#so I always thought that the whole red hood thing made sense beyond the conflict between jason and bruce

[hedgehogcryptid]

I've seen a couple times that Jason's utrh caracterization doesn't make much sense with his previous characterization, but I think it fits?

Maybe I'm blowing two instances out of proportion, but at least the aspect of "damage control by controlling crime" made sense after Judy and Gloria.

Judy kills a serial killer and rapist in defense of herself and as justice for her sister after the man avoids a prision sentence. Jason agrees with her, even if Bruce corrects him about it. Batman failed, as did the system as a whole, so it makes sense that she felt the need to take matters into her own hands.

Then Gloria happened. Or Garzonas happened to Gloria. And, again, Batman can't do anything about the legal system dropping the ball. Only this time the victim's way of self-protection is suicide.

Because not everyone is strong enough to save themselves from others. They shouldn't have to.

So what I was trying to say is that Red Hood is Judy's knife

[redantsunderneath]

On Analysis - Introduction (the “why” part)

“He had the feeling that everything he saw was a broken-off piece of some giant blank thing that he had forgotten had happened to him.” ― Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood

Maybe some broader personal context would help understating why in god’s name I write shit about how Age of Ultron is a remake of Eraserhead and Marvel crossovers are inherently about self hating creatives going to war with editorial. Like everyone else, I love a well told story but want to be surprised - seeing Star Wars is still the single biggest event in my life in supercharging my interest in narrative art.  But from early on, I had this left brain/right brain conflict going on. I was super interested in details and loved anything that required getting all the pieces to understand (that one episode of Speed Racer where they explain all the buttons I only saw once but I must have excitedly told everyone in the schoolyard about it 2 or 3 times) and I’ve always been down for the even the shittiest world-building that makes you dig for details (maybe this why Star Wars’ gesturing at a larger canvas lit my fuse so hard and how my introduction to Marvel comics became the second stage rocket booster 3 years later - see my retropseudonostalgia post). This also is probably common, especially here.

But it’s the right brain impulse became an overriding unconscious attractor. I saw The Man with the X-Ray eyes very young and had some serious nightmares, but mostly remember actually wanting to recapture that dread.  This became a pattern.  Anything that unsettled me or made me feel weird, my brain interpreted as a good experience. 1977 was a real flashpoint for me: Star Wars, sure, and 8 is the right age for Thanatos to start haunting you, but I also got super fucking sucked in to the Prisoner and imprinted on BBC’s Dracula (especially the baby eating scene where I remembered the brides actually eating the baby on camera until the clip showed up on YouTube and, turns out, it was just a cut to a flame effect and the baby eating was all in my and Q anon’s head). The thing that unites these later two is a the feeling of Unheimliche, or something - a sort of out of body experience due to transgressive touching of something in the reptile brain, recognizable but hard to formulate in language.  

Again, not saying this is an unusual experience, but I sought after this diencephalonic impact aggressively and spent years chasing this particular dragon before I figured out what I was doing. Rank and file horror didn’t cut it because I wanted not only to feel it but to understand what it was telling me and doing to me, to wrestle with it, so needed to something resonant to be there. Kubrick’s one neat trick was having an entirely rational approach to relentlessly assembling this kind of ineffable experience… depth of meaning by design.  I think Christopher Nolan is only popular because we have so few architect directors today so we’ll take a B- stab at it (though the thematic waters he sails on are a bit shallow). This is what I was doing receptively, wanting to cognitively reverse engineer the texts that moved me and autopsy my reaction .  There were elements the things that got to me had in common - there was an existential abjection that felt like a kind of rapture, a transgressive daring in showing me something I shouldn’t see, a experience of Mark Fisher’s version of the weird and/or the eerie, but most of all a feeling that there was a story underneath there being told in an abstract language that I innately understood but my conscious mind couldn’t quite get to.

