#good question!! but the film also returns finn to the character he should have been at the start of his arc when he gave up being a storm

[clarasghosts]

it's still wild to me that rian johnson created a thoughtful film about who really profits from the wars in star wars, how you need to care about things bigger than just yourself and your friends, how you should be patient and listen, that you don't have to come from a 'special' family to really be someone, that the worst person you know isn't a theatrically large monster but a normal guy full of too much self-importance,

and people still act like he made a terrible film because it didn't cater to them, specifically

#you could say 'hey why did he place so much unnecessary emphasis on rey and kylo's relationship when that wasn't in the first film?' #good question!! but he also said that kylo actively chooses to be awful and shut the door on a redemption arc for him #you could ask why he seemingly gave finn a smaller than deserved role #good question!! but the film also returns finn to the character he should have been at the start of his arc when he gave up being a storm #trooper because it was wrong and the bigger picture being important #finn at the end of the last jedi is a far more complex and interesting character than he is in rise of skywalker and that still depresses me

[carewyncromwell]

Whew! Three drawings for the price of one for the POTC AU! The first two feature our new Pirate King Jules Farrier-Weasley @cursebreakerfarrier (flanked by Jacob “Black Jack” Cromwell Roberts and Orion Amari), and Cutler Beckett (flanked by Carewyn Cromwell “Carey Weasley” and Patricia Rakepick). The last one features the human form of our Davy Jones, Finn McGarry @theguythatdraws, with his One True Love Chiara Dalma, A.K.A. Calypso! These took a while, but they were fun to do, so I hope you like them.

Jules’s “tunic” is actually the same chemise she cut up while she was still on board the Artemis, as seen in a doodle on a previous post. Carewyn’s new uniform (which we’ll address in this part) is based on yet another of James Norrington’s costumes, this time the one he wears in the third Pirates film. Unlike the character whose role she roughly fills, though, Carey isn’t going to die unceremoniously in the middle of the damn story after getting this costume change. (Why no, I’m not bitter about the fact that Jack Davenport didn’t get more screentime and that Norrington didn’t get to be the Javert to Captain Jack Sparrow’s Valjean in the sequels the way he so could’ve been after the first movie, why would you think that? *snort*)

Now that we’re getting more into the Davy Jones/Calypso stuff, I can acknowledge how much I’ve changed from the original films’ depictions of the characters, as well as why. Personally I find the characters’ relationship to be a bit toxic and not as romantic as it should be. Calypso, being a goddess, could very easily not understand things like the passage of time through a man’s eyes, but the excuse she gives for why she wasn’t there to support her lover after all of the hard and lonely work he’d put in for her after ten years is just “it’s who I am.” I get that she’s a manifestation of the sea and not something you can pin down and all that jazz, but at the same time, it was cruel to follow her own selfish whims over considering her lover’s feelings. She presumably then also didn’t even try following up with Jones after he returned to the sea, as they aren’t able to sort out that misunderstanding before the events of At World’s End. (I mean, she’s a shape-shifting goddess of the sea, and she made him that way in the first place, so it’s not like she couldn’t have met him somewhere that wasn’t dry land.) I understand Jones couldn’t expect her to change her nature, and that’s fair, but it doesn’t make me like Calypso very much or feel much of anything for her relationship with Jones. And on the flip side, Jones decides to take out his pain at this misunderstanding (which he really should’ve tried clearing up AGES before the events of At World’s End) on his lover in the most spiteful, vindictive way -- teaching a bunch of pirates how to trap an immortal goddess into a mortal body that definitely has none of the power innate to her, presumably feels pain, and could even age or die. Rather than trying to quit the job Calypso gave him or even trying to figure out what happened, he decides to clip the wings of the woman he supposedly loves, all due to his own pain at being betrayed. So I don’t feel much for Jones as a character and for his relationship with Calypso either. In the end, when they quasi-make up, I didn’t think it was earned or that it was a good outcome for either of them. I do think there’s some tragedy in the situation, for they clearly feel deeply for each other, but their romance is really dysfunctional in my opinion, and I think it could’ve been handled a lot better if you wanted to make the pairing as romantic as the theme Hans Zimmer wrote for it. (As a side, take a listen to this lovely lyric cover someone wrote for the Davy Jones theme, it’s so good!) This is part of why I like being able to write Chia and Finn (the Calypso and Jones analogues in this AU) with a more sympathetic backstory, as well as some organic development for both them and their relationship while they’re apart from each other, which I kind of think was lacking in Tia Dalma/Calypso in particular.

Previous part is here, whole tag is here, and I hope you all enjoy!

x~x~x~x

Carewyn was perturbed by how fast an armada of ships from Port Royal caught up with the Flying Dutchman, once Rakepick had Jones send one of his cursed crew members with a message for Beckett. It was as though the head of the East India Trading Company had been waiting in eager anticipation of the Dutchman locating Shipwreck Cove ever since he gave her and Rakepick the mission in the first place.

Among the armada was the Clearwater, and Carewyn was shocked and a little happy to see Percy crossing over to the Dutchman from his ship and leaping off the gangplank to greet her. The youngest of the three Weasley brothers who’d joined the Navy gave her a salute for formalities’ sake, but he couldn’t keep the relieved smile off his face.

“Commodore Weasley,” he said formally.

“Captain Weasley,” said Carewyn in return.

As soon as they’d greeted each other, both of them loosened considerably. Carewyn opened her arms and brought Percy into a rather mannish hug, clapping his back the way Bill often did whenever he hugged his brothers.

“Jones’s men treated you well, I hope?” Percy murmured under his breath, his voice betraying some cold suspicion despite himself.

“Well enough,” Carewyn said softly.

When they broke apart, Percy was smiling a bit more fully. 

“It is good to see you, Carey,” he said, his faintly pompous voice nonetheless incredibly sincere, “though I’m afraid I’ll have my own ship to run now...”

Carewyn smiled proudly. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. A Commodore needs a talented Captain in his fleet.”

‘I know how long you’ve dreamed of moving up the ranks. Even if the Navy isn’t what it should be...I’m glad that you’re living your dream, Percy.’

Percy’s brown eyes softened, clearly touched. Before he could say anything, however, a familiar, aloof voice interrupted him.

"A Commodore does indeed need a talented Captain...”

Both Weasleys turned to Cutler Beckett as he stepped down onto the deck of the Dutchman beside them. His small eyes were locked firmly on Carewyn.

“...as does the Admiral of the fleet.”

He materialized a folded letter and held it out to Carewyn. Her eyebrows furrowed as she opened it, before her eyes widened upon its contents and the royal wax seal at the bottom.

“I’d already had this prepared ahead of time, prior to your departure from Port Royal,” said Beckett with a cool smile. “I wrote to the King of how impressed I was with your dedication, ingenuity, and talents, and he was most pleased. When I requested you to be at the head of my fleet for this upcoming venture, he agreed immediately. Upon receiving Madam Rakepick’s letter about you initiating the search for the Tower Raven’s old fleet and using one of their own ships to guide us to our target...I knew that my faith had been more than warranted.”

His eyes narrowed slightly over his cold, satisfied smile.

“Congratulations...Admiral Carey Weasley.”

The “honor” the King had bestowed upon her, if one could call it that, made Carewyn feel ill for multiple reasons. Not only did she truly not, NOT want to fight the Pirate Lords and whatever ships they gathered together, but she knew that she had largely gotten the position thanks to the effort of Rakepick -- who had for whatever reason credited Carewyn for following the Phoenix rather than taking credit herself -- and Beckett -- who Carewyn didn’t trust as far as she could throw him, but couldn’t figure out why exactly he had so much “faith” in her. Was she truly that good of an actress to completely fool him? She wanted to think so -- and yet the way he looked at her, not unlike how Rakepick looked at her, spoke of him knowing something she didn’t. Sadly Percy, even if he had seemed legitimately troubled by the hangings in Port Royal, was not distrustful enough of Beckett to express anything but pride in Carewyn’s accomplishment, so Carewyn couldn’t talk to him or anyone else about her suspicions.

When she confronted Rakepick about what she wrote to Beckett, the older woman’s response was oddly coy.

“I already told you you don’t belong on this ship,” she said, her dark blue eyes locked firmly onto Carewyn’s with a murky emotion she couldn’t quite identify. “Now that you’re Admiral, you’ll have more power to command your own ship, overlooking the Dutchman as well as the rest of the fleet.”

Carewyn’s eyes narrowed. “So you wrote that so I’d get off the Dutchman?”

Rakepick’s eyes narrowed slightly too, becoming more solemn. “You heard Lord Beckett -- he’d already planned this for you in advance. Although my reasons are different from his, I’m more than willing to play along with his whims, if it means I get what I want.”

“And what is it you want, Rakepick?”

Rakepick’s red lips curled up into a cool smirk. “Now, Admiral...one can hardly expect a lady to answer such a personal question.”

Not long after confronting Rakepick, Beckett summoned Carewyn to his cabin on his flagship, a Man O’ War called the HMS Lion. Unlike any of their previous meetings in his office, Carewyn found the cabin completely empty except for Beckett when she arrived -- in the past, Percy or Rakepick had been there too, as well as one or two employees of the East India Trading Company. It gave her the feeling that Beckett wanted this meeting to be more private than the others, which gave her a terrible sense of foreboding.

“You wished to see me, Lord Beckett?” she asked, once she’d finished saluting him.

“Yes,” said Beckett.

He was sitting behind his desk, which once again had a map laid out with different model soldiers and ships littered all over it. There were also seven Piece of Eight coins lined up in a neat little row -- he was once again playing with the eighth, rolling it along his fingers lackadaisically.

“Word has come from Shipwreck Cove, from the so-called ‘Pirate King,’“ he said, his eyes on the coin in his hand. “She wishes to rendez-vous on a tiny island on the far side of Shipwreck Island at sunset tonight, a ways away from the Cove. No weapons -- just talking.”

Beckett’s eyes flickered up to Carewyn’s face almost critically.

“...The Pirate King...signed her name as ‘Captain Jules Weasley’ -- so she’d be an old flame of yours, would she not?”

Carewyn stiffened slightly. ‘Jules is the Pirate King?’

She covered up her surprise quickly, her blue eyes narrowing.

“Miss Farrier -- pardon, Mrs. William Weasley -- never commanded any affection from me. Although her father bid she court me, her feelings were always for my brother -- so much so that she followed him into piracy.”

Beckett’s lips spread into a cold smile. “Then it’s as I surmised. Governor Farrier expressed frustration that his daughter had not managed to ensnare your heart, as opposed to your older brother’s -- especially considering how much she seemed to enjoy your company...”

Carewyn could not figure out what Beckett was trying to suss out from this conversation and it troubled her greatly -- so she put on her best, coldest expression and lied through her teeth.

“Whatever woman I respected in the past is dead, now that she’s an enemy of the Crown,” she said harshly. “I know no ‘Captain Jules Weasley’...nor do I wish to.”

Beckett’s smile did not shift in the slightest. If anything, his small, dark eyes flickered in something almost like triumph.

“I understand your sensitivity to the matter. You truly do love with all of your heart, don’t you, Admiral Weasley?”

Carewyn’s eyebrows knit tightly over her eyes in confusion, but she did not reply. Beckett put the Piece of Eight coin down in the row on his deck and rose from his chair, moving over to the decanter of red wine on the side table so he could pour a glass.

“I saw you with Captain Weasley, before you left Port Royal -- and of course, your reunion on-board the Dutchman, earlier today. I also heard quite a few interesting rumors circulated among our prisoners from Tortuga, speaking of your honor and the respect you showed them despite their criminal status...even moving a woman into a cell with her husband without being asked, if I’m not mistaken...”

His voice was very aloof and was tinged with a bizarre fascination, like an entomologist might have for a rare butterfly he’d pinned to his wall. Carewyn felt like her heart was being squeezed, but she dare not say anything.

Beckett finished pouring out two glasses of wine and put down the decanter so he could pick up both glasses.

“It’s not something I’m familiar with, that kind of concern for others.”

He offered the glass of red wine to Carewyn, his eyes boring into her face. Carewyn kept her face as blank as she could even though she could feel the blood leaving it as she took the glass of wine from him, but did not drink it.

“...I did not mean to displease you, Lord Beckett,” she said lowly.

Beckett’s eyes flickered again with that strange satisfaction as he took a sip from his glass of wine.

“On the contrary -- it’s only appropriate, for a woman to have a gentle heart.”

Carewyn stiffened sharply.

‘No. No, no, no -- !’

It was one thing for Rakepick to find out, but Beckett to know -- did Rakepick tell him? No, she said she wasn’t really doing any of this for Beckett -- should she deny it, Carewyn wondered? But if she did, and he caught her in a lie, could that make it worse -- ? 

Her hesitation made Beckett’s eyes gleam with greater satisfaction than ever.

“Then I was right,” he murmured. “I admit, I wasn’t sure. True, your voice is higher than one normally hears and you’re smaller than most, but I know first hand that means nothing. And your military record...had it not been for me having met and employed Patricia Rakepick previously, I would never have believed a woman could be so skilled in battle and strategy, nor so aggressive. But when Captain Weasley expressed such interest in me having hired a woman, and even went out of his way to bring it up to you...my interest was peaked. All the more so when I found out how truly useful you are, as an officer.”

Carewyn felt like she was drowning in horrifying, icy cold water. Beckett knew she was a woman -- he knew she was a woman, and could tell anyone about it, if he so chose. She’d not only lose her position -- the one thing that she had left that she could use to protect Jacob, Orion, Bill, Charlie, and Jules...but she’d be cast out in disgrace, leaving her with nothing -- possibly taking Percy along with her for having kept her true gender a secret --

Her blue eyes had drifted down to the floor absently, but were not focusing on anything.

Yet...Beckett had said nothing of his suspicions to anyone. True, he hadn’t known for sure...but why would he recommend her to the King as an Admiral, if he’d suspected?

And then it hit her.

She bowed her head, casting her eyes into shadow as she put down her untouched wine glass on the side table.

“...What do you want from me, Lord Beckett?”

Beckett raised his eyebrows but did not respond.

“You very easily could’ve gotten both Percy and me cast out of the Navy in disgrace,” she said, keeping her voice low in an attempt to try to keep it steady, “yet you’ve kept me and even helped get me promoted, presumably because I’m so ‘useful.’ What use do I have, for you?”

Beckett gave her something of a patronizing smile as he stepped forward, coming up right in front of Carewyn so that his chin rested just shy of her shoulder and he could look at her face out the side of his eye.

“Isn’t it obvious? You are an excellent Naval officer -- a leader and inspiration to those who serve under you. You’re world-renown for your honor, your courage -- your passion. You prompt people to fight with you -- for you -- with a loyalty that even the King of England himself cannot boast. Were you a man, you would be someone I’d be very threatened by, indeed. But since you are a woman...I can appeal to your heart.”

Carewyn could feel his breath sliding past her ear and she couldn’t help but cringe. She stubbornly refused to look him in the eye, keeping her gaze firmly on the floor.

“I’m afraid my disinterest in the once-Miss Farrier was not a one-off thing, Lord Beckett,” she said very dryly. “Romance is not something I think about very regularly.”

Orion’s face rippled over her mind, making her heart ache. Oh, if he were there, in that room -- the thought of him seeing her letting herself get pushed around by the man who’d branded him and sent the Navy after him for piracy...it made her feel ill.

Beckett’s lips curled up in a slightly tighter, almost miffed smile as he pulled away just enough that he was facing the wall behind her rather than looking at her face.

“...Oh...no, Admiral...you misunderstand me. I know I own no part of your heart...but Captain Weasley, he most assuredly does.”

Carewyn’s head shot up so she could look at him, her expression stricken despite herself.

“Your younger brother is not nearly as useful as you, but he has shown great dedication to me, since I threw him a bone and ensured his promotion. It’s a loyalty I hope that you will likewise show me...especially considering that both you and he have been given access to information that few others have been...and that I would do just about anything to ensure doesn’t become common knowledge...”

Carewyn stared at Beckett, her shock giving way to cold hatred. 

“So that’s it,” she murmured. “You’ll hold Percy’s and my lives and livelihoods over our heads, to make sure that I don’t surpass you, somehow. How I don’t know, considering that the Navy is not part of the East India Trading Company, nor shall it ever be, but clearly you feel loyalty is something to threaten out of people, rather than earn -- ”

“The only thing one can really earn in this world, Admiral, is money, and therefore power,” Beckett cut her off sharply, “and I have no intention of losing either, now that I’ve earned both of which I’m owed!”

He turned to look Carewyn straight-on in the eye, their faces mere inches apart. Gone was any hint of attempt at gentlemanly poise -- there was a hard edge to his gaze, not unlike the way he’d looked at Jones, but because he was actually an inch or so taller than Carewyn, he seemed to relish the power he had looking down at her both literally and figuratively.

“You will use your talents to serve my interests,” he said under his breath, “and I, in return, will continue to reward you and your brother, by ensuring that your careers and lives flourish under me. It’s just good business.”

