Final Thoughts On Mons(TROS)ity

i promised you 🦋

(crossposting from x, bsky, & ig)

TROS - What did I even watch? Or how I lived to see the day Disney murdered a prince, left Cinderella alone in the desert, and hoped for the world to rejoice because it was “fun”?

Dear friends, I’ve been here for the spoilers and I’ve even talked with some of you. I went to watch the movie today, with 0 hope of anything except of seeing my baby Ben Solo and Adam’s fenomenal acting (and listening to some good John Williams). 

I knew it would be horrible, but as @nevernerdenoughblog said seeing it makes it even more. Like @clairen45 it felt so wrong. Should I rejoice with a Reylo kiss that Rey gave but seconds later didn’t even cry over Ben’s dead body? I refuse to acknowledge this characterization of Rey. She was the only one that ever believed in Ben Solo, she shipped herself to make him know he was loved and wanted and to help him. Where was this Rey in this movie?

I am sorry guys (especially for the tagging) but I need to write this out or it will eat me and you guys are the few ones that relate to my pain. You know what really hurt me the most in all this? Toxic masculinity disguised as feminism.

1) FAREWELL HEROINE’S JOURNEY

They trashed the Heroine’s Journey. They murdered it and spit in its face. JJ Abrams simply decided that the Heroine’s Journey (done in act 1/ep. VII and act 2/ep. VIII) was not cutting anymore and decided to send Rey on a Hero’s Journey (ep. IX only, new 1st, 2nd and 3rd act altogether), where she has become this almost toxic masculine fighter under Leia’s training  — Badass girl? Yes. Full of anger? Yes. Logical? Yes. Connected to anything? No, not even herself, she kept on the run, afraid. In search of the Jedi detachment? Yes. —, only to send her happilly off to a desert planet in the end of her journey and finishing with her alone talking with an old lady.

Which remind us of the start of TFA, meaning she has comeback to what? Luke didn’t even comeback to that “home” in Tatooine the end of his Hero’s Journey? So she went to a place of death to what? This is a slap on the face of the Heroine’s Journey. This is how toxic masculinity corrupts and interrupts the most uncomfortable (to psychologically unhealthy bystanders) and fundamental (to the woman herself) phase of Heroine’s Journey: You want love, family, a partnership, connection, nurturing or progeny? That is weak, it is foolish. You need to fight, to conquer, to take, take and take. Otherwise you won’t be strong or independent.

REALLY???????????

I AM CRYING! WHY? WHY? WHY? Daisy, are you really seriously satisfied with this ending? Because REY DESERVED BETTER. 

BTW, BEN SOLO DESERVED BETTER! The true feminist of this story DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER! ADAM DRIVER DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER! He always respect the director’s view, does his best to accomplish it and brings his best acting to the table. The only saving grace in the whole movie to me was Ben’s arc because 1) Adam was doing it and 2) He honored his character. Man he deserved so much better!!!!!

I’m not even going to repeat what everyone already said about where is George Lucas’ Fairytale Story, because you guys said it all. But I have a beef with Disney executive decisions:

2) WALT DISNEY - HOW I WISH WALT WAS ALIVE

Walt Disney. Much have been criticized concerning his choices to make HEA in fairytales. But what now? We find balance by wanting our children to grow up to be cynic and seeing the feminine as weak? Unhelpful? Bad? 

“Yo independent women! You need no prince even if you have one. He can compassionately and selfelessly die to save you because he loves you and you can go off, happily, to celebrate with your friends! You don’t mourn his body, oh no. You don’t tell him you love him. You forget him. You go be that cool lonely warrior.”

Excuse me but I can kick ass and have the romantic love life and children I want! I can have both! Because I am a human being and I deserve it. This is not a matter of being a men or women. This is a matter of balancing the feminine and masculine within.

But that is not just it. BEN SOLO DESERVED BETTER! WALT WOULD NEVER, EVER LET A CHARACTER THAT WENT THROUGH ABUSE AND SO MUCH PAIN DIE THE WAY BEN SOLO DID! Is that a Disney movie??????? I mean, what did I just watch????

Walt Disney, the man who promised P.L. Travers, upon knowing who Mr. Banks was to her (her deceased alcoholic father) and what Mary Poppins, her work, meant to her, said:

“George Banks and all he stands for will be saved. Maybe not in life, but in imagination. Because that is what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again.”

THAT IS WHAT STORYTELLERS DO! Like so many fanfic writers in this fandom @nite0wl29, @stargazer1116, @intp-slytherin97, @eleanor-writes-stuff, @postedbygaslight, @raven-maiden, and so many others!! Btw, thank you all!! My vacation starts tomorrow and I’m going to read again all your amazing fics to regain exactly that: HOPE!

