#ben solo is one of the best star wars characters

[tljisthegoat]

Disney turned many to The Dark Side by not giving us more of our Prince of Darkness & Light, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren

[thetimelordbatgirl]

Only reason I'm sad that The Acolyte got cancelled after one season is because we about to see the worst side of Star Wars fandom come together to celebrate and be racist and sexist in the process, but other then that, stopped giving a shit for this show as soon as they decided to kill of Yord and Jecki and then went down the Reylo route, killing off Sol in the process of going down said route.

[unexpectedreylo]

So, It Wasn't Planned After All

https://x.com/RichEisenShow/status/1734703529552699725?s=20

While Adam Driver is making the rounds to promote "Ferrari," he drops by the Rich Eisen Show and when asked about Ben Solo during the True or False segment, Adam spills the tea.

He doesn't get asked much about Star Wars so this is the first time I think he's talked about his character arc since TROS was unleashed upon us 4 years ago. And he drops the bomb that the Ben Solo thing wasn't planned from the beginning. That's right, Bendemption happened late in the game. He says that JJ Abrams told him the idea was Vader In Reverse (starts out vulnerable, ends entrenched in the dark side) and he kept that concept in mind throughout the time he filmed the ST, until they changed it with the last film. Adam has alluded to the concept of Vader In Reverse before but this is the first time he's gone into greater detail about it, including the revelation that the decision to turn Kylo from the dark side came during the third film.

This shouldn't be surprising to anyone who read the Duel of the Fates script and it explains why Ben hardly says a word during his scenes on Exegol. Abrams and Co. conceived of Kylo Ren as an evil bastard whose destiny was to get eviller; killing Han Solo was meant to be what sent him down the path of no return. Then two things happened: TLJ and Driver's commitment to humanizing Kylo Ren. People loved Kylo and Rey together (hence Reylo exploding in popularity) and they fell in love with Adam. They empathized with Kylo. So they changed course with TROS, a little. Kylo returns to the light as Ben but he is quickly dispatched once the big battle is over. I believe Ben's death was for two reasons: one, they were less invested and focused in Ben's part of the story than we were and two, there was always the intent to end the Skywalker line so Star Wars could focus on new characters. Remember, Rey essentially turned Skywalker into a title that could be transferred to anyone.

That the story changed over the course of the trilogy isn't that big a deal. There was no Chosen One prophecy until the prequels. Leia wasn't Luke's sister until Lucas wrote ROTJ. Han wasn't guaranteed to get out of carbonite because nobody was sure if Harrison Ford was going to come back. Instead of a tyrannical, ruthless bastard like Lee Pace's emperor in Apple TV's Foundation show, Kylo Ren gave us quivering lips, teary eyes, and mooning over the heroine who is supposed to be his enemy. When Rian Johnson introduced the bond between Rey and Kylo, Abrams and Terrio explained it as a dyad and made it prominent in the film. The kiss got put in because Reylo was so popular. Okay, fine.

The problem was they never should have made the Jedi Killer from early drafts Han and Leia's only child. As an old Star Wars fan who saw every film since 1977 and followed the Skywalker clan for over 40 years, I didn't want to see Anakin Skywalker's grandson end up even more evil than he was. What a huge bummer that would've been, even worse than if Rey was killed off. (For the record, I hated the whole Darth Jacen thing so much in the legends books I stopped reading them.) Abrams and Terrio probably realized it was going to be a problem returning to the idea that Ben was too evil to save; TROS already comes off as a tragic ending rather than a happy, triumphant one. And it goes against the whole message of Star Wars. So it ends up being Vader 2.0 and fans hoping Ben would survive were disappointed. I wasn't fond of the idea of exile or something as Ben's fate prior to TROS, but now I think that probably would've been the best outcome. It would've left a lot of possibilities to explore in future SW stories without having to come up with a convoluted explanation for bringing him back.

As much as they fumbled the ball, I'm glad they at least spared us Evil Kylo 4 Ever and Adam's turn as Ben was great even without anything to say besides "Ow." Adam sounded a little disappointed to me but maybe I'm just reading into it too much. In any case he has also stated in recent interviews he would be open to returning to Star Wars, so I guess we can still be hopeful even if he doesn't appear in the upcoming film. (Just don't wait 30 years, okay?)

[stayteezdreams]

Lost In You: Part One

Plot: When attending your friends costume party, you keep getting complimented on your couples costume. But you can't help but be confused, after all, you came to the party alone.

-Part Two-

Pairing: Park Seonghwa x Gn!Reader* *A/n: Obviously had to go with Star Wars costumes lmao, and even though the costumes are of a male and female character, I believe it doesn't matter the gender of the character, you can still dress up as them anways. So besides the reader dressing "as" Rey, everything else is Gender Neutral, so please dont let that effect how you enjoy the story. The readers costume is not mentioned in detail, only vaguely to give a rough idea :)

-Meet-Cute Series-

Warnings/Notes: Brief mentions of alcohol, drinking, and drunk people. Reader is referenced to have drank, but is not drunk. Reader is a bit of geek (helps them bond with Seonghwa).

Words: ~2.4k

Walking around the fairly crowded house, your eyes scanned over the mix of recognizable, impressive, unusual, and downright lazy costumes that people were wearing.

When you had been invited to your friend's birthday, being told it was a costume party, you were excited. You had been wanting an excuse to wear your costume for ages, having missed the opportunity the previous Halloween.

Waving to some people you knew, your eyes scanned the crowd for more of your friends.

Nearly bumping into someone, you said excuse me before you recognized them as an acquaintance.

"Oh hey!" you greeted cheerfully "Nice costume" you smiled down at their bright yellow kill-bill inspired jumpsuit.

"Thank you!" they grinned as they looked at yours "Oh! Love that you went with a couples costume!"

You furrowed your brow "Huh?"

Having not heard you they waved to someone nearby before smiling at you "Sorry, gotta go, I'll talk to you later yeah?"

"Oh yeah, bye" your voice was still laced with confusion as they walked away.

Couples costume? You hadn't matched with anyone, none of your friends were really into Star Wars, so they wouldn't have matched with you.

You shrugged it off, figuring they just mistook your costume for someone else as you walked through a small group of people, before spotting one of your best friends.

Grinning, you snuck up on her "Hey!"

Gasping, she turned around with a glare "Stop doing that"

You chuckled as you grabbed yourself a drink before looking around "A lot more people came than I thought would."

"Yeah, I guess adults really do love an excuse to dress up like kids again."

You smiled and nodded, agreeing with the thought. "I thought you were going to go with Harely Quinn?" You asked as you eyed her Batwoman costume.

"It was trash" she rolled her eyes "Tore as I was putting it on."

"That's what you get for ordering cheap"

She waved her hand dismissively "I know, I know"

"Where did you get this one?"

"Last minute favor from my cousin, luckily we're the same size, otherwise I would have shown up in that slinky red dress I have and called myself Marilyn Monroe"

"You have black hair, Betty Boop is more accurate"

Just as she opened her mouth to retaliate, a drunk girl stumbled up to the drinks table before the spotted your costume.

"Ooh, that's why he brushed me off" she pouted before her eyes rose to meet yours.

You rose your brow before you glanced at your friend who gave you a similar look of confusion.

The drunk girl took a step closer "You wore a couples costume, that's so cute, mm'jealous" she slurred with an even bigger pout before she spotted someone, squealed and ran towards them.

You let out an awkward chuckle as your friend looked at you "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know, but that's the second time someone said I was wearing a couples costume with someone."

She looked you up and down, "Well, since you're dressed as Ren-"

"Rey"

"...Rey, then someone is dressed as that tall evil black haired guy right?"

"Kylo Ren, or Ben Solo" you stopped yourself from explaining as you recalled your friends lack of interest in the franchise before you began looking around the crowd of people "I haven't seen anyone in an outfit like that so far."

She hummed before she glanced around as well "I wonder if they're cute."

You scoffed but couldn't help but wonder the same thing. Shrugging it off again, you turned around, just missing the cloaked figure walk past and into the next room.

After a while, you parted ways with your friend. You made your way through the crowd again, having begun to grow tired of being bumped into, and having to strain your ears to hear anything anyone tried to say to you.

Your friend had clearly over-invited guests or overestimated how many people would show up, as the room grew hot and almost claustrophobic.

Spotting the doors leading to the backyard, which seemed surprisingly empty, you slid through a group of dancing people, desperately wanting to escape.

Feeling your costume catch on something, you had to tug yourself away, before accidentally running into someone just as you reached the doors.

"Oh sorry!" your voice almost mimicked the strangers, as you both apologized as your eyes met.

You smiled, "Excuse me" you added on.

"It's okay" he smiled sweetly, his voice soft.

