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reydarcy · 7 years ago

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The Hand Touch™ Masterpost

To take a hold of another’s hand is to break from living individually. It is to link yourself to another being, to momentarily entwine your life with another’s, to promise, for a moment, that you need not face the world alone. (via whitneyjustesen)

Since the Hand Touch™ is arguably the best scene in all SW movies The Last Jedi I wanted to compile all my thoughts and interpretations on it. I apologise in advance if I repeat something that’s already been said before (feel free to add any similar post in the caption).

Let’s start by describing what let up to this moment, shall we:

The Hand Touch™ via ForceTime - What happened beforehand

The Force Bond

One of the main motifs of The Last Jedi is the connection that the force created between our two love birds Kylo Ren/Ben Solo and Rey.

According to Wookiepedia a force bond is “a mental link between two Force-sensitive individuals, [that allows them] to see and hear each other from separate locations through the Force.”

In the novelization of The Last Jedi Rey describes their force bond as follows:

The connection between them was so raw and powerful that it reminded her of touching a live wire in the wreckage of a starship. (p. 181)

Although Kylo Ren’s and Rey’s force bond isn’t the first force bond (Count Dooku and Yoda being another example) it is extraordinary how strong their bond is. Not only are they able to see and hear each other across the galaxy, but they can also cough get wet, when it rains where the other one is...

(Source: skysilencer)

... and physically touch each other. They touch hands, while being miles and miles away from each other - and Kylo Ren actually gets momentarily transported to Ach-To, where Rey is. We know this, because when they previously saw each other via force bond nobody but Rey was able to see Kylo Ren (e.g. Luke). But when they touch hands, Luke walks into Rey's hut and catches them in bed cough.

Rey tentatively raised her hand towards his, expecting to see their hands go through each other and wondering if she would feel it in the Force somehow. But their fingers actually touched. She grasped his hand, jolted by contact, and saw that the same shock had gone through him. Luke Skywalker walked into the hut - to find Rey and Kylo with their hands clasped, staring into each other’s eyes. (p. 181)

(Source: Journal of the Star Wars)

He gets so angry, that he destroys the hut - which he wouldn't have done if he would have seen Rey merely reaching out to nobody.

The Cave on Ach-To & The Cave of Evil

Prior to their conversation in the hut, Rey had gone to the cave on Ach-to to explore the darkness that had called out to her whilst she was channeling the force in her first jedi lesson with Luke. She experienced something similar to Luke’s vision in the Cave of Evil on Dagobah in The Empire Strikes Back.

(Source: ign) Young Luke had to enter said Cave as part of his jedi training with Yoda. The latter described the Cave of Evil as follows: "That place… is strong with the dark side of the Force. A domain of evil it is. In you must go." (Wookiepedia) The jedi master not only challenged his padawan to face his fears, but also to face the dark side of the force.

Just as with Rey’s cave scene, there’s more to it than meets the eye.

A very insightful article on the official Star Wars website describes the cave as “[...] a powerful symbol of what lies beneath the surface”. Philosophically speaking it’s also “[...] a metaphorical journey into the window of one’s inner self”. Both Luke and Rey explore what lies beneath the surface - they try to get a deeper understanding of both themselves and the force.

According to the article the metaphor was used in classical mythology, such as Homer’s Odyssey, where the hero Odysseus “finds himself trapped with the beautiful goddess, Kalypso, as well as the Cyclops, Polyphemus. Odysseus faces both fantasy and fear, respectively, and has opportunities to learn from the experiences”. This translates well to our heroes Luke and Rey.

Both seek answers (Who am I? Where do I belong?) and need to get in touch with their past - their parents, respectively (Luke's father Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader; Rey’s abandonment by her parents) in order to find them.

The Force Awakens left many fans wondering about Rey’s heritage. They came into The Last Jedi, expecting to find answers - just like Rey herself. Rian Johnson wanted to see what lies beneath the surface, so he digged deeper - unlike many fans, who were so focused on Rey’s parents.

Rian’s hero Rey, explores her past and future self, and how they’re all connected to each other:

(Source: Star Wars)

At first, what they both see is what’s on the surface.

