#your Kylo Rens with your Palpatines

[tarzelladraws]

Build your own Reylo au!

I had so much fun making these. A lot of the little facts are ideas taken from years of fanfic reading. Let me know what your pair is!

[twinsunstars]

QUIZ: which star wars villain are you?

oh my god 💀

[forlouren]

I am honestly partial to the idea of Darth Plagueis' being Qimir's Sith Master─although I could understand that had it been confirmed in an interview instead of revealed in the show itself, that could be disappointing─It doesn't worsen, or better Qimir's chance of survival. Plagueis is going to crash in on their [ Osha and Qimir ] party either way, seeing as they are all on the same planet, and he has interest in the concept of life created by the Force.

Qimir is evidently a practitioner of Darth Bane's teachings, even if loosely so, seeing he recites the Sith code to Mae. He lives beneath a cortosis mine in an unknown planet, which I could only assume is a callback/reference to Darth Tenebrous' ( Plagueis' master ) who owned a claim of cortosis in a planet named Bal'demnic in the EU. Plagueis having a former apprentice before Palpatine doesn't ruin anything important either. Nor do I think it contradicts any of Qimir's unorthodox-sith characterization, or my earlier reading of such.

If Qimir is the apprentice of Plagueis; it would re-contextualize his want for an acolyte somewhat, I suppose. But there is poetry in that in the rejection from the mother, he ran into the teeth of the beast to feel held, and even in that, he didn't find absolution. So naturally, he'll seek another path.

[how-do-i-turn-this-thing-off]

I'll be real with you, until I see Adam Driver is attached to this project I sincerely dgaf, and we all know that's not going to happen I don't blame him for writing off the whole idea post TROS, obviously, the cast of the Sequel Trilogy was PRISTINE across the board and I blame them for literally nothing, it is DLF that is the problem It will be interesting to see how Star Wars fans react to this, and if anyone at all gives it the time of day. It will also be interesting to see if they give Rey a new love interest in these new movies, because I've got a feeling the internet will instantly set the whole thing on fire if they do Lots of bad in the future, people. Lots of bad.

[kylo-skywalkerr]

I know a lot of the SW comics aren't canon, Dark Empire especially since Boba's alive in a different way + many more details, but Kylo's backstory makes a lot more sense with this particular set of comics.

One thing I feel like the sequels didn't get right was that it didn't show enough about the corruption of Ben Solo. About why Leia and Luke sensed something awful within young Ben. You can't tell me Luke would look at a 6 year old boy and see him as irredeemable when Vader was in his perspective.

With comic context, it makes more sense. Here's the exchange between Leia and Palpatine when he tries to claim her as an apprentice due to her more upfront and occasionally aggressive way of handling things:

(Side note: The line about him being able to enter one of his clones additionally justifies Snoke's existence.)

With this context, it makes sense that Ben's family would sense something very wrong with him. Palpatine is an irredeemable evil, simply corrupt because he eroded himself until there was nothing left but that evil. Luke, in a moment of fear, was going to end Ben Solo's life to stop the growing evil that was within him. Another thing it explains is why he always heard Palpatine's voice in his head. It was Ben's mind, but he was not alone. Palpatine tormented another Skywalker boy until he had him running into his arms once more, this time using Snoke.

These comics were released in 1991. In fact, while researching this, I found out that this comic was potentially an inspiration for the sequels, which makes this even more disappointing. These comics were great. They set up a great potential, but they run into the issue of execution.

The sequels had great ideas and characters to explore, but expecting the audience to simply know where your story is coming from is a bit dumb. This is the meat they should have shown in TFA, not throwing us into the halfway point of a story where everyone's favorite characters are plucked off one by one.

Yet I still very much enjoy the flavor that this adds to the life of young Ben Solo, who never had a damn chance from the moment he was conceived. For the love of god, someone get this wretched old man away from this poor family.

[what-even-is-thiss]

I don’t think that a story needs to literally make sense in a nitpicky cinema sins type way. Like I write magical realism for gods sake, but I do think a story needs to consistently follow its own type of logic for the most part or else an audience will pick up on that.

I think the reason that something like “Somehow, Palpatine has returned” went over so badly was not because it’s impossible in the Star Wars universe for someone to come back from the dead or something. It’s because so far the new trilogy had a theme of the new generation being allowed to take over. Yoda burned the ancient texts, Kylo Ren continued the sith cycle of the apprentice replacing the master, the old heroes were dying off one by one. Solidly establishing itself as a new thing.

And then, oh no the old bad guy from the last two trilogies was secretly the bad guy in this one too! Oh no!

Like in some stories that would make sense. Not really in this one though.

In some stories there’s a giant elephant in the bathroom just because there’s a giant elephant in the bathroom and we don’t need to question that. In other types of stories you’re gonna need a damn good explanation for how and why the elephant got there.

