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Unleash the inner fangirl

@tarisilmarwen / tarisilmarwen.tumblr.com

Welcome to my page! This tumblr mainly consists of fandom-related things (TV, movies, music, my ships, etc.) though occasionally you may see cute cat gifs, Bible verses, writing snippets, or just general life stuff. Make yourselves at home.
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bluntblade

Realised that this never posted, but I stand by it:

It's really weird that Rogue One's aesthetic, which was specifically developed for a Star Wars film which had minimal space wizards and was instead about much more subdued characters and murkier moral themes, has now become the aesthetic which gets slathered over all new live-action Star Wars whether it fits or not.

Mando mostly works with that look because while there are some big personalities, they're almost all side characters, while the mains are stoic and reserved except for Grogu. Andor looks downright great, not least as much of it is shot in actually locations and on full sets.

But apply this to Ahsoka and Kenobi, and it rather cuts against the vibe they're going for. Space wizards, with their operatic cosmic conflicts and connection to a mystic energy, tend to want something a bit more heightened (which I think is an under-discussed problem in the PT which is very muted much of the time, and a major strength in the more stylised Empire and TLJ). The colours are muted, the angles mostly flat, and it ends up being at odds with the story being told.

To extend Kenobi some goodwill, lots of the latter seems to have come from the Volume. You keep seeing where the cinematographer wanted to crank a shot of Vader to be sharper and more impactful, but couldn't because the Volume doesn't permit that. Although I do think there are some baffling bits of blocking like in the chase and the first duel, the floaty shaky-cam is a generally poor look and really, Lucasfilm shouldn't lean so hard on the Volume (I mean, seriously guys, look at Monarch. That looks miles better than anything you've done on TV except for Andor.) But point is, they tried and ran into constraints.

Meanwhile Ahsoka seems exceedingly comfortable with both feet in Gordon Willis' metaphorical bucket of cement. The characters' energy levels are tamped way down from Rebels to match the muted presentation, and things often feel low-energy even just within the context of these shows. Even when the show steps into the World Between Worlds, an explicitly supernatural plane (or goes into Ahsoka's coma dream) there's no real change in look. Contrast the way that Empire employs that low shutter speed in the dark cave, while TLJ steps into something surreal complete with voiceover and an impossible CG camera move. In Ahsoka, though, there's little attempt to make the place feel otherworldly beyond how the scenery looks.

And these are largely missing a vital part of Rogue One's look, which is scale. Both Gareth Edwards and cinematographer Greig Fraser are great at portraying large-scale things in interesting ways, and that's something which will tend to get lost with a move to the small screen and the massive use of the Volume, without shots from locations or physical sets to balance it out and make spaces feel more real.

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voidartisan

we talk a lot about the Jedi being the only group of people in the galaxy who consistently see the clones as people. but what if it goes both ways. if clones are little more than droids, then Jedi are the knights out of fairy tales and romance novels. the galaxy's perceptions and preconceptions are much like anakin's in tpm. the jedi are immortable infallible unkillable. they are paragons of virtue and light and intelligence. they are not people so much as concepts. legends. superheroes.

these people are as removed from the Jedi as they are from the clones. maybe even more so. the clones work with the Jedi every day. the clones see them make mistakes. simple human* errors. they see them mourn and rage and laugh. they see them try. so hard. they see them fail. they see them fall.

their Jedi are people. and the clones love them all the more for it.

subhuman clones and superhuman jedi

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sugarandice3

I really like the Ahsoka show, but for the life of me, I can't understand why Dave Filoni decided that Sabine needed to use the Force. She was such a cool and complicated character in Rebels and the fact that they shoved some Force-sensitivity in there really bothers me. She doesn't need the Force!! In Rebels, her backstory was made to compliment Ezra's. Where Ezra lost his loving parents, Sabine still had hers, the lack of love haunting her during the series. Ezra had to learn how to fight while Sabine had to learn peace. Ezra was a Jedi and Sabine was a Mandalorian.

They were supposed to be friends despite all the differences.

