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kylorensdestroyingthings · 5 years ago

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Color My Heart, Paint My Soul | Reylo

ao3 link

a/n: really hope you enjoy this soulmate AU!! warnings: minor mentions of death

____

Rey peeked out from behind her grandfather's legs, the 6 year old was not interested in the art camp he had signed her up for. It wasn't that she didn't like art, it was just that she didn't like the idea of leaving Obi-Wan for so long, plus he'd always been the one to teach her everything she knew when it came to art. The thought of someone else taking his place was scary to the little girl. He was one of the nicest people she'd ever met in her short life, no one could ever replace him.

"Rey, I promise you my friend Luke is very nice. His nephew will even be there." Obi said kneeling down to her level. The man was in his early 50's and each passing day made his joints ache even more than the last. Guess that was what happened when you were a war hero.

"But Grandpa," She whined.

"It will be fun, you'll make some new friends!" Obi told her brushing back the hair that was loose from her 3 buns. "Come on, there's Luke." The older man led Rey over to a slightly younger man who had a young boy pouting behind him as well. The boy had black hair and big features. Rey's favorite were his eyes though, even though she'd already said she didn't want to be here, the young girl already seemed to be changing her mind and wanted to draw this mystery boy.

"Obi-wan." The man said greeting him. He had sandy blonde hair that was beginning to go grey and a bright smile as he greeted them both. "and you must be Rey." "Good to see you old friend." Her Grandfather said from behind her before nudging her forwards. "and yes, this is Rey."

"Hi." She squeaked out shyly and managed to get the boy's attention from behind Luke.

"Welcome, I'm sure you'll love it here over the next two weeks. This is Ben Solo, my nephew." Luke said pushing 'Ben' forwards. "Why don't you two go find the other kids huh?" "That sound's like a great idea." Obi said kneeling down to give the young girl a hug. "Goodbye Rey." "Bye Obi." She said softly, not necessarily wanting him to go but also wanting to be a big girl.

"Ben will you take her?" Luke asked and the moody boy nodded before walking off. Slowly, Rey picked up her feet and followed the boy.

When they arrived in the brightly colored room with laughing and screaming children of all ages, Rey looked around in panic. They'd already established their own little groups, and didn't seem too open to inviting an outsider in. She watched as Ben took a seat in a black bean bag leaning against the wall in the far corner of the room. She found the young boy intriguing and decided to follow him, plopping down in the yellow one adjacent to him.

"Hi Ben." Rey said, he didn't say anything back to her. "I'm six, how old are you?" "I'm 8." Ben muttered out moodily. Who knew an 8 year old held this much attitude.

"I can tell you don't want to be here." Rey said with a slight pout. "But honestly, neither do I my gramps is the best teacher in the whole wide world. I'm only here to show him that I can be a big girl and prove him wrong." "Wow, 6 sure is big." Ben said with a roll of his eyes. "You're kind of a meanie." Rey said with a scoff. "You know what, I'm going to be super nice to you, and we're going to be super best friends."

"Why not just friends?" Ben asked with a smirk. He had to admit, he was enjoying the goofy young girls presence more than he enjoyed most people's. "Because super best friends are better." Rey said as a matter of factly."

"Ahhh." Ben said making a sound of understanding, when finally his Uncle Luke came in the room.

"Welcome! For those of you who are first timers at the Skywalker art camp, my name is Luke. I'll be your teacher on this two week journey." Luke said smiling brightly at every face new and old in his camp. "Today, is all about getting to know each other- your dorms are assigned and dinner is at 6. For now, get acquainted, these are your peers for the next two weeks, get to know the people around you, play some games, make friends and I know this will be an amazing experience for us all." --

Over the next two weeks, Ben Solo and Rey became friends. Even if Ben didn't want to admit that Rey might be right about being Super best friends. The fact was they did everything together, and wherever Ben Solo was you were sure to find little 6 year old Rey tagging along behind him. One of the final things they needed to do as Art Camp winded down was set up an art show where parents could walk through and view the progress their young ones had made.

Rey set hers up nice and neat, all of her work was up there with the exception of one sketch that was a gift. She kept that one neatly tucked away in the pocket of her coat. She wandered the halls of the small fair, admiring everyone's work until she found Ben angrily taking his pieces off of his side of the booth. She looked at him confused. "Ben!" She cried out. "What are you doing?" Ben stopped briefly looking at the young girl who looked appalled by his actions, before continuing to remove his artwork from the walls. "I'm taking this down. There's no point." "Why?" She said. Rey was almost on the verge of tears. She admired Ben Solo's work and thought everyone should view it.

"My parent's aren't coming, they'd rather work." He said angrily, he just wanted the approval from his parents that he was doing a good job. "They never come, no one wants to view this crap. It's not like I'm their only kid or anything." "I like your art." Rey said quietly. "I wanna see it." "Thanks Rey." Ben said quietly. "You should get back to your own booth, I'm sure Obi-wan is loving your portrait of him." "Wait!" She said wrapping her arms around the waist of the boy who was significantly taller than her. She reached into her pocket before pulling out the folded piece of sketch book paper. "I made you something."

When he didn't say anything she let go waving sadly. "Goodbye Ben, I really hope I'll see you next year!"

"Goodbye Rey." He said unfolding the paper. It was them from the first night. Rey had drawn them sitting on the bean bags, she colored every fine detail. From the bright sunshine yellow of the bean bag she sat in to the angry scowl on his face that was tinted red. It was a sweet gesture from the kid. On the back there was a little note.

To my Supr Best Frind Ben

From Rey.

Next to her name she drew a little sun. Ironic considering she was a little Rey of Sunshine around the place and Ben seemed significantly less moody when she was around. He smiled widely, placing the item in his pocket much more carefully than he had been handling his own artwork. Hopefully, he saw her next year too.

___

When Rey was 9, it was her 4th year of going to Luke's art camp. She kept improving every year. Luke even had told her if she kept working really really hard, that she might get into a prestigious art school when she was older. When she walked through the doors for the 4th year, Obi-wan had wished his granddaughter goodbye and spoke a couple words to Luke before leaving. Rey found Ben at their secret spot they'd claimed as their own during her 2nd year of camp. It was simply an old storage closet they'd found one year and the next year is was mysteriously decorated cozily with their bean bags, a small desk, a couple of string light, an easel, along with shelves of paints, pencils, crayons, pastels and any other art supply they could possibly think of.

After seeing the two kids bond so well, and knowing how hard it was for Ben to make friends Luke set up this spot for them. Allowing them to do whatever they wanted for the most part as long as they showed up to the lessons. "Hi Ben!" She cheered. He was 11 now, a big middle school kid. She was still in the 4th grade.

"Hey Rey." He said focusing on the painting he was working on. He had been attempting to better his skill with water colors but they just weren't working with him at the moment.

"Whatcha painting?" She questioned plopping herself down on her beanbag and watching him intently.

"My dog, Artoo." Ben says adding blue to the collar of the dog, blending it with grey.

"You have a dog?" Rey asks bewildered. "We're super best friends and you didn't tell me you had a dog? I'm hurt Ben." "Are you now?" Ben asked her, his back was facing her and she couldn't see the smirk that laced his lips.

"I am. Ya know, I've always wanted a pet, but Grandpa Obi says I can't have one because I'm already enough to handle and it would be just like bringing another kid into the house, and he says he's too old for that. I even tried getting him to compromise and get me a fish, but that didn't work either because he said I'd forget to feed it, or even over feed it and he'd have to clean the tank which he really doesn't want to do if the fish will end up dead in a month." He smiled slightly, as the young girl rambled on and on about absolutely anything and everything and he set his supplies down, listening intently to every word she said. Eventually, the dinner bell rang and they were forced to vacate the closet in order to go eat, either way- they found an empty table and sat down, eating the mac and cheese and drinking some chocolate milk. Ben even traded Rey his brownie for her fruit roll up, stating he didn't like chocolate (even though he did and this was just a ploy for the 11 year old to watch her eyes light up with joy and inevitably get chocolate all over her face, that he had full plans of sketching later).

When it came time for bed, Rey retreated to her dorm. This year she shared it with a tiny asian girl who had already unpacked all of her things. "Hiya! I'm Rose Tico!" She said sticking her hand out immediately. Rey stood there in shock, this is the first time one of her roommates actually wanted to talk to her. "I'm Rey Kenobi." Rey said shyly shaking the girls hand. "Is this your first year?" "Yeah, my mom thought it would be good. She says I've been ruining my sisters wall by painting on them." She said with a shrug. "What about you?" "This is my fourth year." Rey said taking a seat on her bed. "Really? Dude thats so cool!" Rose told her excitedly grabbing onto her pillow. "I didn't see you when we were introducing ourselves, where were you?" Rey blushed lightly. She didn't want Rose to think she got special treatment and make herself seem like a brat, but what else would she say. "I was with Ben, he's my best friend." Rey told her. "Isn't he Mr. Skywalkers nephew?" Rose asked talking so fast, the bun on top of her head bobbed up and down in a funny way. "I heard he was moody."

"Yeah." Rey said before defending her friend. "He can be, but he just doesn't like people. Except for me, because we're best friends!"

"Or maybe he has a crush on you!" Rose squealed excitedly. "What if you guys are soulmates and you get each others soul marks?" "Soulwhat?" Rey asked. She'd never heard of soul-marks before.

"Soulmates!" Rose said pulling out a small ipod from her bag and jumping on the girls bed. "Look, when you turn 16, the name of your soulmate appears on your wrists! It's the person you're supposed to be with forever!"

"I think you're ridiculous Rose." Rey said with a scowl that could almost match Ben's. "There's no way Ben and I can be Soulmates, we're just super best friends!" "Super best friends?" Rose asked questionably.

"Super best friends." Rey told her affirmatively. "Boys are gross" "Sounds like soulmates to me." Rose said with a giggle before jumping back onto her bed with a squeal as Rey threw a pillow at her.

The next morning, Rey sat on a stool placed in front of an easel right next to Ben. Rose caught her eye from across the room and wiggled her eyebrows and made kissy faces. Rey glared at her teasingly and looked away. Suddenly Luke walked in, ready to teach the lesson.

"Alrighty kids, today we'll be working with Oil Paints, and making Portraits with them." Luke said explaining everything in fine detail. "Why don't you partner up, and use your partner as inspiration." As always, Rey looked at Ben who looked at her. They'd already done this lesson multiple times during their previous years, now they had turned it into a fun game. Whoever could make the best portrait got the losers desert for the night.

Rey took in Ben's features carefully. When she began adding the final details, she made his nose red and shiny, and the tips of his ears red. She added hints of green and gold into his hazel eyes, and made his shiny black hair as soft looking as she could. By the time they finished they were covered in paint and their bellies hurt from laughing so hard. They turned the paintings around to show each other and beamed widely. Did their work belong in a museum? Not by any means. Was it more meaningful than anything in the entire world? Of course.

"Wow." Rey said as she took in his painting. There were warm tones throughout the entire painting, he had painted her in a yellow light, the tips of her nose was golden and her cheeks were a rosy pink, and her eyes looked extremely lifelike. The 11 year olds talent shocked her. "Ben that's really good." "Yours is too Rey." Ben said with a smile. "I think we tied." "I think so too." Rey beamed at him.

When Rey was 12, her grandpa Obiwan died. It devastated the little girl she sat off to the side during the visitation. She was sick of being in the front row, where everyone was giving her sad looks and whispering about the little girl who didn't have any family left. What surprised her though, was that Ben was at the funeral. He sat beside her wordlessly during visitation and put an arm around her shoulder pulling her into a comforting embrace. Afterwards, when everyone had left except him, Luke and two others she'd never met before he guided her over to the open casket to say one last goodbye.

"It's okay Rey." He whispered into her ear. "Take your time."

With that he walked away to sit on one of the pews, and gave her some space. When she came over she burst into tears and clung onto the boy who was now extremely tall and lanky. His hair reached his chin, covering the big ears she knew were underneath. They'd both changed so much over the years. Eventually a woman came over to them, placing a hand on Ben's shoulder.

"Hi sweetie." She said. "I'm Leia, Ben's mom. Your grandfather helped my family out a lot back in the day, and I promise we'll help you with whatever you need. Especially since you have been such a big help with Ben these past few years." "Thank you." She croaked as Ben rubbed her back gently. "I wanna go home now if that's okay." "Of course." Leia said walking away from the pair.

"I don't know if I'm going to go to art camp this year." Rey muttered quietly to Ben.

"I think Obi would want you too." Ben told her. "He always loved seeing what you created during the fairs." "It just wouldn't be the same." Rey said.

"Maybe not, but he loved seeing you happy especially when you were creating." Ben told her reassuringly. "If anything, honor him with it." "He always did tell me to pour my emotions into my art" Rey told him quietly with a soft smile. "Maybe you're right."

"One more thing." Ben said pulling out a small box. Rey took it gently in her hands examining it. "It's for you, if you ever need me, just give me a call okay? This way we can talk more outside of camp." "Thank you Ben." Rey said hugging him once more. "You're the best super best friend in the world."

"You're pretty alright yourself." Ben said with a smirk and she punched his shoulder lightly. "I'll see ya around." "Yeah, I'll see ya around." Rey said before walking over to her new legal guardian Maz Kanata. She was a tiny frail woman, but another family friend who Obiwan trusted everything with (even to have her explain why girls had periods when that time came).

"You ready dear?" Maz asked and Rey nodded slowly. She took one last look at the coffin and walked out of the funeral home with the phone Ben gave her in her hands and watched as his family pulled out of the parking lot.

She'd be ready for whatever the world through at her.

__ By 13, Rey had developed a serious crush on Ben Solo. Puberty did the boy well. He was even taller than before, and not quite as lanky as before. His facial features became more accented and Rey had been thinking of every new way to capture his beauty in her art. Suddenly, her phone buzzed on her desk that was covered in messy sketches (most of which where admittedly Ben). She picked it up, seeing it was him who had texted her.