If your movie has been established as a cheesy stupid martial arts comedy and your goofy protagonist kills a bunch of ninjas with breakdancing moves, that’s fine. I get that. But if you’ve been making a serious cop drama with intrigue, realism, and minimal amounts of gun combat and your hardened old detective kills people with breakdancing, your audience will be lost and confused.

You don’t have to get a degree in physics and fully understand the properties of magnets to put a big magnet in your story, but make sure it’s the type of story that would have a big magnet in it.

[gloomwitchwrites]

Can you do something angsty with Kylo ren for the 1k follower event? Like makeup/breakup (or both) preferably with a little 🌶️🥵

Kylo Ren, my favorite sad boy. Maybe it’s because I have such a crush on Adam Driver, but I adore Kylo Ren. Maybe it’s because I love dark side-leaning hotties. (Although nothing compares to Darth Maul but I digress). Now, I (personally) see Kylo Ren/Ben Solo as one person, just different personas, however, for this prompt, we’re talking about Kylo Ren. How would Kylo Ren react to a makeup/breakup scenario?? Honestly? Probably not well. Let’s be real.

Most of these are with gn!reader w/ an exception or two.

Content & Warnings (MDNI): angst, toxic/unhealthy relationships, suggestive themes, possessive behavior, non-descriptive mentions of sex

Word Count: 587

ao3 // taglist // main masterlist // 1k follower event masterlist

First and foremost, with how toxic the First Order is, and everyone wanting leverage on others in order to move up the ranks, Kylo would never be open about his relationship with you. He would do everything in his power to hide his relationship with you for that very reason. It’s almost giving Anakin hiding Padme from the Jedi, but in a different light.

Of everyone that might know, it would be Supreme Leader Snoke. Snoke would absolutely use this relationship to manipulate Kylo Ren. He’d encourage the passion but would also devise ways to undermine Kylo’s relationship with you. He’s basically Palpatine in that regard.

The breakup would come from you, not from Kylo Ren unless Snoke deliberately told him to call it off. Even then, I think Kylo would try to hang on to you. He leans toward the dark side but he’s not Sith. He just wants to belong, and he wants to be wanted.

The breakup isn’t explosive or argumentative. If anything, Kylo appears outwardly calm.  It’s almost frustrating for you because you wanted some kind of reaction from him.

It’s the afterward, when you leave, that Kylo loses it. That lightsaber is coming out and heads are rolling. He’ll never unleash his anger on you, but he’ll unleash his anger on stormtroopers, control panels, and literally anything else that might be in his way.

After Kylo has cooled off, he’s going to come after you. This man is determined to hunt you down and keep you by his side, even if you don’t want it. Let’s be real here folks, Kylo’s love is toxic and unhealthy, especially if we’re talking about Force Awakens & Last Jedi Kylo Ren. This man will search the galaxy to find you again.

He’ll do it himself, too. He’s not leaving this task up to stormtroopers or to Hux. Kylo and his Knights are coming after you. Period.

When he does find you again, you put up a fight, but you’re no match for him. Kylo drags you back with him and confines you to a room. It’s comfortable, and you have everything you need, but you’re not allowed to leave.

Kylo visits you often, and in this, he is also calm—to a point. He insists you made the wrong choice, and is fairly reasonable about it. But of course, you push his buttons. Eventually, he fractures, and he’s more like the Kylo we see in the interrogation room with Rey. Kylo has patience, but it’s only for you.

This back-and-forth eventually implodes, coming to a head that only ends with the two of you reuniting physically.

It’s Kylo that acts first. He wants you, and he always wants you to stop talking for a few seconds. Which is why he grabs the back of your neck and draws you in for a kiss.

You don’t fight him. You melt into him, wrapping your arms around his neck. These first few kisses are all soft, and then quickly devolve into insistence.

Clothes are ripped away from bodies until it’s skin-against-skin.

Kylo needs to dominate here. He needs to establish that he’s the one in control and that you only want him.

He won’t force anything. Kylo will never cross that line.

Kylo will need verbal confirmation that you’re his. He might delay or even control your orgasm just to hear you say that you belong to him.

Kylo will make you beg, and won’t give you your end until he’s complete satisfied that you’re his again.

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@hantheconqueror

[marinersubmariner]

Supreme Leader / Emperor Consort

I don't have any particular preferences or headcanons about Supreme Leader Kylo Ren other than him being absolutely terrible at his job and not giving a shit about any of it. But I do sometimes think about ways for his outfit to have been upgraded other than "shove him back in the same helmet but stupider."

