#anakin skywalker. not only a hero or a villain or just a man but also a murderer of children

[sylvies-chen]

I love the ballad of songbirds and snakes, don’t get me wrong. but the streets are comparing coriolanus snow to anakin skywalker and I just… somebody get me a gun! I need to buy a gun!

and listen, I totally get the idea behind it. they’re both young formerly promising men who spiralled downwards into violence and authoritarianism and, as a result, betrayed their best friends and the women they care for. on a basic level, they have some similarities. but again, it’s like… the most BASIC and SURFACE LEVEL comparison to make!

snow is not a fallen angel or tragic doomed hero. the entire point of the book + film was that he was always prone to thinking manipulatively, to being selfish, to being violent, to liking the system too much, to letting not just anger but genuine hatred inform his decisions. HE IS THE VILLAIN. and vader is a villain too— the most iconic villain of all time— but anakin is a whole other story, and coriolanus doesn’t hold a candle to anakin when you compare some deeper elements of their motivations.

first off, you only need to look at how they treat their ladies to understand what I’m saying. everyone loves the heartbreak of anakin and padme just as they love the heartbreak of lucy and snow, but that love for their tragic story seems to blind people to the absolute insanity that is snow’s thoughts about lucy. he lies to her, thinks she’s trying to kill him, her song doesn’t satisfy or please him, and in the books he even goes so far as to say she isn’t even that good looking??? anakin, on the other hand, delivers a minute-long monologue about how deeply in love he is with padme, how a single kiss from her haunts him, how he is willing to utterly devote himself to her and fulfil her every demand because there’s nothing else he can do. he expresses his love in a very immature way at times, but it is real and genuine. tbosas makes you question at times whether coriolanus really loves lucy, or whether just this idea of “taming” her seems appealing.

even their downward spirals are vastly different in nature. coriolanus snow becomes more paranoid in an attempt to maintain his image, in order to keep lucy under his spell. his ambitions are nuanced, not black and white by any means, but they are selfish. anakin’s spiral, though there’s no denying the horrific acts he commits, begins from a place of fear and love. he is so genuinely scared of losing his wife and his unborn children that he becomes susceptible to an outside force manipulating him towards the dark side. anakin also fulfils that element of the shakesperian tragic hero in that there’s this idea of potential that we see so present in him. he’s introduced as the one who would bring balance to the force, someone powerful beyond comprehension, a saviour of sorts. snow was never shown to have that level of promise. he was just a man who existed in a system and it is about him grappling with that system until eventually that disgusting fascist mindset takes over.

and lastly, of course, you can’t ever mention these two in tandem without remembering the fact that anakin did the right thing in the end! and coriolanus did not! luke fought to bring anakin back when vader had taken over for so many years, and in the end it paid off. anakin does the truly selfless thing in sacrificing himself to save luke. he lets love inform his decisions, as he once did before, only the fear is gone and so that love orients him towards good instead of darkness. anakin is a fallen angel, but he’s also a man who loved too much and didn’t know what to do with it. snow, comparatively, admits he isn’t above killing children and then laughs in the face of the masses he’s worked to oppress for over half a century right before his death.

anakin skywalker’s story is of the destruction and reconstruction of his good heart, of light, of balance, of love. it is cyclical, and it is tragic. coriolanus snow’s story is not. it is a story not of something sinister growing in an otherwise good heart, but a story of something sinister unravelling and revealing itself.

they are not the same.

[shanieveh]

hanie's masterlist !

— i write mostly various because i can never be loyal to one man for too long

— they all/almost include my faves except for part twos: kaveh, scaramouche, kaeya, alhaitham

— uhm me subcategory them or saying the men involved in these fics... is for another day im tired

— all of them are sfw please i repeat DONT request nsfw works i see you on asks even if anonymous. yes there's profanity or suggestive innuendos in my first smau but PLEASE i do not write those stuff and im VERY MUCH uncomfortable with people requesting them thankssss <3

works (genshin impact)—

rosemary dreams and sweet lullabies

— the comfort of sleep when he is beside you, the moment when you cared more about the reality of the moment rather than the dreams that come along with it

how you love the genshin men

— how you love them depending on their personality and if they liked you back (some didnt angst ensues but there is fluff i promise)

the day... the music died

— you died, their reaction (some gore? idk)

i like you so much, you'll know it pt. 1

—the things they do for love

im in love with you, and know you know pt. 2

— the things they do for love also just different characters i dont really care about.... but they are kinda cool so its OKAY

call me, "lover boy"

— courting you and what made you like them back

being the genshin men's first priority

— they forget everything and anything when you're in the picture. you are all that matters (did i write this during a mental breakdown when i realize how unimportant i am to everyone? yes)

dangerously yours

— wdym this is based on anakin skywalker?! it is. enemies to lovers, you're the hero and he is the villain

salut d'amour

— based on the love of elgar (the creator of salut d'amour) to his wife though not the same plot just that love and affection you feel during the piece

genshin men crushing on you

— self-explanatory. grown adult men pining over you, should be just kaveh but i got carried away and added them all because why not?

10 things i hate about you

— red flags of genshin men based on the poem from the same name (pls watch it) and how ur blind from all the signs (or u just pretend)

i was enchanted to meet you

— first meetings with them cute and wholesome i guess

haunted by the ghost of you

— all alone they still can't help but feel another presence, as memories barely buried resurfaced his mind, of a quieter time, of a simpler life.

karma is my boyfriend

— more crack than fluff fic about how the genshin men will obliterate those that dare hurt you like who would???

when im no longer young and beautiful

— growing old with them (personal fave)

crying in the genshin men' arms

— you cry, they comfort, fluff ensues

"who did this to you?"

— you're hurt and for some reason enemy!genshin men are concerned and doing everything to make you feel better

"forget me not" (neuvillette)

—fontaine is experiencing heavy typhoons and severe floods, and you might just be the reason why

please don't take my sunshine away...

—can't sleep? maybe a lullaby can help :)

to all the boys i've loved before

— you made a letter to your crush, he likes you back, chaos ensues in how he responsed

when you know, you know

— soulmates are a fantasy made by hopeless romantics, but as soon as he saw you he started to doubt that. he was in love.

"what letters?"

— he ghosted your letters is a sign he never loved you, and as you move on your life he comes back, only to tell you a shocking revelation.

"hey are you still there?" "good."

— only needed when everything goes wrong, when he's no longer in her arms. you felt used. but do you stop? never, he was worth it. (inspo by NIKI's song: backburner)

works (honkai star rail) —

the best thing that's ever been mine

— capturing the mind, the heart, the body and the soul of honkai star rail men

when you know, you know

— soulmates are a fantasy made by hopeless romantics, but as soon as he saw you he started to doubt that. he was in love.

[not-wholly-unheroic]

Captain Hook and Improving Disability Representation in Modern Media

Ask anyone on the street to name a canonically disabled character, and there are a few who immediately come to mind—Daredevil, Professor X, Bucky Barnes, Geordi La Forge, and both Anakin & Luke Skywalker just to name a few. Hook should also make that list but ironically, even though his very NAME suggests his disability, it’s easy to forget that he is, in fact, an amputee.

In part, I think this is because historically, it has been intentionally glossed over in many film and TV versions. He is almost never shown without the iron claw attached at the end of his arm, and even the subject isn’t spoken about much in film. For example, in Spielberg’s 1991 film, Hook, and in Fox’s Peter Pan and the Pirates (1990-1991) we see a few shots of Hook sleeping in his bed and yet still wearing his prosthetic. Likewise, no matter how many times Disney’s (1953) Hook gets his clothes shredded by the crocodile, we never see his injured arm fully laid bare. (In fact, in the few shots where his left shirt sleeve has been torn off, the hook seems to be almost physically unable to be separated from his body. The skin simply stops near the wrist and then we have the iron base of the claw with no sort of harness to actually keep it in place.) Even when Peter begins to tell the story of how he cut off Hook’s hand to the mermaids, he barely gets a few words in before the audience’s attention is purposefully redirected to the captain himself in all of his glorious villainy so we don’t get to thinking too much about the fact that the entire reason he has that hook to begin with is because our hero seriously injured him. We aren’t meant to think of Hook as much beyond the stereotypical “scary amputee villain” character because if we examine him too closely, we’ll start to humanize him and risk asking questions that the filmmakers aren’t prepared to answer. (How did the hand loss occur? Was it a fair fight? Who started it? How much should we sympathize with Hook? How much should we trust Peter?)

More recent visual media has, however, made some improvements in this area. In particular, I’d like to take a closer look at two very different (but equally important) portrayals of Hook that have occurred in the last few decades—Jason Isaacs’ Hook (from P.J. Hogan’s 2003 Peter Pan) and Disney’s more recent spin on the captain in Jake and the Neverland Pirates (2011-2016).

Isaacs’ Hook—arguably the most Barrie-like incarnation we’ve seen on film—is introduced to us in a way unlike any other. He’s not standing proud out on the deck barking orders at his crew or strolling through the forest in search of Pan’s hideout (though we certainly see those moments later). Instead, our first glimpse of the captain shows us who he is underneath all the silk and ceremony—a troubled man pained both mentally and physically by the loss of his hand.

Looking disheveled, he wakes from a dream about Pan and slowly raises the injured arm for the audience to see. It isn’t the nice, smooth stump one would expect to see if a surgeon had performed the operation. Instead, it looks as though the hand had been crudely cut away. The skin is uneven and scarred. And while we aren’t meant to pity Hook here—the man can clearly take care of himself—we are supposed to see his humanity and recognize that he has experienced trauma. Suddenly, he isn’t just a villain anymore—he’s a person who not only experienced immense physical pain when he lost his hand but continues to experience discomfort daily when he dons the leather harness that must be wrenched tightly into place to keep the claw secure during battle.

It’s a brief scene overall, lasting only a few minutes, but it adds a lot to his character and the story as a whole. His disability isn’t the main focus but it is openly and respectfully acknowledged. This version of Hook—intended for older children and adults—shows us the darker, more complicated parts of the Captain in a way that hits unsettlingly close to home. Suddenly, his intense responses to the crocodile (and ticking) seem less comical and more akin to the PTSD response one might expect from a soldier who lost a limb in wartime from an explosion hearing fireworks go off.

Another more recent take on Hook that does a good job of normalizing his status as an amputee character is Disney’s Jake and the Neverland Pirates series. While many adult Hook fans have complained about the series making the character too silly, I believe that for the intended audience (pre-school kids), it actually does a great job of showing that disability isn’t something to be feared or made fun of. Taking their target audience into consideration, Disney did a lot in the Jake series to tone down Hook’s scarier elements both in terms of his personality (more of a bully with self-esteem issues than a truly dangerous villain) and his physical appearance (He is visibly less angular with more rounded edges to everything from his facial structure to the claw itself). In an interview, Corey Burton even explained how he vocally changes up a few things between his “traditional” Disney Hook sound and the voice he uses for Hook in the show. He also mentions in one interview that some people were concerned that “a guy with a hook for a hand might be too scary” for little ones, but the series makes it seem so natural that it really doesn’t feel like a big deal. While in the original film, we only see Hook changing out the claw once (for a fancier golden hook), in the Jake series, it happens so frequently that there is literally an entire episode (“Captain Hook’s Hooks”) that is focused on all the different attachments he has and includes a fun song about them.

Although some of the “hooks” are rather outlandishly imaginative and altogether improbable if not impossible in real life, there are many that DO mimic actual modern prosthetic attachments (a hammer, for instance, or attachments that allow for recreational activities like sports or fishing). In fact, the captain’s set of hooks are made out to be so interesting and fun that Disney Jr. actually had an online game called, “Ready, Set, Hook,” where the player had to help Hook and Smee choose the right prosthetic attachment to complete a set of challenges. What’s more, they even released a set of toy “hooks” for children so they could pretend to be the one-handed captain himself!

Jake’s version of Hook may not be the intimidating character we have come to expect, but he’s a likable guy with a cool set of hooks who bridges the gap in explaining physical disability and prostheses to young children. In the show, Hook doesn’t feel “other” for missing a hand; rather, switching out prosthetic attachments are so much a part of who he is that nobody thinks twice about it.

Overall, Hook has come a long way in terms of disability representation on-screen, and I hope we continue to see more of it in future productions.

[themattress]

A NUANCED LOOK AT THE SEQUEL TRILOGY’S CONNECTIVE TISSUE.

A post brought about by my recent rewatch.

People always bitch about the bad part of this subject given Disney/Lucasfilm’s lack of a solid visionary plan and the trilogy being tossed between different directors with different styles. But what about the good? Because a lot of good still managed to come through despite this.

........Ah, fuck it. Let’s just get the bad out of the way first.

THE BAD:

Finn - If there’s one character that everyone down to the actor himself agreed was screwed over in the Sequel Trilogy, it was poor Finn. He was a huge part of The Force Awakens, and even if the marketing making him look like the new central Jedi character was a lie to hide that it was actually Rey, the film foreshadowed him as Force-sensitive which meant he could still become a Jedi by the end of the trilogy. Instead, his importance was drastically reduced in The Last Jedi, he was treated more as comic relief than a leading man, certain scenes that could have set up a good arc in the last film where he leads a Stormtrooper rebellion were axed, and nothing was done to further explore his Force sensitivity. In The Rise of Skywalker, his Force sensitivity is confirmed but not explored or even told to Rey, and out of all the main characters his arc is the smallest and least consequential-feeling in spite of him playing a pivotal role in the final battle. In many ways, it feels like Poe ended up usurping Finn’s originally intended role, which is ironic since Poe was originally supposed to die after Finn busted him out and they crash-landed on Jakkuu, his last act being to eject Finn to safety. The character was meant to be a springboard for Finn, but it went the other way around.

Maz Kanata - She was introduced in The Force Awakens as a Mystery Box of a character, living for thousands of years and running a space cantina while dealing in less-than-legal activities, but also attuned to the Force and very wise about the cycle of imbalance it’s been through, and having personal connections to Han and Leia. Despite how intriguing the character was, absolutely nothing was done with her in the following two movies. We never learn any more about her, nor does she do much for the plot beyond helping in an ill-fated space mission in The Last Jedi and providing Leia-based exposition in The Rise of Skywalker to run interference for Carrie Fisher’s death. Oh well, there’s always the expanded universe...

Anakin’s lightsaber - Speaking of Maz, how did she recover Anakin’s old lightsaber, which was lost along with Luke’s hand in Cloud City? “A good question - for another time”; another time which never comes in the movies. And that’s not the only issue this damn thing has - it’s also used for the fake-out of Finn as the main Jedi hero only to say “Psyche! It’s Rey!”, it’s used for the notorious cliffhanger ending to The Force Awakens and the even more notorious follow-up of Luke tossing it over his shoulder in The Last Jedi, it’s used for Rey to unfairly best Luke in combat when they were fighting with staffs, it’s used to kill Snoke with, it’s used for awkward archive footage of Carrie Fisher twice, and it’s used for a controversial callback where Luke catches it and says “a Jedi’s weapon deserves more respect”. I agree; it does.

General Hux - He has a solid set-up as an antagonist in The Force Awakens, then when he takes his villainy further in The Last Jedi we get more development of his obvious animosity toward Kylo Ren which might lead up to him betraying him. But when he finally does in The Rise of Skywalker, it’s “I’m the spy!”, then about a minute later Bam! Dead. While some of this is The Last Jedi’s fault for using him for broad comedy too often which neutered any menace he might have once had and that naturally made using him as a major villain in the final film feel ill-advised, he still could have accomplished a lot more then he ultimately did.

Captain Phasma - Even Hux had it better than Phasma, who appeared early into The Force Awakens, then disappeared until one largely comedic scene near the end, then resurfaced in The Last Jedi’s third act only to be killed off...and in the much less climactic way compared to another version that was shot. Geez, why hype up this character yet do so little with her!?

Vice Admiral Holdo - While new characters be in every Star Wars movie with some of them being one-offs, Holdo is a case where making her a one-off feels like a grave mistake. The character is introduced out of nowhere in The Last Jedi as someone who’s been with the Resistance the whole time and has a deep history with Leia, yet we have never seen her before and her appearance makes her someone it would be hard to miss in a crowd. Then she makes herself as frustrating to the audience as possible, fucks up and then redeems herself by sacrificing her life in a blaze of glory. That sacrifice is designed to make us feel something, but we hardly know nor like Holdo so it falls flat. In retrospect, I think Admiral Ackbar should have stuck around long enough to make the sacrifice play and Holdo ascended to Admiral rank which she would carry forward into The Rise of Skywalker. We then could see her develop more and get to like her more, and she could do a lot of heavy lifting needed due to Carrie Fisher’s passing. The Holdo Maneuver was awesome, but Holdo being the one to perform it and die in the process, all her potential left untapped, was not.

Canto Bight - If we had to be put through this God-forsaken casino planet in The Last Jedi, at least make it mean something in the end! Let the fathiers be the ground team’s mounts in the final battle of The Rise of Skywalker, let Canto Bight be the planet that funded the Final Order’s creation, bring in the broom boy to do something instrumental, have fucking DJ return and do something instrumental, anything! Because otherwise, what was even the point?

