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arctic-comet · 3 years

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Osblaine week 2021, Day 2: Lyrics

Over the last several weeks, I have carefully curated a playlist for Osblaine. The final total length of the playlist is 2 hours and 53 minutes.

The playlist can be found HERE

Click "Keep Reading" if you're interested in the introduction, commentary, more graphics and the full tracklist.

For full disclosure, I have to give some of the credit to my amazing fellow Osblaine fangirls @dystopiandramaqueen, @splitscreen and everyone who participated in a certain conversation for the original inspiration and even bringing up some of the songs.

You should look at the playlist in five parts: one section for each season that's aired and one section for the future (because I like to end things on a hopeful note).

The playlist contains a lot of the following:

Music from movie and TV soundtracks

Instrumental music

Remixes

Classics and covers of classics

Country music. I blame Florida. My sincerest apologies.

Some of the songs were chosen because they reminded me of a certain Osblaine scene, and some of them aren't specific to particular scenes but chosen for the general Osblaine vibe. And most of the movie/TV music I chose have been used for couples that remind me of Nick and June.

Part I- Season 1, first 12 songs of the playlist:

Forbidden Love- Abel Korzeniowski, Jasper Randall, The Hollywood Studio Symphony (Romeo & Juliet)

Fireflies- Owl City

Echoes in Rain- Enya

My Ghost- Glass Pear (Bones)

Daring to Hope- Anne Dudley (Poldark)

Everytime We Touch- Cascada

1000 Times- Sara Bareilles

Too Good At Goodbyes- Sam Smith

In Case You Don't Live Forever- Ben Platt

To Find You- Cast of Sing Street, Brenock O’Connor

She- Elvis Costello (Notting Hill)

Miracle- Instrumental- Cö Shu Nie

Hanging By A Moment- Lifehouse

Commentary:

The first instrumental song IMO works as an intro for their entire love story.

The next two songs are more about having the right vibe. It's a little ambiguous and dark because that's how their life is in Gilead.

Leave my door open just a crack

Please take me away from here

'Cause I feel like such an insomniac

Please take me away from here

Why do I tire of counting sheep?

Please take me away from here

When I'm far too tired to fall asleep

***

Wait for the sun

Watching the sky

Black as a crow

Night passes by

Taking the stars

So far away

Everything flows

Here comes another new day

Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah

***

"My Ghost" is June's POV before they sleep together, wondering if she can trust Nick:

Who can you trust, in this place?

And whom can I put my faith?

If you're real, then show me now,

Who you are

The last two songs are for episode 1x10, for both Nick’s reaction to June’s pregnancy and the beginning of her first escape attempt (arranged by Nick).

She may be the face I can't forget The trace of pleasure or regret May be my treasure or the price I have to pay She may be the song that summer sings Maybe the chill that autumn brings Maybe a hundred different things Within the measure of a day

Part II- Season 2, next 10 songs:

Love Will Keep Us Alive- Eagles

So Easy- Phillip Phillips

Incomplete- James Bay

Rewrite the Stars- The Piano Guys (The Greatest Showman)

I’ll Be Your Shelter- Taylor Dayne

Love Never Fails- Brandon Heath

P.S. I Love You- 05:11- John Powell (P.S. I Love You)

It's A Girl- Mychel Danna (The Time Traveler's Wife)

I'll Stand By You- Josh Groban, Helene Fischer

The Miracle of Love- Eurythmics

Commentary:

The first four songs cover June’s escape attempt and the time they share at the Boston Globe.

"Incomplete" is Nick's POV from when she's on the run and he knows she'll be gone from his life soon. He lives in the moment.

I don't wanna look down

I don't want us to break up in the clouds

All I want is to stay us, to stay with you now

"I'll Be Your Shelter" is for when June's mental health is at its lowest point and he goes to Serena to beg for her to get June help.

What you need is a friend to count on

What you got baby you got someone

Who will stay when the rain is fallin'

And won't let it fall on you

P.S. I Love You takes me back to episode 2.09, Nick’s selflessness in the episode and of course the scene where after telling June that Luke loves her, he tells her that he loves her too, despite believing she probably doesn’t feel the same way.

It's A Girl makes me think of the beautiful moment they share during June's false labor when he helps her out of the van and they climb the steps together.

I’ll Stand By You is for 2.10, Nick holding June after she was heartbroken over Hannah and over what the Waterfords did to her and clinging onto him.

