#leia is a badass and I will always love her

[hellwrites]

Warnings: dubcon, revenge porn, language

Setting between TFA & TLJ - Finn is awake and Rey came back after finding Luke. Everyone is at the new Rebel Base at a pretty boring strategy meeting, when everyone's holopads start pinging with an anonymous video drop.

Someone presses play, and the room is filled with the unmistakable sounds of sex. The holo shows Poe, bent over some flat surface. An offscreen partner - clearly male - is uttering oddly aggressive words. He's talking about how Poe is some bigshot to everyone else, but he knows the pilot is just a slut who needs to be put in his place.

Everyone looks to Poe, who shrinks into his seat, as the disembodied partner does something that makes holo-Poe groan in what could have been pleasure or pain. The voice continues to growl about how he and Poe had a good thing going. He was the only person who could give Poe what he really needs, so why was Poe wasting so much time with that Traitor who would never really see him?

Even if you somehow got him into bed; you really think he could love you? Pathetic.... Damaged...

"Enough!" Leia's voice rang out through the room, and the holo was shut off immediately.

Everyone was silent. Attention split between trying to look at Poe and paying attention to Leia, who was very clearly furious.

"Who did this?"

A small wave of chatter rose up and died, before Rey stood up - head cocked to the side as if trying to hear something.

"Rey?" Leia asked. Luke wasn't around, but she recognised the sight of someone channeling the force.

"Him," Rey pointed at a man far at the back of the room. "His guilt is so loud and... Anger. Pride." Rey shook her head as if shrugging off the man's emotions.

The people around the culprit had already moved to stop him running away, and with a wave of her hand, Leia had him brought to stand in front of her.

"Distribution of personal data without express permission is a crime," she was speaking to the man, but her voice carried. "You may have wanted to humiliate Dameron, but I hope it was worth it. You are hereby stripped of all rank, your network privileges are revoked, and you will be confined to quarters until further notice." A single nod of Leia's head was enough to have him pulled away by the security that had gathered.

Leia dismissed everyone shortly after. Poe remained behind. He'd been quiet since it happened. Everyone was gone when Finn stepped into Poe's line of sight.

Poe looked up carefully. He didn't want to see what anyone thought of him right now, least of all Finn.

"ex-boyfriend?" Finn asked, clearly trying to keep things light. Poe laughed - the sound hollow. Finn sighed and sat next to Poe, their knees touching. It took a moment of silence before he spoke again.

"so, um... on that recording..."

"You can just ask," Poe was resigned, expecting Finn to be disgusted.

"Do you... Um... Do you, like it? Like... that?" Finn was stuttering and gesturing, and Poe couldn't help the soft smile.

"I like it slow," Poe admitted carefully. "Configuration..." he waved his hand, hoping Finn was worldly enough to understand his meaning. "That doesn't matter to me so much."

"But he..." Finn's expression darkened as he put the pieces together. "He hurt you. You didn't want that."

"We were... It was break-up sex. He realised after everything on the Finalizer, that I was interested... I mean, we'd been kind of shaky for a while, but..." Poe sighed heavy. The more he tried to explain the more tied up he felt inside. "When I met you, things changed."

Finn's eyes widened, Poe's own sad and a little pleading.

"You... and me?"

"Doesn't have to be."

"I want it, but..." Finn took a deep breath. "We weren't allowed, in The Order, we had sex but it wasn't allowed. No emotions. No attachments. I can't... I don't want it to be like that with you."

Poe's cocky little smile returned and it made Finn's insides settle.

"Don't you worry, pal. When it comes to you, I'm all emotions and attachments."

"And I can do slow," Finn smiled in return, letting his fingers brush against Poe's.

That's it. That's all I've got. Nothing more to see here, move along. Love you, bye.

[hannagoldworthy]

I’ve been on a Greek mythology kick lately, so, as a lark, here’s a quick list of a few Star Wars characters and Greek characters I think they resemble:

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Oedipus. Both men are noble of character and have heroic intentions. They are devoted to their adopted families, remarkably competent in their jobs as generals and leaders, and they always try to do the right thing in any situation they encounter. But, both are doomed by the narrative to take part in the downfall of their families and cultures, and all of their heroic efforts come to naught. Both of them ultimately end up punishing themselves for circumstances beyond their control, and perishing in exile.

Anakin Skywalker: Heracles. The most physically powerful heroes of their respective mythos, they earn reputations of renown for their feats of strength and ingenuity. Both men fall under the influence of powerful beings who want to destroy their souls, and end up murdering their entire families in fits of madness. But, both men also eventually come to their senses, and though they can never erase the horrible things they’ve done, they devote the rest of their lives to attempt to make some recompense for their crimes, and ascend to godhood as a result.

Darth Maul: Sisyphus, natch. Local bastard keeps cheating death, and it’s really starting to piss death off. Sentenced to always be working towards a goal that can never be achieved.

Princess Leia: Antigone. Devoted daughter-figures to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Oedipus, respectively. Doomed to deal with the fallout of their predecessor’s choices, and not happy about it. Stubbornly do the right thing in defiance of the law, knowing full well that it will cost them their lives. Ultimately they die before they can see the benefit of their life’s work, but both go out like complete badasses, and their deaths cause chain reactions that eliminate the families of their enemies.

Luke Skywalker: Perseus. “I’m just the simple adopted son of a farmer/fisherman who wants to fight injustice. Oh, my family is now being harmed by that injustice? Game on, motherfucker, I’m gonna punch you out with the help of this cool new sword my mentor got for me. Oh, there’s a princess in danger of being consumed by a monster? Well of COURSE I have to rescue her! And…wait, what the fuck do you mean, my bio dad’s an asshole god?”

Rey: Psyche. Both abandoned by their families because of a curse, both get sucked into a never-ending cosmic family drama that has caused yet another war. Their character arc involves winning over many of the other players in this family drama to try and reconcile them with each other, to mixed effects. Both are brought back from the dead by their love interests, and go on to rebuild their lives after the war’s end.

[shrinkthisviolet]

1, 7, 8, 9, 19, 21 for Star Wars for the ask game please?

1: the character everyone gets wrong

Luke Skywalker. Everyone writes him as naïve and happy-go-lucky, but like…no?? Even in ANH, he’s snarky and impatient, and he develops throughout the OT into a badass who suffers no fools. Yes, he’s kind and generous towards his loved ones, and he’s very friendly, there’s no doubt about that, but like?? Writing him as an innocent ball of sunshine who can do no harm is just wrong. Luke is kind, but he’s not naïve—he knows fully well what Vader has done and how evil he is, he just also knows, has felt, that there’s good deep down in Vader. He believes when no one else does because he knows he can get through to Vader and change his heart, and he’s right!!

7: what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

Kylo Ren. The way some parts of fandom used to (probably still do, but I wouldn’t know) paint Han and Leia as abusive/awful parents and make Kylo the perpetual victim who was forced into every decision he made…as if he wasn’t like 23 when he destroyed(?) the Jedi Academy* and joined Snoke, as if every decision after that wasn’t his own decision—like, come on guys.

*I know there’s a comic that said apparently a lightning storm caused the fire that destroyed the Academy? But Wookieepedia said he’s the one who summoned the storm in the first place, so 🤷‍♀️ who knows. In any case, the distinction is irrelevant to my point

8: common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Anidala isn’t abusive, and I’m sick of people saying that.

