#of course his ship had to be called Natural Selection lol not very subtle there

[serenpedac]

“We belong to the Earth and the sea, you belong to the stars.”

— Zhang Beihai (The Dark Forest - Cixin Liu)

[unexpectedreylo]

Oh Ye Of Little Faith

What is wrong with Reylo-dom these days?  Was it Daisy’s interview with Steele?  Was it the lack of obvious Reylo in the TROS trailer (as though they were going to show us anything)?  Is it that ant* psy-ops is working?  

It’s all of those things BUT at least on the Reylo Facebook groups I’ve seen another reason why some Reylos are wavering and starting to offer up “Oh well, I’ll love it anyway” statements (which I reject in my “It’s Reylo Or Bust” post).  And it’s what I said in my reblog of another post a couple of nights ago...it seems that many of these Reylos are diehard shippers whose previous favored ships didn’t fare well and now they’re setting themselves up not to be disappointed.

I am not a shipper by nature.  I don’t watch t.v. shows and movies looking to see who I can mentally hook up.  In fact, I don’t get invested in t.v. couples anymore.  That’s a lesson learned from “Moonlighting” when I was in high school.  I was an X-Phile who wasn’t really in favor of Mulder and Scully getting together unless it was the very last episode.  Given what a hot mess the writers made of their relationship, my instinct was correct.  Some t.v. shows still have great writing but many do not, which is why I don’t bother with a lot of scripted shows anymore.  Most t.v. writers have no idea how to write a functional long-lasting relationship that remains fresh or entertaining.  Soap operas are the worst about this, which is why I’ve always found it silly to get attached to a “hot couple” on a soap.  They’ll break up or one will die sooner or later.

I bring this up because in a FB post, the OP mentions her bad experience with “Johnlock,” how its non-happening reduced her to tears, and her hope we won’t let Reylo being a non-starter drag us down into that kind of emotional toilet bowl.  Fair enough.  My reaction would likely be, “Well, they screwed the pooch on that one” and “I doubt I’ll ever invest this much in any future films if this is what they’re going to do.”  

I’m well aware fans are great at creating subtext out of nothing and noticing secret signals that aren’t there or weren’t intended to be taken a certain way, then they’ll fight like hell against anyone who tells them, “You’re just making this up.”  I think some Reylos worry they might be under some kind of mass delusion.  I’m also well aware of showrunners and t.v. writers who actively toy with their audience, knowing the bait is getting people to watch and to generate buzz.  Then when it’s time to deliver, it’s, “Oops, we didn’t mean it, LOL.”  I think Reylos fear this is happening as well.  Some showrunners and writers end up pulling their punches, like when the writers of “Avatar:  The Last Airbender” decided to put Katara with Aang for no other reason than he’s the hero even though it seemed like the real action was between Katara and Zuko.  We’re terrified of the writers wimping out on Rey and Ben.  Then there are the times when sparks fly unexpectedly and viewers are led down a path the show creators never intended.  For example, “Smallville” had so much chemistry between Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, people were calling it “Slashville.”  The writers and producers probably thought this would be a drag on the credibility of Clark’s relationship with Lana, so their solution was to have fewer scenes between Clark and Lex.  I’m sure some Reylos fear this might be nothing more than unintended chemistry between the actors rather than something Lucasfilm wanted.

It’s all understandable.  But ignoring all of the meta and videos in favor of Reylo, you still have a great deal being hinted at on the official side of things, especially with TLJ.  Why would Rian Johnson talk about the hand touch scene as being as close to a sex scene as you’ll get in Star Wars?  What about all of the erotic/sexual imagery in TLJ?  Or the girl-walks-in-on-a-guy-partially-or-totally-undressed trope?  Why on Earth would Adam Driver ask Johnson if Kylo had ever kissed a girl before when it came to developing these scenes with Rey?  Why was Finn passed off to Rose? What’s with Johnson explaining that Kylo’s “you’re nothing but not to me” speech was basically his weird twisted version of Julia Roberts’s “I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her” speech from “Notting Hill?”

Of course I’m worried about Abrams wimping out, retreating, or retconning because theoretically it can happen.  But is he likely to do that?  Probably not because he’s the one who set this in motion in the first place.  He’s the one who commented in the 3D Blu-Ray version of TFA that Rey is like Cinderella and Kylo’s like the prince.  He’s the one who said they’re going to have a “very interesting relationship going forward.”  He could’ve told Johnson, “Nooo, don’t go there with Kylo and Rey.  That’s not what we’re shooting for.”  Or, “Eww, they’re cousins, bro.”  But he didn’t.  The Reylo vibes in TFA were so subtle and nearly buried by the plot, only a select few ever saw them.  But they’re obvious in TLJ, which is why Reylo fandom exploded after the film came out.  Abrams can’t back out of that now.  He’s got to bring it home.