#most of the times these villains in romance films feel copy-pasted from one character that became a hit

[harmonysanreads]

Re-watching romance movies I stumbled upon as a child and rooting for the ‘villains’ this time is an eye-opening experience :/

[djs-sideblog-for-pog-trains]

ttte 2x3 beauty and the beast au

ok hi so this is me copy-pasting a somewhat coherent ramble i wrote at like 3am half a week ago out of a word document so bear with. It’s based on the 1991 animated disney film but I haven’t stuck to it point for point, necessarily.

warnings: discussion of lost parents, violence and stuff, someone dies and then gets better, anything from the original film applies. Villain Diesel 10, so if you like sympathetic D10 you wont find it here lmao im sorry

Also, i swear a bit in this im sorry.

@togetherness23 for your interest :)

ok let’s crack into it! putting under the cut for convenience. it’s about 4000 words lmao. It’s half-bulletpoints-half-dialogue.

Henry is the ‘spoiled’/worrisome prince (he’s not actually spoiled, not really, he’s just been through a lot and has some terrible coping habits no-one’s called him out on for most of his early life), living in a big castle. It’s mostly him and his servants after his parents died when he was young.

I think our relative stand-ins here are thus: Lumiere is James, Gordon is Cogsworth and Molly is Mrs Potts. Idk about chip. This isn’t a one-for-one. (Note: Mrs Potts type character could be Emily but I want it to be Molly so it’s Molly :3)

However he gets cursed by an old wizard who thinks he needs knocking down a peg or two, after Henry (who is young and doesn’t really behave good yet) does something akin his actions that led to Henry’s Tunnel incident. 

The wizard is Sir Topham Hatt. He curses Henry to be trapped in his castle (Henry’s Tunnel incident), he curses his servants n shit to be furniture, he curses Henry to be a beast, and he curses Henry to remain a beast until he finds someone who he can love, who will love him in return, and who will say ‘I love you’. That, says the dangerous old wizard, is the phrase that will break the curse.

“Is there a time limit?” Henry asks, his voice suddenly growling and guttural, fighting out words past horribly sharp teeth he doesn’t know how to talk around. It’s hard to stand normally. He hunches over, hunkers down, he’s so much bigger now and he has claws and honestly it feels so unnatural all of a sudden to stand on two legs but he’s cowering in front of this short man who has more power than he could ever fathom.

“No,” the wizard says, patting down his coats and robes offhandedly, adjusting his weird black hat. “The curse can be broken anytime before your death.”

Anytime before your death.

The Beast looks down at himself and can’t help the growl that bubbles over. It’s not a growl of anger, but of misery and defeat. This is a death sentence.

“Good luck,” the wizard says, almost humorously, like he’s pleased with himself. and maybe it’s the beast in him now but Henry really wants to rip the guy’s face off, “I hope you learn your lesson.”

And he disappears between one blink and the next.

Henry’s eyes turn to his servants, his faithful servants, and begins to see the true scope of the crossfire.

 ------

Edward Bell and his son Thomas have lived in this village for many years now, since Thomas was a baby, when Edward and his then-wife and their son had moved here from a big city, but for most of Thomas’ life, it’d just been the two of them.

Edward is a quietly hard worker. He doesn’t really stick his nose in where it doesn’t belong but the whole town really tries to do it to him. He’s a mechanic, of sorts, though a writer/poet at heart – not that he really has the time to indulge in it when he’s trying to support him and his sixteen year old son. Thomas adores him, is fiercely protective of him, and is not afraid to pick fights when people bad-mouth his father in the general vicinity of him.

The Gaston here is Diesel 10. I don’t think there’s going to be a romance thing here bc that feels weird to me. I think Diesel 10 just always wants something from Edward. He might be under the illusion that the Bells are wealthy, and is trying to use Edward’s kindness to wheedle as much as he can out of them.

Diesel 10’s lacky, the LeFou here, is Diesel. He might be 10’s younger brother, I think? Him and Thomas are about the same age, and fight often. They could be friends, if 10 didn’t hate them so much, causing Diesel to follow in his footsteps, and if Thomas weren’t so quick to anger.

 --------------------

Thomas is the one who gets lost in the woods, in the middle of a snow-storm, attacked by wolves, and stumbles across the old castle. It’s clearly abandoned (from the outside) and has been for a couple decades at least. But still, it’s got to be safer than being eaten by wolves, so Thomas hurries inside. He was supposed to be running an errand for his dad, but now…

He meets the enchanted furniture, who are so excited to see him and are in a rush to try and keep him here, being as inviting as possible, with James really fronting the effort (it’s their first chance! Maybe they’re only chance! And he’s young, but… will they get another chance?)

Henry discovers Thomas here, with his stuff, and gets very angry, but when he gets pulled aside with the vague suggestions/reminders about the curse, he gets even angrier. “that is a child.”

He puts Thomas in what kinda looks like a prison cell but it’s well insulated and sturdy, and not uncomfortable. Thomas takes this as being a prisoner, and he’s immediately begging and threatening to be let out.

Henry, who Thomas hasn’t really seen in full yet, just cast in dim half-shadows and the like, thumps on his door with a growl.

“You’re staying here,” he growls. “At least for now.”

And he storms off. (He is not going to turn that kid out in the middle of the night and snowstorm and wolves, he’s not a complete monster).

The real kicker, though, is that Edward has stayed up all night waiting for Thomas to come home, worrying as the hours tick past when he said he’d be back, and as soon as the sun is rising he sets out himself to go find him, setting out a ‘be back soon, out on an errand’ sign on his front door.

He finds his own way to the castle, is immediately let in by furniture who now realise this is a far better candidate and demands to know what has happened to his son. Henry -still being a dramatic bitch and not showing his true form- takes him down to where Thomas is, and hesitantly agrees to let Thomas go, if Edward stays.

Edward is stumped.

“Thomas is all I have,” he says. “I… I won’t be separated from him.”

“I’m not going, if you’re keeping him here!” Thomas hollers from behind his bars. “Let us both go!”

Henry growls once, raising to his full height, and both humans shy back in fear and horror as they begin to realise what they’re dealing with.

“You are not leaving,” Henry snarls, before he seems to catch himself, and he shoves past Edward and opens the door of Thomas’ cell.

In shock, they both watch this beast sweep his cloak behind him as he storms towards the stairs. Then he turns back.

“Well?” he demands, and Edward and Thomas all but stumble after him, Edward’s arm around Thomas’ shoulders, both of them afraid to disobey whatever force of nature they’ve now crossed.

Their surprise, however, when the beast takes them up some wide stairs, across a sweeping landing and down a lavish corridor, where he turns and throws open two sets of doors, either side of each other.

“Your rooms,” he says curtly. “The servants will show you to meals. The only place in the castle that is off-limits is the West Wing, but I’d recommend avoiding the kitchens as well. Gets dangerous in there.”

And then he sweeps off. They notice he seems to travel on all fours as much as he does two legs.

Edward lets Thomas pick a room, and they both collapse onto the same, enormous bed and curl up like they do on harsh winter nights when the pitiful log fire they manage to built isn’t enough.

 ---------------------------

Thomas is so fucking suspicious of this guy, this monster, who hasn’t really treated them awfully yet, but he is a prick.  Edward is too, but despite himself he can see a kindred spirit of sorts in those strangely human eyes of his. Henry never gives his name, just tells them to call him Beast. His servants only ever call him ‘master’ to his face  or ‘the master’ behind it.

James and Gordon and Molly are giving him advice, most  of it not very good, but they won’t lie, the possibility of change, finally, has them all a bit desperate (especially James). Henry’s trying not to get his hopes up, because Edward’s really a bit weird to him, but also he’s kinda cute and he’s getting a bit enamoured despite himself. But also his anxious side is pinning him down and he doesn’t want to act.

They’ve been there for maybe three or four, maybe more, weeks at this point. Thomas is extremely suspicious. So he comes up with a plan.

Thomas makes the request to get some of their stuff from their house and bring it to the castle, seeing as they’re stuck here now, to which Edward thinks of wistfully and Henry begrudgingly agrees, seeing as Edward’s the one bound here by their deal more so than Thomas.

Thomas takes this opportunity to ride back into town and tell everyone he can of the alleged danger they’re in (because he really thinks his dad’s in danger).

I think he overhears the servants talking at one point, mostly James Gordon and Molly, about how they might actually be able to break the curse, if the master can get this man to fall in love with him, and is terrified of his dad being manipulated/taken advantage of like that.

He can hardly get anyone to listen but to his surprise it’s Diesel 10 who listens, takes a very large interest in what he has to say, because if it’s true, rescuing Edward Bell could be very profitable for him, and also he’s a hunter. What a trophy a beast like this kid is describing is. But he asks Thomas to prove it and Thomas gives him some knick-knack he’s smuggled out of the place (just a small thing, like a really fancy teaspoon, but it’s enough to prove there’s a wholeass castle out there in the woods). 

Diesel is shaken by how desperate Thomas is for his family member’s safety. He begins to question whether 10 would worry about him and his safety that much, or if Thomas is weird like that, or… or if 10 isn’ actually that good of a brother. He resolves to put a pin in it and come back to that later.

Thomas convinces them to help him, but also says that if they act too soon they might actually put Edward in danger. That the Beast might expect him to return with reinforcements. So he asks them to wait Three More Weeks before advancing, he’ll try and slip out and meet up with them to help, and he gives them somewhat detailed directions to the castle before going home, packing some stuff he wants and some stuff Edward requested, and heading back to the castle, relieved to finally have a plan.

 ---------------------

However, as plans go, they go wrong. And Thomas begins to realise, the more and more time he spends here, that maybe… maybe The Beast is actually good after all.

He is getting kinder as time goes on, less gruff and scary, and when Thomas accidentally breaks his beloved flute (he has a flute lol ig it’s like his whistle) Henry shows him a huge music room they have, and gives him a spare instrument and tells him not to give up playing. Henry used to play music when he was young, before the transformation, and it’s something he cant do anymore and one of the things he misses dearly. He listens to Thomas practice and it brings him a lot of peace.

It brings Thomas a lot of guilt.

Henry shows Edward the library after Edward confesses at one point that he’d always wanted to be an writer himself, but especially after moving to a small town the literary resources were so limited. Edward is immediately enamoured with this, and they have some bonding moments over Shakespeare and stuff idk.

Thomas gets more and more stand-off-ish as the Deadline draws closer, and he can kinda see his dad is falling for the Beast, but he also sees the Beast is… also doing the same, and kinda… is good enough… maybe? And after the like,,, big Ball Night he confronts Edward and tells him what he knows about the curse (which isn’t the whole story – just the thing about love making him turn back to normal) and accuses Henry of manipulating him (bc Thomas is so stubborn he literally never thinks he’s wrong so to be wrong now would be the worst thing that’s ever happened to him), to which Edward gets very angry over.

They have a huge fight, probably in front of servants and stuff (ie James Gordon Molly) and maybe the Beast overhears some of it. Thomas sort-of confesses to what he’s organised – to which there’s a lot of mistrust suddenly thrown his way; he can feel the very air change – and he tells his dad to either come with him or hide if he knows what’s good for him. Edward tells him he knows exactly what’s good for him, thank you very much, and he’s not fucking moving. It’s their first proper Big Fight. Thomas runs away.

