#but this is actually one of the many reasons i love his dynamic with leia. we stan two very disabled generals who are each other's family

[antianakin]

Do you think it’s a common thing in the fandom (especially when writing fan-works featuring the Skywalker Father-Son Duo(TM)) to give Anakin a lot of Luke’s more noble and good attributes and act like he’s been like that the whole time, and give Luke some of Anakin’s worse attributes to make Anakin seem more centrist compared canon Luke and the “old Jedi” (quotes used ironically)?

Cause as a kid I loved Anakin for many of the reasons I now realize don’t apply to him at all, and moreso apply to Luke, and it’s really getting irritating to look up cool Luke fic and realize that this has been done to ma boi. What do you think?

I gotta be honest, I don't think I read enough fics with that dynamic in it to be able to say with any degree of certainty whether that's true or not.

What I will say is that I think fic writers who like Anakin tend to smooth him out a LOT and, yes, give him traits that are more applicable to other characters in order to make him likable. And in fairness, that's exactly what TCW did as well by effectively just giving him Obi-Wan's personality and erasing some of his less likable characteristics from the films.

Because Anakin is... a difficult character in many ways. The core of him is fear, so there's a tendency to want to sympathize with him, but what gets ignored is that Anakin is 1000% a fascist by AOTC, someone who can and will let himself be filled with enough anger to commit a massacre of an entire village down to the last child, and someone who is perfectly fine with pressuring a woman into a relationship with him. None of that is necessarily fun to write and it's hard to write Anakin as a sympathetic character if those things are kept in mind. So they just get... smoothed away. He's not REALLY a fascist, he's just confused or brainwashed and one good conversation with someone can completely fix that little problem. Anakin isn't pressuring Padme, he just could tell that she was into him and he TOTALLY would back off if Padme said no. The Tuskens deserved it anyway! So on and so forth.

Luke, by contrast, is a very easy character. There's a reason he gets labeled "sunshine boy" by the fandom and his struggles with anger get sort-of... forgotten and overlooked in favor of just seeing him as this easy, likable, charming farmboy. He's sweet and honorable and passionate. He IS a lot like Anakin in many ways, and that's deliberate. Fandom has taken a turn recently towards wanting Leia to be like Anakin and Luke to be like Padme, and there's reasons to make that comparison, but Luke's similarities to Anakin are very deliberately there in the narrative for a reason. Luke has to struggle with anger and fear and be filled with righteous passion because that's exactly what Anakin struggled with and Luke's ability to overcome that in a way Anakin never could is what makes the entire story interesting and meaningful.

Luke also is one of those characters who tends to get handed the "grey Jedi" label which tends to lead to Luke choosing to look down on the Prequels Jedi and decreeing that attachments are totally fine actually and HIS Jedi aren't going to be repressed anymore blah blah blah. And this does come from fans who have fallen into the fandom osmosis hole of "the Prequels are about the Jedi's failure" and have twisted the entire Skywalker Saga around that theory, including Luke's journey. And part of that theory tends to be a lot more sympathetic towards Anakin, as well. If only the Jedi had been more understanding and less oppressive, Anakin wouldn't have fallen. So it's not shocking that fans who are writing from that perspective are going to make Anakin seem softer and more sympathetic.

So yeah, sure, it's entirely possible that some fic writers are choosing to give Anakin more of Luke's nobler characteristics in order to help smooth him out and make him easier to like, while giving Luke some of Anakin's more arrogant or dismissive traits in order to make those traits seem more "centrist." I don't think it's something that ONLY happens with Luke and Anakin, though. Like I said, TCW gave Anakin most of Obi-Wan's traits and then tossed a few of Anakin's onto Obi-Wan, as well. I think you could make an argument that we're seeing some of that happen with Ahsoka, too.

I wish I could offer you some Luke fic recs, so instead I will simply say I hope you find some good ones that feel like they're more in character!

[jamiesugah]

Shipper Tag Game

I was tagged by @heyholmesletsgo.

1. What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care about anymore? Ooh, easy one. Danny and Michelle from Guiding Light. Danny was in the mafia. Michelle killed his brother (when he assaulted her). Danny married her to keep her safe from the rest of his family. They were *chef's kiss*. Probably my first introduction to fandom. There were shipper vids, fics, fan edits. And I mean this was, like, 1998, so it's not like the internet was huge back then. And it's not so much that I don't care in that I haven't thought about them in years. I wonder if there are fics for them on AO3.

2. Which ship would you consider your first one? I'd say Han and Leia.

3. Your first fanfic was about which couple? Trip and T'Pol from Star Trek Enterprise. I do not acknowledge that final episode.

4. Do you remember the first couple you saw fanart of? That depends on how we're defining "fanart". Danny/Michelle had a lot of manips and screencap edits, but the first, like, original art I remember seeing was probably for Ron/Hermione.

5. Have you ever gotten into ship discourse? Dude, I ship Sterek AND Sheith, ship discourse just finds you. But actually the worst for me was when I was in the CSI: NY fandom. People legit hated me there. I got doxxed on LJ. That's one of the main reasons I'm a fairly passive consumer of fandom nowadays. I don't have the energy to deal with that shit.

6. Did you use to have any NOTP or have one currently? Oh I have SO MANY NOTPs. I have a lot of filtered tags on Tumblr. Some of them are ships that squick me out, some of them have annoying or abusive fandoms and that turned me off the ship, and some of them are just I don't like them and don't want to see them.

7. Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read? I was simultaneously reading a SeanWhite (Not Me) and a WangXian (The Untamed) fic.

8. Currently, do you have any OTPs? I mean... Yes?? Have you seen my blog?? SeanWhite and WangXian are the big ones right now but I have so many.

9. Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together? Sterek (Stiles/Derek, Teen Wolf) and Sheith (Shiro/Keith, Voltron Legendary Defender). Those fuckers were married, I don't care what garbage "canon" says.

10. Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting? Not a specific one, but I used to dislike slash on principle because slash shippers treated me like shit when I was in CSI: NY fandom, so I sort of thought they were all like that, and now all of my ships are queer so there you go.

11. Do you have any ship that, in the past, would've been considered normal but now you would be cancelled over? I mean, I think if Sterek and Sheith had been 20 years ago, no one would give a shit, but now the purity patrol polices everything. People are still calling us abusers for those, and those shows ended 6+ years ago.

12. What is your favorite crack ship? I don't really have one, honestly. I have a limited amount of mental energy to spend, so I'd rather focus on my OTPs.

13. What is the couple you read the most fanfics about? Total, ever? I think Merthur, followed by Sterek.

14. What do most of your ships usually have in common? Grumpy is in love with sunshine, sunshine & sunshine protector, usually some variation of that dynamic.

15. What you absolutely hate in a ship? Understanding that this is personal preference and I am not casting judgment on what anyone else ships: ships when there is, like, absolutely no evidence that the two people involved have any romantic feelings for each other. I railed against Leonard and Penny on TBBT for so many years because I'm pretty sure they got them together because they "made the most sense" but in actual canon they were horrible for each other. I have no idea WHY I was supposed to want them together.

I'm not going to tag anyone so if you want to do this, go nuts!

[televinita]

That 90s Show - thoughts after 1 episode

But first, background re: me and That 70s Show --

I watched it when it aired, and I’m pretty sure I even started with season 1, as an actual teenager. It was one of the first and few primetime shows I latched onto before age 16, and I watched it all the way to the bitter end*. Have also rewatched it countless times in syndication and on DVD; it has infinite replay value to me and I love everyone and quote random lines to this day.

(*although honestly, I didn’t hate season 8! As much as I missed Eric, I loved Randy and thought he was a fine alternative option; my qualms were limited mainly to the Jackie/Hyde breakup and the even worse switch to Jackie/Fez)

So I went into this very scared of how this might tarnish the original. I came out...so relieved and happy!

The Actual Thoughts, In Three Acts

Part 1: Adult Formans

I DEEPLY UNDERESTIMATED THE PURE JOY I WOULD FEEL AT SEEING RED/KITTY/ERIC/DONNA/THE FORMANS’ HOUSE IN A NEW AGE

Topher Grace has not aged in the last 15 years, amazing.

ERIC/DONNA ERIC/DONNA ERIC/DONNA

(I have always shipped them at least by default, because obviously, but their married dynamic takes it to a whole new plane of joy I didn’t know existed)

Eric as a dad is the other kind of joy I didn’t know my life needed. I love the idea of her being his “little buddy” all her life. If I cared more about the daughter we would rapidly be approaching Jurassic World levels of family squee here.

who am I kidding, his final blessing and their hug (and my relief that she didn’t actually get a hole poked in her perfect face) gave me EXACTLY that.

P.S. PROFESSOR ERIC WHO GETS TO TEACH A CLASS ON HIS MOST BELOVED HEART’S JOY! and PUBLISHED AUTHOR DONNA! I love these journeys for them.

I love that Red is clearly a softie where his granddaughter is concerned (the request for a cheek kiss!!), but also still has an edge. That’s exactly what I wanted.

Kitty serving up those “the nights are the hardest...but then the day comes and that's every bit as hard as the night...and then the night comes again!...” guilt vibes. 😍 😍

and the “I wish you’d call me Mom” / “feels forced” war

and her joy in going out to shop for “all the -itos!” to feed the newest batch of stray-cat teens

basically everything this Core Four did or said was glorious

also loved Eric’s tiny meltdown as first Donna and then his own mother betray him by supporting Leia’s wish to ditch father/daughter space camp, followed by Baby(skin)’s First Foot-In-Ass Threat.

I didn’t write down most of the quotes because there were too many good ones, but I absolutely love “Leia staying here isn’t the craziest idea. Your parents can watch her.” / “Were you not here with me in the 70s??”

And also Red’s “you’re Upstairs People now.” Hehehehehe.  

Part 2: Other Nostalgia-Based Feelings

I am so sad that Danny Masterson turned out gross and awful because I miss Hyde and this world feels off-kilter without him.

But I am grateful that the show is going to simply ignore him instead of stamping down some awful canon reason like "hyde can’t come to the screen right now because he’s DEAD” (or in prison)

I’ll allow Jackie/Kelso for the sheer meta-cuteness of them having eventually ended up together in real life, even though really, it would have been nice if she had ended up with someone rich and successful and not from Point Place.

I will not allow this rude, shallow, worst-of-season-1 Jackie who gets married and divorced to the same old idiot on a whim. what is this. where is the GROWTH. Did Fez use some sort of FDA-banned hair treatment on her that leached memory-destroying poison into her brain??

maybe she gets better later. I will hope.

love that I can’t be sad about Donna’s childhood home being sold because let’s face it, that is an ugly house. Looking forward to finding out where Bob went. I assume he’s a millionaire now, given his life’s impossible success trajectory to date.

(also, I really liked seeing her old room updated for the 90s!)

speaking of houses, I love SO MUCH that the set decorators knew what they were doing and kept fair bit the same while updating some key pieces like the living room sofa, i.e. how real people live. At least, that’s the fleeting impression I got; will have to study it more (or read other posts from people who have) to know for sure.

My single biggest fear starting That 90s Show was that they’d go buck-wild with swearing, but they.....held themselves to the same FCC standards as the original???? I am afraid to ask if it stays this way but I hope.

Part 3: The Kids

First impressions (while watching): oh, yeah, they’re a vapid school-of-fish nothing to me so far.

Second impressions, upon reflection: Leia has some potential to be likeable, and maybe Gwen if she softens a bit? Also, I went into this ep like “please don’t make them be into each other just to increase your diversity quota,” but then all the boys turned out unappealing of face or personality and more importantly, from the very first second Creeper Leia peeked in through Gwen’s window there was chemistry, so. Notes and expectations for season 2!!

(side note: I remind you that I am the woman who 9 times out of 10 cannot come up with a single f/f couple she actually ships; also will normally choose “best friends” over gals being more than pals 999 times out of 1000; also if there is an option for the opposite-sex offspring of two couples who are friends to be into each other that is ALWAYS where I align. Until now, apparently. That’s how strong this chemistry is.)