I know a lot of people wanted a crown, but I was looking at pictures of crested/monstrose cactus (as you do) and somehow got to thinking about the possibilities for a mutated version of his helmet, as though a crown or headdress had grown out of it. Some sort of warped evolution, evocative of Padme rather than Vader—or a combination of the two—but wrong and grotesque. A symbol of him having grown, but grown uncontrolled and malformed.

I ended up not going all that weird in favor of making something that looks believably clean and symmetrical, but still tried to make it at least somewhat bizarre and over the top. I like the tension of being more physically revealing while at the same time being more strange and alienating. Vulnerability tainted with hostility, similar to the post-TLJ status of Rey and Ben knowing each other more but being ideologically further apart.

In addition to Padme, I drew some inspiration from Dark Souls' Gwyndolin and Breath of the Wild's Thunder Helm. I like the eye-covering half-helms! They're weird!

The alternate full portrait is just because I still wanted to draw his whole face (the most enjoyable part!). It really could be any royalty AU, but since I was going a little darker here I was thinking of a forced marriage to Empress Palpatine, hence "Emperor Consort." Life is so miserable when you're a beautiful all-powerful space wizard shackled to your equal and opposite beautiful all-powerful space wizard. 😔

[darklinaforever]

Hi! I have been going through your posts about Nosferatu (which are awesome btw), but I wanted to say thank you for saying that Ben Solo was groomed, because I feel like I have been saying this for years now and no one else seemed to agree with me. Glad to know someone else on here uses their brains to do critical thinking. Keep up the great work!

Thanks ! I'm glad you like my posts on Nosferatu.

Then, even more glad you liked my comments on Kylo Ren too !

Here are some things from me that you may not have seen if you're only referring to my recent post listing non-victims and real victims of grooming. 👇

Snoke / Palpatine on Kylo Ren / Ben Solo is grooming :

[aresielle]

We often see on social media or in comment under articles "X will nether do that. It's illogical and bad writing." about a character who fall to the dark side of the force.

I think peoples forget, the fist think to disappear, when someone fall, is logic and rationality. Darksider are not logical. They are not rational. They 're doing the opposite of the reason why they fall initially. And they always made the worse decisions ever.

Anakin go from "I want to save my wife. I like to be a hero" to "I choke her. I'll kill everybody, the women and the children too".

Dooku, from "the republic and the jedi are corrupt" to "I create a gouvernement more corrupt than the galactic senate and a war who will force the jedi to act somehow more again their moral code." And he didn't see a problem.

Maul. His name is an explanation enough for anyone who had watch the clone war cartoon. There is nothing rational in his "KEEENNNOOOBBBBBBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII !!!".

Palpatine. He seems fine at first. And when we analyse his decisions ... we begun to doubt his choices. His own kidnapping at the beginning of episode III. The way he handle Anakin and Luke in episode VI when he know Anakin is irrational about his family since day one. Staying in the second death star while nagging the rebel.

Kylo Ren/Ben Solo ... like Maul, this guy is not really an exemple of good logical decisions. He makes bad decisions faster than his father made the Kessel run. Who run to Soke instead of his mother, Leia Organa, when his uncle try to kill him? She is a biggest tread to Luke.

Reva and the inquisitors in general. Their jobs is to capture or kill jedi. So of course they go around the galaxie telling people "have you see a jedi? These loosers who are kind, compassionate and help peoples?" . It's pic logical's tactic for hunting jedi.

To be fair sometimes they seems to realise they made a mistake somewhere. Like Qimir when he look at Mae in episode 2 and 4. Or Palpatine when the invisible hand crash on Coruscant. They have the same "why did I choose this idiot as my apprentice" look.

So Osha following the hot guy who kill her old friend, Yord, and Jecki, her sister padawan she just meet, and try to kill her twin sister Mae is following this pattern of stupid choice done by people who fall to the dark side of the force. It's stupid. It's irrational. I think that's the point.

Yoda says the dark side is quicker, easier, more seductive. He forget to say you will loose your brain cells in the process.

[a-shadow-thinker]

I think there was a misunderstanding on some point.

First of all, the fact that the Mind Flayer is ultimately the big bad of ST doesn't in any way take away the human dimension of the story, on the contrary it strengthens it and brings a more original dimension.

It reinforces it in the sense that if you look at things with more finesse in a second reading plan, the Mind Flayer embodies through its actions on the human characters, a personified projection of the fears, of the psychological suffering which lies dormant in our unconscious.

He's the pivot point which will bring the human characters who are impacted by his actions, to express this human aspect, this human aspect laid bare which will face its trials by showing all its beauty just like all its horror.

He's a spotlight that will highlight humans, show their abilities to demonstrate bravery, strength, to grow, to show compassion from our heroes.

There is nothing problematic for the Mind Flayer about being the big bad in a human story, it's through the emotions of your human characters, their story, how you appeal to the public through them you will tell this human story.