There’s a magic mirror thrown in here somewhere as well, which Henry prized above many things because he otherwise never would get to see the outside world again. 

After a few hours, when Thomas doesn’t come back, Edward quietly knocks on the West Wing doors, to which The Beast answers, trying to be angry that Edward’s here but the broken look on the man’s face makes that impossible to keep up. Edward asks to borrow the mirror to check if Thomas is hurt or not, and Henry, in a stunning moment of vulnerability and trust, lets Edward into the West Wing himself.

Like the 1991 movie, the place is a fucking dump from years’ worth of grief and anger and disgust and denial, and Edward looks and sees but doesn’t ask. Henry plucks his precious mirror off the table and hands it to Edward, who asks to see Thomas.

He sees Thomas being held up by the wrist, a look of distress written plain on his face as he shouts something (the mirror is silent) surrounded by an angry mob. And he is being held up by Diesel 10, who has madness in his eyes and is rousing up the village with his anger. (Diesel’s in the background, being a lot quieter, looking conflicted. But Edward’s attention’s not on that).

“Thomas!”

He turns to Henry, desperate. “I need to go to him,” he begs, and he is begging, and Henry has a moment of destiny here. Either he can say no, and Thomas gets hurt or even killed, Edward hates him for the rest of time, and he dies forever a Beast.

Or…

Or he can let Edward go, keep his memories sweet, let Edward save his family, and… he dies forever a beast.

He knows what he can stand more. For Edward.

“You can go,” he says, his own voice sounding so distant to himself.

Edward’s eyes immediately well up, and then there’s commotion.

“Master Henry, you can’t!” James shouts, his candlelight casting dramatic shadows as he gestures wildly. But a growl – the first growl in weeks from Henry – cuts him off.

But Edward doesn’t falter. “Thank you,” he says breathlessly, pressing his hand to Henry’s cheek in a moment of tenderness which Henry can only assume is driven by gratefulness. “Thank you so, so, much.”

He goes to hand the mirror back, but Henry hesitates, before reaching out and closing Edward’s hands back over it slowly.

“It’s yours,” he whispers, the low rumble of his voice hiding how much it’s shaking. “You might have more need of it than I.”

Edward smiles once – tense but so thankful – and throws his arms around Henry’s neck tightly.

And then Edward rushes out of the room, out of the castle, and away.

As Edward thunders away on horseback, he swears he hears a howl in the distance, something truly forlorn and lost.

“How could you do that!” James explodes, angry only in his grief. “You’ve doomed us all! How could you let him go?!”

But his anger fizzles out as he sees the hopelessly sad look in Henry’s eyes, so lost and tired.

“Because I love him,” the Beast whispers, before lowering his head in defeat. “I’m… I’m sorry. I’ve… You didn’t deserve this. Any of you. You’re always paying for my mistakes.”

“We better do something about that invasion,” Gordon prompts gently, and Henry lets them lead him out the room, seeing a castle in chaos as the furniture does what it can, before he goes back into his chambers, into the West Wing, and closes the door behind him.

 ---------------------------

Edward comes face to face with the crowd just outside of town, and tries to talk them down. He tries to use his mirror as proof but D10 only uses it to stir the mob into a frenzy.

Thomas and Edward get locked up in like, a cellar. They make up there, with Thomas trying to explain how he’s always just trying to protect his dad, and Edward explaining how he’s trying to protect his son, and that it’ll be alright, and it’s really cute.

There’s been someone left behind to guard them. It’s Diesel. Diesel really wanted to go with his brother, but 10 shut him down immediately saying something really cruel to him (something in line with what he’s been saying the whole time, but only now, especially so harshly compared to how Thomas and Edward would die for each other, that it really begins to wear down on Diesel).

Through the cellar door, Edward and Thomas beg to be let out, but Diesel remains fairly resolute. It’s only until Thomas goads him into snapping that Diesel finally fucking emotes.

He yells at Thomas for all the arguments and fights they’ve had, for how Thomas has convinced him he’s a horrible person, to which Thomas also fucking snaps and exclaims yeah, well maybe he’s wrong.

And that shuts up everyone immediately because if there’s one thing about Thomas... it’s that he always thinks he’s right, all the time.

“I’ve made so many mistakes,” Thomas hisses, forehead against the cellar doors. “I hurt people. I might get Henry killed because of it, and I hate that. I’m wrong, Diesel. I’m wrong about so many things. And you know what? I’m also willing to be wrong about you.”

There’s a moment of silence.

Then, Diesel opens the cellar.

“he’s going to kill me for this,” he mutters, but helps Thomas and Edward out of the makeshift prison, and gives them his horse. “but I don’t care anymore.”

Edward pauses after he climbs up after Thomas, and thanks Diesel severely. So does Thomas, and fuck, he’s crying, and Diesel looks away but nods, and then they’re off.

 -----------------------

Running through the carnage of the invasion Edward is booking it right up to the West Wing, where he can see the doors have been flung right open.

Diesel 10 has been trying to goad The Beast into fighting back, but the damn thing is just too sad, it seems, and it’s nearly impossible. It’s not until 10 starts taunting the Beast about what he’s done to Edward and Thomas that he finally gets a reaction.

And let’s just say Henry has a lot of rage bundled up in him after these, what, thirty, forty years stuck like this.

The fight is dramatic and a little bloody, and theyre out on the rooftops and Henry’s about to fucking kill him when he realises what he’s doing, especially when 10 starts begging for his life. He retreats a little, a little horrified over what he was about to do. 10 scrabbles back reaching for a fallen knife with wide, then calculating, eyes.

Then Edward appears over the balcony, shouting for him, and he calls “Henry!”

And all of a sudden nothing else matters.

Henry starts to clamber towards him, his eyes glittering with life, and then-

Fuck, 10 stabs him from behind, shouting that the fight’s not over, and he nearly kills Henry, Edward trying to help but also just trying not to fall to his death.

Henry ends up throwing 10 off the roof – not into the abyss – but to some area lower down where he definitely lands with a crunch but he’s still breathing.

But gods, the damage is done.

It’s raining. Henry collapses to his knees as Edward runs over, and helps him off the roof onto the wide balcony from the ballroom, eyes wide and hands shaking.

Thomas runs over, and with one look from Edward, promises to find a doctor or something, and goes running off.

Edward lays Henry out on his back, trying not to cry and failing miserably as Henry takes such painful and shallow breaths.

“Hi,” he wheezes none-the-less, making Edward laugh and brush some of his fur back out of his eyes.

“Hi yourself,” he whispers back.

“…You came back.”

“of course I did,” Edward replied. “How could I not?”

Henry shifts and Edward winces, doing his best to staunch bleeding.

“Thomas is going to find someone who can help,” he promises, “just stay with me, Henry. It is Henry, right? I heard James call you that.”

“Henry,” Henry echoes, almost in awe. “Yes, yes that’s my name.”

“It’s a lovely name,” Edward’s hand is getting slick with blood. “I look forward to using it in the future.”

‘Edward,” Henry shakes his head. “I’m so sorry. You didn’t need to see this.”

“You didn’t need to do this,” Edward pushes back. “Stop talking like that, you’ll be fine.”

“No,” Henry huffs out a weak sigh. “I won’t.”

They both know it.

“You have to hold on.”

“Edward, thank you.”

“What?”

“I… I get it now,” Henry waves a hand weakly and vaguely in the air. “I get what I was missing. I get it, why I was cursed like this.”

He slumps back against Edward, breathing so shallow.

“He did say it was til death,” he murmurs to himself.

“Henry,” Edward begs. “Henry, please, stay with me. Henry. Henry!”

His eyes are closing.

“No!” Edward pulls him in tight, clinging to him like he can cling to life through him, for him. “Henry, don’t… I love you, Henry, I love you. Don’t leave me!”

Henry falls still. He’s not breathing. Edward screams.

The servants, the furniture, look on in horror and sadness. They never thought it’d end like this – too short, too little, too late. What would become of them?

But as Henry’s body starts to fucking glow, it turns out they might not have to find out.

Edward can only sit back and watch, shellshocked, as literal magic takes place before his eyes. It seeps out of Henry, darkness spilling out to give way to glorious green light, his body morphing and shifting into something, after all these years, that is finally recognisable as human.

----------------

---- in that moment of white, where everything seems to have ended, Henry  opens his eyes and sees before him the same old wizard from all those years ago. But instead of angry, the wizard seems pleased. Proud, even.

“Congratulations,” the wizard says, before Henry can put any words together. “You have learnt your lesson, hm?”

All Henry can do is nod.

“He’s a nice man,” the wizard smiles. “You’ve done well. Enjoy the rest of your life, Prince Henry.”----

----------------

Henry’s body gently drapes itself across the ground, and Edward hesitantly draws near, not really recognising who is lying before him but still… he’s seen this man before in ruined paintings, and also it literally was his Beast just moments before…

And then the chest starts to rise and fall again. And Edward watches, heart in his mouth, as the man with the long, wild ginger hair the same colour of the fur he knew so well sits up, and opens his eyes.

The same, ice-blue, beautifully human eyes.

“Henry?” he asks softly.

“…Edward,” Henry whispers back. “I… You did it. You …broke my curse.”

“I love you,” Edward blurts, before covering his mouth as he blushes, but the rising colour in Henry’s cheeks is beautiful too, and he gets to his feet with surprising ease for someone who was dead like a minute ago, and slowly closes the distance between them until he’s crowding Edward’s space.

“I love you too,” he says back, tilting Edward’s face up towards his with the utmost care. “I love you.”

Edward responds by throwing his arms around Henry’s steady shoulders and kissing him for all he’s worth.

 -------------------

The furniture all change back, James and Gordon (who might have been flirting the whole time) finally break their decades of tension it’s GREAT

Diesel made it to the castle, saw the drama, and the magic spell that broke the curse, reverted the furniture and Henry back, dropped the barrier that prevented Henry specifically from leaving, and all that jazz, also healed Diesel 10, but he’s still out cold. He gets dragged away to prison in irons.

Diesel is loitering at the huge party that’s broken out, and Thomas finds him in a corner.

“hey,” he starts.

“Hey,” Diesel replies.

“I… thank you,” Thomas blurts, toeing the marble floor with his boot. “Thank you so much. You saved him. I-I owe you.”

Diesel rubs his arm and flushes a little. “Consider it… me beginning to pay back all the things I said,” he replies eventually, “about you and your dad.”

“I…” Thomas takes a breath, and nods. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Diesel looks down, and he feels awful shy for reasons he cant describe. And for once it doesn’t really feel awkward. “A-and… thanks. For apologising.”

Thomas swallows hard. “Yeah,” he mumbles. “I… you’re welcome too, I guess. I… Diesel, can we start over?”

Diesel swallows as well, before daring to smile. “I think that’d be nice.”

“Well, then… hi,” Thomas chirps, sticking out his hand. “I’m Thomas, nice to meet you!”

