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padme-amitabha · 4 years

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Hello since you mentioned you are anti Disney are you anti Reylo too? What are your thoughts on other ships

Hmm I wouldn’t exactly call myself an anti Reylo. To be an anti you need to have strong feelings against something and I feel nothing about these two characters and the entire sequel trilogy. Kylo and Rey are so poorly written and underdeveloped characters to the point they feel like blank slates in my mind. So I don’t really care about them getting together. But I’ll acknowledge some parts of their relationship seemed abusive (especially their interaction in TFA) and them getting together after TFA is by no means healthy. Still I’m just not passionate enough to argue against this ship. The only ST ship I like is Finn/Poe because they are cute together have been through a lot together and their relationship could develop over the course of the films.

I’m okay with Jyn/Cassian though they lack solid character traits as well but it’s fine because I think Rogue One was a plot driven movie anyway so fanon works on them are cool. Not sure if it’s an actual ship but I do like C3PO and R2D2 together. With Luke and Obi-Wan, I don’t necessarily think romance is necessary but I’m open to most ships involving them. I do occasionally enjoy Obitine, Codywan and Siriwan. I have a soft spot for Siriwan because of the legends novel ‘Secrets of the Jedi’. If anyone hasn’t read or heard of it, I highly recommend y’all to check it out. I’m fine with Han/Leia though I’m not a big fan of their dynamic (especially in ESB) but I still think it’s great.

Now about the ships I actually don’t like: You can say I’m anti all master/student relationships because I personally just find it really icky. All of the masters and students have big age differences and the masters knew the latter as children/preteens and in some cases raised/groomed them so no. All master/student bonds are meant to be platonic and anything else just feels wrong.

I’m not a big fan of crackships in general neither do I like Anakin/Vader and Padmé being paired with other people. They seem like the only couple who actually matter to the story because without them there would be no Luke and Leia. I love that George based them on Romeo and Juliet while adding bits of Othello/Desdemona to complete the tragedy. I think they only loved each other and just like Anakin’s fate it was destined to happen. I just can’t imagine them loving anyone else. I’m only basing this on the movies; I am not a big fan of TCW nor do I like they created Rush Clovis, a stereotypical clingy ex, just for unnecessary drama and made Anidala unhealthy just because the writers fail to grasp what George intended. I don’t think Anidala is by any means unhealthy or Vaderdala for that matter. I honestly don’t like the distinction because Anakin is Vader at a different point in his life. He made a mistake of choking Padmé on Mustafar because he was unhinged. For the record, he has never been fully mentally stable unlike Kylo Ren as shown in AOTC so you have to keep that in mind. Plus he still regrets doing that to her very much and she’s the first thing he asks about after his surgery. But his actions still break her heart and she loses the will to live. So Vader remains alone with his regrets and in a way this is very fitting because abuse (even if it’s unintentional or accidental) should not be tolerated. Or murder for that matter so even though Anakin’s fall is understandable, karma gets him and he loses everything. I have seen a lot of Anidala fans say Vader and Padmé is toxic but I think it’s only toxic if you make it out to be. I have seen some suitless Vader fics where Padmé is forced to marry him or be with him against her will which is very much abusive. But if Vader still has Anakin’s personality he wouldn’t be abusive at all. Ambitious and power hungry? Definitely but Anakin’s past as a child slave and his mother impacted him deeply. I think he would have respected women even more because of it and definitely wouldn’t force someone to be with him against their will. I dislike how people view Anakin as a saint or like “the good side” of him because it’s the same Anakin who slaughtered the sand people. Viewing him as different from Vader is glossing over his flaws and crimes while undermining his redemption. Vader isn’t a demon possessing Anakin; Vader is Anakin who has no one left and he’s alone and depressed. AOTC Anakin even after his dark moment acted normally with people he cared about (he didn’t exactly lash at Padmé when he returned, did he?) so I don’t think he would have been abusive to Padmé had she lived and I think Padmé would rather die than be abused. If anything Vader would have killed Palpatine much sooner if Padmé was alive.

Anyways there’s only one ship I absolutely despise and it’s a popular dark ship. I don’t think I hate any other ship with such a burning passion and it involves Anakin/Vader and a certain shitty OC from the marvel comics - an unoriginal and trashy character who exists because Disney has given certain writers far too much freedom to write their fanboyish fantasies. So they write a sort of dark Padmé who’s into women but that doesn’t stop them from shamelessly dropping sexual innuendos in every interaction with Vader. The worst thing is the writer pretends it was unintentional while pretending to “discover this ship” and I find it direspectful to the lgbt community that they wrote a character who even though she’s gay is shipped with every male character she interacts with (including Luke), because clearly her preference is not that important. She’s conveniently morally gray too because that way she can team up with both sides. I don’t like any ships where characters have a big age difference and this “dark ship” has about twenty years of it and this OC Smelly Lunatic A*hra is closer to Luke and Leia’s age. She is a mixture of Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Lara Croft, Padmé and even Anakin himself and fangirls over him with plenty of forced and obvious parallels. She even has plot armor and I can’t believe Vader - who kills his own officers for failure - tolerates her when she double crosses him multiple times because Disney is too afraid to kill women especially ones they created to push their own propaganda. Hell she even survives after being thrown into outer space and when she’s alive Vader is a petty villain obsessed with hunting her down and killing her and all these supposedly take place before ESB when I’m sure he had other things on his mind than this one insufferable brat. Even while she’s working for him, he doesn’t hesitate to choke her or use the force to hurt her. He only keeps her around for her skills and it’s not like he cares about hurting her so it’s absolutely toxic but people who ship them seem to think otherwise. She is also allowed to pry on his past and joke around with him which sounds so unrealistic and terrible. To top it off their last interaction involves her, a non force sensitive, trapping him and leaving him to die and giving him some much-needed life advice because she’s clearly very wise and knows better and Vader is an incompetent fool who walked into a trap. Not only does it butcher his character, it makes him a typical and petty villain. I truly can’t express how much I hate this ship and this character. It’s just laughable and insulting to Padmé to think Vader will be with someone else after he believes he killed Padmé or was at least responsible for her death in some way.

