#stay positive tros will be epic

[krawalito]

Pep talk (be carful might include spoilers)

there is a lot of negativity floating around in our relyo community and i think y'all need some pep talk.

first of all stop giving leaks too much credit. anyone can post leaks and can call them legit. i can, you can. just bc its called a leak doesn't mean its legit. if you read them don't let them consume you. 

1. watch the movies again, what are they telling us? what do you see? that is what you need to concentrate on. not promos or media or merch. its the movies and anything else which is canon. comics, novels etc. i am saying this bc all the promo and merch is not created for reylos only or any other SW fandom group, its made for the GA which is still the majority of people watching the movie. so you see all kind of things in those promos. fighting reylo is one of them. they want to give hints to anyone so that all kind of people want to watch the movie.

2. ben solo will die. well yes, there is a possibly but how high are the chances? pretty low from my perspective. and here is why. Chris terrio said, the movie has a conclusion but it can continue? something like that i don't recall the exact wording. what does that mean? there is a high chance that DLF wants to keep another sequels door open. not just the same universe or another universe, these plans are already there. no he is referring to this saga. how can this saga continue in the future? def with rey and most likely with ben. how? well that depends on their creativity but there is the possibility of a Solo Saga, which means there will be Solo Babies. which means they make love and they can only make love if ben survives bc i highly doubt we will see them hooking up in TROS before he dies. and again there is a chance that the story continues with rey only. chances are there. but very low from my perspective. i would rather watch another Skywalker/solo SW movie than a rey based story i am totally honest here. 

3. ben solo will die. the problem is that many people just look at it from Bens perspective. if you look at it from his perspective he might die, yes. it will be tragic yes. but will it only be tragic for his own character or is there more? what does this mean for Rey? what is it what the force awakens tells us about rey? the belonging she seeks (a family) is not behind her, it is ahead. whomever (she thinks Luke, we all know it wasn't him, bc he did not really come back. he died) you are waiting for on Jakku, they are never coming back. but there is someone who still can. well she is not talking about palatine here either. there is only one person who needs to come back. Ben Solo. what did we learn about her in the last Jedi? that her greatest weakness are her parents and that she needs to let the past die. why is this so important? again bc she has to find her belonging which is lying ahead. if ben solo returns, which he does (i'll come back to this one) and dies after all what exactly were the movies telling us? what exactly did rey get? NOTHING! this arc is too important to be left aside. Rey wants a family and if she is not nobody and has a family indeed we will not connect with it bc there was no proper built up. apart from rey we also have Leia. i want Leia to have at least one happy moment before she dies. she lost so much. her parents, her brother, her husband and her son. it would leave me brokenhearted to see her arc ending like that. women suffered so much in this saga. i don't want to be tortured when i see TROS. 

4. and for all the reylos who still doubt bendemption. this is 100% happening. palp will try to seduce rey. he will bait her with her parents and the question who they were and where they are (this is my head canon) we saw that in the last Jedi. that was one of the core themes in that movie. she is still looking for answers. with this being said and to keep in mind what i have written above there is absolutely no other way for ben solo to turn. he will save or team up with rey because he loves her. its very simple actually. he loves her. love has a lot of power and can move mountains.

5. there is another very important theme throughout the sequels. NO ONE IS REALLY EVER GONE! keep that in mind. 

6. i do not follow leaks but it was hard to avoid them. however i want to give my five cents to two of them. Rey takes the name Skywalker in the end. okay??? why? what's the benefit? what's the story here? Daisys interview yesterday was quite interesting. she said that rey did not find a father figure in Luke and besides she knew Luke for a week. she also says something about Leia which gives zero indication of her being a mother figure to her. Leia doesn't even carry the name Skywalker. unless she will be the one changing her name in the end (that would actually be cool. bc then she would be the Skywalker who is rising.) ben solo doesn't carry the name Skywalker either he doesn't even carries his own lol. so why would she call herself Rey Skywalker? it would only make sense if there is a total other meaning behind it. like new Jedis will be called sky walkers (i don't like it but then again i would be okay with it) rey is a palatine. hm. in what way, how? he is how old now? when exactly did he wed a wife and impregnated her? when he was already gone? i don't think he was a living form when Vader tossed him in the shaft. he probably became something else. the only idea i could live with is some kind of cloning or any other science fiction idea. but she is not his granddaughter in an emotional way. 

7. reylo happens. others have done a great job explaining why. there are plenty of metas, passionate reylos answering all of your questions patiently, podcasters..... the list is long. if you need recommendations, dm me. 

[dalekofchaos]

How Disney/Lucasfilm failed Finn and John Boyega

A rant about my continued frustration on how Lucasfilm/Disney failed Finn and John Boyega

John Boyega’s Finn was setup as the male lead and co-protagonist of the sequel trilogy. That’s not an opinion, that’s not a headcanon, that’s a literally fact. He was set up to be equal with Rey & Kylo’s foil and we all know why that changed.

John Boyega was cast as the male and co-protagonist of the sequel trilogy by JJ Abrams, who had to fight for John Boyega to be cast against the preferred (White) casting choices.

Originally Finn(Sam in the original treatment) was white

Majority from Okiro’s twitter thread exposing Lucasfilm’s hypocrisy when it comes to representation and black history

JJ Abrams told Finn he was the new star of Star Wars

In The Force Awakens. Finn was a Stormtrooper who defected. After witnessing the death of his friend Slip and seeing the innocents being killed, Finn made the decision to save Poe Dameron and leave The First Order. Finn only wanted to leave The FIrst Order and run away. But after meeting Poe and later Rey, Finn began to care for more than himself. Finn was mentored by Han Solo. For once, he had a father figure and a positive role model as opposed to people like Hux and Phasma. He learned to care for Rey and even love her. After Starkiller Base destroyed the Hosnian System, Finn realized running was pointless and knew he had to fight. Then Kylo Ren took Rey. Finn went to The Resistance using his time on Starkiller Base to shut down the shield generator and plant the explosives on the thermal oscillator. Finn’s main focus was rescuing Rey. After Kylo force pushes Rey into a tree, Finn faces Kylo Ren. Finn learns to overcome his fears of The First Order and faces the symbolic evil that was Kylo Ren. Although Finn does not win, he puts up a good fight and was put in a coma for daring to defy Kylo. Then they bait and switched us with Rey. I’ll let you read my rant on that.

