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lightaroundthecorner · 5 years ago

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TROS - What did I even watch? Or how I lived to see the day Disney murdered a prince, left Cinderella alone in the desert, and hoped for the world to rejoice because it was “fun”?

Dear friends, I’ve been here for the spoilers and I’ve even talked with some of you. I went to watch the movie today, with 0 hope of anything except of seeing my baby Ben Solo and Adam’s fenomenal acting (and listening to some good John Williams).

I knew it would be horrible, but as @nevernerdenoughblog said seeing it makes it even more. Like @clairen45 it felt so wrong. Should I rejoice with a Reylo kiss that Rey gave but seconds later didn’t even cry over Ben’s dead body? I refuse to acknowledge this characterization of Rey. She was the only one that ever believed in Ben Solo, she shipped herself to make him know he was loved and wanted and to help him. Where was this Rey in this movie?

I am sorry guys (especially for the tagging) but I need to write this out or it will eat me and you guys are the few ones that relate to my pain. You know what really hurt me the most in all this? Toxic masculinity disguised as feminism.

1) FAREWELL HEROINE’S JOURNEY

They trashed the Heroine’s Journey. They murdered it and spit in its face. JJ Abrams simply decided that the Heroine’s Journey (done in act 1/ep. VII and act 2/ep. VIII) was not cutting anymore and decided to send Rey on a Hero’s Journey (ep. IX only, new 1st, 2nd and 3rd act altogether), where she has become this almost toxic masculine fighter under Leia’s training — Badass girl? Yes. Full of anger? Yes. Logical? Yes. Connected to anything? No, not even herself, she kept on the run, afraid. In search of the Jedi detachment? Yes. —, only to send her happilly off to a desert planet in the end of her journey and finishing with her alone talking with an old lady.

Which remind us of the start of TFA, meaning she has comeback to what? Luke didn’t even comeback to that “home” in Tatooine the end of his Hero’s Journey? So she went to a place of death to what? This is a slap on the face of the Heroine’s Journey. This is how toxic masculinity corrupts and interrupts the most uncomfortable (to psychologically unhealthy bystanders) and fundamental (to the woman herself) phase of Heroine’s Journey: You want love, family, a partnership, connection, nurturing or progeny? That is weak, it is foolish. You need to fight, to conquer, to take, take and take. Otherwise you won’t be strong or independent.

REALLY???????????

I AM CRYING! WHY? WHY? WHY? Daisy, are you really seriously satisfied with this ending? Because REY DESERVED BETTER.

BTW, BEN SOLO DESERVED BETTER! The true feminist of this story DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER! ADAM DRIVER DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER! He always respect the director’s view, does his best to accomplish it and brings his best acting to the table. The only saving grace in the whole movie to me was Ben’s arc because 1) Adam was doing it and 2) He honored his character. Man he deserved so much better!!!!!

I’m not even going to repeat what everyone already said about where is George Lucas’ Fairytale Story, because you guys said it all. But I have a beef with Disney executive decisions:

2) WALT DISNEY - HOW I WISH WALT WAS ALIVE

Walt Disney. Much have been criticized concerning his choices to make HEA in fairytales. But what now? We find balance by wanting our children to grow up to be cynic and seeing the feminine as weak? Unhelpful? Bad?

“Yo independent women! You need no prince even if you have one. He can compassionately and selfelessly die to save you because he loves you and you can go off, happily, to celebrate with your friends! You don’t mourn his body, oh no. You don’t tell him you love him. You forget him. You go be that cool lonely warrior.”

Excuse me but I can kick ass and have the romantic love life and children I want! I can have both! Because I am a human being and I deserve it. This is not a matter of being a men or women. This is a matter of balancing the feminine and masculine within.

But that is not just it. BEN SOLO DESERVED BETTER! WALT WOULD NEVER, EVER LET A CHARACTER THAT WENT THROUGH ABUSE AND SO MUCH PAIN DIE THE WAY BEN SOLO DID! Is that a Disney movie??????? I mean, what did I just watch????

Walt Disney, the man who promised P.L. Travers, upon knowing who Mr. Banks was to her (her deceased alcoholic father) and what Mary Poppins, her work, meant to her, said:

“George Banks and all he stands for will be saved. Maybe not in life, but in imagination. Because that is what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again.”

THAT IS WHAT STORYTELLERS DO! Like so many fanfic writers in this fandom @nite0wl29, @stargazer1116, @intp-slytherin97, @eleanor-writes-stuff, @postedbygaslight, @raven-maiden, and so many others!! Btw, thank you all!! My vacation starts tomorrow and I’m going to read again all your amazing fics to regain exactly that: HOPE!

What was TROS? Leia and Luke believing in the good in Rey? The whole Jedi Order believing in her? I have nothing against that but why didn’t they believe or help Ben too? Ben didn’t receive any of that love, WHY? What was wrong with him? What did he do?! He was the most selfless of souls, just like his Father and Grandmother. Is this vicntim blaming??? WHY DISNEY, LUCAS FILM and JJ ABRAMS, WHY?!

I used to think people were wrong when they said Disney was only doing SW for money. Because Walt Disney also said and lived by this rule:

“The important thing is the family. If you can keep the family together — and that’s the backbone of our whole business, catering to families — that is what we hope to do.”

SW is about family and I refuse to accept ep. IX as SW. It has all the make up of SW, but it lacks the heart and very essence of it.

As dear @eleanor-writes-stuff said, so much for criticizing Rian Johnson, only to consagrate his work. That man honored the storytelling art and I’ll be forever grateful to him for his touch in SW and for how his writing touched and changed my life. And I know Waltz would have approved too because he also said:

“I prefer to entertain people in the hope that they learn, rather than teach people in the hope they are entertained.”

3) PLOT? WHAT PLOT?

Leia’s feelings for Ben have remained ambiguous, you can both read her as someone who wants her baby boy dead (because her death allows Rey to stab Ben to death if she wants to, when Ben was never going to harm Rey) or not. Actions speak louder than words, and this was the movie when Leia would have the chance to assume the responsability for her mistakes and take action, instead of only claiming she believed her son was alive.

If she clearly wanted to reach Ben, was Maz’s words needed? No, they weren’t. It was exactly because Maz needed to voice it that proved Leia’s actions could be read as ambiguous. Again, actions speak louder than words. Her body only disappeared after Ben’s did too because what? She was expecting him to die so she could collect his soul?

I dearly love Leia’s character but LEIA DESERVED BETTER! CARRIE DESERVED BETTER! In the end I’m not sure what to make of the ST Leia. She could have helped Ben but clearly sent him away to Luke because? What?

Ben Solo get his redemption from his own 2 hands + his father’s memory (not force ghost) + Rey’s confession. In the end he becomes the bride of the monster, only to die right after, in a what? Plot twist?

Finn, who? That was so messed up! Rose? Poor Rose!!! Hux? Oh Hux deserved better too. I was glad to see that Poe matured though and grew in his arc.

I’m also mad and confused about other plot points:

Ben throws his bleeded kyber krystal away because of his father. Okay. Why did no one help him when he cried on the Force to crack his kyber and soul, but Luke Force Ghost appears to catch Rey throwing a lightsaber in an on fire tie fighter?

Rey would turn to the Dark side if she killed Palpatine, right? 5 minutes later she won’t turn to the Dark Side anymore even if she still kills him in anger? Just because the self righteous jedi chose to let Ben get thrown down the abysm by himself but Rey was the Chosen One?

Still on this topic, so she choses to give up her soul so Palpatine uses her body as the vessel of his soul and the legion of siths, in order to save her friends, but she won’t take Ben Solo’s hand, even if she claims she wants to + retaining her body, to do the same?

I think force bonds don’t make much of a difference anymore when one of the parts dies. Ben can die and Rey seems pretty okay?

INTERESTING FACT: Beside me there was a father with his 6 or 7 year old son. The child kept asking what was going on everytime the movie introduced any plot twists or too much information too quickly. When the Reylo kiss came on screen, you know what the kid said? “I told ya!” I wanted to cry when seconds later the boy was claiming now was Rey’s turn to bring Ben back. Children understand the Heroine’s Journey and it doesn’t scare them. It is beautiful like that. The father then had to try and explain to the boy that other things were going on and that no, “that guy was gone”. What have you done people?

4) EPISODE X

I must have a clown face. They lied to us about this movie being “The Rise of Skywalker”. Maybe they lied to us about this being the end of the saga? Considering JJ claims this is fun, happy and hopeful, yeah, I doubt they are making an episode X or ressurecting Ben Solo after throwing in the garbage the Heroine’s Journey. I vaguely remember Adam also said he wasn’t going to appear in another SW.

IF they do announce an ep. X, I’m not watching it unless Ryan or someone like him directs the movie.

I loved to see Han Solo’s memory helping his son. That man trully loved him and it is tragic that he screwed up as a father only because he thought he wasn’t enough to be a good one and that Leia and Luke would know better.

I also loved to see Ben Solo as his father son and grandchild to his grandmother and great grandmother. He was beautiful and I love him and he’ll be forever with me.

I liked the Reylo kiss... but Rey’s actions in this movie have affected me so that it doesn’t feel like they scrapped the surface of making justice to this that could have been the happiest and most balanced of all SW couples.

IT COULD HAVE BEEN EPIC. IT COULD HAVE BEEN GRAND. But it wasn’t.

I’ll forget TROS. YBTOTT is now canon to me, because it is a perfect 3rd act in this trilogy, and @postedbygaslight honors the Heroine’s Journey like few writers have the gut and courage to do. Thank you so much Wayne!

And if anyone had the patience to read this to the end, thank you. I feel it too guys, this was awful and horrible.

#star wars #sequel trilogy #heroine's journey #tros spoilers #ep. ix spoilers #the rise of skywalker spoilers #spoilers #I extremelly rarelly consider a movie horrible #but this I can't deal with

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dalekofchaos · 5 years ago

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The Luke Skywalker that was wasted and the Luke fans deserved.

For the last two years I have shown my displeasure with how Luke Skywalker and I still hate it. Let’s talk why I hate it and why I think it could have been better

What the hell was with Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi?

Why did Rian Johnson and Kathleen Kennedy depict him as a grumpy, pathetic hermit and a weak failure? Don't give me that crap about 'b-b-b-b-but he did a Force Projection and that's hard'. You can't shit on a character for 99% of the movie and consider his depiction as worthy because he did something useful for the remaining 1%.

Lucasfilm and associates prior to Disney's acquisition of the franchise spent 40 YEARS building the character of Luke Skywalker through the movies, comics and novels. The Star Wars fandom has spent 40 YEARS delving into the lore of the Star Wars universe and its characters. Why would Rian and Kathleen go in the opposite direction with his character? They went as far as making him a depressed, hopeless loser when the very essence of his being is hope. "How did the most optimistic, hopeful character in the galaxy turn into this hermit? ... A Jedi is optimistic, a Jedi has tenacity, he never gives up" - A quote from Luke Skywalker himself: Mark Hamill. When Luke Skywalker himself voices serious concern about the depiction of Luke Skywalker, Rian and Kathleen should have immediately started over.

