#yes i know the jedi generally establish contact with parents a while before taking their children

[shirleyjacksons]

no the jedi don’t technically kidnap children in the legal sense of the term but it’s not like the parents of force sensitive children really had much of a choice other than to surrender them to the single group in the galaxy qualified to raise super-powered children. it’s not like the jedi order didn’t hold an immense amount of sway, even before they got directly involved in politics and warfare. if your child who can’t even walk yet is moving things with her mind and a guy who can also move things with his mind shows up at your door and tells you he’s an envoy for the order of people who can move things with their mind, and that it’s time for your child to join them, what option do you have but to say goodbye?

[jupitermelichios]

What I’d change about Rise of Skywalker

To be clear, these are changes I’d make to the existing script, not what I would have written instead. We can all agree Sheev coming back was, at best, a bit dumb, I’m also fully aware that a lot of people disliked TLJ for a variety of reasons and wanted ros to retconn more stuff, but this is not an attempt to change any of that. I’m taking the basic structure of the movie and shifting stuff around to create something I think is tonally and thematically more in line with the overall trillogy.

Also i’m aware the extended universe is sort of canon-until-proven-otherwise at the moment but as far as i’m concered there was a DC style crisis and it’s now open season on worldbuilding elements

- Starting right at the very beginning, our opening crawl is now just about immortality being one of the secret sith powers Sheev kept hinting about in the prequels

- Our very first sequence in the movie is now a (short) montage of Sheev sending psychic messages to members of the First Order, telling them to join his secret sith club. It’s not just Kylo, this is a thing he’s just generally doing, Hux, Pryde, Kylo, random Storm Trooper number 7, they’re all getting this same message.

- Kylo buggers off to go murder Sheev, because Snoke never actually let him graduate (or whatever modern sith do) so he’s not actually a sith lord, but he’s like ah, new/old sith lord is in town, I go kill him and I get to take his title by right of conquest rule of one styley, and also take out a threat to my power base. Also in the one scene we see of him interacting with the first order it’s pretty clear he actually really fucking hates being in charge, so a mission to kill Sheev is looking super win-win

- The reason Exigor is sacred to the Sith now, the reason Palpatine’s able to communicate accross planets, and the reason he’s still alive (ish) are all the same - the planet “has a heart... oF KAIIIBURRRRRR!” (yes the line should be delivered exactly like that) that amplified force powers

- Instead of just being Ian McDermott in white facepaint, Sheev’s design draws heavily on Darth Nihilus or Darth Sion, his body is dead or maybe nonexistant depending on how gross they’re prepared to go. The point is, the answer to the question ‘how the fuck did he survive?’ should be essentially ‘he didn’t’; he’s a consiousness and a fuckton of willpower and not much else

- We establish a temple/cult in this universe that worships twin gods and are generally all about balance and shit coming in twos and they think force diads are sacred. I’m thinking someone at the temple has resistance information, and when Rey and Poe visit, Poe goes to talk to the contact while Rey meditates and sees Luke’s ghost who tells her how he and Leia came here together and about their belief system and how there are different ways of connecting to the force than just being a jedi, setting up the plot point of the diad, our theme of ‘the people we love are never really gone’, and also laying the groundwork for what’s going to be a second theme of building something new rather than repeating the mistakes of the past, by establishing the sith/jedi dichotomy isn’t the only possible path to take.

- Rose and Finn are bored and stuck on base while their friends are on this mission, so when they get a distress call from a minor First Order base they go off to investigate. They find Hux, who’s been ousted in a coup in favour of the First Order just straight up following Sheev after Kylo wondered off, who promises them information. At this base, Finn also sees some young storm trooper cadets.

- Back at the rebel base they all meet up and Hux (who they’ve taken prisoner) tells them about Sheev being back, which they didn’t know about because he’s only been speaking to bad guys.

- Leia is already dying, Rey is super upset about it and during an accidental mind share, Kylo finds out and tells her Sidious knows how to heal people by transferring life energy from one person to another. The healing thing is specifically a Sith power this go around. We get a moment pretty soon after during a mission where someone gets injured, probably Finn, and she figures out how to heal them based on the hints Kylo gave her

- Also this time Leia still isn’t a jedi but not because of a prophesy, it’s because she disagrees with their philosophy, which is going to be relevant later. We get a line to the effect that ‘Luke didn’t grow up surrounded by the legacy of the Jedi’s failings, I did’

- The weird knife thing isnt anymore, it’s just a hollicron now, and the whole bit with both Lando and Rey’s parents and the bonty hunter are removed to give us breathing room elsewhere, it’s just a more tradtional fetch quest now.

- In order to get the holicron translated, Poe’s like “you’re not going to like this, but I maybe know a guy from doing undercover missions”, and takes them to Black Sun to speak to Darth Maul, that’s right, Darth Maul is here now, and he helps them because his prosthetics are breaking down and Rose fixes them and saves his life. Also he’s pretty pissed at Sheev for getting him killed so he’s totally chill with them killing the guy.

- The Hollicron tells them that the last known map to Exigor was stored in the archives of the temple of Corisant.

- They go to the ruins of the temple, a place that is both nostaligic and also has actual character significance to kylo and ties into our theme of how the jedi and the sith are both a bit shit, and even though it makes more sense for it to have been cleaned up, it’s full of little baby skeletons from Anakin’s massacre, just for the drama of it

- Rey and Kylo fight, he taunts her again with the promise of healing Leia, but this time Rey uses their bond and her knowledge of how to talk to force ghosts to basically force Kylo’s third eye wide open so he’s hearing a hundred force ghosts all at one, stabs him while he’s distracted, heals him, and then she fucks off, leaving him to talk to the force ghost of Anakin, who tells him he’s a moron who’s falling for the same bullshit Sheev used on him

- Rey joins up with the others, but at the Rebel base Hux has managed to escape and shoots Leia (it’s dramatic and she dies saving someone but it’s not actually particularly plot relevant so imagine your own death scene of choice here), and obviously Rey feels it

- At this point the gang split up, Poe and Rose go back the the Rebels because they know they’ll be needed, Finn goes off to rescue the storm trooper kids he saw earlier (yeah I’m adding a subplot what’re you going to do about it), and Rey goes off to fight Palpatine

- In the temple, Leia appears to Kylo as a force ghost while he’s doing dramatic ‘i can’t go on’ kneeling pose and gives him a little pep talk and name drops the title

- Finn goes to the first order base, finds the kids, and the little ones are on board with escaping but then they run into some teenagers who actually have guns and it cuts away on a ‘will they turn him in?” cliffhanger

- Rey arrives in Sheev’s big cave thing, tries to fight him but he’s all ‘the jedi could not defeat me before, what makes you think they can now when you’re barely more than a padawan’ and force lightnings her a bit. They’re not related in this universe, he just wants to steal her lifeforce to heal himself more because she’s powerful

- Turns out that the First Order have been tracking Hux, so they know where the Rebel base is so there’s a big space battle going on, and the First Order don’t even have any fancy secret weapon but there’s a lot of them and there’s not enough Rebel ships left after TLJ. Poe’s up in the air flying even though he’s the boss now, and Rose is on the comms trying to contact allies

"This is the Rebellion, please. In the name of Leia Organa, we're calling you. Please, if there's anyone out there. For Leia Organa, for Luke Skywalker, for Amilyn Holdo, please…" and then when there's no response, in tears, she whispers, "For Rose Tico, please!"

