#tlj rant

[mr-democracy-manifest]

Call me a hater or whatever, but I just cannot accept what TLJ did to Luke Skywalker. I cannot accept that Luke became a bitter, washed-up old hermit who turned his back on the Jedi after failing to revive the order. I'm sorry, but I just can't.

Yeah yeah, he learned his lesson from Rey and stopped being a bitter old cunt in the end, but I don't care. It didn't need to happen that way. Luke didn't need to be torn down to rise again with some prodding from the new generation. He didn't need that arc, and it didn't make sense anyway. Nothing will convince me that the man who loved the Jedi and being one, who risked literally everything to redeem the monster that was Darth Vader would try to murder his nephew over some bad think and abandon the Jedi when aforementioned nephew destroyed his school. He already had his arc and learned his lesson, he didn't need to be dragged through the mud the way he was. It just didn't need to happen that way. And I just can't bring myself to accept it.

#star wars #luke skywalker #tlj #rant

[thund3randrain]

Listen, I hate The Last Jedi as much as the next avid movie-goer. But I loved the whole idea of Rey coming from nothing. Her parents being scavengers who sold her for drinking money.

So much of star wars is built around the idea of family making you important. Who you're related to making you special. You backstory defining you. That was the whole point of the prequel trilogy. They do it to so many characters. Kylo Ren is important because he's a Skywalker. Leia is important because she's a Skywalker. For a while we thought Rey was gonna be important because she was gonna be a Skywalker, or even a Kenobi.

Rey starting out a nobody, but still being able to affect the galaxy and have her own story is so powerful, and throws the finger right in the face of everything that came before. You don't need to have some mythic ancestry or powerful backstory to be important. Anyone can be a hero, and anyone can make a difference. Rey was so convinced that her parents were important, that knowing them would explain everything, but in the end they didn't matter. She mattered. And that's really moving

And then JJ said fuck it she's a Palpatine Skywalker now UwU

#im sorry but i really like a lot of rey's character #there's so much potential but they BLEW IT #and I am PISSED #jayden rants #star wars #the last jedi #star wars tlj #tlj #tlj spoilers #star wars sequel trilogy #rey star wars #star wars rey #rey skywalker #rey palpatine

[dgcatanisiri]

I speculated a while back that JJ Abrams' very involvement is what truly marks why TLJ gets a pass for things simply carried on into TROS, that TROS only took things put into the sequels by the prior film and advanced them, so the ire really should be there, but, because JJ Abrams creates mystery boxes without including a solution in the box, and audiences in general are tired of it, HE gets the brunt of the anger of following elements put into the sequels by TLJ and Rian Johnson.

Another thing that kinda builds on that, at least from my perspective, is that... I don't really think ANYTHING could have spared TROS, because I legitimately feel that it was more of a "written to assuage the shareholders, just give them what they want" script than a "I passionately believe in and have put my genuine effort in to" script, where the executives at Disney gave a list of demands to include in the script and, as a result of that, had to adhere to a predetermined shape before ANYONE could write the script. Especially considering that JJ wasn't even anticipating coming back, and it was basically "we decided on a release date for this movie before we had a script, and now Trevorrow's out, JJ, have some money and come back to wrap this shit up."

Like remember when TFA released, and all the merchandise centered around Kylo Ren, rather than... y'know, Rey, Finn, and Poe, the ACTUAL heroes of the film? When people acknowledged that Disney seemed to be banking on the idea that people would respond to the edgelord villain, rather than the women and minority heroes? I can't imagine that they changed their tune afterwards, because that means admitting that THEY'RE the ones out of touch, so when they presented a list of demands for TROS's script, it followed that attitude, rather than responding to the way that the audience was leaning.

Like to make it clear, while my dislike of TLJ has put me off Rian Johnson entirely (I DEEPLY and will forever resent him bumping Finn into a "comedic" C-plot after he was the male lead of TFA), I don't think that JJ Abrams was the solution (though I will say that a single writer/director for the whole trilogy would have helped, be it Abrams OR Johnson). Rather the fault here was entirely on the backs of the executives, who wanted to put out an entire trilogy in the span of about four years, while changing up the writer/directors of each film, giving the trilogy no creative cohesion.

Genuinely, I believe that Abrams AND Johnson (who I'm including as much because I do this as anyone else whose criticisms of TLJ are beyond "women and people of color don't belong in my Star Wars, wah!") are probably just the convenient scapegoats for decisions made on the level of the Disney executives, not the act of writing or directing.

Y'know, when you have someone throwing around Disney levels of money giving you dictates for your script and story, honestly, you're probably not in the position of arguing too much - whatever wiggle room you get is balanced out by the fact that to Disney, you yourself are an utterly and completely replaceable cog in their machine.

I mean, end of the day, who REALLY had more power in that scenario, JJ Abrams or the damn mouse?