OK, now for the good!

THE GOOD:

Kylo Ren - I have zero complaints as to how Kylo Ren was handled in this trilogy. I frankly don’t care that we never saw how Ben Solo was corrupted or got all the details behind his mindset spelled out to us; the character we saw on screen went through a perfectly natural progression that lived up to the initial pitch of “Darth Vader in reverse”: from conflicted and vulnerable to self-assured and ruthless to “killed” and reborn as a heroic Jedi who deals with his mother’s death in a positive way and is able to save the woman he loves through pure selflessness. Adam Driver’s performance helps sell it all as a grand, cohesive character arc.

Rey - And I’m talking specifically about Rey’s character. Her personality. This is something that Daisy Ridley carried across all three films; I was always interested in Rey and liked her and wanted to see what she would do and how she would overcome the challenges placed in her way. If she’s the start of a new Jedi Order, then the galaxy is absolutely in good hands.

Rey’s heritage - Yes, I’m going there. I think the films as a whole actually tell a good story about Rey discovering her heritage. She’s uncertain about it in the first act and wants to believe her parents were exceptional people who had a good reason for abandoning her on Jakkuu, then in the second act she comes to grips with the fact that they weren’t and for all she knew just sold her off for drinking money but that’s fine because she’s found a new family to belong in now, and in the final act she learns that her parents did love her and abandoned her for her own protection from her grandfather, who is exceptional in the worst possible way and at direct odds with the new family she has found. In the end, Rey defeats her grandfather and embraces the name and purpose of her found family, because that’s the family her spirit connects with in spite of her blood. It’s a beautiful message that deserves more appreciation. 

Rey’s power - Again, I’m going there. The explanation that she is so powerful in the Force so naturally because she’s part of a Dyad in the Force with Kylo Ren due to them being the grandchildren of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader makes perfect sense when you consider the depth of the relationship between Palpatine and Vader and how instrumental that relationship is to the entire Skywalker Saga. Oh yeah, and speaking of that Dyad...

The Dyad - Everything about this concept is fascinating and portrayed superbly. From Kylo Ren sensing something special about Rey immediately, Rey seeing Kylo Ren in her vision before meeting him, and Rey reversing Kylo’s Force probe on her mind back at him before defeating him in lightsaber combat in The Force Awakens to the Force-based conversations from entirely different locations which culminates in them touching from that distance in The Last Jedi to fighting through the Force from different locations and even passing objects back and forth between one another through the Force and Ben giving all his life force to Rey in order to resurrect her in The Rise of Skywalker, this was an awesomely executed plot point.

Han Solo - Given Harrison Ford’s notorious dislike of Star Wars and the character he played in it, it’s something of a shock that he ended up as the best utilized old character in the Sequel Trilogy. His role and development in The Force Awakens is perfect and although he dies by the end in a failed attempt to turn his son back to the Light, this death is never forgotten and reverberates across the rest of the trilogy, culminating when he appears as a Leia-induced memory that completes his son’s turn to the Light in The Rise of Skywalker.

Snoke - Yeah, I’m kind of surprised too. But Snoke ending up being a literal bad clone of Palpatine who is the puppet he uses to lead the First Order and manipulate Ben Solo through makes his whole character kind of genius. When he is introduced in The Force Awakens, the musical motif from “the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise” from Revenge of the Sith plays, which led many to suspect Snoke of being Darth Plagueis back in the day. But now that the trilogy is completed, its meaning is more clear: that scene was actually about establishing Palpatine’s knowledge of ways to use the Dark Side of the Force to cheat death, and Snoke is a direct product of that knowledge being put to use. Then there’s the fact that Snoke is so much like Palpatine: from the hatred of everything Light, Jedi and Skywalker, to his throne room adorned with crimson-clad guards, to his decrepit appearance, to his use of Force Lightning, to him attempting the exact same gambit in The Last Jedi that Palpatine did in Return of the Jedi. Everything about Snoke now feels like foreshadowing that Palpatine is pulling the strings from the shadows, which honestly makes Snoke a stronger character for it.

Ach-To - This place features in all three movies, and it’s great. Not much else to say, really.

The Battle of Crait - For all of The Last Jedi’s milling around, its conclusion ends up being highly impactful. Kylo Ren is now Supreme Leader of the First Order and on the verge of wiping out the Resistance, who have sent out a signal for help but no-one in the galaxy answers. Then Luke Skywalker, the Legend, appears to face Kylo Ren in a duel. They fight, only for Luke to disappear like magic in the end after he’s bought the Resistance enough time to escape. The story of this battle spreads like wildfire across the galaxy and in The Rise of Skywalker, despite Poe’s fears and doubts, when the Resistance calls for aid in a climactic battle again, this time the galaxy answers the call. It’s a dramatic pay-off not just to a situation in this trilogy, but from the observation by young Anakin in The Phantom Menace that the galaxy’s biggest problem is that not enough people help one another. Well, they do now.

Lastly, things I’m half-and-half on.

THE IN-BETWEEN:

Poe Dameron - Aside from stealing Finn’s originally planned position as the leading man on the side of the Resistance, Poe’s character changes in every movie. He’s an admirable, upstanding guy in The Force Awakens, then a hot-headed, reckless and paranoid moron in The Last Jedi who has to learn how to be more admirable and upstanding, then a frequently angry guy struggling under the weight of leadership and embarrassment of his criminal past in The Rise of Skywalker. Even Oscar Isaac soured on Poe by the end, feeling maybe he should have stayed dead in the first film! But with that said, I feel that the screenwriters’ dialogue and Isaac’s performance helps keep a consistent likability to Poe even when he’s at his worst, and there is at least a semblance of a consistent character arc of becoming Leia’s successor as the Resistance’s leader. He could’ve been better, but he could’ve been worse.

Rose Tico - On the one hand, I am perfectly fine with her reduced role in The Rise of Skywalker compared to The Last Jedi; given the circumstances of the story it makes perfect sense that a character we only met in the previous film takes more of a back seat in the Skywalker Saga’s finale. But on the other hand, the bad editing on the film cutting her role down that much (approx. 2 minutes of screentime in an over 2 hour film) is unforgivable, especially considering the harassment that Kelly Marie Tran received from “fans” in real life.

Luke Skywalker - Once it got going, Luke’s character arc in The Last Jedi was amazing, and his contributions as a Force Ghost in The Rise of Skywalker were pivotal to its conclusion. However, early into The Last Jedi he was depicted as way too much of a grouchy asshole for my liking, which didn’t match how he looked when we saw him at the end of The Force Awakens. Even if Luke had depression and given up everything, I just can’t see him being so rude and hostile toward a perfectly nice young girl he just met who only wants to help. Rian Johnson could have stood to listen to Mark Hamill’s concerns more, it would have helped.

Leia Organa - Leia was infamously meant to be “the key role” in this trilogy, particularly in Episode IX. And she does play a major role, completing Rey’s Jedi training (with Rey also completing Leia’s as a result), sacrificing her life to save Rey and bring about her son’s redemption, and helping Rey from beyond the grave through both her spirit and her lightsaber. However, she does all this with limited time on screen, because Carrie Fisher passed away before The Rise of Skywalker could be filmed and they were stuck relying on archive footage and body doubles. And before this, Leia was honestly pretty underwhelming in the movies where Carrie Fisher was actually alive and playing her, especially in The Last Jedi where after a narm-tastic moment where she floats through space like Mary Poppins, she is put into a coma for a good portion of the movie and does little but shoot Poe and have an emotional reunion with Luke after waking up. I don’t get it - giving Leia and Carrie Fisher a major role was a huge goal for Kathleen Kennedy, yet she didn’t allow her to be utilized as much as possible when alive and on set. It just can’t help but feeling as though the character and her actress got screwed over one last time, just as they often were in the Original Trilogy.

The other old characters - Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, Lando Calrissian, Admiral Ackbar, Wicket the Ewok, the Force Ghost of Yoda, the helmet of Darth Vader...all of them were fine. Sometimes there were issues, like Chewie and Threepio being relegated to pure comic relief filler in The Last Jedi, Ackbar being unceremoniously killed off in the same movie, and Lando’s screentime being cut short in editing while also losing the firm confirmation of Jannah being his daughter in The Rise of Skywalker, but otherwise there was nothing offensive here.

Emperor Palpatine - I love that Palpatine was brought back as the mastermind behind everything and the Final Boss of the trilogy and Skywalker Saga; it made the most sense and you will never get me to budge on this. However, the execution of his return was admittedly ridiculous. The Dead Speak! Palpatine sent out a broadcast to the galaxy that we never hear! Less than two minutes after the opening crawl and we see him! No explanation is provided as to how he’s alive! Somehow Palpatine returned! It’s both way too much and way too little, and all in such a short amount of time. Plus, we could have used a little more solid foreshadowing beyond just Snoke that Palpatine was at large in the previous two movies; it really would’ve gone a long way. Aside from this, Palpatine’s presence as the Big Bad is most welcome.

The Knights of Ren - They’re purely perfunctory; I’ve got no strong emotions toward them either way, though I wish we had some of them in The Last Jedi for consistency’s sake.

That Force vision - The vision Rey receives when touching Anakin’s lightsaber in The Force Awakens is a pure Mystery Box style scene from J.J Abrams, not really meaning anything. With hindsight, though, you can easily read meaning into it: Rey being told by the Jedi who have joined with the Force that she is key to saving the galaxy (”These are your first steps”), Rey getting her first hint of being part of a Dyad with Kylo Ren, and Rey’s parents leaving her being related to something important about her lineage. So in that light, it’s pretty damn cool.

The Resistance vs. the First Order - My biggest mixed feeling on the whole trilogy is its primary conflict. Doing such a direct rehash of the Rebellion vs. the Empire from the Original Trilogy is just so lazy, and the lack of advancements in many of the characters, technology and situation in the galaxy makes Return of the Jedi almost feel like it was all for nothing. However, there are just enough new factors to still make it an interesting conflict I want to see through to its conclusion, and it really pays off in side material such as books, comics and Disney theme parks. So I ultimately like it, but wish that it could’ve done somewhat fresher.

[twistedtummies2]

Good & Evil - Fallen Heroes

Welcome to Good & Evil: A Study of Heroes & Villains. I’m discussing different forms of heroic and villainous characters, different types of protagonists and antagonists, and providing examples of them each from various sources. Last time I discussed Redeemed and Redeemable Villains: bad guys who become good. Today, it seems fitting I go the opposite direction, as we discuss the mirror image of such characters: Fallen Heroes. “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” Trite, but often sadly true. Fallen Heroes are exactly what they sound like: they are good characters who turn bad. Now, Fallen Heroes are not necessarily the same as Tragic Heroes, although the two are not mutually exclusive, either. Tragic Heroes are heroes who fail or are bombarded by the horrors of life itself; the titular character of the Greek play “Oedipus Rex” never actually becomes a villain, he simply suffers because of the cruel ironies of destiny. Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman” is much the same: while he’s certainly come down in the world due to various things, it’s hard to say he becomes the villain so much as he simply suffers and falters because of a mixture of changing times and his own poor decisions. These characters certainly are tragic, but they are not characters who proverbially “fall from grace.” Those are the types of characters we’re discussing here.

We might as well start off this explanation with the character everybody (including me) quotes when it comes to this archetype: Two-Face from DC Comics. In the mainstream comics, as well as most screen and video game adaptations, Two-Face’s origin has always been tragic, and it’s fairly simple to explain. Once upon a time, this deranged gruesome was the well-meaning District Attorney of Gotham City, Harvey Dent. Dent was a champion of the people, beloved not only for his good looks, but his staunch and stalwart crusade against organized crime in Gotham. Unfortunately, all that changed when an encounter with such criminals led to Harvey’s face (and sometimes his whole body) ending up horribly mutilated, with one side of his skull horrifically scarred. In some versions, the experience itself was enough to make Harvey crack; in others, he was already struggling with inner demons and this was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. Regardless, the end result is the same: Harvey becomes the demented Two-Face, a villainous gangster obsessed with duality and with his own warped sense of justice. Virtually every twist on Two-Face worth their salt keeps this basic setup, and for good reason: not only does it make him a more personal threat for the Dark Knight, as in many continuities Bruce and Harvey were once good friends, but it also brings a sense of sad pathos to Two-Face, as we recognize he once used to be a good man, and that goodness is still buried somewhere deep inside of him. At times that inner goodness finds a way to shine through…but nine times out of ten, almost inevitably, Harvey’s evil alter-ego finds a way to rear his ugly head again.

Another famous example is Darth Vader, from the Star Wars saga. Ignoring how well one believes Anakin Skywalker’s actual evolution from Jedi to Sith Lord plays out, the point remains that his story is a tragic and classic example. Anakin starts off as a young boy with an unusually precocious and perceptive personality, and those who rear him up believe he is destined for good and glorious things. Unfortunately, a mangled mixture of various negative influences causes Anakin’s supposed destiny to go awry: he loses people close to him, forms attachments with people who prove to be evil counsel to him, and becomes much too prideful and envious for his own good. His yearning for power and his desire for respect mesh dangerously with his longing to help those he cares for most, and as a result, he becomes twisted to the dark side, and becomes one of the galaxy’s most formidable threats. Even if you don’t know the whole story of how Anakin became Darth Vader, the simple fact he was - the idea of a respected Jedi Knight, admired and loved by his comrades, becoming one of the most evil and corrupt beings in the universe - is a powerful and poignant concept, and a big part of what makes Vader such an iconic character.

Tai Lung from Kung Fu Panda is another excellent example of this idea. He is not so different from Vader, as it is a mixture of pride, envy, and broken relationships that leads him on his descent into darkness. Once upon a time, Tai Lung was seen as the hero of the Valley of Peace: he was Shifu’s finest student, as well as his adoptive son, and everybody - including Tai Lung - presumed that he would one day be made into the legendary Dragon Warrior. Unfortunately, the Grandmaster claims to see darkness in Tai Lung’s heart, and denies the snow leopard what he believes is basically his birthright. The proud warrior goes berserk, and proceeds to attack the very people he was sworn to protect, vowing vengeance upon those he believes have betrayed him and made a mockery of all his hard work. While Tai Lung’s rage is understandable, and his fall from grace is tragic, there is no denying he has become quite the monster.

Not all Fallen Heroes become monsters of their own volition, however. Take, for example, Rinzler: the secondary antagonist of Tron: Legacy. “Legacy” is the sequel to the cult-classic 1980s movie “Tron,” which focused on the adventures of a warrior named Tron and his allies facing the empirical MCP and his own villainous underlings in a computerized innerworld. In “Legacy,” a new villain has taken over the computer world - CLU - and Rinzler is his primary henchman. Rinzler is a mute and faceless being of darkness; a literal killing machine with no purpose but to obey CLU and derez anybody he is ordered to terminate. He is a terrifying and seemingly inhuman creature, one of the scariest parts of the film…and he is later revealed to be the heroic Tron, himself, from the previous movie. It turns out that CLU brainwashed Tron to prevent him from causing trouble, thus transforming him into the murderous monster that now serves CLU. Tron is not at fault for his fall from grace, but there can be no erasing the evil he has done at his new employer’s behest.

While all Fallen Heroes are heroes who go bad, believe it or not, not all of them are necessarily villains. One of the oldest and best examples of this is Shakespeare’s titular protagonist in “Othello.” The villain of the play is the deceitful and treacherous Iago, who organizes Othello’s fall and tragedy. At the start of the story, Othello is a highly-respected soldier, and his life is seemingly perfect. His best friend is his second-in-command, his comrades admire him, he has few enemies that concern him…it seems as close to ideal as most people can get their lives to be. Unfortunately, Iago preys upon the one weakness that Othello seems to have: Othello is a very emotional fellow, and due to his singular nature as a Moor in the city, somewhat insecure. By the end of the story, Iago’s machinations have led to Othello going absolutely insane. The once noble hero murders his own wife and causes despair for his best friend before finally committing suicide, unable to live with his shame and grief. In my previous entry, I mentioned how Redeemed Villains will sometimes have what is dubbed a “Heel-Face Turn,” flipping rather suddenly from villain to hero towards the end of the tale. Othello, in a way, is that kind of character in reverse: through most of the play, we sympathize with Othello and see him as a good man being persecuted by an evil man. When Othello commits his climactic depravities, however, we recognize - as everyone does - that the goodness in him has soured, and no amount of regret can change what he has become. These forms of the Fallen Hero straddle a fine line between the hapless Tragic Hero and those who truly turn to the dark side, making them all the more fascinating.