It doesn't pass through its antagonism, but through its characters who live this adventure, with whom the audience identifies and feels this humanity in them which echoes theirs.

You tell a human story through the emotions that your human characters make you feel, through their trials and how they will react and come out of these trials, how it will impact them and finaly you, the public, what you feel inside in echo of your own humanity.

For Henry, yes he can be completely forced to do these things by the Mind Flayer.

As you can see in ST VR, the Mind Flayer distorts Henry's psychic reality.

Others have previously carried out relevant analyzes on this subject.

Which leads to something very insidious, a distortion of reality for Henry, in what he feels and experiences, what he wants, leading him to think he is in control

(to be able to better control him, what a perfect puppet is the one who is unaware that she is being controlled, no risk of resistance and rebellion),

making him believe that what he is doing is right, leading him into dead ends where he has no choice.

I use this example often, but it’s the one that sticks so well.

See Kylo Ren, Palpatine whispers, torments him since he was in his mother's womb ! All his life he has had dark thoughts, that he is a horrible person, that he hurts others, that no one likes him, etc...

At the beginning the character rejects his ideas, refuses to believe in them and attaches himself to the light.

But events caused by Palpatine will force him to believe his dark ideas, events which will isolate him and lead him to think that he can only be a bad person and that his place is in darkness.

You have a very similar pattern with Henry, his dark thoughts were perhaps already latent, but the Mind Flayer blew on him, blew on the embers intentionally to force him to do what he wants, to make him vulnerable too to his manipulations and make him think these horrible things.

The Mind Flayer clearly exhibits predatory behavior.

I am convinced that season 5 will show us since we will explore Henry's memories in the 80s, Henry's suffering for the loss, his sister in particular (someone pointed out that Holly's kidnapping was due to fact that he has not mourned, that he is in this delirium of taking her for his sister), that he never wanted that and that all of this is the work of the Mind Flayer who used this instability/weakness to manipulate him as he pleases.

In the scene where Henry scares his mother with the spiders you clearly see young Alice's foresight about this "you're not Henry".

that too, from a human point of view, is strong and resonates with many people.

Depression, autism, loneliness, abusive grooming, the dark side of the human spirit, etc...

It's in exaggerated form in the fictional framework of the show, but we clearly have these human aspects highlighted.

This goes back to what i was saying above, don't just see the Mind Flayer as "a monster/supernatural creature" but as a metaphor for the dark iceberg of the human psyche.

And that’s understandable.

It honestly has a lot more personality than a basic human, especially in a fantasy series !

I also think we have 2 plots to distinguish :

You actually have the human with all the political/military intrigue with the Russians in particular, but you also have the "magic" intrigue, the quest of the hero from the famous initiatory tale on El's side (with Will probably also in the S5 in view of what is teased about the character)

And with the DnD inspiration and many things relating to adventure in the show, to fantasy, you clearly have the hero's initiatory journey in addition to the human dimension.

But both complement each other anyway...

After all, isn't a hero defined by his human values ?

[fanfic-obsessed]

Somehow Palpatine Returned

Ok I had a hilarious thought and I need to share it with all of you. I don’t normally venture into the Sequels, for all that I have been a FinnPoe and a FinnPoeRey shipper for years, or into anything close to canon,  but I want to share this with you. 

Picture if you will the moment where Poe is telling the audience that ‘Somehow Palpatine has returned’. Ponder for a moment Obi Wan Kenobi, in the Force, at that moment. The look on his face. 

We are going with, somehow, Palpatine managed to hide his real identity from the Force Ghosts so they did not know he was still alive. 

We are also, from my own personal headcanon, going with the idea that Obi Wan severely dislikes (as close to hate as he is capable of) Palpatine and has for almost fifty years at this point.  Like 90% of the horrible things that happened in Obi Wan’s adult life can be traced back to Palpatine (both directly and indirectly).

At the moment that Poe reveals that Palpatine is back, in the Force Obi Wan starts swearing. He starts swearing in every language he knows. He starts mixing languages in his swears. He starts inventing new curses and new languages to be able to express his displeasure at the news. 

Obi Wan Kenobi is about ready to materialize into the mortal plane for the sole purpose of ripping Palpatine’s arm off and beating him with it (in a way that violates all manner of physics and Force). 

Slightly to the Left of Obi Wan, Anakin Skywalker is staring at his grandson in mild horror going ‘why are you…this’. 

The Force starts manifesting people to calm Obi Wan Kenobi down (For fear that Obi Wan will break…everything). First Force Sensitives and Jedi he cared for, then Clones, then non force sensitives, even a few old enemies.  

Note 1: Maul appears at one point and screams ‘Kenobi’ for a really long time, to the point that everyone else (other than Obi Wan) looks at him. He shrugs and goes ‘I just wanted to get your attention’ then goes to sit down next to Satine so they can both score Obi Wan’s curses while splitting a bottle of Force Wine. 

