#jj abrams does not love it. period.

[dekaydk]

QL/BL Series I watched in 2023

This is a ridiculously long list because

I finally discovered the existence of this genre late in 2022, and after years in the desert with only occasional gay-themed media, am drinking deeply at the oasis, and

I have basically given up on other forms of TV this year (long story mostly having to do with the crap that's out there, the networks yanking content before it's finished just to avoid paying residuals…also, I will never watch another piece of Star Trek if JJ Abrams is within 1 parsec*).

I had a long period of convalescing from a broken collarbone.

*probably an obscure TOS reference but the initiates will get it

In Progress

IFYLIA

Kiseki: Dear to Me - I love all of the characters, main and support. Writing is fun, character motivations are clear, acting is good-to-excellent, directing is solid if unadventurous. And the colors! While it's not rigorously real-life, it hits harder than most because there are actual adult choices being made, and real consequences for those choices. The comedy is always in service of the plot or the characters. The cameos are off the charts. This is also an exception to my "generally don't watch BTS until the show's over" rule: the BTS have been fun. The actors are clearly having a blast.

Dangerous Romance - uneven, but not so much that I've given up. Had potential to be more of a commentary on economic strata: though there's room for more in the coming episodes, I think they missed the boat by bascially making Kang now the MC instead of Sailom, which is disappointing. Right now I can see this going into either "okay, but meh" or "don't recommend" categories, but I doubt it's gonna be a "recommend" because they haven't got the runway for a save.

Kabe-Koji-Nekoyashiki-kun Desires to be Recognized - unexpected depths to this show. The characters are revealed gradually, the comedy is a delight, the acting's great, the staging and cinematography are terrific. Quite enthused about this show.

I Can't Reach You - these two are a delight. BTW, @lurkingteapot says that they are working on their own captions, which should be infinitely better than anything else that's out there. Going to rewatch when they do post because I think it will be a far more engaging experience. (Also, if you like Japanese BLs, you should follow them for their linguistic and cultural insights.) (Note: I have no idea how to replace captions so I have to learning ahead. 😇)

One Room Angel - unconventional; not sure where this is going but I almost don't care. These two are just plain touching to watch. Only two episodes in and I'm hooked.

Finished and Enjoyed

If It's With You - so far, this is a palate cleanser I needed. Cute, sweet, low angst, and clearly made to be a dessert course, not a hearty main dish. Actors are doing a great job. (Side note: Makeup and wardrobe are doing a good job in making them look more conventional vs. how good looking they are IRL.)

Kieta Hatsukoi - this was just fantastic. Sweet, funny, and unexpectedly poignant. I see no reason to remake it, much as I appreciate Fourth and Gemini.

My Personal Weatherman - once I figured out that they'd only been living together for a short time after graduation, it fell into place. The crippling insecurity on the one hand and the cryptic overconfidence on the other made for a really engaging dynamic.

Sing My Crush - this was one of those almost perfect shows. Just watch it.

My Beautiful Man S2 - love me my babies learning to communicate, and Kiyoi taking Hira shopping and making Hira blossom for the day was delightful. This show is so unconventional and I cannot get enough. Nobody does "your low self-esteem is crippling you in ways you don't even begin to understand and people love you anyway" like Japan.

My Dating Sim - so sweet without being corn syrup. Palate cleanser.

Semantic Error - really, really enjoyed this smart autistic bossy nerd meets semi-slacker athlete artist. One of the rare shows where the actors are pretty obviously straight (BTS kinda made that clear and in the future, I am generally gonna skip BTS until the show's over) but I nonetheless bought their characters being into each other.

Laws of Attraction - I wasn't sure about this at first until I realized rather late that (a) lakorn is a thing, and (b) "lakorn = telenovela" and all the conventions that implies. After that, I sat back and enjoyed the camp and stopped being critical. Film and Jam are fun to watch, and you cannot tell me that Film didn't enjoy every second of scene chewing. The second couple were touching as all heck. And Nawin came in and briefly stole the show. And Silvy and Organ stole it back!

Unintentional Love Story - both couples were delightful; loved the pottery/creativity as a central element (and coveting it for my own). Looking forward to more of Ho Tae and Dong Hee in S2.

DNA Says Love You - Although I kinda had the plot twist figured out early—admit it, the casting for Amber was absolutely perfect—I still loved the journey. The "witch in the woods" bit was fun, even if I'm not a fan of predestination-style plots (I prefer characters arrive at their destination without supernatural assistance). I could watch Erek all day. Slightly slow to get out of the starting blocks but worth the time.

Color Rush - I'm not easily sold on fantasy premises but I enjoyed this one. Love interest played by Hur Hyun Jun was straight out of a manga panel (that jawline). Sadly, he withdrew from a reprise of the character in S2, I'm told because fans got weird. (Fans, learn to separate the artist from the art.)

Not Me - be gay, do crimes against the oligarchy. Gorgeous cast: Gun, Off, First, Gawin, Mond, Film; good cinematography; nice character arcs. Not perfect (Todd's character in general, and I never did get why Black got beat up in the first place; they kinda ended up at "it's just so"), but in general the show strove for a higher level. Fun fact: written by a (then-?) member of the Thai parliament.

Old Fashion Cupcake - devoted junior dogsbody doggedly digs dense dejected boss out of dumps. Okay, my alliterative talents are low today. Cute, and goes unexpectedly hard during the confession scene, and after. Thoroughly enjoyable and a bit of a rumination on how people can pigeonhole themselves to their own detriment.

To My Star and To My Star 2 - ah, these two. The sunshine man has to go hardcore to get his man to see his own value. I would rewatch this just for fun.

Takara-kun and Amagi-Kun - Oh, to be in high school with good friends who help you figure out your feelings. I will hear no criticism of this perfect little dessert.

Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice But to Kiss! - the unlucky/lucky balance gimmick could have been annoying but they made it work. Sweet, simple, seriously cute actors, very much in earnest comedy. Palate cleansing fun.

My Engineer - main couple: okay but I've already mostly forgotten them. RamKing were different. Ram's character was absolutely coded as autistic but no one ever used the word, no one called him weird, and King figured it out and went with it, no problems. Loved that part. (King had his plant obsession so maybe he got it on one level.) Also, the way RamKing ended left a huge opportunity for the fanfic on them, much of which has been great. Sadly, there won't be an S2.

The Eclipse - writing could have been sharper (pace and motivation needed work) but Khao and First were a ton of fun to watch. Loved the junior queens being the most fearless troublemakers.

Big Dragon - went into it knowing it would be a trash-the-pub watch 😎 yet it actually ended up a little more solidly than I had expected. Plenty of heat, and now I get why people are MosBank fans. Fun fact: Jeff Satur apparently wrote the theme that Isbanky sang.

Finished and Oh Well It Was A BL

Until We Meet Again - I know it worked for lots of folks and I get why, but (a) reincarnation stories and (b) I love me some Fluke but I hate the blushing maiden trope especially when as here they hammer it into the ground with a rocket-powered pile driver. ("P'Deeeeeaaan!") I actually preferred the past couple to the present-day couple because the characters were written better. (Not the actors' fault; the stakes were higher, and you can't act your way out of a sub-par script.)

Mr. Cinderella - Vietnam's probably not got a mature industry yet so I may have excessively high expectations, but…amateurish writing, directing, cinematography and sound. Characters were all over the map. And the bad guy ex was…uuuuugly toxic. (Also, polonium? Seriously?) Attractive cast to be sure, who didn't really have much to work with so for all the audience knows they are all Shakespeareans in training. The coy screeching nurse was so very repetitive. I did want to like it and if I had a script I would totally go to town on it as an exercise. (I'm an editor, not a writer.)

Why R U? Korea - Did they…lose a hard drive with the audio? Cheap out and not hire an audio engineer? Seemingly half the dialog was looped, and often jarringly. But the real fault was the writing: the behavior of the main couple was inconsistent, especially where they parted ways and then pretty much ignored that for a while, and in the last episode with the lead saying he didn't want to work together on the thing that was extremely important to both him and his interest. I wanted to like this because I really liked the main couple and Jeon Sa Ra's Do Yeon. Best scene was Lee Won after his audition teetering on the edge of losing it when his interest ignorantly came out to tease him: just a lovely little bit of acting by Lee Jung Min, without a word being spoken.

Seriously, this scene makes me want to learn how to gif. Lee Jung Min as Lee Won

Finished and Don't Recommend

TharnType: 7 Years of Love - the first season was objectively bad for reasons I and others have set out elsewhere (noncon sex, underage rrpe(!), sub-par acting/directing). The second season wasn't as bad, but it wasn't good either, with forced misunderstanding narratives being the most notable plot point. Seven years together and you still are that easy to convince that your man's stepping out on you? Like the first season, 7 Years also gave the sense that Mew (at least in this case) is a one-note actor, though this could have been the director's fault. Gulf had more good moments.

La Pluie - I so wanted to like a show that was gonna take a trope and upend it. And I absolutely get what lots of folks liked about it. For me the uneven pacing, sometimes blatantly contrived plot, often wooden direction, dialog and acting (with the notable exception of Suar, who was by far the best in the show and not just because he got most of the best lines) and terrible continuity did it in. (Lomfon's confession scene, though: Tien's going up on his toes for the kiss is burned into my memory.)

Started and bailed

Minato's Laundromat S2 - I so wanted to like this after S1. Instead of giving Minato a growth arc, the writers inserted a silly and ultimately pointless amnesia story. This seriously pissed me off to the point that I stopped watching. Not the actors' fault, but the writers, well, that's a paddlin' offense.

Only Friends - when certain folks start expressing concern, I listen. @bengiyo explained how this show failed its promise of showing actual queer lives. When it abandoned whatever vision its creators may have had in favor of contorting itself into something controlled by fan input, proving it was just an exercise in branding pair marketing, that confirmed it was not going to get me to return after Ep 3.

Naughty Babe - just, just, what in the Pennzoil is going on? MC, you seriously went how long without nookie and didn't talk with your man about it? And then you fake amnesia? Dude, you are not a serious person and the writers should be ashamed. I see from my Tumblr feed that they tried to redeem themselves later with the marriage and adoption bit, and good for that, but I ain't got time for incoherent messes.

Low Frequency - decorative actors, but incoherent plot where I simply couldn't see what was happening and where it was going. Couldn't motivate myself to continue after the second episode.

Step By Step - I've already posted about this. This had the potential to be wayyy above average but it kinda fell apart with the main couple, and the secondary couple simply were written so badly there was nothing to root for. I got almost all the way through this but after it became clear there wasn't going to be a late save, I gave up. The. Actors. Wuz. Robbed.

En of Love: Tossara - this felt like someone got their uncle to pull strings to get them a show. Dialog was anemic, character motivations were bland/absent, pacing was uneven. I started the second episode but I'm not sure I finished it.

If you made it this far, congratulations. Tell me what you liked or didn't agree with; I come across as opinionated but I'm always looking to learn. 😎

#bl drama #completely self indulgent post

[bluntblade]

The Force Awakens thoughts because my current WIP is bumping up against it:

The more distance I get from The Force Awakens and the more film/script literate I get, the more I feel like JJ Abrams really coasts on the intent of his stories and is let off the hook for never really following through with what he seems to want to do.

Like, revisiting A New Hope and even The Hidden Fortress (an Akira Kurosawa film which massively influenced Lucas, do watch it), that film does so much more on a character level than TFA. Abrams traffics in a kind of writing where lots of stuff happens regularly, so it can be easily seen as a refined and more efficient version of those early Spielberg/Lucas pictures (they're off the planet in less than half an hour! In ANH they haven't even met Han yet!), but it's kind of a mirage.

In the same time that Luke has learned about the key factors in the plot and had a (brief) Refusal of the Call, only to he's lost his home (the kick out of the door), Rey and Finn have mostly been chased a number of times (they won't have a clue/care about the Starkiller until some time later, so unlike in ANH it suddenly just appears in the plot from the heroes' point of view). At the point where he had taken an irrevocable step and we've embarked on new conflicts between them and Han (and then Leia too), they're either just conflicting together in the same way or being led along by Han. They're running, but mostly running in place.

Film Crit Hulk refers to this move as the old "just then bad guys come in with guns" but I think of it more as hitting one snooker ball with another. Abrams' characters are very reactive (especially Rey, but actually Finn too) and so beyond the plot necessity of getting BB-8 to D'Qar, they aren't propelling the plot themselves. Believe me, I love both characters and feel glum saying this. So periodically in comes a smallish threat to nudge them along for a bit, but it's gone and then they halt again. There isn't really an evolving conflict here, and in terms of action causing character change it doesn't really go beyond "they get along better now."

Equally, revisiting the strict text of the film, the whole thing around Luke is distinctly odd. I would argue as a TLJ diehard that Johnson adhered to the letter of TFA but not the spirit, but that leaves the awkward sense that Abrams was setting out things he didn't seem to believe. Luke grew disillusioned because he felt responsible for the destruction of the temple, but Abrams doesn't want to dwell on that. It'll be fine, no need to even discuss what he might think when Rey pops up.

But maybe that's also par for the course with a filmmaker who will milk a scene for pathos and then discard it, with minimal consequences for what comes next. Which is to say that Finn's five minutes of PTSD work better than Carol Marcus watching her dad get his head crushed in Into Darkness, but that's not a vast achievement really.

In the final stretch there's a tangible unwillingness to tie a bow on anything; instead the film makes a couple more promises and then seems in a mad rush to hand on the baton before it's asked to give a real thought on the themes that it's flirted with. It's content with fascimiles of growth and meaning, but it wants someone else to grab the lightsaber and do the actual work.

#The Force Awakens critical #blunt blathers #TFA critical

[perenial]

hi! could you elaborate on your point about tos Kirk and aos Kirk? whenever you can!! thank you

(re: this post)

so here's the thing: I actually love aos. it's a total trash fire of a film series and riddled with issues – and that's exactly why it still holds a very special place in my heart. youtuber and all-round GOAT jessie gender elucidates what makes the kelvin 'verse a defining piece of trek media in her incredible retrospective series here, which i highly recommend bc she, like me, is super enthusiastic about the transformative quality that the alternate timeline proposed, and the ways in which it succeeded/failed. in her analysis of into darkness, jessie mentions that she approached her critique with the presupposition that

JJ Abrams really seems to excel at being able to take franchises - things we have loved from our past - and modernise their core themes, visuals and style into the modern day, making movies that evoke how we remember something rather than how they actually were…But when Abrams tries to move beyond homage or pastiche, he really doesn’t have much to say beyond ‘hey, wasn’t that thing you remember really cool?’

(emphasis mine)

and while she ultimately teases this thought into a different thread of analysis, I think her point about movies that "evoke how we remember something rather than how they actually were" is especially salient to the characterisations of jim kirk in both tos and aos. because ultimately, jim kirk doesn't really exist anymore. he's entered public consciousness in a way that means he, and we, can never return to the original conception of the character from 1966. and that's okay.

as a first point of call: we don't remember jim kirk all that well. in their essay on collective cultural memory, erin horáková coins the term 'kirk drift' to describe how the idea of kirk - brutish, sexist womaniser and playboy extraordinaire - has deviated from the 'actual' kirk through decades of pop culture osmosis and a very specific remolding of kirk's masculinity into the homogenous WASP-y ideal that was being pushed so ardently during and after the cold war. horáková notes that one of the primary motivations in doing this is actually located in the trend of positing bigoted and discriminatory behaviours and ideas as something that always happened in the past, and therefore any piece of art or media from the past must inherently reflect these opinions. we think of the 60s as a era of injustice (despite, u know, the various civil rights movements that were gathering public recognition), so of course any media from the period must be saturated in racist, homophobic, sexist overtones. of course captain kirk was a white cis hetero american power fantasy; of course he disrespected women and treated them like objects; of course his masculinity was reckless and violent. I'm not saying there aren't aspects of kirk in tos that aren't shitty - it's that the memory of kirk is so tied to the idea of a discriminatory era that he has become this figure in the public consciousness.

