship to continue to be a big part of the story, and whoever wrote this movie clearly didn’t think that was a priority. 

as much as a loved Rose and Kelly Marie Tran’s performance, Finn/Rose makes me sad. after what i personally saw onscreen in TFA, this movie felt like a reylo fanfic where the author pushed one half of my OTP aside and gave him a new love interest to get him out of the way of their OTP.

Finn, who was one of my favorite (if not my favorite) characters in TFA, just didn’t get much depth in this movie. I really enjoyed most of his storyline while I was watching it, but the more i think about it the more disappointed i get. his desertion plotline was the most compelling part of TFA for me and this movie didn’t have any kind of satisfying emotional follow-up to that; his fight with Phasma was cool to watch but ultimately hollow, and i’m not pleased that she died after getting maybe ten minutes total of screentime in the whole series. Where is my stormtrooper uprising? where is Finn continuing to grapple with the trauma of his past? i guess i can hope that ep. 9 gives me some of this, but i’m nervous now. 

This movie left me with a lot of pressing questions, like where the fuck is Jessika Pava? i guess i’m supposed to assume she died somewhere offscreen but that’s super unfair to her as a character, until i get some confirmation i’ll just hope that she was off on a mission somewhere during the First Order attack on the base and will rejoin the Resistance when she can  

and this is getting its own separate list because i have a lot to say about it:

structural/worldbuilding problems i have with the new trilogy that began in TFA and that TLJ only exacerbated

one of my least favorite things in TFA was the part where the First Order blew up the Hosnian System, where the New Republic government was based. Planetary destruction is a potential anxiety trigger for me personally, so i found the fact that it was included in TFA on a larger scale than in ANH both upsetting and derivative. i also didn’t think that movie explored the aftermath of such a massive disaster adequately, and i think it did an even worse job than ANH did exploring Leia’s reaction to the destruction of Alderaan. 

TLJ, rather than taking any time to rectify this problem, gives the viewer no specific information about the destruction of Hosnian Prime and its effects on other Republic worlds. instead we get “The New Republic has fallen and the First Order controls everything.” i’m sorry, what? the New Republic is (presumably) very large, and while the destruction of the Senate must have been a massive blow, what the hell is happening on the Republics hundreds of member planets? did they all just roll over and submit to the First Order without putting up a fight? because that’s sure as hell not what happened after the destruction of the Old Republic. and how is the First Order even ruling anybody? they don’t seem to have set up any kind of new central government (which the Empire did pretty much immediately when it rose to power) and all of the First Order’s top leadership is busy personally pursuing the Resistance. 

The prequel trilogy and the Clone Wars show dedicate hours and hours of time detailing the events that led up to the fall of the Old Republic, a sprawling and complex institution whose members cannot be pacified overnight even by someone as powerful as Palpatine. Surely the New Republic is no less massive and diverse - i understand that it’s not the focus of these new movies but they really can’t give the audience a single detail? afaik there isn’t even much supplemental material where i can go to find this information, and i’m mad about it. 

i also have a million questions about the Jedi and Luke’s school and i don’t know where to find this information in new canon because it sure isn’t in the movies at all. Luke comes out of ROTJ knowing basically nothing about the Jedi’s history and philosophy - does he study them after the war? what does he decide to adopt, and what does he ignore? he’s obviously invested enough in the label to keep calling himself a Jedi, but what does being a Jedi mean to Luke Skywalker? also, what the fuck happened to the students who left with Kylo after he destroyed the school? 

this complaint has a lot to do with the fact that i’m very invested in the Clone Wars and Rebels cartoons, maybe more invested than i am in the movies right now. i don’t expect my favorite cartoon characters to appear in the movies, and i understand the desire to keep the movies highly accessible for people who don’t engage in other Star Wars media. BUT. to me it felt like TLJ went out of its way to severely limit the scope of the kind of stories that could potentially be told outside the movies in the NT era. 

I’m going to make a lot of comparisons here with the OT, because the OT also sticks closely to a few core characters and has a narrower narrative focus than the prequels, but it does so in a way that leaves a lot of room for additional stories. The Rebel Alliance is big and sprawling and has lots of bases and cells and operatives who exist perfectly well alongside the main action even though they never appear onscreen. this openness allowed for later stories like Rebels and Rogue One to exist unhindered. but the world of TLJ has no such openness - we are told that this is the Resistance’s only base, that the 400 people who evacuate and the handful of people who actually survive the movie are all that remains of the organization. there’s some vague talk of allies in the Outer Rim, but we have no idea how closely tied to the Resistance they are and none of them seem willing to respond to an urgent call for help. unlike the Rebel Alliance, the story of the Resistance is a small story that will never be bigger (though i hope to god one of the groups of “Outer Rim allies” is some sort of offshoot of the Free Ryloth movement, because if there’s one thing i know about the Ryloth of the last several decades is that it never fails to resist oppression). 