Note 2: Maul and Satine have a weirdly cordial relationship for being a pacifist government official ex girlfriend of a Jedi and the Sith Warlord that murdered her in front of said Jedi, but they have found in the afterlife that they both get joy from the face Obi wan makes when they argue about something inane with him. Also they may be each scoring Obi Wan’s swears (with the occasional addition of Yoda, Dooku, Ventress, and Padme) but they are using different metrics so their scores are vastly different at all time (Maul is scoring on Creativity, Violence, and the number of organs violated; Satine is scoring on creativity, number of languages used, how poetic/rhythmic, and how well it translates into basic).

A battalion's worth of clones are arrayed around Obi Wan, taking notes. Quinlan Vos appears and vanishes in rapid succession as he helps to calm then egg Obi Wan on (at which point the Force yanks him away only to be convinced to put him back). Cody tries to calm Obi Wan down for precisely three minutes, then he realizes what has Obi Wan so steamed. At that point he goes ‘no this reaction is completely valid’ and starts discussing how one would make some of those curses a reality (as they do violate physics, the Force, and human structural integrity. Also Palpatine does not even have some of those organs) with Qui Gonn Jinn, who is deeply amused but happy to bond with his pseudo son in law. 

Plo Koon wanders through and announces that he is adopting all of the new stormtroopers both dead and living (in the mortal plane Finn, Rose, and others suddenly get the feeling that they have been absconded with and have no idea why). 

In one corner Anakin, still despairing over Kylo Ren/Ben Solo and his life choices, is having an ongoing yet supremely awkward family reunion with one or more of the following at any given point and time: his wife, whom he had a hand in killing; his daughters adoptive parents, whom he helped murder; his daughter’s husband, who he tortured, froze in carbonite, and sold to a bounty hunter; and his step brother and step sister in law that rose his son on a planet that Anakin hated, whom he only didn’t torture because he never remembered they existed; Assorted Jedi who he had been close to, whom he might of had a hand in murdering.

That one corner has so much passive aggressiveness that it is insane.  A lot of Anakin asking out loud why Kylo Ren is…like that with one or more of the previously listed people going ‘Maybe if his grandfather didn’t become a Sith, Ben wouldn’t have gotten the idea’. Which is both slightly unfair, as Anakin had been dead by the time Ben Solo was born, but also funny as anything. 

Also no one in that corner was actually discussing their elephant in the room, which was Anakin turned out to be THE PROBLEM for two decades. 

There is an ever growing parade of everyone Obi Wan has ever met being thrown at him by the Force because the Force effectively went: SHIT that is a lot of anger. Deflect.Deflect.

[tarzelladraws]

The build your own Reylo AU pairs are complete on Patreon! We have Ben/Ren x Rey Kenobi, Solo x Rey Palpatine, and Kylo x Rey Nobody

[dalekofchaos]

The problem with Rey choosing to rebuild the Jedi Order and take the Skywalker name

When I look back on Rey's journey throughout the trilogy is that it's apparent to me that she really doesn't show a desire to be a Jedi.

In The Force Awakens, Rey wanted to find her family, she is mesmerized by so much green in the galaxy and ultimately protecting her friends.

In The Last Jedi she wanted to find her place in the story and bring Ben back to the light. Rey ultimately comes to terms with the fact that she wasn't born into any powerful bloodlines and made peace with her family being gone. Rey forged her own heroine's path and it worked.

In the Rise of Skywalker, Rey goes back to the same hairstyle she had since she was a child and the same outfit in TFA, but in white, it's like all the growth from the last movie never happened. Rey's motivation is whatever the plot demanded it to be. She wants to "earn" Luke's Lightsaber(fuck you JJ) and she wants the Jedi to be with her. Now it's a plot convenience to stop the bad guys. And she's in killmode everytime she sees Ben. Now the uplifting message that she's not related to anyone is gone, she's related to the literal Satan of the Star Wars universe. Now she wants to kill Palpatine out of revenge. Now she has this new found reverence for "Master Skywalker" when it was never there to begin with. It's only because of Ben's redemption that she doesn't strike Palpatine in anger. Ben dies, Rey goes to the literal tomb of the Skywalkers and symbol of the family's misery, buries the sabers and takes their name.