There's a beat of silence, and then the radio crackles to life.

"Rose Tico calls for aid, and Black Sun will answer."

A moment later another, "Leia Organa calls for aid and Cloud City will answer."

and then a moment later, “The Rebellion calls for Aid and the Free Troopers will answer” and we cut to Finn in a stolen First Order ship full of the trooper cadets of all ages.

A makeshift amada joins the fight, same as in the original version, and rose and circular briad crown girl who’s also been trying to call for back up hug in celebration and have a very brief ‘oh wait maybe i’m into you’ moment

- Back on Exigor, Kylo arrives to find Rey on the floor, dying. He takes her hand and we see them as spirits, surrounded by the flickering memories of their lives, they’re seeing one another properly for the first time, and they ackoledge one another as twins via the force (personally i’d make them explicitly siblings, by force if not blood, here to carry on the proud star wars tradition of ambiguously incestuous twins, but that might not fly with disney execs in the the 21st century), and then he gives her his life force to heal her and his last words are a title drop again, mirroring what Leia said to him, because this movie is cheesy as hell

- "The power of the Jedi could have lived in you, as the power of the sith lives in me. But instead you threw it away, for what? For that pathetic little boy? He was no more a true sith than you are a true Jedi!"

"I don't need to be a Jedi. The force is with me, and I am with the force. You have the sith. I have all that was and is and will be!"

Behind her force ghosts begin to appear, but not just jedi. There is as many of the Skywalker clan as we can get (including some reused green screen footage of Carrie Fisher), and Rose's sister, and Han, and people visually implied to be Poe and Finn’s parents, and Holdo, and behind them hundreds of others. Basically if we can afford them, they’re cameoing here, alongside a load of extras. And last of all, standing beside her is Ben.They exchange a look, and then Rey strikes. Palatine tries to force lightning her but it doesn't work, and she presses her hands to his cloak, pulls the life force out if him. Thes a terrible screaming and we see glimpses of the other sith, before they dissipate and the robe falls to the ground.

And obviously the space battle also gets definitively won at the same time, this is movieland, I’m thinking Finn and Poe have to coordinate an attack that relies on Finn using the force is that vague ‘jedi’s are all amazing pilots’ way episodes 1 and 4 both used

Oh and then at the end they’re all celebrating back on the Rebel base, and Finn starts to hit on Rose and she’s like “I’m not the one you want to say that too, also you’re not my type” and smooches circular braid-crown girl who’s been in the background of all these movies with nothing to so

Finn joins Poe and Rey and they all hug in the same ambigiously-poly way they did in the original, and then Poe’s like “I’m sorry about Kylo” kind of awkward because he still hates the guy but he knows Rey doesn’t, and Rey’s like ‘I’m not, the people we love never really leave us’

and then the final scene, Rey is carrying Kylo’s lightsabre and lays Luke’s and Leia’s on the altar of the temple of the twins, and goes to ask the priests to tell her about their religion, with the implication that she’s starting to build her own new version of the jedi

(and if I was disney this would totally be the set up for a new animated series about Rey travelling around the galaxy meeting new weird alien cultures and learning about what cool force powers they have, and the knights of Ren can be the bad guys, and sometimes she’ll come and help Finn and Poe and Rose with trying to rebuild the galaxy. And then they have to take out Black Sun in season 2 and it’s all super dramatic because they were allies sort of and had cameos, and now rey and maul are forced to have super cool spider-legs lightsabre battles instead)

[meta-shadowsong]

On Change for the Jedi Order

Specifically in Relation to Nontraditional/Latecomer Students

So, there’s a commentary that’s been floating around lately, that examines whether the Jedi Order/culture should change purely because of Anakin’s issues integrating (and later issues as an adult, some of which are related). And if that were the question, then the answer is probably no--as these commentaries have pointed out, the vast majority of Jedi don’t have that kind of trouble and are, so far as we the audience can tell, happy/fulfilled. Or, if not, they’re willing and able to depart under peaceful circumstances. And, as has also been pointed out, if they did adapt to the changing galaxy in the ways that fandom, with its external viewpoint, would suggest, who’s to say Palpatine wouldn’t be thinking five steps ahead of them and have a contingency plan in place? (The man does love his contingency plans, I gotta say.)

These are valid points, particularly in terms of some of the doctrines/requirements placed on adults/full Jedi (i.e., no marriage, etc.) that tend to catch a lot of criticism, but I feel like there’s a piece missing from this conversation. And that’s a consideration of other nontraditional/latecomer students (and/or nonstudents who are rejected for being too old), aside from Anakin. Because, from where I’m standing, the evidence indicates that the traditionalist Jedi Order, as it is at the fall of the Republic, is not super great at helping them integrate.

Before I get into my actual examples/analysis, I want to say that I don’t think this is from a lack of compassion or effort on the part of the Order. I do believe that, once a nontraditional student is accepted, they are given support in terms of that integration. I just don’t think it’s very effective support, because I don’t think that the Order, as it stands at that point, is very well set up for it.

Second, I want to say that the reason why this matters is that there’s a not-insignificant implication that not all potential candidates are identified within the acceptable age range; and therefore some unknown, and possibly significant (in proportion to the size of the Order itself) number of people are actually affected by this policy. I’ve touched on this before, but the fact that Palpatine (who comes from a) a Republic sector capital, b) a culture that highly values children, and c) parents with means) is never identified indicates that there are some significant gaps in the search process; probably particularly for populations that are more likely to slip through the cracks in a society like the Republic (i.e., the deep underlevels of Coruscant; remote farming/mining communities that are essentially Space Appalachia; etc.)