similarly (and to me, even more distressing) is the way this movie handles the possibility of a Jedi remnant. there are a few lines in the OT about Luke or Yoda or whoever being the last of the Jedi, but that hasn’t stopped Star Wars from telling canon stories about other Order 66 survivors who are engaging with the Force on their own. these people can exist during the Empire’s last days without interfering with Luke’s story - the galaxy is a big place, and with Palpatine in charge it makes sense for them all to be in hiding. but wouldn’t they have come out of hiding during the New Republic and tried to find each other? i don’t want to believe that every possible ex-Jedi or former padawan or hidden Force user secretly developing their talents died before TFA. even if Ahsoka is really dead or ascended to some other plane of existence, even if Kanan dies in the Rebels finale, what about Ezra? are they going to kill him, too? what about surviving Jedi like Jocasta Nu or Quinlan Vos? what about kids who realized they were Force-sensitive during Imperial rule, like Dhara Leonis or Jai Kell? obviously i don’t mind these characters not being included in the movies, but i want a movie-verse that doesn’t make it impossible for them to exist and continue to have stories of their own. i don’t want Luke to be the only person who tried to develop his powers after the Empire fell, or who tried training a new generation of Force users.

Blame Palpatine

I shouldn’t be surprised anymore by the mental gymnastics the anti-Jedi fans use to claim that the Jedi were the “bad guys” - I just saw someone claim that Jedi Apologists blame Anakin for allowing Palpatine to groom and manipulate him????  Okay, how do I unpack this...um...look, there is A LOT that I hold Anakin responsible for, the mental grooming and emotional abuse he faces at the hands of Palpatine isn’t one of them, nor have I ever heard another Jedi Apologists/Kenobists/”Anakin Hater” say that either.  We BLAME Palpatine 100% and that’s the point! We don’t blame the young boy who was told everything he wanted to hear by an authority figure, we blame the Sith Lord - you know the actual villain in the story. 

Now, you can (and do) blame the Jedi for allowing the Chancellor access to a Padawan, but there was no cause for them to be alarmed. It’s not uncommon in many societies for young people to have mentors in other adults, we are just automatically suspicious of anyone in our Western cultures. But if you look at it from the Jedi’s perspective (which I know is asking a lot of you), this man is the Chancellor of the Republic, it’s an honor for him to want to teach Anakin about politics. Also, Anakin has had a tough time fitting in so it’s a chance for him to expand his horizons and interact with more people - maybe teach him some patience which would only help him on diplomatic missions. He also grew up a slave so they figured it would be good for his self esteem to have the Chancellor take a shine to him. Listen, Palpatine was literally hiding his Sith identity, they had no cause to think this was a bad idea - I mean, how DARE they trust someone they should.  Look, I can see with hindsight that the Jedi maybe should’ve looked into this more and I bet you anything Obi-Wan and Yoda were kicking themselves that they didn’t. But can I ask, do you blame the parents of a child who was being molested if the parents had no cause to believe it was even happening??? At the end of the day it wasn’t their fault that Palpatine chose Anakin (and for the record we don’t believe this was Anakin’s fault either since he was a freaking child) - we blame Palpatine, only Palpatine (as we’re supposed to).  But at the end of the day it’s all Palpatine’s fault, and I’m so sick of him not getting that credit. 

What was Anakin’s fault - thinking he was above the rules, whether you agree with the Jedi code or not they were still the rules at the time and Anakin was well aware of said rules and instead of finding a full and probably happy life outside the Order when he broke the code he decided he was better than the rest of the Jedi and could do it all for the power and prestige of being a Jedi...and I don’t understand why that’s so hard to understand. 

There is a theory that a big reason Anakin was so drawn to Padme is that her and Shmi kindness was so similar. Do you agree or disagree with this ?

I disagree. Anakin was drawn to Padme the first time he saw her because he thought she was beautiful. They became fast friends and Padme was basically the only other person in TPM other than Shmi who was actually concerned about Anakin and cared about his well-being. He was drawn to Padme because for him it was love at first sight and she took an interest in his interests too (like she was curious about his droids, she loved the japor snippet he made, and so on). They do have some disagreements during AOTC because Padme wants to run things in Anakin's mission and Anakin is like "wait a sec, I was in charge." But they don't really get hung up on them because they're too busy being attracted to each other and falling in love (well Padme is, because Anakin already fell for her). So I think Anakin being even more drawn to her in AOTC and then ROTS has more to do with Padme being the way that she is (which is a lot like Anakin) and her being on his side (supportive of him) and returning his feelings.

I think Anakin has the expectation that people should be kind to each other so Padme being kind is nice and a return to normal (not that the Jedi are unkind, but they're colder than the people he used to consider friends and family on Tatooine) and he loves her for it, but he already knew she was kind because of their interactions in TPM and he was crushing hard on her even before he knew if she was a good person or not.