“Oh but he choked her!!” Yes, that’s what happens when you fall to the Dark Side and your good traits are twisted/corrupted. You act in ways that are not like you! This is how the Dark Side works (despite what some Star Wars media would have you believe, the Dark Side corrupts, it’s not freeing. It’s an illusion of freedom, but it’s just a trap)

“Oh but Anakin forced her into it!” Nope! He confessed to her, and she turned him down initially, but she made the first move, and there’s no indication that she was forced into marriage.

You don’t have to like them, but saying they’re toxic/abusive is incorrect and I’m tired of seeing that take.

On that note, everyone attributes Vader’s salvation to Luke, and says he’s the person who always believed in Vader…but don’t forget that Padmé did first!! Padmé was the first one to always believe in Anakin, even after the worst had happened, because that’s how strong their love is! Because Anidala was true love!

9: worst part of canon

If not for the sequels, the Luke/Leia kiss would be here. I still hate that so much.

Taking the sequels into account though…the Rey/Kylo kiss. Absolutely awful. Putting aside the fact that I don’t like the ship, there isn’t really much development for this as a ship. Sure, there are some hints of chemistry here and there (mostly in TLJ with Rey slowly developing an interest in redeeming him), but they’re far outweighed by: Kylo kidnapping and torturing Rey, Rey trying to kill Kylo, Rey metaphorically closing the door on Kylo at the end of TLJ, and Rey killing Kylo in TROS and only undoing it because she felt Leia die.

Rey appears to have a change of heart about Kylo in TLJ, but that’s very clearly undone when he refuses to turn back to the Light Side (again, she metaphorically/telepathically slams the door on him)! And she literally kills him in TROS and only undoes it for his mom’s sake! And yet suddenly in the final scene she’s calling him “Ben” and putting her trust in him?? Nope. Not buying it. If I did ship this, I’d be very disappointed about how it was handled, because that’s just sad

19: you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like…

I'm intrigued by Vaderdala as a concept 😅 not in a genuine healthy relationship way, I think that bridge is burned post-ROTS, but I find the idea of them in a Padmé Lives AU very intriguing. Vader ofc would still harbor feelings for Padmé, and deep down, she would too (she does canonically believe in his goodness), but her loyalty would be first and foremost to the Rebellion and her kids…but also those feelings keep drawing her back to Vaderkin, because a not-so-small part of her wants to redeem him and get her husband back. And he, ofc, wants her by his side as his Empress. It’s just fascinating to me imo

21: part of canon you think is overhyped

ROTS. Listen, listen, I love it too, okay? I love all 3 of the prequels in their own ways. But…even people who hate the prequels claim ROTS is “the good one”, and I just…don’t get it? What exactly makes ROTS sooo much better than the other two? It’s not like ROTS is a perfect movie by any means, it has flaws too, just like TPM and AOTC do. It even has a similar tone. People seem to love it because it’s the moment of Anakin’s descent into Vader, and believe me, I love it too, but…some people love it disingenuously, I feel. One of its big flaws is the lack of Padmé scenes in it, with them all being deleted, so the fact that it’s the most loved of the prequels despite having the least amount of Padmé in it is…weird, ngl

And yes, I know people have complained about those scenes being deleted, this is a common complaint, but that doesn’t seem to have dulled the general consensus that this movie is (one of) The Best Ever.

(On that note though, if you haven’t read the ROTS novelization, please do, it’s absolutely amazing and tbh I’m enjoying it more than the movies, simply because it has more space to expand on certain characters and what they’re thinking, and thus expand on certain scenes. AND it adds the Padmé deleted scenes back!!)

choose violence ask game!

[jedimasterbailey]

Heyyy babe 😘 for the Choose Violence ask game: 1, 2, 9, 15, 16, 17

YESSSSSS I GET TO CHOOSE VIOLENCE TODAY 😁 Thanks dearest 💚💙

Link to original Star Wars Violence Questions linked below!

1.) Give me a compelling argument for why your fav would never top or bottom.

Luminara Unduli would never be a bottom because she definitely that bitch who is ALWAYS in charge. With all the bullshit she has to put up with in both the canon and in the fanon, that woman would have all the pent up feeling to go on all night or go full blown domantrix on whoever that lucky bottom would be (I would personally volunteer my services). No matter where she is and what she’s doing, Luminara gets shit done and that is that. Via osmosis, Barriss Offee is most likely a top too since her mother has taught her how to be a bad bitch like her 💙💚

2.) What character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because of how the fandom acts about them?

Grogu. Like he’s literally just a baby but my God judging from all the mass excessive merchandising you would think that at one point in time Grogu was the only Star Wars character that existed and that’s not necessarily his fault by the annoying group of people who literally only watched Mando just for Grogu and Grogu only. There are so many people out there who will never watch a Star Wars movie or anything else that isn’t Mando just because Grogu isn’t in it and again it’s insane because again he’s just a literal baby. If the show was exclusively about him, it would have been a boring show. If I wanted to look at something cute, I can just go look at puppies or some shit. I don’t need to watch a show for that.

9.) You’re mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like…

I honestly don’t have an answer for this sorry 🤣

15.) Opinion of Anakin’s characterization (I.e the broification of Anakin Skywalker).

This is a very loaded question because I don’t really swing either way with this topic (as in I don’t love or hate it). Like on the one hand, I like how in the CW show they made Anakin more with it and mature when the situation calls for it which makes sense considering he has Ahsoka to consider and he has to be a good role model for her. I also appreciate how in the show Anakin isn’t just bitching about Obi-Wan or obsessing over Padme all the time or being pissy with his other Jedi colleagues. I love seeing Anakin actually being a model Jedi and actually showing that he truly does love and respect Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, etc. However Anakin is seen as more sensitive in the movies and doesn’t always respond with such rage all the time like he does in CW show. Like bro Anakin’s anger goes from 0-1,000 in seconds to the point where he’s just destroying gadgets, kicking Clovis ass, etc. So in short, in some ways I personally think they did a good job expanding on Anakin’s character in the CW however there is no denying there is a huge distinction between Matt Lanter Anakin and Hayden Anakin. They most likely went the bro route because toxic masculinity is in.

16.) Best written female character in Star Wars.

Leia hands down. Her character is one of the very few Star Wars characters that is consistent and true in every single project we see with her in it. And like I’ve never met a Leia hater in my whole life and if I did I would question that person’s character because Leia is a badass that holds everything together when no one else will or when people leave her. She honestly deserves her own show.

17.) What event is Anakin’s point of no return in his fall to the Dark Side?

Shmi’s death. Had that never happened Anakin probably would not have taken those visions of Padme dying in childbirth or Palpatine’s bullshit stories seriously. It was only because Anakin lost his mother that he was insistent on keeping his wife and children safe at all costs because he did not want to endure that kind of pain ever again.

Original Ask Game Questions

[padme-amitabha]

It frustrates me that star wars seems to want to erase padme. She never gets mentioned at all … ever, like that is luke and leias mother!! It feels like they want to squash her importance in the story even though she is the most important person in anakins life yet now it seems the writers want to make ahsoka that person in anakins life

And it's sadder when she does get mentioned she has to be retconned to be a StRoNg FeMaLe ChArAcTeR like by erasing her kindness (that's one of the things Leia says about her mother!) and making her seem more badass and stoic in some way in Queen's Shadow (just like Anakin isn't spared and retconned in TCW to gain the fanbase's approval). I mean yes her work is important and deserves more content but there should be a balance between her work and personal life because both were equally important to Padme (although we see her priotizing her loved ones but her work also affects her significantly in ROTS). So she's less and less of the Padme she originally was and more how the fans want her to be and think she should be. However, characters are flawed and if Padme was a stoic girlboss she would have simply divorced Anakin rather than going after him and believing in him till she died. She wouldn't have married Anakin at all.

