What Is On Your Mind?

I.
FUCKING.
DREW SOMETHING.

I don't care, what anyone, anywhere, says about how it's not good enough to them! I don't care, I drew something, this is the most progress I've made in the five years I've been banging my head against paper and computer screen alike, THIS IS MY ACCOMPLISHMENT! *deal with it shades*

 

Glad to hear in the wake of bad news there's so much to be excited about and look forward to! We all wish you and your lovely all the best and hope to keep hearing good news from you

 

Caspian is a great name.

 

Color update! ;u;

I agree, it definitely sounds like a good choice!

 

went and saw star wars, or as i'm going to call it "Disney's: Star Wars, the nostalgia circle-jerk awakens"
might write out a review though I doubt anyone would care about it

 

I'm not really interested in finding out if I'm wrong or right (call it self-confirming bias if you want, I just really don't care), but that's what I pretty much figure The Force Awakens is.

The comments I see from people bashing those who still enjoy Battlefront 2 and don't like Battlefield: Star Wars is bad enough, I've got no time for the Prequel vs Original Trilogy+Disney Trilogy drama.

 

to put it simply the character and plot development seems like something straight out a 15 year olds mary sue fanfic except it has the brand recognition of a multi-trillion dollar trademark to make it shiny enough to grab the attention of viewers who are seeing it because it's the newest popular thing and not just because of their raging nostalgia boner.

also can't forget the ridiculous cross-guard plot device lightsaber

 

Am I wrong in saying that this is exactly the kind of thing I expected when I heard it had been claimed by Disney?

Also I don't really seem to have as much of a problem with Kylo's lightsaber as everyone else seems to. From what (little) I know, the SW lore actually has some really exotic kinds of light-based weaponry spun off from the 'sabers.

 

*shrug* I really liked the new Star Wars movie. It was much more of a return to the originals. I can't think of any nitpicks with it, and I'm normally one to do that.

 

I expected about as much if not worse. To be honest, this Kylo person....the lightsaber he had isn't too much of a stretch from Darth Maul's if you ask me. IF you're one for the "retconned" EU comics, Dauth Maul made his dual blade staff-style saber initially as a trick to get the upper hand on a Jedi Master who wouldn't kill him (or anyone anymore) but at the same time showed how inexperienced and reckless Maul was; afterwards he incorporated it into part of his style as a sort of ace up his sleeve.

The crossguard....if you think about it, presumably lightsaber blades are formed from a plasma-like phlebotinum, and they can have their length restricted obviously, so short stub blades forming a crossguard would act as a different means to parry a strike since they can't be cut by other lightsabers. Now, as for not having his grip slip during use and the crossguards shred his hand....or accidentally gripping it wrong when pressed into a sudden weapon draw.....or swinging it wrong and stabbing himself....

Not sure if http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AwesomeButImpractical or http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BoringButPractical

 

The current lore states that his lightsaber is unstable, and the crystal that focuses the beam is cracked and corrupted. This of course, matches his personality perfectly. Doesn't he just seem like the kind of guy who would use a damaged lightsaber crystal just so he could have one, let alone a red one, even if it means the whole thing lacks all the refinement of a real jedi weapon? So the crossguards are actually vents that redirect some of the beam and ultimately serve as a defensive/offensive addition to the weapon.

 

I just don't understand why everybody is so mad there was a character in this movie who was actually good at things. When did we get so determined to see our heroes fail? Is it a bad thing to actually like that somebody has talents they've honed for years? Why does this make Rey a Mary Sue? And further, why would that be a bad thing on principle?

And on the more specific topic of what I'm sure we're talking about in terms of that one character's skills, it's not unprecedented in the Star Wars Universe. Luke's force training included one basic sensory exercise with Obi Wan, a few days of backflipping and force lifting in the swamp with Yoda. And that was all it took to stand his ground against Vader while old Daddy toyed with him. The point was being a Jedi is more a state of mind than a matter of practiced skills. Luke didn't return to Yoda til the beginning of Jedi and yet still mastered much of the force. He became a Jedi by facing his father and sticking to his guns and being willing to die while the Death Star II went down, not by training and practicing. Why is it when suddenly one character with other talents has a natural proclivity for the force they're instantly shot down by viewers as being too talented? Luke was a great pilot despite having never flown in space and a great, moral, ethical, good person and THAT was his strength. But nobody claims he was a Mary Sue when he managed to completely destroy Vader in a lightsaber battle despite having LITERALLY no training. Never mind pulling a mind trick on two Gamoreans and Bib Fortuna despite having no formal training in that either.