(horáková also makes an excellent point about how shatner's jewish identity which is arguably transposed onto kirk has been goy-washed through this process, furthering the cultural image of the 'all-american man'. it's a super interesting thought that deserves more attention than I'm affording with this post so I might return to it at a later point)

so what horáková argues is that we're left with this culturally-mediated form of jim kirk that has permeated pop culture so completely that even star trek fans enter into tos with this preconceived notion of who he is. the kirk drift, they state, is responsible for the way jim is characterised in the kelvin 'verse films - but instead of expanding on why this might be and what opportunities it might afford, horáková does what a lot of tos fans (not all!! but a significant portion) end up doing: universally panning aos as inauthentic, disingenuous, and impure:

Bullshit easter eggs aside, the new Star Trek films are not for people who like Star Trek. They are spectacularly bad at delivering the essence of Star Trek: that universe, those characters. They are aimed at people who recognise the line “beam me up, Scotty” and sweet Fanny Adams else. Even the TOS films cater to people’s sense of recognition, and making them “feel like fans” without much of the playbour of having to become familiar with the canon. These pre-packaged elements also give casual viewers the satisfying sense of a bona-fide Star Trek Experience: if McCoy hasn’t told you he’s a doctor, Jim, not a wand'ring minstrel, have you truly seen a Star Trek film at all? Time and distance from the source material have only exacerbated these effects.

(emphasis mine)

and this.......this just really pisses me off. it's the kind of gatekeeping attitude that keeps casual viewers at arm's length and refuses to acknowledge that people engage with media in different, ever-evolving ways that are not, and should not have to be contingent on someone's ability to binge hundreds of hours of content in order to 'truly understand' the media in question.

in her analysis on whether star trek '09 is 'real trek', jessie points out that while many critics of '09 point to its lack of philosophical content as proof that it doesn't ring true to the original roddenberry vision. her argument against this is twofold: firstly, star trek films (as opposed to tv shows) have never really been all that introspective to begin with. if we measure a trek film by a moral yardstick, most, if not all, star trek films fall short of the ethical questioning set up in the series they're born from – instead, these movies are character-driven dramas cloaked in a veneer of big(ish) budget sci-fi action, which may tie in to broader allegories and themes, but often don't. secondly (and most radically), jessie highlights that due to this split between philosophy and character focus, it could be the case that the former.....isn't actually the singular heart of trek the way we think it is. instead, jessie poses that

What makes a good Star Trek film is using character arcs to further Trek's ideals, not necessarily having a giant philosophical discussion...And honestly, I don't think you can find a better character discussion than Star Trek 2009, because I think this film's message is as clear as day, how it uses Kirk and Spock to tell the most essential and classic Star Trek story there is: how we find a balance between our logic and our emotions, and to not let ourselves be guided by solely one or the other in order to make ourselves better humans between the collision of the two.

[...] To all those who say this film doesn't get Gene Roddenberry's vision, I would ask that you take another look at this film, because I think it might be one of the most distilled versions of that vision that any Trek film has ever done, even more so than Roddenberry himself was sometimes able to achieve.

basically, the point of trek – its films especially, but the tv shows too – is that it is a conduit for showing and discussing the huge ethical quandaries of the universe through the minutiae of individual characters and their relationships to each other. the philosophy is nothing without the characters – and, in turn, these characters are nothing without their ability to connect to the audience. which leads me to my ultimate defense of aos,

star trek 2009 was made to reboot the franchise in a way that brought new fans in, not to solely cater to existing fans. creating a heavily canon-dependant, ultra sophisticated trek movie in the spirit of tos literally would not be possible nor would it have had an inviting (or marketable) effect on the next generation of potential viewers. we live in a vastly different time with different norms and expectations surrounding media - why do you think the frame rate has increased from 14 to 24 FFS in the last century? social demand creates certain kinds of technologies and these technologies in turn change how we experience the social: this is what sociologists mean when we talk about the social construction of technology (and specifically social interactionist scholars when we talk about actor-network theory, but that's a whole other post in itself).

another concept that holds a lot of weight here is 'the medium is the message', coined by communications theorist marshall mcluhan to describe the unique relationship a piece of media has to the technology through which it is delivered. much like social constructionist theories of technology, mcluhan is pointing out that the way things are structured – televisions, books, film, radio, etc etc – influence the message the media is being filtered through. my favourite example of this is the change in the structure of tv through the syndicated '60s to now: back in the days of i love lucy (and, yes, star trek), there was no way for a viewer to save every episode of a show to watch in sequential order. instead, each episode had to be intelligible to a new viewer every single time – this is why the 'status quo' was reset at the end of episodes, so that a new viewer wouldn't need to have that prior context in order to understand subsequent episodes. with the development of more cable options and video recording equipment, eventually culminating in the streaming services we enjoy today, serialization became more accessible and even preferred as a method of storytelling. we are literally telling different stories now because of the mediums we're using. you can't tell me that isn't the tightest shit you've ever heard.

anyway, i mention these theories bc my girl jessie alludes to them in her review of lower decks season 1:

As a 50 year old franchise, it becomes harder and harder to welcome new people into the fold. While Star Trek Discovery certainly can be welcoming to newer fans, its first two seasons still had a fair reliance on previous Trek lore…And with the last major influx of Star Trek fans coming from the Kelvin Star Trek films, and Lower Decks and even Star Trek Picard not being the most welcome of starting places for newer fans, it does leave me mildly worried for the longevity of the franchise as a whole if it continually focuses on catering to its existing fans, instead of trying to find new ones.

trek's greatest feat is its heaviest problem: its history, entrenched in the development of syndicated television, is proving impenetrable for potential viewers. canon is so vast and creative and complex that it drives people away – and on a smaller scale, we've already seen this happen. when tos was cancelled in '69, it was largely considered dead until efforts were made to reintroduce the now-franchise to the, uh, next generation. through the next generation. trek was kept alive, from its successful first motion picture to the debut of next gen, by catering to non-fans.

......and this, in a roundabout way, gets me to aos kirk.

i'll be the first to point out that aos kirk is an asshole. he's brash, arrogant, misogynistic, immature – everything he was built up to be by the kirk drift and subsequently derided by tos fans. but here's the thing: he needed to be a jerk, both in and out of aos canon, for his character to make sense.

on an in-universe level, this is a very specific version of the character we're encountering. this is a young man who was born from trauma, implied to been abused as a child, who grew up without a formative influence (and yeah, it's kinda fucked up how fathers are so prominent in trek and maternal influence seems to take a backseat) and lacked the structural support to lead him on the path he was 'destined' for. i don't think we can understate just how big of a deal george kirk, or rather the figure of him, was in the development of aos jim – this is a masculine role he grew up in the shadow of, the image of a self-sacrificing, brave, heroic legend that exemplified the best of starfleet's and humanity's ideals.

wait, am i talking about george kirk, or tos jim?

meta-textually, aos jim exists within the kirk drift. his inception comes about from cultural depictions of tos kirk, for better or worse, for all his idealised qualities and the incorrect stereotypes he garnered. he will always be measured against tos kirk, will always be considered an imitation, will always be a carbon copy with the ink smudged. he exists in our public consciousness as an extant form of jim kirk, and more importantly, he exists as this copy in a modern context. the way we reflect on tos kirk is mediated by social conventions and, critically, the medium through which we understand him – which is why a modern film kirk, as both a product of the kirk drift and a product of modern filmic conventions and structures, only makes sense as a heavily conflicted, problematic character.

aos kirk is this frankenstein's monster of the kirk drift, action heroes of yore, and modern western models of white masculinity. dude literally cannot exist as anything but a messy, fucked up amalgamation of his sociotechnical media context. so not only is george kirk a metaphor for tos kirk in the kelvinverse, aos jim himself is a metaphoric mix of masculinity in modern film that is informed by, but not entirely necessitated upon, tos kirk. if the message of trek is the mediation of emotion and logic, of culture and nature, of right and wrong, then the medium of reboot film is telling us a very specific story about a figure that has been warped by pop culture and is irrevocably indebted to a legacy that existed and continues to exist in its own very specific sociotechnical media context.

and that's so fucking cool.

#Anonymous #replies.txt #star trek #aos #tos #jim kirk #meta #sorry this took so long!! turns out i had Thoughts #i'd also apologise about the length but tbh i've wanted to write this essay for a long time #mainly that as a media-focused sociologist aos kirk offers an unprecedented case study #in both science fiction and modern film more broadly #tl;dr I Love Jim Kirk Here's Why

[dalekofchaos]

The complete lack of Anakin Skywalker in the Sequel Trilogy is an insult to the story of Star Wars, Anakin’s story and in the end they destroyed Anakin’s fall and redemption

The fact that Anakin is never mentioned by name, let alone shows up as a force ghost. Just shows how much Disney, JJ Abrams, Rian Johnson and Kathleen Kennedy were so afraid of the Prequels and couldn’t even bother to have the man who is the main focus of Star Wars to be featured in the sequel trilogy period. The Star Wars Saga was about Anakin and his family. I will forever be bitter and disgusted that Disney went out of their way to erase his presence.

Disney did everything to show what Anakin trained for, struggled for, went to the dark side for and sacrificed everything for was pointless.��They introduced force healing, force resurrection, Rey taking the prophecy for herself, his family was tormented by Palpatine until his bloodline became extinct and now we know people can communicate with Tusken raiders. If all of this existed in the prequels, Anakin would’ve never even become Darth Vader. They made Anakin’s entire fall and redemption completely pointless.

I don’t know what it is with Disney, but apparently they get off with backhandedly disrespecting Anakin at every opportunity they get.

I do love Rey, but I agree with this YouTube comment I found a year ago “Rey single handedly destroyed Anakin's entire legacy, and made his whole life a joke. - you don't need to train to be stupidly powerful with the lightsaber or the force. Training isn't necessary anymore, as Rey proves in TFA and TLJ, and in some ways in TROS since I doubt Leia taught her force heal, force skype or force lightning. Thus, Anakin's tough decision to leave his mother in slavery while training to be a Jedi powerful enough to one day save her is made pointless. - you don't need to be in control of your powers. Hell, fits of unexplained anger are encouraged and other characters love you for it. Rey can be rude, destructive and irrational all she wants, and everyone supports her, while Anakin was always taught to obey orders and not think for himself, furthering his feeling of being enslaved and controlled. But nah, he was just wrong I guess. - the path to the dark side is no longer the easy and fast one. Everyone can just decide freely, flip flop between allegiances and do whatever the fuck they want to. I don't know what Anakin was tempted by, Rey is angry all the time, uses force lightning, a power only the most powerful sith can do, and is never tempted in the slightest, always making the morally perfect decisions and never giving in to any temptations. Just be incorruptible, Anakin! - You can force heal easily at no cost. Anakin's mother died for nothing, as did Padme. Anakin's whole turn to the dark side was made utterly ridiculous by this movie. Anakin trained for years, mastering everything he could, striving for more knowledge and wisdom to be powerful enough to save and protect those around him, when he could have just done everything he wanted by closing his eyes. Fucking hell Rey, is there anything you aren't perfect at. - He didn't even kill Palpatine. He didn't redeem himself. He didn't bring peace to the galaxy. He did bring order though, the First Order. Fucking hell, did he actually do anything right or did Rey seriously outclass him in every _single thing he ever did This trilogy just shits on everything that came before. Everyone in Star Wars sucks because Rey is just perfect at everything she does, and all the other characters, with their flaws, struggles and problems they have to overcome just look stupid compared to her and her god powers. I hate this trilogy so much omg words can't describe it”

Let’s look at how much damage was done by not showing Anakin and how much the Sequels destroyed Anakin’s story and legacy

Anakin never warns his children about Snokeatine preying over his grandson, just think if Anakin told them a powerful and ancient dark side user was targeting Ben, Han, Lando, Chewie, Luke and Leia all would’ve gotten together and killed Snoke and by doing that, killing the First/Final Order in the crib.

Anakin never tells his children Palpatine himself is alive. If Anakin told them the truth, he could’ve directed Luke and Leia to his wayfinder, then Orchi’s ship and the stupid knife map. They would find both wayfinders and Luke and Leia would’ve killed Palpatine on Exegol. 

Anakin doesn't warn Leia that visions are not all they seem or how he lost himself because of a vision and tells her not to fall for the same trap he did. 

Anakin never once visits his grandson during his Jedi training or his time as Kylo Ren and tell him his story, Anakin appearing before his grandson and telling him HIS SIDE of HIS STORY could’ve prevented Ben’s fall

Anakin by name is never mentioned

Rey, someone who believed Luke was only a myth. Suddenly knows that Luke redeemed Darth Vader(again, Anakin is never mentioned by name)

Anakin does not appear before his son in his time of need. Instead Yoda does. Anakin knew all there is about failure and what happens when you fall to the dark side.  “failure, the greatest teacher is,” is bullshit. Yoda never learned this lesson to begin with. Yoda is the last person who should be saying anything like this to Luke. Anakin should have went to Luke, not Yoda. You know who would have been the perfect person to tell Luke that failure is the greatest teacher? His father, Anakin Skywalker. If anyone deserved that moment, it was Anakin Skywalker. Both because this should have been his chance to speak with his son AND because when someone is the embodiment of the failures of the Jedi Order, they’re really the one best qualified to call out the bullshit of that organization. Anakin would’ve been the best person to tell Luke to confront Kylo, his grandson. He knows failure more than anyone. Failing to save his mother, failing to save Padme, his failure into giving into the dark side and his fall. Anakin would’ve told him. “It wasn’t your fault what happened to Ben, I’m asking you to come back and save your sister, my daughter. Leia needs you. You never gave up on me. Don’t give up on your friends, your sister or even yourself. You saved me when I thought all was lost, there is still time to make things right. Remember you are a Jedi, like me. Not the last of the old Jedi, Luke. The first of the new.“

Anakin died to save his son. He does not attempt to save him.

The fact that Anakin didn’t even show up to speak to his son when he was at his lowest or when his son was literally dying , was just proof that Disney Lucasfilm didn’t care about him as a character or his story. Anakin’s redemption was saving his son, yet for some reason he just didn’t give a shit about him. There is not even a reason given as to why he didn’t show up.  

Anakin does not appear before his grandson in his turning point. It should have been Anakin who met with Ben, not Han. No one knows more about Palpatine and the dark side than Anakin and revealing the truth could have destroyed the dark side’s hold over his grandson and brought him back to the light and unlike Harrison, Hayden actually wanted to be there. We needed the one moment between Anakin and his grandson. All they did with Han was make little to no sense and just repeat lines from TFA. Harrison is clearly there to collect that sweet Disney money lol he doesn’t like Star Wars or Han Solo, he returned to have Han killed off. Hayden Christensen, however loved Star Wars despite the hate that was directed towards him. He wanted to return to play Anakin one last time. and the perfect way for him to return and to guide his grandson back to the light was Anakin. Anakin knows more than anyone what the dark side can do and what Palpatine is capable of and how much pain he has inflicted. Kylo has always admired Vader, and Anakin can show the truth of how he was manipulated into betraying everything he loved and why the dark side is not the path he should be taking.  I really hate to toot my own horn, but I wrote out a scene where Anakin’s force ghost visits his grandson and helped along his redemption.  “I never wanted you to repeat my mistakes. That pull to the light you were feeling was always me. I wanted you to be better than I was, who I could have been” and showing Ben his memories and what he had to go through. His life as a slave, meeting Padme, meeting Obi-Wan, becoming a Jedi, losing his mother, Order 66, losing Padme and being saved by Luke and finally destroying Palpatine(lol but not really). And telling Ben “Let the light in. You still have a chance, no one is ever really gone“  Ben would then tell his grandfather “I know what I have to do, but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it.” Anakin puts his hand on his grandson and says “this time we’ll do it together.”

Anakin does not play a role in the defeat of the monster who destroyed his life. Anakin’s redemption, victory and the fulfillment of the Chosen One Prophecy  is now meaningless. He doesn’t even return to face Palpatine or to even power up Ben and Rey.  When Rey says "be with me" in the final fight. What should've happened is the force hears her pleas for help and sends Anakin to confront Sidious. Just imagine Palpatine:It cannot be....Lord Vader? Anakin:That name no longer has any meaning for me No, I am Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Master and the chosen one. Palpatine:So be it, "Jedi" Anakin with the help of Luke, Leia, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon and Yoda help Ben rise and empower Ben and Rey. Rey and Ben rise. Ben with his Grandfather’s lightsaber and Rey with Leia’s lightsaber deflecting Palpatine’s Lightning Palpatine"I AM ALL THE SITH! Rey and Ben:And we are the Skywalkers And together they deflect it back at Sidious. Once and for all, Anakin fulfills the prophecy, while not doing it directly, he guided his grandson and Rey and together they destroy the SIth and brings balance to the force. Then Anakin brings back Rey, and bids farewell to his grandson and fades in peace knowing that balance has been brought back and the force is in the safe hands of Rey and Ben.