I'm not saying she was perfect but neither was Anakin and Obi-Wan. Everyone in the prequels has at least one fatal flaw because it is ultimately a tragedy. Padme is not a caricature of Leia (who is badass in her own way) and neither is Anakin a caricature of Luke. Their personalities and roles are not and shouldn't be interchangeable. But the retconned versions of the characters do feel like they are. Padme is more like Leia and TCW Anakin is a weird mix of Luke and Han. I get that they may seem more likeable to the masses but it should not come at the cost of their originality. Just like we don't have to be likable and perfect all the time in real life to have a purpose, I wish they acknowledged that in media as well than simply going for what sells. Even a trilogy on Padme feels like an apology as it addresses and "fixes" any complaint against her and is more about Sabe and giving her a new love interest rather than expanding and working on her existing character. I mean it does expand on her but it's not always consistent with her personality in the movies and its novelizations. I remember finding Padme in QS to be very unlikable and cold. Which she isn't at all. Her traits that Leia mentions was important even before her character was designed because that's how she impacted the main story and its a part of her legacy because that's how the people she loved remembered her. Making her more stoic makes no sense. Leia on the other hand has a different narrative and would benefit from the traits because it aligns with her goals. For sure, Padme was accomplished as well but the tone while handling her and portrayal of her character should have been consistent. She can't just be the Princess Leia of the prequels. And I may be reading too much into this but the first movie establishes she's not going to be just like her daughter. She isn't born into royalty, rather she's elected. She doesn't marry the older rebellious guy she banters with. Instead, she grows up to marry a younger boy who has a crush on her and who's very kind and sweet to. The same way Anakin is not a naive, sheltered boy living with his family. He is a slave and has a difficult childhood despite growing up on the same planet as his son!

As for Ahsoka, I guess Filoni was too attached to her and she was a blank slate to work with so they can do whatever with her. I talked about my feelings on her multiple times so I won't elaborate but her existence in the skywalker saga makes no sense to me. I would've been cool with her as a spinoff character. But I dislike that she was treated as something special and exempted from everything from the start without earning that privilege in any way. Meanwhile, poor Anakin is treated more strictly when he's just 10 and receives no special treatment despite being the Chosen One. Also, she's shoehorned everywhere in Anakin's story when she played no part in the peak moments of Anakin's life (as shown in the movies).

[terriblepersongreatseamonster]

I’ll be honest, when Kylo first meets Rey the whole thing from him knocking her out to her waking up restrained and having their first face-to-face interaction has always felt a bit rapey to me.  I think it’s one of the big reasons I’ve been staunchly anti-Reylo for so long.  However, having now fallen to the Reylo side and rewatched the movies from that perspective, I have a different take on that first meeting and their subsequent interactions.

First, before I dive into everything, I want to address the age gap.  I wish Rey hadn’t been 19 when they met.  It just makes the whole ten-year age gap a little hard to stomach (even though it is a long, long time ago in a galaxy far away, and Ben has the emotional maturity of a 13-year-old).  I wish she’d been a little older, or that the gap hadn’t been so huge if they were going to insist she be 19.  Plus, how does that whole sharing-a-soul thing work?  Did Ben have a complete soul for the first decade of his life, and then as soon as Rey popped into existence his soul ripped in half and yeeted itself across the galaxy to find her?  (There’s probably an actual official answer to this particular question, but I haven’t really looked into it yet.)

Okay, let’s go back to Ben.  This was the son of Han and Leia, and they are two of the biggest deals in the New Republic.  They love Ben, but they don’t have a lot of time to be parents.  Anyone who’s had parents who were in leadership positions knows how much time is sacrificed to be available to others.  Ben spent the beginning of his life sharing his parents with the entire galaxy.  Plus, roughly around the time he came to be, Leia was off training to be a Jedi.  I’m not sure if she was still training after he was born, but from everything I’ve found, she quit her training sometime around then.  The woman might be a badass, but there are only so many hours in a day and so many places she can be at once.  

There’s no doubt in my mind that Ben was raised to have manners.  He’s the kid of leaders, he was probably in etiquette lessons before he could fully form sentences.  

I have no doubt that Ben witnessed his parents showing each other physical affection, but who knows how often that happened.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Han and Leia spent more time apart than together because of their roles in the New Republic.  On top of that, I’ve always felt that there was a layer of slight aggressiveness to their relationship.  It’s not bad, but it could be very confusing to a little kid.  This is what Ben spends the first decade of his life observing.  

Then, right as he reaches the age of ten, he gets sent off to hang out with his bachelor uncle to learn to be a Jedi.  I know that in the now non-canon material, Luke was married, but in the current canon, it seems that his marriage exists only in his dreams.  Given the Jedi issues with love and attachments, I sincerely doubt that Ben and his fellow padawans were given any kind of sex ed or instruction on how to treat someone they might be attracted to.  

So, Ben becomes Kylo, and while there are women who work with him, none of them are his soulmate.  He has zero dating experience and he only has his memories of his parents’ relationship to give him any idea of how to treat his soulmate.  I think he knew from very early on that the other half of his soul was out there, somewhere in the galaxy.  

By the time we reach The Force Awakens, Kylo is 29, and barely holding it together.  Ben is still in there, fighting hard to break free.  When he reaches Takodana in the search for the map, I would not be surprised if he sensed the missing piece of his soul and that’s how he found Rey so easily.  He was literally drawn to her like a magnet. 

When she starts shooting at him, he flicks away the blaster bolts.  He could easily have bounced them right back at her causing wound or death, or even stopped the blasts as soon as they started (much like how he did with Poe at the beginning of the movie).  He takes a surprisingly long time to actually put a stop to it.  And you get this sense that he’s trying to figure out what to do with her.  He observes her and even paces around her frozen form.  The guy is huge and intimidating, it would be enough to terrify anyone.  And Rey is already on edge from what happened at Maz’s castle.  

When Kylo knocks her out, he doesn’t just let her collapse onto the ground.  He’s right there catching her as she falls and then he sweeps her up in his arms, rather than having his underlings take over.  If he’d thought she was just some random girl, this action wouldn’t make sense.  I think, at that moment, he wanted to be as physically close to his missing piece as possible.

She comes to, restrained in this terrifyingly unfamiliar place, and the big bad of the galaxy is watching her.  He’s not touching her, he’s not even that close, but he is there and he’s still observing.  Still trying to figure her out.  As soon as she makes the comment about the mask, he pulls it off and they’re finally face-to-face.  When you watch, there is almost a subtle Gollum/Smeagol type fight going on inside him.  Ben is there, fighting against Kylo, and you end up with a very tense scene.  

Kylo doesn’t make a great choice using the words, “I can take whatever I want” and then immediately probing her mind.  Yes, this is non-consensual and scary.  But as soon as she tells him to get out of her mind, I think Ben takes over briefly because he doesn’t even question, just obeys.  He’s trying so hard to get a read on her.  And then the Kylo part of him takes over and tries so hard to pull the information from her.  