Fallen Heroes, much like Sympathetic Villains and Anti-Villains, are characters who act essentially as cautionary tales for the audience. They are not simply characters we understand and feel sorry for, but characters who we recognize either are or were highly admirable and wonderful people. They represented, as all Heroes do, the best qualities we could hope to achieve and live up to as human beings. Unfortunately, like human beings, even Heroes have their problems, and when the stresses prove too great, it becomes clear that even the best people can turn to the proverbial dark side if they lack the self-control and self-awareness to prevent that from happening. Fallen Heroes remind us that just as there is good in everybody, there is also evil. If a good person either becomes too sure of their own strength, or shows too much vulnerability at the wrong time, or even a bit of both, they can become even more dangerous than the very evils they sought to fight against. History has shown us, just as fiction has, that this is more common than we would like to believe. There is a cynicism inherent in the idea of the Fallen Hero, and it is perhaps best exemplified in the following quote: “You can’t trust anyone. ESPECIALLY your heroes.”

[oceanmusings]

Fandoms

I'm pretty chill when it comes to roleplays, some days I can't plot or be able to reply, but eventually I will respond to you!

If you want the same love interest as me we can instead just do like AU type universe instead, if you really don't want to I can find a different Love Interest (but some fandom's I won't be flexible)

the amount of ♥ is how much I am interested on rping it.

♥ - 1 (not interested)

♥ - 5 (absolutely would)

-cinema-

Marvel Universe | ♥♥♥

Status - watched most of the shows and movies, working on netflix shows (currently on "Jessica Jones, season 2") (9/23)

Notes - Won't write for any of the protagonist, this doesn't include the anti-heros. And I won't write for Yelena romantically, since she is aroace. Only platonically.

Claimed - Tom!Peter Parker, Michelle "MJ" Jones-Watson :: paired with Charlotte "Charlie" D'Angelo (fc, vaness marano) || Andrew!Peter Parker :: paired with Charlotte "Lottie" D'Angelo (fc, emmy rossum)

Star Wars | ♥

Status - Watched all the movies, The Mandalorian, Kenobi, and Andor. I haven't watched the clone wars or played all the games, so my knowledge is limited.

Notes - Won't write for villains, like Darth Vader (not Anakin)

Claimed - Rey Skywalker :: paired with unknown || Cassian Andor :: 0aired with Addimaev Carric (fc, daniella pineda) || Obi-wan Kenobi :: paired with unknown

Harry Potter | ♥♥♥♥

Status - read all the books and movies (except for the last fantastic beast movie, I refuse for obvious reasons)

Notes - I don't condone anything JK or some of the actors have done. I will shit talk and make this fandom my own and anything we do for the rp that will piss of JK is okay for me. But also I refuse to write Severus Snape, Voldemort, or Barty Crouch. Mainly any Death Eaters (Draco doesn't count since I like giving him a redemption arc and believe his dad forced him)

Claimed - George Weasley :: paired with Anna Diggory (fc, liza weil) || Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter :: paired with Karina Carter (fc, zendaya) || Fleur Delacour :: paired with Athena Owens (fc, jenny walser)

Marauders Era | ♥♥♥

Status - Gimmie all the headcanons, I will accept anything.

Notes - I won't write for Peter, mainly cause I just don't know him. IF you really want me to, send me things you like about him (like headcanons, fanfic, tiktok's) to help me get his vibe.

Claimed - Remus Lupin :: paired with Devyn Edwards (fc, eliza scanlen) || Sirius Black :: paired with Reese Sudsworth (fc, joseph quinn) || James Potter :: paired with Ava-Rose Wyatt (fc, holland roden)

-tv-

Daisy Jones and the Six | ♥♥♥

Status - Completed both the book and the show!

Notes - I will write for anyone

Claimed - Karen Sirko or Graham Dunne :: paired with Talia Montgomery (fc, zooey deschanel) || Daisy Jones :: paired with Andrew "Andy" Foster (fc, billy crudup)

Shadow and Bone Series | ♥♥

Status - Completed the show, read the Shadow and Bone books and the first Six of Crows book.

Claimed - Nikolai Lantsov :: paired with Elisa Volkov (fc, mathilde ollivier) || Genya Safin :: paired with Stafford Lantsov (fc, harrison osterfield)

Gilmore Girls | ♥♥♥♥

Status - Completed a thousand times, I technically have never seen the last season tho.

Notes - I'll write anyone.

Claimed - Paris Geller :: paired with Eloise Gilmore (fc, talia ryder) || Jess Mariano :: paired with unknown

Switched at Birth | ♥

Status - Currently on season 4 (9/23)

Notes - Will not write for John Kennish

Claimed - Tobey Kennish :: paired with Cora Shepard (fc, hayley williams) || Kathryn Kennish :: paired with Adalia Parker (fc, holly marie combs)

Charmed | ♥

Status - Have watched the originally many times, I haven't read the comics or watched the reboot.

Notes - n/a

Claimed - Paige Matthews :: paired with unknown

X-Files | ♥

Status - Currently on season 7 (9/23), and have never seen the movies either.

Notes - Will not write any antagonist (like the smoking man)

Claimed - Dana Scully :: paired with unknown || Fox Mulder :: paired with unknown

Teen Wolf | ♥

Status - Have finished the show to the point Stiles and Scott leave, wont go any further. (I trust Kai's judgment)

Notes - Won't write for Peter.

Claimed - Allison Argent :: paired with Adam Dorian (fc, milo ventimiglia) || Lydia Martin :: paired with Avery Primula (fc, sarah ramos) || Derek Hale :: paired with Sadie Price (fc, meghan ory)

Stranger Things | ♥♥♥♥♥

Status - Have watched all the seasons many times. Currently reading the books!

Notes - I won't write for Billy

Claimed - Robin Buckley :: paired with Daisy Hopper (fc, florence pugh) || Steve Harrington :: paired with Paige Evans (fc, kate hudson) || Robin Buckley :: paired with Vivianne Owens (fc, talia ryder) || Will Byers :: paired with Francis Levin (fc, aiden gallagher)

Supernatural | ♥♥♥♥♥

Status - Completed, have not watched "The Winchesters" (9/23)

Notes - n/a

Claimed - Dean Winchester, Charlie Bradbury :: paired with Lori Holt (fc, krysten ritter) || Sam Winchester, Castiel :: paired with Virginia "Gigi" Rivers (fc, alyssa marano) || Bela Talbot :: paired with Beau Rivers (fc, colin o'donoghue)

The Walking Dead | ♥♥♥♥

Status - Currently on season 8 (9/23)

Notes - Won't write for Negan or Merle

Claimed - Michoone Hawthorne, Daryl Dixon :: paired with Jennifer "JD" Moore (fc, jodie comer)

Criminal Minds | ♥♥♥♥♥

Status - Currently on season 14 (9/23)

Notes - n/a

Claimed - Spencer Reid :: paired with Arwen Valentine (fc, imogen poots) || Emily Prentiss :: paired with Michaela "Mika" Briggs (fc, tatiana maslany) || Any :: paired with Dana Hart (fc, deborah ann woll)

-literature-

Percy Jackson | ♥

Status - Currently on House of Hades (9/23)

Notes - Won't write for Luke

Claimed - Percy Jackson :: paired with Arely Wesseck (fc, natalia dyer)

The Raven Cycle | ♥

Status - Completed. Have not read Call Down The Hawk. (4/23)

Notes - n/a

Claimed - Richard Gansey, Blue Sargent :: paired with unknown

The Diviners Series | ♥

Status - Currently on The King of Crows (4/23)

Notes - Will not write for Jake Marlowe.

Claimed - Mempis Campbell :: paired with unknown || Sam Lloyd :: paired with unknown

-video games-

Detroit: Become Human | ♥♥♥

Status - Completed most endings.

Notes - Will not write Richard Perkins.

Claimed - Connor RK800, Markus RK200 :: paired with Alizarin Morgan (fc, suzy berhow)

Heavy Rain | ♥♥

Status - Completed, have seen 2 endings.

Notes - Will not write Scott Shelby

Claimed - Norman Jayden :: paired with unknown

Life Is Strange | ♥♥♥

Status - Completed, have seen both endings.

Notes - I have only played Life Is Strange and Life Is Strange Before The Storm. I also won't write for David.

Claimed - Chloe Price :: paired with unknown

Red Dead Redemption | ♥♥♥♥♥

Status - Completed both games. Only seen high honor.

Notes - I won't write for Micah Bell, Bill Williamson, and Hosea Matthews.

Claimed - Arthur Morgan :: paired with Emmaline Nielson (fc, jessica brown findlay) || Sadie Adler :: paired with Delilah Matthews (fc, rosamund pike)

The Last of Us | ♥♥♥♥♥

Status - Completed both games and show!

Notes - I will not tolerate Abby slander

Claimed - Joel Miller :: paired with Fiona Kelley (fc, molly parker) || Abigail "Abby" Anderson :: Camilla Miller (fc, unknown)

-anime-

Fruits Basket | ♥♥♥♥

Status - Completed the reboot

Notes - N/A

Claimed - Sohma Yuki or Hanajima Saki :: paired with Tamaki Sayuri (fc, rinka urushiba)

Cowboy Bebop | ♥

Status - Completed both the show and live action

Notes - N/A

Claimed - Spike Spiegel or Faye Valentine :: paired with unknown

Spy X Family | ♥♥♥

Status - Watched up to season 2!

Notes - Willing to do just 1x1

Claimed - Yor Forger :: paired with unknown

[crowsandmurder]

[Continued from HERE -- > @multistoty​ ]

Anakin was a man of great emotion clouding every part of him which translated deeply in the love with which he bestowed upon her. Padme had thought she had read enough stories in low lights of what it would feel like to be adored by a man. She had penned her own dreams of what being consumed by the sun that was Anakin Skywalker would feel like though nothing prepared her for feeling of his fingers against her ivory skin and the power he held. She had never been apart of the Jedi fan club, but there was something about worshiping at the altar of the man in front of her. His gentleness had surprised her in the beginning. There seemed to be nothing that could disrupt his view of her. Her self conscious thoughts had originally imagined that once the mystery and forbidden part of their love was breached Anakin would get bored of her. Instead, padme was held close like this in the strength of his arms uncaring about the unnatural angle of her body to lean closer to his chest. His height always dwarfed hers enough that she had to make deliberate effort to hold his gaze. There was no joy like this in her time on this earth. He was glorious in all things and made her smile as well as shiver. There were ghosts haunting his past that was clear. If she was to be the avenger sending them back from where they had come, the former queen would take pride in doing it. Anakin deserved everything that was good in the world. Behind that smug facade of his, there almost seemed surprise that her adoration was so deep which had been added to her vow of forever. If her lips had to speak the words and her body say what words couldn't, the woman would do exactly what was necessary to ensure the beautiful soul of her husband could bask in his own worthiness.  Emotion clouded her coffee stained eyes with the sparkle of joy no doubt breaking through that feeling of force he always seemed in tune with. The smile almost hurt at the treasured nature of such a sentiment. He deserved to feel calm and safe just as she did when he was near. There was nothing for the shorter of the pair to fear in his orbit. Anakin was a righteous fighter and he also chased away the remnants of her nightmares."Oh- Ani, that's all I ever want. To make you feel as you have made me for years now.  The safety that practically covers me like a blanket whenever your near. There is no turmoil here with us. No villains and heroes. It means the world to me that I could offer you even a piece of what you deserve."

Anakin loved when they had time to just disappear away from the world, to just not worry about anything but each other. She was his biggest source of comfort and safety. She got him through the times when they couldn’t be together.  The thought of coming home to her, always kept him going.  He loved her so deeply. He’d loved her since he was nine years old.  He still remembered the first time she had told him she loved him and he’d never wanted to be apart from her since.  She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known, and no matter if she was in nothing at all but his arms or dressed in one of those complicated gowns with those mysteries that she called hairstyles, he found her beautiful and could practically fall to his knees, in awe of her.

He was almost obsessed with her safety, out of fear of always wanted to keep her safe.  He could not live without her.  He wouldn’t want to live in a world where she was not.  They had disappeared to the lake house in Naboo and it was one of his favorite places. They had truly fallen in love here, they had married here. There was no war, no politicians, no conflict. The only Jedi here was him, and he didn’t wear his robes, when they were here. His lightsaber was where he could summon it, if he needed it, but it was just them, and their love.  It was all that mattered.

His nightmares had been getting too close again and she’d suggested it and he had slept peacefully, mostly just laying with her, since they woke up.  He hadn’t moved much, idly running his fingers through her hair.  Pressing a kiss to her shoulder, he smiled at her.  

“With you, I don’t feel like something is trying to get me, trying to get me to change my loyalty, preying on my weaknesses. I worry about my emotions, Padme.  Can we stay here forever, where it’s just us and none of that?” 

[shadowmaat]

Tainted love

I’ve been reading a really fun series, but there’s a recurring element that just... doesn’t sit well with me. The main villain is a man so obsessed with a woman (who doesn’t love him back) that he’s not only willing to kill people to try and “save” her, but will also destroy time itself just for the chance to be with her.

A secondary villain is likewise obsessed with someone who doesn’t love them. She, too, will kill people (specifically the woman she thinks stands in her way), will betray all her friends, and will destroy the timeline to get what she wants. She’ll also kill people and destroy treasured possessions just to spite the woman who got the man she thought of as hers.

A throw-away plot villain was so enraged to learn his wife cheated on him with his brother that he set fire to his own house in an attempt to either burn her and her (illegitimate) child or to wait by the exit to kill them there. And naturally he tried to kill his brother, too.

A hero became so overwrought after losing the woman he loved that he just sort of curled in on himself and retreated, building a life for himself that included pretending she was still there. He made meals for two, he talked to her, etc.

A secondary hero attempted to commit suicide ten years to the day after he lost the woman he loved.

And this is all in one series. The plots themselves are really interesting, but the author’s approach to love is fucking creepy. There may be a few pseudo-healthy relationships mixed in, but they’re so far in the background they’re easy to forget and never take center stage.

It doesn’t seem to be an attempt to illustrate any kind of point. Except maybe “love can drive you to destruction,” but that isn’t really what I’d call useful. There’s basically no balance to be found here; the love stories are all tragic and/or toxic.

There’s nothing wrong with “love gone wrong” as a trope and it can be used very effectively (Miss Havisham, Anakin Skywalker, etc) but having so much concentrated in one place is off-putting. It’s also sort of disheartening in general. I keep thinking of modern US sitcoms where the married couples are so nasty to each other under the guise of being “funny.” Or those scattered articles talking about how it’s “normal” to hate your spouse.

I’m not sure I really have a point to this, beyond finding it all a little sad to see love treated as something dangerous. Or even imaginary. I’m developing even more sympathy for the romance genre which, surprise, is met with derision by a lot of people. I can understand wanting that kind of simplicity. Even when the stories get convoluted they still generally end with A and B getting together and being happy about it.

It’s also kinda funny to be writing this because I am frequently frustrated with otherwise good stories that feel compelled to shove a romance into the plot and keep implying that people are happier when they’re in love. These toxic elements seem to show the opposite of that and holy hells, just have some nice middle ground somewhere. Love is nice, I’m sure, but it isn’t necessary in order for someone to be “complete” and it also doesn’t make people violent and irrationally possessive.

[sonoftatooine]

Whumpay 2021

DAY 12: ALT DAY - NOT BELIEVED

Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, Sheev Palpatine

Summary: Instead of being accepted into the Jedi Order after the Battle of Naboo, Anakin is rejected by the Council and given to Palpatine as an adopted son. Three years later, he reveals to Anakin that he is a Sith and that he will be his apprentice. Horrified, Anakin escapes from under his master’s watchful eye and runs away to tell the Jedi the truth.

***

“Master Kenobi, please!,” Anakin cried, twisting the long, voluminous sleeves of the Naboo robes his adoptive father had gifted him tightly in his hands, staring up at the Jedi Knight before him through messy blond curls disarrayed from his dash to the Temple. “Please don't send me back to him! I'll do anything! You don't have to make me a Jedi, just don't make me go back—”

“Young Skywalker,” Mace Windu interrupted him before the knight in question could reply. He was pinching the bridge of his nose, with a look of intense irritation on his face that had worsened and worsened ever since Anakin had given Palpatine's guards the slip and run to the Temple to tell the Jedi of the terrible truth he had discovered about the man who had taken him in after his rejection by the Order. “Your father is worried about you. Do not make this more difficult than it needs to be.”

It wouldn't be difficult if you would just believe me, Anakin wanted to shout. Of all the problems he had imagined—being caught, being unable to escape his minders, getting to the Temple from Palpatine's apartment in 500 Republica undetected—it somehow hadn't occurred to him that the Jedi might not listen to him. But if Palpatine had proved anything in the months after he revealed that he was a Sith Lord intent on reshaping the Galaxy to his will and that he, Anakin, would be his apprentice—whether he wished it or not—it was that he was cunning and manipulative in a way that Anakin was not, with a watchful eye that was extremely difficult to escape from under. The Senate guards had informed him of his adoptive son's disappearance not long after he had left, and he had acted quickly to mitigate any damage Anakin might do in his escape. As such, by the time he ran into Obi-Wan and Windu at the entrance to the Temple, instead of being listened to and believed , he had been pulled into an empty conference room, his warnings lost beneath stern lectures about running away on his own and the severity of telling lies about his father. Palpatine had contacted the Jedi before he arrived, it seemed, and spun them a web of lies—lies about him being a troubled child who made up fantasies to deal with his past—that they had readily soaked up like a sponge. Twelve is a difficult age, he had probably said, in those kindly tones that everyone swallowed hook, line and sinker. And Anakin can be a difficult child. He feels the need to push back against my authority, and so of course he sees me as a villain. In truth, Master Jedi, I fear he has never really recovered from your rejection of him. Perhaps these...fantasies are a way of proving his worth to you. Whatever it had been, neither Obi-Wan nor Master Windu doubted it, and no matter what he said, it only earned him more disbelief from the two of them.

