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reylo-on-the-side · 4 years

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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and the Death of Romance

***** Contains spoilers, do not read if you have yet to watch the film *****

Having had a few days to think about TROS I can now coherently put into words everything that I did not appreciate about the film. This may read as if I’m slamming the film, which is not my intention as I really enjoyed it, but there are some things which did not make sense for me, that did not add up, and my feelings for this film compared to the first two were lacking in places. In all, I did not get the sense of fulfillment and purpose you’re supposed to get at the end of a Star War’s saga, I feel quite empty and hollow and I have many questions which I feel should have been answered.

I want to start with our closing scene where Rey, Poe and Finn are clinging to one another, happy that they’ve all made it through the last battle. This scene was wonderful and amazing because we have three best friends truly happy that they’re alive and together. But I did not feel the ‘joy’ I think I was meant to feel because I kept asking myself, what have these characters got to show for it at the end of the film?

I’ll start with Finn. Oh glorious Finn! So many things were not answered about Finn. He’s broken free of the Republic and has gained freedom from his former stormtrooper life, but is this all we can say? Finn is clearly force-sensitive, displaying many moments of force awareness throughout the film. He has previously held and fought with a light saber, and in addition to this, he was able to pinpoint where the signal was coming from in the penultimate battle (TROS) and he knew the exact moment when Rey died on Exogul because he felt it (he didn’t have to say, we saw it on his heartbroken face!) So the big question is, was this what Finn wanted to tell Rey when they were sinking into the quicksands and moments from death? Did he want to tell her that he understood, because he was strong with the force too? Or was it simply (others speculate) that he wanted to tell her he loved her? Finn had a potential romance with Rose, but his feelings for her are platonic and so his romance arc is abandoned in this film. Does he have feelings for Poe instead? The pair are close and there is chemistry between them. If Finn does have feelings for Poe, then perhaps he was going to tell Rey he was force-sensitive.

The fact is we don’t know because the opportunity is lost, but it must have been heavy-going because Finn couldn’t say what he wanted to say in front of Poe (later on).This makes me think that Finn wanted to tell Rey that he loved her. While we know Rey doesn’t share these feelings for Finn, the unasked question still floats to the forefront of Finn’s storyline. He has found love among friends in the saga, but not romantic love, and we kind of get the feeling that this is what he is looking for, otherwise there wouldn’t have been this unasked question in the first place. The closing scene of Finn with his two best friends was just shrouded in unfinished story for me, and I felt that Finn (assuming this saga is well and truly at a close) should have had his moment to say those words to Rey. If it wasn’t a big deal and relevant to his story arc, then why even give it screen time? Coming through a war after untold hardships at the hands of the Republic, our guy Finn really did deserve more.

Moving onto Poe, our lovable rogue. Seeing him at the end of the film is such a relief, but when I asked myself the question, what was Poe’s story arc for, I couldn’t actually give anyone an answer! He’s always been a drifter, and has fallen into the resistance as easily as falling into bed. But what does he want? What is he going to do now? Is he going to go back to being a spice trader? I can hardly imagine this after seeing him standing alongside General Leia Organa for the whole trilogy.

In terms of backstory and romance, we find out a little more about Poe’s former life as a spice trader, and the film hints at a relationship between himself and a former companion, Zorii Bliss during their time on Kijimi. But despite Zorii giving Poe her master key to gain him guaranteed entry out of Kijimi, the close of the film demonstrates that all ships have sailed between them and there is no future, at least romantically, for the pair. So Poe won’t be settling down with her anytime soon and living a quieter life. So what then?

I kind of feel that after everything, there should be an assurance for our closest and much-loved characters at the close of any saga, otherwise we cannot say what their struggles were for, what they were fighting for. Yes, they are all alive and living freely, but is this enough? In a franchise like star wars which reads very much as a fairytale, ‘a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,’ then yes, these stories are meant to end ‘they all live happily ever after,’ and with that usually comes a guaranteed romantic future for our lead characters. Romance certainly isn’t everything within a film, and Star Wars films notoriously feature a tragic romance of some sort, but there are also moments where romance triumphs - Han Solo and Leia Organa.

It is here that I’d like to mention Rose (poor girl) who went from being a main character in The Last Jedi to a glorified extra in The Rise of Skywalker. I think Rose had about five lines of dialogue which is absolutely staggering after the heart-breaking loss of her sister, and her unrequited love for Finn. It’s another instance where romance is dropped like a hot cake, and I cannot help but feel like the writers have serious chips on their shoulders where romance is concerned. It’s also another example of how a (formerly) leading character had her story arc dropped for unknown reasons - is Rose happy? Has she found a new family? Are her and Finn still close? (she was not present in the group hug at the films close) so where is she now? What will she do? It’s frustrating that someone so instrumental in the destruction of Canto Bight and such a powerhouse in the second film is not given any thought in the saga’s sequel.

Thanks to Rose we even have a message which underscores so many actions of characters throughout the saga. She tells Finn they will win the war not by ‘fighting what we hate, but by saving what we love,’ which heralds the absolutely heart-rending final moments between our Alderan Prince, Kylo Ren, now Ben Solo and our heroine, Rey.

What can I even say about this pair which hasn’t been said already? Absolutely needless. When I hark back to the film’s close of Rey, Finn and Poe holding one another, what was the point of Rey’s storyline, of her sacrifices? Rey is paper-thin at the film’s close. How much more can one person give? Rey lost her family, then she lost Luke, then she lost Leia, and then she loses the only boy she loved and perhaps ever will love? While she is now a trained Jedi and has the answers to the mystery of her family abandoning her on Jacoo, is this enough? Rey seemingly ends the saga in the same way she began, a lone hermit, living in isolation, in the ruins of the former world, utterly alone on a godforsaken desert planet. Is this a fair trade after everything she has been through? Even with the answers about her heritage and her parents true identities (sorry but what a shoddily shoved-in backstory) I don’t think this is enough. I felt as empty and broken as she did at the films closure.

How do I feel about Rey being a Palpatine? Nothing whatsoever. I’m waiting for a heroine who literally comes from nothing, who is literally no one, whose worthless parents really were ‘filthy junk traders who sold her for drinking money.’ I much preferred this to be the case, rather than actually - you’re a Palpatine! Why can’t a heroine be born to nothing and rise to greatness, why does power have to come hand-in-hand with an age-old name which is whispered with fear? And Palpatine? We get a crusty bin bag flailing around on a crane hook, a complete shade of this former Sith self. After the big reveal, I spent the rest of the film reeling about the thought that someone actually had sexual relations with him (very reminiscent of Voldemort and Bellatrix in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). Perhaps we should have seen it coming, Disney have a penchant for bad romances (Descendants). But villains having babies in Star Wars, when it’s clear from the former films that Palpatine has no romantic inclinations whatsoever, I didn’t appreciate the reveal for what it was.

And finally I’d like to say a few things about someone who is absent from the friend huddle at the close of the film - probably the most dynamic and interesting star wars character the sagas have graced us with - Kylo Ren / Ben Solo. What a tragic story.

The film reveals that Ben and Rey are dyad, which is as strong a connection you can have with anyone in the universe. They are two sides of the same coin, their life lines interwoven like a tapestry, almost the one and the same person, ying and yang, soulmates - all of the other terms we can think of. More to the point, the pair are equals, in terms of life experiences, strength, personality and capabilities.

Rey and Ben seemingly begin as opposites, light and dark, good and evil. As the films progress, it becomes clear that this is not the case. Ben has the capacity for love, tenderness, peace and rationality, just as much as Rey has the capacity for hatred, violence, war and irrationality. When we watch the pair react across multiple scenes, many of Rey’s reactions are not kin with being a Jedi. When she finds out about Palpatine killing her parents, her immediate instinct is to find him and kill him. Is this a Jedi reaction? No. It is human. The same emotions which led Annakin Skywalker to butcher a whole tribe of sand people for the kidnapping and killing of his mother Shmi.

At other points in the film, Rey demonstrates recklessness, taking a skimmer out into uncertain waters against the advice of others, putting her life at risk. She is impatient, impulsive and driven by revenge in the same way Kylo Ren is demonised for. And let us not forget the fight scene in the ruins of the former Deathstar, when her and Kylo Ren grapple with one another and try to best eachother’s force ability with their sabers. When I rewatch this scene, it is very clear that Kylo is not striking to kill. His movements are actually very defensive, he’s letting Rey take her fury out on him and he isn’t on the offensive at all. There are several moments he could have easily killed Rey, and it isn’t until the final moment when Rey is on the ground that he moves to make a kill, and Leia’s intervention stops him. What is absolutely staggering is when Kylo is disarmed by his mother’s intervention, Rey doesn’t stop. She takes up Kylo’s saber and stabs him with it, literally striking him down in hatred, which is not what Jedi are meant to do. Think of all the instances where Vader and Palaptine (previous films) goad Jedi into ‘striking them down,’ so they can ‘feel their hate.’ Rey’s actions allude to her failing of being a true Jedi and actually taking life. Yes, Rey does heal Kylo Ren, or Ben as he has now become. But does this action atone for her attempting to destroy him in the first place? We can argues this both ways, but I think we could only argue that it does atone for her actions, if at the films closure, Ben’s healing of Rey was enough to atone for his.

Ben comes back from absolute damnation. He rejects Kylo Ren, throws his saber into the sea and makes peace with his father Han Solo. He then storms into Palpatine’s palace with nothing but a blaster (very reminiscent of his father) and comes to the aid of Rey. Incredible fight scene aside, when Ben heals Rey in the same way she healed him, this should have atoned for all of Ben’s previous sins, in the same way that Rey’s healing of Kylo did for her. But this does not happen, instead we have to face the heart-crushing truth that Ben dies giving Rey his life force, and while a Jedi, his happy ending with the girl he loves is withheld from him, from Rey and from us.

This is where the film failed for me, and the over-arching message of redemption and forgiveness just fizzled into nothing. The simple fact is that Ben and Rey did not get the same treatment. Slowly, over the course of the film, Rey strays from the ‘light’ and becomes a shade of grey. Ben mirrors this, straying from the ‘dark’ towards the light and becoming his own shade of grey. And yet only one of them walks away from the penultimate war.

I have described the reasons I find this unfair from Rey’s side - her character traits, her previous actions, so I will now approach this from Ben’s side. Ben has had an equally, unhappy childhood, as lonely and estranged as Rey had. He was sent into Jedi training at a young age, leading to feelings of not being loved by his parents Ben and Leia. It is clear from previous films that Han was ‘not around’ for son and off doing what Han does best. Leia was still a general, and it’s safe to say that while she loved her son, he did not, or would not ever had had her attentions. So Ben is sent away to his Uncle to train as a Jedi, already feeling worthless in his parents eyes, and unloved. He expects to be treated as a nephew by his Uncle Luke, who does not warm to him at all. Luke treats Ben Solo with the same distance as a teacher does any student, and so Ben does not find familial love here either. He is then betrayed by Luke, which all comes to the surface in The Last Jedi.

Luke feared Ben Solo’s power, and seeing his potential, decides to kill him (I love how Leia never finds out about this) if she had I’m pretty sure she’d have more to say to her brother. Luke then blames Ben Solo for the destruction of the Jedi temple and turns all of his other students against Ben. Luke never really gets punished for these acts (I never forgave him, not even for his attempts in the film to placate Kylo). During all of this, Snoke becomes a personal influence on Ben Solo, playing on Ben’s loneliness, feelings of worthlessness, and slowly turning Ben towards the dark. And can you blame Ben for saying yes, and wanting a friend? I can’t blame him at all.

Kylo’s attempts to be his Grandfather are born from wanting to identify with someone in his family, to have a feeling of belonging. And like Annakin Skywalker, Kylo Ren is plagued by doubt. When he kills Han Solo, he never really walks away from his father. He is consumed by guilt and self-loathing which twists him even further, and pushes him down the path to the dark-side when in actual fact he doesn’t want to go there - he feels he has no choice. His parents rejected him, and he feels all he can do is more to make them reject him further. And yet when he has the chance, he does not kill his mother, Leia. He finds himself reaching out to Rey, drawn to her loneliness and isolation, and wanting to be there for her. Despite all of his deeds, his ability to have restraint, to be understanding, to be gentle, never fade away. Like Rey, as the films progress, he becomes his own shade of grey.

For this reason, I cannot accept the closure of The Rise of Skywalker. All three films have pointed to the connection between Rey and Ben, of their absolute compatibility, of their being one another’s match in every way possible. They were supposed to bring balance to the force, and if they were truly equal, how can they bring balance to the force if one of them dies?! It make’s no sense. Especially as I’ve pointed out when Rey heals Ben, it somehow washes her clean, and yet when Ben heals Rey, it costs him is life!

Yes, before Ben dies they share a wonderful kiss, and each of them find the ‘belonging’ which has been promised to them at earlier instances in the saga. But is knowing you have found your one true love enough at the end? Thinking of Han and Leia’s sacrifices, of their deaths, along with the tragic history of the skywalker family, I cannot accept that Ben’s death was deserved. His parents wanted him to ‘come home,’ and have a life, they absolutely wanted the best for him. Ben was an extraordinary character, with an incredible story arc, and as someone who has experienced such tragedy, to come through it and redeem themselves, it is very uncharacteristic and anti-star wars for them to not have their happy ending.

So when the film closes on Rey, Finn and Poe, with Ben absent and Rose no where to be seen, I did not have closure, I did not have fulfillment and I did not feel like I had reached the end of a Star Wars chapter. I honestly feel like I’ve ripped the film to shreds and that was not my intention. I’m a huge star wars fan and thoroughly enjoyed the film, but the decisions the writers have made - for me - are very jarring with the true message inherent within the star wars franchise.

I cannot put my finger on the message the writers were trying to get across with this final film. It clearly isn’t ‘love conquers all,’ or ‘the faithful will be rewarded,’ or anything close. There are unanswered questions, abandoned story arcs, and the shot of Rey staring at the sunsets on Tattoine only served to say that being a Jedi is awful, everyone you care about dies, your life will be hard and lonely - but hey - you get a funky gold light saber!

#star wars tros #sw tros #tros #star wars #reylo #reylo shippers #star wars spoilers #ben solo #rey palpatine #kylo ren #kylo x rey

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jamiedc-they-them · 4 years

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The Dark Doesn’t Last Forever (Platonic)

(AN - I apologise for this one if it gets a bit too dark. I personally suffer from both Depression and Anxiety. So, this might go a bit too bleak.)

Also, this can be seen as a sequel like series to the Rey Imagine where the reader was taken. It can be it’s own thing, or you can think of it as a continuation of that story.

IMAGINE: Rey finds you in a heavily depressed episode and tries to help. Finn, Poe and Rose join as well.

You had been resting. Well, that was what you’d call it on your good days. You’d call it a lay in. Turn around attempt to get more rest before you rose to see what the day had in store for you.

This was not a good day.

You’d opened your eyes. But had no energy to rise. You had no energy to do anything. You just stayed laying on your bed. Your thoughts bleak. You’d had moments like this before. But, for the most part, you were able to handle it.

You had plenty of distractions after all. Or, maybe they weren’t really for you. But for those around you. To keep them from worrying about you.

When your thoughts got like this. It was always the same. You knew this. You knew that you should be happy. That you shouldn’t be feeling this way.

But you did. That was the thing.

The thoughts normally came down to the fact that you were nothing special. That you didn’t belong in the Resistance. That you brought nothing to it. That you didn’t deserve the friends that you had. That they spoke behind your back. That they secretly hated you.

Part of you knew it wasn’t true. But, that part seemed to grow quiet in these moments. It was as if it was muted.

You just wanted to crawl into a hole and stay there until you were nothing.

Just as you started out. As nothing.

Rey had been sat in the cafateria with Poe, Finn and Rose. Don’t get her wrong, it was nice. Great, even. Spending time with her family and laughing and just taking a moment to fully process the fact that they had won. And that they had somewhat found some peace.

They did what they could in regard to helping her with Ben. The man that she had fallen for. But, she always said that she was ok with what had happened. That he had found peace. Besides, she could always sense him. He was always around.

She was brought back by someone calling her. Before that voice was met with a few others.

Turing around, she saw the others looking at her. Some with a small amount of concern. She looked between them with a confused look on her face.

“You seemed to just drift off there for a second.” Poe said, brieing her on their looks. Rey only continued to look between her friends.

“Are you ok?” Rose asked tentatively. She always liked that about Rose. How she was always kind. She hadn’t spoken to the girl alot. They were friends for sure. But, still. From what Rey had seen of Rose, though. She definitly saw why Finn and her had their own dynamic. She suited him and he her. Even if they hadn’t fully codified what it was yet.

“I’m looking for (y/n).” Rey answered, her smile dropping slightly. The others seemed to notice the lack of your presence in that moment as well. They all looked around. Only seeing other friends and soldiers. But, not you.

It was then that Rey felt it. A slight change in her feelings with the force. It was subtle, but enough.

She looked to Finn, seeing that her best friend had also felt it. With her training him, he seemed to pick up on similar things to her. Maybe that was her own fault with the way that she was with training. She always passed down everything of hers. Methods, feelings. All of it.

“Rey, what is it?” Poe asked, seeing the mood change for his friends.

Rey gulped, the feeling only becoming more and more harder to ignore. So, she said the obvious.

“It’s (y/n).”

The four stood outside your room. All sharing a look as to who would knock and enter. They all looked at your oldest friend. The one who had taken the role as your older sibling first. The one who had pretty much raised you as best as she could.

Rey looked at her friends, they all gave nods of encouragment. And, so, she slowly lifted her hand to the door. And gave a gentle knock to it.

“(y/n)?” She called out softly. No response came from you. The feeling in her stomach worsened. You could be asleep, but then that wouldn’t explain the way that the force had guided her and the others to your room.

No, this was something else.

Oh...

Her mood dimmed. Turning sadder. Her lips parted for a moment. And her friends watched her as she seemed to go through a flurry of emotions. Anger, Resentment, Pity, Sadness. The final emotion was resolution. And, with that, she raised her hand and opened the door with a simple flick of her hand.

She looked at her friends again, silently communicatiing for them to at least wait a moment. They nodded, Poe reaching out and giving her a pat on the shoulder.

“Go get our friend.” He said softly, his smile one that told her that he understood the situation. And that, at least in her mind, his smile showed that he had been in this position before.

She entered the room that held no light. Both metaphorically, and literelly.

She squinted, but made out your figure on the bed. You were still. She closed her eyes, focusing. And breathed a sigh of relief once she heard your heartbeat.

Slowly, she approched the bed. Rounding it to be on the same side as you. Crouching down, she finally saw you.

Your eyes were open, but you were just staring at the wall ahead. Your arm dangling off the bed. Your eyes half between hollow and tearful.

Her resent was for herself. The guilt piling on her for not noticing that you were in this much pain. She’d helped you with it before. Helped you fight the demons that seemed to rule your mind. She’d help you find some light. Help you know that you weren’t alone in fighting them.

Her darkness was the darkside. A constant pull to it. Filled with anger and hate at everyone. Hers was made external with the vision of herself that she thought. And the Sith.

Your darkness was internal. A constant state of self loathing, tiredness, Self Doubt and countless other things. And it never left you. In your own eyes, you never won. You only fought it off for a little.

In your own mind, you were losing an unwinable battle.