Part III- Season 3, next 6 songs:

Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close- Alexandre Desplat (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)

All I Ask- Adele

Never Enough- Loren Allred (The Greatest Showman)

I Don’t Wanna Live Forever- Taylor Swift, ZAYN (Fifty Shades Darker)

Love is Gone- SLANDER, Dylan Matthew

Constellations- The Oh Hellos

Commentary:

For obvious reasons, it was extremely difficult to pick songs for this season.

The first (instrumental) song is for the beginning of the season with June coming back to the Waterford house and them then saying goodbye to each other on the street.

All I Ask, Never Enough, I Don't Wanna Live Forever and Love Is Gone are for their night together in June’s room at Lawrence’s (the one we didn’t get to see sigh). They know it's possible it's all they'll ever have, and they'll take it, but it'll never be enough.

I will leave my heart at the door I won't say a word They've all been said before, you know So why don't we just play pretend? Like we're not scared of what's coming next Or scared of having nothing left

Look, don't get me wrong I know there is no tomorrow All I ask is

If this is my last night with you Hold me like I'm more than just a friend Give me a memory I can use Take me by the hand while we do what lovers do It matters how this ends 'Cause what if I never love again?

***

All the shine of a thousand spotlights

All the stars we steal from the night sky

Will never be enough

Never be enough

Towers of gold are still too little

These hands could hold the world but it'll

Never be enough

***

I'm sorry, don't leave me, I want you here with me

I know that your love is gone

I can't breathe, I'm so weak, I know this isn't easy

Don't tell me that your love is gone

That your love is gone

"Constellations" is for their long separation and the doubts that I'm sure plagued them both during it. Would they ever see each other again?

Part IV- S4, next 12 songs:

All of Me- John Legend

(Everything I do) I Do It For You- Bryan Adams

Iris- Natalie Taylor (City of Angels)

She Was Like A Bright Light- Hans Zimmer, Rupert Greyson-Williams (Winter’s Tale)

Noah's Last Letter- Aaron Zigman (The Notebook)

What’s In The Middle- the bird and the bee (Bones)

ivy- Taylor Swift

Footprints in the Sand- Leona Lewis

Remember Me (Lullaby)- Gael Garcia Bernal, Gabriella Flores (Coco)

On The Nature Of Daylight- Max Richter

My Heart Will Go On- Basil Jose (Titanic)

The Story- Sara Ramirez (Grey's Anatomy)

Commentary:

There were sooo many songs I wanted to include in part IV, but I controlled myself and ended up with this particular dozen.

"She Was Like A Bright Light" and "Noah’s Last Letter" are an instrumental double punch to the gut for Nick’s time in Gilead during episodes 4.07-4.09. The first one is meant for when he finds out June made it to Canada, and the 2nd for is for when he starts to gather info on Hannah to give to June.

"What’s in the Middle" and "ivy" are June’s POV of episodes 4.07-4.09.

"What's In The Middle" has more of an angry and confused vibe, and June was definitely both in episodes 7 and 8.

Losing your head is such a common theme

All your brains are falling out, falling out the open seams

Where is the heart, is the heart of the matter

I will empty out my skull of all this useless chatter

On the other hand, "ivy" has this haunted vibe, but there's also reverence and acceptance, which she begins to achieve in episode 9.

Oh, goddamn

My pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand

Taking mine, but it's been promised to another

Oh, I can't

Stop you putting roots in my dreamland

My house of stone, your ivy grows

And now I'm covered in you

The next three songs are of course all for their reunion in 4.09, and I couldn’t resist including the song that was actually played in the scene.

"The Story" draws the season to a close nicely, with June understanding that her current needs are different from what they used to be and that there’s someone who understands her completely (and it’s not Luke).

You see the smile that's on my mouth

It's hiding the words that don't come out

And all of my friends who think that I'm blessed

They don't know my head is a mess

No, they don't know who I really am

And they don't know what I've been through like you do

And I was made for you

Part V- Season 5 and Beyond, the last 6 songs

Secret Love Song- Little Mix, Jason Derulo

Burn With You- Lea Michele

The Bones- Maren Morris

Feels Like Home- Auli'i Carvalho, Keegan DeWitt

Love Will Find A Way- Piano Covers (Lion King II)

Like I'll Never Love You Again- Carrie Underwood

“Secret Love Song” is a more angsty tune about a love that’s still kept a secret like June and Nick’s love (as far as most people are concerned). Now that they’ve already made out in front of the man who raped and abused June and made Nick watch him do that, I want to believe they can let go of the secrecy in S5, at least when it comes to a few people.