The entire Skywalker Family goes extinct and everything Anakin fought and sacrificed for is completely meaningless

Anakin's Lightsaber is not recognized as his lightsaber, it is recognized as Luke's Lightsaber and Rey's Lightsaber. Luke has a Lightsaber of his own. He even used it for most of his life after the war as a Jedi master, yet it never makes it into the Sequel Trilogy outside of flashbacks. Where is it????? NO SERIOUSLY WHERE THE FUCK IS IT??????? Rey has a lightsaber of her own as well, but for SOME REASON, they needed Rey to have the Skywalker lightsaber and Leia’s Lightsaber throughout the whole movie. Rey cannot be defined on her own. She needs the Skywalker Lightsaber, she needs the falcon, she needs to be related to be Palpatine and she needed to take the Skywalker name in the end. Anakin doesn’t even get to be acknowledged as the master of his own lightsaber.

Rey steals Anakin's legacy as the chosen one. A PALPATINE STEALS THE SKYWALKER PROPHECY

Anakin’s Lightsaber was buried on Tatooine. Make all the “I don’t like sand” jokes you want. But this is like burying a possession of a freed slave in the remains of a slave plantation. Anakin and Shmi were slaves on this planet, his mother was brutally tortured and murdered, his step-brother and sister and Luke’s aunt and uncle were brutally murdered and his daughter was a Hutt’s sex slave. This is the absolute last place he’d ever want his Lightsaber to be buried. Every Skywalker and Solo hated Tatooine. Anakin wanted to escape a life of slavery and see the stars. Luke looks at that double sunset, longing to escape his mundane life, wanting to travel the galaxy to fight the good fight. Rey looks at the double sunset because it's supposed to pander to the OT fans. Bury Anakin’s Lightsaber in his wife’s mausoleum and his spirit would be at peace. But oh no, we can’t have that, the money needs it’s OT nostalgia and we can’t legitimize the prequels because this movie was made by a prequel hating asshole.  I don’t understand why Luke’s Green Lightsaber was never used again. Could’ve been given to Finn and when he’s done, Rey helps him build a Lightsaber of his own. Then Rey can bury Luke, Leia, and Anakin’s Lightsabers in Padme’s mausoleum with Rey, Finn and Ben looking on as the force ghosts of Anakin, Luke and Leia looks on them in peace and it would be a fitting way to end the Skywalker Saga.

Anakin does not appear as a force ghost. He doesn’t see his grandson. He doesn’t see Rey. He doesn’t appear with Luke and Leia at the end of the movie. It’s like JJ Abrams has some sort of vendetta against the Prequels. This is what happens when an OT purist is given power.

Ben Solo dies and is not given a chance to earn his redemption and thus the Skywalker family dies out. He did terrible things as Kylo Ren, but if you want him to redeem himself, actually give him a redemption arc. When he feels his mother die, let him truly feel remorse for his actions Let him see the force ghosts of Luke and Anakin. They set him on the path to make things right. Ben and Rey stop Palpatine together, they kiss and Ben goes on a path of atonement. Ben gets in the falcon and takes Leia’s lightsaber and goes to every known First Order base with the intention of righting his wrongs and making things right. When he returns to Rey, they go to Naboo to place Anakin, Luke and Leia’s Lightsaber’s in Padme’s mausoleum and it ends with Rey and Ben holding hands as the Skywalker family looks on proud and happily that the future is in good hands. Like....Anakin, Leia and Luke would’ve wanted their family to live on and wanted Ben to live. It isn’t rocket science, Anakin would’ve wanted Ben to be given the chance he wasn’t given to redeem himself and live to tell the tale.

Bringing back Palpatine back destroyed Anakin’s entire arc. I don’t care if it happened in Legends. It was fucking stupid then and it was stupid now. The impact of Order 66? The Sequel Trilogy ruined it. I hate how the Sequel Trilogy really shat on this moment. Order 66 was a tragedy for the Clones, Jedi, Separatists, Mandalorians, Night Sisiters and even Maul. Everyone lost except Sidious. When Darth Vader threw him over the railing he was avenging basically everyone. But the Sequel Trilogy rewrites that moment and makes it redundant. In my book, the series timeline ends at the Mandalorian. The Prophecy of The Chosen One? It’s no longer about Anakin. He is no longer the one to destroy The Sith and to bring Balance to the Force. His fall and redemption? It’s now pointless, Palpatine’s clone body was the one that got destroyed, not Palpatine himself and he returned and built up the Empire stronger than ever. Anakin saving Luke and finally killing Palpatine was beautiful. Something that really makes Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker saving Luke beautiful in my mind is actually Anakin/Vader’s perspective.  Qui-Gon was killed, his mother died a senseless death that he couldn't prevent, the Jedi Council was always wary of him and  never took him seriously, Padme spurned him after he became Vader -- which he only did to protect her from dying -- and died anyway, his best friend hacked off all his limbs and left him to burn to death and Sidious manipulated and lied to him from the time he was a kid, only wanted him for his force powers to use as a glorified hitman and openly contemplated replacing him constantly after he lost his duel to Kenobi on Mustafar and was maimed. The dude either lost or was (in his mind) betrayed by basically everyone he ever knew and cared about, except his son, who even to the end never lost faith in him. He was beaten and helpless and Luke had just severed his hand. Sidious then goaded Luke to finish Vader off and become his new apprentice, but Luke refused to turn on his father. The minute he realized Luke was the only person who hadn't betrayed, used, abandoned or left him was the minute Vader died and Anakin returned. This, in a nut shell, is the story of Star Wars. It is the story of a child from Tattooine who was finally able to save someone he loved.  Anakin has been manipulated by Palpatine since the moment he became a Jedi. Palpatine put visions of Padme’s death in his head until it was a reality. He went to the dark side to save his wife and children. He manipulated him into destroying the Jedi. He turned Anakin into Darth Vader and used Darth Vader as his enforcer. Until a moment of hope. His children lived. He thought all was lost until his son believed in him. In his final moments, his life, he saved his son and fulfilled the prophecy. Darth Vader is the ultimate villain deconstruction. He started out as a faceless monster to be defeated, a demon to be slain so peace would be restored. But Luke managed to look beneath the mask of intimidation and saw his father for what he truly was; a broken man who had been a slave his whole life and had lost all hope of redeeming himself. In the end Luke brought Anakin Skywalker back not because he convinced Vader to love him, because Anakin loved Luke since the moment he knew he would be born and never stopped loving him. And the decision to reveal that Palpatine didn’t really die and manipulated his grandson to kill Luke, that honestly cheapens Anakin’s arc. Just think with how he was brought back. They didn’t have an explanation. He is just there in the opening crawl. We didn’t hear his message in the movie, we heard it in fucking fortnite. And Poe’s line. “Somehow, Palpatine has returned” plays like a line from some kind of parody to Hollywood franchises. It’s actually... insulting. Like they are basically slapping us with “this is happening, we don’t have an explanation, just watch the damn movie and get us paid” without even the decency of trying to hide it. That line didn’t have to be in there. It revealed nothing, it provided no character development... it was literally just there to admit that the film really is as bad as you think. And of course, it’s something we HAVE to read in a book to figure out. If it’s not in your fucking movie, don’t fucking bother having it. Bringing back Palpatine made the first 6 movies entirely pointless. Palpatine outliving Anakin, Obi-Wan, Padme, Han Luke and Leia is the ultimate desecration of Star Wars. “it was always the plan to bring Palpatine back” and that is the problem. Its actually amazing how little the folks at Lucasfilm, Bad Reboot and Disney “get” Star Wars. Having the ultimate bad guy of the first 6 films live to see Episode 9 when the heroes who supposedly defeated him are long dead. It literally destroys the core mythology of the Star Wars universe and makes the selfless choices our characters made unrewarding. That’s just depressing. Their sacrifices and triumphs are ultimately undermined, devalued and utterly pointless. Moral of the story, nothing you did mattered, let the new generation clean up your mess because the money says so. And making Rey Palpatine’s granddaughter, killing EVERY LIVING Skywalker and having a Palpatine steal the legacy of the Skywalkers is desecration of Star Wars. Rey isn’t related to the Skywalkers it’s so creepy that she stole everything from them. She stole the falcon, she stole Luke’s lightsaber, she stole their family name. She stole Anakin and Luke’s ultimate victory over Palpatine. Their legacy. Palpatine won…..This is disgusting. The Skywalkers all dying and Rey taking the name is an exact summation of this trilogy. Tearing down all the old heroes and everything they did just for the new ones to do the same exact thing. Just to prop Rey up? You CAN build up new characters without tearing down the old characters and their legacy. Everything in this trilogy was done to break down and humiliate the characters we cared about and imitate something that was done in the past and has no substance. 

Rey didn’t need to be a Palpatine or take the Skywalker name. This isn’t me hating on Rey. Rey can be a great character by standing on her own. Rey being related to NO ONE was powerful and shows us that even someone who came from Jakku can be a powerful Jedi. She doesn’t earn anything on her own. She downloaded all of Kylo’s abilities. She took the Falcon, she made Chewbacca her personal uber, she took BB-8 from Poe and buried Anakin and Leia’s lightsaber on the literal symbolic oppression of the Skywalker family instead of something peaceful like Naboo or Ach-To. She has her own Lightsaber, but never uses it. Rey being a Palpatine and taking the Skywalker name undoes the beautiful story the revelation TLJ had does. She didn’t need to be a Palpatine and she didn’t need to take the Skywalker name or even their relics.  Rey Nobody works. Here’s why. Rey’s story is her own, it is not her parents, it is not about where she came from, it’s about where she is going, and who she decides to become. Maz Kanata said “The belonging you seek is not behind you. It is in front of you.” Rey in the TFA trailers said “I’m no one” Rey never thought or wanted her parents to be important in TFA, she was literally going to pass up adventure and being important to stay on Jakku because what she wanted was her family to finally come home. She didn't want to be important or wanted her parents to be important. The audience wanted that. Any more lingering discussion of the possibility of Rey’s parents being ‘somebody’ only is distracting you from the actually beautiful story that is being told. Rey is a story of a girl who raised herself, who held onto hope for people who didn’t deserve it, she is a story of how light can be born from darkness, and Rey is story of someone who was scared of her own truth—but then finally faced it. Rey being a Nobody is the story I was skeptical of at first, but grew to love, the story that gives me more hope than any Rey Skywalker or Rey Solo story ever would. Rey calling herself "Rey Skywalker" was so forced and unnecessary because all the whiny pissants did not like that a girl was skilled and powerful in her own right and because Rey did not have a good relationship with Luke in the first place. JJ was so set in just making Rey a Luke clone that it just undoes character development. If Rey had to take a name, Solo or Organa would make the most sense since she actually had a relationship with Han, Leia and Ben. Say what you want about how RIan Johnson handled Rey in TLJ. At least he treated Rey like her own person, with her own journey, and her own desires and fears, rather than consigning her to be a vessel for OT nostalgia. And at least he allowed her to actually have a new outfit and new hair style. At least he let her change. Like him or not, Rian Johnson treated Rey with more respect and identity than JJ Abrams ever did. It means more than making her related to anyone because Rey was every lonely girl who wanted to be a part of something but didn't feel like they belonged. Every woman who learned to make her way in the world alone. Every person who clung to hope when they had nothing left. She is so many things to so many people. Rey Nobody can be fierce, angry and powerful without it connecting to a man or evil bloodline. She can love, be curious and emotional without being weak. She is a scavenger, a Jedi, and one half of a powerful Dyad. She is Rey of Jakku and that's all we needed. Rey calling herself a Skywalker denied her every last inch of who she was. Her character arc was ruined to please men that thought her power needed to be connected to a man for it to make sense. All we needed her arc to be was Rey accepting that she needs to be her own hero and loving herself for who she is, rather than who she wanted her hypothetical parents to be. And honestly Rey in TROS was a huge disappointment. Her entire character arc was regressed, she's back to wearing the buns and dressed all in white and sticks to the glorification of the Jedi. It's like everything she learned in the last movie never happened. And honestly her character in TROS  is what men think a "strong female character" is She fights, but they don’t have to deal with her processing internal pain. She loves, but they don’t have to deal with her fully exploring her desires. She’s a “badass,” & for them that is enough. When I say "A Palpatine is left and steals the legacy of the Skywalkers" I am not suggesting she doesn't deserve the title. I am saying that essentially, Palpatine won. Anakin, Padme, Luke, Han, Leia and Ben are all dead. Leia died for nothing. Leia deserved to see her son come home, and to see the end of the monster who ruined her family. She didn’t deserve to feel her child die. The entire line of the family is now extinct. The wiki even says "the extinction of the family name" what kind of depressing garbage is this? JJ Abrams ended the entire Skywalker saga on Palpatine successfully using love to manipulate, corrupt, hurt or kill every single Skywalker across three generations, ultimately resulting in the total eradication of the Skywalker, Solo and Amidala bloodlines, whilst Palpatine's heir lives on and claims the Skywalker name and legacy. Rey calling herself "Rey Skywalker" was patronizing and insulting and demeans what Rey's journey meant in the first two movies to everyone who loved her. Rey coming from Jakku and nothing but rising up as a heroic Jedi means more than "you have his power...you are a Palpatine" or "Rey Rey Skywalker" ever will. Women Of The Galaxy author Amy Ratcliffe says it best. “Even beyond the trappings of the Star Wars saga — the First Order, the Resistance, the Force — Rey’s story is inspiring, familiar, and timeless. Just because you come from nothing doesn’t mean you’re not part of the story. You’re not no one, because anybody can save the galaxy. Anybody.“

If anyone still cannot understand my problem with bringing back Palpatine and why I find it narratively offensive. Just imagine this. What if Harry discovered that Dumbledore was wrong and Voldemort had far more than 7 horcruxes? Ashamed and afraid, he hides Ginny and the Potter children among the muggles. A defeated Ron returns to the burrow, while Hermione spends her days searching for Horcruxes. Years later, a 17 year old, Rachel Marvela Riddle, begins discovering her new powers, despite never receiving her Hogwart’s letter. Her magic is incredibly strong, but she is everything Tom was not. With the help of some friends, she tracks down the remaining Horcruxes and finally destroys the true Voldemort, for good and realsies this time! Also she starts calling herself the Girl Who Lived. This is the plot of Disney’s Star Wars Sequel Trilogy.. What if Harry didn’t actually destroy Voldemort? What if The One Ring survived Mt. Doom? Interesting concepts, but they would devalue everything that came before. The entire point of the Sequel Trilogy is disregarding generations of storytelling because no one behind this trilogy had any original or creative stories to tell. This is how Star Wars dies, with uncreativity and greed.

Anakin Skywalker’s story and family was destroyed, belittled, insulted and stolen by a Palpatine. Hell, even from a certain point of view PALPATINE WON! AGAIN!

#Anakin Skywalker #Anti Lucasfilm #Anti TROS #Anti TFA #Anti TLJ #Anti JJ Abrams #Anti Rian Johnson #Anti Kathleen Kennedy

[geraltcirilla]

What did Jenny Nicholson do to John Boyega? Genuinely curious, it's the first time I'm hearing of this and would love to know so I can stop paying her any attention if she doesn't deserve it

Disclaimer before I get started: I’m a white woman and this topic is about racism perpetuated by white woman so please keep that in mind as you read. I’m gonna do my absolute best to echo what I’ve seen black people say about this situation and this type of covert racism but I am not black so they get final say on this topic.

This is not an easy thing to explain in it’s entirety because it happened about a year ago on Twitter and Jenny deleted a lot of Tweets after the fact because she’s a spineless coward. I’m going to do my best to remember and I’ll include any receipts I can find, which unfortunately will be limited to what people saved at the time. :(

This all started because John made a joke about Rey and Finn having sex on Twitter.