Rey was empathetic before she fully let the force in. She was able to reach out to others and try to understand them. And try to help them. But, you were different. Well, not entirely. She helped you. She found you on Jakku, took you in. You two only had each other. And, even if not blood, you were siblings.

You were bonded by your shared trauma. It brought you close and a deep understanding of one anothers constant wound and pain.

But, now her darkness was bigger. And your darkness was ever more powerful than before.

Her face fell even more just looking at your form in the bed. You looked dead, but you weren’t.

She knew what you felt about that. How you wanted to be so badly.

Her eyes became tearful as she knew that it was the reason you went on a misison that screamed dangerous without her knowledge. You scared her. But, you made it back. You were scared from it. But, you made it back.

Rey now fully understood why you went on that mission.

Hesitantly, she reached out a hand. Grabbing your own one that hung off the bed. It seemed to get some reaction from you. A slight flinch and tension at the contact.

“Have you eaten?” She asked, trying to contain the quiver in her voice. Try and hide the heavily mounting concern.

You shook your head a little. Even in the dark, Rey managed to make it out. She nodded a little. It was a start. It was something.

She looked up for a moment to the door. Then to your hands.

“I’ll be back in a moment. Promise.” She said, giving you a small smile. Rising up and going to the door.

The other three stood up at the sound of the door opening. Their eyes all asking about your condition. But, they got their answer with the sombre look Rey gave to them.

“Can one of you get me some water please? And some food?” Rose and Finn nodded wordlessly. Both leaving to do as asked.

“How is he/she?” Poe asked in a gentle tone. Placing one hand on the wall. Rey smiled a little at her friend’s attempt to be casual. To try and lighten the mood a little.

She took a breath, finally letting herself absorb her time in the room. Poe was forward in an instant, bringing someone who had become a sisterly figure to him into a hug. She returned it fearcly. Poe only rubbed her back as she fully gathered her cluttered thoughts.

“He/She’s not good. I think I’ll start slow --”

“We will.” Rey paused at his words. She had only ever helped you on her own. Her worry at his statement being that it would overcrowd you; make it worse.

“Can I talk to him/her?” Rey nodded. Poe pulled away from the hug, patting her on the arm. Before entering the room next.

He’d been used to it. This state. He’d been in it multiple times himelf. And, thank god he had Jessica and his team. But, you only had Rey. Not that it was bad that you had Rey. As she was a damn good person. Loyal and kind. Friendly and fearce. Empathetic.

He sat near the end of your bed. Looking at you. Silence occured for a beat. It wasn’t an awkward. It was more a tense one.

“Rey send you in here for pity?” Your croaky voiced asked. It held a biting venom to it. Poe had to be honest, he had never really been on the recieving end of it. Espeically from a close friend like you. It hurt to both see you in a similar state to one that he had been in. But also just to see an hear what it’s like from the other point of view.

You were drowning in your own self pity. You were probably stinking. That’s why Poe had sat at the end of the bed. Rey had probably left and he had come in to try and soften the blow. Rey had probably finally seen you as the weak and broken person you always were.

She’d probably regretted saving you on Jakku. The amount of food she could’ve saved if she would’ve just walked by.

You were a contradiction. You wanted to be both alone and yet also have company.

You were broken. Utterly broken and useless and alone.

“The others have gone to get some food and drink. I’m just here to keep you company.” Poe answered, he sounded honest. Then again, Spice Runners and just liars in general were good at sounding honest. Your parents told you they loved you. Then they dumped you on Jakku.

So much for love.

You scoffed at his words. Tone becoming more vemonous, “Sure you are.”

Poe didn’t like the way you were talking. He was sure that Jessica didn’t either when it was him in the bed and her trying to get him out of it. He knew it wasn’t your fault. He knew that, honestly.

Rey was pacing. Her gut feeling was worsening more and more. And pacing was the only thing that kept her from storming into the room. She had to trust her friend... Her friends... No, her family. Her two new brothers and one sister. She had to trust them. She had them to try and help you.

She spotted them when she turned around again. Seeing them walk with a bag of food and a bottle of water. Rose gave her a smile. One that conveyed warmth and a feeling that it would all turn out ok. Rey tried to return it, but it was only a small upturn of her lips. But, it was enough for Rose.

“Where’s Poe?” Finn asked. Rey gestured to the room. Finn nodded.

The door to the room soon opened. And out stepped Poe. He gave Rey a sorry look. And tears started to appear in her eyes.

“I’ll have a go.” Rose offered, Rey nodded. Quickly turing away from the others as she tried to keep her emotions in check.

“Hey.” Rose said in her cheery tone as she walked towards you. She placed the water bottle on the table that was in your line of sight. Your eyes moved to it. Your stomach growling on instinct.

Rose took up a chair that sat in the corner. She dragged it towards you, sititng in it. She studied you. Taking your form in. She’d had moments like this before. Paige had been there. And, she knew that you and Rey were as close as she was with her sister. It warmed her heart at the sight of it.

“I’m sorry.” You blurted out. Your eyes turning tearful. Rose looked at you, meeting your eyes with her wide ones. She was silent. Letting you continue, “I’m sorry for causing all this. I - I didn’t mean to be such a burden.”

It was out there now. You couldn’t take it back. It was blunt. It wasn’t subtle at all. There was no word play. No flowerly language. No poetry like aspect to it. Just bluntness.

“Your not burdening us with anything.” While her voice was still the same soft voice you had gotten used to with your friend. It held a firmness to it. An assuredness about her words. That she meant them.

You hated that you were doing this to them. Making them even see you like this was one thing. But, now you were having to try and get them out to just leave you alone. To let you wallow. To just let you go.

Why wouldn’t they?

Rose was out, no water bottle with her as she left. Rey looked at her with desperate eyes. Rose gave her a small smile.

“He took the bottle. But...” Rey didn’t like that pause. She knew that this wasn’t going to go to a good place.

Rey shook her head. She knew the most likely words without Rose having to confirm them.

Finn placed the bag near the chair. Sitting in the same place Rose was. He too did a quick assessment of your figure.

People who got like this in the First Order didn’t last long either on the battlefield or in the ranks.

Here in the Resistance it was less common to see it. Then again, they were fighting a war. But it seemed to have it’s strain on you. And only now where they noticing it.

“I gave Rey something before I went on that mission. Or, rather.... I tried to.” Finn leaned forward, only awaiting the rest of your words, “It was a blaster. One I found a while ago. It was broken, but I managed to fix it other time. Managed to find something I kept since I met her. I don’t even know if she’s found it yet. A small neckclace she made for me.” You actually managed a smile, while Finn saw for a moment that it was genuine. It slipped off your face as quick as it had come.

“It was a.... A just in case gift.” His words hit Finn hard. He got the underlying message with it. But, deep down. He knew what the other part of it was. The part that you seemed to be afraid to admit outright.

That you didn’t think anyone would of cared if you didn’t come back.

Rey had been sitting on the floor at this point. Rims of her eyes red. She couldn’t handle it right now. The guilt she felt. The guilt she felt radiate off of her friends as they stood in a kind of huddle. And the pain she kept feeling through the force.

“Poe.” The man turned to his friend, Finn’s face held an uncomfortable look to it as he spoke, “Has he/she ever had any psychological assessment?” Poe thought about it. Before he shook his head. No, they hadn’t. They were too desperate to fight and win the war.

Sure, they had things on site. But, that wasn’t enough. As obviously seen.

The Resistance had won. But, they weren’t perfect.

“What do we do?” Rey asked as she sniffled, tighteing her grip on Rose’s hand. She looked up at her brothers. Seeing them share a glance before looking down at her. A simple question being asked.

One that she, unfortunatly, had to answer.

Rey crouched next to you again. Reaching out and grabbing your hand once again. She ran her thumb over your knuckles to try and help you in some way.

“I told you I’d be back.”

“You took your time.” She tried to not let the words get to her. And, for the most part. She did.

“Did you get my gift?” Your voice had gone back to the tired but also hollow and empty voice it was before. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and shook her head.

She got up, leaning over you and gently grasping you arm. Slowly helping you sit up. She grabbed the pillows behind you. Helping puff them out and re-adjusting them to try and make you feel more comfortable.

You were up, at the least.

She reached down for the bag. Bringing out one of the small tubs of food that Finn had bought. She opened it. Grabbing some of the cutlery that her friend had brought as well. She placed it into the food. Holding it out for you.

You only pushed it back to her.

“I’ll eat later.” You justified it as. Rey looked at the door. Remembering the advice that she was given before she entered. She sighed, grabbing a small plate from the bag and pouring a quater of the food onto it.

She internally cringed at the memories the words “Quater” brought up.

“How about this? You eat this now. And we can eat the rest later?” It seemed to work for now. As you reached out and grabbed it. Brining it to the cover that was still wrapped around you and bed. Slowly, you started. And Rey couldn’t help but brighten at the fact that one thing was working.

“Smells good, what you got there?” Poe asked as he made his way into the room. The other two following close behind. Finn looked at the light swich. Before you. You got the messaged, looking at your plate. Still, you had to blink at the sudden bright light that came into the room.

You looked at Rey, she gave you a bright smile. But understood what you wanted. She turned to Poe, “I’m not sure what it is. But, we’ve made an agreement. He/She’ll eat this part,” She gestured to the food on your plate, “Now. And we’ll have the rest later.”

The whole room seemed to brighten at the news. As, when you looked around the room. You saw relieved and happy looks from your other friends.

Still, there was that part that still told you that it was all act.

Rey sensed you clouded thoughts, both from the look that hid behind your eyes. One that only she could detect. Along with (regretfully) having to enter your mind to see what else was going on.

Rey took your hand in both of her own. Her smile turning softer.

“You matter to us.” Rey’s blunt words took you by surprise. And, while you went to say something. Rose spoke up before you could.

“You matter a lot to us. To a lot of people here --”

“They’d all hate it if you did go.” Finn continued, Rey squeezed your hand at his words. Silently agreeing with his part.

“And, we know it’s hard. But, if something’s going on, buddy. You should at least try and talk to one of us. We have people that will help. But.... I’m sorry we didn’t notice before.”

Poe’s apology was nice. But, to you, uneccesary.

“We had bigger things to --”

“No.” Rey’s voice was fierce and defensive. An anger that you had never really seen from her aimed at you.... Ever, really. Her grip on your hand was tight. Not tight enough to hurt. But, tight, still.

“When I saw you on Jakku. I saw a frightened boy/girl just like me. Someone who was even younger. Someone who didn’t deserve what had happened ot them. But, when I came to see you. I saw someone who needed someone. Someone to help them. Someone to guide them. I saw someone that needed a friend. And,” Her anger softened into one that showed a vulnerable side to her. One that only you had really ever seen before.

“... Looking back. I needed that too. And,” She squeezed your hand again. A fond smile appearing on her face, “I’m so happy that I made that choice. No matter what you may think. If I had to do it again. I’d help you out of that wreckage again. And fight the same fight I had to just to get to you. Because, your worth it. And so much more, little brother/sister. So much more.”

You both had tears on the edges of your eyes at the end of her words. The others were silent. Only watching as two of their closest friends had a moment between themselves.

“Hey.” You turned to Finn, “There are some recruits that need some help with blaster repairs. Wanna help?” It was simple job. You nodded, he smile and nodded as well.

Rey kept her hand in yours as she rose. She waited for you to be ready. When you were, you slowly got out of bed.

You knew that, no matter how bleak it got. That you had them. And they’d help in anyway that they could.

And that, while it might be a struggle. You were trying. And that was all that mattered.

#rey #platonic reader #star wars x reader #rey x reader #star wars imagine #rise of skywalker imagine

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misscrawfords · 4 years

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The Rise of Skywalker: Part One

I have lots of thoughts and feelings about TROS. Most of them negative. For three days I’ve been alternating between raging and crying. Finally, I’ve felt able to start writing.

This is a negative review. If you loved the film then this might not be the post for you. I am very sensitive to what happened after TLJ. And I want to reassure anyone reading that I would never turn criticism for a film (which is absolutely a valid response to seeing something that you disliked and are trying to understand) into personal attacks against the actors or creators involved or, worse still, fans who liked it. If you liked TROS, can’t bear to hear any criticism of it, and still choose to read my posts about it, then that is on you. (I really shouldn’t have to say this but this is a hellsite.)

This post contains spoilers for TROS... and Jumanji 2. Go figure.

Things I liked:

· C-3PO and everything he did. This droid is the character I identify with most in the entire SW series (which probably says some uncomfortable things about me but this is not the time!) and he had such a big and important role and his quips were genuinely great and funny and I loved everything he did. Apart from – but more on that later.

· Ben Solo. Uh, other people have talked about his little shrug and his “ow” and his smile – oh god, his smile. Ben Solo is amazing. It’s a shame that – but more on that later.

· I didn’t hate Rey Palpatine. I mean, I literally wrote this story when I was 13 when I made Hermione Voldemort’s daughter as a way of explaining her inner darkness and had her team up with Harry (with whom she had a telepathic bond) to destroy him. (You can read the story here if you really want to.) So it would be pretty hypocritical of me to hate this plotline. I enjoyed seeing angry, feral Rey on screen, I enjoyed seeing a female hero confronting her capacity for destruction and darkness. I was okay with the idea of a final face-off between a Palpatine and a Skywalker and how this is a way of bringing final balance to the Force. This was pretty interesting and I’d be up for this. I much prefer Rey Nobody but as a concept I’m not actually against it. Unfortunately the execution – but more on that later.

· I really enjoyed more of Finn and Poe. I love both of them as characters. I mean I can’t think of a single bit of dialogue that was meaningful between them or what they accomplished in particular for they had some fun moments.

· Finn and Jannah’s conversation about being ex-stormtroopers was a lovely scene, a moment of much-needed quiet and reflection and bonding in a film that was far too hectic and crowded. Shame it went nowhere.

· Reylo kiss? I mean, that was cool.

· Unironically, I loved Hux. He was snarky and his revelation of being the spy because he just hated Kylo that much got the biggest reaction in the cinema of the entire showing. Admittedly it was derisive laughter as we all realised what a clusterfuck of bad writing this film was, but still. It crossed over into so-bad-it’s-good territory. Hux gave me considerable pleasure in a film that otherwise made me very angry.

· My favourite scene in the film was when Rey and Kylo fought on Pasaana over the transport ship with Chewie (apparently) on and Rey blows it up. The cinematography was amazing, it was a visual representation of both balance and building on the lightsaber breaking scene in TLJ while upping the stakes considerably and Rey’s reaction of visceral horror when she realised what she had done was truly shocking and unexpected. To have Chewie killed off so suddenly like this for no reason except that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and the stakes are high and this is a desperate war with casualties – genius. A perfect way to make Rey and Ben even more similar – both having killed father figures – and have Rey confront her dark side as she wrestles with what she has done and the consequences of having a non-unified relationship with Ben while also being in a position to truly empathise with him – this was exactly the content I had signed up for. But it was the moment that it was revealed that Chewie was still alive that I realised what I’d only suspected before then: that this film was terrible and I would not be able to trust any emotion it was inviting me to feel.

Fundamentally, I think that this film is incredibly poorly written and emotionally dishonest. It is telling that I saw Jumanji 2 earlier in the day and out of the two films, the only point at which I cried was when Milo decided to stay in Jumanji as a horse. Why did I cry? Because Milo and Grandpa’s relationship had been gradually built up over the course of a film that was not afraid of quiet moments and building a narrative of a relationship that revealed what it needed over the course of several meaningful scenes. It allowed Milo’s decision to stay to be both a tragic loss but also a happy ending for him. Truly bittersweet and in a way that everyone can relate to. The loss of a dear friend to illness is a horrible but human thing to contemplate. To be able to set this friend free through a metaphor of a beautiful death and afterlife is genuinely moving and hopeful. Unfortunately TROS did not manage to give me any such emotions or elicit a single tear.

At least not till afterwards. I’ve subsequently cried a lot, some of it over the tragedy of Ben and Rey in a film that promised hope, but mainly for myself and the other (mainly) young female fans who have poured all their knowledge and intelligence into analysis of TFA and TLJ and who seemed to understand the story that was being told and who had been promised more of this story in the interviews and trailers released prior to this film – and who are now feeling like absolute garbage as this film throws out its own mythology for an incoherent, self-serving mess that in many ways defies analysis. The only thing I feel really capable of analysing is how much it doesn’t work, as opposed to what the film is trying to do. Where is the symbolism? Where is the metaphor? Where is the hero’s journey? Where is the heroine’s journey? Where is nuance? Where is everything that was set up in both TFA and TLJ? IDK, I can’t see it. It’s a kick in the teeth.

So, no matter how many individual things I was able to enjoy at the time when watching TROS, they end up being meaningless because the entire film was so bad. I can’t feel pleasure thinking about the good bits because they were mired in context (or lack of it). I can’t feel genuine sorrow about the fate of Rey and Ben because the execution of that fate was so poorly done. I don’t even mind that Ben died. It was always an option and the story of redemption followed by death is a very common story, a very Christian story. Though the death of Christ to save us from our sins, is crucially followed by resurrection. I mean, literally everyone can and does die. That doesn’t make you special. If you’re going for a Christ metaphor, you kind of need resurrection too. But I’m not sure that was exactly what they were going for with it; it was a mess and the execution made little internal consistency.

It may be that if I watched the film again, my problems would be lessened and I would see new things in them and they would make sense. I’ve read some twitter threads of people who are making connections and finding explanations on a second or third viewing. But the problem is that I shouldn’t need to see a film more than once to fundamentally understand it. I don’t mean picking up on new and interesting features and subtext which a good film, like a good book, rewards you with on multiple viewings. TLJ does that. But you should be able to follow what the ultimate meaning of a film is when you see it first.

If that is the case, then the ultimate meaning of TROS is that the good are good, the bad are bad, change is rewarded with death, a character who was once alone ends up alone again, plot coherency is sacrificed for whatever explosion or cool backwards-reference is needed at the time, death is not the end except when it is, there is no cosistency and consequently no emotional impact. And apparently it is a happy and hopeful ending? The tonal disconnect with the story being told and the way it was shot and the music being played and the clear intention of the people making the film is utterly jarring.

To famously quote Macbeth:

It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

This post is already too long so I will go into my criticisms in more detail in a further post. Stay tuned!

Read Part Two here.

#tros #tros spoilers #star wars #the rise of skywalker #anti-tros

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setnamora · 4 years

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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and the Death of Romance

***** Contains spoilers, do not read if you have yet to watch the film *****

Yes, before Ben dies they share a wonderful kiss, and each of them find the ‘belonging’ which has been promised to them at earlier instances in the saga. But is knowing you have found your one true love enough at the end? Thinking of Han and Leia’s sacrifices, of their deaths, along with the tragic history of the skywalker family, I cannot accept that Ben’s death was deserved. He was an extraordinary character, with an incredible story arc, and as someone who has experienced such tragedy, to come through it and redeem themselves, it is very uncharacteristic and anti-star wars for them to not have their happy ending.

I cannot put my finger on the message the writers were trying to get across with this final film. It clearly isn’t ‘love conquers all,’ or ‘the faithful will be rewarded,’ or anything close. There are unanswered questions, abandoned story arcs, and the shot of Rey staring at the sunsets on Tattoine only served to say that being a Jedi is awful, everyone you care about dies, your life with be hard and lonely - but hey - you get a funky gold light saber!