I'm living for that day Someday Can I hold you in the street? Why can't I kiss you on the dancefloor? I wish that we could be like that Why can't we it be like that? Cause I'm yours, I'm yours Why can't you hold me in the street? Why can't I kiss you on the dancefloor? I wish that it could be like that Why can't it be like that? Cause I'm yours Why can't I say that I'm in love? I wanna shout it from the rooftops I wish that it could be like that Why can't we be like that? Cause I'm yours Why can't we be like that? Wish we could be like that

***

“Bones” is about a relationship with a strong foundation, which IMO they do have. It will carry them in the future, too. They’re more into each other now than ever before and especially June is coming to terms with how strong that love is. They’ll weather any storm.

When the bones are good, the rest don't matter

Yeah, the paint could peel, the glass could shatter

Let it break 'cause you and I remain the same

When there ain't a crack in the foundation

Baby, I know any storm we're facing

Will blow right over while we stay put

The house don't fall when the bones are good

***

“Feels Like Home” is more hopeful. Their home is with each other and I hope that’s something that will be explored more in the future.

Take me, I'm ready

Go slow but go steady

To a place that we can call our own

I wanna know what feels like home

***

“Like I’ll Never Love You Again” is a good conclusion for the playlist. It’s hopeful and a testament to an epic love.

I wanna love you like the rain on a roof

Stronger than a bottle of a hundred ten proof

I wanna take love to places that love has never been

Yeah, I wanna love you like I'll never love you again

And I'll love you again

Oh, and again

#the handmaid’s tale #nick x june #osblaine #osblaineweek2021

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littleladymab · 2 years

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For the meta ask game - 3 and 20!

wah-heyyyyyY!!!!

3) What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

Okay I still can't be arsed to do it because I am getting ready to play DND and I know myself, it will turn into a whole thing but there are two that I'm currently rotating in my head. One I will tell you about, because the "star wars but fantasy au" has been shoving itself into the forefront of my mind thanks to big bang group chat. Specifically!

A More Civilized Age pod brought up an AU idea that I'm absolutely obsessed with and it's "what if, after the whole 'Boba Fett tries to kill Mace Windu' arc of TCW, Bail Organa goes "what this kid needs is a positive parental influence in his life' because lord knows Aurra Sing AIN'T IT and so just in addition to an ENTIRE au in which Boba Fett grows up in the Organa household and then gets to become a protective older brother to Leia, I really wanted a conversation between him and Ahsoka. Because she was part of the team that brought him in, and while I can't remember the bulk of the conversation that I wanted, Here's Ahsoka, just 4 years older than Boba, but look at how differently their lives were shaped and altered by the existence of the Clone Wars and also the idea of being child soldiers/weapons.

Anyway, my dream is to one day write a fantasy au which will have Boba as Leia's protective older brother who will absolutely give Han shit but will absolutely side-eye Luke so hard when he finally comes into the picture but I don't have anything but the Desire and Vibes right now. Maybe for next SW Big Bang

(don't hold me to it)

20) Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

It was funny because when I was reading over these prompts originally I was like "oh no if someone asks me 20 then I'll just have to confess that I don't know what the fuck I'm doing what are THEMES" but that's kind of a lie, I just never really recognize them myself. Especially because I have....... so many different things i'm doing at any given point.

So Here's just like, a general sort of list of things I do and like about my writing! I'm not a particularly clever author, imo, I plan everything well in advance so I don't feel like there are any surprises? but also that's because i get too into what I'm doing that I can't see the forest for the trees or w/e anywho

I think one of my fav things about writing for SW is that there's so much content everywhere, that I can pull a reference from a source and add it into a fic as a throwaway reference. For Phoenix Suite, I did reference the fact that Kallus likes to wake up early because it is the quietest part of the day -- a fun little tidbit that I pulled from the jr novel adaption of the S1 finale. For far from the home I've made, I referenced the fact that in one of the Rebels comics, Kallus mentions that he arrived on Courscant for training, implying that he came from off-world (who actually knows, but I took it and ran with it). I also wanted to include the fact that Ezra was friends with someone who moved to Alderaan, but I wasn't able to fit the conversation of what happened to Alderaan into the chapter because it was already uhhh way too long.

I absolutely looooove to make the inhuman experience human emotions, while also expressing their inhumanity. I use 'inhuman' extremely loosely here, mostly for just 'anything beyond the mundane'. Far from the home I've made has Ezra being sad and scared while at the same time coming from an experience in which he sacrificed himself to save an entire planet. My place to land has Signet giving away pieces of herself in order to ensure that Echo doesn't lose their eye, though it results in both of them being half-blind for a bit. every open eye has Sasha fully ready to surrender herself to the Stranger in order to save Jon. I had an answer for Mwyr, but I forgot what it was, but that's OC content and we don't have time to unpack all of that lolol

I LOVE PEOPLE BEING A MESS. BEING AWFUL TO REMEMBER TO DO THINGS, GETTING INTO RELATIONSHIPS THEY SHOULDN'T. This adheres more to OC stuff, here's to all these normal people being normal messes, amirite???