#dg rants #one would hope this could be my final word on the subject of tlj in specific and the sequels in general #but we all know me better than that

[the-viking-goddess]

Full disclosure, this is a pointless rant but I need to vent. I'm hearing such good things about Andor. I love Diego Luna and I liked Rogue One and in theory this should be right up my street. I wish I could just dive right in, but every time I think about it the actual story they're telling I feel an inescapable resistance and reluctance about watching it- all because of the outcome of TROS. I know what Andor is about, and ultimately those events all just feel pointless when I know that the cycle of war started all over again in the ST, destroying the happy ending of the OT, and was never resolved. Ben Solo died after a lifetime of pain with only one living person knowing his goodness and witnessing his redemption. The Skywalkers were totally fucked. But more than that, the galaxy-wide conflict that has raged for generations wasn't resolved at all. They blew all the bad guys up in TROS and never learned any fucking lessons about why this keeps happening. It was literally 'you blow them up today, they blow you up tomorrow', as DJ said- the thing they were meant to have learned from in TLJ. They destroyed what they hated, they didn't save what they love. It was black and white, they didn't learn any lessons, they didn't break the cycle, and in storytelling terms we all know that a new Empire/FO would just rise yet again from the ashes and more generational trauma, war and suffering would take place. TROS should have and could have learned the lessons of the past and found a way to heal the galaxy and not simply kill all of your enemies once again, but it didn't. The cycle goes on. So for me, the events of Andor are ultimately pointless; the success of the OT was destroyed in the ST, and the ST fucked everything. It's just bad fucking storytelling and I can't get past that.

I'm just ranting, and I know the world and the giant soulless money machine that is DLS has moved on, but TROS truly is affecting my ability to engage with any Star Wars content anymore. It still feels gutting almost 3 years on that this whole world of storytelling that I loved has been tainted for good. I know there are people will think this is pathetic and people who will wonder why I can't just disassociate from that last film, and believe me, I wish I could. I've tried. I wish I could just wipe the ST from my memory and pretend it all ended after the OT, and therefore enjoy products like Andor where the story ultimately has a positive impact (the work of the rebellion and the events of Rogue One). But I just can't. And honestly, petulantly, I don't want to, I shouldn't have to- I loved TFA and TLJ. I loved Ben Solo with all my heart, and I loved Rey until TROS destroyed her. I loved the ST all by itself for its own reasons, and I wanted to love it my whole life. That was ruined and along with it any Star Wars product that is tied to the core Skywalker saga, and it fucking sucks and I have to whine about it sometimes, sorry. Maybe one day I'll be able to switch my brain off, forget that what they're fighting for in Andor is ultimately futile and just enjoy Diego Luna on my screen for a few hours or so. Maybe.

#rant #tros #tros salt #star wars #ben solo #rey #tlj #andor #anti star wars

[shrinkthisviolet]

☕️ on Ace Attorney (Original Trilogy vs Apollo Justice Trilogy)

Ooh this is an interesting one! Honestly, I think we can all agree that the OT was perfect, not much to say there…but I know Apollo Justice tends to be more controversial. I honestly hesitate to call it a trilogy, but…one thing at a time, let’s start with AA4 (aka my favorite of the three):

Here’s my hot take: Phoenix isn’t the issue. The game has its flaws, but Phoenix being more jaded makes sense (and he still has a brightness within him with Trucy). “But Lavi, you don’t like TLJ Luke for exactly the same reason,” yes, I hear you, but although Phoenix and Luke are very similar, the circumstances of their hermit era are different. Luke leaves his family to exile himself after a brief moment of contemplating murder against his nephew, instead of fighting the First Order (after he saw how dangerous and destructive the Empire was??). Phoenix loses the position he worked so hard towards and is then manipulated by Kristoph for 7 years, during which he still comes up with a plan to fight back in secret! Different circumstances…but I digress. Back to the main point: the issue is not Phoenix.

The game’s big issue is actually with Apollo: he’s so sidelined compared to Phoenix that it’s unfair to him. Like…forget not winning a case on his own (because Phoenix had that issue in AA1 too): his game isn’t even really about him! It’s all about Phoenix! Which, for a game meant to introduce Apollo, is bizarre. AA5 and AA6 (mainly AA6) do a better job of introducing Apollo than AA4, which is a shame. He feels like a plot device in his own intro game, and he deserves better than that.

The other issue is more to do with AA5. That game resets the status quo so much that it weakens AA4 in retrospect…which imo is part of why AA4 is so disliked. Phoenix is a lawyer again, and back to his OT self (no seriously, it’s actually kinda jarring), there’s another new lawyer in Athena (who gets a much better intro in this game than Apollo did in AA4).