Hey, did you hear Luke's doing 4 sessions this year?

He is? She replied, eagerly awaiting the boys response.

Yeah, one of them falls on your birthday. Another one on mine.

Really! That's awesome!

Soon though, the wide smile that laced her face was replaced with a frown. There was no way she'd be able afford all the sessions.

I know what you're thinking, Luke's already agreed you're coming to all of them- no charge.

Ben I can't accept that.

Yes you can. Luke loves you, besides he wants us to help him out with the younger kids. He's going to have his hands full this year.

Fine, you really have a way with words Solo.

That's why we're Super Best Friends, as a wordy 6 year old I used to know would say.

Shut up.

Never, he added a smiley face to the end of it and Rey sighed as her heart fluttered. She had it bad. Besides in a few months Ben would find out who his soulmate is and it wouldn't be the scrawny 13 year old that claimed to be his best friend.

During the fall session of Luke's camp, Ben finally turned 16. He refused to let Rey know the name on his wrists. Coincidentally he got really interested in the thick rubber bracelets with band names on them from hot topic to cover it so she couldn't snoop and see. "Ben come on!" Rey whined tugging on his arms. She had turned 14 two months ago and was filling out nicely. She nearly matched his height (okay not nearly but compared to most, she was the closest with only 5 inches separating them!). "Why won't you show me?" "I'll tell you when you're 16 Rey." He told her removing his arm from his grasp. "Benjamin Solo that's 2 years away!"

"Technically, it's only 1 year and 9 months." "You're ridiculous." Rey said rolling her eyes and pouting slightly. She wouldn't admit that she was a little upset, even though he knew. "Ben we're best friends. No! Super Best friends, we tell each other everything."

Ben sighed pulling the young girl in for a hug, lightly kissing the top of her forehead. Rey felt her cheeks heat up a lot, she only buried her head in his chest further hoping the blush would go away before he saw her face. "and I will tell you. On your 16th birthday, when you have a mark of your own." "You're no fun." Rey told him scrunching up her nose.

"I'll give you my brownie at dinner." "You're a little more fun." ___

When Rey was 15 she realized she was utterly and completely in love with Ben Solo. Which terrified her. Her soulmark would appear in less than a week and what if it wasn't him? It just had to be him. She didn't know what she would do if it wasn't. She had fallen in love with every little thing he did. Whenever, he texted he began to leave little smiley faces at the end of every text that made her heart flutter.

There was also his smile. Rey was absolutely positive that it was the best thing she'd ever seen on earth. Plus, the fact that she knew she was the reason it was there most of the time? Amazing! A feeling like no other. His laugh was music to her ears and there was no better sound ever. There also was that one time she walked in on him changing and saw him shirtless for the first time. That image was forever engraved in her mind and for that she was thankful. Ben had a nice body. Still, her biggest fear was losing him to another girl. Maybe that's why he refused to show her his soulmark, that they didn't have each others names on their wrists because fate was cruel and thought they weren't meant for each other. That when she turned 16, a different name than his would appear on her wrist and he'd explain to her that he wasn't as madly in love with her as she was with him. That was life, she didn't always get what she wanted.

She'd been acting weird the entire first week of camp. This is something Ben had noticed. She'd started hanging out with Rose Tico more often than him, it had confused him. He knew they were friends but she always wanted to hang out with him. Now he felt like she was blowing him off. Yet, he was grateful. It allowed him to finish her birthday present. He was painting it, and it took more time than he thought it would but he knew it would be worth it.

He was recreating the first picture she ever gave him, on a larger scale. He was sure she'd love it.

__ As the minutes came closer to midnight Rey was practically burning a hole in the floor of the dorm she shared with Rose with her pacing. "Rey, would you relax!" Rose cried out. "Everything is going to be fine." "It just needs to be him Rose." She sighed. "It just has to." "I know, but if it isn't it's not the end of the world okay? He's still your best friend." "You're right." She looked at the time. 5 minutes until midnight. "Shit! I gotta go Rose, I'm meeting him." Rey ran out the door and into 'their' spot. Ben was already in there. He had snuck one of the brownies from the cafeteria and placed a candle inside of it. He was in the process of lighting it when she burst inside.

"Hey birthday girl." He said with a smile.

"Hey Ben." She said panting as she tried catching her breath. That's when she looked down at his wrist. Instead of his usual band bracelets that decorated his arms a single wide red ribbon was wrapped around it tied neatly in a bow. "What's that?" He looked at her shyly. "I told you, you'd be able to take a peek when you turned 16 didn't I?" He asked.

She looked at the time 11:59. Hesitantly she spoke. "Y-yeah." "I figured this would be a fun way of doing it, like a present!" He said. She could tell he was hiding something. She just didn't know what. That's when his phone alarm went off. It was midnight. She felt a tingling on her arm, under the long sleeved shirt she slept in. She didn't look. She couldn't look. "Happy birthday Rey." He held out his wrist towards her, the red ribbon hanging. Slowly, with trembling hands she took the ribbon in her hands delicately. Very carefully, she undid the ribbon letting it fall to the floor. There on his wrist was the name, printed in her messy scrawl of handwriting.

Rey Kenobi

Quickly, as if she didn't believe it herself she looked at the name on her own wrist.

Ben Solo

His name was written there in calligraphy, one of his many talents. Slowly she looked up at him in shock. "You knew," She muttered. "You knew all this time. That's why you didn't tell me."

"It makes sense now, doesn't it." Ben said slowly, he grabbed her shoulders and turned her around to look at a blank tarp covering the walls. "It's why I also made this." He reached around her, pulling the blank tarp down. She took in the image in front of her very carefully, looking at every beautiful detail he had made before turning around to face Ben. She reached up for his cheek and pulled him down to her level, encasing their lips in a kiss. The first of many. They were crying, as his hands pulled her as close as possible and she played with the hair at the base of his neck.

Behind them on the largest wall of 'their spot', the painted image of them smiled at each other. It was them now, no longer children, sitting on the beanbags hands intertwined with their wrists facing outwards, the names Ben Solo and Rey Kenobi, prominent for everyone to see and admire.

She was his, and he was hers.

#reylo #reylo au #reylo fic #star wars #starwars fanfic #kylo ren #rey #ben solo #soulmate au #soulmates #fanfic #reylo imagine #reylo fanfic #reylo imagines

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movienotesbyzawmer · 5 years ago

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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

May 4: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

(previous notes: Star Wars: The Last Jedi)

Source: UK 3D Blu-ray

I saw this at pretty much the very first available showing, and haven't watched it since. But since I had the other Disney-era ones in 3D, and I still have the capability to watch 3D movies at home, I decided to complete my Blu-ray collection by ordering the British 3D Blu-ray, like I'd done with The Last Jedi. So now I'm going to see it at home for the first time, in 3D for the first time, and take notes like I've been doing.

My reaction when I saw this on opening night was that it was a lot of fun. I didn't think it was as good as The Last Jedi. Overall it feels like a trilogy where the first priority was to avoid the mistakes of the prequels, and the second priority was to have them be fun movies. Mission accomplished, but the actual story of this trilogy is only marginally satisfying. But I left that opening night screening excited about all the neat things I'd witnessed. And now I shall press play and do some re-witnessing…

Emperor Palpatine, the opening crawl tells us. He wasn't someone we were expecting to be part of the plot of this movie, was it?

First scene after the opening shot is a slow-mo land battle, visually different from Star Wars movies in general. Dude kills 100% of everyone then plucks a mysterious relic from a mysterious relic. He's on a Tomb-raider-y treasure hunt.

It takes him to a Tomb Raider-y lair… and there are creatures in green liquid ahhh!

"…some consider to be… UNNATURAL", that line from Episode III. Very love it. Good reference.

The image of all those Star Destroyers is super super super cool.

And now after a calculated bit of lightness in the Millennium Falcon, the good guys arrive at a super neat looking planet thing. Not even ten minutes in and we've seen three inventive new planet environments.

And now a chase, "lightspeed skipping", and each skip is a cool space place, all different, one of them has a big monster! They are tuned into what's good about Star Wars movies, these Rise of Skywalker makers.

Also, Finn and Poe seem to have settled into their roles as funny supporting-character buddies. The first movie really seemed to be beginning a more dramatic arc for Finn, but it doesn't feel like that's happening any more.

0:15:36 - Rose Tico sighting! Her arc blunted as well. Be nice if she joined them on this mission they're about to leave on.

Really kind of surprising how much footage there is of Carrie Fisher, who died years before this came out.

Okay now we're back with Kylo Ren on this planet that's the equivalent of that orc-factory in Lord of the Rings. What's he doing? Collaborating with some ukky beings. Fixing his helmet. Hm.

Bit of humor in the conference room scene, again calculated.

Back to our heroes and they're on another neat new planet with color clouds & celebratory visuals, pleasant.

0:23:40 - Very cinematic Rey-Kylo cross-galaxy conversation, cool.

Lando saves them from stormtroopers, and is therefore given the honor of the "I've got a bad feeling about this" line.

0:28:00 Speeder chase in the desert, and the stormtrooper speeders launch them up and they fly! Cool!

Hah, there's a gag where Rey fires up her light saber and Poe tries to do that too but his is just a flashlight, cute.

Okay, here's this scene I like where there's a serpent monster in their Tomb Raider cave, and Ray figures out that the monster just needs to be force healed so she does it and it helps them. Sounds corny but I like it.

0:36:00 - we see the Ren gang on a plateau and here a new music theme. I'm not much noticing the new music themes in the Star Wars movies of the 2010s, but there's one.

This scene. The Kylo/Rey meeting in the desert. It was heavily teased in the trailer and it would have been more effective if we hadn't seen so much of it in the trailer. Also there's a who-can-magic-harder duel that ends up killing Chewy, except that we don't have to believe that very very long.

"Let's do that!" about wiping C-3POs memory, John Boyega's exceptional comic timing on display again.

0:45:40 - We're on this new planet now, which is so Poe can find the person that can do a memory wipe of 3-3PO, right? It's fast-paced, this movie.

"We sent out a call for help at the battle of Krait, nobody came" says Poe. Am I forgetting that drama from The Last Jedi? I know he's talking about that final battle from that movie, but I didn't remember a despairing "no one is coming", at least not like it was a huge, shocking letdown.

I like the little Babu creature but we don't get much of it, do we

Poe is all "did she do that to us" when he sees her Force-hypnotize the stormtroopers, haha

0:58:10 - Pretty unique shot, dollying backwards facing Poe & Finn shooting stormtroopers we can't see until they fall in front of the camera

"Your parents were no one… they CHOSE to be" here's where it starts to seem like this movie doesn't like where the last movie was going & made it be different. If this were an improv class the teacher would be like, "remember the principle of 'yes AND…'"

Okay, this bit coming up where General Hux saves them & says he's the spy. It's… funny? And dumb? Maybe? Sort of a tawdry end to this character in the trilogy maybe?

"You.. Are a Palpatine." Dun dun dunnnnnnn. Okay sure I guess. This isn't what I'm into Star Wars movies for; I wouldn't have had it be about this.

They get to the new planet and Rey figures out how to use the knife tool to find where to go, it's so like a Tomb Raider game that I feel like I'm reading a cheat guide on GameSpot

Now Finn is bonding with the girl on the planet who is also a stormtrooper deserter, makes that whole Finn subplot make more sense.

Rey swiped a cool watercraft to go to the wreck of the Death Star and I just want to point out once again that I like the vehicle design in Star Wars movies.

1:13:10 - overhead shot of said vehicle is the first notable example of something that looks good in 3D in this movie. I'm inclined to say you really shouldn't feel like you're missing out if you're seeing this in 2D.

She's in a vision cave on the wrecked Death Star. She fights HER OWN SELF for a second, and bad-Rey rawrs at her in a way that reminds me of when Bilbo does that in the first Lord of the Rings movie. I liked it there and I like it here.

1:18:05 - First bit of my beloved "Han Solo and the Princess" theme, so lovely

Now Rey and Kylo are saber dueling all over this wreck with waves everywhere and it reminds me of the big climactic duel in Episode III where it seems like the duelers are going out of their way to duel in a cool looking place.

Everything gets all dramatic in a way that doesn't really get explained - Leia very deliberately says "Ben", then dies, but it affects Kylo allowing Rey to kill him, but then she un-kills him with Force magic because "I did want to take your hand" and then bounces. And it's not over with this kind of thing, because Kylo has a not-really-real conversation with his played-by-OMG-Harrison-Ford father, and he symbolically hurls his awesome saber away. So where are we now? We're in some drama, that's where. I miss cool vehicles and inventive creature design!

1:27:45 - Modded-up Star Destroyer emerges from lightspeed and it's another cool 3D effect.

And then it blows up the planet where Poe's ex-girlfriend was and it looks cool, but we could have used her to be around more. Wait, does she not-be-dead later or something? Probably.

Okay, very corny sequence happening now, it's the pep talk between Rey and ghost-Luke, it ends with a smirking Luke raising up an X-wing like he couldn't do in Empire Strikes Back, so I guess that plot point is tidied up.

Okay, we got past that drama and now there's a very simple Saint-Crispin's-Day speech riling up the troops so they can go to that mystery planet for the final battle, and interest level has picked up.

1:41:28 - Hey a shot of Rey going through a wall gap is a reference to the earlier cool-in-3D shot of the watercraft & the Death Star wreck.

And here's something that internet assholes picked on - they ride horse-things on the Star Destroyers. Lighten up comrades, maybe this just isn't your kind of space adventure movie.

Rey gets in the mystery-edifice and holy hell it's creepy! There's an audience of thousands of cultists in black stone bleacher seats, chanting in perfect unison! It's downright Kubrick-y!