I should also mention, as a caveat, that we unfortunately have very few examples of nontraditional students within canon, so it’s admittedly not the greatest sample size in the world--I came up with five, which I will discuss at some length. But the sample sizes for any discussion on this subject are pretty small (I think we have personal information/significant canon detail on maybe a hundred members (i.e., ~1%) of the Jedi Order of this period?), so assumptions have to be made regardless. The way I’m defining my five examples is that they are students who came to the Jedi Path later than the traditional Order would typically allow, and they were trained/raised by Jedi Masters who were themselves traditionally trained (so far as we know).

Okay. Moving on.

So, the five nontraditional students we see in any detail are Anakin, Rael Avaross, Luke, Ezra, and Ventress.

With Anakin and Rael, we see a failure to adapt to the culture. Again, this is despite a genuine effort given on the part of their teachers. Admittedly, I’m less familiar with Rael, since I haven’t gotten around to reading Dooku Lost myself, but I’ve read enough excerpts and analyses that I feel like I have a general idea of what’s going on. Basically, my understanding is that he has some of the same issues Anakin has, relating to the family he left behind, and wanting things that are out of step with Jedi values. And, yes, at least with Anakin, Palpatine’s manipulations play a role in that. But the fact that he’s not the only example indicates (to me, at least) that it’s not the only factor in play here.

Obviously, this disconnect does not in any way excuse what Anakin (or Rael) later does, when he comes to a crisis point. I’m not trying to say that.

What I am trying to say is that I think this is an issue of conflicting expectations, and a fundamental miscommunication/disconnect despite genuine effort, particularly in the early stages, that leaves nontraditional students with a shaky foundation even if/when they find workarounds to appear like things are on track. Because the fact is that the Jedi Order typically takes in very small children, who can absorb most of these cultural norms essentially by osmosis, through a combination of infant neuroplasticity and the Force. An older child needs a different approach, and I’m not sure that the Jedi Order actually has the tools it needs to adapt their teaching style effectively to those circumstances. Especially when trying to integrate someone into a close-knit, fairly isolated/insular culture, which is difficult for an outsider/newcomer under the best of circumstances, on top of the new modes of behavior/emotional processing/etc. And, given how few nontraditional students there are, this is definitely a factor.

So, then it becomes sort of a feedback loop--older/nontraditional students have trouble adapting, which means the Jedi Order is less likely to take them on in the future, which means any they do take in have further troubles, etc., etc. Legends sort of indicated how this cycle started; canon has not; but frankly it’s a chicken-and-egg situation as of the period we’re talking about. Once that cycle does start, it’s hard to break.

Which brings me to my next set of examples, and the reason I think this is at least in part an issue in the Jedi Order’s teaching style.

Luke and Ezra are also nontraditional students, who are taught by traditionally-trained masters. And they are both successful.

And maybe, in part, that comes down to some quirk in personality that they share that Anakin and Rael don’t. But there’s also the fact that (due to genuinely horrific circumstances; and I will interrupt myself here and now to say that, while I do advocate for change on this particular issue, I don’t think the catalyst for change had to be, let alone should have been, what it was; but in canon, it was a catalyst for a change in approach), their masters had to adapt traditional teachings and values into a somewhat nontraditional framework. One reason I lean more towards the second/change in approach as the stronger factor--and, granted, we don’t have many specific examples to cite; plus they don’t fit technically my established definition--is that Luke’s new Academy would pretty much have to be all nontraditional students, and, so far as I can tell, the vast majority of them seem to have been successful, or on their way there, until Kylo Ren happened.

So, that leads to the conclusion that there’s an issue in how traditional Jedi Order teachings/teaching styles work with nontraditional students. Meaning, the Jedi Order of the late Republic era has difficulty in adapting said styles to the needs of the few older candidates they do take in, though not for lack of trying.

At this point, I’ll interrupt myself again to say that adjusting these practices might have an impact on the children who are brought in at a more typical age, and there’s possibly a balance to be struck between the needs of those students and the needs of these others. The way the culture is structured now does seem to be beneficial for the majority of students brought in the usual way, and fixing this flaw might open another, which might be more detrimental in the long run. And if there were any viable alternatives for training and support, that would be the end of it, as far as I was concerned. But the fact is--there aren’t. Pretty much all other Force-adepts we see seem to be closed ethnoreligious groups (or Sith). So I think an increase in flexibility in the early-stage teaching style/age limit for adoption is actually of a net benefit. Whether or not any changes are made to the broader framework/culture past that period, which is a separate discussion.

And that brings me to Ventress, my final example, who is much more complicated and harder to discuss due to several key pieces of evidence that are missing.

Where does she fit into all of this?

The implication in her flashbacks seem to be that she does pretty well with Ky Narec, who--without the same awful circumstances pushing his choices--adapts and uses a non-traditional/one-on-one approach with her, rather than trying to bring her to the Temple and integrate her into the culture right away.

Of course, there are a couple of issues with this. One, Ventress falls apart when he dies, so his approach also clearly had some flaws. Two, her memories may not be the most reliable/she might not be a super reliable narrator. Three, we are missing so much information about how and in what order everything went down.

First, why did Ky Narec make the choices he did? One explanation is that he had no way off the planet/no long-range communications and couldn’t contact the rest of the Order. I find this hard to believe for two reasons: how did Ventress then get offplanet after he died; and how did she get onto the planet in the first place? Someone there has a connection with the wider galaxy, and if Ky Narec really wanted to make contact, I’m sure he could’ve found a way.

So, why didn’t he? Was it because he knew Ventress was too old, and he felt he lacked the standing/social or political capital to convince the Council to accept her anyway? Was that assessment accurate on his part? Alternatively, did he think he could get her accepted, but felt that some training on their own before trying to integrate her into the broader culture was the better approach; and then he died before he could complete that process? Was he already thinking about leaving (as did the Lost Twenty), and she was what pushed him to actually take that step? I’m sure there are other possible explanations, but those are the ones that jump to mind.

Second, what did he tell her? What were her expectations for if/when they finally made contact with the Order? Did he warn her that her training was unauthorized and the Order would not accept her (whether or not that was actually true)?

Third, what did she actually do when he died? Did she try to reach out to the Order? Did she assume that there was no point? Did she reach out to her sisters on Dathomir? (From what I recall, most likely not, but it’s been a while since I watched the relevant TCW episodes.) Did she go straight to Dooku?

Fourth, when she did finally contact Dooku, was she seeking him out as a former Jedi who might have some understanding and compassion for her situation, or was she seeking him out as a Sith Lord/Dark Side adept? (Unless that’s actually covered in her flashbacks as well; again, I might be misremembering/have forgotten.)