(If you happen to like her character or support this ship, feel free to unfollow because all you will ever find in this blog is rants on how terrible the character and the ship is.)

Anyways, there you go that’s my opinion on the SW ships. I’m neutral about the ships I didn’t mention above.

#my thoughts #sw ships #anidala #hanleia #reylo #obitine #codywan #siriwan #vaderdala #finnpoe #jyn x cassian #anti doctor aphra #anti aphra #anti disney #anti disney sw #anti crackshipping

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kuwaiti-kid · 4 years

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The 20 Best Star Wars Books of All Time (Canon and Legends)

With the recent reveal of the Star Wars: The High Republic mixed-media series, now seems like a great time to look back on the novelizations, stand alones, and book series that have been an integral part of building the rich and expansive universe that we know and love today.

The first Star Wars novelization was released six months following the premiere of Star Wars: A New Hope. Ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster, but credited to George Lucas, Star Wars: From The Adventures of Luke Skywalker was the first venture into worldbuilding beyond the cinematic universe.

Over the course of forty-three years, nearly five hundred books have been added to the Jedi Archives, uh — I mean the Star Wars library. In 2014, almost four hundred of these novels were decanonized by Lucasfilm to refocus the canon around The Walt Disney Company’s restructuring of the franchise.

The Expanded Universe was rebranded as Star Wars Legends, but it was far from forgotten by its fans or the authors of the new canon novels.

The Ten Best Star Wars Legends Books

Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn (1991)

You would be hard-pressed to find a fan of the Star Wars Expanded Universe who doesn’t love Timothy Zahn’s novels. He introduced us to beloved characters like Mara Jade and Thrawn.

Set five years following The Return of the Jedi, Zahn kickstarted the Expanded Universe with an enthralling story that followed the continuing adventures of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo. Grand Admiral Thrawn attempts to track down a pregnant Princess Leia, while Luke Skywalker faces off with the smuggler Mara Jade (who just so happens to be the former Emperor’s Hand).

It is by far one of the best stories in the Expanded Universe.

The Han Solo Adventures (Trilogy) by Brian Daley (1979-1980)

Daley’s series recently returned to Star Wars discourse after High Republic author Cavan Scott tweeted out his current reference material for another project.

The trilogy follows Han Solo and Chewbacca through their days as smugglers in the capitalistic Corporate Sector, as they uncover a slaving ring, rescue kidnap victims, and face-off with a religious cult.

If you loved Solo: A Star Wars Story, you’ll love this trilogy.

The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime by R. A. Salvatore (1999)

Set twenty-one years following the destruction of the Death Star, Salvatore did the unthinkable in Vector Prime. Sanctioned by George Lucas himself, the character death depicted in this novel is the only original series character to die in the Expanded Universe.

It is the first novel in a nineteen-book series entitled The New Jedi Order. While this novel sacrificed the life of a beloved character, it also introduced the villainous race of the Yuuzhan Vong.

The original trilogy characters are paired off with the younger generation (the Solo children) throughout the novel, before converging at the crux of a devastating battle.

Star by Star by Troy Denning (2002)

The Yuuzhan Vong continue their ruthless campaign throughout the galaxy, leading Anakin Solo to concoct a dangerous plan to thwart their attacks. Denning’s novel delved a devastating blow for the Solo family as their youngest son Anakin Solo sacrificed his life to buy time for the rest of the team to kill the voxyn queen and escape from the Vong.

This is a book filled with death and destruction, and it proves to be a real page-turner.

Dark Journey by Elaine Cunningham (2002)

If you love Jaina Solo, then the tenth novel in The New Jedi Order series is the one for you. Dark Journey follows Jaina as she struggles with despair and her need for revenge following the death of her brother Anakin Solo and the Vong’s capture of her twin Jacen.

They retreat to the Hapes Cluster, where they encounter the grieving Teneniel Djo and the familial struggles of the Hapes. The Former Queen Mother attempts to arrange a marriage between Jaina and Prince Isolder — an offer Jaina rejects.

Enemy Lines (Duology) by Aaron Allston (2002)

This pair of novels can easily be read as a singular story. It follows Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker, Han and Leia Solo, Lando Calrissian, Wedge Antilles, and Jaina Solo as they respond to the Yuuzhan Vong’s capture of Coruscant.

Wedge is a stand-out character throughout this novel, and I believe this characterization is one of the reasons that he remains a beloved minor character. The rebellion’s determined efforts lead them to a victorious battle on Borealis, though the Vong are far from defeated.