“He's not my father!,” he exclaimed in anger and frustration. Palpatine wasn't his father. He was his master, his owner. His mother's owner. He had only taken them in so that he could use him, possess him, make it so that he would have no choice but to follow the plans he had for him—bend to his will and his alone. No matter how kind he had seemed at first—and he had seemed kind to Anakin in the beginning, despite the monster that he was—his true colours showed it to be nothing but an act. “He's evil!”

The two Jedi, exchanged a glance, one exasperated, one pained. Then, Obi-Wan turned back to him, sighing sadly.

“Anakin, I know this is hard for you, but Chancellor Palpatine only wants what's best for you,” he said. “He took you in, freed your mother from slavery. He cares for you, and he was clearly very worried for you when he found you missing.”

“Only because he doesn't want me to tell you the truth!,” Anakin shot back. Palpatine didn't care for him, nor for his mother, nor for anyone but himself. He may have taken them away from Tatooine—a small, bitter part of him that seemed to be growing bigger and bigger with each day that he spent under the old Sith's thumb, like a speck of rot at the heart of a shurra fruit, hissed that it was more than the Jedi had ever done for them—but it was not freedom. It had been nothing more than a transaction—passing them from one master to another. A master that the Jedi had given him to without a second thought. Tears sprang to his eyes. “Why won't you believe me?!”

He didn't know why it hurt so much. Why he had placed so much faith in a group of people who had been ready to cast him off like a desperate droid once they had deemed him to old and too dangerous for them, and whose sole attempt to help had landed in him in a situation that almost made him think of his life on Tatooine with longing. But despite that bitter part of him that his master had taken great pains to nurture in him, the part which remembered his innocent hope upon seeing Qui-Gon Jinn's lightsaber clipped to his hip at Jira's stall—that still thought of the Jedi as the heroes the legends spoke of—had felt, somehow, that if he could just tell them the truth, that if the Jedi knew, it would all be alright. Their refusal to believe him was a crushing blow.

“Anakin—” Obi-Wan said. He sounded pained. Anakin didn't want him to be pained, but he also wanted to be understood and believed. He needed Obi-Wan to help him and he wouldn't— Why wouldn't he—?

“He's a Sith!,” he exclaimed, his voice shaking from anger and frustrated tears. “He's the reason Padmé's planet was attacked! He's the reason Qui-Gon's dead!”

“Skywalker!” Master Windu barked sharply.

Obi-Wan had gone very white, his eyes wide and shocked, and Anakin knew he had gone too far. But it was true. Even if he didn't want to hear it, it was true, and he needed him to believe it, because if he didn't, Palpatine would punish him and his mother and then the Sith would continue on with his plan until it was too late and the Galaxy would be enslaved to him and the Jedi would be dead. He opened his mouth to continue but—

“That is quite enough, Anakin.”

Anakin froze at the sound of the familiar voice. It was the kindly Chancellor Palpatine voice rather than the foul croak of Darth Sidious, but it made Anakin shrink away and hide behind Obi-Wan's billowing robes all the same. From behind the Jedi Knight, he saw Palpatine come down the steps to the conference room from where he had been standing in the doorway, flanked by two senate guards, and adorned with his black and red robes of state and an expression of mingled displeasure and concern that he might have been convinced by had he not known the truth. But he did know the truth, and he could see the rage glinting in the Sith's eyes behind the benign veneer that had so fooled everyone else.

“Your Excellency” Windu said with a brusque nod of greeting. He couldn't see it, wouldn't see it—the evil behind the mask. Why couldn't any of them see it?

“My apologies, Master Jedi,” Palpatine said with a regretful sigh as false as his concern. Anakin knew well enough by now that Sidious would never apologise to a Jedi and mean it. “I knew this was a problem, but I had no idea—”

He cut himself off, turning sharply away and pinching the bridge of his nose. Taking in a deep breath, he lowered his hand and turned his attention back towards Anakin. He looked worried and tired, the very picture of a concerned and overworked father struggling to deal with an unruly son's latest stunt.

“What in the Galaxy were you thinking, Anakin?!,” he cried. “Running off like that? Anything could have happened to you!”

It couldn't be worse than anything you want to do to me, Anakin thought bitterly. He shrank further behind Obi-Wan, one small hand clutching tight at the back of his cloak. Obi-Wan glanced down at him, a small frown on his face, and despite his refusal to believe, Anakin felt a sliver of worry slip through the man's shields.

“I really am very sorry about this,” Palpatine said, his attention turned back towards the Jedi. He had drawn back when Anakin shrunk away from him, mindful to maintain his carefully cultivated persona—the pained father who only what was best for his son even as said son was convinced that he was the ultimate evil in the Galaxy. The smile he sent Master Windu was tinged with melancholy, even as he plotted Anakin's punishment for trying to expose him, even as he plotted the man's death and that of the entire Jedi Order. He hated him. Hated him. Hated him with the strength of a thousand suns— “I had best take him home. I'm sure he has troubled you enough already.”

No. No, he couldn't go back. He couldn't go back there. His master would be furious with him. He would hurt him. Punish him. He would hurt and punish his mother. He couldn't go back, couldn't let him— He needed the Jedi to believe him and then they could rescue her and it would all be alright. It had to be. It had to be— A gentle hand came to rest atop his head, suddenly stilling his wild thoughts. It was Obi-Wan's hand, he realised. Obi-Wan, who had made no move to send him off towards his adoptive father. Whose frown had not left his face since Palpatine arrived.

“Anakin is no trouble at all, Your Excellency” he replied. There was a hint of reprimand in his tone.

Palpatine smiled thinly.

“Of course,” he said, holding out a gnarled hand in Anakin's direction. “Come, my boy. We have taken up enough of the Jedi's time.”

Anakin did not move. He didn't want to go, couldn't go, not after what he'd done. He wanted to stay here with Obi-Wan. Palpatine would be watching him as intently as a bonegnawer did its prey, after this—it may be his only chance to get help, to find someone who would believe him and save them. No, he wouldn't go. He wouldn't, he wouldn't, he wouldn't—

There was a long pause where nobody spoke and nobody moved, and then Palpatine's face hardened.

“Come along, Anakin” he repeated. His voice was stern this time, though to the untrained ear, it did not sound unkind. Anakin, however, could hear the warning beneath the act loud and clear.

If you do not come with me right now, a cruel, croaking voice hissed inside his head through their bond, I will visit such pain upon your mother that she will be left with nothing but a half-life and a tattered soul. You think the Jedi will protect you, save her? They will do nothing, as they have always done, and your mother will curse your name for inviting such suffering upon her.

Anakin trembled. He wanted to cry. He had been so close, so close. Obi-Wan was still frowning, but he made no move to intervene, to give him an excuse to stay. Swallowing thickly, he pulled away, balling his shaking hands into fists beneath his sleeves, and headed slowly over towards his master. Palpatine's hand came to rest in-between his shoulder blades, arm blocking his route back to the Jedi like the door of a cage swinging shut.

“Thank you once again, Master Jedi,” Palpatine said, a triumphant gleam in his eyes. “We shan't impose upon you any longer.”

Come, boy, the voice hissed in his head again. Do not try my patience any further, unless you wish for a worse punishment than you've already earned. The pressure of the hand between his shoulder blades increased in warning, and Anakin had no choice but to follow along where his master led. Just as they reached the door, however, he turned, glancing back to catch Obi-Wan's eye. The frown was still on his brow, and as he met his gaze, Anakin couldn't help but imagine that there was something a little suspicious, a little unsettled in the expression on his face.

Well, Anakin thought as he was led away, perhaps there is some hope after all.

[thechildofstark]

Sympathetic Villains and the Rise of Overt Apologism.

I’ve seen a lot of discourse recently about how being a fan of villainous characters has become polarized, and how the way people treat villainous characters (and people who support them) needs to change. The two main issues seems to be:

a) the classic “if you support this character you support their actions” bs. 

and 

b) “oh no, my character isn’t a villain, they’re just a misunderstood baby who would never hurt anyone”. This, I think is much more worrying, and almost certainly came into practice as a response to point a). 

As has been said many times before, appreciation of a character does not equal agreement with a character. Nobody is accusing fannibals of being actual cannibals ;).  This can often follow on with issues in the source material/with the actors. A great deal of the negative attention on the WandaVision storyline (racism/anti-Semitism/anti-Romanyism/anti-blackness/gaslighting/torture/O***n using slurs/etc.) means that anyone that supports Whitewashed-Wanda (Wendy) is automatically labelled as in agreement with her actions in the text. And to be fair, this version of her is a pretty terrible character. It’s just incredibly bad writing. But this feeds into the second point. Wendy-fans, faced with such strong hatred for their fav, go too far in the other direction, insisting that she did nothing wrong. And there in lies the issue. This is by no means limited to Wendy - so I might as well use another completely divisive example: Kylo Ren. 

Kylie Ron is an objectively terrible character. He is a badly written whingy asshole. (okay that’s mostly on the lack of coherency between films/creative teams - aka a post for another time.) The problem is that his fans behave like he never did anything wrong, ever - and is he is one of the ultimate good guys and was all along, actually. In doing so, they completely undermine his role within the text, and gloss over the fact that: 

He killed his dad

He joined a neo-N*zi organization

He took over leadership of said organization 

He completely screwed the First Order over. A story is only as good as its villain and he is a terrible leader with no core beliefs or alignment to the radicals he leads. 

Yes that last point was literally me being annoyed that he is bad a being a N*zi. I want the evil bad guys to be cool and competent. He is neither. 

He has awful relationship skills

He dies like a newb

He is literally a terrorist

This is a short, totally unbiased list of reasons that I think that saying Kyle is a ‘perfect lovely hero uwu’ just doesn’t work. If you want to be a fan of him, that’s fine and up to you, but if you want to be a fan of him and in the process erase all the bad things he did, you aren’t a fan of Kylo Ren. You are a fan of an aggressively altered and de-problematized oc insert played by Tall Brooding White Man #1785. 

The idea of being a fan of a character that does bad things has become quite heavily judged over the last few years, and I think that this is the response: making it so that all the beloved main characters are good and perfect beyond reproach. So that it is impossible to be judged for liking this character, because they’re such a good person. But in the process, many of the negative and positive aspects of the character are wiped away, leaving a blank slate insert with no culpability and no positive discussion of any of the potentially harmful things that they did in the text. 

Earlier I mentioned Hannibal. I consider Hannibal Lecter to be pretty much a textbook case of liking a character you disagree with. As someone who appreciates high art, good food, psychological discourse, angst, and fun murders, I love NBC’s Hannibal. But I don’t actually condone eating people in real life, and neither does the fandom.  But I can appreciate art as separate from myself because that’s how it works. 

The other classic is Darth Dad himself, Anakin Skywalker. Is he Evil™? Yes. Does he murder children? Yes. Is he also a member of a fascist dictatorship? Yes. Do I love him? YES. Because all of these things are part of his character. Without them, he wouldn’t be Darth Vader anymore. 

TL;DR: Villains are really cool, but once you deny all the aspects that make them villainous it automatically devalues the character and removes the opportunity to learn from their mistakes, and to discuss genuinely problematic things within the text.

also fuck d*sney :)

[qqueenofhades]

so…now that we all know what you DISLIKE about star wars (and 400% fairly so, you have my full support here)…

what drew you into the universe, what keeps you around?

favorite characters, ships (OTPs or actual spaceships lol), overall themes, do you have a favorite random weird creature or robot that you adore? whatever you wanna talk about!

go off honey (again, but supportively 💖💖💖)

tax paid: the very nerdy star wars punk vest i made and the even nerdier matching vest i made for starsky

Lmaooo, entirely valid. You were like "star wars?" and I was like the drunk person at the bar who can't stop shouting about how much their ex sucks. But now that I have gotten all that off my chest, let's talk about why I love it (since if I didn't love it, I wouldn't have such strong opinions). Basically my feelings on the OG SW trilogy are similar to my feelings on the OG LOTR trilogy, as that tumblr post floating around somewhere put it: sure, they have flaws, but also, they're perfect. I have a complicated relationship with the prequels, as do we all, since George Lucas cannot write dialogue or direct actors to save his life (stick to what you're good at, George, hire other people to do the rest), but even they have their moments. Like. Hit me with that "Across the Stars" love theme, John Williams. Gahh. Just like that.

Because... Star Wars wasn't actually this omnipresent corporate global entertainment monolith when it started out. It was a dorky low-budget indie sci-fi film in the 1970s which everyone thought was going to bomb. But it told a simple and compelling story in an interesting way, everyone agrees that ESB is one of the best films/sequels ever made, and then ROTJ gave it a happy ending while it was still okay to do that. My main thematic gripe with the Disney trilogy (I will try to keep those to a minimum, lol, but I have to bring it up to compare) is that it very clearly fell into the "actual happy endings are naive and unrealistic and a cynical postmodern audience won't accept anything less than things being Bad" trap that, yet again, we have GOT to thank for. It obviously existed to some degree before that, but GOT blew it up to huge levels, where the only valid situation or character is that which is Grimdark and Depressing. Which, in my view, misses the heart and soul of what SW is all about??

Like. ESB is genuinely dark. ANH was this fun plucky little sci-fi film where the scrappy good guys won the day against the Nazi stand-ins, as they were supposed to, and then ESB comes along (speaking of John Williams, let us all chant together, DUH DUH DUH DUHDUHDUH DUHDUHDUH, DUH DUH DUH DUHHHH DUHHH DUHHH DUHHHH) and things go... wrong. Leia and Han are on the run for most of the movie, then get captured and tortured by the Empire and and betrayed (however unwillingly) by Lando. The Rebellion is attacked on Hoth (I tell you, those fuckin AT-AT walkers were SCARY when you see it as a young kid for the first time), and forced into hiding. Luke loses his hand, doubts Obi-Wan and Yoda and realizes that his mentors are fallible, makes dumb mistakes, and of course gets hit with The Most Famous Line In Movie History. But it's also just adrenaline and excitement. THE ASTEROID FIELD! THE HAN-LEIA BANTER! THE FIRST LUKE-VADER DUEL! THE FACT THAT YOU HEAR TWO FRICKING NOTES OF THE IMPERIAL MARCH AND YOU'RE JUST LIKE OH YEAH OH YEAH OH YEAHHHH!

But also then... Return of the Jedi. It gets shat upon for the Ewoks and reusing the Death Star as the Big Bad and being supposedly cheesy and not as Thematically Dark as ESB. Which is all kinda silly, in my opinion, but also, can we talk about Luke Skywalker's character arc and how he chooses possibly the most radical compassion ever demonstrated by a hero in an action movie, let alone a space opera. He insists that Anakin Skywalker is still in there somewhere and puts his own neck on the line to prove it. Luke doesn't save the galaxy by being a Badass Jedi. He saves it by throwing away his lightsaber and saying "I will not fight you, Father." He saves it by trusting that even in the depths of darkness, Anakin can come back from the charred ruins of Darth Vader and finally do what he was supposed to do all along. He can end Palpatine for good and all (we don't talk about "Somehow Palpatine has returned" because it's nonsense, obviously). Anakin can avenge the Jedi and what was done to him and all the lies he believed and the pain he wreaked on the galaxy, even then. It's not too late. It's not too late. Like. I don't care if this is Lightweight or Childish or whatever. It makes me CRY every time I watch it. Especially the moment where Luke takes off Anakin’s helmet and sees how ruined he actually is under there, and yet the downfall and death of the trilogy’s chief villain is not triumphant at all but instead utterly heartbreaking. “You were right about me Luke... tell your sister... you were right.”

Excuse me, I need to just /CRIES INTENSELY/

Luke won't be tempted to the dark side for his own sake, but Leia's ("If you will not join me, then perhaps she will"). I likewise hold firmly that Anakin/Vader is one of the best movie villains/antiheroes of all time and likewise have many feelings and Strong Opinions about his arc, prequel writing clumsiness and eye-rollingly tepid love story aside. (See: he and Obi-Wan were deeply in love and in a way they still are, don't @ me. I have no problems with Padme and obviously stan Natalie Portman at all times, but Anakin and Obi-Wan’s relationship is the real love story, the heart of the prequels, and in some ways even the subsequent movies, the end.) And “so this is how democracy dies, with thunderous applause” is... raw af as a line. For being in a Star Wars prequel movie. What?? (Also, the Revenge of the Sith novelization had no business being as good as it was. If only that dude had also written the movie.)