So…yeah. It’s really hard to evaluate this question fully without more information on how everything with Ventress went down. But all the other evidence does indicate a disconnect.

I guess my point in all of this was…no, it’s not right for an entire culture to have to change everything for one person. But on the other hand, there’s something to be said for a test case/case study that draws attention to an existing flaw in the structure. And Anakin, while the most visible, isn’t actually the only one here.

Also...on a more general note, cultures are dynamic. They do change over time. Sometimes very rapidly, when change is forced by external pressures, sometimes more organically, by gradual internal shifts. So, the implication that the culture of the Jedi Order should remain exactly as it is as of the late Republic because that’s the best possible way for it to be, no matter how much the broader culture of the galaxy and/or their role in it might shift, feels…a little off to me. Especially since the war itself was already an impetus for change. The postwar Jedi Order was almost certainly going to be somewhat different from the prewar Order; how drastic or subtle that change would be without Anakin making all the wrong choices is a little harder to determine. And--look, I know I’m citing Legends here, because canon has yet to provide deep (i.e., 100+ years pre-TPM) backstory, but some of these things already have shifted over time, in response to both internal and external pressures. The age limit for taking in initiates/apprentices being one of them.

...but I’ll admit that that last paragraph may be me misinterpreting/reading too much into some of the posts and my There Is No One True Way button getting pushed again whether or not it’s merited in this case XD

Anyway, tangent aside, I just wanted to highlight why I feel this particular issue should be addressed, even if the expected cultural norms/code of conduct for Jedi who have integrated into the culture remain the same. Because, yeah, those seem to work out for most members, and the option to leave is there for those who have issues.

But the problem of latecomers/nontraditional students, particularly when there aren’t really any other options available to them for training and support, and there are an unknown (but possibly significant, in proportion to the size of the Order itself) number out there, is still a Thing.

((Also, one last tangent re: why this matters/is a Thing…look, applying IRL issues/politics/history and so on to Star Wars can be a weird/hinky/YMMV thing, apart from certain direct/explicit/obviously intentional parallels, and in general I try to avoid doing it--and, like, earlier today, I had to stop myself from going off on a long tangent about the Constitutions of Clarendon and Thomas Becket on a semi-related post about Ahsoka; if I want to do it, I can--but given the issues older kids/teenagers have being adopted IRL, and given the idea that baby Jedi are essentially adoptees, the fact that older kids are excluded is a little…yeah.))

[shimmersing]

Best Intentions Masterpost | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Bonus! Soundtrack @ Spotify

Chapter Two: Hope

“You’ll join us in celebrating, of course?” The Duke spread his arms in welcome. “The children will so much want to speak with you, and I’m certain you have many tales of Jedi courage to share. And your crew as well!”

Standing next to Duke Charle Organa on a palace balcony, Jedi Consular Aitahea Daviin finally relaxed enough to let go of the sigh it seemed like she’d been holding in for months. The Force plague had kept her on Tattooine for so long she’d thought she could never bear sunlight again, but the familiar comfort of the alpine breeze and docile morning light was a soothing change from Tattooine’s punishing binary system.

Despite her sunburned cheeks, Aitahea’s eyes sported sunken shadows, her already delicate features too hollow. Her crew had doubled since leaving Coruscant; Tharan Cedrax and his assistant, Holiday, had decided to join Aitahea and Qyzen on the Luminous after their work on Nar Shadda had been completed. Adjusting to new allies and personalities was taking time, as expected, but Aitahea found herself appreciating the quiet busyness on board. It distracted from the worry and strain of their mission, a burden the consular stubbornly refused to share. Locating Master Sidonie on Alderaan should mean the end of this particular search.

The consular prided herself on entering every situation with the best intentions. What she returned with each time was something a little different; with each healing, each new link to Vivicar, another barbed hook anchored in her spirit. Just a little more.

Returning to Alderaan should have been a welcome respite, but with Vivicar’s Force plague intensifying across the galaxy, she had no time to rest. The Council was counting on her established connections with House Organa, but the nobility was not all-powerful. Her contacts were sending messages and holos in circles, leading Aitahea on a wild bantha chase instead of taking her directly to the at-risk Master Sidonie. It would be nearly a day before she could even meet her first contact.

Perhaps she should take a few hours for dinner after all.

“Thank you. I’m honored to be welcome at your table, Your Grace.”

The Duke smiled magnanimously at Aitahea, who suddenly felt a very great deal younger than she had a moment ago. “Good. We'll eat and drink and strategize and show the world we still have hope.”

Aitahea nodded wistfully. Hope.

As a youngling, coming to Alderaan after the chaos of the Sacking of Coruscant had been a privilege and a blessing. Her time here as an initiate had been filled not only with growth and change, but also a substantial and comforting structure that Aitahea had excelled within. The alpine valleys had swiftly earned her affection in place of the urban landscape of Coruscant, and she had felt welcomed and cherished in House Organa.

The formality of the royal houses, the pomp and circumstance of court, and the composed, powerful women of Alderaan had inspired Aitahea so much that she’d begun wearing her hair in the same manner, braids wound into a bright but less elaborate coronet. The struggle of maintaining both public and private lives in the face of Alderaan’s seemingly endless brawl for rule had seemed a magical dance that they completed with admirable grace, and Aitahea had watched them eagerly, nurturing a love for peaceful diplomacy.

She’d found a strangely familiar family in the Duke and Duchess, as well as in their children. The handful of other Jedi younglings that she’d joined in the enclave had welcomed and accepted her, but they had never quite become the family that her first clan had been. Nor her biological family, still residing on Coruscant. With the vastness of space now between them instead of just a quick speeder ride, her unique attachment to her parents and younger sister had languished.

She had also loved the stolen moments of silliness that had let her feel like an ordinary child, without the looming responsibilities of a swiftly growing initiate, without the memories of terror and fear that no child should have. The time she and the other younglings of the Jedi Enclave had snuck into a private revel and filched several bottles of wine that none of them had been brave enough to taste. Even her first kiss, hiding in an alcove during the very same thievery incident, in these very halls.

Lost in thought, Aitahea startled a little when the Duke tucked a few loose strands of hair back behind her ear, the motion gentle and paternal. “Child, what troubles you?”

The Duke’s concern enveloped her, even without the use of her empathic senses. She blinked back a sudden stinging in her eyes. “So many things, Your Grace, I scarcely know where I would even begin.” She turned, offering a sentimental smile. “But at the moment I was only recalling the fond memories I made here.”