Diesel laughs, and it’s the first time Thomas has heard him really laugh, and shakes his oustretched hand. “Diesel.”

 --------------

AND THEY BECOME FRIENDS AND EVERYONE LIVES HAPPILY EVER AFTER THE END fhdjgkhjfghldg

[jayjaysocks]

Listing my favorite animes (because I’m jumping on the bandwagon)

❗️⚠️ *spoilers!! (Duh)* ❗️⚠️

5. Deadman Wonderland

I was really really sad when I found out this anime got cancelled. The music was fantastic, the animation was really good, and the voice acting was incredible. Even the fucking dubbed version (I loved the voice they chose for Senji. God he was hilarious). I binged this show so fucking fast it wasn’t even funny. I loved watching the characters go through their own struggles and grow as people in the very small amount of episodes provided. There was a lot of development within the snippet that we actually saw, and I was thoroughly impressed with how well it was done. I wanted to scream or something when I found out there wouldn’t be a second season.

Sigh. Oh well. At least we got some of the manga’s masterpiece translated into a show, even if we were missing some fucking awesome characters.

4. Guilty Crown

Ugh, don’t even get me started. This anime was beautiful and I got so invested so freaking quickly. I literally go back every few years to rewatch it because I get ship starved.

Shu and Inori’s story was so beautifully done; between Shu uncovering his courage and Inori’s journey of self-discovery, I was continuously awe-struck and filled with feelings—I mean, I had never felt such raw emotion while watching something and I was completely blown away by the affect it had on me. Anger, hatred, sadness, it was all there (even for the main character lmao) and it was one of the first times I had ever felt a ship so heavily that I literally cried at the end. It was one of the very first Animes I’d ever seen and was one of the reasons I got such a taste for them. Thanks for throwing me down that rabbit hole, GC.

3. Soul Eater

This was literally the first Anime I’d ever seen, and my god I couldn’t have asked for a better starter. What I like about this one is that it’s style is so unique and different. It’s very punk and grunge, something I admired and appreciated in a genre that is normally the opposite (like Guilty Crown, for example). Also the fight scenes were badass, like holy shit just look at that gif ??? Freaking amazing.

I loved the way the show transitioned from light hearted to intense and adrenaline pumping so effortlessly. That can be said about a lot of shows, but this one went from *haha cute show* to *holy shit, like they’re actually gonna die ohmygod howaretheygoingtosurvivethis* so smoothly I was genuinely surprised. They made one of the main villains actually cool and each character had their own beautifully done arc. I loved and adored how the show solidified and expanded on the different friendships/relationships that were involved—specifically Soul and Maka’s (also, holy shit, Stein’s arc? Fucking prime, dude). There was a lot of growth in each and every friendship (CRONA!!!), and that really pushed the viewer to invest in the individual characters.

I am fucking delighted that this was my first anime, and (though the ending was a little anticlimactic) it remains one of my top favorites to this day. It set the bar pretty fucking high, and for that I am extremely greatful.

No one asked for Soul Eater: Not! It is the unspoken sin of the Soul Eater world (then again, it is called Soul Eater: Not!)

2. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

If you have been following me for a while, then you are no stranger to my love of FMAB. Some of my most popular posts are about this anime, and for good reason.

Unfortunately, I was late to the party. I actually didn’t watch this until last year, but got invested really damn quick. I have a tendency to be extremely picky about the animes that I watch/like (which is why NONE of these shows are that recent), to the point that I will literally research them before I start watching (a bad habit, do not copy me). I have an incomparably hard time finishing a show when I start, because I get bored really quickly, but this was an exception. I started watching and I just... didn’t stop. I spent a straight week watching FMAB, gobbling it up during any small amount free time I could manage, and finished it before I even knew what happened. I wasn’t picky about it, I didn’t research it, I just dove right in and gosh, I was not disappointed.

The subtle romance that was alluded throughout the entire show was super cute, the devotion the brothers had for each other was to die for, and the struggles that each person went through was more than moving. I never once found myself bored while watching, and that’s saying a lot for my adhd ass. I was invested in each and every second of that damn anime and I was never, ever left underwhelmed. That probably had to do with the fact that every. Single. Character. Had a purpose. I’m not even kidding. Every single person contributed to the big fight at the end and that alone is fucking fantastic.

Not to mention ALL the women, every female character, was a badass bitch. None of them were reduced to sex appeal or romantic subplot, they all had real feelings, real arcs and real, unadulterated badassery that I thoroughly admired and appreciated. I could watch this anime over and over again every single month and I wouldn’t get bored. Between the emotional struggle, self discovery, and personal development of each character, I promise you will not see a lack of plot or meaning here. The more you watch, the more you discover and that is not a lie. There are so many layers to its story, which only makes me wish I had watched this sooner.

There is nothing I have to offer in the ways of criticism, and for that I couldn’t be happier. Thank you, Hiromu Arakawa, for such an incredible piece of art. You deserve every bit of love that this manga/anime gets. You go girl.

1. Cowboy Bepop

Holy shit holy shit holy shit this anime is so fucking good and it has been my favorite for so damn long. I have been watching anime for years, and while some of the shows in my list have moved around, this one has yet to be bumped down from the top (and I doubt it ever will). There’s a reason it became such a cult classic.

For starters, the animation. I mean, just look at Spike and the way they animate his fighting (yes I am aware that this gif is from the movie, but that still doesn’t change my point). The sequences in the show/film have been reused in many other shows and for good reason. It’s good, incredible, actually and they make him look so badass with just a few hand movements. I was consistently impressed with the way the fight scenes were portrayed and wasn’t ever left underwhelmed or disappointed (or, for that matter, feeling like they completely over exaggerated/overcompensated the scene with huge close-ups and tons of debris and lights). I loved watching this and my heart was always pounding with every intense interaction. I didn’t feel bored during any of the episodes and always found myself laughing when they cracked a joke—pretty much all of their funny lines hit and that’s saying something, dude.

The show, while having a lighthearted surface, has a heavy meaning that you don’t see at first glance. It’s about dealing with grief and loss, and how the characters themselves accomplished that in different ways. The most prominent quote is the biggest indication of its moral “you’re gonna carry that weight”. Basically: ‘You’ve gotta pick up your baggage, because the world moves on, with or without you’. Or ‘You’re going to carry that weight whether you like it or not, because life keeps going’. When I figured out the show’s actual message, while staring at my ceiling in the long hours of the night, I almost cried. This realization brought something entirely different to the table, a new understanding of the show’s characters and overall essence.

The main characters, all of them, had depth. They had real, palpable depth, and even if you didn’t want to care you found yourself seriously interested in their lives. Each of them had relatively shitty pasts. Faye with her lost memories, Spike with Julia and the people who fucked him over, Jet with his old flame and the ISSP, Ed and her/his father... throughout the entire show we got to see how all of them dealt with these things, whether they wanted to continue on with life or not. The way they portrayed it was engaging, because the characters individual, contrasting journeys weren’t repetitive or one note. The beauty that the show holds so achinging close to its core, the layers of grief that the characters are wrapped in so delicately is almost suffocatingly real—because they’re all different. It’s something you discover when you think on the subject in a deeper light, which is another reason why I enjoy it so much. It has both a surface story and a deeper one. You can either take the show at face value or choose to understand the underlying moral.

This show inspired my very first, thoroughly fleshed out OC, and continues to inspire me to this day. It has contributed to my own personal growth, and has helped push me to continue my art and writing. It is beautifully written, beautifully executed and even though some of the episodes seem like filler, it has never disappointed me. I rewatch it all the time because there’s something so infinitely refreshing about the beauty of this anime, whether it be the way we watch the characters develop or the overall moral it portrays. This show has given us a message that is essentially timeless, it can be ‘carried’ through generation after generation, and still have the same impact—something I absolutely fucking adore.

I owe so much to this anime, including my very own artistic development. I discovered it during a really shitty time in my life and I couldn’t have asked for better timing. I will never tire of the bittersweet message or the thoroughly fucking fantastic animation. Everyone who contributed to this masterpiece deserves love, because it’s seriously fucking gold.

[idreamtofmanderleyagain]

princess-nazario:

It's ok, thanks for clearing things up. See, everytime theres a post that might just be different the tumblr-fad! Version you speak or questions how tumblr might be romanticizing them theres always annoying people in the replies saying that theres a version where she wanders down the underworld herself, or that the version where shes kidnapped is...weak or a damsel in distress since it doesnt fit into tumblrs made idea of empowerment?? Its so annoying honestly. I saw this kind of stuff in a lot of posts while exploring the greek myth tag and its just... infuriating. I definitely should ignore them but it seriously makes me kind of sad and angry at the same time? The hades and persephone posts are everything(mostly tumblr-fad!) Version I reread your original post and yes I do agree, tumblr-fad! Persephone does take away a lot of the complexities and archetypes I read you examine. I think Hadestown might portray Hades and Persephone's power struggle well, it doesnt completely ignore the implications its giving off for the sake of some romance. This is what tumblr is doing and it's really annoying. By doing this and reducing the characters here to simple boxes it's taking away your interest in the myth, I think that's what you meant? I think your study of Hades/the underworld being Persephones self, cthonic meaning "spirit of nature within, inner self" while I dont fully understand that's really cool. I especially dislike how woobified and depowered he usually is in the tumblr-fad! Theres a lot you can work with him as the antagonist in a retelling I think. In fact maybe itd be great to have a retelling that explores the power struggle between Hades and Persephone and shows how Persephone gets through adversity and becomes of equal power through oppressive authority? Thatd be really cool. Tumblr-fad! Version is the twilight of myths but kind of the opposite. In twilight, the author itself romanticizes the creepiness and power struggle that might be there between Edward itself(although Bella does have a lot of agency so I think that's why it resonated so much with female readers?) while the Persephone has a various amount of versions, most versions being she was kidnapped/abduction with many meanings and metaphors and allegories to things, and tumblr-fad! Version ignores nuance in favor of their ships. Thanks for being so open and honest about this, I honestly was stressed because I thought my response maybe being immature or uninformed might be irritating or annoying. I haven't been sneaking through your blog or anything like that, I just saw your original post in the goddess demeter tag so I searched up "Persephone" on your stuff since I was curious with what else you might have to say about it. I wish Tumblr could maybe bother to learn something called not everything is entirely not THIS thing or the OTHER and maybe do something different from what Hades and Persephone coming to be known as the peak of all love stories on the website.

@princess-nazario I hope you don’t mind, I copy pasted your last reblog into a new post thread because the last one was getting massive.

I think I’m starting to understand what you’re getting at regarding the perception of victims as “weak,” and it makes a lot of sense. Thank you for clarifying regarding the “damsel in distress” trope because that’s when it clicked for me what you were talking about. I actually agree on that point, I think there is a tendency for pop feminism to kind of portray more vulnerable, sensitive or fragile women as less feminist, so I can see how you’re applying that to your views on how people on tumblr perceive the story of Hades and Persephone.

That said, I think you have a lot of different angles you’re looking at this whole thing from, and that’s great! However I think there’s so many subjects you are trying to tackle here that it seems like you are kind of are only half informed about, maybe from exploring discussions online. I think this is resulting in conclusions that are kind of confused and lacking in more solid foundations, if that makes sense. I think maybe you might benefit from exploring each element further on their own merits.