(Source: Wookiepedia)

Luke has to face Darth Vader. His father (but at this point Luke doesn’t know that).

(Source: katarainspace)

Rey is searching for her identity. And the mirror shows her the silhouette of her parents (her past) and then Ben Solo (her future).

(Source: instantstar)

But in the end, Rey’s and Luke’s revelation is the same. It’s all about self-discovery. That’s what lies beneath the surface.

(Source: Star Wars)

Rian Johnson explained in an interview:

And so the idea was if the up top is the light, down underneath is the darkness. And she descends down into there and has to see, just like Luke did in the cave, her greatest fear. And her greatest fear is [that], in the search for identity, she has nobody but herself to rely on. (via hiddenremote)

The article goes on to explain that “due to the overbearing presence of the Dark side at Dagoba, Luke envisioned the worst version of himself. However, due to the balance at Ahch-To, although Rey faced her worst fear, she ended up relieving herself from the burden of searching for her parents.”

So whilst her loneliness at first appears to burden Rey furthermore, it actually frees her of her past. Just like Kylo said “You have to let the past die.”. Up until this point, she’s still stuck in the past. Although she left Jakku behind, she didn’t leave her past behind. She needs to learn to stop waiting for her parents to come back.

But this revelation is hard for Rey to accept. She’s afraid and lonely, and she wants to talk to the one person, who’ll understand her feelings.

Curtain up for The Hand Touch Scene

Kylo listened intently, his long face impassive, as she told him about being drawn into the cave and into the stone, and how the journey had let to nothing, no revelation, except how alone she was. (p. 181)

They are both really emotional and vulnerable. Rey opens up to Kylo, and he listens to her. He cares about what she has to say and knows that all that she needs is someone to be there for her - someone to talk to.

She talks to him, because he knows the pull to the dark side and he understands what it’s like to actually explore it, instead of repress it (like Luke urges her to do).

But there is something else that is important: They both know what loneliness feels like.

This is perhaps the single most important aspect of their relationship. That’s what makes this scene so powerful. It establishes their deep understanding. Both of them have suffered abandonment. Before The Last Jedi it seemed to most people like those two had nothing in common - that they were polar opposites even. But this scene marks a turning point. Not only do they physically touch each other - they touch each other emotionally as well.

“You’re not alone,” he insisted, and she believed him.

“Neither are you. It isn’t too late.” (p. 181)

... and that’s when Rey reaches out to him. She doesn’t want them to be alone anymore.

The various meanings of The Hand Touch

Sex

Let’s start with the obvious:

If you haven’t heard of Rian Johnson calling the Hand Touch Scene “the closest thing we’ll get to a sex scene in a Star Wars movie” you’re either new to the Reylo community or new to the internet in general, because it literally

broke the internet

(Source: punkbitchreylo, full video: sleemo)

The sexual imagery is something many people have commented on already - but for the director to remark on this topic - now that’s a whole different topic. Rian Reylo Johnson intended the scene to be intimate and erotic.

With everything else one could argue that it’s all up to interpretation and that maybe we interpret a little too much into everything (although I believe that everything in a movie is indeed intentional and often has multiple layers to it) but this is very blunt. FOR EVERYONE IN THE BACK: There. is. sexual. chemistry. between. Ben. and Rey.

Even Mark Hamill has come out and commented on Rian’s remark. Although this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Mark isn’t necessarily discrete in interviews ;)

(Source: pixelrey)

What makes this interpretation even more interesting is the fact that Ben takes off his gloves for the Hand Touch aka. Sex - so they’re basically having unprotected sex (I see Skywalker babies on the horizon).

Before I move on to the next topic, it’d like to recommend something to anyone who’d like to learn more about the sexual imagery in The Last Jedi: The lovely girls over at starwarsconnection made a great video essay about Sex in The Last Jedi & @skysilencer posted a great meta on the issue as well.

Rey makes the first move

(Source: rougeone/useramy)

(Source)

She can take care of her own, she’s done so her whole life. She get’s annoyed when Finn treats her like a damsel in distress, by taking her hand and therefore undermining her independence. Ben on the other hand respects her as his equal. And he waits for her to make the first move. She’s an independent, strong-willed women and he respects that. But she also waits for him to accept her hand. She doesn’t force it. So when they touch, it’s consensual. When we transfer this to the sexual context - it means that their sex was consensual.