Shadows of the Empire by Steve Perry (1996)

This novel was Perry’s contribution towards the ambitious mixed-media series (also called Shadows of the Empire) created by Lucasfilm in 1996. The series included both a novel and junior novelization, a comic book series, a video game, action figures, a soundtrack, trading cards, role-playing games, posters, and so much more.

Set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, the novel introduced readers to the Black Sun criminal overlord, Prince Xizor, whose primary motivation is to seek vengeance against Darth Vader. He does that by plotting to murder Luke Skywalker once his heritage is revealed. It’s a brilliant book that can be read as a stand-alone or as part of the mixed-media experience.

Survivor’s Quest by Timothy Zahn (2004)

Three years following the marriage of Luke Skywalker to Mara Jade, the couple struggles to balance their marriage and their duties as Jedi. Led by an urgent transmission, they journey together on a quest to locate the remains of the Outbound Flight expedition, which had been destroyed by Grand Admiral Thrawn on the planet of Niruan decades ago.

Expecting to find a graveyard of destroyed Dreadnought ships, they are surprised to find intact vessels and signs of life among them. Luke and Mara Jade come up against the vicious Vagaari to rescue the survivors of the errant Outbound Flight project. If you love Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker — this is the novel for you. They are at their best when they’re working together.

Black Fleet Crisis (Trilogy) by Michael P. Kube-McDowell (1996-1998)

Sixteen years following the end of the Original Trilogy, Kube-McDowell’s novel picks up with an era of peace for the New Republic. This trilogy of novels sits somewhat outside of the canon of The New Jedi Order and X-Wing series and provides a slightly different approach to the beloved heroes of the universe.

Chewbacca returns to Kashyyyk to be with his son; Luke works towards higher Jedi enlightenment in a self-built hermitage on Coruscant. Unlike other novels that focus on the characters and their arcs, this series is more focused on political and military plots.

The story follows the genocidal campaign of former Imperial slaves, referred to as Yevethan forces, as they seek to conquer the Koornacht Cluster.

This story deviates drastically from what we know about Luke and Leia’s mother, Padmé, thanks to the prequel trilogy, as Luke travels to the planet Fallanassi to learn more about his mother’s homeworld. Overall the trilogy makes for a great Star Wars story.

Wedge’s Gamble by Michael A. Stackpole (1996)

Wedge Antilles and his X-Wing pilots, the Rogue Squadron, plan to infiltrate the Imperial High Command controlled Coruscant. Still, first, they free the imprisoned Black Suns criminals in hopes of bringing down the Empire.

The story is a race against time for the rebels as they work to take down the planetary shields protecting Coruscant. In the process, allies are lost, and a traitor is discovered among their ranks.

It’s the second novel in a ten-part series and proves to be a fast-paced read.

The Ten Best Star Wars Canon Books

The Last Jedi by Jason Fry (2018)

Of the three novelizations included in the Sequel Trilogy era, Fry’s work stands out. He masterfully adapted Rian Johnson’s screenplay, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and shed new light on aspects that may have been lost to the casual viewer.

The book provides readers with a look inside the heads and hearts of nearly every character seen in the movie — which genuinely enriches the story.

Star Wars: Bloodline by Claudia Grey (2016)

The novel delves into the ramifications of Senator Leia Organa’s heritage, as trusted allies turn against her at the revelation that she is Darth Vader’s daughter.

Grey delivers an incredibly poignant look into Leia’s psyche throughout this ordeal as well as how she handles balancing being a mother and a senator.

Star Wars: Resistance Reborn by Rebecca Roanhorse (2019)

If you were not overly thrilled with the dynamics between Finn and Poe in The Rise of Skywalker or were hoping to read more about Leia’s last days with the Resistance, this novel is a surefire favorite. Roanhorse truly knows these characters inside and out, and she brings a fresh, exciting adventure to bridge the gap between the Battle of Crait and the Resistance’s base on Ajan Kloss.

Leia works diligently to rally the forces after their defeat at Crait, which brings the familiar Inferno Squadron members, Shriv Suurgav and Zay Versio, into the picture. An interesting element of the novel is the recruitment of defecting Imperial forces that are welcomed into the Resistance. Overall the stakes are low in the story, but it still manages to deliver a memorable read.

Last Shot (Star Wars): A Han and Lando Novel by Daniel José Older (2018)

Created as a tie-in to Solo: A Star Wars Story, Older’s novel covers five storylines told in five parts with a mix of flashbacks between Han Solo and Lando Calrissian as they face a new threat by an old foe.

It also covers aspects of Han’s marriage to Leia, as well as his relationship with his young son, Ben Solo — which helps readers understand how things fell apart by the time The Force Awakens occurs. If you loved Daley’s Legends series about Han Solo, you’ll love Older’s novel.

Star Wars: The Aftermath Trilogy by Chuck Wendig (2016-2017)

The trilogy expands the extensive period between the end of Return of the Jedi and the start of The Force Awakens. Wendig introduces readers to Norra Wexley and her teenage son Snap Wexley (later seen on screen) and delivers an engaging storyline for Wedge Antilles.

The story follows the New Republic as they work towards defeating the remaining members of the Empire. This series also introduces Emperor Palpatine’s Observatory on Jakku — an exciting piece of foreshadowing for The Rise of Skywalker.

Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn (2017)

The first in a series of three novels, Zahn returns to Star Wars and reintroduces Grand Admiral Thrawn to the Star Wars canon. The story begins with the exile of the Chriss warrior, Mitth’raw’nuruodo (Thrawn), and follows his path to the Empire alongside Imperial Cadet Eli.

Thrawn offers to serve Emperor Palpatine in order to protect his people. Throughout the novel, Thrawn’s calculated tenacity allows him to climb the ranks within the Empire, ultimately rising to the position of Grand Admiral. Thrawn is a fan-favorite, and this series is just the beginning of his storyline.

Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel by James Luceno (2016)

If you watched Rogue One and wanted to know more about Orson Krennic or Galen Erso, this is the novel for you. It covers Erso’s research into the energy kyber crystals under the Celestial Power project and follows his concerns as he realizes his research might be used for something devastating.

It’s an interesting approach to members of the Empire and shows the duality among the ranks and the inner confliction at the advent of the Star Destroyer. Familiar faces like Tarkin and Saw Gerrera also appear in this novel.

Battlefront II: Inferno Squad by Christie Golden (2017)

Golden’s novel follows the members of the Empire’s elite team of soldiers, the Inferno Squad, as they deal with the ramifications of the theft of the Death Star plans. The central characters, Lieutenant Iden Versio, Lieutenant Junior Grade Gideon Hask, and Lieutenant Commander Del Meeko, are all featured in the EA Game’s Star Wars: Battlefront II.

Versio and her team are tasked with eradicating the remaining members of Saw Gerrera’s Partisans, newly reformed as a terrorist cell known as the Dreamers. Gideon and Del infiltrate the Dreamers, while Iden is arrested for alleged sedition after intentionally revealing her disillusionment towards the Empire — which leads to the Dreamers rescuing her.

It’s not often that we get to see how members of the Empire fully believe that their actions are the right actions, and this novel delivers.

Alphabet Squadron by Alexander Freed (2019)

The first of a trilogy of novels focused on a group of New Republic pilots. The series crosses over with Marvel comic series Star Wars: TIE Fighters and has a forthcoming sequel novel Shadow Fall arriving in June. The book explores the costs of war in the wake of the Battle of Endor as it follows Yrica Quell, an Imperial defector.

Freed introduces readers to a colorful group of pilots (featuring X-Wings, U-Wings, and Y-Wings) who react with different degrees of suspicion when Yrica joins the squadron. It’s a compelling piece of fiction that is rooted heavily in the military aspects of Star Wars and strongly reminiscent of the 1990s X-Wing series.

Star Wars: Ahsoka by E.K. Johnston (2016)

Dave Filoni created Ahsoka Tano for the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and she quickly grew into one of the most beloved characters from the Prequel Trilogy era. The young adult novel starts with Ahsoka during the Siege of Mandalore and explains how she came to adopt the pseudonym Ashla after fleeing to the remote Outer Rim Moon, Raada.

In the shadow of the growing threat of the Galactic Empire, Ahsoka works alongside Bail Organa and the Rebellion to evacuate the at-risk villages on Raada. Obi-Wan Kenobi also appears in this novel and struggles with the grief of Anakin’s betrayal as he remains in hiding on Tatooine. Overall it’s a great novel exploring an aspect of Ashoka’s life that had yet to be explored.

The final season of The Clone Wars is currently airing on Disney+.

Choose Your Adventure

While we endure the post-The Rise of Skywalker world, there is an entire galaxy’s worth of Star Wars novels out there to read.

Check out your local library or used bookstore and track down some of the older Legends books or jump on Amazon and pre-order the new The High Republic series.

Choose your own adventure, and as always, may the Force be with you.

The post The 20 Best Star Wars Books of All Time (Canon and Legends) appeared first on Your Money Geek.

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honeygrey · 6 years

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A Twisted Hero’s Journey (SW meta)

I’m not the best when it comes to writing metas, but i was watching something on netflix and this popped into my head

“All hero’s journeys begin with the hero at rest in their home culture.

So one particular stage is the call to adventure. An outsider figure comes and calls them to adventure—says, “Come on, Luke. You’ve got to go do something now and help this girl.”

He embarks on a journey into the unknown, a run that’s usually much more crowded with the supernatural.

The hero is tested in these strange surroundings, and has to pass various trials in order to continue. Within that realm he meets various mentors and also various companion figures, who become sort of an entourage that he travels around with.

Typically he then has a near death experience-type adventure, where he plunges down into some kind of abyss.

But the hero survives this moment and achieves perhaps new knowledge or a treasure as a reward, and then he flees, pursued by the enemy.

From which he arises transformed, capable of fulfilling the quest on which he started out.

There’s one final test, and that is often a moment of life or death. The hero has to use all the knowledge he’s gained up until this far to come through that and succeed.

The end result, is a new world, a new status quo that comes into being.” (Myths and Monsters, season 1: episode 1)

Why the first 2 movies placed such importance on the burning temple scene, is because it’s the true beginning. This trilogy is the third Skywalker trilogy—father, son, grandson…but this time it has two heroes. Rey the traditional hero, and Ben follows the same path...except with a twist.