On the other side of my brain, I was sparring with narrative structure and was captivated by the way periodical narrative produced this fuzziness and that trashy or disreputable forms were better at doing some really complex things. After a late 70s of consuming everything I could, like sitcoms no-one remembers, 1930s and 40s franchise B movies, Godzilla, ABC hourlongs (it was the time that Fantasy Island and the Bionic Woman strode the airwaves), etc - just absolute garbage - Comics hit me in 1980 and hijacked my brain for half a decade.  This mostly satisfied that architectural impulse, though, and the need for the uncanny reasserted itself as a shifting obsession to pop/rock music, “hard” books, and catholic moviegoing (and I guess some of that right brain stuff is intrinsically libidinous and the pubertal timing seems right).  

My childhood book consumption till 77 was all atlases, history, and encyclopedias.  77 to 83 it was SF/Fantasy.  The one work of fiction I strongly remember as a small child was There’s a Monster at the End of this Book which is a work of absolute intersubjective terror that implicates the crap out you - I never bought the ending and saw it as a necessary contrivance to make it OK for kids but I repeatedly endangered Grover anyway, enjoying the transporting dread, and learned meta in Kindergarten as a bonus! But in 1984 (during the Sarajevo Olympics, that’s etched in my brain) I read Moby Dick, which was my first formative struggle with understanding subliminal story.  I was already in love with symbolism and conversant with nuts and bolts MFA program bullshit, as any ironically pretentious HS student would be, but reading that and writing about it and other “tough” books (especially the next year in Junior English where I learned to write, full stop) taught me I could think about this stuff and hold these abstractions in my head long enough to see what was happening under the waterline.

Movies really dominated the late 80s, though, and I became obsessed with everything from the Godfather to Die Hard, but I was only just peaking under the hood, until the left brain brought me back to TV and and thinking about narrative structure.  Twin peaks (and Wild at Heart) made me a real Lynch fan and I sensed what I sought was in that direction, but it wasn’t until I watched the whole show and movie in one weekend in 1997 that I had my conversion experience. Moby Dick opened the door a bit, but that weekend kicked it in.  My first real resource for understanding (other than HS English, a couple of hits of acid, and dorm room bull sessions with sort of smart people) was alt.tv.twin-peaks where there were many amateur scholars trying to understand the red room and above the convenience store scenes, complete with ascii maps.  

The final inciting event was Inland Empire.  The thing about David Lynch that is so perfect for my hobbyhorses is that he works within a scene entirely intuitively, connecting to really primordial stuff, and puts everything together by “painting” with feelings instead of paint, never thinking about it, just knowing when it’s right. But he usually works with a writer and editor who helps shape everything into something at least fitfully comprehensible for someone wanting to follow the surface story. You get the general idea and can meditate on the areas that are clearly not “real” in some sense and require either aesthetic surrender or a lot of thought and one hell of an interpretive toolkit - you can see the frame even if you don’t understand every bit of the picture.  Inland Empire, which he made with no other behind the camera people, is pretty much all the mind-blowing bits with very little skeleton, an abstract painting with no frame. This forces you, if you want to understand in any way beyond just enjoying the moments viscerally, to effort like hell.  The project of this for me, the reason I started this Tumblr, was using the internet for procuring and learning to use interpretive tools and, in so doing, writing my way to constructing an understanding of this one movie.  As a result, my approach to all narrative art was changed.  I figure it is time to unpack this into a framework and try to recall the specific things that helped me get here.

[kalico-to-the-letter]

REVIEW // RWBY | 6.2 | “UNCOVERED”

AKA the moment when all the slashfic writers remember that these girls are still only in their mid-to-late teens. Awkward.

Welcome in to my review of Volume 6, Chapter 2, entitled “Uncovered”. 

In this episode: Confirmation for the great sages of the fandom who’ve seen promotional material, Why the magic lamp is a magic lamp, and A stupid new character.

Ah, this was fun. See, if this were my show, I would be digging deep into the “female who is mostly attracted to women” bag to write a scene like this. But it holds up on its own, I think.

SOME BIG THINGS BEING UNCOVERED, IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN … SORRY

When was the last time any singular episode of RWBY posed so many questions of its primary narrative without a whole lot happening? Maybe at some point in Volume 4, but the show now is in a very different place compared to those days.