At sundown, Beckett and Jules met at the tiny island agreed upon. Jules strolled down the long, narrow beach toward the shoreline where they were to meet, Jacob on one side of her and Orion on the other. She’d originally wanted Bill with her, but McNully was able to persuade her that she’d look that bit more intimidating to Beckett if she arrived in the company of two of the most wanted pirate captains in the world, and even Bill had to agree. Jules was determined to stand between Jacob and Orion, though, considering that there was still a lot of tension between them.

Jules had been furious with Jacob, when she’d learned about the deal he’d struck with Davy Jones. Even if he’d originally planned to give Jones “a Cromwell” as in Charles or Blaise Cromwell -- two objectively bad people who had been largely responsible for Carewyn and Jacob’s abusive, unloving childhoods -- Jules was also confident in thinking that Carewyn would be horrified, knowing that Jacob was willing to enslave another person to Davy Jones, just to find her. Jacob refused to feel guilty for that, but he clearly was destroyed by the knowledge that his choice had put Carewyn in so much danger. It was apparent from the way he talked about it and the way his hands and shoulders shook with silent sobs that Jacob would’ve sacrificed himself a hundred times over, if it would guarantee Carewyn wouldn’t be harmed.

Orion, by contrast, hadn’t said a word since Jacob told them what was going on. Throughout the entire conversation, he’d had his hands clasped tightly in front of him and kept his gaze downcast, even taking time to close his eyes for long periods of time as if he were meditating. Despite his silence and his detached affect, his usually stoic expression and unsteady breathing betrayed genuine anxiety. At one point, Bill brought a hand onto Orion’s shoulder to try to comfort him, and Orion actually subconsciously smacked his hand away.

“I’m sorry,” said the Captain quickly, his voice very hushed and tense as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose. “Just...please, don’t touch me.”

Bill, Charlie, and Jules all thought they could guess how Orion was feeling. Although the others had forcefully shot down the idea that Orion was the least bit responsible since he couldn’t have known the consequences of calling Carewyn by her real name, their words had done little to soften the Pirate Lord’s brow. If Orion’s past behavior hadn’t been indicative of how deeply he felt for Carewyn, then the way he clasped anxiously at his own hands and shut himself off from everyone else at the thought of her being doomed to spend the rest of her life trapped on board the Flying Dutchman made it crystal clear.

“Orion’s always valued his own freedom more than any kind of loot,” McNully murmured to the three Weasleys under her breath, “more than anything, really. And if he cares about the Commodore so much...”

“...He probably couldn’t bear it, if she lost hers,” finished Charlie, bowing his head and closing his eyes as they welled up with pain and righteous anger.

As Jules, Jacob, and Orion approached the shore, they caught sight of three people standing in the distance. The man in the middle dressed in black Orion identified as Cutler Beckett. On his left was an older woman as tall as Orion with hair as ginger red as Bill and Charlie’s that Jacob immediately recognized as Rakepick...and on his right was Carewyn, dressed in a new yellow-trimmed navy blue uniform and a black tricorn hat.

The three pirates stopped five feet away from the Head of the East India Trading Company and his two female companions, a notable sting of tension prickling at the air. Jules tried hard to keep her focus on Beckett, but her eyes were drawn to Carewyn despite herself. Although her friend faced Orion -- the person directly in front of her -- with a hard, stoic expression, she looked so pale. When Jules glanced over, she noticed out the side of her eye that Orion’s unreadable gaze was also locked on Carewyn, even as he took deep breaths through his nose and his hands clenched absently at his sides.

“Well, well,” said Beckett, his eyes narrowing darkly upon Orion’s face, “if it isn’t my old friend, Orion Amari.”

Orion glanced at Beckett out the side of his eye without turning his face away from Carewyn’s. Although his face remained rather calm, there was a faint edge to his soft-spoken response.

“...I did not think you were ever much in the market for friendship, Cutler Beckett...considering it’s something you cannot buy.”

His gaze returned to Carewyn. Beckett glanced from Carewyn to Orion, his lips curling up in a very cold smile.

“Ah, yes -- you and Amari are old friends also, aren’t you, Admiral Weasley?”

“Admiral?” repeated Orion, taken aback despite himself.

“Yes,” said Carewyn, and although her response was very cold, her eyes pulsed with emotion that she attempted to obscure by glancing to the side in Jacob’s direction rather than straight at Orion. “By order of the King, as a reward for my work alongside Lord Beckett.”

Jules could see Jacob’s jaw clench out the corner of her eye. She too felt like her heart was being squeezed. Carewyn no doubt hated her promotion with everything in her, if it was something she’d earned chasing after them on Beckett’s orders. Still...Jules couldn’t express that flat-out, so she put on the strongest expression she could.

“...I suppose congratulations are in order, then.” 

Carewyn flashed Jules a look. “I don’t want congratulations from you, Mrs. Weasley. Or should I call you ‘Your Majesty,’ now that you’ve started playacting as a royal?”

Jules’s lips came together tightly when she saw how broadly Beckett smirked. The small man’s reaction seemed to piss off Jacob too.

“You will show proper respect to the Pirate King,” he said with a fierce look at the Head of the East India Trading Company.

“Respect,” scorned Rakepick. “Is that a word you can even define, Black Jack?”

“As well as I could wring your neck, if I were allowed,” spat Jacob.

“I’m surprised your ‘Pirate King’ would want a man in her company who’s so comfortable threatening a lady’s life,” said Carewyn sharply.

‘Don’t start a fight with her,’ she thought desperately, praying that Jacob would be able to sense her intent even with the act she had to play. 

Unfortunately Jacob, as smart as he was, was never the best at reading people’s emotions -- and so when his narrowed eyes shot to Carewyn, she could see a flicker of pain. She surmised that even if he clearly didn’t think she believed what she was saying, it hurt him beyond reason, to see her having to defend the woman who’d tried to kill him.

Orion, however, very quickly adapted to the new method of “conversation,” fixing Carewyn with a calm, but piercing gaze.

“And I’m surprised that a honorable officer such as yourself would be so comfortable in the company of those with no honor whatsoever,” he said.

‘You’re in danger,’ Carewyn surmised he was trying to say. Her eyes narrowed upon Orion’s face.

“I beg your pardon?” she retorted. “I fail to see how a pirate has any leg to stand on, speaking of honor.” ‘What are you trying to tell me?’

“Even I have more honor than a captain who would burn an entire settlement to the ground,” murmured Orion. ‘Davy Jones.’

“Jones follows orders, as do we all...something else a pirate wouldn’t understand.” ‘What about Jones?’

"Orders...from Cutler Beckett, or from you? From what I’ve heard, you were on the Flying Dutchman yourself -- hardly a place one would expect to find Port Royal’s greatest hero.” ‘You must get away from Davy Jones. Get off of the Flying Dutchman.’

Carewyn’s blue eyes narrowed a bit more. First Rakepick wanted her off the Dutchman, and now Orion? Yes, Davy Jones was dangerous, but at present she found him much less of a threat than Beckett...

“A true hero knows that his reputation comes second to the good of the others,” she said very softly. “As does a loyal officer.” ‘I can’t leave.’

Something in Orion’s dark eyes flinched.

“Your older brother will be very disappointed, to know you’ve sold your loyalty so cheaply,” he said just as softly.

Carewyn felt her heart clench. She knew he didn’t mean Bill -- and yet the thought of both her surrogate brothers and Jacob was a silent knife to her back. She didn’t dare look at Jacob for fear her strong facade would crack, so she kept her focus solidly on Orion.

“I would think given your own history with Lord Beckett, you’d know full well how valuable of an ally he is, ” she shot back quickly, feigning temper as best she could, “and how dangerous of an enemy, as well. Both I and the brother who chose to follow the law rather than spit in its face are certainly glad for his aid, in ending your reign of terror.”

‘I can’t leave, not with what Beckett has over me and Percy. And if I do leave, then you’ll be in more danger than ever...’

Her eyes bore into Orion’s fiercely as she begged beyond reason he’d understand.

“...You may tell William...that I am no Bedlam maid in need of saving.”

‘You can’t help me. I love you.’

Deep in the depths of his sparkling black eyes, Carewyn could see a flicker of desperation, almost like anxiety. Afraid that Beckett might notice the crack in Orion’s expression, or in her own at the sight of it, she quickly whirled on Jules.

“He is the one who should stand down,” she said, her voice hardening further in an attempt to obscure her emotions. “All of you should, unless you wish to face down an entire armada.”

‘There are 34 Man O’ Wars waiting out there for you,’ she hoped Jules would be able to discern. Even if she didn’t know an armada had that many ships, Jacob and Orion would.

Jules, to her credit, matched Carewyn’s act with her own cold gaze. “Don’t underestimate us, Admiral Weasley. Both the British Navy and the East India Trading Company have done that consistently from the beginning.”

“And now we have come to the end,” said Beckett smoothly. “Of you and the rest of your Brethren.”

The others all turned to look at him. He flashed Orion a look better suited to a cockroach before redirecting his gaze onto Jules.

“Tell your Court this,” he said in an aloof, condescending voice. “You can fight, and all of you will die...or you can stand down, in which case only most of you will die. I daresay the Governor could be persuaded to spare you from the gallows, if you threw yourself on his mercy...and if I were to be merciful enough to leave out your new position, in my correspondence with the King...”

Jules’s dark eyes flashed with hatred as she strode forward, coming to a stop two feet from Beckett so she could glare right into his face.

“There are few things I can tolerate less than cowards who resort to blackmail just to make themselves feel powerful.”

She didn’t look at Carewyn, but Carewyn could sense Jules was thinking of her, as she said this.

“We will fight. And you’d best hope that we will show more mercy than you would, in our place.”

The Pirate King turned on her heel and walked away. With some reluctance, Orion and then Jacob turned away and strode quickly after her, leaving the other three alone on the shore.

“So be it,” said Beckett with a cold smile.

Carewyn couldn’t look at Rakepick or Beckett at her side. Her gaze was solidly locked on the departing backs of her brother, friend, and love as they began to shrink into the distance.

She’d never been very good at relying on or having faith in others...but in that moment, more than anything, she knew all she could do now was put her trust in Orion -- in Jules -- in Jacob -- in Bill and Charlie and all of the other pirates on Shipwreck Cove.

‘Please...please, be careful. Please be safe.’

In that moment of helplessness, she felt her heart ache all the more, watching Orion walk away. She closed her eyes, trying to bring back the memory of him standing shoulder to shoulder with her on the Artemis -- of him lying in bed as she tended to him, when they were young -- but it was no use. The graveness of the situation was too dire even for escapism...

Carewyn clutched her own arms behind her back. They suddenly felt so much heavier...as if there really were manacles there she couldn’t hope to break.

‘...Please...please live.’

On the opposite side of the island, both Jules and Jacob noticed the silent tears that had streaked down Orion’s face...but none had the heart to address it as they boarded the jollyboat that would take them back to the Artemis and to Shipwreck Cove.

At the same time that the pirates and the leaders of the British Navy were meeting, Davy Jones had been left behind on the Flying Dutchman with Percy supervising the troops. Beckett thought that Jones was threatened into line by how many soldiers were still guarding his heart, but thanks to Carewyn, Jones knew that Rakepick had stolen and relocated it. Now that he didn’t know where his heart was at all, he knew he couldn’t afford to move until he’d found it again -- and with Carewyn likely leaving the Dutchman with her new position as Admiral, it was likely it’d take a while before she could smuggle him any more information she might acquire about that. For the moment, though, Jones had put that concern on the back burner, for the Dutchman’s arrival near Shipwreck Cove gave him the opportunity to catch up with the Phoenix.

As luck would have it, when Jones phased through the Dutchman and onto the Phoenix, the ship was largely abandoned, since the crew had all gone ashore to Shipwreck Cove. The only person remaining was a small woman with long white hair, looking out to sea over the deck. In her hand was a pretty silver locket in the shape of a moon, the lid of which was cracked open so that a sweet, tinkling music box melody played.

Chia Dalma closed the locket half-way through the song, her eyes closing sadly as she clasped the locket close to her chest. She straightened up in shock, however, when she suddenly heard the rest of the tune echoing from behind her. She whirled around, to be faced with a giant, hulking shadow with writhing tentacles sprouting out from his jaw, holding an identical locket in his claw. Anyone would’ve been terrified at the sight -- but Chia looked upon the figure with tears in her eyes.

“Finn,” she breathed. Her lips were curled up in a weak smile, just as they had been before, but the joy was stained with so many other emotions -- grief, shame, and regret.

Davy Jones regarded Chia critically as he took several plodding steps toward her. “You know I haven’t been called that name in years.”

Chia bowed her head. “Nor have I been called my true name in years.”

Jones tilted his head, trying to read her expression better now she was looking away from him.

“I had not expected to find you like this,” he said very lowly. “You’ve never taken on such a small shape before.”

Chia’s eyes flashed with righteous anger as she raised her head. “That’s because this form is one I did not choose to take. It was thrust upon me by the Brethren Court.”

Jones straightened up slightly. His eyes narrowed to slits.

“...Then they did not kill or trap you. They transformed you.”

His voice was as low and growling as thunder. Chia clutched at the sides of her arms with her hands, her gaze smouldering with resentment as she glared down at the deck.

“Oh, but they did trap me,” she said bitterly, “trapped me in this single form, which can’t do even half of what I should be able to. I’ve been able to use what power I have to slow down the aging process, but this body still feels pain. This body still feels strain, and weakness, and hunger, and exhaustion, and longing...”

Something rippled over her eyes -- something more ashamed and pained.

“...I never knew...how much time truly weighs on a human,” she murmured.

Jones’s expression grew much more grim. “An immortal such as yourself should never have had to learn that.”

“Should never have had to, yes...but...”

She looked up at Jones, her gray eyes pulsing with strength despite the pain rippling within.

“...why did you not tell me, how long ten years felt for you? I have felt those ten years several times over, trapped in this tiny, fragile, helpless body every single moment -- and it’s...it’s been torture. To know you took the job I gave you -- only coming ashore once every ten years, so you could help me with the burden of tending to the dead at sea -- when ten years feels like that, to you -- ”

Chia’s eyes flooded with tears.

“I gave you the position of ferryman because I wanted to spare you from death,” she whispered. “Because if I didn’t give you that role and give you some of my power, you would’ve died. I’d never thought that those ten years would feel so long -- drain you so much...”

Jones was quiet for a long moment. Then he brought up his claw to brush her bangs from her eye.

“It’s only natural that you saw things the way an immortal would. Time is no object to you -- ten years no doubt felt like a small price to pay, in the face of your life span. And...”

His eyes became a bit smaller.

“...it’s not exactly like I wanted to die and be separated from you either. Even though part of me always doubted you’d be there waiting for me, when I returned...even though I resented you for years because you weren’t there...”

A ghost of a smile flickered over his features.

“...I know I shouldn’t have expected you to see things as I have -- to change yourself to suit me. If you did...you wouldn’t be the goddess I fell in love with, would you?”

Chia smiled up at Jones, her eyes shining with tenderness.

“I tried to make it back to you,” she murmured. “When the Court transformed me, I tried so hard to get there, to reach you...”

She extended her hands, tentatively trailing them along his tentacled face. Jones seemed to tremble at her touch.

“I know of the danger you’re in, Finn,” said Chia seriously. “As long as Cutler Beckett has your heart, I know you’re beholden to him. But I have allies among this newest Brethren Court. If they convince the others to break my chains, as I’ve foreseen they will...then as soon as I am free, I will come for you. I will make sure you and I are never separated again...and I will make sure your captors suffer the consequences, for hurting the man I love.”

As her small white hands held his face, Jones’s face and frame suddenly began to morph. In an instant, the slimy texture, the tentacles clinging to his face, and his claw all vanished -- and there stood the tall, handsome pirate she’d fallen in love with so long ago.

Finn McGarry’s face broke out into a broken, soft smile. He stretched out his hand, caressing his love’s human cheek with more gentleness than his claw ever could have.

“Calypso...” he murmured.

Chia’s face broke out into a full smile as well. She knew she couldn’t permanently remove the fishy transformation, as it was something that had mutated Jones over the many years they’d been apart, due to his heartbreak and grief...but seeing him looking so much like his old self after so long...it made her currently human heart swell with love.

“Just as you gave me your heart, when you became captain of the Flying Dutchman,” she murmured, “so too will you always have mine.”

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #potc au #au #pirates of the caribbean #carewyn cromwell #patricia rakepick #jacob #jacob cromwell #orion amari #chiara lobosca #percy weasley #jules farrier #finn mcgarry #other people's mcs #my art #my writing #these drawings and especially the writing took longer than I expected #oh orion you and carey truly do think alike!! you're both so good at reading people and adapting to them!! #why can't you be together the way you should?? DX #look at finn and chia! they're perfectly adorable! #don't you guys wanna be adorable too?? #also yes beckett is a complete arsehole #I see him LOVING the fact that he has a new 'pet' who can bite into orion for him #i see beckett harboring a similar kind of resentment for orion as he did for jack in the original films #even if orion was much younger when he became a pirate I see beckett being that little bit younger too #and more importantly orion as an adult ended up being even more of a thorn in beckett's side #all thanks to beckett effectively robbing orion of the freedom to do anything else with his life but be a pirate #don't get me wrong orion's adapted well to being a pirate but you do lose some freedom being branded that way too #the freedom needed to return to port royal and go searching for this girl you once knew without being arrested for example :<

[laufire]

The 100 for the in depth fandom questions (of course!)