Finn was the co-protagonist of The Force Awakens, this is evident of Finn’s actions saving everyone. Finn is the very reason why the Resistance is even alive. Finn breaks his life-long brainwashing, informs Rey and Han about the importance of BB-8 and helps out in getting BB-8 to the resistance and provides vital information that lead to the destruction of STB and gets nearly killed while helping to achieve this. If it were not for Finn saving Poe, BB-8 would’ve been scrapped for parts and Rey never would’ve left Jakku. The map would either be destroyed or be in the hands of The First Order. Starkiller Base would’ve destroyed D’Qar and Ach-To. He is the reason why Poe is still alive. He is the reason why BB-8 isn’t parts and Rey left Jakku. Because of leaving Jakku, this is the sole reason why Han and Chewie were able to find the Falcon. And he is the reason why The Resistance was able to find out about Starkiller Base’s weakness. he Helps out in sabotaging STB so that Poe, the very pilot he saved in the beginning can deliver the finishing blow to Starkiller Base and destroy it completely.

There are some missed opportunity in TFA, believe me I know as I feel JJ squandered the theme of Stormtroopers rising up against their oppressors and that crack about Finn being a janitor was so tone deaf and unnecessary. 

Don’t believe me that Finn was meant to be the co-protagonist of the Sequels? Look at the marketing?

Also. Just look at the hopeful optimism and representation FInn brought to black people.

Then the racist boycotting happened. The boycott was groups of bigots who wanted the ST to be boycotted. What was the response from Lucasfilm? Zero defense of John Boyega, but their actions were transparent when they shrunk Finn on the TFA poster for fucking China’s sake, kept him off the TLJ teaser poster, and small on the official poster

I’ll let what Rian Johnson chose to do with Finn speak for itself. John Boyega has every right to hate what Rian did with his character.

By giving into the boycott and doing their best to erase and sideline John Boyega, Lucasfilm proved they would always cater to mob law if the mob was big enough. Do I have proof of this boycott against John Boyega? Yes, I do.

Also, popular Reylo blogger Jenny Nicholson’s racism against John Boyega

Reminder that Jenny Nicholson blocked a whole fuckton of Black people who even gently criticized her about how she went after John Boyega

Did Lucasfilm after The Force Awakens try to support their Black lead in any way? No. In fact, they began to erase him harder than ever to the point Fans started a hashtag #WhereIsFinn because it was getting so bad. But Bryan Young, a Lucasfilm writer, sure loved to hate on Finn

Lucasfilm was so racist, the very concept of a Black man and a white woman getting together sent them into such a frenzy Lucasfilm had to have it removed from any EU material just to make sure they kept it nice and bigot friendly. Also it’s worth noting that Alan Dean Foster was ordered by Lucasfilm/Disney to scrap any hints of Finnrey romance from the TFA novel as he believed that was the direction of the Sequels’ romance and coincidentally they did next to nothing with and we know it was racially motivated. "I expected to see that developed further in Episode VIII [The Last Jedi]," Foster said. "And zero happened with it. And we all know why zero happened with it — and there's no need to go into it in-depth — but that's, sadly, just the way things are."

It wasn’t JJ Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan or Chris Terrio who were against Finnrey. It was Disney and Lucasfilm and RIan Johnson was more than happy to separate Rey and Finn 99% of the movie(he said and did enough things to prove that he didn’t want the two characters even near each other)

Then John spoke about his frustration with how he was treated

People have tried to twist the narrative or put words in Boyega's mouths, but his GQ interview paints the picture rather clearly. He was sidelined due to his race after The Force Awakens when The Last Jedi came around with a "reordered character hierarchy" Lucasfilm's order btw

It resulted in Rey and Kylo Ren being featured prominently in both TLJ and TROS. It also resulted in Reylo being canon. Lucasfilm killed the Sequel trilogy, cause they couldn’t bare the thought of a black man in the leading role and a interracial relationship. 

If you look at TFA, you’ll realize that Finn was built up to becoming a Jedi, Kylo’s foil and Rey’s equal. Because TLJ happened, Finn’s role was reduced to a side character and JJ could not make him as prominent as he originally wanted to. EIther studio interference or TLJ screwed everything up so bad that he had to work on it slowly and just hope that Disney + would have something for Finn.

At the start of the trilogy, we all thought people of color would have a prominent role in the new trilogy, there was a potential for the first interracial relationship in Star Wars and there was a potential for the first LGBT relationship in Star Wars. But no, it’s clear that both TLJ and TROS gave us the impression that only white people can be Jedi and only white people can have epic romances and save the galaxy, people of color can only have secondary roles. And the blink and you miss it kiss? Only white women, not two men of color who clearly love each other.

Finn’s best scenes were deleted. 

Finn and the villager. it really shows why Finn chose to leave. Finn’s reasoning for leaving the First Order had nothing to do with being against violence, but a moral confliction of not wanting to hurt defenseless people. This villager wasn’t a soldier, wasn’t trying to hurt him. She was just a woman with her baby. This wasn’t war, this was murder, and Finn refused to be a murderer.

TLJ alternate opening. Opens with Finn waking up. Small change, but it would show that Finn is still a prominent character.