Opening up to each other

When Rey reaches out to Ben in the hut - she’s opening herself up to him. Ben shows his trust as well. They’re out in the open - they show their feelings unapologetically. They don’t hold back. It’s like they’re standing naked in front of each other.

(Source)

Rey shows a steady hand. She trusts him completely. This is surprising to me - she’s the one who’s always lashed out. But I feel like she wants to belong so bad - that she’s very trusting.

(Source: reyloshionship)

Ben on the other hand is shaking. To me he’d always seemed more steady and on terms with everything that was happening between them. He’s so calm around her.

I guess it takes a lot for him to open up to someone. He’s got major trust issues. But who could blame him - after all his parents passed him on to Luke, because they were afraid of their own son, and Luke (almost literally) stabbed him in the back.

Not alone anymore

(Source: pixelrey)

As I’ve said before loneliness is an important aspect of their relationship - and it’s really important in this scene as well. After Rey’s experience in the cave, she’s very lonely. Ben get’s that. He’s lonely as well. So that’s one reason why they approach each other - to finally not be alone anymore.

The gloves

Kylo’s mask is his armour - his protection. By putting it on he distanced himself from his past, from his family and he created his new dark persona Kylo Ren.

(Source: pixelrey)

In The Force Awakens he wore his armour almost the entire time - he was Kylo Ren. The only time when he took of his mask was to talk to Rey. He opened up to her.

In The Last Jedi this facade begins to crumple. He sheds his skin. At first he destroys his mask and then he takes off his gloves to touch her. The gloves are part of his armour. By wearing gloves he doesn’t touch anyone directly. But he wants to be able to feel Rey’s hand. He undresses himself (figuratively speaking). He peels off, layer after layer - because he wants to connect to Rey on a deeper level, she touches him to his core.

(Source: driveresque)

Compare this to the throne room scene where he reaches out to her, with his gloves still on.

Some people separate Kylo Ren and Ben Solo. So I can imagine they perceive those two scenes somewhat like this:

(Source: spacemakeouts)

I however, disagree with this separation of character. He’s both personas. Everyone has a light and a dark side in them. Loving someone means accepting both the good and the bad qualities about the other one. That’s what both Rey and Ben have to come to terms with in Episode 9.

And I know that darthrenvan (and everyone who liked/reblogged the post) is with me on this one. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t care what you believe and how you interpret everything - to each their own. I just wanted to express my interpretation.

Foreshadowing & Redemption

Rey reaches out to help Ben Solo. She wants to redeem him, bring him home - to the light. Rey still thinks Black and White. He’s on the dark side and needs to be brought back to the Light.

The force flows through them, wants them to be near each other, brings them closer to one another - which is expressed through the Force Theme, that can be heard in the scene. The force stands for destiny.

He reaches out, because he doesn’t want them to be alone anymore (”You’re not alone” - meaning he wants them be together, he wants her to join him). As we’ll later see - he’s moved on from the Black and White to a sort of Grey Area. That’s where he sees them both - neither on the Light, nor on the Dark side.

But they’re approaching it from different stand points. That’s the reason why they’ll interpret the visions they both get whilst touching each other differently, and that’s ultimately the reason why their conversation after the throne room fight plays out the way it does.

However, it also foreshadows a possible redemption after this misunderstanding causes their opposing standpoints to clash. The way I see it the Hand Touch Scene foreshadows how Rey’s the one who’ll initiate Ben’s Redemption in Episode IX, but it’s Ben who has to decide to redeem himself, by (figuratively) taking her hand. That’s also why she leaves him at the end of The Last Jedi. She understands that it’s up to him. That she did all she could, but that ultimately it’s up to him to save himself.

If you’ve made it this far: Thank you so much for reading my post. Please feel free to leave a reply - i’d love to hear your thoughts.

Further Reading: There’s an amazing text post by reyloisthelastjedi that explores the various meanings of the hand touch scene. It talks about different aspects than the ones I’ve expressed, so it’s a great addition to my post.