I think Padme just checks all the boxes for Anakin and that's why he's drawn to her. Like to him she's perfect and with every interaction they have, he thinks she's more and more perfect. I don't think he was drawn to her because she reminds him of Shmi. It is true that Padme and Shmi have a lot of things in common, such as their kindness and their unconditional love for Anakin, but their love for him is very different and they express it in different ways, too. Shmi would try to prevent him from doing certain things, while Padme would try to join him into doing certain things and sometimes she would even pull him into doing certain things that might not be 100% safe.

To be honest the theories that Padme reminded Anakin of Shmi kinda rub me the wrong way because they kinda suggest Anakin had some sort of mommy-issues which is wrong and kinda creepy and don't wanna get into it and also Anidala haters kept using the argument that Padme is too mature for Anakin and she could be like a mother to him (and they were basically saying that that's how their relationship should be). So yeah, I disagree with the theory because it's weird and there's nothing really there in canon to prove it.

EDIT: This brought back memories of posts from certain shippers claiming Padme is too old and she is too motherly to Anakin, while shipping Anakin with a person who is 16 year older than him and whom Anakin views as a father figure lmao.

I think he was drawn to her because they were like-minded people and because he thought she was beautiful. Which is pretty much why Padme was drawn to him, interestingly enough. They just found their soulmate in each other. What's that thing Anne With an E used to say? They were kindred spirits. He was her person and she was his person.

yes, I block people fast and easy, for the slightest shit about my favourite characters. It's my prerogative, I like to have a very curated Tumblr experience, after more than 10 years on this hell site I've learned that there is no satisfaction in fighting against haters of my faves, I get nothing back and I just get angry and sad. And life is way too short to waste with people I disagree with. I want an echo chamber of like-minded people when it's about fandom because I want to share the joy of the media, not fight about it.

so, yeah, blockity block.

Good afternoon, could you please do 1, 5 and 11 for the salty ask game? Thank you and did you catch that partial eclipse? Hope you're having a lovely day so far!

Good afternoon! ☺️ thank you so much for asks, making my day much easier to cope 😊 There was na eclipse?! Damn I must have missed it! 😄 Hope your having a lovely day as well ❤️

1.) What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?*

Oh there are quite a few I don’t understand so here are the ones that bother me the most 😄

1.) Obitine: Sorry guys but I’ve never gotten the hype for this one. The Clone Wars has made it pretty clear that their relationship was a catch 22 in that both parties would have to sacrifice who they are as people in order to make their relationship work which would be so unfair to both Satine and Obi-wan. Obi-wan is a Jedi through and through and Satine’s place is with her people. I think had Obi-wan decided to leave for her or vice versa, both of them would wind up miserable in the long run. They would both feel that there’s something missing is in their lives. Also doesn’t Obi-wan deserve to be with someone who wouldn’t make his hairs go grey for once? The man is surrounded by chaos all the damn time, give him a break! Furthermore, hot take folks, your first love isn’t always the right love for you nor does anyone need to be with anyone to feel fulfilled in life. I accept their relationship for what it was, two young kids who crushed over the other and that’s that. Obi-wan felt plenty of love from his Jedi family and that’s that.

2.) Codywan: For similar reasons to the above, I never understood the fascination with this pairing. First off, don’t burn me because this is coming from a gay person, but Obi-wan doesn’t come off gay to me? Second, the interactions we see between Obi-wan and Cody are very professional. They admire each other sure and I can see them being friends, but I just have a hard time seeing them in bed together, but hey I’m not a hater and each to their own.

3.) Literally any straight pairing involving Ahsoka and Barriss: These two are gay goddamnit and dont get me started on L*x B*nteri 😡 The way he treats Ahsoka is so not okay for so many reasons.

5.) Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?*

Anidala I think; I don’t hate the pairing by any means but the amount of excuses people will make to justify Anakin and Padme’s choices when it comes to each other are interesting to say the least. Anidala was sweet in the beginning but it did turn toxic as seen in the later Clone Wars episodes and in ROTS.

11.)Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

I’m gonna have to go with my girl Barriss 💙 Barriss (along with her Master) is a severely misunderstood character that deserves so much more than the fandom is giving her. First off, if you’ve ever read the Legends books “The Approaching Storm” or the “Medstar” duelogy, you would come to find out what an absolute sweetheart Barriss is. She’s the OG Force healer and she cares and feels so deeply for others. She’s still a sweetie in Clone Wars until Feloni and the gang decided to take a racist turn with her and assassinate the character George created with the temple bombing. People love to forget that the poor girl was RIGHT about the Republic and the Clone Wars and it doesn’t take a psychology expert to figure that a teenage girl with PTSD (from being forced into being a child solider like Ahsoka) whose apart from her mother figure and loved ones often would be vulnerable to making a choice 😔 A choice that she clearly regrets mind you if you pay attention to her facial expressions and voice. There’s actually a deleted scene of her apologizing to Ahsoka, thus that’s proof that she never wanted Ahsoka hurt or involved. Also I’m pretty sure Barriss got screwed in whatever deal she had going on with Letta and I’m positive no one was supposed to die. We’re talking about the same character who was perfectly content with dying by suffocation or parasite here for God’s sake in the name of saving others. Barriss deserves better and she deserves so much love and happiness and I hate that she and Luminara are so disrespected by the fandom and canon itself. Where is she Feloni? Is Barriss safe? Is Barriss alright? I love her 💙🥺