“You are always welcome on–”

Aitahea turned as the sound of rapid footfalls came into hearing, alerted by the sudden urgent presence. Haley Organa, barely more than a boy when Aitahea had left for Tython, sprinted down the hallway to where Duke Organa and the Jedi stood. He slowed, taking a few deep breaths before speaking, brow creasing a little when he caught sight of Aitahea’s face.

“My lord? There's a call coming in on your secure channel.”

“Thank you, Haley.” He shifted slightly to include the now wholly composed Jedi. “You may remember Aitahea Daviin, now a full Jedi of the Order, formerly a member of our own enclave.”

Recognition flickered in the younger man’s eyes, followed by an efficient bow. “Master Jedi, welcome back to Alderaan.”

“Pleased to see you again, Haley. Let’s not delay.” Aitahea wondered as they turned to follow Haley if the command room was where she remembered.

As they walked, Duke Organa provided Aitahea with some of the more sensitive details about the strife between the noble houses, how the aggressions had accelerated in recent days, even prompting the involvement of the Republic military in an official capacity. The escalations hadn’t escaped Aitahea’s notice even while she continued on her own missions; Erithon’s messages had kept her apprised of information she might not otherwise have been party to.

Neither of them had been foolish enough to risk sensitive data in their communications, but Aitahea had a reasonable amount of faith that the Jedi Order’s slicers could keep her missives secure, and either way it was him. She’d been more disappointed than she would admit when they kept missing key starports by days, even hours once, ships literally passing in the unreal night of hyperspace. What she found herself most irked with at the moment was an unviewed holo practically burning a hole in her comm, but Aitahea hadn’t had a moment to herself since they’d arrived. It would be nice to hear his voice. To be fair she’d sneaked a peek at his service record just once a few weeks ago, curious when his birthdate was, purely for debriefing reasons and she hadn’t known his service holo was included in the file so that had been a nice surprise…

Haley was ushering them into the command room when Duke Organa paused to gaze closely at Aitahea, who found herself with her hands at her temples, disoriented. “Master Jedi? Aitahea?”

“Oh,” she gasped, lashes fluttering. “Forgive me, it’s nothing.” The Jedi shook her head, refocusing – if only there had been time for a moment of rest.

The Duke pressed a hand under Aitahea’s elbow, regret creasing his brow as he led her into the room. “I’m sorry that this will likely add to your burden. Introductions proper will have to wait. Master Aitahea; General Kashim.”

Aitahea nodded to the Mon Cal. “General, may the Force be with us.”

“Indeed,” he replied before turning back to the Duke. “Your Grace, by your leave.”

Charle Organa narrowed his eyes as the holocamera whirred. “Put it through, General.”

Aitahea found her fingers brushing against her lightsaber hilt and quickly clasped her hands at her waist, pulling in a steadying breath.

The holo flickered to life; the being’s size ridiculously exaggerated, it dominated the holotable, wildly disproportionate to the beings in the room. A human smirked down at the Duke and his advisors, a misplaced and blustering bravado coating his words. He spoke; “It's been a long time, my lord Duke. Who is your friend?”

Organa waved his hand impatiently. “If she should wish to speak to the Wolf Baron of House Thul, she’ll do so herself.” The Duke tilted his head and the holocamera swiveled.

Aitahea took a step forward, her demeanor vulnerable and gently diplomatic as she opened her hands beseechingly. “Baron Thul, my name is Aitahea Daviin, a Jedi Consular and friend to House Organa. Your Lordship, I’m told you ordered the land bombed and the turrets captured.”

Thul sneered, tossing his head back, but his gaze was still calculating. He answered leisurely. “I did, yes. Your Republic friends may have retaken the Spears of Organa, but they served my purpose – scattering your people and sending them straight into my hands.”

Aitahea struggled to hide a sharp swell of apprehension; she knew Organa had involved some military resources in returning the Spears into the right hands, yet this was the first mention from someone other than Organa himself. This in addition to the wild rumors of Sith on the ground in the highlands. It seemed like madness.

Organa drew himself up and glared at the holocamera. “What are you saying, Baron?”

The Wolf Baron scowled impatiently. “I’m saying that House Thul has taken three hundred Organa citizens captive.” The man’s lips twisted viciously as he savored their shock. “I thought you’d want to know.”

The Duke reeled back a step, and General Kashim gripped the edge of the holoprojector. After a breath, Aitahea lifted her eyes to the hologram again, her words low and measured. “Make your demands, Your Lordship. We’re listening.”

“Talk, Baron, before my patience runs out!” Organa snapped furiously. Aitahea remained still as a frozen pond, attention fixed on the holo while she flooded the Force around them with subtle patience.

Thul took his time smoothing his hands over his tunic before peevishly clearing his throat, all while Organa fumed and the Jedi waited with seemingly boundless tranquility. “I’d like to meet in person to civilly discuss the fate of my prisoners.” Organa bit back a snarl, while Aitahea stiffened at the words ‘my prisoners’. “I’m sending a time and coordinates now.

“In the meantime, your people will be treated well.” The Baron leaned back, hooking his thumbs into his belt as though he’d just pronounced some magnanimous gift, but a vicious glint remained in his eyes. “The incident with your son-in-law will not be repeated.”

The line went dead.

Aitahea’s practiced façade faltered as she tried to unravel the Baron’s final words. “With your… Your Grace, what does he mean?”

Organa stared at his clenched fist, unhearing. “Damn him! Damn his eyes!”

Kashim folded his arms. “I suggest you remain calm. This is the Wolf Baron’s trap.”

Organa rounded on his general, venting his frustration. “I’m not a fool! But a ruler who can’t protect his people is no ruler at all.” The Duke shook his head, squared his shoulders and inhaled deeply. Aitahea felt a twinge of irritation; the influences she had attempted to weave into the pattern of the Force were fading all too rapidly under Organa’s emotive tirade. “I have to go.”

“No, Your Grace.” Aitahea lifted her chin, an elegant motion filled with quiet confidence. “Allow me to handle the Wolf Baron.”

Organa turned to the Jedi, worry clear in his eyes. “My dear, I cannot place you at risk.”

“Your Grace, before I ever stepped foot on Tython, my training here prepared me for ordeals just like this. Your household equipped me for this very moment. The very least I can do is protect the house that so generously sheltered me when I was young.”

The Duke’s face softened. “My dear Aitahea – Master Aitahea – you are among Alderaan’s bravest daughters, and our best hope. You will not go alone.”

“Thank you, Your Grace. We will rescue your people. The Force is with us.”