The annihilation of Luke Skywalker's character was intentional. It's preposterous to suggest that they accidentally ruined one of cinemas greatest hero's. This was a planned character assassination.

Why was Mark Hamill exempt from the marketing of The Force Awakens and forced to stand on a mountain with no lines?

Why was Luke given nothing for The Force Awakens and anytime Mark went to JJ with his great ideas for Luke, JJ just smiled and patted him on the back just to shut him up?

Why did Luke toss the Lightsaber? The Lightsaber of his father, the lightsaber that Obi-Wan gave to him, and the Lightsaber he lost on Bespin after losing his hand to Vader. Such an emotional connection to Luke, he casually tosses it in such a stupid, cold and unemotional matter. Why not allow Luke an emotional reaction to holding this particular lightsaber again after all these years? Why is a sight gag preferable in this situation? Even if Luke being a bitter, detached old man is essential to TLJ, that’s still no reason not to pay even the slightest respect to everything that lightsaber represents from the original trilogy.

Why is Luke not allowed to show emotion, grief or empathy for the death of Han Solo? His best friend, his brother, Leia’s love and the father of his nephew?

Why does Luke not care that his sister’s life and The Resistance is in danger? Why was he willing to abandon his sister in her time of need?

Why does Luke and Chewie never have a moment of forgiveness and reconciliation?

Why was Luke made to fail as a Jedi Master? Luke should have changed the Jedi for the better as he did in Legends. Luke did not negate his emotions, but found a synthesis between both. Luke definitely showed that selfless love and compassion don’t lead to the dark side. Anakin is the Last Jedi of the old order, not Luke. Luke became the first of the New Jedi realizing that attachment made him stronger not weaker. For the new Jedi were attached to the entire universe through the Force. This is why Luke reformed the Jedi for the better.

Why was Han and Leia made to fail as parents and leaders in the NR and Resistance? Why were Luke, Han and Leia’s achievements and victories made invalid?

Why was it necessary to show Luke drink from a giant alien tit? Oh yes, we can show that, but we can’t show Luke mourn for the loss of his best friend 😒

Why did Luke not teach Rey ANYTHING? He did not impart wisdom to Rey at all in the entire movie. They did not have a great master/apprentice relationship, despite it being advertised that their relationship was the beating heart of the movie! That was a giant lie and false advertisement!

Why does Luke give up on the Jedi. Jedi do not give up. You might say that Yoda and Obi-Wan also gave up. But for those two, the Sith took over the galaxy, they had to go into hiding to protect and guide Luke and Leia. Obi-Wan wanted to save Leia and guide Luke. Yoda always wanted to train Leia as a Jedi and bring Anakin back to the light. He was reluctant to train Luke but he still did his duty as a Jedi Master. They did not just give up and wanted to die and they did not betray their characters at all.

Why would Luke Skywalker even think of killing his nephew in his sleep? Why would he even think of igniting the Lightsaber? Luke Skywalker would not even think of trying to kill his nephew in his sleep. Luke decided the Jedi and Sith were both wrong and believed that his father was still good and he was right in saving him. He would try to talk to Ben and try to pull him back to the light. His sister brought Ben there for protection and guidance. Even if that did fail, you did not need to make Luke attempt to murder him. You did not need to make Luke, Leia and Han at fault for Kylo Ren. Kylo is a grown ass man, he is responsible for his own actions. Kylo was going to murder the Jedi and younglings regardless, he already fell to the dark side. No one is responsible for Kylo’s actions but Kylo Ren.

Why does Luke just give up? Luke Skywalker is a beacon of hope and optimism and love against all odds, and the fact that that was twisted into being depicted as some foolish youth naivety, and that the only way to make him “human” was to retract all that and make him a bitter, jaded man is so fucking disgusting. Even more disgusting is in TLJ novelization had him dreaming of never leaving Tatooine and having him live under the Empire’s dominance. He does not even care that his sister’s life and the Resistance she is leading is in danger. He doesn’t connect with Rey on any meaningful level, doesn’t impart wisdom or knowledge, and never reasserts himself as the powerful Jedi he once was. A brief physical duel against Rey ends with her as the undisputed victor, completely killing his deserved mythos and her potential character arc in one fell swoop. It’s clear in that moment that he has nothing to teach her, and nothing to contribute to the overall narrative. The boundless potential that seemed poised to explode at the end of The Force Awakens fizzles here but never ignites. And without any training at all, Rey defeats Luke Skywalker and Luke acts all cowardly and begs her to leave. He does buy The Resistance time and saves his sister, but it was ultimately pointless. He wasn’t even there and he dies pointlessly. What we got was not Luke Skywalker. Luke Skywalker is hope and optimism. Luke Skywalker is showing that no matter what, compassion, faith and love will always prevail. Luke is the hero that inspired an entire generations to aspire to be better, aspire to be heroes. Luke is what we wanted to see and what we got was not Luke Skywalker. Luke is someone who thought Doctor Aphra was a good person, she proves him wrong but he still had that hope for her. Luke believed that Darth Vader of all people still had good in him and was willing to die and he was able to reach his father. In Battlefront II’s Story, Luke saves Del Meeko because he asked and he offered Del a better life, a choice. Inferno Squad has committed atrocities in the name of the Empire, yet Luke still gave Del Meeko a chance. Canon Luke Skywalker is a kind hearted hero who will never run from a fight or knowingly leave a loved one in danger and will even save his enemy. This is Luke Skywalker. Luke is compassionate, adores his family, would never leave them. The Luke Skywalker I knew would never even think about killing his nephew in his sleep when there is always another way. Luke believes in the light and was willing to die to save his father. Darth Vader committed atrocities for decades, Luke still believed there was good in him. He would never give up on his family nor would he even consider killing his own nephew in his sleep just because he sensed darkness there. He would never abandon his sister at death’s door when she needed him most. The Hero’s Journey that he was following was ignored completely and he just gave up and wanted to die. And he dies instead of reuniting with Leia properly. Mark Hamill wanted Luke to live until Episode IX where he would pass on what he learned to Rey. No big battle with Snoke, no passing on, instead Luke dies and all we’re getting is force ghost Luke. Luke Skywalker was a hero to an entire generation. Luke was the true heart of Star Wars. His was the journey we followed from idealistic farm boy dreaming of adventure, to reluctant warrior, and finally to savior of the entire galaxy. The original trilogy built him up, and The Last Jedi finally broke him down. I for one mourn my hero’s passing.

Why is Yoda the one to convince Luke to return? It should have been Anakin

Why does Luke not appear for real and have a real genuine moment with Leia? The final moment between Luke and Leia was ultimately pointless when you realize Luke wasn’t even there, it was just a projection?

Why did Luke not have a worthy final showdown and showing his power as a Jedi Master instead of disappearing and not being anything more than a distraction? Why did he die without passing anything on to the next generation?

These were supposed to be, or should have been completely replaced with extremely powerful moments with emotional weight. These moments should have been mandatory. Yet the creators didn't deliver.

THE LUKE SKYWALKER THAT WE DESERVED

What a missed opportunity. I mean, look at this artwork. There's such potential for greatness and compare that to the steaming pile of shit Rian Johnson / Kathleen Kennedy served in The Last Jedi.

What we should have got to see of Luke in the Sequel Trilogy

First and foremost, the same Luke Skywalker who actually exists in the Star Wars universe.

His Jedi Academy and respectful showcase of Ancient Jedi artefacts.

A mention of a close relationship of his students and most importantly to Ben and how Snoke turned him against Luke and the Jedi

Flashbacks to training his own Ben and his padawans and scenes of Luke training Rey

Reuniting with Han, or at least mourning his death.

Have Luke tell Rey he left the map behind so Leia can find him when the time is right, he did not give up, but he realized Leia sent him someone he can train and give guidance to. Luke and Rey indeed are the beating heart of this story

Lifting his old X-Wing out of the water and flying to the Supremacy to face Snoke and his nephew and to save Leia.

Luke and Rey together fight the Praetorian Guards. Luke faces Snoke, while Rey faces Kylo. Luke kills Snoke, while Kylo wins the fiight against Rey and cuts her hand off

Physically appearing, a beautiful reunion with Leia that has meaning with Luke actually being there

A true moment and showdown against The First Order and Kylo Ren. Kylo Ren orders every ship to fire on Luke. All the AT-M6’s all firing but to everyone’s surprise, all blasts have no effect via protection of the force. Luke wipes the salt off his robes and with a simple wave of his hand, brings the walkers, transports and Kylo’s shuttle down, one by one. Kylo descends from his crushed shuttle, throwing a tantrum and preparing preparing to kill his uncle. We have a real lightsaber battle between Luke and Kylo. Luke has his green lightsaber. Their blades clash. The battle is emotional and raw. Luke is there. The dialogue is emotional and impactful. Despite all that his nephew has done, Luke asks him to return. Kylo refuses, he embraces who he is and that he is the new Vader. Luke will retort “oh Ben, you are no Vader.” Luke is toying with Kylo, similar to how Vader toyed with him on Bespin. Luke and Kylo’s exchange remains the same. “I failed you Ben, I’m sorry.” “I’m sure you are! The Resistance is dead. The war is over, and when I kill you, I will have killed the last Jedi.” “Amazing. Every word of what you just said was wrong. The Rebellion is reborn today. The war is just beginning. And I will not be the last Jedi.” Kylo will lunge at Luke with all his anger with the intention to kill his uncle, but luke dodges and cuts Kylo’s hand off. Luke gives his “see you around kid” but Luke does not die, he leaves to board his X-Wing. Leaving the new Supreme Leader and The First Order a mess

Luke passes on what he knows to the next generation. Hope has returned. Rey has given Luke’s faith and hope back. The Rebellion is alive. Luke will not be the Last Jedi. Brother and sister reunited and the Resistance stronger for it. Master and apprentice together once more. Smiles and tears and happy to see each other again. Rey, Luke and Leia together. Both siblings holding their hands together on Rey’s hand. Telling her “We have everything we need. It ends how it begins With Rey grabbing the Lightsaber Rey extended to Luke. Tears in Rey’s eyes. The Millennium Falcon and Luke’s X-wing take off side by side into into lightspeed.

The next movie would be about Luke training and preparing the next generation of Jedi. Rey, Finn, Poe, Rose and Jannah, the new Jedi, The Skywalkers. As they stand to face Kylo, Palpatine and The First Order. Luke will sacrifice himself to give his students a chance to destroy The Emperor once and for all

The thing that perplexes me is that both the casual moviegoers and hardcore fans would have loved a depiction of Luke more akin to Legends. Yet Disney chose a depiction of Luke which casuals are indifferent to and the hardcore fans absolutely fucking hate. Why? Why not show the character which majority would love? There's nothing to hate about a powerful and wise legendary hero, while there's everything to hate about some broken hermit that gave up on his family and friends and doing what’s right who reflects nothing of what we've been lead to believe about his character by the creators of Star Wars itself for 40 years.

What a waste of potential. What a slap in the face to George Lucas, Luke Skywalker and the entire SW legacy. I cannot believe the sheer amount of disrespect shown by Disney, Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy, JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson. Luke deserved better.