Anyway, my point is: the OG trilogy had plenty of moments of staggering emotional weight and where things genuinely sucked for the good guys and the outcome wasn’t entirely clear. The difference is that it didn’t choose to dwell on them, and it allowed for a transformative fictional space where a happy ending, fiercely fought for and squarely earned, was the right outcome. We didn’t need to go back thirty years later and make everything suck for fear that a cynical modern audience couldn’t connect with it otherwise. (Like I said, we didn’t need the new movies at all, but Disney heard that Cha-Ching of the Almighty Dollar). Star Wars was sci-fi, sure, but it also had the fantasy elements that allowed a happy ending to be the right choice for what we saw the characters go through and the philosophy that carried us through the original trilogy.

Likewise it’s just... Peak as far as dynamics go. C-3PO the fussy metal butler who worries about Everything and R2-D2 who is the droid embodiment of YOLO? Flawless. Sassy scruffy space pirate and badass politician warrior princess bicker constantly, butt heads, drive each other crazy, and then fall in love? Iconic. (And has shaped my ship tastes for... all of eternity, oops.) The above-discussed transformation of Luke Skywalker, whiny ordinary teenage kid, to the truly great man who fulfills what Obi-Wan, Yoda, AND the rest of the entire Jedi order couldn’t manage to do, because of their own flaws and blind spots and black-and-white moral views that didn’t know what to do with a man who loved as passionately as Anakin Skywalker, for better or for worse? The guy who managed to save the galaxy with love? STAN.

So... what? The Disney trilogy decides to retcon all that, throw everything that they’ve fought for out the window, make Han, Leia, and Luke miserable and rejecting the roles they grew into in the original trilogy, and die without ever really reuniting or seeing each other again as a trio? The underlying message was that “these happy endings aren’t satisfactory/realistic/sophisticated enough” and idk, maybe it’s just the shitshow of the last few years, but I’d like to see some entertainment that had the cojones to tell me that despite all the darkness and despair, maybe there’s a chance for hope. (”Rebellions are built on hope,” thank you Only Valid New Star Wars Movie Rogue One.) And Rogue One worked so well, despite being utterly GUTTING as all the heroes died one by one, because we knew what was coming next (A New Hope) and that their sacrifice was going to be worth it. I don’t care if that’s “realistic” or not. As I’ve said before, that’s what stories are for, and if I only wanted things that were Real Life, I would only read the news. Besides, the idea that happy endings never happen in reality is equally bullshit. We as a culture need to accept that more, instead of finding reasons to tear everything down.

So just... yes. The original trilogy might have flaws, but also, it’s perfect. And do I want to rewatch it all now? Kinda.

(Anyway. I warned you this was gonna be long. Oh look, it’s long, and I’m sure there is even more I could say, but still. Ahem.)

sleepover weekend asks

[shrinkthisviolet]

☕️ the media's need to ~always~ redeem an antagonist

Ohh boy, buckle up, and let’s get into it.

So generally, with redemptions, they can be done in three ways: dying for romantic love, dying for platonic love, or a grueling journey in which the antagonist earns their redemption.

Option 2 is done well with Darth Vader, who dies protecting his son. Notably, the narrative never excuses his actions or lets him do so–Luke offers him Option 3, and he refuses. Granted, he’s on the verge of death, and maybe he wouldn’t live long enough to actually fulfill Option 3, but let me tell you something about Anakin Skywalker. He doesn’t care about the odds. If he wants something, he will take it, screw the consequences or the odds of survival. It’s how he fell to the Dark Side in the first place. The choice to die here, to reject Option 3, to not burden the Rebellion with his presence...it’s a testament to how much he’s grown. He isn’t a hero, but he isn’t quite a villain at this point anymore. It’s why the Force allows him to be a Ghost.

Option 1 can be done well, possibly, but I’ve only seen poor examples, myself. A certain other Star Wars villain comes to mind, but I’ll just leave it at that–I think it’s self-explanatory.

Option 3 is done very well in Johnny Lawrence imo. His crimes are not comparable to Vader’s, but he too is an antagonist. In the first Karate Kid movie, he bullied Daniel LaRusso, beat him up a bunch, and maintained a warped perception of the whole thing (perhaps as a subconscious way to avoid responsibility. Emphasis on subconscious–it’s a very human thing to absolve ourselves of guilt, this does not inherently make him a bad person. His actions in KK1 are cruel, but the justification is a human thing to do). The narrative even calls him out for this via a character in S3, and it’s not just a headcanon that his story to Miguel in S1 about Daniel was heavily biased.

By the time of Cobra Kai, we see that Johnny’s fallen on hard times, and even throughout the series, we see him unlearning the Cobra Kai rhetoric that he’s known all his life. He reconciles with Daniel over and over, and each subsequent time goes better than the last–it’s progress, slow but sure. We don’t see an apology from him to Daniel, but we can believe that it will happen, either on- or offscreen (preferably onscreen, Cobra Kai writers!).

It also helps that Johnny isn’t the main villain (and neither is Daniel, so I better not see any replies or reblogs of this calling him that). That “honor” goes to John Kreese, the man who started it all. But my thoughts on this show could go on forever, and I’m trying to avoid spoiling too much, so feel free to send another ask if you’re curious about my thoughts on the show or any of its characters!

Now, the crux of the matter: I think media should invest in not redeeming its villains/antagonists. Because yes, it can be done well (see Vader and Johnny), but it can also be done poorly. And I can think of three candidates who are much better as unabashed villains: Azula, Yzma, and Loki.

Azula...is complicated. She’s a 14-year-old abuse victim, but she also committed numerous atrocities in the name of her country and was toxic to her two best friends (yes, both of them. Mai wouldn’t have chosen Azula over her brother if she wasn’t afraid of Azula). Could she be redeemed? Of course, she’s 14 (tho I will leave my thoughts on that at “Option 3 or nothing at all”). Does she need to be? No, she doesn’t. Her contrast with Zuko, and her contrast with Katara, means that narratively, she’s most powerful as an antagonist.

Yzma and Loki are purely agents of chaos. Giving them a backstory is one thing, but excusing their actions? Hot take, but I find the Loki in his new show much more compelling than the one we got in Infinity War. I know that Loki was mind-controlled in Avengers, but even if we excuse all of his actions, he just...doesn’t suit the hero role imo. If anything, he’s an anti-hero. The Avengers would bore him quickly if he were on their team, and honestly, that’s for the best. Just let him be villainous! Same for Yzma.

TL;DR: Villain/antagonist redemptions can be done well if done carefully, but they aren’t mandatory. In fact, I’d argue that an unabashedly evil villain/antagonist is much more compelling.

Send me “☕️” and a topic and I’ll talk about it!

[sarahjtv]

BNHA Chapter 312 Spoiler Analysis: Hero Turned Assassin

It’s Friday, my dudes!  That means the leaks for the new chapter is out!  This time, we’re focusing on our new lady assassin villain who we ended with last week.  Ngl, I love her design and concept.  I actually wouldn’t mind if she stepped on me 😳  All that aside, this was a damn good chapter, but I really hope Deku’s going to be ok taking her on by himself:

Alright, the chapter starts off with a little flashback of Hawks talking to Deku as Deku is suiting up to leave Central hospital.  Hawks reassures Deku that he should be ok from AFO and Shigaraki for now since they aren’t at full power yet.  Their best option would be to take Deku in alive rather than dead.  Hawks can only think of one person who might be capable of capturing Deku: the assassin woman.  Turns out, that woman was his senpai back at the Hero Safety Commision and she’s dangerous.

So, as far as we know, Deku’s most likely going to live several more days even if he does get captured.  However, he’s being hunted down by a highly skilled assassin who was also Hawk’s senpai back in the day.  The fact that Hawks of all people is warning Deku to run away from her if he can say something about her skills.  I can only guess how good her skills are, but I’d say they’re probably somewhere in the S-tier range if Hawks is afraid of her.

The next couple of pages help properly introduce our new villain: Lady Nagant!  A few points here: 1. The bullet is made from her hair which is colored dark blue and pink.  I personally love those two colors, so I’m glad to see that color scheme used on her.  Also hair bullets is such a great concept, 2. That rifle is definitely coming from her elbow which she can bring out and retract at will, which is badass as hell, 3. I looked up the word “Nagant” and it’s actually type of (Russian?) gun that ranges from a 7-shot revolver to a sniper rifle, so that’s a good Villain name for her, 4. She was a former hero under the Safety Commision who decided to go to the dark side for some reason.  Like, did she see the bad side of Hero Society and that caused her to change?  Did she see something in Villainy that caused her to change her POV?  I want to know what?, 5. Again, love her design like hoo boy, Horikoshi snapped with her. 

So, Deku’s on the run from her and he is completely on his own now that his phone is broken.  He doesn’t even know what happened to All Might 😭!  He’s also afraid that All Might and Hawks will be targeted by her.  Deku’s debating wheaher he should run or face Nagant face on.  With someone like Muscular, I wasn’t worried about Deku because he’s not only improved a lot since last time, but he’s taken on Muscular before so he knew what he was fighting.  But, this is a brand-new villain.  Not much is known about her and Deku has never fought her before.  I’d say run, but someone has to take her out.  Maybe Hawks will swoop in and have a reunion with his senpai.  Though, he doesn’t have wings now, so I’m not sure what he can really do against her besides have a chat…

And Deku is shot!  Not fatally thank god, but he did get hit.  Turns out Lady Nagant can actually curve her shots.  Even Deku’s Danger Sense couldn’t detect it in time good lord.  So she can just straight up made bullets that can curve too that is absolutely insane.  Any marksman would be jealous of her.  

Fun Fact of the Day: Based on Horikoshi-sensei’s comment of the week, Lady Nagant and her curve bullet are actually based off the 2008 film Wanted staring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie (he even thanked Ms. Jolie!)!  I decided to IMDB the film to see if I remembered it and it turns out that I have actually seen a little of it before.  You know that gif of McAvoy smacking Chris Pratt’s face with a keyboard and the loose keys spell out “Fuck You”?  Yeah, that’s from Wanted.  Also, the curved bullet Horikoshi is talking about is when Jolie manages to “curve” a bullet enough to kill a group of assassins who were standing in a circle.  Look, I don’t know if physics can actually make that work in real life, but I’ll be damned if that doesn’t sound badass.

Back to the story, we have a bit of flashback to an old TV special that interviewed 100 active Noteworthy Heroes.  The 25th Pro Hero being interview is none other than Snipe, one of UA’s teachers!  It’s been a hot couple of years since we’ve seen him around.  Actually, we don’t even know if he’s alive…  Let’s assume he is and continue with the story.

Anyway, Snipe was having some good friendly competition in the Long-Range sniping with Lady Nagant back in the day.  He explains while his Quirk, “Homing” allows him to lock-on to anyone within a 600 Meter range, he can’t choose where his attack hits and the hit isn’t that powerful (Shigaraki could’ve actually gotten killed back in the USJ if Snipe wasn’t careful enough damn).  Lady Nagant, on the other hand, has a range of 3 Kilometers with insane accuracy.  I did some quick calculations and it turns out that 3KM = 3,000M!  That’s 5 times farther than what Snipe can do.  That is absolutely nuts!

Lady Nagant’s Quirk is called “Rifle”!  Turns out that the secret lies in her bullets made out of hair.  When she mixes her duel colored hair, it works like epoxy putty.  Epoxy putty is a substance that hardens over time.  It’s normally used as a seal for cracks and holes, and it’s both highly-resistant and unshrinkable when hardened.  So, when Lady Nagant pulls strands out of her hair to mix and mould them, she can harden that hair into a bullet which explains the dark blue and pink fibers in the speaker bullet she fired at Deku’s phone.  Apparently, she can make any kind of bullet she wants ranging from hollow bullets to curved bullets.  She can then load and fire those bullets from her rifle into her right arm.  God, there’s so much potential for a Quirk like this.  The only limit I can think of for this Quirk is if she runs out of hair for bullets similar to how if Ibara Shiozaki from Class 1-B (or 2-B now I guess) would run out of hair to use her Vines.  I wonder if Lady Nagant using her hair so much is the reason why it’s shorter now than when she was a hero.

I gotta say, I think this is one of the coolest and unique Quirks Horikoshi has come up with in a while.  It’s just so unique and imaginative!  I don’t think I could ever come up with an idea like this.  I like that her Quirk is almost like a 2-in-1 thing: the putty hair and the rifle in her arm.  They’re both different functions that work in tandem together.  I also love Nagant hero outfit!  She was rocking the long ponytail work, had a visor and antenna on her right eye for accuracy, and a belt holding her hair bullets.  She’s also freakin’ stacked as hell, but I’ll let this one slide because her design is so freaking great.  

Back to the present, Deku managed to catch the bullet, but his left gauntlet has been damaged.  So, it looks like Deku won’t be punching with his left arm unless All Might has some backup Mid-Gauntlets.  Thankfully he’s found out where Lady Nagant is based on where she shot from just twice.  She’s only about 1KM away and Deku wants to get in closer.  God, Deku is so freaking smart.  I want to know his IQ because it must be insanely high for him to figure out where a trained sniper would be after just 2 bullets.  Nagant also says that Deku’s the first one to deflect 2 of her bullets, so yeah, goddamn Deku!

Now we’re finally getting a look at Overhaul (I’m cool with calling him by his villain name instead of his real name for now btw).  Dude’s broken.  Just completely mentally broken.  I don’t think he even notices Deku.  All he can think about is how he wants to go back to his adoptive father, Eri’s grandfather, the man Overhaul put in a coma.  I thought that Overhaul would be confronting Deku himself, but it looks like he can’t.  Maybe him not being able to get his father out of his coma traumatized him real bad with a lot of guilt.  He probably wants to go back to try to heal his dad.  If he can do that, again, I wonder how now that his Quirk probably functions somewhere else besides his hands.

Anyway, Lady Nagant is kind of protecting Overhaul for now.  She most likely has a plan for him later since she mentions helping Overhaul as soon as she’s done with Deku.  Overhaul would be a useful ally since his Quirk can literally destroy and restore matter both living and non-living.  There’s also that glowing effect on her arm again.  If it’s not a taser like I thought before, then maybe it’s some kind of strength enhancer her Quirk gives her.  That arm gun has to be heavy.  IDK it’s not really explained.  

Flashing back to the Tartarus Prision Break, AFO and his ugly mug are talking to Nagant, calling her the “Traitor Hero” and how it’s an honor to meet her.  Again, Lady Nagant’s skills must be incredibly high enough to be recognize by AFO.  Also, her turning her back on Hero Society must’ve been a big story at the time.

AFO tells Lady Nagant of his plan to capture Deku as he predicted this earlier.  So, either AFO is stupidly good at predicting things or he has a future-sight Quirk like Nighteye had.  I want to say it’s the latter since AFO probably did pick up a Quirk like that sometime in the past.

Lady Nagant originally refused to listen to AFO in a very sassy way LOL!  But, AFO seems to have made a deal with her.  He even mentions that Nagant killed many of her fellow heroes to cause the fall of Pro-Hero Society.  Yeah, killing your fellow colleagues will definitely get you sent straight to Tartarus…  I REALLY need to know what made her turn to the Dark Side Anakin Skywalker style.

Also, personal theory that I highly doubt is true, but I wonder if Lady Nagant is the real “UA Traitor” not any of the students.  If she can make bullets that she can remotely talk through, then she could probably make bullets that can eavesdrop on people.  Maybe she listened in on UA and told the LoV about the training camp.  Or she was locked in Tartarus before then and I’m just projecting my hopes/fears onto her.  That could be it too.

Actually, I just realized that she could probably wrap objects around her bullets and fire them.  So, she probably wrapped a speaker around her hair and that’s how she remotely spoke to Deku.  Eh, she could still wrap some listening device around her hair and eavesdrop that way.  I’m just Pepe Silvia’ing the possibilities of Rifle at this point.

AFO uses Overhaul as an example of someone who became a victim of Pro-Heroes.  This give him enough leverage to make a deal with Lady Nagant.  So, as part of the contract, AFO granted her his Air Walk Quirk!  On paper, a passive Quirk like Air Walk doesn’t seem very useful.  But, this series has proved to us time and time again that passive/support Quirks can be just as/if not more amazing than raw-powered Quirks.  So, a Quirk like Air Walk can get Lady Nagant to so many places for her to fire her bullets.  It’s an incredibly useful Quirk for a sniper.  I do wonder what the limits of it are (because all Quirks have some sort of limitation), but I guess we’ll find that out later.  I really do wonder how Deku’s going to handle Lady Nagant and Overhaul though.  That’s going to be interesting.

Oh boy, that the chapter!  Solid chapter per usual.  Gah, my fingers hurt after typing so much.  I’m glad we got to know more about Lady Nagant!  She was a mystery for weeks, but we finally got some backstory on her.  So, some answers, but a lot of questions are left behind.  I’m actually glad we’re still sticking with Deku so far.  I still want to see Bakugo and Shoto, but we also haven’t gotten a purely Deku-centric arc for a while, so this is good.  Horikoshi truly doesn’t miss!  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to be screaming about the next anime episode and Shoto Todoroki sakuga for the next week I will not apologize.         