Someone give her a hug damn it 💙😭

Original Salty Asks Here

so tros. including spoilers.

i just watched it for the second time, cause i honestly didn't know what to think after the first time. so much is happening in like a little over two hours. it's very obvious that jj tried very hard to get his vision for a trilogy into just two movies. the amount of stuff from tlj he addressed again just to tell us it was bullshit. like wow.

so overall. i really do enjoy myself while watching it. and because of that i actually think i like it. are there things i disagree with? oh yes. and not just disagree, but actually hate? surely. it sucks because i feel like these things make or break the movie for others. it almost broke it for me. that is why i watched it again. 

and i give you random thoughts.

poe!!! like come on. he had so much screen time. i never expected that. and who am i to complain about more oscar isaac. but gosh am i mad about this backstory. like he has a canon backstory that is great. if they really wanted to go with something like that to introduce zorii, just make it a cover story or something. easy. but telling me that poe dealt with drugs? no fucking way. that's just bullshit and it made me mad. after i got it like the day after seeing it for the first time. yeah that is how much it didn't make sense to me. i did love his scene with lando though, finally something a little deeper into why he struggled so much.

finn being force sensitive and it being confirmed. like fuck yes!!! finally. we just waited two movies for that. i wish he had more backstory. i really do. and it felt like they teased that in the interviews. yeah he found more former stormtroopers. but i wanted to know more about him. btw. i am sure he wanted to tell rey about being force sensitive. cause it would make so much sense for him to tell her. and not poe. going with that head canon.

finnpoe was pretty much perfect. disney would have been legends, if they did let them kiss in the end. honestly. it was all there. i never shipped anything as fast as these two. and it's not just that oscar and john have great chemistry. i feel like it is in the script as well. but damn especially oscar did everything he could. that neck grab at the end? yeah just kiss him. and the jealousy. wow. well done. yeah i just wish disney wouldn't be so afraid of making them explicitly gay. like it's fucking 2019, just screw the haters. co-generals!!! did not stop smiling for a good minute there. and finn helping poe get on that rock? are you for real? tiny babies are helping each other. in the end i guess we can be glad they didn't kill either of them or forced them right into a hetero relationship. at least it's open. guess that is all we get thanks to disney.

rey. like gosh i fucking hate that she is a palpatine. but i guess there was no way making her a skywalker after tlj. i mean i like the whole over coming your bloodline thing. but come on. a fucking palpatine? that just hurts. i didn't love her as much as i did in the first one. sadly. i don't even know why. like i cannot pinpoint what it was. i loved her with finn and poe. but in her own? not so much. and it saddens me. and i liked her choosing skywalker as her last name, cause she is one. as she should have been. i would have preferred they ended not with her being alone again though. but with everyone around her. not just bb-8.

the trio. i loved their interactions. i feel like some of them could be about harsh for people who didn't read resistance reborn. cause they know each other so well by now. we just never saw it before. even though their chemistry helped a lot and i feel like it was all in good spirit. read some people felt like poe was just being an asshole. and i just disagree, didn't get that feeling at all. that man was constantly worried for everyone and rey did do some stupid shit, especially considering poe did not get it as finn got it. which makes sense to me. their hug at the end though? this was everything, you could see how much oscar, john and daisy love each other - my favourite scene for sure.

bb-8. did jj somehow forget that he is poe's droid? like seriously? i mean i loved him with rey, but i wish there had been more poe interacting with his bb.