One of my favorite uhhhh not really tropes but like, identifiable "mab" things in my writing, is I love the physicality of an intimate moment. Like, non-sexual acts of intimacy, and just residing in the physicality of it. A friend left me a comment about how they noticed it in my writing before and love it, and I've been riding that high for like, two and a half years LMAO

I also just love writing friends being friends and being in love with each other like there is nothing better to me than found family and also just a pair of friends being non-romantically in love with each other where you can look at them and go BESTIES!!!!

that's all I got time for, time for dnd, but HEY!!! Feel free to ask me more meta writing questions if you'd like, everyone :')

#writing #lil miss writings

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emperorren · 5 years

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(6) I guess I'm also not a fan of "Perfect Jedi Goddess Rey for whom Kylo has to crawl on his knees to be worthy of" (I can totally see why ppl like it tho), mainly because at this point, Kylo needs an equal, and not someone he'll always feel inferior too. I think the Throne Room proves that both of them still have some growing up to do in order to not only be together, but also understand each other better, bring out the best in each other, and being able to mature together in a healthy way.

Sorry, forgot to add this last part to the earlier post.

I think nobody wants Kylo to crawl. It was a popular concept like, 2-3 years ago, when Reylo shippers used to self flagellate (and flagellate Kylo) much more than we do now, half to deflect anti discourse and half because we really believed the best we could hope for was Rey not *completely* hating his guts by the end. Those days are gone. We know Kylo has his own reasons, because the narrative is showing them—it’s no longer a stretch or “reading too much into it” on our part. But the fact remains that Kylo is a villain and that, in order for this relationship to work, they’ll need to start being on the same page on something other than their mutual desire to be with each other. And I think it’s clear that, while Rey does have some growing up to do, her ethics are in the right place, while Kylo’s aren’t. It’s kind of unrealistic to expect Rey to move away from her heroic morals in the same way Kylo will have to move away from his villainous morals, so I don’t think it’s worth debating whether she should or not.

The whole “meeting halfway” thing is still possible, especially if you consider that, so far, they’ve essentially tried to abduct each other into their world, and failed. They both need to acknowledge and accept the fact that they might never “have” the other—not in the terms they currently think would be ideal. But Kylo has objectively more things to make up for. Many of those things have nothing to do with Rey per se, but became Rey’s business the moment she started to care for him.

re: your new round of asks:

(Rey discourse anon here) The problem is that for me, it’s really hard to tell whether Rey pulling the lightsaber away from Ben was her being cornered and knowing that what she’ll do will hurt Ben deeply – and for that, all I’m going to say is that, well, no, she literally did not have to do that. Again, it makes sense that she’d react this way, but the issue is that by reacting on impulse, like Luke did so many years ago, just like he played a part in making Kylo Ren,she played a part in making the Supreme Leader. Yelling at him and making her intentions clear was entirely possible, would have resulted in a similar outcome, and she decided not to. Because reasons. (Seriously, what is Ben going to do if she replies “no” out loud, kill her? *eyeroll*)

I’m not sure why you think yelling at him would have looked better in Kylo’s eyes, or what else Rey could have done to make her intentions clear, other than beg Kylo to stop firing on the Resistance, which she already had, loud and clear. Kylo perfectly understood what she was asking. He chose not to comply. Had his reasons. But chose to discard her plea.

Also, yes, she *literally* had to pull the saber. It’s her only weapon, and the girl needed one if she wanted to get the fuck out of the Supremacy alive. I think y’all forget she was in enemy territory, alone, unarmed, and in desperate need to get to Crait where there would probably be a huge battle within minutes. Yeah, she has the Force… but a lightsaber could help.

And frankly, no, I don’t think being morally right gives you a right or even merely an excuse to strike right into someone’s trauma.

Rey really did not do that—not on purpose (unlike Kylo, who totally used the parents card i.e. Rey’s own trauma and repressed painful memories to convince her to accept his offer). Note that Rey never actually got to wield the saber against Kylo—all she did was try to snatch it away from him. They could have gone for a clear cut Luke/Rey parallel by having Kylo regain consciousness to see an armed Rey looming over him, conflicted on whether to kill him or not. But they didn’t. This is absolutely important—Rey could have killed Kylo as he was unconscious, but chose not to. And Kylo never got to see her seriously considering to kill him.