There’s an episode of Doctor Who where the Doctor is reading Madame de Pompadour’s mind, and she starts reading his.  He’s shocked by this and she tells him, “A door once opened may be stepped through in either direction.”  This is exactly what happens between Rey & Ben/Kylo.  

Also, I just want to point out that there is a big difference between Poe and Rey’s interrogations.  Kylo is aggressive and angry with Poe, but he’s much more restrained with Rey.  In fact, by the time their interaction ends, he’s absolutely shaken by how Rey has responded, and you can see the fear in his eyes as he realizes he’s experiencing something completely new.  Rey can read him almost easier than he can read her.

Throughout the rest of the movie, their interactions are intense.  Kylo throws her against a tree.  And then he fights with Finn.  He screams and rages against the other man,  He beats Finn, and tries to take the lightsaber, but the saber flies past him and into Rey’s hands.  Ben almost manages to surface.  The rage is gone, and you can see how intrigued he is by this new development.  The way he looks at her is a complete shift from the way he looked at Finn.   Their lightsaber duel is not nearly as brutal as it should be considering the fact that he’s far more experienced with the blade.  He could use his powers to disarm her, could break her, and he doesn’t.  He fights with her, and it’s like he’s trying to get a read on just how skilled she really is.  He even tries to convince her to let him teach her.  That’s not something you say to someone you hate or want to kill.    When she wounds him, he just keeps getting back up until the earth splits and physically separates them from each other.  

He lets her go.  As wounded as he is, he’s still a very strong force user, and I think it’s very possible he could’ve pulled her back, could’ve dropped her in the chasm.  He could’ve ended things right there and then, but he doesn’t.  

From the first time he and Rey lock eyes on each other, he never looks at her like he looks at anyone else.  The anger, the hatred, all of it isn’t there when he looks at her.  There’s fascination, annoyance, frustration, and by the time we get into Last Jedi there are the beginnings of love in his gaze.  She’s his missing piece.  His soul is complete when he’s interacting with her.  

Kylo is barely there at all when he interacts with her.  Their first soul bond, he tries to order her to bring him Skywalker, but you can tell the order is half-hearted at best, and he immediately drops his hand and you see the shame in his face.  I suspect he’s been beating himself up about how he interrogated her, and realizes he was just about to pull the same shit again.  

Ben can’t fully break free, but he’s still there.  When he slips the glove off and they touch, that’s all Ben.  Kylo isn’t there at all.  (And then Luke had to break in and ruin a perfect moment.) He never denies her accusations that he’s a monster, and even sits quietly and listens when she pours out the whole story about what happened in the cavern.  His actions and behaviors with her are the closest we get to see Ben Solo for the majority of the trilogy.  

At his heart, Ben wants to be the kind of man he knows Rey deserves and I really do think you see him making a genuine effort to become that, even if the road to get there is rocky.  They share a soul, and I think it’s tearing both of them apart for the majority of the trilogy because they can’t seem to figure out how to get on the same page.  

I think Kylo/Ben was wrong for how he behaved at the beginning, and I'm not trying to make excuses for him. However, I do think he genuinely regretted his behavior and tried to be better.

[tairona-is-taken]

A review of Truce at Bakura

(Originally posted to my RL Goodreads account a few years ago.)

Unevenly written, but super fun. This book picks up 24 hours after Return of the Jedi ends, and it’s billed as the book that wraps up the loose threads from ROTJ. I would say it only 50% delivers on that. It does do a good job of portraying Imperial/Rebel relations now that the Emperor is dead and the two sides have to work together to defend Bakura (an Imperial world) from whoever the aliens are who are invading from outside the galaxy (the Ssiruuk?). There’s a great scene in particular where the Imperial governor of Bakura doesn’t believe the Emperor is dead at first, but when Leia tells him Vader killed the Emperor, the governor is like, “Oh never mind, I take it back—that jerk? I TOTALLY believe he killed the Emperor.”

But the book only does a mediocre job of wrapping up the emotional threads after ROTJ, which is what I was really looking forward to. Luke is struggling with the health effects of the Emperor’s Force lightning, which is interesting, but apparently he’s 100% over the emotional trauma of what happened on the 2nd Death Star. Han has zero thoughts on the revelation that Luke and Leia are siblings (one day was apparently all it took for that truth bomb to sink in). I will give Tyers credit that Leia does struggle a lot with the revelation that Darth Vader is her father, and there’s even a scene where she meets Anakin’s Force ghost, BUT unfortunately Tyers just isn’t great at writing emotions/interiority, and so all of Leia’s angsting over this just comes off as predictable and lacking in true depth.

With that said, the story is still a fun romp that feels reminiscent of Star Trek: The Original Series, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Things that I liked, in no particular order:

- Leia is a total boss in this story. It’s clear she’s been coaching Luke and Han on diplomatic protocol now that they’re trying to form an alliance with the Bakuran Imperials—and in one scene it’s even clear that she told the guys to let her do the talking because they don’t know what they’re doing. LOL. This was a relief after The Thrawn Trilogy, where she gets talked over by other characters a lot.

- Luke gets promoted to fleet commander in this book and he kind of sucks at first. He gets better at being a leader as the book goes on, but in the first battle, he ends up leaning heavily on his flagship captain, Tessa Manchisco. Tessa is pretty amused by his inexperience, but is chill enough that she doesn’t rub it in, while Luke recognizes that she’s more competent than him, and is fine with following her lead. I loved their dynamic.

- Han at one point tries to romance Leia aboard the Falcon and asks Chewie to set up a romantic nook on the ship for a date. Chewie instead just puts together a bed where Han and Leia can get it on. Hahaha, at least Leia takes it in stride.

- At the end of the book, Luke pulls rank so that he can fly a TIE fighter, which he’s apparently always wanted to try—it’s one of the most gleefully in-character moments he has in the book.

- The Imperial characters are pretty nuanced. Gaeriel (Luke’s love interest) in particular is super ordinary—which is refreshing in the Star Wars universe. She supports the Empire in the way that most real people support the countries we live in—because we’re stuck here, so even when our home countries do bad things, it’s instinctual to try to move past it and look for the good.

- At one point, Luke Force heals this senile old lady who Gaeriel is taking care of and who Luke suspects got her mind kriffed up by the Empire. At the end of the book, this old lady turns out to be a complete badass who helps save the day with Gaeriel as her side kick. I just loved seeing an old person use their wisdom and experience to kick ass for once, instead of it always being the youngsters!

Things to file under “so bad it’s good”:

- At one point, Luke is despairing over his love life, so he calls to the Force ghosts—all three of them; Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin!—because he basically wants dating advice from them. Man, that’s some Anakin-in-the-prequels level of romance fail right there. I guess it’s genetic?

- To be fair, this scene leads to a genuinely moving one where the Force ghosts don’t show up (wisely), but Leia does, and she and Luke have a touching moment of sibling bonding. What I particularly loved is that Leia doesn’t make fun of Luke’s crush on Gaeriel, but is actually relieved because he’s acting like a human being again instead of being super detached like he was in much of ROTJ. This is really the one nod we get to the emotional trauma Luke went through after Empire Strikes Back, and it’s a good one.

Things that were just plain bad:

- Luke keeps mind tricking people left and right in this book, oftentimes for frivolous reasons, and Tyers seems to have no awareness of the ethical implications of this.