3po was his annoying self and i live for poe hating every second of him talking. cause yep. that's me. apart from that i enjoyed the humour it gave us. and he just is iconic. as annoying as he can be.

chewie!!! like fuck i though he was dead and wanted to rant. man. that was not cool. his reaction to hearing about leia was my cry moment. cause i felt that. he just lost everyone. i am not okay.

leia. i feel like it was obvious in parts that they used what they had. BUT i loved it anyway. cause it was well done. even though it felt lacking in some parts.

ben/kylo. i just don't know. i don't like him and i never will. he did sooo much wrong. and i just did not feel it. i feel though. that i would have loved it if tlj would have played it differently. like if killing his father would have broken him. that i could believe. and i think that was what jj was going for. in parts. but i gotta say. adam's acting was brilliant. i know why oscar would choose that character to play. there is so much a good actor can do. and adam did. the scene with han was once again stunning. AND i am fine with him dying. cause there was no way they could have ended it there otherwise - even though there really is no skywalker left now.

i won't even talk about that kiss. that is fan service if i ever saw it. it was not natural to have them kiss at all. all i ever git was a brother/sister vibe. sorry, not sorry. like that i could have believed. but that was just. here have your kiss no shut up. no wonder the reylos are mad. so yeah that just took away so much from that scene. and like she did mourn him for not even a second. after kissing him? right?! so why do it. worst choice next to poe's backstory.

that moment during the last battle. when everyone finally arrived? god i live for stuff like that. BUT fuck you for killing snap. was that really necessary. they killed poe's entire squadron, didn't they?

hux. oh dear. i would have loved to see domhnall get a little more though.

rose. not sure about her as well. i love her, but while i think she deserved so much more. i don't know if i would have wanted her with the trio at all times. cause it already felt so rushed. honestly the main problem was time. cause i wanna know more about her.

and i... am all the jedi. felt very much like. and i... am iron man. like seriously disney? loved it anyway.

so yeah. random thoughts about everything. jj is still way better for this franchise than rian ever was. the feeling of the first one was back and the world building was spot on again. so while hating some things, i really enjoyed it.

if anyone wants to talk about it? totally here for it. 

Rose Tico for the 'Send me a character' meme :)

Hi Anon! Let’s see...

How I feel about this character: I love her, obviously. I love her because for the first time we got to see one of the “little people” in the Resistance/Rebellion: not someone who plays a key role but the unseen hero, the maintenance worker who makes revolution possible. 

All the people I ship romantically with this character: that’s a tough one because it’s everyone and no one, really? She barely interacted with anyone except from Finn. I do find them cute together, but I wish she could have had meaningful exchanges with lots of other characters. In theory, I ship her with everybody because the POTENTIAL omfg, Rose/Hux, Rose/Rey, Rose/Kylo, Rose/Finn/Poe etc etc but in practice... idk. After the Last Jedi I was waiting to see how her characer would develop and who would be most important to her arc but we all know how it ended.

My non romantic OTP: Rose&Paige!!! I LOVE THEM. SO. MUCH! They are such an interesting pair to explore. Half the reason why Rose intrigued me so much was the clever introduction of her as a character via Paige’s sacrifice. Brilliant. Poetic cinema. Wish the movies had explored their relatioship more!

My unpopolar opinion about this character: here goes... she’s a better character than Rey and Finn. Honestly the only other character in this trilogy who matches Rose’s in terms of coherency, relevance to story themes and real depth is Kylo Ben, and he  has the advantage of being relevant to the story by default. So, Rose is the best written character of the ST, hands down. Sorry haters. 

One thing I wish had happened: screentime in TROS, lol. No, seriously, I think after her role in TLJ as the one who made Finn choose to stay and fight, it would have been interesting if she herself started to doubt the Resistance in the 3rd film. There were hints in TLJ that the Resistance was not “perfect uwu underdog heroes” and with the death of Snoke I feel it would have been a good development if both organizations started to unravel from within with heroes on both sides working to salvage what is left and achieve peace in the Galaxy. A good twist on the pre-existing narrative and a satisfying solution to the conflict, IMO. And with her “saving what we love” epiphany, Rose could have been a MAJOR player. Well, we can dream and write fanfic, can we?

Thank you so much for the ask, Anon, I hope my answer was satisfying! 

A spoiler-free review from someone who loved The Rise Of Skywalker

First of all: I watched the movie in German. It was released here on December 18th. English is not my first language. Please be gentle with me, I am sure I will make mistakes in this.

Second: I won't spoiler you. The only thing you are gonna read here will be something like “I can't believe what XY did.” If you want to see the movie knowing NOTHING about the story and go in there more or less blind (like I wanted to) you should probably save this for later.

Third: I can totally understand why some people don't and won't like it. I am not trying to change your opinion here or tell you that you are wrong this is just my own and honest opinion about the movie and how it brought the story of nine movies to an end.

I went to see this movie on my own yesterday and oh boy, that was a good decision because it had me ugly-crying on some parts.

Of course I had thought about how this movie could end and was nervous and afraid that it wouldn't satisfy me – but it did. They managed to end the saga of nine movies and three(four) TV series in such a beautiful and unexpected way, that I would have never thought of. I don't know how many of you are into plot-building and stuff but I am and I am impressed how well it went in this movie. They don't handle the other movies as “dead” or like “they happened so they are over”. Instead they included them and the legacy of the Jedi and Sith in such an amazing way.