BB-8 shows Finn Rey’s last moment with him. BB-8 tries to cheer Finn up, but to no avail until he shows him a recording of Rey from the end of The Force Awakens - the scene she says goodbye to an unconscious Finn and kisses him on the forehead before leaving to find Luke Skywalker.

Poe gives back his sewn up jacket to Finn. In this deleted scene, Poe fills in the gaps and tries to assuage Finn about his concerns, including Finn's mixed feelings about his relationship with the Resistance. Poe then gives back the jacket that was once his and became Finn's in The Force Awakens, showing Finn that he sewed it up. This scene doesn't necessarily push forward any plot development, but should've remained as great a moment between Finn and Poe. The two characters established a wonderful chemistry and bond in The Force Awakens, and with Finn off on Canto Bight for much of The Last Jedi, fans didn't get to see as much of their relationship as expected. It's nice to see that chemistry and bond again. Finn's question about winning is also interesting in highlighting the constant uphill battle of the Resistance. Even destroying the Starkiller Base, Rey defeating Kylo Ren, and blowing up a Dreadnought can still put the Resistance in the position of fleeing. 

The elevator scene between Finn and an old Stormtrooper friend.  A Stormtrooper voiced by Tom Hardy recognizes Finn and starts talking to him. Finn starts to draw his gun, thinking the Stormtrooper has recognized him as a traitor, but it turns out the Stormtrooper is just surprised to see that FN-2187 has become an officer. The scene may go on for a bit too long, but ultimately it should've stayed in. The scene in the elevator does a great job playing with the audience's emotions, as they're unsure whether the tension will rise to the breaking point of a fight or evolve into a humorous moment. It also shows Finn using restraint by not killing a fellow Stormtrooper, unlike the other two movies.

Phasma’s alternate and BETTER death scene. WHY WAS THIS CUT????? No seriously, WHY WAS THIS FUCKING CUT????? I will never understand why this was deleted. Finn calls her out about her betrayal of lowering the shields and when this information is revealed, the Stormtroopers near her look suspicious and it looks as if they are going to turn on her. Phasma like the ultimate survivalist she is kills them with no hesitation. Finn cuts her hand off and blasts her into the abyss, giving Phasma a more deserving and better send off. Seriously, this is way better than their actual confrontation.  What I really like about this scene is its direct connection to The Force Awakens plot point and that it acknowledges Phasma's survivalist attitude which was introduced into her novel. The Phasma novel and comic portrayed her not as a First Order loyalist, but as a ruthless warrior who did whatever it took to survive. She even went so far as hunting down and doing away with those within the First Order who had knowledge of what she did at the Starkiller Base lest the truth get out. Phasma was always about self-preservation, she wasn't about preserving the First Order, but that never comes across in The Force Awakens or The Last Jedi. It only comes across in this deleted scene where Phasma chooses to end her own Stormtroopers to save herself.

Something else that bothers me. Finn’s treatment in the expanded universe. Have you ever noticed that Poe and Kylo got all the big expanded universe material and Finn is always shoved into the background or not there at all? Even worse, every form of media portrays Finn as Poe's bumbling sidekick, which is even more apparent in TROS. They were more interested in having Poe and Finn being the Abbott and Costello of the ST instead of letting Finn going from Stormtrooper to Jedi and lead a Stormtrooper Rebellion.

In the journey to TROS, Finn is not featured in ANY of the novels or graphic novels for the Journey to TROS. When he was, he was used as Poe’s sidekick and not featured anywhere with Rey. Before the release of the movie, he is not featured whatsoever in any shape or form in marketing. We get to see him in two teasers but he says nothing. His new outfit looks awesome. Finn could’ve been used to rise as a Jedi with Rey and essentially be the Skywalkers that Rise and face Kylo and Palpatine together. If not that, Finn could’ve caused a Stormtrooper Rebellion that burns The First Order from the inside out. Instead of any of that, it Finn was given nothing for this movie. He doesn’t even get to face Kylo Ren, their rivalry as foils was completely dropped. That is sad and heartbreaking.

Seriously, there is no novelizations or comics that expand on Finn’s time in The First Order. Sure, there is Before The Awakening. But consider this. Finn was their best Stormtrooper, so good that Hux considered him Captain material.

There is so much potential with Finn in the Expanded Universe. Apply all the posts I’ve linked and more.

The Poe Dameron comics were not about Poe’s life, they were about his personality, skills, character, and the Resistance. So I ask, why can’t/couldn’t the same have been done with Finn pre TFA? A comic series exploring his character while world building the First Order.

There is so much to tell. You could start with Finn vividly remembering his family and how he was abducted and recruited for the FN Corps.

You could even show the ruthlessness of The First Order by showing initiation for the FN Corps is only granted by forcing the children to kill each other in a Hunger Games/Battle Royale to see who the strongest and who deserves to be welcomed to the First Order. This would be in separate groups of the children who are abducted to determine who gets to be put in the FN Corps. We could see Phasma returning to the room, only to see a young Finn covered in blood and dried up tears. Phasma will only say “Welcome to The First Order, FN-2187.”

Wouldn’t it be interesting to see how Finn, a brainwashed soldier broke free of his mental conditioning, learned the truth of the FO yet still tried to be a good soldier. It could flesh out his relationship with the squad he led, as well as Phasma and Hux.

It could’ve also showcased the brotherhood and friendship Finn had with  FN-2199 (“Nines”), FN-2000 (“Zeroes”), and FN-2003 (“Slip”).

The biggest thing it could do is finally show Finn’s skills as a soldier, his brains, while giving so much needed world building First Order. We could also finally show what it’s like as a FO stormtrooper from a sympathetic POV.