They really had fun with the lighting in the Palpatine room. Also, there are red stormtroopers on the Star Destroyers and aren't they pretty.

Palpatine is trying to convince Rey that she should embrace hatred and hill him and rule the galaxy in ritual hatred with a chanting congregation of hooded dipshits. Will it work? He does have a very compelling speaking voice. But here comes Kylo! He has had a change of heart or something!

"The life force in your bond," he narrates, and then bad-magics them super hard! We never could have anticipated that evil force spells could thwart their plans.

1:54:20 - very satisfying shot of a giant fleet of good guys coming to save the day. They hit us with the idea of no one coming to save them, and just like when Han Solo swooped in in the first movie, it feels good that this time someone else did show up. And yes it includes Poe's girlfriend and that charismatic little varmint!

Super cool to see Star Destroyers get blown up.

Also cool when Palpatine super-zaps lots of good guy spaceships. Sound is neat on that also. This intense visual/aural experience is what I was thinking about for a while after first seeing this movie.

Rey beats Palpatine by having that surprise second light saber. Whatever, this is a super cool looking scene with all the bad guys in that chamber getting wasted.

Other cool battle climax imagery happens up in the sky, even though it's kind of hard to see what exactly physically happened to save Finn and those guys on the crashing Star Destroyer.

Kylo… what??? Didn't die when he just disappeared into a crevasse??? Quel surprise! He's super-reformed now and heals Rey up with his tender love for her. They kiss, their carnal desires overtaking them, they are high on the most ethical lust the galaxy has ever known! And he dies and disappears, but is visibly satisfied. I feel okay mocking this because I suspect no one likes it. And then it moves on to really cool aftermath visuals that are crazy fun to watch. They are experiencing the great victory in other planets from the other movies, and to the tune of John Williams themes from movies past.

Maz presents Chewy with a special medal, am I supposed to know what that's about? They're giving it major gravity.

So the movie, the trilogy, and the Skywalker Saga ends with a scene of Rey returning to Tatooine to bury the two important light sabers, but also whip out another one she had, and then tell a townie that she's named Rey SKYWALKER, and the final moment is of her gazing at the two suns with the Binary Sunset theme playing us out. What I like about that is that it sends the message that that moment from the original Star Wars, elevated to greatness largely by John Williams stirring theme, is the pinnacle of cinematic experiences that were brought to us by this series.

I like this movie less than any of the Disney-era movies for sure, and I think after watching it a second time, it lacks some specialness that could have allowed it to hold up better against the best Star Wars movies. But I wouldn't say it's bad, and I certainly wouldn't advise against seeing it.

#star wars rise of skywalker

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eleanor-writes-stuff · 6 years ago

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warning: may impair decision-making abilities [ficlet]

Rey finds herself dealing with some pretty impulsive urges when she and Ben visit Rose and Finn’s new baby for the first time.

Second ficlet of the day! Have some soft Reylo with a side of soft FinnRose and the latest addition to their family, little Paige Tico-Trooper. She’s adorable. So adorable, in fact, that Rey can’t think straight.

Also available on AO3. And hey, maybe check out my Twitter and Ko-fi?

“We’re naming her Paige,” Rose whispers as she passes the baby into Rey’s arms.

“Oh, Rose,” Rey whispers as she sets eyes upon little Paige Tico-Trooper for the very first time. “It’s perfect. She’s perfect.”

The proud new mom beams despite the exhaustion that clings to her every molecule, and her careful eyes follow Rey as she walks the baby over to Ben and Finn.

Rey manages to look away from Paige for all of two seconds to smile at Ben. “Love, look at her. Isn’t she–”

The newborn chooses that exact moment to yawn, her eyes fluttering shut as her little mouth forms a perfect little O, and the entire room coos in unison.

“She’s adorable,” Ben tells a grinning Rose as he looms over his wife and little Paige. So much of this reminds Rey of her own time in this wing of the hospital just three years ago, of a tiny yet reassuring weight in her arms while Ben hovered over the both of them like an overprotective mother hen–

Now he brings one hand to stroke Paige’s closed fist and, as if in slow-motion, everyone watches as the baby slowly uncurls her hand only to wrap it around Ben’s pointer finger.

And just like that, Rey knows.

She’s torn between the sight of Paige happily drifting off while still holding onto Ben and the soft look of awe on her husband’s face, and as her eyes flit back and forth the impulse grabs hold of her and refuses to let go.

“Ben…” Rey whispers, looking up at him with a little smile playing on her lips.

The look on his face instantly transforms into one of trepidation. Never let it be said that he doesn’t know her better than anyone else in the world.

“You said never again,” he reminds her even as his finger stays curled up in Paige’s hand, her gentle giant loathe to disturb the sleeping baby.

From the corner of her eye, she catches Finn whipping his head around to stare at them.

“I know, but–”

“You threatened me with a vasectomy, Rey,” Ben whispers heatedly, a little too loudly if Finn’s sudden bark of laughter behind them is anything to go by.

Rey gives him her best puppy dog eyes. He’s always been much better at it than her, but she likes to think maybe it’s rubbed off on her after all these years. “I did, but I wasn’t in my right mind–”

Paige’s grip finally goes slack, allowing Ben to step back from the both of them. “You crushed my hand!”

Right, that. Ben’s fingers had been bruised for two whole days after. Nothing compared to what she’d gone through, of course – and he’d been quick to remind her of that every time she experienced a sudden, irrational surge of guilt –, but Rey still needs to fight the urge to wince at the reminder.

Still, she will not be that easily deterred.

Adjusting the baby in her arms, Rey takes a deep breath as she decides to pull out the big guns.

“But Meira was worth it, wasn’t she?”

In the background, Rose and Finn let out matching, drawn-out oohs.

And Ben… Ben softens pretty much immediately. “Of course she’s worth it,” he agrees as one hand comes to rest on her waist, careful not to bump into her arm. “Any kid of ours is worth the universe, Rey. You know that. But are you sure–?”

Rey nods. “Look at her, Ben,” she nods at the little bundle in her arms. “She reminds me so much of Meira… I know pregnancy wasn’t easy. Believe me, I remember. And I know labor was hell, and the sleepless nights were too, and god knows it’ll probably be even more challenging with a three-year-old thrown into the mix this time around. But…” Rey looks at the baby in her arms, basks in the love and joy that fills this room. She remembers all of this too – the way her heart had suddenly grown too big for her chest, the way the world stopped the first time Meira opened her eyes, the way everything felt just right when she finally held her little baby, her child made purely of love…

“I want another one,” Rey decides with a smile as she brings one hand up to trace the curve of Paige’s round little cheek. “Ben, I want another baby.”

A moment passes between them, Ben searching her eyes for resolution before he very, very carefully leans down to press his forehead to hers. “Me too, sweetheart.”

In her mind she can see it all already, see it all again – the fun they’ll have trying, the giddiness of every new morning bringing with it the possibility of… And after, knowing she’s growing a life inside of her, falling more and more in love every day, going to sleep in Ben’s arms with his arm slung protectively over their child–

It’s a perfectly beautiful moment, ruined only by Finn pointedly clearing his throat.

“Hey, guys. So this is super exciting–”

“Paige is gonna have a little cousin her age!” Rose squeals, mustering what little energy she has left to express her excitement.

“– but, um, maybe give us ours back before you go off to make one of your own?”

“Oh.” Ben immediately steps away from her, giving her space to maneuver the sleeping baby back into Finn’s waiting arms.

“Right,” Rey mutters to herself as she adjusts Paige’s head in the crook of her father’s arm. “We didn’t forget, I swear.”

“Just got carried away, I know,” Finn smiles at her. After all, he’s been there since the very beginning; he knows better than anyone the way she and Ben get lost in their own little world sometimes. “Now off you go, lovebirds. Never too early to start trying, right?”

Ben chokes on his own saliva.

“Finn!” Rey laughs, careful to keep her voice quiet.

“Have fun, you two!” Rose calls from her spot on the bed. “See you on the other side in nine months, I guess.”

The new parents keep up a stream of suggestive, supportive comments until a blushing Ben finally drags a laughing Rey out of the room.

“Your friends are ridiculous,” Ben mumbles along the curve of her shoulder when he leans down to hide his red cheeks.

“Our friends,” Rey reminds him with a bright smile. “After all, you’re already Paige’s Uncle Ben.”

It still surprises her sometimes, how far they’ve come since she first crashed Finn’s office holiday party to give his perfectionist boss a piece of her mind. But here they are seven years later, married with a kid and hopefully another one on the way.

Rey pushes Ben off her and takes his hand. “Come on, we can probably swing by Dr. Kanata’s office and ask her about removing my IUD.”

Ben squeezes her hand to get her attention. “Rey, are you really sure about this?”

It’s sudden, she knows, but it’s not like they’ve never discussed this. Having both grown up as painfully lonely children under wildly different circumstances, they’d agreed long before Meira was born to have at least two kids.

And now suddenly feels like the perfect time to finally make good on that.

“I love you so much,” she tells Ben, cupping his cheek in her free hand. “And I love Meira with all my heart, and I know I’ll love any other baby of ours just the same. So yes, Ben, I’m sure. I’m very, very sure.”

Ben brings his other hand to rest over hers, removes it from his cheek and brings it to his lips. “I love you too,” he murmurs, lips brushing along her inner wrist. “And I love this baby already.”

Rey reaches up on her tiptoes to press a chaste kiss to his lips. “Come on, then. The sooner we get home, the sooner we can start… practicing.”

Her laughter fills the hallway when Ben nearly trips over thin air in his haste to rush to the elevator.

. . .

And a year later, that very hallway echoes with the beautiful, shrill cries of their baby boy.

Here’s another one that was supposed to be maybe 800 words at most. I really didn’t have anything outlined except for the part where Rey tries to convince Ben, so... yeah, I winged it. Fingers crossed it turned out okay!

As always, thank you for reading and I hope this sparked joy. Please don’t hesitate to like/reblog/comment! <3

#reylo #rey x ben #kylo ren/rey #rey/kylo ren #rey/ben solo #star wars #rey #ben solo #kylo ren #my fics #ficlet: warning #series: ao3 reblog #fic archive

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ct-hardcase · 6 years ago

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there are so many women in that book that I am so hyped to have information and art about, including but probably not limited to:

(under a cut because I just decided that this is going to be an appreciation post)

Aayla??? Oh my gosh? Her mentoring Ahsoka was great and I love her interactions with Bly and gosh, she is just so good. I want to know more about her, especially in new canon, and how she is as a person.

Adi? Beautiful. Gorgeous. Showstopping. She has such a great personality and she fights well and I am here for it!

AHSOKA MY MAIN LADY. She’s just grown so much and I’m so proud of her and what she was able to achieve in her life. Any content for her is splendid.

Yeaaaa Pryce! She’s so evil and fun to read about! It’d be cool for her to get featured primarily in something like she did in Thrawn ngl and I’d love to have her PoV during the finale of swr.

Ventress! She’s so flawed, but if this book gives us some details about right after she turns to the dark side, I am going to drop to the floor.

Yoooo Barriss. It has taken me all of four years to warm up to her, but now that I have, I’m looking forward to this.

Beru! She deserves it! This is the recognition that the lady who raised Luke and has managed a homestead on the harsh land of Tatooine deserves. I’m so happy for her.

CIENNA! It’s been so long! Lost Stars was I think the first expanded universe novel I read for new canon and I loved it, and I loved Cienna, so I’m looking forward to literally any canon content involving her.

Depa!! I haven’t interacted with her character in canon, but I’m doing this one rp that involves her, so more details are always good.

I don’t read any of the material involving Aphra unfortunately, but I’ve heard she’s cool and gay so I’m down to read about her.

Enfys!!! I’m dying, she’s just such a good person, a radiant force of light, a true rebel, and definitely deserves a spot here. Heart eyes all around.

HERA! PILOT OF MY H E A R T. A Rebel (TM). A good mom, a good Captain, a good person, a good character, and just all around someone who was fun to journey with through swr.

JAS??? EMARI??????? SHE’S GOT CONTENT HOLY SHIT, I love Jas so much but because she’s only shown up in Aftermath, I have not been able to yell about her as much as she deserves, and good god I’m glad to see that she’s got a spot here. She’s a badass and has a heart that she desperately tries to hide.

I really like the fanon surrounding Jessika Pava, so her page is going to be fun :D

Jocasta! Big gun, bigger library.

Jyyynnnn, yes :D

I barely know about Ketsu, but I love what I do! Here’s hoping for some new tidbits maybe in there.

L3-37, the amazing droid who deserved so much better. I expect a full essay on her campaign for droid rights and how they’re treated in the galaxy.

LEIA ORGANA HERSELF. MY PRINCESS, MY GENERAL, TOTAL BADASS. She’s great. I love her.

Luminara! She fights so pretty and her philosophy is super interesting, so I hope that this is a good resource :)

Mira Bridger! My gosh! We can find out more about Ezra’s first Rebel Mom (TM)!

Norra Wexley, I’m weeping, she’s just so good and comes back from the dead enough to rival Shaak Ti, and she’s the mom that everyone in the Aftermath Squad (TM) needed but didn’t deserve.

NUMA YES

Paige? Man, I have a thing for heavy gunners that die during their first appearance, so I’m sure to enjoy this.

Phasma!!!! She’s so evil but I love her, from Parnassos until the Dreadnaught.

YEAH QI’RA, fight for your freedom too!

Rae Sloane???? Us Aftermath fans have been BLESSED with this fine release

REY! She! Aggressive fighter, aggressive pilot, and the person that I couldn’t be happier to have as a protagonist of the sequel trilogy.

Our cute mechanic Rose Tico! I hope we learn more about her past and what she’s good at mechanic-ing!