Due all the twists and turns this story and the characters took I wasn't sure how this would end when I watched it. I thought I knew before going into the movie but I had highly doubts when watching it. These characters are so deep and complex but you still connect with them and understand what they do when they do it. Ben/Kylo's story makes a lot of sense when Palpatine comes into the movie and you finally get why he joined the dark side besides him thinking that Luke wanted to kill him.

The story moved on fast but not too fast. There wasn't a part of the movie I thought of as a filler, just to give other characters screentime – like I think of this casino-planet in TLJ, which to this day annoys me whenever I rewatch this movie That was so unnecessary, honestly. Every scene was relevant. It didn't feel too long or had me thinking “wow, how much longer are they gonna make this?” like for example the Avengers Endgame did.

For me, this movie had everything. It had story, lightsaber duels, space battles and force ghosts. They revealed Rey's story and it finally made sense why the force is strong with her and why she is kind of the Chosen One in all of this.

They brought Leia's story to an fantastic end, even though it definitely wasn't what they would have done if they had the chance to film a whole movie with Carrie instead of using unseen footage after she died. Still it was great. It satisfied me.

The interaction of Poe and Rey had me question for a long time what their relationship was gonna be in the end. Finn finally found his place in all of this. How they included Lando was wonderful and so sweet. I can't believe Hux' story though – he really blew my mind. I wish I could talk about how they included the legacy of the Sith and the Jedi into all of this and brought it to an end that was perfect to me but that would be too much of a spoiler.

This movie was perfect to me even though it leaves a bitter taste.

I can understand why people don't and won't like it. The boy next to me, who I have talked a bit to before the movie started, didn't like it. He wished for a different ending and I can understand it. This is not like episode six. You don't leave the cinema thinking “yes all is good now”. I think that partly is because you don't want this to end. These movies and characters have been with some of us for over 40 years and you don't want it to end. You don't want them to leave but since this movie was announced as the “end of the Skywalker saga” that is exactly what they are doing. I grew up with them and I sat there crying all through the credits. But they wanted to end it. They said that that was the plan for this movie and they did it in a wonderful, beautiful and amazing way which brings everything together if you think about it a bit more.

Yes, this was probably not a traditional Star Wars movie. It was different but it was good. I loved it. And I know there is already a lot of hate going on – I have already read so many negative comments - but will see the movie again tonight and will see it again after this and again and again. I don't like naming “favourites” but if I had to choose one out of this nine movies: The Rise Of Skywalker. For me it might not be a traditional Star Wars movie but it is the best one yet.

And to satisfy some haters, here are four things I didn't like about the movie:

Rose and how unmentioned her kiss with Finn was.

C3PO was funny but a bit too dramatic

Snoke's overall role in the two former movies

Palpatine. I can't tell you what exactly I didn't like because that would be a huge spoiler but there is one thing I found unnecessary about his role

Back from The Rise of Skywalker and my heart has finally slowed down and my face is no longer tear stained. I am sad.

It was well done and I enjoyed it, but the ending... I am SO SAD. My brain is like so consumed with ONE SPECIFIC PART that I can’t remember much else actually. I’m planning on seeing it again.

Spoilers under the cut:

I liked the trio’s dynamic, seeing them together for really the first time and interacting was fun. Playful banter and the like.

Palpatine was the creepiest thing I have ever seen. Like, the flashes of light on his face, his milky eyes, everything, just eugh. 

Rey’s parentage was actually surprising to me. I figured she wasn’t a blood Skywalker, but Palpatine was a shock. I almost gagged when Sheev called her Empress Palpatine. Ew.

I was surprised we had more Force bond scenes. They made me happy.

I flipped when we all thought Chewie was dead. So glad he was fine.

D-O is freaking precious and I love him. I love all the droids.

C-3PO’s memory wipe scared me, so glad R2 could fix him back up, but Babu Frik was so freaking cute. Lol. 

Zorii was interesting, I liked her, a bit more about her would have been nice, but her encouragement to Poe was sweet, and her appearance at the end. 

Also, Poe was a spice runner? Come on, his parents were Rebels, why would he leave them to do that then come back?

Hux being the spy was NOT expected and that was amazing. Too bad it didn’t last long. That made me sad too.

Jannah was cool, former Stormtrooper too, her bond with Finn was nice. 

I didn’t like how much they shrunk Rose’s part down. I’m guessing that was because of the haters, and that’s not fair to Kelly.

Leia’s death was expected and done in a dignified way. Her calling out Ben’s name was everything. Chewie’s reaction to her death murdered me too. Three of his best friends, all dead.

And Han, GOSH! So many tears. Talking to Ben, touching his face, Ben calling him Dad, I was a wreck. 

Ben throwing Kylo’s lightsaber? Epic.

Lando back was amazing. Especially in the Falcon showing up with all the ships against the Sith.

Luke! My love! I knew you’d show up to help her. Pulling the X-Wing out of the water like Yoda did for him years ago? My heart.