Through the avenue of a Finn comic series you could also flesh out Hux, Phasma, Nines, Zeroes, Slip, and even characters like Kylo and Snoke. It doesn’t have to cover spoilers, just make the one note more dimensional while giving Finn so overdue respectful content

It could end with everyone asking Finn “what was the moment you decided to leave” which then we would see the TFA deleted scene of Finn in the village 

It could end on Finn saying "I was raised to do one thing, I used to think I’ve got nothing to fight for, but now I have something worth fighting for.“

And afterwards. You could show Finn and Jannah working together to liberating the other Stormtroopers. The first person they rescue? Zeroes, FInn’s last surviving Squad Member and together they awaken and liberate their brothers and sisters and all the while Finn rises up and becomes a Jedi!

For those wondering what about Finn in TROS? I’ll let this video do all the talking

I’d also like to point out. Finnrey WAS going to happen in TROS. Here’s confirmation by Jedipaxis, the main reddit leaker, who was right about everything before the films release, confirmed that Finn’s “i never told you” line was supposed to have some payoff and it was going to end with finn and rey holding hands. could this pic have been of the alternate ending? then reshoots happened and we got the Reylo kiss

I’m convinced that John Boyega was told by the higher ups to say Finn was meant to say he was “Force Sensitive” no one who is about to die would “always want to tell you” they were force sensitive. 

Hell, even in the original Episode IX by Colin Trevorrow. Duel Of Fates. Finn was given the shaft again. For some unknown reason, Rey is paired with Poe, a character who barely interacts with Rey at all. Finn was given another sidequest to do. The only brightside for Finn is he participates in retaking Corruscant and a Stormtrooper Rebellion near the end. 

Finn, who was once held in prominence as the co-protagonist alongside Rey. Was erased from how prominent he once was and reduced to a sidecharacter due to China and fanbacklash that there was going to be a black lead in Star Wars. Disney caved in to the racist backlash and caved into China’s racist demands. 

Finn deserved to be a main character alongside Rey, while Kylo Ren is their villain. He deserved a good character development, a great arc, an interesting backstory. he had the potential to become one of the most epic star wars characters. TLJ and TROS was an insult for him and he deserved better. nobody will EVER change my mind.

Finn should’ve been a Stormtrooper turned Jedi who embraced the light, while Kylo Ren who was the Skywalker who rejected the light and embraced the dark. Rey should’ve been Luke’s daughter, while Finn is the Jedi who builds himself up from being a Stormtrooper from nowhere to Jedi and together Rey and Finn stop Kylo Ren and bring down The First Order and rebuild The Jedi!

Finn should have been a Stormtrooper turned Jedi.  It doesn’t matter that you think it tells a better story for him to not be a Jedi. “Finn being a hero who is not a Jedi is important.” Poe and Rose are great examples of ordinary heroes coming from nowhere. Rey was supposed to be a jedi related to Skywalker or Kenobi legacy while Finn was the perfect “nobody from nowhere” that becomes a Jedi. And honestly, Black kids deserved to see themselves in the Black Jedi and black kids deserved to see themselves as one of the three protagonists of the trilogy.

Finn got no last name No theme Was sidelined in the trilogy Had his scenes cut Mocked by Lucasfilm employees Racially harassed by bigots and media outlets Disney used while staying silent and then Disney has the nerve to say they “stand” with John Boyega during the BLM movement and celebrated Finn during black history month despite squandering him....

Finn deserved better, period!

[canonskyrissian]

2020 Gifs in Review

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 8 (ish) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome work!

I was tagged by @rise-of-ahsoka, thanks sweetie ♥♥♥

1. The Return of Hope, fic - okay so I started this in 2018 but I finished it this year and this is honestly the best fic I’ve written so far and I have such fond memories of it. I was happy to finally finish it but... it was really hard to let go. but the finished result is awesome if I may say so myself^^

2. star wars poc positivity project favorite slash ship + favorite rarepair, edit - and exactly no one is surprised that this is skyrissian xD this was one of those edits where I had a clear concept from the beginning and I really love how it turned out

3. The Epic Love Story of Lando Calrissian and Luke Skywalker, fic - my star wars big bang fic for this year. it was supposed to be the epic adventures initially (as per the throwaway line in tros) but there turned out to be more love story and less adventure so... yeah xD it was a fun fic to write, even if I did procrastinate with it a lot for various reasons (my beta @ahsokastars was a saint and super patient, thank you so much!!!)

4. Galaxy's best babysitters, fic - also known as post-tcw s7 therapy fic. what’s better than aunt ‘soka and uncle rex babysitting the wondertwins? well, aunt ‘soka and uncle rex getting to babysit han and lando in addition to the wondertwins! easily one of my crackiest ideas ever but it was super therapeutic, and I really hope I get more ideas for this au^^

5. tesb 40th anniversary edit featuring lando - I made this because none of the other edits and gifsets had lando and it pissed me off so much. this was also my first edit where I used 4k screencaps so the quality gets a big boost, which is nice^^ and I’m really happy with the filters I used. this is probably my nicest edit to the date

6. because I trust you, fic - @crystalfoxfics sent me several prompts (I still have a couple to write) and this was the first one I did. it’s based on my icon (the black and white one that is made of a screencap of a deleted rotj scene, not this icon) and I had a lot of fun writing the unresolved romantic tension^^

7. we had each other. that’s how we won, edit - tros was garbage but this line. this line. it’s gonna stay with me forever BECAUSE DFGFDSGDSGFHGDH THEY HAD EACH OTHER AND THAT’S HOW THEY WON I’M?????? SO MAD THE ORIGINAL SQUAD DIDN’T GET TO INTERACT AT ALL FUCK YOU SEQUELS anyway this is another edit where I had a clear concept and I’m happy how it turned out