TROS absolutely destroyed Rey’s characterization. In a way that’s kind of mind blowing actually. She’s definitely meant to be a parallel character to Luke, but Rian purposely wrote it to subvert fan expectations. A lot of people probably saw the story trajectory following the OG trilogy after TFA, which had a very similar vibe to ANH. However while both Luke and Rey start out as mysterious nobodies, Luke very much did not want to be Vader’s son. His curse was being the son of this monster, and finding out the truth about his lineage. Meanwhile, for Rey, it’s literally the exact opposite. She wants desperately to be apart of something. Kylo points out her weakness perfectly in TLJ- “Your parents threw you like garbage… But you can't stop needing them. It is your greatest weakness. You're looking for them everywhere… in Han Solo… now in Skywalker.” Rey wanted to apart of something bigger than herself to belong. While Luke’s hero’s journey started by accepting his parentage, Rey should’ve begun by accepting that she alone was enough, and she deserved a place in this story for her own merits.

TROS absolutely dismantles this by having Rey discover she’s actually related to the big bad (just like Luke), which somehow earns her a place at the table. Except unlike Luke, who had 3 films prior to truly hate/come to terms with Vader, Rey meets Palpatine in the very last movie, and he essentially becomes a villain-of-the-week or a Marvel villain of sorts. There’s no build up. Rey’s powers suddenly need to be “explained” to the audience, via her lineage, and it’s horrendous because the message of the prior films showed that anyone can have the force. Also Rey suddenly having an attachment to Luke or the Jedi order makes no sense from her character’s perspective. It feels as if Rey is supposed to represent the audience, and her worship of Luke is reminiscent of how fans (who’ve had 47 years of Star Wars fandom prior) should feel about him. But Rey as an individual, as a character, should not view Luke in this way. They did not get along in TLJ, and in the long run, his impact on her was very minimal. And by clinging to past ideas, it just shows Kylo Ren/Ben Solo was right. She can’t stop needing parental figures to feel loved/belonged. She needs to carry that torch.

Now Rey is expected to be this Jedi Master 15 years later.

Here's the problem. Rey has never shown a desire to be a Jedi. It's just something that was necessary to become. They never explored what Rey wanted.

“People keep telling me they know me. No one does” neither did JJ Abrams or DLF, apparently.

To me, Rey's desires were to have a family, to live on a green planet and to live in peace with Ben, her other half. While Ben's story should have been actually completing what Anakin. Saving the one he loved and starting a family.

Ben died and so instead of giving what Rey wanted, she's given what JJ Abrams and DLF wanted, a Jedi's life of duty instead of a desire of love and family.

Now it feels like Rey is going to be like they ended things the way they did so Rey could succeed leading a Jedi Order where Luke failed and to me, that's boring, might as well just say Rey is going to become Legends Luke.

For me, personally, the more interesting story moving forward would be having Rey go darker. Completely subverting fan expectations, but I know Disney won’t do this. However, based on how TROS ended off, I think it could be an interesting way of continuing the story and re-gaining interest from fans who’ve become bored with the same formula.

Just imagine. Rey founded a new Jedi Order, but Rey isn't happy. She thought this is what she wanted, but it isn't. She does her best to mask her feelings from her students and fellow Jedi Council members, but deep down she knows what she wanted is long gone. "But what if he can come back" she thought to herself. she grows darker and starts committing dark acts to bring Ben back. If she condemned herself to the dark side, so be it. If her own Jedi Order turns against her, so be it. She throws away the Skywalker name and leaves the past behind her. She will find Kylo's helmet, wears his sweater and take his title. The force took her other half, so Rey will rip apart the force to bring him back.

Sources

TROS Concept Art

Pablo Ruiz

reyreybutt

clari.saiyazam

[askbensolo]

Happy Halloween, my dudes!

Meet Paige and Rose, my mom's usual go-to sitters for Rey.

"'Sitters?'" I laughed. "What are you—a loth-cat?"

"Well, they can't be my babysitters, because I'm not a baby!" Rey huffed.

...Anyway. Paige is my age. Rose is eighteen...and also? Weirdly obsessed with me.

"You're Ben Solo!" Rose said when she first laid eyes on me. "The Ben Solo!"

I get that often enough that I kinda like to milk it, just a little bit. I struck a cocky stance. "Yeah, that's me—son of Alderaan's last princess, nephew of the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker—"

"—and author of Ask Ben Solo. I've read your entire blog. Four times."

Ooh. Oooooh.

Cringe.

Rose spent the entire night glued to my side, asking me questions about things that had happened in my teenage years that even I don't remember—but, hey! I finally found someone who wanted to listen to all 15,000 words of my KOR OC's tragic backstory!

Also—hi, Rose. Since I know now that you're probably reading this.

"Drop the lost Ask Ben Solo files, Ben! Please!"

"The—the what?"

"Your college memoirs! Your fans deserve to know everything that happened in those mysterious five years of silence!" Rose lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Me. I'm 'your fans.'"

"Uhh...I'll consider it," I chuckled.

...I wonder how many of my anons were literally just Rose Tico.

Paige is much less social than her sister. I tried talking to her a couple of times, and it didn't really go anywhere—you ask Paige something, and she'll answer you with like five words and go silent again. She kinda has the quietness of someone who's been through hell...and, maybe, hasn't quite made it out yet.