Also, this game was “OT Cameo Central” with brief appearances from Trucy, Klavier, and Pearl (Maya was AA6 iirc). And oh, do I mean brief. It’s actually annoying, particularly with Trucy, because…these are supposed to be three of the most important characters in Ace Attorney, with Trucy especially as Phoenix's daughter! Why is she so sidelined?? Why is Klavier sidelined, when he’s Apollo’s most meaningful opposition and a great narrative foil to him in AA4?? (Why don’t we see his reaction to Apollo going all Kristoph-esque in the finale in DD? Feels like something he’d have strong reactions to, hmm?)

AA6 I actually preferred over AA5, but…even then, as I was playing, I just went “wow, after three games, we finally know something about Apollo other than his work life and his post-death-mentioned best friend” 🤦‍♀️

Honestly the more I think about it…this isn’t really a trilogy. I like parts of each game, but…it’s not coherent in the same way the OT was, and it’s not even entirely focused on Apollo the way the OT was entirely focused on Phoenix. It’s more of a beautiful mess, in a sense.

(Hey also can we talk about how messed up it is that Apollo and Trucy still don’t know they’re siblings?? Because that’s messed up, right?? Phoenix found out in AA4 and he still hasn’t told them?? And if he has, why tf didn’t we see that??)

Send me “☕️” and (optionally) a topic, and I’ll talk about it!

#i love this trilogy but also it’s a mess but also it’s complicated #(but i will defend aa4 ✋ especially from the people who say aa5 is better. IT IS NOT!! aa5 destroyed all the narrative potential of aa4!!) #ace attorney #anti tlj #(just in case. since i ranted a bit about luke) #tea ask game #spilling the tea ask game

[stairset]

I'm gonna be real I do have my own criticisms of the Kenobi show but overall I thought it was great so the fact that I'm seeing some of the Star Wars nerds on Youtube acting like it's The Worst Thing Disney Star Wars Has Done And I'm Done With Star Wars Forever Because Of It is wild to me. Like of all the things Disney Star Wars has done THIS show is the point where they crossed the line for you? THIS is the hill you wanna die on? Really?

#again personally i loved it frankly i thought it was some of the best content we've had since the tcw finale #but even if i didn't like it it's nowhere NEAR some of the bad decisions they've made in recent years #i mean i already know i'm gonna be here forever i mean if tlj and tros weren't enough to make me QUIT STAR WARS FOREVER then nothing will #idk man i love ragging on their bad dmoves as much as the next guy #but frankly i don't see why we can't just admit that The Star War Is Good Sometimes. don't be stubborn. #course i'm sure at least a few of the people acting like obi-wan is terrible are the racists who were harassing reva's actress #not all but at least a few #i only say this cause i keep getting recommended videos of nerds ranting about how she supposedly stole the spotlight from obi-wan #and how it's too woke yadda yadda the usual. even though she clearly was not stealing the spotlight and obi-wan was consistently the focus #so yeah #shut up tristan

[clqoo]

why they hate tlj and defend tros

idk who 'they' is but if you mean the sw fandom in general i got three fat words for you: i don't know. personally, tlj is my favorite out of the three movies. tfa is a good movie, i don't mind tfa in the slightest. i don't like tros because of the extremely disappointing ending, the lore inconsistencies and a few other factors that are more personal dislike than they are an actual issue. tlj was just satisfying to me. i enjoyed how we kept moving, i enjoyed the character development with rey and kylo, and i really, really enjoyed the the part where they kill snoke and ben has to make a choice: he can either leave, 'let the past die' and allow the first order to fall or he can become supreme leader and fully immerse himself in the darkness. a kind of 'it has to get worse before it can get better' type situation is what i think the directors were going for (despite me recently finding out that apparently kylo's redemption arc was something that they never planned, which doesn't even make sense, but okay. /sarc). the beginning of tros was good in my opinion, we pick up with kylo now fully in the dark side, there isn't a lot of internal conflict within him now since he doesn't really have to answer to anyone but himself as supreme leader and we all know how unstable buddy boy is now. i just feel like everything kinda fell apart in tros. i haven't watched the movies in a while so all of this is based on my memory and i could be wrong about a few stuff but yeah overall. i don't know.

#tlj is the goat #ben solo #kylo ren #star wars #rey of jakku #star wars sequel trilogy #star wars rant #sw sequels #tfa #tlj #tros #clqoo ted talks

[2187nomore]

After the end of the war, Finn demands to know the real story behind Poe Dameron's revelation of a spice-smuggling past.

#posting this again because i just had an absolutely delightful rant about tlj with someone #and now i'm feeling pleasantly salty again #star wars fanfiction #star wars fanfic #poe dameron #poe dameron { one hell of a pilot } #finn { i made a choice } #my stuff #etc #why does everyone want to go back to jakqueue?