With Rey’s journey—each step if easily adapted. She leaves her life on Jakku to bring BB8 back to the Resistance, and meets Han and Chewie along the way like Luke did in the original trilogy. Around the same time, she discovers her connection to the force, and runs into Kylo Ren. After escaping her cell, she find Han and the others in time to watch her first mentor die (think Obi-wan dying in front of Luke in ep iv). She battles an injured Kylo Ren and survives, fleeing the first order with Finn and Chewie. In TLJ she finds her new mentor, Luke, after finally accepting her force abilities and Anakin’s lightsaber. From here, she travels to Kylo Ren, deciding that Luke was wrong about Ben Solo ever being “light.” By trusting him, Kylo Ren/Ben and Rey defeat Snoke like Vader with Palpatine, and bring about a new world…maybe not one she understands or wants, but none the less, “a new order.”

As a side note: I don’t consider Luke Rey’s second master, because she never really learns anything from him, beside “reach out and feel the force.” She never internalizes anything else he says regarding jedi, believing the light side is the only way to use the force--despite acting just as emotionally as kylo ren at points (i.e. attacking luke with her staff from behind)

Ben Solo’s story is much darker. It starts with him fully indoctrinated in the Jedi lifestyle—his uncle and mother, who he probably spent more time with than Han, where legends and leaders. They decided to train him, which would lead to Snoke discovering and calling out to Ben. The destruction of the temple lead Ben to joining Snoke (who would want to have a sit-down conversation with parents who abandoned and lied to you, as well as someone who just tried to murder you in your sleep?). With the fo, he has to learn how to use the dark side, and live up to snoke’s expectations and quests (like killing other jedis and force church people). Personally, I believe the Knights of Ren are something that existed before Ben turning into Kylo Ren, and he quickly rose through their ranks as someone who was highly skilled and force sensitive—this gives him his own crew of storm troopers to command as he carries out snokes missions (finding Lor San Tekka to find Luke). Unlike Rey who overcomes Kylo Ren in battle, he is met with failure (yoda: “the greatest teacher, failure is”), and Snoke makes sure he knows after he flees starkiller with Hux and Phasma. This loss makes him act bolder, more reckless (tfa he begs snoke to be given a chance to prove himself; tlj he stands up to snoke…twice!), and also presents the whole force-bond thing. He begins to connect with Rey, and discovers someone who is willing to listen to him (his treasure, like Rey and the lightsaber). Because of this connection, he finds the conviction to kill snoke by becoming sneakier, smarter (more sith like, but with more noble/grey intentions).

In my previous post, I made a few predictions about episode ix…but I’m going to alter them a little bit with the realization that this next movie, but run through the cycle a second expedited time.

· There’s a time lapse, to establish renperor’s new order (head canon: ben solo is really good with children, but terrible with other adults); rey is used to life among the resistance, and deepening her tie with the force, but doesn’t open a jedi academy (they’re in the middle of a bloody war!)

· Hux tells him, they learned about something the resistance plans on attacking, mentioning Rey (“the girl who killed Snoke”) to manipulate Kylo Ren in going himself (because he has to pretend he wants revenge on the person who killed the former leader, and also because [whether rey reciprocates or not] he has reylo feels).

· The resistance hears about their movements and is confused, so they travel to the planet, too, including rey in the millennium falcon.

· There, Hux stages a coup, ordering the stormtroopers to murder Kylo Ren to make it look like the Resistance did it, but he’s able to defend himself, and flees with his life, but injured. He might meet up with the Knights of Ren here, or Luke’s other ex-jedis.

· Eventually he comes in contact with Rey again. She’s disappointed in him, but not enough to let him die. Also Chewie and him need a better reunion and hash it out.

· He never becomes light, but learns to accept both sides—he also becomes her mentor in utilizing the dark side.

· At the end of the movie, they show up together and aid the Resistance/New Republic, in bringing down the First Order. Him leading the attack (sith=offense, jedi=defense). Although it feels repetitive, I would love it if it showed the resistance trying to attack him, not knowing where his loyalties lie.

Ultimately, Ben shouldn’t die—it sends a bad message, “the only way to redeem yourself is to sacrifice your life and die. Become a martyr.” Instead, like Karl Doenitz (the guy who became president of germany after hitler died), be punished for his complicit crimes, but not sentenced to death, and living out the rest of his life in relative obscurity following his release. This would be a change from Han and Luke receiving medals to Ben Solo willingly accepting his sentence. It would also be a bittersweet moment for leia (I don’t want them to kill her off, but write her character into an off-screen role—they had multiple opportunities to kill her in tlj and doing it off-screen would be an injustice to the character and carrie fisher) and rey, who believe in ben again, just to be separated.

#star wars meta #episode ix #kylo ren #ben solo #rey

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thesellamasaintloyal · 4 years

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In defense of Rey

Alternatively titled, “There’s a shit ton of things wrong with the Star Wars Sequel trilogy but Rey being a so-called Mary Sue isn’t one of them, Jesus Christ guys it’s been four years can we not-“

((This was born thanks to a post which compared The Child aka Baby Yoda’s innate abilities to use the force despite being a literal toddler to Rey’s force abilities despite her ‘lack of training’, and the hypocrisy of the fandom in accepting one at face value and not the other. Obviously, I agreed, but when the fuck boys come out to play so do my twelve paragraphs lol fight me))

———

People love to compare Rey to Luke and Anakin, and claim that she’s a Mary Sue because she naturally awoke to some of her Jedi abilities, such as her ability to fight, fly with expert ease, as well as her innate understanding of the force. What people love to forget is that the circumstances of their lifestyles naturally led to different development rates toward their innate abilities while using the force. I’d like to include Leia in this as well.