As for the other kids... Ozzie’s voice is currently intolerable to me and I don’t care about the rest or even know the dating couple’s names, although the non-Kelso guy is serving up some decent Original Kelso vibes that could grow on me.

tl;dr you can lead me to a show ostensibly about teenagers but you can’t make me emotionally invest

In Conclusion: I only remember the highlights, so, A+ start! Looking forward to more random what-year-even-is-it, anachronism-is-fine 90s trends/references in future episodes; I am not even going to bother worrying about how the chronology works since it was the late 70s for eight years straight last time and we can’t even all agree on whether season 8 counts. :p

[userpoe]

Can you write more on your disabled Poe headcanons?! These are so interesting!!

oh bless you for giving me an opportunity to go on an infodump about this, *rubs my hands together*

I've mentioned it before (hell, I've made two gifsets on it) but Poe is coded as being incredibly neurodivergent - specifically autistic and adhd. this directly impacts and influences how he does things and, quite frankly imo, how people treat him.

(almost all of the pilots in star wars can be easily read as nd for that matter. now take a look at how often pilots get called 'arrogant' and 'impulsive' or how easily starfighter pilots get on well with force-sensitives and jedi, who are coded as being incredibly autistic. it paints a telling picture that the in-universe attitude toward pilots isn't so different from how people treat neurodivergent folk irl, especially ones with adhd).

back on track with poe being neurodivergent: he has to ask for clarification on things frequently, he gets fidgety and agitated when his usual routine is abruptly shifted. he's a very tactile person, obviously, but in tros he doesn't like being touched very much if it's initiated by somebody else. he doesn't mask his emotions at all, he has meltdowns (the scene on the bridge in tlj and also there's a moment in poe dameron: free fall that counts as a meltdown as well). he stims and can't stay still for very long, he's constantly bouncing around even if he's staying in the same spot.

canonically, some pilots do wind up with chronic pain from years of being in a cockpit (wedge has chronic pain from that and also just in gen from the galactic civil war), and I headcanon that poe definitely has chronic pain. I even wrote a fic about it.

he has scars and lots of them. I don't see this talked about often, but he does. He gets stabbed in the hand by Terex in the comics, and he gets stabbed a stressful amount of times in the torso/chest in Freefall. This isn't counting scars he might have gotten during various fights or crashes (he probably might even have some burn scars from, again, all the explosions he's been in close contact with). And even though it doesn't make an appearance in tros (which I'm very saddened by), I think the cut on his cheek from his time aboard the Finalizer definitely scars too.

he has hand tremors! there's a term for this, i believe, my friend told me it when she suggested the headcanon but I can't remember it atm. it flares up a little more than normal when he's anxious (you can see it in the movies, it tremors when he's worrying about his loved ones. it doesn't come up at all when he's in the middle of a fight though).

*smacks table* this is actually more coded into his character than a headcanon, but he has anxiety, depression and ptsd. he has an alarming lack of value for his own life and at the very least has some suicidal ideation happening (he wakes up from a crash in poe dameron: free fall wishing he'd died and...I don't enjoy citing resistance r*born, but he point blank tells the entire resistance if he thought it would stop the First Order, he'd sacrifice himself in a heartbeat. he's also incredibly prone to catastrophic thinking, especially in freefall, which is when your anxiety completely tosses 'logic' out of the window and all you can see are the worst possible outcomes and you accept that as the reality of your situation.

BB-8's model of droid can technically be considered a therapy droid! They were the successor type of a different medical droid model, and I definitely headcanon that BB-8 is the in-universe equivalent of an emotional support animal (I had the hc for awhile, but kudos to this twitter thread for making me aware it's genuinely a possibility!)

I also headcanon that probably after tros when he gets shot (& it's left mostly untreated for awhile + he flies frequently on the arm), it eventually results in some mobility loss in that arm. again, i wrote a fic on it.

[kattestrophe]

Pop Culture Kattes Part 2 - A Collection of filmed Kattes

What did the invention of Film lead to if not an abundance of new Kattes for me to rate. As usual, the rating system is made up and the points don't mean a thing.

PART I

Cserépy-Film Co. GmbH - Fridericus Rex. Teil 1: Sturm und Drang (1921)

The first of many Fridericus Rex movies! Sadly I can't get ahold of a copy of this movie (there appears to be one in the Archives françaises du film...) and the reviews focus mostly on Otto Gebühr as Fritz. However, we do have two images of Friedrich Wilhelm Kaiser as everyone's favourite traitor:

Yes, okay, the honorable Lieutenant getting arrested at the ball, very nice. Ugly wig, but what else is new. Pretty standard Katte, as it seems. Now, what is the second pictu-

... Sheesh, that's terrifying. VERY happy to die for a Prince that he loves, that one. Also where are they? Definitely not Küstrin, by the looks of it. And why does the priest on the left look like Ian McKellen's grandpa in a Princess Leia wig?? So many questions that will never be answered.

Overall rating: ???

Deka-Film GmbH - Der alte und der junge König (1935)

We're moving on to the Nazi-Propaganda-stage of the Fridericus movies. But we're not here for an in-depth analysis (which would be warranted...), we're here for Katte! Portrayed by Claus Clausen, who would move on to play Prince Henry in another Fridericus movie seven years later and definitely looks more like Henry than Katte imo. He's all angles and cheekbones and light eyebrows and is ten years too old for Katte (and way too tall for either of them). The acting is... intense. There's no better word for it, every move he makes is intense.

Character wise, uh... he's a tough one, but he softens over the course of the movie. In his first appearance he shows up out of the blue in a pose that screams "ready to fight", in his second scene he tells Fritz that he's ashamed of him. Actual dialogue: "Are you Katte or are you the King?" "I am Katte. 😡😡 Your friend. 😡😡" He's SUPER passionate about being a soldier ("You pull me into this, ME, the SOLDIER Katte!!" who almost didn't return from England just a year prior, but ANYWAY). We get a scene with Wilhelmine discussing the miniature portrait he refused to return; as per usual it is conveniently forgotten that Fritz was also in this miniature portrait in favour of some romantic subtext. Katte gets all shy around her, which is surprising because in his scenes before that all he did was yell. I'd probably find it somewhat endearing, if they weren't Katte and Wilhelmine. We later see him in jail, gazing fondly at the miniature of JUST Wilhelmine before telling Müller to hand it to Fritz together with his last letter.

Indeed, Katte, indeed. Speaking of the portrait: We aren't told that he painted it himself. He just... has it. For reasons. We aren't told about his musical talents either; all we know about him is that he's a man of honour and a soldier in an unspecified regiment in Potsdam. He does have his moments, his dynamic with Fritz improves drastically after the first two scenes and he does seem like he cares, especially after witnessing one of FW's freakouts while hiding in the closet (lol). And he gets to comfort Fritz a little bit after that. After doing a complete 180° considering his views on desertion, he dies for a master he loves and would sacrifice 1000 lives for him. Could have used some more friendly scenes with Fritz or any scenes of what Katte did between agreeing to desert and dying, but the main character of this movie is FW, so we can't afford that. Despite some early difficulties I'd say he's a pretty solid Katte. I like a few scenes. Nothing special, but nothing egregiously bad either.

Overall rating: 5/10 intense stares, watchable mainly for comedic FW scenes

ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen) - Der Thronfolger (1980)

Finally, a Katte with proper eyebrows!! Other than that, his biggest contribution is to help hide the affairs of the straightest and horniest Crown Prince known to film from a far too chill FW. How does he do that? Who knows. Once again we are treated to very few scenes of him and Fritz spending time together and actually being friends. We get about one and a half. Blergh. Character wise, he's... eh. Doesn't do much. Smiles more than other Kattes. Says that he adores Fritz and reads Voltaire with him, so at least we get a hint at his intellectual pursuits; no other hints at what he does apart from his job as Some Guy Who Follows FW Around. Has the audacity to grab Mine's arm and pull her back into her seat. We do get an interrogation scene where he claims to have done his best to thwart Fritz's plans at all times (none of which was shown to us) and before the execution he talks about how he pretended to be an atheist for clout for a while (which was also not shown to us). Other than that, we barely get to know Katte despite him meeting Fritz almost two years too soon. And his last words to Fritz are "Nothing of forgiveness. My death is an act of divine justice" which... is better than "Long live the King", I guess...? Eeeeh, didn't like it...

However: Aesthetically speaking, I'd say he's probably the best on this list. At 33 Jan Niklas is a little old (especially when he moves his face and looks 40 next to Fritz who is 20 and looks 12) and a wig that high with a forehead that high was... a choice (we're not quite entering Henry territory yet...), but look-wise he's pretty solid overall. I'll admit it, I'm just really happy about the eyebrows. Dark eyes, dark eyebrows, at least somewhat tan complexion - nice.

Overall rating: 3/10 splendid eyebrows, wouldn't recommend this movie overall, mainly because Fritz is kind of terrible imo

ARTE - Friedrich. Ein deutscher König (2011)

The One With The Women As Fritz and one Kai Michael Müller as Katte. He recently played a corpse in a Tatort that I saw, that was interesting. Anyway. The movie is a 90 minute documentary about Fritz's entire life, so he's only in it for a few minutes. Not much of a character to judge, but at least he's not in love with Wilhelmine in this one. He does get that scene where he buttons Fritz's uniform and comments on how good he looks in it... And the narration tells us about his musical interests, his military career, and how close he was to Fritz. So we've got the basics down.

Aesthetically speaking, Kai Michael Müller is, once again, no Katte. Interestingly, instead of being too old like everyone else, he is actually too young - He's 30 now, and the movie is ten years old! Dang. Acting wise, it's... It's a documentary, I've seen worse. Some varying intonation would be nice though, maybe some emotion behind his lines... He talks like a soccer player in a post-game interview. I personally love how they do the keyhole-zoom-out thing over Fritz and Katte's faces and then cut to Dorgerloh saying "Well, we don't KNOW what they did and I don't want to speculate" - You may not, but Arte sure does.

Overall rating: 4/10 homoerotic things behind closed doors, watchable for a documentary

Spotlight Musicals - Friedrich. Mythos und Tragödie (2012)

Oh, FMuT, the things we could have had... I have feelings about this thing, considering I've spent hours of my life subbing it. This Katte is so straight, he's barely even friends with Fritz. Which is pretty much the worst you can do. I don't even expect people to make their relationship romantic, I'd just like them to portray a good friendship for once... Whenever they're on stage together during his lifetime, Katte is usually preoccupied with Wilhelmine and doesn't spare Fritz a second glance. Which is even weirder when you consider that the very same Fritz apparently felt so strongly about him that he hallucinated his ghost before he died (The whole thing reads as "Fritz is in love with him and Katte is too dumb and Wilhelmine-focused to notice, but also we didn't want to lose our conservative audience by making Fritz anything but straight, so we gave Countess Orzelska a sexy solo to cement his heterosexuality").

They don't even have a duet. Katte has major singing parts in his duet with Wilhelmine (which I skip every time) and a song with Mine and Fritz, is in the ensemble for maybe two more songs and gets two lines in the finale; LET HIM SING, GOD DAMNIT, HE'S ON STAGE 90% OF THE TIME! The very cool concept of Ghost Katte showing Fritz how much he's changed over the years was truly wasted on this show - as was Bienvenue in Sanssouci, because that song is a banger. But hey, at least they hug twice and we get that kiss we didn't get in Zeithain...? Even if it's played for a laugh...? Yay...? His personality is alright, I guess. He hides Fritz's flute, protects him from FW once and dreams of a more cultured future while still being very much a military man (in the infantry, for staging reasons...) and ghost-Katte is not afraid to tell Fritz that he thinks he sucks. We just don't really get why he even cares about Fritz in the first place or why Fritz cares about him. Oh, and he doesn't get ANY last words. What the fuck.

As for his looks: Maximilian Mann doesn't necessarily look like Katte, but it's better than others and at least he was about the right age (24 in the 2012 run, 26/27 when it came to Fulda two years later). In this specific picture, he even has acceptable eyebrows and the gloomy look that Wilhelmine mentions! A wig could have been nice (apparently they used one for another actor...?), but considering the wig quality we see on other people on stage, maybe it's good they went with his natural hair. I feel like I'm being a little hard on this one, but I love musicals and thus I'm very mad about the wasted potential. Also the man can sing, I've seen him live, give him a solo.

Overall rating: 4/10 Nonexistant duets, fun if you skip the right songs

And that's all for today, folks! One kissing gif for the road:

PART III

[coexiising]

Good Neighbors - Chapter One

SUMMARY ✦ You were excited to learn that someone was finally moving into that old house next to your own. The Skywalker-Amidala family seemed like a great addition to your friendly neighborhood, with their two twin kids and happy personalities. Though, the more you get to know your neighbors, the closer you get to the husband of the family: Anakin Skywalker.