Mark Hamill tried to warn us

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#Star Wars #Luke Skywalker #Anti Rian Johnson #Anti Lucasfilm #Anti TLJ

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tetrakys · 5 years ago

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I’m trying to stay positive after the TROS novelisation, which I haven’t read and I’m not sure I will, but I saw people posting the important pages online and felt like saying something.

One thing is sure, whether you are a reylo, finnrey, or any other ship, or no ship at all, or just an anti, we can all agree that both the movie and the novelisation tried to appease as many people as possible, throwing breadcrumbs in all directions, and ending up with no clear focus, messing up pretty much everywhere.

Creators should not be scared of their fandom, but they should respect them enough to produce a well written product of good quality. They should have a clear idea and pursue it till the end.

If LF wanted to make Rey and Ben’s relationship more familial than romantic, they should’ve done just that, without the blatant sexual undertone. All the fandom would’ve been on board from day 1. If they wanted to make it romantic, instead, they should have fully committed and not try to throw the stone and then hide the hand. “A kiss of gratitude” was so clearly thrown in there just to please the antis that if I were an anti myself I’d feel offended, who in the world kisses like that just for gratitude?

So, at this point, everyone will try to read into this novel whatever fits the narrative that pleases them the most without ever being fully satisfied.

Personally, I prefer to focus on the part where Ben’s force ghost didn’t appear and Rey can still hear his voice in her head. No one’s ever really gone. Ship or no ship, I love Ben Solo as a character and I hope this means he will be back somehow in other medias. They left the door open, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

#tros #reylo #ben solo #kylo ren #the rise of skywalker

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mrspettyferr · 5 years ago

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19 Years Later

Inspired by the epilogue of Harry Potter

No matter how many years had passed, it was strange to see the isolated planet of Ahch-To crowded with so many ships and people. The Lanai did their best to round up the anxious children, many of which were playing with practice sabers or trying to catch a glimpse of the thala-sirens lounging among the jagged cliffs. Some chased after porgs or skipped along the rocky paths. The padawans were more disciplined, chatting in small groups or staying close to their parents.

For Rey Solo, she was caught up in the memories, watching it all with a quiet sense of contentment. The once ruined huts and structures had been rebuilt, made of dilapidated stone and rock. There were even temples now, classrooms for the younglings and padawans, and landing pads made of grey slab had been built offshore to accommodate the incoming ships.

Some of the Masters had made an appearance, floating among the grassy hills and rock-like structures, their pearly glow frightening some of the younger children. Lando Calrissian was among them, grinning wickedly as he always did on this day. He enjoyed watching the disbelieving students as they came to realize that many of their Masters were, in fact, Force ghosts. Luke Skywalker would be among them, but of course he always made his grand entrance at the opening ceremony.

“Oh!”

Rey was pitched forward as Leia bumped into her, the young girl’s knapsack bouncing on her back as she rushed past.

“Leia, don’t wander off too far!” Rey called after her. This was her third year, and she was finally of age to select her Kyber crystal. It was all she talked about these last few months.

Not far behind came the endless arguing that had not stopped since they left Takodana.

“They don’t really eat people,” Anakin said, sounding less confident than his words implied. “That’s just a stupid rumor.”

“Yes, they do,” his twin sister insisted. “And they’re going to eat you if you don’t—”

“Hanna,” Rey warned.

“They won’t eat me, of course,” Hanna went on, tucking back a strand of wavy black hair that never quite managed to stay confined to her braid. “They only eat darksiders.”

“I won’t be a darksider!” Anakin argued, his dark eyes flaring, his cheeks flushing. “Maybe you will be!”

“Maybe you’ll be neither,” she said with a smirk.

“Hanna, that’s enough,” came Ben’s deep voice as he finally emerged. He was wearing his formal Senator robes, which looked out of place among all the green and sunshine.

“What?” Hanna asked innocently. “I’m only repeating what Master Luke said.”

“He didn’t say that. He—” Ben paused, seeming to think it over and coming to the same conclusion as Rey.

“He probably did,” she muttered, shaking her head. She turned to the twins. “Thala-sirens are harmless. Now, grab your bags and we’ll find Uncle Finn and Aunt Rose.”

After the opening ceremony and welcoming feast—which parents were encouraged to attend—they would travel to Naboo, the new seat for the Galactic Senate. Ben was a Senator, and they—along with the kids—often traveled between Takodana and Naboo, where they kept an apartment. Rey, having no desire for politics, ran her own mechanic shop right out of their home on Takodana. It was a castle, after all, and she preferred the smell of oil and rust to the cantina that Maz had established. Maz spent most of her time traveling the galaxy with Chewie. After the war, she had practically forced Ben into restoring the castle to it’s former glory.

“You destroyed it, least you can do is fix it,” she had said. But when they finished, more than a year later, Maz hadn’t moved back in. She only waived them off and said, “Take it, it’s yours. I have no need for it. But the statue stays.”

It didn’t take long to find their friends. Finn was crouched down before his daughter, triple checking her bags and sprouting more advice that Rey was sure Paige did not ask for.

“Stay away from the cliffs. Storms bring in strong currents. Don’t go near the nexus, you know it’s forbidden until seventh year. And don’t listen to Lando, the porgs aren’t venomous. But if they do bite you, just—” His gaze whipped up to Rose, who was watching it all in amusement. “Did you pack enough bandages? What if she—"

“It’s school, not the military, dad,” Paige grumbled.

“I just want you to be prepared,” Finn insisted, reaching out to pat her impossibly curly black hair.

“I think you’re prepared enough for all of us,” Rose teased. She waved when she spotted Rey, Ben, and the twins approaching. Finn followed her gaze; then he bounced up, grinning wide.

“Uncle Finn!” the twins chorused, running forward and half tackling him with a hug.

“Hey! Look at you two. Wow, how tall you’ve grown, Anakin. And Hanna, is that…a blaster?” He looked at Rey with mild alarm.

“Yeah! Want to see how good I am?”

“No, no,” Finn said quickly, throwing up his hands. “Let’s keep that holstered before…anyone…” He was glancing nervously around now. “…sees…a child with a blaster…”

Rey shook her head, a smile tugging at her mouth, and pulled him into a hug as the twins went to Rose and Paige.

“Giving the eleven-year-old a blaster now?” he muttered so only she could hear.

“They should know how to use them properly,” said Rey. Then she amended, “I caught the kids playing with them as toys and figured it was better to instruct properly. Don’t worry, she’s not allowed to keep it here.”

Finn’s body rumbled as he laughed. “It’s been too long.”

“It has,” she agreed, pulling back. “How’s Poe? I missed him at our last trip to Naboo.”

“Ah, the General is always busy.” Finn still gave his friend a hard time about the title, especially when he had to use it in public. His expression faltered slightly as he looked past Rey to Ben, who had approached with quiet stealth.

“Solo,” Finn greeted a little formally. It took him almost a year to break the habit of calling him Ren.

Ben inclined his head. “Soldier.”

Finn coughed and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Commander, actually.”

“I fail to notice the difference under Dameron’s command.”

Finn muttered something under his breath, but a reluctant grin tugged at his lips.

Rey and Rose exchanged a look, rolling their eyes. Despite the fact that Ben had worked with the Resistance to defeat Palpatine all those years ago, a bit of tension still remained between the two of them. Rey didn’t know if it would ever truly fade, but they were civil and on occasion, even friendly.

Rose on the other hand was more forgiving, and now she offered Ben a warm smile. “Good to see you, Ben.”

His lips parted slightly—not a smile, but a friendly enough gesture. His smiles were rare, reserved only for his family. “You as well,” he said.

“Mother, I want to find Grandpa Han” said Hanna, tugging on Rey’s arm, a slight whine to her voice.

“Me too,” Anakin chimed in.

“Can I go, too?” Paige asked Rose.

“We need to get you all settled first,” Rey said. “And we need to find your sister…”

Her voice trailed off as she searched for Leia. The girl was a curious thing, disappearing all over the castle when she was a child. She was probably looking for Han, too.

Rey wasn’t sure if it was because of the sacred grounds, or some other unexplained thread of fate, but the Force ghosts could manifest permanently on this island. They could manifest anywhere, if they wanted, but it was more difficult. Here, they were free.

Han refused to call himself a Master, and spent most of his time telling the students stories. But occasionally he would teach them about mechanics and piloting, insisting even Force wielders should learn the basics. Leia on the other hand did insist the students call her General or Master, to both Luke and Han’s amusement.

Rey felt a surge of relief when her eldest finally appeared, panting, as though she had just climbed the steep stairs to the monastery at the top of the island. Her brown hair was straight like Rey’s, her bangs messy and ribbon half undone, as though she had rolled out of bed and done very little to tame her hair. Which was usually the case. She looked sweaty and her ivory robes were already spotted with dirt and earth.

“Where have you been?” Rey demanded. “I told you not to wander off.”

“Everywhere,” Leia answered breathlessly. When she finally caught her breath, she straightened a bit, her eyes widening with some newfound enlightenment. “I’ll say this, though. I’m never drinking that green milk again.”

They all laughed, and Ben finally smiled.

- - -

Once the students were all settled into their lodgings, it was time to head to the Great Temple. Each new student would be called forward and tested, like they were when they first showed signs of being Force-sensitive. But this testing was necessary before entering secondary school here on Ahch-To, to reveal which side of the Force they leaned closer to, if either.

It was still a concept that was met with some reluctance. After Palpatine’s fall, more and more children and even teenagers seemed to become Force-sensitive. Old ties to both the Empire and the Republic, to the First Order and the Resistance, created a rift. This sense of division had been long engraved, a strong reason why peace could never be established for long.

When Rey and Ben had come together to defeat Palpatine and his army, they had done so by uniting factions of the First Order and the Resistance, by embracing the light and the dark side. By achieving balance.

Soon after, both Rey and Ben felt a call to Ahch-To. When they arrived, they found not just Luke, but other former Masters: the great Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Anakin Skywalker. Among them an idea bloomed, of restoring not the old Jedi Order, but a new order: the Order of the Force.

But it started with an academy, of training, when they became of age. On Ahch-To, Masters—both living and gone—taught light and dark histories and theories. Luke had been right, in a way. It was time for the way of the Jedi to die—not die entirely, but to change and grow.

The Force was the Force, the light and the dark and everything in between.

As they approached the temple, Leia scrambled inside to find her friends, Hanna trailing after her. But Anakin hesitated outside the entrance. Two girls and their parents moved past, trying not to stare. Rey was used to the staring, to the attention of being a war hero.

Frowning, she pulled her son aside, but before she could ask him what was the matter, he blurted, “What if I’m a darksider?”

Rey and Ben shared a glance. Their bond allowed them to communicate telepathically, but they didn’t need to in this moment. Ben crouched down, his huge frame nearly swallowing up Anakin.

“Leia was named after your grandmother,” he said quietly. “And Hanna, after your grandfather. But you…Anakin Ren Solo. You were named for two people. Both of which were powerful in the light side of the Force, and the dark side. They made some mistakes and bad choices, but even when they drifted too far into the dark side, they still found their way back to the light. They found their way home.” His eyes flicked up, meeting Rey’s, and her expression softened. “They are a testament that should you ever fall, no matter how far, you can still rise.”