Your eyes drifted down to catch his costume, and you felt yourself freeze as you noted the lightsaber hooked on his belt. His eyes grazed over you as well as he had the same exact reaction.

Your eyes quickly met again as your voices called out at the same time "You!"

You rose you brow in surprise and he chuckled "I've been hearing all night about someone I wore matching costumes with."

You smiled and let out a soft laugh "So have I!"

His smile widened a bit, and you realized just how attractive he was. He was intimidatingly attractive, actually, you told yourself as you suddenly felt a bit shy.

You cleared your throat a bit "Nice costume, it looks like really good quality"

He grinned down at his costume before he looked at you "Thank you. Your's too!"

You smiled, starting to feel a bit self-concious as his eyes seemed to have looked you over slowly.

Suddenly, he spoke up, his voice full of excitement "You're lightsaber! I have the same one at home!"

"You do?" you asked intrigued as he nodded with excitement "I collect a lot of Star Wars stuff" he confessed, and you saw a tinge of embarrassment cross his features.

'Cute' you thought as you grinned, "I collect a lot of stuff too! From Star Wars and other movies"

His face seemed to brighten a bit, as he wondered what else you might have in common.

As a loud song came on, you winced a bit as you looked towards the now cheering group of drunk people.

Seonghwa cringed as well, before he looked over at you and leaned closer. You turned and met his gaze, alarmed by his sudden closeness.

"Were you heading outside?"

You nodded, unable to find your voice as your eyes remained locked with his.

"Me too." Hearing a drunken scream you saw him wince as he motioned his head towards the door "Shall we?"

You let out a soft chuckle and nodded. You watched him opened the doors, stepping aside so you could go out. You muttered a thanks as you made your exit, your heart hammering in your chest.

The cool night air washed over you and seemed to sober any ounce of drunkenness you might have held before.

There were only a few people scattered around the back yard. A few in the pool, and some playing a nearby fooseball game.

You looked back at the house and shook your head softly, "I'd hate to have to clean up after this."

The man laughed and agreed, as he stopped beside you. Looking back over at him, your heart jumped a bit as he was already looking at you.

He seemed to realize this too before he adjusted himself "I'm Seonghwa by the way."

You smiled at him "I'm Y/n."

His smile widened as you introduced yourself. Seonghwa's heart was beating fast, as his face felt hot, he hadn't drank much at all, so he knew it must just be you affecting him this way.

His eyes glanced over at a nearby couch surrounding a firepit. Feeling a bit brave, and far too intrigued by you to just walk away, he met your eyes again.

"Want to go sit?"

You looked back at where his eyes lingered and you smiled before nodding softly. Following him over to the couch you took in a deep breath, calming yourself.

It hadn't taken long for you and Seonghwa to fall into deep conversation. You had a lot in common and found subject after subject to rant about to each other. From movies, to music, to friends and dreams, you wouldn't be surprised if you lost your voice the next morning with how much you seemed to be talking

So lost in each other's conversation, you hadn't noticed when the music died down, or how the back yard had emptied, leaving you two alone. Inside the house, nearly 70% of the people had gone home.

Nor had you noticed how much closer to two of you had become, literally.

When you sat down, you had sat on the seperate chair beside the couch, feeling too shy to sit beside each other. But now, you were both leaning forward, sitting beside each other on the couch now, faces merely a foot apart as you raved about a recent move you had both seen.

Seonghwa's arm was draped across the back of the couch, behind your shoulder, something he hadn't even noticed because it felt so natural already. When his knees brushed yours as you sat facing each other, you barely noticed.

"Y/n!"

Your voice cut out mid-sentence as you heard a familiar voice call out. Looking over, you see her walking across the yard, red solo cup in hand.

Her eyes moved to Seonghwa and you saw the look on her face that screamed 'Holy shit, he's gorgeous.'

Seonghwa however, did not see this, as his eyes became glued to you again, after only having glanced towards your friend when she first came out.

"Oh, hey!" you greeted.

She leaned on the back of the couch before Seonghwa finally looked over at her. They introduced themselves to each other before your friend looked him up and down.

"Oooh, you're the one that people kept thinking matched with Y/n."

Seonghwa chuckled and nodded his head "Yes, that's me."

She met your eyes, and a knowing look passed over her face, that you promptly ignored.

"I was surprised to see you out here though, you never stay at parties this long."

"What do you mean, what time is it?"

She rose her brow "One in the morning"

Your eyes widened as you looked over at Seonghwa, who had a similar look on his face. He took out his phone and you saw the time flash across his screen. 1:14am.

"I got here at nine" you said out loud to no one in particular.

She nodded, "And you've been out here...chatting" she glanced at Seonghwa "for about three hours."

You and Seonghwa locked eyes and he smiled somewhat shyly as he looked down at his lap.

"Oops." You chuckled as you looked back at your friend who wiggled her eyebrows.

"You said you were only staying until eleven, since you have work tomorrow"

"Oh God, I have work tomorrow" you put your hand on your face as fatigue washed over you, surely only because you now knew what time it was.

Seonghwa smiled as he watched you, thinking of how cute you were. Though, he also had to work tomorrow, and showing up to early morning dance practice after a late night was not his ideal.

You met his eyes, "I should go."

Seonghwa nodded his head "I should too, I also have work tomorrow." he chuckled.

You smiled at him as mutual shyness seemed to wash over both of you. Your friend looked between the two of you and smiled before standing up straight.

She tapped your shoulder, "Come find me after you say goodbye we can get a ride together."

You nodded at her as you looked back at Seonghwa. Both of you began to rise as you let out a soft groan.

"How did I not realize it had gotten so late?" you chuckled softly.

Seonghwa smiled, "We were busy."

He hadn't felt as though time had passed at all when he was with you. He got so lost in talking with you, so lost in you, that he didn't realize there was anything going on around him at all.

The way he was staring fondly as you made your breath hitch. You smiled at him as you felt your ears burn a little hotter.

"Yeah. It's been a while since I've met someone I could talk to about all of that stuff."

He grinned, "Me too."

Seonghwa, realizing you were about to say goodbye, felt panic rise in his chest. He didn't want to say goodbye, at least not forever.

"Uh- can I- do you think I could get your number?"

Your heart leapt as he asked, and you resisted the urge to respond with as much excitement as you felt.

You nodded, "Yeah"

"Great. And maybe...we could go see that movie next week?" he asked, referencing the movie you shared excitement about earlier.

You nodded a bit more fervently this time, "That would be fun"

He nodded in agreement as he pulled out his phone. When you exchanged numbers you began heading inside, noticing immediately how the party had ceased since you were last inside.

Music was no longer playing. Empty cups and plates were scattered around, two people were passed out on the couch as the disco ball spun slowly on the ceiling.

You winced, "Yikes"

Seonghwa laughed before you looked back over at him "I should go find my friend"

He nodded, "I'll text you tomorrow?"

You nodded with a bright smile and Seonghwa almost felt like swooning at the sight. As he began to walk away, he gave you another glance as he waved.

You waved goodbye before you spotted you friend watching you with a grin from across the room.

When Seonghwa disappeared out the front door, you made your way to your friend who rose her hand.

"If you tell me you didn't get his number, I swear to God-"

"I got his number" you cut her off.

"Yes!" She cheered dramatically "I cannot believe how gorgeous he is."

"Right!?" You said with a restrained excitement.

"Are you going to see him again?"

You nodded, "He asked me to see a movie next week."

She clapped her hands as she led you to the door "You have to tell me all about him on the ride."

You nodded as you thought back on your night, and Seonghwa. You had never clicked with someone so fast before, it almost felt too good to be true. Almost.

xx End xx

-Part Two-

Ateez General Taglist: @soso59love-blog

Series Taglist: @bubblesreplies, @halesandy, @why-am-i-sad, @acciocriativity

[curlytheintrovert]

I just still CANNOT get over the last few minutes of Ben Solo in TROS. It’s criminal.

How everything about his character is just shifted. The moment he runs into that first camera shot—sees Rey’s x-wing and takes off—you can feel the change instantly. His body movements are so unfettered and human in comparison to Kylo: his run, his jumps, even his voice is changed. I mean the first and last thing we hear him say is LITTERALLY a humorous: “Ow.” (which still makes me laugh to this day) But by far my favorite is how much he acts like his dad…the swagger, the emotiveness as he fights and the confidence. It’s so god damn heart warming.

I live for that adorable little shrug when he gets his saber from Rey. ITS MORE HAN ENERGY THEN I CAN STAND. But also the little gotta-pace-myself breath he lets out as a knight slashes the saber behind his back wrecks me too. Like he’s almost trying to remember how to fight the way he used to as a Jedi. But seeing Ben fight with such skill and freedom kinda makes me choke up—we know just what it took to get him there. You just feel so happy for him!