It was a harmless silly joke. And it was not about Reylo. But Reylos took it upon themselves to be personally offended and absolutely LOST it at him, calling him a misogynist, saying his statement was sexist, and sending him a slew of harassment, hate, and racism.

Now there’s a lot of hypocrisy going into this controversy because Reylos are notorious for sexualizing Rey often to disgusting degrees, like demanding the actual Star Wars movies be more explicit, saying light sabers are phallic symbols, accusing JJ Abrams of wanting Rey to stay his pure virginal Mary Sue, etc. (I’m not gonna bother providing receipts on this, just search the Reylo hashtags on Tumblr or Twitter, or check out the Twitter @ShitReylosSay). Let me make it clear that sexually explicit =/= sexist, and John’s statement was not sexist. Period. At the end of the day I think they were just looking for an excuse to attack John. Because he cannot breath without people attacking him.

Well John noticed right away it was Reylos going at him so he took the opportunity to drag Reylo.

Was he being a petty? Of course he was, but he had EVERY RIGHT TO after the endless racism he has endured from the Star Wars fandom. People are always applauding white actors like Robert Pattinson and Jacob Elordi for shitting on shows, movies, or fandoms related to their work. But when John does it suddenly he’s “unprofessional”?

John eventually started replying to some of the Tweets being sent at him.

They were all along this vein where a person was being outright hostile and vile, so yeah, he had every right to respond.

This all culminated in him picking out a bunch of hateful Tweets being thrown his way and posting this video to Instagram.

Well this triggered Reylos even more so they shifted tactics and took the whole white feminist approach that he was “attacking SHIPPING CULTURE which is majorly made up of WOMEN so he’s a MISOGYNIST”. They wrote these long essays and Twitter threads about how John was spreading harmful messages etc. But he wasn’t attacking shipping culture, he was attacking Reylo. Because it’s vile and abusive and he was no longer contractually obligated to endure it. And honestly? His tweet was mild at best. 

But please remember all this started because John made a joke that Rey and Finn ended up together. HE DID NOT START ON REYLO. THEY STARTED ON HIM. Everything that happened was reactionary on his part. We as a society refuse to let black people defend themselves and it’s fucked up and racist.

One of these pseudo-intellectuals spreading the whole “John is a misogynist and Reylo shippers are his VICTIMS uwu” narrative was none other than Jenny Nicholson.

Just so you know the “inbreds” comment was photoshopped by a white fan, not that Jenny would tell her incredibly large audience this to prevent spreading further slander about John.

A lot of people started replying to Jenny telling her why SHE as a WHITE WOMAN framing herself and other Reylos as the VICTIM of John, a BLACK MAN who did absolutely nothing to her or anyone besides not like Reylo and defend himself against online harassment and bullying, was racist.

And you know what she did? She blocked them all.

And to this day she continues to block anyone who brings it up because she’s a spineless coward who can’t be bothered to own up to her racist slip-ups.

Some of these people were being mean, but most were not. Some were nicer than she deserved. She still blocked them. She didn’t want to see any form of criticism (constructive or not) sent her way.

She even had the nerve to go at John AGAIN during the BLM protests after George Floyd was murdered because she has no fucking clue how to read a room. This was her bringing back her distasteful dislike of John DURING THE BLM MOVEMENT when John made that emotional speech in London’s Hyde Park. This was not the time or place but she can’t seem to help herself.

As a white woman with respect, authority, and a large audience, who viewed as an “intellect” on online spaces so her opinion is taken more seriously thank others, the things she says matter and impact a large group of people. She used her whiteness and her woman-ness to frame herself and other white women as John’s victim when she was not, because she knew it would be easy and she would get away with it. And she did and she has. As one person in the screencaps above tweeted so gracefully, she “participated in the fandom dogpile of John” when he had done nothing wrong except exist and have opinions.

Jenny is your classic example of a performative ally and she accidently showed her true colors. I no longer trust any white female video essayist who ship Reylo and are friends with Jenny because you know they all silently agree with what she was stupid enough to say out loud. This means Lindsay Ellis as well.

I believe the reason she refuses to acknowledge this situation is because she would be forced to either apologize or confess she still stands by what she said. And based off her vague-tweeting the situation as recent as June of 2020 I feel safe saying she still believes she was in the right.

The receipts I offered are only a small part of a much larger jumbled mess. I didn’t include everything there was but even this small amount is pretty damning.

#john boyega #jenny nicholson #ask #anon #text #long post

[arabian-bloodstream]

TROS: The Good, the Bad & the Huh?

So, I watched The Rise of Skywalker on Thursday. It met my expectations which were to not expect too much. I hadn't read the leaks, but I had still been spoiled. I didn't want to believe that Ben would actually die, but I knew it was a very real possibility so when it happened, I wasn't terribly surprised. Overall, I liked the movie, because, duh, it's Star Wars. However, I had a lot of problems with it because a lot of things didn't make sense.

I watched it a second time on Saturday and sadly, those things still didn't make sense, but I still liked it because, you know, Star Wars. So, here are my thoughts, first off with all of those things that don't make sense without having to rely on the SW visual dictionary or EU (because you should NOT have to rely on outside source to understand stuff) to explain them, then my biggest issues with the film, the things I did really like and my rankings of all the films as of now before it comes out and I can do a full rewatch:

Questions... So Many Questions

Where is Kylo in the beginning? Who is he mowing down? How does he find the wayfinder?

How did Palpatine come back?

Who has been taking care of him for the last 30-odd years?

Who are all of those hooded creatures in the stands?

Why are there a couple of Snoke puppets? Molds? What the fuck ever? In aquarium tanks?

Who is this General Pryde dude and why is he so high up and we've never heard of him before?

Who was Palpatine's girlfriend/wife/one-night stand that led to Rey's dad(?) mom(?)?

Where did this all come from!??!? Palpy having a child seems like a pretty fucking big deal to just OOPS! pop out of nowhere?

Some random THERE ARE ONLY TWO SUPER-SEKRIT-SITH wayfinder thingies to find Palpatine that Luke was on a SUPER-SEKRIT mission with Lando THAT WAS NEVER MENTIONED in between him training his Jedi students and his temple getting destroyed, having a split-second 'maybe I should murder my nephew' moment, 'nah!' and going into exile. Uhm, OK.

Leia was trained in the Force by Luke? Uhm... when? When she was pregnant with Ben? Because she got pregnant pretty much right after Endor. So... she learned enough from Luke--even though she didn't complete her training--to train Rey... enough that Rey became super-duper powerful. Because I highly doubt that Leia had time to train while pregnant and helping to start up a new government. OK, then.

So, Leia and Luke *knew* that Rey was the granddaughter of Sheev Palpatine--the most evil who ever eviled--and had no problem believing that there was good in her and she could be molded into an awesome Jedi... but didn't believe the same about their own son/nephew because he had too much "Vader" in him? Even though, Luke believed that Vader could be redeemed? Huh?! I mean... huh?

And on that note... so, all of the old Jedi decided to let the grandson of The Chosen One fall down a pit and crawl back up in agony with a shrug, but were like, 'yeah, we're gonna help the granddaughter of the man whose goal in life and in-between life and now life again after sucking out the life-force of the two remaining Jedi in the Galaxy.' OK, then.

So... how come, when Rey died she didn't just fade away? I mean, when Ben died he faded away right away. Why didn't Rey fade away right away?

So those horse-creature thingies... why were they on the ships to be on the destroyers? I mean, like... was there even room? And when that was destroyed, did like those horse-creature thingies all die? How sad... and no one cared.

The 'Rey, I need to tell you something' from Finn. I know now it was that he's Force-sensitive. AFTER watching the movie and hearing other people say it. Watching it the second time, I picked up on the clues, but those I watched it with the second time thought it was that he loved Rey. A lot of people thought it was that he loved Rey. I thought that the first time. It was clumsy, it was tacked-on. It was... stupid. Why would you leave a dangling thread, one of JJ's "mystery boxes" in the final chapter of the ninth-film saga? WHY?!

Also, more importantly, why were the Resistance celebrating at the end? Because "The Final Order" were taken out, but uhm, The First Order is still around. Unless I'm remembering it incorrectly (and I could be), it was the Final Order ships, General Pryde's destroyer and a bunch of First Order fighters, but not ALL of the First Order destroyers were there. They've got thousands of destroyers spread across the galaxy. They weren't all there. They took out the Emperor's fleet, not the Supreme Leader's fleet. And sure, the Supreme Leader is gone, and Pryde and Hux are gone... but there are other Generals who will step up. So, yeah, the First Order is still around. The First Order is the huge, massive enemy that our heroes are fighting the entire two films. And there is LITERALLY no mention of their defeat, of how THEY are brought down in this film. Instead, JJ brings in Palpatine and his thousands of somehow functioning Final Order fleet... and *that* fleet* is destroyed. YAY! Celebration ensues. WHAT ABOUT THE FIRST ORDER!?!? The one that we spent the last two films fighting?!? The ones that the rest of the galaxy had zero interest in helping to fight during the battle of Crait and ANYTIME in the interim before the Battle of Exogol. That's kind of huge.

Why did Rey go to Tatooine? Seriously? Why. Did. Rey. Go. To. Tatooine? Luke hated Tatooine. And besides, Rey spent at most a week with the guy and didn't have a very good relationship with him. Sure, they had a decent post-death conversation, but that was it. It really was like JJ intended (after TFA) for Rey to go to Luke and for Luke to train her in the ways of the Force and for there to be this great relationship, much like Luke and Yoda. I guess he expected for Rian Johnson to redo so much of TESB much as he had done with ANH. But Johnson didn't do that, and Abrams clearly didn't care. So he just ignored the relationship that Johnson *did* establish between Rey and Luke and pretended like the one that he envisioned had happened had, well, happened. (Psst, even though it didn't.) But it made no sense. Again, at most a week Rey spent with the grumpy old dude who wasn't very nice to her, whom she fought with and who told her--yeah, no, this ain't how it's gonna be, and so she took off and went her own way. Sure, Luke changed his mind, but she wasn't there for that.

Why did Rey have BB-8 with her? BB-8 is Poe's droid, not hers. Oh, right... it paralleled TFA--where it made sense that BB-8 was with her, when Poe was "dead" which he is not now. Mmhmm.

Why did Rey take the last name Skywalker? She didn't have the relationship with Luke that warranted it. You know who she DID have the relationship with? Han SOLO. Leia Organa-SOLO. Ben SOLO. Those are the people with whom she had that kind of relationship. The man who DID become like a father to her in a few short days. The woman who did become like a mother to her. The man who was literally the other half of her soul. If she was going to take a name... it should have been Solo. Rey Solo. Taking the name Skywalker, much like going to Tatooine was not in character for Rey, and it wasn't FOR Rey. It was nostalgia for the Original Trilogy fans (oh, like JJ Abrams). It wasn't true to the narrative, the character, of the story that has been told over *this* sequel trilogy.

Why was there no Force Ghost of Ben? There needs to be some specific training in order to be a Force Ghost, sure. Which Luke *probably* got from FG Yoda. And which Luke gave to Leia in cut footage. And this specific training was mentioned briefly in the Prequel Trilogy, and more extensively in The Clone Wars.... but unless you remember that one line from the PT or watched TCW and know about that cut footage, you have no clue. So, many are left wondering, again: Why was there no Force Ghost of Ben? If Luke *probably* got that training from Yoda, why didn't Luke train Ben in it? He's gotta know how tragic the lives of the Skywalkers are... ain't no way he didn't train that boy early on about that bit of info, right? So, yeah, why no Force Ghost of Ben?

So many questions, so many things that had me going: Wait? What? Huh? Why... I don't... huh? How did--? When? Huh? That should not happen this much in a film. Period. That is bad writing. That is bad directing. That is bad pacing. That is just bad film making.

The Big Four Issues

I. Ben Solo Dying.

Had he had not been the last Skywalker, I would have been OK with him dying. Not happy, but narratively, I would have been OK with it.

Had Han not sacrificed himself essentially which was then used as a narrative to build into a huge reason as to why Kylo was having such a hard time staying on the Dark path, I would have been OK with him dying. Not happy, but narratively, I would have been OK with it.

Had we not been given some hints that Ben had been manipulated his whole life by the Dark Side and abandoned by his family, I would have been OK with him dying. Not happy, but narratively, I would have been OK with it.

Had we not been told that he was literally sharing a soul with Rey (one soul-two bodies), meaning that she will be bereft and lost without him for the rest of her life because her literal soulmate is dead now, I would have been OK with him dying. Not happy, but narratively, I would have been OK with it.

However, because of all of the above, narratively speaking, no, I am not OK with it. I have always said in every fandom I have been a part of that if it makes sense from a narrative point of view--even if I'm not happy as a fangirl--I will be OK with it. From a narrative point of view, this did not make sense. So, yeah, I had an issue with Ben Solo dying.

II. Kylo Ren's Helmet and Rey's Hairstyle

I said when I first saw the triple-bun-hairstyle again and Kylo with the helmet that I was wary because I felt that JJ had fundamentally missed the symbolism of what Rian did with the progression for both characters. I hoped that I would be proven wrong and there would be a reason for the return of both things (beyond needing the hairstyle for scenes with Leia to match the footage). Alas, I was not.

Kylo without the mask was him no longer in Vader’s shadow. The mask was about him being the scared, little boy, hiding who he was. At the end of The Last Jedi, he supposedly got everything he wanted. He no longer needed to hide. By destroying the mask, he was doing his best to let go of the past. He let go of Snoke, let go of Vader. But, of course, that wasn't the story that JJ wanted to tell. He wanted to keep Kylo answering to someone else, holding onto Vader. So because Rian got rid of Snoke, JJ brought in Palpatine for Kylo to be submissive to, beholden to Vader still, no longer the leader and back came the helmet, undoing all of that great character progression that Rian had crafted.

As for Rey and those buns, sigh. Once she realized–as she did in the cave, even if she didn't admit it fully to herself until Kylo called her on it–that her parents weren't coming back, she let go of that hairstyle. Why? Because that hairstyle is the only way she could figure that her parents would still recognize her. It's the hairstyle she had when she last saw them. By letting her hair down and not putting it back up, she let go of the fantasy that they were coming back. JJ putting her back into that ridiculous style, like with Kylo, he erased that huge, beautiful character arc of Rey's. She was once more a girl in search of her identity, her self. That self, that woman that she had found at the end of TLJ was gone. *double sigh.*

III. Rose's Presence or Lack Thereof

The toxic bullying and horrible way that Kelly Marie Tran was treated was completely unjustified in every way, shape and form. JJ Abrams pretty much rewarded that treatment by sidelining the character of Rose and wrote her as a glorified extra. Period. There's pretty much nothing else to say about it. Anything else will just devolve into ranting. It--yeah, just gonna stop here.

IV. The Force Bond Scenes

Least "big" issue, but it bugged me. I noticed it the first time I watched the film and hoped that it would be more clear the second time I watched it. That second time, I watched it with my brother-in-law and nephews and asked them if they had the same issue. They did. I wasn't sure honestly when Rey and Kylo were actually together or were having Force Bond moments. One of my nephews didn't realize that Rey and Kylo were actually fighting in person on the Death Star until Kylo was talking to Han. That entire scene from when he showed up inside the Death Star remains, through the fight scene, through her stabbing, then healing him and her taking off... my nephew thought that it was a Force Bond scene. Both times, I didn't realize it wasn't a Force Bond scene UNTIL they moved outside of the Death Star remains. When they were talking inside, I thought it was a Force Bond scene.

Rian Johnson did such a wonderful job establishing they were having a Force Bond moment. It was like the air was being vacuumed out of the room. You could feel the tension. It was obvious, but in these Force Bond scenes unless the scenes were drastically different or there was dialogue establishing it, you just could NOT tell.

But, It's Not All Bad!

The Han/Ben scene gutted my very soul in all the best way possibles. I ADORED the callback to The Force Awakens scene. How the play on the dialogue worked in the opposite direction, with Han urging him that he could it, he did have the strength to turn to the light. How Ben held the lightsaber, and once again, Han reached out to touch his face. Oh, God, and when he said "Dad," his voice breaking and Han said, "I know." I died. I was just.... gah, a total mess. I teared up both times. That was just everything. SO. VERY. HARD!