On the bottom rung of the “I can use my force powers right off the bat” we have Luke. Luke grew up as a farm boy in middle-of-nowhere Tatooine, who had little to no reason to use any of his force abilities beyond flying, where he developed his famed capacity to be a pilot. He was raised in a relatively safe environment, protected from the war and conflict that was happening throughout much of the galaxy, and his greatest grievances were simply not being allowed to join the rest of his friends at the academy because he had to keep farming. Out of all four characters he had the most ‘normal’ day to day upbringing, and thus many of a Jedi’s abilities were not developed in the slightest- meaning he had the most to train and the most to learn.

Not too far ahead on the rung is Leia. I’d like to examine her as well, because she had a similarly ‘protected’ upbringing as Luke (in some ways even more so, being a princess and all) and thus did not have the chance to develop many of her innate force skills until later in life. However, Leia was not any spoiled princess laying around in riches. Leia was exposed to politics and warfare and the rebel cause her ENTIRE life, watching her (adoptive) parents not only actively participate in the rebel alliance but practically lead it.

She clearly had some training with weapons, knowing enough to be able to handle several firearms throughout the series, and most importantly- she learned strategy, she learned tactical knowledge and leadership skills, she learned patience and focus, self-awareness, and most importantly the ability to think calmly in a desperate situation. The latter of these skills are all absolutely essential to a Jedi and absolutely form part of the training they undergo, which means all she needed to complete her training was the more physical aspect, and which is why historically in the original trilogy she had far more patience and resilience than Luke when things (invariably) went wrong.

Higher up on the rung is Anakin. Anakin was also raised on Tatooine, but his experience of the planet was far different from Luke’s. His Tatooine was a bustling trade center and full of crime- and he was born a slave in these conditions. Exposed to both mechanical knowledge and more hard labor (carrying parts, repairing parts and ships, and so forth) Anakin had the opportunity to build up some more core strength, and his infamous flying abilities (which honed his reflexes) were also given the opportunity to grow thanks to his exposure and participation in pod racing.

For all intents and purposes Anakin is the saga’s Jesus figure, the “one”, canonically conceived by Midichlorians and a singular entity in his strength and potential regarding the force. However, we don’t see his innate fighting abilities as a child because there is simply no reason to within the scope of the storytelling in the films, and no opportunity either. It also makes sense that Anakin would not NEED to worry too much about fighting or defending himself- as a slave he is property, and would not be touched unless the aggressor was ready to pay Watto for his loss of property, or be penalized for “breaking” what was not theirs.

The little we DO understand of Anakin’s personality is that as a slave, he was raised with an understandable self-constraint (in order to perform his duties well and not have himself or his mother punished) which may have also delayed some of his development; once the constraints of a slave were removed, we are shot forward 10 years and we met a nineteen year who is vastly changed and light years ahead in his use of the force and understanding of his own abilities, the same age his children were when coming into contact with the Force.

Obviously, Anakin is the most developed in terms of formal training by this point in time, as Luke, Leia and Rey were only just introduced to the concept of the Force, and had to, as Yoda said, “Unlearn what [they] have learned.” Nevertheless, narratively we are not given much of an opportunity to see his innate force abilities so much as we are told that they are singular and unique- enough to allow him to be trained at what was already considered an ‘old’ age for a Jedi.

Finally, Rey.

Rey is abandoned and orphaned at about the same age as Anakin was when found by Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. Unfortunately for her, there was no salvation waiting- we are shown and told that she lived alone, practically enslaved in order to survive. This is a girl who learns to climb massive wrecks of spaceships and learns to not only identify the various complicated components but how to take them apart, clean them, repair them, and reassemble them- because doing so means a better meal and future opportunities to keep eating. This is a girl who is forced to learn how to defend herself, who actively fights for her life- because if she allows others to steal the parts she already risked her life to collect, then she risks starvation. Not to mention the obvious implications of young, attractive woman living by herself in a deserted, practically lawless land. Unlike the other three- Luke, Leía, and Anakin- Rey had no protections and no guarantees when it came to her safety, and thus had to learn to fight and defend herself; honing those natural force abilities from an early age in order to keep herself safe.

Furthermore, Rey is isolated. We see that she has no viable “friends” on Jakku, and keeps a pleasant but safe distance from others. That sort of solitude invites introspection- which can only help train the meditative aspects that form part of that famed Jedi calmness and mindfulness. I don’t find it hard to believe whatsoever that Rey may have been able to identify something within herself that was ‘different’ - just as Anakin, Leia, and Luke all claimed to have understood at various parts of their respective journeys.

What is also but briefly seen and not explored in the films, but IS explained in the supplementary novels is that Rey possessed an old flight simulator, as shown here:

“She’d jury-rigged a computer using pieces scavenged from several crashed fighters over the years, including a cracked but still-usable display from an old BTL-A4 Y-wing. There were no radio communications to speak of—no way to transmit or receive and, frankly, nobody she wanted to talk to anyway. On the wreckage of a Zephra-series hauler, though, she’d once found a stash of data chips, and after painstakingly going through each and every one of them, she’d discovered three with their programs intact; one of them, to her delight, had been a flight simulator.