But then it all comes crashing down.😭

Before I go any further though…WHY THE HELL DID ADAM DRIVER NOT WIN AN AWARD FOR THIS MOVIE?! I mean, my god this man can act. When Ben pulls himself out of the pit the Emperor threw him into, he doesn’t say one word—his body movements and facial expressions do all the work. The way he falls to the floor in pain, and every step is torture leaves little to the imagination what he’s going through.

But what truly TRULY won’t leave my head is how he reacts to seeing Rey dead in his arms. The way he just inhales this devastating, searing sob…you viscerally understand how much he loves her—and always has. Like you could hear that his world had been taken away. It also destroys me how Ben physically cannot handle the sight of her lifeless eyes. The way he rocks back and forth hysterically trying his best not to break down makes me cry every time. I’m sorry but that is PEAK romance for me, even more then their kiss. It simultaneously confirmed for me that they were taking the romance angle with this couple.

Then the way Ben looks at Rey when she’s revived is so emotional, you can hear his inner monologue from his eyes alone. Is this real? Did you really come back me? But I don’t know if you feel the same way I do. And when he does get confirmation and Rey says his name and kisses him you see just how ready he is—he pulls her tight to him so fast. Then they had to give us THE BEST SMILE OF ALL TIME IN STAR WARS, followed by the most heart warming little laugh, like he’s so happy—he’s finally accepted and loved by someone…aaaand then they take him away from us a second later. It’s something I will never forgive, dang it! You can’t make a character go through so much, redeem himself, be the coolest character possible, then destroy him. It’s just not right. All this talk and theories of the new movies is opening this wound wide open for me! Ben Solo and Adam Driver deserved so much more than this!

[gefionne]

AO3 Q&A

My sunniest thanks to @teamdilf for the tag! I loved reading your answers!

I am, to no one's surprise, Gefionne on AO3.

How many works do you have on AO3?

83.

What's your total word count?

2,979,841

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Hope is the Thing with Feathers | Crowley/Aziraphale | Good Omens

In a Place Where No One Appeared | Kylux | Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

Sweet Home Arkanis | Kylux | Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

Blood's Perimeter | Kylux | Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

Flyboys | Kylux | Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

Do you respond to comments? Why/Why not?

ALWAYS. Fandom is a community and one of the best parts is interacting with each other. If you take the time to read my work and write a comment, I am taking the time to reply to you.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

A Longdrawn Carol, Mournful, Holy | Ghoulcy | Fallout TV

The only MDC fic I've ever written. I loved writing it, but it is very sad.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

Hm, pretty much all of them have happy endings, but probably Scherzo, the follow-up to Allemande, about deaf!Ben Solo and his pianist!Hux high school boyfriend being happy together and getting their first apartment together in college.

Do you write crossovers?

I never have before, but never say never.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yes. One time someone even said I, their favorite author, let them down so hard with the very conceit of the fic that they were quitting fanfiction entirely over it. Dude. What. Anyway, yes, it's always hurtful and we're doing this for free and for fun and nobody wants your crit. If I ever get another one, though, I'll just delete it rather than responding. Don't feed them.

Do you write smut?

53 of my 83 posted fics are Explicit, so yes, definitely. Fic is an incredible genre in that it allows us to explore explicit sex as an element of a developing relationship in a way that other genres don't. Not that all my E fics are that; sometimes I just want to write porn, and then I do it.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, twice, and I was glad to bond with friends over it, but mostly I do like having full control of the characters and narrative.

What's your all time favorite ship?

I could never pick one. I love them all so much.

What's a WIP that you want to finish don't think you ever will?

A multiple-story arc of FemShep and Joker as Naval Academy rivals who kiss once right before they ship out for separate duty. Then they meet again aboard the Normandy during the Saren mission and their feelings bloom. Goes all the way through Shepard's death and Joker's grief, her return, and ME3. It would be awesome, but it's too much to ever write.

What are your writing strengths?

Prose that is easy to visualize and immersive. Probably my favorite compliment to get! Pacing of longer romance arcs, though I'm trying these days to keep them a bit tighter. Will I succeed? Nobody knows.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Potentially too-long arcs. Prose that isn't necessarily quoteable. Not a lot of interiority and inner monologue (but if you don't like that, which I don't always, then it's not a weakness; just an observation).

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

It's totally fine. I don't do it much because my second language is Danish and I'm 1) I'm not fluent, 2) I've never set a fic in Denmark. I know people are really picky and can be mean about non-native speakers using their language in a fic, and I don't really get it. Many speakers don't use language perfectly, including native speakers, so, like, chill?

What's the first fandom you wrote for?

Cardcaptor Sakura when I was 10. First posted fic on AO3 was Monsters and Maidens | Jamie Lannister/Brienne of Tarth, that I wrote as a teenager. It's still up there.

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet, but want to?

Solassan, and I'm being enabled by @solasisms, so it's gonna happen. >:)

What's your favorite fic you've ever written?

Flyboys changed my world, but I'll always have a really special place in my heart for Metal & Dust, my Pacific Rim fic. It wouldn't call it my absolute favorite, but I have really specific emotions tied to working on it that I really cherish.

---

Anyone who wants to do it, jump in here!

[suzannahnatters]

Trope Talk: Villain Romance

So, I was watching a villain romance cdrama again lately (GOODBYE MY PRINCESS) and it has been forcing me to think about what makes some villain romances work for me so well, and others…not so much.

First of all, a lot of my comments on romance at large, and on enemies-to-lovers as the broader trope to villain romance, apply here. For me, GOODBYE MY PRINCESS failed on a few different levels. It failed as a romance because the male lead so rarely, if ever, allowed himself to be vulnerable to the female lead that I couldn't believe either of them could genuinely be falling for each other. It failed as an enemies-to-lovers story because the female lead didn't feel like a match for the male lead in terms either of power or of morals: he was irredeemably awful and held all the power in the relationship, while she was unquenchably pure and naive, holding no power at all. But then, it also failed for me as a villain romance, and because I eat up villain romance with a spoon (WUTHERING HEIGHTS? THE LAST JEDI? LOVE BETWEEN FAIRY AND DEVIL? TILL THE END OF THE MOON? That ONE SCENE in RICHARD III? yess?) I've spent a lot of time thinking about different kinds of villain romance, how some are easier to "sell" to an audience than others - as a convincing HEA, I mean - and how each of them can and can't be made to work.

So far, I think a lot of it has to do with how the villain is built. First off, how does the villain present himself to the audience and other characters? Second, does the villain get a character arc, and is it for the better, or for the worse? Finally, does the villain have genuine feelings for the heroine, and does he achieve a happily ever after with her? Or, in other words: where does your villain come from, where is he going, and how does he get there?

There are a few different choices awaiting the author here, and some of them are, I believe, easier to sell an audience than others. Let's begin with the villain's character arc over the course of the story.

POSITIVE CHANGE VILLAIN This one is the classic: your villain love interest starts out bad, but gets better. See: Erik from THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, Kylo Ren/Ben Solo in the STAR WARS sequels, Nux in MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, Dongfang Qingcang in LOVE BETWEEN FAIRY AND DEVIL, Thyme in F4: THAILAND.

Redemption arcs are honestly not easy to write, because they need to satisfy both justice and mercy; and authors, like everyone else, tend to want to prioritise one over the other. It's interesting that of the five examples of this trope I listed above, not one of the three the Western examples end in a HEA; two out of three equate redemption with death. Meanwhile, I could also note how the Asian examples pull their punches when it comes to facing the villain with the consequences of his actions, and these are some of the BEST examples.

Still, audiences can pull for a character who's clearly capable of learning from his mistakes, and we all want to inhabit a fantasy where a terrible man learns better and earns his happy ending. I've written this kind of villain romance a couple of times, notably with Vasily in my gaslamp books. Basically, if you plan to have a HEA as an endgame in your villain romance, a positive arc is the best way to make a longterm relationship convincing.

ANTIHERO WITH IMAGE PROBLEMS This one is a bit more complicated. The love interest starts out well and gets better, but along the way he struggles with a dark side and an unfortunate predilection for angry black clothing and eyeliner. He isn't so much as a villain, as a well-meaning antagonist desperately trying not to live up to his dark reputation. See: Tantai Jin from TILL THE END OF THE MOON, but also Galadriel Higgins from THE SCHOLOMANCE books by Naomi Novik, who is in a very similar predicament though not part of a villain romance.

This one is tricky to write, because there aren't a lot of ways a genuinely well-meaning person is going to convincingly pose as an existential threat to the universe. Both TTEOTM and the SCHOLOMANCE books pull it off by invoking the future, either through time travel or through prophecy: the antihero is going to become the Dark Lord/Lady and destroy the world. This makes them a target in the present, and gives them a threatening dark side to struggle against. In TTEOTM, Tantai Jin is torn between his vindictive impulses to revenge himself on those who have wronged him, and his natural longing for the love of others. In this case, it's not so much that he's a villain intrinsically, as that he plays that role in the heroine's head.