[jedimasterbailey]

SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE THIRD EPISODE OF AHSOKA

PRO JEDI RANT DOWN BELOW

This Loth Cat is a good representation of me not losing my mind on how badly the Jedi Order is being completely defiled by Feloni. Okay…so apparently according to Feloni anybody can just be a Jedi if they try really, really hard and believe in them because the Force resides in everyone when we all know that that’s not fucking true according to Lucas. Yes, the Force resides in all things HOWEVER it is the Force sensitive (I.e. the Jedi and Sith) that are able to wield the Force because they’ve got the blood to do so (midocholorians… I’m sure I’ve butchered the spelling forgive me). So with that being said, does anything in Star Wars even matter anymore? Like honestly.

By this logic…anybody in the OT could have just destroyed the Sith if they tRiEd HaRd EnOuGh. So I guess fuck the importance of Luke Skywalker and all the other survivors of Order 66? And I suppose by this logic none of the prequel Jedi or hell even Anakin doesn’t matter because anybody can just wield a lightsaber and tap into the Force if tHeY jUsT bElIeVeD iN tHeMsElVeS? Why does Rey matter when apparently anyone could have taken down the First Order and destroyed Palpatine when some fucking Mando could have just done the job of being Force sensitive doesn’t matter?

Like believe me guys, I am TRYING so hard not to be a hater but it truly makes me sad to see the one element of Star Wars I love so much (I.e. the Jedi Order and everything they do and stand for) just get picked apart and trashed over and over and over again. I just don’t understand it and I know I can’t be the only one feeling like this.

Also Ahsoka’s character right now is reminding me of Luke’s in TLJ where I feel like I’m seeing and hearing a completely different character and it’s heartbreaking when you’ve looked up and loved these heroes so much. Like for Gods sake can we settle the score in where Ahsoka stands with the Jedi? Is she or is she not? Because right now she’s doing a poor representation of all her mentors who have lost their lives staying true to themselves, Jedi who gave everything to protect and save lives. Now she seems to just go out of her way to scoff at the Order that raised her, similar to Luke dismissing the very thing that gave him hope in the OT.

As these new shows go on, it just makes the fall of the Jedi Order all the more tragic just seeing how their sacrifice and good will meant absolutely nothing. That’s why characters like Cal Kestis and Cere Junda are incredible. They stayed true to their Jedi values no matter what because that’s what the galaxy needs, heroes who care. Not heroes who have personal agendas.

#pro jedi #pro jedi culture #ahsoka show spoilers #anti ahsoka #anti dave filoni #darth felonious #jedi order #star wars #long live the jedi #jedi #the clone wars #ahsoka tano #luke skywalker #rey skywalker #cal kestis #anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #barriss offee #luminara unduli #leia organa #yoda #mace windu #plo koon

[thund3randrain]

My brother: *trying to watch the last jedi in peace*

Me the moment the Finn and Rose kissing scene happens: THIS IS COMPLETE BULLSHIT THERE'S ONLY 2 REASONS THEY DID THIS THEY WANTED TO STOP FINNREY AND FINNPOE SHIPPING UGH I HATE DISNEY SO MUCH WHY COULDN'T WE HAVE HAD FINNPOE OH I KNOW WHY BECAUSE GOD FORBID WE PUT GAY PEOPLE IN A MAJOR MOVIE WHAT ABOUT OUR CHINESE AND MIDDLE EASTERN AUDIENCES WHAT ABOUT THE CONSERVATIVES THEY WON'T LIKE THAT LETS PUT FINN IN A TEPID, BORING, CHEMISTRY-LESS HETERO ROMANCE THAT GOES NOWHERE WHAT A GENIUS FUCKING IDEA I HATE THIS MOVIE SO FUCKING MUCH

#can you tell how much i love tlj? #CAN YOU TELL #😃 #jayden rants #star wars #the last jedi #star wars tlj #tlj #star wars the last jedi #star wars sequel trilogy #finn star wars #rey star wars #poe dameron #finnrey #finnpoe #rose tico

[tbgkaru-woh]

Sorry for the upcoming rant, I saw you were in SVSSS and now I need to ramble about my most beloved TLJ; So TLJ right? He’s LBH’s dad and the former demon lord. He got bored of the demon world and decided to venture out in the human world because he loves everything human. He’s got no concept of money and his poor half-snake nephew has to deal with all their money being spent on plays, poetry and porn. Then TLJ meets the hottest, most competent cultivator who also becomes his sugar mommy and spends all day waxing poetry her and going on dates with her. But then the cultivator betrays him and he is sealed under a mountain by humans for decades and it nearly destroys his body. In the novel, he is trying to merge the demon and human realms for revenge. The heroes arrive to fight him in the final battle only to find him already damaged and easily defeated. It turns out he never actually believed his plan would work and instead he was just trying to go out with a bang. He remarks he can’t find it within himself to hate humans no matter how much he tries. It’s revealed that LBH’s mother never actually betrayed him (although that was her original plan) and his ending is pretty open since he doesn’t die like he planned and now is free (but his loyal snake nephew dies protecting him which fucking sucks)

thank you for the rundown!! this was incredibly helpful in understanding this character and is really interesting. i love side character stories that are almost more enticing than the main characters', i sense a pattern with danmeis (looking at you, yby storyline!!!)