WARNING(S) ✦ Modern! Anakin Skywalker, Alternate Universe, Infidelity, Eventual Smut, not so slow burn, Eventual Romance, Neighbors, and they were neighbors, anakin looks so good in a suit, sneaking around, forbidden love

NOTE ✦ I’ve been wanting to write a Modern! Anakin fanfic for a while now, so here we go! This will be a multi chapter fic, I don’t know how many yet but expect a lot because I’ve got some ideas to play out! This chapter is more of an introductory, but expect some more spicy drama in the next coming chapters. 

»»————-　✼　————-««

As tradition goes every year, you could smell the smoke coming from the middle of your neighborhood's culdesac while you made your way outside your garage with your mother, who held a large tray of potato salad in her hands that she insisted she carried herself over to the white tables in the distance. It was hot outside, early July was coming strong this year with the heat, reaching a staggering eighty nine degrees outside and it was already well past noon. Though, you should’ve been expecting the heat, since it seemed to creep up on you every time this yearly cookout happened.

It had been a little tradition, jokingly deemed a ‘holiday’ by your younger brother, that had been going on for as long as you could think back to. You could remember being five years old and running around with the neighborhood kids and jumping into your pool after eating the bountiful amount of food that was supplied for the families that participated. It used to be a handful of them, three or four families that came and had a small little barbeque together. But over time that changed, and now it became a whole neighborhood thing.  

The dads of the block always started earlier to get everything set up, which was really the long white tables where food could be set and setting up the large grill on the pavement. And the moms always slaved away in their kitchens making some type of side dish, whether it be fruit cups, potato salads, or whatever. You were twenty two now, almost done with your undergraduate degree, and you wondered if you would ever find this sense of friendliness anywhere else when you eventually moved from your home. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to leave, it was just more convenient for you to stay and you didn’t mind your family that much. They were supportive, there for you no matter what, and your home was close to your University anyways.

“I wonder if Lisa is going to wear that ugly dress she bought the other day,” Your mother stated, making short, languid strides next to you. “She brought it to the house a few days ago when we were having a little wine date and I didn’t have the heart to tell her that she was definitely not twenty five anymore and that dress did not hug her in the right places.”

You laughed, jokingly hitting your mom on the shoulder. “Mom, come on, it can’t be that bad.” She didn’t respond, only grinning towards you with a hint of playfulness filling her eyes behind her thick, black sunglasses. Your eyes scanned the crowd already forming, kids on the outside running around with a ball. You knew a lot of them, even held some of them as babies after they were born. But when you took another glance at the group, you saw that there were two you didn’t recognize. A boy and a girl, both looking similar to one another and the only difference being the slightly different shades of their hair. “Mom, who are they?” You asked, pointing to the girl and boy who were now fighting each other for control over the soccer ball.

“Oh, they’re the kids of the new neighbors,” Your mom answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. You looked over at the house next to your own, a two story one with white coloring and many windows. It had been for sale forever and it became quite the local news when someone actually bought it. You guess you hadn’t realized that the people who bought it were now occupying it. “They’re twins, I think. The mom and dad are on the younger side too. Courtney says that the husband is working at that law firm down on first street and apparently the wife wants to run for senator in a year.” How the hell did she know this much about everyone? You shouldn’t even question it at this point, since she was friends with all the neighborhood moms who loved to gossip.

Looking around for any unfamiliar faces, you were surprised to see none. Were they not coming out for the cookout? It seemed like the perfect place for them to meet everybody. “Oh!” Your mom exclaimed. “I forgot the tongs on the kitchen counter, could you go get them for me, please?” Without a second thought you nodded, turning on your heel and making your way back towards your house. As much as you loved your mom, you were sometimes annoyed with her forgetfulness, especially because you asked her if she had everything three times before you left just a few moments ago. Oh well, it wasn’t that big of a deal, you would be in and out in no time.

You walked up the well cut grass of your lawn to your front door, sandaled foot almost hitting the concrete when you heard the creak of another door. It belonged to the door of the house beside you, the light tapping of shoes making their way onto the patio filled your ears, feeling somewhat foreign since you weren’t used to hearing anything from that house. You wondered what it looked like inside, if everything was rusted and worn. It had to have been almost ten years since someone lived there.

But when you turned to finally get a look at your neighbor, your thoughts were completely halted.

Your mom was right, he, most likely being the husband, was on the younger side. He had to be in his early thirties, still a lot of youth painting his broadened features. His skin was lightly tanned, it was hard not to notice the way that the sun seemed to do a good job in painting his long, muscular arms that reached to close the door behind him. He was wearing a short sleeved shirt and black pants, though it wasn’t like something that you had seen other dads wear before, it was more formal, more pristine like he was trying to make an appearance. But if the story checked out, he was supposed to be a lawyer, it was his job to look professional. You continued to look at him, almost shamefully so as your eyes trailed from his clothing to his face, taking in the sharpness of his jaw and the blues of his eyes that very much reminded you of the light blue sky above you now. And then to his hair, which was cut short and had a golden glow to it.

Right as you were about to turn and get into your house, the ball that had been with the group of kids came flying your way, hitting against the door next to you and making you jump at the loud noise. It was lucky that it didn’t fly through a window, or your parents would’ve gone ballistic. You could hear some of the parents start to shout at the kids, telling them to stay away from the houses if they were planning on kicking that thing off of the ground. The same kids you were questioning earlier ran up your lawn, most definitely to retrieve the ball that would’ve hit you dead on if you hadn’t been gawking at their father.

“Luke, I told you to not kick it that way!” The girl, Leia, yelled towards her brother, a little stomp in her step as they made their way towards you. You picked up the ball and held it in your hands, kneeling down and waiting for the kids to approach you. Luke shook his head, shaggy hair falling into his eyes and saying, “It wasn’t me! It was that other guy over there. Why do you always blame me!” You laughed, the dynamic almost reminding you of you and your brother when you were younger.

Handing them the red rubber ball, they both gave you a small ‘thank you’ and Leia muttered a tiny ‘sorry’ and they went on their way. Watching as they went, you didn’t even realize that someone else was walking up to you. Still kneeling, you looked up and saw that it was your neighbor, looking down at you with a tiny, pleasant smile on his face. You blushed, realizing the awkward position and stood up, ignoring the heat coming to your cheeks and offering a smile to him as well. Being this close to him, you could see that he was tall as well, standing a good couple inches over you. Usually this would’ve made you feel intimidated, but for some reason it made you want to draw closer to him. You mentally scolded yourself for thinking this way, knowing that he was your new neighbor, and not to mention he had two very cute twins and a wife who was probably beautiful.

“Sorry about that, I hope they didn’t scare you that bad,” He said, taking a glance at his kids who were already starting another round of whatever game they were playing with the others. His voice was low, but there was a sense of calm to it. It wasn’t rough or gravelly, almost like honey as he spoke to you. “I haven’t seen you here before, do you live here? I think I’ve seen your mom and dad around but we were waiting until the cookout to introduce ourselves.” Kind of a stupid question to ask since you were standing on your porch with your keys in your hand, though you gave him the benefit of the doubt.

“Yeah, um,” You thought back to the day you saw your neighbors two cars parked in the driveway, was that a Sunday? No, it was a Monday. “I’m usually around here more but last week I had to pick up a couple shifts at work to help my friend.” Your coworker and friend came down with the flu and had to find someone to cover her ships ASAP, and you weren’t doing anything important and stepped in to help.

He nodded. “Makes sense. I’m Anakin Skywalker, you already met my kids but they’re Luke and Leia.” Skywalker. A strange last name that confused you for a moment, realizing that you’ve never heard of anything like that before. Then again, you hadn’t heard of the name Anakin either, but somehow the unique name fit him.

“Y/N,” You responded, giving him a nod.

“Y/N,” He said, like he was testing the name out on his tongue. You tried to ignore the feeling you got when you heard it come out of his lips, which were very nice by the way when you took a second to glance at them. It sounded good in Anakin’s voice, and you found yourself wanting him to say it over and over again if he would. There was a moment of awkward silence between the both of you, a random amount of tension that you didn’t know if you were imagining or not. Then Anakin opened his mouth again to say, “My kids were looking at the pool in your yard the other day when they were exploring our backyard.”

“Oh, yeah,” You said. “They’re welcome to come over any time and use it if they want.”

“Are you sure?”

It was normal for the people in the neighborhood to use it if they wanted to. It was a big underground pool that had been built when you were a little kid. “Yeah, everyone does. Just make sure to ask someone before and they’ll most likely say yes. We like to get the most out of it every summer.” You realized that you were supposed to be back with your mother, she was most likely getting antsy as to what was taking so long. So you took the opportunity to leave, even though you wouldn’t mind staying and talking to your new neighbor for as long as he wanted to. He wasn’t just attractive, you thought that he was nice too.

“Well, I need to get something from the house and get back to my mom. See you later, Mr. Skywalker.”

“Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

“Just Anakin is fine.”

You felt your cheeks heat up. “Right, see you later, Anakin.” He gave you one last smile and right as you turned around, you could’ve sworn you saw a wink. You turned on your heel, ignoring the eyes he clearly had on you and making your way into your house. The moment the door was closed, you leaned against the wood and closed your eyes, replaying that last moment over and over again in your head. Had he really winked at you? Or was that just your mind spinning some kind of fantasy?

Oh, Christ.

It was hard to ignore the butterflies swarming in your stomach.

[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

[trashikin]

Any wholesome Vader and Luke Headcanons? Can be from the canon Star Wars or your own Fic.

I've been thinking on this one all day. It's a little tricky because, like, canon Vader is not really his own person. He's a shell that Anakin has wrapped himself in, desperate to convince himself that Anakin is the one who is dead and Vader is all that remains.

That is absolutely not to say "Anakin is all good and it's a split personality and Vader is the bad one". Anakin is totally responsible for his choices and actions. But one choice he consistently makes as Vader is to lie to himself about why he's making the other bad choices. He thinks it's his only option for twenty-three years until he chooses to throw Palpatine into the pit to save Luke.

So, I don't quite have wholesome canon Vader headcanons because anything wholesome about him is Anakin starting to face what he's done, reclaim his identity as a Skywalker, and change. You can't make anyone change, but you (Luke) can inspire someone to choose to do so.

I would love to see a proper redemption arc post-ROTJ with Anakin surviving (there probably is one out there, feel free to send some fic recs). Death isn't redemption, redemption is choosing to do better, to right the wrongs that you can, and to acknowledge that there are some things you can never make up for. And some people may never forgive you.

I want to see Anakin spend the rest of his life doing the best that he can. Luke supports the hell out of him. No one else who knows who he is does. I want to see him in a new suit (not that white one, a real redesign), on his knees, begging his daughter's forgiveness.

He might never get it from Leia or anyone other than Luke, but he can do so much to help so many reconstruction efforts. Prison makes sense, sure, but there isn't one that can actually hold him. A reformed Anakin would agree to it, probably, but I could also see the New Republic begrudgingly leaving him in Luke's custody. It would be an interesting dynamic.

That is absolutely not what you asked for, but that's the most wholesome thing I can see with Luke and "Vader" in canon.

Now for IWM Luke and Vaderkin... Hm.

Vader is a brilliant tactician but emotionally quite stupid. He doesn't recognize any feelings he has towards Luke other than "potentially useful" and "mine". So when he starts observing his preferences it's definitely for nefarious purposes, not because he wants to make Luke smile.

It starts with the mirror, which he tells himself is practical (Luke gets ready faster) and also furthers his goals (Luke fully turning on the Rebels).

Luke makes few requests, and Vader usually makes him give a little of himself for each one. But he also makes quiet notes on the things Luke likes. Even Alderaanian Luke is fond of blue milk custard (especially frozen). Vader may randomly give him small things, never directly but always in a way that leaves no doubt who is responsible.

He tells himself it's calculated. That it's all part of the plan. It certainly has nothing to do with how these gifts are one of the only times he gets to see a small smile from Luke, who has few reasons to do so onboard the Executor.

I don't think I can do Luke reciprocating in this post, I'm still working on some stuff there. But it has a lot to do with my visualization of Anakin inside the husk of Vader. Not really a different person. But Luke (despite not having separate names for them) finds it increasingly easy to convince himself otherwise.