I've never written one of these, except as a stage in a positive change arc, but it's a really fun character type that I'd genuinely love to see more of.

NEGATIVE CHANGE HERO This is another classic: the hero who lives long enough to see himself become the villain. See: Anakin Skywalker from the STAR WARS prequels, Heathcliff from WUTHERING HEIGHTS, or Wang So from SCARLET HEART RYEO. If the Antihero With Image Problems withstands the temptation to become a villain, then this character succumbs with more or less struggle. He ususally also doesn't get the girl. In face, the heroine often doesn't survive this sort of story at all.

Audiences have less trouble with this kind of story, because it can come across as properly cautionary. "If you fall in love with someone who gets a villain arc, you will die, and it is probably your fault." Everyone is happy, except the characters. Personally, I think this is realistic, because I don't think a thorough-going villain CAN be a stable longterm relationship; but just once, instead of dying, I really would like to see the heroine nope out and go to live her life in peace and quiet, as happens in the wonderful Daisy Ridley OPHELIA film.

I've actually never written one of these, either, mostly because I've never been able to bring myself to write a tragedy. But I do love reading them.

UNREPENTANT VILLAIN Or, Bad Man With a Crush. This is another really common iteration of the trope, but it's usually played from the point of view of the male hero, and the heroine usually doesn't reciprocate the villain's interest in any way. The great exception to this, of course, comes in Shakespeare's RICHARD III, where the unrepentant villain convinces the widow of one of his murder victims to marry him because he's THAT GOOD. Watching Laurence Olivier in this role at 13 may have been a formative moment of my life. Other examples are thick on the ground: Frollo from THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, Scarpia from TOSCA, the Darkling in SHADOW & BONE. Heck, I've written at least one of these myself.

Again, audiences expect this kind of villain either not to have his feelings returned or, if they are, to see either the heroine or the villain die by the end. In fact, this villain is the sort most likely not to have genuinely romantic feelings for the heroine at all; it's usually simply lust. The only example I mentioned where the villain arguably does have more complicated feelings for the heroine than a mere appetite for sex and power, and where she is tempted to reciprocate, is the one written by a woman, SHADOW & BONE - because a female writer is going to treat her heroine as a more fully orbed person, and insist on male characters treating her the same way.

-

The second question to ask when writing a villain romance is: how does the villain present himself to others, including the audience? Again, there are a few options here, but in any case I think one of the most important ingredients, if you're going to make the audience care about the villain, is a sense that the villain COULD be a better person than he is.

SHEEP IN WOLF'S CLOTHING The villain projects a terrifying image, but deep down he has a heart of gold. Note that this is not about character arc (for instance, this describes both Tantai Jin, who is an antihero on a positive arc, and Wang So, who is a hero on a fall arc). Rather, it's about how other characters, and the audience, view the character throughout most of the story.

A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing is easier to "redeem" because half the work is done when you show that after all, the character is better than we thought, and doesn't need as much work to be redeemed. For this reason, it's a really good choice in any sort of villain romance, because you get someone who LOOKS bad but is in fact plausible as someone who IS capable of changing and learning.

Vasily from my Miss Dark series is definitely a sheep in wolf's clothing, which is extremely fun to write. Vasily's had a traumatic change of heart which has taken away his taste for blood, treachery, and power. His habits haven't quite caught up with his heart, yet, and his determination to hold onto a semblance of power and terror makes him desperate to playact as a villainous vampire prince even though he's none of those things any longer.

SHEEP IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING I was nearly not going to include this variant at all, because where's the villainy in that? But then I remembered Anakin Skywalker. Anakin has a dark side, like Tantai Jin, which he gives into on occasion, but the prophecy that he will bring balance to the Force seems to predict a bright future for him. And he genuinely is a well-meaning person, who only wants to protect the people he cares about. For most of the story, Anakin is a good person and an upstanding Jedi with a bright future. This only makes his eventual downfall more tragic.

While how the villain presents himself is not always linked to a particular arc, this one is, since it requires a genuine hero to begin with. As I mentioned above, this kind of fall usually spells death for the heroine. I think this particular villain romance tends to be underexplored, because the freaks who like villain romance aren't into the aesthetic of a genuinely good man being corrupted, while those who write the downfall arc usually aren't into the aesthetic of villain romance. Nobody has ever written a romance about the Macbeths, and this strikes me as a missed opportunity.

WOLF IN WOLF'S CLOTHING This villain is exactly as bad as he appears on the outside, but if he's lucky, big changes are coming for him. In LOVE BETWEEN FAIRY AND DEVIL, Dongfang Qingcang is about to have his cold dead heart magically melted. In FALLING FOR INNOCENCE, Kang Min-Ho is literally given a new one. As a Christian, I love seeing fantasy elements used to explain why the wolf in wolf's clothing is suddenly forced to trade a heart of stone for a heart of flesh, because in Christianity the only way this ever happens is through a literal miracle.

And I do think this kind of villain IS difficult to redeem for his HEA without some kind of miracle, because he's genuinely done some dreadful things, and he's determined not to repent for any of them. Kylo Ren from the STAR WARS sequels is a really excellent example of a Wolf in Wolf's Clothing: when Rey spits at him, "You're a monster!" he responds almost proudly, "Yes, I am." In a way, the Wolf in Wolf's Clothing's honesty is his one redeeming feature: he may be terrible in almost every way, but he never pretends to be a good man. This is something that the next option on the list lacks altogether.

WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING This villain looks like a good and upright person, but it's all a facade. In reality, he's conniving, ruthless, and manipulative, and whether he's a "hero" on a negative arc or a straight-up Unrepentant Villain, the story is about to unmask him as the bastard he is.

Western literature has a whole array of this type of character, and they're usually the smooth hypocrites of the canon: TOSCA's Scarpia, HUNCHBACK's Frollo, MEASURE FOR MEASURE's Angelo, KNIVES OUT's Ransom. There's just something particularly evil about someone who sees and experiences true goodness and sees it as his opportunity to mask his evil deeds, and that's why we recognise such people as irredeemable. This is why BLUEBEARD is one of the trickiest fairytales to retell, at least if you're interested in a HEA - because Bluebeard, unlike the Beast or Hades or any of the other dubious bridegrooms of fairytale literature, commits awful crimes while pretending to be an ordinary, upright businessman.

This is also where we find GOODBYE MY PRINCESS's Li Chengyin, who marries this with a corruption/fall arc. Very early on in the story, we see that although Chengyin has genuine feelings for the heroine, he's fully capable of betraying her and murdering her family for purely political motivations. At first, Chengyin is neither experienced nor hardened in evil, but he absolutely will betray anyone in his path if it will benefit his plans.

This sort of villain is particularly difficult to redeem, because he's someone who has approval and love already but chooses to destroy everyone around him anyway. He is also uniquely enraging, because we've all known people this terrible in real life - from high profile teachers and carers being caught in ongoing sexual predation, to that crumby ex-husband who traumatised your good friend. I don't think I've ever seen a character like this be convincingly redeemed, and while I think it COULD be done - I do have a Bluebeard retelling of my own up my sleeve - I do that, as with the Wolf in Wolf's Clothing, it would have to come with some kind of fantastical/miraculous explanation.

And in the end, let's face it, it's always most cathartic to see this sort of person get their comeuppance.

-

Third and finally, is your villain romance going to get a happily ever after? I'm one of those people who will get a lot of fun out of a romance that ends badly, like SCARLET HEART RYEO, or even something that isn't a romance at all, like RICHARD III and the ill-fated Anne Neville. But whatever you pick, I'm begging you, be very clear about whether the villain has genuine feelings for the heroine or not, and don't reward some horrible person who's never convincingly expressed care for another, with any kind of romantic validation.

HEA VARIATIONS Maybe your villain and heroine make a match of it. Most of the time this is because the villain undergoes a positive character arc to earn his happy ending, and I've got to say, this is a very sensible choice. I personally do not need to see an unrepentantly terrible person get any kind of longterm romantic relationship, either because he's trapped/deceived the heroine or because he's corrupted her to become as bad as himself; I honestly don't think that terrible people CAN have a successful longterm relationship. That said, I've written a relationship where the villain DOES make the love interest worse, but where ultimately the genuine love, empathy, and trust between them ultimately does drag both of them back to the light.

TRAGIC VARIATIONS There are a great many more options available here. The main thing I would say is that you have to give an ending that is justified by what comes before.

A common choice is to give the villain a positive arc culminating in a heroic death. I've seen this done well (FURY ROAD). I've seen it done terribly (RISE OF SKYWALKER). Personally I feel that unless the themes absolutely demand this, you should avoid it, because too often it comes across as the writers arbitrarily ridding themselves of a character they don't know what to do with.