Babu Frick may be my new spirit animal. No, I do not find him cuter than Baby Yoda (puhleeze!), but dear Lord, I loved him so. When C3P0 (who will forever remain in my heart, I love him so) had his memory wiped and was introducing himself, I laughed out loud both times when Babu immediately pipes up with, "I'm Babu Frick!" and then later on when whoever mentioned that Babu sent them a message, 3P0 pipes up, "Oh, I know Babu Frick, he's my oldest friend," I lost it. So good.

Speaking of C3P0, every moment with C3P0 was gold (hehehe, see what I did there?). I seriously do love Goldenrod. I liked the sentimental, the sweet, the serious and the funny with him. Outside of the Babu Frick moments, my favorite was when he mentioned something about the Passana Desert festival and they all looked at the annoyance that is 3P0 and he has no clue and turns around himself to see what they are looking at. Oh, I love him so.

When Finn told Rose that he was staying on the ship... JJ may have cut the Finn/Rose dead in the water that Rian set up, but damn did KMT give it her all. That moment where she looked after him, oh it was beautiful. You could see all of the worry, the love, the pride... everything on her face in that moment. So good.

I may have felt that Zorri Bliss was a completely useless and pointless character, but that final bit with her Poe was hilarious.

The lightsaber battle on the Death Star remains was AWESOME-SAUCE. Every moment of it. I especially loved: Kylo walking out of the rain/water. Kylo and Rey both so exhausted they can barely keep going. Kylo having the kill-shot like two or three times and just not able to do it. Ben hearing Leia say his name. Ben dropping his saber when he senses her end is near.

Chewie finally got his damn medal!

Chewie mourning over Leia. That was all of us.

Man, when Rey and Kylo were fighting over the destroyer and then lightning came out of her hands... it was like WHOAH!! SO FREAKING COOL! I loved that. I really totes did!

I loved every single, solitary moment of Ben Solo. From his running to save Rey. From his free-for-all jump to his "Ow." To his facing of the knights, knowing he was outnumbered, but still determined to take them all. From his 'We got this babe!' look to Rey to his shrug once he held that lightsaber in his hand and took on every one of those Knights and took them all down, Ben Solo was sassy, bad-ass and amazing all without saying an actual word.

Dear Lord. Crawling from the pit, forcing himself across that rocky floor on a broken leg, gathering the woman he loved in his arms. The relief of finally, finally, truly holding her in his arms, the devastation at knowing she was lost to him, and then the determination, the refusal to let her go, to lose her. He truly finished what his grandfather started. He would not let the woman he loved die. So be brought her back, pouring every ounce of his life, his love into her.

I loved that she told him that she wanted to take Ben's hand, and so she did. And she said his name, one last time. "Ben." And I loved that we got that beautiful, beautiful smile. So happy, so free, so full of light. And no pain.

*sigh* The kiss. I loved, loved, loved that we got our beautiful, epic space kiss. *double sigh* Because it was beautiful. And it was epic. And it's canon, bitches! Yeah, baby!

Overall, I liked the movie. I believe that when I watch all the films together, I will be satisfied. I just wish I loved it. I AM happy for all of those people who do love it though. I truly, truly am.

The Skywalker Saga Rankings

Yes, I consider Rogue One part of the Skywalker Saga since both Darth Vader and Leia appear in it.

The Empire Strikes Back

The Last Jedi

A New Hope

Rogue One

Attack of the Clones

The Force Awakens

Return of the Jedi

The Rise of Skywalker

Revenge of the Sith

The Phantom Menace

#star wars #tros spoilers #the rise of skywalker #reylo #ben solo #rey

[ohmystars1]

JJ Abrams

I honestly don’t get the hate JJ’s getting for TROS. Abrams had no problem doing TFA with perfect pacing, and introductory conflicts/characters. 

Now, I don’t hate The Last Jedi - it would be a great standalone film, but it’s an awful trilogy film. TLJ does NOTHING to set up a progressive story or continues anything that TFA set up. Why are people blaming Abrams for not following Johnson’s TLJ when Johnson clearly ignored everything that Abrams foreshadowed/set up?

TLJ kills off the sequel trilogy’s villain just like that, when Snoke was clearly intended for something much more (we didn’t need Palpatine). TLJ ignores the Knights of Ren, which is literally the dumbest thing in existence, (bc they’re AWESOME) and breaks up the trio that we were expected to see (Finn, Poe, Rey).  

Johnson added unnecessary characters (like Rose and Holdo) when TLJ didn’t even bother to develop Poe and Finn further. Let’s face it, TLJ is unique, but it’s a whole lot of standing around doing nothing, and not setting anything up for the final film. 

Johnson ignored Rey’s force vision COMPLETELY. He went nowhere with Finn, Rose was a complete waste (I love Kelly, she deserves a GOOD character) of dialogue and plot. 

The only thing I liked about TLJ was Rey no one, but again, had she been a Palpatine or a Kenobi with proper execution that could’ve been insanely cool, too. 

As a result, I’m inclined to believe Abrams kinda did not have much of a choice for how The Rise of Skywalker turned out. Obviously it could’ve been better, especially with pacing, but there was never a cohesive story set up. The sequel trilogy comes off as feeling disjointed when it 100% could’ve been avoided had Rian followed what was already planned. 

TFA is a great movie for the trilogy. TLJ is a good movie if it wasn’t part of a trilogy. 

Writers, ya’ll don’t have time to mess around with the second movie of a trilogy with filler. The whole job of the second movie is to set up the final act, which would’ve been TROS. 

Like?? Why are we blaming Abrams (who has shown time and time again to be a credible and good director), when it’s very clear that it’s just bad idea (period) to have different directors/storylines for the SAME story??

I’m also almost inclined not to blame Johnson - it’s not like I would turn down the opportunity to direct a SW movie, either, but c’mon man - you had a perfect set up from TFA and you wasted it. 

I love the sequel trilogy & it’ll always be my favorite out of the other two, but it has so much wasted potential it makes me want to scream. 

#tros #star wars tros #jj abrams #anti jj abrams #rian johnson #anti rian johnson #the rise of skywalker #reylo #tros spoilers #star wars #sequel trilogy #rey palpatine #reylo fandom #kylo ren #ben solo

[whereismywizardhat]

I know I’m not the first one to say it, but the thing that has really been driving me mad every time I devote brain space to The Rise of Skywalker is that it is a thematically dead movie, that not only cheapens its own trilogy, but the original trilogy too.  Like, every negative stereotype of the sequel trilogy is represented in force.

I hated this movie.  I truly loathed it.  I put spoilers under the cut but the basics are that I’ve been ruminating on it since I saw it opening night and it’s made me more mad the more I turn my brain back on.  Any good reviews of this movie you see are probably because this movie moves faster then the Millennium Falcon, shooting stupid, pointless sequence after stupid pointless sequence into your brain so quickly that it makes you forget that what it’s showing to you is utterly banal and gross.

I think that the Sequel Trilogy is, ultimately, a failure.  A lot of people believe Return of the Jedi is the weakest of the original trilogy, that cast fatigue and the beginnings of Lucas’s drawbacks showing as a writer hurt that film overall.  If that’s the case, then The Rise of Skywalker shatters it’s predecessors because the film’s contempt for the Last Jedi in turn tells you that none of it was worthwhile.  The Last Jedi was a flawed film, but it was trying to drag Star Wars into a place that was healthy for the franchise.  Rise of Skywalker says “No”, and tells you that the sequel trilogy was afterall nothing but digging up the corpse of the Original Trilogy and parading it in front of you one last time.

Rey being born of nobody was important both as a way of getting away from the weird eugenics thing that Star Wars courted as Anakin Skywalker went from “Powerful Jedi” to “Virgin Birth Chosen One”, and as a way of differentiating herself from her nemesis.  Kylo Ren is the heir to some great dynasty, Rey comes from nothing, it’s part of their yin/yang thing.  Making her a dynasty too destroys that, brings back the eugenics in full force, AND adds a bunch of plotholes to boot.  “They sold you to save you” is probably the worst dialogue I’ve ever heard, including Anakin’s attempts at flirting under Lucas’s pen.

Palpatine being alive is... nonsensical.  A desperate plea for forgiveness to twitter after not explaining Snoke.  Going in, I assumed it was an evil force ghost, the sequel’s equivalent of that period from Legends where Palp’s rapidly decaying clones were being burnt through and he tried to possess Leia’s baby in the womb.  Not so much.  It seems Palp just... kind of appeared through a plot hole.  Exxegol is fine as a base, I thought it was Korriban/Morriband and was disappointed that they didn’t go with the Sith planet (except they did, I guess Sith all use the same firm for designing their ).

Which goes into Kylo Ren.  Adam Driver was really just... not given anything to do (a recurring problem).  To his credit, the character is on the ball for the first half of the story.  It’s just... all chemistry with Rey is gone, a problem Finn has too.  The movie doesn’t have time to take a breath to allow the actors to emote at each other, and Kylo takes the worst of it because he’s already a terse character and the mask is back so you don’t even get his face.  The film gives one moment that works with Kylo: his vision of Han.  I’ve seen some comments on this that didn’t like it, but to me it’s quite obviously the light side equivalent of Rey’s evil Rey scene.  Rey looks forward and sees evil, Kylo looks backwards and sees a version of the first films climax with what he was supposed to do.  It’s... the one moment in the entire film where I felt like there was some actual craft in what was going on.  That’s without getting into how robbed Kylo Ren was as a villain.  The Last Jedi basically set up Kylo Ren as the ultimate big bad, having achieved everything Vader wanted.  Here, he’s back to being a lackey of a weirdo in a bathrobe, who doesn’t even have the benefit of being a force ghost who he can’t stab. 

I mentioned Finn before.  Finn has... no presence in this film.  He screams after Rey, he gets a one film love interest while the previous movie’s love interest kinda just sits there scowling in the background while a hobbit whose name I didn’t catch gets more lines, he has some force sensitivity but the kind from the original movie where you squint at the screen and learn what the audience just saw while Rey has taken levels in D&D paladin.  He has about the same amount of significance in this film as Obi-wan did in Phantom Menace, that is to say none except we know he’s an important character in a movie that came out before this one and he gets one action sequence near the end.

Poe makes out slightly better, taking up a lot of screen time.  Poe has never been a consistent character in this trilogy.  One movie he’s a compassionate cool dude, the next he’s a fuckup cowboy who doesn’t play by the rules, this one is he’s a weird stand in for Han Solo, being handed Han’s smuggler backstory and acting like Han did in ESB’s first half (without the UST with Rey).  He is just as unimportant as Finn, but ALSO has to be given a lot of screen time to actually establish some rapport with his castmates because he wasn’t previously given any time with Rey and only a small amount of time with Finn.

The supporting cast from previous movies... may as well not exist.  Other then Leia, all the original trilogy characters are just around.  Chewie gets a fake out death.  Lando shows up, gives a speech, and disappears til the end.  Wedge makes a cameo ten second after his stepson dies and has no reaction to that, and the only reason I know that is because I’m so invested in Wedge that I bought the tie-in novel because it had him in it.  In fact, most of the supporting cast from Force Awakens dies.  Snap, Hux... that’s about it.  I’m sure they would have killed off Rose if JJ thought that letting her languish in the background with no lines wasn’t a worse fate for the character.  As previously noted, one of the Hobbits from LoTR has a bigger role then she does.  The movie also introduces an entire legion of runaway Stormtroopers... for no reason other then to introduce Finn’s third love interest in three movies, Tika.  She’s fine.  I’ve heard there’s a deleted scene that says she’s Lando’s daughter kidnapped by the FO.  Glad we got the weird “Who’s Your Daddy?” thing out of the way with this side character before the fans bullied the director into retconning it to being Mace Windu’s secret love child.

Consistently, this movie feels like a fever dream fan fiction with a budget.  I consider A New Hope’s original cut to be the platonic ideal for an adventure film in terms of pacing.  Prologue, Three Acts on Three Planets, with the tension ratcheting up with each planet.  It’s follow up is a slower, more cerebral film after a bombastic opening.  Rise of Skywalker takes neither option, instead going for a hypnotic, Fincher-esque pacing with no brakes.  It doesn’t want you to realize what you’re watching is shlock.  What isn’t a calculated spit in the face of it’s predecessor, The Last Jedi, is a stab at the hypothetical second JJ Abrams Star Wars film which didn’t exist to reference back to.  Rise of Skywalker exists, and it exists to appeal to the most toxic elements of the Star Wars fanbase.  I don’t think it’s salvageable.

Somewhere, out there, there is a version of Rise of Skywalker that is thematically coherent.  Maybe there’s one that actually follows up on it’s predecessor like... every other Star Wars saga film instead of an imagined film that didn’t happen.  I dunno.  Regardless, it really makes me question whether Disney actually understands what they’re doing, or if it’s all just luck and nonsense that let them become a monopoly.

I guess it wouldn’t seem so awful if the Mandalorian wasn’t just sitting there.pursuing a part of the Star Wars universe that feels fresh and original rather then ruining better films.

#star wars #ros #rise of skywalker #rant warning

[dumbgopher1]

Rain Part 1

Possible Tom Hiddleston x OFC

Charectures: Ember Rain (OFC), Verious OC’s,Taika Waititi, Tom Hiddleston, Robert Downey Jr, Tilda Swinton, Maybe Graham Mctavish, plus possible other people in the future its not all written yet.

Warnings: Slight violence, mentions of abuse, Alcoholism, obsession with sweet deserts.

Rain, most people find it to be an unhappy uncomfortable thing. Which has the ability to ruin days and puts a damper on plans. For Ember however Rain wasn't anything significant in anyway, changing only the type of jacket and shoes she wore. It often fascinated people how little she complained about the weather. One past coworker at a Starbucks, reported the only time they had heard a complaint about the weather was at the height of summer in the hottest weather of the year, “it really is hot today” while fanning herself, “maybe we should turn up the AirCon”. A completely self sufficient handles everything herself kind of person.

Not that Ember worked at Starbucks anymore, having gone on to better things, a local coffee shop, in London. She had moved from the States for school. And stayed because she loved it. In her school days, she wanted to be a famous film director. To make movies like Peter Jackson or JJ abrams or the Russo brothers, however after the Success of her first book, “The plebeian society” she decided to focus on her writing. Publishing several more books, before a Taika Waititi, approached her about turning “The plebeian society” into a Film.

When Ember got the call it was what most people would consider to be a grey, dreary and depressing day, rain pouring from the sky and down the streets of London. But after that call she could be seen dancing in the rain, drenched to the bone a Cheshire grin plastered across her face.

Meetings began the next week.

Taika POV

As Taika sat in the conference room, his assistant, a potential producer Miss Rain’s Publisher and agent all sat waiting for Ember to arrive. The publisher was drumming her fingers clearly unhappy with Ember’s lateness, as was the producer. Ember’s Agent was a little frantic periodically making excuses and typing furiously on his phone trying to contact the elusive writer.

Suddenly they heard a door slam, then running footsteps, before a person in a knee length brown coat slid past the door. Then they heard someone slam into a wall.

“ow! Who put that there?!” The whole room scrambled to their feet to peak out the door. That was when Taika got his first good look at the young writer. Sopping wet hair haphazardly cut brushed the shoulders of an equity wet long suit jacket, which was splayed out behind the young woman who was rubbing her forehead. Long black skinny jean clad legs out in front of her ending in a pair of knee high Doc Martins. She noticed them looking down at her and squinted up. “Is this the right room?”

“Glasses Ember” her agent said, in an annoyed tone.

“ Oh” Ember put her finger up and pulled a glasses case from the pocket of her coat pulling out a pair of glasses. Sliding them onto her nose she looked up again. “So that is a Yes on this being the correct room than” she got up “ I am so sorry about being late. I was on time I swear but then there was a funky musician in the tube and I just had to take pictures of him for future reference then the tube was late and then I got lost”. At this long excuse The Publisher just sighed cocked a slight smile and went back to her chair while the agent grabbed Ember’s arm and pulled her to a seat as well.

“I asked one thing of you, be on time, but you can’t even manage that, do you have any idea how bad this looks!” At this point the Agent was almost yelling and the young writer was almost cowering in her seat.

“I’m sorry! I tried I really did”

“Well Obviously not hard enough”. The agent was glowering, the man was going red in the face.

“Well maybe we should look back into getting her a manager” the publisher tried to defuse the Agents anger. Which seemed to have a reverse effect.