#star wars #star wars tros #tros #reylo #reylo shippers #tros spoilers #star wars spoilers #ben solo #kylo ren #rey #rose tico #finn #poe dameron

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themattress · 5 years

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Evangelion: the manga > the anime

Reason 13: The Ending

This is it. The big one. The reason above all else why I think the manga is a better-told version of the NGE story than the anime in spite of all the anime’s many strengths.

Only the manga has a fully satisfying ending.

The anime TV show ending is a preposterous puzzle, filled with increasingly low-budget animation and long-winded philosophical musings as Anno finally makes good on what he had been building to: using the show and characters for his own personal therapy session, which we are a captive audience to. The main details is that Instrumentality has happened...somehow, and that Shinji is in control over whether or not it will go through to completion...somehow. In his depressed state of mind, Shinji is tempted to just let the process run its course so that all life will merge into a single immortal being who will never feel emotional pain again. But with realizations such as there is no real sense of self without the presence of others, truth and reality is what an individual make of it, and that he’s projected his own fears, anxieties and self-loathing onto others in order to shape his negative self-image and that this can fixed, Shinji realizes there is value in living as himself and destroys Instrumentality.

I love the message in this ending and I especially love the conclusion - yeah, everyone clapping and telling Shinji “Congratulations!” is cheesy, but seeing them all smiling and then Shinji himself smiling as a beautiful instrumental version of “Cruel Angel’s Thesis” plays in the background is a great, uplifting note to end what has been such a dark, depressing story on. BUT the lack of details, plot development, or conclusive character development for anyone who isn’t Shinji in favor of all this sermonizing is really annoying. From what can be surmised, a lot of things in the outside world seem to have played similarly to EoE, but it is strongly implied that it’s Gendo’s version of Instrumentality that succeeded here: Gendo, with Adam inside him, merges with Rei who returns to Lilith, creating the Adam/Lilith hybrid being but with Gendo’s mind in control of it. However, his plan to merge with Unit 01 and reunite with Yui goes awry thanks to the mentality of its pilot, Shinji (no thanks to Gendo himself, so it’s pretty karmic), who inadvertently causes the interfusion of souls to happen. The two-part series finale transpires within the minds of all who are caught up in this, particularly Shinji. But by then, viewers were fed up with this kind of mind-screw, so this ending was panned.

Then we have EoE, where we finally get actual details and plot development in the outside world. The big difference is that Rei abruptly turns on Gendo, taking Adam for herself and entering Lilith without him. The Adam/Lilith hybrid being merges with Unit 01 and puts Instrumentality in Shinji’s hands, and this time Shinji consciously and deliberately enacts the interfusion of souls, saying “everyone can just die” (boy, doesn’t that make him likable, huh?)

This is part of EoE’s biggest problem: it is made when Anno is no longer in a state of therapeutic pondering, but a state of anger and hatred. This anger and hatred permeates throughout the entire movie, informing every choice made in it. Shinji jerks off over Asuka’s comatose body. Misato is cold and abusive toward Shinji, and then dies for nothing. Shinji doesn’t honor her final wishes and just mopes. Asuka receives an uplifting emotional closure that brings her badassness back, only to be defeated in battle and utterly brutalized. Ritsuko fails because one of her mother’s AI computers betrays her in favor of Gendo, who shoots her dead. Gendo is killed in a mind-screwy way that plays to his worst fears and offers no redemption whatsoever. Shinji strangles Asuka within his own mind, then proceeds to willfully destroy humanity. And during the equivalent to the TV show’s therapeutic sequence where Shinji changes his mind about Instrumentality, the Adam/Lilith hybrid being has its throat sliced open right after actual written death threats to Anno from fans disgruntled over the TV show’s ending flashes on screen. And through all of this, Shinji just keeps SCREAMING!!!

This cinematic ending is wonderfully directed, beautifully animated, and contains a lot of great ideas, but it is just so unpleasant to watch. Even when coming to the same uplifting message, it falls flat when the last scene is Shinji washed up on the shore of a barren hellscape along with “Asuka”, who he truly does strangle this time, only to stop when she touches his face which leads to him breaking down into heavy sobbing. Asuka quietly says “How disgusting”, and suddenly “The End” comes on screen. That’s it, that’s how it ends: not with Shinji being congratulated and smiling, but Shinji crying while being insulted yet again. What. The. Fuck!? If the TV show’s ending was the equivalent of Anno guiding the viewer through a slow, tranquil therapy session in order to lead them to the story’s moral, this ending is the equivalent of Anno mercilessly beating the shit out of the viewer until they grasp the story’s moral. And the problem with that is that most viewers aren’t going to remember the moral, they’re just going to remember the beating! Anno failed to stick the landing twice, and unfortunately I’m hedging my bets that he’s going to strike out with his third attempt next year in the ending to the Rebuild film series, especially with how that series has gone thusfar.

With the manga’s ending, Sadamoto combines the tranquil therapeutic sensibilities and clearly uplifting message of the TV ending with the plot and detail of EoE. It’s essentially EoE as it should have been, since it’s being made by someone who isn’t in such a negative state of mind as Anno was. Each alteration made here is an improvement, and these include:

- Shinji doesn’t jerk off to Asuka’s comatose body, and instead tries to shake her awake while yelling about how much she means to him. She wakes up in a fit of indiscriminate madness and (hilariously enough) strangles Shinji before being restrained by the infirmary staff.

- That scene with Gendo and Shinji is added, doing wonders for both characters.

- Misato, while maintaining a hardened edge, isn’t abusive to Shinji. After slapping him when it’s necessary, she pulls him into a hug, saying that she isn’t like Gendo - she wants him to pilot Eva, but not just for others: for himself, too, and that she won’t allow him to lose hope.

- Misato is given a more triumphant send-off, blowing herself and several enemy troops up with a grenade rather than just being shot down. We also get a chapter cover where she is reunited with Kaji in the afterlife. I still hate that she died, but this is better than EoE’s version.

- Rather than moping and wasting Misato’s last request when he sees Unit 01 stuck, Shinji rediscovers his backbone and wills it free by appealing to Yui’s soul within it. (“MOVE!”) Because of this, Shinji is able to rescue Asuka before she can be brutalized by the MP-Evas.

- After Rei turns on Gendo, it is revealed that Ritsuko isn’t quite dead after Gendo had shot her after all, and she is able to fatally shoot him through the neck before finally expiring.

- Shinji’s mind-fucking when the Adam/Lilith hybrid being merges with Unit 01 is portrayed completely different, centering around a flashback between him and Yui. The decision he comes to deliberately initiate the interfusion of souls has a completely different motivation: he wants to save everyone rather than destroy them, Lilith messing with his mind has skewed his noble intentions and made him believe that Instrumentality is the only way to stop everyone from suffering ever again. This, along with what ends up happening later, maintains sympathy for Shinji, as he is trying to do the right thing and is being misled on how to do it.

- Asuka gets “tanged” during Instrumentality, with the Rei spirit who does so to her appearing to her as Kaji, whom Asuka is happy to realize did love her even if in a fatherly way and not in the romantic/sexual sense, which provides some closure to that relationship. Given that Asuka spoke of Kaji after her mind rape in both the anime and manga, this is appreciated.

- Gendo’s death isn’t a cruel WTF moment, but his only measure of atonement as Yui’s spirit guides him to remember that he did love Shinji from the start and denied that to himself because he was afraid of loving his child and being loved by his child given the issues he developed with his own father. Gendo’s dying wish is for Shinji to survive...and to live.

- The climax within the merged Adam/Lilith hybrid and Unit 01 is between Shinji and Rei (no needless Kaworu cameo here). Instead of Rei, then Kaworu, and finally Yui convincing Shinji to reverse course, Shinji decides it all by himself: his head is now clear of Lilith’s meddling and he realizes that this horrific result isn’t what he wanted after all...yes, everyone will no longer suffer, but only because there no longer is an “everyone” to suffer. Even if it comes with pain, people can only be people when they are allowed to be their own individuals and co-exist with each other. Rei had re-joined Lilith hoping for this exact outcome, and together she and Shinji re-awakens Yui’s soul and they destroy the Adam/Lilith hybrid being together, reversing Instrumentality and returning all souls to where they belong in a truly spectacular sequence. Thus, as “Cruel Angel’s Thesis” says, does a young boy become a legend.

- Rei has an emotional death scene where, without Adam/Liltih to sustain her, her soul breaks apart and is fragmented across the new Earth, becoming snow. Her final words to Shinji are thanking him for helping her develop her own individual self, and her final thoughts are that she, merged with the new world, will be waiting for Shinji to be reborn there. It’s beautiful.

- Before Shinji fully becomes LCL in preparation for his rebirth, he actually sees the souls of Yui and Gendo, projected from Unit 01 which remains in space. This brings closure to the main theme of the story: the relationship between Shinji and his parents, combining a visual from the TV ending (Shinji smiling as he is congratulated by his parents) and Yui’s inspiring words from EoE (”As long as the sun and the moon and the Earth exists, it will be all right.”)

- The perfect epilogue to the story, where we actually get to see the new world and humanity reborn into it rather than just Yui’s claims that it could happen. It is snowing, which means a proper weather cycle is back rather than endless summer. The MP-Evas are frozen like statues, and are considered mysterious artifacts by humans, who no longer remember anything involving Evas and the Angels. The new, well-adjusted Shinji meets the new, well-adjusted Asuka for the first time (oh, and Kensuke too). And the sequence of Shinji walking down the street mirrors the beginning of the manga, except this time his inner monologue is different: uplifting and optimistic rather than depressed and cynical. As we see that he still bears the crucifix that Misato gave him before she died, we hear that he is keeping his promise to her: “I will do my best. I will find my own path. It may be rough and winding, with driving wind and rain, and some days may be freezing cold. But...I know the sun will light the way. My future...holds infinite possibilities”. Damn it! It brings tears to my eyes every time!

Sadamoto is the only one to end the story of NGE in a truly ideal way. And this factor alone is justification for my unshakable belief that the manga is the definitive version of that story.

#Evangelion #Opinion #Comparison

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princeasimdiya12 · 5 years

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How would you rank the SDRA2 cast and what’s your opinion on all of them? I’ve also find it sad that the sequel is getting attention and a translation before it’s original story. As we don’t know much on the original and have to be spoiled about the original./

Well to answer the second part of this, it is pretty sad that the original isn’t as well known compared to the sequel. I’m not to familiar with LINUS’s way of promoting his series’ but I think it’s mainly because of promotion and the advancements in animation. I doubt the Western fandom knew anything about Another Despair Academy when it first came out; it also doesn’t help that it’s really hard to find videos for playthroughs of that game which is how many fans even watch the DR series. You also have to admit that SDRA2 looks significantly better in terms of art style and character designs making it more appealing and attractive in comparison to the original. I can only hope that more people will look into DRA with the success of SDRA2.

Now for the first part of the question. I’m putting this under the readmore since it ended up getting long and it contains spoilers for both SDRA2 and it’s original game Dangan Ronpa Another: Despair Academy or DRA.

To start, I love Sora. She’s more serious as a protagonist and is straight to the point when interacting with others. I also thought her actions in Chapter 4 made her a more compelling character. Granted trying to kill a big friendly guy was not a good thing to do, I can understand what she was trying to do in saving her friend. I also love that she’s more proactive with her actions; whether it’s cutting through the bullroar of a character or actually looking for answers for their identity and the killing game itself. I appreciate that about her.

For Kokoro, I do like her but not so much that she’s a fave. I love that she puts her analytical powers to great use during the first chapters and how she was even able to give the other students a clue even as she was dying. That was wonderful to see. But I’m just not into her because of how monotone her personality is and how she didn’t make much of an effort to interact with the others. Though I did like that she tried to reach out to Emma in an act of friendship.

I have conflicting feelings for Iroha but I ultimately love her. The feelings come from her stance as a Void member and why a timid, fragile girl like her is even involved in a dark group like them. I’m interested to learn more about her but I’m worried that she may disappoint me if the reasons for her involvement and her lack of commitment aren’t as compelling. But I do love her design and the amount of potential as to how she ended up with Void to begin with is what makes me consider her to be a fave.

Yoruko is another girl I like very much. She’s a great friend that does her best to support Sora and she has very respectable morals. I would love her more but I don’t know much about her backstory or how involved she is during the Daily Life segments. Once I learn more about her with the translations then she’ll definitely rise to a favorite.

And for Kanade….I have conflicting feelings for her. On one hand, I actually like her as a villain considering that she set up that elaborate murder scheme and her nightmare sprites are both terrifying and awesome. But on the other hand, I really don’t like how she obsessed over her sister while killing off anyone that Hibiki loved/liked. That’s just messed up. She’s great as a villain but I don’t condone her abusive and incestious love.

I consider Emma to be one of my favorites too. She has a great character design, I love her tranquil personality, and I like how she utilized her acting talent while committing her murder. It’s something you’d expect and she pulled it off perfectly. And just like Iroha, I’m also interested in knowing what her life was like that led her to join Void. There’s so much potential from a cool talented girl like her and I can’t wait to read about it in the future.

Just like her twin, I also have conflicting feelings for Hibiki. I feel sorry that she grew up with such a monster of a sister and how she was defenseless in stopping her. On the other, I didn’t really care for how bratty and self centered she was in the first chapters. And I’m also confused as to how she can pull off bullying her sister considering how much of a serial killer she is. Like, how did that work? I don’t know. She has my sympathies but I’m pretty indifferent towards her.

I’m also really neutral with Setsuka. I liked her outfit and how she was trying to be cool in front of the others but I really didn’t feel much for her. I guess her personality didn’t stand out to me as the others. She was alright.

Now for the guys!

Yuki is okay for me. He’s not a fave but I do like that he’s been a good friend for Sora. But I’m kinda nervous over what will happen to him in the final chapters. I know that he the other personality Utsuro who is a SHSL Despair and I’m worried over how he’ll transform again. It also doesn’t help that he’s taking the killing game alot harder than past protagonists. Which I can respect and appreciate to be honest; a killing game is a traumatic experience so I like that Yuki isn’t taking it as well like the canon predecessors. I just hope he has a happy ending after all of this.

Hajime is on the same level as Setsuka; I like his design but I just didn’t care for him. His personality of taking care of his health followed by switching to a standard evil villain wasn’t that appealing for me. But I do like his Void segments which are a great way to expand his character. I like that.

For Syobai, I can proudly say he’s my all time favorite character in SDRA2. There’s a couple of reasons for that. For starters, he reminds me alot of Hagakure (my all time favorite DR character) because of his scruffy appearance, his sleazy appearance and his carefree attitude. He really comes off as a dynamic character because of his shady background as a trafficker along with how his actions in the killing game tend to vary based on the circumstances. Whether it be trying to sabotage the others (trying to stab Yuki, helping Emma with her fake alibi) or helping the group showing a noble side (tending to Sora’s wound after stabbing her, helping out in the later trials). I can see that he slowly starts to be more involved and care for the group as the killing game continues. He fascinates me and I’m dying to know about his backstory and what will become of him at the end of the game. I only hope that he shows signs of having a good heart so I can love him even more!

I like Shinji. He’s a good man and I respect everything he does. From trying to be friends with everyone in the group in an attempt to win over the Voids, to him sacrificing himself to save Yuki and Sora from being executed. That was very honorable and I respect how caring and full of love he is. My only issue with him is how he gets too nervous when talking with girls; I’m not a fan of that trope. But I still love him regardless. And he’s quite handsome too!

Sadly I can’t say the same for Yuri. While I get that he was trying to come off as a ‘knight in shining armor’ for the girls, I didn’t like how he kept pushing on that image even when the girls weren’t interested. He came off as too self-centered with his desire to be immortalized that it makes him look like an arrogant a-hole instead of an ideal man. Plus he kinda looks alot like Nagito and I’m not a fan of that guy. >.>

For Mikado, I have conflicted feelings for the guy. On one hand, I think he makes a great and effective villain for the DR story. I’m also interested to know whether his powers are an actual thing or if he’s actually a computer program that allows him to use his powers in the virtual world. (It’s not confirmed that the story takes place in a virtual world but it is a possible theory given the circumstances). But on the other, I kinda don’t like him. Mainly because he comes off as too OP and untouchable. Like he’s practically getting away with everything and the students can’t stop him. It just rubs me the wrong way.

I’m pretty neutral towards Nikei. He’s an okay guy and I do love that he tried to betray Mikado since the beginning. But apart from that, I’m just not really interested in him as a character.

I actually like Teruya but I don’t know much about him in the SDRA2 storyline. I do like that he grew more mature since his appearance on DRA and that he still has that friendly side to him. I also like that he’s also proactive in the events of the story (serving as Kokoro’s bodyguard when she attempted to interrogate Emma). I still need to know how he interacts with the others before I can consider him to be an official fave. Also I think he’s pretty hot and he looks great in a speedo. Don’t judge me.

Now for Bonus characters!

Rei is also another character that I’d love to learn more about. I saw bits and pieces of her appearance on DRA and she was pretty much Togami if he were a girl. From what I’ve seen of her, her personality is more composed since DRA and is more cooperative with Teruya. I also think her new design looks really cool. I also like to believe that she’s still alive and will still be involved in the killing game in some way. (This would also tie in with the theory of everything being a simulation).

And last but not least, I personally like Monocrow. He definitely stands out from Monokuma since he’s more refined as a killing game mascot. He’s still obsessed with the killing game but he also has a dramatic appeal that he pulls off very well with his deep, foreboding voice. It’s like if Gundam Tanaka was reincarnated as a toy bird with an evil streak. I like it alot!

And those are my opinions for all the characters in SDRA2. Although my opinions for some of them may change once the official translations for the playthrough come out so this is what I think so far. Thank you for asking me this anon! I hope you enjoy my answers!

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i-wish-we-were-jedi · 6 years

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So here’s my take on The Last Jedi:

I had no major problems with the movie as a whole: good cinematography, stunning locations, beautiful symbolism. But one little thing. Just one little thing bugs me.

Finn. It felt to me like Finn just repeated his arc from Episode 7: going from running away, to fighting. Yes, I've heard the argument that he comes back for a different reason in the end, but iif someone can't watch the movie and cipher that out for their self, it's still way too similar. Here's the plot idea that I've been throwing around here and there since TLJ came out:

Finn doesn't escape when the Resistance evacuates their base. He's still unconscious, and something happens: maybe the transport he's in gets shot down or something. Either way, he is captured by the First Order, but Phasma and Hux decide not to kill him, because here's the thing: they're not stupid. If they kill the Stormtrooper that broke his programming, they prove to every other Stormtrooper in the order that he is dangerous, and more importantly, that their programming can be broken. But what if they somehow are able to integrate him back into the order. They can spin it so that "Even the Deviant FN2187 eventually realized that he could not escape his programming and came back." Whether through brainwashing or through the capture of other resistance agents who will be killed if Finn does not comply, they get him back. And he is back in the ranks as a faceless stormtrooper because he has to. He has no choice.