For example, did you know that there are a lot of different feminist viewpoints on Twilight itself? And not all feminists completely condemn it? In my opinion, there are a lot of things about Twilight to criticize, however there was a distinct element of hatred for the interests and desires of teenage girls involved with how people responded en masse to the Twilight phenomenon. I don’t think you were old enough to be directly familiar with all this at the time. I think a decent primer would be this video from Lindsay Ellis (tho please keep in mind that some of her most recent content is not for younger audiences). It doesn’t cover all angles of the topic, but it does give an alternative perspective in retrospect about the raging Twilight hate that swept through pop culture for a long time:

Also, there is a whole conversation to be had about the concept of “woobification,” and why that word exists, as well as how it is used in conversations about girls and women’s fantasies. The original post I made shows that I have my own frustrations when male villains and darker archetypes are whittled down to something seemingly non-threatening and “socially acceptable” myself (like...turning the beast into the prince in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast), but in my experience, people have often used the word “woobie” to describe any explorations of the vulnerability of these types of male characters when women do so because they find those men intriguing or attractive, and that can get kind of tricky because in many ways, those conversations can harbor a subtle resentment and shaming towards female fantasties, period.

I’m getting the impression that maybe there’s something about Hades and Persephone, or at least the archetypes they embody, that really intrigues you, but you’re not sure what you are supposed to think and feel about it from a feminist perspective. That’s ok, ultimately you’ll figure it out on your own. I can’t tell you what to think about the myths themselves on their own, separate from contemporary feminist media because that’s ultimately it’s own thing, and you can springboard your own perspectives and reimagining off of the original in any way that feels right to you.

 What I can do though, is leave you with some age-apropriate content that I was consuming at your age, as well as a link to a site that explores stories with similar archetypes that Persephone embodies. 

The site is called Girls Underground, and it explores and catalogues stories about girls who go on heroine’s journeys in the “Cthonic” context like I was talking about, as in exploring their own inner psyches through the experience of traversing a strange, scary, magical place. Sometimes these stories involve the trope of a spooky attractive male character who takes on an adversarial role that is sometimes also romantically charged, but not all of them do. I think the resources page may be of particular interest to you because it links to essays on subjects within this genre of storytelling. The Examples page has a ton of other stories not listed here that you can take a look at, however not all of them (but many of them!) are kid friendly.

Movies that I would recommend: 

Labyrinth (1986), which was my favorite film since early childhood, and is the reason I love these types of stories to begin with.

Legend(1985), which doesn’t depict a healthy dynamic, but is a great film and does have a big place in the general conversation about this type of storytelling.

Howl’s Moving Castle, either the book or the film. 

Pan’s Labyrinth is rated R for some gore and violence, and it has scary moments, but I think it’s fine for most teens. The character of Pan is not part of that whole “demon lover” trope because the heroine is a small child, but he takes on a similar role in terms of being a figure that embodies the underworld and thus a major part of the heroine’s psyche.

Honestly, I would consider Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (the original, not the live action remake) a good rendition. It was written by a woman.

Jean Cocteau’s black and white La Belle et La Bete.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, or a film adaptation of the same.

Rebecca by Daphne DuMarier, which is what my username is from. I’m fond of the Hitchcock film adaptation.

Honestly, the 2004 adaptation of Phantom of the Opera is...flawed, but it was my introduction to Phantom, and it’s a lot of melodramatic fun. 

It’s worth noting that in a lot of these stories, there are not perfect, healthy relationships depicted between men and women. There is cruelty, there is harm. But in many cases, that does not mean these stories have nothing to say about relationships between men and women, nor does it say that they are solely tales about abuse and we cannot find romanticism within them. Each story has it’s own flaws, it’s own strengths, hold deeper meanings beyond the surface. They contribute something distinct to a rich history of artistic explorations of the dynamics of power in romance and the female experience with our own desires within a patriarchal society.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #332

i’m even more tired than before to try and think up song lyrics, i’m pasting from Word and then fucking off to bed lmao.

What was the last video message you received on your phone? I think it was a clip of Doris (Sara's beardie) eating and just being her perfect self? Was your last birthday cake homemade or store bought? Store-bought. One thing you miss about middle school? Shit, nothing. Middle school was the worst. Do you have any shirts signed by famous people? No. Have you ever entered an art competition? Yes. Would you ever pierce yourself? No. I am very much about having a professional do your body mods/art. Plus, I have tremors in my hands. Do you live in a safe neighbourhood? Supposedly. We haven't lived here nearly long enough to know. What is the last thing you did that shocked someone? /shrug Do you often find yourself questioning your future? Only always. Have you ever been for a ride in the back of a truck? Yeah. Do you like your license photo? I hate my permit picture. Are you into superheroes? Who’s your favorite? Not very, but I like 'em enough. I always say my favorite is Deadpool, but I know he's technically an anti-hero, but whatever. If you don't include him, uhhhh... maybe Spiderman. Have you started watching any new TV shows recently? No. Have you ever been able pet a normally wild animal, like a tiger or dolphin? No. :( At least, not to my recollection. Have you ever eaten snow? Yeah. There's actually a winter treat 'round here that you make with snow and sugar called snow cream. Good stuff. What is the messiest area in your home? Right now, the spare room/my wanna-be "office." What’s your favorite computer game genre? Still horror, like video games. Do you have any exes your parents never liked? No. Have you received financial help from your parents in the past 5 years? I'm completely financially dependent on them still. Are you a fast or a slow eater? I eat like, stupid fast, but without being messy. People *cough*Mom*cough* will absolutely point it out, but I seriously can't help it. Making a conscious effort to eat slow feels way too weird. What was the last thing you purchased from a small local business? I don't know. Is there anyone in your family/household whom you frequently argue with? No. Have you ever used chewing tobacco? Ew, no. Tell me what's on your mind? I've been considering yet again reaching out to some tattoo parlors and asking if they're open to hiring someone to handle the front desk and take care of business besides actually performing piercing and tattooing, given my tremors. My group therapy has kinda been encouraging me to use the possibility for social exposure, and besides, I'm very comfortable in the environment and just general aura of tat parlors. I'm sure I'd have to answer the phone, handle money, and obviously talk to costumers, but I know and accept that. I've been at such a stagnant point with my social anxiety in particular that I have to start pushing back harder, and doing this I feel would be one of the most relaxed, social job positions I can hopefully handle. I don't dare to even try this though until I get vaccinated to protect my immunocompromised mom. Writing this all out has actually been pretty encouraging about this idea... Do you wish you never dated someone you dated? Yeah, Tyler. It was such a "I'm lonely and he was nice in high school, so we'll try it" situation. I got nothing from it. Are you scared of growing old alone? Pretty badly. What are you listening to right now? I'm listening to/semi-watching John Wolfe play the remaster of Resident Evil 2. What breed was the last dog you saw? He was a German shepherd. Would you ever go swimming during a thunderstorm? No. Any time a thunderstorm was brewing and I was in the pool, I'd always get out. What is the next concert you will attend? Mom and I plan to see Ozzy when/if he reschedules his tour after he had to cancel with his Parkinson's diagnosis. What was the name of the last pet of yours that died? Teddy. :/ What's the highest science class you have taken? I don't know, actually. What makes you squeal like a school girl? No shame, seeing Mark and Amy do something cute together actually does this, lmao. What’s your favorite symbol? (i.e. the pentagram, the cross, etc.) Do fictional ones count? Because in that case, the Halo of the Sun from the Silent Hill franchise. I'm getting it tattooed somewhere at some point, I'm thinking the left side of my neck. I'm either gonna fashion it in a way where it looks branded on or carved into me. Have you ever been on anti depressants? For all of my pre-teen, teen, and some of my adult life. Apparently, I've only had one truly educated psychiatrist out of no less than a dozen I'd seen, because he fixed me right up. He taught me that those who suffer from bipolarity should avoid anti-depressants; they ramp up your bipolar symptoms. Instead, mood stabilizers are favorable. And what do you know, after I was prescribed a stabilizer and a catalyst for that medication, my depression decreased dramatically and became handleable. Have you ever starved yourself? Kinda. What’s the stupidest name you’ve ever given a pet? I had a guinea pig named Harry Potter. For no particular reason lmao. I'm not even a Harry Potter fan. Do you have nice legs? God no. Do you like fedoras? Okay so I know I am in the strong minority, but I actually do, haha. What is your favorite food group? Carbs. @_@ Have you ever got told that you should be a model? No, but one of the most flattering indirect compliments I've ever gotten was being mistaken for one. Jason's phone wallpaper was one of my favorite pictures of myself with my first snake, and someone asked him if I was a model. ;v;' What song is in a language you don’t speak, but you love it anyway? "Donaukinder" by Rammstein is one of my faves. Who’s a villain you sympathize with and why? SOBS Darkiplier bc his origins are so damn tragic and unfair. What book do you think should be directed as a film? Was The Giver ever made into one? I don't remember that book well, but I do recall it being absolutely beautiful. Have you ever found a stranger’s note somewhere? If so, what did it say? No. Have you ever edited Wikipedia? No. Have you ever edited any other wiki? Yeah. I have thousands on the Silent Hill wiki, where I'm one of the admins. I'm also a content moderator at the Team Ico (Shadow of the Colossus devs) one. Every now and again I used to go on the meerkats wiki as well, where I mainly fixed the fucking nightmarish grammar. Very briefly, I edited at the Dragons of Atlantis wiki as well. Do you get scared when you know some virus or sickness is being passed? Not very, but of course I still acknowledge the risk and am more conscious of hand washing and stuff. What popular social media platforms AREN’T you on? Snapchat, I don't actually use my Twitter, I don't have a personal Instagram... There may be more, idk. Is TikTok a "social media platform?" Because I don't have that, either. What was the name of the first porcelien doll you got? Never had one, given I was afraid of dolls as a kid. What’s your favorite Paramore song? "Decode." Would you be happy with a life without romance? To be entirely honest, I'd feel like I was missing something. Was your childhood happy? Mostly. What fundamentally matters do you? Love, kindness, peace, all that gooey stuff. Is true world peace ever possible? As much as I hate to admit it, I don't think so. The human population is far too big to come to a unanimous agreement on anything. Do you hold yourself to higher standards than you hold others? Yeah. Would you ever own a pet black widow spider? No. I'm getting more into the idea of owning invertebrates (I jabber enough about wanting tarantulas, and there are others, like mantises, I'm interested in as pets), but black widows, I'm not into the idea of having. Too venomous for me to be comfortable risking. If you have a job, what is the longest shift that you've worked? N/A Do you know all of the words to "Bohemian Rhapsody?" FUCK YES I DO. ^ Do you sing it with all of the different voices? sho nuff Do you own more than one copy of a certain book? No. Do you like interpreting poetry or just reading it for fun? Both. I love symbolism, so I get joy out of digging for subtle meanings in poems. Do you have a favorite Dr. Suess book? Yeah, it was always Green Eggs and Ham. Do you watch The Walking Dead? If so, favorite character? Not the show, but I've watched let's plays of the games, haha. In which case Clementine is inarguably one of the best female characters in a video game universe. Who has/had the most mature romantic relationship you’ve seen with your own eyes? Uhhh. I mean I never saw them much, but probably my late grandmother and her last husband. He was fucking incredible to her, and Grammy adored him as well. They helped each other so much and just obviously had the purest love between them. When was the last time you got something for free (legally)? What was it & have you enjoyed it so far? Lmao do balls in Pokemon GO count? Their occasional free boxes are the reason I can play the game because PokeStops are essentially non-existent here, so yes. What is the one fruit you can’t stand to eat? How about vegetable? The first one that came to me were oranges. I enjoy orange juice, but I just caaaaannot with the white veiny shit that you can't totally get off when peeling it. Without that, I might actually enjoy them, but idk. As for vegetable, asparagus is absolutely abhorrent. When’s the last time you actually recited the pledge? If you aren’t American, do/did you have anything similar in your country that you do during a time at school? Probably not since high school. Last person you shared food with? Ummm I have no idea. It's really just Mom and me here and we eat our own stuff. What was the last song you heard for the first time and enjoyed? I believe it waaas... "Down In The Park" by Marilyn Manson, maybe. If your life was a TV show, what would be the theme song? My inner high school emo just screamed "All Signs Point to Lauderdale" by AD2R. Who are some of your favorite female fictional characters, and why? Gahdamn, there's a lot. I don't feel like going through a mental list in my head and then describing why. A character (in anything) you wish hadn’t been killed off? Vol'jin; I think the entire WoW fanbase will forever be pissed about it. It was THE most "lul we dunno what 2 do w/ him anymore, let's let a totally random, unnamed, unimportant demon kill him" like what the fuck, Blizz. Most of his "oomph" was in the book, and I just really wish they'd done so much more with him in the game. Has anything “cute” happened in the past week? Off the top of me noggin, no. When did you last say “I love you”? Did you mean it? Yesterday to Sara. OF course I did. Is there someone who pops into your mind at random times? Hi, PTSD, how are ya. Have you ever slept all day? Essentially. When I was on a larger dose of my anxiety med, I physically couldn't stay up for barely even five minutes, and when I'd lie back down, boom, I was OUT. I stayed on that dosage for I think just that one day, it was so bad. Can you have kids? Well, I have a functioning menstrual cycle, so I would assume so. Doesn't mean I will, though. What colors of mascara have you worn on your lashes? Only black. Do you like eating sour things? Hell yeah, I love sour stuff, candy in particular. Do you like pickles? fuuuuck yeah Did you ever have a really close friend move away? Yeah, in elementary school. I feel bad I can't remember her name at the moment... What's the most creative thing you've ever done? I mean, I guess the things I've written in RP. What's the most creative thing someone has done for you? For me? I don't really know. Do you like to watch ghost-hunting shows? Sure, they're some of my favorites. What’s something you’d like to be better at? Social interaction. Have you ever stayed up to talk to someone who was sad? Yeah. Do you think you would make a good parent? No. I know I wouldn't. The only time I ever wanted kids was with Jason, and honestly, I really hope I don't end up with a man because I never want to deal with that urge again and make a mistake. I'm just in no way emotionally fit to be a mother. How many best friends do you have? Just one. What do you cry over the most? My PTSD, honestly. I never sob about it anymore, just shed some tears. What language did/do you take in high school? Latin for one semester, then all four available for German. Which sports do you follow? None. Who was the last person you talked about marriage or having kids with? About marriage, Sara. Kids, the subject was lightly touched upon with Girt, though "with" was never a part of it, but obviously implied seeing as we were dating with long-term in mind. Have you ever been in a house fire? No, thankfully. Have you ever made out for one straight hour? them is rookie numbers Are you any good at remembering phone numbers? No. I literally don't even know my own, nor my mother's. I need to fix that. Who is your best friend of the opposite sex? Girt. Do you have a bookshelf? If so, just one or how many? No. If I gave you twenty bucks what would you do with it? Save it to go towards Venus' terrarium. Is there a movie from your childhood that you still watch today? Well of course! I'm unashamed to watch any "kids" movie I enjoy, like Disney ones. Most "kids" movies tend to be better than those intended for adults, it seems... Are you afraid of mice? Oh no, I adore mice and I think had a pair as pets before I got rats. What type of souvenir do you usually purchase when on vacation? I can't really answer this; I haven't gone on nearly enough vacations to develop a theme. I can say confidently though it'd probably be something small. If you could see any musical on Broadway right now, what would it be? I don't enjoy musicals. Have you ever watched Doctor Who? One or two with Sara, yes. I know we at least watched the weeping angels episode. If you read, which book or series did you enjoy most as a child? Warriors by S.E. Hinton. Sometimes I wanna get back into them, but I am YEARS behind and more into Wings of Fire anyway, so. I don't read nearly enough for both. How do you get rid of your hiccups? Literally no trick seems to work for me. I just suffer lmao.