Another common choice is to give the villain a negative arc culminating in the heroine/love interest's death. I've seen this done in ways I don't hate. In RICHARD III, Richard kills literally everyone he touches. In SCARLET HEART RYEO, death is a realistic result of the heroine's trauma and closes the door definitively on the villain's hopes for reconciliation; but it also returns her to her far better life in the future, so it becomes a glimmer of hope for her (though not quite enough). Too often, however, this choice carries with it sexist overtones. Death becomes the heroine's punishment for the crime of loving a bad man (or something else equally fatuous), while the villain is "punished" only by having to live without her.

What about a negative arc culminating in the villain's death? Well, I strongly disliked the choice made in SHADOW AND BONE, in which the heroine guts the villain while hissing "there is no redemption"; to me it was lacking in either tragic catharsis OR eucatastrophe. I think you CAN have a satisfying ending in which the heroine or somebody else kills the villain, but it needs to be an expression of catharsis or eucatastrophe, and we definitely need to feel that the villain is beyond saving - which, if you've made him a genuine romantic possibility, is often hard to feel.

I love the ending of WUTHERING HEIGHTS, in which the villain dies frustrated after realising that after all, cruelty and abuse DIDN'T have to turn him into a villain; he then reunites with the ghost of his equally terrible love interest. I also love the ending of OPHELIA, in which Ophelia, realising that Hamlet cannot be redeemed from his quest for vengeance, quietly nopes out and goes to live a happy life on her own. And then, there's the gold standard for bittersweet endings, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, in which the villain doesn't get the girl, but neither of them have to die, and her compassion for him causes him to go off and live a better life on his own. I think the thing all these have in common is that even though none of them end with the couple together, they afford the whole story a sense of hope: cycles of abuse are broken, some people get better than they deserve, and even those that don't are doomed by their own actions, rather than being killed off in a way that feels punitive or vindictive. And I feel that this is an essential ingredient of tragedy: that justice arises naturally out of the villain's own actions rather than being imposed by some righteous warrior.

PUTTING IT TOGETHER Some of these options are easier to sell the audience than others. For instance, a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing on an Unrepentant Villain arc is absolutely not good material for a HEA romance, while a Sheep in Wolf's Clothing on a Positive arc is probably your best bet (it's a classic for a reason). Others, like a Wolf in Wolf's Clothing on a positive arc, may require careful handling to ensure that the audience is happy to come along for the ride. Whatever you choose, however, it pays to be conscious of which tropes you're using, where the audience has seen them before, and what they expect to see happen to the characters that enact them. This doesn't mean that you can't defy audience expectations, of course; just that it might take a little more work to bring the audience along with you on the journey that you've planned, and that it might not be wise to pick all the worst possible options and expect the audience to embrace the character in question. (cough Li Chengyin cough).

[stopthatmyhandsaredirty]

Please feel free to write in anyone I missed in the tags. I'll likely do another poll for supporting but that's an even longer list....

Let's try to vote for who we think genuinely gave the best performance vs favorite actor/character or who is the prettiest.

[gffa]

Hi!  I'm not sure how much help I'm going to be because my view of the sequel trilogy lives in kind of a nebulous space, where I really like the characters and I actually like a lot of the potential of the storyline, but I dislike TFA, greatly dislike TLJ, and was actually pretty okay with TROS all things considered. I don't want to dig too deep into the negativity of my feelings but they're basically - TFA was too much of a repainting of ANH for me, the initial shine of it was through its potential, but when that didn't pay off in the other movies, the shine came off TFA, too. - TLJ was set too close to TFA, Finn's character should have been tied into the Canto Bight plot (which was exhausting as it was), as a stolen child soldier he has the most reason to hate the rich, but absolutely nothing was done with him, Luke being on that island for that long was out of character for him, Rey's entire story became wrapped up in Kylo Ren, neither of those characters had nearly enough connections with others despite having very good reasons to, like why do we not spend more time on Luke & Kylo?? and it played at being subversive but it absolutely was not, it's all been done before (and I really hated the way Force abilities worked in the movie) and killing off your main villain in the second act was a baffling decision - TROS' biggest problem is that it should have been two movies instead of one, it was a series of trailers rather than a story with breathing room, and it suffered the most from the lack of planning + the main villain being killed off in the second movie But here's why I still like The Rise of Skywalker the best:  The bones of what's there are a pretty good Star Wars story!  Yes, Rey Palpatine came out of nowhere and was very silly, but if you can't handle silly, I don't know how you can make it as a Star Wars fan, it's such a silly franchise! I'm not afraid to love a scene I laugh out loud at--and, yeah, I laughed RIGHT OUT LOUD the first time Kylo dramatically said, "You're a Palpatine."  I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes and let me tell you, I fucking LOVE that scene now. Or how the last words of any Skywalker, the last word Ben Solo/Kylo Ren ever says in the movies' franchise is, "Ow."  I am laughing RIGHT NOW, please, p l e a s e, that is so on-brand, I can't handle it, it's too funny. But I also like the basic storyline because Rey's story in TROS is her struggling with her own inner darkness, that she feels there's something dark in her soul because she's Palpatine's granddaughter.  The movie isn't saying that's true, but that Rey struggles with thinking it's true, and she has to wrestle with her dark side, just like every Jedi before her has as they're coming into their power. Anakin wrestled with his dark side and lost in Attack of the Clones and even worse in Revenge of the Sith. Luke wrestled with his dark side in the vision he sees of himself in Vader's helmet in the cave in ESB and in the climactic scene of ROTJ, where he nearly hacks his father's arm off in rage after his sister and friends are threatened.  He has to claw his way back out of that. Ezra Bridger struggles with the dark side in Rebels as he comes into his power and he has to claw his way out of it as well. Rey has to struggle with her own lure towards the dark side as she comes into her power--she rips a ship apart in the sky because she was so determined that Chewie was hers, she was so angry at Kylo that Force lightning burst out of her.  She's seeing Sith visions of herself on the wreckage of the Death Star.  This is a theme that has been there since the very beginning, that Jedi have to struggle through a temptation to the dark, and her relation to Palpatine preys on that. That's kind of why I wound up loving Ben's scene with Han as well, because that was an entirely imagined scene, but it represents that the way the Force works, you have to dig yourself out of the hole you're in, that Ben using the memory of his father, the last moments of connection he had with his mother, to pull himself out of the dark, really worked for me.  And I'm okay with his death, because this is Star Wars, people die before they should all the time. I even liked the political message of the final movie, yes, Rey vs Palpatine was the big Jedi vs Sith showdown, but the main galactic battle?  Had people showing up.  Just... people.  One of the themes I've talked a lot about, especially because The Clone Wars kind of has it as a running theme is that the average galactic citizen doesn't do jack shit about the state of the galaxy they live in.  The Rebellion had people starting to stand up, but it was an organized effort, it recruited people. TROS had just people showing up, that Leia and the Resistance had been trying to rally the cause, but ultimately it was the galactic public finally, finally saying, "We have to stand up and fight for ourselves, not depend on other people to do it."  Was it ham-fisted and not nearly as polished as it should have been?  Oh, no doubt.  But the message.  Just people showing up to fight against the First Order that was trying to bring back the Empire.  That meant a lot to me. And I loved Luke's character here, that he admitted when he was wrong, and gave us that banger line that's spot on:  "Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi."  Yes.  Yes.  FUCKING YES.  LUKE SKYWALKER AND JEDI PHILOSOPHY.  MY HEART.  Nailed it. Does this movie hang together as well as it should?  Absolutely not.  It needed a stronger writer, it needed more time than it got, and it needed better build-up.  But the bones of what was there were actually pretty good and, man, any movie that has Daisy Ridley in that white outfit with the hood where she looked practically ethereal cannot be all bad, in my opinion.