Me @ Horikoshi every chapter:

Also, this is the Wanted scene I was talking about before:

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

ohh i saw your answer about the sequels of star wars. id love to read you tear through the whole trilogy

Well, I’ve avoided this ask long enough. Part of the reason is this is really a huge topic, far too much for one ask, so I’m going to have to do this at a very high level.

In short, the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy is what one gets when you slap together the goal of selling merchandise and making tons of money, being as risk averse as humanly possible, adding a handful of warring directors with incredibly different visions, and having virtually no imagination when it comes to the imagining and writing of characters.

And we get this beautiful, awful, franchise that for reasons beyond me people seem to actually like (though interestingly, no one seems to like all of it, they may actually like one or two of the films, but no one says all three are actually in any realm of good).

With that, let’s begin.

The Force Awakens

For me this is easily the most tolerable of the sequel trilogy: it’s not great, it’s not terrible. It’s thoroughly watchable, you can be taken along for the movie’s journey and not raise your eyebrows too much at the action and leave the theater feeling this maybe wasn’t a complete waste of your time.

There’s a good reason for that. That reason is called the most blatant form of plagiarism I have ever seen in cinema in my life.

“The Force Awakens” is just “A New Hope” wearing a mustache. Only, it’s one of those cheap mustaches you get from a party store that, if you stare at it too long, just looks like the most false and awful thing you’ve ever seen. The mustache actively makes it worse. “The Force Awakens” is “A New Hope”, but worse.

Seriously, every major character, every major plot point, every major scene I can go directly back to “A New Hope”.

Our story begins when the Resistance, at great cost to our valiant heroes including torture at the hands of the Emperor’s second in command, sends a file out into the wilderness to be received by his people. This file contains plans for the Death Star.

The film then focuses on Luke, er Rey, getting involved in the Resistance, boarding the Death Star, and successfully destroying at the same time even at the lost of a beloved mentor that she just met (trading in Obi-Wan for Han Solo). 

Our evil empire is run by an evil emperor who is so evil he sits in a chair, is served by very Moth Tarkin-esque human storm troopers, and has a second in command who revels in the Darth Vader get up (for no other reason that it makes him feel cool but we’ll get into this).

It’s “A New Hope”. Rey is Luke, Han Solo is Obi-Wan, Poe is a kind of Han Solo, Kylo Ren is Vader, Snoke is Palpatine, Hux is Tarkin, BB-8 is R2-D2, etc.

“But that’s not terrible,” you say, “I liked A New Hope?”

First, it is terrible, it gives a very bad sign of where the sequel trilogy is headed and is just lazy writing. It means that those who produced this franchise were so terrified of taking risks, of possibly ending up mocked as the prequels were, that they will deliver exactly what the original trilogy was. And what’s that? Uh, evil empires, scrappy desert kids, AND MORE DEATH STARS!

That brings us to point number two, the world of Star Wars after the events of the original trilogy shouldn’t support such things. And, if it does, my god what a bleak existence this place has turned into.

The First Order being able to rise easily from the Empire’s remains means that Luke accomplished nothing. Anakin sacrificed himself and had his moment of redemption for nothing. There was no happy ending to the Original Trilogy, our heroes failed miserably, and there is no indication that our new band of heroes can possibly succeed in their place. (More on this as the movies progress).

We now are in a galaxy where this new Republic is so pathetic that Leia doesn’t even give it the time of day and builds her own private army to battle the Empire. The First Order is able to not only rebuild a massive army by raiding villages on many different worlds and stealing children and do so successfully for at least ten years but is able to build a Death Star bigger than any we’ve ever seen before. 

And the movie tries to convince us these are completely new problems, that Luke Skywalker is a hero (remember this is TFA, not TLJ yet), and that somehow these things just sprung up out of nowhere. BUT YEAH, RESISTANCE, WOO!

As for Rey, she’s like... a worse version of Luke. Her only motivation through the entire series is her trauma at being abandoned by her parents. That’s it, there’s nothing else to her, nothing else she ever wants or feels conflicted by. She struggles with the dark side because... the dark side? Genetics? Unclear? She’s absurdly, ridiculously, powerful in a way that’s acknowledged but never that acknowledged (we’ll get into this) and the movies just fail to sell me on her in any way.

Honestly, an easy fix for me would have just been making Rey a much younger character. I could believe a fourteen-year-old having stayed in the desert, scrounging for scraps, believing her parents are coming back every day now. As a twenty-something year old... It starts getting hard to believe she never left. (Also, this gets the benefit of getting rid of Reylo, which is always a plus for me).

As for Kylo Ren, I legitimately walked out of TFA thinking he was supposed to be comic relief. He’s what happens when someone desperately wants a likable, redeemable, villain and we get... Well, as a reminder his opening scene is one of genocide: he pillages and destroys a town with no regret and brutally tortures a man for information. We’re told he’s like this “because evil evil Snoke” and that may well be but throughout the film (and the series) it becomes clear that Kylo Ren’s main motivation is he deseprately wants to be cool. He wants to be a badass like Vader, he dresses in Vader cosplay (either ignoring or not knowing that Vader only dressed like that because his body was completely destroyed), he has these huge temper tantrums and nobody respects him because he’s a toddler in a Vader suit. 

He murders his own father, his parents who (at least in the films themselves) show every willingness to take him back and forgive him what he’s done, so that he can fully embrace his own “evilness”. In other words, he commits patricide to feel cool about himself, then it doesn’t work. 

And the movie series really banks on me feeling conflicted about Kylo Ren or at least wanting him to be redeemed. Granted, the wider internet seems to love him, I just can’t.

Oh, before I forget, the other thing I love about Kylo Ren is that the movies insist he’s a) strong in the Force b) is equal to Rey. Rey consistently beats the shit out of him with 0 training. Kylo Ren has been training in the Force for years. Guys, they are not a Dyad, Rey is far far far stronger than he is and for whatever reason the films never want to admit it. Because I guess we like things coming in pairs now.

But yes, “The Force Awakens”, at a distance not great nor terrible, but a rip off of a movie we’ve already seen that left me going “Welp, the next one’s probably The Empire Strikes Back then I guess we’re getting Ewoks”. I was sort of right on that and sort of wrong.

The Last Jedi

So, JJ Abrams clearly had a vision of where he wanted this sequel trilogy to go. He set up these big questions such as what’s up with Finn, who are Rey’s parents and why was she left on this nowhere planet, will Kylo Ren be redeemed and how, who is Snoke, etc.

Now, I’m not saying these aren’t stupid questions. To be frank, they kind of are. Finn being Force Sensitive was the most inconsequential thing I’ve ever heard of, Rey’s parents should not have been used to drive the plot the way it was, as spoken above I’m clearly team gut Kylo Ren, and that Snoke was actually just Palpatine being the world’s largest cockroach is a beautiful but hilarious answer.

That said, what Johnson did was he decided, “You know what, I’m going to take every trope of Star Wars and completely flip it on its head and absolutely doom the sequel to this movie.”

And by god, he did.

We get a weirdly pointless movie in which Poe, SINGLEHANDEDLY, completely obliterates the Resistance. He first obliterates their bombers by failing to follow command, then goes and bitches about how he’s not put in command when he clearly shows no ability to understand how a military works, actively subverts orders which in turn obliterates the entire Resistance fleet until the only survivors can fit on the Millenium Falcon. They have no ships, no weapons, barely any people, and are ultimately doomed doomed doomed.

We have Finn’s weird subplot with a suddenly introduced character Rose in which the pair aid in Poe’s blowing up the resistance (they send sensitive information using the communication equipment of a guy they do not know, who fully admits to being shady and out for his own skin, and are flabergasted when he betrays them). 

Rose herself is this weirdly sweet person who seems forced into the plot to a) provide a love triangle for Finn and Rey b) provide this forced sunny outlook that I didn’t really need in the film.

We get Rey never really being trained, going into the Cave of Wonders for a few seconds, falling in love with Kylo Ren over weird Force Skype calls (where I did not need to see him shirtless, thank you film) and being horrifically betrayed when Kylo Ren turns out not to be a great guy. Never saw that coming, Rey. 

As for Kylo Ren, well... God, we get Emperor Kylo Ren. Kylo Ren, the Emperor. I’m not even that upset about the anticlimactic murder of Snoke (that was kind of funny, especially in the context of Palpatine going, “Bitch, please, you’re in my chair” immediately in the next film) but just Kylo Ren being emperor. And also that the Resistance only escapes at all because he’s so dumb he made their dumb plans seem smart (i.e. concentrates all his firepower on an illusion for ten minutes while Hux goes, “Emperor, sir, we could actually destroy the Resistance right now.”

Now, you’ll notice I didn’t complain about Luke. A lot of people are upset he became a grumpy, miserable, old hermit who sits around waiting for death. Frankly though, in this universe, that’s exactly where he is. He left “Return of the Jedi” thinking he’d saved the world, he’s resurrected the Jedi Order, and all is well. Only a decade later, his students are all murdered by his nephew, the Empire’s back, and he accomplished nothing. He’s an utter failure as a Jedi (though Luke never realizes he knew jack shit about the Jedi Order and was in way over his head but I guess that’s beyond him). Why shouldn’t he go sit on a rock and wait to die? 

Now, did he have to drink that blue dinosaur milk? Well, I guess it was funny, gross but funny so... Sure, I guess he did. But I do like that he gave Rey 0 training, they had one meditation session and then he whined about how Obi-Wan was such a stupid asshole. And then Rey ran off to be with her boyfriend, who then told her that her parents were gutter trash (which again, was funny, but I don’t think that was supposed to be funny).

Of the characters introduced in the movie, the only one I really liked was the hacker, and it was for the actor/the beautiful way in which he gracefully exited stage left with zero shame going, “You all knew I was going to betray you!” You beautiful man, you.

Rise of the Skywalker

First, when something is called “Rise of the Skywalker” you know you’re in for a rough time.

But anyways, TLJ was filled with a controversy Disney didn’t want (half their audience hated it, half loved it, but at least they sold those penguin dolls) so they desperately get Abrams back. Only, what he clearly wanted from his series has been shot to hell, and now he’s left with Emperor Kylo Ren, a completely obliterated Resistance, a dead Luke, a love interest he never planned to introduce for Finn, Rey’s parental crisis being solved with trash people, Snoke just suddenly dead, Hux planning revenge, and then some.

And so, Abrams goes the brave and hilarious route of shouting “PRETEND THAT LAST MOVIE NEVER HAPPENED”

We open to a fully functioning Resistance (their bomber fleet is back, their fleet period is back, they have all their fully trained personnel). We have Rey getting the Jedi training she needed this time from Leia, who is now a Jedi, because yay feminism rammed down my throat to make the audience feel better. Rose says “It’s cool guys, I don’t want to join the adventure this film, I’m going to stay here and work on robots” so that she can gracefully exit the entire plot. Kylo Ren is demoted from Emperor in two seconds when we discover that a) Snoke was apparently Palpatine b) for unexplained reasons Palpatine’s alive (and I am now convinced that man will never die). Kylo Ren tells Rey at the first opportunity that he lied about her trash parents AND REALLY SHE’S A PALPATINE! THIS WHOLE TIME, REY! THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. I’M SUPER SERIAL THIS TIME, REY.

Basically, in the course of an overly long movie, Abrams desperately shoves in everything he was trying to get out of the series, while sobbing, and sobbing even harder when things like Finn being Force Sensitive or Lando having a secret daughter get caught. I actually agree with the Producers on this, by the way, the Finn trying to tell Rey something scenes were weird and indicative of a love triangle but him being Force Sensitive instead... It says a lot that the movies did not change when it was removed, at all. And Lando was just this strange cameo who was in the film to make us feel nostalgic.

And this isn’t even getting to the ridiculous 24 hour time limit (which made me think there should have been some video game style clock in the corner letting us know when Dawn of the Third Day is coming), Palpatine’s other secret army on a secret Sith planet that can be easily taken down by taking out one navigation tower, Rey’s hilarious struggle with the dark side in which she has a vision of herself in a cape hissing, Kylo Ren’s hilarious redemption in which the movie in the form of Leia and Han Solo says, “Alright, Ben, it’s time to stop being evil” and he says “okay”, the fight with Palpatine in which I’m supposed to believe he dies for reals because... I have no idea why I’m supposed to believe he’s dead. The Reylo, god the Reylo, and Kylo Ren’s tragic, hilarious, death.

And then, of course, the ending where Rey decides she’s a Skywalker now.

I actually did laugh all the way through “Rise of the Skywalker”, you can’t not, I mean it’s a hilariously awful movie. The only thing that might have made it more hilarious was if we actually did get those Ewoks.

TL;DR

They’re all bad movies, if you want more specifics than this, you’re just going to have to ask me questions.

[11paruline44]

If you were to put every major Star Wars character together in one room

(This post ignores the existence of the sequel trilogy)

So, Palpatine is a scarily competent, terrifyingly powerful villain, but do you know what I love about him? He’s so terrible to people that every major Star Wars character, be they hero or villain, hates him by the end of their lifetime. Sure, most of his life, ol’ Skeevy Sheev managed to avoid people discovering his true nature before he’d finished using them for whatever purpose he had in mind. But what would happen if all the characters knew the truth?

Imagine if the Force or some other powerful mechanism managed to pull every major Star Wars character from the timeline together in one room, immediately after their deaths. They’ve all played their parts life already and become one with the Force, but the Force has one more task for them, and deposits them all, unceremoniously, in the same place. This is a lot of heroes and villains in one spot. As they start scanning the room around them in confusion and shock, they begin to note many friends they lost, but also enemies whose presence makes them itch for a fight. But then, inevitably, each character realizes they are in the same room as thEE Darth Sidious, aka Emperor Palpatine—and that’s all it takes for them to wordlessly decide, as one, to rush him first. I mean, everyone has a grudge with him, by the time of their death. Everyone:

Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader: While he switched to the Light Side right before death, he’s still pretty dang Dark-susceptible, despite his remorse. (And this man takes everything personally.) So, as he looks around, only to see tons of people he’d been on opposite sides of a war from, once upon a time, his temper begins to rise. Maul… Dooku… and ugh, that ragamuffin smuggler who seems to have a thing for his daughter… but then he sees Palpatine. The old wrinkled prune who he was forced to work for for decades, who destroyed his life and nearly killed his son, who Anakin/Vader literally just thought he’d killed. Anakin rushes him in a rage on the spot, no questions asked.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Now, of course, Obi-Wan justifies everything with perfectly justifiable Jedi reasons—Sidious is a Sith Lord, the archenemy of the Jedi, and one who has taken over the galaxy and caused irreparable harm to billions of life-forms. He obviously should, strategically, not be left living any longer than can be helped. But yet… Obi-Wan truly joins the fight to kill Palpatine because of what he did to the Jedi and to his family compatriots. All of Obi-Wan’s “infinite sadness” can be traced back to him, after all.

Ahsoka Tano: She may not have known the full story, but she saw the results—Anakin became Darth Vader under Sidious’s thrall. She’s quite annoyed, since she could have sworn the sleemo had already been dealt with, years ago—but she, too, won’t ask questions if she has a chance to take him down while he’s still breathing. Palpatine is going down.

Padmé Amidala: She lived long enough to see Palpatine proclaim himself Emperor, at the very least, though she didn’t see the horrible results. But seeing everyone else’s murderous reactions—especially Anakin’s—she figures they have a good reason and gets her blaster at the ready.

Rex: This whole situation reeks of “Jedi business” shavit to him, but he won’t ever miss an opportunity to fire at the Emperor.

(Any other clone who lived past Order 66 in possession of their right mind, for that matter: It’s the Emperor! Attack!)

Count Yan Dooku/Darth Tyrannus: His final moments still ring through his head—Sidious urging Skywalker to kill him. (Skywalker, who Dooku is beginning to realize was probably his replacement.) In an instant, Dooku sets aside all other grudges to prioritize. He wants his old master dead. Nobody likes being replaced, after all, least of all—

Darth Maul. Yes, Maul sees Kenobi, his avowed worst enemy who, in his mind, just killed him, and is about to go at him first—but then he sees the sheer number of people rushing Palpatine instead, and is caught off guard. Despite himself, Maul, for once, sees some hope—a chance to take his old master down like never before. Maul, too, can be practical enough to prioritize just this once. Sidious screwed him over, too, after all—and who is Maul to ignore a chance for sweet revenge, after all.

Qui-Gon Jinn: There’s a lot of people in the room Qui-Gon doesn’t recognize, and most look older—older by far—but as multiple Jedi suddenly launch themselves at Senator Palpatine, all he has to do ask the person he’s pretty sure must be an older version of Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan responds that Palpatine is the Sith Master—and that’s that. Qui-Gon notices Maul joining the fight, and notes that once they’re done, he’ll want to take care of that problem—but he’s a patient enough Jedi to prioritize.