Her face could frankly also be interpreted as “you’re not doing as I say, so screw you!”, and since the next scene we see her in is her woo-hoo-ing on the Falcon and then getting reunited with her buddies, there’s no indication she’s really all that heart-broken. Her closing the door on Ben could be seen that way as well (although I obviously think their story isn’t over, of course). Like… I dunno, it’s hard for me to feel sorry for her.

Her face when she’s slowly lifting her hand in the throne room scene doesn’t scream of “screw you!” to me. Neither does the little gasp in the last force bond. But YMMV.

The story could have been set up as “Rey did nothing wrong and Ben better beg on his knees in IX”, but it wasn’t. Because in the end, both Rey and Ben made their own bed, which leads me to be more “GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER YOU IDIOTS”. But this said, I do believe Rey’s heart was at the right place. She was indeed the catalyst that pushed Ben to finally get rid of his abuser. But realistically speaking, what she pulled off could have gone horribly wrong as well.My point is not that following your heart is always bad – but doing that all the time isn’t exactly a good idea either. Heck, Luke’s heart was at the right place when he went to save his friends in ESB, and he got beat up and lost his hand.

It might be not “exactly a good idea” but it’s still better than the alternative. (in Luke’s case, that would have been leaving his friends to die; in Rey’s case, not attempting to do anything for Kylo at all). These heroes tend to have their heroism challenged at the end of the second movie: they learn that sometimes having the best intentions isn’t enough. It’s an important lesson in humility. But not one that teaches them to follow their hearts a little less. See: Luke in RotJ, doubling down on compassion and being ready to risk his life not only to save his friends, but to redeem his father too.

And for Rey, it’s more than being an outsider: she’s the only person who had, like, an actual human reaction to Ben’s situation and actually did something to help.(Well, so did Han, but it was indeed a case of “too little, too late”, even if it definitely had a huge effect on Ben and made him start to realize Snoke was a PoS) But where she also failed is that just like everyone else, she came to Ben with a clear agenda in mind (or you know, an agenda to convince herself she’s totally doing this for the great cause, not because she wants The Beefcake), and with wanting to be the hero so bad she lost sight of what Ben really needs – a friend.I guess one thing that kind of annoys me at this point is that, honestly, who the heck knows what Ben’s motivations are, at this point, because his speech in the Throne Room could be interpreted in many ways. But I won’t lie by saying about it that if it just boils up to “Ra-Ra-First-Order”, I’ll be bored to tears. It’s not even a matter of saying “Ben was right all along” (because he obviously isn’t), you know, just something like“Ben is right when it comes to the endgame, or the intentions, or whatever, but his methods of getting to that are terrible”. What Rey has in mind is “we’ll help the Resistance together and build a new Jedi Order”, while having no clue whether Ben really wants that or not. I mean, he’s probably already not big on the idea because Rey might think the Resistance is great and all, but he knows they won’t be so nice to him, for obvious reasons.And it’s not even a matter of ideological differences or not – heck, maybe even in the old days with Luke, he flat out didn’t want to be a Jedi. Both of them need to find an outcome that they both want – and they’re obviously not at that point yet.

I don’t disagree with you on this last part, especially on the bolded. (See what I said earlier about meeting halfway.) But I do have a couple objections:

I don’t think Rey was at all trying to play the hero by coming to the Supremacy. If anything, she hoped Ben could be, so she could be relieved from the burden of being the galaxy’s last hope. And yeah, Ben might be in desperate need of a friend… but so is she, and it’s not exactly easy to be the perfect friend when a war is raging and you’re on opposite sides of the conflict, ykwim? This isn’t a normal situation.

I wouldn’t really count on Kylo’s endgame being shown in a sympathetic or redeeming light. Politically, his ideas (judging from the little we know of them) are a mess. But most importantly, in politics, the “means” count just as much as the “end” does. If your plan to reduce poverty includes, say, mass incarceration and operates on a racist logic, then your plan is bad, no matter how noble your goal is. If Kylo thought the best way to create his “new order” was using a militaristic, despotic war machine whose goal is forcing the galaxy to yield to their dictatorship and raze to the ground any dissenter, then either his idea of a new order isn’t ESPECIALLY democratic in the first place, or he just doesn’t understand politics at all. He can’t simply give up on his means. He needs to give up on his intended endgame as well.