8. Maybe it's luck, fic - I wrote this for this year’s rarepair exchange and had a lot of fun with it^^ it’s very much a typical fic that I’d write, with the twist that this was the first time I properly wrote a polyamorous relationship and my first time properly writing wedge. my original idea was a lot more slice of life-y (lando, luke, and wedge were supposed to play truth or dare) but qi’ra said hi and then it turned into a mission fic, and I don’t mind, it’s a lot better this way^^

tagging @kvberhearts @barissoffee @arwenevenstar @alkaysaniyusuf and anyone who wants to do this, just say I tagged you^^

[thetragedyofprinceben]

reylo in TROS: a long meta

SPOILERS AHEAD

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH REY AND BEN (1st/2nd acts)

We start the movie with a very different Kylo we left in The Last Jedi. Mostly because we see a lot of Vader in him. His relationship towards Rey is possessive and intense. He WANTS Rey whether she wants it or not. His whole persona reminded me of anakin in ROTS. (“the jedi turned against me, DON’T YOU TURN AGAINST ME). He’s demanding to high hell. This change is because:

1. Ben felt betrayed obviously after tlj, especially because HE KNOWS she wanted to join him.

2. Ben doubling down on the dark side because of this betrayal- if soft boi Kylo didn’t work, then the only option is demanding aggressive Kylo.

3. Such intense negative feelings from tlj are what drive people deeper in the dark side so seeing more Vader then Ben is expected.

Kylo is pissed and hurting. but he’s deep in love. You think he only wanted to grab that necklace? He’s angry but subconsciously is like ‘damn i really wish i could pull this girl into my arms and kiss her’ but he can’t- so he grabs her necklace instead. A move that is both childish, but sexually charged. Think the phantom ripping off Christine’s necklace in POTO. Kylo is peak phantom in these moments. He feels very much in control of his sexuality, compared to TFA when he was drooling on Rey and in TLJ when he was ‘accidentally’ shirtless.

Where’s Rey at? Rey is very clearly running away from her desires. She’s heartbroken that she couldn’t run off with her soulmate, but we see she’s upset that he regressed (‘serving a new master’). So our heroine is heartbroken, disappointed, but still loves her dark prince. Her anger at all of her conflict (not to mention the palpatine hoopla she has to deal with) comes out the most in her fights between ren. Remember, fights between Rey and Kylo are basically fights between themselves because of the soul stuff (I’ll get to that later). And Rey also attacks Kylo first. She’s defending herself against her own desires. it’s only when Rey heals kylo, she truly confronts that side to her- her desire to want to be with Kylo. Then she runs off because she’s scared to that staying with Kylo might cause the dark union she saw in her vision.

Both of them are obviously hurting so much, they trade hurtful blows to each other in the forcebond scene like to exes after a break up.

That’s roughly where our two stupid lovers are at in TROS. The real turning point of the way they view each other is the Death Star fight. As i said, Rey confronts her desire while healing kylo. The start of the healing that will take place throughout the course of the film between them. Rey is almost apologising to Kylo for obviously hurting him by denying her feelings but reasserts that Kylo is not worthy of her love. Ben is.

And Kylo is shocked. This is pretty funny to be honest. Ben Solo, a person he has called weak, has hidden away, thought he had killed, was the one Rey wanted? He’s still intensely in love with her, but we see the aggression and possession slip away completely- he lets her run off with his ship! He knows she has feelings for him. but Kylo can’t resurrect ben solo alone. Fittingly his parents help him out in one of the most beautiful scenes of the saga.

BEFORE I GET TO THE THIRD ACT WE NEED TO TALK SYMBOLISM, SOULS AND DYADS. STAY WITH ME

It is revealed that Rey and Ben are dyads in the force. one soul in two bodies. they are the other halves to each other. on an instinctual and spiritual basis, they WANT to come together, to join and be whole. but also, they ARE each other. That’s why they know each other before TFA, they recognise their soul in the other. And just meeting each other and being in each other’s minds ‘awakens’ this bond explicitly. Now that souls have met, they aren’t going to go to far away. Cue force Skype.

Personally, I believe the force created this dyad to make sure that there is balance. The dyad is made once Rey is born and by this time Ben has probably been groomed by palp for a while. the force recognises this and splits the soul of ben and placing it in someone so firmly placed in the light, tethering him to the light. but also Rey has a tether to the dark. B A L A N C E. Even though palp corrupted ben, it was only ever one half, the promise and potential of ben to come back to the light was forever there once Rey was born.

But also on another level, the force is finally bringing balance between the Jedi and the Sith. It wasn’t a fluke that the descendent of the most powerful Sith Lord was linked to a Skywalker (a family emblematic of the Jedi). The bond also ensures that healing can finally take place between these two factions as these two souls will need to inevitably join at one point.

So to recap, for my sanity, Rey and Ben share the same soul, spiritually they are the same person. The dyad represents balance by placing on half of the soul on the dark side, one of the light. one with the descendent of most powerful jedi, one with the descendent of the most powerful Sith. The two halves will forever be seeking union, meaning these two halves will also be seeking balance- most importantly- IN THE LIGHT.

Balance isn’t grey jedi. Balance is balance on the light side- ALWAYS. Which is why it’s when Ben Solo has been groomed by the dark side, the dyad connection, tethers him to the LIGHT. Rey’s own tether to the dark through Ben so more of an acknowledgement that powerful light means powerful darkness. Darkness will always be there, and it’s important not to lose track of it. But this tether is primarily there to maintain balance and save Ben from the dark- a clear path to the light.