- Han gets weirdly jealous in the middle of the book of both Luke’s (totally innocent) interactions with Leia and also this one random Alderaanian officer who kisses Leia’s hand. It makes no sense and it’s like Tyers is trying to just check off the “romantic tension” box.

- In the final battle, Tessa dies—and in fact, Luke’s entire flagship gets vaporized—but neither Luke nor any of the other characters spare a second thought for these deaths. I blame this on bad writing, not on the characters themselves, but it leaves a bad taste in your mouth regardless.

[kitkatt0430]

Wedge, Lando, Mara Jade, and Chewbacca for the character bingo!

Wedge:

I know Wedge best from the X-Wing books I've read and a few other Legends books here and there. And I always get SOOOOO excited to see him pop up in the books. Usually leading Rogue Squad. Except when he's leading Wraith Squad.

He is absolutely the reasonable adult in the room and accidentally dad to his Rogue & Wraith squads. But oh, he gets the angst as bad as anyone who gets main character status in the extended Star Wars universe. At least one of his love interests is murdered :( poor dear.

He has to put up with being tangentially associated to Jedi nonsense through multiple characters - most notably Luke Skywalker and Corran Horn - but because he's a good friend and a good person to have your back in a crisis, he never complains. They're his people, he's gonna be there for them.

Lando:

He's a con man turned legit business owner, though it's a different business every time I check in on him in Legends. lol

So he spends some time in Legends dating Mara Jade. This is later retconned into the two of them going under cover with fake dating to do some recon and Mara was probably plotting his murder the entire time. Though she only wore his clothes (better than him) and probably stole a few of the man's true love interests (his cloaks). But Lando definitely sees himself as the suave playboy, which I enjoy about him so much. (Leia/Han/Lando please???)

Lando is often the adult in the room. He has no idea how this happened and is in perpetual fake it 'til you make it mode when it happens. I love this about him and I'm always excited to see him get put in a situation. Especially when Han and/or Leia are involved. And if he gets whumped... ;)

He introduced Luke to hot chocolate, canonically (Legends), and I adore that because he looked at this Jedi of growing legendariness and accurately diagnosed him with 'perpetually a farmboy at heart'.

Mara Jade:

Ah, my favorite Emperor's Hand, given the final mandate of killing Luke Skywalker upon the Emperor's death. Quite likely my favorite of Timothy's Zahn's Star Wars OCs, (though Karrde and Thrawn are close seconds) and she is absolutely a bit feral. Cryptid energy absolutely.

I adore that she spends so much of the Thrawn Trilogy (Legends) being driven by the Emperor's final command to kill Luke while also fighting it pretty hard while Luke is just, like... batting his eyes and going 'is this friendship? This is friendship. Leia, look at my new bestie!!!' (While Leia watches in bemusement before heading off on her own weird adventure. While being a badass pregnant woman the whole time.)

She is a trouble magnet in much the same vein as Luke too. Which is fun. I'd say she's an unapologetically Mary Sue character, which is well done here. She's a nuanced character with flaws, no one seems sure why they like her at first but she grows on them while she's actively fighting them growing on her too, and she is absolutely the one with the brain cell on Karrde's bridge every time he pulls some crazy stunt.

She's the only love interest Luke has that I don't wind up getting bored with, so it's convenient that she's the one he actually marries... and the way they go about it is they're besties and not romantic at all, but then realize that they're just... happier together and they get married once they're out of danger. Married QPPs anyone???

If not autistic then Mara definitely has some kind of neurodivergence going on, she has that ND putting up with nonsense energy so hard.

Chewbacca:

I love Chewbacca so much. Definitely can do no wrong. Oldest character on the OG main cast, fought alongside Yoda in the clone wars, taken from his home to be enslaved, rescued by this idiot child (Han) whom he becomes a parental/older sibling to because goodness knows Han would get himself killed once a week without Chewie there looking after him.

He's definitely playing up the Wookie stereotypes on occasion for the fun of it, exuding cryptid energy in the process. Is he feral? Is he just playing on stereotypes to win at space-chess? C-3PO & R2 would certainly prefer not to find out the answer.

[theladyragnell]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks....

I don't mind at all! This is an absolutely HUGE question, though, so I am going to adapt it into a meme that goes around sometimes and just do ten favorite characters from ten different media properties I love, because otherwise I am going to sit here all day frozen with indecision wondering if I'm forgetting someone, or if each character is REALLY worthy of being top ten out of all the media I've consumed in my life.

This got long, so it's under a cut!

Murderbot (The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells): One of my favorite book series! And I love Murderbot so deeply for so many reasons. It's funny! It's being adopted into everyone's found family and doing so kicking and screaming! It cares deeply about people once it allows itself too! Runner-up in this property is ART, who I love dearly, but really, it couldn't be anyone else but Murderbot itself.

Keladry of Mindelan (The Tortall series by Tamora Pierce): Kel is so stubborn and kind and very subtly funny in a lot of ways, and she's my favorite of the Pierce heroines. She jousts! She adopts everyone and every beast that crosses her path! She gets up to shenanigans with her friends! Just a joy of a character.

Johnny Jaqobis (Killjoys (TV)): I love everyone in this wildly underrated show, but Johnny especially. I've got a weakness for the quippy best-friend-of-the-badass/support character type (see also: Foggy Nelson from Daredevil), and Johnny is such a perfect one. He's funny, he's badass, he pretends to be married to two separate people in the course of the show. What's not to love?

Maia Drazhar (The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison): This book is so good, and Maia is such a good central character of it. He's so kind, so determined to be good in a position that makes it hard to be good or kind, to build connections when he's been denied them his whole life and change things nobody thinks it's possible to change. I love him!

Xena (Xena Warrior Princess): With my love for quippy best friends, you might think Gabrielle would be my favorite, but no, Xena is a competent badass searching for (and, as she goes along, finding) redemption, which is another favorite character type. She's also a badass warrior who's not at all afraid or self-conscious of being emotional and expressing affection, which is a rare and wonderful thing.

Leia Organa (Star Wars): The original trilogy trio are all close to my heart, but Leia just edges the other two out. I've just always loved her banter, how she refuses to be cowed by any situation, and her super cool hairstyles. Very much a I-want-to-be-like-her-when-I-grow-up character since childhood.

Harriet Morton (A Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotson): One of my formative romantic books. Harriet's not too different from Maia, actually, only Maia before becoming emperor and thus not having much power to effect change! She's kind and brave about loving and quietly stubborn, and she's very much in the same type as

Fanny Price (Mansfield Park by Jane Austen): Mansfield Park is nobody's favorite Austen, and Fanny is nobody's favorite Austen heroine, and yet! (I do technically love Persuasion, and probably Anne, more, but I'm not nearly as defensive of either of them, so Fanny's the one I thought of first for this list). She's very much that same character type as Harriet, and I seem to love characters who are clinging to goodness when they don't have much else to cling to.

Alec Hardison (Leverage (TV)): He's so smart and so full of fun quips! And also hot, look, I can be allowed to be a little shallow here. Anyway, I love all the characters in this show, but Hardison absolutely wins out.

Danielle de Barbarac (Ever After): This movie is full of great characters, but I adore Danielle. Determined, good-hearted, willing to carry a prince out of a forest, reader of dense tomes, what's not to love?