“Lead the way, and I will follow. Sweep aside the Wolf Baron’s Black Guard, his assassins. He wants to meet? Let us meet on even terms.”

Kashim nodded severely. “House Thul will be massing its forces. I will prepare our troops while you confront the Wolf Baron.”

“Thank you, General. And Aitahea, I wish this were under better circumstances, but…” The duke straightened proudly and gave her a level stare. “I pronounce you a paladin of House Organa, my beacon in the dark.”

Aitahea felt something flutter in her chest and pursed her lips at the phrase before nodding her acceptance. “It is an honor, Your Grace.” Swept up in the solemnity of the moment, she dropped into a low curtsey, more elaborate and demonstrative than her usual motion of hand to heart, drawn directly from the customs of the court.

“Master Jedi.” Organa leaned forward to take Aitahea’s trembling hands and drew her back to her feet with an encouraging smile. “It is your valor I salute. Your word I believe. Clear the path, my friend, and let us look evil in the eye.”

Best Intentions Masterpost | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Bonus! Soundtrack @ Spotify

[hollyhark]

The Night We Never Met

A small Kylux ficlet for @kyluxtrashcompactor​, since I didn’t finish the longer one in time-- HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jules!! Thanks for all the encouragement and commiseration and for always lending an ear <3 <3 <3

This ficlet is a glimpse of the alternate reality Kylo dreams about at the end of The Four Visitations -- Hux ending up in New Republic culture because Brendol was captured, Hux orphaned and lonely and resentful but working hard because it’s all he has left. Ben rejects Jedi training and becomes a pilot. After graduating from his flight academy he goes back to the bakery where the boy he had a crush on as a kid rose from bus boy to waiter to manager, wanting to see him again but not expecting him to still be there... This can be read as part of that story or as a standalone AU!

~

Ben isn’t expecting Armitage to still be working at the bakery in Tilmook, so he avoids it during his first few cycles back on Chandrila. He knows he should avoid it anyway. He’s been a pestering presence in Armitage’s life since he was ten years old, when he happened into what was then a tourist trap bake shop after leaving the transit station he’d randomly selected during his half-assed attempt to run away from home.

That particular dramatic gesture became a turning point in his life. When he returned to his family after almost a full cycle of using the Force to conceal his whereabouts, everyone assured him that he didn’t have to train to be a Jedi and that they would work with him on what he did want, within reason. Ben has wondered if his fixation on Armitage has to do with the bubbly childhood relief he associates with that time in his life, though when he first met Armitage he didn’t yet know that his running away gambit would yield anything but more misery.

It’s probably too generous to say that they ‘met’ that day. Ben was fighting back tears when he stumbled into the bakery, aware that he wasn’t going to get far unless he began to use the Force to trick everyone he encountered into giving him things for free, which was how he’d boarded the hover train that had brought him there from the city where he lived with his mother. He eyed the skinny, red-haired teenager working behind the counter with this in mind: that he would have to shove his way into the boy’s brain and root around cruelly just to get a free fizzpop and muffin. If he didn’t use his powers to make people give him what he wanted, he would have to turn to a life of slavery. Those were his options as he saw them at ten years old: turn evil or be enslaved. Jedi training would have been the latter, he’d decided.

He’d underestimated his parents’ ability to adapt. Just stammering out the words ‘pilot school’ in Han’s presence had been enough to convince him, and Leia was so frayed from spending a full cycle thinking he’d been kidnapped by a rival politician or a dark disciple of the Sith that she was ready to drop the Jedi boarding school plan as soon as he turned up in the lobby of her building, wibbling apologies.

Now things are good, better, and he isn’t even particularly anxious about being home for Life Day and seeing the whole extended family, Luke included. Luke insists he was never disappointed or hurt by Ben’s decision, just concerned about what the lack of training might expose him to. Possibly he’s still concerned, but: whatever. He has his school, his many students. Rey surpassed Ben in her powers by the time she was six. Luke is probably relieved that he didn’t waste his time on an inferior apprentice.

So maybe he’s still a little bitter. He’s not even sure where it comes from these days. He’s still a Force user, and the best pilot in the galaxy therefore. He’s met his potential in other ways, too, since leaving home for the flight academy. The last time he went to the Tilmook bakery he was just starting to fill out, still gangly with bad hair and subpar skin. Now he’s twenty-two, commanding in presence and clear of skin, his hair mostly fixed and at least strategically long enough to cover his ears.

He wants to show off, is the thing. After all those years of just showing up, peeking unsubtly at Armitage while he worked and occasionally mustering up the courage to mumble some lame attempt at small talk, he wants to show his childhood crush that he’s not a stammering adolescent anymore. As if Armitage cares, or will even be there. Ben is prepared for disappointment when he makes excuses to Leia and sets off on the train to Tilmook. He’ll bring back bread and cakes for the party they’re having tomorrow, he says. This bakery is the best in the galaxy, he promises.

The exterior of the bakery looks different. Ben stands across the hoverway from it for a while, absorbing the fact that he’s hurt by the changes. It’s sleeker, clean. From where he stands, Ben can see droids working behind the counter. His heart drops.

He goes in anyway. He did promise his mother to bring home some baked goods.  

The smell that hits him as soon as he walks inside is the same, at least, and it brings Ben right back to himself, in ways good and bad. He was a kid here, then a teenager, and it had felt just as intense as it does now to walk through the door. He always came alone and with a kind of mission that he couldn’t define clearly, one that he knew would fail. He didn’t think Armitage, four years older, cool and beautiful, would ever be glad to see him, let alone that any eye contact he managed to make would yield something more than a clipped question about whether he’d like to order something more. But he went there with such painfully ballooning, undeniable hope even so.

“There was a man who used to work here,” Ben says to the droid that tries to take his order at the counter. “He had, uh. Red hair, green eyes.” And a mouth that Ben still thinks about when he jerks off, and that accent. Imperial. A fucking Imperial war orphan-- Ben hadn’t meant to eavesdrop that deeply. He’d just assumed as much when he heard Armitage’s voice, and the Force had told him, yes.

“Our owner fits this description,” the droid says. “Do you require him?”

“I-- Your--”

Armitage emerges from the back room with flour on his cheek, frowning. He marches toward the counter as if he heard the word owner and was summoned thusly. He looks the same: slight but sure of himself, perfectly clean-shaven, angry. Lonely, but that’s more what his Force energy gives off than anything Ben could pin on his appearance. He frowns at Ben, then something changes. His eyes lighten, brows lift. He smiles, just a little, at the corner of his lips. Some flour falls off his cheek and onto his shirt when he does.