“But what if—what if I’m neither?”

“Then you will be like me.”

Anakin’s eyes went wide. “What do you mean? No one is more powerful in the Force than you, Dad.” He winced and shot an apologetic look at Rey, whose brows had raised slightly. “Except you, Mom. And High Master Skywalker. Does he count?”

Rey laughed, and Ben smiled a bit. “For many years I was conflicted, torn between the light and the dark,” he said. “I had to learn to find the balance. And maybe someday you’ll learn the same.”

The children knew some of Ben’s past as Kylo Ren, as Rey and Ben knew they could not hide it. He had dedicated the past nineteen years to restoring the galaxy, but some would never forgive him for the role he played among the First Order. And they did not want to lie or bury the past by denying it. But the children knew even less of his involvement with the First Order and the tragic upbringing that tore him apart for so long. Someday, when they were older, he would tell them all of it.

Even with Ben’s admission, Anakin was still insistent. “But if I do lean to the dark side—”

“—then it only shows how passionate you are, Anakin,” Rey said gently, crouching down next to Ben. She reached out and brushed a strand of unruly black hair from Anakin’s eyes. When he made a face at her words, she added, “Passion comes from the heart. It’s part of what makes you human. And we will love and accept you no matter what side, if either, you lean toward.”

“Every student is different,” Ben added. “It’s only an evaluation to help the Masters find the best approach to their teachings. You, and only you, get to choose which path you walk. And you will never walk it alone, son. We promise you that.”

Anakin nodded, finally reassured. He took a deep breath and straightened, then marched into the temple with his chin high.

Rey and Ben stood, and caught Leia’s—Grandmother Leia’s—eye across the temple. She was the most regal of Force ghosts, elegant and noble, and her eyes shone with pride. Then she turned away, greeting a group of students who were demanding her attention.

“He’ll be all right,” Ben murmured, wrapping an arm around Rey.

She thought of Leia, Han, and Luke. She thought of Lando, of Obi-Wan, of Yoda. Of Finn and Rose and Paige. And she thought of herself and Ben, all looking after their family. They would never know the loneliness that Rey and Ben had. Never know what it felt like to be unloved or abandoned, to feel isolated and alone. They would never allow it.

“I know he will,” she said. “They all will.”

She glanced up, and when Ben felt her gaze, he looked down at her. His expression softened, as it only did for her and their children.

“Come on,” she said, “let’s go see what theatrical entrance Luke has in store this time.”

Ben groaned, but allowed her to tug him inside. “I refuse to applaud such dramatics.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t know anything about dramatics, Ben.” They found two empty seats in the back, next to a couple of Twi’lek’s that greeted them warmly.

His mouth twisted. “I would hardly call—”

“Shh, it’s about to begin,” she interrupted as the candles dimmed and the Force ghosts took their places at the front of the temple.

Ben sighed and took her hand in his own. Rey squeezed it, remembering the first time she had touched his hand across the stars on this very island. She felt him looking at her, and when she peered at him, she knew he was remembering the same thing.

So Rey smiled, and Ben smiled back.

All was well in the galaxy, and for the Solo’s, who finally had all they had been searching for.

Connection. Compassion. Family. Love. Acceptance. Belonging.

They would hang on, and never let it go.

#reylo #rey x kylo ren #rey x ben solo #mrs pettyfer writing #reylo babies #reylo family

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afirewiel · 5 years ago

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Just Saw TROS

Random Details I noticed:

When Rey loses control and accidentally destroys that cruiser and thinks she killed Chewie, Kylo doesn’t look triumphant. At all. He doesn’t look like he’s about to gloat. If anything, he looked heartbroken for her.

Things I liked:

The Non-Reylo stuff:

Rey and Poe’s banter.

Zori. I totally ship her and Poe now.

C3P0 calling R2D2 his best friend (and the moment when he said “I think I’d remember if I had a best friend).

So glad he got his memory back.

Lando!

The Reylo stuff:

Everytime Rey and Kylo fought, Rey was the one who initiated the fight. Rey was always acting defensively and Kylo offensively. Kylo clearly didn’t want to hurt her.

Leia calling out her son’s name and him stopping and dropping his light saber.

Rey realizing she’s hurt him and healing him.

“I wanted to take your hand. Ben’s hand.” This line. It just about killed me. I loved it so much. It says just so much and the way he looked at her when she said it.

BENDEMPTION! Woohoo! Finally! I just love how they did it. I was completely surprised by Harrison Ford making an appearance as Han. Was I the only one on here who didn’t know he’d be showing up? Or was that something that the actually managed to keep secret? I love the parallels between scene and the one in TFA when Kylo killed Han. Has anyone gifed that yet? (If not, for shame!) Loved it when he through the lightsaber.

The look on Rey’s face when she was facing the Emperor and realized he was there (and that he was Ben, not Kylo Ren).

Her giving him a lightsaber through their force connection!

Rey and Ben facing Palpatine together!

Ben cradling her body. I nearly died.

Things I disliked:

Revealing that Palpatine might be alive in the opening scroll. That’s just lazy writing. Telling, instead of showing. The opening scene should have been them all hearing that transmission from Palpatine instead of just going “Oh, by the way...”

We never got to hear what Finn was going to tell Rey.

Hux being the spy. Yes, it was a twist I didn’t see coming, but I was hoping Kylo/Ben had leaked that information himself. It would have been a nice twist and redemptive moment for his character.

Rey being a Palpatine. I liked Rey being a nobody. I liked the idea that someone doesn’t have to come from a special background to be special or powerful. I don’t like that they retconned what Rian Johnson did about Rey’s parents in TLJ.

The “Skywalker” referred to in the title turning out to be about Rey, not Ben. I don’t mind that Rey took the Skywalker name, but I would have preferred it if had been under different circumstances. Which leads me to...

BEN’S DEATH! I’m so mad that Ben Solo, a character who’d been mentally abused and manipulated from infancy, who had suffered so much at the hands of Snoke, finally turned back to the light, kissed the woman he loved, gave us the first (and now only) smile we’d ever seen on his face only for him to die! Yes,I know he died saving Rey, but that just makes it harder! Did they really have to go the Vader route? Why do characters have to die to be redeemed? I JUST HATE IT!!!! And to add insult to injury, they didn’t even show his force ghost with Luke and Leia’s. We waited 4 long years for Reylo only to get for 2 seconds then have it snatched away from us!

I just have to add that one of my (few) complaints about the sequel trilogy as a whole is how information vital to Ben’s backstory (and thus the general audience’s understanding of the character) wasn’t revealed in the movies but in supplemental material. Snoke (or rather Palpatine through Snoke) had been speaking in Ben Solo’s mind since he was an infant! Leia knew it. Which is why she sent him to train with Luke. And after Luke “tried” to kill him, his fellow students turned on him and tried to kill him! Ben didn’t massacre them. He killed them in self-defense! Two very important pieces of information excluded from the movies. It’s the knowledge that Ben Solo didn’t so much turn to the Dark Side as he was pushed toward it that makes his death even harder. I hate it when characters who’ve suffered so much already end up dying. Dear, JJ Abrams, why on earth couldn’t you have given Ben Solo the happy ending he deserved?

#star wars #the rise of skywalker #tros #reylo

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underwaterwoods · 5 years ago

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so i saw the star war

spoilers ahoy

i guess this is just gonna be random bullet points

* i actually feel pretty chill about it. yay for being spoiled. also like.... if you ignore the ridiculous stuff there’s actually a lot to have fun with in this one. i don’t know how i’ll feel about it once i’ve processed it more. i just know i had fun while watching it, which i know isn’t true for everybody. i totally understand the negativity - it all makes sense to me. i’m just glad i sort of.... FORCED myself to have enough distance to just go in like ‘i’M PrepArED fOr wHAtEveR’

*i did like all the jumping around between locations in the first half and how ben would show up everywhere rey was. what a ‘you’re everywhere i go’ pairing. /chef’s kiss/. also having the different locations gives a sense of spaciousness (even if it’s all happening over a short period of time) which i missed in tlj.

*one of the things that gave me the most joy as the hux thing ??? X’’’D it was EXACTLY like that ‘the farce awakens’ ep where hux LITERALLY JOINS THE RESISTANCE cuz he can’t stand kylo. like what kind of fanfic...... how do the hux fans out there feel? (i really love the hux fans they’re a great bunch XD). shame that he was gone right after though.

* i actually enjoyed the trio dynamic? like i get the desire to move away from ‘trio mentality’ but the rey/poe tension with finn as mediator was fun. and finn and poe as joint generals? adorable. shame that the whole finn/poe thing got a bit clouded by.... stormpilot baiting and rose erasure and all the things... Also i’m not anti any character - i like zorii - but.... let poe stay a gay icon? i guess he can still be a queer icon it’s all good i’m down for whatever.

*speaking of finn.... loved seeing more of his humour back. didn’t love that there was no unpacking of how he feels taking out stormtroopers. but loved the found family of jannah and the other ex-stormtroopers. i feel like that gave SOME resolution/depth to finn’s origins. and finn being a non force user but seemingly super attuned to the force and its ways? i can roll with that.

*more speaking of finn... i wonder what they were doing with the ‘thing he wants to tell rey that he never gets to tell rey’. seems like an obvious ‘i love you’ thing. but at the same time we got reylo (/basks in that for a second/). it feels to me like throwing a bone to the finnrey people? like they didn’t get it in this movie but it could be a thing in the future? regaurdless, i did like how finn and rey were very connected and back to that loving friendship they had in tfa. we never quite got the ‘you have a force bond with the supreme leader?!!’ conversation but we got.... SOME conversation.

* speaking of the supreme leader... kinda love that we got renperor AND ben solo TM. i prefer to view ben more holistically (he is both ‘ben’ and ‘kylo’) but i get that making them two distinct identities was a helpful shortcut of sorts. he could ‘kill’ kylo and switch to being ben in a single scene. i always prefer Soft Boi Ben but if we were gonna get Bad Boy Kylo i’m glad they established it right out the gate. it was like ok, this is what to expect; this is where we’re at with this character.

*ben with his costume change at the end....... omg. gave me BIG smuggler!Ben vibes. urgh, give me all the AUs. ben deserves more.

*the amount of swagger when he was fighting the KOR

*idk i feel like i’m not even touching on the big stuff. this was just a ‘get all my side thoughts out of my system’ post.

*adam’s smile after the kiss though......... ... /the most beautiful thing in this world/

*truly iconic that people were right about the strategic, covert introduction of force healing via baby yoda like one month before tros.

*oh yeah it was wILD that so much of the imagery from the trailers/tv spots etc was in like the first five mintues of the movie ??? i totally assumed the ‘i have been every voice you’ve ever heard inside your head’ moment would be climactic rather than right up front

*oh yeah the vader mask.... that didn’t really mean anything in the end then did it?