[the-force-awakens]

Yeah, that's a pretty good analysis. I don't see Poe included hardly at all, in fandom or in canon to a degree, and I think it's safe to say he has one of the least number of fans who are specifically fans of him. Like I don't see many blogs/accounts that are specifically Poe centric.

Oh man, I actually got up to answer this on my computer rather than my phone, so we'll see how into it I'll get into this ask, but yes! It's vastly unfortunate that he often gets excluded or overlooked when he's the entire catalyst for the sequel trilogy. He is, archetypically and narratively within the story, the Leia of our generation: if it was not for Poe and BB-8 (who is really like an extension of Poe), then Finn wouldn't have been able to escape the Finalizer, and Rey would have never left Jakku.

While yes, it's true that Poe wasn't initially meant to survive The Force Awakens (and other nine word horror stories for me), Poe is still one part of the primary trio of the trilogy and has been since 2015. He is not only Leia's first protégé, but the eventual leader of the Resistance, and according to the Rise of Skywalker novel, the heir to the legacy of House Organa (cue me loudly proclaiming him a Disney Prince). Yet, somehow, at the same time......no one seems to ever want to include him as part of the saga, and an important one as that?

(@dameronalone points out ever so often how much they love the shot where everyone leaves Exegol for this reason, because we see Poe flying alongside the Falcon, which really hammers in that Poe is an important player in the history of the saga).

More thoughts below the cut, because I have more and this is already lengthy.

The worst thing is that Poe was extremely popular. Lucasfilm and Marvel pretty much immediately greenlit a comic series for him, and while that was definitely to flesh his story out, if my memory serves, it was so popular that I believe the first printing sold out? And it was originally only meant to last 25 issues (which personally I think it should have stayed at, because I don't super vibe with 26-onward and it feels off and tonally disconnected to the rest of the series and also the ending of TLJ, and the characterization for Poe also feels off, but that's!! a different rant!!!) but the title was so popular that Marvel decided to extend it for two more storylines!

The issue was the fandom backlash to TLJ.

You don't have to look too far into my blog to know that I adore Poe in TLJ, and that I like his arc in the movie, and that I avidly defend him for it, but the internet in 2017-2019 was an entirely different universe from that. You could not go anywhere - Tumblr, Twitter, Youtube, fucking hell, even most major media news outlets and clickbait websites - without hearing about how much everyone hated Poe Dameron.

Why? Because they walked away from his arc deciding that he was sexist and the movie's perfect example of toxic masculinity (although, lmfao, the First Order clowns are right there). It went further than that, with headlines about how everyone hated him, how he was personally responsible for everything that happens in the Resistance in the film, and how he was the worst character in Star Wars since Jar Jar Binks (because clearly the Star Wars fandom never learns from its previous toxicity, right?). It was to the point that, to my immense horror and frustration, even as far as into promoting TROS, a reporter described Poe as a "secret villain" in TLJ to Oscar (and man do I hope that man knows Poe is loved, actually).

Fandom wasn't much different. Fanon Poe prior to TLJ was....a lot different. In some ways, a lot of fics hit the nail on the head on who Poe was, but there was a definite unifying idea of who Poe was: a pure cinnamon roll who never, ever swore, and always listened to Leia and never argued with her - let alone disobeyed her orders or put a toe out of line (this is even illustrated in canon, with the first Poe Dameron annual, where the author has Poe declare that Leia is "always right" and instantly caving in an argument).

And TLJ Poe is about....as far removed from that vision of Poe as you can possibly get - although nothing about him in TLJ is ooc. We see the bare bones of it in The Force Awakens, and Before the Awakening and the comics further flesh out Poe in a way that perfectly leads into the Last Jedi. But the cinnamon roll fanon was made so common and leaked so far into fandom consciousness, that there was this strange concept that Poe was never, ever angry even in expanded material, which...he does. He gets pissed off plenty of times in the comics, and with the Defense Fleet while arguing with Deso.

So, canon Poe did the unthinkable and, y'know, didn't fall in line with how fanon saw him, which resulted in a huge backlash over the fact that he was a character with agency and a personality (that is NOT sexist thank you), which resulted in us getting books like Resistance Reborn, by authors who can't stand him or describe him as anything besides "supremely arrogant" and spends three hundred pages emotionally torturing him, claiming he needs to die, physically assaulting him, and you know...having the person who attacked him and the other person who claimed he needed to die flirt with him, because it also spends an ungodly amount of time sexualizing him to an uncomfortable degree, because the one thing fanon could agree on outside of the fact that he had been "ruined" or that he was a jackass or a "fuckboi" (yeah that went around too), was that Oscar Isaac is really goddamned fine in the Last Jedi (he is, I'll give them that, there's something about tlj!Poe, scientists remain baffled).