SABINE!!! YEA MAN, GOOD REBEL, GOOD DEMOLITIONS, STOLE MY DAMN HEART, I just love Sabine so much, I’m glad she’s in this

AYO SEVENTH SISTER MADE IT IN, BE STILL MY BEATING HEART. Also, this means that there’s going to be art of her! I’m weeping, everyone.

Shaak Ti! What a Jedi, what a woman.

Shmi, who absolutely deserves this spot with all of her being. Deserves better, both by the swu and all of us.

STEELA YES I’M SO HAPPY YOU’RE HERE

SUGI!! HOLY SHIT!!! OUR KIND-HEARTED BOUNTY HUNTER QUEEN HAS GRACED US

Ursa Wren??? Gosh?? We are being showered with motherhood in this book and I am living for it

VAL, YOU DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER so I’m glad you’re here

VI????? My gosh, she’s the best, so kind-hearted, such a damn optimist!!!!

ANYWAY TL;DR I’M SUPER EXCITED AND HYPED TO READ ABOUT THESE AWESOME LADIES

#star dorks #long post #under a cut but still for those on mobile #sw spoilers

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sushigirlali · 7 years ago

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Famous In Love (Reylo Fanfic)

Art by: @mvcreates

Summary: Rey scores her first big break in Hollywood co-staring in an Oscar worthy film with acclaimed theater actor Kylo Ren. In order to pull off an intimate love scene, the pair retreat to Kylo's apartment to practice in private.

Pairing: Rey x Kylo Ren/Ben Solo [Reylo] [ReyBen]

Continuity: Actor AU

Rating: E

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or anything that relates to Star Wars.

A/N: I love watching trashy TV shows, so this story is dedicated to Famous In Love on Freeform. This show is so incredibly bad, but for some reason I can't stop watching it! I was only going to write a few scenes, but the story got away from me, so it's super long lol Enjoy!

Master list –> AO3 | ff.net | Tumblr

——————

Famous In Love

By: sushigirlali

——————

"Cut!"

Rey sighed as an irate Armitage Hux jumped out of his director's chair.

"What the hell are you two playing at?!" Hux yelled, marching onto set. "This is supposed to be a tender love scene between adults, not an awkward high school grope session!"

Rey pushed herself into a sitting position on the plush bed as Kylo moved away from her, pulling up the rumpled white comforter to cover her body. While she was used to the director's crass behavior by now, being half naked in front of a room full of people made her feel more vulnerable than usual.

"You two have about as much chemistry as a pair of garden gnomes!" Hux continued, eyeing his lead actors in disgust. "In fact, I'd rather watch inanimate objects make out than the two of you!"

Rey tilted her head at the strange comment, trying not to laugh. Laughter would definitely not improve the director's mood. Casting a sideways glance at her co-star, Rey was unsurprised to see Kylo Ren's face composed in his patented bored expression. She would swear the man was a robot if he didn't hit the craft services table occasionally.

"Kylo, have you ever seduced a woman before? Or at least pretended to? No wonder you're chronically single!" Hux blustered. "And you, Rey, are about the least sexy—"

"How would you like us to fix the situation?" Kylo cut in blandly, shifting slightly on the bed so that his massive body partially covered Rey's.

"Become better actors?" Hux replied savagely, focusing on Kylo again.

Rey eye's widened, surprised by the small action. Kylo didn't seem to like or respect her on the best of days, but here he was making a bigger target out of himself to protect her? No, she must be reading too much into it. The only time Kylo Ren was nice to her was in her dreams.

"No? Then how about this: you're both dismissed from set until you can play this scene correctly. Go back to your trailer or apartment or a fucking love hotel—whatever—just work it out!" And with that, their esteemed director stormed off set, slamming doors as he went.

Rey looked up at Kylo gratefully. "Thank you for—"

"Let's go." He interrupted.

"Oh, ah, okay." Rey stumbled slightly in her haste to stand, gasping as Kylo's warm hands settled on her bare waist to steady her.

She quickly twisted away from him, trying to control her reaction to the acclaimed theater actor's touch. He would never know it, but she had been infatuated with him for years. Kylo's brilliant performance as the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway two years ago was still burned into her mind. As a result, working with him on such an intimate basis was proving to be a challenge.

Busying herself with finding her robe, Rey missed the look of hurt that flashed across Kylo's face at her perceived rejection.

——————

Ben gritted his teeth as Rey pulled away from him. He knew she found him unappealing, but did she have to rub it in all the time? Ever since the first time he had seen her, standing among the other hopefuls trying out for the role of his love interest, Ben had been smitten with the young actress from Jakku.

Rey, however, seemed to want nothing to do with him.

Shaking off his frustration, Ben said gruffly, "Let's go to my place, we can practice our scenes there."

"Okay." Rey agreed, tying the belt of her robe.

It was a shame, Ben thought wryly, given how lovely she looked in her underwear. Set attractively against her tanned skin, the matching slate blue bra and panties were perfectly molded to her slender body.

"Do you want to change before we leave?" Ben asked her. It would be so much easier for him to concentrate if she had pants on.

"No, that's okay." Rey said, picking up the tote bag sitting next to her chair. "We should probably stay in costume while we go over our lines. You know, to set the mood."

Ben mentally groaned. Was she trying to kill him? But to Rey he said, "Makes sense," in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone.

Shrugging on his own robe, Ben grabbed his backpack before gaining the attention of a passing crew member.

"Yes, Mr. Ren?" Rose Tico said enthusiastically.

"Can you call for a car? Rey and I need a ride to my apartment." Ben requested.

Rose raised her eyebrows, looking from him to Rey and back again, obviously noting their state of undress.

"Hux asked us to practice lines together before coming back to set, so we're wrapped for the night." Rey supplied with a charming blush. "Nothing weird going on or anything…"

"Sure." Rose grinned suggestively. "Go ahead down to Lot A and I'll have Finn pick you up."

"Oh, I'm sure Finn is busy with—" Rey tried.

"Nope, I just saw him. Since it's so late, the rest of the drivers have left already. So it's Finn or you're stuck here." Rose said happily.

"But—"

"That's fine, please call Finn." Ben directed, putting an end to Rey's protests.

"Thanks, Rose." Rey said weakly, while Ben dipped his head in acknowledgement before starting toward the exit.

"Have fun practicing!" Rose called to their retreating backs.

——————

Rey shot her friend a warning look over her shoulder, but she just laughed in response. Rose was one of the few people who knew about her feelings for Kylo, besides Rose's boyfriend and Rey's best friend Finn. No doubt Finn would try to embarrass her on the ride to Kylo's, so Rey needed to be on her guard.

After a short walk, Rey and Kylo reached the valet drop off area in Lot A. Standing awkwardly next to her co-star, Rey wondered how he would respond to small talk. Kylo was a man of few words, but she hated wasting this opportunity to speak with him. It was a rare occurrence for them to be completely alone.

"So, um, where's your apartment?" She asked tentatively, drawing his attention.

"In the NoHo district." Kylo informed her.

"Wow, so close to the studio! No wonder you're always early to set." Rey laughed.

"There are a lot of theatres in the area." He shrugged. "I didn't really take the studio into consideration."

"Once a stage actor, always a stage actor?" Rey teased.

"Something like that." Kylo responded, his lips tilting up at the corners.

But his face slid back into an impassive mask as Finn drove up in a black Escalade. Jumping out of the vehicle, he came around the front and opened the passenger's side door for them.

"Rose said you needed a ride?" Finn remarked coolly.

"Yes, thank you." Kylo said, moving back for Rey to climb into the SUV before him.

Rey was surprised when he held out a hand to help her into the elevated vehicle. Trying to act casual, she allowed him to assist her, focusing on getting into the car without embarrassing herself. He released her hand as she slid across the backseat, leaving her fingers tingling.

Buckling her seatbelt, Rey settled back against the black leather interior. Rey glanced at Kylo's wide chest, barely covered by the thick white terry cloth robe, as he did the same. He really was massive, dwarfing her in comparison, making her feel incredibly feminine. Shaking herself, she glanced up to see Finn watching them in the rearview mirror. Oh no.

"So, Kylo," Finn started as he pulled away from the curb, "how's filming going?"

"Fine." He said shortly.

"Fine?" Finn laughed. "Word around set is that you're on track to score an Oscar nomination based on your performance so far."

"I have a great scene partner." Kylo replied, playing down his part in the movie.

Rey looked up at him, startled by the compliment. "Really?" She asked involuntarily.

Kylo's gaze appeared to soften as he looked at her, but it could have just been a trick of the dim street lights flashing by outside.

"Of course. You're a wonderful actress, Rey." Kylo assured her.

"Thank you!" Rey felt her face heat as joy flooded through her.

"You're welcome." Kylo said softly.

Finn coughed discreetly from the front seat, gaining their attention.

"Yes, Finn?" Rey slanted him a look.

"We're here." Finn said archly. "Are you two going to get out or are you just going to keep staring at each other all night?"

Rey flushed bright red and attempted to unbuckle her seatbelt.

"Here." Kylo said after a moment, removing her struggling fingers and undoing the safety device for her.

"Thanks!" She said in a high pitched voice, looking everywhere but at him.

"I'll get the door." Kylo shot at Finn as he started to get out of the vehicle.

Rey was bemused as Kylo did just that, opening his door and grasping her hand again to help her out. He didn't let go of her this time, though, and she was too shocked by his courteous actions to pull away.

"Bye, Finn." Rey said breathlessly from the curb, allowing Kylo to pull her toward his apartment building.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Finn snickered after them.

——————

Ben led Rey up the stairs to his third floor apartment. He had opted to rent a smaller, more cozy place than most of his co-stars, hating the glitz and glam that came with being a Hollywood actor.

"I'm sorry if Finn embarrassed you." Rey said apologetically. "He's kind of a wild card."

"I'm not embarrassed." Ben assured her. "We weren't doing anything."

Rey's fingers suddenly slipped from his, startling him. It had felt so natural to hold her hand that he hadn't realized he was still doing it until now.

"Oh. Okay." She said quietly.

Ben sighed. What had he done now? Having next to no experience with relationships, Ben was at a loss for what to say next. Instead, he fished his keys out of the front pocket of his backpack and unlocked the apartment door. Motioning for her to proceed him, Ben closed and locked the door behind them.

Sitting her bag down on the gray and black granite island that separated the kitchen from the living room, Rey hummed her approval.

"This is really nice." She said. "I love open concept spaces."

"Yeah, me too." Ben was glad he had taken the time to clean up this morning. "Are you hungry? I can order something."

"No, thanks." Rey said.

"Really, it's no problem." Ben insisted.

Rey shook her head in the negative. "I ate before coming in this afternoon, so I'm good. But order whatever you want if you're hungry."

He was hungry alright, just not for food. But Ben kept those thoughts to himself. "I'm good too." He said instead.

"Okay, where do you want to practice then?" Rey asked directly. "It's getting late, so we should probably start right away."

"We can use the living room or the bedroom." Ben offered casually. "Whichever you prefer."

Rey looked around, noting the black leather sofa and love seat. "Will the couch be big enough for you to, um, spread out on?"

Ben raised his eyebrows at her wording, but didn't contradict her. "It is a little cramped for my height. I can show you the bedroom if you'd like."

Rey nodded and Ben started to sweat. He could do this. It would be just like on set. Professional. There was nothing going on between them, despite the slight shift in their relationship tonight. He could do this.

"This way." He said, walking down the small hallway to his bedroom.

He stopped at the doorway to make sure the room was clean, grunting as Rey ran into his back.

"Sorry!" Rey said breathily. "I wasn't expecting you to stop."

Ben moved into the room, playing it cool. "No problem. Well, here's the bed." He said lamely.

Rey studied the huge king-sized bed, covered in a red and black stripped duvet, thoughtfully. "Yes, this is definitely better."

Better for what? Ben thought. Torturing him?

"We need to get comfortable speaking intimately to each other." Ben said frankly, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Among other things."

"Other things?" Rey queried as she took a seat next to him.

"Kissing, touching." He said lightly, trying not to focus on how high the robe had ridden up on her toned thighs.

"Oh. Right. Well, uh, what did you have in mind?"

"Maybe we should try getting to know each other first." Kylo suggested. There were a few things we wanted to get clear between them.

"Sure. What do you want to know?" Rey invited.

"I know you've never liked me, but—"

——————

"What?!" Rey exclaimed in shock.

Kylo looked taken aback at her outburst. "The first day on set you told your friend Rose that you found me disgusting and hated having to work with me." He said in a wounded tone.

Rey racked her brain, trying to remember if she had ever said such a thing to Rose. The first day of filming had been hectic, made even more so when their slimy Executive Producer walked through the door. Despite his talent for producing blockbuster movies, Andy Snoke had a reputation for being a complete scumbag.

"Snoke had just walked onto set." Rey recalled. "And he called me over to introduce himself." Rey paused, frowning as she thought about the awful memory. "And promptly grabbed my ass."

"He did what?!" Kylo stood angrily.

"Yeah, that's how I reacted too." Rey appreciated his outrage. "Luckily, the film crew caught the whole thing on tape, so I threatened to sue him if he ever came near me again."

"Do you have a lawyer? I can call mine, if you'd like. Her name is Maz Kanata and she's tough as hell." Kylo offered, pacing back and forth.

"No, Kylo." Rey's heart soared at his suggestion. He had to care for her a little to be so upset on her behalf. "I took care of it. Snoke never visits set while I'm there anymore; he's no threat to me."

"Are you sure?" Kylo probed, coming back to sit beside her on the bed.

"Yes." Rey smiled warmly. "Thank you."

"Let me know if he so much as looks at you the wrong way. I have so much dirt on him he'd wish he was dead if I talked." Kylo said seriously.

"You got it." Rey grinned, then frowned as she remembered Kylo's earlier statement. "So, this whole time we've been working together, you thought I hated you?" Rey questioned. "Is that why you've been so standoffish with me?"

"Yes." Kylo admitted easily.