Top 5 favourite characters: Murphy, Echo, Raven, Emori, and Octavia. The order has varied but the members have been constant since 5x02.

Other characters you like: Indra, ALIE, Becca, Josephine, Jaha, Diyoza, Hope, Anya, Gaia, Lincoln, Harper, Monty... a lot.

Least favourite characters: Bellamy, Kane, Lexa (she bored me). Clarke and I are in a weird place xDD

Otps: Memori, Biyoza, Clarke/Josephine, Indra/Sheidheda, Echoven. Followed by an army of rareships.

Notps: Clarke/Raven, Bellamy/anybody, Clarke/almost anybody.

Favourite friendships: the remaining Spacefam aka snowkru, the og s5 spacefam, Echo’s infiltration team(s), Murven & Memoraven, Murphy & Monty.

Favourite family: Diyoza-Blake clan. They hypenate.

Favourite episodes: 2x12 (Memori’s 1st meeting), 1x10 (I watched it ONCE when it aired and I still remember it so vividly...), 3x02 (Memori stuff!), 3x10 (ALIE VS RAVEN), 3x11 (again), 4x08 (take a guess), 4x12-3 (they made me return to the show c’mon), 5x02, 5x06, 5x09, 5x10-13 really. 6x08. The episode number gets blurry in my head with s7 but I enjoyed the Echo-Diyozas-Blake episode, the Echoven episode, and the finale for the hilarity factor + the opposite feeling of buyers remorse it gave me.

Favourite season/book/movie: s5. Followed by s3 ‘cause a bitch loves an AI plot.

Favourite quotes: “love at first knife to throat” lives in me. Every uber romantic Memori quote does. Also every Blodreina quote.

Best musical moment: 3x01 sing-along scene. S2 had bored me so much and it felt like a breath of fresh air.

Moment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: everything Memori did in s5-7.

When it really disappointed you: Diyoza and Octavia should have kissed. ON THE MOUTH.

Saddest moment: Finn’s death and Raven’s reaction to it was gutting.

Most well done character death: Diyoza’s.

Favourite guest star: Josephine’s actress, she looked very pretty xD

Favourite cast member: for NON-SHALLOW REASONS, NONE WHATSOEVER- Luisa D’Oliveira.

Character you wish was still alive: Diyoza and Josephine should’ve been there on the beach for my shipping agendas.

One thing you hope really happens: n/a. But we all know Clarke will feel the need to escape to the woods, right? And there she’ll start hallucinating (or not...) Josephine........

Most shocking twist: can’t think of anything.

When did you start watching/reading?: I watched s1 as it aired, for the most part. Quit by a mix of boredom and annoyance at the show. Returned when I heard about How Dirty They Did Clarke in the s4 finale xDD

Best animal/creature: that giant alien whose butthole Clarke & co climbed through is the only one I can remember right now.......... oh thank fuck, Octavia’s poor horse xDD. Helios :((

Favourite location: Becca’s lab.

Trope you wish they would stop using: I don’t want to hear “I bear it so they don’t have to” ever again.

One thing this show/book/film does better than others: male lead swaps and controversial female characters.

Funniest moments: s5-7 Clarke was hilarious and peaked in the finale.

Couple you would like to see: Biyozaaaaaaaa.

Actor/Actress you want to join the cast: n/a.

Favourite outfit: Emori’s blue wardrobe owns me.

Favourite item: Raven’s raven necklace :’)

Do you own anything related to this show/book/film?: nooooope.

What house/team/group/friendship group/family/race etc would you be in?: beachkru is doing alright I guess, now that Clarke left for the woods.

Most boring plotline: s2. I KNOW it’s a fan favourite. Raven had some good scenes, Murphy’s plot was more engaging. But the central stuff/how Clarke-dominant it was? Zzzzzzzz.

Most laughably bad moment: Clarke’s “u want me to be the bad guy? Fine, I’ll be the bad guy”. Ma’am.......

Best flashback/flashfoward if any: the flashbacks in “His Sister’s Keeper” were something else.

Most layered character: Murphy. King shit given where he started xDD

Most one dimensional character: Levitt? But his one dimension is “horny for Octavia” so I’m not judging too hard.

Scariest moment: can’t think of anything.

Grossest moment: did I mention the alien butthole.

Best looking male: Lincoln is objectively pretty af but I’ve grown so fond of Murphy’s owlish face....... I like ‘em a bit weird and with big noses and sharp angles guys.

Best looking female: Emori, to absolutely nobody’s surprise.

Who you’re crushing on (if any): Emori, Echo, Diyoza, Indra (there’s always at least a MILF in my crushes list).

Favourite cast moment: Adina and JR slow dancing in character get up.

Favourite transportation: the spacefam dropship.

Most beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): Eden was very pretty. Also that shot of the Earth on fire with Braven watching over it *chef’s kiss*

Unanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you: again, I’m a pro at ignoring/explaining these so I rarely can think of anything lol.

Best promo: absent Bellamy in s7 promo. The way it drove the fandom wild, man. All the Bellamygates that were born of it... groundbreaking.

At what point did you fall in love with this show/book: the s4 finale is went it grabbed me to never let go.

#boomheda #replies #talking to the void #long post for ts #my thoughts #the 100 #t100 thoughts #thank you :D

[enchantingkittengaditor]

Deep Water | 03. August

Summary: With fame comes pain. A fact that Caitlyn knows all too well. But when she is the one thrust into the spotlight instead of one of her relatives or friends, she struggles to keep her head above water. Especially when her frenemy Harrison is destined to become her co-star in an animated version of her favourite book. She has to hide her family’s past. He has to hide his feelings and truth. They can’t trust anyone not even each other and if their secrets ever come out, they’ll end up in deep water. This Story follows the trials of the three Watson sisters as they battle to keep part of their past secret.

Warnings: Mentions of Violence, Slight mentions Torture and Swearing

Character Page          |          Masterlist

AUGUST 3rd:  Brenten

A phone was ringing on the stack of phones in the middle of the dining table.

“It’s Brenten’s,” Finn said in victory.

“So he pays?” Millie asked trying to get her head around the game we often played.

“Yup,” I said sadly, grabbing my phone, “Hello,” I answered.

“Hey, Brenten. I know that I’m on tour and everything but I may or may not be coming to Atlanta because I have a project and I wondered if you would be interested in doing dome of the drums for it?” I heard Alice’s voice come from the other end of the phone.

“Wha-Wh- Sure,” I answered. “New album?” I asked her.

“Yup and Cat said you’d be down for it. I can send you the sheet music. Maybe Finn wants to do guitar?” She said, I could hear the strained smile in her voice.

“Of course, Cat did,” I rolled my eyes at the thought, “I can ask Finn if you want me to,” I asked her.

“Yes please,” She said happily, “I’ve got to go, rehearsal and all that Jazz. I’ll email you the sheets, can you text me his answer?” She asked.

“I’ll ask him now for you,” I told her. “Hey, Finn! You wanna play guitar on Alice’s new project?” I asked him.

“Alice?” He questioned.

“Cat’s sister aka Taylor Swift, dude,” I told him again rolling my eyes.

“Sure, it’ll be fun,” He told me.

“He’s in,” I told her.

“Thanks,” She told me, “I’ll send you all the details. Cat says hi!” She hung up, probably getting back to dance practice or lunch with her sisters.

“The bill,” THe waiter said placing it down on the table.

“Brenten,” Finn said with a smug look on his face.

“Dork,” Cat said walking into the sound booth.

“Your sister said it was her project,” I whined.

“It is. I’m producing an album by Cat,” Alice said with a proud smile. “Plus if you two do a good job on hers you can do my next one.”

“So, my album is an experiment for you?” Cat asked her.

“Exactly little kitty cat,” Alice told her.

“What are the songs called?” I asked her, interrupting their sibling fight. “Any about Harry?”

“No,” She said not convincing enough.

“What are the songs, Caitlyn?” Finn asked.

“Pheonix, Thin Air, In the Dark, What you Love, and History,” Cat said.

“All sound like they could be about a certain brunette,” I teased.

“Can you please just play the notes and do the thing,” Cat asked us.

“Your sister is a grammy award winner and you call playing instruments notes and thing,” Finn asked her.

“I know what it’s called I’m just jetlagged from Oxford,” Cat told me.

“Shouldn’t Alice be in Kansas?” I asked her.

“Yes, I just came to set up everything and make sure you listen to her,” Alice said, smiling and waving goodbye to her sister.

“Why Atlanta?” I asked her.

“Oh, right, I’m filming something soon in New Orleans and decided that I could come here to do this, plus it’s easy for Alice to come and visit,” She smiled at me.

“At least it’s music,” I muttered to myself.

AUGUST 10th:  Jasmin

Home, sweet home. Well as sweet as a home with six siblings can be.

“JAS!” My little brother yelled as I dropped my bag on the wood flooring of the entrance to our house.

“Hey, where’s mom?” I asked her.

“Kitchen,” He said, suddenly losing interest in me.

“Hey mom,” I said giving her a peck on the cheek.

“How was America?” She asked as I sat on the barstool by the kitchen island.

“It was good. I just wish you could have come, you would’ve loved Alice’s Rhode Island house and comic con,” I told her.

“I wish I could’ve been there too. But with everything I couldn’t. Anything else happen?” She said handing me a cup of tea.

“Cat’s soulmark also happened to turn colour. She shot an entire TV show. Brenten’s doing his thing in Atlanta and Harry nearly killed me several times,” I told her. “I’m going to go up to my room and get some rest, Jet lag and everything.”

“When you wake up, there’s food in the fridge for you,” She said as I went up the stairs to my room.

My room was nice but I was busy messing around on my phone, listening to music and getting into PJs before I went onto Instagram. I forgot to post about comic con. Of course, I did. Should I go back and do a latergram or do I simply ignore it?

I scrolled through the endless photos of me and my friends having fun around San Diego and messing with people and each other. I found three photos that I thought looked decent to post and comment on before going for my nap.

My phone woke me up.

“Cat,” I mumbled rubbing my eyes.

“I need to talk to someone and the only other person near me is Harrison and I can’t talk to him about this,” She said quickly, panicking.

“What is it?” I asked her.

“Harrison kissed me and I didn’t hate it,” She whisper yelled over the phone as if she was worried about someone ever hearing her.

“Really?” I laughed. “Cat that’s not the end of the world. People kiss all of the time.”

“No, I blocked out the memory. Not recently but like two months ago and it may have happened again and I’m freaking out. I hate his guts and then in LA he touched my arm and it changed colour and now I’m really panicking,” She said, I could hear the tears in her voice.

“Where are you now?” I asked her.

“Atlanta, at a hotel, Harrison’s next-door other than that no one,” She told me.

“Ok, breath, do the sky thing. And watch a movie or go get Harrison. I know that you hate him but he can help you more than I can. Love you, but I can’t help over the phone at,” I checked the time on my phone, “5 am.”

“Thanks,” She said the panic still lingering in her voice.

AUGUST 11th:  Harrison

Knocking on the door woke me up from my sleep. Who the hell knocks that frantically at midnight? I got up, rubbing my eyes and stumbling to the door to see my blonde co-star having another panic attack.

“I’m kinda freaking out,” She said shaking her hands nervously. I habit that I’d noticed when she had her last panic attack.

I didn’t need to say come in, I just needed to move to the side to let her in for her to know it was alright. “Why are you freaking out this time?” I asked her.

“Anxiety Memories,” She told me, still hyperventilating as she paced around the room.

“What about?” I asked her, still half asleep.

“Everything seems to be crashing down around me and I got a text from mum and now I’m freaking out more than I usually do,” She said between heavy breathing. Still shaking her hands.

“What text did you get?” I asked her suddenly more awake than I had been previously.

“Dad’s getting out of  prison and the news found out and now I-” Her hands waving around too quickly, “-I don’t know what to do. Bea said he tried to contact her and I’m really,” Her hands were waving faster. I grabbed them in an attempt to calm her down. “I’m really freaked out.” By now tears were streaming down her face.

“Hey, breath. Sit down and breath,” I told her, leading her to the edge of the bed. “When your ready tell me about it.”

She just sat there for a few minutes calming her breath and sobbing into my chest. I could hear my phone going off with notifications from people telling me about what this panic attack was about.

“Dad got let out because of something, the press found out and since the whole we haven’t talked about him and they jumped to the conclusion that he’s dead. They’re coming after us,” She whispered.

“It’s alright. I-We’ll help you through this,” I told her rubbing her back. “We can all get through this together. I’ll support you no matter what. You may not like me, but the whole mark thing means I’ll always be here for you.”

“Thanks,” She murmured.

“Do you want to stay here tonight?” I asked her softly.

“Yes please,” She whispered to me.

“Alright,” I said moving up the bed so that we could actually lie down and started creating a pillow wall like the last time we had to share a bed.

“Is it OK if we don’t do that? I just need a hug, even if I hate your ass,” She said, a small sliver of her old self returning after the brief lapse of it.

“Sure,” I said giving her a small half smile.

“Thank you,” She said as she started falling asleep in my arms. This is something that I could get used to if she stoped hating me. I just have to make sure she’s alright before I leave tomorrow. 

In all honesty I didn’t get much sleep that night, I was too focused on controlling my breathing and trying to figure out what could have been the memory to cause her to get like this. And trying to make sure it wasn’t awkward when she woke up to see she was in her enemies arms.

The sun was shining through the blinds when I woke up the next morning to my alarm going off. Cat tried to turn off the alarm but only ended up hitting my nose and face repeatedly, just making me giggle.

“Urg,” She said opening her eyes, “What time is it?” She asked.

“It’s eight thirty,” I told her.

“And why am I in your room?” She asked again.

“You came to the door last night having a panic attack and you wanted to stay the night,” I told her getting out from under her head and went to open the curtains.

“It’s really bright,” She said sitting up.

“How is your hair that neat?” I asked her, only noticing that her hair wasn’t a crows nest like most peoples when they get up.

“Magic,” She said half drunk on sleep. “It just is. A family secret. Why didn’t I mention the fact you’re only in your underwear last night?”

“You were crying and didn’t notice,” I told her.

“Thank you,” She said getting up off the bed herself and going toward the door.

“You want to get breakfast? I can drop you off at the set before I go to the airport,” I suggested.

“Sure, but can you take me to the airport too. I have to catch a flight to New Orleans for filming,” She said while at the door.

“Cool,” I said.

AUGUST 13th: Caitlyn

“Good morning,” Aubrey greeted me on set.

“Good morning. First day of our pilot episode, you nervous?” I asked him, handing him a coffee as I sat in the make-up chair.

“No, except if we don’t get picked up,” He ansered, “You?”

“Not at all. Well not this, other things but-” I started to answer a mile a minute.

“How many coffees?” He asked me.

“None. I hate coffee. But I’ve had 18 colas in the past ten hours and haven’t slept since the 11th,” I told him.

“You need to sleep,” He said.

“Probably but I can’t. It’s like there’s something missing. That and the news has been keeping me awake for ages. That and doging calls has become my full time job,” I told him sadly.

“How are your sisters handling it all?”

“Alice is focusing on tour and ignoring it all. Bea is focusing on filming her new show. Dot’s focusing on tennis and Ellie is unaware of it all, mum’s protecting her. Well, she’s at summer camp her in the US so it’s more like no cable or internet is protecting her. And I’m constantly having panic attacks and missing someone whose guts I hate but gives good hugs,” I unloaded. “All while being an emotionally repressed closteted english sixteen year old.”

“Fuck dude. That’s a lot on your plate,” he said looking at me over his phone.

“I’m also filming this, something in LA, doing voice stuff and having to finish doing my last few scenes for a disney show that I’ve been doing on and offn for the past few years, before anxiety knocked on my door and said ‘I’m going to ruin your life.’ AKA I lost my damn mind. Oh and school.” I laughed to myself.

“You need to take a break for yourself,” He told me.

“I would but, my family never takes breaks. My sisters are insane, my cousins are even more so. We don’t take a break because if you take a break you can fail and fall from grace. And rule number 13 is if you fall from grace you may never return to the stature you had and rule 14 if you fail and fall you are no longer a proper lady,” I recited.

“Rules?” He questioned.

“My grandmother’s rules about being a proper lady. The rules we’re meant to live by or else,” I informed him.

“Your family seems… intense,” He told me.

“That, my new friend, is the understatement of the century,” I told him.

“Are you going to do anything insane while on set?” He asked.

“Not anything that you need to worry about. The biggest thing would probably have a panic attack,” I informed him.

“If I see you having one, I’ll try comfort you,” He said.

“Good luck with that,” I muttered going back to my phone.

Out of the corner of my eyes I could see him laugh slightly before going back to his own phone.