Asajj Ventress: Ventress also wasn’t aware of who the Sith Master was before her death, but she’s close enough to Kenobi as the fight begins to hear his answer to Qui-Gon. Palpatine is Sidious? She joins in immediately. She has an eye on Dooku the whole time, but as a former Sith apprentice, she knows how dangerous the Sith Master must be, and that he must be taken out first.

Mace Windu: You’d better believe he has a bone to pick with Skywalker, once he’s done with Palps—dude cut off his hand—but first things first? He’s got the muthafucka who electrocuted him to kill.

Luke Skywalker: At first, he’s ever so happy to see his father, Obi-Wan, and Yoda again… but seeing the Emperor again immediately brings back his worst memories. Palpatine was the ultimate evil, and regardless of whatever has caused him to live again, he shouldn’t be allowed to continue living any longer than Luke can help it.

Leia Organa: The Emperor? Leia sees him, and she’s pissed. Palpatine was everything she fought against in her young life, until he was defeated—and then she had to spend the rest of her life trying to undo his legacy of terror and despotism. Any living iteration of Palpatine must be killed, no questions asked.

Han Solo: Leia! Hey, Leia, is that the Emperor? I could’ve sworn we defeated the Empire decades ago, what the hell is going on?…. You know what, I always wanted a chance to shoot him in his ugly face. Let’s go for it.

Yoda: Bad news, the Emperor is. Failed to vanquish the Sith before, I have. But miss the opportunity to try again, I must not.

Lando Calrissian: Lando is confused. Who even are most of these people, anyway? But what the hell? He’s always hated the Emperor.

The only major characters I can think of that wouldn’t actively try to kill Palpatine wouldn’t actively stop anyone from killing him, either:

-General Grievous: As far as this guy ever knew, Palpatine was the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, so why’d he want to protect him? Kenobi’s in the room, and he’d be of a one-track mind to go after him instead—but it’d be a bit hard to do when everyone else is gunning for Palpatine, causing quite the mess.

- Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin: Seeing that the current situation isn’t going in Palpatine’s favor, Tarkin would prefer to sit back and watch everything play out. He’s power-hungry enough that he’d relish in the chance to have the Emperor taken out so he could take over instead.

-Jabba the Hutt: All Jabba cares is that Han Solo and his buddies just massacred his whole operation, killing him, too. Without enough cronies to form a defense, he’d want to get out of there to avoid it happening again. The Emperor is just a side note to him—he never cared who ruled the galaxy as long as he could continue making money.

So, in conclusion:

#Murder Palpatine Squad

[ariainstars]

Thank You, Disney Lucasfilm… For Destroying My Dreams

Warning: longer post.

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

So… I watched The Rise of Skywalker on Disney+ a few weeks ago. Again.

Sigh.

I guess it has its good sides. But professional critics tend to dislike it and even the general audience doesn’t go crazy for it. I wonder why?

  The Fantasy

When his saga became a groundbreaking pop phenomenon in the 1970es, George Lucas reportedly said that he wanted to tell fairy tales again in world that no longer seemed to offer young people a chance to grow up with them. The fact that his saga was met with such unabashed, international enthusiasm proves that he was right: people long for fairy tales no matter how old they are and what culture they belong to.

“Young people today don’t have a fantasy life anymore, not the way we did… All they’ve got is Kojak and Dirty Harry. All the films they see are movies of disasters and insecurity and realistic violence.” (George Lucas)

I’ve been a Star Wars fan for more than thirty years. I love the Original Trilogy but honestly it did not make me dream much, perhaps because when I saw it the trilogy was already complete. The Prequel Trilogy also did not inspire my fantasy.

The Last Jedi accomplished something that no TV show, book or film had managed in years: it made me dream. The richness of colorful characters, multifaceted themes, unexpected developments, intriguing relationships was something I had not come across in a long time: it fascinated me. I felt like a giddy teenager reading up meta’s, writing my own and imagining all sorts of beautiful endings for the saga for almost two years.

So if there’s something The Rise of Skywalker can pride itself on for me, it’s that it crushed almost every dream I had about it. The few things I had figured out – Rey’s fall to the Dark, Ben Solo’s redemption, the connection between them - did not even make me happy because they were tainted by the flatness of the storytelling reducing the Force to a superpower again (like the general audience seems to believe it is), and its deliberate ignoring of almost all messages of The Last Jedi.

Many fans of the Original Trilogy also were disillusioned by the saga over the decades and ranted at the studios for “destroying their childhood”. Now we, the fans of the sequels and in particular of The Last Jedi, are in the same situation… but the thought doesn’t make the pill much easier to swallow. What grates on my nerves is the feeling that someone trampled on my just newly found dreams like a naughty child kicking a doll’s house apart. Why give us something to dream of in the first place, then? To a certain extent I can understand that many fans would angrily assume that Disney Lucasfilm made the Sequel Trilogy for the purpose of destroying their idea of the saga. The point is that they had their happy ending, while every dream the fans of the Sequel Trilogy may have had was shattered with this unexpectedly flat and hollow final note.

I know many fans who dislike the Prequel Trilogy heartily. I also prefer the Original Trilogy, but I find the prequels all right in their own way, also since I gave them some thought. However, it can’t be denied that they lack the magic spark which made the Original Trilogy so special. Which makes sense since they are not a fairy tale but ultimately a tragedy, but in my opinion it’s the one of the main reasons why the Prequel Trilogy never was quite so successful, or so beloved.

Same goes for Rogue One, Solo, or Clone Wars. They’re ok in their way, but not magical.

The sequel trilogy started quite satisfyingly with The Force Awakens, but for me, the actual bomb dropped with The Last Jedi. Reason? It was a magical story. It had the spark again that I had missed in the new Star Wars stories for decades! And it was packed full of beautiful messages and promises.

The Force is not a superpower belonging solely to the Jedi Anyone can be a hero. Even the greatest heroes can fail, but they will still be heroes. Hope is like the sun: if you only believe in it when you see it you’ll never make it through the night. Failure is the greatest teacher. It’s more important to save the light than to seem a hero. No one is never truly gone. War is only a machine. Dark Side and Light Side can be unbeatable if they are allies. Save what you love instead of destroying what you hate.

Naively, I assumed the trilogy would continue and end in that same magical way. And then came The Rise of Skywalker… which looks and feels like a Marvel superhero story at best and an over-long videogame at worst.

Chekov’s Gun

“Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there.”

(Anton Chekov, 1860 - 1904)

If you show an important looking prop and don’t put it to use, it leaves the audience feeling baffled. There is a huge difference between a story’s setup, and the audience’s feeling of entitlement. E.g. many viewers expected Luke to jump right back into the fray in Episode VIII, because that’s what a hero does, isn’t it? The cavalry comes and saves the day. And instead, we met a disillusioned elderly hermit who is tired of the ways of the Jedi. But there was no actual reason for disappointment: in Episode VII it was very clearly said (through Han, his best friend) that Luke had gone into exile on purpose, feeling responsible for his failure in teaching a new generation of Jedi. It would have been more than stupid to show him as an all-powerful and all-knowing man who kills the bad guys. Sorry but who expected that was a victim to his own prejudice.

A promise left unfulfilled is a different story. The Last Jedi set up a lot of promises that didn’t come true in The Rise of Skywalker: Balance as announced by the Jedi temple mosaic, a new Jedi Order hinted at by Luke on Crait, a good ending for Ben and Rey set up by the hand-touching scene which was opposite to Anakin’s and Padmés wedding scene. Many fans were annoyed about the Canto Bight sequence. I liked it because it felt like the set-up for a lot of important stuff: partnership between Finn and Rose whom we see working together excellently, freedom for the enslaved children (one of whom is Force-sensitive), DJ and Rose expressing what makes wars in general foolish and beside the point. So if we, the fans of Episode VIII, now feel angry and let down, I daresay it’s not due to entitlement. We were announced magical outcomes and not just pew-pew.

The Star Wars saga never repeated itself but always developed and enlarged its themes, so it was to be expected that delving deeper, uncomfortable truths would come out: wars don’t start out of nowhere, and they don’t flare up and continue for decades for the same reason. In order to find Balance, the Jedi’s and the Skywalker family’s myths needed to be dismantled. Which is not necessarily bad as long it is explained how things came to this, and a better alternative is offered. The prequels explained the old political order and the beginnings of the Skywalker family, and announced that the next generation would do better. The sequels hardly explained anything about the 30 years that passed since our heroes won the battle against the Empire, and while The Last Jedi hinted at the future a lot, The Rise of Skywalker seemed to make a point of ignoring all of it.

  The Skywalker Family Is Obliterated. Why?

Luke was proven right that his nephew would mean the end of everything he loved. The lineage of the Chosen One is gone. His grandson had begun where Vader had ended - tormented, pale and with sad eyes - and he met the same fate. Luke, Han, Leia, all sacrificed themselves to bring Ben Solo back for nothing. Him being the reincarnation of the Chosen One and getting a new chance should have been meaningful for all of them; instead, he literally left the scepter to Rey who did nothing to deserve it: merely because she killed the Bad Guy does not mean she will do a better job than the family whose name and legacy she proudly takes over.

I do hope there was a good reason if the sequels did not tell “The New Adventures of Luke, Leia and Han” and instead showed us a broken family on the eve of its wipeout. It would have been much easier, and more fun for the audience, to bring the trio back again after a few years and pick up where they had left. Instead we had to watch their son, nephew and heir go his grandfather’s way - born with huge power, branded as Meant to Be Dangerous from the start, tried his best to be a Jedi although he wanted to be a pilot, never felt accepted, abandoned in the moment of his greatest need, went to his abuser because he was the only one to turn to, became a criminal, his own family (in Anakin’s case: Obi-Wan and Yoda) trained the person who was closest to him to kill him, sacrificed himself for this person and died. And in his case, it’s particularly frustrating because Kylo Ren wasn’t half as impressive a villain as Vader, and Ben Solo had a very limited time of heroism and personal fulfilment, contrarily to Anakin when he was young.

The impact of The Rise of Skywalker was traumatic for some viewers. I know of adolescents and adults, victims of family abandonment and abuse, who identified with Ben: they were told that you can never be more than the sum of your abuse and abandonment, and that they’re replaceable if they’re not “good”. Children identifying with Rey were told that their parents might sell them away for “protection”. Rey was not conflicted, she had a few doubts but overall, she was cool about everything she did, so she got everything on a silver platter; that’s why as a viewer, after a while you stopped caring for her. Her antagonist was doomed from birth because he dared to question the choices other people made for him. It seems that in the Star Wars universe, you can only “rise” if you’re either a criminal but cool because you’ve always got a bucket over your head (Vader / the Mandalorian) or are a saint-like figure (Luke / Rey).

One of Obi-Wan’s first actions in A New Hope is cutting off someone’s arm who was only annoying him; Han Solo, ditto. These were no acts of self-defense. The Mandalorian is an outlaw. Yet they are highly popular. Why? Because they always keep their cool, so anything they do seems justified. Young Anakin was hated, Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen attacked for his portrayal. For the same reason many fans feel that Luke is the least important of the original trio although basically the Original Trilogy is his story: it seems the general audience hates nothing more than emotionality in a guy. They want James Bond, Batman or Indiana Jones as the lead. Padmé loved Anakin because she always saw the good little boy he once was in him; his attempts at impressing her with his flirting or his masculinity failed. Kylo tried to impress Rey with his knowledge and power, but she fled from him - she wanted the gentle, emphatic young man who had listened to her when she felt alone. Good message. But both died miserably, and Ben didn’t even get anything but a kiss. Realizing that his “not being as strong as Darth Vader” might actually be a strength of its own would have meant much more.

The heroes of the Original Trilogy had their adventures together and their happy ending; the heroes of the Prequel Trilogy also had good times and accomplishments in their youth, before everything went awry. Rey, Finn and Poe feel like their friendship hardly got started; Rose was almost obliterated from the narrative; and Ben Solo seems to have had only one happy moment in his entire life. Of course it’s terrible that he committed patricide (even if it was under coercion), but Anakin / Vader himself had two happy endings in the Prequel Trilogy before he became the monster we know so well. Not to mention Clone Wars, where he has heroic moments unnumbered.

The Skywalker family is obliterated without Balance in the Force, and the young woman who inherited all doesn’t seem to have learned any lesson from all this. The Original Trilogy became a part of pop culture among other things because its ending was satisfying. We can hardly be expected to be satisfied with an ending where our heroes are all dead and the heir of their worst enemy takes over. What good was the happy ending of the Original Trilogy for if they didn’t learn enough from their misadventures to learn how to protect one single person - their son and nephew, their future?

For a long time, I also thought that the saga was about Good vs. Evil. Watching the prequels again, I came to the conclusion that it is rather about Love vs. War. And now, considering as a whole, I believe it to be essentially Jedi against Skywalker. The ending, as it is now, says that both fractions lost: they annihilated one another, leaving a third party in charge, who believes to be both but actually knows very little about them.

Star Wars and Morality

After 9 films and 42 years, it still is not possible to make the general audience accept that it is wrong to divide people between Good and Evil in the first place. The massive rejection of both prequels and sequels, which have moral grey zones galore, shows it.

It is also not possible without being accused of actual blasphemy in the same fandom, to say the plain truth that no Skywalker ever was a Jedi at heart. As their name says, they’re pilots. Luke was the last and strongest of all Jedi because he always was first and foremost himself. Anakin was crushed by the Jedi’s attempts to stifle his feelings. His grandson, too. A Force-sensitive person ought to have the choice whether they want to be a Jedi or not; they ought not to be taught to suppress their emotions and live only on duty, without really caring for other people; and they ought to grow up feeling in a safe and loving environment, not torn away from their families in infancy, indoctrinated and provided with a light sabre (a deadly weapon) while they’re still small. A Jedi order composed of child soldiers or know-it-all’s does not really help anybody.

The original Star Wars saga was about love and friendship; although many viewers did not want to understand that message. The prequels portrayed the Jedi as detached and arrogant and Anakin Skywalker sympathetically, a huge disappointment for who only accepts stories of the “lonesome cowboy” kind. The Last Jedi was so hated that The Rise of Skywalker backpedaled: sorry, of course you’re right, here you have your “hero who knows everything better and fixes everything for you on a silver platter”. The embarrassing antihero, who saves the girl who was the only person showing him some human compassion, can die miserably in the process and is not even mourned.

Honestly: I was doubtful whether it would be adequate to give Ben Solo a happy ending after the patricide. I guess letting him die was the easiest way out for the authors to escape censorship. (I even wrote this in a review on amazon about The Last Jedi, before I delved deeper into the saga’s themes.) The messages we got now are even worse.

Kylo Ren / Ben Solo

A parent can replace a child if they’re not the way they expect them to be. A victim of lifelong psychical and physical abuse can only find escape in death, whether he damns or redeems himself. An introspective, sensitive young man is a loser no matter how hard he tries either way. A whole family can sacrifice itself to save their heir, he dies anyway.

Rey

Self-righteousness is acceptable as long as you find a scapegoat for your own failings. Overconfidence justifies anything you do. You can’t carve your way as a female child of “nobodies”, you have to descend from someone male and powerful even if that someone is the devil incarnate. You are a “strong female” if you choose to be lonely; you need neither a partner nor friends.

In General

Star Wars is not about individual choices, loyalty, friendship and love, it is a classic Western story with a lonesome cowboy (in this case: cowgirl) at its centre. Satisfied? 

The father-son-relationship between Vader and Luke mirrors the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, saying that whoever we may want to kill is, in truth, our kin, which makes a clear separation in Good and Evil impossible. The “I am your father” scene is so infamous by now that even non-fans are aware of it; but this relationship between evil guy and good guy, as well as the plot turns where the villain saves the hero and that the hero discards his weapon are looked upon rather as weird narrative quirks instead of a moral. 

In  an action movie fan, things are simple: good guy vs. bad guy, the good guy (e.g. James Bond may be a murderer and a misogynist, but that’s ok because he’s cool about it) kills the bad guy, ka-boom, end of story. But Star Wars is a parable, an ambitious project told over decades of cinema, and a multilayered story with recurring themes.

A fairy tale ought to have a moral. The moral of both Original Trilogy and Prequel Trilogy was compassionate love - choose it and you can end a raging conflict, reject it and you will cause it. What was the moral of the Sequel Trilogy? You can be the offspring of the galaxy’s worst terror and display a similar attitude, but pose as a Jedi and kill unnecessarily, and it’s all right; descend from Darth Vader (who himself was a victim long before he became a culprit) and whether you try to become a Jedi trained by Luke Skywalker or a Sith trained by his worst enemy, you will end badly?

Both original and prequel trilogy often showed “good” people making bad choices and the “bad ones” making the right choices. To ensure lasting peace, no Force user ought to be believe that he must choose one side and then stick to it for the rest of his life: both sides need one another. The prequels took 3 films to convey this message, though not saying so openly. The Last Jedi said it out clearly - and the authors almost had their heads ripped off by affronted fans, resulting in The Rise of Skywalker’s fan service. It’s not like Luke, Han and Leia were less heroic in the Sequel Trilogy, on the contrary, they gave everything they had to their respective cause. They were not united, and they were more human than they had once been. Apparently, that’s an affront.