I would have to estimate that about eighty percent of this episode is spent on providing exposition for the heroes’ story, whether it be on what our crew of protagonists are attempting to do by taking the Relic (of Knowledge) to Atlas, what the Relic (of Knowledge) even does, or why everyone agrees this is a good idea. My initial thought is: “Gee, it would have been nice to have had this information earlier, and delivered in a smoother way than just heaping it on my plate”.

It’s not a negative though, not entirely. Yes, the delivery of information in this episode could have been better, but everything makes sense, for the most part. And even though, as always, it hinges on “let’s do this because Oz says we should”, this episode progresses in a way which cements Oz as the self-righteous, holier-than-thou dick I personally have come to see him as, ever since he inhabited the body of Oscar.

Not even a year ago, this show was constantly excusing Oz’s mystery and complete lack of transparency as just being a necessary thing – part of the deal. That way when he did engage and share with us, it made him seem like he wasn’t just navel-gazing, but actually digging deep. So it makes me satisfied to see that the show – and Team RWBY – are finally having enough of his bullshit. Bonus points to Ruby, for planting her flag and being decisive in this situation as well.

It is through this continued attachment and dedication to character that RWBY gets away with quite a lot, in fact. Exposition is far more interesting when it is tied to potentially conflicting character dynamics, and setting Team RWBY against bullshitting allies like Oz, who claim that they know what is best without actually contributing the depth of that knowledge, is an underrated way to define the collective personality and identity of the newly-reunited team.

The other twenty percent of this episode is spent on Cinder.

Yes, I know we saw her silhouette in the season poster, and we’ve seen her traipsing around streets as a mysterious, unidentified figure in the opening, but understand that there are so many ways to handle the non-death and return of a fairly major character. And the fact of the matter is that while yes, it was fairly obvious to everyone that has seen the promotional material, this is – for the most part – one of the better ways to bring her back into the fold.

What would you rather have? Her showing up as a complete anticlimax twist near the endgame of the season all of a sudden? Or would you rather have an actual story?

If your answer is a story, then this is one way you do it: bring her back early.

And consider this: Rooster Teeth know that we would have seen through the silhouettes and the hooded cloaks – it is the easiest thing to connect that mystery to Cinder, and it’s one they would have thought about. Otherwise, why even put the silhouette in the poster, or the mystery figure in the opening? They didn’t have to do any of that, and who knows? We might have asked the question if Cinder could come back, but none of us “figured it out” until we saw these promo materials, and then people started acting like they knew for certain, all along. But Rooster Teeth did make those choices, and it’s worth thinking about what that could mean. Why put her in shadow? Why have her walking around in a cloak?

Easy answer: Because (hopefully) it’s not the same old Cinder.

If you’re a long-time reader of these reviews (and bless you if you are), then you know that for the longest time, I was on Cinder Will Turn Good Island. I finally set sail from that island toward the end of last season, when she revealed her lovely Grimm-infused arm. I figured that was it for my idea, and I didn’t really consider it again until this episode.

And I’m not going back to that idea of a Zuko-esque hero turn, necessarily. At the core of their respective characters, the parallel doesn’t fit. But I am considering going back to the crux of that idea, which was of Cinder’s potential as a general wildcard. What if she split from Salem, and not to join the heroes, but to walk a new road as an anomalous, morally grey character?

That idea on its own is kind of what I had hoped for Raven last season, until she turned out to be the most blah and boring “important” character in the show’s history.

But with Cinder, someone who we’ve seen since Day One, I still think it has legs. During that time, she has become more and more of an antagonist, more crazed and sinking – until she literally was sunk. And this episode doesn’t cast her off the bat as anyone different than what we remember. She still (presumably) kills an innocent woman for her clothes, and still seems to be on the hunt for Starship Hero.

But like I said. You bring her back early, and you get the chance to see her story in full. I have great interest in how they handle this.

OBSERVATIONS:

I’ve seen her referred to as Steampunk Granny, but she now has a name: Maria. Let’s see if this character is any good or not.