#august #Deep Water #writing #my writing #my ocs #celebrity au #celebs #pjo #caleb mclaughlin #jake t austin #olivia holt #Amandla Stenberg #Social media #social media au #'cause i still fuckin' love queue babe

[hamliet]

BSD chat anon:

I said Reylo fans who tend to be white women,” NOT “all of whom.” I know Reylo fans of color exist. They are NOT the issue. I’m talking about the power imbalance between white people and POC in fandom (and spaces outside of it). I’m talking about racism from white Reylo/Star Wars fans in general. I know I don’t represent all POC. Nobody does. I hate it when white people and POC alike force people into those positions. I have OCD too—I know about the overthinking and anxiety that comes with that kind of position. I am not invalidating the identities and perspectives of people from my own community and other communities of color. Why the Hell would I repeat the same violence done to me and other POC?! I’m talking about how certain statements from a white person can seem like an attack on POC who hold opposing views,especially since we’re conditioned to expect them. For instance, when you said you hate how people “cry abuse” in regard to Reylo, my first thought was, “Are you talking about visibilityofcolor, a relatively well-known black abuse survivor who’s been vocal about her opinion on Reylo being an abusive ship and has been the target of racial harassment in the Star Wars fandom?” As you’ve mentioned once before, it’s impossible to include a million disclaimers in every single post. Plus, it’s impossible to know everyone and their perspectives. That’s the same for me as it is for you. But can’t I bring up things POC with similar sentiments as mine go through without being seen as a threat toward people with different attitudes, let alone my own people? I’m getting riled up now. Let’s end the conversation for now.—BSD Chat Anon                                       

I don’t mean this to sound dismissive, but I truly don’t know what you want from me. Are you saying only POC can like Kylo Ren? Are you saying I have to engage with antis, when most of them would prefer not to engage with shippers and they might, in fact, trigger me and I might trigger them? Are you saying I haven’t read critiques of a Rey-Kylo dynamic and considered them? Because I have. I’m not saying their feelings and experiences are invalid or that they can’t dislike anything, only that I do not share their feelings and bring my own baggage to fiction. I’m genuinely asking all of the above questions as well, because I genuinely am confused. You say you know you can’t make all the disclaimers in a tumblr ask, but you then go on to hold me accountable for not making 5 million disclaimers while giving yourself a pass for talking in very vague terms. I understand that as a white person I may have privilege in being able to assume disclaimers whereas you may not, and I’m sorry, but that still doesn’t address how much time I have/don’t have to add them. That it is this way is wrong, and I try to be mindful, but I don’t know how to fix it. 

Your assertion that you felt I was talking about a specific anti--whom I have never heard of--and that it is a microaggression to not realize that you might be thinking of a specific person--is very confusing. I do my best to be sensitive and to correct things when I am wrong, as I should, but I am not in control of your associations. I am not responsible for your feelings or your thoughts. I can’t say that you aren’t hurt, because I believe you are, but I can say I don’t know what I could do differently in regards to that.

I was not intending to accuse you of dismissing their identities. I am sorry if it seemed that way. I was pointing out how there are a variety of viewpoints even from overlapping identities, which your statement of how most antis are POC (when this is not my experience) implied otherwise to me. I am sorry if this was wrong.

You insist that I erred by...listening to multiple POC voices and making my own decisions about my preferences for the story as I saw consistent with the themes and spirit thereof, and my opinions ended up just not happening to align with yours? I’m not sure this is your point, but if it isn’t, I don’t understand what your point is. I don’t understand how that is a microaggression, or how I am not allowed to say what most of my experiences with antis have been--because I am always writing from my own experience. Again, I realize I use general terms a lot, which I have been and will continue to be working on (a good reminder), but return to paragraph one and how we are limited in space for disclaimers.

I do read differing opinions, and follow many people who dislike Kylo and/or Reylo, including dear friends; they just might not be the exact same ones you follow. I also don’t owe you my rationale about everything. I’m not always interested in revisiting arguments I’ve dealt with from years and years ago.

As far as power positions in fandom go: yes, this is a major issue. I support discussion on this, but don’t believe I should be leading it. As far as Reylo goes, there are quite a few Reylos of color who speak out quite often, and have called other Reylos out on their anti-Blackness before. I’m happy to reblog voices of those who are leading discussions about fandom power dynamics and race, and have been more active on Twitter with this. 

However, I won’t reblog from antis, as I consider them morally in the wrong because they are focused on hurting others rather than critiquing the story (I don’t think rabid stans of anything are much better than antis). Also, for the record: not every person who dislikes something and posts about a dislike is an anti; people become antis when harassing and bullying others/make their fictional taste moral imperatives. Trust me, I’ve posted a great deal of critique and am fine with critique. I’m just not cool with rape threats or accusations of supporting abuse, because those are very serious, and I believe should never be trivialized. I also believe most antis are posting from hurt and a strong desire to have people validate their pain--whatever it is based in. But I don’t think lashing out at others is okay, ever. 

In the months leading up to the film, you sent me well over half a dozen asks that were all essentially begging me to convince you that you had to like Kylo, which I refused to do. I told you why I liked him but pointed out that dislike was completely valid and personal taste didn’t in any way take away from anything about you. I eventually stopped answering you because you would not accept an answer in which I essentially told you to make up your own mind. I do not understand why you are now accusing me of not considering others’ perspectives--over nine months since I last posted about Star Wars. Your list of microaggressions has thus far has only been me liking Kylo Ren as a character--and he isn’t even my favorite; Finn is. Maybe we got sidetracked, but it seems to be more about taste than about actual microaggressions, which would have been better to keep the conversation to. You seem to be assuming I’m making moral judgments based on taste, but I’m not intending to; if I’ve conveyed otherwise, I’m sorry, but again--time is not an unlimited resource. 

Not related to the current topic, but: you have sent me upwards of twenty asks in a single night. You have pressed topics I am not comfortable talking about. You have done it all on anonymous, wanting enough credit to use a signatory name, but not enough to take any responsibility. You said all you wanted was a discussion, but that’s not what this has been. I understand again there are things that might make you not feel safe to do that, but I no longer feel safe to have these conversations with you (though I will continue to have them with others), as you have violated my boundaries too many times and I’m not convinced you’re acting in good faith. I have blocked you. 

Attacks on Anon are still not allowed. Also, I am open to receiving critiques on microaggressions, because I am 100% sure I make them and I would like to do better. I’m just posting this because I process my thoughts through writing far better than through speaking, and because we did have a communication for about a year. 

[supremeprince-bensolo]

The Rise of Skywalker thoughts/review

I’ve now had two weeks to process my thoughts on the movie. Immediately after, I was actually feeling quite okay (but mostly sad due to the fate of my favourite character). But I didn’t hate the movie, I actually loved most of it after the first initial viewing. I went with my family who are casual fans. My dad said it’s his favourite SW movie, my mum loved it too, and my brother thought it was a satisfying ending to the saga. My feelings were a lot more complicated. There were things I loved, but also things I absolutely hated and thought should have been done differently.

First off, I had a bit of a memorable experience at the cinema. The projector stopped working twice (only in Australia will the temperature cause the projectors to malfunction!). But it meant they rewound the film a little so I got to see the scene where Rey shoots lightning to take the transport ship down (and Kylo strutting up looking like a prince) and Dark Rey/Kylo showing up on the Death Star twice. So, thankfully they stopped during Reylo scenes so I got to see them again (but if only it had stopped right after the kiss and they couldn’t get the projector working again…).

I was actually looking forward to Palpatine being back. He is the ultimate evil and the person who seduced Anakin to the Dark Side which started this whole saga. I could buy that he was behind everything. And as much as I’d hoped to find out how he survived, it didn’t bother me too much that they didn’t tell us. The Sith use the Force in very unnatural ways so it doesn’t surprise me that he somehow managed to cheat death.

“I have been every voice (Palpatine), you have ever heard (Snoke), inside your head (Vader).” The entire time it was Palpatine. It was him pulling the strings, wanting revenge on Vader by ruining the Skywalker legacy and grooming Ben into becoming a stronger and more loyal Vader. He made Snoke, literally (the jar full of Snoke clones was creepy). Kylo believed he was talking to his grandfather when he talked to the Vader mask, but it was really Palpatine feeding him lies and manipulating him. This entire sequence was unsettling and really worked for me.

‘The dead speak!’ In theory, Palpatine’s return could have worked very well. But it’s between movies that it all happens. There is a lot of exposition in the opening crawl, perhaps a bit too much. It was overwhelming. There was no build up, he’s just back and no one questions it and we’re straight into the action.

And also Kylo finding out that it was Palpatine who had been this voice in his head, that should have had huge ramifications. He should have had an identity crisis and started questioning everything. But there wasn’t time, there was too much plot to get through, no time to sit with a huge reveal like this I guess.

I was actually very surprised how well all the Leia scenes fit in. I can only imagine how limiting it must have been with only old footage from TFA, but considering the circumstances I think they did a good job. Having her training Rey and the reveal that Luke had actually trained her to become a Jedi, and she even made her own lightsaber. I did enjoy that. And it was very impactful to have her final word be ‘Ben’.

I hate that Rose was completely sidelined. She had one minute of screen time and had absolutely nothing to do. She was a important character in TLJ and this movie completely ignored her. She literally saved Finn’s life in the last movie and he didn’t even acknowledge her.

I enjoyed the trio adventure! It was just a lot of fun! Great to see Rey and Finn together again. And I loved how Rey and Poe were constantly at odds with each other couldn’t stop arguing. I love how they disagreed on everything. It made for a fun ride. Fun, but ultimately devoid of any real depth.

I didn’t like the whole thing of Finn constantly wanting to tell Rey something. He loves her? He’s Force sensitive? Who knows because we never find out. Poe was looking jealous (because he thought he loved Rey?). And Finn completely ignored Rose (which was awful). And Jannah being yet another love interest for him? I wasn’t a fan of any of that at all.

I actually like the idea of Rey being Palpatine’s granddaughter. I would much prefer her to be a nobody, but I do like the concept of her being a Palpatine. In theory, it is the basis for a great story. Vader’s grandson and Palpatine’s granddaughter falling in love and bringing balance to the Force. It could have been great. All the set up was there for it to be a compelling story that tied everything together. But the way the movie dealt with it was a letdown.

So I guess they didn’t completely retcon Rey’s parents reveal from TLJ. Her parents were nobodies, but by choice. To protect her. So… they sold her for drinking money to protect her? They apparently cared about her yet they left her with Unkar Plutt?

What didn’t work about Rey being a Palpatine is that it was essentially to explain that she’s only this powerful because of her bloodline. But what that does is undermine her. Why can’t she just be powerful on her own? I guess it also gave her a reason to want revenge on Palpatine, but that should have been Ben. You know, the actual descendant of the bloodline that he tried to corrupt.

The MacGuffins. The cave where they encounter an injured snake which Rey heals by passing on some of her life force to it, showing off her healing abilities which come into play later. Conveniently finding the Sith relics and an abandoned ship where Rey’s parents were killed. The dagger, which is map to the Wayfinder on the wreckage of the second Death Star. And it’s also the dagger that was used to kill her parents. The Wayfinder which leads them directly to Exegol. All these things that are necessary to get from point A to point B in order to further the plot. But there were just so many of them.

And all the fake out deaths. We thought Chewie died, but he didn’t. C-3PO’s memory was wiped, but R2-D2 restored it. Zorii Bliss may have been on Kimiji when it was destroyed, but she wasn’t. Either kill them or don’t. It just felt like there were no stakes because they weren’t bold enough to actually kill anyone.

All the Force Bond scenes were great! Kylo sensing where Rey is and SNATCHING THE NECKLACE!! First time they’ve connected in this movie, and possibly the first time in months?? There was a lot of tension between them. It showed how much stronger their bond has gotten. This is a long way from touching hands. The lightsaber battle through the bond in Kylo’s chambers causing damage to each others surroundings. Loved that!

Basically all the Rey/Kylo scenes were great! But the one thing I couldn’t believe that these two idiots were still so at arms with each other. I know they felt rejected from everything that went down in TLJ, but really Rey? She didn’t seem like herself. I guess this was to show us her dark side and the extent of her power. I LOVED Kylo strutting over to her on Pasaana like the prince he is. She was obviously a little impressed (and relieved!) that he managed to survive her little backflip/slice trick. The tug of war over the transport ship, neither could overpower the other because they are equals. And then Rey shoots FORCE LIGHTING OUT OF HER HANDS and he just looks on in awe at her. She can’t believe what she just did, and damn, just imagine how amazing would it have been if she’d accidentally killed her parents by bringing their ship crashing down. She looked absolutely traumatised by what she did to that transport ship. Missed opportunity.

Kylo repairing his mask did mostly work for me. I love the symbolism of it. He destroyed it in the last movie so he couldn’t hide anymore, but now he decided he did want to hide again. The obvious red cracks in the repaired mask representing how torn he is inside, and if there are cracks it means the light can still get in. I did like that. But I do feel like they just repaired it cause it looked cool and not for the symbolism but I’ll take what I can get.

Crushing the Wayfinder in his massive hand was something. The power he has. The lightsaber duel on the Death Star wreckage was EPIC! With the waves plummeting around them. Very visually stunning. And as always, Rey is the one who is angry. Kylo blocks her attacks and defends himself, but he never makes the first move. He wants Rey to join him. He wants them to team up and defeat Palpatine together. He wants her to take his hand and and he knows she will one day.

The death of Kylo Ren. His mothers voice distracts him, Leia uses the remainder of her life force in the hopes of bringing him back. All she wanted was for him to come home. That’s all she ever wanted.

“I did want to take your hand. Ben’s hand.” After Rey stabs him, symbolically killing the Kylo Ren persona, she heals him. This moment was so sweet, and emotional. After everything, I’m sure he doesn’t feel that he deserves to be healed. He looks on at her in awe, the only person who has ever showed him this kind of care and compassion. She looks so sad and regretful of what she did. And his scar is also healed.

That moment is important because that is when he realises he wants to come back. He does want to become Ben again. After trying so hard to kill that identity, the realisation that the woman he loves wants to be with Ben, not Kylo, is the motivation he needs. It’s love that brings him back. Love from from his mother and the love he has for Rey. Kylo Ren is dead. Ben Solo is reborn. I LOVED that moment.

I also loved when Han shows up to Ben. He shows up as a memory (I assume it was only a memory although it’s not entirely clear). Han tells him to come home, but Ben says he can’t. Leia is gone, but Han points out that her cause isn’t. He can go to the Resistance. He can still choose to do the right thing.

“I know what I have to do but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it.” He has the chance to replay this moment in his mind, and this time, he does what he wishes he had done back then. Instead of killing his father, he throws his lightsaber away, completely shunning the identity of Kylo Ren and chooses to be Ben Solo. He calls him ‘Dad’, and the way he said it is so fragile and so broken. And then his father puts his hand on his cheek, where his scar used to be. I loved that scene. It hit all the right emotional beats and was a huge turning point for Ben.

Hux being the spy was hilarious! I couldn’t help but laugh. We all suspected he’d try to overthrow Kylo, but this was just ridiculous. His character turned into a joke and then he was killed and the new officer took over just like that. What a waste.

Force Ghost Luke appearing to Rey. And only to her. After TLJ I thought he’d be haunting Ben, his nephew, and try to knock some sense into him. But he only appeared to Rey to give her Leia’s lightsaber and his old X-Wing. Oh, and he and Leia knew that she was Palpatine’s granddaughter and yet they helped her anyway. I’m sorry, they helped this evil’s offspring and completely neglected their own blood?? And Leia gave up becoming a Jedi after foreseeing Ben’s death at the end of her training. If she was scared of him dying she should have actually tried to help him, instead of neglecting him and sending him away. They all failed Ben and it just hurts.

“It’s not a navy, sir. It’s just people.” When everything seemed hopeless all these ships suddenly appear at lightspeed. But these aren’t armies, it’s the people. They were never alone in the fight. They never were. Good people of the galaxy came to help them fight. I loved that moment!

THE RETURN OF BEN SOLO!! He was wearing this crew neck sweater (which even has a hole in it! Adorable!). That little ‘ow’ when he lands on the structure (his final word, sob). The moment when Rey senses him close and their bond opens up. They relief on her face at seeing that someone came back for her. The look in her eyes and the blue illuminating her face. That was amazing!! And then passing the legacy lightsaber behind her and BEN TAKES IT and does this Han Solo shrug and obliterates the Knights of Ren!! The power of their bond. That moment was INCREDIBLE!!

Palpatine wants Rey to kill him so his spirit can be transferred into her and she can ascend as Empress. So lets get this straight, he wanted to kill her as a child, and he wanted Kylo to kill her, but now he wants her alive and wants her to kill him so she can take his power? What was his plan? I don’t even know. I was very unclear by what he was trying to do.

“The life force of your bond…a dyad in the Force. A power like life itself. Unseen for generations.” As Rey and Ben stand together with the lightsabers ignited, Palpatine senses their bond. They are a ‘Dyad in the Force’. Essentially, they are two halves of one soul. They explicitly give an explanation as to why they are so deeply connected to each other.