The Jedi are no perfect heroes and know-it-all’s and they never were, the facts are there for everyone to see. Padmé went alone and pregnant to get her husband out of Mustafar - and she almost succeeded - although she knew what he had done and that he was perfectly capable of it (he had told her of the Tusken village massacre himself) because she still saw the good little boy he had been in him; Obi-Wan left him amputated and burning in the lava, although he had raised Anakin like a small brother and the latter had repeatedly saved his life. But Padmé was not a Jedi, so I guess she still had some human decency. Neither Obi-Wan nor Yoda lifted a finger for the oppressed populations of the galaxy during the Empire, waiting instead for Anakin’s son to grow up so they could trick him into committing patricide. Neither Luke nor Leia did anything for their own son and nephew while he became the scourge of the galaxy, damning his soul by committing crime after crime. On Exegol, Rey heard the voices of all Jedi encouraging her to fight Palpatine to death. After that, they left her to die alone, and the alleged “bad guy”, who had already saved her soul from giving in to Palpatine’s lures, had to save her life by giving her his own. The Jedi merely know that “their side” has to win, no matter the cost for anyone’s life, sanity, integrity or happiness.

Excuse me, these are simple facts. How anyone can still believe that the Jedi were super-powerful heroes who always win or all-knowing wizards who are always right is beyond me. Luke, the last and strongest of them, like a bright flickering of light before the ultimate end, showed us that the best of men can fail. There is nothing wrong with that in itself. But it is wrong and utterly frustrating when all of the failure never leads to anything better. If Rey means to rebuild the Jedi order to something better than it was, there was no hint at that whatsoever.

  And What Now?

The Last Jedi hit theatres only 2 years before The Rise of Skywalker, and I can’t imagine that the responsible authors all have forgotten how to make competent work in the meantime; more so considering that Solo or The Mandalorian are solid work. Episode IX is thematically so painfully flat it seems like they wanted us to give up on the saga on purpose. The last instalment of a 42-year-old saga ought to have been the best and most meaningful. I had heard already decades ago that the saga was supposed to have 9 chapters, so I was not among who protested against the sequels thinking that they had been thought up to make what had come before invalid. I naively assumed a larger purpose. But Episode IX only seems to prove these critics perfectly right.

The last of the flesh and blood of the Chosen One is dead without having “finished what his grandfather started”?

Still no Balance in the Force?

And worst of all, Palpatine’s granddaughter taking over, having proven repeatedly that she is not suited for the task?

Sorry, this “ending” is absurd. I have read fanfiction that was better written and more interesting. And, most of all, less depressing. I was counting on a conclusion that showed that the Force has all colours and nuances, and that it’s not limited to the black-and-white view “we against them”. That’s the ending all of us fans would have deserved, instead of catering the daddy issues of the part of the audience who doesn’t want stories other than those of the “lonesome cowboy” kind. I myself grew up on Japanese anime, maybe that’s one of the reasons why I can’t stand guys like James Bond or Batman and why I think you don’t need “a great hero who fixes the situation” but that group spirit and communication are way more important.

It was absolutely unexpected that Disney, the production company whose trademark are happy endings and family stories, would end this beloved and successful saga after almost half a century on such a hollow note. Why tell first a beautiful fairy tale and then leave the audience on a hook for 35 years to continue first with a tragedy (which at least was expected) and then with another (unexpected one)? And this story is supposed to be for children? Like children would understand all of the subtext, and love sad, cautionary tales. Children, as well as the general audience, first of all want to be entertained! No one wants to watch the legendary Skywalker family be obliterated and a Palpatine take over. The sequels were no fun anymore; we’ve been left with another open ending and hardly an explanation about what happened in the 30 years in between. If you want to tell a cautionary tale, you should better warn the general audience beforehand.

The Original Trilogy is so good because it’s entertaining and offers room for thought for who wants to think about its deeper themes, and also leaves enough space for dreams. Same goes for the first two films of the Sequel Trilogy; but precisely the last, which should have wrapped up the saga, leaves us with a bitter aftertaste and dozens of questions marks. 

We as the audience believe that a story, despite the tragic things that happen, must go somewhere; we get invested into the characters, we root for them, we want to see them happy in the end. (The authors of series like Girls, How I Met Your Mother or Game of Thrones ought to be reminded of that, too.) I was in contact with children and teenagers saying that the Sequel Trilogy are “boring”; and many, children or adults, who were devastated by its concluson. There is a difference between wanting to tell a cautionary tale and playing the audience for fools. This trilogy could have become legendary like the Original Trilogy, had it fulfilled its promises instead of “keeping it low” with its last chapter. Who watches a family or fantasy story or a romantic / comedic sitcom wants to escape into another world, not to be hit over his head with a mirror to his own failings, and the ones of the society he’s living in. Messages are all right, but they ought not to go at the cost of the audience’s satisfaction about the about the people and narrative threads they have invested in for years.

This isn’t a family story: but children probably didn’t pester the studios with angry e-mails and twitter messages etc. They simply counted on a redemption arc and happy ending, and they were right, because they’re not as stupid as adults are. I have read and watched many a comment from fans who hate The Last Jedi. Many of these fans couldn’t even pinpoint what their rage was all about, they only proved to be stuck with the original trilogy and unwilling to widen their horizon. But at least their heroes had had their happy ending: The Rise of Skywalker obliterated the successes of all three generations of Skywalkers.

If the film studios wanted to tease us, they’ve excelled. If they expect the general audience to break their heads over the sequels’ metaphysics, they have not learned from the reactions to the prequels that most viewers take these films at face value. Not everybody is elbows-deep in the saga, or willing to research about it for months, and / or insightful enough to see the story’s connections. Which is why many viewers frown at the narrative and believe the Sequel Trilogy was just badly written. This trilogy could have become legendary like the Original Trilogy, had it fulfilled its promises instead of “keeping it low” with its last chapter. As it is now, the whole trilogy is hanging somewhere in the air, with neither a past nor a future to be tied in with.

The prequels already had the flaw of remaining too obscure: most fans are not aware that Anakin had unwillingly killed his wife during the terrible operation that turned him into Darth Vader, sucking her life out of her through the Force: most go by “she died of a broken heart”. So although one scene mirrors the other, it is not likely that most viewers will understand what Rey’s resurrection meant. And: Why did Darth Maul kill Qui-Gon Jinn? What did the Sith want revenge for? Who was behind Shmi’s abduction and torture? Who had placed the order for the production of the clones, and to what purpose? We can imagine or try to reconstruct the answers, but nothing is confirmed by the story itself.

The sequels remained even more in the dark, obfuscating what little explanation we got in The Rise of Skywalker with quick pacing and mind-numbing effects.

Kylo Ren had promised his grandfather that “he would finish what he started”: he did not. Whatever one can say of this last film, it did not bring Balance in the Force. What’s worse, the subject was not even breached. It was hinted at by the mosaic on the floor of the Prime Jedi Temple on Ahch-To, but although Luke and Rey were sitting on its border, they never seemed to see what was right under their noses. It remains inexplicable why it was there for everyone to see in the first place.

We might argue that Ben finished what his grandfather started by killing (or better, causing the death of) the last Jedi, who this one couldn’t kill because he was his own son; but leaving Rey in charge, he helped her finish what her grandfather had started. The irony could hardly be worse.

Episode IX looks like J.J. Abrams simply completed what they started with Episode VII, largely ignoring the next film as if it was always planned to do so. We, the angry and disappointed fans of The Last Jedi, may believe it was due to some of the general audience’s angry backlash, but honestly: the studios aren’t that dumb. They had to know that Episode VIII would be controversial and that many fans would hate it. The furious reactions were largely a disgrace, but no one can make me believe that they were totally unexpected. Nor can anyone convince me that The Rise of Skywalker was merely an answer to the small but very loud part of the audience who hated The Last Jedi: a company with the power and the returns of Disney Lucasfilm does not need to buckle down before some fan’s entitlement and narrowmindedness out of fear of losing money. And if they do, it was foolish to make Rey so perfect that she becomes almost odious, and to let the last of the Skywalker blood die a meaningless death. (Had he saved the Canto Bight children and left them with Rey, at least he would have died with honor; and she, the child left behind by her parents, would have had a task to dedicate herself to.)

The only reason I can find for this odd ending is that it’s meant to prepare the way for Rian Johnson’s new trilogy, which - hopefully - will finally be about Balance. We as the audience don’t know what’s going on behind the doors. Filmmaking is a business like any other, i.e. based on contracts; and I first heard that Rian Johnson had negotiated a trilogy of his own since before Episode VIII hit theatres. Maybe he kept all the rights of intellectual property to his own film, including that he would finish the threads he picked up and close the narrative circles he opened, and only he; and that his alleged working on “something completely different” is deliberately misleading.

Some viewers love the original trilogy, some love the prequels, some like both; but I hardly expect anyone to love the sequel trilogy as a whole. What with the first instalment “letting the past die, killing it if they had to”, the second hinting at a promising future and the third patched on at the very last like some sort of band-aid, it was not coherent. I heard the responsible team for Game of Thrones even dropped their work, producing a dissatisfying, quickly sewn together last season, for this new Star Wars project and thereby disappointing millions of GoT fans; I hope they are aware of the expectations they have loaded upon them. George Lucas’ original trilogy had its faults, but but though there was no social media yet in his time, at least he was still close enough to the audience to give them what they needed, if not necessarily wanted. (Some fans can’t accept that Luke and Leia are siblings to this day, even if honestly, it was the very best plot twist to finish their story in a satisfying way.)

I’m hoping for now that The Last Jedi was not some love bombing directed at the more sentimental viewers but a promise that will be fulfilled. “Wrapping up” a saga by keeping the flattest, least convincing chapter for last is bad form. Star Wars did not become a pop phenomenon by accident, but because the original story was convincing and satisfying. Endings like these will hardly make anyone remember a story fondly, on the contrary, the audience will move to another fandom to forget their disappointment.

On a side note, I like The Mandalorian, exactly for the reason that that is a magical story; not as much as the original trilogy, but at least a little. Of course, I’m glad it was produced. But it’s a small consolation prize after the mess that supposedly wrapped up the original saga after 9 films.

We’re Not Blind, You Know…

- Though Kylo Ren (Ben Solo) has Darth Vader’s stature, his facial features are practically opposite to Vader’s creepy mask. This should have foreshadowed that his life should have gone the other way, instead of more or less repeating itself. - As a villain Kylo was often unconvincing; by all logic he should have been a good father figure. (Besides, Star Wars films or series never work unless there is a strong father or father figure at their center.)

- Like Vader, Kylo Ren was redeemed, but not rehabilitated. Who knows who may find his broken mask somewhere now and, not knowing the truth, promise “I will finish what you started”. - The hand-touching scene on Ahch-To which was visually opposite to Anakin’s and Padmé’s should not have predicted another tragedy but a happy ending for them. - The Canto Bight sequence was announcing reckoning for the weapon industry and freedom for the enslaved children. It also showed how well Finn and Rose fit together. - Rey was a good girl before she started on her adventures. Like Anakin or Luke, she did not need to become a Jedi to be strong or generous or heroic. - Rey summons Palpatine after one year of training. Kylo practically begged for his grandfather’s assistance for years, to no avail. Her potential for darkness is obviously much stronger. - Dark Rey’s light sabre looked like a fork, Kylo’s like a cross. - The last time all Jedi and Sith were obliterated leaving only Luke in charge, things went awry. Now we have a Palpatine masquerading as a Skywalker and believing she’s a Jedi. Rey is a usurper and universally cheered after years of war, like her grandfather. - The broom boy of Canto Bight looked like he was sweeping a stage and announcing “Free the stage, it’s time for us, the children.”

Rey failed in all instances where Luke had proved himself (so much for feminism and her being a Mary Sue): - Luke had forgiven his father despite all the pain he had inflicted on him. She stabbed the „bad guy”, who had repeatedly protected and comforted her, to death. - Luke never asked Vader to help the Rebellion or to turn to the Light Side, he only wanted him back as his father. She assumed that you could make Ben Solo turn, give up the First Order and join the Resistance for her. She thought of her friends and of her own validation, not of him. - Luke had made peace by choosing peace. Rey fought until the bitter end. - Luke had thrown his weapon away before Palpatine. Rey picked up a second weapon. (And both of them weren’t even her own.) - Luke had mourned his dead father. Rey didn’t shed a tear for the man she is bonded to by the Force. - Luke went back to his friends to celebrate the new peace with them. Rey went back letting everyone celebrate her like the one who saved the galaxy on her own, she who were tempted to become the new evil ruler of the galaxy and had to rely on the alleged Bad Guy to save both her soul and her body. - Luke had embodied compassion when Palpatine was all about hatred. Where he chose love and faith in his father, she chose violence and fear. - Luke had briefly fallen prey to the Dark Side but it made him realize that he had no right to judge his father. Rey’s fall to the Dark Side did not make her wiser. - Rey has no change of mind on finding out that she’s Palpatine’s flesh and blood, nor after she has stabbed Kylo. Luke had to face himself on learning that he had almost become a patricide. Rey does not have to face herself: the revelation of her ancestry is cushioned by Luke’s and Leia’s support. Rey is and remains an uncompromising person who hardly learns from her faults.

This is cheating on the audience. And it's not due to feminism or Rey being some sort of “Mary Sue” the way many affronted fans claim. Kylo never was truly a villain, Rey is not a heroine, and this is not a happy ending. The Jedi, with their stuck-up conviction “only we must win”, have failed all over again. The Skywalker family was obliterated leaving their worst enemy in charge.  Rey is supposed to be a “modern” heroine which young girls can take as an example? No, thank you. Not after this last film has made of her. Padmé was a much better role model, combining intelligence with strength and goodness and also female grace. The world does not need entitled female brats.

Bonus: What Made The Rise of Skywalker a Farce

- The Force Awakens was an ok film and The Last Jedi (almost) a masterpiece. The Rise of Skywalker was a cartoon. No wonder a lot of the acting felt and looked wooden. - “I will earn your brother’s light sabre.” She’s holding his father’s sabre. - Kylo in The Last Jedi: “Let the past die. Kill it if, you have to.” Beginning with me? - Rey ends up on Tatooine. - The planet both Anakin and Luke ardently wanted to leave. - Luke had promised his nephew that he would be around for him. - Nope. - Rey had told Ben that she had seen his future. What future was that - “you will be a hero for ten minutes, get a kiss and then die? (And they didn’t even get a love theme.) - “The belonging you seek is not behind you, it is ahead.” On a desert planet with a few ghosts. What of the ocean she used to dream about? - Ben and Rey were both introduced as two intensely lonely people searching for belonging. We learn they are a Force dyad, and then they are torn apart again. - Why was Ben named for Obi-Wan Kenobi in the first place, if they have absolutely nothing in common? - The Throne Room battle scene in The Last Jedi was clearly showing that when they are in balance, Light Side and Dark Side are unbeatable. Why did the so-called “Light Side” have to win again, in The Rise of Skywalker, instead of finding balance? - Luke’s scene on Ahch-To was so ridiculously opposite to his attitude in The Last Jedi that by now I believe he was a fantasy conjectured by her. (Like Ben’s vision of his father.) - Anakin’s voice among the other Jedi’s. - He was a renegade, for Force’s sake. - The kiss between two females. - More fan service, to appease those who pretended that not making Poe and Finn a couple was a sign of homophobia. - We see the Knights of Ren, but we learn absolutely nothing about them or Kylo’s connection with them. - Rose Tico’s invalidation. - A shame after what the actress had gone through because for the fans she was “not Star-Wars-y” (chubby and lively instead of wiry and spitfire). - Finn’s and Rose’s relationship. - Ignored without any explanation. - Finn may or may not be Force-sensitive. - If he is: did he abandon the First Order not due to his own free will but because of some higher willpower? Great. - General Hux was simply obliterated. - In The Force Awakens he was an excellent foil to Kylo Ren; no background story, no humanization for him. - Chewie’s and 3PO’s faked deaths. - Useless additional drama. - The Force Awakens was a bow before the classic trilogy. The Rise of Skywalker kicked its remainders to pieces. - The Prequel Trilogy ended with hope, the Original Trilogy with love. The Sequel Trilogy ends on a blank slate. - “We are what they grow beyond.” The characters of the Sequel Trilogy did not grow beyond the heroes of the Original Trilogy. - The Jedi did not learn from their mistakes and were obliterated. The Skywalker family understood the mistakes they had made too late. Now they’re gone, too.

  P.S. While I was watching The Rise of Skywalker my husband came in asked me since when I like Marvel movies. I said “That’s not a Marvel movie, it’s Star Wars.” I guess that says enough.

P.P.S. For the next trilogy, please at least let the movies hit theatres in May again instead of December. a) It’s tradition for Star Wars films, b) Whatever happens, at least you won’t ruin anyone’s Christmases. Thank you.