Hey, remember that blonde lady from the new opening? Yep, hello, Salem. Just from how this ending came together, you know that Oz is going to get it in very short order. And hopefully that drives him to be better, because he is still important to the cause. 

A mystical entity springing from a Magical Lamp has the name of “Jinn”? This show is the opposite of slick with some of these names.

I cannot be the only one who thinks “Lil’ Miss Malachite” is already a terrible character. For one thing, she already comes off as such a blatant rip-off of Game of Thrones’s Varys that it’s laughable. Spiders, really? 

Beyond the mismanagement of Cinder herself, this element could threaten all the good stuff I wrote about above. When you put a character like Cinder in this position, separating her from her past tethers, you don’t need to introduce artificial stakes to make her story interesting – it becomes interesting on its own. It’s what’s called a “burgeoning subjectivity”, and it’s essentially when the focal character puts herself in positions to reflect and grow as a result of how she interacts with others and the world around her. Organic, reflexive development. But this Malachite woman already has all the red flags of being a hammy, cartoonish chess master with hammy, cartoonish goons, brought in just so that Cinder has some kind of foil to go up against. I know that a writer thought this direction would be a good idea, but that’s just what this character comes off as: a writer’s C-grade, clumsily-written pawn, here to threaten something that could be really good for Cinder’s development. If it ends up that I’m jumping out the window on this, then I’ll hold my hands up. But I’ve seen (and done) enough bad, bald-faced writing to know when it’s rearing its head. Consider yourself warned.

It’s weird, isn’t it, to actually see the Team RWBY girls confronted with such a … figure … as Jinn. And I know, part of their shock comes from seeing such a magic entity appear before them … but these girls in the show are old enough to understand what Jinn, just visually, represents. And if you don’t believe me, then just look at how that scene is cut together – close-ups of big-blue body parts cut against their reaction faces … mm-hm. You don’t have to be a film student to see the connotations in practice.

GRADE: C+

“Uncovered” is the heaviest episode of RWBY – in terms of delivering exposition and driving the overarching plot – in quite some time. But if last week’s premiere was “all-killer, no-filler”, this is very much the other side of the spectrum, as we learned a fair amount, but didn’t really go anywhere. Still, there are a number of bright spots, such as Oz being exposed in the eyes of Team RWBY, and the return and potential solo storyline of Cinder. All in all, there are enough character hooks to stay intrigued, but right now the bones and mechanics of the writing are too visible to be entirely comfortable. – KALLIE

[disney-princess-ehlena]

The Language of Flowers

There are not many simple matters in life, and when two opposing forces clash, the aftermath creates an unrecognizable world for all.  Rey Kenobi had witnessed this crucial life truth from a young age.  Her grandfather, Obi-Wan, reigned over the collective surrounding territories until his ward rose up and took control over a significant portion of the galaxy through force and fear.  

After gathering a substantial amount of support from frustrated and hungry citizens who felt that their needs were being neglected, Anakin Skywalker took their force along with a new name.  From the smoke and ashes of a divided republic came Darth Vader and his disciples, and so began a war that spanned over three generations.

Looking out over the sparse gardens that once sheltered blooms of daisies and calla lillies, Rey was saddened to see the brown earth so barren.  Her mother used to tend to the flowers, but with Lady Kenobi's death came a dry spell of its own.  No longer was Rey able to confide in another woman, nor in her own father.  Both of her parents had been taken by this pointless conflict, which left Rey in a difficult position as of today.  

A slightly muted knock came at the door, alerting Rey of her incoming assistance.  "Come in," she called, still looking out the window.  In came an older brunette holding both arms full of cloth and ribbons.  "Good morning, Elise."

"Good morning, m'lady."  Elise curtsied as Rey came over, taking the garments from her maid's hands.  "How are you feeling today?"  The melancholy expression on the princess' face spoke volumes, and Elise clamped her lips together.  "Shall we get you dressed?"

"I suppose it would be best to get this over with."  Rey shed her sleeping gown and started to don her finery.  She gave a little chuckle when she realized what her outfit looked like in the light.  "Grandfather will love the color of this dress."  Elise smiled mischeviously at her mistress.