When Palpatine throws Ben down the pit, not gonna lie I was worried. The last Skywalker, gone. Rey hearing all the voices of the fallen Jedi was a powerful moment. Anakin, Luke, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Mace Windu among others. With their help, she single handedly defeats Palpatine. But after they blatantly told us that Ben and Rey’s power combined is a power like life itself, they should have defeated him together. She shouldn’t have been able to defeat him alone. And after everything that Palpatine has done to the Skywalker’s, Ben should have been a part of his downfall.

And do not even get me started on the fact that the voices only came to Rey. They completely forgot about Ben who was down in the pit. He had to pull himself out and he manages to crawl over to Rey and cradles her in his arms. And he looks around for help, for anyone to help, but he’s all alone.

He uses his life force to revive her, because he can’t bear the thought of her dying. When she takes his hand, I swear my heart almost stopped. She takes Ben’s hand. She’s stunned, like she’s waking up from a nightmare, and then her face softens into a smile when she sees him. When she sees Ben. This was who she wanted all along. And the kiss WAS EVERYTHING!! She kisses him, and he kisses her back so desperately. And BEN’S SMILE!!! That lit up my entire world. He felt loved. He’d found his belonging. For a fleeting moment he was happy…

And then he falls and dies. But this whole scene was incredibly moving. He gave his life for her. He succeeded where Anakin failed and saved the woman he loved. He made the ultimate sacrifice. But it was cruel to have him finally find peace, to finally be on the path to a better life, and then take it all away. Ben never had the chance to really live. And now he never will. He chose to come back. He did the right thing, and he should have had the chance to keep making good choices. But instead they took the easy way out and killed him.

After all the fake out deaths I was waiting for him to show up at the end very much alive. But there was nothing. Rey didn’t mourn him. She didn’t tell anyone what he did. He didn’t come back as a Force Ghost. He was just forgotten. He was neglected, as he had been his entire life.

Rey’s new lightsaber. The hilt looks to be made of her staff and the blade is yellow. Neither light nor dark. It signifies that she’s found balance. I liked that.

Rey Skywalker. I get the whole sentiment of rejecting your bloodline and choosing your own family, but in a saga that has been about this one family to kill them all off and then have someone else take over their name? It’s insulting. The Skywalker family were all defeated. How is this a satisfying end to their story? And if anything, she should be a Solo, not a Skywalker. Or better yet, just Rey. Why does she even need a last name? Why can’t she just be Rey?

And she ended up alone on a desert planet, which is exactly where she began. She ended up in the same place she started. Except now she’s been on this adventure and she did find her belonging. But it was all taken away and now half her soul is dead.

So, I certainly have a lot of issues with this film but I didn’t hate it completely. There was a lot I loved. But it seems that they cared more about the spectacle and nostalgia rather than writing a cohesive conclusion to the saga. The seeds were all planted for them to nail the ending, but they didn’t. This movie was one big action packed mess with no clear vision.

This was supposed to be a fairytale but it ended in tragedy. How the hell is this satisfying? I do not understand. The last Skywalker died. Rey ended up alone with half her soul dead. This was not a happy and hopeful ending. This is not the ending the Skywalker Saga deserved.

#reylo #ben solo deserved better #save ben solo #tros spoilers #the rise of skywalker spoilers #sw spoilers #tros review #long post #mytxt

[alpha-centari27]

In many ways, the Star Wars sequel trilogy is the story of Ben Solo (Adam Driver). The character was first introduced as the primary antagonist to Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Finn (John Boyega), but was soon revealed to be the son of Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford). That conflict of his lineage and his choice to turn to the Dark Side would become key to the journey that Ben took over the three films. It also shaped the stories of everyone else that he interacted with, whether it be his mother, father or characters like Rey, Finn and Poe (Oscar Isaac).

In The Rise of Skywalker, Ben's fate becomes even more central as the redemption that many fans hoped for (or feared) came to fruition. He sacrifices himself to revive Rey from the dead. But the moment ignored Ben's past mistakes, and raises questions about whether his redemption was truly earned.

In The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren chained Rey down and invaded her mind, using the Force. He utilized the newly built Starkiller Base and ordered the genocide of five separate planets, apparently killing billions of people. In The Last Jedi, which built on the connection between Rey and Kylo, he took charge of a totalitarian regime and was responsible for killing off the remainder of the fledgling Resistance.

In Rise of Skywalker, his redemption came at the cost of his mother's life. Given Ben's vital role in the trilogy, he could have had a slow and thoughtful arc in the final chapter, but that was not to be. Hollywood has a tradition of offering up redemption for abusive, damaged men. And the trope of a terrible man suddenly becoming heroic has been a literary mainstay for close to two centuries, with one of the most famous trailblazers being Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. There, though, the audience gets to see Scrooge learn from the lone night's surreal spiritual experience. Ben's redemption not only didn't offer up any concrete reasoning for why he changed his ways — aside from being moved by Rey's decision to heal him — but it also killed him off before he had the chance to truly do any wider good or be held accountable for past crimes.

Perhaps it should have. What about a war crimes trial supported by his loving partner Rey? Or exile in the deserts of Tatooine like Ben Kenobi before him? These would have been risks, but ones worth discussing.

Ben's redemption is tied directly to the death of Rey and the pair's romantic connection. Heroes and villains falling in love is hardly a new idea, but the reason it sticks out in Rise of Skywalker is that much of Kylo's early behavior toward Rey is tantamount to abuse. Whether it was his imprisonment of her on his ship or the fact that he apparently created a story about her parents simply to make her join him, it's hardly the basis for a healthy relationship. So what does it tell audiences when his love is the one thing that can save Rey?

Star Wars has always been a story defined by cycles and archetypes, which is why it's hardly surprising that Ben's last-minute turn and quick demise echoes another famed arc from the original trilogy. Ben's story has long been shaped by that of his grandfather Darth Vader, who helped his son Luke during the final battle in Return of the Jedi only to die moments later. It was a powerful scene that surprised fans and left a bittersweet taste in the mouths of those who had spent three films rooting for the defeat of the masked villain. How Ben's fate differs, though, is that from the outset he was shown as conflicted; he never had the truly vehement beliefs of his grandfather despite his horrific actions. That's likely why for many fans, Ben's death, and positioning as a hero — rather than a villainous man who made one good choice like his grandfather — feels muddied at best and harmful at worst.

In the end, Kylo Ren and the boy under the mask ultimately became a tool to further the plot, when it could have meant so much more.

#kylo ren #ben solo #star wars #the force awakens #the last jedi #the rise of skywalker #reylo

[onwardintolight]

My initial TROS thoughts

I’m still on cloud nine from last night. Not only did I get to fulfill a dream of trooping at a local premiere with the Rebel Legion, but the movie. 

THE MOVIE. 

It was so much more than I’d hoped for. It was an incredible end to this saga. 

I have a lot of thoughts, and it’s still all kind of jumbled up since I only just saw it last night (I know I’ll have a crazy amount of thoughts and theories and meta after I’ve seen it a few more times and had more time to digest it all) but I just wanted to get some of this out right now because I can hardly bear keeping it all in.

I will keep this spoiler free initially, then delve into spoilers under the cut.

First of all, I haven’t felt this way watching a Star Wars movie since I was a little girl watching Return of the Jedi. I seriously felt like a kid again. I felt that “Star Wars” feeling, that magic. I felt completely immersed in the story, led on a wild ride with no clue where it would lead. I felt the enormous stakes, I felt the camaraderie and love between the characters, I felt the depth and the meaning of the story that was being told and how it was both incredibly personal and galactic in scope.

Everyone has their own Star Wars, and I’m of the opinion that it’s all valid. Whether you’re primarily an OT fan, a prequels fan, a sequels fan, strictly old EU, or whatever else you may be, I’m here for you enjoying Star Wars in your own way. So please understand that when I say that, to me, this movie is the Star Warsiest Star Wars to ever Star Wars since the OT, that’s my perspective, and I respect your right to disagree (and I know many probably will). 

But to me, this movie felt like coming home. This was, once again, my Star Wars, the Star Wars I fell in love with as a little kid.

When I say that, I also say that as someone who is a fan of the entire saga. I’ve grown to love and deeply appreciate the prequels. While I was initially disappointed by them, I’ve grown to love and appreciate the sequels, too. Rogue One is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I adore Solo. But TROS will likely be among my top Star Wars movies of all time, right up there with ESB and ROTJ.

I know this movie has divided a lot of people. Many people who had specific hopes had those hopes dashed. And I acknowledge that there were some problems that should be critiqued. If you didn’t like this movie, your feelings are valid.

But right now, for the most part, I don’t want to think about all that. I just want to celebrate something that I love and that has already meant so much more to me than I could have possibly guessed.

Before I go to the cut, I just want to urge you not to continue reading if you haven’t seen the movie and haven’t heard all the major spoilers. There are some pretty huge moments and reveals in TROS. I managed to avoid all unofficially released spoilers, and I’m so glad I did, because it wouldn’t have been the same. Seeing the facts laid out on a page is not the same as watching the journey. If I’d seen the facts, I may have scoffed at some of them. Instead, I let the story lead me, and I believed in it and I was invested in it with my whole heart. Unless you have your heart absolutely set on a specific outcome and you know you will feel devastated if it doesn’t happen, I HIGHLY recommend going into this movie with an open mind, free from spoilers.

AGAIN: DO NOT READ ON IF YOU DON’T WANT MAJOR, MAJOR SPOILERS. THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING

Okay, now for some random spoilerific thoughts! This is by no means comprehensive (and rather OT-character heavy, though I feel a lot too about the ST characters), but just a few things I wanted to get out.

First of all, they did my OT characters so right. This was a better ending than I could have imagined. I do wish we’d gotten to see all three of them on screen together one last time, and I also wish Han and Leia had never broken up before TFA. But those objections feel pretty small now. The books made Han and Leia’s separation much easier to bear (it was clear it was only for a few years, and they still loved each other). And despite not being physically all together, I felt almost as if they were together in this movie in spirit. Each of the three got to play a part so magnificent and meaningful, I can still hardly believe it. 

HAN!!! HAN APPEARING TO BEN!! I HAD NO IDEA HE WOULD BE IN THIS MOVIE BUT HE WAS AND IT WAS SO INCREDIBLY GOOD!! I want to cry just thinking about it. I know Ben said he must have been projected from his memories, but I think maybe, just maybe, it might be something more. Either way, it was one of the most powerful moments in the film and I wept.

LUKE. Luke got to prove that, as Yoda said, “the greatest teacher, failure is.” He was such a strong, benevolent, encouraging figure in this movie. I have no objections to where Rian Johnson took his character in TLJ—we all spend our lives learning and relearning the same lessons, after all, in deeper and deeper ways, and I felt it made sense for his character, AND it was a meaningful and powerful message/representation for those struggling with mental health—but I was also incredibly glad to see this Luke in TROS, “more powerful than you can imagine” as a Force ghost and just as much the Jedi he was when he threw his lightsaber away in ROTJ—and more, because of all that he’s grown through and how much wisdom he’s attained since then.

And OMG LEIA.

THEY DID MY PRINCESS RIGHT.

JEDI MASTER LEIA. LEIA TRAINING REY. LEIA’S LIGHTSABER!!!

I started sobbing the moment it became clear that she was going to use her last strength to try to reach Ben (more on that later). The sobbing continued when her lightsaber was given to Rey, and then that AMAZING FREAKING TRAINING FLASHBACK scene happened, and I was sobbing so hard from pure happiness, just processing all the joy, that I hardly noticed any details and had to ask someone later what color her lightsaber was and what was said.

This was, truly, Leia’s movie, just as it was always supposed to be, just as TFA was Han’s and TLJ was Luke’s. I couldn’t believe that they managed it. It was so incredibly meaningful and it was an incredible tribute to Carrie and to my favorite character.

Back to Leia reaching out to Ben. Over the years, I’ve slowly grown to be pro bendemption. That might surprise a few people on here since I haven’t written much about it—not for lack of wanting to, but just because I never really got around to it. I know many people who fervently aren’t a fan of the idea. I could write a whole essay on this, but it’s late so I’m gonna leave it at this for now: to me, it became so clear that he still had light in him, and the potential to turn back and atone. Plus, it hurt too much to think that Han and Leia’s son, and the Skywalker legacy, could fall and end in such evil and ruin. I wanted the Skywalkers to ultimately change the galaxy for good and bring balance and all that, just as was promised. I wanted this family to ultimately be this vast force of Light, despite all the evil the Dark unleashed through some of them.

Well, I feel like I got that in this movie. And not only the Skywalkers, but the granddaughter of Palpatine, too. It was as if everything that was dark and evil got overturned from the inside. It was so triumphant. The Skywalker legacy lives on in the best way.

But yeah, Leia being the one to really reach out and help bring Ben back to the light, and Han helping, was just everything my heart could have wanted. 

Gaaaahhhh there’s so much more, and it’s getting late and I need to go to bed, but a few short things before then:

- THAT FINAL CONFRONTATION HOLY CRAP. I have so many questions but also I just loved it

- I even loved the kiss.

- Ben crawling back to help Rey 😭

- LANDO LANDO LANDO

- FREAKING WEDGE

- the whole dynamic between the new cast was just perfect

- the one thing I’m mad about and probably always will be is that Rose was horribly sidelined :(

- however I’m not mad, like a lot of people are, that Rey isn’t actually a “nobody.” I’ll write more on this later but for now I’ll just say that, while Rey being a nobody is a powerful story, I never felt like it had to be that way, because we’ve already got Anakin’s story. And, tbh, many of the Jedi. Star Wars, while revolving around a certain family, has never indicated that lineage is everything or that people can’t be heroes from anywhere.

- And FINN

- OMG FORCE SENSITIVE FINN I JUST WANTED TO JUMP UP AND DOWN AND CHEER

Okay this is really enough for tonight. Can’t wait to see it again tomorrow!

#TROS #TROS Spoilers #The Rise of Skywalker #The Rise of Skywalker spoilers #Star Wars #thoughts

[jjoelswatch]

I HAVE SEEN THE WAR OF THE STARS

This was a very different Star Wars movie in the best ways possible. Whether you loved it or hated it, this movie would not have been possible without SW:TLJ, full stop. Personally, I liked this movie a lot. SW:ROTS is my favorite just because it’s a) the movie that got me to like Star Wars and b) Anakin, so nothing really compares to that for me but. I think I can largely attribute what I did like about this movie to how much it reminded me of story arcs in Clone Wars or Rebels (namely Mortis, Malachor, and the World Between Worlds), with the little caveats/side quests and side characters and the focus on arcane Force powers.

What I liked:

Kylo Ren and Rey being collective badasses on two opposite spectrums of the Force. You really get the sense that as things continue to become unbalanced, the more and more their powers grow. This movie is truly a love letter to fans of both Rey and Kylo Ren, because they both have largely satisfying developments (in their powers and their character growth). I’ve never hated Kylo Ren like a lot of people do. I like his character, I think he’s - at least - cool. This movie really showcased how formidable he was right off the bat-- from Title Scroll to opening scene. And if this movie showed how powerful he was, it REALLY doubled down on how strong Rey is. More on this throughout this ramble post.

Holy Sith lore, Batman.

Rey’s training sequence was everything Luke’s training sequence in SW:TESB should have been (limited ofc by film techniques of its time); I thoroughly enjoyed it. I know a lot of people are complaining about it, since she adamantly chose not to walk the path of a Jedi, but I liked that Leia got to be her Jedi Master.

Even though it was in the trailer, Rey flipping over the Kylo’s ship and slicing the wing off with her lightsaber was rad af.

Also followed by another rad af moment of her Force pulling the ship, like damn girl.

My face when Rey used Sith lightning was one of genuine shock like holy shit. This is also when I knew the “Force bloodline” twist ahead of time. It allowed me to become (mostly) okay with it. But damn, even Kylo Ren is like “...fuck”.

AUDIBLE SIGH OF RELIEF THAT CHEWIE DIDN’T DIE. Actual personification of that one bear vine.

Former spice-runner Poe is...sexy. What a concept.

Kijimi planet sequence was really cool. It also hammered home the entire space nazi motif in a very in-your-face way, which I appreciated because I feel like people try to rationalize the Empire and First Order as not being that, when that’s literally what they are. It also introduced Zorii Bliss, who I really enjoyed.

I really liked the style of the Force bond/Force Dyad moments in this movie. We got a good handful of them in TLJ and they were cool (and confirmed to not just be Snoke causing them with that movie’s end scene), but these were better. Just the way the scenes transition and the tangible objects being transferred between them.

Her parentage reveal, the mirror of the “join me” scene from TLJ [chef’s kiss] *

General Hux being the spy really reminded me of Alexsandr Kallus being Fulcrum in SW:Rebels, except Kallus was hotter and had less petty reasons for betraying the Empire.

The space horse...tusk...creatures. I love them.

Rey and Kylo Ren’s fight on the Death Star wreckage. Finally, at long last, we get to see some prequels level Jedi flips and jumps. FINALLY!