P.S. I’m still pissed that they didn’t choose this take for the movie:

(Source: skyloren)

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alyndra9 · 7 years ago

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SPN Big Bang Masterlist

Ever wonder how many big-bang-style challenges Supernatural fandom really has?

Various people have compiled various lists and posted them in various places. Trust me, I have a list of these lists. Everyone also defines the parameters of their search a little differently. Personally, I chose to look for past and present SPN Bang challenges, and then I made a spreadsheet with info about each bang. There are 70+ entries on it.

I included big bangs, mini bangs, reverse bangs, and the herculean mega bang. I did not include other kinds of fic challenges, such as gift exchanges, flashfic or drabble communities. What makes a bang a bang?

Well, it should have writers and artists all paired up and collaborating on their works. Usually there's a claims process, but the important point is you wouldn't just sign up, write your fic, and post. Most challenges will try to get pinch-hitters to fill in if either the author or artist drops out unexpectedly, but even if this doesn't happen it can still be a bang as long as the intent is that everyone gets paired.

That said, often my criterion for inclusion was more like, "does it have bang in the name?" So speak up if there's anything I missed but should have included, or anything included that doesn't meet the definition, or if you just think my definition is whacked.

Size: the original Big Bang community, a Harry/Draco innovation, had a minimum fic length of 40,000 words. This rapidly started dropping as Big Bang challenges proliferated. Each challenge is free to set a minimum wordcount wherever it likes. Although there is a lot of variety in minimum wordcount thresholds, there seems to be a fairly settled line around 10,000 words: a min. 10k wordcount can be considered either a big or a mini bang, depending who's running it, but any wordcount below this is almost always a mini bang, and above it is a big bang.

And then we get into the rarified heights of the mega bang, which, according to the SPN Mega Bang community, is over 100,000 words. (A smaller community has one for over 50k.) Mega bangs are unique to the SPN fandom so far; if anyone sees one in future, holler!

Reversebangs reverse the usual order of affairs: instead of writers starting off and artists choosing stories to work with, in a reversebang artists draw first and then writers choose which art they'd like to write a story for. Minimum size for a reversebang is generally smaller than a regular big bang.

The Friend Bang is unique because you start out paired with a friend and both write and draw for each other. The collaboration bang is an experimental format tried last year by the Sastiel Big Bang where artists and authors are paired up right off the bat and create simultaneously.

(An interesting idea to try might be a doodle!bang. Artists are perennially in shorter supply than ficwriters, even as wordcount limits keep going down. Setting up a low-pressure experience — maybe suggested 10-minute doodle — probably as a reversebang, could encourage artist participation.)

Couple more notes about what did and didn't qualify for inclusion here:

There are any number of multi-fandom bangs as well as bangs for other fandoms. In the interests of getting one list completed, I skipped including these, even though many (perhaps most) multi-fandom bangs would have SPN fic written for them.

In order to be included, a bang must have completed a round productively or else be less than a year old. Older bangs which never got off the ground are included in this list here. One exception that merits honorable mention in my list is the slackers bang, whose mod posts tell their own tale.

If a challenge's home page has been deleted, then inclusion rests on whether I can find fic/art for it, for example an AO3 tag. If you show me fic, I will include it in my list.

A note about schedule dates I've included: I deliberately tried not to get too precise. Challenges may or may not be regular from year to year, and schedules may be adjusted. Always check the bang page if you're interested in a challenge, rather than planning based off the dates in this! This is just to give a general idea. Some will certainly end up not being what I have down here. Links are to sign-ups open as of when I last checked. The numbers before months are just there to enable sorting by month.

The latest round column is the last year in which a round of fic started being posted, for dormant communities. If they're doing a round in 2017 it should say 2017. Occasionally communities will skip a year or three and then run another round, so dormant may not mean dead! Communities with a history of this are marked ongoing, but may not have schedule information posted.