And on top of all of that, a particular fraction of the fandom developed an interesting habit of taking new pieces of canon and spreading them around online out of context, claiming that the writers were now intentionally writing him as sexist and as a jackass, and ruining his character further. I don't know for certain if this had any effect overall on the fandom's perception of him, but I know that it did almost break my spin in him for a while because I thought people were being very genuine, and it wasn't until 2020 that I got curious and started doing my own research into the panels/paragraphs being shared online, and sure enough, discovered that the angle had been falsified to paint Poe into a worse light (which, if anyone is curious, is why I did my deep dive into everything that he was in, because I didn't want to be fooled again. You can't trick me if I know everything lmfao).

So essentially, his popularity nosedived after the Last Jedi. It seemed to bump up a little bit, or at least there definitely seemed to be more people interested in him/writing for him in 2020 coming off the lockdown, but obviously that has very much dwindled. But I've definitely not seen any blogs dedicated to Poe as a character since 2017, and you don't ordinarily see him in miscellaneous Star Wars gifsets that go around either, let alone solo Poe gifsets (I know because I lose my shit anytime there's a new one that's not by me), and Poe creations that have nothing to do with a ship is.........even less likely to be found.

I definitely think canon is at least trying to keep him in our minds though. He was the second character to lead one of the Lego Specials, and that Rey short story ("Through the Turbulence") was focused on her friendship with him. Whether or not that's because of the possibility of Oscar returning for the Rey movie (which feels fairly tangible, considering he's been kind of shady about it after mentioning he'd come back for a good story, and doing that Halcyon video), or if it's just because of Lucasfilm maybe warming up to him as a character again*, I don't know, but I hope it means we get good-faith content for him again soon.

*Because I'm tired of the story group constantly being a little bitch about him, and the same goes for the Topps Trading Card App. Maybe people wouldn't think he was a villain if you stopped describing him like a terrible person? Just a thought.

#ask box #i-belong-to-the-stars #i am so sorry for this motherfucking ESSAY #sometimes the 'ex article writer' jumps out #this was one of those times

[cosleia]

Hux Crisis #2

I remarked yesterday that I was having another Hux crisis. (The first Hux crisis is documented a little bit here.) Basically, my Hux crises are caused by my personal understanding of him coming into apparent conflict with canon depictions. This also happened to me with Carlos the Scientist from Welcome to Night Vale. The situation isn't great; historically it has caused me to stop writing for a long time while I recalibrated my headcanons.

Because I'm hoping that won't happen this time, I originally wasn't going to discuss it too much, but then this morning I saw this post:

When I saw this, I just felt like that it fit Hux so well. The idea that his family line might be cursed in some way, resulting in all his perceived failures, is narratively compelling to me. It made me want to write down my thoughts and feelings about Hux.

I didn't want to clutter up OP's notes with my nonsense, so I made a screenshot for this post. If you want to see/reblog the original, I reblogged it here.

Let's get into it.

We know JJ named Hux after a name he saw on a gravestone. He wanted Hux to be a tragic character from the beginning. And Hux was. We learned that he'd grown up being abused, and that it's likely he was stolen from his mother when he was taken/rescued from his home planet during the New Republic siege. And of course we saw the tragedy continue through the films:

The stormtrooper program wound up producing a Resistance general

Starkiller Base was destroyed

The Fulminatrix was destroyed

The Supremacy was destroyed

Kylo Ren became Supreme Leader

The First Order failed to wipe out the Resistance on Crait

And finally, Hux was found out as the spy and executed

It could be argued that many of these things were failures on Hux's part. The comics give us even more failures: in Journey to TLJ: Captain Phasma, he does not issue an official evacuation order when Starkiller Base begins to collapse, which enables Phasma to keep troopers who saw her from surviving to report it, and probably also resulted in unnecessary losses. He also seems not to question Phasma's version of how the shields were lowered on Starkiller. In Hyperspace Stories #8, which seems to be set pre-TFA, he loses control of a wild creature called a Bramalish that he set upon a non-cooperative colony.

I get chalking all of this up to incompetence, to thinking that Hux kept failing because he was stupid or prideful.

But we have evidence to the contrary.

Hyperspace Stories #8 also shows us Hux is quick to adapt to change. When Ren arrives to fight the Bramalish, Hux orders the stormtroopers to help him immediately. When Ren brings back the city leader whose cooperation will secure the First Order's power, Hux instantly adjusts to "negotiating with" (threatening) him. While I won't deny that setting a Bramalish loose believing the stormtroopers could contain it was a miscalculation, the strategy was to terrorize the populace, and it worked. That plus Ren's contributions scored the First Order a win.