Leia’s last sacrifice c’:

Rey striking down Kylo Ren, healing him, telling him that she had wanted to take his hand when he offered, but she’d wanted to take Ben’s hand. So perfect.

Ben and Han’s mirrored scene from the bridge scene in TFA with Kylo and Han, line for line, with the right choice made this time. Just the combined effort of his father’s memory and his mother’s sacrifice having him throw his lightsaber into the ocean, killing Kylo Ren and becoming Ben Solo once more. So emotionally satisfying. **

Also: “Dad...” “I know.” very nice callback to TESB.

Force Ghost!Luke c’: catching that lightsaber as Rey goes to throw it into the flames; nice resolution to Luke’s arc from TLJ.

LUKE AND LEIA TRAINING SCENE FLASHBACK!!

Kylo Ren’s redemption/turn to the light was something that I thought I would hate, but I actually thought it was the one consistent character arc in the sequel films. I actually enjoyed it a lot, like everything about him turning to the light was handled well and you can track its path through the entire sequel trilogy. Don’t @ me.

Ben doing the classic Han Solo No Look Shot-- with Lando’s blaster (how did he get that?)

Ben absolutely butchering the Knights of Ren wearing the space equivalent of a sweater and jeans. Just the epitome of chaotic Skywalker/Solo energy. Iconic.

Enjoyed Ben’s little shrug of “finally” when Rey used their Force bond to transfer him one of the lightsabers to use. Was sitting there watching him fight like, get this man a lightsaber.

Also, regarding that moment, just the pause within their Force bond, actually, truly seeing each other.

All the voices of the Jedi. Chills. I heard Luke, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Windu, Kanan, Anakin. Ahsoka. ***

Rey’s sacrifice. Ben’s sacrifice. For a moment, I thought they were going to kill both of them and Palpatine (which I would have hated and appreciated at once; zero it out, bring balance to the Force via a flatline), or leave Rey dead and Ben alive to be haunted by his own deeds and demons. It was a surprise that Ben could use Force healing in the way Rey displayed earlier in the film, but a good one. Thanos vc: a soul for a soul.

“Ben” c’: such a bittersweet moment of acknowledgement and redemption tbh. ****

Rey burying Luke (Anakin’s) and Leia’s sabers on Tatooine c’: *****

Rey’s yellow lightsaber made from her staff. I wonder if it’s double-bladed (I bet it is).

I had a feeling one way or another that by the end of the movie Rey would be taking the Skywalker name for herself. I’m sure this made a lot of people angry. I’m not one of them.

What I didn’t like:

Not much tbh!

The Reylo kiss I guess, since it felt shoehorned in since they were both enemies 12 hours prior (if that). It would have felt more natural if it had just been a brief embrace or (as a friend suggested) a forehead touch. I’m totally okay with Rey and Ben having this strong connection through the Force, but no matter where you stand on the idea of those characters being romantically involved, you have to admit that they just weren’t there yet to have that kiss. ******

Conflicted that the Skywalker bloodline is gone. Like, trust me, I know the point - or one of the major ones - of this film is that blood doesn’t dictate choices/blood isn’t important, but like...I really love the Skywalkers, okay?

Palpatine being alive in this pretty much invalidates Anakin’s journey in the first six episodes, which sucks because in this house we love and appreciate Anakin Skywalker. You get a sense that Palpatine’s return was definitely never the end goal for this trilogy. It doesn’t feel planned because it’s never explained how he’s back, how he survived. We’re left to assume that it’s Sith power sustaining him. We never find out how Palpatine (who’s basically a zombie, I mean, look at him) managed to create a massive fleet of Star Destroyers capable of destroying planets. That’s just how it is, deal with it.

Asterisks/Questions Unanswered/Misc.:

* Still can’t believe Rey Palpatine fan theories DID THAT. Press F to pay respects to my Rey Kenobi theories (which would have made more sense with a Force bond but WHATEVER).

** This is where I would have wanted Anakin’s Force Ghost moment to be, especially since Kylo Ren idolized the ideal of Vader for so long, I felt it would have been a nice touch to have Anakin step in here, while across the galaxy Rey is being reached out to by Luke. Ultimately though, I think Han worked best.

*** Look, I know Ahsoka’s voice was in the past Jedi/Force Ghost moment, but like...my girl ain’t dead. Togruta live for over 200+ years, plus she was resurrected with the power of The Daughter. She just Force Skyped in to give Rey an inspirational line. Also Ahsoka is...not a Jedi, so ? interesting.

On that note, the above scene also reminds me 100% of Ezra’s moment in The World Between Worlds.

**** Really wish redemption didn’t always have to mean death, but I also understand that just like in ROTJ with Vader, there was a slim-to-none chance of a future for Ben after doing everything he’d done. But I also think death is...an easy out, when you don’t want to think about how a character can continue to atone for their deeds. I would have liked to see Ben live.

***** As for burying Luke and Leia’s sabers in the sands of Tatooine, Luke never associated himself with Anakin’s saber, so she buried Anakin’s saber in a place he hated and associated with so much pain and loss.

****** Reylo has never really been a ship I sailed, though I’ve never expressly hated it (there are certainly far more uncomfortable scenes with Anakin and Padma in AOTC than there have been between Rey and Kylo Ren in the sequel films), but if one of them is going to die, don’t have them kiss. If you’re going to have them kiss, let them live.

Finn never really did get to tell Rey what he wanted to tell her, huh? I joke. I think it’s obvious by the final act of the movie that he wanted to tell her that he could feel the Force, that he’s Force sensitive. This was hinted at in TFA during several beats (especially when he fights Kylo Ren-- anyone can use a lightsaber, but it’s kinda curious that he could hold his own for a bit).

This movie radiates a bi energy in ways I can’t describe. All the stuff with Poe being real concerned about what Finn wanted to tell Rey when he thought they were going to die? Poe and Zorii? Finn and Jannah? Poe and Rey? Really can’t believe they cut away before Finn and Poe kissed in the end celebration scene.

Ben Solo > Kylo Ren

#sw:tros #sw:tros spoilers #tros spoilers #star wars spoilers #episode ix spoilers #episode 9 spoilers #unless you're tagging it something weird that should about cover it for spoilers

[afirewiel]

Thoughts on Ben Solo’s Possible Return...

It’s not like DLF would have to come up with new canon information to bring Ben back. The set up is already there with the World Between Worlds and Exogul being a part of it. Everything needed to explain his return already exists in Star Wars canon. All DLF has to do is take advantage of that and run with it. So the big question is not how would he return but if he will.

Honestly, DLF would be fools not bring him back. The amount of fan blacklash they’ve received from killing him off shows how just popular character he is (and not just with Reylos). Spending an entire movie resurrecting him would not only appease fans, but it would make DLF a lot more money (which is really what DLF cares about). 

And yes, it should be done in a movie. Not in a novel or a TV series (even if it is liveaction). Why? Because that is what the general audience knows. The movies. Your casual Star Wars fan hasn’t read the books nor seen any of the TV series. My parents are a good example of this. Both of them have been fans of SW since ANH came out in 1977 and my sisters and I grew up watching the OT because of them. Yet they’ve only seen the movies. If they want to reach the general audience with Ben’s return into has to be either in standalone film or another trilogy (I vote that we get another trilogy. I want more of Ben and Rey, but Ben has to be alive and well by the end of the first movie at the latest! I don’t want to have to sit through a whole other trilogy just to get only a few minutes of screen time with Ben in the end. Plus making your fans waiting years for his return is just cruel and want to actually see Ben and Rey happy together.) 

Also, because the general audience is familiar only with the movies, they need to actually explain how he’s coming back and that the WBW is in the movie! The general audience has never heard of the WBW before and need that information to understand his return. No relegating that information to supplementary material (like the ST did with most of Ben’s backstory. Which is one of my major gripes with it, btw). 

Now that I’ve talked about what needs to happen, I want to share some of the things I would love to see happen in a Ben Solo returns movie:

1. A Reylo hug! We got a kiss last time (not that I don’t want more of those), now I want a hug. It would be especially great if it happens when Rey and Ben are first reunited. Followed by another kiss :)

2. Rey and Ben both get to say “I love you.” Both Han and Leia in the OT and Anakin and Padme in the PT got to express their love for each other. So it’s only fair that Rey and Ben get to do it too.

3. Parallels! Give us some beautiful parallels. For example, you remember that moment in TRJ when Leia first frees Han from the carbonite and he asks “Who are you?” She then pulls off the helmet and says “Someone you loves you.” “Leia.” And they kiss. I would love a Reylo parallel to that moment. 

4. More explanation of the dyad and what it means for them.

5. More force bond! I love that Rey was able to hand him a lightsaber through the Force in TROS, now I would love to see it grow even more. Just imagine if they were able to move each other through the force (for example if they were on opposite ends of the galaxy and were talking through the FB and Rey reaches out and takes his hand and then suddenly he’s with her. WOULD LOVE THAT!)

6. A Ben and Chewie/Lando reunion. 

7. Ben actually taking about his past with Rey and not acting like it never happened.

8. Rey defending Ben to Finn/Poe.

9. Ben flying the Falcon!

10. Smiles! I want more smiles from Rey and Ben like we got in TROS right before and after the kiss. Rey’s was the most happy smile we got from her in all 3 movies and Ben’s was the only one we got and it was beautiful it almost killed me. I want more of those!

11. And of course lots of amazing lightsaber fights with Ben and Rey fighting side by side.

12. A Reylo wedding! Duh!

#reylo #ben solo #star wars #tros #spoilers #i

[a-confused-turtle]

Thoughts about The Rise of Skywalker

I wrote this a few days ago and have been trying to find the courage to post... AGH. Here goes.

Spoilers Ahead.

I was apprehensive walking into the theater for this film. I found myself daring to be hopeful, which I think I rarely do. Getting your hopes up only to have them thrown right back in your face hurts. It hurts a hell of a lot. Lately, I’ve experienced a lot of disappointment - primarily in myself. I’ve been depressed, anxiety-ridden, and overwhelmed with my inability to write because of all that. That’s partly why The Rise of Skywalker hit me so hard today. I have so many feelings, thoughts, and questions about it. This movie stretches across generations (both fictional and real), connecting them all into one culminating event. I’ll do my best to keep this brief. I don’t really expect many people to read it, but thank you if you do... I’d like to get writing again and this seems like somewhere to start.

From the beginning, I wanted a freaking redemption arc. I’m not kidding. From the very first scenes of that tall angry boy brooding in his edgy mask, I wanted that. And I wanted it to be different than Anakin’s, we deserved a complex villain. Honestly, who doesn’t want to see that people deserve second chances? That being said, I have never been a Reylo shipper (I’m referring to Rey and Kylo Ren here). I definitely ship Rey and Ben Solo now though.

To start this off, I have to mention Adam Driver’s and Daisy Ridley’s performances. Their scenes on Exogul are particularly beautiful and enthralling. We got to see their journeys and character development throughout the movie, and then those last scenes of them were so emotive even though so few words were used.

So, let’s skip to the end for a moment: I am SO HAPPY we got that smile. And it’s so fitting that we only got half of it, with the other half obscured by Rey’s head. He felt some amount of peace and belonging and that makes my heart swell. Both of them looked so happy and it was beautiful.

Honestly, I thought the kiss was just as beautiful for the story (after all it gave us that smile). It didn’t feel forced to me, it felt like the characters truly felt that way after all they had gone through...

I know there are people out there that are quite angry about it and how the ‘abusive’ man gets the girl or whatever. I take issue with that (and I’m not normally a confrontational person). Rey initiated a kiss with Ben Solo. That soft, caring man that held her so tight and with such crushing anguish on his face was Ben Solo, not Kylo Ren. Kylo Ren was swept away when Rey healed that wound on the Death Star and when that pokey lightsaber was thrown into the sea. In addition to that, the movies portray Ben as much more of a monster than he really is - from the beginning he was a victim, a manipulated scared boy that felt he had nowhere else to turn but to Snoke. He didn’t burn down the temple or murder his classmates, he wasn’t an Anakin slaughtering younglings. Snoke did those things. He just wanted to belong, and when everyone in his life seemed to fail him he did something much like a form of suicide: give into Snoke’s manipulation and become Kylo Ren. Rey didn’t kiss her abuser, she chose to kiss Ben Solo, a man she felt a connection to, a man that wanted to return to his family but didn’t know how, a man that wanted to be good, and a man that found belonging and comfort with her. The way he looked at her...

Now, with Ben Solo’s death... I felt heartbroken seeing it onscreen. He runs in, looking so much like his father, demeanor and expressions entirely different than anything we’ve seen in the previous films (because he’s not Kylo), and he does it for her. He races in to save a woman he admires and has felt a deep connection with for years. But then, he dies because it’s poetic or because people would not see him as redeemed if he did not... Ben deserved better than that, the Skywalkers overall deserved better than that. (What is it with every romance in Star Wars just falling apart and ending in disaster?) It’s a trope too, redemption through death, one I’m not a fan of because people that want to be good should be able to atone in other ways (An example here of a successful redemption without death is Zuko in The Last Airbender, so we know that it can be done).

I’ll get off the soapbox about that one... Anyway...

While we got a lot of Rey and Kylo/Ben scenes and story (they moved the plot along the most tbh), that left many of the other characters reduced down to much less than they had been in previous movies. Rose is the biggest example. Dominic Monaghan (love him from LOTR) had more lines and was more memorable than Rose in this film, and she was a huge character in The Last Jedi. I wish she had a bigger part in this one. The introduction of more characters, like Jannah, made this aspect weird. First, it was ‘okay these characters will just take a backseat’ but then it became ‘forget them, look at these people you don’t know.’

Poe and Finn should be a damn couple, it’s as simple as that.

Rey’s heritage was an interesting surprise, but it cheapened The Last Jedi for me... That movie went through how Rey was no one in terms of big force using families, and that was pretty uplifting - kind of like Lord of the Rings’s ‘even the smallest person can change the course of history.’ Anyone can save the galaxy, anyone can become a Jedi... Oh, wait. Nevermind. She’s a Palpatine. (Also, isn’t there source material that says Palpatine never had children??? Maybe I’m just affronted by the idea of Palpatine actually getting laid.)

Looking back at these sequels overall, they feel incredibly uneven. Each film possesses its own commendable features... I found that The Rise of Skywalker, however, significantly departed from The Last Jedi. It was hard for me to believe that both Leia and Luke just knew Rey was a Palpatine when they really had no idea who she was when they met her...

The trio was absolutely adorable. I enjoyed the interactions and their different dynamics with each other. In some instances, it felt slightly forced, really just because of the film’s pacing...

Lastly, the ending scene... It felt remarkably unsatisfying and uneven. I thought Rey’s emotions were all over the place, I’m guessing they must have used footage from different takes? It is at least comforting that since Ben’s death wasn’t heavily mourned and he wasn’t present as Leia and Luke were, there has to be something that we don’t know. I do love the yellow saber suggesting Rey has become some sort of a grey Jedi. That’s amazing, and with her surviving, there had to be something to highlight the new balance in the force.

Oh god, I hope that wasn’t too terrible... If you actually read it, thank you.

#star wars #rise of skywalker #kylo ren #ben solo #rey #star wars sequel trilogy #the last jedi #star wars the rise of skywalker #star wars the last jedi

[kidmachinate]

Not All Is As It Seems

**SPOILERS BELOW THE PICTURE**

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“Rey…Skywalker”

THAT’S NOT HOW THAT WORKS!!!

My literal reaction to the very end of the movie. Much like The Last Jedi, I don’t have an issue with this as much as the majority of the internet and think it was a fun watch…however…two things. As a Star Wars film, which is what it is, man did they mess things up. Also, whatever plot complaints people had about The Last Jedi? Rise of Skywalker basically says, hold my beer. Let’s get into this.

This was the most obvious thing from the beginning with the trailers but Emperor Palpatine? Why is he in this? Kylo just gets the shaft at the end of the day because he’s “Supreme Leader” until THE supreme leader comes in, which brings him back to the temper tantrum angry kid he is. Still taking orders from someone ultimately and can't rise to power. Poor Kylo. Guess we've gotta kill Palpatine. Everyone wants to anyway. I suppose this all needed to happen in order to set up “ReyLo” but the inclusion of Palpatine at all just seems like a huge copout. Should have just kept Snoke. Replacing Snoke with another main villain after he was killed off by Kylo makes that scene pointless in the previous movie. Palpatine for the Final Order apparently has a bunch of literal planet destroyer ships. Cool…so…pulling the strings all along over the last two movies is pointless. Just execute the final order and forget going through all the trouble? The final battle was cool upon first seeing it, but just doesn’t feel like a satisfactory payoff at the end. The more it dragged on it went between predictable and cringeworthy. Rey gets shown the space battle just like he did to Luke back in Return of the Jedi to try and make her lose hope and embrace her dark side because…you know…evidentially Rey is a Palpatine. Isn’t this Rise of SKYWALKER? Maybe we should look at it from Kylo Ren’s perspective instead and it makes more sense? All these force families are related in one way or another and cross over and such so I’ma give that a pass. The way the ships just fall from the sky when things are over just seems absurd. Lando Calrissian must be one hell of a charmer to have gotten the army he did to help out. There ARE things I like, I swear. Call this nitpicking but these were my thoughts through the movie. Take it or leave it. There’s more.