Leia’s saber?? And the flashback scene of my Skywalker twins? Perfection.

“And I am all the Jedi.” Queen. Not taking any of her grandfather’s crap. Hearing all of the voices of past Jedi, Obi, Ani, Qui-Gon, I think I heard Ahsoka in there, Luke, Yoda, all of them, it was wonderful. Watching her collapse after taking all the lightning hurt, but... 

And now: the biggest thing: Ben Solo. My HEART IS SHATTERED. I’ve waited four years to see him redeemed and it finally happened! And they went and ruined it. Helping Rey? In that black outfit? Thank goodness. The lightsaber switch so he could get rid of the Knights? Amazing. The whole ending was incredible... Until my happiness and his happiness was ripped away. I knew he’d save Rey since he did it to him, that was so sweet. And her face when she wakes up and her little “Ben?” and their smiles and then the KISS which was phenomenal and something I did not think we’d get, and everything was perfect and happy... until it wasn’t. I didn’t think they’d kill him after that. I was a mess, and I am legitimately upset. The character of Ben Solo did not deserve that. He deserved so much more. His happiness was stripped when he was still a freaking toddler, and no, not allowed happiness right after he gets it. I am so freaking sad, I am serious. And then they kinda ignored him. 

When Rey goes to Tattoine to the Lars farm and tells the local woman that her name is Skywalker? And we see Luke and Leia? Why on earTH WASN’T BEN THERE WITH THEM???? 

I just... I liked it, and I am trying to accept it, but I’m very upset by the ending. Ben being snuffed out like he wasn’t anybody important is ridiculous, and it hurts, and I’m never one to really argue with a movie narrative, I usually just accept it and move on, but I’ve gotta work on that with this ending. I am sad. 

I have more feelings, but I’m done here. 

Off to read fanfiction I go.

[SWTOR OC challenge: R - Day 9]

[15-day Q&A] [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Part 8]

9. Rivalries. Who do they hate most? What’s the fastest way for someone to earn their dislike?

- Tarskal - Where to even begin? When it comes to people he hates the most, Kirryl and Isaq (Jedi cousins) are high on the list. Between them and Jedi master Timmns on Belsavis, he developed an entire racial grudge against mirialans. People who don’t indulge his manipulation games are the worst kinds, in his opinion. If they go even further and think they can control HIM, he’s extremely peeved about it (ahem--Darth Baras). Or if they get in his WAY when he’s trying to have FUN. (Rivals beware: with a certain specific type of person, he finds it very erotic to get in each others’ way. Fuels him in a special way. This is why his mid-life crisis involved playing “enemies-with-benefits” games w/ a Republic officer: he feels so Alive in that dynamic.)

- Kirryl - She doesn’t really bother too much about keeping-up with rivalries, I think. TD’s spiteful feelings are unrequited. She thinks he and Cianna are truly awful--it just isn’t personal for her. Only the facts. When she and Liio actually encounter one another, she might find an unfamiliar competitive streak “in the moment”, but unlike that guy she doesn’t go on stewing about it when she’s lying in bed at night.

- Arameis - Ask him if he hates anyone and he would say it’s not the Jedi way. Buuuut he sure does struggle not to get very agitated when Sith are around.  Especially ones that make fun of his Jedi ways (learn to behave, LUKAR). Or they stare too much at DJ (Lukar again). In a sense that’s somewhat less personal, what really gets Arameis ready to fight is when someone is causing harm to other people.  He takes an intense dislike if words aren’t enough to make them stop.

- Kallir - He’s. . .not much of a hater? More like he has a victim instinct. Extremely dislikes “Yan” and Cezek, but his intent is to avoid those bullies. The entire apparatus of Imperial Intelligence is his ultimate enemy, but that’s DEFINITELY something he’d rather run from than fight. I suppose you could call Kaliyo his rival if it were actually canon that they interact. Lol. Someone he HAS to deal with--and they aren’t specifically hurtful to him, but they strongly (and frequently) disagree on things. He thinks of her as sloppy, in-your-face, and spontaneous (reacting rashly instead of carefully planning everything), which are all opposite of how he prefers to be (organized, deferential, cautious). It leaves a bad impression on him when people do things to make him more anxious than he needs to be. This would also put Lokin in trouble, but it becomes clear that he always has four or five different layers of back-up plan for whatever risky situation he’s getting himself (and potentially everyone else) involved in.

(Bonus)

- Cezek - . . .I think she’s the opposite of Kallir. Not that she hates EVERYBODY (in fact she can be very cruel to anyone without any strong feelings to motivate it), but she’s a stalker: continually building-up a collection of intense obsessions with specific people. Sometimes it’s mercilessly heaping trauma on an individual while they’re vulnerable (Kallir), sometimes it’s probably a bit more of a give & take, where it isn’t going to be over until someone gets dead. She’s alive as long as she is by slinking around out of the notice of people who are stronger than her, most likely. . . And maybe because she doesn’t hesitate (not even a little bit) to use tactics that would be considered underhanded even among other unsavory, Imperial military lowlifes.