And then somewhere along the way he meets this cute little First Order Mechanic, Rose. The First Order picked her up off a planet where she grew up as a slave. Her sister escaped the First Order, like Finn, and joined the Resistance. She is trying to get Rose out. Finn accidentally walks in on Rose sending a transmission to her sister and Rose, thinking that Finn will turn her in, stuns him. Of course, once Finn and Rose have a chance to talk things through, they eventually realize they are on the same side and because they have no one else around them to confide in, become friends. He is even able to use her little transmitter to get information back to the Resistance through Rose's sister, who it turns out knows Poe pretty well.

Rose tells Finn that in the time that he has not been with the First Order, he has developed a bit of a reputation among the other Troopers. He is the reason that she and her sister tried to escape. "The Stormbreaker" is what the troopers call him (I got that from someone else's fanfiction about him, but I really like it). Finn and Rose eventually meet a small group of Stormtroopers that want to escape the order, and inadvertently become their unofficial leaders (among this group is an officer dubbed DJ within the group, who proves to be a traitor later). The group contains, a couple officers, a handful of pilots, a few stormtroopers, maybe one or two special ops, some intelligence officers, and several other slave-labor mechanics like Rose. Together, the group begins to set up their own covert network within the Order. Finn is their leader, but Rose handles a lot of the organization, since Finn is very high-profile and the Order wouldn't suspect a tiny slave girl, at least not at first.

All this time, the rest of the story has been proceeding almost exactly the same as the actual movie, just minus Finn and Rose and the Canto Byt (sp?) sequence. Rey still Force-times with Ben and all that Reylo stuff (which I LOVE), and Poe is still in contact with Finn and Rose.

Anyway, Poe tells Finn that he's planning on taking down Holdo, and Poe tells Finn that they need to stop the hyperspace tracking or something along those lines. So Finn and Rose mobilize their small group and get to work, but just like the actual movie, they are turned in by DJ and this time, Phasma and Hux decide that defaming Finn's image didn't work, so best just make an example of them.

And again, just like the movie, this is when Holdo rams Snoke's ship and we not only get to see Finn duel Phasma head-on, we get to see him leading his small army of "Stormbreakers" against what is left of Phasma's men. And prevailing!

Under Finn's leadership, the group steals some First Order fighters and goes down to Crayt, where the rebels are cornered. They are able to help them somewhat, but in the end it's not enough, and Rose's sister is shot down in the fight. The remainder of the Stormbreakers retreats to the fortress and Luke has his showdown moment with Ben, Rey still has her "lifting rocks" moment, and we still get to see Rey and Finn’s reunion.

So these changes would have given us more insight into how the First Order works through the eyes of several members, and would have given us more chance to explore the character of Rose AND her sister. This makes Holdo's plan of evacuation make sense, and it makes sense that she wouldn't tell Poe or Paige (Rose's sister) about it because they are in direct contact with members of the First Order, and Poe and Paige would have told her that because they want Finn and Rose rescued. Holdo would have assumed there was a spy. This completely cuts out the problem of the hyperspace tracker never being mentioned or confirmed besides it being a plot device to get Finn and Rose moving, because we would have occasion to see it used, and Rose might even be one of the people that operate it but might not know what it does until told, so once Poe and Paige tell them that, they would be able to sabotage or disable it.

EDIT: And also, it would give us more time to see Finn interact with Phasma. We see a little in TFA that she views him as a bit of a “problem child,” but we didn’t get a whole lot of Phasma action in TLJ, and I am forever sorrowful about that. END EDIT.

Also, big thing, this would have fixed the scene at the end, "Not fighting what we hate but saving what we love," because these fixes above actually make it a theme of the story that oftentimes what we hate and what we love are wrapped up in the same object. Rey and Kylo have that hate-love theme already. And Poe and Paige would be unable to stop the First Order without possibly killing Finn and Rose, so that is a dilemma for them. These changes actually make way for conversations about what "we love being contained within something we hate" cropping up all over the place. The line, though it's poorly-placed makes more sense for what the theme of the film is with these changes.

So, what do you guys think? Better or worse? Scenes that you thought needed to be addressed and fixed that weren't?

#star wars #episode 8 #the last jedi #rose tico #finn #fn2187 #stormbreaker #paige tico #vice admiral holdo #leia skywalker organa #luke skywalker #rey #fanfiction #last jedi fix #poe dameron #kylo ren #ben solo

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kudamomo · 6 years

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Top 10 Favorite Anime

*Doesn’t contain spoilers (ㅅ´ ˘ `)♡

1. Michiko to Hatchin (2008-2009)

“Michiko to Hatchin,” may appear slightly flawed to the eyes of others, but I have fallen completely in love with this show for a plethora of reasons, both personal and critical. First and foremost, diversity is theme I am particularly fond of, fictionally and in the real world, so seeing an anime that takes place in South America was like a much needed breath of fresh air. On top of that, the soundtrack was completely on par with the gunslinger vibe the show gave off while still keeping the setting of South America in mind. Typically, in 24 episode long shows, such as “Michiko to Hatchin,” the show will begin to drag at some point during the middle. However, the director, Sayo Yamamoto, skillfully switches the show from being story driven to episodic as to keep the viewer entertained and when the time came, picked the story right back up where it left off. Ultimately, I bestow this show with the first 10 out of 10 on this list for its unique setting, characters, and adept pacing.

2. Cowboy Bebop (1998-1999)

Arguably, not only Shinichiro Watanabe’s greatest creation, but one of the greatest anime shows of all time, is the iconic “Cowboy Bebop.” As to why this show is ranked so high up in this list, as well as any other top anime list, is fairly self explanatory. But to reiterate basically the entire anime community’s opinion on “Cowboy Bebop,” first, it takes place sometime in the far future and hubs on the misadventures of the bounty hunter, Spike Spiegel, and his partners as they search for criminals. Essentially, every aspect of the show is nearly or truly is perfect. The smashing soundtrack to the wonderfully cultivated characters to the attractively sculpted ending, everything, and I mean everything, about “Cowboy Bebop,” screams a 10 out of 10.

3. Barakamon (2014)

“Barakamon,” is a light hearted, genuinely funny, comedic slice of life anime. It pivots on Handa Seishuu, a calligrapher with a tremendous ego and severe anger issues. After punching another renowned calligrapher, after he criticized Handa’s work for being comparatively lifeless and ‘textbook,’ essentially boring, he is exiled to Gotō Island to better himself and his works. In his duration on Gotō Island, he encounters outlandish Japanese village folk, such as a little girl named Naru Kotoishi. Sooner or later, Handa soon finds himself changing for the better as a result of his stay on Gotō Island. Personally, comedy anime have never been my cup of tea for the sole reason that they fail to make me laugh, but evidently “Barakamon,” came along. I mean, I fell so hard in love with this series that I own the first nine volumes of the manga for it is astoundingly beautiful and hilarious. “Barakamon,” is a soon to be classic for the next generation of anime fans and a simple 10 out of 10 that will surely get laughs out of any person to come across it.

4. Mind Game (2004)

Made by the man, the myth, and the legend himself, comes debatably Masaaki Yuasa’s greatest work, “Mind Game.” “Mind Game,” is in fact a film not a single person could ever explain to you what it’s about. If anything could describe the film, is that it’s about the mind boggling experience of second chances and rebirth. If that doesn’t seem to have enough substance for you, then keep in mind, based off of Masaaki Yuasa’s track record of finely tuned character development and crazy animation, you’ll have to trust me when I say this, “Mind Game,” is a must see for it is nothing short of cinematic, surreal, masterpiece for I myself even own a copy of this movie. Conclusively, the irrefutable rating this film deserves is an obvious 10 out of 10.

5. Mononoke (2007)

“Mononoke,” no, not the movie, is a spinoff of the 2006 horror series “Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales.” “Mononoke,” is an episodic series that focuses on a mysterious demon vanquisher, respectively disguised as a medicine seller, and the trials and tribulations he must go through in order to save the demoniac and surmount the demon itself. The first notable feature of “Mononoke” is its usage of color and perspective(s) that make each story within the show all the more captivating and exciting to watch. To go along with that, each story goes in massive depth with its characters, successfully inducing a very emotionally powerful relationship with the viewer almost every time. Yet, as the ending isn’t necessarily sub par, it leaves you hungering for more. Nonetheless, this show deserves nothing but a 10 out of 10.

6. Ping Pong the Animation (2014)

This being Masaaki Yuasa’s second appearance on this list, the only other work this position could've been gifted to is his masterful “Ping Pong the Animation.” Masaaki Yuasa, once again, is notorious for his stellar character development and this is it in its prime. Somehow, each character, no matter how insignificant, has a profound effect on the show and everlasting impact on the viewer. It’s almost unbelievable how a show about ping pong could be so relatable with the main characters inner struggles and their escapist hobbies whilst remaining an intense an interesting sports anime like any other. A facile 10 out of 10.

7. Kekkai Sensen (2015-2017)

“Kekkai sensen,” is definitely one of the more light hearted series on this list in which it’s about the supernatural monsters that now live alongside humans in places such as Hellsalem's Lot, formerly known as New York City. The main character soon finds himself leading out an extraordinary life in the said city as he joins the estranged group Libra after attaining the All-seeing Eyes of the Gods at the expense of his sister's eyesight. “Kekkai Sensen,” is a fun and witty show that any anime fan would enjoy. The visuals are eye-catching as well as the music being funky, making it quite the delightful series. Even so, as the finale approaches, it becomes unexpectedly emotional furthering the show’s greatest and superiority as well as establishing a great sense of character depth. Final rating, 9.6 out of 10.

8. In This Corner of the World (2017)

“In This Corner of the World,” is a film that takes place in Hiroshima during World War II, which focuses on a young woman by the name of Suzu and her daily struggles during this time period. This seemingly drab movie in fact blossoms into something tragically beautiful and easily one of the greatest anime films ever composed, alongside the aforementioned “Mind game.” It unexpectedly tugs at your heart strings with magnificently animated pieces of Suzu’s art to display her interpersonal feelings when faced with particular situations, topped with an equally wondrous soundtrack. This film executes all the components, such as character development, pacing, and directing, of a good anime perfectly, making it optimal for critical and personal enjoyment. Final verdict, an easy 10 out of 10.

9. Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-1996)

“Neon Genesis Evangelion,” is another iconic franchise that effected the anime community as well as the mecha genre itself as we know it today. “Neon Genesis Evangelion,” takes place in a post-apocalyptic era whereas humanity’s last hopes is in the hands of Nerv, a special agency ran by the United Nations. Nerv was founded in order to combat Angels, the species responsible for the destruction of Earth, using Evangelions. The show specifically focuses on the youth, Shinji, Asuka, and Rei, who pilot the Evangelions and their emotional reactions as a result of the responsibility being forcibly left on their shoulders. Although “Neon Genesis Evangelion,” is nothing apparent to reality, it feels exactly like real life. The emotional responses of the characters are ones you would witness in real people or rather experience yourself. The realism and psychology this show implements is absolutely groundbreaking and proved extremely influential on future mature anime. Thus, “Neon Genesis Evangelion,” is so deservingly awarded with a 10 out of 10 for the emotional levels throughout each episode.

10. Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis (2014)

Based off the “Shingeki no Bahamut,” card game franchise comes “Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis,” as created by Studio Mappa. The show centers on a world of demons that are in constant war against angels and humans, but as the ancient dragon Bahamut appears before them and lays waste to their planet, the aforementioned races combined their forces in order to expel Bahamut and preserve life. However, thousands of years later, a mysterious woman by the name Amira appears in front of two bounty hunters, Favaro and kaiser, who ironically holds half of the key that is sealing Bahamut away. Simply, this show is nothing short of badass paired with a rock and roll soundtrack combined with quirky characters who you will fall in love with as they fall in love with each other. Final rating, 9.8 out of 10.

#michiko to hatchin #cowboy bebop #barakamon #mind game #mononoke #ping pong the animation #kekkai sensen #in this corner of the world #neon genesis evangelion #shingeki no bahamut: genesis #anime #anime review #anime film #anime movie #shinichiro watanabe #masaaki yuasa #studio mappa #studio bones #science saru

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italicwatches · 5 years

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Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online - Episode 12

Well today’s all over the fucking place. Let’s get this done and play some Smash. It’s Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online, episode 12! Here we GO!

-Opening!

-Episode 12! “Applause”

-We begin right where we left off, with Pito and LLENN staring each other down. Pito’s thrilled, giddy, riding a wild high of a match with life and death on the line. LLENN tries to get real answers out of Pito, to hear her version of the story…And you know, death games are stupid bullshit, right? LLENN won’t even touch fantasy games after the SAO Incident from that super fucking garbage game ruining their whole reputation!

-So Pito cracks AND LLENN IS ON HER LIKE SONIC ON A FURRY SITE! SLASH TO THE THIGH, REVERSE, STRIKE TO THE NECK!

-Pito’s photon sword hits the water before she can even do more than snap it on, and she just PUNCHES LLENN right in the jaw, knocking the rabbit flying across the water! Pito’s down to 20% in that single exchange, and she’s pissed at herself…Then, she grabs P-chan the second, still having some life in it. Is this the end…?!

-No! Look, LLENN! Look close! No Bullet Line…P-chan’s firing mechanism is broken. Indeed, when Pito tries to fire, P-chan explodes in her hands, as she gives herself to save LLENN! The honor of the gun…We will remember you, P-chan!

-LLENN moves in on sheer instinct, Pito blinded by the flash and flame, and goes for the final strike…Only for Pito to catch her on sheer instincts, and knock her back! P-chan shatters, as Pito hauls LLENN up into the air, and even catches LLENN’s desperation play of a thrown knife…But Pito doesn’t want it. She calls M over, who’s managed to catch and bind Fukaziroh, and wants to borrow a gun to do this right…

-He tosses her his typical pistol, which she first aims at them…And fires twice, into M’s cheeks?! She knew he was a traitor. He played her, trying to put her in a position where she’d lose to LLENN…Any last words, M?

-He loves you. He has from the start. She knew. But love has no place on a battlefield. And she fires, right between the eyes. You are so fucked up, Pito! As a geyser erupts, she sings in German, and Pito gets her attention…Just long enough for Fukaziroh to to free herself with her hair knife! She charges in fast, Pito desperately putting LLENN in the way…

-JUST DO IT, FUKA! CUT AND KICK!

-Fuka cuts without hesitation! LLENN’s hands come off in a flash, and a boot sends her flying into Pito, where she bites down onto Pito’s throat with all the force of a crocodile! She bites, and rages, and tears into Pito’s flesh, seeking nothing less than her total end! But no, you won’t die…This is a game you stupid idiot! This is for FUN! So lose. Survive. And honor the promise they made, to meet in real life, you jackass. …You got it. And then she bites down again, taking that last hit point, as everyone just stares at the feed…

-And finally, the death flag pops up. Pito’s down. It’s over—

-A HAIL OF GUNFIRE RAGES, and T-S blasts LLENN and Fukaziroh to the ground, ending them before a single reaction can happen. …The audience reaction is not nearly as positive as it was the last time a Squad Jam ended.

-In the aftermath, Karen treats the gymnastics club to sweets and tea to thank them so thoroughly for their hard work and help. And they knew it was her birthday, so they got her something, too!

-A simple, but beautiful necklace, a representation of their connection. They will always be friends, both in this world and GGO, Karen.

-Of course, then there’s the issue of Pito…Cut to Karen and Miyu arriving at the airport, and joined by Goushi. Who Miyu is down with. She can make this sugar daddy thing work with you IRL too! Sadly, he solely loves the woman behind Pito. …Dammit.

-But, okay, into the car, time to drive to meet Pito. So what’s she like in real life? …You’ll see when you meet her. Though he can tell how things started. It might help. So he passes over his phone, which has an old selfie…He used to be chunky, real chunky. He’d always been big, and lacked self-confidence…When he met Pito, he fell in love immediately. And he wanted to be good enough for her. Wanted to be worthy of her.

-He was just another follower. When she confronted him…He ended up bound, tied, and blackmailed. It started with her essentially enslaving him…But in there, he found himself. Found a way to strive to be better for her.

-Karen quietly realizes that the M in his screen name comes from BDSM. Our boy’s a masochist.

-So that was life. And in time, it became happiness…Until the SAO Incident. When Pito’s obsession tipped to the edge.

-And they get to…Elsa Kanzaki’s secret concert at a local club! Pito owns this club. She helped forge Elsa’s fame. And Miyu is so very giddy, as they step on in. All is black and dark…And there, on the stage, is Elsa, clinging to an acoustic guitar. She sings, and plays, and pours out her heart…I mean, I think she does, we don’t got no song subs. I’m assuming this is a good and heartfelt song, though! I bet it contains lots of important story beats!

-Yeah, I can only imagine what we’d be learning about Elsa if we could understand a word she’s saying.

-It would change the world.

-Yep.

-Oh hey I get to understand the story again. As we meet one Satou Rei…And Karen steps right past to praise Elsa, who’s nervously in the corner. Because Karen’s realized the gambit they’re playing. Rei isn’t Pito…Elsa is. …Explain how you figured it out!

-One, Goushi got them here right before your performance. So close they had to come in via the side and not even find seats. If it had been even a few minutes before, they could have sat with Rei, if she was the real Pito. And then they came to your dressing room, not Rei’s office. Which meant it was for a reason. And the simplest one, was so you could see the situation and watch how they reacted.

-And then the second…Was how Goushi found her. How could he have put it together? …Her fan letter. The first time she connected Karen to LLENN for anyone except Miyu, and the only time once you rule out SHINC. The only person who would have known, would have been Elsa…Or, well, possibly Goushi, considering how famous you are.

-If Rei had been your manager, well, that might’ve actually worked. But a club owner wouldn’t have reason to have all the dots to connect. And Rei’s off to continue her actual work, letting them have their moment.

-When Karen hugs Elsa immediately, holding her tight. And she finally lets out all the tears, all the worry and fear and despair she felt about the possibility of losing a precious friend. Which Elsa responds to be kissing her. She might just keep you, too. Maybe she’ll come to your place and they can play, she could stay overnight…Karen has a panic.

-Credits!

-Aftercredits! Pito and LLENN are hanging out in the battlefield, and Pito wants to hang out in real life. No! You have a concert coming up! Goushi was upset that you were playing games instead of practicing, you know! You need to take better care of him, to say nothing of your job! How cruel, LLENN. …But the game is fun, isn’t it? It is. And Pito’s managed to overcome her shit, in the time since their meeting. She’s gotten help, she’s seen the value of life again. Even if she’s still pretty brutal in battle. …Maybe. But she never expected to see someone be even more ferocious than her.

-Really? Who?

-…Are you fucking serious you little murder bunny. Oh shit the trap went off TIME FOR A BLOODBATH MOVE MOVE MOVE!

Well, that’s about what I expected for the twist. Though the parts where Elsa and Goushi have a BDSM relationship so rough it could be hastily edited and published as a separate property was certainly a surprise.

And overall, a good show! I won’t lie, I’m curious if there’s more material, or if this was anime-original with no light novel or whatever to adapt…Or, I suppose, if it was a limited run that the anime covered the entirety of, but that sounds impossible.

So, what’s next? You know what, after all the games and fun, I think it’s time we did something a little more…Educational, what do you say? Wait for it!

#where I watch #recap #anime #sword art online #gun gale online #sao alternative

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lumifuer · 6 years

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Unlikely || Chapter 2

Pairings: General Hux x Reader Words: 2237 Warnings: Violence, choking, angst A/N: It took me so long to post a second chapter but I’ve been meaning to write this story for quite some time and I wanted to make sure it’s polished. Hope you’ll enjoy!