[travelerofthetimestreams]

In A Galaxy Far Far Away

I have been a massive fan of Star Wars since I was a child. The queer person in me loved Princess Leia and thought she was simply badass. They homo in me wanted to be Luke Skywalker, but to swept off my feet by the swashbuckling Han Solo. Then when Billy Dee Williams was brought in as Lando...yes please!

As the franchise grew and expanded, it had its ups and downs like all franchises do.

When Rey was introduced, I became a big fan of her character as well. I know those three films are polarizing to many in the fan bases. I liked them. They weren't great, but they do make for great lazy day viewing.

I also liked The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The rest however, I could not get into. Andor didn't grab my attention and The Book of Boba Fett was simply terrible.

I have not watched the animated series, so I can't comment on them.

Now we have The Acolyte. The one question I have for the show-runners and writers is, "did you have watch any of the franchise?"

The argument against fans' criticism is that they "haven't given it a chance". Halfway through a season's run, should pretty much have captured the audience and keep them coming back to watch.

This isn't a criticism of the characters, but of the writing and the story telling. Things like space fires and surviving a horrific crash without a scratch are just bad writing. Claiming The Force somehow being appropriated is ignorant to the lore of the franchise. Mainly because in order for something to be appropriated, it must first be owned or claimed by someone. Since The Force is all things, it's therefore for all beings. I won't comment on the acting because I don't know who to blame; the actors or the writers.

If the priority of this series is DEI, then I have to point to several series where diversity was just part of the story.

The re-imagined Battlestar Galactica did a good job of diversity. Side note: DO NOT REBOOT IT!

The Expanse was an incredibly well written and acted series with excellent social, political and ideological text and subtext.

And of course, Star Trek. The bastion of sc-fi DEI has always created diverse characters that were interwoven into the story.

With The Acolyte, it feels as though they tried so hard to fill the DEI quotient to their satisfaction, but with disregard to writing, storytelling and actual knowledge to Star Wars lore.

At the end of the day, if the story falls flat, so does the message.

[walkawaytall]

For the fic ask game:

16. Is there a commonly held misconception about one of your stories that you’d like to correct for the masses? (I know of one and thought you might want an excuse to say it. 😎)

17. What does your editing process look like?

16. So, I think I actually may have touched on this answering number 20 (at least if I'm thinking of the same conversation that you are about Han's motivations in Purpose of Heritage thus far)? And, aside from that, I don't think there have been many widely-held misconceptions -- though there have definitely been different responses to certain things than I expected (like, more than one person saw Reconstitution as a bit of a downer and that was...the exact opposite of my intent with that story...but we all bring our own experiences to the stories we read, so I'm not going to say their reading is wrong per se, just that I intended for the ending of that rather melancholy fic to have a hopeful slant to it, even in the midst of life's imperfections).

Oh! Actually, I though of another one: there are moments in Purpose of Heritage specifically where Leia's straight-up wrong. Like, she is our heroine, our main character, our beloved space princes, but she's also 19/20/21 years old and traumatized and very specifically not dealing with said trauma in healthy ways at least 50% of the time (her eschewing therapy repeatedly is not supposed to be viewed as a super-great alternative to, you know, going to therapy), and there have been moments that people have clocked as Leia being a badass -- and they aren't wrong -- but I also see them as Leia's cool, together facade cracking in a way that isn't good technically.

Like, we love Leia, so the scene at the shooting range where she uses Varner Coy's blaster to shoot a line of bullseyes does feel badass and empowering and a little cathartic because that guy has been a jerk, but it's also Leia losing her cool entirely and giving into an impulsivity that I don't see as a good thing for someone in leadership to do. I didn't stick immediate consequences in there because I'm not writing an after-school special, but...just because Leia doesn't always have negative consequences for a thing doesn't mean that I included it with the intent that it was supposed to be seen as totally awesome, full-stop. Sometimes it's partially awesome, and partially a big red flag. And maybe I should be more obvious about this; I don't know. I just am not writing a morality tale exactly, so I don't want to steer the narrative into an area that makes it feel clunky or preachy.

17. For normal-length things like one-shots or Collateral, a multichapter with chapters that are a sane length (4K-6K words): I write the thing, I read the thing and edit as I read. I may or may not edit while I write; it depends on how long it is, how long it takes me to write, if any parts are giving me issues. (Like, if I get really, really stuck, I'll start on a fresh document and copy/paste different sentences and paragraphs until I can get back into a good rhythm, and in the midst of all of that, editing happens as well). I basically read and edit things several times until I'm either 1. Entirely happy with it (rare) or 2. Tired of looking at it and no longer debating about changing anything (more common).

For Purpose of Heritage, I did an unhinged and probably short-sighted thing where I wrote what was originally two chapters, decided I preferred them together, and combined them, setting a precedent for myself to write chapters that are 8K-10K words long (and that is legitimately where I've felt each chapter has a natural stopping point -- like, I'm not padding stuff to get to a certain word count. Most of the chapters, I suppose, could be split in half, but we're so far beyond that at this point, I'm just resigned to writing giant-ass chapters until this project is complete). I used to reread everything every time I set out to write a new chapter to try to ensure I didn't go off-the-rails tonally, but when that became too cumbersome, I think you were the one that mentioned having your phone read what you'd written aloud, and I use that not just to review past chapters, but also to edit (so, thank you for that suggestion if that was you, DP!). It helps me identify clunky wording and sometimes straight-up inconsistencies.

So, I usually write and edit as I write, then reread the whole chapter and edit, have my phone read it and mentally dogear what needs to be looked at and edit those pieces when I can, and then read it another time and occasionally have a beta reader (thanks for the times you've helped with this, by the way!) assure me that I haven't gone off the rails entirely if I keep worrying about one particular aspect, edit again with any beta reader suggestions in mind, and finally publish when I'm either as pleased as I'm going to be with it or I can't bring myself to read it again. I do usually try to make sure there is at least a night where I ignore the chapter entirely before doing one final editing pass-through before I post. Giving my brain a chance to not think about it helps me catch errors I missed on earlier read-throughs, and also usually helps me realize that I haven't, in fact, written a pile of garbage.

Thanks for the questions! Sorry these answers are so dang long!

fanfic writer asks

[redrocketpanda]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks...

hey - absolutely always okay to ask me about my favourite characters (or favourite anything's). I haven't unboxed them for some time and am frankly excited to wave them in everyone's faces again (though picking a top 10 is hardddddd - this could very easily have been a BNHA/HQ/JJK list but I restricted myself to 1 character per media)

Bakugou Katsuki (BNHA) - beloved boy, loml, star in my sky, etc etc. forever #1 of any + all lists. I adore grumpy characters who find themselves caught up in being loved into character growth by their friends, but I think the main reason he's my #1 is that I see a lot of myself in him. I too was a very angry young person with a superiority complex who went on a journey into letting others in, allowing myself to experience joy and love, and dismantling ideas of perfectionism. I don't think I'll ever truly let the pricklyness or slight god complex go though

Bokuto Koutarou (Haikyuu) - beloved boy #2 because who doesn't love Bokuto??? We are all rendered weak in the face of his endearing and endless puppy energy. I love how loving, optimistic and tenacious he is. Oh, and let's not talk about how relatable some of his other qualities are (prior to watching HQ I almost verbatim quoted a complaint Bokuto makes in a completely different context). love himmmmmmmm

Sarah Harding (The Lost World) - One of two of my biggest role models as a child/teenager. I wanted to be like Sarah so bad and had also wanted to work in animal behaviour in part bc of her. She's completely badass, and as an adult I also have a newfound appreciation for how she handles communicates + asserts her boundaries in her relationship with Ian

Padme Amidala (Star Wars) - The second of my biggest role models as a child/teenager. Leia didn't grow on me until I was older, but I was obsessed with Padme. I feel like the fandom + Episode III does her dirty, but to me I adore how intelligent, caring and assertive she is. I studied politics at college because of her!