Seems nice, though. And like a good big sister. She kept Rey (and Rose) (okay, fine, AND me) from running into traffic like, ten times.

Paige didn't wear a costume. Rose dressed up as Senator Jar-Jar Binks (and now that I'm a Nabooian citizen, I found that sort of...distasteful, but I chose not to comment on it).

I dressed up as my KOR character, Kylo Ren. He has a super-cool scar on his face that is totally not the result of a slippery-bathtub-shaving-accident. Also—he? And the Dark Lady Revan? Are so totally married and in love or whatever.

Not because I’m into that sap, of course. Just because I want Revan and Kylo to have insanely-overpowered evil Sith babies together. (REVLO FOREVER, I will not tolerate anti-Revlo hate on this blog, BYE.)

Rey, as promised, dressed up as Emperor Palpatine, and had a Force-lightning prop she had made out of cellu-board. "Goooood, gooooooood!" she cackled whenever someone filled her bucket with candy. Despite being a wiry little thirteen-year-old girl, the Palpatine character seemed to come really...naturally to her. Weird.

Well, Happy Halloween!! Rey and I are about to have a candy-eating contest—and I have to prove to her that I ain't boring now just because I got old.

[cheemscakecat]

How I would fix the Star Wars sequels. [Part 1]

I’m planning to read the old legends continuity books for the first time starting this year; so the following ideas are more based on the trilogies. But I have some idea of the sequence of events that happen in the legends continuity too, so there will be similarities.

Palpatine died in the Death Star, no cloning, no weird life support machine.

Based on the deaths of Obi Wan, Yoda, and Anakin, it looks like a requirement to become a Jedi force ghost is to accept your passing and let yourself fade in peace. But what about Sith ghosts?

Palpatine was a person who saw his carefully laid out plans come to fruition, reveling in the Empire he built for 20 years. When Luke Skywalker came to fight Vader, he still had a full proof plan. Luke would either succumb to the dark side and kill Vader, giving the Emperor a more promising prodigy, or he’d die and stop being a problem. Vader gave up all hope and was firmly under his boot for decades, he wasn’t supposed to be a risk.

But Anakin came to his senses and killed Palpatine, just when he was finally about to be rid of Skywalker. Inconceivable! Outrageous!

If a Jedi ghost is formed when one is at peace with their fate, a Sith ghost must be formed when one refuses to accept. Clinging to the mortal plane like a noxious vapor, seeking revenge or blood or power.

Palpatine died in that explosion. But his cursed soul remained, lurking around the galaxy plotting his revenge on Skywalker for thwarting him and undoing years of his work.

2. Kylo Ren needed a parent; but the adults in his life were too busy to be the parents he craved.

A rebellion’s work isn’t over just because the Emperor is dead. A power vacuum will form, people will argue over what new Government should replace the old, and how things should be run.

Kylo was force sensitive and a would be target of Han and Leah’s enemies. Sending him to the Jedi order to live with Luke seemed to be a wonderful idea at the time.

And to Luke’s credit, he was a wonderful uncle. But he was also the founding father of the new Jedi Order, someone with many responsibilities and people to look after. He loved his nephew, he did, but he couldn’t be the ideal father figure like Kylo so desperately wanted. His real parents couldn’t visit as much as they wanted.

Then the ghost of an old man arrived, A friendly old man who also knew about the force, but didn’t like uncle Luke very much. Kylo Ren was so happy to finally have a father figure all to himself, he never once questioned the old man’s intentions.

3. Palpatine’s ghost orchestrated Kylo Ren’s hatred of Luke and fall to the dark side.

Luke had sensed that something seemed off, but his vision had been clouded until the Emperor decided he was ready to strike. One can imagine the horrible panic Skywalker was thrown into when Palpatine himself appeared, threatening his nephew and then rushing towards the boy’s room.

Naturally Luke ignited his lightsaber, because he’d almost died to the Emperor’s lightening strikes once, and if any ghost could still summon them it would be the aged old monster himself.

Kylo Ren awoke, and the Emperor changed his appearance to one of a far more sane looking old man. He started accusing Luke of coming into the hut to kill Kylo, insisting the boy run away with him, promising to keep him safe.

“Search his feelings, he’s afraid of you, afraid of what you can do, Kylo! He came here to kill you!”

Skywalker would never think to kill a defenseless child, if he knew they were tempted by the dark he’d try to speak to them about it. Kylo Ren was only a child. He didn’t understand that the fear and resolve Luke was feeling was not fueled by wanting to slay him.

He was afraid of what the Emperor would do to those kids, especially his nephew. There was a difference, but those emotions were easily misread as proof that Palpatine was telling the truth.