"Well, I don't." Rey said ardently.

"I'm glad." Kylo said, giving her a genuine smile. "Thank you for clearing that up."

"What's next? Do you want to continue talking, or move onto…other things?" Rey bit her lip, trying not to sound too eager. She knew what she wanted to do with him, but it was best not to get her hopes up when they had only just cleared the air.

"Is there anything you wanted to ask me?" He replied.

"Maybe later." Rey wasn't up to a cross examination right now.

"Should be practice…kissing then?" Kylo put forward. "Nothing too heavy, just keep it light. You know?"

Rey watched as Kylo's Adam's apple bobbed up and down. Was he nervous too? Deciding to take a chance for once in her life, Rey made the first move.

"Like this, Kylo?" Rey whispered, boldly leaning forward to brush her lips across his. They were warm and soft and felt so good against her own.

"Ben." He muttered in a strangled tone when she moved back.

"What?" Rey asked, dazed from the innocent kiss.

"My real name is Ben Solo. Kylo Ren is my stage name." He confessed.

"Ben." Rey tested the name on her tongue. "I like it. It suits you."

"Thanks." Ben replied huskily.

"Wait! Wait one damn minute!" Rey said as something struck her. "Ben Solo? As in Leia and Han Solo?!"

Ben grimaced, but nodded his head.

"Wow!" Rey said. "That must have been so difficult for you growing up, them being big time movie stars and all."

Ben met her eyes with surprise in his own. "Yes, it was. No one ever seems to get that. They're all too impressed that I have famous parents and think I'm ungrateful for hiding my real identity."

"That's crazy!" Rey said emphatically. "You obviously wanted to make your own way, on your own merits. I think that's admirable. It shows that your talent is really your own and—"

Ben leaned forward suddenly, taking her lips in a searing kiss, his hands slipping into her hair to support her neck as he plundered her mouth. Rey's eyes widened in shock, stunned by the force of his passion. It was the first time she had ever been kissed in such a way, and Rey found that she liked the smooth thrust of his tongue against hers, the sensation of his hands tangling in her hair.

But what did it all mean? Were they still practicing? Or was this something else? Determined to find out, Rey pulled back.

——————

Ben cursed as Rey's small hands pushed against his chest. Damn it! He hadn't been able to help himself, not with her being so sweet and understanding and lovely.

"Fuck, I'm sorry!" Ben tried to pull away, but Rey grasped his biceps with a surprisingly strong grip.

"Wait, I was just surprised." Rey blushed.

Ben stared at her, not sure how to respond. Did that mean she wanted him to kiss her? Ben held his breath, waiting to see what she would do.

"Was…was that a kiss between our characters, or between…us?" Rey asked shyly.

Ben felt like the world was tilting sideways, so he decided to go for broke. "It's whatever you want it to be."

Rey regarded him curiously for a few moments, clearly processing the situation. Was she hesitating because of their professional relationship? He wanted to tell her that he would respect her in the morning either way, but the words were stuck in his throat. He didn't want to risk scaring her away by bringing up work, not when he finally had her where he wanted her.

But scant minutes later, as her slim fingers rose to the belt of her terrycloth robe, Ben realized he needn't have worried. Rey wanted to be here too. He could see it in the heated way she stared into his eyes, in the tremble of her hands, in the flush on her cheeks.

Keeping eye contact with him, she slowly untied the loose knot, shrugging out of the concealing garment to bare her trim figure to his hungry gaze. Biting her lip, she learned forward and placed her dainty hands on the tie of his own robe, her eyes asking a silent question.

Coming up on his knees, Ben allowed her to untie the belt and push the robe off his shoulders. Rey sucked in a breath, staring intently at his muscular chest, and Ben felt his whole body clench at the very flattering look on her face.

Rey slowly reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him close. "Don't stop." She whispered, hazel eyes melting into chocolate brown.

As if in a trance, Ben cupped her flushed cheeks, lifting her mouth to his. Their third kiss was sweet at first, a tentative exploration. But lust quickly took over as their tongues danced together in an arousing tango. Ben could tell she was new to this type of kissing, but what Rey lacked in experience, she more than made up for in enthusiasm.

They sunk onto the bed together, Rey holding him tightly as he brought their bodies into blatant contact. She felt amazing in his arms, soft and sleek, her slender curves fitting to his hard body perfectly. The swell of her breasts strained against his toned chest, making him imagine what it would feel like to touch them with his large hands, with his mouth. He whispered his desire between kisses, and she squirmed under him in response.

"Touch me! Please!" She panted urgently, pushing up to give him space.

Ben caressed her back, locating the catch of her bra and unsnapping it after a few failed attempts.

"Sorry." He muttered, wishing he was more practiced, but she only kissed him harder.

"I love knowing that you can't unsnap a girl's bra on que." Rey confessed.

"This isn't my first time, but I haven't been with many women." Ben reassured her.

His breath caught in his throat as she lowered her arms and allowed him to pull off the flimsy scrap of fabric. Her breasts were small but firm, tipped with dusty pink nipples that hardened into tight pebbles under his fervent gaze. After months of thinking his attraction was one-sided, it amazed him that she wanted him so much, but the evidence before him was undisputable.

"I know they're not very large, but—"

Ben's head shot up and he looked at her incredulously. "Your breasts are perfect. You're perfect."

Rey flushed with pleasure at his words. "Would you…put your mouth on them then? I've never…but I want you to."

"Never?" Ben stilled. "Rey, are you a virgin?" He asked carefully.

Rey hide her face behind her hands, suddenly shy.

"Rey?"

Her answer was muffled, so he gently peeled her hands away, capturing her palms in his and holding them above her head.

"What was that?"

She settled back against the striped coverlet, tentatively raising her eyes to his. "Yes, I'm a virgin."

Ben shuddered at the revelation. He would be her first lover, maybe even her last, if things went his way.

"Are you sure you want this? Want me? You might regret—" Ben tried to give her an out.

But Rey shushed him, pressing a finger to his lips. "Kiss me. Love me. Please."

Bending back to her mouth on a groan, Ben gave up trying to be chivalrous. Placing a powerful thigh between hers, he released her hands and slid them under her buttocks, pulling her forward roughly. She let out a squeak of surprise as he moved the lower half of her body up and down, up and down, dragging her cleft against his hard frame.

"What—oh!" Rey gasped, struggling to get closer as the position applied pressure to her core.

"That's it, baby, find the rhythm you need." He said encouragingly, showing her how to move her hips.

Dipping his head, Ben took her right breast into his mouth, rolling her nipple between his teeth gently. Rey gripped the back of his head, urging him to fed on her. He gave each plump mound equal attention, loving the sexy noises she was making as he drove her crazy.

"Ben?" Rey whimpered uncertainly. "Something's happening to me!"

Her hips were pumping quickly now, her panties soaked through against his thigh. Ben could tell she was close, the friction of cloth on flesh compounded by the feeling of his hot mouth on her sensitive tips. Ben sucked harder, switching back and forth between her breasts like a man possessed until she was writhing uncontrollably.

"Let go." Ben breathed. "I've got you."

Pulling back to watch her cry out a final time, Ben knew he had never seen anything so beautiful as Rey Niima coming apart in his arms.

——————

Rey lay on top of Ben's huge body, feeling weightless, her head pillowed on his comfortable chest. "That was amazing." She purred once she could speak again.

Ben kissed her forehead, lazily stroking her spine. "I've thought about getting you naked since the first time I saw you at open casting."

"I've wanted you since Rose took me to see you on Broadway for my 17th birthday two years ago." Rey admitted softly.

Ben reared back at her pronouncement, putting a little space between them. "Wait, you're only 19?!" He spluttered incredulously.

"I'll be 20 next month." Rey replied uncertainly.

"Oh my God, you're a 19-year-old virgin!" Ben groaned.

"What does it matter?!" Rey exclaimed.

"Rey, I'm 29!" Ben said as if that explained everything.

"So?"

"So, I'm ten years older than you!"

"So?"

"So, you're 19!"

"Almost 20."

"Rey! We can't—" Kylo started.

"We already are!" Rey pushed him down as he tried to get up, straddling his hips.

"Rey, you're so young and I—"

Rey leaned down, pressing her lips against his, slipping her tongue inside his mouth to play with his. "I want you." She murmured seductively, her wet core rubbing against his rigid erection through the thin layer of his black silk boxers.

"Fuck me." Ben muttered.

"That's what I'm trying to do." Rey said with a sly smile.

Ben's chest rumbled under her, but still he seemed uncertain.

"I don't care about your age, or mine." Rey ran her hands over his chest to his washboard stomach. "Just you."

His dark eyes burning with feeling, Ben's hands ran up the back of her thighs to cup her bottom, grinding her against him.

"So—ah—does that mean—oh god!" Rey inhaled sharply as her cliterous made contact with the hard ridge of his penis. "Does that mean you'll make love to me?"

"Oh, what the hell!" Ben said heatedly, rolling her onto her back. "I want you, you want me, the rest doesn't matter!"

Rey shivered in anticipation as he slid off the bed and slowly peeled his underwear down his hips. She gasped as his erection sprung free, curving upward toward his taut stomach in an impressive arch. Rey bit her lip, wondering how something so large was going to fit inside her untried body.

"Don't worry, I'll go slow." Ben soothed her as he caught her expression, climbing back onto the bed.

Rey waited with bated breath as he rose over her, looping his fingers into the waistband of her panties and pulling them gently down her trembling legs.

Ben growled at the sight of her nudity, parting her thighs to reveal the jewel hidden behind her springy curls. She should feel exposed, being spread out like this, but the lustful look on Ben's face dissolved the notion at once. He wanted her as much as she wanted him, and there was nothing to feel insecure about.

"Fuck, you're beautiful." Ben ground out, leaning down to kiss the inside of her thigh.

"Ben!" Rey gulped as his lips traveled toward her heat. "You don't have to—"

"Shh." He whispered gently. "You'll enjoy it, trust me."

——————

Rey whimpered as Ben made love to her tender flesh, his tongue curling around her clit as he pumped two thick fingers in and out of her tight sheath.

"God, Ben!" Rey cried, moving her hips in time with the motion of his hand.

"Not quite." Ben laughed. "But I'm glad you approve."

Twisting her hands in his tousled raven locks, Rey urged his head back to her wet center. She could sense his amusement at her impatience, but Rey was too far gone to care. Ben shifted his position, zeroing in on a spot that had her back arching in seconds.

"Yes! There!" Rey wailed, clutching his hair. "Ben! I'm—ahhhh!"

Fireworks exploded behind her eyes as Ben curled his fingers inside her body, his mouth sucking powerfully on her aroused button. Rey heard a piercing scream as the pleasure went on and on, only vaguely recognizing the voice as her own. Not satisfied, Ben didn't stop touching and licking her until every ounce of climax had been wrung from her virginal body and she lay spent on the cool comforter, gasping for air.

"I love the way you scream my name." Ben said gruffly, crawling between her splayed legs in the aftermath.

Rey touched his face as he came into view, weak from the pleasure he had just given her. "Thank you." She said softly.

Dark eyes burning with lust-and something else?—Ben turned his cheek to press a tender kiss to her palm. "You're welcome."

Boneless, Rey allowed him to rearrange her body, pushing her thighs apart to make room for his possession. Their bodies lined up perfectly, like two puzzle pieces fitting together, and Rey sighed as his weight settled on her.

"I hope you're ready, baby, because I can't wait anymore." Ben palmed his erection in one hand and opened her soaked slit with the other.

"You can come inside me." Rey said shakily. "I'm on the pill."

"Jesus, Rey." Ben groaned, leaning his forehead against hers as he fought for control.

Rey caught his lips in an arousing exploration of teeth and tongue, moaning into his mouth as Ben lost his grip and began pushing into her tight opening. Rey tried to relax as he carefully penetrated her, her short nails biting into Ben's back as she stretched around him.

"Are you okay?" He panted, sweating from the effort of holding back.

"You're so big, Ben!" Rey's inner muscles fluttered as he slid in another inch.

"Relax, baby." Ben kissed her tenderly. "Yeah, that's it. You're so wet, you can take me."

Ben's hips shifted downward sharply as her slick sheath suddenly accommodated him, impaling her to the hilt. Rey's eyes watered at the feeling of emotional and physical completion that suddenly gripped her mind and body at his intrusion. She had heard horror stories from friends about their first times, but Ben had readied her body so well that she didn't feel any pain at all, just an extraordinary fullness.

"Shit, I'm sorry!" Ben attempted to pull back, misreading her glassy expression.

"No!" Rey's legs wrapped around his back, holding him inside her. "No. You're not hurting me, it's just…"

"Just?" Ben brushed her damp hair away from her face inquisitively.

"I've never felt like this before." She admitted quietly, lowering her eyes.

Ben tilted her chin up, forcing her to look at him. "Neither have I."

"Really?" Rey bit her lip.

"Really." Ben smoothed her abused bottom lip with his thumb. "You bite your lip when you're nervous, did you know that?" He teased.

Rey shook her head. "Care to kiss it better?" She asked coyly, wetting her lips in anticipation.

Ben let out a harsh breath, following the swipe of her pink tongue intently. "The things you do to me, woman." He said roughly as he bent to her tempting smile, slanting his mouth over hers passionately.

Rey moaned as he began moving his hips at the same time, measuring his movements against her response. He was the most thoughtful lover she could have asked for, heart swelling as she sensed his incredible restraint. But it wasn't enough, not nearly enough.

"Harder!" Rey begged, throwing her hips back at him frantically.

Ben's dark eyes burned into hers as he picked up the pace, building her pleasure with each powerful thrust. Rey's back arched as he slid impossibly deep, plunging in and out of her deliciously. Encouraged by her inhibited reaction, Ben buried his head between her breasts again, taking each nipple into his mouth in turns, sucking and biting at her until she cried out in supplication.