Series Summary: As you rise through the ranks of The First Order you find yourself drawn to a certain ginger general. But when your deepest secrets see the light of the day in the process will it be your new beginning or a bitter end?

CHAPTER 1 || CHAPTER 2

The ride in the elevator was a silent one, the air tense with anticipation and subtle hints of anxiety that you could easily pick up in both yourself and Armitage.

As you were carefully building up your defences, the general once again tore his down in order to ask one more thing of you, his voice worn but still kind. "Whatever happens, my dear, I request you do not intertwine. I'm afraid it would only make the matters worse."

He turned his head to steal a brief glance at you and you offered him a weak but reassuring smile. "I will try my best, general."

He calculated the time he's got left before the door slides open and quickly took your hand, pulling it gently to his lips to place a soft kiss on your skin. His grip lingered and you were forced to pull away because the next floor went past already, delivering you dangerously close to the throne room level. A barely noticeable sign of longing and concern surfaced on his face before it was transformed back into his usual mask. You sighed, dropping your gaze to the floor stung by this all too familiar ache in your chest.

You could no longer see his face but you knew that his spread legs and hands folded on the back were his only means to hide a light shiver going down his spine with every passing level. It made you realise just how hard this conversation might turn out to be.

And you had a bad feeling about this.

The sound of the loud ding shot through the air, letting you know it was your stop. Armitage straightened up, preparing to keep his chin up and you took a long breath to rid yourself of the remaining doubts. Your secrets were kept under a heavy layer of fear that was only partially fabricated by you consciously, and another consisting of your admiration towards the ginger general.

It was hard to remember that when you first met him the boiling hatred aimed at him was almost too apparent to contain and after the handshake you shared you battled with the urge to wash your hands immediately.

The door slid open revealing a huge throne room you've heard so much about. You looked around in awe, seeing it properly for the very first time. Needless to say, it wasn't a particularly pleasant astonishment one might feel while looking at a work of art. This place was crushing your bones under its weight. The ominous red-lit space was almost empty, echoes of your steps bounced off the walls, creating a dream-like scenery. You felt tiny and insignificant but gravest of all - ambushed.

The throne itself was situated in the middle, placed on a small platform as if the surroundings weren't enough to make sure everyone knew who was in command. The chair was dark with subtle traces of silver and you could swear you saw old blood still staining its feet as if Rey had just sliced Snoke in half moments ago. His guards who had shared their master's fate were replaced by the Knights of Ren, clothed in dark robes and rare pieces of armour wielding weapons ranging from spears to blasters alike. You noted that not an inch of their skin was visible therefore making it harder to perceive them as humans, a blatant advantage in combat.

On the throne sat Kylo Ren, the mighty Supreme Leader, the self-appointed successor of Snoke's abhorrent legacy. But in fact, he looked anything but powerful on the chair. His arms were resting on his knees rather than the armrests and he was slightly bending forward as if the thought of his back touching the same place Snoke's had was unthinkable. His face was almost expressionless, his hair falling freely on his dark eyes. The scar left by Rey's lightsaber was in a strong contrast to his pale complexion. He was like a child sitting in father's seat trying to grow to be like his role model but something was bound to be awry.

Armitage stopped abruptly, keeping a distance between him and his superior. Everyone knew it wouldn't protect him if Ren decided to add a few new bruises to the collection but you allowed him to keep up appearances.

"I heard about the base, general," Ren begun, threat and displeasure clear in his voice. "Are you still going to try to convince me your pathetic troops are worth anything?"

"Supreme Leader, I assure you--"

"You," Ren pointed at you. You stiffed, feeling the heat sweeping over your body. Kylo's eyes were dark and impenetrable and you were sure you have just been discovered. "I want you to take notes of everything happening here today. I don't trust the droids."

He wanted to turn his head away from you but something else caught his attention. His gaze lingered and it took everything you had to withstand his mental attacks. Hux turned back to look at you, his expression filled with terror, and his fists clenched. He hated the very idea of Ren recognizing your presence as if the fact alone could put you in trouble.

Apparently, Ren failed at finding something interesting because his attention was once again focused on the general in front of him but still the twitch that was supposed to hide a smile didn't escape your attention. The green eyes were still fixed on you in a frantic attempt to search for any signs of discomfort or pain. You knew he wouldn't have been able to act upon his fantasy of overthrowing Kylo but witnessing you being tortured by his abilities could have still made him try.

"General, can I get your attention?" Kylo mocked.

Armitage's lips opened and you noticed a tremble dancing on their soft surface but soon enough he faced his leader without the shadow of fear.

"Supreme Leader," he began again. "The troops are in a flawless condition and I assure you that their next mission will prove to be a victory."

Ren scoffed and you heard a grave tone in his voice. "I don't care about your poor excuses and declarations anymore, general."

"I do not wish to--"

But he was cut off mid-sentence. Soon his hands were desperately pulling at the invisible hand locking on his windpipe as if it intended to crush it. A sob tore from his throat and it hurt you more than you'd be pleased to admit. Hux was lifted off his feet which were now dangling in the air, searching for a spot to rest his weight on but with no success. You turned your head in distaste, adding another layer on the most precious thoughts buried deep within your mind. The room was quiet and the complete silence was interrupted only by Armitage's heartbreaking efforts to break free.

When yet another raspy sob tore out of Tidge's throat you closed your eyes only to regret it a second later. Without your vision, your mind replaced your surroundings with a mental image as if enhancing the strongest individuals in the room. You could sense Ren's energy and unrelenting passion, his guards' confidence and eagerness to fight if required, and you could even taste your own panic. And what's worst of all, Hux's spirit slipping through the fingers of the unseen hand.

You stole a brief glance at Kylo even though you knew you weren't supposed to. He wasn't driven by hatred or fury and his annoyance was kept under check, and yet he wasn't stopping himself, sending the general at the edge of consciousness and risking tossing him into the sharp claws of death. He had so many opportunities to finish his existence but for some reason, he was keen on keeping Hux alive until now. What changed? And what's more important - what were you going to do about it?

You wouldn't dare to look directly at Armitage who was all too quickly fading into the void. Besides, you didn't need to see to know how hopeless he was. Once again, you shut your eyes and tried to lock those feelings away, telling yourself that it was for the best and that there was a greater cause bigger than the both of you. But it took one mere memory of Hux's soft smile that he allowed himself to show during one of the few particularly bad nights to break you down.

Before you could further question your actions, the general fell to the floor with a loud thud. A slimmer, delicate hand seemed to have slipped under the grim hold locked on his throat and set him free. Armitage was a panting mess, kneeling on the floor constantly shifting between losing and regaining consciousness. The bloody marks left by his own fingernails were blooming with scarlet against his pallid skin. He was barely aware of the situation but he did feel it. The familiar touch that had tended to his wounds has now saved his life. His mind was still throbbing and he couldn't connect the pieces of information but deep in his heart he already understood everything.

And so did Ren.

"I was beginning to think you'd have me kill your beloved general," he spoke, folding his arms on his back. "Thank you for saving us a rather embarrassing show."

There was no point in playing your part anymore. You looked up at him, making sure that your face was showing no signs of fear in your time of dying. Because he was going to kill you, wasn't he?

For how long did he know, you wondered. Was it before the meeting or did you betray your true purpose upon arriving here? Did it even matter?

"I should kill you with the cruellest strike, you know that, don't you?" he said with a slight smile sending a shiver down your spine. His master was dead but apparently, his teaching was meant to live on for now. "But I think it would be a waste."

Gracefully and with no sign of the previous brutality, he outstretched his hand and lifted you up off the floor. Your whole body tensed preparing for the torture to come but it never did. Kylo was looking at you with a spark of curiosity in his gaze. He didn't take you for a threat and you knew that it could be his undoing but for know, he had the upper hand. "I think your heart, unlike someone else's, can be turned."

"I wouldn't count on that," you scoffed, your stubbornness originating in pure hatred.

"So you've already taken the side, then?" he asked.

But you weren't given a chance to reply. The shuffling could be heard from the centre of the room and you focused all your strength to turn your head and determine its source. You saw Armitage, crawling to where you were being held, struggling to hide his pained expression. It didn't take long for Kylo to notice as well and with an almost bored wave of his hand, your lover was tossed on the wall, the impact rendering him unconscious. Your rage was about to break through but you knew better than that. You concentrated on the brute force trying to sneak into your mind, almost grasping at your most hidden thoughts. You wouldn't let him have it, there was too much at stake and you didn't have the privilege to give in.

His attacks ceased and his lips parted in pure amazement. "Very well, then," your body was suddenly dropped to the ground. "I'll see you tomorrow during our very first training session. We'll see if you remain loyal to the defeated then."

He left the room without a word leaving you and Armitage in the company of his guards. You weren't sure what to do next. You had anticipated it could go bad but not nearly as tragic. Ren knew everything and yet you were allowed to live.

You crawled over to Tidge's limp body, hoping to find comfort in his presence. It was foolish of you to assume he'd still be by your side after all your lies but as soon as you touched his shoulder, his green eyes opened, filled with concern and bewildered. "Did he hurt you?" were the first words he spoke and you were about to burst into laughter at the irony.

"You're the one who barely survived the conversation," you reminded him. He tried to sit up and managed to do so only with your aid. You helped him get to the elevator and the guards weren't interested in stopping you at least for now.

"Would you kindly explain this to me?" Tidge asked once you left the elevator and headed towards his quarters. You tried to search his voice for signs of hostility but failed.

"Gladly," the word was spoken with an utter belief and it surprised you but it was the truth. After months filled with lies and hiding, you were almost happy to share a bit of truth with your unlikely lover. Or at the very least, the least harmful parts of it.

Thank you for reading! I would love to hear your thoughts on the story so don’t be afraid to reblog and add your comments! ♥

Tagging: @ayo-minty-jess @kylo-ren-is-my-supreme-leader @sophiasescape @accio-zara @trelaney

#general hux #general hux x reader #general hux x you #general hux imagine #hux x reader #hux x you #hux imagine #armitage hux #armitage hux x reader #armitage hux x you #armitage hux imagine #star wars imagine #hux angst #general hux angst #star wars angst #star wars x reader #angst #mywriting

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kyluxtrashpit · 6 years

Note

For the writing game, I couldn't decide which, all the colors please? They're so interesting!

Omg I was so excited when I saw this! You’re so sweet to enable my rambling

Red: What type of writer’s block do you experience the most?

I guess the most common one is I get stuck in transitions. Like I know how this scene goes and I know how the next scene goes, but I don’t know exactly how to get from A to B and it’s one of those cases where I can’t just put a line and jump to it. Scene transitions are one of the hardest things for me for some reason. The second most common for me is probably when my brain is being a shit and won’t let me be productive due to some sort of emotional crisis lmao

White: Are you a supporter/lover of fanfiction?

I mean, kind of obvious lmao, but absolutely. I think it’s great that there are people who are creating things solely out of love for something, and that’s really what fanfiction is, at it’s deepest core. It’s a community of people being so enthusiastic about and loving something so hard that they work their asses of and dedicate time to just… making more of it. For no real external benefit other than some social validation, if they’re lucky. Love and passion are the true motivators and idk that’s just really beautiful to me

Black: Would you want to live in one of the fictional worlds you’vecreated?

I don’t really do a lot of worldbuilding because I find it incredibly boring and I’m terrible at it lmao, but since I always write either canon-verse or modern au, I’m going to treat this as ‘do I want to live in the Star Wars universe?’. And the answer to that would honestly be no. As much as there’s cool stuff, like advanced technology and aliens and maybe I’d be lucky enough to be able to move shit with my mind, there’s also a lot of bad things. A lot of fascism, a lot of wars, and every once in a while some asshole builds a planet-destroying superweapon and blows up a planet (or 5) and like… I could live on one of those, you know

That said, if I didn’t die because the planet I was living on exploded, I would probably survive alright. I mean, my background is in science, so tbh I might have better opportunities there than I do here. While that could mean making chemical weapons or something if the Empire was in power, that’s at least more interesting than customer service at a chemical company lmao. I still wouldn’t choose to live there, but I think I’d manage okay if I had to

[More beneath the cut - my sincerest apologies to those on mobile]

Blue: What’s more important to you: characters or plot?

I mean, they both definitely matter, but if I have to choose? Interesting characters can save a dry plot, but the best plot ever written will still be mediocre at best if the characters aren’t compelling. Personally, I love character-driven stories more than anything. Event-driven plots can still be fun, but I prefer the focus to be on how the characters are dealing with said events, as opposed to them just being passively driven along by them. The best is when it’s the characters themselves driving the events of the plot, but that’s more difficult to execute than it sounds. Regardless, it’s the characters that usually draw me into a story in the first place and that keep me interested. And from the perspective of my own writing, I go character-driven, all the way. Sure, some event might happen that drives the plot sometimes, but I’m far more interested in how the characters react to that event than anything else

Yellow: What’s a common writing tip that you mostly ignore?

In terms of writing advice, nothing makes my blood boil more than those posts that say ‘get rid of this entire class of words’ or ‘if it’s not absolutely strictly necessary to the plot, cut it’. Fuck that shit. If you want your writing to look like Hemingway, sure, go for it, but a) Hemingway is overrated, and b) that’s not the only way to write well. Especially as someone who tends to focus on characters, passages that aren’t necessary to the plot may be necessary to establish characterization. Or they may add some emotion to the story that gets the reader invested. Same with wording choices; more or less words can drastically change the tone or mood of the scene. Are there times when you need to cut words and keep things concise? Absolutely, but any writing tip that says ‘remove every instance of [word] in your document’ is fucking bullshit and you should never listen to it

Grey: What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

Tbh I think every writing tip you see should always be taken with a grain of salt, especially if it’s a ‘never do x’ because there is almost always a situation where doing x is the right thing to do, it’s just a matter of knowing how to do it correctly (looking at you, ‘never use the passive voice’). So really, there are very few I always follow, but I’ll give one that was foundationally helpful for me

Edit in a different format than you write. That can be changing the text size, or the font, or printing it out physically, or whatever. For me, I usually pop it into AO3′s preview function and take notes of things that need changing as I go. It forces your brain to notice things it’s been overlooking for the entire writing period. I only do my final edit this way, generally speaking, but I’ve found it to be incredibly helpful for catching typos and general weirdness in the writing

Orange: How many projects do you usually have going at once?

Because my fics are usually short, I tend to only have 1, but I think I’ve had up to 3-4 before. That’s basically me just popping between documents everytime I get stuck on one until one is finished lmao. But more than 2 gets to be a lot to handle

Currently, I’m really only working on my Big Bang fic, though I do have at least one one-shot I’m planning to write when I need a short break from it

Pink: Which of your characters would become your best friend?

This is so hard because like, I don’t get along with a lot of people generally speaking. I’m also going to treat this as the entire SW cast even though I only write Kylo and Hux, for the most part. And I’m not sure I’d be good friends with either of them. While Kylo would make an excellent self-destruction buddy, I think we’re too similar for the most part to get along. And while I also have an element of Hux in me that’s my anal retentiveness when it comes to organization (not to be confused with cleanliness; I’m talking more about my colour-coded work email and my nested folder system on my computer), I’m also very emotional, messy, and I’m not really equipped to verbally spar with him. I think I would actually do okay with Hux as a boss, not a friend, but with Kylo, I think we’d get along really well until we really didn’t. And then I would be dead lmao

Aaaand none of that was an actual answer. But like, I honestly don’t know? Most of the other characters I really like (e.g. Rey, Rae Sloane, Ventress), it’s because I would have a big huge crush on them which would manifest as my hovering in their vicinity a lot but never actually starting a conversation and then waxing poetic while crying about my unrequited love when I continue to go unnoticed lmao. Which is, well, still not friendship

Maybe Finn… I might get along really well with Finn. He’s one of my favourites as well and I think he’d be really interesting to talk to. Has a lot of interesting views on things, likely a good listener. Hm. I’m still not 100% solid on it, but after far too many words, that’s my answer lmao

Purple: Which of your characters would become your sworn enemy?

Okay, hear me out on this one because the reason isn’t what you think lmao. I’m also treating this less as ‘sworn enemy’ and more ‘person I’d least get along with’ and that’s actually Poe. And the reason is that highly extroverted, extremely friendly people who others call charismatic tend to rub me the wrong way. Like there’s nothing wrong with them, they’re perfectly nice, but they’re just too friendly and my socially-inept, introverted brain always responds to that with DANGER DANGER. And I think he would definitely fall into that category for me haha

Green: Pencil, typewriter, or computer?

Computer. I have written fic by hand before (I also sometimes do planning by hand, just because it can be a bit more visual; Fractured was planned largely by hand when I used to work evenings at a gym and had access to unlimited spare paper), but that’s usually only when I have nothing else to work with. I wrote most of a fic in the Halifax airport on a layover, once. I’ve also done it on my phone, but that’s too fucking annoying lmao. Typerwriters are super fun to use but also very impractical for me; my typing accuracy isn’t good enough

Brown: Do you have a set writing space? Or do you write everywhere?

Mostly I’m at home on my couch, but that’s really cause I have nowhere else to write. I do write at work sometimes (not smut though lmao), but only when it’s slow enough that I can get away with it. And there’s nowhere else I really go where I’m sitting with a computer for long periods of time

Silver: Are you comfortable writing in public places?

I am, yeah. I don’t know why I wouldn’t be tbh. Work is a public place and the only reason I don’t write smut there is because I don’t want to get fired lmao (slacking off is one thing, porn is another). I don’t really ever write in public, but that’s more because I don’t spend a lot of time sitting in public places by myself

Gold: Do your stories usually contain lessons or morals?

Not really… I can’t think of any at least. They always have some sort of closure, though, because I fucking hate open-ended stuff where everything isn’t worked out in the end lmao (or is at least on it’s way there). I’m too fragile for that shit haha

Clear: Do your characters control where the story goes or do youmaintain control?

I tend to write more like an rper than an actual author, based on conversations I’ve had with others, so my characters have a lot of control. That said, if you’ve got your plot and all the major points of it planned out and then you get halfway through and find it doesn’t work because of the characters, then that’s a failure in planning, not the characters taking control. Sometimes things do change and are reworked as you go, that’s the nature of writing, but that still means your plan needed some adjusting, you just didn’t know it at the time. I intentionally leave a lot of room in my plans for the characters (e.g. ‘and then they talk about [blank]. Hux says something mean and Kylo gets angry’ might be my only note for an entire scene), but if you’ve planned enough to actually start writing, your characters and plot should already work together. Characters control the minor details of the story, not the major plot

Tan: Are you open to co-writing a story?

I might be. I’ve never done it before and the Big Bang I’m doing now is the most collaborative thing I’ve ever done writing-wise. If someone approached me and was really interested in it, I might be willing to give it a shot. I’m not really sure how it works, though. I tend to envision it as basically an rp except it’s planned out beforehand and then edited afterwards, but in all honesty, I have no idea how it actually goes

#this was so fun thank you so much #also you're the only one who sent in an ask so it worked out really well lmao #I think it got a little incoherent halfway through but meh that's just how I work most of the time haha #I love to ramble and thank you again for giving me the opportunity to do so <3 #squire reblogs #ask tag #things I am tagged in #sort of but not really #long post #for the folks on mobile #my fic #because I can

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calliopesquill · 6 years

Text

A Year in the Life - Chapter 4

Okay, I couldn’t resist. I was going to wait until tomorrow to post the next chapter but I have been going so hard working on later chapters today I had to post it early.