In the comic Star Wars Adventures #30, set between TLJ and TROS, Hux's plan is to send stormtroopers to Vendaxa to follow a lead that the Resistance might be there. It's Supreme Leader Ren who insists on going personally. Hux goes with him because he sees an opportunity to ingratiate himself to Ren, and he actually manages to get Ren to say he has earned his trust, "for now." It turns out there was no need for the leader of the First Order to go to Vendaxa personally. The Resistance isn't even there, and Ren and Hux wind up in mortal danger. I think it can be safely argued that Hux was right, and circumstances (Kylo Ren) worked against him.

In that same comic, Hux tells Ren, "I put my stormtroopers in charge of reconnaissance because leadership is trusting the people you lead to do their jobs." The loss of the Fulminatrix seems ludicrous in light of these words. Canady stood around waiting to be micromanaged; Hux is not a micromanager. (I ranted about this separately here.)

And then, of course, we have Age of Resistance - General Hux, another pre-TFA story. This is not only where we see more of Hux's abusive childhood, but also where we see him at his craftiest. He uses Ren's identity to manipulate Bylsma, and then he uses the shuttle sabotage to justify killing one of his childhood abusers. From this, it's clear he's not an idiot.

Let's go through the other perceived failures with a more critical eye.

First, the stormtrooper program. Yes, it "failed" in that Finn resisted his conditioning, as did Jannah and her company. But what percentage of stormtroopers actually defected or deserted? How does it compare to other militaries' defection/desertion rates? Is it even possible to have 100% loyalty? While I don't think we know the answer to the first two questions, the answer to the third is absolutely no.

The destruction of Starkiller Base would not have been possible without the shield being lowered. Hux knew the oscillator was a weak point and had it protected, not just by shields but by squadrons of fighters. It took an extraordinary series of events for the Resistance to win.

Trusting Phasma is either a blind spot, or he's playing the long game, as fellow kyluxers pointed out on my original Hux crisis post. Phasma conspired with him to kill Brendol; this was in both their self-interests, not the First Order's. If anything, TLJ cemented their relationship as a partnership. It's not a stretch to think Hux knows Phasma's true loyalty is to herself, and that he considers having her as a partner more advantageous than not. It's a gamble, but she's a powerful ally. I've wondered if their conversation when she returns to the Finalizer is coded...if what Hux is really asking is how well she covered her tracks.

(The fact that he doesn't seem to dwell on the loss of Starkiller, either in the Captain Phasma comic or at the beginning of TLJ, and he just looks annoyed when it's brought up in TROS, implies that he is forward-thinking, which is a vital quality in a leader.)

Hux not managing to keep Ren from becoming Supreme Leader is understandable. He's ready to kill Ren, but Ren stirs. Hux knows he can't defeat Ren in a fight. And unfortunately, Hux has rarely been able to talk Ren into anything. This is the rare moment he breaks emotionally: he's lost Starkiller, he's lost the Supremacy, and now he's lost Snoke, the one thing that has been protecting him from Ren. I don't think his action or inaction here is indicative of his intelligence so much as his trauma.

The battle of Crait wasn't actually lost. It simply wasn't a total victory. And the reason wasn't Hux or his commands. It was Kylo Ren. Without Ren there, the First Order would have wiped the Resistance out.

Hux being found out as a spy was, I've always thought, at least partially because Finn shot him in the leg instead of the arm. You'd think an enemy would aim for the head or chest. The arm would have been a more believable miss location. But of course, it also happened because of Hux's choice to report the escape to Pryde himself instead of going to medbay and sending a subordinate. This one I can't find a good explanation for, except maybe that he thought he would seem more loyal if he went personally. (I like to think it was because he knew Pryde would shoot him, and he took advantage of that to fake his own death.)

I'm showing obvious bias here, but even I can admit Hux isn't flawless. He can make mistakes and succumb to emotions like any other human. I just believe, based on my understanding of canon, that not everything he did was a mistake. In fact, I'd argue that the majority of his failures were due to circumstances outside his control. It's tragic, like JJ intended.

Because of that, I think that cursed family line idea fits really well. Maybe Hux finds out about the curse just when he's on the verge of giving up, and it makes him try even harder out of spite. Could he break free of the curse? Or is he doomed, like every other Hux?