Eventually I would like to replace the "year started" and "latest round" columns with (There are now) columns for each year which contain links to the masterposts for each round. Here's a resource with links to masterposts, in the meantime! for other fandoms. ETA 3: Done! Numbers indicate fic/art pairs for each round, plus scattered unpaired works. Mods who put in the labor to make masterposts, I love you and you get cookies bold font. Mods who tally their entries to spare me counting, you totally rock! Asterisks: because Sheets throws fits about more than one link in a cell, an asterisk means Intrepid Reader should exercise their detective skills to find all the fics; for example, by clicking to the next month on a LJ calendar. Note about calendars vs. tags: often there will be a tag for each round. However, I link to the calendar or archive rather than the tag, if I can't find masterposts, because I can't know if everybody tagged properly without doing a ton of cross-checking, and I don't want to miss anybody. I'll link to tags only if I'm assured they're complete.

Also, if you are a mod (or civic-minded citizen) who has shiny new (or old but well-hidden) masterposts for previous years, please do link me up!

“Main” and “wing” should be self-explanatory. (They were shorter than “Primary” and “Secondary.”) The “Other” column could be any site challenges are hosted, but right now it’s all Dreamwidth (dw). The numbers in the AO3 columns indicate how many works there are in each tag or collection. Keep in mind that tagging and collecting is up to individual authors, and therefore neither the tag nor the collection is likely to represent all work for a challenge, nor will they necessarily consist of the same works. Check challenge masterposts for complete works. Here’s the tag collection for Big Bangs on AO3. I’m sure there are tags and collections on AO3 that I haven’t yet found the links for, but I’m still on it! ETA 2: I’ve now looked at all 641(!) collections with Supernatural in them. Unless you named yours “LMNOP2″ or “Drabbles Comm: Socks” and didn’t include a description, I should have all Bang collections up in the Doc. (Stray tags may still crop up.)

My Google Spreadsheet of SPN Big (and otherwise) Bang Challenges!

Anyone can comment directly into the document or contact me with additional information or suggestions! Feel free to link to this from anywhere you like as well. Note that there are a couple new challenges with author sign-ups closing TODAY, August 31!

ETA: Fun with filters!

The awesome thing about speadsheets is that you can sort all the data any way you like! Here’s a quick rundown of possibly-useful information.

Even if you don’t have editing privileges on a Google Doc, you can still sort columns. It won’t permanently change the doc or impact the way others are seeing it if they’re viewing it at the same time as you. All you do is mouse over the top of a column where it says “A” and a little arrow will appear for you to click on. So if you’re an artist, feel free to sort by ‘artist signups,’ or if you just like reading everything as soon as it comes out, sort by ‘posting starts.’ The default way I have the Doc sorted is first I sort by ‘status,’ then by ‘writing signups,’ then by ‘latest round.’ This means that the doc will be sorted primarily by the year of the latest round, then by the month writers should sign up in, then by status.

I renamed challenges which haven’t yet gone a round from “new” to “virgin,” not just for amusement, but so we could have an alphabetical list: Closed, Deleted, Dormant, Hiatus, Polling, Ongoing, Virgin. Is that not sweet? You can sort by that, or alphabetically by name, etc. Play around, have fun, and when you’d like to go back to the standard view, just ‘X’ out of the dark gray filter bar.

#supernatural #spn #challenge #bigbang #mini bang #reverse big bang #masterlist

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travel-study · 8 years ago

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hey friends! this is the first post of a new series of masterposts i am going to do on shakespeare’s major works. i have a degree in history & english literature from one of the top unis in the uk and i’ve covered a hell of a lot of shakespeare in my time, so hopefully i can offer some help to you guys. please let me know if there’s anything you want different in future posts, feedback would be great. hope i can help, and happy new years!

themes

sex, if love be blind, it best agrees with night

romeo & juliet is absolutely chocked full of sexual overtones, it’s basically about two kids getting a bit carried away trying to get into each others pants

3.2.13-16 highlights this link between juliet’s sexual inexperience and her sexual eagerness. she is ‘unmann’d’ in that she has yet to take a husband, as well as in that an unmanned falcon would fly free if taken outdoors were a hood not pulled over its head