What was TROS? Leia and Luke believing in the good in Rey? The whole Jedi Order believing in her? I have nothing against that but why didn’t they believe or help Ben too? Ben didn’t receive any of that love, WHY? What was wrong with him? What did he do?! He was the most selfless of souls, just like his Father and Grandmother. Is this vicntim blaming??? WHY DISNEY, LUCAS FILM and JJ ABRAMS, WHY?!

I used to think people were wrong when they said Disney was only doing SW for money. Because Walt Disney also said and lived by this rule:

“The important thing is the family. If you can keep the family together — and that’s the backbone of our whole business, catering to families — that is what we hope to do.”

SW is about family and I refuse to accept ep. IX as SW. It has all the make up of SW, but it lacks the heart and very essence of it.

As dear @eleanor-writes-stuff said, so much for criticizing Rian Johnson, only to consagrate his work. That man honored the storytelling art and I’ll be forever grateful to him for his touch in SW and for how his writing touched and changed my life. And I know Waltz would have approved too because he also said:

“I prefer to entertain people in the hope that they learn, rather than teach people in the hope they are entertained.”

3) PLOT? WHAT PLOT?

Leia’s feelings for Ben have remained ambiguous, you can both read her as someone who wants her baby boy dead (because her death allows Rey to stab Ben to death if she wants to, when Ben was never going to harm Rey) or not. Actions speak louder than words, and this was the movie when Leia would have the chance to assume the responsability for her mistakes and take action, instead of only claiming she believed her son was alive.

If she clearly wanted to reach Ben, was Maz’s words needed? No, they weren’t. It was exactly because Maz needed to voice it that proved Leia’s actions could be read as ambiguous. Again, actions speak louder than words. Her body only disappeared after Ben’s did too because what? She was expecting him to die so she could collect his soul?

I dearly love Leia’s character but LEIA DESERVED BETTER! CARRIE DESERVED BETTER! In the end I’m not sure what to make of the ST Leia. She could have helped Ben but clearly sent him away to Luke because? What?

Ben Solo get his redemption from his own 2 hands + his father’s memory (not force ghost) + Rey’s confession. In the end he becomes the bride of the monster, only to die right after, in a what? Plot twist?

Finn, who? That was so messed up! Rose? Poor Rose!!! Hux? Oh Hux deserved better too. I was glad to see that Poe matured though and grew in his arc.

I’m also mad and confused about other plot points:

Ben throws his bleeded kyber krystal away because of his father. Okay. Why did no one help him when he cried on the Force to crack his kyber and soul, but Luke Force Ghost appears to catch Rey throwing a lightsaber in an on fire tie fighter?

Rey would turn to the Dark side if she killed Palpatine, right? 5 minutes later she won’t turn to the Dark Side anymore even if she still kills him in anger? Just because the self righteous jedi chose to let Ben get thrown down the abysm by himself but Rey was the Chosen One?

Still on this topic, so she choses to give up her soul so Palpatine uses her body as the vessel of his soul and the legion of siths, in order to save her friends, but she won’t take Ben Solo’s hand, even if she claims she wants to + retaining her body, to do the same?

I think force bonds don’t make much of a difference anymore when one of the parts dies. Ben can die and Rey seems pretty okay?

INTERESTING FACT: Beside me there was a father with his 6 or 7 year old son. The child kept asking what was going on everytime the movie introduced any plot twists or too much information too quickly. When the Reylo kiss came on screen, you know what the kid said? “I told ya!” I wanted to cry when seconds later the boy was claiming now was Rey’s turn to bring Ben back. Children understand the Heroine’s Journey and it doesn’t scare them. It is beautiful like that. The father then had to try and explain to the boy that other things were going on and that no, “that guy was gone”. What have you done people?

4) EPISODE X

I must have a clown face. They lied to us about this movie being “The Rise of Skywalker”. Maybe they lied to us about this being the end of the saga? Considering JJ claims this is fun, happy and hopeful, yeah, I doubt they are making an episode X or ressurecting Ben Solo after throwing in the garbage the Heroine’s Journey. I vaguely remember Adam also said he wasn’t going to appear in another SW.

IF they do announce an ep. X, I’m not watching it unless Ryan or someone like him directs the movie.

I loved to see Han Solo’s memory helping his son. That man trully loved him and it is tragic that he screwed up as a father only because he thought he wasn’t enough to be a good one and that Leia and Luke would know better.

I also loved to see Ben Solo as his father son and grandchild to his grandmother and great grandmother. He was beautiful and I love him and he’ll be forever with me.

I liked the Reylo kiss… but Rey’s actions in this movie have affected me so that it doesn’t feel like they scrapped the surface of making justice to this that could have been the happiest and most balanced of all SW couples.