I mean come on. Just.... watch the original trilogy.... Jedi aren't trained they're born. The force is their destiny.

 

I haven't seen it yet...so.

 

Thaaaaank you. Couldn't have said it better.

 

And on that note

 

still shitty when a character goes from "the force? what's that?" to "haha! I've never shot a blaster before and now I'm nailing every target and I can control minds and I'm somehow fighting a fucking trained sith and not immediately dying and I've only seen this lightsaber once!" seriously, mary sue to the max, also I'm expecting it to be that she's Luke's daughter and she'll have to fight her cousin and it'll end similar to the original trilogy so disney can keep milking everyone for their nostalgia dollar. also I have to say I was more entertained with the bar scene and the alien designs than I was with anything else in the movie

I should also add most of the jokey banter seemed uber forced (lol, see what I did there?) and didn't really fit with most of the situations (and yeah, I know JarJar was a walking slap stick gag but that doesn't mean I liked him any more)

 

That's kinda the point of a jedi though, they're not somebody you really have to train to feel the force, it's their destiny, once they start down that path, once they're open to the force, once they feel it, it's part of them. Maz Kanata's instructions about the force weren't "practice this a million times." She literally says "Just let it in." That's what the force is in George's original story, it's not something you have to refine, it's just something you have to listen to. The training of a jedi isn't about learning new moves and spells it's about learning to feel the force more acutely, learning to centre oneself, and learning to resist the temptation of the dark side.

See, that's what interesting about a Jedi, and those are the parts of Rey's journey we still have to see. She can feel it, she can command it, but does she understand it? Could she resist the dark side? Could she centre herself in chaos? She has a single moment of clarity and serenity and it's what wins her the battle. She expresses a lot of anger and fear throughout the movie, and that's what a Jedi's journey is really about. Kylo is entirely lacking in those departments and he can still use the force. That's the most significant change in Luke in Jedi too, he's no longer afraid (until the Emperor finds cracks in his armour), he's no longer angry (until Vader threatens Leia). Compared to mastering THAT, one mind trick that takes three tries to make work is nothing.

And I just have a hard time thinking you didn't laugh in the movie. I've seen 6 Star Wars films in theatre and never once heard anybody laugh. Until this one. I can't imagine you were grumpily sitting there with your arms crossed determined not to laugh at gags that actually worked.

 

There's a theory she's Obi-Wan's grand daughter. Which doesn't rule out Luke's daughter.

 

A character needs to be balanced, imo @Exeter. In my stance, at least, it IS understandable to have a character who's good at everything.....at least, everything their intended role would require. Soldiers that have gone through their training from hell are ideally good at all kinds of combat related skills....but then you see that they're suddenly very poor at things like diplomacy, empathy, even normal life when they return home (IF they do).

So a character with a high proficiency in many skills related to profession will likely be fairly incompetent or incapable of other things; the better they are at what they're meant to do, the worse they are at everything else. The stereotype for the logical conclusion being the "Ultimate Soldier", "Ultimate Weapon", and "Ultimate Agent" types; they're insanely good at doing the things they do, be it taking live or saving it, but ultimately they're without any emotion, to their victim or the person who initially looks at them as their hero.

Regardless of the reasoning behind why a character can do all the things it can do, one that can do anything and everything needed of them with no drawbacks is a Mary Sue. Regardless of gender, too, as I never really paid attention to Luke Skywalker before (I found Han Solo more interesting), but looking at the old trilogy he's pretty Mary Sue...

And to answer your question about why nobody ever called him out for being one? They do now. But back when Star Wars was just A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return Of The Jedi, Mary Sue characters were preferred for the lead role. Remember that the Original Trilogy comes from the same era of media as "golden" heros who never do anything wrong, and damsels in distress who always need their hero, and how the bad guy always gets his due.

I personally prefer stories that are darker, specifically the ones that are more realistic about good and bad not being black and white, but rather perspective, and where sometimes being good just doesn't work. But that's just me.