#anon #asks #rey meta #rey discourse #the throne room

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rebelsofshield · 7 years

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I'm reeeeally hoping that the reason they've downplayed Finn and Rose is because there's going to be a big deal regarding one or both of them that might be spoiled if they show that plot, or at the very least, are hoping to misdirect the audience by showing more of Rey and Luke but minimizing Finn/Rose who will involved in some sort of huge revelation. ...But then again, whenever I bring up Finn/Rose in SW related places, people tell me, "Fuck off, who cares about them!?!?"...

There are probably all manner of potential reasons as to why Finn and Rose have been downplayed in the marketing. The majority of them are likely grounded in semi-logical reasons (“Luke is in this movie and he talks this time!,” “Rey is the lead hero and Kylo is the lead villain. Trailer logic as dictated by over a decade of superhero movies says that we emphasize them and their dynamic.” “Rose is a new character, let’s show characters that people already know about and want to see!”) but at the end of the day they all lead to the result where outside of Poe the majority of the non-white characters have been downplayed by Lucasfilm’s marketing crew. This is especially jarring considering how prominent Finn was in the media blitz leading up to the The Force Awakens, so I completely understand the apprehension that he’s barely been included in the trailers for both movies. I won’t say that I am worried about his role in the movie, however. Regardless of how poor the marketing and merchandising for this film has done in representing the full cast, I really haven’t seen anything to indicate that he won’t have a very prominent role in the film. We do know that Canto Bight is a very important location in terms of the film’s narrative and that the only two characters from our main cast that will be present are Finn and Rose. Rian Johnson also spoke at length about Finn and his role in the movie at length at Celebration and during the initial EW coverage back in July. He has a lot of exciting ideas of where to take this character and seems very enthusiastic of the role he has in The Last Jedi. John Boyega has also been raving about the script for this film since 2015 so I think we should be fine here. Similarly, we’ve known for a pretty long time that Rose Tico is an important character in the film. Early reports for casting before The Force Awakens was released emphasized that she was one of the leads of the movie and she reportedly had such a large role that Rian actually had to reduce it so that character’s like Poe had some breathing room. He also introduced Kelly Marie Tran as the most important new member of the Star Wars cast for The Last Jedi at Celebration. I think we’re in for a really great story for these two and honestly it’s the one I am most excited for. As much as I enjoy Rey and, yes, Kylo’s stories, Finn and Rose represent a new narrative that is radically different from what we have seen before in the franchise. Seeing the two go undercover and mess around with the criminal underworld and galactic elite sounds incredibly exciting and fun and a smart way to challenge Finn as a character.

The only thing that really worries me is that The Last Jedi at the moment feels pretty stuffed. If you look at each Star Wars film for the most part, outside of the start of each trilogy, they can be broken down into three distinct narratives. You typically have 1. Hero narrative #1 (Think Luke on Dagobah or Anakin and Padme on Naboo/Tatooine) 2. Hero narrative #2 (Leia and Han run from the Empire or Obi-Wan space detective) and then you have 3. Villain narrative and all three eventually converge. This is a structure that pretty much works and allows ample space for the cast. In this case though we seem to have separate stories for each of our four main characters: Rey, Poe Dameron, Finn, and Kylo Ren. So we essentially have three hero narratives and one villain. I’m not sure how these will mesh up but I’m worried that one of the four will be slighted, but we will have to see.

Point being, I wouldn’t worry about Finn and Rose as of yet. Despite them being downplayed by Lucasfilm’s marketing, which is again an issue that deserves ample criticism, I honestly do expect them to play a large role in The Last Jedi.

#Star Wars #The Last Jedi #Finn #Rose Tico #Lucasfilm #asks #ask box #anons #anonymous #Rian Johnson

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aimmyarrowshigh · 7 years

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I'm down with Rey experiencing temptation and making tough choices, even wrong choices- and learning from them. As long as she doesn't choose the side of genocide and fascism and/or double down at every chance she gets to correct her path in order to continue to pursue power at great cost to others. Kylo being tempted by the Dark Side or "making tough choices" isn't why he's reviled in the way of villains. It's because he's a fucking villain. (Who mind rapes people.)

Exactly. We’ve SEEN Rey make tough choices already, and we’ve seen her tempted by the Dark side! But being tempted and choosing not to give in is what makes her Rey. It is the essential difference that is what Star Wars is ABOUT.

I feel like one of the big schisms in SW fannish interpretation comes down to whether you think Star Wars is “ultimately about” redemption or choice. I think it’s about choice. I might disagree with the idea that Vader was redeemed in the moments before his death – and that disagreement is shared by every character except Luke, js, which I think is canonical evidence supporting the idea that even in canon the idea of “redemption” is about interpretation – but he absolutely made a CHOICE in those moments, and that choice affected his destiny.