“Oh, I didn’t recognize you,” Armitage says. “You grew up.”

“I-- Yeah. I’m home from the academy, I graduated.” On his last trip here, four years ago, he’d muttered something to Armitage about going away for school. Armitage had been managing the place at the time, had transformed it from a sorry tourist trap that boasted only a highly-trafficked location across from the hovertrain station to an attractive and well-reviewed establishment. There were jokes in some of the reviews about how Armitage ran the place like an Imperial.

“Your hair’s longer,” Armitage says, that hint of a smile still tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“It’s to cover my ears,” Ben blurts, because this place had transformed him back into a ten-year-old.

Armitage smiles fully then, and Ben vows to endure any humiliation available if it brings that look to Armitage’s face again. He vows to stop pretending like he doesn’t know why he keeps coming back here.

“I wondered if I’d ever see you again,” Armitage says. “I never knew, back then, that you were Organa’s son.”

“Oh. Yeah, I am. Would you have kicked me out if you knew?”

“Not exactly. I’m due for a break, do you want to join me?”

“I, yes, sure, yeah--”

“What do you want? Pick anything, it’s on the house.”

Ben stares. He wants to reach over and brush the flour from Armitage’s cheek. Is he really asking, what do you want?

“From the case,” Armitage says, eyebrows lifting. He gestures to the pastries and cakes on display.

“Oh-- Nothing, I mean-- A twist bread.” Ben wishes he could bring up some holo footage to demonstrate that he’s not really like this anymore. He’s suave, at school, admired and easygoing. “For old times’ sake?” he says, not sure if Armitage will remember that this was his first ever order when he showed up here red-eyed and lost.

“Of course.” Armitage goes to the case and selects one. “Follow me,” he says. “Back through here. I’m the owner now, did the droid tell you that?”

“Yes. That’s incredible. You’re so young.”

“Ha. Thank you. I don’t feel young.”

Ben wants to ask what that means. He wants to know everything. In the flowering courtyard behind the bakery he shovels the twist bread into his mouth while Armitage smokes a cigarette, both of them sitting against the sun-warmed brick on the back wall of the building. The bread is better than Ben remembers: softer, less salty, more refined.

“I’ve never met someone my age who smokes those,” Ben says when he’s wiping crumbs from his hands.

“I’m not your age, I’m older.”

“Not that much older, now.”

Armitage sniffs and drags on the cigarette. It’s very bright out, high afternoon, and he’s squinting, blinking. Ben has always loved his eyelashes. He’s always had trouble not staring.

“I suppose it’s an Imperial vice,” Armitage says. He looks at Ben like he dares him to judge him for this.

“Ex-Imperial,” Ben says.

“In my case? Obviously.”

“So you’ve never been to a Life Day celebration,” Ben says, before he can stop himself.

“No, I haven’t quite acclimated to your culture to that degree. And here’s hoping I never will.”

“Aw. What’s wrong with Life Day?”

“Is that a serious question?”

They go on like this, like they’ve always known each other, like they’ve been waiting all their lives to finally have this mundane, thrilling conversation, until Armitage realizes some buns are burning and curses. He springs up and races back into the kitchen to try to rescue them. They’re lost, but he still agrees to come to Ben’s family’s Life Day party.

“Just out of morbid curiosity,” Armitage says.

Whatever his curiosity stems from leads him to swooning against Ben under a fringeberry sprig the following night, after asking Ben to explain what this flimsy bit of greenery signifies in his culture. Kissing, Ben says, dumbly, and Armitage grabs him by the front of the shirt like he can’t wait to try that, here. They’ve both had several cups of spiced wine.

The party is still raging noisily in the apartment’s busier rooms. The fringeberry sprig is strategically located over a quiet doorway, in shadow. Ben hung it there himself, never thinking he would be kissing a man who tastes like his destiny beneath it. But if he’d had to name a man who would taste this way he would have said, even years ago: Armitage, the baker, the redhead, the one who strolls through my dreams in crowns and capes and looks back as if to say: follow me if you dare.

**

[sailtheplains]

Star Wars talk - Darth Snookie

Let’s discuss Star Wars.

 Okay, I will admit, the countdown on the Rebel transport was kinda cheezy and felt a little forced. But, I did like that Poe seemed to take a real lesson from it (though that brings up the question of why the General didn’t tell anyone her plan when Poe asked her to---that seemed kinda dumb).

 The introduction of Rose, I thought, was cool. Especially as a Vietnamese-American actress. I really admire their efforts to diversify Star Wars.  And I like that we didn’t end up in another seedy bar but in a casino—because we have to remember, the Star Wars universe is fucking huge. We’ve only seen a tiny sliver of it. So I actually didn’t really mind them taking their little side trip to….wherever the hell that was. To pick up the dude from The Usual Suspects, Benici Del Toro, who I thought was an interesting addition and I wonder if we’ll be seeing him again sometime. He’s a great actor. I feel like it would be a waste to throw away that character.

 BB8 returns as well to show us that he and R2D2 are the only fuckmothering Gryffindors up in here.

  But the two elements I really loved, was Mark Hamil back as an older, more jaded, Luke Skywalker. And the strange bond developing between Rey and Kylo.

 First, Luke Skywalker—because this was what almost got me into an argument with my roommate’s brother-in-law on Christmas day. They wanted Luke Skywalker to remain this legend, a myth. But he didn’t. Because Luke never thought of himself as a legend. He killed Darth Vader, yeah, but he didn’t want to. He didn’t relish it. It wasn’t satisfying to him. Vader was his father. And the Dark Side of the Force destroyed Anakin from the core.  

 Luke never thought of himself as this “great master”. He was barely trained when he first faced Vader. He was a terrified kid. That fight changed him. When we meet him in Return of the Jedi, he’s clearly grown but still has a tendency to not always plan ahead. Yoda then leaves him, just as Luke is coming to terms with how little he actually knows about the Jedi at all.

 Luke was not raised as a Jedi. And Luke correctly identifies it as a religion. Because that’s what it is. He makes a very good point to Rey, that the Force exists whether there are Jedi and Sith or not. All they did was give it a name. The Jedi became romanticized, deified—because its totally true. (Folks don’t like Luke Skywalker being a real human.)

 But Luke studied the Force and the way of the Jedi anyway, even after the fall of the Empire and presumably all through Leia’s reconstruction of the galactic government or whatever. He found out about the Jedi temples and the sacred texts—who knows how, really (Wookiepedia, presumably). He gathered what he could to teach those who came to him, including his own nephew, Ben Solo. But the only expertise he had was his own and whatever advice he may have picked up during his very short training sessions with Kenobi and Yoda. (It’s still a little odd to me that Luke and Leia never, like, got together to study the Force or something. She clearly can use it as well.)