Gojo Satoru (Jujutsu Kaisen) - Possibly my favourite of all of the shitbags that I love. I remember desperately pleading with myself to not fall on my face for Gojo during the first episode of S1 and made it until the credits... Why do I love him? He's heinously obnoxious, self-assured, hilarious, extremely powerful, and a complete walking disaster of a man.

Cristina Yang (Grey's Anatomy) - I don't watch Grey's Anatomy anymore but I used to be obsessed with it. I still own S1-6 on DVD and have very fond memories of it. I always loved Cristina for her blunt directness, self-belief, intelligence, and approach to friendships/relationships. Plus, my best friend in college identified me as a 75% Cristina/25% George personality so Cristina has also been very dear to my heart for that reason lmao

Achilles (The Song of Achilles) - It wouldn't be me if I didn't include Achilles on a list of favourites. I named my dog after Achilles because I love him so much and joked to my (poor) boyfriend that if we ever have a kid together, their middle name should be Achilles. Madeline Miller's depiction of Achilles is my favourite and love him for very similar reasons to Bakugou tbh. Give me a man filled with unbridled pride and arrogance with god-like physical prowess and I'll probably love them forever (plus also, ow my heart)

Kassandra (Assassin's Creed Odyssey) - *heart eye emoji* but fr I have such a fondness for Kassandra. She's the perfect mix of stoic big buff lady, hilariously sarcastic sense of humor, and absolute heart of gold. I love her characterisation and think she's such a fantastically written character. Plus... I want her to pick me up and cuddle me so bad

Lilo (Lilo and Stitch) - I think it's a tragedy that Lilo is often forgotten due to not being a Disney princess bc she is honestly such a wonderful character. Lilo and Stitch is one of my favourite movies, and I admire how resilient, loving, eccentric and curious Lilo is

Xandri Corelel (the Xandri Corelel series) - The Xandri Corelel is one of my favourite sci-fi series and that is, in part, bc of Xandri herself. She's the first autistic woman I encountered in sci-fi and I adored how the series explores how her autism is what makes her an excellent head of xeno-liaisons. She's also bisexual and polyamorous so even further brilliant rep for me, and tbh is just a great character all round

I tried not to write an essay but it's really hard when I could talk about these characters all day but hopefully this was vaguely fun/interesting for people to read And in case anyone is interested some of my other favourite characters who didn't quite include the top 10 include: Jirou Kyoka (BNHA), Kirishima Eijirou (BNHA), Itadori Yuji (JJK), Nishinoya Yuu (HQ), Tanaka Ryu (HQ), Kuroo Tetsurou (HQ), Miya Atsumu (HQ), Zagreus (Hades), Moana and Rapunzel (Disney), Fang Runin (The Poppy War), Kunigami Rensuke (bluelock), Bachira Meguru (bluelock), Sebastian (Stardew Valley), and Vash the Stampede (Trigun Stampede)

[hermiones-amortentia]

i think the harmony shipping is both steve kloves and jkr's fault bc in the books, jkr sunk the ship in the last book completely, but for some odd reason she did that random interview saying that "harry couldve been a better partner 4 her" or w/e she said. i also remember a manifesto that compared harmony to the pairing of david copperfield and agnes. she was in love with him, he said she was a sister but ended up getting together. but idk, I always knew romione would happen bc the bickering/bantery-ish couples used to be very popular (for me its not cliché or a flaw, I enjoy a lot of fictional couples like that).

Harmony shipping isn't anyone's fault. Harmony shipping was inevitable. Harry is the main character. Hermione is his best female friend and they aren't related by blood like Luke and Leia. So some people were gonna ship it regardless of canon outcome. Plus the ship is extremely male heavy. You see most men like dramaless love stories. Infact they don't even like 'love stories'. They like badass hero defeating the evil and his badass gf supporting him through thick and thin trope. There wouldn't be any disagreement, any fight. Just full on action riddled story where hero falls in love with his female bestie.

Harry and Hermione's dynamic has this trope in spades. So most male fans were gonna ship it regardless of Steve Kloves and JKR. Even some female fans like this trope. Now you can say without movies it wouldn't have been as popular as it is now. But that's true for literally ANY non canon ship. You think if Draco was portrayed by some ugly dude or Luna was portrayed like her book self as in a conspiracy theorist with weird looks instead of Evanna lynch's dreamy looks people would have loved them as much as they do now? Ofc not.

But Steve Kloves and JKR didn't start Harmony shipping. It was already there. They fuelled it.

[bucky-seifert]

The Rise of Skywalker came out 3 years ago today and it is a movie that still sometimes occupied my headspace. So, I felt the need to make a list compiling my thoughts about it.

My feelings are all over the place, but it's fitting because the movie is all over the place. I do ultimately like it despite it's problems, which I will mention below.

Things I like

The opening sequence is great. The way Kylo Ren approaches the Sith Citadel and Palpatine is seriously badass.

Exogol is an awesome planet in my opinion. I admit I'm a sucker for strong primary colors, though.

There is some really fun action sequences

The dynamic of the 3 leads is fun and they have good chemistry, especially between Poe and Finn.

Despite the lack of planning, the trilogy manages to have a thesis of “Where you come from does not define who you are”. Finn was a storm trooper for a fascist military junta, Poe was a spice runner for a crime lord, and Rey is descended from one of the most dreaded figures in galactic history. Despite this, they were all able to move past that, and become good people.

Rey Skywalker. It symbolizes how she truly found what she was looking for this whole time, a family, and she now has a found family.

Everything Kylo Ren

Lando. Just everything Lando. More Lando is only ever a good thing.

The moment of Poe expressing how he didn’t feel ready next to Leia’s body.

On an emotional level I found it satisfying.

The Han Solo cameo was a great and moving scene.

I think Sith Troopers just look cool

How in the final battle the skills of all 3 leads came into play.

Hey finally some Y-Wings and B-Wings.

Things I'm indifferent, come down the middle or am just iffy about

Reylo. It’s not that it didn’t feel built up, it’s just something I always found myself indifferent toward.

Rey Palpatine. While it serves the above mentioned thesis, I still have mixed feelings on her being a Palpatine. It does explain where her power comes from, but also it would have been interesting to just have her be a nobody.

Battle of Exogol. An awesome battle in concept, it just should have been longer in the movie with more shots of space combat so it really felt like a huge battle. What was there made it feel underwhelming.

Leia scenes felt awkward but that isn’t something you can really blame on the film makers, and they probably did the best you could ask for.

“Somehow Palpatine has returned”. It’s a terrible line but I kind of love it because it’s so terrible. Same applies to "They fly now"

Things I did not like

Xyston Class Star Destroyers. Especially after how awesome the Resugence class SD is, the Xyston feels lazy by comparison

All the stuff appealing to those that raged at The Last Jedi, which is what most of Beaumont’s dialog is

The insane pacing in the first half that didn’t give the big story beats enough time to land.