[thewriterowl]

hey owl, i love your stories and your general dinluke takes ; ~ ; <3

i don't know if you have been asked this before, but what do you think about the canon character arc for luke in the sequels ? personally, i was completely heartbroken over how they made luke give up and run away from the fight, abandon his friends and even his twin sister (!!), and also later reveal that he wanted to murder his nephew in his sleep like what ??? and even though luke kind of "redeemed" himself by the end of episode viii, i feel like they ultimately took away luke's core themes, which are hope and compassion. i think for many, he was /that/ childhood hero and i also learned these attributes from him, and tbh i can't stomach tlj to this day and i'd rather not think of it as canon lmao (also what a waste on a potential cute found family dynamic between luke and rey)

OH IT IS ON.

Ok, so, yeah, this was just...yeah, I hated what they did to Luke.

It made NO sense to Luke's character from the OT nor from the EU. Luke is documented as being incredibly selfless, forgiving, and hopeful. He actually made people dislike him because he believes everyone can be saved from the dark-side. He loves people and has complete faith in them and is always willing to talk things out before violence. He is a gentle man who wants to help people. His choice of weapon is kindness, most literally. It's one reason how he saved Vader, a man who is responsible for intense genocide and suffering. He even threw his weapon away from Palpatine who I am sure Luke knows cannot be saved as there is nothing to save (it's documented Palpatine was, I believe, a sociopath who wanted to be evil for lack of better words) because he was not about to choose death and violence over the chance to be kind if possible. But he was going to kill his nephew who didn't do anything???? No. That's not Luke.

(That being said...Kylo went on to 100% prove he was not a good person and the choices he made were his and not based on Luke's actions.)

Also, uhm, excuse you??? Kylo took out Luke? He survived Luke "the god" Skywalker? Yeah, ha, no. Such a poor plot-device because, come on, the idea that Kylo was ever stronger than Luke, but especially during his own padawan training, just earns laughter.

(I don't like Kylo...but I can appreciate the potential of what his character could've been. So this is not bashing him)

THEN. THEEEEEN.

Luke is also shown to not get any happy ending.

WTF??

No, seriously, WTF???

Luke Skywalker, hero of the galaxy, self sacrificial lamb, ready to give everyone at least a second chance, ooey-gooey heart of gold, who has suffered SO MUCH throughout his life didn't get a happy ending? He suffered from a mental break down, lost control over his nephew, nephew killed his school out of evil spite, suffered more of a mental break down, never really reunited with his family, and was made to be a crazed hermit who has lost all sense of self and then DIED (epically but not fairly and didn't really hit the spot) and then Rey takes his name but she is alone too and...that's it? THAT'S IT???

No. i reject it. That is not reality.

He married Din, Leia adopted Finn rather than had babies (or had the twins from the EU), everyone lived happily and then Luke and Din adopted Rey and then even more people got happiness and Palpatine sucked on eggs after death as he should've remained.

THE END.

[lith-myathar]

i know this is late babes but this is me submitting star wars (movies. shows. games. all of it) for the blorbo ask meme

Yessssss okay

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

Definitely Atton Rand because I have Problems™, but the Exile is a close second. Why yes I also feel empty inside, perfect OC to project on.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

Gotta be Grogu, which I know is not even a slightly hot take, but i do not care

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

This is a toughy, I think a lot of my faves are pretty appreciated....uhhhh, actually i have a great affection for Mical as a character, which is not super common i think. he's got a lot going on that's easy to dismiss or not read into deeply because on the surface he doesn't appear to have many flaws or complexities, but he's extremely intelligent and calculating. he has a talent for espionage that is largely helped by him seeming so unremarkable and non-threatening. He's cunning enough that Kreia of all people felt the need to conceal her whole existence from him so she could go about her puppet mastering without interference, like this guy is not just a pretty face. I always really enjoyed fics that delved into that part of his character, especially ones that further explored his dynamic with Atton and how they push each others buttons.

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

Any canon Twi'lek, I always really liked their design and lore and would go looking for info on any that appeared in the movies.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

I actually liked Kylo in TFA because he had, at the time, the beginnings of an interesting narrative that could have explored the process of grooming in radicalization/the process of becoming de-radicalized/what choices someone who has done the unforgivable must make in order to go on living a life if they choose to be a different person. Also how a parent squares with that (like if Leia had been the one to redeem him). There was a lot of potential there. My poor little meow meow is the version of Kylo i would have liked to have gotten in the sequel trilogy.

My other one is Maul because big sexy and also robot dong.

And also come to think of it Lord Scourge and Quinn

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

Honestly? Revan. I love them but they deserve it. Also canon kylo.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

Canon kylo again, like just get rid of the entire character and start over.

[mygreatadventurehasbegun]

So, I decided to have a Star Wars movie marathon starting on May 4th that ended last night...

I watched Episodes IV-VIII and I decided that I wanted to create a list of my personal Top Ten Favorite Star Wars moments. 

I’m going to start with an honorable mention, as this is the only good scene from The Rise of Skywalker, and that’s Han Solo’s scene with Ben.  I was not expecting it and it actually made me feel something (unlike the rest of the movie)...and it was a perfect subversion of I Love You/I Know...

10. Vader’s attack in the corridor in Rogue One

Yeah, I was going to stick to just the trilogy films, but this moment was too cool not to include!  I like that it shows us the Vader that the galaxy probably had to deal with for the past 19 years....this terrifying monster who would kill you without hesitation if you got in his way.

9. Luke/Kylo Ren fight from The Last Jedi

I love the nods to old samurai films in this sequence!  And I know everyone has pointed this out, but the fact that Luke’s footprints never leave a mark is a really cool touch...the only nitpick I have is that I wish that Luke’s appearance hadn’t changed.  Then it really would’ve fooled the audience into thinking he was really there.  I mean maybe if he still had the gray hair, but he just trimmed it?  Then it would’ve seemed like he just cleaned himself up before re-joining the rebellion.  But more than the fight choreography, I also like the dialogue between the two characters...Luke telling Kylo that he (and his father) will always be with him.

8. The final moments of The Empire Strikes Back

The only reason this moment is so low is because it’s so short!  I absolutely adore the dynamic between Luke and Leia...even before they’re revealed to be twins, they already had a bit of the brother/sister feel to them (or maybe that’s just me watching with hindsight).  But I feel like this moment where Leia is watching out the window, and Luke comes up and puts his arm around him is such a brotherly thing to do.  They were brother and sister before they even knew it. *even though there was that whole kiss thing....awkward*  And the score is amazing in this scene.

7. Yahoo!!  aka Han saving Luke in A New Hope

I love this moment for Han.  This shows that underneath all his grumblings and snarky attitude, he really is a hero.  I love characters like this, they’re always some of my favorites to watch.

6. Twin Suns from A New Hope and The Last Jedi

I absolutely adore the symmetry of this.  Yes, with hindsight, it would have been better for Luke to live, but the filmmakers didn’t know what was going to Carrie Fisher, so you can’t be upset about it.  But this was a great way from Luke to go...first of all, he wins by losing, just like he did against the Emperor in Return of the Jedi...but to see him staring at those suns with the music playing is just so moving.  And I watched a video essay about TLJ last night (I think this one was Patrick Willems) but they talked about how when we first see Luke, he’s in a barren desert, watching the suns go down...but when Luke dies, he’s on a planet that is full of life and he’s watching the suns rise.  It’s moving to see him look out as a young man, wanting more and it’s moving to see the older man, at peace with his final moments and the life he’s lived.

5. “I am a Jedi” from Return of the Jedi

Now, when I was a kid, I was not as interested in Luke’s story...especially in this one.  I wanted to watch the adventures on Endor more than the stuff on the new Death Star.  But now?  This moment gives me so many chills.  From Luke being tempted to unleash his anger by his father, to nearly going to far and realizing that he needs to stop.  He wins by losing.  He knows that when he throws that light saber away that there is a very good chance that he is going to be killed.  But he’d rather die a Jedi, than fall to the dark side.

4. “Sometimes you think I’m all right” from The Empire Strikes Back

I love Han and Leia so much!  They were my OTP before I knew what that meant.  And watching this scene as an adult just makes me so happy...I love the way their dynamic changes in this scene, from constantly fighting and bickering to talking calmly and gently.  And their chemistry is palpable...

3. Yoda lifting the X-Wing from The Empire Strikes Back

I actually talked about this moment on my blog not too long ago, but I’ll reiterate what I said and say that this scene is so damn powerful.  Yoda’s monologue about feeling the force around you, between all living things is so good, I could just quote the entire thing.  And then when Luke tries and fails to lift his ship, Yoda effortlessly showing him that the impossible can be done is just...*chef’s kiss*

2.  Luke and Leia reunion from The Last Jedi

After the death of Carrie Fisher, this is all I wanted from Episode VIII...and while the film gave me so much more (after multiple viewings I appreciate it more than I did in the theater), I still got my Luke and Leia reunion.  I watched the movie last night and I still cried my eyes out when Luke showed up and they see each other for the first time in years.  And there was something else I discovered when watching video essays about the movie last night.  Someone made a very excellent point: the first time Luke sees Leia, it’s a projection of her....and the last time Leia sees Luke, it’s a projection of him.  I’ll be right back, someone’s cutting onions.

1. “I love you.” “I know.” from The Empire Strikes Back

Yeah...I’ve already said how much I love Han and Leia, so it’s no surprise that this is number one.  This entire scene is perfect.  The lighting, the music, the emotion is so on point, that there’s not really much to say.  There’s the tension of knowing Han’s going to be frozen in carbonite, wondering if he’ll survive...the emotion between him and Leia...even the moment where he calms down Chewie...it always makes me tear up a bit.  I think when I watched it this week, the tear fell right when that encasing fell to the ground.  I’ll say it again, this scene is perfect.

And that’s it!  

I’m kind of sad that no moments with Poe or Finn made it onto this list...they are great characters and have some awesome moments, but this list is more about the moments that get me in the feels.  If Finn/Poe had been a thing, maybe that would have made the list.  But I will say, I do love Finn embracing the moment he became a Rebel.... “Rebel Scum”...so satisfying.  And Poe scritching BB-8′s casing like it’s a fluffy puppy is all kinds of adorable.

[gffa]