"Please!" Rey whined. "Ben!"

Ben lifted her bottom off the bed, throwing her legs over his shoulders to plunge into her at a new angle. Rey shrieked as he pounded away inside her, the head of his long penis brushing the entrance of her cervix.

"Come!" Ben demanded, bringing his thumb to her secret place, briskly rubbing her clit in time with his driving hips.

One, two, three thrusts more and Rey had no choice but to obey him. "Ben!" She screamed in completion, bathing him in her fluids.

——————

Ben lowered her legs as she laid dazed and panting, caging her between his hungry body and the mattress as he drove for his own release. Her grasping cunt was still quivering, sucking the life out of him, and he growled as he tried to get close enough.

Gripping her ass tightly, Ben branded her with his cock, screwing her until his eyes crossed and he couldn't hold back any longer. Howling as the dam finally broke, he gave her everything he had, filling her up to the brim.

Collapsing on top of her, Ben lost consciousness for a space of minutes, trying to catch his breath after experiencing the greatest pleasure he had ever known.

"Ben?" Rey whispered in his ear. "Are you okay?"

Ben tightened his hold on her, crushing her against him. "I love you." He blurted out.

Rey gasped under him, bringing his eyes up to meet hers.

"You don't have to say anything back, I just thought you should know." Ben said seriously. "This is more than just sex for me, and I—" But he didn't get a chance to finish as Rey pulled him into a scorching kiss.

Ben groaned as he felt himself harden inside her. How could he respond so quickly given the earth-shattering orgasm he had just experienced? But their attraction defined logic, and Ben went under once again, Rey with him every step of the way.

——————

Ben slowly cracked his eyes open, holding up a hand against the glare of the midday sun as his fuzzy mind tried to work out why his blackout curtains were wide open.

The slender body next to him shifted, drawing his attention and bringing back the previous night's events. Ben gazed down at Rey, bemused to see her clutching at him like her favorite teddy bear, the small smile on her lips warming his heart. Her eyelids were still closed, but he could tell she was waking up. Ben tucked her hair behind her small ear, placing a chaste kiss on cheek.

Although she hadn't said those three little words back to him yet, Ben knew she had feelings for him; her body had shouted it to the stars and beyond last night while they made love.

"Rey?" He called softly.

"Mmm hmm?" She mumbled, curling into his side with a contented sigh.

"It's morning, sweetheart. We have to go to set soon."

"Don't wanna." Rey pouted as she slid a leg over his waist possessively.

Ben shuddered as her molten core came into contact with his hip, but he kept himself in check. She had to be sore after last night, and he didn't want to hurt her.

"We're going to be late if we don't get up." He warned her.

"I don't care." Rey grumbled, keeping her eyes closed as she lifted her face to his. "Kiss me."

Ben chuckled, but complied, kissing her so thoroughly that she had no choice but to sit up, straining against him excitedly.

"There you go." Ben said smugly, throwing an arm around her to keep her upright.

"That wasn't fair." She glowered at him.

"All's fair in love and war." Ben quoted the famous saying. "Now let's shower and hit the road or Hux is going to blow a gasket."

Rey held out her arms to him. "Carry me. I don't think I can stand yet."

Ben laughed as he scooped her up into his arms, lifting them both off the rumpled mattress with ease. "Your wish is my command, sweetheart."

——————

"I'll do anything you ask." He begged her, lifting her small hand to his lips.

"Love me." She responded with feeling, tracing his brow with trembling fingers. "Love me as deeply as I love you."

He gathered her slight form in his burly arms, swallowing her gasp of excitement. They kissed leisurely for long moments, passion growing between them until—

"And cut!" Hux exclaimed, striding onto set once again. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with my actors?"

"Excuse me?" Ben said, dragging himself away from Rey with difficulty.

They were filming the titular love scene again today and, knowing each other intimately this time around, the new couple had slipped into character with ease.

"How did you two manage to improve so drastically in one night?" The director probed.

"Practice." Rey and Ben said together, sharing a secret smile.

Hux raised an eyebrow at them. "Is that so? Well, keep it up. This is good stuff!"

Rey sighed in relief as he walked back to his chair in good cheer, calling for the scene to be reset.

Rose jumped in to pat Rey's nose with a little powder, while Ben's assistant tended to him. "You guys are doing great today."

"Thanks, Rose." Rey said. "And, uh, thanks for helping us out last night."

"No problem." Rose giggled.

"What?" Rey raised an eyebrow.

"Let's just say Finn and I saw a little more than we bargained for when we drove by Kylo's after work last night to make sure you were okay." Rose said pointedly.

Rey groaned, covering her face with her hands.

Ben turned his attention away from Kaydel at the sound, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing much, but you should really draw your curtains next—oof!" Finn's laughter was cut short as Rose stood and elbowed him in the stomach.

"What are you even doing here?" Rose demanded, dragging him away.

Ben and Rey watched bemusedly as Finn allowed the tiny woman to cart him off set.

"You okay?" Ben asked her when they were alone.

"Yeah, I don't mind them knowing about us." She smiled at him.

Ben's tense shoulders relaxed, and he smiled back. "Me either."

"For a second there, I was a little worried we wouldn't be able to fake the love scene again." She admitted. "But then I remembered…"

"We're not faking." Ben finished, grinning like a sap.

"No, we're not faking." Rey seconded seriously, staring into his eyes lovingly.

Ben beamed back at her, understanding her meaning.

Rey and Ben resumed their previous positions, knowing that whatever came next, whether this production was a smash hit or not, they would do it together.

"And action!"

——————

Epilogue: Two Years Later

——————

Rey gripped Ben's hand as the presenters read the nominees for Best Actress. Ben had already received the award for Best Actor, so she felt an immense pressure to do the same.

"You've got this." Ben assured her quietly.

Rey turned her scared eyes to his. "What if I don't, Ben? Our film—"

"And the winner is…"

"Oh my god!" Rey whispered in agony.

"Rey Niima!" The presenters read enthusiastically.

Ben pulled her up gently when she didn't react, frozen in shock by the announcement. "Rey, you have to go up there and accept your award." He kissed her lightly. "Rey?"

His comforting touch brought her back to reality. "Right! Okay! I can do this." Rey said firmly, taking a quick breath.

Releasing her hold on her boyfriend of two years, Rey strode toward to the podium with a confidence she was far from feeling. Accepting the award from her colleges, Rey stepped up to the microphone.

"Thank you for honoring my performance with this award. I would like to thank our director, Armitage Hux, for all his hard work and dedication, and every member of the crew who supported me on a daily basis." Rey turned to speak directly to Ben. "And lastly, to my co-star and the love of my life, Ben Solo, I know that I wouldn't be here without you. Your amazing talent and commitment inspires me every day. You make me a better actor and human being. I love you, Ben."

Locking eyes with the woman he loved, Ben left his seat and joined her on stage.

"At the risk of stepping on my girlfriend's moment, there's something I've been wanting to do for a while now." Ben grinned at the crowd. "The first time I met Rey, I knew that I wanted to be with her forever. She's brought me out of my shell and reconnected me with my family, making my life better in a hundred different ways."

Whispers broke out among the audience, and everyone seemed to lean forward in their seats.

"With all that being said, there's only one thing left to do."

"Ben?" She whispered. "What are you—oh!"

Taking the award out of her hand and placing it on the podium, Ben laced their fingers together before slowly dropping to one knee. "Rey, will you marry me?"

The room broke out in wild cheers as Rey stared down into Ben's heartfelt expression, tears filling her eyes.

"Rey?" Ben asked when she didn't respond, more vulnerable than she had ever seen him.

"Yes." She whispered only for him, pulling him up into her arms. "A thousand times yes!"

Ben tasted her salty tears as their mouths met, wrapping her up against him, heedless of the officials trying to get them off stage for the next award, of his mother and father joining them at the podium, of the hundreds of people offering well wishes in the crowd. Nothing mattered but the two of them coming together in this one perfect moment.

It was an awards show that would go down in history, kicking off a legacy that would extend for generations to come. Beyond being successful, Oscar-winning actors in their day, what the world would always remember Ben and Rey Solo for was being famous in love.

-FIN-

——————

A/N: I'm calling him "Big Ben" from now on, and you can't stop me! I may have laughed for an unreasonably long time at my own joke when I first wrote that line lol Now go read my multi-chapter fic Finding You and my Reylo Drabbles too! Much love!

#reylo #rey #kylo ren #ben solo #reylo fanfic #finn #rose tico #armitage hux #my fanfiction #sushigirlali #famous in love

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son-of-alderaan · 7 years ago

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Expanded Edition author on creating new scenes, reimagining Luke Skywalker's life, and working with Rian Johnson

Exclusive: The Independent spoke with Jason Fry, author of the book adaptation of Episode XIII

With Star Wars: The Last Jedi having been playing in cinemas for months, fans of the science fiction saga have examined every frame, debated Luke Skywalker’s fate, and questioned what Rian Johnson would have added to the already lengthy eighth episode.

Thanks to the release of the novel adaptation The Last Jedi: Expanded Edition, fans have even more material to pore over. Written by Jason Fry — a frequent Star Wars author — the book includes multiple now-canon scenes, ranging from Han Solo’s funeral to a conversation between sisters Rose and Paige Tico.

The Independent caught up with Fry over email to discuss the new book, working with director/writer Rian Johnson, and dreaming up Luke Skywalker’s alternative life. Here’s our Q&A.

First off, I was wondering how much you talked to director Rian Johnson when writing? Or were you mainly working from a script? What was his input like?

Rian and I sat down at Skywalker Ranch in late July and talked for a couple of hours. We talked about the characters, their relationships, and where they were emotionally at key points in the story, and he gave me insight into how he saw new characters such as Rose and Holdo, and what he’d tried to accomplish with them on film.

We also talked about what he’d cut from the movie and why – that was a very helpful guide for me as I tried to work through deleted scenes, additional dialogue and beats that I might want to present in the novelization. It was important to learn, for instance, that one scene had been cut for running time while another one got excised because Rian wondered if a character’s emotional arc was clear enough in it.

I felt lucky to be able to have a conversation like that at all, and even luckier because Rian was the writer as well as the director. He was aware of some of the challenges I faced in this novelization and was generous about helping me brainstorm them a bit. For instance, there are storytelling elements of The Last Jedi that depend on the visual language of film, such as the Rashomon-style flashbacks to what happened between Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren, and the visual surprise of the reveal after Rey’s experience in the mirror cave – the voiceover lets us know she’s telling her story to someone, but we’re surprised to discover it’s Kylo. How to recreate the surprise of that scene in print was one of the biggest challenges in the book.

The best advice Rian gave me, though, was about tone. He talked about how he’d worked to ensure a sense of fun and adventure in the movie even when it was dealing with tragic events and weighty subjects – the way he put it was “lift, not drag.” I returned to those three words over and over while writing, and tried to leaven the novelisation with fun observations, dialogue and descriptions.

I tried not to bug him too often after our sitdown, though he very kindly made himself available if I had any questions. First he had a movie to finish, and then I figured he really, really deserved a break. But that first conversation had been so productive that I didn’t really need to bug him.

There are many scenes here that never made it into the film - were they primarily your ideas or from Rian?

It was a mix. Before my conversation with Rian I read through six or seven different versions of the script in Lucasfilm’s offices, jotting down scenes and additional dialogue that I thought would enrich and deepen the story.

I’d also drawn up a wish list of extra scenes that hadn’t appeared in any of the scripts. That list included things I wanted to see and ideas that emerged from conversations with my editors. I really wanted to start with Luke before Rey’s arrival, for example, because I saw that as a way to get into his head in a way I knew would be hard to do in the main story, where Rey was the protagonist and Luke was a mystery she was trying to solve. My editor Elizabeth Schaefer and I both agreed we wanted to see Han Solo’s funeral. And I really wanted to have a quiet moment with Rey after the fight with Kylo, a beat that would give us a sense of what she’d learned and how her relationship with the Force had changed.

Before sitting down to write I made a big spreadsheet of the movie’s scenes, including deleted ones and proposed new ones, along with notes about additional dialogue we could use and places we might want to try something different – a minor character’s point of view or a bit of well-chosen lore, for instance. That work yielded a blueprint not just for my book but also for some other projects – we agreed some deleted scenes were better reserved for my friend Michael Kogge’s junior novelisation, for instance.

That blueprint served us well, in part because it was a living document – we were almost to the printers when Michael Siglain and Jennifer Heddle of Lucasfilm Publishing asked for a scene with Leia Organa and Chewie alone in the Falcon’s cockpit, reacting to Luke’s death after their escape from Crait. I knew immediately that I really wanted to write that scene, and it’s one of my favourites in the book.

Whenever I had an idea for a new scene, though, I reminded myself that while I got to write the novelisation, the story was Rian’s. Any new material had to serve Rian’s story – changing that story or burying it in my own stuff was the opposite of what I’d been hired to do. That was a good check on authorial vanity.

How much freedom with the source material did you have? To create your own scenes etc?

Rian was incredibly generous from the start, telling me to use anything in those previous scripts that I thought might fit and trusting me with his story. And I had a big team of smart folks who helped me ensure that I was using that freedom to support the storytelling.

Was there anything you would have liked to have added that Lucasfilm did not allow?

We tried a few things that didn’t work, but it wasn’t that Lucasfilm didn’t allow them. Rather, I’d say the process worked the way I’d hoped it would.

We had placeholders in the “blueprint” for scenes featuring the pilots we saw flying with Poe Dameron in The Force Awakens, the ones who survived the raid on Starkiller Base but aren’t seen in The Last Jedi. We thought it would be fun to explore what mission they’d been given and how it was going. But as I was writing I realised that plotline couldn’t have a payoff. So I made a pre-emptive self-edit and never even wrote them.