AND WE SEE THIS STRAIGHT IN TFA. As soon as Kylo meets the other half of his soul he doesn’t want to part with it. There’s also a romantic bond, one of the most powerful bonds in the universe as seen throughout the saga. She’s compassionate, a selfless, powerful, not to mention beautiful. But outside of looks, Rey is an attractive person to Ben trait wise. But what underpins this, is her light which she is positively brimming with. I mean...her names REY. Ben is attracted to that light and all the traits that go along with being so firm in the light. I believe whole heartedly that even if the dyad connection didn’t exist, Ben wouldn’t be able to resist himself when it comes to rey.

And this is what explains the delayed reciprocation of feelings between Rey and Ben. Ben is infatuated with the light in rey almost immediately. Add the dyad connection and BOOM. Rey, also has this similar attraction to the light outside the dyad. As soon as she she’s a sliver of ben solo in the hut scene (Ben Solo who is a literal angel on the light side) she falls in love with him. Remember the light is compassion, warmth, life, selflessness. Imagine feeling a surge of all of these things by just glimpsing at a person’s future? But THIS IS ONLY WITH BEN. And of course ben is always inside Kylo so all that intense eye f*cking? I believe Ben is literally getting lost in her light, while Rey is literally searching for the Ben Solo within Kylo and trying to grab on to him, she can sense him in there. Important to note that as soon as she sees Ben in the hut, she wants to touch his face, hair, (cough lips cough).

LASTLY. The poetry of the last Skywalker and the last Palpatine falling in love and being bonded can not be ignored. There is intense trauma between these two bloodlines and between these two bloodlines AND THE ENTIRE GALAXY. Ben and Rey are healing that trauma with love, not hate, in turn healing the galaxy (until another nuisance appears of course).

BACK TO TROS.

So angel Ben Solo is the literal embodiment of light in this final act. He is motivated by love ONLY. THAT SCREAMS SKYWALKER. Is there any wonder why rey fell in love with him after catching a glimpse in TLJ? Most beautifully, he saves his love from falling to the dark. once Ben Solo is reborn, both souls are in the light, now they just need to joined.

Rey seeing her soulmate as the angel of the light she always saw glimpses of...CHEFS KISS. she’s completely in love and he’s there to save her,,,just ugh that scene is so beautiful and the emotions and expressions speak for themselves to be honest. Never more strongly have they wanted to be joined (soul wise and physically) since the throne room scene.

Before ben gets thrown into the pit *sign* Palp tells us, that the connection is LIFE ITSELF. so when I say the balance, the connection is healing, this is what I mean. Them coming together literally means bringing new life into the galaxy, healing old wounds.

So anyway Ben gets thrown in the pit.

This pissed off people (including myself) because GOSH DARN IT I WANT TO SEE AN EPIC PALP V REY AND BEN FIGHT. but I’m forcing myself to look at this scene symbolically. the masculine and the feminine is united within rey (something Palpatine has never faced), the masculine being half of Ben’s soul and the feminine being herself. Not to mention how Rey is coded as padme so much. It’s like Padme is getting the killing blow towards a man she that broke her whole family. I like this culminating in rey declaring herself as a Jedi finally. she wanted to know her place in ‘all of this’ and she is literally standing in the place of thousands of generation of jedi. Pretty awesome.

Ben being there would have been preferable for a multitude of reasons, but there’s a lot of meta you can grab onto to enjoy this scene. a particularly like the masculine/fem joined in defeating palp.

I also love that it’s a Palpatine that destroys a palpatine. He was so sure of his power and of himself as this grand Sith Lord, and it’s his own power, through his granddaughter, united with generations of JEDI that causes his downfall.

Rey is defeating her own toxic dark almost, just like Ben Solo killing Kylo. TO CLARIFY, not the DARK SIDE. the dark side is needed for balance, but the unnatural and destructive dark that Palp created through manipulating the force which would have long lasting consequences if not dealt with.

(FINAL STRETCH. IS ANYONE STILL HERE?)

SO REY DIES.

Expected. you know why? BALANCE. the sith and the jedi both die. the joint trauma between the sith and jedi is destroyed.

So what’s happening with the dyad connection now she’s dead? There’s many theories and explanations. Personally I believe the connection caused an open  wound. Ben Solo felt this. This wound is what makes the other half of a dyad die if one of the soulmates die. They literally lose the will to live because half of their soul is dead. Ben solo would rather die that live on without Rey.

So he feels the gaping wound and decides he needs to sacrifice himself to save rey. He transfers his life to Rey. NOW it’s debatable whether or not his soul also gets transferred.

I’m not quite certain. If he gives his soul, then the balance IS Rey in the end and Ben is one with the force. Cosmic force to be specific. Whether he can come back from the cosmic force because Rey literally carries his soul within her- she can drag him back maybe. If his soul isn’t transferred, it just means that the balance ISN’T rey alone, but when Ben passes to the cosmic force the connection they share is still alive, Rey in the living force and Ben in the cosmic force. Balance. And the connection means that Rey can possibly drag Ben back into the world of the living.

Both two scenarios exist if you believe Ben went to the word between worlds instead (with the help of leia) which is why he isn’t a force ghost.

BUT ANYWHO.

Ben using pure, unbound love revives Rey. He finishes what his grandfather couldn’t and what the jedi wouldn’t allow. His life force is what makes this godlike move possible, but also just the purity of intentions. so while Anakin is coded as Jesus, a literal child of the force, his intentions are wayward, not just love, but possession and power. Ben is fully ready to sacrifice his life for Rey with no strings attached. By doing this he also could be considered the chosen one as much as anakin, bringing balance to the force by making sure the union and connection of the soul continues.

Rey awakes in the arms of her angel. ben is staring at Rey as if trying to memorise all of her face before he passes. He smiles because he can’t believe what he did, and that she’s alive and that she loves him as much as he does her. And while Rey is staring at Ben in pure bliss, there’s such an openness to her expression. She doesn’t have to search for the Ben hidden in kylo’s eyes. Ben is right before her.