IT COULD HAVE BEEN EPIC. IT COULD HAVE BEEN GRAND. But it wasn’t.

I’ll forget TROS. YBTOTT is now canon to me, because it is a perfect 3rd act in this trilogy, and @postedbygaslight honors the Heroine’s Journey like few writers have the gut and courage to do. Thank you so much Wayne!

And if anyone had the patience to read this to the end, thank you. I feel it too guys, this was awful and horrible.

Fluffers Speaks

Part two of my Jonerys rant cause I’m bored and have a lot of thoughts. Bear with me, cause I get sidetracked at some points. And prepare yourselves cause this is long and I get pissed.

—————————————————————

So in my last post, I talked about the problems with Jonerys in Season 7. Now we go onto Season 8. And we all know how much of a train reck that was.

In Season 8, Jonerys seems to take a toll for the worst and turns from a relationship void of chemistry or logic to Jaime and Cersei 2.0. Or more controversially, Aerys and Rhaella 2.0. I’ll get to that later.

When the Season starts, the ship seems to be having problems already (I know, shocker). As soon as Daenerys arrives to Winterfell, the Northerners do not take a liking to her. I’ve heard Dany stans on Tumblr and Instagram say that the Northerners are Xenophobic, racist, and other foul names.

Now what do xenophobia and racism mean? Simple:

Xenophobia: dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries

Racism: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.

When in the entire season did we see the Northerners say they didn’t like the Unsullied or Dothraki because of the color of their skin? Never. When have they said they don’t like the Unsullied or Dothraki because of where they come from? Never. The Northerners have good reason not to like them. The Unsullied are mindless soldiers who take orders without question, and the Dothraki pillage, rape, and murder for sport.

But back to Jonerys. Daenerys doesn’t seem to give the Northerners a good reason to trust her. She openly says that her dragons eat “Whatever they like”, which I guarantee makes the Northerners not trust her even more. And not to mention, the Northerners haven’t forgotten what her father did to Brandon and Rickard Stark. The North Remembers.

I’ve heard Stans say that the Northerners should be grateful for Daenerys coming North to help them. I disagree.

What are two of Dany’s titles again?

Queen of the Andals and the First Men

AND

PROTECTOR OF THE REALM

It is her job. If she proclaims herself as the “Rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms”, then it is her duty to resolve any threat that should come to her self proclaimed “people”. It’s like in real life: don’t expect people to be grateful to you every time you do something nice for them. Especially when you’re just doing your job.

Not only that, but Daenerys openly threatens Sansa twice. Once with the “Whatever they like” line about her dragons, and the other to Jon’s face when she says “If she can’t respect me-“. Jon doesn’t even confront her about it, he just lets his slide.

If he loves his family so much, why doesn’t he defend them? Cause this isn’t the Jon Snow we know and love. This is Jon “you are my queen” Snow who is just Dany’s lap dog and a mouthpiece for stans.

Cut to episode four, where the Long Night is over and the Northerners are celebrating. Daenerys visits Jon in his room (without knocking might I add. Manners, Daenerys, manners) and asks “Are you drunk?”. Jon stumbles on his own two feet, clearly indicating that he’s drunk. After talking about Jorah and Daenerys saying that she couldn’t love him the way she loves Jon, they make out.

Why did she have to make out with him while he was drunk? It just bothered me cause Jon couldn’t refuse cause of all the alcohol. Thankfully, Jon spares me another terrible boatsex scene and remembers “Oh yeah, she’s my aunt and incest is gross”.

Daenerys then confessed that she didn’t enjoy the way people looked at Jon with such love and admiration because she never had that in the North (similarly to how Viserys was jealous of Daenerys when she got the love and praise of the Dothraki). When Jon says he doesn’t want it (another line he repeats throughout the series), she literally shouts:

“It doesn’t matter what you want!”

What a great girlfriend, am I right? Putting her own needs over her lovers and not giving a damn about his feelings. True love😒

But seriously, this whole scene just made me hate this ship even more. Daenerys outright says that her and Jon can only be together if he lies to his family and swears Bran and Sam to secrecy. She literally begs him and even fake cries to him. I know it’s fake crying, cause as soon as Jon says that he’s still gonna tell his family, Daenerys drops the pity tears and gets angry at him.

Even when he kneels in front of her and she grabs his face forcefully, it just shows the power imbalance between them. Daenerys is always above Jon, and Jon is always below Daenerys. Jaime and Brienne also did the face holding thing, but they were on the same level. They were looking directly at each other. If anything the Jonerys face hold should be compared to Cersei and Euron, when Euron kneels in front of Cersei and submits to her.

See the difference?