Choice is the through-line of all of the big narrative-changing/“galaxy-changing” storylines in SW. Luke chooses to return to Bespin rather than stay on Dagobah. Han chooses to return to the Battle of Yavin. Leia chooses to trust Lando to devise the plot to save Han. Ben Solo chose to turn his back on the ideals of the Light, and he chose to become Kylo Ren, and he chose every action he’s taken as Kylo Ren – including the massacre at Tuanul, the forced and painful penetrations of Poe and Rey, and the murder of Han Solo. Will he make different choices in TLJ? I mean, yeah, given that it’s a sequel and his storyline is ongoing. But if they want to make it believable that he’s choosing the side of the Light again, they’re going to have to work HARD. And I still will fight tooth-and-nail for Rey, Poe, Leia, Chewie, and Finn to have the dignity of being allowed NOT to forgive him.

We’ve seen Rey wrestle with choices, both before and after she was aware of the Force. Like, TFA wouldn’t even have happened if she had made the choice to put herself and her own well-being above BB-8 when Plutt offered her a month’s worth of food. Especially since we know in her backstory from BtA that she’s having a particularly lean time at the moment since the closest thing she’d ever had to a friend just swindled her out of 10,000 portions and fled Jakku, leaving Rey with no portions and out several weeks’ worth of salvage! It would have been SO much more beneficial to Rey, in the immediate moment, to trade in BB-8 and take the portions.

But the Light guided Rey. That’s one interpretation. Another is that Rey made the choice to trust her own skill – she’d find more salvage and be able to earn some portions, even if it took a while again – and have mercy on this little being that was left behind on Jakku. It was important to her to give someone else what she never got, and that was more core to who she was than the temptation to be selfish and have something come easy.

Now: I absolutely can see how that same reading of her personality could lead to the idea that she’ll have mercy for Kylo Ren/Ben Solo. If that’s how the filmmakers go with it, then it’s not out of the blue, or anything, and I can rationally understand the argument that it would be logical. I just think that it would be boring as fuck reductive storytelling to once again make the female lead character have to put herself aside for the benefit of the male villain, even at the expense of herself, and I think it would be… Frankly, I think that showing narrative empathy for the First Order, in the climate that we live in in 2017, is insulting and dangerous and would be an unforgivable, for me, choice for Lucasfilm as a company to make. Not that that means I don’t think they MIGHT, because like, lbr, Disney has always been antisemitic as fuck and racist as shit, but.

Here’s what I was thinking about last week: the entire neo-Nazi crowd at Charlottesville? They see themselves as Kylo Ren. They see themselves the way he sees himself, as the lone warrior strong enough to see through the lies of the Jedi and the New Republic, to turn his back on the teachings of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, to find a wiser teacher in the deification of a long-dead fascist who sought to kill all of those who would challenge him. And they also see themselves as Kylo Ren, the white male major character who by Rights and Logic deserves to win in the end and get the girl and defeat his enemies and be proven to be the Most Human Of All and definitely, definitely get his due over anything that the Black or Latinx or Asian main characters could ever earn. If Star Wars’ Sequel Trilogy does give Kylo Ren forgiveness, redemption, a win over Finn or Poe or Rose, the trophy of having Rey love him? Lucasfilm and Disney are giving those neo-Nazis their stamp of approval. They’re saying, yeah, you’re right, we let Black and Latinx people and antifascism have one movie, but in the end, it’s all about you. You get to win, again. You are the chosen ones.

And I think that’s literally nauseating to consider.

And granted: TLJ was written and filmed before the election, but not before all of this shit was brewing. I absolutely don’t think that any media creator is BEHOLDEN to be morally and socially responsible, because media creators are human and as long as there are repugnant people, there will be repugnant ideals in media. But I do think that Star Wars, so far, as a franchise, has been clear that they don’t side with the Empire. I don’t think they’ll give the First Order any quarter of empathy or forgiveness or “redemption” that they didn’t give the Empire. But, I also think that there’s absolutely the chance that they’ll execute the story in a way where they try to make Kylo Ren some kind of outlier who can earn his way back into the Light. I don’t personally think he can; I think he’s too far gone. But I do, in a lot of ways, expect for them to try. Some of that, too, I think is because of the prominence of shitty-ass neo-Nazis in Star Wars’ viewing audience: either they’ll be trying to say, it’s not too late for you (sorry fuckos, it is) or they’ll be trying to say, just keep reaching out and maybe they’ll listen (they won’t; they’re fuckos). But, again, I think that execution would be irresponsible at best, actively harmful at worst.