[darth-grips]

Chapters: 1/6

Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Relationships: Luke Skywalker & Han Solo, Luke Skywalker/Han Solo, Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker & Han Solo, Biggs Darklighter/Luke Skywalker, Reyé Hollis/Luke Skywalker, Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa/Han Solo

Characters: Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Leia Organa, Chewbacca (Star Wars), Biggs Darklighter, Wedge Antilles, Lando Calrissian, Reyé Hollis, Din Djarin, Ben Solo

Additional Tags: Minor Wedge Antilles/Luke Skywalker, Minor Lando Calrissian/Luke Skywalker, Sorry I would feel guilty for putting this fic in these pairing tags lol, Trans Luke Skywalker, Protective Han Solo, Cuddling & Snuggling, Like jesus christ there is so much hugging going on in this fic. This is a real hug centric fic, Drinking & Talking, So much of that going on, Trans Reyé Hollis, Reyé Hollis my beloved, Not Canon Compliant - The Mandalorian (TV) Season/Series 03, Corellian Culture & Customs (Star Wars), POV Han Solo, POV Outsider, Accidental Voyeurism, Yeah Han accidentally walks in on Luke a lot for plot reasons lmfao, Character Study, Luke Skywalker Has Daddy Issues, Bottom Luke Skywalker, Transphobia, Not like.... explicitly. but it's there. unforch., 5+1 Things, Technically SWars Sequel Trilogy Compliant But We're Just Gonna Ignore That, Discord: DinLuke Server, Explicit Sexual Content, no beta we die like liberty with thunderous applause, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Married Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Han Solo Is Bad at Feelings, Han Solo is a Good Person, Good Parent Han Solo, Protective Leia Organa, Han Solo accidentally being the galaxy's biggest trans ally, Also sorry to Wedge fans in advance. if he's your special little guy maybe this fic isn't for you

Summary:

The Rebel Alliance has their own doomed cause, and now Han Solo has his: Keep Luke Skywalker breathing until he realizes what a karking naïve idiot he is and unquestioningly follows all of Han's advice.

Han Solo is a scoundrel, and a rogue, and a guy who's just trying his best when Luke Skywalker fumbles chest over camtono into his life. Turns out he might actually sort of love the kid, in all the ways there is to love another person, even as they fight in a rebellion and life and circumstances change both themselves and everything around them.

The problem is that Luke is a little lonely by nature and always on the hunt for love, and Han, who's sworn to protect him from both the galaxy at large and his own efforts toward idiotic martyrdom, doesn't think that there's really anybody in the galaxy who's good enough for him. He's not going to stick his nose into any of Luke's relationships, not if Luke doesn't want him to, but boy howdy do they give him one hell of a headache.

[Or, the 5+1 things fic that spun entirely out of my control, where it's Han, Luke, the five men who loved and lost Luke, and the one he eventually married, all over the course of 10 years. Spoiler alert, it's not Han.]

***

Plugging my new WIP which I’m having a blast writing tbh. It’s about every iteration of Skysolo, it’s about Luke, it’s about Luke being trans in the GFFA, and surprisingly, a lot of it’s about Han. Who knew he could be my perfect special little guy

[lily-lilibeth]

Safe and Sound

A/N: A small Reylo piece I wrote long ago and wanted to share here.

Summary: Ben is getting nightmares every night about Rey dying in front of him. Is up for his life companion and wife to comfort him and aleviate his pain and fear.

I do not own Star Wars nor its characters.

You thought you could save her?

Foolish child, I expected better from you! And now you will see what happens to those who disobey me.

Ben Solo whimpered slightly as he thrashed in bed, this was the third night in a row that he kept having these nightmares. His Rey, his life companion, his wife, the love of all his life.

Watch her die before you as punishment!

"N-no, Rey..." He whimpered again and tried his dammest to wake up from his nightmare, he can't move, he felt his breath caught in his lungs. He can't move and won't be able to save Rey!

With a movement of his finger, Supreme Leader Snoke snapped Rey's neck with the Force in front of his apprentice.

Now turn your dispair into anger, ignite it. You just lose her!

Ben jerked away and coughed, sitting up in bed. "REY!" His breathed is caught in his throat as he whimpers and hyperventilates, Rey... she just died again, he lost the woman that he loved.

"Ben, hey, Ben!" Rey now has her hands on her husband's shoulders. "Ben, you're okay, you're okay, it's only a nightmare." Her concerned and soothing voice was what brought Ben back to reality and he looked at his wife, there was fear in his eyes, like a fear that he had not felt ever since a long time ago. His brown eyes locked into her hazel eyes, and almost automatically he drew the woman into his arms.

"Rey..." He whispered, holding Rey in almost possessive way as if he was scared that she would disappear the next second he let her go from his tight embrace. "...Don't leave me... I... I wouldn't take it, I can't live without you..." His voice cracked a little, and he felt something wet roll down his cheeks. Tears. He had started crying. "P-Please..." He sobbed softly.

"Ben..." Rey understood now. His nightmare was about her again, just like the past few days where he would wake up in the morning and look so scared and shattered. Her arms wrapped around his back and she held him closer. "I'm right here with you, I'll never leave you. My home is here with you." Her hands cupped his damp cheeks and her hazel eyes looked into his teary brown eyes.

"How... how can I be sure? I'm scared Rey..." Ben was never one to show his emotions openly, he'd learned long ago not to be driven by emotion, currently though, he was quite scared, so hurt and uncertain of what would happen next. "If I lose you... I..."

"Shh," Rey cut him off by holding him closer to him, putting his head in her chest, close to where her heart was, it was beating calmly and gently. Her beating heart was right there, she was alive. Alive and here with him, it was going to be alright, it had to. Rey had to be alright. "It's alright, everything will be alright, Ben. I'm right here, you will not lose me." She whispered into his ear, her hands both caressing his dark hair and his back as he comforted him. "Snoke is dead, you killed him, Ben. He cannot hurt us anymore." She spoke with sincerity. "You're alright, I'm right, my love." She continued with her soothing actions. Ben leaned in her touch.

"Rey, I love you so much. I love no other woman aside you, I must protect you." Even with his teary, broken voice, Ben vowed himself to protect his wife to the best of his ability. It had to be this way, he couldn't bare to lose the love of his entire life. They had come this far to be separated by destiny. Screw destiny or fate, Ben was not going to lose his beloved Rey.

Rey smiled, knowing this was the protective and loving Ben that she loved and adored. "I know you will, Ben."

Ben looked up into her hazel eyes after a while of being nested in her arms and having his face into her chest. "I promise you."

With that he leant in, letting his lips meet with Rey's. They both held each other close as they shared one passionated kiss.

Ben now knew that no matter how scary and painful his nightmares were, they were just nightmares and not a real thing. He would not lose Rey, not now and never.

Without a doubt, he would have Rey until death did them apart, even in the afterlife they would be together and nothing was changing that.

[tljisthegoat]

If Ben Solo never comes back, then we definitely NEED a good answer as to why he isn't a Force Ghost. The best answer is that Anakin, using his newfound abilities saves Ben Solo from death. With the big catch being that he's seemingly stuck in The World Between Worlds.

Rey learning about the entire history of the Star Wars universe is a must. What better way to show off her previously established scavenger expertise than to have her scrape together all the info she can on her travels across the universe.

You can also have this be a good way of showing how empty she feels after the loss of Ben.

She'd feel his absence like a cutting void. Not unlike a black hole. Swallowing all the light in her soul. She'd feel suffocated by this facade of being a Jedi. When she's always been a lonely scavenger desperately clinging to hope.

Hope isn't something she's felt in what feels like an eternity. What cause is there to truly fight for. What would that even mean for her now?

All roads lead to Rey's tragic downfall. A grief-stricken heart smothered and shattered by war. Darkness fills her hollow heart with righteous anger. Her eyes turned a sickly yellow, her skin paled significantly. Her hair looks like a wild beast's mane, wild and unruly. Longer than it's ever been, reaching down past her shoulders.

She will get back what's hers. Ben Solo.

[piglet26]

Finnrey! I ship the Bffs while I Reylo. TROS

When starting this post I was very curious as to what happened between FinnRey between The Last Jedi and TROS. I had to do some research into the books that were released during that gap.

I didn't like TROS, but one aspect I did like was seeing FinnRey again and the scenes they did receive warmed my heart. Now.....

Dear John Boyega - I'm not sure what you were promised, I wasn't there for pre-production conversations and I know you were a huge fan of Star Wars - however, this was never your story. This was the Skywalker + Rey story. Reylo was planned from the outset so it wasn't that. Yes, you were the first main black cast member of a SW film, it doesn't mean you were the most important character though.

Yes, Adam Driver is tall, dark, handsome and white... his character is also the son of Han and Leia, a Prince, he's the grandson of Anakin and Padme, the villain AND Luke's nephew and former padawan. Adam Driver is also a helluva actor. From a purely story wise perspective..... he's pretty damn important. No, you didn't sidelined due to him.

I also agree with Jason Fry, he got a fully developed story in The Last Jedi. TROS let everybody down. Ben solo was screwed, Rey was partially developed then screwed, Rose (thankfully) was in two minutes, Leia (unfortunately) was limited, Poe was meh, Hux was replaced then pointlessly murdered, R2D2 was limited..... so calm down.

In the year between TLJ and TROS, The novel Resistance Reborn gives us the biggest clues into their relationship during this time, despite Rey being a side character. It's very clear from Poe and Rose that they find Rey difficult to get to know. Rose comments that she find Rey someone who seems like she's both in the present and just beyond it. Poe attempts to bond with Rey through banter about flying skills, ships or being a Jedi which Rey find mostly annoying. Rey is friendly and she's a dedicated student of the Force, but it's clear she only really has a bond with Chewie, BB8, her master Leia and of course Finn. There's a conversation between Poe and Finn aboard the Falcon regarding his relationship with Rey.