* re: ben’s death. maybe it’s because i was braced for it but in some ways it’s the best way he could have gone. he was definitely happy and reunited with the light - both through love of rey and of his family. hIGHKey could have done with ben’s force ghost also appearing at the end? the only good thing about not seeing it is.... LF deciding to retcon his death ? ??XD obs they’re not gonna but if you want a crackpot silver lining there it is.

*what exactly does rey’s future look like, may i ask?

* oh yeah, Passing The Saber Through The Force. maybe my favourite moment. the force bond as a bare concept is so romantic to me i would watch a whole trilogy just exploring the magic system of that - it’s limitations and possibilities.

* i do like that jj developed the visual style of the bond. we got to see them occupying the same space, the way each of them would be seeing the other (’can you see my surroundings, i can’t see yours, just you’)

*i miss that rian johnson sound editing on the bond though..... god, the iNTIMACY of the tlj bond scenes....

*’i DID want to take your hand’

*also just the word choice of ‘take your hand’/ ‘i offered you my hand’. it’s extremely marriage.

*there was also a moment in the hanger when ben was like ‘we’re one’ basically? he was saying it in the context of rey’s lineage but still...............the validation. one soul.

*palps was like ‘you live and die together’ which made me REALLY think of skytalkers podcast. obviously assumed they would both have to LIVE together but.... /deep sigh/

*blah this could go on forever i’ll add more later

edit #1:

* OH YEAH! reverse anidala was such a thing! why did it have to be SO reverse anidala though? X’D instead of taking her life, he gives her his own. (i know it’s not clear anakin totally killed padme etc etc but ya feel me)

* ok i hate that ben died obvs obvs but, taking that for what it is, it was very romeo and juliet. i kinda love just the imagery of it. like... the physical blocking/choreography of adam getting daisy into his arms, holding her, then he falls and it’s her holding him. the way she catches his neck. really reminded me of the smoothness of the bridal carry. and rey’s flexed foot in that moment of shock. love the body language. back to that kind of ‘’staccato’’ rey of tfa days.

edit #2:

*lololol @ LF trying to establish how ‘bad’ kylo is by having him kill a bunch of people in the beginning. it was just.... Hot.

edit #3:

* rose deserves better. obviously. she looked so good though. i like that she had some moments with connix too.

* ben called han ‘dad’......

*ben standing there, overlooking the waves, with his leG EXTENDED BEFORE HIM. wanderer above a sea of fog. wanderer above a sea of foggg.

* rey having compassion for the snake thing. we been knew. kinda nice to have it in there. obviously good set up for ~later force healing shenanigans~

* OH YEAH OH YEAH. i kept thinking about atla. i know people have been making comparisons to it from the start and i’ve been DEEPLY INTO those comparisons. but it was truly a blessing for me to remember.... there is a version of this out there that you love and that is Good Content TM. legit i can just go watch atla again to heal from this. omg yeah cuz REY HEALING HIS WOUND ALSO HEALED HIS SCAR. very crystal cave.......... nah but nah but - the ‘you are every jedi’ was EXTREMELY avatar-esk..... like, engage avatar state. i don’t like how it ended up being the same old conflict between jedi and sith - ‘good’ and ‘bad’ - OBVIOUSLY THE POINT IS TO INTEGRATE THE CONFLICTING PARTS OF SELF; THE SHADOW SIDE; TO TRANSCEND OLD DICHOTOMIES - but i did love hearing all the voices from past jedi. that’s some good ‘the ancestors are with you’ shit.

edit #4:

* i think the first thing we hear rey say is ‘be with me’? ngl i was like ‘pls be invoking the force bond’ X’D i am a clown. that was a beautiful shot though. and love that a version of the bond kicked in like two seconds after that.

edit #5:

*there’s that bit where reylo are fighting on the death star ruins and he’s winning and rey kinda falls to her knees panting and lowkey defeated and, not to be a shallow bitch but..... it was Hot.

*also dark rey......... was HOT. SHE WAS SO KIRA, WHATEVER THE FUCK THAT MEANS, AND I WAS INTO IT LIKE HNGGGG

*obvs i wanted rey to be truly no one. but casting jodie comer as rey’s mum ? ????? urgh, pefection, i love it.

*palps was so random i stg..... his plan was.... convoluted to say the least.

*also who was under all those hoods?

*the KOR just kinda... being around again was hilarious. no explaination required. the boys are back in town. ben facing them without a mask and essentially wearing his pjs? loved it.

edit #6:

*seriously though ben’s redemption outfit.............. /heart eyes emoji into the sunset/.......... you can see his collar bone.............. /cares about the important things/.................

edit #7:

*one thing i loved about the reylo was how Space Wizards TM they both were in this movie. it so highlights their connection by making it clear that they are each other’s only peer. i thought it would be a thing of ‘why is the supreme leader constantly interacting with/going after this girl?’ but it’s not because it’s so clear that they are the only two people on each others’ level. no one would dare question the fact that they’re constantly circling each other in a lustful murderous rage.

#tros spoilers #tros reaction #3 #4 #5 #mtp #the rise of skywalker #star wars #this is messy as hell #just getting some thoughts down

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theanarchistfaery · 5 years ago

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Star Wars Episode VIII - The Last Jedi Review

Thanks to a certain streaming service I was finally able to watch Star Wars Episode VIII – The Last Jedi. And I guess I have an unpopular opinion on it. It seems no other Star Wars movie, not even The Phantom Menace, received such a major backlash. Nonetheless I am trying to be unbiased and as honest als possible. As always, spoiler alert.

Ready for light speed!

The film opens wih the First Order (basically the Empire) hunting down the remains of the Resistance (basically the Rebel Alliance) after the destruction of the Starkiller Base (basically a more powerful Death Star). The Resistance is having a hard time losing their enemy, because, as it turns out, they have a device which allows them to track down ships while they are in hyperspace.

Finn, the deserted stormtrooper meets Rose Tico and together with Poe Dameron they develop a plan to infiltrate the First Order' mothership Supremacy and deactivate the device. But they keep it secret, because they fear that Vice Admiral Holdo would never agree to it. Finn, Rose and BB-8 fly to a casino on Cantonica to get the best code cracker in the galaxy. They hire DJ instead, a dubious code cracker who helps them in exchange for Rose's amulet.

At the same time Rey is trying to convince Luke Skywalker, who lives in exile, to help the Resistance. He refuses, stating that he blames himself and the Jedi for the treason of Ben Solo a.k.a. Kylo Ren.

While at first every word she said was wrong, Rey learns the true nature of the force herself, cuts a stone in half with a lightsaber and even has a telepathic conversation with Kylo Ren. He then tells her that Luke had tried to kill him. Luke on the other hand tells Rey, that Kylo destroyed his Jedi academy and killed most of his students. Rey however believes there is still something good left in Kylo, so she hops on the Millennium Falcon and leaves Luke behind on his exile planet, hoping she can bring Kylo over to join the Resistence.

Luke then tries to burn all that is left from the Jedi scripts. Yoda's force ghost appears and he tells him in his iconic grammar that failure the greatest teacher is.

Meanwhile Finn, Rose and DJ managed to infiltrate the Supremacy. Rey arrives there in an escape pod and meets Kylo. He brings her to Snoke. It comes to a dramatic showdown, where Kylo kills Snoke and helps Rey to escape. He does however not switch sides.

Finn, Rose and BB-8, who were surrounded by Stormtroopers thanks to DJ's betrayal, also escape. Poe has raised a mutiny against Holdo to buy them some time. He puts her under arrest and goes to the bridge. But then Luke Skywalker or rather a mental manifestation of him, shows up.

The First Order's fleet is still after them, so they decide to abandon the Raddus. Holdo however stays behind onboard the Raddus and performs a kamikaze maneuver, flying the ship with lightspeed into to the Supremacy so it gets destroyed and the Resistance ships can escape to a base on planet Crait.

Here the First Order makes a last attempt to smash the Resistance but Luke's projection shows up to distract them. The Resistance escapes and Luke, who never physically left his exile, exhausted from his massive performance, dies in a similar way Yoda did in „Return of the Jedi“.

In a final scene, back on Cantonica, we see a bunch of children who are obviously force sensitive and telling each other stories about Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance.

This may come as a shock to some of you, but I really liked it. I even would go so far as to say, and as blasphemous as it sounds, it captures the very essence of Star Wars. While „The Force Awakens“ felt more like a retelling of „A New Hope“, just with different characters, which was fine but not great, this film dares to be different and original. Sure it has some pacing problems. The sub plot with the resistence fleet trying to escape the first order and with Finn and Rose is a bit too long and too complicated, but it wasn't too bad. What I liked the most about it, was that we finally could see some conflict within the Resistence.

I'm glad they went back to explaining the force like Yoda did originally. As this mystical energy field that is generated by every living thing and that holds the galaxy together. No pseudo-scientific explanations here. Midi...what? Midichlorians? Never heard of those.

Star Wars has a tradition of drawing clear moral lines. There is good and bad, the Jedi and the Sith, the force and its dark side. My personal interpretation is that Luke's statement that the Jedi need to die is a reckoning with the black and white thinking of the past. Obi-Wan once said, that only a Sith deals in absolutes but on more than one occasion the Jedi did this as well, when they for example said that someone who was once tempted by the dark side, can not be redeemed, or when Yoda said „do or do not. There is no try.“ The truth Luke learned was, that the force itself is amoral, and that both the Jedi and the Sith can be arrogant and ruthless in their actions. He is convinced that as long as Jedi exist, there will be people who get tempted by the dark side.

For the first time, not only in the expanded universe, but actually in a movie, so as canon as it an get, the Jedi's ideology is scrutinised. Not only that. It is questioned by Luke Skywalker himself.

We also learn that Rey's parents were complete nobodies. Kylo Ren however is the son of Han and Leia. He is the heir of both Skywalker and Solo, and yet he was tempted by the dark side, or rather in a morally grey area. The message could not be clearer. Heritage means nothing.

At that one scene where Rose keeps Finn from sacrificing himself to destroy this weapon of the First Order, I at first could not decide if it's brilliant or stupid. Sometimes, and especially to win a war, sacrifices are nessecary, but if everyone sacrifices themselves in order to survive it kinda defeats the purpose, so I can't help but agreeing with her.

If I have anything negative to say about it, I'd say that it could have been at least 30 minutes shorter. The Finn and Rose scenes as well as the final showdown have a pretty problematic pacing.

And yeah it is a little irritating how good Rey is with literally everything, from lightsaber fighting to using the force. Things that normally take years, she manages within a short amount of time, depending on how convenient it is for the plot. Many people already called her a Mary Sue character and I can see why.

But maybe this is the point. Luke in his exile shares some similarities with the protagonist of Friedrich Nietzsche's „Thus spoke Zarathustra“. They both live as eremits and they both in a way speak about the death of God, which stands for the fall of an old belief system leaving us in a state of nihilism.

If you look at it that way, Rey could be a quite literal representation of the Übermensch, a being that actively overcomes nihilism and leads humanity to a new moral system that is beyond the categories of good and evil from the Jedi's perspective. She is not a superhuman because she is extremely powerful but rather because she realises a deeper truth, that the force can not guide her to what's right or wrong and that she has to figure this out for herself.