So when she wasn’t sleeping or just sitting and listening to the storm or tinkering at her workbench, she flew. It was a good program, or at least she imagined it was. She could select any number of ships to fly, from small repulsor-driven atmospheric craft to a wide variety of fighters, all the way up to an array of stock freighters. She could set destinations, worlds she’d never visited and never imagined she would, and scenarios, from speed runs to obsta“cle courses to system failures.

At first, she’d been truly horrible at it, quite literally crashing a few seconds after takeoff every time. With nothing else to do, and with a perverse sense of determination that she would not allow herself to be beaten by a machine that she herself had put together with her own hands, she learned. She learned so much that there was little the program could throw her way that would challenge her now. She’d gotten to the point where she would, quite deliberately, do everything she could think of to make things hard on herself, just to see if she could get out of it. Full-throttle atmospheric reentry with repulsor-engine failure? No sweat. Multiple hull breach deep-space engine flameout? A walk in the park.”

Far beyond a nine year old instinctively knowing how to pilot a Jet Engine Chariot AND a space fighter (I’m looking at you, Anakin), we see that Rey has indeed received some training in flying, and that she has been diligently training all her youth to be as damn good as she is when we finally catch up to her in TFA. This, in addition to her fighting skills honed from a need to survive, and a meditative self-awareness from growing up practically isolated, means that Rey is uniquely prepared in a way not unlike the younglings were prepared to fully embrace and use her force abilities- once she becomes aware of what they actually are.

Rey is not a Mary Sue. Her abilities did not come out of the blue, but were honed during her entire childhood in order to survive in the ruthless circumstances in which she found herself. Her skills at fighting, flying, and understanding of the force all have a precedent- and once the final piece of the puzzle in the form of recognition that what she’s felt her whole life is The Force, combined with the legacy and legend that comes from knowing the exploits of Luke, Leia and Han, then there is no reason to doubt why she takes to it so naturally. Ultimately, We know that the force not only enhances abilities, but guides their users in how to access them and use them.

#i have spoken #leave my girl alone goddammit #Rey #Rey Palpatine #Rey Skywalker #Star Wars #i apologize in advance for any spelling or grammatical errors- writing on a bilingual machine is a b i t c h

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radioactivepeasant · 7 years

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For the 'verse "where the war goes on a little longer than expected and Ben and his dad encounter grandpa while trying to rescue Uncle Lando." How has Luke and Mara's relationship developed? I'm assuming Ben's Little Cousins are Luke's students-who-are-now-his-children, but what if he does have at least one biological cousin? Does the next generation of Skywalker grow up with a mom who he only really sees when she is "trying to kill dad" or has she defected by this point?

Good question. Hmmmmm….

Well, perhaps she was a spy in the Alliance at first, there on Palpatine’s behalf, but she accidentally ended up bonding a little with Sabine Wren and Ketsu Onyo, who pop in and out whenever they can. (Sabine wants to put gold streaks in Mara’s hair. Ketsu insists that Mara not give in to peer pressure). And little by little she started to have a group that supported her, that listened when she wanted to talk and backed off when she wasn’t in the mood for company, and it was…pretty different from Coruscant.Then her little gang gets reassigned to a different base, and it’s the one where Luke is stationed. She’s finally closer to her intended target.

So she’s in the hangar and she hears Ketsu say a little dryly, “Oh look, there he is: The Galaxy’s Deadliest Cinnamon Roll.”(”Ketsu, I thought that was Tano?” Sabine whispers.“Shoot, no, you’re right, my bad,” says Ketsu.)

Mara’s first thought is “this is not what I expected”. Her second thought, after actually briefly talking to him, is “how in the heck has he survived this long?”She resolves to find out.On the way, she discovers other things of dubious usefulness: his favorite color, a mutual deep and abiding dislike of the Hutts, and a woefully inadequate understanding of classical music.

Things kind of develop from there, and half a year into the assignment, Mara has some Serious Qualms about the idea of killing him.Then Endor happens, and Palpatine is either dead or stark raving bonkers (in my version of the idea, anyway. Others’ versions of the prompts have included him being super old and still alive and in perpetual Crazy Mode while the Sequel Events are beginning, which sounds very dangerous), and Darth Vader is trying to hold the Empire together to prevent utter anarchy. Luke is not worried about the Dark Side right now, he’s said so, but he’s also said he can’t and won’t support an Empire, especially when the grand majority of that Empire is still keen on hunting him down and executing him.

Mara migrates back and forth for a while, carrying messages. (”He promises he can protect you, you know.”“He’s stretched thin over an entire empire, Mara. There’s no way he can stop every attack against me and my sister. Don’t tell him I said that.”“I’m literally going to tell him you said that.”)

Wars aren’t settled in a few tidy weeks, and the struggle to put the pieces of the galaxy back together goes on for years. Peace talks, anarchists, Moffs trying to set up little fiefdoms and take over patches of the galaxy on their own, it’s a mess and the Alliance is still fighting them. Four years into the insanity, Ben Solo is born. Four years after that, Luke asks Mara to marry him to the surprise of absolutely no one.No one commented on the two carefully carved jappor snippets Mara brought back from one of her missions on Coruscant, but they both wore them at the wedding.