Poe: "So the two of you aren't..."

Finn: "No, nothing like that. Just friends."

Rey and Kylo are both strong in the Force, they are the light and dark sides of the same coin, but FinnRey is made of the same noble cloth. While I Reylo, I'm glad Rey was able to receive such pure friendship and love from Finn. Finn is someone she can connect to especially as she grows more distant from everyone else as a mere byproduct of fate. Finn is so excited that Rey exists, the moment he meets her he has someone he loves to fight for. Over a short time that love grows bigger than his fear of what he fled.

TROS Scenes

(This booty sticking out church hug is not my FinnRey hug)

In the movie, it's made clear that mainly Rey is training while Finn goes out on missions with Poe or Rose. While this frustrates Poe, Finn calmy agrees that they would use her. I disagree with this. While practically speaking, Finn and Rey's strengths and weaknesses complement each other, the best thing she could be doing is training.

When it's revealed that Palpatine has return (eyeroll) Rey decides to head to the desert of Pasaana to find the Sith Way finder to Exegol. While preparing to depart Rey finds that Finn, Poe, Chewie and BB8 are heading out with her. Good. FinnRey are a shockingly good team, a fact they discover within just a few minutes of meeting each other. Plus, John Boyega and Daisy Ridley are brimming with BFF energy that audience enjoys watching.

It's also great to see Finn evolve into a character more centered into himself so much so that he's the more moderating character that bind the trio of Poe, Rey, and himself together. Finn is the only character that has strong connections to everyone on screen.

There definitely seems to be an attempt to not separate Finn from Rey or vice verse but make sure his arc is balanced while still being her confidante. They don't necessarily have many moment in Pasaana where you get a sense of their mutuality. Daisy Ridley commented on the new dynamic.

"The thing for me that was always really exciting is I never felt like there was a specified sort of love that we were portraying. So the relationship between Finn, Rey and Poe in this one, I felt amazing. It's friendship, it's family, and it's just a lovely sort of thing," she shared. "I also think that's nice in a film way to not necessarily have an overt 'This is friendship. This is love.' It's just all a beautiful collection of people."

Now comes the moment when they thought they were going to perish in the sinking sands of Pasaana. Finn starts to confess something to Rey, but he only gets as far as “Rey, I never told you—” before being swallowed up by quicksand. Everyone debated what was he going to tell her. One might reasonably assume—as a significant portion of The Rise of Skywalker’s audience did—that Finn was going to tell Rey he loves her. Abrams declared that what Finn wanted to tell Rey is that he was Force-sensitive. Even after they obviously survive he still won't confide in her just yet cause Poe is this there I guess. Are you for real? Why is this played like some kind of mysterious I've waiting to tell you kind of thing? It's been obvious for two movies - now three movie - can we get this show on the road? Besides, Rey already knows he's force-sensitve.

I think more importantly - this was a missed opportunity to show Rey be there for Finn. Finn could've been developed to show how he feels about anything and Rey could've been there to emotionally support him. When they are safe underground she does ask what he was going to tell her, he's uncomfortable telling her with Poe there - still, this moment needed to have happened.

Now there are some great moments of Finn just checking on Rey or being aware of her safety. When she walks out into desert it's because both she knows Kylo Ren is coming, when Finn realizes this he goes to join her.

There real moment of glory is after she thinks she kills Chewie in a moment of tug-o-war with Kylo Ren. Lightning came out her fingers, shocking her and everyone else. Finn is wonderful in this scene. Showing compassion for where she was at emotionally. Not only did he seek her out alone to reassure her that what had happened wasn't her fault, but he also rallied more support with Poe. It also provided a moment for her to express feelings and emotions she had been hiding inside herself. Over the past year she had been having dark visions and voices inside her head. Finn isn't afraid of her, but he is afraid for her.

Rey : I lost control.

Finn : It wasn't your fault.

Rey : It was.

Finn : No. It was Ren. He made you do it.

Rey : Chewie's gone. That power came from me. Finn, there are things you don't know.

Finn : Then tell me.[pause] 

Rey : I, uh, had a vision. Of the Sith throne. And who was on it.

Finn : Ren?

Rey : [shaking voice]  And me.

The fact that he is also a Force User and could sense what was happening with her just cemented the bond that they already have. He’s going to be able to understand things about her that others cannot. Finn was the person Rey could talk to and trust he would listen and care. He didn’t hold things against her, he had her back 100%. He cried for her. He verbally affirmed her. They spoke in a raw and honest way with each other that was beautiful. Finn absolutely has faith in Rey.

On Kijimi, there are just nice moments of togetherness. You can tell Finn is staying close to Rey as a source of support and just keeping an eye out for her. When Ren's destroyer arrives and Rey begins to go outside, Finn's right there watching her back.

After Rey's interaction with Kylo when Kylo reveals to her not only that they form a dyad in the force, but that she's a Palpatine this is revealed in the novel. In this moment she's tempted once more to join Kylo Ren in the gray or in the dark. Then Finn appears. In the novel, "Suddenly she felt a weight at her back and along with it.....Finn, a bright light piercing the dark......"Come on!" yelled Finn. She sprinted for the edge then launched herself toward the Falcon. Finn grabbed her arm before she could sail by and swung her onto the ramp. They sprinted into the Falcon's belly. The ramp rose closing them in."

Rey tells Finn “People keep telling me they know me. I’m afraid no one does.” Her internal battle became overshadowed by this massive legacy thrust upon her. She's exhausted and isn't pure Jedi. Part of Rey's arc is she's got darkness in her and she knows it. Once again Finn is just present for her in whatever that means while she tinkers with repairs.

Something that isn't given any time or attention is that Finn is pure white light to Rey. Finn is Rey's greatest pull to the light. He also tells Poe that he and Leia can understand Rey’s struggle in a way Poe cannot. This isn't just Finn running after Rey. He's aware of his friends struggles and trying to stop her from leaning towards the dark side.

Poe Dameron : [after Rey heads to the Death Star wreckage alone]  What the hell was she thinking?

Finn : Poe, we gotta go after her.

Poe Dameron : We'll get the Falcon fixed, and get out there as fast as we can

Finn : No, we're gonna lose her.

Poe Dameron : Look, she left us! What do you wanna do? Swim?Finn : She's not herself. You have no idea what she's fighting.

Poe Dameron : And you do?

Finn : Yeah, I do. And so does Leia.

Poe Dameron : Well, I'm not Leia

.Finn : That's for damn sure.

When she's fighting Kylo Ren Rey is out of control. She's dominated by rage and frustration. In the novel, "A presence cut through her awareness - shining and bright and a voice screaming, "Rey!" Finn was running toward her, leaving Jannah behind to watch their skimmer. Rey's instinct to protect Finn was overwhelming. With no thought at all she called on the Force and thrust out with her hand. He flew backward toward Jannah toward the edge of bridge wreck. A wave crashed down on the streach of bridge between them.

Finn : The Force. The Force brought me here. It brought me to Rey. And Poe.

I really love that Finn became a General alongside Poe and I think one of their best scenes together is when they gave a speech to the members of the Resistance.

Now it is implied that this is both Rey's workstation AND Rey/Finn's bedroom. I cannot confirm and this might just be me, but there we go.

Finn: Hey, don't touch that. That's my friend's.

Droid. Sorry, she is gone?

Finn: Yeah, she's gone. I don't know where.

Droid: I miss her.

Finn: I miss her, too.

I loved the moment when he sensed her death. The confirmation of his Force-sensitive instincts was so satisfying. And then his joy when he saw her alive was completely consistent with everything Finn has done with Rey since the moment they first met.

John Boyega, Finn's actor, was once asked whom he would like to see Finn end up with between Rey and Rose and he replied, "[Finn] had this kind of banterous relationship with Han, then he has this loving relationship with Rey. Now with Rose, it feels like he has this great relationship. Personally? Rey. Yeah, Rey."

[teecupangel]

I've been dying to read Desmond's adventure in star wars, but all fics i found were not finished ; (

Could you give me some inspiration plzzzzz

You’ve probably already read this but just in case, esama’s Sailing the Stars is complete so if you want a Desmond-centric fic set during the Clone Wars, go check that out.

So I was thinking where I would punt Desmond into the Star Wars ‘verse and a part of me wants to punt him during KOTOR’s storyline just because that is my favorite Star Wars game (also, just imagine Desmond being mistaken as Darth Revan with amnesia???) but then I realized after checking AO3 that most seem to be set during the prequel trilogy + clone wars so… may I suggest…

Desmond getting punted into the Star Wars OG Trilogy timeline? XD

In this setup, Desmond could wake up on some random planet and he’s just trying to get back to Earth but no one seems to know where and what Earth is (unless we count non-canon but sssshhhh, let’s make it a mystery).