“Does she look like she can afford a manager?!” He gestured to her cloths.

“We..”

“No she doesn’t” the agent interrupted the publisher. Taika was getting the feeling something wasn’t quite right as the Agent continued to bare down on the young woman who had arrived just a few 5 minutes late with a perfectly understandable excuse, one Taika could actually see himself using.

“Why don’t we just get on with the meeting now that everyone is here”.

Ember looked up at him with gratitude in her eyes, which was shattered when the agent spoke again.

“Fine but this conversation isn’t over young lady”

Eber hunkered down in her chair like a sulky kitten and let the meeting flow around her.

Two hours later of Taika campaigning for more and more of Ember’s input on his ideas only to be waylaid by the agent he was fed up. The Publisher had been good and obviously supportive of the production. But the agent was the one stonewalling everything.

“Well what do you think of this…”

Ember would start to answer only to be cut off by the agent’s terse “No”

Finally Eber growled at him, “ Let the man do his thing, Joseph! He is just as much an artist as me, let him make artistic changes”

“I will not let this man ruin all our work, I wouldn’t even have allowed this discussion if it had gone through me first” The agent spat out.

“ Our work, Our work?!” Taika could see that the cowering kitten from before was gone this was someone who was going to protect what was her’s, best everyone else get out of her way. “YOu work for me!” She stood to tower over her agent, “And let I remind you that you did not work for me when this book was published, you jumped onto the success train after it got going, so do not think you have any say in the artistic expression of my work” her words were still calm but there was a terrible fury in her eyes. She wasn’t a kitten anymore oh no she was the sound of the ocean crashing on the rocks. So much power behind surreal calm. “ You have been abusing my success for a very long time no More!”

“Ember calm down before you do something you’ll regret later”, the Agent said

“You fired”

The Agent’s face went blank with fury as Ember turned to Taika as if no one sat beside her.

“I have seen some of your work and I trust your interpretation of this story, however I would like to go over any changes to it with you once you have a rough script layer out, so you can explain your reasoning behind it”.

“Sounds good to me”

The meeting wrapped up shortly after, Ember still pretending that her now Ex agent didn’t exist and was talking to her publisher. Her Ex-agent was seething.

Ember finished talking to her publisher and was gathering her notes to leave. Everyone was out of the room when they heard him erupt.

“What the FUCK Ember! After all I have done for you. You were a fucking nobody when I found you. I created your persona for the public I am the person in charge here you can’t fucking fire me!”

“I can fire you Joseph, you work for me, and I am tired of your treatment of me”. Her voice was a calm counterpoint to his furious tone. Taika was lingering behind wanting to make sure everything was okay.

“You little punk”

“This discussion is not going anywhere or going to change anything, You will transfer everything back to me tomorrow”.

There was the sound of something scraping across the floor. Ember made a squeak of surprises. With that Taika started to make his way back over to the room.

“No Fucking way I am letting my cash cow get away from me”

“LLLLE-e-e-ett G-G-ooo” Ember Gasped out. Taika finally made it back to the room to see that Joseph had Ember against the wall holding her by her neck. Taika sipped out his phone and took a picture.

“Put her down”

Joseph stiffened, obviously he had thought the building was now empty, then dropped her.

Ember scuttled around him coughing and hid behind Taika.

“You can’t have knights in shining armor save you every time Ember. I will get back at you some day”.

With that he grabbed his things and stormed out. Taika turned to Ember.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine thanks” she grabbed her things and began to walk out. Taika hurried to walk with her.

“Do you need help finding a new Agent?”

“No I should be fine” but Taika wasn’t convinced. He touched her arm, she flinched, causing him to withdraw his hand as if from a hot surface.

“I’m Sorry”

“I’m fine Taika thank you for your concern but I can handle this. Just contact me when you are ready.” With that she slipped away, down a side street disappearing before he could catch up with her.

#taika waititi #Taika waititi fan fiction #Taika doesnt get enought stuff #Taiki x ofc platonic #OFC #Tom Hiddleston #robert downey jr #graham mctavish #tilda swinton #actors au #writer au #eventual fluff maybe

[irinapaleolog]

Revising Rey's origin story from The Last Jedi turned Disney’s Star Wars sequel trilogy into a mere rehash of George Lucas' original trilogy.

Today marks the three-month anniversary, counting Thursday previews, of the domestic debut of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Come what may, the film ended up with $516 million domestic and $1.074 billion worldwide. Walt Disney and Lucasfilm’s’ Star Wars sequel may be the last Hollywood blockbuster we’re going to see for a (very long?) while. With folks rewatching (or seeing for the first time) the J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio film via electronic sell-through for the last week, I suppose it’s safe to really dig into the film’s most frustrating plot twist. The film’s biggest problem is that it’s not well-made (I’ll charitably blame a rushed production), but the big reveal about Rey’s infamous parentage does nothing less than render the entire new Star Wars sequel entirely redundant.

There are two key take ways from the key plot reveal, in relation to Rey’s past, that are dropped into the halfway point of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. First, contrary to what we were told in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, her parents weren’t explicitly nobodies. Her father was the son (be it via cloning or otherwise) of Emperor Sheev Palpatine, making her Palpatine’s granddaughter (or at least the granddaughter of Palpatine’s clone, if you go by the recently-released novelization). The second reveal was that her parents weren’t heartless drunks who sold her into slavery for drinking money. They in-fact “sold you to protect you” and gave their lives to hide Rey from those in the First Order who sought to bring the child to grandad.

These revelations, whether they were intended as such during The Force Awakens or were intentional walk backs after the online outcry (at least in some circles) over The Last Jedi, don’t just retcon the reveals from Rian Johnson’s Star Wars VIII. They also negate the overall story arcs being told in Disney’s new Star Wars trilogy while frankly failing to understand what made George Lucas’ infamous Empire Strikes Back twist so devastating in the first place. Moreover, by trading the “you’re nobody, you’re nothing” reveal in the second film for the “you have his power” retcon in the third flick, Rise of Skywalker trades genuine surprise for a plot turn that almost everyone predicated, relatively speaking, moments after seeing Force Awakens in December of 2015.

Pretty much everyone assumed that Rey had some kind of famous or infamous parentage way back in late 2015, because, for better or worse, the most famous plot twist in the Star Wars saga involved the lead hero being the long-lost (?) son of the main bad guy. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) had only heard stories about his heroic father, including eventually stories of his heroic death at the hands of Darth Vader. So the revelation at the conclusion of The Empire Strikes Back wasn’t just a “Oh, wow!” plot twist, it was one that specifically acted like a knife to the gut to Luke Skywalker specifically because of his hopes, dreams and ideas about his family and his destiny. His father was A) alive and B) actually the galaxy’s arch-villain.

While I’m assuming The Empire Strikes Back didn’t invent that plot twist, it certainly popularized the “you’re actually related to the bad guys” thing as a shock reveal. It has been used and re-used in everything from Spectre to Scream 3 to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 to The LEGO Ninjago Movie to The Mortal Instruments. It may have been shocking in The Empire Strikes Back, it couldn’t help but be repetitive in The Rise of Skywalker because it was essentially the exact same plot turn. This time, we find out that Rey (Daisy Ridley) is related to the ultimate force of evil in the galaxy… again. I’m no fan of the “Rey is a Kenobi or a Skywalker” theories, but at least those would have been different.

The reason the reveal in The Last Jedi worked as well as it did for that specific story (and specific trilogy) is because of how it impacted the character in question. Rey was someone who desperately wanted to believe that she had family who loved her and would eventually return to her, and that she would indeed have some grand role to play beyond mere existence. Alas, as Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) spells out, confirming her own deep-seated knowledge, she was a nobody, with no destiny and no famous parentage. Moreover, and this is key, her family didn’t even love her. Any destiny or heroic role that she might play would have to come from her own choices and decisions. Even her Force abilities were a combination of luck and skill.

Luke Skywalker’s “No, I am your father” reveal was the worst possible news Luke could get about who his father actually was. Ditto Rey, who wanted to be loved and wanted affirmation that she was on a path, discovered that she was a nobody loved by no one in the galaxy beyond perhaps a few acquaintances (Finn, Leia Organa, the late Han Solo, etc.) who she had met days earlier. The reveal that she was A) the granddaughter of a very important person and B) that her parents loved her negated the very thing that made her character stand out, while acting as a less devastating revelation. Like much of Rise of Skywalker, the “Rey is a Palpatine” reveal meant more to the audience than to the characters.

Without arguing that Rey has an obligation to be a (fictional/fantasy) role model, the character went from an absolute nobody who happened to have special skills and abilities to someone with famous lineage whose power came from a famous man. Moreover, it negates the idea that you can be a good/heroic person even with no famous lineage or even if you come from a broken, unloving and/or dysfunctional family unit. “Rey from nowhere” is now “Rey Palpatine whose parents totally loved her after all.” To the extent that she might have inspired kids from broken homes (or, relatively speaking, low economic status) to dream bigger and aspire to more, that’s out the window. She’s another female superhero whose power/heroism comes from her famous/important/gifted male patriarchal figure.

Moreover, if we compare the arcs of Rey and Kylo Ren, the Last Jedi reveal makes more yin-yang sense. Rey was an abandoned orphan, unloved by anyone, who nonetheless grew up to be a great hero. Meanwhile, Kylo was the child of royalty (the child of Han Solo and Leia Organa), surrounded by a loving family (including a weird uncle who might be a cult leader) who still became a force for great evil/a mass murderer. Kylo had all the advantages while Rey had nothing and nobody. The Rise of Skywalker reveal negates this, since we now know that both Rey and Kylo belonged to a famous family tree and had loving and/or famous parents who (eventually) gave their lives so that their kids could live.

Rey being an unloved nobody was meant to differentiate the core hero of this new trilogy from those who came before it, while providing a different kind of “you are still valuable if…” affirmation to those inclined to be inspired by fictional/fantastical heroes (and villains). Rey being revealed as a Palpatine was meant to make her similar to Luke Skywalker and (intentionally or not) affirm the notion that A) only people with important parents or innate talents can be important, B) you can only be special if your parents love you and C) a female hero can only be special if they got their power from a man. Again, it arguably means more to the stereotypical audience member than it does to the characters.

We now have one Star Wars trilogy which charts the fall of Anakin Skywalker (a nobody with special gifts who becomes evil) and another that charts the rise of Luke Skywalker (a young man of infamous lineage who becomes a hero). By not keeping Rey a “nobody,” The Rise of Skywalker both misses the chance to compare her story with Anakin’s (both were nobodies with strong Force powers) and renders her story merely a repeat of Luke’s (a young person of infamous lineage who becomes a hero). Chris Terrio and JJ Abrams retrofitted Rey’s backstory so as to make her almost identical to Luke Skywalker. It is less surprising, making Rey interesting as a role model and less engrossing compared to her villainous rival/love interest.

Batman Begins showed the “rise” of Batman while The Dark Knight saw him “fall.” The Dark Knight Rises saw him “rise” again since the franchise required a now-standard trilogy capper even as The Dark Knight essentially concluded the story. Ditto The Godfather, which had a first film chronicling the rise of Michael Corleone and the fall of Don Corleone and a sequel that (in different time periods) showed the practical rise of a young Don and the moral fall of Michael. Godfather Part III merely showed him “falling” yet again. The final status of Rey “Skywalker” turned the third Star Wars trilogy into an odd man/woman out in a two-part saga that already traces a rise/fall of core protagonists. Let’s hope Mamma Mia 3 avoids the same fate.

#the rise of skywalker #star wars

[frequentrandomboners]

ENTITLEMENT

I love browsing through female music artists photos on their social media & scrolling all the way down to the very beginning. Sometimes you’ll see photos that are very out of place like just them out to lunch, chilling in their bedrooms, hanging out with friends. You can always tell how dated some of the images are by the photo quality, filter quality/type, what they’re wearing, how their hair & make up is, etc. It’s so cool to see how they’ve grown & developed over the years. Take one look at their head shots & promotional photos today & it’s easy to think they were always the queens & goddesses they now are. But the reality, as sometimes their social media photos reveal, is that they had to WORK for that. As soon as their careers started taking them places, they got motivated & hit the gym, dieted, exercised, invested in their hair & make up more, began taking extra care of their skin. You’d have no idea that they were ever once average & normal like the rest of us. They created a life style that yields the successful physical results people see now. Combine that with whatever retouching the media does. You can do this with anyone in any industry whose had social media for longer than 5+ years. Their growth & maturation is VISIBLE & I absolutely love seeing that.

And this is how serious models take them selves. Many of them grew up doing these sorts of things to look good. Looking good is not something you’re necessarily born with. People love to talk about how some people win the “genetic lottery” & get handed everything in privilege. Certainly that exists but there are all kinds of models out there. There are models with all sorts of shapes, sizes, features, & not one of them is successful on looks alone. They all WORK on them selves, their careers, their attitudes, their relationships, their life styles, & they EARN a living. You will never catch them being a hater or demanding that they be treated better than they deserve.

One thing that really grinds my gears is when groups of lazy people (photographers, models, producers, anyone) band together online (mob mentality) & start bitching about how they don’t get gigs that so/so gets, how they want to be treated like equals (even though we’re not equals), how “the industry” should treat everyone the same no matter what. These are always people who don’t want to do what the pros are doing, don’t want to work how the pro’s work, don’t want to sacrifice what the pros sacrifice, and they just whine, complain, get offended by anything just so they have an excuse to put others down & make themselves feel good. People love to complicate things so they can feel sorry for themselves & so they can make sense of their situations. They go out of their way to spread libel, slander, & talk behind other peoples back. They’re the most toxic people on earth & it’s no wonder nobody wants to work with them.

You know who else lays in bed all day like these couch potatoes? Like 70% of musicians out there. Instrumentalists who sit in their bedrooms all day, don’t meet anyone after shows, don’t go to shows unless they’re playing, don’t hang out, don’t do anything really, & then they wonder why they’re not successful. In the same breadth they love to hate on all the successful artists out there. They’ll make any excuse; “not the same genre”, “not advanced enough”, “too generic”, etc. ANY EXCUSE for why this SUCCESSFUL artist should not be successful.

You know who else gets off on talking shit about things outside of their control? Toxic Star Wars fans. There’s a myriad of real Star Wars fans who genuinely love & appreciate everything Star Wars. Instead of coming up with reasons why a movie or show isn’t that great, they go to the opening premieres, invest infinite moneys on merchandise, & they’re not ass holes. But go on facebook & you’ll find seemingly infinite haters who think they’re fans. They say they’re fans, they say they love star wars, but they have nothing good to say about Star Wars, all they do is complain, bitch, whine, & moan about how “this should have been that” & “they messed this up” & “that’s not how the force works” etc. One of these toxic troglodytes who literally sits in his bedroom all day was this long haired fellow who actually re-edited The Last Jedi in his bedroom, hired people so he could re-shoot scenes of the film, & you should see how proud of himself he is for shitting on Rian Johnsons work. This kid actually believes he is a real fan. In fact, this kid thinks he’s a bigger fan than anyone else. He actually distributed his remake like it was gospel as “how it should have been”, “how it was supposed to be”, etc. Is this something real “fans” do? Do “fans” invest all their time & energy trying to “correct” what is & what isn’t? They can’t just sit back & enjoy something they claim to love? These toxic babies use Star Wars as an excuse to be toxic. None of them are at the opening day, none of them are going to Batuu, none of them have invested thousands in merch, and in conversation they don’t listen to anyone, They just argue, bicker, fight, & unite with other delusional haters who believe themselves to be lovers in their mob mentality.

Here’s the deal. You will never be criticized by someone doing more than you. The models & photographers who talk shit about other models & photographers are losers hating on successful people doing better than them. The musicians & instrumentalists who talk shit about other musicians & instrumentalists consist of has-beens & ignorant kids who are jealous & envious that so/so blew up & is doing better than them. The Star Wars haters masquerading as fans are unsuccessful desk jockies, best buy employees, & mcdonalds cashiers who will probably NEVER EVER get to do ANYTHING JJ Abrams or Rian Johnson have ever gotten do to with cinema.