[nonbinarysasquatch]

The Last Jedi thoughts

Man… it’s been awhile since I’ve gone to the movies and seen a movie so dense and complex that I knew it was going to take multiple rewatches to absorb everything.

And make no mistake: in terms of characterization this is arguably the most complex Star Wars film. It’s certainly the most dense. That doesn’t necessarily = to THE BEST Star Wars film but it’s certainly not a simple one. Things aren’t cut and dry here. Every single character is portrayed as complicated and flawed. Well, maybe aside from Hux who is still the same douchey pathetic Nazi he was in TFA…

There’s really far too much that happened in this film to get all of my thoughts into a single review. It was a long fucking movie that was very eventful. Like when you compare with TFA… it’s just ridiculous how jam packed with character beats and development. And that’s not gonna be everyone’s cup of tea.

What else isn’t gonna be everyone’s cup of tea? Well, if you’re the sort who thinks everyone is either perfect cinnamon rolls or PROBLEMATIC then you are probably gonna hate this film. Much like ESB allowed Luke to make a supreme failure in facing Vader too early and not completing his training with Yoda, the characters fuck up a lot in this movie even though they have their hearts in the right places (I do have some minor quibbles with Finn but I’ll get to that.)

If you don’t like complex, flawed characters you’re probably gonna fucking hate this movie. Poe fucks up. He’s not totally wrong though in the choices he makes. It’s COMPLICATED. And I love that shit. But hey, a lot of you are gonna hate that shit. You don’t like characters fucking up and you don’t like them being assholes sometime. But me? I love it. It’s great. Give me complicated characters over big, flawless heroes any day.

Finn is a slight exception. I love pretty much every character’s role in this movie but Finn. I don’t HATE what they did with Finn in this movie but I do feel like his decision to cut and run doesn’t make a ton of sense with his TFA characterization. And he did kind of just end up once again getting dragged along the ride and being Rose’s sidekick. But he did get to kill Phasma so that was something. But I do hope he gets be more of a hero in Episode 9 than he was here. And OH GOD I just realised that Finn wanting to take off may be a subtle parallel with Han in ESB. Granted, motivations are different but this film handles all the ESB parallels with much greater subtlety than TFA (and my god there are SO MANY ESB parallels in this goddamn movie and I’m sure I’ll notice more on rewatches.)

A big part of why I’m slightly OK with Finn’s story in this is that I LOVED Rose’s story and just Rose in general was one of the best things about this movie. And even though I hate “hey, I just met you we’re in love now plots” I actually thought the romance was subtle and not done terribly. It ain’t Stormpilot but I was never naive enough to think they’d make that canon.

Poe was amazing in this movie. FLAWED but amazing. And we got so much more of him than TFA (where he was actually MIA for most of the movie.) I’m looking forward to seeing him as the probable leader of the Resistance in Episode 9.

I loved Admiral Holdo (who is definitely Leia’s ex-girlfriend.) I loved that she didn’t end up just a villain and that there was this thing where like… both the young and old characters had wisdom and things they were right and wrong about. It was complex and that’s just… far more what life is like. I’m a bit iffy on whether her sacrifice makes much sense mechanically but I’ll allow it.

LEIA. Carrie Fisher was so fucking good in this movie. I’m so bummed we’ll never get to see what role she would’ve got to do in Episode 9. The effect of her using the force to save herself wasn’t 100% convincing but it was still a powerful moment. I’m so glad she and Luke got to have a reunion.

I… never thought I’d say this but I think this film succeeded in making Kylo Ren more interesting and complex. And I love that they did that BUT doubled down on him being THE WORST. Oh, I still don’t care about this shithead and want him to get what’s coming to him. A lot of how I feel about him in this film will be affected by what they do with him in Episode 9. I know that with Carrie dead his arc is gonna be left feeling a bit broken. I know that he’ll still probably get a redemption but as long as he dies for that redemption I’m probably cool. Granted, that will mean no more Skywalkers but at this point I’m accepting that this story has become about more than the Skywalker family.

Rey. Rey was awesome in this movie. Parallels to Luke in ESB are the most obvious of the parallels here but in this case the dynamic is a bit different. For one thing Rey is just… not as much of a wet mop as Luke in ESB. She’s fierce and isn’t taking no for an answer. She doesn’t whine about how hard things are. I mean to be fair, that’s just because she’s a bigger badass than Luke in ESB. I was anticipating Rey to be a random so that wasn’t much of a surprise though I DO think there’s still wiggle room. While, I don’t think Kylo was lying to her (though it’s also believable that he might’ve been) even if he wasn’t there’s always the possibility that she may have been adopted and Kylo didn’t see that far back into her past. But I’m more than OK if she is just a random.

Luke. I sort of want to be an asshole and go I told you so re: Rey needing to restore Luke’s faith in the Jedi. But I won’t. But I love Luke in this film. Yeah, they could’ve given us badass noble Luke but instead we get flawed, complicated Luke. I love the multiple POVs of him confronting Ben in his sleep and having that momentary urge to strike him down. I thought the writing for Luke’s monologue over that final version was fantastic. Just A+ on managing to preserve what is great about Luke and allowing him to be a flawed character.

YODA. I didn’t expect to see Yoda. That looked like a puppet? Or else clever CGI meant to look like a puppet. But that was neat. And another obvious ESB parallel (with Obi-Wan.) And uh… apparently force ghosts can become pretty powerful. Which finally makes Obi-Wan’s boast to Vader in ANH make sense. Actually it also helps make the big deal ROTS made about Yoda learning from Qui-Gon about maintaining your identity after death even better.

I’m sure my thoughts on this film will evolve on rewatches but I feel like just talking about it makes me like it more and more. It speaks to how dense and jam packed this film was that there’s tons of other things I keep forgetting to mention. 

And I know there will be lots of fandom meta that will recontextualise and examine things. But I feel pretty damn great about this film. I don’t have the same feeling I had coming out of TFA but that was a one time thing. I definitely enjoyed it more than Rogue One (which I enjoyed but felt had a weak first half.) Aside from being too long and some issues with Finn’s role in the film… I think everything else the film did was pretty amazing and somehow managed to parallel the fuck out of ESB without copying it directly.