But if we consider what happens in the final scene in which the children draw hope from the old stories about the Jedi, this theory either falls completely apart or the movie totally misunderstood what Nietzsche was trying to say.

What the movie did surprisingly well was that it deviates from everything that came before where it needed to do that, while keeping true to its legacy. It may not be perfect, but I prefer this over the prequel trilogy anytime.

#spoilers #starwars #thelastjedi #rey #finn #lukeskywalker #kyloren #yoda #leia

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all-star-frappe · 5 years ago

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SW9: Story Direction Speculations (written on 2018)

Possibilities sw ep 9 Written on june 25, 2018

(Note: Something I wrote 2 years ago for fun. And just found this in my folders again. Time sure flies. I got a few guesses right and some partly right :D Text in parenthesis are written just before posting this)

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1. Bring back balance Personally prefer this outcome. A most likely possibility Ben solo redemption. Goes in line with whole ST Rey and ben work together against a common enemy (against her grandpa) They will start a new order after defeating the enemy (no new order sadly)

More force bonds until they meet face to face (it was sexy) Hux is common enemy. Poe and hux will clash each lead their own army to fight each other (hux could have been so much more, sobs) Possibility of another stronger enemy (got that one right) Finn and rose will be closer and may argue about something but they get together in the end (I cant remember them talking at all in TROS) Force ghost luke appears to both ben and rey to guide them (sadly none for ben) At some point, ben will reclaim ownership of anakins lightsaber, his destiny? (Heck yes, and it was a glorious moment, my fave scene from TROS) Ben solo makes amends with his past and his family. He lives on and will do whats right from this day forward (partly correct...) Skywalker bloodline will continue? Ben starts a family or ben never marries (-ugly cries-) Poe is the big leader of the resistance Maz will be back to share more wisdom (idk... what did she do in TROS anyway) 2. Supreme leader kylo ren Typical hero vs villain story Good guys win (duh) Hux is killed. Kylo will rule with an iron fist (i thought Hux would die differently) Kylo and rey have another lightsaber battle (of course) Knights of ren will actively help kylo rens cause (initially) Rey gets captured? But she will escape (she always does) Kylo dies at the end probably killed by rey (correct but not in the way i thought it would go) Rey is sad (not sad enough!!) First order is destroyed. Resistance grow. More new jedi

Finn and rose become heroes of the resistance (idk where rose is!) There will be fight against knights of ren. They will die. (-flicks hair- another fave scene from TROS, go get em ben solo) Force ghost luke talks to rey. Rey leads new jedi on her own (that’s what disney wanted all along) 3. Tragedy Is very dramatic and depressing end Ben makes a last minute sacrifice. Dies to help resistance and rey (-more ugly crying-) Rey and ben die together (not together...) Resistance lives on lead by poe, finn and rose (again... where is rose?) This totally sucks. Worst outcome ever. (what most people would say after watching TROS)

(NOTE: Someone got angry at me online because i told them Kylo would possibly die in EP9. Emphasis on POSSIBLY. I wonder if they’re still crying now...)

#rise of skywaker spoilers #ben solo redemption #star wars speculation #episode9

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killingpast · 5 years ago

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things to consider with my canon divergence & my general “ fuck you ” to what TROS tried to shove down my throat. it’s my character now, disney will have to kill me first.

POST-TLJ & PRE-TROS kylo ren / ben solo canon - divergence details to take note :

the mask doesn’t get reconstructed or any measure of replaced. Kylo is finished trying to be like Vader & getting mocked for it, torn apart for it, & coming across as “ just a child in a mask ”

it is also a severe regression, the symbolism for a masked character who previously destroyed the mask & walked free of it to then later return to it ? bad take. there are other ways to show regression in character development that don’t also involve disney wanting to be able to use masked!kylo for merchandise & so we don’t stan that

as Supreme Leader of the First Order, his actions as head of the forces at his command primarily focus on draining the Resistance’s resources via hunting & destroying its sympathizers

accustomed to doing the “ dirty work ” himself as an apprentice to Snoke, this means Kylo Ren is more likely to be seen actively leading raids, unlike the previous Supreme Leader, & is therefore ‘ easier ’ to gain interactions with fellow SW characters

keep in mind, however; Kylo Ren does not Fucketh ( tm ) around

for some time, Kylo Ren believed his mother perished when one of his wingmen took the shot he hadn’t taken, thus his order of “ no prisoners ” on Crait

once he realizes his mother is still alive, he immediately redirects his aggressions of the First Order towards the Resistance’s allies & suppliers, rather than hunting down the Resistance itself ( thus avoiding direct conflicts targeting his mother ) & he’s doing his best to obscure this conflict of interest / personal matter

Hux is taking none of his shit, however, & tension between them has never been higher. they’re at each other’s throats constantly

Rey’s rejection hurt him, & Kylo has issued an order that if she’s seen, her location must be immediately reported to the First Order. this is also applied to her closest known associates; mainly Finn & Poe, though Rose is added at a later time once data on her connection to Rey is established

he’s contemplated issuing a “ bring her in alive ” order but wishes to remain vague with the extent of his personal matters involving her until further notice. Also, he’s bitter, upset, lonely, & so if she has to deal with some blaster fire for the trouble, he’s not going to tear his hair out from the stress. Rey can handle it

in a reoccurring dream, a vision, Kylo has witnessed Rey join him upon the Throne of the Sith - this is typically not a pleasant dream, & he feels nauseous at the thought of Rey joining the dark side. he does not want Rey to leave the light.

yet, he still longs for their unity, & if able to reach out to her, he attempts to make that sentiment clear - though, in earlier days following Crait, Kylo is less likely to be civil about the ordeal. if Crait is fresh, he’s too angry

that being said, as time passes, the bond between him & Rey grows stronger & connects them more frequently. Kylo isn’t one to complain

it is entirely dependent on Rey to end these sessions; Kylo has never forcefully withdrawn himself from their bonded engagements

unless Rey severely hurts him

Luke has kept his word, appearing several times to his troubled nephew as a Force Ghost to better stay true to the words “ see you around, kid ”

Luke seeks to offer closure, advice, but Kylo is unable to process it

Han Solo haunts him via old memories resurfacing, auditory hallucinations, & sometimes Kylo swears he still feels his father’s hand on his cheek - sometimes he’ll get carried away, imagining a conversation with him that he knows he’ll never get to have

CONCERNING PALPATINE :

Rey Palpatine will only exist if my writing partner has aligned to that canon

dependent entirely on the current writing partner’s stance on Palpatine existing as the “ final big bad ” of the sequel trilogy, his whispers & influence begin roughly several months following Snoke’s demise, & gradually build up in strength & viciousness

if Palpatine is not included in the narrative via my current writing partner’s preferences, then Pryde’s military greed & desire to dethrone Kylo as Supreme Leader ( declaring him as personally conflicted, & possibly with evidence or reason to suspect he had a hand in killing Snoke, etc. ) will become the “ big bad ” of the series

Kylo Ren hates Rey’s parents no matter who they are, if they are Palpatine’s or not, or what they did: he would never tell Rey “ they protected you / saved you ” by abandoning her to a life under Unkar Plutt, starving, lost, alone, & afraid. so no, he’s spoken the entirety of how he feels about them when in the throne room with her. to him, they’re “ dead in a pauper's grave in the Jakku desert ” & he has no intention to romanticize them to her. he’s done with the topic of Rey’s parentage.

in light of his offering of the galaxy to Rey in the throne room, his defiance & killing of his own master to align with Rey, & the hurt that her rejection caused... Kylo is grappling with the strong feelings he has for her, & the full awakening of Ben Solo in their midst

#INSIGHTS. // & headcanon.#bangs pots and pans: my city now.#long post

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sonofthesuns · 5 years ago

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Okay, I should preface: I think I liked TROS. But I had some notable issues with it.

Ben Solo should not have died for a number of reasons.

The reason was contrived. Why did reflecting Palpatine’s lightning kill Rey?

It is a retread of Vader.

It’s a horrible message. That the only way to redeem one’s self is to die. No. That’s the easy way out.

It implies that the Force used the entire Skywalker family just to kill Palpatine, and once Palpatine was dead, the Skywalker family had no reason to exist. That’s horrifying.

Palpatine should not have been as prominent as he was. Or, at least, he should not have been the grand mastermind behind EVERYTHING.

It makes Snoke pointless

It makes Vader’s sacrifice pointless

I would have preferred Leia to have a bigger role and not to die... But I understand why they did it. There’s no satisfying way to get around Carrie Fisher’s death.

WHERE THE FUCK IS ANAKIN’S FORCE GHOST? THERE WERE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES THROUGHOUT THIS ENTIRE TRILOGY. IN THIS MOVIE ALONE! IT WOULD HAVE BEEN PERFECT TO HAVE HIM APPEAR TO BEN AT SOME POINT AFTER THE REVEAL THAT PALPATINE WAS THE VOICE TALKING TO KYLO THE ENTIRE TIME. HAVE HIM SHOW UP ON THE DEATH STAR (as much as I like Ben’s memory of Han). HAVE HIM SHOW UP WHEN REY AND BEN ARE LOSING AGAINST PALPATINE. THERE IS NO REASON FOR HIM NOT TO BE HERE. THIS IS EVERYTHING HIS LIFE WORKED TOWARDS. HE WAS THE FUCKING CHOSEN ONE.

---

Now, onto what I liked.

Call me basic, but I really like that Rey is Palpatine’s granddaughter. Is it a retcon of TLJ’s reveal of her being nobody? Something that I also really liked? Yes. But I’m a slut for complicated family dynamics, and thematically I think it’s brilliant. Rey’s journey itself was nice. The scene where she accidentally used lightning and blasted the ship had be gasping. She really struggled with the dark in this film and it showed. I’ve always been of the opinion that Rey was such a natural darksider, but struggled so hard to stay in the light.

As much as I take issue at HOW MUCH Palpatine is in this film, god damn is he just a joy to watch. He’s always been my favorite Star Wars villain, and he is in top form here. Well, I mean, maybe not TOP FORM, but I love seeing him so fucked up and barely clinging onto life. Seeing him completely rejuvenated at the end was just hnnnnnng. Love me some Sidious. He really is just Star Wars Satan.

I don’t like Ben’s ending, but I love his journey. I am so on board with him reclaiming the name Ben Solo. I love him finally wielding Anakin’s lightsaber. I love everything he did in this movie EXCEPT his death. His death was dumb and pointless. But everything else was great.

The last scene was fucking beautiful.

I liked that Anakin’s voice was the second most prominent one, after Luke’s, during that one scene. It doesn’t completely satisfy me, but I guess I’ll take it.