If you’re out there feeling like you’re not getting what you deserve, keyboarding away reasons why someone or something actually isn’t as great as they seem, or just hating in general, you need to change your thinking. You need to change what you’re consuming. You need to change everything about you PERIOD and then your life can start becoming happier. These people won’t change though, because they don’t think they have a problem.

And before you start pointing fingers at me saying “well how is what they’re doing any different from what you’re doing right now?” - I’m calling out TOXIC behaviors that demonstrate what ENTITLEMENT looks like. Not demanding that I be granted things other people are getting that I’m not. I’m shining a light on something a lot of people are being very negligent about. I’m not trying to convince people why they should like or dislike something.

#entitlement #toxic people #toxic frienship #toxic fandom

[ms-camucia]

"That lightsaber. It belongs to me." Why Maz Kanata Knows Some Shit Regarding Ben Solo

It’s why her eyes are so big. They’re full of secrets.

So, I haven't written any meta since... Well, roughly 2004, and it wasn't called 'meta' back then on 'ol Leaky Cauldron, it was just fan theories. So I apologize if I'm rusty, and if someone has postulated on this previously.

Basically, I have two theories I want to lay out here:

-Ben Solo was the one to find the Skywalker lightsaber -Rather than keep it, he entrusted it, along with some other possessions, with Maz Kanata

Oh Maz, you hoarder.

Timeline wise, this is a little sketchy, especially since we don't have too much canon to work from. We know that, in 28 ABY (Bloodline), it had been a little while since Leia had heard from Luke or Ben, but she didn't seem too concerned, so presumably it hasn’t been overly-long. By the time we see Kylo Ren in TFA, he's obviously been in the First Order for a bit, but for fewer than 6 years, since TFA is in 34 ABY.

My thought is that Ben found the lightsaber at some undefinable point - it may not even be important when - just that he found it, and kept it safe. He could have found it back in the Jedi school days, keeping it hidden, or he could have found it post-Luke's Jedi School Fiasco, but pre-Snoke.

Either way, Ben didn’t immediately go to Snoke after the Luke Incident. 

“When I get out of here, I’m going straight to the creepy man who’s been in my head since I was an infant!” said no one ever.

Just logistically, unless Snoke was there in the goddamn First Order minivan, ready to pick up Ben after Jedi School was left in a burning ruin, there's some time between the massacre and Ben Solo becoming Kylo Ren. In a period I'm roughly defining as "The Jedi Killer," since this follows early concept art of a Kylo-like figure who hunted down any artifacts having to do with the Jedi, Ben Solo has some time that's completely unaccounted for. 

“There’s some slight boxing around the edges, but it’ll sell as new.”

That's where Maz, and the "Good Story For Another Time" comes in.

So, let's try to establish that unaccounted for time.

Ben Solo, in his eyes, just had his uncle try to murder him. Something goes down, such that six students die, and six go with him. These kids - yes, he’s 23 and presumably just murdered some people, but if Luke called him a “frightened boy,” he’s a kid - are scared, confused, and looking for answers. But let's say they don't just hightail it to the First Order and find Snoke, because that would be ridiculous, no matter how much Snoke has been in Ben's head - the First Order is something that only exists in whispers by 28 ABY, and Snoke wasn’t there from the beginning. 

These kids want answers about the Force that they couldn't find with Luke - so they start looking. I'm already imagining some dark, Scooby-Doo/Indiana Jones mashup of the pre-Knights of Ren tracking down ancient Jedi and Sith temples and artifacts. They're successful - they find plenty of stuff, but very few answers.

Enter Maz Kanata.

This is the face of a woman who is already so done with this shit.

Maz has been established as someone with ties to Han, Chewie, and even Leia - in Forces of Destiny, it’s revealed that she's the one who gave Leia the Ubese disguise she uses in ROTJ. I think it's safe to say Maz Kanata is an Organa-Solo family friend, and most definitely someone a young Ben Solo would have met. As said by the woman herself, she knows the Force, and has clearly been around for a while. She's probably one of the first people Ben thinks to go to for help (especially if he's trying to delay the inevitable Snoke In The Head).

So Ben, and possibly the other students, go there, and she probably wheedles the entire Luke story out of a still-shellshocked Ben. Who knows - maybe he even confesses to her something about Snoke, knowing that she’s old enough to have a clue what’s going on with that guy (maybe she even sends him to Snoke, if he’s simply known as some “wise” Force-user. That’s a grim thought). Either way, Ben Solo is a man possessed at this point (possibly literally), and is just generally freaked out and on the run. Maz is old. She’s seen these eyes before.

And she’ll see them again.

(sidenote here - one can lift Finn’s dialogue with Rey at the end of this scene, and it would play out beautifully in IX with Ben/Rey if/when he leaves the First Order, and presumably tries to bail like his dad did in ANH. Maybe he even saves them in the Falcon. Poetry, rhyming, etc.)

This would be some Grade A ceramics right here.

ANYWAY, I get ahead of myself. So, we have:

Freaked out Ben Solo

Hoarding Jedi/Sith artifacts

Goes to Maz Kanata for answers

Spills his guts about absolutely everything

Maz agrees to keep his secrets - and his shit - before he runs

Like I theorized above, I think Maz is the last stop before Snoke. Maybe she tries to stop him, tells him to go home, but sees that this is the path he has to follow for right now. Ben would want to leave behind anything that could be seen as Jedi-ish before he goes to Snoke, and that would obviously include the Skywalker lightsaber, and anything else he had at this point. So he drops his Jedi stuff off with Maz.

Screenshot courtesy of me and Photoshop’s Highlights/Shadows.

I think what we’re seeing here is what was ditched. The lightsaber, maybe some Padawan clothes, what looks like a book or journal (see my fanfiction for my thoughts on Ben and writing things down), and some trinkets and bundles. Who knows if Ben told her where he was going, or if she already knew - either way, he’s on his way to become Kylo Ren. Someone will need to bring him back. Like the Lady of the Lake parallel that she is (someone else has made this connection, right?) Maz knew that, eventually, the right time and person would come for the saber, and maybe bring back Ben Solo - and thus enters Rey. 

“Ben.”

Maz basically has this girl’s number from the get-go - she immediately realizes her importance, tries to get her to leave her past behind by telling her what Rey herself wouldn’t believe until it came from Kylo/Ben, and attmepts to set her off on her hero’s journey. Of course, whether knowingly or not, what Maz actually does here is literally send her into Kylo/Ben’s arms.

Kylo shot first in the Great Thigh Grab war.

My final point I have to make here concerns the Starkiller lightsaber fight. Kylo has no reason to be able to immediately recognize the Skywalker lightsaber - it was last seen in canon attached to Luke’s severed hand, tumbling through Bespin’s ventilation system. Unless Luke spent his years as a teacher doing loving, technical drawings of the lightsaber (I mean, that’s what I do as an art teacher), there’s no reason for Ben to know it on sight unless he’s seen it before - and he knows that thing in a goddamn heartbeat.

But we all know what happens after this. Kylo goes from a completely unhinged madman possessed to making this face at the lightsaber in Rey’s hands.

Good lord, just compare this face to either of the ones above it. Boy is besotted.

And thus ends Kylo Ren’s focus on the lightsaber. To him, after this moment, the saber is Rey’s. 

He even puts it back in her damn hand.

Kylo/Ben doesn’t fight her for it again until TLJ, and even then, it’s less about the lightsaber and more about the million other things going on between the two of them in that moment. But that’s a good story for another time.

...And I’ve let what was originally a series of drunken screencaps I made at some point turn into an entirely-too-long meta. The last point I want to make is even a bit more meta - with the death of Carrie Fisher, we have lost our maternal figure in this trilogy. If JJ Abrams is a smart man, he is probably thanking his lucky stars that he set up Maz the way he did here, since someone will need to take up the position of the wise, older woman that helps bring everything back together.

If you’ve read this whole thing, congratulations. Sorry I went off on a bit of a rant, but this has been in the back of my mind for a while. Let me know if I’m completely off-base here.

#star wars #star wars meta #reylo #kylo ren #ben solo #rey #maz kanata #lightsaber

[aeternallis]

A rant against the “Reylo In Depth” video on Youtube -- Mini Meta on Ben Solo’s Redemption

So I was watching the newest "Reylo In Depth" video on Youtube that the Den of Nerds had released about a week ago. I have to admit, while it was fun and somewhat interesting listening to both Vincent and Josh talk, there's this one idea of theirs near the end of the video that I just...totally and completely and fundamentally disagree with, to the point that I now feel compelled to ramble into the void that is this hellsite.

But before I get into that, let me just say right now that I'm honestly surprised that the video is called "in-depth," as the content of what they talk about in regards to the pairing is pretty much a surface level rehash of the beautiful and incredible metas written on here, and may I just add, but not nearly as eloquent. Lol

But for what it's worth, it was an interesting watch to pass the time while I ate my dinner and washed the dishes afterwards.  

Anyhow, this idea of theirs that I have decided (on a whim, mind you) to wholeheartedly fight against until the release of EP IX is the notion that, and I quote:

"...it would be super unfair if A, Kylo gets to rule the galaxy and then B, gets to be redeemed without dying, like--who is this guy? Y'know what I mean? He gets to do the Anakin without the Anakin."

First off, I do understand why these guys would think it's unfair for Ben to live after all this drama with the First Order and the Resistance is over and done with, I do. Ben has killed many people, whether by his own hands or by his direct orders, there is undoubtedly blood in his hands, least of all Han Solo's.

However, be that as it may, I don't really think Josh and Vincent understand the fact that redemption isn't done overnight, or even two or three years down the line of someone's life. More often than not, fictional characters who go through a personal redemption arc usually spend the rest of their lives atoning for the crimes they've committed.

We don't know at this point if JJ Abrams will redeem Ben's character or if he will be killed off as the main villain of this franchise, but I can say without a doubt that should Ben Solo return by the end of the sequel trilogy, his "happy" ending will not be what most people consider in the truest sense of the word.

For the rest of his life, Ben will have to bear the painful memories of what he's committed, and without a doubt, there will be more than his fair share of individuals who would be more than justified in hurling their grudges against him. Because for all the unseen atrocities he's done so far and during his tenure as Kylo Ren, he does still have a conscience.

We see glimpses of it throughout TFA: choosing unconsciously to spare Finn when the latter hesitated in participating in the mass murder of the village, his gentleness with Rey during the interrogation scene, and his unwillingness to kill her during their fight in the forest.

Hell, even with his act of patricide against Han, we see his conscience coming into play when he thanked his father after plunging the lightsaber through his chest. If anything, the crime of killing his father wasn't done out of hate or bitterness, but rather out of desperation.  

In TLJ, we see the after effects of his mind tearing itself apart from what he'd just done. We see it again when he couldn't pull the trigger against his mother, and once more when he, without hesitation, chose to save Rey from Snoke rather than "fulfill his destiny."

And, forgive me for going off on a bit of a tangent here, but personally, Ben Solo's trajectory towards redemption reminds me a lot of a character from an anime/manga series called Rurouni Kenshin.

Just as a quick summary, RK is a series about a fictional character named Himura Kenshin in his late twenties who murdered hundreds of people during the end of the Bakumatsu Period in pre-Meiji Japan. He bears a cross-shaped scar on his face, which in essence is the metaphor and visible reminder of his bloody past. After the war ended and the country began to westernize, he disappears from historical records, and for ten long years, atones for his past as the "Battousai" (his nickname when he was an assassin during the war).

How does he atone, you ask? He wandered the countryside all over Japan (in the series, he calls himself a "rurouni", meaning a vagabond or wanderer, hence the title of the series) helping and protecting people. He does this by wielding a reversed-blade sword (meaning, the sharp end of his sword is faced away from his opponent), with a vow never to kill again. 

It isn't until he meets a young woman, a kendo instructor by the name of Kamiya Kaoru and other new friends that he begins to value his own life once more (because he had killed so many people before, this subsequently caused him to no longer care about his own life), all the while still continuing to repent for his crimes.

Throughout the series, Kenshin reflects about his past crimes a number of times, as well as the life lessons he's learned during his ten years of wandering and helping people. However, one particular line from the series specifically jumps out at me, and I believe, totally and completely applies to Ben Solo, if/when he is redeemed:

"You can die at any time, but it's living that takes true courage."  

If we're talking about what Ben Solo deserves and what's fair or unfair in his course to return, then on the contrary, he doesn't at all deserve to die at the end. For him to die would be the easy way out, and quite frankly, lazy storytelling, imo. Rather, his repentance would come in the form of atoning for what he's done, in whatever way that may be and living for the people he had killed, for his family who had sacrificed their own lives for him.

In essence, to bear the pain of living.

Of course, just because he has to endure this for the rest of his life it doesn't mean that he has to be alone in doing it. Loving Rey--and having Rey by his side won't ever erase the crimes he's committed, nor is it her job to atone with and/or for him--but what she can be is his pillar of strength, his beloved whom can lend him her support, loyalty, and her love (as she's already shown in TLJ), his rock, his inspiration to become a better person.

How beautiful would it be if in essence, through Reylo's love story, Disney sends out the message that you can make so many mistakes in your life, but don't ever be afraid to take a second chance to atone for those said mistakes, and more than anything else, take strength and inspiration from someone you love in order to accomplish just that?

From a storytelling perspective, Ben Solo’s death would accomplish nothing. His death wouldn’t bring back the people he’s killed, nor will it bring Luke and Han back to life. It wouldn’t move the story forward, and perhaps I’m being too arrogant in saying this, but it would be detrimental to the overall plot. 

So to conclude this mini-rant and go full circle in going against what Josh and Vincent said: no, it's not that Ben Solo will "get to do an Anakin without the Anakin," that's not it at all. 

Rather, Ben Solo will get the chance to do what Anakin Skywalker couldn't: atone for his mistakes.    

#Reylo #kylo ren #ben solo #ben solo redemption #bendemption #Star Wars #The Last Jedi #The Force Awakens #Rey of Jakku #mini meta #meta analysis #Rurouni Kenshin #in which i compare ben solo to himura kenshin #lol #i finally did it kaity #i did my meta on ben solo using RK

[gweiddiatecate]

Piece of mind, part 48202toomany

From someone who loved The Force Awakens way more than The Last Jedi (and I feel like I’m a black sheep amongst the Reylos here), I am a bit antsy about Ep IX, at least for what concerns Kylo. We know there’s a time jump between TLJ and Ep IX, so we can safely suppose Kylo will be the Supreme Leader of the First Order for a while - unless our Armie pulls a Hux like most of us expect and works his coup d’état before the movie even starts - and as much as I’d like him to prove himself a decent leader, I highly doubt that will be the case. First of all, Kylo is fucking temperamental. Which, you know, is not the best thing to be when you have to rule. His idea of diplomacy is hit first ask second. That, and bragging (”You need a teacher” says he to the inexperienced girl who is kicking his ass like there’s no tomorrow). That... does not make a good ruler. Nor a good leader, tbh. Secondly... I’m not sure I trust JJ Abrams in this case. Rian Johnson showed much more interest in humanizing Ben (yes, I make a difference between the two of them. TFA presented us Kylo Ren, while TLJ was fully Ben Hot Mess Solo’s show) than Abrams did. He deepened all characters, period; I mean, I absolutely did not expect that cynical, bitter take on Luke, nor would I have ever guessed I was about to see Leia losing hope, if only for a brief moment. I still don’t know what my feelings are regarding those choices, but that’s another kettle of fish. Making him a decent leader - and I’m still saying decent, not good - would be pretty thought-provoking, because as much as he’s been romanticised, he is still with The Bad Guys. Again, it was Rian Johnson who challenged our view of the Resistance (’though I’ve heard the rumours about Resistance dealing with the Hutts, but I will stubbornly dismiss it until I see it with my own eyes) but First Order is still Very Very Bad, and when he had the chance, Ben decided to proclaim himself the new Supreme Leader instead of joining The Good Guys. Now, in Ep IX he could do plenty of things: he could dismantle First Order; he could sign treaties; he could focus on stabilizing his domain and improving life conditions in the planets that are already under First Order rule. Or he could do the easiest and more obvious thing (movie-wise, of course), considering that Star Wars is still a saga which doesn’t delve too much into politics: he will keep conquering and waging war against the Resistance and the rest of the galaxy. Basically, he’ll start off as the villain. A pretty damaged, handsome one, but I mean, I have grown up watching The Gladiator: Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus was disturbingly sexy and his confrontation with his father was heartbreaking, but that didn’t make him any less of a villain. Who ordered slaughter and other mean stuff, just like - guess who? - Kylo Ren. So, yeah, I feel like Padmé’s ghost won’t be too happy with her grandson’s policies. Which will consequently make me very unhappy too, because all I want to see is Ben Solo redeemed, happy and possibly still alive by the end of the movie (I have a curse which usually leads all my favourite characters to horrible, tragic deaths. Like Shmi. Or Padmé. Anakin. Han Solo) Also, Kylo Ren is not the protagonist of this trilogy. Rey is. Rey is, so his redemption is not as important as her triumph. This is where my concern begins: while I’m sure Rian Johnson would have found a way to complete Ben’s redemption, I wonder if JJ Abrams is interested in doing that. If he wouldn’t find more scenographic to kill Kylo Ren in some spectacular, maybe even tragic way, to write him off as a complex villain but still a villain. These are all suppositions, of course. Just some reasoning I did while brushing my teeth, which probably says more about my personal hygiene than my understanding of the Star Wars movies and Abrams and Johnson’s idea for Ep IX. If I’m like this now, I don’t know how I’ll survive the next fourteen months.