Some stuff did get a little further. I knew readers really wanted to know what Luke had been up to since Return of the Jedi – heck, that was a question that I wanted answered myself. So I wrote eight or nine brief scenes – my editor and I called them InterLukes – offering little glimpses of Luke during his decades of trying to understand the Force and his role within it. The InterLukes were fun and explored some cool ideas, but they kept dragging us away from what was already a pretty complex story. Elizabeth wrote me an apologetic email explaining that she didn’t think they belonged in the book and I think was relieved when I instantly agreed with her. I don’t think Lucasfilm ever saw the InterLukes – we knew they didn’t work, so out they went.

Perhaps the most interesting idea we had was to present an alternate version of Rose and Finn meeting the Master Codebreaker. In the first script I read, they find him singing in a cabaret and he enlists them to join a jewel heist, but then he gets captured in ignominious fashion and Rose and Finn are carted off to jail. It’s the same record-scratch moment we get in the film, but with a longer setup.

Rian and I both thought presenting the original version would be fun, and I liked shaking up fans’ expectations for a novelization. So the scene was written that way until the very final weekend of the project. But ultimately, the whole team decided that presenting an alternate version of a major scene was shaking up expectations too much, so we retreated to what you see on-screen.

I’d love to see that alternate scene find a home somewhere, but I think it was the right decision. And I’m glad we arrived at it the way we did: pushing things, then pulling back when we decided we’d gone a bit too far. As a writer, that was so much more fun than playing it safe and essentially transcribing the movie.

Which new scenes are you most proud of?

I loved writing that opening sequence with Luke – it’s a surprise, but one I think is justified once you understand what’s happening and how it echoes the story. I loved all the additional material I got to write for Leia, who’s a character who demands an author’s A-game. It was an honor (and a big responsibility) to be able to explore her connection with the Force, her almost superhuman sense of duty, and the emotional price she pays for that duty.

But lots of little things were fun too – I had a blast writing more rat-a-tat-tat dialogue for Rose and Finn, getting into C-3PO’s rather unique droid brain, and spotlighting characters we might not normally think of as characters at all, such as Poe’s X-wing and the Falcon.

The opening scene with Luke gives an extra sadness to Luke’s character. That must have been super fun to write, dreaming up an alternative future for such a beloved character?

Oh, absolutely!

(Warning: spoilers incoming!)

That was actually an idea I’d been kicking around since the days of the “Legends” books. I wanted to write a short story about a Luke who’d never left Tatooine, but lived out his life in relative peace and complete obscurity… with the reader slowly figuring out that meant evil had triumphed even though it hadn’t touched him. I wanted it to be horrifying, but in a very quiet way.

I couldn’t figure out how to pull it off, though – until I was wrestling with how to start the novelisation with Luke. And then it hit me that my old “quiet apocalypse” story was an interesting echo of what Luke’s done on Ahch-To – withdrawing from a galaxy that desperately needs him. That dovetailed with another idea I’d been playing with, which was that the Force should almost be a character in its own right in the novelisation.

Putting those things together yielded the idea of the Force trying to evade the defenses Luke has set up against it. How would it do that? A dream was the logical answer – dreams are when our defenses are down and our minds are most vulnerable.

And, yes, it gave me a first line that I knew would absolutely not be what readers were expecting. That’s always fun too!

Many people found that the film’s version of Luke was not how they imagined him becoming when they were children. What are your opinions on how Luke turned out? Was that what you always thought was going to happen, or was Rian’s vision completely different?

I loved The Last Jedi. (And if people didn’t, that’s of course totally OK!) But I’d be the first to admit that it’s a challenging, sometimes confounding movie. Among other things, it explores learning from failure, finding self-reliance by discarding mentors, and what you do when your heroic plans go horribly awry. None of those things is what we expect to get when we sit down to see a big popcorn movie.

When I saw some of the negative reactions to the movie, I was surprised. But then I remembered that after I first read the script I’d needed some time to process it too. After some reflection I realized that while The Last Jedi feels initially like a deconstruction of heroic journeys, ultimately it’s a reaffirmation of them. Luke scoffs at Rey’s hope that he’d go out with a laser sword and face down the entire First Order, and in the end that’s exactly what he does. He refuses to train a new Jedi and ultimately does so rather effectively. The Resistance is reduced to almost nothing, but Leia says they have everything they need and that doesn’t feel empty or delusional.

It’s a story you need to sit with a while – that was true for me too. I hope that some of the more skeptical Star Wars fans have gone through the same process I did, this is the right time for them to reconsider the movie, and the novelization might be a way to wrestle with it some more.

To bring it back to Luke, one of my first thoughts after saying yes to the job was, “Oh my God, I’m going to write Luke Skywalker’s death scene.” That was … enormous. I mean, I saw A New Hope when I’d just turned eight years old. I’ve been devouring Luke Skywalker stories for four decades. And now that scene was my responsibility?

When I got to that point in the story the writing actually went pretty quickly – but only because I’d written that scene in my head 20 or 30 times already.

The Last Jedi: Expanded Edition by Jason Fry is published by Century. Out now. (x)

#tlj novelization #jason fry #rian johnson #luke skywalker #long post

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sithlordintraining · 7 years ago

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Grease Au Headcanon (Roles)

A/N: This is FINAL AF!! It’s also 8 in the morning and idky I’m shopping and posting this (because I can't flippin wait!) ’So, I know that in the movie they were Seniors, but for my purposes, they were Juniors and this is their Senior year.

Summary: Good girl Rey Kenobi and greaser Kylo Ren fell in love over the summer. When they unexpectedly discover they’re now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance? OF COURSE, with a little help from their friends and some singing. But that was Junior year, can their love really stand the course of Senior year, college applications, and other teenage problems?

Starring…

Kylo Ren, the respected leader (possible founder) of the Knights of Ren the Hoth High greaser gang. He is also the boyfriend of Rey Kenobi. This bad boy turned softie has a hard time keeping up with his girl, his fellow greasers, school and not to mention life.

Rey Kenobi and her family moved to America from England, after summer vacation. She is also the girlfriend of Kylo Ren. She didn’t become a member of the Pink Ladies because of Rizzo, the leader thinks she’s “too pure.” Yet instead joined the Hoth High’s Golden Apples, a group of well-rounded wholesome guys and dolls.

Armitage Hux is the smooth-faced leader, where he gets his nickname ‘Baby Ass’, of the First Order a gang of bullies and the greaser rivals of the KoR. Though not a Hoth student, it’s more likely he’s a drop-out super senior from Darth Cognus Prep.

Gwendolyn Phasma, the best dancer at DCP (with the worst reputation), Phasma won the dancing competition with Kylo. She is the sultry and flamboyantly attractive (conceited and vulgar) ex-girlfriend of Kylo and is currently with Hux, not to mention a very close friend Reader.

Finn Windu is a high school jock and plays football for the Hoth’s football team. He is very attracted to Rey and although they had one date, she eventually began dating Kylo Ren. But, being Vice President of Hoth High’s prestigious young leaders’ club, The Golden Apples, he has a heart of gold to match.

Poe Dameron, a silly, compassionate, lovable nerd. He is a decent, goofy guy with good looks, good hair and a good head on his shoulders. He is the President of the Golden Apples. Never nasty or cruel, until you cross him the wrong way.

Rose Tico is a cheesy do-good cheerleader, beautiful and highly intelligent. She’s a cheerleader along with Rey, who are both constantly made fun of by the Pink Ladies and the KoR. (Even though Rey has told Kylo to stop his mocking). She’s on the Vice President of Student Council as well as the Secretary of The Golden Apples.

Juney Smith, an amber-eyed rebel with a cause, who just came back from up north. He has the looks, the charm, and the attitude to give Kylo a run for his spot as Hoth High bad boy. But, all is not what it seems behind the faded leather exterior.

Reader a transfer student from DCP, who immediately catches everyone’s eye. Known for her big Defense Attorney father and once Hollywood showgirl mother, she has the face that could launch a thousand ships, the moves that would make Fred and Ginger shiver in their taps and a mouth that only a big city slick talker could keep up with. Can she really fit in with such an ‘animated’ high school, while going through the changes life has in store for her?

Lando Calrissian as a smooth-talking, singer, actor, tv personality. Known as “The Galactic Swagger” because his style is out of this world throughout all his years in show business. Related with politics, showmen, mobsters and beautiful Copacabana showgirls, defined the meaning of “coolness” with his friends, also known as The Smugglers. His televised Variety Show is a favorite of Reader, who watches it religiously. Who happens to be Kylo’ s voice of reason.

P.S.: I’m actually really excited and disappointed in myself. I literally told myself no more series, yet here I am. Also, if you guys have any good ideas for a name because I’m so far stuck between: 1. Tiffany’s, Cars and Rock & Roll, 2. Leather and Charms, 3. Grease & Other Stories. If you have any better ideas PLEASE contact ya girl, anyway good morning!!

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goddamnedamericanjedi · 8 years ago

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Classic Rock Magazine Interview With Sebastian Bach

It wasn’t the greeting that worried me. During the 13 years that I’ve been interviewing Sebastian Bach, there have been a variety of headlocks and bear hugs. Fortunately, today it’s just a super-firm handshake. Although in the past he’s spat huge globules of phlegm across the room to express disgust at certain subjects, and once even called to talk on a mobile phone whilst taking a piss, neither was I overly concerned about the former Skid Row frontman’s behavior during our encounter.

My biggest reservation was how this particular conversation might conclude. Last time we spoke face-to-face, during a press tour for Skid Row’s 1995 album ‘Subhuman Race’, matters concluded prematurely after I stated the journalistic consensus that the album was considerably below par. “We’ll see who’s still doing this in ten years time,” raged Seb with a face like thunder, before booting the back of my chair, storming from the room and cancelling the rest of his interviews for the day.

That decade he referred to isn’t yet up, but thankfully we’re both still here. “What you said back then hurt so much because I considered a writer like you, who’d written a lot of our early press, to represent the British media,” confides Bach while preparing for Classic Rock’s photo session. “It was hard to take, dude.”

The Canadian had joined Skid Row after being spotted jamming at the wedding of photographer Mark Weiss, and a support spot on Bon Jovi’s ‘New Jersey’ tour gave the fledgling quintet their breakthrough.

Unfortunately, Bach’s dark side was soon revealed and he claimed to have “punched the shit out of Jon, decked him on his fat little ass” when a dispute about a contract Skid Row had signed with Bon Jovi’s Underground publishing company was leaked to the press.

Seb’s wild man credentials were further emphasized by a string of antics, some amusing and some irresponsible. He wiped his derriere on a copy of the Daily Star at Docklands Arena (his tackle flying free in the process) and incurred a lifetime ban at Wembley through playing the song ‘Get The Fuck Out’ when warned not to. Even more regrettably, however, he also wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan ‘Aids Kills Faggots’, and in front of MTV’s cameras threw a glass bottle back into a Massachusetts crowd after it had hit him on the head. A female 14-year-old required 125 stitches.

Finally, Skid Row’s patience snapped, and the relative failure of ‘Subhuman Race’ enabled them to dismiss Bach at the end of 1996. The last time he spoke to Classic Rock, in Issue 13, Sebastian claimed to have no idea why he’d been ‘let go’, adding ruefully: “I’ll never understand why we dropped the ball.” Now a solo artist, his 1999 album ‘Bring ‘Em Bach Alive’ has just been reissued, and Bach has a variety of projects on the go.

DL. You’re here for an appearance on the Never Mind The Buzzcocks, the BBC1 game show. Do you know much about British pop music? SB. Ha ha… no. Well, Iron Maiden had a No 1 record, so that’s pop music, right?

DL. So how will you act when they inevitably take the piss, as they did to Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine and Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden? SB. I’ve been on that show twice in America, but the American version flopped - hopefully that wasn’t my fault. I don’t know how a host on British game show could go after me… they’re the retarded ones for paying me $1,800 to come over for 45 minutes work. Dude, everyone says he’s gonna be horrible, but I’ll show him fuckin’ horrible! I can rewrite the fuckin’ level of horrible. I’ll give him a taste of horror.

DL. You recently posted an extremely touching tribute to your father, David Bierk, at your website. Which characteristics good or bad did you inherit from your parents? SB. My dad was a painter who had shows all over the biggest galleries in New York. Elton John, Bon Jovi, Axl Rose and Gene Simmons all bought his paintings. He just let me know that nothing was impossible. My intensity, the way I talk, he made me realize that singing wasn’t a vocational choice, it was a life choice. My only regret is that I’ve been on the road from the age of 13 to now, aged 34, and I missed out on so much family life. I never just got a bowl of popcorn, sat down with my dad and watched the TV. He told me on his deathbed, ‘Everybody in this world is too busy’. I’d say to readers of this magazine, if you’ve got somebody - whether it’s your brother, your mom or sister - just enjoy life with them for just a fuckin’ second, because I look back and God… [trails off].

DL. Since being kicked out of Skid Row in 1996 you’ve spread your wings into TV presenting and appearing in the Broadway versions of Jekyll & Hyde and The Rocky Horror Show. SB. One of my idols, Geoff Tate [of Queensrÿche], keeps calling and asking how I got onto Broadway. The honest truth is that Broadway came to me. I never in a million years thought I’d have the braincells left to memorise the Jekyll & Hyde script. I shit you not, it’s like War And Peace. How it happened was that Jason Flom at Atlantic signed Skid Row in 1987, and Atlantic also has a theatre division. Jason called and said I had the meanest voice and the personality to do it, and believe me when I was Edward Hyde I became Edward Hyde. It was cool music, I swear, some of it’s like ‘Sad Wings Of Destiny’ [the 1976 Judas Priest album].

DL. When a woman in the first row handed you a rose, you bit the head off. Why did you do that? SB. It was my way of saying, ‘I’m on Broadway, but I’m still Sebastian Bach’.