Thank you all so much for your support and all of your wonderful comments. Talking with you and getting your feedback has really made my week. I know a lot of readers are leery about oc-inserts so I really want to thank you for giving Nell a chance. One of the most comments I have gotten is how much you like her and how well she fits in the canon world. That is something I work really hard to achieve in my characters so I am so glad that you all like what I have done with her.

And now without further delay, on with the story!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 4: Once Upon a Time

Miguel spent his lunch hour that monday in the library. After discovering that they didn’t have a particularly wide selection of graphic novels he turned to the internet. Nell had said that she’d done a webcomic as well. Maybe her website would help him figure out who he was dealing with. Just because Nell seemed decent so far didn’t mean she actually was. His experience with Ernesto De la Cruz had taught him that. Hadn’t De la Cruz been kind at first? Hadn’t he saved him from drowning? But behind the smiles and dramatic persona was a selfish, self-absorbed creature who was more than willing to kill to get what he wanted.

Not that Miguel thought that Nell would be anywhere as bad as De la Cruz had been, but he wanted to get a little more background on her before he decided to tell her anything else.

A quick Google search had given him the basics. Penelope Rey. (Miguel snorted at that. Penelope? No wonder she went by Nell.) Twenty-five years old. Born in Kelowna, Canada. (Okay, so she wasn’t American, but he’d been close.) Published her first stand-alone graphic novel at twenty-two and recently released the last volume of the trilogy she’d been working on. Most of her books were of the urban-fantasy sort, or contained some hints of “other”. The webcomic, which she’d started while she was in university, was about a magical girl who discovers that she has inadvertently been working for an evil power the whole time, and sets about on a quest of redemption to make things right.

Not really his thing (he was more into the masked-crusader/folk-hero/luchador genre) but the splash pages and banners on the website intrigued him enough that he clicked the link that would take him to the first page of the comic. Right away he was hooked. The art-style was dramatic but not cluttered or overdone, and her heroine spoke like someone he would meet on the street, with only a minimum of cliche comic book-style dialogue. Her characters were diverse and compelling and her villain…. Miguel shuddered. Oh she was so creepy! Sly and manipulative and calculating under a veneer of support and encouragement. You didn’t even get the hint that there was something wrong about her until you were over a year into the plotline.

He had just gotten to the part of the story where the main character discovered she’d been played when the five-minute warning bell rang.

Miguel jumped, almost falling out of his chair. How had the lunch hour gone by so fast? Quickly he closed the browser, logging off of the computer as he grabbed his book bag, then took off out of the library to get to class.

Miguel’s talk of alebrijes stuck with Nell, and after a few days of independent research she decided to approach approach one of the craftsmen from the plaza.

Sebastien Berardo had been in the business for many years. Some of his earliest memories were of sitting with his father in his workshop, watching him work. He learned the craft at his father’s side, how to shape and sand the wood to bring out the fantastic creatures inside, and the types of paints and glazes that brought out the best color. He also learned how to deal with the public, from the closest of neighbors to the loudest of tourists.

When Nell first started asking questions he started with the basic history of the craft.

Alebrijes had first been created by the artist Pedro Linares in the early 1930’s. The story went that he had become very ill, and had dreamed of a beautiful forest populated by incredible, colorful hybrid creates that called themselves alebrijes. Horned roosters, winged snakes and donkeys, a thousand creatures of infinite strange and wonderful combinations. Inspired, he began to create carnival masks and religious figures of these creatures to sell in the markets of Mexico City. His unique pieces had attracted the attention of a prominent gallery owner who wanted to showcase the pieces, and even Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo sought him out for commissions. Now most alebrije figures were carved from copal wood, in the pre-Hispanic woodcarving tradition of the local Zapotec culture.

“And you still make all of these by hand?” Nell asked, crouching to take a closer look at the delicately articulated figure of a winged snake that was coiled upon the table.

Sebastien nodded proudly. “Each piece is crafted in our family workshop. My son Filipe, he is studying art in university. He painted many of these.”

“They’re beautiful. I love the colors.” It was like seeing an entire summer’s worth of color condensed into a single small figure. “At what point did they started becoming associated with spirit guides? By some of the descriptions they are kind of similar to the Aztec nagual.”

“It is possible,” Sebastien conceded with an uncertain shrug. He’d never really considered that, but there were certainly some similarities.

Nell liked the idea. After Miguel had first brought up the idea of spirit guides she’d ended up going on a bit of a research binge on the topic, compiling a series of notes about guardian spirits in world mythology. She’d been particularly intrigued by the the concept of the nagual, the Mesoamerican spirit guide or spiritual double. Depending on the myth, the nagual functioned as either a reflection of the self, or as a separate spiritual advisor. According to some of the myths that she’d found, a person’s nagual could even go wandering while they slept.

Or in other words, they could astral project.

There were also stories about shapeshifters but Nell was reasonably sure that wasn’t going to end up as part of her skill set.

After a little more discussion on the history and process behind the art and history of the alebrije figures Nell decided to leave Sebastien to his work, but as she turned to leave one of the figures caught her eye. A small, brightly-painted bird.

She couldn’t have stopped the grin that spread over her face if she tried. “Señor, how much is the crow?”

Over the next few weeks Mariachi Plaza became the unofficial meeting spot for astral hang-outs. By this point Miguel had learned to successfully project while awake, and was confident enough in this new ability that their occasional late-night chat was often more friendly than lesson-like. Honestly it was nice just to be able to talk to someone and not worry about letting something slip and having them think he was crazy. He’d already made that mistake once with friends at school, and had had to play it off as a weird dream.

At least will Nell he didn't have to worry about that.

He grinned when she appeared across the plaza. "What, you couldn't sleep either?"

"Nah. Finished some book planning and wanted to go for a walk. Then I saw what time it was and thought.... yeah this way is better."

Miguel chuckled. He knew what it was like to get wrapped up in a project and lose all sense of time. How many times had he stayed up late working on a new song, forgetting entirely that he had class in the morning?

“How was school?”

“Fine,” he shrugged. “Annetta came to visit my music class yesterday. That was pretty cool.”

“She’s the trumpet player, right? The one the violinist has that debilitating crush on.”

“That’s the one. She played for us during class, then did sort of a tutorial session with the other trumpets.” God willing, they’d actually be able to stay in tune from now on. “You get any farther on your book?”

"A bit, yeah. Started doing research on alebrijes and I found some really cool stuff.” She answered excitedly, eager to share what she’d found. “You know the Mayans and Aztecs had stories about spirit guides too? And some of the magic users in the old myths could astral project, just like us! So of course that turned into a crazy research binge. I swear I filled up an entire flash drive just with ideas for character alebrijes."

"Sweet!" He grinned. "You'll have to show me later. I can tell you how they compare to the real thing."

"The real -- Man, you've been holding out on me," she groaned, dropping onto the step of the gazebo to sit next to him. "You see alebrijes too?"

Miguel shrugged. "You probably have too. They just look different this side of the bridge."

"Different how?"

"Different like.... You know, normal."

That was interesting. She hadn't considered that guides could take different forms between worlds. That was something she'd have to think about later. "So there's a lot of alebrijes on the other side of the bridge?"

"Loads," Miguel told her. "And they're huge! Well, some of them. I used to think they were just a myth, like vitamins--"

"Vitamins are real, Miguel."

"People keep saying that but I really don't think they are. Anyway," he continued. "They're, like, everywhere! Some people have them as, well not exactly pets, but they have ones that stay with them. There might be some wild ones but I didn't really see any."

Oh God the curiosity was killing her. She wanted to respect his boundaries and not ask questions that he wouldn’t be comfortable answering, but she also really wanted to know what had happened. But just asking how the bridge worked wouldn’t hurt, would it? "So you just found the bridge and walked over?"

Miguel gave a sheepish smile, rubbing one hand over his forearm in a nervous gesture. "Not exactly... It was an accident. Well, the first time was. I kind of....stole something."

Nell stared. "You what? Damn, kid, what did you steal? Some cursed ancient idol or something?"

"HA! No!" He laughed. "No, no, no. Nothing like that. It was a guitar."

“A cursed guitar?”

“No! The guitar wasn’t cursed. Nothing was cursed. I mean I thought I was for a while, and then I actually was for a while, but no.”

Now she just blinked at him. “What… What? Okay. I am officially confused. You stole the guitar and it took you across the bridge. And then you got cursed?”

“No. Taking the guitar got me cursed, but I crossed the bridge after. It’s… kind of a long story.” But maybe it was about time he told someone the truth. Miguel sighed, brushing one hand distractedly thought his hair as he hunched forward, bracing his arms across his knees. It would be nice to have someone to talk to about what happened, someone who would actually believe him.

“I didn’t mean to steal it,” he told her. “Well, I did. But I was going to bring it back. I just wanted to play it once, here in the plaza.”

It all came pouring out, the reason for the Rivera family’s ban on music and the events that led to him believing that Ernesto De la Cruz was his ancestor, trying to steal the guitar, and the curse that resulted.

“Hold up, hold up,” Nell interrupted, holding up her hands in a ‘stop now’ gesture. “Your great-great-grandmother told you that if you didn’t give up music that she was going to let you die?”

“She didn’t mean it that way,” Miguel said defensively. “She thought she was doing it to protect me. That music was dangerous. And I kind of did almost die three times that night.”

“What?!”

“Anyway, so I thought, fine, if the rest of my family refused to give me the blessing, I’d track down the one family member who might understand.”

“Ernesto De la Cruz.”

Miguel nodded.

“Except he wasn’t your grandfather.”

“Gracias a Dios.” Now that would truly be a nightmare, now that he knew what De la Cruz truly was. “But I didn’t know that at the time. So I ran off and tried to find him.”

He told her how he met a shabby-looking skeleton who claimed to know De la Cruz, and how he disguised himself with shoe-polish so he wouldn’t stand out. Their attempts to find the man, which took them all over the city (and he met FRIDA KAHLO! HOLY CRAP!), and their quest for a guitar that took them to Shantytown. Nell listened raptly as Miguel continued his story, snickering to herself when he told her about Hector singing “Everyone Knows Juanita”. She wasn’t familiar with the song but she could certainly guess what word “knuckles” might have been meant to replace. And even though she knew full well what kind of awful human being De la Cruz was, hearing first-hand how he’d murdered Hector back in 1921, and then tossed both him and Miguel into a cenote to rot in the Land of the Dead, had her clenching her fists in helpless anger. She wished she could cross the bridge herself so she could punch that creature in his stupid face.

“And then Mama Imelda and Pepita showed up and pulled us out! Dante had found them and helped track us down. Turns out he’s an alebrije too.”

“Wait a sec. You are telling me that you were being followed around what is quite literally the afterlife by a dog who turned out to be your alebrije, and you named him Dante.”

“Yeah?”

Nell snorted with laughter. “Oh, that is perfect. Absolutely beautiful. I love it.”

“Um...why?”

“Look up Dante’s Inferno at school when you get the chance. Let’s just say your dog is really appropriately named.”

“Um… ‘kay. Anyway…”

He took her through their infiltration of the Sunrise Spectacular with the entire family in Frida Kahlo cosplay, right up to their final confrontation with De la Cruz when he threw Miguel off the top of the building. Thank god for alebrijes that were large enough to ride on. Pepita had earned her chin-scritches for eternity that night.

“And then...they sent me back,” Miguel finished. “I ran back home. Mama Coco… I couldn’t let her forget him. She’d had problems with her memory for so long but I had to try. But when I played their song, it was like it all came back somehow. She’d kept everything hidden in her drawer. Hector’s letters, some of his song drafts. And the corner of the picture that had been torn away. We taped it back on and put it in a new frame. It’s on the ofrenda now but… I don’t know if I made it in time.”

Tears stung at his eyes but he wiped them away stubbornly.

“And you’ve never tried to go back, just to see?”

Miguel shook his head, giving a watery chuckle. “I think Mama Imelda would have killed me for real if I tried. I thought… For a moment last year I thought I felt him, like he was playing right next to me but…”

“Then I’m sure he made it,” Nell told him, resting one hand reassuringly on his shoulder. “You would know best, right? My great-grandma passed away when I was ten and I will swear on whatever you want that I still feel her in my grandparents’ house, so if you say you felt Hector playing next to you that night, then you did.”

He let out a shaky sigh as a feeling of relief washed over him. He didn’t know how badly he needed to hear that until that moment, for someone else to have such absolute faith that what he felt was real. Hector had become one of his best friends even before they’d found out they were related. The fear that he had been too late had been eating at him for so long…

They sat in silence for a moment as Miguel collected himself. Then he sighed again. “Thank you.”

“Any time,” Nell smiled. “Seriously. And hey, we could always try an experiment this year.”

“What kind of experiment?”

“Projecting during Dia de los Muertos. I’ve never tried it before but who knows, maybe you’ll be able to see them.”

Miguel’s face lit up like a christmas tree. “En serio? We can do that?”

“We can try,” Nell promised. “All the old stories say that the veil is thinnest that time of year, so if there’s any time it would work, well it’s worth a shot right?”

The boy jumped to his feet, letting out an enthusiastic grito that would have woken the entire town if he’d been in his physical body.

“I take that as a ‘yes’ then?”

“Yes! Absolutely yes!”

Nell didn’t sleep well that night. She wanted to, oh how she wanted to, but one thought kept circling in her mind. There was something about that guitar. She couldn’t help but feel that there was more to the story. Miguel had said that it wasn’t the guitar that was cursed, but if it was nothing more than a harmless musical instrument, Nell was a fire-breathing monkey. There was just something way too coincidental about it.

Annoyed with herself, she rolled over to scribble a reminder to herself on the notepad she kept on her bedside table in case of midnight bursts of inspiration. She would look into it in the morning. Surely somewhere on the internet was stories of haunted instruments.

Apparently, as Nell found the next morning over breakfast, stories of haunted or possessed musical instruments were not uncommon. There were even long-standing legends cultural legends related to the phenomena, and when Nell came across the myth of the Japanese tsukumogami, she knew she’d found what she was looking for. Though there was no cultural crossover of this type of legend the correlation of events was just too close.

Immediately she opened up a new document on her laptop and started to take notes.

In old Japanese culture there was a belief that if an object was owned for over a hundred years, it would develop a soul of its own and become self-aware. Musical instruments were particularly common tsukumogami because they were often crafted with great care and carried great monetary value, so they usually ended up passed down through generations. But the descendants of the masters who once owned these instruments were not always musically inclined themselves, causing the instruments to fall into disuse and become resentful. And Hector Rivera would definitely be classified as a “master”. Between what Miguel had told her and her own research, Nell could see that this was a man who put his heart and soul into every note he played. That was a lot of emotion for an instrument to absorb in the approximately three years that he had owned it. A lot of love. And for him to be betrayed, murdered for his music, and the instrument stolen and paraded around by the murderer? Someone who only played for fame and attention? Nell figured that would result in a pretty pissed-off guitar.

And the guitar itself was a freaking showpiece. Hand-made and perfect to the last detail. That kind of love and care being put into its creation had to leave a mark as well. Nell wondered how Imelda had been able to afford it.

The writer sat back in her chair, biting absently at her lip as she contemplated. Another quick google search had her frowning. Hector had died in November of 1921, at the age of twenty-one. Ernesto De la Cruz had been crushed by a falling bell during a performance in 1942, almost exactly twenty-one years later. No way in hell was that a coincidence.

And according to the date stamp on the video taken that night, the date of the concert was… the second of November. Dia de los Muertos.

“Well… holy shit.”

Nell scrubbed her hands over her face, almost dislodging her glasses. That was a hell of a kick for an instrument that hadn’t even hit twenty-five years yet. It didn’t hit one hundred until 2017. Displayed like a trophy in the tomb of the man who murdered its master until some kid breaks in and steals it. A kid whose motivations might not have been entirely pure, but who had a musician’s heart, and who happened to be a direct descendant of Hector Rivera, its original owner.

Most stories of cursed objects just dealt with bad luck and deadly accidents. She’d never heard of people being shoved into astral planes and being taken to the Land of the Dead. She could only concluded that the guitar wanted Miguel to meet Hector, wanted him to find out the truth. Had it known that Hector was being forgotten?

When Miguel returned at sunrise the first thing he did was run to his grandmother. The guitar would have known her too. This was the child that Hector had loved so dearly, who he had played for every night. It had held onto that love, those powerful memories for all those years, and Miguel said that when he played for her she came back somehow. Nell’s own grandfather had passed away when she was in university. Over the last few years of his life, dementia had robbed him of most of his memories. The last time she had seen him, he thought she was her mother. To bring someone back from that was nothing short of a miracle.

“Okay. So. The guitar might be sentient.”

After some thought she found she kind of liked the idea. It was reassuring in a way to feel that treasured things could love people in return. And if they developed spirits of their own, could they be considered alebrije too?

Nell grinned, reaching for her tablet and plugging it into her laptop, breakfast entirely forgotten. A sentient, haunted guitar. It looked like she finally had a real plot for her new book.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And so ends Chapter 4!

Researching for this fic has been really educational for me. I've tried to stick as close to the known facts about the history and culture that I reference as possible, though I may have had to use a bit of creative license to get everything to mesh properly with my plot. One of those details was the date of Ernesto's last concert. It was never really specified in canon, but based on the stage design and how when the scene was originally planned for the opening number and how the introductory song was about Dia de los Muertos, I went with that being the date.

One of the most fun things about writing Nell for me is getting to play with all of the meta storylines and fan theories that I can't get to fit within the regular plot. I want to give a special shout out to @im-fairly-whitty, whose incredible discussion of the sentient guitar theory (found here) has inspired the basis of Nell's novel.

Thanks so much for reading! If you want to see any more fun content or fanart, please follow me! Send me your asks, your fun theories, or any comments you have! I can't wait to connect with you!

#coco #disney coco #coco fanfiction #pixar coco #coco 2017 #fanfiction #A Year in the Life #miguel rivera

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kingofattolia · 6 years

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a list of things about Star Wars: The Last Jedi

TLJ felt like watching two completely separate movies. .. . one i deliriously LOVED and one i spit upon and shake its profane dust off my sandals

THE GOOD

“ive got an urgent message for General Hux” “YOUR REBELLION IS DOOMED” “yeah... im holding for General Hux”

it straight up took me a minute and a half of this scene to figure out this was actually the start of the movie. it felt like one of those pre-movie skits where it seems like a movie but then anthropomorphic M&Ms tell you to turn your cell phone off. was it just me or were there a LOT more comic moments in TLJ compared to almost every other star wars movie? anyway i loved it even tho it gave the movie a slight someone-made-this-while-high-on-LSD feel

Leia USING THE FORCE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

R2 playing Luke the “you’re my only hope” recording of Leia, i almost died

FORCE SHENANIGANS. we saw more powerful, dramatic, and varied uses of the Force in TLJ than we have ever before seen in a live action media and i was L I V I N G

“you’ve closed yourself off from the Force”

Rey and Kylo’s foRCE BOND TALKING like this.. . . is so interesting .. . and it wasn’t only Snoke doing it because they did it again after he’s dead...