Now, its less of "they trust that the other one has their back and they rely on the other's skill set to cover their own weaknesses" and its more like "they both have have the access to the same skill set but one of them can barely use it so now there's added drama of one feeling inadequate."

She didn't need the Force to be cool. She was cooler without it.

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raphaellight

The mindset of Light Side in Star Wars

This frame is possibly the clearest image of how Jedi win their fights.

But lets start from the beggining.

Recently it hit me how little of the actual force is in the Original trilogy of Star Wars. Let's see first movie:

  1. Ben firstly makes his iconic "These aren't the droids you are looking for"
  2. Luke stops the bolts while covering eyes
  3. Vader chokes snarky admiral
  4. Ben feels the destruction of Alderran
  5. Ben's body dissappears
  6. Luke shots down the death star

No flashy effects. No jumping, no pushing people around. Up until a finale, it seems Force is nothing special, trickery of sort, something to overlook. Until it proves Vader right: "The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force." and destroys the said Death Star, exploiting the very weakness that, althought the weakness in theory (planted intentionally according to new canon) shouldn't really be an issue, as it required miracle to work. And Force brought the miracle.

That's how Luke destroyed the Death Star, marking his first highlight of his road to become the Greatest Jedi in the Galaxy. But how would Sith come about destroying the Death Star?

Well, I say, if there was another Sith in the Galaxy, that dude would probably gather resorces and slaves and build his own Death Star, but bigger and deadlier. Or looked around Sith teaching and spells to become strong enough to crush it with his mind. Because that's how Sith mind works. "Unlimited POWER!!!" is their goal. When they see someone opposing them, they thing how to overpower them.

The Dark Side is "easier, quicker, more tempting". Because it's natural. Because Luke does exacly that, when he trains. He focuses on his strenght. Because his goal is to defeat the powerfull Empire. So he needs to become powerfull himself. And that is an invitation for dark side to enter the mind. The same way it entered the mind of his father.

Anakin wanted to gather enough power to save those he loves. And because he was also wronged by Jedi enough times not to trust them with his pet parrot if he had one, he was open to other advice. Don't get me wrong, power is sometimes an answer. But it should never be a goal.

That's the mindset Luke enters his fight with Vader. And he can't do a crap. The Dark Lord is to powerfull to overcome with strenght.

Jedi don't do that. Jedi deals with issues. Jedi helps others out. And in the process they learn and make friends. That's what Jedi wins with. Patience, wisdom and allies, not with power.

Every greatest victory of Jedi over Sith or any other villain is about Jedi bringing the miracules to life. Jedi always win when dark seems the darkest. Because that's when pride of villains comes full circle. Small things left behind gather together, teaching of mentors, friends and happy coincidences combined create the victory for good guys.

When Obi-Wan cut's Maul with a sword Sith forgot was lying there.

When He cuts his former apprentice legs off, because Anakin couldn't accept, that even he isn't all-powerfull.

When Ezra brings Purgils to fight, the one thing all-knowing, genius strategist had no way of predicting.

When Luke managed to break thru the mask of hate, inspiring his father to do the right thing in the most crucial moment in Star Wars history.

When on Endor, army of Empire fall under the invasion of literall teddy bears.

When Kanan, with no fear to cloud his mind, focused on simple tast of defeating Inquisitor, realised the sword that striked so much fear for how inventive it seemed, turned out to be extremely vulnerable.

Jedi don't gather strenght. And Jedi story is definitelly not about gathering the power of spirits or whatever to enhance the hero into overpowering the villain in the final showdown. Jedi win by performing small miracles here and there, patiently waiting for evil to dig it's own grave and then giving it just a little push with help of friends they made on their way.

That is the story of The Jedi, the greatest heroes Galaxy Far Away ever saw.

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Used to think it was a bit cringe in fiction when the heroes named their children after their friends/mentors/dead parents/whatever but not anymore, it's about the legacy you leave behind, it's about honoring those who came before, it's about how much a relationship meant to you, it's about haunting the narrative and leaving indelible imprints on someone's heart, it's about the hope for the future represented in children who will bear your name, it's about living on past your short existence on this earth through the family you create, having a role in a story that will outlive you.

Feral for that stuff, honestly.

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