DL. By the time this article is printed, you will be on a year-long US tour playing the lead character in Jesus Christ Superstar. SB. Andrew Lloyd Webber requested a stack of Skid Row CDs, and all my pictures, I swear to God. And he came back and said, ‘Hello, is Jesus Christ there?’, so he made the decision.

DL. Some might say that this is a role you’ve spent your life rehearsing for. SB. [Sounding slightly hurt]: I must be a fucking moron. I never thought you would’ve said that, dude. Sometimes I’m so confused by other people’s perception of me.

DL. Well, they say that you’re an egomaniac. SB. Dude, you have to be on of those to go on stage. What do you want to see, some fucking guy singing [in nerdy, apologetic voice]: ‘We are the youth gone wild’? If I didn’t have my ego I wouldn’t be doing it. I don’t think it’s misplaced though, I hope not. I wake up every day and hope I’m gonna have a great day, be the nicest guy ever. But if someone’s a dick to me, I’m gonna be a fuckin’ dick back to them.

DL. You’re an ass-kicking rock dude from the 80s that’s now playing Jesus. Could you imagine Axl or Vince Neil doing the same thing? SB. Absolutely not, and that’s not a slight against them, Axl has already proved he can’t be on time. I love Axl Rose, but let me get this through everybody’s head: we’re talking eight shows a week for 42 weeks. That’s tough work.

DL. Would you someday like to follow your old rival Jon Bon Jovi into the movies? SB. I don’t differentiate ‘movies’ or ‘Broadway’, what I care about is presenting my fans with something that entertains. And if I’m entertained by it my fans will be, too. So if I got a great film role, yeah, cool.

DL. What do you think of Jon’s acting abilities? And would he work you him in an acting role if the part demanded it? SB. I’ve never seen him really act. There was one movie where he was a pot dealer, and I saw a little bit of that, but he’s a very good actor because he doesn’t smoke pot! I did have acrimony towards Jon for years, but on my Forever Wild TV show I interviewed Tico Torres [Bon Jovi drummer], we played ‘Lay Your Hands On Me’, had a brew at the bar and talked about the old days. All I was ever mad at Jon for was to let me have my own life. That was it. Please, I don’t need someone to hold my fucking hand.

DL. We didn’t get to see your VH1 rock show Forever Wild before it was cancelled back in April. Care to tell us about it? SB. It was kinda obscure, I got to go through the VH1 vaults and pick the videos. We had ‘You Really Got Me’ by Van Halen on the first show, and W.A.S.P.’s ‘I Wanna Be Somebody’… but it was my show!

DL. That explains why it ran for just five months. SB. Yeah, but it was fun. I got to go to Ted Nugent’s 200-acre farm and shoot wild boar, and eat it, of course. I went car racing with Vince Neil and golfing with Tommy Lee. I was in the studio with Rob Halford while he was recording the song ‘Crucible’… waaaaaah! It was 16 episodes, which was twice as long as the [first series of] The Osbournes. Maybe a fifth of the people watched it, but it was a midnight rock show. They offered me another show, at four in the afternoon, but they would be picking the videos and it was cheesy things like Quiet Riot, stuff to laugh at. I will not make fun of heavy metal, or patronize people.

DL. You then resurfaced on - of all things - the Learning Channel’s The New Sideshow, which was described as “a not-for-the-weak-of-heart documentary on today’s more outrageous carnival acts” that included human pincushion The Impaler. Do you do these unusual things to keep you in the public eye, or because you enjoy them? Of course because I enjoy them… doh! Let me offer this piece of advice, I’ve not changed my home phone number since 1989. Never make yourself too inaccessible, it’s good for business when people know where you are. I wake up, press play and it’s, ‘Hey Sebastian, do you want to do this?”… next message, ‘Hey Sebastian, how about this?’ You just have to play the cards that are dealt you, it’s a very different world than it was. I’m in this to sing, so if I can get my voice heard in whatever fashion then that’s what I’ll do. Ozzy is the most famous he’s ever been, not because of his music but because of a fucking TV show. I’m not being flown over to England to sing, I’m being flown over to go on a gameshow. That is fucked. What you also have to consider is that the venues I’ll be playing Jesus Christ in are the same ones that Skid Row headlined for ‘Slave To The Grind’ tour… the Paramount in Seattle, the Fox in Atlanta. But instead of doing one show, I’m now doing eight shows in the same venue. So I’ve finally topped what I did in the past.

DL. C’mon, you must admit you’d rather be coming here to play rock music? SB. I’ve just saw in your magazine that Alex Lifeson says no British promoter wants Rush. Hey, I’ve been asking British promoters since 1996 to come over and they just laugh! I’ve done two full American tours, 104 shows on the first tour, 90 shows on the second, a sold-out tour of Japan. I’m dying to play here, man, but the offers they give me are like… restaurants! Don’t you have to suck first? I’ve never played England and flopped - not fucking once! Thank God for the USA.

DL. You just mentioned The Osbournes. Can you imagine the footage MTV would have got if they’d followed you around in 1992? SB. Ha ha ha, there wouldn’t have been a TV show made out of it. You couldn’t air it. But there seems to be a perception that as soon as we woke up and did drugs and drank, and that’s not true. I never did a show drunk - ever.

DL. Am I right in thinking you’ve cut out most of those antics? SB. I hate that shit, I’ve not done a line [of coke] since 1993. I have no desire to. A part of me still has that personality when I get too sad, when my dad died I was drinking way too much, but just beer. Back in those days everybody was fucking doing it, you were the weirdo if you weren’t.

DL. You were recently involved in what was dramatically reported as “making terroristic threats” to a New Jersey bartender who refused to let you take your drink outside his club, then for having marijuana and rolling papers on you when you were arrested. SB. I’d been shooting an episode of Forever Wild with Vince Neil, who’s always a bad influence on me; they talk about the bad boys of rock, I’m like Queen Elizabeth compared to Vince. But there’s a side of me that can get down and dirty. I was with Vince for a week down on south beach in Miami, waking up each morning and just getting ripped. When I got back to New Jersey, my chick was giving me shit on the phone because she wanted to party with Mötley Crüe. And I was like, ‘Babe, it’s my job, I get paid to party with the Crüe. This is how I feed our kids, so let me party with the Crüe, you stay home and everything’ll be fine’. And she was like, ‘Grrrrrrrrr’. So I go, ‘Fuck you, I’m not coming home’ and tell the limo driver to turn around because we’re going to Broadway. I get a hotel suite and get VH1 to pay for it, order up fucking booze and some other things, and all my friends come over to party. I stayed there for like two days, until she called and was nice to me. It’s a two hour limo drive home and by then I’m so fuckin’ drunk, my chick gives me a little bit of shit. So I take a bunch of Molsons [beers] and walk to this bar, I never drive while drunk. I’ve been going to this bar for 12 years and all these chicks, dudes and businessmen are excited to see me, so then I’m holding court. This guy suggests we go outside and bust a joint, but the bartender says he’s gonna call the police if I take my beer - I told him to go ahead. He fucking rails me, punches me right in the fucking head and I freaked out, so I tackled him around the waist brought him into the one wall, stood on his neck and said, ‘I’ll fucking kill you, mutherfucker’. The whole bar was freaked out, but he threw the first punch. I had a couple of joints in my pocket, so I got busted for marijuana. And the next day’s headline was, ‘Sebastian Bach Busted For Drugs And Terroristic Threats’. Dionne Warwick was arrested for having seven marijuana cigarettes, and I had a joint… someday maybe I can be as wild as Dionne fuckin’ Warwick. What fuckin’ bullshit.

DL. If Skid Row came back to you - and I stress those four words - would you someday agree to rejoin them? SB. It’d all depend on the music, that’s the only reason I joined them in the first place. But Rachel [Bolan, bass] and Snake [guitar] were the best fucking songwriters I ever fuckin’ met, and they just don’t do it anymore. Anyone can go on the internet and find out what happened between me and the guys, just download the Ozone Monday record [make with singer Sawn McCabe]. That was supposed to be the fourth Skid Row record. The reason I’m not singing on it is that it fucking sucks! I mean, Andrew Lloyd Webber or Ozone Monday? Well [chuckles maliciously]…

“Kids think that music is free. My 14-year-old son downloads Arch Enemy and Cradle of Filth songs and I’m the asshole dad who says, ‘Bands worked really hard on those’”

DL. Do you even have any interest in hearing ‘Thick Is The Skin’, the album they’ve made with your replacement, Johnny Sollinger? SB. No. But what fucking year will it come out. Those guys have been saying, ‘We got a whole album done’. Well, let’s fuckin’ hear it. I’m giving you two fucking albums, I’m giving you three fucking musicals, five tours. I’ve got nothing to hide, dude. You may not even like ‘…Bach Alive’, but at least I’m delivering product.

DL. Why do you feel that the band made such a phenomenal early impact, from the Marquee to Hammersmith Odeon in a matter of months? SB. Just the songs and the way we attacked our music. Revolver magazine recently said Skid Row was one of the best metal albums of all time because they played a song like ‘Youth Gone Wild’ like they were playing ‘Angel Of Death’ by Slayer. Would they be so successful now? In the year 2002 kids think that music is free. My 14-year-old son spends all day downloading Arch Enemy and Cradle of Filth and I’m the asshole dad who has to say, ‘You shouldn’t be making those CDs, those bands worked really hard on those’. He looks at me like, ‘What the fuck is your problem?’ I get like emails that say, ‘Sebastian, I went to five shops looking for ‘Bring ‘Em Bach Alive’ and couldn’t find it, but I downloaded it and it fucking rocks, dude’. One the one hand I wanna go, ‘Thanks man’, and on the other hand I wanna hold my head in my hands, but everybody’s in that same situation.

DL. So you were in agreement with Lars Ulrich on the Napster issue? SB. Oh, definitely. I even did this CD called ‘Bach To Basics’ because somebody told me to go onto Napster and when I saw what Sebastian Bach stuff was available I almost fuckin’ committed suicide. The whole The Last Hard Men CD was there, before I even fuckin’ played it for my friends. So I ripped my own CD off Napster and now I sell it on the web.

DL. The last time we were in a room together you lost your temper in a row over ‘Subhuman Race’. Can you now stand back a bit and understand why fans felt it wasn’t as good as the first two? SB. Yeah, but how can a writer say what a record should sound like when they’re not even in the band? What I find humorous is that nobody liked that record, but 12 years later we’re still talking about that fucking record. When I hear ‘Subhuman Race’ now I hear more Bob Rock [producer], because he did the same thing as he did on Metallica’s ‘Load’. He changed things. I remember him saying, ‘Everybody knows you can scream, Sebastian’, and suggesting I sing like Scott Weiland [of Stone Temple Pilots]. Why don’t you just take a thoroughbred racehorse and hit him on the fuckin’ kneecap with a baseball bat? I do like that album, but it’s not a fun record. ‘Youth Gone Wild’ was fun.

DL. Let’s imagine you can go back in time and change three events in your life. If you don’t mind, I’d like to guess that they would be: a) signing away such a large percentage of your royalties to Jon Bon Jovi, b) the bottle-throwing incident and c), not having hit Jon harder. Am I right? SB. Awww, I have more good memories of Bon Jovi than bad ones now. I’ve bashed Jon relentlessly in the past, but I don’t feel that way any more. When I think of those times when I was touring with Bon Jovi and living at his house for two weeks… okay, maybe the deal we signed wasn’t the most equitable of all time, but it’s possible that if we hadn’t, you might never have heard of me. And I respect his tenacity in an industry that devours its young and old alike. So to answer your question… I did wear a really ridiculous T-shirt, and I can’t believe I’m bringing it up again, but it was really rotten, really stupid. And the bottle throwing thing, yeah, I’d change that. Then again, if somebody cracks you in the head with a bottle, what do you do? You ain’t thinking rationally. If somebody hit me with a bottle in the head again I’d probably knock the fuck right out of them.

DL. You even turned down Playgirl? SB. Twice. I already get known for things other than my voice, like my hair or going to jail or whatever, and I want to be known as a singer. That means more to me than anything.

Apart from your Broadway activities, what’s the delay in following up ‘Bring ‘Em Bach Alive’? Atlantic Records signed me in 1987 and they still have first right of refusal [on my work]. ‘Bring ‘Em Bach Alive’ has the Atlantic logo and the Spitfire logo because Atlantic technically owns Sebastian Bach, and they license to certain territories where Atlantic didn’t put it out - including Britain, because Mary Hooton, my great friend, fucking rejected the fucking record.The next record will be done when it’s done. I want to deliver a product that’ll get the proper exposure; I don’t want it coming out three years later in one country than another. I’m doing it, but the fans have to realise how the internet has taken the wind out of the sails of the music industry. There’s always trepidation and anticipation about delivering a CD in this climate.

DL. How do you think you’ll feel aged 65 with 'Youth Gone Wild' tattooed on your arm? SB. I’ll just get “I was the” tattooed on my bicep. Right up here, dude. I got that space reserved.

P.S. Dave says...

Larger than life and twice as unpredictable, Sebastian Bach has now been out of Skid Row since 23rd December, 1996, the day that co-founding guitarist Dave ‘Snake’ Sabo sacked him after receiving a torrent of hate in answerphone form. The parting of ways between singer and the New Jersey band had been a long time coming. Notorious for short-fuse temper as for chiseled cheekbones and multi-octave voice, Bach drove the group’s instrumentalists mental but was accommodated by the rest of Skid Row for as long as their patience would stand. Post-Skids, Bach hasn’t exactly stuck to the traditional route. He acted in the musical versions of Jekyll & Hyde and Jesus Christ Superstar and went on to appear in various TV shows, though age and luvviedom have failed to mellow him. Sebastian recently completed a whirlwind tour of the UK and a new album – his first set of all-new solo material – is due next year. (17th December, 2004)

#Sebastian Bach #Skid Row #The Bazmanian Devil #interview

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