"I do hope so.  The last time this was worn, your mother was publicly announcing her engagement.  I hope this arouses a sense of hope just as it did that day."  Rey smiled through tears toward her haidmaiden.

"Thank you for putting so much thought into it.  So much rides on the events of today, and it's a bit stressful in and of itself."

"If you put as much effort into making a better kingdom as you worry about, I'm sure we'll all be fine.  Come now, let's get your hair and face completed."  Elise took Rey's hands and guided her over to turn a sweet princess into a regal queen.

Elise had stepped away to retrieve a bottle of perfume when another knock came at the door.  She answered the call and came back over to the vanity holding a large bouquet of flowers.  "For you, m'lady."  Rey looked in the mirror and stared at the reflection in wide-eyed awe.  

"That's the biggest one yet."

"Who do you suppose they're from, if I may ask?"  Rey took them from Elise's arms and examined them.

"To be honest, I'm not sure.  They've always been different combinations.  I thought they were from Finn when I first started receiving them because there were asters, carnations and gladious blooms.  But the more I get, the more I wonder."  Rey twisted the bouquet in her hands, looking at the selection for this occasion.  "Hmm... my shadowy friend decided to send white gardenias, yellow daffodils, red amaryllises, and red and blue roses.  What is the message this time, Elise?"  The handmaiden looked a bit baffled as she recited her knowledge of flower lore.

"White gardenias mean that the receiver is lovely, as well you are.  But they can also mean a secret love.  Red amaryllises are a sign of worth beyond beauty.  Yellow daffodils stand for new beginnings and rebirth, such as your engagement today.  Unfortunately, they can also represent unrequited love, although I don't think this is the case if they're from Finn.  The strangest part is the roses."  Elise's brow furrowed as she studied the collection.

"Why is that?"  Rey began inspecting the roses for some type of blemish or strange symbol.

"By usual standards, red roses are the symbol for passion and love.  Their deep color is the perfect way of reflecting deep emotions, but the blue roses..."  Elise walked away to retrieve a bottle of perfume.  As she came back to stand in front of Rey, she wore a look of worry on her face.  

"M'lady,  I don't think the flowers are from Finn.  Blue roses cannot be attained naturally.  They are a symbol of unattainable love and mystery, and they convey the message of not being able to have an object of affection."  Rey felt her eyebrows knit together in confusion, but words failed her.  "Would you like me to alert the royal guard to stay closer for the festivities?"

"That shouldn't be necessary.  If this person was going to harm me, they've had more than a handful of ample opportunities.  I can handle this."  Rey laid the bouquet on her vanity and pulled out a single blue blossom, threading it through her hair to test a theory.  "Now, we have a celebration to attend. Let's finish this costume and be on our way."

Hiding in a crowd had always been the easiest way to observe and take notes.  Some things, such as that universal fact, would never change.  Pulling his hood up securely over his head, Kylo Ren made his way into the sea of bodies.  Everyone had dressed in their finery to celebrate the upcoming nuptials of their princess and some publicly unknown... well, the word 'gentleman' could be a bit too kind depending on who the man was.  

Casting a silent spell to make himself a bit more inconspicuous, Kylo walked to the front of the gathering and pulled a single red rose from his cape.  

She would have to notice this way.  One of the reasons he liked her was because she was smart enough to figure out things like this.

Sending up a prayer that she wouldn't do anything drastic in front of the guards, he waited for her like the rest of her obedient subjects.

The moment was quickly approaching for her speech, and although she was practiced in the art, Rey still felt herself growing nauseous.  Elise stood by her side, rubbing up and down her arms gently.  "Don't worry m'lady, this is just the same type of public appearance you do all the time.  Breathe, and don't trip over your feet."  Rey started sweating a bit more at that piece of advice.

"May I present my granddaughter, Princess Reyne Alena Edlyn Kenobi."  Rey stepped forward and waved with a broad smile toward her subjects.  Obi-Wan stepped politely to her left side, applauding with the crowd at her arrival.  Through the noise, she could feel a significant spiritual pull through the crowd, but she couldn't pinpoint from where.  It was strong enough to steal her breath away, but thankfully, the audience paid no mind.