#;ooc #tros spoilers

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reylofanfictionanthology · 6 years ago

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After the Blazing Fire Dies: the 2019 Reylo Fanfiction Anthology Gift Fic Master Post Part Two

The After the Blazing Fire Dies Collection on AO3 | Gift Fic Masterpost Part One | Treats Masterpost

Home by Anonymous for methusalahoneysuckle

What does it mean to forgive a parent? What does it take to let go of a rage that feels so righteous? Or, How finding love for Ben Solo meant confronting his past, and finally learning to let go.

eight nights into forever by Anonymous for MissCoppelia

Rey has never had a family, has never known what it truly feels like to have a home. Then she meets Ben Solo, ten years her elder and entirely too handsome, he seems to be as taken with her as she is with him. A year into their romance he invites her to spend Hanukkah with his family in the United States and Rey, for the first time in her life, is faced with family... ...and a steamy night spent in Ben's childhood bedroom.

An avalanche of hopes and dreams. by Anonymous for MizuPhoenix

Rey sets off to find an ancient artifact, that might help the Resistance obtain victory and peace. But when Rey gets lost in a blizzard, and finds that Kylo Ren is once again right on her tracks, she rushes off into a cave. They end up caught inside, and need to find a way not to kill each other long enough to survive their current situation. Will they be able to pull it off?

Asleep now, and silent by Anonymous for monsterleadmehome

Rey Nolan takes Intro to Automotive Repair course at Coruscant Community College from Han Solo, intending to learn how to fix cars, and gains a pair of surrogate parents instead. Only trouble is, Han and Leia's son, Ben, is as hot as he is infuriating. And he makes her feel so uncomfortable, makes her want things she cant entirely put into words. But he always seems so cold to her, so rude. It's clear as day what he thinks of her, and it isn't favorable, so her crush simmers in silence. When the Organa-Solos invite Rey up for a winter getaway to their family's cabin, she doesn't realize Ben is coming, too. What's worse than having to spend six hours in a car with your crush, who hates you? Getting snowed in with him, that's what.

Signed, Future Kylo by Anonymous for Nervoustouch

It was just supposed to be some low-key spying, but once Rey realized that she could leave things for Kylo through the Force bond, how could she let the opportunity to let out her inner prankster go? What she didn’t expect, though, was that he would confront her about it.

Smiles and Shoulders by Anonymous for NewerConstellations

"Rey had just turned to head back to her desk, water bottle in hand, when she saw Ben Solo walk in. Just who she wanted to run into after an unpleasant morning of being poked and prodded by her gynecologist. Ben Solo was part of the First Order team that had come along when Resistance Games recently merged with First Order Entertainment. He was made project manager of the combined Quality Assurance team, Rey’s department, which meant he helped document and assign the bugs that made up each QA tester’s workflow. He was grouchy, and he usually sent important bugs last minute or just horribly documented, making everything harder for the team, especially during sprints. Over the three months they’ve been working together, she’d called Ben out on his terrible practices repeatedly, and each time he’d just challenge her to get the work done or steal his job. Which is why it surprised her now when she saw Ben give her a quick once over and his cheeks turned red..."

The Ways We Choose to Survive by Anonymous for Noppoh

"What's happening to me?" Part of his heart sinks. Part of it sparks something closer to alive. "You're a vampire now," he says. "I'm sorry."

Give and Take by Anonymous for OccasionallyCreative

Kylo Ren, Ben-- he knew not what his name ought to be now, at the end of everything safe and known--felt the familiar, tell-tale sting of newly conjured tears as he stared into his dysmorphic reflection shining up at him from a set of golden dice. His father’s dice. He shuddered a gasp, ignoring how his tears now trickled from the corners of his eyes, dripping into the crevasses of his face.

Degrees and Galaxies by Anonymous for okaypianist

Ben could think of numerous other things he would rather be doing than spending an afternoon working on a paper. That all changes when he bumps into Rey. Maybe spending the day at the coffee shop isn't the worst way to spend his time.

we decided not to kill the wolves (we wanted to be wolves) by Anonymous for PalenDrome

A pack of wolves lives in the woods to the north of Raddus and as winter looms, they have their eyes set on Leia Organa’s stronghold. Rey may be new to Raddus, but she’s not about to do nothing while it may be in danger. And besides, Poe must be exaggerating about wolves the size of bears. She’s not afraid of monsters.

Why? by Anonymous for Pawprinter

A glance across a battlefield.

(won't you) whisper soft and slow by Anonymous for perperuna

ben solo (phd) is a physics professor at university of chandrila. rey jakkuson is an archivist specializing in historical documents from the 20th century who works at the university's library. they have no reason to run into each other ever-- except that rey is the head archivist for a project with letters from the vietnam war, including letters between anakin skywalker and padmé amidala.

Wrong by Anonymous for persimonne

Despite negotiating with the Resistance so that he can marry Rey the second she sets foot on-board his ship, Kylo is reluctant to have sex with her. It may have something to do with the writhing protuberance between his legs, but that's just a guess.

you pierce my soul by Anonymous for pillar_of_salt

It was not common knowledge, held only in the closest confidence by his most intimate associates, that Ben Organa-Solo’s heart had been captured by a Royal Navy captain as thoroughly as she captured and conveyed enemy vessels. However, despite his age and desire to be wed, he allowed himself to be persuaded against the match, for his dearly beloved mother was uncertain as to the young lady’s youth and her son’s proclivities for shouting matches and dueling.

Handcuffed in the Honeymoon Suite by Anonymous for platalet

Ben and Rey are caught breaking into the office of a notorious crime boss on Canto Bight. The boss decides to teach them a lesson in an unorthodox way.

A Smuggler and a Jedi by Anonymous for politicalmamaduck

Can you truly run away from destiny? Ben Solo thought he could after quitting the Jedi academy to get into the smuggling business with his father. However, when a lucrative job offer takes them deep into the territory of the Chiss in wild space, Ben must admit that his connection to the Force is not something he can keep running away from. When Ben comes face-to-face with Rey, a mysterious woman who had been appearing in his dreams, he must make a difficult choice.

The Moments that Belong to Us by Anonymous for PoliticalPadmé

the regency fic no one asked for.

Little Things by Anonymous for punkeraa

Ben is a freelance graphic designer who works out of his basement and prefers to not get involved with anyone. Rey is an amateur general contractor helping her friends flip the house across the street. When Rey tries to do something nice for her new neighbour, she's treated to a lecture and then several days of being avoided.

The Dark Earth Spins Beneath Us by Anonymous for radioactivesaltghoul

Ben's defection from the First Order is supposed to make everything different. And it has, for the most part--better. Except Rey can't seem to catch a moment alone with him, and Ben doesn't seem to be making any efforts to be alone with her. The ghost of Crait still hangs over them, but Rey knows this impasse can't last forever.

I Notice You As You're Noticing Me by Anonymous for rakefire

"JOIN YOUR FRIENDS HERE AT ‘ALL THAT JAZZ’ ON FEB 15TH FOR OUR 2ND ANNUAL SINGLES AWARENESS NIGHT Ladies get ½ priced drinks Gents get ½ priced fries JOIN US AND BE ALONE TOGETHER" Rey and Ben feel a bit lonely on singles awareness day. What could go wrong?

caught in a decaying orbit by Anonymous for redbells

Rey was the conquering hero. Kylo Ren was in a cell and the Resistance was victorious, but it left her wanting.

Mission Possible by Anonymous for reinasolo

Ben Solo, CIA Agent and all around "bad ass" gets an assignment that really should have been a breeze, but a scavenger, a general, a commander, and a trooper ensure it will be anything but easy.

Teaching Miss Niima by Anonymous for Reneemm

Kylo Ren was free. He gave his lectures, graded assignments, and generally kept to himself. He wanted peace and quiet. As much peace and quiet teaching could offer him, at least.He got what he wanted.Then she appeared.Rey Niima was everything he ever desired in a woman, all save for one tiny, insignificant detail. He was her Professor. Moral and ethical quandaries aside, he wanted her.

New Year's Eve with a Girl named Rey by Anonymous for reylocalligraphy

It's New Year's Eve in the bustling city of New York and Kyle plans to spend it alone at work. That is, until he meets a girl named Rey.

lashes by Anonymous for ReyloTrashCompactor

He told her that she should leave it, that she didn’t need to come here. Maybe he was right, but it hadn’t seemed so at the time. No. No, at the time, it had been of the most vital importance that she come here. That she see what had happened here, learn the truth of it for herself, shape it with her own mind and hand and actions. “I know what doing penance looks like,” he’d said in the aftermath. “This won’t help.”

Banana Nut Muffins by Anonymous for Rhizaria

Ben's radio show is all over the place and Rey can't help but call in to comment.

Death Becomes Her by Anonymous for Rhonda3Green

He watches the trickling liquid as it slides down the space between her breasts, fast then slow, along the dip of her belly. It hovers above the fullness of her mons, the single drop refracting the light and green of the canopy above, and all he can think about is how much he wants to capture it on his tongue. To lick the hot salt of her skin, and lose himself in that bright, earthy scent as he breathes her in. He is Death. And she is his.

This Dance of Light, This Sacred Blessing by Anonymous for rissanox

Snapshots in a modern AU.

a flicker in the dark by Anonymous for roamingbadger

Their bond was still there. He could feel it like a flicker of flame at the end of flayed string, still trying to hold on. The burn kept his skin warm. He refused to let it die out.

Game On! (aka Deflowering Doctor Jackass) by Anonymous for SaintHeretical

When Rey is stranded at her bookshop in the middle of an upstate NY snowstorm with a local professor she knows only as "Doctor Jackass", she decides the best way to pass the time is to play a game. And that, of course, leads to other activities.

slip, slip, knit by Anonymous for sciosophia

Honestly, this was not one of her greatest ideas but Rey will make it work.

Serendipity by Anonymous for second_chances

When she had decided to start shepherding the Adept, Rey had made a vow to herself to help them all—even those imprisoned by their own internal darkness. Camouflaged with the cuff, Kylo would never know that Hux’s war dog was closing in on him until it was too late. That was one death she didn’t want weighing down on her conscience. She’d had the opportunity twice to kill him, but she was still convinced his life was not hers to take. The Force still had a plan for Ben Solo, that she was certain, and securing his safety was just as important and making sure the little girl she sought made it off world and survived as well.

The Mistake of the Mailman by Anonymous for shewhospeakswiththunder

Rey's on-campus university address is 'Box 324 Mulberry St, The Bryant Center.' Ben Solo's address is '324 Mulberry St.' And she keeps getting this poor guy's mail.

all flowers in time bend towards the sun by Anonymous for SithishJedi

After months without contact, the force bond opens but something is wrong.

your love could be too much by Anonymous for six4au

Rey, the successful host of the award-winning confessional podcast The Best Policy sits down with a new guest, world famous actor Ben Solo. Except these two are already well acquainted. They broke each other's hearts seven years ago.

The Golden Age by Anonymous for sokki09

Hollywood, 1953. After the press catches wind of yet another crashed car and yet another drunken night on the town, actor Ben Solo has to face facts: his bad-boy image is in need of a serious fix. Pairing him off with a wholesome, up-and-coming actress girlfriend seems like it might just do the trick. They can walk red carpets together, sell the whole relationship thing. And he can get his career back on track. Which is what he wants. Isn't it? Rey Jackson is nothing that he expects, and everything he finds himself wanting. But she's on her way up, a star in the making, and he's... self-destructive, on a good day. Weary of the business, and tired of being who he is. What they have is fake; there's no illusions that it's more than what it is. But what else is the magic of cinema for, if not to allow yourself the chance to dream? OR: here, have a a Golden Age of Hollywood Reylo fake dating AU!

and the snow started falling by Anonymous for SpaceAusten

Oh, that secret that you know / that you don't know how to tell... Trapped by shame and snow, Kylo Ren faces his ghosts.