 So he attempts to train these dozen or so kids, gets spooked by something he sees in his nephew and decides to go get a read on him.

 The Light Side of the Force took one look at Ben and was like, “Nope.”

 And Luke has a moment where it was instinctive for him to snuff out any Dark that he found, even if it was his own nephew.

 That was the turning point. Cue the awkward wake up where Ben, a scared young man, sees his uncle standing over him with a lightsaber and panics. And that was it—everything Luke has put together, dashed in a single night.

 Though, of course, Kylo does not explain what happened himself. He simply asks Rey if she knew, and if Luke told her. But he never actually states his interpretation of what happened—except for the bit about thinking his uncle was going to kill him. But he never claims to have killed the other apprentices. Kylo does the same thing about Rey’s parents, claiming to know who they are—and then asking her if she knows who they were. When she says “no one”, he goes with it. So it was hard to tell what exactly he did know about her and what was him probing for information. But more on this later.

 Of course, he could have killed his nephew and potentially saved his temple. But he would likely never forgive himself for killing another member of his own family just for the Force.

 That was the point. The Jedi had become so stagnant and sterile that, as Luke notes, at the height of their power—Sidious took over the fucking Senate and gave rise to Darth Vader and no one figured it out? Maybe the Jedi and the Sith had become too polarized. Maybe it wasn’t Good and Bad so much as simply Defend and Attack.

 Because Luke was not raised in the Jedi order, he was able to step back from it and look passed the façade of myth surrounding the Jedi and Sith. It’s no different from an Atheist getting into a religion and wanting to study it first. So Luke studies and finds some shady shit.

 So that, plus him nearly instinctively killing his nephew—and having all that go to shit—he retreats from using the Force. Because the Force is as much a blessing as a curse. 

Yeah, the Force is strong in his family: his father is dead, his mother is dead, his adoptive aunt and uncle are dead, Ben Kenobi is dead, Yoda is dead, his friends from back home are dead, he lost his hand, he lost his home, he never knew his sister, he had to kill his father, he nearly killed his own nephew. Was that a religion he really wanted to be part of?

 And Luke steps back to look at this religion and way of life and finds it full of holes and bullshit. And after his temple burns, nephew disappears and apprentices are slaughtered….he probably feels pretty fucking terrible. Because again, Luke wasn’t arrogant. He had a lot of doubt. He didn’t believe in himself very much. And he saw that as a terrible failure. Like he destroys everything he touches. Had he driven Ben Solo to the dark side or had Ben gone on his own? And if so, why? How? What had turned Anakin? Luke doesn’t really know. So he turns the blame inward.

 It’s actually a very human response. So he leaves Leia to politics and stops connecting to the Force—to get his shit figured out, likely. And after everything he suffered—maybe he just wanted somewhere quiet. He was never a statesman. That was Leia. Ben Kenobi went to be a hermit and maybe he unconsciously followed that example. Trauma will do that to people.

 So then this kid shows up with a lot of inherent power and we get a little montage of her following him around, which he grumpily tolerates. But bits of young Luke Skywalker still shine through—he was always a little bit of a smart-ass. More subtle than Han. It’s nice to see that again.  (Though when he realized Chewie is there with the Falcon and Han isn’t. I was like, “Oh!” ;_;)

 I thought it was a good touch to bring Yoda back and remind us that Luke was just a man. Always looking at the horizon. His mind was never on where he was and what he was doing. And that’s just who Luke was as a person. And he still is. Because he wasn’t a god. He wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t Jesus. He was just a farmer from a dirtball outer rim planet.

 And you realize how very young Luke still is compared to Yoda and how much he still doesn’t know and will never be able to know. He was a ‘master’, yes. But only because there was no one else. Compared to other species in the galaxy with the ability to use the Force—he might still be a young man. Just like Yoda addresses him as, “Young Skywalker”

 I thought it was actually really cool that instead of blindly following the Jedi Order, Luke steps back and examines it—contemplating whether to change it or just let it die out completely.

 And then he decides to come back to the Force to help them. I don’t see what all the Fankids are bitching about. It was some nice character work for Luke, because he has suffered a lot and he never really saw himself as anything special. (Also, I burst out laughing when he brushed his shoulder off. Luke Skywalker throws some bomb shade.)

 This brings me to Rey and Kylo Ren. So Snookie takes a page from Voldemort’s book and establishes a brain link between Rey and Kylo—presumably, without the latter’s knowledge—as Leader Snoke seems to indicate when taunting Rey about it. 

This leads to some interesting moments that feel….uncomfortable, weird, almost intimate. But at the same time, it’s intriguing to watch them attempt to communicate. She is the more ‘naïve’, I would guess and it’s not a big mystery to say that a young woman who is accustomed to a life of hardship would be made uncomfortable by Kylo without his shirt while also sharing a weird mindlink with him somehow.

 But at the same time…she’s trying to learn about him and knowing that he’s Han’s and Leia’s son—and she totally thinks those two are/were cool as shit—she’s determined to try, at least.

 Especially after Kylo brings her to Snookie. It was difficult to really tell if he had planned the entire thing or decided on a whim to kill Snook. So it’s hard to say what Kylo’s real goal is. This movie kind of displays what makes Kylo Ren so different from other Star Wars villains. Human Sith are almost always portrayed in the films as menacing, calculated and cold. Kylo is different. He’s the Zuko of this team.

 Luke said that Snook had gotten to Ben before he went to check on him at the temple. So how and when did Snook get in contact with Ben Solo originally? How old was Ben when Luke started his training?

 So now you have an unstable young man with a lot of inherent power and a lot of rage, frustration and self-hatred. There is just so much of it. Enough of it that Kylo somehow hid his intentions from Snookie. 

Kylo kind of gets a lot of shit because he is kind of awkward, almost. Socially, physically, emotionally. He’s so driven and passionate and intense about everything he seems to do. And now that he appears to be in control of the Order….now what will he do? He lets himself give in to the intensity and aggression of the Dark Side. Not unlike Zuko and his chaotic firebending. Only Ben doesn’t have an Uncle Iroh anymore.  

  So, overall, yeah—some bits dragged, the Resistance thing is kinda meh. How the Senate keeps getting fucked up is kinda crazy—yeah, some of that was pretty thin. But I like what they’re working on with the characters. It could end up being really interesting. And Poe finally meets Rey—which was kinda cute for a minute. I’d like to go see it again to keep examining the details.