Skywalker didn’t get a chance to reassure the poor boy and set things right. The Emperor seized his chance to cloud his senses with illusions and snatch Kylo up. Luke and the rest of the order searched and searched, but they couldn’t locate Kylo Ren.

4. Luke didn’t run away of his own volition and leave Leah to deal with a new Empire; he was exiled by the new Republic.

Losing a child who was under your care, a Senator’s child? The new Republic didn’t take kindly to that. The New Jedi Order was disbanded, and Master Skywalker was exiled despite Han and Leah’s protests.

Even when organized attacks began happening against the fledgling government, the Senate refused to lift Luke’s exile order. But his friends and former students managed to relay information to him about what was happening.

The force revealed to him that the Emperor was using Kylo and others across the galaxy to sabotage the Republic. Refusing to give the rebels what they worked so hard to create, just like he did with the Jedi Order.

Attempting to reenter society in secret, to try and work with Leah and the others failed; he had lost the trust of the wider government and they reacted with hostility when he was found out.

But, Luke also saw that the force was moving against the Emperor’s plans, and that the Jedi were not stomped out. Former pupils of his were still using the force and teaching friends and loved ones about what it was and how it works.

Master Skywalker knew that trying to sneak around the galaxy and rejoin the fight was not going to work; he would only draw attention and resources away from the problem. He wouldn’t regain the Republic’s trust by disobeying them.

But he could go to planets that were hard to find and deeply connected to the force. He could search for the forgotten relics and knowledge of the Old Jedi Order. Luke could train and meditate using old techniques.

5. Old man Skywalker.

Leah was not the only one in the galaxy pointing force sensitives towards Luke. There were many in the struggling Republic who fought to keep the ghost Emperor from grabbing back all his power, and force sensitives were no exception.

Former students of the New Jedi Order often found themselves recommending a visit to some backwater planet where Skywalker was holed up. Sometimes though, it took more than one trip, because the old master was quite a sight to behold.

These young people didn’t understand why their respected friends and mentors held the old hermit in high regard.

When one first saw Skywalker, he seemed like nothing more than a greasy, insane shut in. His robes were stained, and smelled of any number of coolants, fuels, and chemicals. He shambled around with ridiculous looking contraptions on his face and body, always made of rusty junk metal that couldn’t possibly be “tools” like he insisted.

But looks can be deceiving.

Luke Skywalker could navigate in terribly dangerous, rough terrain, places even the locals of these planets shied away from. One by one, skeptical force users followed him out into these wildernesses, not understanding where he was wandering off to or why they should follow.

You’d always be handed at least one of the blasted inventions, and no matter how much you refused and insulted the handiwork and asked why, Luke would insist you wear it. Something about you needing it. Sure old man, sure.

But once you were out in the wilderness, overwhelmed by the dark, or the stink, or the cold, or the heat, once you had to make it across a chasm or cliff, once there were animals or assassins about to attack?

Every single time, those deceptively useless looking tools would turn out to be something brilliant. They’d save you or let you progress when you never could have without them.

But then you’d realize something else; Skywalker didn’t actually have to lug that trinket around. He wasn’t wearing another one on the trip.

For example:

In the absence of the night vision goggles made of old bottles, he’d still be walking through a seemingly endless underground tunnel as if he’d gone that way his whole life and knew every cranny. With considerable more grace than you, and you have the night vision.

”How are you doing that? I was told you arrived here just a few months ago!”

”Oh I did. This is a cave I hadn’t visited yet.”

”That’s impossible.”

”I’m using the force to sense what’s ahead. You’d be surprised how much you can see that way.”

”… Why’d you make the goggles then?”

“Well for one thing, I like to tinker. It can get a little boring being in exile, when I don’t have a project.”

“What sort of project?”

Luke Skywalker did appear to be a crazy old man who liked to play with random scrap; but in reality he was a walking library of all things related to the Jedi. He taught countless new people how to be Jedi and sent them away with relics and texts to share and cherish.

But even though those 14 years of exile were helping his friends and bringing about a new Jedi Order successfully, there was something else Skywalker wanted.

He wanted to save Kylo Ren. But the boy was scarred for life and Luke knew in his heart that Palpatine had been poisoning his mind with lies. Especially since the Jedi were still growing in number and he was still alive.

The students always had the understandable idea of facing Kylo in battle, but they didn’t believe he could be saved. Oftentimes, Luke Skywalker felt like he was the only Jedi in the galaxy who believed a Sith could be reformed. It had always felt that way, even with Obi Wan and Yoda.

He was looking for someone who did want to reach out to Kylo Ren, someone who would try to get him away from the Emperor’s lies and put an end to the uprisings peacefully. If he could have done it himself, he would have. But Kylo still believed that his uncle wanted him dead, and that if he came back they’d have to fight to the death.