#star wars #ep ix speculation #ben solo #kylo ren

[grejedi]

Luke Skywalker and His Role as a Sophoclean Tragic Hero

                In JJ Abram’s and Rian Johnson’s take of the familiar Star Wars universe, we are introduced to an aging Luke Sywalker not as an infallible morally superior hero, but as a flawed and emotionally wounded man. Luke, having played a major role in the toppling of the Galactic Empire thirty years prior, has cloaked himself in a mysterious retreat, away from the new galactic conflict between the First Order and the New Republic. He is not the same Luke Skywalker the audience saw during the Galactic Civil War: steadfast, bright eyed, and unwavering in certainty. Instead, we are presented with a Luke Skywalker that is cautious, wary, and wracked with guilt. This character progression is not new to mythology. In fact, Johnson has used one of the oldest forms of storytelling, stemming from Athenian theater: the Sophoclean tragedy.

                As a brief overview and history lesson, Sophocles was a celebrated playwright who invented an entirely new form of drama. His tragedies borrowed characters and events from established mythology such as the Iliad and transformed them to fit the morals and themes of a new enlightened Greece. Whereas in archaic myths, we were given one-dimensional heroes like Herakles, Sophocles brought them into a world where their brute strength and moral absolutes were now weaknesses. Sophocles essentially wrote about what happens when warriors do not die in battle, have no more wars to fight, and what it means for them to return home and live among society.

A tragedy of Sophocles has the following characteristics:

It is based on events that already took place and with which the audience is familiar.

The protagonist is a person of noble birth and stature.

The protagonist has a weakness and, because of it, becomes isolated and suffers a downfall.

Because the protagonist's fall is not entirely his or her own fault, the audience may end up pitying him or her.

The fallen protagonist gains self-knowledge. He has a deeper insight into himself and understands his weakness.

The audience undergoes catharsis, a purging of emotions, after experiencing pity, fear, shock and other strong feelings.

The drama usually unfolds in one place in a short period of time, usually about a day.

(Characteristics of Sophoclean Tragedy and the Role of the Chorus)

                We might apply several of these narrative factors to other protagonists of the sequel trilogy. The audience, if the duo writers have done their job correctly, does feel pity for Kylo Ren. Rey gains a level of self-knowledge that she did not have in the beginning of her character arc. Poe Damaron suffers a downfall due to his own personal character flaws. However, there are two important aspects that pertain to Luke and Luke alone: (1) The audience is already familiar with Luke and his characterization from previous media and (2) Luke is a Hero in the established universe. Although the audience understands that Luke is a hero because of his deeds in the Galactic Civil War, let us delve into what makes a character a hero in the context of archaic Greek mythology.

                An archaic hero, above all else, is “god-like”. In other words, they are exceptional in one way or another. Heracles was the strongest man alive, Achilles was the most skilled warrior, Odysseus was the most cunning, etc. But they were still mortals, and, in the end, were meant to die a mortal death. In addition, in Professor Nagy's list of the characteristics of the prototypical Greek hero, he writes that the hero was “un-seasonal”. This basically means that the greatest heroes were born into dire circumstances of some kind. The archaic hero is born to use his God-given gift for a specific grandiose purpose, and then, completing his task, dies a noble death. (What makes a Greek hero?)

Does this synopsis sound a lot like Luke Skywalker’s journey in the original trilogy? There is an exceptional power shown by our protagonist, the power to wield and manipulate the Force. From the beginning of A New Hope, the audience is privy to this: Luke senses through the Force that he should intercept R2-D2, he senses trouble on his uncle and aunt’s farm, and we see he is incredibly empathetic, intelligent, and strategic. Though Obi Wan and Yoda try to teach him the Jedi ways, Luke essentially learns the ways of the Force on his own, which in itself is incredibly impressive. The most outstanding moment is certainly the destruction of the Death Star via a single blaster shot by Luke, who summoned the Force to guide him. Through the prequel trilogy, we learn that he is also born in a time of disquiet in the galaxy, with powers beginning to stir that will destroy the Republic.

So Luke Skywalker is a legend. This is an established fact going into The Force Awakens. But what happens to legends when their acts of heroism are over and done with? This is what Sophocles delves into with his various Athenian tragedies, and what Johnson plays with going into The Last Jedi. From archaic one-dimensional hero to a flawed man, the natural progression of Luke Skywalker’s character is his inevitable downfall and then catharsis, as we have seen in some of the oldest written fiction known to mankind.

                Beginning with bullet #3 in the earlier list of Sophoclean characteristics, the audience immediately learns in The Force Awakens that Luke Skywalker, in fact, has human weaknesses, and has suffered a downfall due to this weakness, and has isolated himself due to shame and regret. This, we then learn, is his moment of weakness regarding Ben Solo. In a moment of human fear toward his conflicted nephew, who had been feeling the tug and pull of the Dark Side of the Force since infancy, Luke ignites his lightsaber and contemplates simply snuffing out the threat before it fully forms. This is where the greatest backlash regarding Luke’s characterization occurs. The Luke Skywalker the general audience knows and adores was a beacon of goodness who threw away his weapon rather than fight his own father, Darth Vader, a barely-man that had fully succumb to the Dark Side and who was viewed by every other character as fully gone. But, as we have seen, that particular characterization of Luke was an archaic hero, while the Luke in this sequel trilogy is an entirely different breed.

                The audience, knowing Luke’s struggles and his prevailing goodness, realizing that his actions were made in an effort to protect those he loves and the entire galaxy from a forming evil, feels great pity for him. After all, it was a single moment of human vulnerability, one that Luke did not even fully act upon. If Ben had not woken up to the image of his uncle standing over him, weapon drawn, that moment would have only haunted Luke in the recesses of his own mind. But Ben did catch Luke in this floundering moment, and, in doing so, Luke may have solidified the tyrant and kinkiller than became Kylo Ren. Just from one small human moment of weakness.

                The Last Jedi is framed by the struggles of Rey and Kylo Ren, the Force users, and the Resistance, the quickly dissipating militia facing down the First Order. But among these struggles is a poignant struggle within Luke himself. Through training the strong-willed Rey, through Rey’s Force interactions with Kylo and her following interrogations of Luke regarding his most regretted, lowest, moment, Luke gains self-knowledge. The audience follows his path of self-resentment, of utter ruin and guilt, of bitterness towards the entire Jedi Order, until we see him reach a moment of epiphany during his conversation with the Force ghost of Yoda. We see him come to understand that his failures do not define him, at least not any more than his accomplishments do. We come to understand that Luke Skywalker is not infallible, as he comes to understand it himself.

                This leads to the monumental face-off with Kylo Ren on Crait, which is as action-packed as it is deeply emotional. Luke is reunited with his sister, he takes up the role of Galactic Hero once more, and apologizes outright to Kylo Ren for his failures. There are very strong intermingling feelings throughout this segment of the movie. The audience feels what Luke feels: his apprehension, his regret, and, finally, his hope. His hope for peace within the galaxy and within his nephew. We follow him back to Ach-to, where Luke gazes upon his last binary sunset. We feel that, while the interplanetary war rages on, Luke himself is finally at peace, and it is a cathartic moment for the audience and for our hero both.

                In this way, Rian Johnson takes us through the character arc of a Sophoclean tragic hero effortlessly.  A hero in Greek muthos is never meant to return from war. The hero is born when he is needed, performs his spectacular feats in the face of turmoil and adversity, and dies a grandiose gallant death. When a hero lives, when a hero returns to civilian life with the same awe-inspiring powers and wartime mentality that they have needed their entire lives, that is when morality becomes grey and characters become multi-faceted. The archaic hero that was Luke Skywalker has no palace in the morally ambiguous realm of The Last Jedi. But from that character, the audience is able to meet a new evolving hero who is struggling, who has made difficult decisions, has felt regret over those decisions, and who walks through fire to emerge on the other side stronger and more relatable for it.

      SOURCES

Characteristics of Sophoclean Tragedy and the Role of the Chorus [PDF]. (n.d.).

What makes a Greek hero? (n.d.). Retrieved December 24, 2017, from

http://ancientheroespodcast.com/blog/what-makes-a-greek-hero

#the last jedi meta #the last jedi #luke skywalker

[yahoosodapop]

Friendship and growth

I might get totally hate for this but it always makes me uncomfortable whenever people use ‘friends’ as a justification for everything Rey has done.   Like friendship is the end all, be all.  Like the new trilogy has to end with a giant party in space with your best buds.

I don’t like drawing from my own life, and answer that #friendshipgoals isn’t equal to #lifegoals.  I’m old.  I’m in my 30′s and married with children.  So my perspective about friendship has changed immensely over the years.  Yes, I still have real life friends but my sense of belonging is different from my twenties as I do now in my thirties and in the years to come.

Let me share how I see growth in Star Wars within the context of Reylo.

The Force Awakens (VII)

Having re watched the movie a couple of days ago you notice how different Rey and Kylo Ren are in TFA compared to TLJ.  

Rey shines with childlike innocence.   She is looking for a sense of belonging - waiting for her family to return to her and at the same time growing to make friends.   She is roped in an intergalactic conflict with the promise of adventure and seeing her heroes.

Kylo Ren is a petulant child with the highlight of TFA being some of his temper tantrums.   He has the confidence of a young brat who is always trying to please the oldest ‘friend’ in his mind - Snoak.    While Kylo is a child, intent on burying the weaker part of himself - he has working knowledge of the Force.  Kylo kills his father in order to please the voice in his head - so the voice will stay with him.

When they meet, Kylo recognizes an equal in Rey.  She doesn’t see that because her knowledge of the Force is limited and she is confused and completely out of her element.

Kylo reaches out to Rey, a feeble attempt to expand his circle,  but in the end Rey chooses her friends over him.  She picked a newly discovered kinship over a connection she does not understand.

The Last Jedi (VIII)

It has been said that TLJ is similar to the period of adolescence.  

Kylo’s failure in TFA leads to some changes in his life.  The voice in his head is displeased and Kylo is beginning to doubt and stand up to it. 

Rey is tasked to bring back Luke, the hero of the rebellion against the empire. Meeting Luke is like reality slapping her in the face.  It is as they say, “Never meet your heroes”.   

But the most unexpected thing happens to these two.  The Force bonds them together and forces them in instances that they cannot escape wherein there is no option but to talk and listen to each other.

The change in Rey is seen in a physical aspect.  She drops the buns that she fashions since childhood and defies Luke (her hero/father figure) to try to bring back Ben/Kylo.   She transfers her aspirations for a classical hero from Luke to Ben.

Ben forces her to confront the truth that she has embellished:  that she was abandoned and her family is not coming back.  She finally accepts the truth because she has already found a sense of belonging with her new family, her friends.

And Rey, wants Ben to be part of the Resistance.  To be part of her family of friends.

Kylo’s growth comes from him finally striking down Snoak, the voice in his head since he was an infant.   This is the moment, Ben is free to be himself.  To be who he wants.   There is no one else telling him what to do.

This is it.  They are both at the cusp of adulthood.  Both free to choose for themselves.

But both of them are not completely able to take the jump to the uncertainly that comes with adulthood.

Rey, once again, chooses her friends and the Resistance.

Ben chooses what is familiar, the First Order.   His version of growth stems from the idea that it is time for him to lead and create something new using the First Order.

They do not choose the most uncertain path.  They do not choose each other.

IX (?)

Neither Rey or Ben can be said to have matured enough to be an adult.

Rey grabbing the light saber from Ben, the moment he didn’t turn her way, is in many ways a sign of her own immaturity.   She can talk to him but she didn’t.  You can bring out the ‘her friend’s are about to die’ argument but that kind of action is reminiscent to Luke pulling out the saber in a moment of weakness.

Ben’s complete meltdown, when faced with Luke, is a very visual display of his immaturity.   He is so consumed by his anger that he cannot ‘see’ that was literally in front of him.  

Their choices at the end of TLJ that they want to stay within the comfort of the familiar:  the Resistance and the First Order.

And this is where it will be fuzzy and I will probably end up getting hate...

I am not expecting the movie to be deep or even venture out to the idea of a lasting galactic peace and politics.  I don’t expect the movie to actually go and expound on the idea that war that has been raging on for more than half a century is fueled by ‘greed’ rather than the absolute concept of good and evil.  

George Lucas presented that in Ep I: The Phantom Menace and people hated the whole idea of the ‘trade federation’.   Again Rian Johnson presented it in VIII and people thought Canto Bight is a meaningless side story.  And I’m not sure how gutsy JJ Abrams can be with this...

So for simplicity’s sake, I won’t delve into the idea of Rey and Ben actually working out the political machinations of the galaxy and come to some unsettling truths.

Adulthood comes with uncomfortable realizations.   And alongside it, it comes a willing departure with what is familiar: your affiliations and your friends.

And adulthood is often marked by a choice.   And brace yourself...one of the biggest adult choices you will make is to make a choice for marriage // starting a family // a commitment to be together.    

When you get married one of the first things that is said to leave your ‘father and mother’.   But that also means leaving your friends and whatever is familiar to you and putting someone else first.

An actual marriage isn’t like a popularized TV sitcom (i.e. FRIENDS, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Ban Theory) - or at least not ALL marriages are like that where you can actually hang out with your friends daily/weekly/monthly.   Existing friendships are strengthened by marriage not because you see your friends everyday - but rather the absolute assurance that you remain friends despite not seeing each other as often as you had before.

BAE (before anyone else) is the definition of marriage.  Before parents/family.  Before friends.  Before organizations/groups.  Before work/career.   Even before your own children.

That is what I hope for in the end for Reylo.  

I don’t need to see a wedding or whatever.  I just want them to finally choose each other in the end.   To essentially run away together and leave everything else behind.

Yes, run away like those in sappy love songs.

Because essentially, that’s a component of marriage - running away together to start something new.  There is a degree of selective isolation wherein you have to work as a team.

Some people might hate this idea...because it appears that Rey will be losing her agency by being with Ben.  She gives up her friends and her status to be with an unstable man with no certain guarantees a future.   It is scary and it sounds like Rey is losing whatever form of empowerment she has gained.   What has Ben to offer Rey when he certainly has lots of issues?  Will Rey lower herself to be with someone as troubled as Ben?

I already see outrage that Rey picked someone unworthy of her.  Or how come Rey, can’t just stand alone and we wonderful and fantastic by herself without any attachments.  The toxic relationship narrative will be drawn up once more and how it’s set’s a bad example to women everywhere.

I do not want to demean empowerment but I feel that empowerment isn’t defined solely by being an individual unit capable of doing anything but also as a team, learning to compromise to move forward.  And working as a team, takes a lot of strength and sacrifice.  Commitment is not for weak at heart.  

But the only thing that can make it work, is if Ben does something similar.  

Sure they can realize the good/bad, light/dark, correct/wrong, just/unjust but at the center of it all is a choice to do so together.

The very core of adulthood (and to a very large extent, love or marriage) is CHOICE despite uncertainly and a COMMITMENT to face the uncertainty together.

#reylo #savebensolo #star wars meta #kinda meta. #i wrote this quickly in response to seeing so much emphasis put on buddies