Once the applause began to grow quiet, Rey cleared her throat and started to speak, gathering confidence as she went.  

"My loyal subjects, it has been a long and hard road to building a better society for all.  Some said it couldn't be done, but my grandfather and I have worked tirelessly to achieve this current point of success.  Our work is not yet complete, but what we have done, we could not have done without the help of each of you.  Patience, understanding, and a hunger for a better life are elements that drive our beautiful kingdom to places that we have not seen in decades."  

A loud rallying cry echoed off the wooden platforms holding Rey and her family above the crowd.  Encouraging her to continue, Obi-Wan smiled and motioned with his hands.

"The success of a leader depends largely on surrounding support systems.  I watched my mother and father, your queen and king, prepare for a future they never got to witness.  My own coronation is quickly approaching.  In honor of this momentous occasion, I would like to introduce to you Prince Finn Thelcar, future king consort of Takodana.  We share a public announcement of our engagement as of today with the people who have made our kingdom the dream we wished."  

Rey reached her arm out to the right wing of the stage, signaling for him to join her.  He walked out nervously, waving toward the citizens with a tentative smile on his face as the audience applauded.  His navy blue coat accentuated her own powder blue dress, and all she could think was that although she didn't quite love him, they could be a power team for her country's future.  Rey's nerves had gotten the best of her over the past few weeks, trying to figure out how to love a man that felt more like family than a husband.  Watching as he addressed her... no, their kingdom, she felt a bit of hope.  Maybe they could learn how to love and take care of each other, together.

Looking out over the crowd, Rey felt the same spiritual pull from the beginning of her speech.  Her eyes scanned across all the bodies, unable to gather a specific location once again.  Feeling a bit defeated, she started to look back at Finn but saw a tall, cloaked figure standing in the front of the crowd.  It appeared to be a hooded man holding a single red rose, staring her down as though he intended to devour her whole.  Tearing her attention away before she displayed her fear, she turned back to her future husband and listened as he ended the speech to her subjects.

Once the public speech was finished, Rey and Finn made their way to the reception area.  All the dignitaries were waiting for them to make their entrance, arm in arm, as was expected.  Rey smiled at Finn, knowing that he was still a bit nervous.  "You can always imagine them naked," she whispered in his ear.

"I think that would be a bad idea for a number of reasons, peanut."  His childhood nickname had stuck with them through time, reminding her of simpler days.  They made their way to the other side of the room, taking a seat on the thrones her parents had sat in when she was a child.  Nostalgia was a strong theme today; she had prepared for that inevitability.  "So what do we do?"

"We watch our people, even if this isn't an accurate representation of all, and we provide a soundboard tonight.  Everything tonight is just mainly for show and practice, for now.  Grandfather will take of the urgent matters while we get to know the people."  There was a moment of comfortable silence between the two of them as they watched the mingling and elbow-rubbing.  "Sorry for forgetting, but I meant to thank you for the flowers earlier.  They were beautiful."  Finn looked at her in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"The bouquet you sent me earlier today.  I thought you'd see the rose in my hair and be happy."  His eyes shot to the flower she wore and grew wide.

"I wish I had thought to get you flowers, but I was so nervous that I forgot.  There's no way to obtain a rose that color anyway, I wouldn't know how..."  Rey's face fell, turning her smile into a frown.  "Rey, are you okay?  Is someone stalking you?"  She stood suddenly, face contorting into determination.  

"I'm fine.  I'm going to take a walk, I'll be back shortly."  Finn stood to escort her, but she waved him back down.  "This is something I need to do myself."  Placing a chaste kiss on his cheek, she smoothed out her skirts.  "Trust me, I'll be back in a few moments.  I have to check out something, and I have a feeling I need to do it by myself."  Leaving him standing alone in front of their thrones, Rey made her way to the side doors of the ballroom.