All At Once by Anonymous for SpaceWaffleHouseTM

The First Order has taken over the planet Neftali in the Soccoro system. Every year, the town of Cordel Cove hosts a winter carnival that culminates in a masquerade ball. The presence of one Supreme Leader has been requested.The Resistance has come to Neftali to strike a deal with a shady organization, using the carnival as a distraction. They send Rey to the masquerade to keep an eye on things. After one too many drinks, the masked man all in black catches her eye and asks for a dance. But what will happen when the masks come off?

I Choose You by Anonymous for spookykingdomstarlight

In the throne room, Rey proposes a counter offer.

Heart of Clay by Anonymous for starlightreader

Rey discovers a very interesting recipe in one of the tomes she's stolen from Luke. While she experiments, Kylo Ren disappears mysteriously.

pianissimo by Anonymous for TheStolenQuill

Rey is a wonderful pianist who just was hired as a court musician. She's nervous enough with her new position, but then she gets entangled with the royal family, especially one Prince Ben.

Magic Rises by Anonymous for thewayofthetrashcompactor

Rey finds lost things. It’s what she does, and what she’s always been able to do. Magical artifacts, prized jewellery, a blue ribbon giant pumpkin, you name it, she can find it. When Leia Organa of House Organa-Solo asks her to find Luke Skywalker, Rey’s sure that Kylo Ren moving in next door isn’t a coincidence. She’s going to have to use all the magic in her arsenal to figure out what’s going on.

Plan B by Anonymous for Tiara_of_Sapphires

Tiara_of_Sapphires asked for "Senator!Rey and Jedi!Ben AU where Rey gets kidnapped for ransom," with some banter and awkward, socially stunted Ben Solo, as well as some good hand-holding and/or forehead kissing action. Hopefully this is lighthearted enough to at least give everyone a bit of a smile. That said, it is unbeta'd, so if it doesn't, that's no one's fault but mine.

Blue Moon Lovers by Anonymous for tigbit

Rey lives a simple life, working at her coffee shop--Resistance. Then her life takes a turn when she meets her neighbor, Leia Organa, and she discovers a past life that is connected to her own. Not to mention that the enigmatic Ben Solo twists her mind and emotions in different directions. Rey will come to learn that sometimes the mistakes of the past can affect the present, and that some are destined to be soulmates.

Somewhere in the Dark by Anonymous for tm2taughtmefamlaw

The world is not as it once was, and bands of survivors struggle to live in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. Rey has found a life with Leia’s band of scavengers. Despite the gloomy landscape, it’s a far less tragic and far more boring life than The Walking Dead led her to believe. She’d choose a waning stockpile of toilet paper over Ben Solo any day.

hit me with your best shot for tmwillson3

"So Rey decides to torture him in her own, unique way. She won’t let him ignore her." In which Rey and Ben are rival Quidditch players recruited to play for England in the World Cup.

(I close my eyes and fly out of my mind) Into the Fire by Anonymous for TourmalineGreen

“Alright, SHUT IT!” Rey hollered. “This was important to Leia. We will ALL be participating. Trust requires interaction, right? That’s what we tell our clients, and it’s what we believe, so get over yourselves! You can retreat to your echo chambers next weekend. This week, we are working hand-in-hand with First Order. If it kills us.” OR Scenes from the careers of two people who hope to change the world, one neighborhood at a time. What stands between them again? Oh, right - nothing but pride (and possibly prejudice). Thank heavens someone sees what’s going on.

Crisis Girlfriend by Anonymous for walkingsaladshooter

Ben was in love with Rey for over a year when he asked her to go with him to his ex’s wedding as his ‘girlfriend’.

Be careful what you wish for by Anonymous for Zabeta

Rey has spent her life wanting to get off Jakku, and see the universe. She thought she would eventually earn enough to barter or buy her way off-planet. But the universe has other plans.

#reylo #reylo fanfiction anthology #after the blazing fire dies #rffa writers #mod post #moodboard #master post

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curiousjan · 5 years ago

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TROS is Fake News - A Fix It

In the interest of being able to join in the impending holiday cheer I will be considering the following version of the events of TROS the real story:

Poe, Finn, and Chewie return in the Millennium Falcon to pick up Rey from her Jedi training with Leia. Rey is clearly still not interested in anything beyond friendship with Finn and avoids him as he constantly tries to get her alone. When he finally gets a moment with her she interrupts his confession, thinking he is going to confess feelings for her. Instead, he tells her that he's realized he can sense the force and wonders if Rey would train him. She refuses, remembering her visions of accepting Kylo Ren's hand and ruling the galaxy beside him. Instead, she says he should train with Leia. Finn is disappointed but agrees. Poe accidentally eavesdrops on the conversation and is elated when Rey rejects what she thinks are Finn's romantic advances. In his next scene with Finn, he can't stop smiling, causing Finn to notice and comment on it.

When Rey explodes the transport ship and thinks she's killed Chewbacca, she spirals into depression, causing her friends (especially Finn) to fear she is succumbing to the dark side. They will not discover Chewie is actually alive until later when he manages to escape with the help of a defecting storm trooper (Jannah, who does not yet have a name here) who takes pity on him and gets him off the ship. Chewie escapes in time to rescue his friends, to their great surprise, just as Kylo Ren has tracked them down yet again and is closing in. Chewie fixes the Millennium Falcon and they all to escape.

They return to the resistance base and reunite with Rose, who has just been cleared by the medical team to get back to work. She and Finn have a few awkward encounters before Rose decides to address the kiss and make it clear she knows he does not return feelings for her but that she just wanted to kiss him goodbye when she thought she was dying. Rose says something that hints she believes Finn and Poe are in love, which causes Finn to reevaluate his relationship with Poe. Finn has never had a romantic relationship before. He spends a lot of time stare silently at Poe, instead of joking easily with him, which causes Poe to think he's decided to remain on the base and train with Leia. When he finally admits to Finn that he overheard the conversation about the force, and that he will be sorry to leave Finn behind on their next mission, Finn says he has no plans to do that, and Poe tells him that he is glad and that piloting the Falcon doesn't feel right without Finn.

Jannah and Finn become fast friends, and Poe is clearly jealous. When they meet his ex, Zorii, on the next mission and their relationship begins to rekindle with a lot of playful banter and flirting on her part, Finn is clearly jealous.

Jannah comes with them to the ruins of the death star, and both she and Finn are astonished and moved to meet the group of ex-storm troopers there. Rey does not go off alone when told it will be best to wait until the weather calms to sail to the ruins. They spend the night with the former storm troopers, and Finn and Jannah share stories around a fire. This is where Jannah gets her name, given to her by the group in a tradition they have created for naming themselves. When they ask Finn how he got his name, he recounts how Poe gave it to them, and the two share a moment that does not go unnoticed by most of the others. Rey is oblivious because she is too concerned with getting to the way-finder as soon as possible, before Ren finds her again.

When they sail out to the death star wreckage, the clear weather immediately turns violent as soon as Rey is close to the ruins, as if purposefully trying to separate her from her friends. She and Finn are in the first boat, and Poe is with Chewie on the second. Jannah and the leader of the storm trooper group are on the third. The 2nd and 3rd boats have to stop and take cover on one of the bits of wreckage behind Rey and Finn. Kylo Ren arrives and they all watch the ensuing duel between Rey and Ren with horror, and Poe especially as he watches Finn try to intervene a few times before being knocked into the waves. Poe pulls him out of the water as he washes up next to their piece of wreckage.

After Rey heals Ben, she uses the force to retrieve her sunken boat, sends it to Finn and the others, then takes Kylo's ship and disappears without a word. The group prepares fearfully to face Kylo Ren, but Ben Solo only stands up, appears to be talking to himself (and I'd prefer to put Leia's voice only here instead of a vision of Han), then throws his light saber into the water and sits down, facing away from them.

They are all uncertain of what to do, and sit waiting for the weather to clear, watching him. After a while he gets up, chucks his helmet into the water as well, and begin to undress (to the disgust and confusion of the group). He sheds and discards his outer garments into the water, and paces back and forth.

Finally, Poe calls out to him and with a few comedic lines of banter first, discovers that he is now “Ben Solo”, and asks if he needs a boat. The group argues over who is going to be the one to ride back to shore with “Ben”, and Finn volunteers. He wants to know what Ren said to Rey that made her run away. Poe is distraught, and doesn't want to let him go sacrifice himself to the enemy. Finn says that if Rey thought Ben was going to kill them she wouldn't have left him alive. Poe wonders if Rey's gone to the dark side, and Finn says he can feel through the force that she has not turned, and that he thinks they can trust Ben. Everyone thinks he is nuts but they let him go to Ben.

Ben rides with the crew on the Falcon back to the resistance base and hides in the ship. He has agreed to turn himself in after he helps Rey defeat Palpatine. Once again, Finn believes him while the rest are skeptical. They are even more skeptical when Ben and Finn steal a ship and disappear to find Rey. Poe covers for Finn, explaining he's felt Rey needs help through the force, and soon after they get Rey's signal that leads them to Exegol.

Ben arrives on Exegol and goes to find Rey while Finn takes the ship and joins the fight. Instead of getting thrown all the way down the pit, the force-ghosts of Jedi past break Ben's fall and he climbs out in time to stand with Rey and defeat Palpatine. They both appear to be dead for a moment, then Leia's body disappears. Ben reaches for Rey's hand. After a moment, she takes it firmly. The color slowly returns to their bodies. They sit up, embrace, and kiss.

Ben once again hides on the Falcon, and is discovered during the celebrations by Maz Kanata, who reveals that Leia had a vision of her death and her son's rebirth, which she shared with a select few. She later implies to Rey that she should tell everyone Ben died fighting Palpatine with her, and allow him to go into hiding.

During the reunion after the battle, Finn and Poe finally kiss, initiated by Poe. (The half a second shot of the ladies smooching can stay in as well).

Final scene is the same, except when Rey is asked her last name, she is joined by Ben in the frame of the shot, who says "Skywalker" before putting his arm around Rey. The old woman remarks she never heard of Luke Skywalker having a son, and after a wink from force-ghost Luke and a smile from Leia, Ben and Rey simply smile at the woman. Ben's scars are healed, his hair is shorter, his skin is tanned, and he barely resembles himself when smiling. As long as they are careful nobody will ever know he is Ben Solo/Kylo Ren. The last shot of them playfully dueling in front of the setting suns reveals they both have new light sabers, both yellow.

Disclaimer: I suspect the ending is yet another fake out, and this was not “the end”. Disney is playing us.

#reylo #fix it #ben solo #ben solo deserved better #TROS #theriseofskywalker #star wars #disney

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