Now, the Skywalker Kid would have been Ben. But Leia stole the name first, so that’s out. I, personally, am very very fond of the idea of Finn being a Skywalker one way or another, biological or adopted, and so he’s probably one of the Skywalker Kids, as is Rey – be she also adopted or biological, who knows – but considering the Solo kid is now Ben, I see no reason not to steal the Legends-verse Solo kid names and call a Skywalker kid Anakin. (Even though that’s sort of tempting fate there, isn’t it?)

The more Imperial factions that are shut down, the more territory the Alliance takes back, the more time Mara gets to spend with her family. So frankly, she has a vested interest in wrapping up this decades-long war because by the stars she is pregnant and cranky and she promised Finn she’d be home for his seventh birthday and she keeps her promises dangit.

#a series of unfortunate skywalkers #in which the war continued #finn skywalker #rey skywalker #everybody is a skywalker

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eleutheriana-archive · 7 years

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May I ask where you're getting that arranged marriages are common on Naboo? I'm curious, since I haven't seen that anywhere. Is that a headcanon of yours or something you've found? If it's a headcanon of yours I'd love to hear your reasoning for it since, as you say, the two Nabooian marriages we see (three if you include Padmé's) are not arranged. Or if you've already written the headcanon would you mind linking? I'd love to read it.

so it’s actually legends canon that arranged marriages are common on naboo, and cited if you look up jobal and ruwee’s marriage because they were actually originally intended to be an arranged match by their respective mothers, but they fell in love on their own time while ryoo and winama were busy working out the idea / terms of the arrangement, which just worked out better for everyone involved. the idea of them being more common than not is hinted at in legends canon but to my knowledge i don’t believe it’s directly outright stated so that is something that’s like…a combination of inferred from the text and headcanoned by yours truly, you feel me ? and the reasoning for thinking that it’s more common than not is basically that it makes a fuckload of sense to me when you look at it through the eyes of like…padmé’s mentality and psyche ?

so okay we don’t have a lot to go on for naboo culture ( which btw nabooian is actually a common misconception and not the actual terminology, it’s literally just ‘naboo’ no matter what, the people are not nabooian people, they’re ‘the naboo’ ) other than that they’re really heavily focused on the arts, value purity and innocence above all else, do not have a standing army and do not prize warrior culture, and humans colonized the planet and nearly eradicated the gungans in the process. ( let’s play a game called ‘one of these things is not like the others’. ) everything else is pretty much just inferred, and because padmé is the only main character from this planet other than palpatine and we tend to get more of her viewpoint than his during the films, ( granted, it’s still not a lot that we get from her POV bc lucasfilm hates her and owes me so many apologies and reparations but w/e ) we have to go off what she gives us. the one line that i’ve always cited as my reasoning for about 99% of my personal naboo headcanons is the line from ROTS where she says

“ anakin, this baby will change our lives. i doubt the queen will continue to allow me to serve in the senate,* and if the council discovers you are the father, you will be expelled from the jedi order. ”

* emphasis mine

so what i found interesting about this was the fact that a baby would force padmé out of the senate, and given that we’re looking at neeyutnee’s rule here, it led me to a specific conclusion, something that is entirely my own headcanon for my portrayal and not to be taken as actual film canon. ( this is a bit of a deviation from your original question here but i’m getting to it in a very roundabout way i promise. ) so it’s been seen from interactions with the former and current queens that jamillia had a very personable and friendly relationship with padmé. jamillia is also the one who asked her to serve in the senate originally. her reign ended shortly after the beginning of the clone wars, and neeyutnee took over for her from there. we don’t know a lot about her in canon, but what we’ve seen of her interactions with padmé in the clone wars are….not great…..and we also know that when the election at the end of the war began, padmé put her public support behind apailana, who was one of the youngest queens ever elected and took office literally weeks before padmé’s death. so. padmé and neeyutnee did not get along. god only knows why. it’s not for me to judge. the point here being that it’s clear neeyutnee would have pulled padmé from the senate if padmé gave birth to a child out of wedlock, which says a lot about naboo culture to me.

they elect mainly female children to rule their entire planet, they prize innocence and purity, they would’t allow a senator to serve on the senate if she had a child out of wedlock, for me, all signs are pointing towards a very traditional and old fashioned sort of society on naboo, which is something that i’ve always implemented for my own headcanons and for my portrayal. and something that makes perfect sense for the more aristocratic class on a very traditional and old fashioned planet is a history of arranged marriage over what we tend to think of as ‘love matches’. canon supports evidence that they’re at least common on naboo, and with my own personal interpretations of the culture we’ve been given via padmé, i’ve extended that a bit.

another important note, especially in regards to padmé and the way she views this and the way this has all influenced her, is the fact that in legends canon, she was the one to propose to anakin, not the other way around. padmé holds a lot of stock in marriage, and it actually makes a lot of sense that they rushed into marriage if you look at it with the idea of just how traditional and old fashioned naboo culture is. marriage is important to her, and i’ve always felt like if she and anakin had never fallen in love on varykino and circumstances hadn’t led to the events of their lives together, she very likely would have returned home at some point and asked her parents to look into a match for her, especially given how badly padmé wanted kids and to settle down, but that’s, again, all just personal interpretation.

#i have a lot of thoughts on naboo but i haven't been like super good about writing them down #so i hope this made sense !! please feel free to ask follow ups if it didn't !!#Anonymous #vii. HEADCANONS. › and i hear you whispering something sweet but it doesn't move any nerves in me.#do not reblog !!!!

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