So many pointless discussions were being held by people who thought themselves significant for no reason.  Coming to these events always made Kylo sick at his stomach.  It might help if they hadn't cast him out of "normal" society, but perhaps the solitude had been beneficial.  His skills had grown tenfold since he was a teenager.  Watching his mother being sent to live in a different land than himself had given him just the appropriate push to overtake these... commoners.

As much as he hated himself, he couldn't stay away from town.  This princess, average as she appeared, had caught his attention.  She may not be aware of it right now, but they shared something.  That certain something that had sent himself and his mother into exile.  He intended on telling her tonight, but he would have to get her away from the crowd, and that man who had been declared her consort this afternoon.  

The sound of clicking heels was his signal to hide behind the shrubbery once more.  Patience was indeed a virtue, but it was starting to feel a bit tiresome.

Cool, fresh air hit Rey's face with a bit of force, calming her anxious nerves.  Entertaining a high number of bodies was never the kind of event she enjoyed, especially with such a snooty crowd.  She had learned how to properly communicate with counts and duchesses, but the desire to gossip and demonstrate the power of wealth and standing was lacking in her personality.

Unweaving the blue rose from her curls, she examined it with a shrewd stare.  If Finn hadn't been sending her these careful arrangements...

"I see you found my blossoms."  Rey jumped back away from the man in black.  He seemed to have appeared from nowhere, quiet as a mouse.  

"Who are you?"  She watched as he moved toward her in small steps as though he were afraid of spooking her.  

"Your family cast out my own.  But I'm sure you wouldn't remember the lore of the Skywalkers."  His tone had turned hard and bitter as he continued to speak.  "Your grandfather turned out mine, leaving him to wallow in the filth and cold, while he was never made to suffer."

"Anakin.  Your grandfather was Darth Vader?"  Rey's hand jerked to her mouth in realization.  

"One and the same." ��The dark man walked toward her, enclosing her between himself and the wall.

"All I have to do is scream and the guards will come looking for me."  Sweat beaded across her forehead and neck, sliding down her spine.

"I don't mean you harm.  But I'm glad to see that you're enjoying my gifts."  He reached for the rose in her hand, pulling the red one from his cloak as well.  Intertwining them, the man reached for a curl and weaved both the roses into her hair.  "I had hoped you'd notice me in the crowd today."  Rey's eyes grew large as she recognized the spiritual pulse from earlier.  

"You need to leave, now.  Mages aren't allowed in the land anymore."  She tried to run around him and found herself encaged by his arms.  

"Not since the Kenobi's banished us.  But no worries, I don't hold past transgressions against you."

"Then what do you want?"  He traced a hand down the side of her face, leaving electric sparks in the wake of his glove.  

"To give you a bit of information, and to make an offer."  He stood back and allowed her to step away from the wall.  She watched him with caution as he looked through the door with narrowed eyes.  "The man you have chosen to govern this country with, this Finn character, he's not an adequate partner for you."

"What would you know about the House of Thelcar?"  He walked back toward her with a devious smile shining from under his hood.

"I know that they are not yet aware of your magical powers," he whispered into her ear, eliciting a gasp.

"How did you..."

"Not here, and not now."  

"If not now, then when?  And how would I find you anyway?"  Rey crossed her arms and craned her neck, trying to get a better look at the man who seemed to know so much about her personal life.  He turned away and pretended to ignore her question.

"People will tell you to stay away from me, but you, of all people, having nothing to fear from Kylo Ren.  Come find me when you're ready for a teacher."

"How do I find you?!"  She came running up behind him, realizing that he was preparing to leave.

"You're a smart girl, you'll find a way."  When Kylo turned to face her, he wore a sideways smirk.  His expression momentarily left her breathless and a bit unaware of her surroundings.  When she came to, Kylo was standing directly in front of her.  "Just call out to me in your mind and I'll find you."  He pressed his lips gently on her's and felt as she tensed for a moment, then relaxed and closed her eyes as if he were an old friend.  When she opened her eyes, Kylo had vanished into thin air.

Rey touched her lips with tentative fingers, knowing that she wouldn't be able to rest until she knew more about this Kylo Ren figure.