Rey goes in with the kiss. It’s hesitant, but ben, forever her support system, meets it with enthusiasm as if to say ‘don’t be afraid, i feel it too’. this long embrace is so beautiful, especially because it comes after the literal marriage between Rey and ben.

Rey takes ben’s hand finally. She accepts his proposal. They are touching. They kiss. Their souls are literally together and joined for the first time since the hand touch scene. And it’s beautiful.

Ben Solo’s final smile is to Rey and then he lets go completely, passing. Rey still clutching the hand he proposed to her with. She’s obviously going to be distraught and grief stricken (despite the direction and writing leaving that out). But there must be a sense of ben within her now, something she might only recognise later on when her emotions aren’t so intense.

Obviously this ending has some Romeo and Juliet connotations that im not mad about.

DID I WANT BEN SOLO TO LIVE PHYSICALLY WITH REY AT THE END OF THIS MOVIE? yes HELL YES. And it’s a absolute tragedy that both are separate, without the companionship and family they both craved for throughout the whole trilogy.

...but jj didn’t tell that story. so let’s look at the one he did tell.

I believe that if Ben didn’t sacrifice himself, the cycle of darkness and trauma would have continued because he wouldn’t have fulfilled anakin’s last wish. he had to save Rey, the feminine which had been killed ever since Shmi. In the end both the masculine and feminine survive through Rey or through the dyad connection between the living and cosmic force.

Was ben’s fate sealed after he committed patricide? from a meta perspective? Possibly. The writers don’t know how to write redeemed characters having HEAs. BUT within the actual story? NOPE.

Ben was redeemed as soon as he killed Kylo. his sacrifice had nothing to do with redemption. it was just a pure love sacrifice.

Anyway the death of Ben Solo while tragic, means that all of the Skywalkers seem to be united in the cosmic force. All of them together finally. And in peace.

AGAIN, yes Ben Solo should have survived and had twins with Rey on Naboo, but this is what JJ decided to do instead.

Rey being a Skywalker...Hmmmm hated it at first. ABSOLUTELY HATED IT. But looking back at reylo in TROS and them basically being married at the end, means

Rey is a Skywalker. It’s nice that she’s honouring everything skywalkers stood for as well by taking the name- love. Also Palp was probably spinning in his grave that his only descendent is now a Skywalker lol.

Would Rey Solo be better? It would have been less cringe for sure and more fitting as it was the Solos Rey had her connections with, not really the Skywalkers. But Ben did end up accepting his light side skywalker background so... I personally would have preferred Rey Solo but i can just about live with Rey Skywalker if it’s through the marriage of Ben.

No one can convince me that the final shot of Rey standing alone on tatooine is satisfying. Maybe from a fan service angle, but for rey’s personal journey? HELL NO. But it is what it is. At least she still has that connection with Ben. Ben not being a force ghost at the end is a hopeful for reylos, including myself, he want him to come back physically so that Rey can have her HEA. Even if it’s off screen.

THANKS FOR READING IF YOUR STILL HERE. and if all this meta didn’t satisfy you, remember there’s always fanfiction x

[heliotrope-r]

Do you think Reylo could still be canon, after everything that was said at SWCC and how TRoS seems to be a very "Resistance adventure" heavy movie?

I’m absolutely certain that Reylo will be canon, and none of the recent hand-wringing over Daisy’s perceived-to-be-negative comments (or John’s, for that matter) has shaken that conviction one whit. 

This isn’t a matter of “I want it to be true so it must be true,” either. If TFA and TLJ had played out any differently, I might have been less confident that explicitly romantic Reylo was necessary to tie up both Rey and Kylo’s character arcs and bring the story to a satisfying conclusion – but as it stands, it’s clear that neither Rey nor Ben can be emotionally and spiritually complete apart from one another. 

Since we first met Rey at the beginning of TFA, a girl so painfully lonely that all she can do is wait for a family she knows deep down will never come back for her, we’ve been shown not only that she has a bigger destiny that she must to learn to embrace, but also that having good friends like Finn and Leia – or even an important mission like finding Luke and helping the Resistance – are not enough to satisfy Rey’s deepest inner needs or show her where she truly belongs. 

In TLJ Rey made a unique and extraordinary Force-centered connection with Ben Solo, revealing her private fears and vulnerabilities to him in a way she has done with literally no one else, and in the end he killed his own mentor to save her. They fought side by side in one of the most epic scenes of the whole SW saga, and it visibly broke Rey’s heart when Ben failed to listen to her pleas and turn to the Light. That seismic shift in their relationship from adversaries to tragic almost-lovers isn’t something that can be reversed or waved aside in TROS as though it didn’t happen, or didn’t matter to the trilogy as a whole. It wasn’t a hiccup, a red herring, or a narrative dead end. It was an important step forward in both Rey’s character development and Ben’s, even if it had to end tragically in TLJ because it wasn’t yet time to bring their relationship to a happy conclusion. The will-they-won’t-they tension had to be maintained, and separating the two of them ideologically and physically was a classic way to do it (see PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, JANE EYRE, etc.).

So after establishing in TFA that what Rey wants most is to not to feel alone anymore, and establishing in both TFA and TLJ that Ben Solo is the only person who fully recognizes and empathizes with her loneliness, JJ’s not going to suddenly show Rey connecting to Finn and/or Poe on a new and much more intimate level in TROS, and getting her emotional needs met by them. He’s going to show us that they’re great friends and comrades and have fantastic adventures together, but that’s not enough to make Rey feel complete. She still wants, and needs, to be with Ben.

And that makes sense, because this trilogy has always been about Rey and Kylo as two equal and opposing forces, Light and Dark, destined to connect with one another and balance one another in some way. That concept has been hammered into us again and again, just as we’ve been reminded again and again that Ben Solo still has his father’s heart and can’t fully immerse himself in the Dark Side no matter how hard he tries. That all has to pay off with Ben’s redemption in TROS, because there is literally nowhere else for his character arc to go. 