#star wars #general hux #armitage hux #meta #doomed by the narrative #my hux crisis

[the-viking-goddess]

This is super salty re: the 'New Jedi Order' film, so be warned. I have tried my absolute ALL to avoid even thinking about this announced forthcoming film and am desperately trying to pretend it doesn't exist with every fiber of my being. However, I've been letting in my TROS grief and anger a little bit recently (I mostly keep it boxed away but every now and then I have to let myself feel it a little bit) and it unfortunately got me thinking about this new film. And you know what? I hope it fucking bombs. I hope it is diabolical and crashes and burns at the box office. I don't have anything against Daisy Ridley or the potential team involved (the creative team) but I fucking despise DLF for what they did/allowed to happen with TROS and most specifically Ben Solo and the Skywalkers and I want them to SUFFER as much as possible for it. I want it to be obvious to them after this film loses eye-watering sums of money that killing Ben and just the absolute travesty of TROS was a mistake they can't sweep under the rug or come back from, not in this timeline with these same characters. I want the film to do terribly because, surprise, no Ben, no Skywalkers and the annihilation of Rey's character into a flat, empty OP superhero-cutout who stole Ben's life and identity is not an interesting character to build a new film around.

But of course, life isn't fair and I'm sure this film will make bank and a shit ton of people will see it because it's SW. But I can still HOPE. I mean hope is what it's all about, right? I hope this film is a travesty and is torn to pieces by everyone in every way possible.

And like... I'm trying to be mean and peppy and zingy about this and I meant it, but genuinely the idea that they'll make a new film off the back of TROS without Ben and after every knife in the heart that film delivered... and make money and do well? It actually makes me feel broken. It breaks my heart to think of a new film with 'Rey Skywalker' happily teaching kids with uncle Finn popping in (and ye gods if she has moved on romantically I will kill someone) like Ben never existed and the Skywalkers, Han and Leia didn't all suffer and die for nothing. It makes me FERAL with anger that the films and characters I loved are going to be desecrated even worse than before and this film will be a dance on the grave of everything that TFA and TLJ was.

Anywayyyyy, that's my rant and now I'm going back to trying to pretend it doesn't exist.

#ben solo #reylo #kylo ren #star wars negativity #tros salt #tros negativity #tros #tlj #tfa #rey #star wars #new jedi order #new jedi movie

[dormidoluna]

This is my trying to figure out SVSSS basic ages of Moshang and Bingqiu purely for a fanfic. Specifically a fanfic where LBH gets a family but also his mom’s a badass and she has a betting pool with the Southern and Northern demons about LBH’s and MBJ’s relationships.

Just imagine Su Xiyan having MBJ and LBH grow as siblings and then sicking TLJ onto them for romantic advice of demon courting rituals when they meet SQH and SQQ in the future. SXY just having a betting pool and betting it taking longer than 10 years for her kids to actually get married and not telling their human partners.

SXY adopting MBJ only after he’s returned to the demon realm and bullies TLJ in having the (current at the time) Mobei-Jun hand over his kid who is named Mo Xuebao. (Snow leopard basically, mbj was never named! creative liberty!)

MXB (pre SVSSS MBJ) looking at this human woman whose husband is wrapped around her finger, a HEAVENLY demon and lord at that.

“Always go for the men that seem weak but aren’t. Actually, I’ll find you a perfect sniveling, weak man but will kill if needed.”

Turns to LBH who just stares at his mom like. ‘??????’

“A-Binghe, we’ll see.”

cue in the future her meeting post qi deviation SQQ after waking up and going, Ah. He’s perfect for my cute son Binghe. Yes, you will do. SXY pushing her son to SQQ’s sect like. Yeah that one? That one is yours, make me proud.

Thinking about SXY being a transmigrator maybe? Not sure yet but just being SQH’s editor in the past life and this is her revenge for having to real with his rants + talks abt MBJ being his ideal man.

Anyway I just rambled mostly but I’m writing a Moshang fic, specifically SQH going feral and showing the demons that he is worthy of marrying MBJ.

It’s still (roughly) in the works but I’ve made a tumblr to talk about MXTX novels or just talk about my ideas.

#mxtx svsss #svsss au #svsss fic #svsss ideas #luo binghe #bingqiu #shen qingqiu #moshang #tianlang jun #su xiyan #scum villain self saving system

[frumfrumfroo]

TROS and its aftermath proved that Rian (and Carrie, since she also worked on the TLJ script) were the only ones working on the Sequel films who cared about Rey as a character and wanted her to both have a good character arc and stand on her own apart from being a fan insert for the legacy characters.

They're the only ones who even thought about her as a character. No one else asked any of the questions that should have been the absolute day one, blank page, first meeting questions to have about your alleged protagonist. I know I've ranted about it at length many times, but it still beggars belief. Not only did they not have answers, they didn't even ask the questions.

JJ has a history of not seeming to understand the concept of a character arc or the narrative needing to earn things, so maybe it's ultimately unsurprising this wasn't something DLF considered important, but I remain staggered by this level of basic incompetence.

#salt #a tros ity #rey #a protagonist shaped void filled with lineage wank