Now, I get into why Jonerys is like Aerys and Rhaella 2.0. Obviously, Jonerys is basically Lannicest 2.0, where one person has more power over the other, but it’s also like the Mad King and his sister-wife.

After Daenerys burns Varys (which sucked because there’s no way Varys would’ve died that easily. Thanks Tyrion😒), she talks to Jon. She says that Sansa is just as guilty of Varys’s death as she is.

Sansa literally had nothing to do with Varys’s death. She wasn’t the one who passed the sentence. Sansa only gave Tyrion valuable information cause she believed that Jon was the better ruler with the rightful claim.

Anyways, Daenerys goes onto say that she doesn’t have love in Westeros, only fear (which is true). Jon then says that he loves her, which just sounds sooo forced. Like even his face said “Oh god, why do I have to say this?” Daenaerys confronts him saying “Is that all I am to you? Your Queen?”

It then leads to the most disturbing Jonerys kiss scene I’ve ever seen. I can’t put into words just how disgusted I was

Look at him. My poor boy with this demon (no offense Daenerys. I love you but you were awful this season). He literally closes his eyes as if to say “Just let it happen Jon and it’ll be over quicker”

And take a look at this:

Jon’s just standing there letting it happen, while Daenerys waits for him to make the first move. But he doesn’t because he’s afraid of her. This is the episode where D&D claims that Jon doesn’t love Daenerys, which for me I was like:

And then they completely forgot about that and I was upset again.

Now you might be asking: how is Jonerys like Aerys and Rhaella? Well to clarify, I’m not saying their entire relationship as a whole is like that, but this particular scene reminded me of them.

Take a look at this excerpt from A Feast For Crows:

Whenever Aerys would burn somebody, he’d go to Rhaella and “take his pleasure”. And when Daenerys burned Varys, she tries to make love to Jon, which he backs off from.

Daenerys then says “Let it be fear”, almost like saying “Alright. See what happens when you reject me”. What a healthy relationship, am I right?😒

And then finally, the finale. God, this pissed me off. Why did Emilia Clarke think it was a good idea to make Daenerys giddy after she literally burned thousands of people? It just made her look truly insane. Emilia, sweety, I love you. I really do. But please don’t come and say that Jon killed Daenerys because “he hates women”. Believe me, Jon is FAR from a woman hater. And apparently he didn’t talk to her? Jon literally tried to convince Dany to ”make them understand”, but he failed.

At first when Jon yelled to Daenerys saying that she burned children alive, I was like:

I thought “Finally! I’m getting my boy back! He still has sanity left in him!” But then he had to hit me with the “You are my Queen, now and always” and I was like:

Like, they did that. They destroyed my boy and everything he stood for. They made him a mouthpiece for Dany stans and Reek 2.0. The finale was bad enough, but Jesus Christ, this broke me.

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Well, that was a journey. Thankfully the show is over and I can focus on my AU and not worry about leaks. I knew the finale was gonna be bad cause I read the leaks, but it’s truly something else when you experience it.

If you want me to post my version of Jon and Daenerys from “Cookies”, let me know. Or not, I’ll probably do it anyways😅

But until then, the tea has been spilled and the pot has been stirred

— Hadestown, Come Home With Me

How to redeem your villain:the Zuko's way applied

ZUKO:

Season 1: have a villain with lot of parallels with the protagonist and make him angsty and likeble. Explain he is torn between good and evil.

Season 2: make the villain make good choices. LOTS of parallels with the protagonist, more more and more. Make the viewers think he'll redeem. Then make him do the BAD DECISION at the end.

Season 3: let him have everything and make him realise it's wrong. Make him have a GOOD DECISION totally by himself. Make him atone with the people he hurted. At the end, make him have a epic battle against the evil he believed before and after a near death experience, make him live with the other protagonists.

KYLO REN:

Movie 1: have a villain with lot of parallels with the protagonist and make him angsty and likeble. Explain he is torn between good and evil.

Movie 2:make the villain make good choices. LOTS of parallels with the protagonist, more more and more. Make the viewers think he'll redeem. Then make him do the BAD DECISION at the end.

Movie 3:let him have everything and make him realise it's wHAt HE REALLY WANTED THEN MAKE HIM INEXPLICABLY TURN GOOD BECAUSE "REASON" MAKE HIM NOT SAY ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING THEN DON'T GIVE HIM ATONEMENT, DON'T MAKE HIM FIGHT AND THEN MAKE HIM HAVE A MOMENT WHERE HE IS LIKE JESUS THEN MAKE HIM DIE. FINALLY EVERYONE CAN FORGET ABOUT HIM.

Congratulations. Now you ruined your character.👏

a concept

I'm almost done with telltale except actually not at all since I still need to redo all of episode 5 for the villain route

So true wtf...

R.I.P. Game of Thrones 2011-2019