[i-just-like-commenting]

Star Wars rewatch, part 5: Episode 3, Revenge of the Sith

General Impressions

I’ve been sitting on this review for a while because life has been busy lately – I’m starting a new job in a little over a week – and hadn’t gotten around to writing it. This film was a large part of why I wanted to do this rewatch, to see whether or not Revenge of the Sith was as good as I remembered it.

The answer is that I’d actually forgotten just how good this movie is. Like, seriously, I will fight you on this, RotS is a good movie. Not a great movie, and we will be talking about its flaws as I go along, most of which center around Padme. But it is a good movie, at least on par with Return of the Jedi.

It really does help, I think, to watch Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars immediately before this, not just because that film-length series ends right before RotS opens, but because there’s a certain stylistic match. A lot of the action moments in RotS feel very Tartakovsky-esque, and preceding this with an animated film made the CGI a lot more palatable – this looks very much like an animated film, just with live action performers filling in the human parts. It’s a definite upgrade from the previous sequels, sometimes looking absolutely gorgeous, especially on Coruscant.

Also upgraded? The acting. Hayden Christiansen is massively improved in this film. While still not an Oscar-worthy performance or what have you, he’s on the level of the original actors in the first trilogy, which is to say competent most of the time, and occasionally even quite intensely compelling. It helps that he and Natalie Portman seem to have settled on how to handle their ridiculous romantic dialog, playing it as “Anakin can’t do romantic interactions well, Padme knows this, finds it charming, and teases him for it.” The lines are still awkward but played with an awareness of the awkwardness.

But speaking of romance, having rewatched these, how in love with Anakin was Obiwan? The answer is a lot. I know, I know, when they met Anakin was a child and that’s kind of creepy, but by the end of RotS it’s hard not to read Ewan MacGregor’s performance as more than a little bit smitten. It doesn’t help that in Clone Wars, he and Anakin have an exchange that is a literal copy-paste of Han and Leia.

The music is also killer for this film, and supplements all of the best scenes, like the tale of Darth Plagueis, Padme and Anakin on the balconies at sunset, the implements of Order 66, Obiwan and Anakin’s final battle…this is a well-made film, you guys. But let’s dig into some of the flaws.

Continuity, part 1: Relation to the Other Prequels

You know, if the mitochlorians had just been introduced as “a kind of symbiont that can spontaneously generate life” as an explanation for Shmi’s mysterious pregnancy, I don’t think people would’ve had a problem with it. It’s that it explains connectivity to the Force that nobody likes. So the reappearance of mitochlorians doesn’t bother me at all in this context.

I mentioned in my last post that one cut of Attack of the Clones that I enjoyed deleted Anakin confessing the murder of the Sand People to Padme, and while I support that change, it would make that Anakin told Palpatine the truth that much more disturbing. Palpatine is genuinely manipulating the fatherless Anakin in a disturbing way.

The biggest problem in relation to the other prequels, though, is the demotion of Padme to side character. She’s very passive in this film, as being increasingly pregnant limits her ability to be an action girl. But it didn’t have to be this way – there are a sequence of deleted scenes, some of which are redundant and thus wouldn’t be more than about 5 minutes, that depict Padme being one of the founding members of what became the Rebel Alliance. It’s an unfortunate cut not just because it would have kept Padme as a more active figure, but also because one scene has Palpatine trying to sow doubts in Anakin’s mind about Padme’s trustworthiness, setting up that he will snap at the end and kill her.

Continuity, part 2: Relation to the Original Series

Which brings us to Padme’s death, the other big flaw in her character in this film. That she has nothing physically wrong with her, she just “lost the will to live,” is the dumbest part of this film, and one that was almost immediately retconned. I understand that Lucas was trying to say that the psychological effect of everything that had happened to her had as much to do with her death as physical injuries, but it could have been something more like “we’ve done what we can to fix her, but the shock and emotional strain is inhibiting her body’s recovery process.”

More significantly, though, Padme shouldn’t have died yet. Leia says very clearly in Return of the Jedi that she remembers her mother, so unless Leia can remember events from her birth…or did Bail Organa’s wife also die, when Leia was very young? Leia must have known she was adopted, why does she not mention that instead?

When I was growing up watching the OT, I’d always assumed that Leia’s mother remarried Bail and passed off Leia as their daughter. That wouldn’t work with the trilogy as-is, because Bail is too prominent and it wouldn’t be a good place to hide her.

So let me propose an alternative scenario: Padme survives, but is clearly never going to recover from her injuries. Obiwan persuades her to divide up her children to keep them safe, with her keeping one and other sent to live with Anakin’s siblings. Padme lives in hiding on Alderaan for a few years before ultimately dying, and Bail adopts Leia. She remembers her biological mother and thinks of Bail as her father. Maybe he’s a single father; maybe he’s got a husband. Either way, it fills in that continuity gap.

The other dumb connection to the main trilogy is the random scene of Chewbacca knowing Yoda. I have no problem with Wookies being in this film, or with Chewbacca being a former general who had to go rogue after the war was over, but him knowing Yoda? Pointless fan service, doesn’t add anything to his character.

The best connection with the main trilogy is that ending, though. Critics are absolutely correct that the reveal of Darth Vader being accompanied by an anguished “NO!!!” isn’t a good transition into episode 4, where you need him to be a terrifying villain. But it is the perfect transition into episode 6, where you need to realize that he’s a broken, miserable, hollow human being. So yeah, the correct order for the first time watching is, indeed, 4-5-1-2-Clone Wars-3-6.

On every subsequent viewing, though, make it 4-5-Clone Wars-3-6. 1 and 2 just aren’t good enough to justify rewatch.

Continuity, part 3: Relation to the Current Series

There is still a part of me that wants Hayden Christiansen to get his redemption and reappear as Anakin’s Force ghost with a good script and a good director and yell at his grandson about how badly he is behaving. Failing that, Ewan MacGregor as Obiwan.

That said, the status of Force ghosts are still strange in this universe. In a deleted scene for RotS, Yoda gets a message from Qui-Gon that he’s learned to basically transition his body straight into a Force ghost at the point of death, which is why Yoda and Obiwan can appear after their deaths. The scene’s actually in the film, but there’s no voice over and so we’re left to figure out what message Yoda got from Qui-Gon by ourselves. But why doesn’t Qui-Gon appear in the OT? Is there a point chronologically after which you can’t do it, and that’s why we don’t have Force ghost Anakin yelling at Kylo? How did Anakin know how to do this if it was something new?

I kind of want to do a “Reimagined Prequel Trilogy” that fixes these hiccups, with the premise that Tartakovsky could remake them in animated form. That’s not ever going to happen, any more than Game of Thrones is going to remake seasons 3 and on to actually match their source material, but I always like speculating on these things, it helps me as a writer.

Conclusion: Brainwashing as a Joke

C3PO gets his mind casually wiped at the end of this film, which by all appearance is standard procedure for protocol droids when they get new owners, presumably to keep secrets of their former owners safe and to ensure their loyalty to their new ones. This is absolutely horrifying if you accept droids as sentient beings, of course, and seems to be banned in the New Republic.

What’s unnerving is that in the captioning, R2’s reaction is described as laughter. He’s mocking C3PO for his plight. From this I can only conclude that the true tenderness of their relationship must have started after episode 3, and R2 right now is taking delight in the irony of his more obedient counterpart being victimized by a system he supported. Not a cool attitude, R2, but it gives him an implied arc, too, as the two droids grow closer.

[missconduct]

As Strong as Darth Vader

<p>“Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.” (Yoda, 1980, The Empire Strikes Back). I usually don’t begin an essay with a quote but in this case I feel it’s important. My theory here is just a theory based on how I’ve viewed this story for 35 years. If you don’t agree it’s ok take it with a grain of salt, my friends in Star Wars fandom, because it’s not canon lol this is all in my head. I’m speculating how the story could go, and that’s part of the fun in this saga is speculation.<br>

  The first time I heard they were making a new trilogy I cringed as a lot of people did fearing the worst for a story I love so much. I didn’t read spoilers, or cruise YouTube looking for theory videos. I barely watched the trailer. In fact all I saw of the trailer was a few glimpses of Finn wielding the blue saber (only because I was already a huge fan of John’s because of his character in Attack the Block). I stepped into this new world not knowing anything. I didn’t even know who Adam Driver was. I didn’t even know there was a girl protagonist in the movie. My canvas of TFA was blank.

  As I watched the movie quite a few things caught me by surprise. I’ll quickly list them; Kylo as a villain, the interactions between Rey and Kylo (that’s a huge ass one), where the hell is Luke? The symbolism in the story as a whole, and my deepest one is Kylo’s obsession with his grandfather. As I watched the movie these things caught my attention because the rest of the story is (and I saw it admittedly) a re-play of the original trilogy (which I think was a strategy to play on the nostalgia of the original). It intrigued me intensely though because there were all these twists in it that were obviously not a copy cat of the original trilogy.

  As I sat in the theater watching it for the first time the scene when Kylo is speaking to Darth Vader’s helmet began. I watched this clearly conflicted, confused, lost villain pleading with a dead man’s helmet to, “show him again, the power of the darkness.” I literally said in a whisper under my breath, “this doesn’t make any sense to me??? Vader’s greatest moment of triumph, his greatest strength was his ability to turn back to the light side. He chose to be good again, to do the right thing, to save his son, his family, from the darkness. Why would this mask show him anything dark???” I didn’t like it at first. The scene made me feel so sad. It was as if Vader’s sacrifice meant nothing at the end of ROTJ. Like his greatest moment was forgotten in this new world.

   Then I saw this girl who I viewed as confused and lost as much as the villain was. Trying to come to grips with where her life was going. Should she stay and wait for her family? Should she finally accept whatever the truth was and move on? Then she hears a call. I thought it was interesting that the call was a little girls cries, almost as if her own loneliness were calling to her. She touches this long lost relic that once belonged to Anakin Skywalker, and her life takes a turn that is going to forever change her destiny.

  I’ve watched Rey’s force vision way too many times to count and the 2 things that are consistent in them that stood out to me were 1: Kylo Ren, and 2: various voices from the past echoing through the force. Now a lot of people think that these past voices are the individuals speaking directly to her, but I didn’t see it like that. Even though Obi-Wan says her name, it’s more like the force is speaking to her through the echo of past force users. This is important because I’ll bring it up again later.

  Through my journey with Rey, I saw her frightened and alone after the vision. I know Maz is trying to help her, but it might freak me out if someone had just made me come to the realization that my deepest fear was true. That I had to accept the people who were supposed to care about me and come back for me were never coming back. She’s afraid, she’s alone (Finn just abandoned her also. He’s leaving her to go to the outer rim territory.) She runs, and who does she run right into? Our strange lost Villain. At this point, I was really wanting to know who and what was under that mask. Remember spoiler free, didn’t even know who Adam Driver was.

  Then he sweeps her away “Bridal carry” style onto his ship, abducting her! That had me on the edge is my seat because that whole scene had me trying to figure out where this was going. Was he a man under that mask ? Or a monster? Was this an endgame romance or a creepy stalker crush?