So Desmond does what he does best, he starts gathering information and keeping himself afloat by stealing from the rich.

Now, to ensure he gets sucked into the main plot, we can do the following:

Desmond gets in contact with Han Solo who suggests he joins the Millenium Falcon after Han realizes Desmond has a knack for seeing danger before it approaches and he suggests that Desmond would have a better chance of finding this ‘Earth’ planet of his if he joins them since they do travel everywhere.

Desmond has the habit of being a stowaway whenever he wanted to go off-planet and the Millenium Falcon was simply the next ship he boarded. Old Ben is the one who noticed him when he was just hiding and waiting for Han to finish his business in Tatooine because Desmond didn’t really feel like getting sand all over.

Desmond ends up owning the cantina where Han ends up shooting Greedo and he goes on the run because that incident caused the Imperial soldiers to snoop around the cantina and Desmond, technically, owned the cantina… sorta illegally… So he hitched a ride on the Millenium Falcon since he figured Han owed him… without anyone knowing he was even there until Old Ben saw him.

Unorganized Notes:

Desmond has been assassinating the really bad ones on whichever planet he’s been on. That’s why he mainly hitches rides. On the other hand, if he was the owner of the cantina, he had taken over the cantina to have a ‘base of operation’ while gathering information he can use as part of his plan to assassinate Jabba the Hutt.

Desmond could totally be a Jedi if you want him to be but anyone who trains him will notice the darkness inside him. While he’s mostly chill, he’s an Assassin and that means he would be willing to use anything to finish his mission and survive. He won’t be tempted by the dark side though. It would be more like… he can control the dark side… but that makes him dangerous.

Desmond and Luke would have a more or less brother-like friendship. He could easily influence Luke to be less honorable though, especially if he stays with Luke during the whole ‘Yoda training’ part of his character arc.

On the other hand, Desmond and Han would have a more of ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ kind of business relationship that would thaw to a bash brothers type. He, Han, and Chewie share one brain cell and it bounces off each of them. If Desmond had joined them before the start of the trilogy’s story, Desmond would be their lookout and their ‘bodyguard’. He’s fine with all the smuggling as people do need to eat but… if a really bad person dies during one of their runs, well… Han will definitely say ‘no love lost’.

Desmond and Leia would start with snark-to-snark combat which would later turn to respect and trust. If Desmond stayed with Leia and Han’s side of the storyline instead of Luke’s, he’d be more of the shadow of the rebellion.

Desmond will definitely build a Brotherhood during the rebellion and they would be more into clandestine and guerilla tactics. He and Leia won’t always see eye to eye but Leia knows that Desmond’s plans would benefit the rebellion.

Desmond doesn’t see Leia as a princess. She’s a leader of the Rebellion first and foremost and Desmond definitely hides whenever the topic of making him and the Brotherhood officially part of the Rebellion comes up.

If Desmond learns about Darth Vadar’s true relationship with both Luke and Leia, he would have flashbacks of Haytham and, since he doesn’t know who Anakin Skywalker truly was, he would warn Luke that ‘Some people cannot be reasoned with nor can they be saved.’, hoping that Luke wouldn’t feel the same pain Ratonhnhaké:ton felt after killing Haytham.

He would still be glad to learn he had been wrong after Luke tells him how Anakin Skywalker saved him in the end and tell Luke that at least he had a ‘less shitty dad’ than Desmond.

Ben/Jacen would probably end up as an Assassin with Uncle Desmond instead of a Sith… just saying.

[nellie-elizabeth]

Grey's Anatomy: This One's for the Girls (21x04)

This one's for the girls, is it? Which girls is this one supposed to be for? This girl is not particularly gripped.

Cons:

The amount of I Don't Give A Shit I was feeling when we get to that ending and Jo and Link are having twins? Godddd I don't care! I want to go back in time and make these two never fall in love, because it's putting me to sleep! Same with Teddy and Owen talking about how they need a chance to connect because work is keeping them so busy. It's not the most insufferable angst I've ever experienced from these two, but it's still not all that interesting.

Also... I didn't mind the story about Mika's sister in and of itself, but it's a bit hard to swallow when I know we'll be saying goodbye to this character soon. Is this what sunsets her off the show? She quits her job to take care of her sick sister? I mean... that's fine, I guess, but it's just a bummer to take up screen time with a new character here when we already know we have so little time left with Yasuda.

Also, no Meredith or Amelia in this episode which is sad to me personally! I've been enjoying them so far this season. Learning that Catherine's biopsy came back negative as like an off-screen detail from Richard was kind of odd too, after all the gravitas from last week. I'm still annoyed with Richard for scolding Meredith, honestly!

Pros:

I did really like the stuff with Ben coming back to the hospital, honestly. It was interesting that he had trouble with the logistical maneuvering of the hospital systems. It wasn't that he didn't know how to do the medicine pieces, he was just tripping up with the electronic system for ordering the correct test, and stuff like that. When it came time to treat the patient in the OR, Ben was a complete bad-ass. He does know what he's doing, but there's always going to be some tension on the first day back. Blue, on the other hand, had this sort of false smug confidence about being better than Ben, but then in the end Ben extended the olive branch by asking for his help during the surgery. I liked this setup! And I liked Winston warning Bailey to back off. It made total sense for his character, after what he went through with Maggie.

While I am a little grumpy about wasting time with extra stuff when Yasuda is not long for this show, I did like seeing the other interns rally around her. And the other doctors too, everyone coming together to brainstorm a good idea for how to help preserve Chloe's chance to bear children while also giving her the best chance to fight her cancer. Very sweet to see Jules go in there and hold Chloe's hand during the procedure.

Levi and James! I love how cute this is and how well everything is clicking. I'm guessing that the reveal is going to be that James has a dead husband, not that he's a big cheating cheater. But I guess we'll have to see! I loved them being so besotted and so nerdy debating their Star Trek vs. Star Wars. Levi is 100% right, by the way, being the captain of the Enterprise is WAY better than being Han Solo. Yeesh. I also loved seeing Helm ever so briefly; I wish they'd ever known what to do with that character.

This is a bit of a shorter review, because I think this was an episode that didn't totally enrage me but also didn't have a ton that I was super excited to discuss? A lot of stuff kind of fell in the middle for me. Like the patient with the BBL, and the debate about elective surgeries and the gendered aspects of making those choices. It was fine, I wasn't mad at it, I just was sort of neutral on it. I miss Amelia, I hope she's back next week...

7/10

[wipbigbang]

Round 2 Of Artists Claims For The Regular WIPBB Are Open! Round 2 lasts until July 31st! You may claim 3 fics this round!

This is one of the fics open for claiming...

Star Wars (All Media Types) Star Wars (Sequel Trilogy) #106 Title: Down the AU Rabbit Hole Pairing/Characters: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren Rating: Explicit | E Warnings/Tags: No Warnings apply Summary: Kylo, in his desperation to make Rey talk to him again, stumbles upon an old ritual that predates the Jedi and the Sith. But he didn’t read the fine print when he invoked it, and next thing he and Rey know, they’re being dumped from AU to AU, with no way of getting back to their universe, and they seem to be the only ones aware of the problem.

First stop? New York City, 2018.

#107 Title: To Love Shadows and Marvels Pairing/Characters: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren Rating: Mature | M Warnings/Tags: No Warnings apply Mentions of foster system, family estrangement, and dark magic Summary: Rey Holdo-Mothma, an engineering grad student at MIT, learns that Sheev Palpatine, a professor at Miskatonic University, is her grandfather - and he wants her to join his startup. She meets Ben Organa-Solo, one of his grad students, and strange and sinister things start happening. (A modern dark academia Lovecraftian startup AU with a happy ending.)

#108 Title: Tomorrow Pairing/Characters: Poe Dameron/Kaydel Connix; Rey/Ben Solo Rating: Explicit | E Warnings/Tags: Chooses not to use Warnings Not really incest, but love interest is between Poe and his sister in law Kaydel after he is divorced from Rey; characters have known each other since she was 5 and he was 11 Summary: Poe Dameron is trying to put the pieces of his life back together after his best friend and wife, Rey, fell in love and divorced him for the estranged son of his beloved employer. His sister in law, Kaydel, has been his rock through this whole process. One problem is, his long buried feelings for Kaydel continue to arise, and he's conflicted about pursuing a relationship with her. The biggest problem though, is she seems to feel the same way about him, and once Kay puts her mind to something...

How did his easy, complacent life become so damned complicated?

The list of remaining fics and the link to sign up are below!