Rey lifting 30 giant fricken boulders without even breaking a sweat after having one (1) single “training” session

Kylo remotely activating Anakins lightsaber

projecting himself........ across the entire galaxy. . ..

Yoda. in the former EU the Force ghosts had a non-negotiable expiration date a certain time after their deaths. Obi-Wan couldnt just come back and visit Luke forever, he faded away at some point. is this no longer true??? DOES THIS MEAN ANYONE CAN COME BACK IF THEY WANT??? why was yoda so physical even as a ghost that he could whack luke on the head

summoning lightning like alright this is a new Jedi power im adding to my arsenal

Leia’s mary poppins action

Luke vaulting across the cliff to stab fish

POE'S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT he turned from a kamikaze into a leader who's able to see the big picture and walk away, im so proud

everyone..... messing with Hux...... i loved this

Snoke smacking him into the floor

Kylo smacking him into the wall

Kylo force choking him

slowly taking gun out. . . . . HES AWAKE ABORT ABORT... slowly putting gun back . . . Hux is going spend every waking moment wishing he took that shot

Finn's character arc, like what an awesome Slytherin. the contrast between him and the codebreaker 👌👌👌👌 & where he makes the choice REBEL scum 👌👌👌

LET'S GO, CHROME DOME

i cant believe Phasma died again lol. her backstory novel was SO DRAMATIC and she just dies over and over

when Kylo does that little skid out into the hallway to look for Rey

Chewy breaking down Luke's door

when Luke kisses Leia on the forehead . . . .

kylo KILLING SNOKE I AM LITERALLY SO HAPPY. I AM SO HAPPY. IM SO

this had to happen, it was so obvious but i didnt think they would actually do it, Snoke was so boring and useless, i am SO GLAD they didnt drag him out..... I AM SO HAPPY HES DEAD

it was truly awesome... i couldnt stop grinning it seeing it the 2nd time... "I CANNOT BE BETRAYED, I CANNOT BE BEATEN, I CAN SEE HIS MIND" & then he narrates the entire process of Kylo killing him i was LIVING. everyone theorized for so loooooong and so hard about what form Snoke's control over Kylo took and how it would be possible for him to break it,, , , and then he just DOES IT JUST LIKE THAT by SHEER MISDIRECTION FOLKS I AM SO ALIVE

THE TEAM UP FIGHT

i love lightsaber fights so much i would very nearly give up my critical integrity for a single awesome duel and this was,,, so awesome

when Rey drops her lightsaber to catch it again and cut that guys knees out from under him

when Snoke is cut in half and then the lightsaber rockets towards Kylo and Rey's hand SHOOTS INTO THE FRAME to catch it 👌👌👌

when Kylo takes on FOUR OF THEM AT ONCE

"THE SUPREME LEADER IS DEAD" "long live. . . the supreme leader .. "

not gonna lie, i am such a huge fan of supreme leader!Kylo. CAN HE EVEN LEAD ANYONE??? DOES HE HAVE THE CAPABILITY?? HONESTLY WHAT DOES HE WANT TO DO? WHAT WILL HIS SELF-DIRECTED MISSION BE? VADER NEVER GOT TO BE ANYTHING BUT AN ATTACK DOG, WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING TO HAPPEN

I HONESTLY HAVE NO IDEA BUT IM SO HYPE TO FIND OUT

THIS IS BRAND NEW

"finn! rose! you're not dead! where's my droid"

the little slave kids from Canto Bight. did the kid at the end use the Force to pull his broom!??!

"that library did not contain anything the girl Rey does not already possess" Yoda thinks hes so funny. REY STOLE THE LIBRARY LMAO... thanks Rey... im glad someone around here has a brain...

the Falcon swooping in to draw off the TIEs on Crait

"OH, THEY HATE THAT SHIP"

Vice Admiral Holdo's lightspeed kamikaze. . . aside from the drama of the moment & making Hux look stupid, just visually it was awesome

absolutely every single thing said by either Hux or Kylo in Kylo's command shuttle above Crait

"i want every gun we have to fire on that man"

"blow that PIECE OF JUNK oUT OF THE SKY"

when kylo's like "concentrate all fire on the speeders" and then Hux immediately shrieks "CONCENTRATE ALL FIRE ON THE SPEEDERS" and Kylo looks at him like 🤔

"do you think you got him?"

when Luke faces Kylo

WHEN LUKE FACES KYLO

this scene makes the movie for me honestly. as of now im in a state of uneasy ceasefire with TLJ and the sequel trilogy as a whole. if the scene of Luke facing Kylo did not exist, TLJ would probably be dead to me

"did you come to SAVE MY SOUL" "no."

absolutely everything about Luke was so completely epic in this scene. even though he barely said anything, even the way he stood was epic. im not sure how Hamill did this but it was everything i ever wanted

"i failed you, Ben. I'm sorry." "i'm sURE YOU ARE"

the contrast between Kylo's fighting stance and Luke's

when Luke steps out from the massive cloud and duSTS OFF HIS SHOULDER

this fills me with so much pure glee i could literally ascend

"if you strike me down in anger, i'll always be with you. like your father."

the slow, dawning horror when Kylo starts realizing Luke's not actually there

"see you around, kid"

"SEE YOU AROUND, KID"

my favorite line in the WHOLE THING i could Scream

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

AHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH

"SEE YOU AROUND, KID"

when Rey slams the door in Kylo's face

THE BAD

Luke should have LIFTED HIS X WING OUT OF THE WATER WITH THE FORCE AT SOME POINT GOSH DARN. i knew from the moment we saw the submerged x wing that this moment was meant to happen.... but then it DIDN’T. like PLEASE. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO GOOD I NEED TO SEE THIS

the casino subplot. . . it was awesome for Finns character development but couldn’t he have developed character over an actually materially relevant story arc.. . .

BB-8 didn’t fight Dark BB-8 like what the hell honestly

for what earthly reason does Kylo need to wear his pants up to his armpits. is he TRYING to look like a doofus

why wasn't Lando the master codebreaker. like quite frankly, give me one good reason. why. no. there are no good reasons. when is Lando going to come into it you cowards

honestly....... what the FRICK was that horrible backstory behind what caused Kylo to turn

WHAT THE FRICK

im trying to keep my cool but this is a huge, enormous, and vital problem i have with this movie and whoever came up with that should be shot

Luke, in a brief moment of insanity, ignited his lightsaber over his sleeping nephew's bed to assassinate him because of a vision

LUKE SKYWALKER the guy who wouldnt believe that DARTH VADER, ENSLAVER OF WORLDS, SLAUGHTERER OF CHILDREN, MASS MURDERER OF THOUSANDS, was a lost cause and who refused to kill him, TRIED TO KILL HIS APPRENTICE IN HIS SLEEP

like... do you see my problem?

character assassination. it is ludicrously greater-than-Anakin Skywalker levels of overreaction to a Force premonition that Luke would see a vision of darkness and instantly move to slice his sleeping, defenseless nephew in half, and even in Luke's version of the story Luke is legitimatly the bad guy. he brought about the future he was afraid of, just like Anakin

because of this background, every interpretation is blown wide open to reasonably see Kylo as the victim and Luke's actions as those of a villain. of course he had to defend himself? it's legitimately possible to construe the subsequent killing of the other students as self-defense as well. if they wake up to find Ben having "killed" Luke? anything could have happened, Kylo could honestly have done barely anything bad up to this point and have been driven to the dark side on that one night

it's going to take.... so much work.... to walk this back. obviously Kylo's a villain now, because of what he's chosen to do since then, but for Luke to come out of this not looking like trash, they would have to provide SO MUCH more backstory including the "dark" things Kylo had done to make Luke suspect him, and have him probably be actively seeking darkness while under Luke's tutelage. and then Luke still seems like a fool and a betrayor

maybe they WANT Luke to come off as a legitimately bad person? i've seen some interpretations of TLJ as tearing down "legends" by showing everyone as flawed people, teaching the lesson of not deifying people to Rey AND the audience as well. if thats true and they actually want me to believe Luke is not worth believing in, i'm sorry but i reject that

luke skywalker is not a bad person

rey said "you didnt fail Kylo, Kylo failed you" WHICH... its true that Kylo failed in all his actions after this. but if this is the unmitigated truth about what happened that day, Luke definitely failed Kylo, thats not really arguable

i spit this backstory out of my mouth and stomp on it

bye felicia

"the legacy of the jedi is failure and hypocrisy. at the height of their power they allowed darth sidious to come to power and wipe them out" ok true. "it was a jedi master who was responsible for the training and creation of darth vader" YOU TAKE THAT BACK

a related point..... Luke is a coward.

i'm not saying that the only kind of Luke i would accept is HEROIC LEGEND LUKE WHO BURSTS FORTH FROM HIS ISOLATION AND SINGLE HANDEDLY DEVASTATES THE FIRST ORDER. but at the same time, his isolation is NOT in any way comparable to Obi-Wan's. "i came here to die" ok buddy.

dying is all well and good, hiding from your failures, being broken for a while after taking a hit like that

what i am NOT able to forgive is how he abandoned Leia

???? the frick???

"so many losses, i can't take any more" "sure you can" STORY OF LEIA'S LIFE

"im from the resistance, your sister Leia sent me" boy when she says jump you better say "how high?" honestly YOU OWE IT AT LEAST TO YOUR GUILT TO DO THAT FOR HER

HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE? SHE'S ON HER OWN DEALING WITH EVERY PROBLEM IN THE WHOLE GALAXY AND HE'S DOING WHAT? YOU'RE TELLING ME LUKE WOULD HAVE ABANDONED HIS SISTER LIKE THAT??? AND WHEN SHE SPECIFICALLY ASKS FOR HIM HE SAYS "no frick u" ?!?!?

if that's Luke Skywalker then Luke Skywalker is a useless coward

that is not Luke Skywalker

honestly everything Rey said was spot on "Leia sent me here with hope. if she's wrong then she deserves to know why. we all do"

the overall thesis of the sequel trilogy seems to be "there's no point to any of this"

a powerful student turns to the dark side and destroys the Jedi Order. an authoritarian regime destroys the republic and takes over. a small band of resistance fighters rallies against great odds. a Force sensitive from a desert planet teaches herself the Force from old Jedi books after her teacher evaporates into the Force after teaching like 1 lesson. everyone Leia loves dies

guys... i'm tired

it's just exhausting. what is the point? in the sequel trilogy we've seen the republic destroyed, the resistance decimated and harried from place to place until theyre down to 12 people on the millennium falcom. there's only one movie left. they're going to come back from nothing and destroy the first order and then smile at each other in the ashes?

why?>??? what are they going to do? build a republic again? is rey going to build a new jedi order? we've seen how that worked out

there's nothing to believe in here. HOPE is such a strong theme in the sequel trilogy. "as long as there's light we've got a chance" "leia sent me here with hope" "the galaxy has lost its hope, the spark is out." "hope is like the sun, if you only believe in it when you can see it you'll never make it through the night." like good grief. constantly hammering on the need to have hope, but WHY?

what's the point of defeating the imperials, spending your life trying to build something good in the galaxy, trying to build a family, when you're only going to have to do it all again in your old age, when everyone you love is dead?

i cant see any hope if this is the ending for the OT characters, so i powerfully struggle to care about and cheer for Rey, Poe, and Finn. what's the point in anything they're doing? what's the point in the sacrifices they're making? it might turn out just exactly like it did for Luke, Leia, and Han, spending their old age in loneliness, sorrow, and violence

if this is the way history repeats itself, you probably should just make out like the stuttering codebreaker. "dont join"

#grace for ts #the last jedi #lists of things with grace #star wars #here they are the extremely belated bullet points #this is long as heck #AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH #TLJ #tlj spoilers #the last jedi spoilers #i both enjoyed it immensely and left with a bad taste in my mouth hhhhhh

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getoffthesoapbox · 6 years

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[SW:TFA] Escaping Neverland - From Childhood to Adolescence in The Force Awakens

This probably isn’t the best time to write a meta about the child coding present in the main characters in The Force Awakens, but I wanted to get this piece out before the spoiler wars for The Last Jedi begin in earnest, rendering any writing on The Force Awakens obsolete. Plus I think this is a nice primer meta for going into TLJ. #SoHumble

In my meta on the trailer for The Last Jedi, I mentioned in passing that TFA infantilized Rey in TFA. Back a few months ago, I received a request to go into more depth on this idea, and I meant to oblige sooner than this, but here we are. I’ll be broadening the topic to include the three main characters--Rey, Finn, and Kylo Ren--because all three of them are coded as younger than their actual ages.

If anyone out there in the fandom has covered this topic before, I apologize for not knowing in advance. This post is based on my own thoughts about TFA, the reactions I’ve seen from the fandom toward these characters, and my own background in filmmaking. If my ideas are similar to anyone else’s out there, it’s purely coincidental, I swear. =)

Just in case anyone stumbles into this post unawares despite my care with my tags, this is pro-Reylo due to the nature of my own interpretation of the story. =)

Dedication:

@notamister this one’s for you! Sorry I kept you wating on it. =)

What the Devil is Coding Anyway?

Sometimes in films, filmmakers don’t want to spell out aspects of a character to the audience, or they want to convey something to the audience in a more subtle way without using heavy exposition or beating the audience over the head with the idea. This is where coding comes in, which allows a filmmaker to use wardrobe, props, acting choices, and scene direction to say something to the audience that may be at odds with what the viewer would expect given the character’s specs and situation, especially if the subject the filmmaker wants to get across isn’t necessarily relevant to the story and is more a backdrop piece.

Coding is frequently used for mental illness, drug addictions, exploring darker or more mature areas of sexuality during periods where sexual depictions were taboo, representing LGBT+ characters during prohibitory periods, altering the expectations of the audience about who the hero/villain is, and I’m sure many more things I can’t think of this late at night. =)

I’ll use the Sherlock Holmes stories to explain how coding works. Let’s say a new filmmaker wants to tackle yet another variant of Sherlock, but not be so obvious about Sherlock’s addictions. Rather than show Sherlock with a pipe or wiped out on the floor, they’ll “code” him as addicted--say, for example, he’ll be irrationally irritable until he leaves a room and returns, for example, or perhaps in another scene he’ll have bloodshot eyes for no reason. This is a cue the audience may not even pick up on consciously, but if such cues are repeated frequently, the audience’s minds will automatically begin to fill in the “gaps” of meaning--this character is probably addicted to something. This way, the creators can focus on other aspects of Sherlock’s story without beating the audience over the head with the idea that Sherlock has an addiction problem, if that’s their intent. It can also be used for other purposes, such as to highlight why Sherlock has so many problems interacting with people, perhaps, or what his emotional state is.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens contains quite a bit of coding, and when I first saw the film I wasn’t sure it was intentional, but now I think it was given some of Adam Driver’s recent interviews, the way Rian Johnson talks about the characters, and the way JJ Abrams talked about crafting their journeys. I’m only going to focus on child/adolescent coding here, but there are many other intentional and/or unintentional coding points to explore besides this.

The Ones Frozen by Time - Coding Adults as Children

In TFA, we have three main characters: Rey, Finn, and Kylo Ren. Each one of them is a specific age much older than adolescence--Rey’s arguably 19, Finn’s in his early twenties, Kylo’s nearing thirty. Not a single one of these character should, under reasonable circumstances, be treated as children or adolescents by the narrative because all of them are varying stages of adulthood (especially Kylo).

Yet, we have an interesting phenomenon where many audience members came out of TFA feeling fiercely maternal/paternal about one, two, or all of these characters. How was that even accomplished? How is it that so many people seem to have a parental attachment to these characters when they’re all self-sufficient, strong people in their own rights who bear adult responsibilities?

The answer is in the coding. And the coding in TFA is quite interesting and says quite a bit about where this trilogy is going.

Rian Johnson has mentioned we’re on the hero’s journey (I would argue the heroine’s, but that’s for another day)--and he specifically pointed out that in his mind the hero’s journey is the adolescent’s journey. While this isn’t true (plenty of hero’s journeys are taken by men in their thirties or older--see Dante’s Inferno or the Odyssey), it is interesting that this is his take on the story, and I see echoes of his mindset in JJ’s directing of TFA.

Although these characters are older than their coding, the audience does not respond to their literal ages--they respond to their coded ages. This is where I believe we begin and end in TFA with the coding:

Rey: child --> fledgling adolescence

Finn: fledgling adolescence --> young adulthood

Kylo: child --> fledgling adolescence

Finn is the most interesting of the trio because he begins in a different “place” than the others, and he also is further along in his journey than they are. I do believe this is one of the factors that contributes to why he doesn’t seem compatible with Rey romantically, despite how much chemistry the two actors have in general. His character’s journey is further along than Rey’s, and he can’t push her journey forward. Kylo, on the other hand, is beginning in the same place she is, and thus can propel her forward as she propels him forward.

Remember, coding is not literal--the reason these characters are coded this way serves several purposes. The first is that it establishes a sense of innocence among each of these characters, making it easy to like them and feel for them. The second is that it allows room for their maturation as characters throughout the trilogy while keeping them accessible to the target audience (families of all ages). And third, and I think this is most important, it says something about their stunted internal lives.

These three characters are trapped in Neverland--an eternal youth that can’t step into adulthood. The coding is there to help us see that these are damaged people who have deep wounds they must overcome in order to gain autonomy and actualize their full potential as human beings. This is the heart of the trilogy, I think, the journey from adolescence into adulthood.

Finn begins our journey, fittingly, as he is the first to take the first step on this road.

Finn - From Youth to Man

Finn goes through the most rapid change of any character in TFA. The journey from childhood to adolescence is one of lost innocence, and from adolescence to adulthood is one of accepting the burden of the world willingly. Finn takes all these journeys in one film, which is an amazing amount of growth for such a character.

Childhood is represented as the fall from the garden of eden. Now, Finn obviously isn’t in a literal eden (he’s a member of the first order). But he has been brain washed, which places him in a “kind” of eden. The scales fall from his eyes when he enters the battle of Jakku and watches his comrade die in his arms. This death marks the end of his “innocence,” and sets him on the path to growth--adolescence. Thus, Finn is the catalyst of the film and his journey sets the wheels in motion for the other two lead characters.

Once we establish that Finn’s coded as an adolescent, it’s easy to understand why he reacts to things the way he does:

Despite being a soldier who’s undergone training, Finn gets excited easily and overwhelmed easily, just as a young teen might.

He becomes unsure of himself and his place in the world.

He both fears and wants to rebel against authority figures such as Phasma.

He is overwhelmed by Rey the minute he meets her, another key feature of adolescence. He lies to her to impress her.

He tries to run away from responsibilities out of fear, because he’s not yet ready to take on adulthood.

He is the one who receives advice from Han as a father figure about women--advice men give to teens, not children.

After Kylo kidnaps Rey from Maz’s castle, Finn begins to make the shift from adolescent to adulthood. He begins to take a stand rather than waiting for others to rescue him, he does what he can to rescue Rey, he takes responsibility for his mistakes (even if he does lie again to get Han to take him to Rey).

But despite all this, he isn’t the one who saves Rey, and that’s because that’s not part of his journey. Instead, his crowning moment of glory is actually the moment where he stands to protect Rey against Kylo. In this moment, Kylo is shrieking at him like an adolescent in a hormone storm, and Finn is calm, cool, and collected--the first sign of adulthood. He knows he will lose, he knows he’s outmatched, but he takes on the burden of the world willingly. And this is where his story ends in TFA, because once he does this he’s fulfilled the end of his journey in TFA--willingly accepting a sacrifice for another. The first step into true adulthood.