Hi!  There are some excellent Obi-Wan and/or Ahsoka fics in the fandom!  Not all of them will necessarily feature a ton of interaction between the characters, but you will have a ton of reading material if you just enjoy reading about the characters!  I have a long archive of fic recs here, where any given list will give you at least something to check out for both characters! But if you want to hit up some of the Must Read Firsts, LET ME HELP WITH THAT. OBI-WAN & AHSOKA: A Future in Crisis by WolfMarauder is a fic where Ahsoka has a vision of the terrible future to come, so she returns to the Jedi,  works through her feelings and starts working on saving the rest of the galaxy. At it’s heart it’s very much an Ahsoka story, about her figuring herself and her relationships out, as much as it is about being a fix-it fic.  There’s such a warmth and charm to this fic that it’s like being in a warm bath and relaxing into it.  There’s very much a plot going on here, a complicated relationship with Anakin because of Everything, but it’s balanced with something that feels really, really good to read. The Journey of the Lights by Pandora151 is a fic that I got sucked into and couldn’t stop until I’d finished the first one, because it’s a Canon Divergent AU where things go just a little differently, things snowball, and it’s painful but so good and ultimately I think things end up in a better place.  Another great fic if you want plot, super satisfying confrontations that have been building for ages, and a progression towards things changing, in a way that’s often not easy, but works. Chosen, not assigned by Lysore is one where, ultimately, Anakin and Ahsoka’s relationship became absolutely incredible and Yoda was right about how good they were for each other, but what would it have been like if things were nudged a little to the left and she’d been chosen by Obi-Wan instead?  That she’d felt directly wanted from the beginning instead?  And it’s a lovely piece that explores that! Tano and Kenobi by FireflyFish is a time travel fic with Ahsoka going back to the past, taking a young Obi-Wan as her Padawan instead.  The fic is admittedly pretty hard on Qui-Gon, as well as their dynamic is different here because this is an Obi-Wan who is not yet an adult, but Ahsoka is, so they’re very changed from how they were before.  But it’s two and a half novels worth of plot and development and fun and angst and action!  It’s an incredibly written fic and does so much to really build up what it’s going for and really earns the massive changes it’s making.  Fishy is an amazing writer and I love the wide span of dynamics she gets into this story, so many different relationships, even as Ahsoka & Obi-Wan is the central one!  PLUS TIME TRAVEL FIX IT FIC, YESSS. Declarations by Nny11 is a series of scenes exploring Obi-Wan and Ahsoka’s relationship and I always like anything I read by this author.  I haven’t finished this one yet, but I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read of Close But No Cigar (Ahsoka-centric fic where the timeline is changed a little and she’s Yoda’s Padawan instead and it spirals out from there) and Let's Try This Again with a time-traveling Ahsoka in toddler form (so it’s more Obi-Wan & Anakin & Ahsoka) is probably my favorite of the author’s! Waiting and Learning by otherhawk is a lovely piece for Obi-Wan & Ahsoka that’s balanced between hilarious antics and the more painful aspects of what it means to be a psychic space wizard who wants to help people.  There’s such kindness here, even as it aches, in a way that’s very deftly done. The Only Way Through by victoria_p (musesfool) is a shorter piece, but has this really well done balance between the familiarity between them and yet how they’ve both grown so much older, during Obi-Wan’s time on Tatooine.  There’s so much pain in the background, but that doesn’t mean there’s not still moments and sparks of light to be found, which is perfect for them. Under a purple sun... by Perspicacia is Obi-Wan helping Ahsoka with her homework and it’s short but so lovely, it does a fantastic job with their dynamic and weaves in a few really nice details about Jedi philosophy that are hinted at, and is just warm and charming exactly as it should be. The Ryloth Excursion by Icarus_is_flying is one I love, where Obi-Wan and Ahsoka are on Ryloth, where she asks some questions that don’t have easy answers (but aren’t awful questions, either), and Obi-Wan’s guidance as her grandmaster is absolutely wonderful. Knight-Errant by zinjadu is about three novels worth of fic, which doesn’t have a lot of them interacting directly, but Ahsoka is probably the most central character and Obi-Wan has a lot of scenes in it, plus SO MUCH PLOT.  I’ve read about a third of the series so far and it’s incredibly engaging, where Ahsoka’s choice to stay with the Jedi helps shift things a little to the left, then a little more to the left, and suddenly everything is snowballing, all the same pieces we’re familiar with are in different places and maybe they might have a chance!  It is Rex/Ahsoka eventually, but it’s a very slow burn to get there and it’s not the only relationship that’s important to them.  It’s an Ahsoka piece and an ensemble piece and a fix it piece and a huge sprawling plot epic, and I’m loving it a lot. When Darkness Seems to Hide This Place by IllyanaA is another one where Obi-Wan and Ahsoka don’t interact directly a lot, but they’re both very present in the story and get some really excellent scenes.  The Jedi manage to scrape a few more people together, Anakin doesn’t turn on them, so they’re still in the middle of a galaxy that’s hunting them down, but now they might be able to mount a fighting chance sooner than before.  The Obi-Wan & Anakin scenes are stellar, Ahsoka gets her own subplot, and it’s a lot of really excellent plot as they figure out how to rebuild in this new Empire. Echoes of Mortis by orphan_account is more Obi-Wan & Anakin + Anakin & Ahsoka, but both are well done here, and the plot is excellent.  It’s marked as incomplete, but I would say that it reaches a place of good resolution and I felt satisfied by the ending!  In a Canon Divergent AU, where Anakin remembers everything that happened on Mortis, things go a little differently.  Which is very, very much not the same as easier, but it does lead to better places, even when everything is painful and ouchy in the best ways.  A lot of angst, but the kind I eat up with a spoon, it was so good. Obi-Wan and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad (Life) Day by orphan_account is charming and adorable, that Obi-Wan’s life day is beset upon him by the people who care about him and it’s just an absolute JOY to read. OBI-WAN KENOBI: Fire and Ice by Yesac is the one fic I always, always come back to, the one I keep rereading and the one I would put at the very top of my list of fics that I think really wrote Obi-Wan brilliantly.  Oh, sure, there’s some stuff I disagree with, a few brief bits of the Jedi weren’t allowed to love or the like, but they’re extremely minor in a fic that shows otherwise.  This is a fic where Anakin won the duel on Mustafar and kept Obi-Wan and Padme hostage both, unable to let either of them go.  This is an Anakin who has this tremendous power but no core of self-understanding, so he’s legitimately unstable, you feel how fragile and cracked he is.  In comparison, Obi-Wan is steady and unbreakable, even when he’s entirely human.  This fic gets the balance of that, of who Obi-Wan is and how he relates to Anakin Skywalker, in that way that I can’t even be coherent about because it’s so well done.  Yeah, I’m probably overhyping it, but this one is just my fucking jam. starbird by imaginarykat is the other fic that I always come back to as a fic that really gets Obi-Wan Kenobi, the mix of flirtation and humor and seriousness and insight and how he’s both direct and wily at the same time, that Anakin’s just kind of spun around by him when Obi-Wan really focuses on him.  Yeah, wicked thing is the more popular one by this author (for good reason!) but I always love starbird for the one I can point to as a more canon-friendly version of Why I Love Obi-Wan Kenobi So Much.  (Obikin.) The Dark Path Lit by Sun and Stars by A_Delicate_Fury is a brilliantly done time travel fic where Obi-Wan, Luke, Leia, and Han end up back in the past and even in just the smallest of gestures, this fic gets Obi-Wan, all the more so because it’s balancing a character who is both the General Kenobi of the war and the Old Ben of Tatooine as they suddenly find themselves occupying the same mental space! Cataclasm by dendral is another excellent fic that does right by Obi-Wan’s character, where he gets a vision of something and decides he needs to take another path in this terrible war they’ve all been dragged into.  He takes Waxer along for the ride, going around the galaxy where the Force leads them, getting into batshit Jedi scrapes, trying his best to save people, and it’s this really beautifully done action fic, buddy fic, and examination of what the war has done to the Jedi and why it’s such a tragedy. The Living Force; Parables for Padawans by glorious_clio is a beautiful piece for both Obi-Wan as a character and for a story-within-a-story about what a Jedi fairy tale would be like.  It does such a beautiful job of telling interesting stories, the kind that would be used to make generations of Jedi think and turn them over and find meaning in them, while also illustrating the deeper meaning of the lines that make up their most famous meditation mantra. Stunning work. Supreme Chancellor Obi-Wan Kenobi by stonefreeak is an ensemble piece, but it’s centered around Obi-Wan and is really great if you’re a fan of his character, where he has pretty much The Most Exasperating Day Ever and winds up elected as Supreme Chancellor of the Republic and then everything starts slowly inching towards the left, now that the Jedi and the good people of the Senate have some actual breathing room.  It’s about what might have been possible in a galaxy with a little more good faith to go around, as well as a great look at Obi-Wan’s relationships with various characters.  An absolute scream to read, but also a really delightful plot. Remedial Jedi Theology by MarbleGlove is a fic that is very much based on Legends, rather than on canon/George Lucas’ Star Wars, so you have to roll with that when you pick this fic up (which I find useful to note mainly in the context of those who find my recs useful/want a heads up, never really as a value judgement), but what you’ll get is an incredibly thoughtful, warm-hearted fic that I found to be incredibly engaging and charming. The entire fic is about Obi-Wan trying to figure out just how to train Anakin and how to fit him into the bigger structure of the Jedi Order, how to adjust himself and that structure to better fit his new Padawan and the other Jedi learners, but in a way that’s also about understanding why they’re set up the way they are, about how deeply caring they are, and how thoughtful they are. It’s a good faith look at the Jedi and a great look at Obi-Wan’s character. Reprise by Elfpen is another fic that I’m only a third of the way through so far (I’ve been hoarding it for awhile) but it has some absolutely stellar Obi-Wan characterization, who is someone that’s really Seen Some Shit, who feels kind of lost sometimes, who feels things very deeply, but who also has a kind of strength that allows him to continue rising above.  It’s not that he’s untouchable by mortal feelings, but that he’s used to understanding himself, acknowledging himself, and working through what needs to be worked through.  Combine this with some really stellar writing for Qui-Gon, for Obi-Wan’s younger self, for the other Jedi around him, for the plot, and it really is one of the best fics in the fandom. The Exchange by MissLearn is one of those that I absolutely fell in love with, where Obi-Wan and Anakin exchange places with their TPM and pre-ROTS selves, which leads to a lot of shit hitting the fan in a way that is forcing things to a head a little earlier, so they can deal with it in a way that they couldn’t in canon.  It’s a great look at their relationship, both the beginning of it and the established one, as well as the glee of having them in different eras and seeing how they react/how the people around them react! The Hand Dealt by not paranoid enough is another favorite, where it’s about a simple twist that changes so much--instead of Qui-Gon going to Tatooine, it’s Obi-Wan who meets Anakin first, and that shifts everything to the left just enough that everything is so recognizable and yet different.  It’s an engrossing read as things happen differently, some good and some bad, and it’s an amazing read. Though Lovers Be Lost by panharmonium is a shorter but absolutely fantastic look at Obi-Wan’s character.  I love all of pan’s fic, The Mathematics of Repair and Take My Waking Slow are both great looks at Obi-Wan and Anakin’s early days, but I think the first one is a great starting place for a fan of his character, it’s beautifully written. After the Pillars Come Down by Virgo827 is a fic that deserves so much love because it’s one of those that, aside from the acknowledgement of Obikin, it could have fit right into an episode of The Clone Wars.  It does a lovely job of Obi-Wan being level-headed and focused, but that something about Anakin makes him lose his mind a little, that Anakin is that one person that he finds it difficult to remain calm about, which speaks to how blind he was towards Anakin’s faults, because he loved that guy so much.  It also has a real, genuine plot that’s a fantastic read, it has amazing Anakin moments, and it was an incredibly satisfying read. Equinox by lilyconrad is a fic I’ll never not be biased about, because it was written for me and tailored to my wants, but I genuinely hold this up as one of the best examinations of Obi-Wan’s character and his relationship with Anakin, as it moves from one of friends to one of lovers.  It’s a look at what having Sith versions of themselves means for parallels and contrasts alike, what that forces Anakin and Obi-Wan to understand about themselves and their feelings towards the other.  And it has a fantastic plot!  Every chapter of this fic was one I wrote like three paragraphs of a rec for because it had such thought and care put into it, so it’s probably always and forever my #1 Obikin fic. Upfall by bell (belldreams) is a stellar Obikin read for both Obi-Wan and Anakin’s characters, where so much thought has gone into each chapter, as well as some incredibly building tension and breaking.  This is a fic that is very, very aware of Anakin’s character arc in canon and the things he does there, as well as it’s an incredible look at Obi-Wan trying to balance his own boundaries, that he’s allowed to have his own internal world that’s not just about Anakin, versus that Anakin is the one he’ll always choose, even when he’s being a shit.  Seed is another one I love (Anakin contracts a virus that means he needs to give Obi-Wan blowjobs and then, oh, no, feelings happen) that does an amazing job of looking at the characters and digging into the issues they have.  bell really gets the both of them and these are incredible reads for them. Pas de Deux by Ghost_Owl is a lovely look at Obi-Wan and Anakin and Ahsoka.  Well, it’s primarily Obi-Wan and Anakin, but it’s about Anakin’s relationship with Ahsoka in the background as well, shown through the lens of Obi-Wan & Anakin.  I love this one because it’s about how difficult it is to balance that Obi-Wan was his Master, but is now his friend, that Anakin bends over backwards to lash out sometimes, instead of listening, instead of still accepting Obi-Wan’s guidance, but that they can muddle their way through to something good again.  And its characterization is lovely, too! AHSOKA TANO: What We've Become by Vinyarie is probably my favorite Ahsoka fic, where the first one is an absolutely gorgeous look at her getting trapped on Malachor with Vader, where they have to depend on each other to live, which gives them time to breathe and then argue some more.  The characterization for her is spot-on, where she is a grown woman who is settled in her own skin, that she still feels deeply but she has a hell of a grip on herself.  That she may not be a Jedi anymore, but she still carries their teachings in her heart, and that strength of her sense of self is beautifully shown.  The second fic is one where she visits Obi-Wan on Tatooine and I loved the conversation they have, as well as the digging into her character even further and what she really wants from here. time to change the road you’re on by wreckageofstars is time travel fic with Ahsoka and is another absolutely stellar look at her character, that it’s partly about her relationships with others (especially Anakin) but is also about her coming to understanding about everything around her and even herself somewhat.  This is an older Ahsoka, the one who has settled into her own skin more, and it’s a beautiful look at her AND a time travel plot! Old Sins Cast Long Shadows by zarabithia is an AU where Anakin died in the fight against Palpatine and the galaxy has to continue on without him.  Ahsoka takes up the job of protecting Padme on Tatooine, giving her time to heal from everything that’s happened, as well as Obi-Wan eventually joins them, and it’s a lovely look at Ahsoka’s character and the dull ache of Anakin being dead in this universe, but knowing that things are so, so much better here. Strange Meetings by gilestel is a beautiful post-Return of the Jedi scene between Ahsoka and Luke, where they don’t have much time to talk, but the potential of it and promise of it and just the immediacy of the moment are all lovely. memories like ashes at our feet by ambiguously is another shorter fic but a fantastic one where Ahsoka is stranded with an amnesiac Vader and has to walk the line between that this is something of her Anakin back, but also that this is still Darth Vader and he could regain his memories at any point.  It’s aching and hopeful in all the right places. The Season's Rain by Bythoseburningembers is an absolute scream of a fic, where Lux and Steela and Saw join Ahsoka in the Jedi camp, where they get to see them in a more relaxed state and they are all a bunch of absolute CHILDREN.  It’s one of those fics that could have been bordering on parody, but the strength of the writing and the charm of the characterizations instead makes it a fantastic look at the Jedi and clones being entirely relatable, being family to each other, and I love everyone in this, including Obi-Wan and Ahsoka. The Cave by Ria Talla (ronia) is one where absolutely fell in love with this gorgeous fic because it pulls off a dreamy mishmash of imagery and slipping from one memory/moment to the next beautifully, it does a gorgeous job of making Ahsoka feel unstuck in time after the events on Malachor. Which is wonderful in and of itself, but it lends such a great weight to the cost of traveling through the World Between Worlds as she did, that there’s a reason that it’s not a thing to use lightly, and it’s not punishment, but consequence all the same, as the fic says.  It has some really great characterization for her, too.