The ending overall was probably my least favorite part of the whole film. The awkward tension between the three main characters towards the beginning felt forced, and I think we could have done without as well. The force link of sorts between Rey and Kylo was kind of annoying and awkward as well in the previous movie, but I think was done much better in this one. The ways Kylo tries to manipulate Rey or extract info from her is front and center. Parts of the fanbase don’t like Rey. Well I do, so fuck them. Just kidding, we all have opinions. That said, for as much as I actually don’t like Kylo Ren, this trilogy might as well have been his journey. He is probably the only new character fleshed out to their full potential. He actually gets progression through the movies. Rey is basically the equivalent to Superman and just can’t be stopped. Struggling with the dark side and her humility keeps her “human” but her sheer power just makes things very predictable. She throws down against Kylo in The Force Awakens with NO FORCE TRAINING and wins. It is actually one of the reasons I thought he was kind of a joke. This is his trilogy…then he dies. But hey, awkward kiss from Rey before he dies. Guess there goes ReyLo. What they were building up to all these movies…fanfic achieved…short kiss…no more ReyLo. I’m almost done with the bad I swear…

Finn. What the hell were they thinking? What is his role in this film, really? In fact, what is his role truly since Force Awakens? He’s clearly force sensitive in some way and they really don’t get into what that could mean. Easy character development that just doesn’t really happen. He has heroic moments in The Last Jedi as well but in this movie…he’s just not interesting and mostly ends up just being worried about Rey but never able to do anything about it. He also “has something to tell her”. He never does. The topic even gets revisited between Poe and him. Still doesn’t say anything. Guess there’s no resolution there. Oops. Also, real quick, we knew Leia would fall just like Han and Luke. One per movie. But we don’t kill off Chewy although we tease it. I was happy about that. Droids are fine too. Humans gotta go though. Guess human don’t sell as well as toys. Alright, we’re done here. Onto the good stuff.

I just mentioned Chewbacca so his emotional reaction to Leia’s death was really well done. Leia was treated the best way she could have been with what they had to work with, in my opinion. The tiny gripe was referring to her as Princess instead of General but I guess we will give that a pass too. The force ghost scene with Luke and Rey was both great and nostalgic. That X-Wing was sitting there the pervious movie and to see him raise it for Rey to use was one of the grand moments of the film. This along with him catching the lightsaber as if to say, I was wrong and was scared when you first approached me about training. Or maybe this was to shut up angry fans about the fact that he threw the saber in the first place in The Last Jedi. I found that great personally. Fans need to get over themselves sometimes. The Han Solo retread with the famous “I know" line was another highlight. People will nitpick this and say Han never had force powers so shouldn’t show up in this way. Clearly it was just Ben recalling memories as if to be talking to himself, to his Dad, and being offered forgiveness. A highlight of the movie for me as well. This all brings things to where this post started. Just before that however, I want to recall thoughts from a previous post of liking what they tried to do in this sequel trilogy and prove that the force is more than what we saw it as and isn’t “just blood”. Even the dark side can be converted. Offered redemption. There are just several places where this all could have been done much better. They also could have put Mara Jade in the movie. Just saying, totally not salty, let’s wrap this up.

Rey’s revisit to Tatooine is a great way to end the film, the Skywalker saga. She buries the two sabers where Star Wars started in the first place and reveals the one she forged for herself. I love this. When she engages in conversation with the person who questions who she is, at the point of redeeming the ending, she mentions she is Rey Skywalker. You’re a fucking Palpatine, was confirmed, and I get that you got the nod from Leia and Luke’s force ghost, but that quite literally, is not how things work. You don’t just label yourself something and become that. Without her being a Palpatine, her struggle with the dark would make less sense. However, I do think there would have been more value in her actually being related somehow to a Skywalker that dabbled in the dark, meanwhile Kylo Ren started good and turned dark due to having too much “Vader” in him. Like two people trying to find their proper place in the world in their own struggles. Rey was always gonna be the one to live however. I personally think it would have been more respected that way. Maybe I’m dealing in absolutes here.

These are my thoughts on everything. Nothing is as it seems and Kylo and Rey both have their respective journeys realized for better or worse. Will Rey train a new generation of Jedi and tell them about the Skywalker linage while then lying to the kids about her being one as well? Since she is now a self-proclaimed Skywalker? Don’t lie to the kids. Don’t hide shit from them. You don’t want to end up with a classroom full of Kylo Rens.

[dracox-serdriel]

TROS Ending Issues

Okay, so I’ve seen several posts regarding the ending of TROS, and I wanted to address them with some analysis by bullets. Under the cut for length, sass, and spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker.

There have been several posts out there arguing that if TROS had an original ending that was edittied away, it likely would’ve been worse for Ben Solo and Rey. For example, several people are arguing that one of the popular leaks - that Ben died offscreen in the pit after Palps threw him in “thus falls the last Skywalker” - was likely the original ending. I’ve also read several posts  from Reylos that argue that whatever alternate/original ending was to TROS, it would never have had a happily-ever-after with Rey and Ben Solo together.

While I understand the general jadedenss on this issue, I wanted to point out a number of things:

In all of the Star Wars saga history, there has never been a named character who has died and never been mentioned again in the movie s/he died in. That’s right, Ben Solo is the first and only named character to die in the Star Wars saga and not spoken of or otherwise mentioned again.

This isn’t just a huge break with Star Wars tradition. This is a huge break with good storytelling pratices, too.

To have a major character die in a movie without anything said about them again is, for want of a better word, VERY WEIRD.

I know one might argue that after his death, they were wrapping up the movie. However, the same could be said for many deaths in Star Wars. Qui-gon died at the end of an episode. Darth Vadar/Anakin Skywalker... plenty of people die at the end of saga episodes. But people still discuss their deaths in that same episode. It’s not like they didn’t have time for a short exchange between -- for example -- Rey and Finn (since Finn was set up in the movie to be a distant witness of Ben’s sacrifice--even though the movie didn’t even give us that).

All good stories have descending action and a resolution. Finding a place to mention the fact that Ben Solo helped save the galaxy--and sacrificed himself to save Rey--would’ve been pretty damn easy and taken almost no screentime.

Also: Ben Solo had no lines other than those he shared with Ghost Han. He said nothing to the Knights of Ren, nothing to Palpatine, and nothing to Rey. This is incredibly odd, since he’s been trapped under the mask (literal and actual) of Kylo Ren for 2 movies, and he finally has a chance to be himself. If they planned to kill him, surely they would’ve let him speak a few times before offing him.

TROS made Rey and Ben Solo a Force Dyad.

This literally means that - according to canon - Rey and Ben share a single soul.

In terms of plot, this was unnecessary.

They already showed the bond can transfer physical objects across space.

Kylo didn’t want to kill Rey before--and he values the Force bond. He already has plenty of reason to avoid killing Rey. He needs no more motivation in terms of “resisting the temptation” of killing her.

Palpatine could’ve drained the life force of 2 powerful young Force users to restore himself (I mean, why the hell not?)

There was absolutely no reason to make Rey and Ben Solo a Force Dyad when they already had a Force Bond to explain everything.

However, by making them a Force Dyad, they irrevocably linked Ben’s fate with Rey’s.

Even if you believe Ben Solo deserved to die because of what Kylo Ren did, it’s impossible to sell the idea that Rey deserves to lose half her soul. She didn’t choose the Force Dyad. (Neither did Ben.)

Selling the idea of Rey being “free” of the Force bond with Kylo Ren would’ve been infinitely easier than selling the idea of Rey being happy with her future despite half her soul dying.

If the original ending included Ben Solo dying, it absolutely would’ve provided more information about Force Dyads--particularly what happens when one half of the soul dies. (That would’ve been tied in as foreshadowing Ben’s death.)

TROS screws up the whole thing where the original trio all died to save Ben.

Han Solo’s death “splintered” Kylo Ren (gave Ben a fighting chance).

Luke Skywalker’s death gave Kylo a chance to face the master who failed him and vent his rage without killing anyone.

Leia Organa-Solo’s death proved that Ben was really alive/made him come to the surface.

This all sounds great, except... it’s unnessary. If Ben/Rey are a Force Dyad, then the bond would always result in him falling in love with her.  Which means, in narrative terms, that Ben/Kylo would always have died to save Rey, even without the deaths of Han, Luke, and Leia fueling his return to the light.

Having all 3 die for him to return to the light, only to die minutes later, is not only a waste of good character redemption arc, but also a poor use of the narrative elements here. “Saving Ben Solo” as a full trilogy arc only works if “saving” him means more than “turn him to the light.”

Also, we’ve already seen what happens when someone turns (to the Dark), and everything changes with Darth Vadar. Narratively, we should be setting up to see what happens when someome turns (to the Light), and everything changes. But that requires the character in question to be alive.

TROS had virtually nothing in terms of “what’s next.” For anybody.

At the end of the original trilogy, there was a sense that all the characters who survived were moving forward with their lives... into a better future to boot.

I will admit, I’ve only seen the prequels twice (nowhere near how much I’ve seen the originals), but they also ended with people moving forward. Leia and Luke were split up and sent to grow up with different people. Anakin was now become Darth Vadar... and so on. I don’t remember this being as strong/clear as with the original trilogy, but I do remember it being there.

Now consider TROS. What do we know about the character’s future?

Lando offered Jannah some help discovering her roots.

“People are rising up all over the galaxy” -- we even saw a “Holdo move” aka a First Order ship that I am pretty sure was destroyed by lightspeed jump -- above a planet.

Rey is... possibly becoming a Jedi? But would she? Didn’t the Jedi create the Sith? Can she be a Jedi and still bring balance? Hm... fine, let’s say she’s gonna use her new lightsaber and bring Force balance. (But I am seriously guessing here, since the movie gave us no indications.)

Finn is...?

Poe is... what, exactly?

Rose is... ?

Maz is...?

Chewie is the caption of the Falcon now, so... he’s... ?

Zorii is...?

The movie didn’t give us any insight into the character’s futures. It barely touched on what Rey - its protagonist - would be doing, other than calling herself “Skywalker.”

This is likely because Disney/Lucas Films wanted open-ended plots (because keeping track of things for continuity is clearly not their strong suit).

Even so, at the very least, we should’ve had some idea what “the trio” was going onto next. But we don’t.

TL;DR Bullet List Summary

If the original ending of this script included the death of Ben Solo:

his change of heart and/or sacrifice would’ve been mentioned in the resolution at least once in dialog

they won’t have bothered making Ben and Rey a Force Dyad (because it wasn’t needed--and killing off half your protagonist’s soul is neither “hopeful” nor “satisfying”)

his death would’ve been foreshadowed at least twice in the script

there would’ve been dialog (or at least some direct indication) of the fact that Force Healing can result in the death of the Healer if s/he either gives too much of their life force or if s/he exerts himself/herself too much with the Force (for example, in TLJ, Kylo specifically says that Force projection at a long distance can kill)

This was supposed to be Leia’s movie in the trilogy. I always assumed Leia would die (as Han and Luke died in their movies), but I never doubted Ben Solo would survive. Why? Because this is Leia’s movie. Killing her only child in her movie is, as I have said before, rude.

#tros spoilers #sw meta #ben solo #kylo ren

[ilcuoreardendo-fic]

Overall Thoughts on TROS

It's definitely a Star Wars movie. Full of pew pew and snap-hiss crackle. There's not much time to stop and absorb anything because it's just go go go: we have a lot of fanservice to give and not a lot of time to give it.

I enjoyed myself. I'm just kind of....whelmed. (Neither over nor under.) It was fun. But with the ending of the trilogy, I’m finally able to put all my thoughts together (or at least somewhat together) and I have a lot of them...but I think they can be somewhat summed up like this: I wanted the sequel trilogy to be something more than what it was. But I digress.

Spoilers under the cut. Including my peeve with "generational midichlorians." Yeah. Kind of like “generational wealth.”

Also, this is stream of thought. Not a well put together essay/analysis.

Specific things I liked:

Confirmation that Leia did train as a Jedi (and built a saber).

The festival on Pasaana. (Honestly, this is the kind of thing I like most about Star Wars - seeing the worlds and the peoples [humanoids or otherwise] on them.)

The Dyad Bond. More than a Force bond. Two sides of the same coin. Not just able to see the other but to physically interact with the other (Kylo taking Rey's necklace; Rey giving Ben the lightsaber.)

Poe and Finn running things together. (But it would have been better as space boyfriends. Come on, Disney.)

The voices of the past Jedi. In Star Wars, no one is ever really gone.

Things I didn't Like

A trilogy complaint: the lack of tight, cohesive storyline. For the love of god, this is not the 1970s and you are not George Lucas with a one-off idea. Disney is a megacorp that purchased the most well known story/franchise in history and you're going to come into this thing and fucking wing it? Stop!

Palpatine introduced in the crawl. This goes back to my issue with the lack of a solid overarching storyline for the trilogy. This feels like shoehorning in a bigger bad. There should have been some hint of this from the beginning. And since JJ did TFA, I'm looking at him. He could have laid down some foundation instead of just questions in TFA. (Outlines! People, come on.)

Tying on to those first two things: Exposition. Oh, Snoke? I created him. All those voices in your head? Yeah, that was me. I know there was a comic that showed the abuse Ben Solo suffered at Snoke’s hand. This stuff would have been good to see within the trilogy. Cut down on some of the extraneous characters and pew-pew moments and give us some depth by showing us not telling us. (I know it’s Star Wars, but come on.)

Retconning Rey's lack of lineage. Don't retcon things because some parts of fandom don't like it. Tell the story being laid out. Do not pander. The whole point of TLJ was that those of lineage don't own the Force. The Jedi and the Sith do not own the Force. The Force just is. And you don't have to be from a specific bloodline to have a strong connection to it. The reason Rey was so strong was already established in the earlier films. Snoke said: Darkness rises and Light to meet it. The Force isn't a passive element; it seeks a balance. That's why Rey was so strong. We didn't need the "Oh, well, generational midichlorians, ya know." Sigh. We could have even kept the whole Palpatine as the hidden big bad without having Rey related to him. "Darkness rises and Light to meet it" applies to Old Palpy as well.

Redemption and Death. This is a peeve for me. I'm tired of the "redeemed through sacrificing my life" trope. For once, I'd like to see the redeemed bad guy survive and go out into the world and work on actively making things right. Ben's death was poetic and all. And it did run counter to Anakin in that he was able to save/bring back to life the woman he loved. But.... I want more. I want different. I was never expecting Reylo on screen or happily ever afters and riding off into the sunset. But I was hoping for something different than Return of the Jedi, Part Deux. I don't even have to see it. (In a less than two hour movie, that's not going to happen.) Just give me a hint.

There are more things, but they can pretty much be taken from these articles:

The Lack of Anakin Skywalker

From a storytelling/craft perspective. All of this. In all of the newness and nostalgic fan service, we just didn’t get the ties to the first six movies.

https://screenrant.com/star-wars-9-rise-skywalker-disrespects-darth-vader-anakin/?fbclid=IwAR1JG34DPkgKF1ho9cs6cP_qDEcQB7Tu0mwBgA0KGLhK-AvDwoylp27eUiE

While the sequel trilogy shouldn't be bogged down by too many ties to past movies, it should be the culmination to a nine-part saga that had, thus far, revolved around the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker. To feel cohesive as episodes 7, 8, and 9 as opposed to just another trilogy that happens to take place after the first six movies, the final three movies should be tied to his legacy as well.

Lack of Substance, Lack of Loss, Too Much Myth

https://www.cbr.com/the-rise-of-skywalker-star-wars-rian-johnson/?fbclid=IwAR3TRCtLL-Uxehr7Vn2U2CmSkhbX4pmWXXUHcv3eWX-4RD0TCvpfhf6xipk

In The Last Jedi, Johnson uses conflict as a means to make the situation direr. Every flashy scene pushes the plot forward, but it pushes it in a way that makes it more clear the heroes are in over their heads. Holdo lightspeed ramming those ships? It's beautiful and epic, but it also leaves the Resistance vulnerable. The Kylo/Rey fight against Snoke's guards? That's a crowd-pleaser, but it also ends with Kylo Ren leading the First Order.

In every fight, there was some risk. And, as Yoda puts it in The Last Jedi, "The greatest teacher failure is." Every character learned from their failure, no matter how severe it may be.

There is plenty of fights in The Rise of Skywalker that are intended to entertain fans of action, but they add precious little. Chewie dying? Oh, no, he's fine. Wait, a planet blew up? Oh, no, don't worry, all the relevant characters on the planet escaped. Hold on, Palpatine electrocuted every ship in the sky? Oh no, none of the characters fans liked died. Don't worry. It's a lot of style, but we never get that substantial loss.

Things I'm Mixed About

There will probably be more of this as I digest but, right now:

The Kiss

I’m always the person rooting for the conflicted villain to come back to good. To become, if not a hero, then an anti-hero.