If I’m reading Finn’s coding right, what we’ll see from him in The Last Jedi is his true journey into full-fledged adulthood--he’ll have to begin grappling with his past, taking on the burdens he’s meant to, not running away when he’s afraid, taking leadership of others when the time calls for it, and most importantly: deciding what he believes, what he’s fighting for, and what future he wants to build. And perhaps find a little romance along the way. ;)

Rey - The Girl Who Held Back

Rey’s coding trajectory is easier to see than Finn’s when you lay it all out, and it’s just as potent. She begins as a child and hits adolescence in tandem with Kylo. In her section here, I’m just going to discuss her child coding (I’ll do the same with Kylo’s). I’d like to tackle the adolescent journey with them together, as they’re a pair narratively speaking.

Rey’s child coding is one of the reasons why I believe so many people are deeply offended by the way the interrogation scene is handled, and I think the filmmakers maybe could have allowed her to open up her sexuality a bit before that scene in order to avoid the backlash, but hey, hindsight is 20/20. =P But I’ll get to that here shortly.

In the meantime, there is a deeply serious reason why Rey is coded as a child. She is keeping herself frozen deliberately because she is trying to freeze time until her family returns. Despite her body changing, she tries to hold on to childhood so that she will be recognizable and lovable when her family returns. This refusal to accept the natural stages of life keeps her unable to move forward--she can’t find a new family, she can’t find friends, she can’t find a lover, she can’t explore the world, she can’t hear her calling. She’s a deeply damaged girl who is rejecting her true self in order to hold on to something that, as Maz says, is never coming back.

Here are the key hints that Rey’s being coded as a child:

Her hairstyle is up like a little girl’s. At her age, she should be wearing it down to display her sexual viability, or wearing it in a style that is flattering to her emerging mature femininity.

Her clothing is modest and simple, showing very little of her form.

She rides her little sand sled like a kid.

In her home, she has a decaying flower, which represents her attempt to hang onto the flower of childhood despite the passage of time.

She also has a doll in her home.

She eats like a child, scarfing her food and hunching over the bowl to cram it into her mouth as fast as possible before she plays with her helmet.

The way she bounces around with her pilot’s helmet has a childish quality to it.

She’s waiting for her family like a child, rather than actively seeking them like an adult (most stories of lost families begin with the hero/heroine setting out on a journey to find the lost family members).

She has childish, idealized fantasy images of “legendary” figures such as Han or Luke, which implies she hasn’t had a reality check yet despite her harsh circumstances.

When she meets Finn, she’s completely oblivious to his romantic interest in her, something only aces and children do. =P

She argues with Finn about him holding her hand in a situation where she shouldn’t be worrying about something that petty. This is something nine-year-olds do, not nineteen-year-olds.

She turns down work (responsibility) from Han in order to remain a child.

She doesn’t get upset about Finn lying to her and instead pleads with him like a child.

Maz flat out calls her a child.

The audience sees all this, and in their heads their brains read: Rey is a cute adorable cinnamon roll who must be protected at all costs. =P They’re not reading her as a capable, strong, independent woman, because she’s not coded as one, despite the fact that she is one (as the remainder of TFA demonstrates aptly). In the beginning of the story, her rage, her inner issues, her distrust are all there, but they’re much more subtle and subdued than we’ll see later once Kylo brings out her darker sides.

Furthermore, JJ Abrams mentioned that Maz’s castle is where the fairytale really begins--the castle, the princess, and the prince. If you know your Snow White, the princess begins her flight when she’s just beginning adolescence. She flees into the woods, away from maturity (the Evil Queen) and into the unknown, where she meets a masculine authority figure in the Huntsman who she thinks will rescue her, only to realize that she can find no comfort there. This is exactly what happens Rey at Maz’s castle--she picks up the saber, is overwhelmed by the reality of her destiny, and flees into the woods, where her Huntsman appears to cut her heart out. This flight from childhood in the protected castle into the beginning of adolescence via the woods, so key to fairy tales, is evident in Rey’s story as well. Of course, Snow White isn’t Rey’s true fairytale path, but it’s as good a place as ever to start. ;) More on her journey after Kylo!

Kylo Ren - The Child Behind The Mask

Kylo’s coding is a little less straight forward than Finn’s and Rey’s, and I think that’s why he’s such a polarizing character for so many people. Kylo has two “personalities”: Masked Kylo, and Unmasked Kylo.

Masked Kylo is a persona Unmasked Kylo has created to “pretend” he’s an adult. Masked Kylo is confident, cool, snarky, evil, collected, powerful, and in control. He is coded as a young man who’s a bit full of himself, a feral rival to Hux’s ordered masculinity. But Masked Kylo is a sham and a lie, and this is also probably why so many people have trouble with Kylo--he’s not the mask in reality.

Unmasked Kylo is coded as a wayward child, and every now and then he can be seen peeking through Masked Kylo. Until he meets Rey, he won’t begin his true journey into adolescence. (Just a quick refresher: Kylo’s coding has nothing to do with his actual age. Just like with Rey, the reason he’s coded as a child isn’t because he literally is one, but rather because he’s a damaged soul whose time has been frozen due to his life circumstances making it difficult for him to actualize himself.)

Evidence of Unmasked Kylo peeking out early on in the film:

He talks to his grandpa’s mask, something kids do when they’re playing pretend.

He has destructive temper tantrums indicating lack of impulse control and emotional control more typical of small children than adolescents, but his temper tantrums are usually against inanimate equipment, not people. An adult with anger management issues would attack people, not valuable equipment. People are expendable, equipment is not.

He is obsessed with pleasing his father figure (Snoke/Vader) and still feels he needs authority over his life. This is not consistent with an adult or an adolescent. Hux acts as a counter point here--Hux has a proper subordinate/superior relationship with Snoke without any hero worship.

He uses his mask to cover his vulnerabilities, something children do.

He has no firm sense of self or identity; he allows others to define him.

He gets distracted easily by things he wants and forgets his responsibilities.

The moment he unmasks himself for Rey is the moment that will begin the destruction of Masked Kylo, but this transformation won’t be complete until Rey gives him the saber scar.

But let’s talk about Kylo and Rey as a set, because that’s where their stories lead. =)

Kylo & Rey - Childhood’s End

Adolescence is a time period of significant change, of exploring one’s sexuality, of exploring one’s independence, of taking initiative, of testing authority, of discovering one’s limits and boundaries. Rey and Kylo move from their child coding into adolescent coding via the forest scene--an undercurrent of sexuality between them begins there.

The reason sexuality is so important for these two is because it’s one of the key elements of adolescence, and these two both have been stunted by their damaged connections to their past. All their scenes together have a sexual under current to them because they’re jumpstarting this phase for each other narratively (again, coding isn’t literal--literally they’re just butting heads and acting like normal enemies). The problem with these two numbskulls is that the sexual coding is so thick with them that the audience picks up on it too readily and gets weirded out by it because it’s too fast a jump between Rey being coded as a child to her suddenly having a burgeoning sexuality with the villain no less, lol. It comes off as very confusing for the viewer, and perhaps should have been handled with more delicacy, but it is what it is. =P

The interrogation scene is the “shift” scene for both of these characters, although the first sign of that shift is the monster/bridal/princess carry (that should have been the first clue to the audiences that these two characters were about to move out of their child coding and into something new). Their mind battle, their mind connection, forces them both to open up the doors to growth they’d been running from. Rey comes out of the match empowered and brimming with confidence--Kylo comes out of it exhilarated and unable to contain himself. It’s quite a bizarre reaction for both characters if you just view them as two war opponents who had a weird encounter via mind meld. =P But if you look at it as two children who had their first taste of adolescent attraction, it’s easier to understand their bizarro reactions to each other.

This shift is further confirmed by the next sequences, where Rey rescues herself and “hides” her experience with Kylo from Finn and Han--what she went through with Kylo is personal and special, not something she wants to share. This is more a reaction you’d expect from a first kiss than a torture scene. =P It’s a private moment she doesn’t want to share. The keeping of secrets is a step into adulthood, and this is the first scene that shifts the viewer’s image of Rey significantly--her coding begins to change from here on out into that of the blooming adolescent.

Kylo, for his part, takes on the burden of responsibility--he goes searching for Rey, warning his troopers that she’s dangerous, but wanting to look after her. He’s not hunting her down to kill her or harm her--he’s looking to reach her and take responsibility for her and the damage she causes. This too is a step forward for him; before this, he was content to let others take on his responsibilities.

Everything culminates of course when Kylo disappoints Rey to the core by killing Han. She turns on him, and he persists in pursuing her anyway. Their snow fight is their mutual step into true adolescence--the battle of wills and desires and the shaping of identity by clashing against each other. It’s an astonishing, beautiful metaphorical scene that is choreographed more like a dance than a battle. The moment when they feel the force together, when he’s giving her everything he’s got, and she’s taking it in and then turning the tables on him, that is the moment where we change trajectory for good--these two are never going back to childhood. Childhood ends here.

After this, Rey marks Kylo as hers--the fact that he keeps her scar in TLJ shows his acceptance of her claim on him. This mark seals them for each other, but only after they’ve moved through adolescence and into adulthood. That journey is for TLJ.

If my read of this coding is correct, what we’ll see in TLJ for these two characters is their mutual journey from adolescence into adulthood. Basically, they’re about a film behind Finn, fufu. We should see them grappling with many of the issues of adolescence--rebelling against authority, finding an identity, finding their true selves and their path, testing each other.

You can already see hints of this in their new character appearances--Kylo bears her scar while she’s beginning to wear more revealing clothing and her make up is more sexualized (letting down her hair halfway is a perfect way to symbolize that she’s not yet in full adulthood). While we may not have any full romantic interactions between them yet (they may leave that for the final film, where we’ll explore their young adulthood), this time there won’t be any difficult child coding to make their interactions feel unacceptably sexualized--both of them, coded as young people in their teens exploring their world, will be appropriate for each other at last.

Or so I think. =) Like Wendy and her brothers, all our kids have to leave Neverland and grow up sometime. ;)

And that, as they say, is that. I hope this is helpful to anyone who decides to read through to the end. If this interpretation of the film conflicts with your own, don’t worry--it’s just an interpretation. Thanks for reading this behemoth. One day I’ll learn to be brief, but it is not this day. =)

#star wars child coding #reylo #swtfa #sw: tfa #tfa #the force awakens #star wars the force awakens #star wars: the force awakens #finn #rey #kylo ren

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do-you-have-a-flag · 6 years

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most LGBT/non-white fans aren't happy with how there was still no LGBT representation canonically and how they reduced poe to stereotypical latino tropes, made finn's arc the same as tfa basically (and sidelined him in for adam driver which is just racism lmao) and how underused and underwritten a lot of the characters were/how they mischracterized rey/how they REALLY mischaracterized luke and like the overall pacing was p bad, so white ppl liked it and dumbass kylo stans did too but that it

first off, why u anon, i’m not mean to people who message me generally and i won’t send followers after you because that’s a shitty thing to do, now i have to make a big long response publicly instead of using the messenger app, sorry everyone, long post incoming:I WANT LGBT representation to be canon in star wars but i know that they’re not gonna do it and it’s frustrating but not unexpected. Big budget genre FILMS (tv is different) are so lacking in LGBT content, it’s frustrating that off the top of my head the only example i can think of where it’s not sub-textualised via aliens is Sulu in the Star Trek reboot universe.

but let’s look honestly at how the people who run star wars and the actors responded to questions about LGBT content in interviews: there is spoilers blackout aversion, and actors explicitly supporting fans for their interpretations of characters but at no point was there a promise to show that sort of representation.

Disney has shown before that if they’re going to include LGBT content in their big films they do address it directly, much was made of Lefou in beauty and the beast and there was backlash because the actual content was so minor and still fairly subtextual.

With the Last Jedi no promises were maid so not getting LGBT content is frustrating for me and others but I can’t fault the film for it only the creators and a criticism of studios and directors and writers does not mean the movie itself is flawed for that specific reason. At least in my view. It’s blaming an absence of a feature that was never promised. would it be better with that feature? YES! but i also think it would have been better for various writing changes but the writing choices that were made are what we have to assess it on.

As to Poe being stereotypically Latino, I don’t live in a country with enough of a latino population to have much insight on that but I will say that I don’t understand this argument.

my PERSONAL view of Poe in this film is that last time we didn’t get any depth to his character outside of friendly heroic pilot, this time we are starting to be introduced to his flaws, that being his inability to see the big picture, he always makes good strategies and plans and is a great leader and has a sense of humour, these are good qualities, and when he is called impulsive it’s by generals who have the experience to think about the bigger picture where he goes for the most damage on a small scale, Poe has a very complimentary arc to Fin in that they both have to shift their thinking when the resistance is weakened because saving people becomes more important than always beating the bad guys.

so from that understanding of his character I don’t understand what stereotypes are being used here? genuinely please let me know because is it that he’s “hot-headed”? it’s a war and they are losing and because of that he makes the wrong decision and lashes out when he is restricted and believes his superior is making the wrong choice so all the “hot-headed” stuff is really just character complexity and his prominence in the plot is the reason why it’s only applied to him. IDK what other stereotypes there are i legit haven’t seen that criticism actually explained in detail yet so if any latinx fans can let me know i’d be glad

Fin’s arc isn’t the same, yes he’s been sidelined and its annoying because I hate the thing they sidelined him for too but when we do focus on his character they evolve his problems from TFA: running away out of fear and self loathing becomes running from one responsibility because he believes they’re a lost cause in the moment and wants to protect Rey, which becomes planning to sacrifice himself to lash out at first order in a way that mirror’s Poe’s journey because they both have to think better than that about who they’re fighting for.

There are so many characters to juggle in the film and by partnering Finn up with Rose they do detract from his character development but only to allow her to help him and introduce her to the stage at the same time as moving the plot along and setting up things for the next movie thematically. Finn was underserved but it was due to a writing puzzle of balancing an ensemble cast and ultimately at this point his story is supportive of the main plot but not directly a part of it and they could have done that differently but again that’s a writing flaw but not what I would call the worst part of the film i think people took it too hard and would like to hear a response to my reading of Finn’s place in the story in some detail too.

Also I love Rose and her dynamic with Finn was my fav and desperately needed because they keep having Finn Poe and Rey be separated in these films and we needed that friendly banter and mutual support space filled and Rose is honestly the heart and soul of the resistance even if the casino sequence was written in a very on the nose blatant way these films are for a very broad audience and some people need that stuff spelled out for them. (i’ve seen TLJ twice and both times i think most people in the audience missed the kid using the force at the end which i thought was wonderfully subtle before his posing became blatant visually with the broom)

underuse and underwriting are both side effects of the ensemble cast and i’m willing to forgive the clumsiness of it generally but you’re correct about Rey’s writing, I’ve said it before but everything about her and kylo and snoke and Luke contained in the scenes between the second force skype conversation and Kylo waking up on the floor is the characters making bad choices, that’s why it feels out of character. the rest of the film even when characters make mistakes everyone is behaving consistently and there’s a balance but in that entire segment of the film all four characters make the wrong decisions. the results of these scenes afterwards is fine but i wish they hadn’t decided to have rey trust kylo so readily, considering her character history as a scavenger you know she’d be more skeptical than that. And with Luke his reticence to tell her the truth is frustrating because that’s what happened to him regarding his father and he should know better, I think the moment of weakness misread as utter betrayal was interesting, not a great choice on the writing side but i’m willing to deal with it. outside of those scenes though it’s like the competent writing suddenly returned!

Bad pacing? yeah, but it’s the middle film in a trilogy there was a lot of ground to cover.

also listen there’s nothing wrong with being a fan of villians in a work of fiction and personally i loved watching hux suffer and kylo get the door slammed in his face and just because i find his character entertaining doesn’t mean i wanted the rey/kylo romance teasing that happened. I have to accept that the writers are going for redemption arc stuff here but honestly give me complex pathetic villain who dies dramatically at the end and i’ll be happy,

I wrote out all these paragraphs because you made a whoooole lot of generalisations and i wanted to respond with personal thoughts and specificity,\

I can’t speak for groups i’m not a part of but i can give my personal reasons for liking the film. at the end of the day it’s not the worst star wars film and of my expectations of the franchise some flaws are a part of it. I LIKE goofiness intentional or not in my genre fiction.

Representation-wise the LGBT stuff would have been wonderfull but as of right now it wasn’t something i felt should be expected but instead it is something I think should be pressured onto the creators to include canonically because there’s literally no reason not to include it that isn’t getting money from garbage people who hate diversity.

On a casting level i love the inclusivity of race in the cast, not just with Finn, Poe, and Rose being the majority of our new young heroes, but also of background characters because that sort of understated representation is important too. Do i think the writing could be better? sure, but as far as stereotyping goes i don’t believe there’s deliberate and malicious intent there, any flaws are unintentional on the writers side and their personal biases, but personally I still don’t see the specific problem you’re citing here and would like to hear more about it because I don’t get it.

also pls chill with the “white people and kylo stans” attitude here because i get why people don’t like adam driver, but you’re being deliberately escalating in your language and i’m not okay with that, it’s a false equivalence of the concepts of white complacency when it comes to representation with….. people who like the main villain.

He’s the main bad guy. he’s played by an actor cast with his looks in mind because he’s one of the few villains who doesn’t spend the whole film behind a mask or with cgi or makeup effects obscuring him, he’s placed in a position of power and given sympathetic elements because a complex villain is more interesting than, oh, say, every simple evil marvel villain who wants to destroy the earth (and I say that as someone who likes marvel films) they knew they couldn’t recapture the appeal of darth vader so they aimed for audience enjoyment in a different way and it worked and it’s pointless to be mad at fans of star wars for liking it’s main villain?

I’m not saying fans who take it too far by going “he did nothing wrong”/”his victimisation excuses his actions” or who woobie-fy him or who shit on other characters are in the right here, they’re not, and it is frustrating when there’s so many good characters that others lose screen time and complexity to focus on him when he’s a shitty fascist who wants power for himself.

just like, de-escalate your aggression here because i’m talkative as hell and I also want better representation but I’m also one hundo percent about viewing media and people complexly and in terms of the fiction i thought it was a good film and in terms of the choices by the creators in how they crafted that film i thought they did okay but could have done waaay better and that’s what fans want.

i’m not gonna speak for most LGBT/non white fans because I’m only a part of one of those categories personally but i’m SURE a chunk of the audience responses in those reviews trashing the movie are from straight white cis dudes who are mad about all the POC in the film or goofy writing choices they feel undermines their view of the movie and they’re objectively wrong about a lot of things but their opinions are still added to that review percentage and the only way to know who thought what from what background and coming from what perspective is to go through every review and make a chart and that sort of research isn’t something i’ve done and you probably haven’t done it either so we can only speak from our view from discussing with friends and online and on tumblr i have seen some lgbt and poc responses and most of them are positive, a couple of people aren’t and that’s only my dashboard but i can’t assume it represents the communities as a whole

so anyone seeing this long ass post who hasn’t unfollowed me: what’s your opinion?

#the last jedi spoilers #star wars spoilers #long post #Anonymous

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