[stoppingby]

Any Reylo fic recs?

i’ve actually wanted to do a big fic rec for a while, so this is the perfect opportunity! 

i’ve gathered a list of classic tropes and tried to pick one or two favorites for each! this is by no means a comprehensive list, and if you guys like this, i would be happy to do another edition later on! these are all mostly fluffy as that’s what i usually prefer, but as with most reylo fics there is a lot of explicit content, so please mind the ratings!

without further ado, i present...

stoppingby’s first reylo fic rec: tropey favorites!

Arranged marriage? And Closer Still Is Never Enough - lovefrompluto (15K, E). sweet, tender & caring prince ben. rey is special, and he knows that. reminds me why i love fanfic - watching them fall in love a million different ways.

Best friends-to-lovers? i’ve been in love with you for ages (and i can’t seem to get it right) - akosmia (10K, T). when who you want is right under your nose, and not only can they give you everything you want, they want to. ben cares for rey without hope or agenda. 

Bleed Me Dry, I Don’t Mind - AttackoftheDarkCurses (12K, E). best friends to lovers from two perspectives. a little growing up together, a little university AU. they slip into love without even realizing.

Canonverse? chase all your cares away - LovesBitca8 (4K, E). ben defects to the resistance. rey loves his smile and is determined to get one out of him. 

Coffee shop? maybe i just wanna be yours - akosmia (13K, T). ben compulsively offers favors to rey’s friends. in return, they meddle. it’s a 5+1 (i am obsessed with those as you will come to find out).

Emotional hurt/comfort? thrilled by the still of your hand - akosmia (9K, T). canondivergent. ben is touch starved after… everything. rey helps. i cried multiple times, and i loved it.

Serotonin and Dopamine - pontmercy44 (28K, E). this is so unique. very realistic in the way that it shows the work that goes into a relationship. i won’t give away too much, but mental heath issues are integral to the plot, so be forewarned. 

Enemies-to-lovers? Left Handed Kisses - Ever-so-reylo (18K, E). a reylo classic. assistant district attorney vs criminal defense lawyer. hatefucking turns into something more.

Epistolary (including forms of communication)? Hanging on the Telephone - jeeno2 (11K, E). rey gets a sext from a wrong number. sure, she should ignore it and move on. but where’s the fun in that?

our love was meant to be (my love came back to me)  - BensCalligraphySet (3K, T). in this life, ben finds letters in a bottle from someone who seemed to know him in a previous one. the galaxy gives them another chance. 

Fake dating? Let Me Dream, Let Me Stay - Melusine11 (38K, E). rey backs herself into a lie and asks her coworker kylo to pretend to be her boyfriend at rose and finn’s wedding. they roadtrip, they share a bed, they eat at a punny restaurant. so much fun!

Roommates? Closer to Fine - jeeno2 (15K, E). pregnant rey needs a roommate and moves in with medical student ben. there’s a lot to be scared about, but they’re not alone. 

Someone You Love(d) - AttackoftheDarkCurses (39K, E). rey and prince!ben are college roommates. they end up spending break together with leia, han, breha, and padme. they claim to hate each other and misunderstandings ensue. so many tropes i can’t even list them. 

Flower shop/tattoo parlor? alderaan places - nymja (5K, T). a classic take on a classic trope. it’s valentine’s day!

Friends with benefits? Making Love Out of Nothing At All - LoveofEscapism (4K, E). ben will do anything rey asks. so hot, but full of emotion. 

Two to Tango - crossingwinter (6K, E). i love this one. absolutely nails the heart wrenching emotion of knowing you’ve made a mistake in the moment before you fix it.

Funny? First Order IT, Can I Get Your User ID? - krossartist (14K, T). witty banter and childish name calling with a small touch of hurt/comfort. adorable!

Harry Potter AU? the water smells like you - shruggyben (3K, G). every ship needs an HP ‘verse amortentia fic! feat. professor leia organa.

High school? The Buddy List - violethoure666 (23K, E). since reading it a few weeks ago, this has quickly become one of my favorites! if you miss the aughts this one's for you! AIM messenger drives the story. 

Medieval/Royalty? Tangled, but Unbroken - AttackoftheDarkCurses (20K, M). growing up together, star-crossed lovers, alderaanian hair braiding - what more could you want? my fave tag on this: uncle luke is a reylo.

Neighbors? Flux & Solder - angharabbit (23K, E). another one of my all time favorites. new neighbors ben and rey help each other with trauma. feels like a rainy day from the thunder through the rainbow. make sure you read the tags before reading this incredible work!

Office romance? Minus 1 - Ever-so-reylo (5K, E). rey sends a text to the wrong office IM number. rey doesn’t know who she’s texting, but friendship and… more develops.

keep calm and let HR handle it - hi_raeth (11K, T). another 5+1! ben is the CEO and rey is the HR director. coworkers to confidantes to lovers. super sweet.

Oneshot? spring will come again - prncesselene (8K, M). over the course of a year, rey’s life changes completely as she renovates padme amidala’s old greenhouse. 

Only one bed? under thy own life’s key - galvanator (23K, E). sexy with great emotional depth, but it’s the sequel trilogy gang that makes this stand out in the trope! makes me wish we got a post-TROS everyone-lives sitcom.

Romcom-inspired? if you’re ready comic get it - violethoure666 (28K, E). if You’ve Got Mail was with tumblr mutuals and a comic book store. 

We Never Met - KyloTrashForever (3K, E). that scene in When Harry Met Sally where the older couple talks about meeting in the elevator. what happens when two people who are constantly just missing each other finally meet?

Slow burn? My Heart Always Belonged To You - JGoose13 (52K, E). Persuasion AU! reylo + jane austen = magic. 

Soulmates? wholly to be a fool - bigfootsflannel (9K, T). when your soulmate confesses their love, their words appear on your arm. ben makes a drunken confession.

Stuck/stranded together? a place to go - delia-pavorum (52K, E). rey and ben go looking for solitude in luke’s cabin. they don’t get off on the best foot before getting snowed in. sickfic (which i think there is far too little of in reylo fanfic)! beautiful and warm.

University/college? Sociology of Sexuality - Celia_and (4K, E). ben is that just-playing-devil’s-advocate kid in class that we all have to put up with. y’all this is so hot. if this happened in my real life, i think i would never recover.

Work-in-progress? flesh stays no farther reason - galvanator (20K, E). i drop EVERYTHING when this updates! ben and rey are from completely different circumstances, but that doesn’t stop a hookup from turning into something more. i feel like this fic gets their dynamic so right, and i am anxiously awaiting the conclusion in two chapters!

My comfort fic? bloom (you fill my lungs with sweetness, you fill my head with you) - akosmia (12K, T). i’ve read this again and again and i don’t plan on stopping. blind bestselling author ben solo needs a scribe. rey gets the job. there is cooking, there is domesticity, there are overwhelming emotions. my go-to. 

as i’ve said before, akosmia (@kylorensx) is my all time favorite fanfic author. the fact that we are mutuals blows my mind daily. please please go read all of her stuff. you won’t regret it!

[himboskywalker]

About skysolo I had never actually shipped them, though it’s cute.. I learned there was a delete scene where they hold hands and it was so beautiful??(and love the idea of luke being like dad I like a guy and anakin came with his past relationship with obi-wan)

Hahaha there are so many Star Wars ships and so little time. I really dig Skysolo for the same reason I dig Stormpilot,in a shipping context or a strictly canon friendship context,and that’s because of their earnest affection and like for one another. My ship type is for pairs that are just super fun to watch on screen for how much they get along and want to be around each other and are usually full moron and share one braincell when together. It’s the same reason I ship Obikin so hard,because ultimately I care about the friendship and camaraderie and genuine chemistry and affection between the individuals no matter the context.

It’s also why I love military settings or pairings in the military so much,because the dynamic of camaraderie is really what makes my brain light up. I just want the ship or couple to like each other and have something in common besides fucking lol It’s why I have so little interest for a ton of hetero canon pairings,because 9/10 Hollywood and writers don’t know how to write a traditionally male/female relationship where they even like each other. It’s why I struggle to really love Leia/Han outside of the Legends books,because all they do on screen is fight and I lose interest in that kind of dynamic quite fast. The courtship of Princess Leia on the other hand is gold and I love with an ardent passion. Anyway you didn’t ask about all of my many opinions on shipping dynamics lmao

The point is yes they’re adorable and the mental image of Luke dragging Han to meet angry protective dad Anakin is fucking hilarious and nothing but an utter delight to imagine. Anakin would be incandescent with rage and it would take Padmé,Obi-Wan and Leia to convince him not to murder the scruffy smuggler who ever dared to lay a finger on his beautiful perfect and innocent son.