I want Kylo Ren to go unredeemed because I’m absolutely sick of the coddling of men who make the active, agential choice to harm people and are told they can come back from that choice.

Kylo’s victims can’t come back from what he did to them. So neither should he.

Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh, right, Rey’s other moments of choice and Dark side temptation in TFA. There’s the obvious one, which I see most commonly as the one that Reylo shippers use as evidence that they’re connected more deeply than Heroine and Villain, which is the moment Rey chose not to kill him.

I feel like it shouldn’t NEED to be explained why the hero chooses not to kill, morally/ethically speaking?

But the other is one that I haven’t seen a lot of people talk about as being a moment of Dark side temptation, and that I think is up there with the BB-8 choice as being one that’s particularly interesting: her choice to flee on Takodana. First off, you wanna talk mirroring, that’s her mirroring moment with Finn. Both of them are trying to get away from Takodana, away from their destiny, away from the Force itself, even if they don’t necessarily know it yet.

Rey succumbs to the temptation, on Takodana. That’s her Moment of Refusal when it comes to her Hero’s Journey, and in Star Wars, that’s classically because of temptation by the Dark. If you want to look at it in terms of “the Force creates Rey’s destiny,” she has to succumb in that moment so that she’ll be taken to Starkiller Base and be able to witness the murder of Han, get the lightsaber in the snow, be able to open herself up to the Light to defeat Kylo Ren. But I think that reading of the choice strips Rey of her agency. (As does the whole “the Force is in charge of all choices” in general, but whatever.)

In choosing to flee, Rey CHOOSES the Dark. She chooses selfishness. She chooses her own needs above those of the Galaxy. She chooses, maybe, in that moment, Finn, running through the forest to try to find the ship he’s leaving on. She chooses fear. Fear, passion, selfishness, the self above others – it’s a classic, perfect Dark side choice. And again, BB-8 brings her back. She stops running to give BB-8 cover to make it back to Han and the Resistance. She is again brought back to the Light by BB-8, and her empathy for this little being who trusts her. The key to Rey’s moral compass is compassion. That is a Jedi belief, not one of the Dark. (And I think it’s interesting that two of the three major choices she makes wrt Dark temptation in TFA, she chooses the Light because of BB-8. BB-8 is shaped like a friend.)

So when it comes to TLJ? I absolutely expect to see Rey wrestle with the Dark side. Just like Luke did. Just like Leia does. But that doesn’t mean that I think Rey will choose it in a way that READS as Dark, per se – her flight on Takodana IS Dark, but doesn’t Read as Dark, yk? You wouldn’t look at it and think, “evil.” I don’t think that it serves Rey’s character to make her choose EVIL even if, and when, she chooses Dark. I don’t think she’ll be willing to give up her selfhood, and I really hope, more than anything else in TLJ, that the writing team gave her enough respect to allow her that continued selfhood. I absolutely expect for Rey to be tempted by selfishness; I think that as far as the Dark side goes, that’s kind of her achilles’ heel – Rey getting to have something and not wanting to give it up would be very in-character, IMO, and I totally expect to see that. I also expect for her to be tempted to give into her very real anger and confusion at the death of Han Solo and how she (selfishly!) wanted to keep him and be kept by him. Same with Finn; she wants to keep him, dammit, he came back for her and the First Order cannot have him back. I’m anticipating her being tempted by her hatred of Kylo Ren, too, and to be tempted by the Dark whispering that she should have killed him in the snow. I don’t think that Rey is the Perfect Encapsulation of the Light insofar as being only compassionate and selfless, because that wouldn’t allow her the breadth of agency and selfhood that she deserves. And that she’s already shown.

In a meaningful way, Rey has to be tempted by the Dark to NOT forgive Kylo Ren. Forgiving him would be being that Mary-Sue-perfect-Light that people accuse “antis” of seeing Rey as, because it would be putting him and his feelings and his needs above her own. I want Rey to be selfish as FUCK and say NO. He doesn’t get that Light and Good part of her. He doesn’t get her compassion. Rey owns herself. And she’s not giving that up.

Forgiving Kylo or Rey somehow putting Kylo Ren on a path to redemption would not show Rey’s compassion, it would be subsumption of her Self. It would say to the audience that he had a right to use her body, mind, and soul to gain his own personhood back, and that’s fucking disgusting.

#|franchise| star wars #**star #asks #25

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