  Then I witnessed the “interrogation scene.” This is the most important scene in the movie for me, and not for the reasons you might think. Yes, my jaw dropped and (despite my very good looking husband sitting right next to me ) I almost wet my pants when Kylo took off his mask. I turned to my daughter and whispered in an awestruck voice, “I think he’s the leading man. How about you?” My 13-year-old daughter’s reply, “omg mom, damn” and we laughed. Yes, there is a lot of incredibly hot, passionate, sexually charged shit going down in that scene! That’s not why it’s the most important scene for me. As I watched, this girl rise to the occasion and step up onto the equal ground with this boy, she said those famous words that helped me piece my headcanon puzzle together, “you, you’re afraid, that you’ll never be as strong as Darth Vader!”

  Now a lot of people don’t pay much attention to this line. They simply think it’s just her calling him out on being a Darth Vader fanboy. Maybe the writers were going that direction, but I don’t think so. When I first heard that line I whispered under my breath “oooooooo that was deep.” And in my head it made sense. That was a huge foreshadowing of Ben solos redemption, and the part this girl is going to play in it. This part of the movie is what drew me deep into the story.

  So I went back and saw the film 5 more times after that, in the theater. Then immediately pre- ordered my iTunes copy to be available for download as soon as it was available. I watched, and watched, and watched it again, and again. I could even watch it again today lol. It wasn’t enough. I kept wanting to know more. I started cruising and just looking through fan bases, but it looked like the things I wanted to talk about weren’t subjects that were well received, so I didn’t venture into joining or posting in any fan sites. Then I started cruising YouTube and came across this channel called Star Wars Connection and found a video titled, “Visual Storytelling in The Force Awakens.” Omg, these ladies understood me !!!! They understood everything I understood in the movie!!! And listening to them helped me develop my theory about Kylo’s redemption and the connection between Rey and Kylo-Ben.

  During the second part of this outstanding podcast, they briefly talked about Luke’s journey into the cave on Dagobah. In that scene, Luke is confronted by Vader when he cuts his head off, and the helmet explodes revealing Luke’s own face within the mask. It got me thinking about Luke’s greatest fear and how it related to Kylo. They are similar but different. Luke’s greatest fear was falling to the Dark side and becoming just like his father. Kylo’s greatest fear is the (I hope this is the correct term) subverted version of Luke’s, that he will never be as Strong as Darth Vader, that he will never be like him. Is it possible that part of what went down between Luke and Kylo has something to do with this fact? This is all speculation but it got me thinking that if there are similarities between Anakin and Kylo, then wouldn’t there be similarities between Luke and Kylo also? When Luke sees his face in the mask it scares him. Kylo wants to see his face in the mask.

  While thinking about Luke and Kylo it leads me to Rey. These three individuals are key to what this story really is about. It’s not about who Rey’s parents are or aren’t that is irrelevant. I’m sorry to all those anti-Reylo’s out there who are gunning for her to be a Skywalker or Solo but in my headcanon, she’s not. Her part in this story in my mind is clear. It was a passionately romantic love that started all this, and it will be a passionately romantic love that will end all of this. 

   Rey and Kylo have collided. I have seen a lot of speculation about whether or not they knew each other prior to their meeting on Takodana. Through all the speculation I’ve seen the only one that makes sense to me is that they have seen each other in dreams and visions. In the novelization, it even says that Rey knows this man from a dream or a nightmare. I believe she has had dreams of him her whole life. Which is why I think he smiles when he sees her image of an island. Anakin had dreams of people and future events, why can’t Rey. I believe Kylo has had dreams of her as well. In my headcanon dreams and visions are two different entities. A dream coming to you in your sleeping state, a vision coming to you through a waking moment through something else. Rey has visions of Kylo when she touches Anakin’s lightsaber in the castle. Is it possible that Kylo has had a similar vision of Rey? Someone speculated that maybe Kylo had Obi-Wan’s lightsaber somehow. (Thank you Rebel Scum Podcast for twisting my idea lol to present it as yours, but you got it all wrong) Kylo doesn’t need anyone’s light saber to have a vision of Rey. He has Anakin’s mask. Part of my speculation is that Vader/Anakin’s mask is Kylo’s transmitter for his force vision.

  Now I know a lot of people probably think of Vader’s mask as a Completely Dark side relic. I’m sorry though I don’t see it that way. Remember I told you that the first time I saw the movie while watching this scene I kept thinking that the mask was more a representation and symbol of Vader’s greatest strength and triumph. Think about Vader’s last moments while wearing the mask. The moment Luke told him he could feel the conflict in him, and he knew there was still good in him. His sadness feeling torn, watching the emperor torture his son, Padme’s son! almost to death. The pain he must have felt being torn apart between the dark and the light at that moment. Vader chucking the old guy over the railing into the abyss to save his family, to do the impossible, something that Yoda said couldn’t be done. He came back to the light. Even the walk with Luke carrying him to the shuttle. Still trying to save his father. Removing his mask peeling it off of his face so he could look at his son one last time with his own eyes. That mask in my opinion saw a lifetime of light before Vader/ Anakin passed away and became one with the force again. I view that mask as potentially being a grey instrument of the force. If the mask has given him visions both light and dark it would make sense that he would ask it to show him again the power of the darkness. A lot of people think that individual characters from the past are directly speaking to both characters, as I pointed out earlier. Could Kylo think that Vader speaks to him through the mask. Is it possible that this is just purely THE FORCE itself using voices of powerful Jedi of the past? The force is just using these voices as an echo to bring these two very powerful force, sensitive individuals, together. Why would the force will this?

  I try to clear my mind and recognize what Yoda says over and over numerous times in the saga. It is this entity that binds everything together. It has a will all its own. It calls those bound to it, it is a force sensitive beings choice if they will answer the call. If they will choose the light path or the dark. Perhaps there is a medium ground.

   No matter which religion it is there are light and dark sides to it. Without one the other cannot exist. In my theory the force is trying to bind Rey and Ben together, and yes I do believe it is trying to bind them together using a romantic passionate love. The evidence of this is clear in TFA. Kylo is already addicted to her presence. He can’t just hand her over to Stormtroopers like he did Poe, he has to carry her. He’s not trying to intimidate or frighten her. He takes off his mask for her. He speaks softly and calmly. I’m sorry but when I was growing up if my brother was interrogating me for any reason (Like where I hid the remote to keep him from changing the channel.) he was never nice, never calm, and it usually ended with blows aiming for the head or the gut, and furniture flying across the room, and the last person we wanted around was the other one. Kylo is not her brother or cousin. Sorry folks it’s not in the story. He wants her in his life! He pretty much begs her to let him teach her, he needs her in his life. Which is a big reason Otze’s essay about force bonds is now my favorite Star Wars Reylo essay. If they are related, I will still love it, because it’s Star Wars.The story can still be explored through different characters in a future trilogy, but I will be reading and writing tons of Reylo fan fiction to get over it lol!

  While I believe that Kylo will be redeemed through this love he has for Rey I do not know how it will end for him in my head. I do not think it’s going to end well for him. I see them both being bound together through the force and I think it’s very foretelling that each one has a connection to a relic that once belonged to Anakin Skywalker. The lightsaber was Anakin’s. He was the first to wield it. The mask also belonged to Anakin. Anakin is still being chosen by the force to achieve balance. Using relics of both sides of his life To bring these 2 people who share this connection in the force together. I think this could foreshadow one of them (probably Ben) making a self-sacrifice to save the other. I really don’t want that to happen though, I want Kylo to survive. Maybe going on a journey of penance, wandering the galaxy trying to help others to pay for his past. IDK if that will happen either but I’d love that, and it could spark an animated series. (lol)

  I believe it’s possible. As many have said in fandom his character still has a lot of growing up to do. I’m so on the edge of my seat to watch that unfold. I want to know if in the end, he will fulfill his ambition and his destiny and truly become “As Strong as Darth Vader!”

 I went on for a long while now and I hope my day dream about this awesome passionate story made people think, maybe even daydream a bit themselves. I’m sure I’m probably completely wrong about this whole headcanon of mine lol (@Scavengershoard ) Like Rachel and Kirsty are always saying though it’s always fun to speculate. Have a great rest of your weekend everyone and thanks for reading

Feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think(Please be kind though, do unto others right!) ❤️⭐️

[semicolonthefifth]

Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker REVIEW.

The conclusion to the Sequel Trilogy for Star Wars has come, and it has surely been a rough ride. What started as a mass of eager anticipation for “Force Awakens” has turned into a hesitant and otherwise frustrating wait for the conclusion to these films. I feel like I’ve seen a lot of people welcome “The Rise of Skywalker” as an obligation rather than something to feel excitement for; as if the end couldn’t come any sooner, and now audiences can finally breath a sigh of relief that it is all over. Of course there are still fans who both defend and await the film with high energy, although it seems they’re far outweighed by those who are either tired or angered with how this trilogy has developed.

Which is why I wanted to try my best to approach this film with as calm a head as possible. Despite much of the anger and hate to the previous episode “The Last Jedi”, I personally considered it a flawed though entertaining film. While I have issues with the plots and character development, that movie couldn’t push me to anger enough to really hate it - and instead found it to be alright.

So will I find this film to be much the same? Will Episode 9 be the desired conclusion to both this long-running saga and the Disney trilogy? Will it undo the wrongs of its previous works and create a much better product overall?

To all that, I shall start with the plot as usual and work from there.

PLOT:

Set some time after the events of the Last Jedi, the Resistance has been reduced to a much smaller force that is constantly hounded down by the First Order. Under the new Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren, the First Order has been stomping down any rebellion across the galaxy - effectively stopping any chance of reinforcement or aid for the Resistance. However his campaign has a new challenger, as throughout the galaxy comes the announcement that the long dead Sith Lord, Emperor Palpatine, has returned to reclaim control once more. Meanwhile, Rey and her friends are trying their best to fight what has now become two major threats.

With the Galaxy now gripped from either side, it is up to Rey to find some means of fighting back - and hope that there is still some chance to turn the lost Ben Solo away from the Dark Side. All while she discovers new and dangerous things about her past.

STORY (SOME SPOILERS):

JJ Abrams makes a major mistake with this film that costs so much of the quality it could have had. The main issue, and one that ties into nearly every flaw with this movie, is that Abrams has made Episode 9 into two movies: Last Jedi (again), and Rise of Skywalker. Whether by his own choice or the insistence of Disney (most likely), Abrams tries his hardest to either bury, attack, or otherwise wave away several plot details and ideas that were established in the Last Jedi. At the same time, he also tries to insert enough details and ideas that could’ve worked well in a theoretical Abrams’ Last Jedi, while also trying to progress the plot further with what should be the third movie of the trilogy. So you have a story that is constantly at the races, trying to cram so many things to both erase the previous movie while also being a continuation in and of itself. Naturally this makes for an incredibly messy, fast-paced plot that has very little room to breath and gives little to no build up to several of its plot points. Moments jump after the other, and character POV’s shift rapidly between Kylo, Rey, and Poe/Finn within the very first half hour. You’ve given little area to establish what’s going on and to get used to what is happening currently, as sooner another plot point jumps from around the corner. This style of directing keeps sprinting on for much of the first half, which not only removes any significance behind some major moments, but also makes the story feel shorter than it should be.