And I’m a Reylo shipper. I glommed onto the Bastilla Shan/Revan vibes, the Hades and Persephone symbolism, etc. from the get-go.

I’m glad to see a kiss between the two. It gives me a warm fuzzy. But it’s so sudden, it feels somewhat dizzying. But then Rey and Ben are probably having an entire conversation as they’re sitting they’re staring at each other, so...

The Tatooine Ending

It's fan service. I get the whole nod to where things started, with the dual sunset. Luke looked out on the horizon wondering what was out there in the galaxy. Rey's doing the same, but from a different perspective (she knows something of what's out there, but she still doesn't know what the future will hold for her as the last Jedi).

But functionally, I'm just like...why bury them in the sand? Keep them with you. Start a new training temple and keep them there.

Also...all that sand. Anakin’s turning in his grave. Rude.

Things People Have Complained About that I Don’t Mind

This has mostly been from other Reylo shippers, but....

“Rey stuck on Tatooine” She’s not stuck. She has the Falcon. She went to bury the lightsabers. Luke already told her, essentially, to not do what he did and cloister herself away. I don’t know why some people think she was going to build herself a new lightsaber and become a hermit on Tatooine.

“Rey’s lack of grief over Ben”

This is a Star Wars movie. In a Star Wars movie we don’t really see grief. We see a bit with Leia, but that’s in large part because Carrie Fisher died and this was essentially a memorial for her on film.

Beyond that...characters die all the time throughout every movie. (Look how many died in the battle between the Resistance and Final Order. And what do we get? Partying. Congratulations. Kissing. “Yay, we’re still alive!” Not grief.)  Maybe we get a funeral or a mention in passing, but we don’t really see characters working through their feelings.

I’m sure Rey did her grieving. And may still be. Grief changes form as time passes and it looks different from person to person.

#star wars: the rise of skywalker #ben solo #rey #reylo #kylo ren #tros spoilers #star wars #star wars sequels #star wars sequel trilogy #outlines people outlines

[local-star-wars-kinda-nerd]

Episode IX review.

In short, my primary reaction was facepalm.

I had a bad feeling about this episode since first teaser has been released. It made me feel... nothing, which was strange. When any teaser or trailer for previous films had been released, I got excited about these movies. Every one of them: from The Force Awakens to Solo. But not this time. And, unfortunately, I was right (at least for myself).

Detailed review is under cut, as well as spoilers are. You've been warned. I also want to warn you that I'm not professional critic, just a fan like a lot of other people.

IMHO, the whole trilogy should've been made by one director. No guarantee this would make these movies a lot better, but at least the story would've been whole. Why am I saying this? Because one of the biggest, if not the main, problems of TROS is it's trying to apologize before fans for mistakes made in episode VIII. Instead of trying to fix them, giving a good and understandable explanation for questions left after TLJ, they just said: "Forget about episode VIII ever existed". No jokes, I could've just watch TROS after TFA without watching TLJ and only questions I'd have are where is Snoke, why Kylo's mask is destroyed, where is Luke. And that's disappointing. I'm not saying episode VIII was perfect, it has done some things wrong, but also some things were good. And they should work on fixing bad and improving good. I realize that J.J.Abrams was given an impossible task: to finish Star Wars saga with the most unstable fan base. TROS was gonna be hated anyway, no matter what director has done with it.

Okay. What I liked about The Rise of Skywalker?

- More Poe and Finn interactions. I know it's not enough, but they made a really cool bromance.

- C-3PO. Just C-3PO.

- Luke training Leia the Jedi ways.

- The idea of redeemed Kylo Ren (or Ben Solo at this point). I only wish his redemption arc has been executed better.

- Hey, they haven't forgotten about Anakin's existence, the true Chosen One.

- Visual effects. As always, magnificent.

- Lightsaber duels also looked good.

- Luke admitting that he made mistakes and that he shouldn't been hiding on Ach-To.

- Hey, they showed that Rey had some kind of training.

- Finn turned out to be Force-sensitive. I thought it would be cool since TFA has been released.

- Music, because I love John Williams' work obviously. Though sometimes some tracks from other episodes in this movie seemed off.

Now, to things I disliked or even hated (forgive me, I'm a simple human being with the right to feel negative emotions towards things. I'm not gonna hate or blame other people for their disagreement with me):

- Too fast. TROS had some good scenes, but I couldn't feel their weight and importance because everything was going too fast.

- Maybe it's just me, but despite movie's best efforts it hasn't managed to convince me that the main trio is a team. Poe and Finn - yes, their friendship was obvious since TFA. Finn and Rey - also believable friendship (for me). But I never got feeling that all of them are good team, best friends. A New Hope managed to make the same thing way better.

- Kylo's mask. In TLJ destroying the mask was important point of his character arc. Snoke just humiliated him for being beaten by a just scavenger and pointed at that Kylo isn't Vader, only a child wearing a mask and pretending to be his famous grandfather. And at this moment Kylo decides to stop trying to be someone else (even someone he idolizes) and finally try to be himself. And then he repairs it in TROS. Why? There is no explanation in movie. My guess is on a huge amount of hate towards Adam Driver and his appearance.

- Remember Rose from TLJ? Well, either your answer is yes or no, forget about her. You barely will be able to notice her role in this movie. Yes, she did questionable thing. Yes, she was hated by half of fans. And that's why you will even forget that she was here.

- Palps is back! Remember how he returned from dead in EU? He's also not dead in our movie! So it vanishes importance of every episode made by Lucas, so what? Ya boy Palps is back! Aren't you glad? Okay, no jokes. When a lot of people hated TFA and TLJ, I thought: "Hey, at least these episodes haven’t made the biggest mistake EU's post-Endor made (and by this said "Anakin's sacrifice and Luke's path don't matter! Balance isn't restored, Sith are still there, the Empire isn't dead yet, have fun!") - they haven't brought Sidious back. Sequels still have a chance to be a not bad trilogy". And then the teaser happened. Honestly, his comeback feels like a YouTube theory on the big screen. That's what you expected from the finale of great Skywalker saga? Total unimportance of Skywalker's sacrifice. Alright, it would be only half of trouble. The real pain is Palpatine's comeback makes no sense. How he survived? Why waited so long? What he even wanted? What was his plan?

- If there is a thing I liked the most about The Last Jedi, it's Rey's parents being just scavengers, who sold their daughter for drinks. Again, since I watched TFA in theater, I was hoping the creators won't make Rey Skywalker, Kenobi, Palpatine, Bridger, or anyone else at this point. But no. She is Palpatine's granddaughter. And somehow this explains her abilities. I have no idea how. And it also feels like writers were looking for YouTube theories about Rey's bloodline and just picked the most popular one.

- Rey is Mary Sue. More than ever. I absolutely don't mind her a being powerful Force-user, but please, can anybody explain me how she manages to use tricks without training some Jedi couldn't use even with years of training and practicing? This explanation from TLJ novel sucks, honestly. In TFA she used mind trick. How? Okay, she did only once, maybe that's all. In TLJ she moves a hella lot rocks. How? Alright, not everything is too bad. But in TROS she is using Force lightning, healing, she holds a ship(!). And that's because... what? Palpatine's blood? No. No, and again no. Being daughter of someone powerful doesn't mean you can now do every-freaking-thing with the Force you want. And thing is, she face no consequences of such power. What do you say? She killed Chewbacca? Nope, he's alive, and we didn't even have time to believe in his death, and Rey has no time to realize the cost her uncontrolled power. Does she need help in defeating Palpatine? Well, voices of Jedi helped her to rise, but why it had to be her alone? If you present us Rey and Kylo being a diade (sorry for spelling, wasn’t watching in English), be so nice to use it.

- Redeemed Ben doesn't matter. He isn't remembered, no one's gonna be upset of his death, he won't show in the final scene as a member of Skywalker family (and why Anakin isn't there is big mystery too).

- I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. Reylo. Yet another thing I didn’t want to be brought into movies since TFA. I don’t believe in their love. I can believe that Kylo cares for Rey after she shows some amount of compassion towards him, something he hasn't got in years. I can accept that Rey wants to help Kylo to return to light (honestly no idea why she does, but I can accept it), but not love to death. They just didn’t have enough time or interactions to make their feelings believable, if these feeling are even real. As someone who thinks that Arcann's romance is pretty fast, even it is way more believable (and his redemption arc is better, too).

In the end, question is, was the sequel trilogy needed? Maybe. The story could've been finished better. Was this trilogy needed? I'd say no. Nothing has really changed, we still don't know if Jedi Order is going to be reborn, or the new order will come to replace them, or what is going to be with all Force-sensitive at all. This episode was supposed to be the finale of whole Star Wars saga, but for a finale it leaves way too many questions about future. As finale of Skywalker story, there's not enough Skywalker's influence for victory over Palpatine. Especially Anakin's. He is the Chosen One (or at least was before TROS), and everything he did to finally bring Palpatine down in this movie is... said a few lines. No more than any other Jedi. It destroys all previous episodes for me. It hurts me to admit that for the first time I was shocked by how a Star Wars movie turned out. In bad meaning. Of all new movies The Last Jedi was my least favorite, and still I like it. The Force Awakens had great potential, even with everything Abrams did. Solo was such a satisfying story for me. Rogue One is personal favorite of new movies. But The Rise of Skywalker made me sad and disappointed. And that's considering I love a lot of Star Wars. For me, it wasn't worth it.

#star wars #episode ix #the rise of skywalker #tros #tros spoilers #slight swtor mention heh

[metalgearkong]

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker - Review

12/20/19  ** Spoilers

Directed by JJ Abrams (Lucasfilm / Disney)

Among the current social media and the 24 hour advertisement cycle, if you wanted, its possible to piece together much of the plot of this movie, or any big blockbuster these days. Its for this reason I avoided every single piece of media about Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker before I saw it. Even when bombarded with Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TV ads, and movie previews, I successfully dodged all snippets of the movie in order to be as surprised as possible once I sat down to see it. That night was tonight, and it’s felt like a long and arduous two years since The Last Jedi. Once again I have deeply mixed feelings about a new Star Wars movie, but I enjoyed myself more in The Rise of the Skywalker than I did in The Last Jedi, but not necessarily for shakesperian reasons.

The fans were worried about how The Rise of Skywalker would turn out, and as release day approached, reviews were already negative. I accidentally saw a Rottentomatoes critics score in the mid 20′s, and several videos were already uploaded to YouTube giving away that broad opinion of this film. This concerned me, as even critics liked The Last Jedi, which is one of my least favorite Star Wars movies. I let all of the negativity brush off me like a blaster bolt on Beskar armor. I went into The Rise of Skywalker rooting for it and looking to find every positive it could bring being the ninth main installment of the Star Wars saga. I was also ready for this trilogy to be over so everyone whining online could move on and obsess over something else. In an odd, semi-genuine, and semi-ironic way, I had tons of fun in The Rise of Skywalker, even acknowledging its horribly messy and rushed script.

Each of these Star Wars movies to me is like how a new chapter in the Bible would feel for a Christian, and the theater is my house of worship. The series’ trademark title blasted onto the screen among roaring trumpets, and I was ready. My auditorium applauded as the Star Wars logo shrunk to the background and the opening crawl appeared at the bottom of the screen. Seeing a new Star Wars movie in the theaters is always a holiday for me. Each film is a new addition to the lore of my favorite movie universe of all time, pulling from years as a kid before I can even remember the first time I saw it (thank you parents). This movie had me grinning from ear to ear, bringing out that inner child in me that Star Wars always used to do, something The Force Awakens partially did, and what The Last Jedi failed to do completely.

JJ Abrams continues his pension for fast paced scenes, but somehow still containing a ton of charm. We finally get to see Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), Finn (John Boyega), Chewie (Joonas Suotamo), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) all working together on the same mission. The characters have a ton of charisma between them, and it inspires me to think of the potential for them having been together more often in this trilogy. I enjoyed their quips and didn’t think it got out of control or relied too much on bathos. The first half of this movie moves like a racetrack, as our heroes move from one location to another pursued by the First Order enough to almost make me dizzy. This would turn out to be a running issue with the movie, and if JJ Abrams and the editor would have let each scene go a little slower and last a little longer, it would have been more appreciated.

Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) is the Supreme Leader of the First Order, having murdered and usurped Snoke (Andy Serkis) in the last film, and is on a personal quest to track down what may be the resurrection of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). The movie opens on this note, and having none of it spoiled ahead of time for me, found it to be intriguing and exciting. The Emperor is one of the best and most fleshed out characters in Star Wars, and I was curious to learn how he resurrected. Unfortunately the movie barely gives an explanation and we are simply left with the spectacle of what I call Necro Palpatine. However we do have it explained that Snoke was a mere puppet of Palpatine in some capacity, but we aren’t told to what extent, or any other kind of logical backstory. It both answers and raises more questions simultaneously, about both dark lords.

The Rise of Skywalker also goes out of its way in several places to help explain some of the more controversial elements of the prior film, and I appreciated it as a fan of the series who felt toyed with in The Last Jedi. It’s obviously a wink wink to the audience, but I’d much rather have it than not. Greatest of all was Luke (Mark Hamill) being redeemed, as he admitted he was not only wrong to go hide on the island, but toss his father’s lightsaber over his shoulder. The movie also tries to shoe-in more explanation of what Luke was doing after his Jedi Academy was destroyed, which included trying to find the Sith Wayfinder along with Lando Carissian (Billy Dee Williams). It’s not a great explanation of why Luke disappeared, and I wish this was clearly the plan from the beginning of the trilogy. The Wayfinder is basically a key to get to Exegol where Palpatine is hiding. It becomes Rey (Daisy Ridley) and her friend’s mission to find the Wayfinder, through various means and mcguffins. 

John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra returns one final time scoring a Star Wars movie. I heard a dozen of his old tracks throughout the film and I had fun naming as many as I could. For how much I love his leitmotifs and listen to his music ad noaseam, whether its giving me an emotional rush during a run or driving on the highway, I couldn’t recall any new music heard in this film. The first thing I did when I got home from the movie was try to download the soundtrack from Spotify but it wasn’t available yet. I still give this movie a big thumbs up for its soundtrack because although it isn’t new, the way Williams’ music is used and where it’s placed gave me goosebumps every time. Hearing Rey’s theme in just the right moments made me happy, and identifying other leitmotifs and variations of them were great to hear.

The acting all around was excellent for a Star Wars movie. Daisy Ridley as Rey is as great as she’s ever been, and the same goes to Adam Driver as Kylo Ren. All the side characters and comic relief did a good job as well. The banter between Finn, Poe, and C-3PO was a treat as well. Tony Daniels continues to be one of my favorite actors in all of Star Wars for conveying as much personality as he does without facial expressions and very limited movement. McDiarmid as Necro Palpatine gets very little screen time, but he’s hamming it up as the evil Emperor he’s always been, and I loved every second of it. I also deeply appreciate that the movie seemed to rely on puppets again, and one of the stand out side characters was a tiny engineer named Babu Frik (Shirley Henderson) who should have had more time in the movie.

The only “yikes” moment I felt was any time we saw Leia. It’s such a tragedy that Carrie Fisher passed away so unexpectedly, and least of all not able to finish this Star Wars trilogy. I listened to her audiobook The Princess Diarist and she seemed so excited, yet nervous, to be yet again the role that made her famous, and to complete episodes 7, 8, and 9. Her face seems to be animated on a stand-in actress, and her only lines were from old footage that was never used in Episode VII or VIII. This means Leia has very little to say in this movie, and probably had a lot less to do in the plot than she deserved to. The CGI simply wasn’t convincing for me and is the only aspect of the movie that put a lump in my throat for all the wrong reasons. On the flip side, Han Solo’s cameo was a terrific scene that also had me teary-eyed. It was a great call back to The Force Awakens, and served a purpose for Kylo Ren’s character. Harrison Ford did a perfect job, and it was just the sort of scene I didn’t know I wanted.

While much The Rise of Skywalker feels hastily cobbled together, and relies on way too many conveniences for the plot to keep moving, I found it to be a very satisfying time. You know that feeling when you’re extremely tired and almost feel drunk, and everything seems hilarious and flippant? That’s how I felt during this entire thing. I could see ridiculous script elements that either contradict or ruin lore left and right, but I think something inside me was just so happy to finally get this trilogy over with. I let the fan service envelop me even if it didn’t make sense or feel justified. Yes Rey is still a Mary Sue, yes we still got an underwhelming lightsaber duel (that she wins), yes there are too many characters, yes the plot and details can be nonsensical, yes this movie needed way more time to bake in the oven. But unlike a Jedi’s weapon, this movie may not be elegant, but it is a cathartic and satisfying experience, which is all I every hoped it would be. Now can we all take a breath and move on?

6/10

#star wars #the force awakens #the last jedi #the rise of skywalker #john williams #john boyega #finn #poe dameron #oscar isaac #princess leia #carriera #george harrison #han solo #kylo ren #ben solo #adam driver #episode ix #sequel talk #skywalker saga #fan fiction #fan service #C3po #anthony dzamefe #tony daniels #babu frik #moaning myrtle #palpatine #darth bader #andy serkis #james earl jones