How it supposedly all takes place in the span of 16 hours. That is something my brain just can't accept unless it's not our standard measurement of an hour.

Lack of Rose.

Why couldn’t the Death Star II wreckage have just been on Endor?

Fake out deaths

That stupid freaking dagger.  Seriously that whole dagger was contrived as heck even by Star Wars standards and Star Wars is already very contrived.

The fact that the Disney execs were too cowardly to give us Finn/Poe

Ultimately tried to cram too much story into a single 2 and a half hour long  movie.

Why did they replace Kylo’s TIE Silencer with a TIE Whisper? The Silencer was so dang cool I don’t get it.

[padmeanddorme]

Just watched the documentary behind Obi-Wan Kenobi and-

😭❤️☺️😄🥺🥰🥲

I cannot describe in words this documentary’s impact on me. It was genuinely so heartwarming <3

Witnessing how ecstatic Ewan and Hayden were to see each other again was so heartwarming. They have such sweet brother energy.

Seeing Hayden get the respect he deserves is so lovely. It proves that, despite how there are many things in this would that are upsetting, humans are capable of spreading love, inspiration and joy!

That one behind the scenes footage of Hayden and Natalie from Attack of the Clones had me on my knees wanting to cry omg. I miss seeing Natalie in Star Wars. I miss that Anidala/Skyberrie sweetness.

It was truly amazing to see how many people pour their heart and soul into loving Star Wars. Yes, our fan base does have its toxic moments, but watching the end of the documentary and seeing how excited and emotional people were to see the premiere of Kenobi moved me. It proves that everywhere where there is darkness, there is an even larger amount of joy!

It was nice to listen to Deborah Chow explain how Carrie Fisher’s portrayal of Leia deeply impacted her. Princess Leia, no matter if she is played by our princess Carrie or the talented Vivian, is a feminist icon who continues to be inspirational. Oh and I cannot forget how amazing Beru is! Thank you Bonnie for bringing to life a humble, caring, badass woman in Star Wars.

I am thankful to Moses Ingram for her portrayal of Reva! She was a relatable, fresh face who was pretty skilled at making me feel creeped out by her entrances. I hope Ingram gets more praise and can push back the awful criticism that was targeted her way.

I really want to watch Kenobi again, now that I understand all the emotion, time and effort that was put in.

Please Hayden return in the Ahsoka series!

I have so much more to say, but I cannot remember any of my other points now 😂

I am always here if someone wants to have a passionate rant about the beauty of Star Wars with me.

Thank you George, all the actors, directors and many, many people who have contributed to bringing Star Wars to life.

[foggysirens]

I posted 3,690 times in 2022

That's 3,690 more posts than 2021!

307 posts created (8%)

3,383 posts reblogged (92%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@surfing-on-a-soundwave

@rocktheholygrail

@skywalker-swift

@sadiebwrites

@transmascskywalker

I tagged 2,247 of my posts in 2022

Only 39% of my posts had no tags

#star wars - 1,369 posts

#art - 727 posts

#luke skywalker - 588 posts

#edits - 498 posts

#q - 390 posts

#din djarin - 382 posts

#dinluke - 265 posts

#mj.chatter - 261 posts

#the mandalorian - 229 posts

#obi wan kenobi - 181 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i was always taught that it’s better to buy one good thing that might cost you a bit more than something you’ll end up having to buy six of

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

obi-wan hiding leia under his coat in kenobi just makes me think that luke and leia would have definitely tried to pull off the ‘two kids in a trench coat’ thing if they had been allowed to stay together as kids

400 notes - Posted June 9, 2022

#4

okay i just woke up but im still reeling from kenobi and all i can think about is bail organa and owen lars.

both of them having agreed to raise these children that mean so much to the galaxy. for bail, raising the daughter of one of his closest friends. owen, the son the brother he hardly knew, but knew was dangerous. both of them raising these children with such a fierce protectiveness.

owen, how when we see him with luke, the second that he’s not where he was supposed to be, owen is off shouting his name. how owen goes and tells obi wan to leave luke alone, leave him out of the jedi business because he’s seen what it can bring, can see luke is already too much like anakin. how then he literally stares down revas lightsaber, not speaking a word of his nephew. like not for a second there i thought owen would break.

bail, so overwhelmingly proud of leia already, of her free spirit. of how she can already stand up to those who treat others (and her) poorly. how he never tells her to change, only pinky swear to apologize after. how we won’t take no as an answer when it comes to getting her back. how in perfect contrast to owen who wants to keep obi from luke as much as possible, bail wastes no time travelling all the way to tatooine to make him help save her.

seeing them be character foils for each other while at the same time we get to see how similar luke and leia are and how they both handle raising them differently but with the same dedication and love is fucking beautiful.

633 notes - Posted May 27, 2022

#3

watching din djarin constantly getting thrown around like a rag doll is so funny cause like yeah- he’s our main man, our badass bounty hunter with some of the best fighting prowess you’ll see, but he’s also the human embodiment of the question mark and does not think things through half the time- the man is smart but he’s absolutely winging it and putting himself in situations where, yeah, he’s gonna get sent flying across the room and i love that for him

665 notes - Posted August 16, 2022

#2

i love to think that sometimes luke will just casually drop the wildest, most unhinged pieces of lore about his upbringing on tatooine around the others and they'll all just look at him in slight fear like,

'oh yeah! that reminds me of when the kids from my school would all go jump into the womp-rat pit!'

and everyone is just like 'the fucking what pit?'

'the womp-rat pit! all the kids would go out to this outcrop in the dunes where there's this pit full of angry womp-rats and try to push each other in!'

or he'd go off about how pod-racing is fun, but pod-racing at night was even better cause it makes it harder to actually pilot- and oh that one time he even flipped but it was okay cause landing in the sand is mostly soft- and din would just be looking at him like 'how are you still living?'

764 notes - Posted June 30, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

i think what made the last episode of kenobi, and the kenobi show as a whole, so special is because it really just reminded us that the heart of star wars is love.

we see it full force with beru and owen. both willing to do anything to protect luke. put their lives on the line for him. we see it in beru immediately jumping into action. we see it in owen's claiming of luke as his own. his son. their son. in the looks on their faces when they see luke again, the utter fear that he may be gone. because while obi-wan could most likely feel him in the force, for one gut wrenching moment owen and beru thought their boy was gone.

we see it in breha and bail. their odd, funny little girl finally home and you can just feel their joy. their pride when leia is unapologetically herself. and how when obi-wan talks to leia about her birth parents, she instead looks to them. those who have raised her with a fierce love and kindness. how when she looks to them, they look back with so much love.

we see it in obi-wan and anakin. obi-wan apologizing to anakin, and we have to wonder how long those words have been building inside him? and then the tragic acceptance that there is no longer that person there to love. that his ten years of grief, maybe longer, was over something that was not his fault, that he could have never succeeded in preventing. but at the same time, we know that obi-wan still holds his love for anakin. it's just that darth vader isn't him.

and don't even get me started on obi-wan and his love for luke and leia. how leia was the one to pull him from his isolation. become the man he was again. how watching over luke is his motivation to stay that way. how thinking about them literally is what gives him the strength to pull himself up from the ground. honestly obi-wan and the twins deserve their own post.

star wars has always been a story about love. it can, after all, ignite the stars. and the kenobi finale has captured that fully, making it feel like the most truly star wars show in ages.

2,098 notes - Posted June 22, 2022

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