Furthermore in robbing significance: as I’ve previously stated, various elements and plot details from the Last Jedi are done away with, and in a very insulting manner. While I had some issues with the Last Jedi’s story, I much preferred they’d be continued on in this film than to be thrown alongside the bathwater. As I also said, it’s all done rather insultingly. Characters like Rose are reduced immensely in any importance to the plot, almost to the point of being a background character (as well her sudden romance with Finn being thrown away completely). Holdo’s Maneuver is tossed aside with a single line in some lazy attempt to remove its usage in this story. Luke’s character does a 180 and blatantly says that he’s wrong on what he said in Last Jedi, meanwhile Kylo rebuilds his previously destroyed helmet while the film ironically embraces the past even harder (in contrast to the message of the Last Jedi). This treatment goes even further for characters established before Last Jedi. General Hux, once a villain alongside Kylo, is not only playing second fiddle to a higher ranked officer who only appears in this film (and is quickly established to be from the Empire of the old Trilogy), but he’s barely in the film before being done away with. Worst of all is Finn who doesn’t do much, and has little character development. This is a huge shame because it feels like the Trilogy as a whole barely did much with Finn, with all his more significant actions done in Force Awakens. He also spends much the film trying to tell Rey a secret of sorts, but that plot line is soon dropped and forgotten for seemingly no reason.

However there is something the film is happy to put time into, and that is nostalgia pandering. If you felt that the pandering in Force Awakens was a bit strong, than that’s nothing when compared to the amount of nostalgia-baiting throughout this whole movie. It feels like the whole movie is trying to go through so many callbacks to the old movies, especially Return of the Jedi, that it barely has much of an identity in its own. Characters and scenes are pulled up plenty of times. Music cues are played as some thematic call back to the saga as a whole. Plenty of sets and landmarks from the old movies are revisited for extended periods of time, and plot details are repeated almost bit for bit. The showdown between The Emperor and Rey is practically a carbon copy of the one between him and Luke from Return of the Jedi, right down to the idea of killing the villain to then become an apprentice/host to the big bad. The return of yet another set of planet killers is groan-worthy, with the bigger stakes being that it’s now an entire fleet of Star Destroyers - each with a planet-destroying cannon. At this point it feels like a farce, and that Abrams is trying so hard to cater to nostalgic fans that it becomes an insult to the audience’s intelligence. It doesn’t help that this fleet has zero build up and shows up right at the beginning, as if the film is set to fast-forward and is trying to get over itself.

No to mention some plot points are given little explanation without outside help. The reveal of the Emperor’s return is seemingly first seen thanks to the opening crawl, but you wouldn’t hear his supposed announcement unless you - and this is for real - play Fortnite to then hear the actual recording. This is a major detail that should’ve been in the movie, but you’d have to go to outside the film series (and what is mostly non Star Wars material) to hear it. You also would be confused by the very first planet - not knowing it was Mustafar from Episode III unless you played a VR game that explains both who Kylo was fighting there and why it’s suddenly forested. Admittedly these are small grievances, but it speaks to a larger problem of the movie trying to cram so much information in its attempt to be both a revision and a sequel. It really gives the idea that many fans suspected: that there wasn’t a plot planned for the trilogy - or that somehow it got lost between Episodes 7 and 8.

The film also tries to be a last hurrah for the saga as a whole, and it honestly fails to warrant that. This isn’t to say there are plot details that need to be continued (aside from Finn’s mysterious secret), but rather that it feels unearned. It feels less like the end, but rather the repeating of what was already an end. Whereas the prequels left a world that needed to be saved by the originals - the sequel trilogy feels like it’s stuck in the mud. It’s a problem I’d go into, but I want to stay focused on this film.

Overall, the plot is a mess. A fast-paced, sloppy mess.

ACTING AND CHARACTERS:

While the plot is poorly done, I’d say that the performances are alright. I wouldn’t call anyone in this movie a bad actor. Everyone does a fine job with what they’re given, and at times they do give some great emotional performances. However said emotion isn’t strong, not due to the acting but rather the plot not giving much area to breath and absorb them (save a few moments).

The main heroic cast is great, and I dare say an improvement from the previous film. I feel like I had more fun with Finn, Rey, and Poe, and I think that has to do with the fact that they’re interacting with each other a whole lot more in this movie than in the rest of the trilogy. Frankly I’m disappointed we couldn’t get more chemistry between all three of these characters, as they bounce off each other quite well enough that I’d welcome more scenes of the trio. Finn and Poe are the best, as their friendship is strong. However I feel that friendship extends well to Rey, who feels more emotional and easier to relate to now than she has been throughout the previous films. Although this is undone by what development we get for Rey, and how it doesn’t at all counter the arguments that she is something of a Mary Sue. The problem with Rey is that she’s shot into the stratosphere with how much importance and prestige she has, which runs counter to Last Jedi’s argument that she had nothing special about her. The plot also rapidly grows her power level, having her perform feats that go beyond what any master Jedi has ever been seen to accomplish. This is again a problem with how quick the plot is written. Theoretically this could work if established more carefully throughout the trilogy, but the way it is all crammed into one film makes it so hard to swallow. It’s a shame to because Daisy Ridley is a fine actress, but the plot doesn’t utilize her character efficiently.

Next there are the villains. Kylo Ren is greater here as well, with a story that provides so much more development. The drama is a lot stronger with how he’s trapped under the Dark Side, not out of its influence but more so his fears of returning to the Light after all he’s done. You really feel for the guy, and you become invested in his development and possible redemption. However he’s about the only villain worth cheering. General Hux is downsized and under-utilized, which is a drastic fall from where he once stood in the previous films. He’s barely worth mentioning, sadly. Then there are the newer villains:

General Pryde is a new commanding officer, and he’s given little character build up other than he’s a former Imperial commander that is taking control of the First Order. He’s a rather unmemorable character, and isn’t at all important. There are the Knights of Ren who make their debut since Force Awakens, and although they give a chase of the characters they are basically another group of faceless thugs for the heroes to fight. It feels like they would’ve originally had a greater importance to the plot as a posse under Kylo, but Abrams has to now cram them into the film when they were completely missing throughout Last Jedi. Finally there’s the new main villain, Emperor Palpatine, making his return - and I honestly do not like it one bit. Palpatine being a villain again is, in my opinion, a major misstep in Abrams part. Not only does it once again feel like a retread of the original trilogy, but it further robs any unique identity that this trilogy could’ve had. It would’ve been so much better if Rey and company had to fight Hux and Kylo, but instead their bigger threats are literally old villains making a comeback. I know that the Emperor is a fun character, and I’ll admit that seeing him say “Do it!” did have me smiling, but it comes at the cost of letting the sequel trilogy come on its own.

Other characters are fine as well, with good performances all throughout. However they barely have much screen time and are basically extended cameos. Old characters like Leia and Lando come and go (one for, sadly, obvious reasons). New characters like Jannah and Zorii are a bit fun and interesting, but barely have much to do in what little presence they have in the film. Also, as I said, Rose is barely in the movie - as part of the way The Last Jedi is being erased from this film.

That’s really all I can say about the acting. It’s fine, but a lot of characters fall to the wayside due to how the plot is structured.

SPECIAL EFFECTS AND SOUND:

I feel like I say this all time with these movies, but I can’t deny it: The special effects are great. Practical and CGI do a great job, and there’s a whole lot of colors throughout this while movie. The action pieces are well directed and are quite exciting, though the lack some power due (again) to the rapid nature of the plot. There’s more emphasis of darks in this movie, with various locales and scenes set either in the night or in darker colored landscapes. However this isn’t an issue as it does allow the colors from lights, lasers, and other scenery to pop out a lot stronger. Although the setting of the conclusion is a bit weak, due to the strobe-light feeling of the lightning of the world, and with how some colors feel a bit muted. Overall though I wouldn’t call any of the backgrounds or settings bad. They do a great job, and I applaud the special effects team.

I wouldn’t say I was awe-struck, however. While some actions scenes and locales are great, and the film does try to recreate areas for its nostalgia pushing, they don’t leave so much of an impact on me. The immense power of the sight of a massive fleet of Star Destroyers is unearned and ineffective - due largely to how they were introduced and established in this film. I know I sound like a broken record in mentioning the plot structure, but it honestly is infectious in how it ruins or weakens various elements of the film throughout. While the landscapes and creature effects are great, there’s is a strong lack of calm, quiet moments to allow yourself to absorb them. The big moments don’t feel that big because it’s done all so quickly. They feel done and done, and it’s a shame because so much hard work is apparent in how they come off.

Meanwhile the sound and music is good. It is very much Star Wars, no doubt about it. I do enjoy hearing many of the old tunes from films before, but it is obvious in how much it tries to force you to become emotionally invested with its pandering. It’s a conflicting sensation. I’m both touched by it, but the pandering is so clear that I’m either bored or tired from it. I feel as if I’m peering behind the curtains and seeing all the magic for what it is: cheap trickery.

The technical stuff is great, but it leaves little of an impact on me.

THE GOOD STUFF:

As is with all my reviews, if I lean heavily into one end I have to try and bring up stuff to counter it out of fairness. I’ve complained a lot about this film, so here’s some good stuff:

The Death Star, while pandering, was an interesting locale to visit in its destroyed state.

Rey is much improved, and I like how she went with Finn and Poe.

There’s some good funny moments, but there’s also a lot of MCU humor that puts the film to a halt more so now than previous.

Combat and action pieces are great, with little issue outside plot structure affecting it.

It’s a much more colorful film, more so than even Last Jedi.

So many interesting and new designs. I almost want an art book of the Trilogy.

And that’s about it.

CONCLUSION:

Comparatively, this film is worse than Last Jedi. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say this is the absolute worst film ever, or that it has ruined the franchise, it is nevertheless a weak movie whose greatest mistake is trying to be two films at once. It lacks an identity to call its own, and it misuses its characters that would’ve otherwise been a lot stronger if given the chance.

I’m not mad at this movie, for that is far too strong an emotion for what it’s worth. Overall I’m disappointed in it, in as a film, a sequel, and a conclusion. Is it the worst of the franchise? Hard to really say. It isn’t the absolute worst movie as some would say, but it is an incredibly weak and messy film that tries to play fast and loose with a safe plot. It’s nowhere near enough to kill the franchise, not but a long shot. However I feel this should send a message to Disney about the importance of knowing how to structure their story, and to try and invent new ideas that actually works with the universe its set in. It’s a shame that a TV series like Mandalore has done so much more to get me emotionally invested than these films have.

I can’t recommend this movie. Not necessarily because it is bad, but because it’s a weak and uneventful film that is better seen as a rental or on your television/monitor. I can’t stress enough how down the middle and nothing I feel for this film. Again, I am not mad - just very disappointed. In trying to undo Last Jedi, Abrams has also delivered a weak film that can barely stand on its own. It wastes so much potential it could've had, all for the sake of nostalgic pandering.

It's almost a fitting end to this Disney Era trilogy: a mess that tries to play fast and safe, while trying to copy what came before it.