[ponett]

i was finally able to see the bad star war that everyone said was bad. as it turns out, it was bad. here’s a read more post with my thoughts on it so that i don’t spam my twitter with spoiler tweets

for a baseline: i like the original trilogy, but i don’t think any of those movies are perfect. i think the prequels had some good ideas but i were mostly terrible. i love the clone wars (both versions) and rebels. while i admit that tfa was extremely similar to a new hope, i thought it was executed great and had a wonderful new cast that showed a ton of promise. i liked rogue one, although i found its first act really sloppy. and i have some quibbles about tlj, but it had an incredibly strong vision and actual themes, and i’d consider it my favorite in the series

i’m exactly the kind of person who was always going to hate the rise of skywalker, because it’s basically a bad fanfic written by someone who didn’t like tlj and wanted to “fix” the story. like that bizarre story treatment jenny nicholson read for this movie. the bad one. it was like that

it wasn’t all bad i guess. here are the small things i liked:

some of the new environments were cool. there was cool imagery and practical effects work

i appreciated that the moon of endor where the death star wreckage was wasn’t just the one with the ewoks, and thought the vibe there was cool

zorii bliss’s armor was really cool

the image of the fleet of star destroyers all lined up was striking

i liked that the ghost showed up for the final battle

i liked that ahsoka was one of the jedi voices rey heard, even though that kind of implies that ahsoka is, uh... dead?

while extremely fucking trite and dumb, i’ll admit the closing scene on tatooine got me. yeah, rey has no real connection to this place and it’s just a nostalgic throwback, but i’m a sucker for full circle endings like that

uh. that’s about it

this movie kicks off in the middle of an action scene and just kind of keeps jumping to new setpieces nonstop until it’s over. new characters and locations get introduced and then moved past in the blink of an eye. there’s no time to let any of it sink in. it feels like abrams crammed two movies worth of shit into this one to make up for the the fact that some people didn’t like tlj, and as a result none of it resonates. i just felt so empty throughout most of the film. events were happening on screen and none of it mattered

thoughts about individual elements:

LEIA

putting the scenes with the recycled footage of carrie fisher at the beginning of the film completely took me out of it. it was so obvious that she wasn’t really responding to what was being said, and the conversations had just been built around the limited leia lines they could use

the dialogue scenes with leia felt like a space ghost interview

C-3PO

was in this movie a lot for some reason? i guess abrams wanted to make up for how little c-3po there was in the last two movies. they tried to have that emotional moment where his memory is wiped, but then they just turned his memory loss into a big joke?? and then he got most of his memories back anyway

in general, the movie is afraid to let the audience be uncomfortable for long. 3po’s memory loss. the supposed deaths of chewbacca and babu frik, that sort of thing. you’re not allowed to be sad. after tlj so effectively built tension throughout the film and really pushed the heroes to the brink, this is a disappointment

LANDO

is here because he needed to show up, and because it’s a throwback to have him pilot the falcon again. he’s just kind of there with little to do and no arc

FINN, POE, AND ROSE

before the movie came out, i had low expectations. all i really wanted was to get one last fun adventure with the new characters. when i started to hear about the spoilers, my expectations sank even lower. but maybe i would still get this

nah! rose gets like two minutes of screentime because redditors hated her, and finn and poe are barely even characters. they don’t have arcs in this film, they’re just sidekicks on rey’s journey

finn really hurts. prior to tfa’s release, finn was framed as the new star. this was, of course, a bait and switch, as rey was really the new jedi. (finn apparently IS force sensitive according to this one, but hey! we can only have one big jedi hero, so like leia before him, i guess we’ve gotta wait for some EU novel to give finn a lightsaber)

but finn was still a central character in the last two films, and he had so much potential. he was a stormtrooper who defected! that’s something new! that’s interesting! it complicates the black and white morality of the series. but no. that’s been all but abandoned at this point

many have complained about how tfa establishes that basically all the stormtroopers are people who were kidnapped as children and brainwashed by the first order... but then they still have no qualms about gleefully killing them. in the first two movies i was like “yeah, it sucks that they have to kill those guys, but if it’s to prevent genocide, it’s understandable. that’s just war. maybe they’ll touch on it in the last movie.” so in this one, they kept reminding the audience that the stormtroopers were enslaved as children. jannah is even introduced as another stormtrooper who defected like finn. but then... it goes nowhere. finn doesn’t get any first order troops to defect. they don’t care about the other stormtroopers. how many hundreds of thousands of enslaved soldiers did they kill when they blew up those star destroyers

it was nice to see finn and poe take the charge as leaders in the end, but it also feels like they didn’t take the lessons from tlj to heart. the whole point of that story was that one-in-a-million shot heroic suicide missions aren’t worth it, and that they’re more useful to the resistance alive than they are as martyrs. but then in the climax of this film they take like 30 ships to go fight a fleet of a hundred fucking star destroyers

on the subject of that final battle: i thought that the ending of tlj was so powerful. the resistance was decimated, but they still had hope, because they knew there were others out there who could help. people like rey, or the broom boy, who came from nothing but had good hearts. in this one, though, they say that apparently nobody responded to the leia’s call for help in the entire year since the last film. everyone only shows up during the climax after lando’s like “no, but for real guys, we need help”

and i did think that that sequence was cool. and i did like seeing the ghost among the ships. it was fun. the message that fascists like the first order rule by making people feel isolated, and that they’re defeated by realizing that good people are never alone? that was good. i thought that was a strong message. but it’s such a minor footnote on a movie that’s so bad in so many other ways

oh and they made the latino dude a drug dealer. okay. thanks for that

KYLO REN

i hate that they redeemed kylo and i hate the way they did it

yes, him being coerced to turn to the dark side by snoke (who was apparently just a puppet controlled by palpatine all along (UGH)) as a kid was tragic. but that doesn’t excuse his actions. kylo was given infinite second chances throughout the trilogy, and every time he responded with violence. he killed so many people himself, and willingly took part in a fascist regime that killed billions. yes, his story is sad, but he’s not some poor little boy, he’s thirty fucking years old and he vents his trauma by slaughtering innocent people

literally the entire main trio of the original trilogy died because of this asshole. han tried to talk to him in the first movie, and got stabbed and dropped into a pit. luke died astral projecting to face him in tlj. and now leia just kind of arbitrarily died to flip the switch in his brain from bad to good from across the galaxy. it’s literally as simple as that. he doesn’t have a personal journey here. he just stops being evil because his mom made him through the force

like, again. all those enslaved stormtrooper grunts who had been brainwashed since they were kids? gunned down. but giving kylo endless second chances is the most important thing in the world

and then they end the movie by having this creepy abusive stalker genocidal asshole sadboy kiss rey, retroactively framing their dynamic as a romantic one. just, gross as hell. even in this one, for most of the film, all he does is threaten rey and boss her around

i dunno. i thought the first order were interesting as antagonists. yeah, they were just the empire 2.0. but i thought it was appropriate! the idea was that just because palpatine was dead and gone didn’t mean that fascism was gone. there were still hateful people who wanted to rule the galaxy via genocide. like how we still have nazis in the 21st century. except, oops! palpatine was actually alive and pulling the strings the entire time, so now that theme’s out the window. we just have to kill him again FOR REAL this time and now the galaxy will actually be safe

people wondered where the first order would go after snoke died in tlj. but it was so obvious to me? kylo was in charge. kylo was always the most interesting bad guy. just let him call the shots and be the final adversary. but no. that wasn’t good enough. we had to bring back palpatine as the jrpg final boss to have an epic conclusion

REY

oh, poor rey. youtube critics got mad that a girl could be a strong jedi without being related to some other powerful force user from the old movies, so now she’s stuck being a palpatine forever

i will admit, the protagonist of the new movies being related to palpatine but still being a good person in spite of her heritage... that could have been something. but it’s so clearly not what they had in mind from the start, and it spits in the face of the last movie’s themes. it turns out greatness CAN’T come from anywhere. it has to come from one of these select few Special Bloodlines

oh! and this ALSO reframes rey’s parents abandoning her and selling her into slavery as an act of kindness, because they had to hide her from her spooky evil grandpa. so THAT’S fun. (edit: OH! and luke and leia knew about rey the whole time!!! and didn’t go out and look for her!!!!)

it’s just. it’s so bad what they did to rey. i don’t know if i even have much to elaborate on there, everyone’s already said how stupid it is

---

overall, i still wouldn’t say it’s the WORST star wars movie. it’s more watchable than the phantom menace, that’s for damn sure. the actors put in effort. the sets and practical effects are nice. it’s just so... empty

tros possibly feels the closest to how i imagined the new trilogy would be when it was first announced, but in a bad way. a movie built entirely on established ideas of What Star Wars Is with nothing new to bring to the table. it’s like a bad eu novel. just recycled imagery, cameos from characters we already know, palpatine coming back from the dead, that sort of thing. it’s a movie made by committee to appease reddit. it’s nothing

now i gotta use that free trial of disney plus to watch the mandalorian and wash the taste out of my mouth i guess

[ariainstars]

Star Wars or Why Rebellions Are Necessary

There was a lot that irritated me with the ending of the Star Wars sequels, among other things considering that they were supposed to be a wrap-up of the saga. But you know what… Looking back now, one of the things most I miss is the rebellion.

In many ways, the saga is a coming-of-age story through three generations; but it seems that in the case of the third generation, the journey to adulthood was aborted. (Is it a coincidence that the erstwhile Rebellion, under Leia Organa’s leadership, is called not Rebellion but Resistance?)

Every generation - this also applies to our own world - has and needs dynamics of some kind. The world keeps changing, and we need to change accordingly. Many people unfortunately adopt some mindset or other (of their own, or instilled into them by people they trust) and stick with it for the rest of their lives. This is one of the main reasons why children and their new, fresh points of view are so extremely important.

“I believe that you are redeemed by your children.” George Lucas

Prequels

Anakin Skywalker is often accused of being a whiny, perpetually dissatisfied brat both by the Jedi Council and by the audience.

But on watching the prequels again, after some years and distance, the Old Republic gave me the distinct impression of a stagnant society on the verge of its breakdown, very far removed from the peaceful world Obi-Wan Kenobi had described to Luke when they first talked on Tatooine. And Anakin rebels against it right from the start. 

Anakin repeatedly chafes against the restrictions of the world around him. He wants to be free and also to free his mother; the Jedi’s strict code of non-attachment paired with their conviction of being always right drives him downright mad. This reaches a painful peak on the terrible night he has to watch his mother die a cruel, senseless death.

The unpopular truth is that Anakin is right when he accuses Obi-Wan of holding him back. This may be jealousy the way he claims (and indeed Anakin repeatedly proves to be stronger than his master); in any case, Obi-Wan is clearly not much inclined to compassion. He is a dutiful man and he knows that the Jedi’s eyes are on him as the master of the boy they didn’t want in the first place. He and the other Jedi know almost nothing besides their Code, having grown up in the Order from infancy. So, they struggle to keep things under control and to preserve the world they know the way it is. 

But this world also contains a lot of injustice: the Separatists do not want to leave the Republic without reason. The Jedi use the Force for their own purposes, instead of teaching the populations of the galaxy faith in it. Anakin is deliberately held back, kept down and even humiliated by the Jedi, the cunning Palpatine being the only one who shows him some respect. In the end, he is even denied the title of “master”, although he more than earned it (apart from everything else: risking his life over and over on the missions they sent him to). It is not hard to see that “he is too young” is only a lame excuse contrived by the Jedi to hide what Anakin suspected all along: that they don’t trust him. Anakin has an uncanny talent for seeing through the Jedi’s hypocrisy, and being both honest and bold, he often says what they don’t want to hear.

Created by the Force to bring Balance, Anakin derives his enormous power from both the Light and the Dark Side. The Jedi, who have made it their task to dedicate themselves to the Light Side only (completely ignoring the Dark Side), fear and shun him and never seem to ask themselves what is actually meant with the “Balance” of the old prophecy and why this must be “brought” from the outside. Obi-Wan’s last words to Anakin clearly say that according to him, the Dark Side has no right to exist. 

“You were supposed to destroy the Sith, not join them!” Obi-Wan in Revenge of the Sith 

The Jedi seem to have forgotten that the Force actually does not belong to them but the other way around; meaning that the Jedi are not automatically the Light Side and the Sith the Dark Side. They derive their power from these, but they do not embody the Force at any moment. 

The only act of rebellion Anakin manages to perform is his secret marriage to the woman he loved ever since he was a little boy. It is an insubordination that would cost him his status of a Jedi if it was known. Anakin, having lost his compassionate mother who taught him always to help others, and being is repeatedly told that he must do what the Jedi order him no questions asked (mostly actions designed to make them preserve their status and their political power) instead of helping who is actually in need, chooses to marry a woman who is compassionate herself.

This leads at least to some years of balance for him, and the children he generates are the future hopes of the galaxy; so Anakin’s rebellion to the Jedi Code, though secret, causes a lot of good.

The trouble is not Anakin’s rebellious nature; it is, like with most teenagers, not that he sees what is going on but that he doesn’t quite understand why ongoing things are never to be questioned, and that he doesn’t find the right words or actions to articulate his anger and disappointment. Nor does he know what needs to be done to make things better. In the end, the only tragic solution he comes up with is literally burning the house down.

At the other end of the scale, there is Padmé: the daughter of an influential and obviously affluent family of Naboo, she is not a rebel because she sees no need for rebelling. She does want to make things better, though not in such a harsh way as her husband: and this is where they ultimately clash. While Anakin sees through the evils of the Republic and the Jedi and decides to put a radical end to them, Padmé begins to doubt the justice of her mission just shortly before the world she knew is destroyed by the hand of the very person whom she loves most. 