Why I’m avoiding most fan forums

 I  occasionally comment on the Cantina or Superherohype.com forums. I regularly post on the reyloskyforums.

But I no longer post on either the ComicBook resources forums( which is a shame as I was on theirs for years), and was permabanned from the Jedi Council Forums. And although you can actually ‘apologise’ and be allowed back on the latter, I have ZERO intention of doing that. And this is why:

I am a Ben/Kylo stan.

I love Adam Driver’s character - in fact, he’s now my favourite all time SW character. The depth of complexity and multlilayered qualities of this extraordinary antihero/villain and Driver’s exceptional, Oscar worthy performances, have won my heart. But I have discovered that apart from a few exceptions, the majority of fan forums dislike him intently. Kylo, not Adam...although worryingly some of the dislike, especially in the JCF, seems to be extending to Adam as well. And anyone who feels anything other than contempt for Kylo isn’t welcome on fan forums.

One of his haters resulted in me leaving the CBR. I jokingly told him to ‘put a sock in it’ and a mod threatened to ban me. So I chose to quit.

Regarding the JCF...I was banned after twice mentioning Kylo in a thread dedicated to Finn. JB and Finn is a god to a number of posters there...which is fine, as you are entitled to like who you want.

But how I wish they would allow me and other Kylo stans the same freedoms. And frankly I think they are out of order to call me a racist for talking about Kylo in a Finn thread.

Here is the opinion of one Finn fan - the same one who caused me to quit the CBR forums;

I’ll still say to this day that Finn’s very existence wound up being a liability to the story they wound up trying to suggest with Ben Solo/Kylo Ren, and vice versa. Ben got the legacy name, the powers, the cool costume, the double standard treatment, and eventually the girl. Finn? Finn had all the substance and actually inspiring story and characterization, and the only really believable relationship with Rey. And the way they were pitted against each other, first in TFA, and then in the meta-story, only served to aggravate and exacerbate all their issues as characters and the overall review of the films’ conflicts, and to pit too fanbases against each other within the franchise. Rey and Kylo/Ben’s contrasts could serve a story purpose that could arguably make her suffering more than him be a plot point that doesn’t necessarily damage Ben’s eventual redemption... but Finn’s more sympathetic just acts to highlight how Ben was the odd one out in terms of terribly trauamatic and parentless childhoods, and his desertion and defection at a roughly analogous age to Ben’s fall just serves to make Ben look weak and selfish in comparison - Rey at least only had to stay steady asa good person in a rough situation, while Finn had to overcome brainwashing by an evil organization... and still proved himself the better man than Ben. Finn’s development and slow build towards becoming a hero then badly undermines the power of Ben’s “flip the switch” change and lack of motivation as Kylo. It’s never good to contrast a supposedly deep character with another character who actually has some depth - the falseness of the advertising stands out when a counterfeit is right next to a genuine McCoy. Neither one of the personas Driver played ever really stacked up to Finn, and Boyega simply had better material to work with in one film than Driver got in three films. Finn also had such a better chemistry and development of his bond with Rey that it highlighted the artificiality and “parasitic” nature of Rey and Kylo’s interactions and how they favored Kylo without really considering Rey’s perspective. Then the meta-narrative kicked in, and Finn clearly started getting sidelined, while Kylo/Ben’s writing never really compensated to make up for the lack of believable humanity in the center of the story and in a companionship with Rey. I’ve previously talked on the Finn thread about how Finn was a strong enough utility protagonist that he was an asset to TFA making $2 Billion, regardless of his lack of gaudy or OTT characteristics like Kylo/Ben had. The assessment is matched by its natural opposite in Kylo: despite having so many useful accoutrements, his utility as a protagonist wound up being painfully shallow and empty, and thus contributes to the inability to truly follow in TFA’s path in terms of box office performance.

Nice.

Here are the opinions of others

The choices were never “heroic Ben Solo or Rey fixing Kylo.” That was certainly not JJ’s plan so clearly it wasn’t a binary option. I also find the idea of demoting Finn to make room for good boi Ben to be rather repugnant. Not to mention the setup of two white leads supported by their devoted BIPOC supporting characters…

Having Rey as the redemptor does not work unless (general) you like or are OK with dumb codependent girls who ignore toxic treatment in favor of hair conditioner and sad puppy faces.

Ultimately....Ben/Kylo fans are NOT welcome on fan forums. I would have found that desperately depressing....if not for the fact that a poll of DLF’s official site asking for people to vote on who they wanted to see most in TROS...revealed the winner as Kylo Ren. With no fewer than 81% of the votes.

I find that comforting.