We’ve already seen Kylo Ren at his worst in TFA, when he cold-bloodedly killed Lor San Tekka and ordered the massacre at Tuanul. None of the bad things he’s succeeded in doing since then, not even killing Han, have been done without obvious and agonizing cost to Ben Solo’s heart and soul – which means his arc is headed in the direction of goodness, not deeper into evil. The only reasonable place to take him now is somewhere he hasn’t already been, and that means turning to the Light.

So because of what both TFA and TLJ have shown us about both Rey’s emotional journey and Ben’s, TROS can only resolve that by bringing them together in a way that surpasses any of the connections they’ve shared before. That means more intimate than them going into each other’s minds and seeing each other’s deepest secrets, more intimate than Rey seeing Ben half-naked and vulnerable, more intimate than the two of them murmuring soft reassurances and touching hands across the galaxy, more intimate than them fighting the Praetorian Guard back to back, more intimate than Ben’s emotional appeal for Rey to stay with him and forget everything and everyone else. And that means blatant romance between them in TROS, including at least one passionate kiss, because nothing less than that would be enough to show that their intimacy has gone beyond what we’ve already seen in the other films and has now truly reached its full and satisfactory potential.

So nope, I’m not at all worried about Rey and Finn and Poe running around doing Resistance stuff together. I think that’s just going to advance the action plot, and it’s not going to get in the way of canon Reylo (which is the character plot for both Rey and Ben) at all. 

Besides, if we’re talking about “everything that was said at SWCC,” how about Daisy describing her relationship with Finn and Poe as friendship, asking John about Finn’s romance with Rose, saying that Ben is the Skywalker and that he could be redeemed, and confirming that Rey and Ben’s relationship will continue to develop in TROS? Or John saying that the dynamic between Rey and Kylo is what viewers really want to see? That’s sounds pretty Reylo-positive to me – or at least, as positive as two actors sworn to secrecy about the plot of the film can get without actively giving anything away. But I don’t rely on interviews to tell me where this story is going, and I think it’s a big mistake to do so. The real clues are in the ST movies themselves, not in the deliberately vague and misleading remarks of the people making them.

[gerses]

The Rise of Skywalker quick thoughs (spoilers)

I just came from the movie and will need to digest it for some time but here are my initial thoughs:

Positives:

* Definitely can't call this movie boring. So much going on.

* Rey finally gets the development she needs. If in TFA she is fairly generic heroine and TLJ sidelines her in favor of Kylo, TROS is finally all about her conflict. Ridley does good job.

* Finally the crew stays together... even if Rey keeps wandering away. I enjoyed their interractions, although Poe was too combative here for my taste. Felt like he's stuck in the negative light he was shown in TLJ.

* Kylo's development feels natural despite how quickly it ultimately happens. I could believe his turn.

* Good moments of humor. Liked the little alien that wipes C-3PO and the new cute droid.

* Nice visuals and a great sense of epic scale. Sure, some of the stuff would be ridiculously over-the-top in any other movie, but hey, it's Star Wars. I loved the crowd of worshippers around Palpatine, the sense of something old and huge going on there.

* "Dad." "I know." Perfect moment and without question best and most meaningful call back in the movie.

Negatives:

* So much going on. It feels like it should've been an entire trilogy in itself and I actually think I would've preferred that. Everything about Palpatine, Final Order and Rey's past comes out of nowhere. I've been convinced since TLJ that ST was not planned from the start and TROS basically confirms that. Would've been so easy to hint that there is someone pulling Snoke's strings before his death. Actually Palpatine's message mentioned in the opening crawl should've been a cliffhanger at the end of TLJ. Or better, end of TFA so the plot wouldn't be so crammed. All these sudden revelations make the movie feel shallow and disconnected from any grand narrative. They also highlight how much TLJ fails to move the plot forward.

* Too much fanservice and nostalgia bait. Feels like almost every scene has some eastern egg. We get it, this is not the first Star Wars movie.

* Zorii Bliss was pointless character and her relationship with Poe felt extremely forced (like Rose but lot worse) and gives me no-homo vibes knowing how popular Finnpoe is. Everything she does could've been done by Lando or Jannah.

* Maybe I'm stupid but I didn't understand what happened to the First Order. Were all their troops on the Exegol? Why - did Palps want them all attending his suicide party? They seemed to have heavy presence in the galaxy already, Finn or Poe even saying there will be patrols in that backwater desert party. Hard to imagine the fight is truly over. And why did people suddenly join the Resistance now, when the odds are much worse than in TLJ?

* I'm not a Reylo shipper, but was disappointed that Kylo Ben dies. I get that it's his sacrifice but it feels anticlimatic compared to Vader's turn because we see him return to his old self for longer and then it's all (almost literally) tossed away. And the death-kiss-death sequence just felt weird.

* Similarly , I'm not very invested in the OT characters or the saga's legacy or whatever, but even then realizing that the whole OT trio is dead, the entire Organa-Solo family... damn. Poor Chewie, no amount of therapy will help with that. In fact, the end felt emotionally confused to me, like it's meant to be a happy ending but it doesn't feel like it after all the loss and then Rey ends up.. alone in the desert, again.

* Ultimately, the biggest flaw of the Sequel Trilogy is that we end up where we started. The evil empire is defeated by the ragtag rebel crew , again. Republic is saved, again. Palpatine dead, again. Still no Jedi and no Sith. The fate of the Jedi legacy again in the hands of a gifted orphan on a desert planet. Back to square one. Emotionally the movie felt a bit shallow to me, but I didn't hate it and I excpect my thoughts to get more nuanced with time.