3.2.21-23 stresses the heartbeat rhythm, ‘come night, come romeo, come thou day in night’. it’s a fast rhythm, stressing her desire for him to come to her. her boldness is born in her desire and her separation from innocence, which could also form the base for a point about femininity and docility being tied to innocence and virginity if you fancied taking that route

mercutio has been described as ‘sex-obsessed’, but i’d say he’s a pretty archetypal teenage boy in this respect. he makes lewd references to rosaline’s ‘quivering thigh’, and mocks romeo’s ‘love’ 2.1.9-24 generally, setting up the argument that romeo can’t distinguish between love and lust. romeo also makes reference to juliet’s thighs on their wedding night, although saying that they’re ‘like jewels, the work of a master hand’ is rather nice compared to his remarks about rosaline and how she refused to ‘ope the gap’. i would say this repeated mention of thighs distinguishes the difference between the laddish chat between the boys and the conversations between a man and wife, another break from innocence and youth.

mercutio also reduces love to merely sex in 2.1.36-41, and his fruit based metaphor could easily be linked to the fruit of eden and sex being a product of the birth of sin if you wanted to go down that route

there is of course the famous pun on ‘maidenhead’, equating sword fighting with raping women, at the opening of the play, establishing and linking the consistent themes of sex and violence

essentially these two are horny teenagers and sex is a huge theme in the play. it is easy to tie to love, innocence, femininity etc.

useful articles on sex in r&j: 1. 2.(ctl+f sex for ease) 3.(partic. interesting commentary on rape in r&j) 4.

masculinity, thy beauty hath made me effeminate

this is, i think, one of the more interesting topics covered in r&j, and as a result there’s a shitload of useful sources for it

in romeo’s hypermasculine society he is expected to either violently defend his family and his name or master his own self-control and autonomy and love. he attempts to do both simultaneously and it doesn’t pan out so well for him.

all the deaths of the young men in the play stem from them trying to fulfil these expectations of them.

unlike benvolio, mercutio and tybalt, who maintain their masculinity in death, romeo’s suicide is seen as weak, even effeminate.

appelbaum’s article in shakespeare quarterly is particularly important, i think, in critically addressing this conflict of gender, and i would strongly recommend it if you’re hoping to cover this theme

1. 2. (this one covers the coming of age process in r&j, but i think it’s useful to tie this in with the development of masculine ideals and expectations)

love & death, thus with a kiss i die

one cannot write about one without writing about the other when covering romeo & juliet, i think

along with fate and society, love and death are pinpointed as key themes in the prologue, setting the audience up to tie the two ideas together

the paradoxical notion of love in death fuels these characters motives, and could potentially link to a religious theme if you wanted to take that angle (as a protip if you wanna study english or history just learn as much as you can about religion and it’ll cover you for 90% of your essays)

this article extensively covers the times in which death is mentioned in the context of love, or vice versa. it’s interesting if a bit oddly formatted

this article talks about the context of joint burial, a physical manifestation of these tied themes, in a sense

chapter 21 on shakespeare’s early tragedies in this book is useful, and there’s a whole subsection for romeo and juliet that’s a handy read

fate, i fear... some consequence yet hanging in the stars

the elizabethan world view was shaped by a common belief in fortune, fate and the power of the stars, astrology being considered a science amongst the nobility at the time

bertrand evans noted that in r&j ‘fate is the controlling practiser, and the entire action of the play represents her at work’ in shakespeare’s tragic practice, essentially arguing that every choice made by the plays characters is just chipping away their path to their predestined ends

this article is generally great, and the third angle focuses on r&j as a tragedy of fortune. i’d recommend reading the whole thing but i’ve linked straight to the third point so that it’s focused on the theme of fate and fortune.

i would also recommend this book, you can search for specific references to romeo and juliet, but there’s some good stuff about fate and predestination around p.55 and for the next 20 or so pages i think? i didn’t count oops

form

all of shakespeare’s plays are written in iambic pentameter. an iamb is a foot that consists of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. pent means 5, so there’s 5 iambs in each line

as is pretty typical for shakespeare, he uses blank verse to indicate that a person of a lower social class is speaking, or to show informality. for instance, the nurse speaks in blank verse, and mercutio does when in the informal setting of hanging around with his friends. stricter rhyme tends to come into play with characters of a higher social standing, like capulet

the play is an early example of shakespearean tragic structure. this generally fits within the 5 act structure that’s been a playwrights favourite since horace built on aristotle’s 3 segment structure.

this is an interesting article that i’d recommend if you were hoping to look at tragic form in romeo and juliet