“What if the democracy we thought we were serving no longer exists, and the Republic has become the very evil we have been fighting to destroy?” - Padmé in Revenge of the Sith 

Anakin, though, had his own ideas about rebellion: he executes Order 66 as per Palpatine’s order, but when his wife comes to find him on Mustafar he tells her what he actually wanted all along, which was not, ultimately, to be the Chancellor’s minion. 

Anakin: “I am more powerful than the Chancellor, I can overthrow him. And together you and I can rule the galaxy. Make things the way we want them to be!“

Padmé: “I can’t believe what I’m hearing!” Revenge of the Sith 

The most powerful couple of the galaxy breaks apart over their different ideologies. Anakin is misusing his newfound powers, and his appalled wife must learn that he expects her to be on his side. He believes his care for her is leading him, when in truth it’s his fear; if he truly cared for her so much, he would not do things which he ought to know she would utterly disdain and be horrified by. 

It is interesting that despite the chasm in their attitudes, their emotional bond still stays strong. Padmé manages to reach through to her husband’s heart one last time, almost succeeding to make him leave Mustafar with her. Then unfortunately Obi-Wan interferes, pushing Anakin into his head again: he realizes that Padmé loves him despite his choices, not because of them, and that Obi-Wan wants to take him to account. Seeing his rebellious acts coming apart, Anakin lashes out setting the final seal on his destiny. 

And this is where Palpatine, the future Emperor, steps in. He neither openly rebelled nor tried to improve the galaxy’s order while preserving it, but planned his putsch on the long run for decades. His usurpation at last puts an end to the clone wars, which is why the former Republic, tired of the fighting, destruction and deaths, welcomes him as a peacemaker before realizing that it exchanged one evil for another, much worse one. 

  Classics 

The original trilogy is the story of a rebellion at its very core. By the time Luke and Leia are grown the Empire has become so powerful and ruthless that the populations of the galaxy feel oppressed and welcomes Luke and Leia’s, and their allies’, struggles to overthrow it. 

Leia speaks up against Tarkin, Emperor Palpatine’s deputy, and Darth Vader right from the start, without even knowing that Vader is her biological father. She does not need this knowledge to be aware of his wrongdoings. Leia’s rebellion is justified and her own adoptive parents, a queen and a senator, actively assist her with it.

At first, Luke rebels against staying on his desert planet without any prospects for the future; then he is sucked into the vortex of politics (Rebellion) and religion (Jedi) and dedicates himself to both.

Luke rebels against his father to the last: even trapped, maimed, isolated and traumatized he chooses rather to jump into an abyss, narrowly escaping death, than accepting to be his ally.

His ultimate act of rebellion takes place before the Emperor: again, Luke faces almost certain death rather than the corruption of his ideals. 

“You lost, your highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me.” Return of the Jedi 

Though Darth Vader does have plans of his own (corrupting his son and overthrowing the Emperor), he always obeys his master. Only at the very last moment he rebels, saving his son at the cost of his life. 

Whatever they do, Luke and Leia never give up on rebelling. Before Tarkin, Vader, Palpatine or Hutt, they always speak their minds and if they are afraid, they do not show it in their least. Their faith in their ideals makes them bold. 

Rebellion wins. A family is formed, peace ensues and stays in the galaxy for many years.

 Rogue One, Solo, The Mandalorian

 “Rebellions are built on hope.” Rogue One

The heroes of Rogue One rebel because, each in his own way, they have nothing left to lose; contrarily to Anakin who had everything to lose. But that is not entirely true: we see glimpses of friendship and love in the members of the Rogue One mission, and they all still have their lives. But instead of making something of what they have, they all decide to risk (and indeed lose) what little they have for a greater good.

The world needs rebels because it needs hope. Without hope, there is only the stagnancy which we can so clearly see in the Old Republic before its fall. Yet Rebellion does not only need a cause, it also needs an aim.

Han, whose story mirrors Rogue One’s, knew he wanted to escape from slavery and later he found out what he wanted to do with his new freedom: help Luke and Leia, to whom he had become attached. It is not coincidental that he’s the most mature of the bunch.

This is what we can see in The Mandalorian: he belongs to the guild of bounty hunters and then he also rebels - though he ought not to take interest in a bounty and not to ask any questions, he stands up against leaving the unprotected Child behind.

  Sequels

The first person we see rebelling in the sequels is Finn. Appalled by the ruthlessness of the First Order, he decides to leave. His choice at first is a selfish one though, he only thinks of escape, not of any greater good. He has to meet Rose and DJ and to make his experiences at Canto Bight to understand that it is important to rebel for a cause.

Phasma: “You always were scum.” Finn: “Rebel scum.” The Last Jedi

Though commonly seen as modeled upon Luke’s character, Rey lacks one major trait that he had: instead of actively looking for her fate, she remains passive, merely surviving, her attitude and looks the same she had when she was a little girl.

Rey is not willing and impatient to leave her home world and embrace her destiny. On the contrary, she waits and waits for a family which, as we later learn, she unconsciously knew would never come back to her.

Ironically it is Kylo Ren, the alleged bad guy, who is the main rebel of the sequel trilogy. We learn that he is our hero’s son and nephew and that he turned his back on them for unknown reasons; and he always has his own agenda. His temper tantrums are not there for a good joke: they show that he is interiorly conflicted and not really committed to the First Order. All of his acts are rebellious in one way or another.

Kylo searches for the map leading to Luke because he wants to confront him by himself: Snoke’s intentions only happen to have the same aim. (He indeed kills Snoke when he no longer needs him, the way Vader had wanted to do with Palpatine.)

Kylo unexpectedly kidnaps Rey on Takodana, and at first, instead of reading the map in her mind he tries to get to know her.

Kylo kills Han, coerced by Snoke, and we see him unhinged and deeply upset right afterwards, showing how he hated what he did.

 On seeing him first in The Force Awakens, I remember thinking repeatedly: “What’s the matter with this guy?”

Kylo (Ben) only has one chance to open up to Rey and tell her at least a part of his story from his own point of view, i.e. the fatal night at Luke’s temple, during one of their Force connections. And that is not nearly enough. One of the sequel’s biggest mistake was, in my opinion, telling us next to nothing about what had happened to the Skywalker-Organa-Solo family after the rebellion had ended in victory.

The other big mistake was not to show the road for a better future for the galaxy. Ben Solo comes back “home” in death, which is not a satisfying conclusion for his story. He is practically regressing to childhood, and his rebellious acts led to nothing except pain and death and ultimately, the rise of the girl of Palpatine blood.

Now this would still be acceptable if Rey had proven to be a deserving heir to the Skywalker family’s legacy. But she isn’t.

Why?

Because whatever Rey may be, she’s not a rebel. She was introduced to us as a scavenger, and she remained one to the very last - searching for old artifacts and legends and cherishing them never knowing their actual meaning and history.

For me, this is one of the many reasons why she ends alone on a desert planet. Rey did not grow up. She did not experience the painful but necessary process of coming of age that the heroes of the classic trilogy went through. If anything, it’s still ahead of her.

Rey wanted a family, though obviously not one of her own with a partner and children. The only person we ever see her feeling anything intimate for is Kylo / Ben; but with few exceptions, she adamantly pushes him away. He obviously terrifies and angers her, although since she is a child of Darkness herself, she ought to have no reason for that. Also, she quickly realizes that she is not powerless before him; that he both wants to keep her near and that he acknowledges her power and listens to her. But he always brings out her true self apart from the “good little girl” she wants to be; the good sides together with the bad sides. 

“You need a teacher - I could show you the ways of the Force!” The Force Awakens 

And Rey’s own authenticity frightens her. She seems afraid not so much of Kylo but of her own burgeoning adulthood and femaleness. Having been sold into slavery, she did not get the chance to have a normal, protected childhood and adolescence; her personality did not grow into womanhood, and she is aware of this lack, searching in all places for parental figures who will “show her her place in all this”. 

Rey briefly glimpsed a different kind of life sometimes, like on Takodana, or Pasaana (an odd symphony with the planet’s names, too) where she realized she wanted to live on a green planet, and to have children of her own. Also, Kylo saw her dreaming of an ocean. However, those remained vague dreams.

Unpopular opinion: maybe Rey did not want her dreams to come true. Hers is the story of a girl who first and foremost has needs, not dreams. When we first met her she was alone, enslaved, abandoned, overworked and hungry. As the audience, we expect as a matter of course to see a protagonist following his dreams and reaching them, and she didn’t. Rey’s needs were fulfilled during the course of this story, the way she wanted; nothing more. 

  Sacrifice Is Necessary, Too

So the question is, why does the saga end like this? It doesn’t feel like a fitting ending to a story that was always about rebellion. As I already said, rebelling itself is not enough: one must also know to what end, and the sacrifices one is ready to make.

The Jedi, as well as Padmé and Anakin, wanted to keep their cake and eat it, making a better world without having to give up anything that was dear to them.

The middle generation of Skywalkers did rebel but did not follow rebellion through: they longed for the seemingly beatific Republic before the rise of the Empire. Yet watching the prequels, as the audience we clearly see that it wasn’t quite that good. So our heroes fought, unknowingly, with the aim of restoring something that would have needed to be improved in their first place, and their “happy ending” did not last very long.

Luke read the ancient Jedi texts and wanted to rebuild the Jedi Order the way it was. Leia, the princess, probably learned about the Old Republic from her adoptive father, Senator Bail Organa, and wanted to restore it. But when we see them again, both twins are disillusioned and tired. Their own son and nephew destroyed whatever they had achieved with their efforts - and at least Luke is aware that he was partially responsible for it.

So the question arises, what are rebellions good for if they lead to no better future? What good is fighting for without asking how things could come so far in the first place, and without wondering about how to make things better? Ben Solo is repeatedly depicted as someone who has doubts, but it is also obvious that his doubts were not taken seriously and that he was just expected, both by his family and Snoke, to meet expectations. And like his grandfather, he had other things in mind: something new. Ever since their first Force vision (when Rey touched Luke’s light sabre in Maz’ castle) he knew that Rey was his other side in the Force. The moment he learned she was on Takodana he relentlessly pursued her, and no matter what happened, and despite everything she did to him, he was adamant to keep her by his side.

“We can rule together and bring a new order to the galaxy!” Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi

Rey rejects his offer, disappointed that he will not turn the way she expected him to. Maybe she was afraid that he was trying to lure her to the Dark Side; but given the wording, he wasn’t. Ben knew that with Rey he could find Balance, and he wanted to do so and to offer this Balance to the galaxy. At no time did he speak to her about the “power of the Dark Side” the way Vader had with his son; Ben obviously appreciated Rey’s strengths and did not want her to turn for him but to stay by his side, to create something new. Rey, ever the scavenger, does not want anything new; she longs for the past, so she unknowingly turns her back on Balance.

The sequel trilogy ends without leaving anyone with a feeling of hope exactly because the coming of age of both protagonists failed: Ben’s rebellion came to no satisfying conclusion, and Rey’s rebellion didn’t even get started. Though many fans interpreted her as such, she is not and never was a new interpretation of Luke Skywalker but his inversion: first she did not want to leave her desert planet and now she is on another.

By the time The Rise of Skywalker comes to a closure, Kylo / Ben, the last of the Skywalker blood, has not brought Balance to the Force; Ben’s journey ends because he has learned to let go. Anakin learned this important lesson only when he had already been Vader for many years; Luke learned letting go much earlier - losing his home on Tatooine, his mentor Obi-Wan, giving up his crush on Leia realizing that she had fallen in love with Han. But Rey did not; we never see her give up anything or anyone dear to her. Her journey feels unfinished and even more - it feels like it didn’t begin yet.

“Ben is someone who has hope. ... For the first time, someone who has never had the answer, now finally knows his purpose or destiny. He has to let her (Rey) know that they’re together. But I don’t know that he entirely is sure of what’s going to happen from there, nor do I think he cares. I think, it’s so long as he is with her, he is on the right path.” (Adam Driver)

Ben, who was named after Obi-Wan Kenobi, princess Leia’s “only hope”, the rightful heir of the Chosen One, is supposed to be dead and gone for good right after having found his way? Sorry, I can’t believe it.

Also, given the parallels between Padmé and Rey, it is to be hoped that maybe Rey will go her way - that she will want to make a better world without using violencev.

And I for my part wholeheartedly rebel to believe that this is supposed to be the ultimate ending. 😊