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greaterawarness · 3 years

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501st and 212th Workout

(I wanted to write a story with the clones with more realistic military things. So here's what a PT day looks like in the military.)

It was 0400 by the time Rex made it out to the grinder. It was a brisk morning with dew settled on every surface making goosebumps appear across Rex’s exposed arms and legs. Today was PT for the 501st and the 212th. They usually worked out in the mornings together at minimum three times a week when not on deployment. Rex stands towards the front of the grinder in his PT uniform which entailed a white shirt where Ahsoka had drawn his jaig eyes on his back and blue shorts. He began to rub his arms wishing he had worn the long-sleeved shirt and workout pants.

“Morning!” Cody calls walking onto the grinder in his white shirt and yellow shorts per the 212th PT uniform.

“Fucking cold!” Rex yells back. Cody was one of those anomalies who loved early workouts. Didn’t matter the weather or what type of workout he was always gearing to go. The man hasn’t even had any caf yet, but he wears a big eager smile on his face when he approaches Rex. They’re the first ones out there which is no surprise to either of them. Rex results to hopping up and down to generate some warmth by the time the men start showing up. Kix being the reasonable and smart man he is wears his long-sleeved shirt and long pants while Jesse winces the second he steps outside the way Rex did. Hardcase always wears the long-sleeved shirt and the shorts no matter the weather. They approach Rex and Cody looking more eager to go back to bed then to stand in the grinder waiting to start a workout.

“Morning.” Kix says softly. Jesse says nothing with his shoulders hunched and teeth chattering.

“Morning.” Rex and Cody say chuckling at Hardcase who can barely keep his eyes open. After those three arrive the rest of the men begin pouring out onto the grinder. When Fives and Echo approach Rex, Fives has his hands up rubbing his nipples through his shirt.

“First round at 79’s is on me if the first words out of that boy’s mouth aren’t ridiculously stupid.” Cody mutters to Rex.

“Fuck Cody I don’t want to play this game.” Rex mumbles back already knowing Cody will win. Echo opens his mouth to speak but Fives beats him to it.

“My nipples are hard boys.” Fives says still rubbing them and looking around to see if anyone else was doing the same. Rex lets out a long and disappointing sigh through his nose with a small shake of his head. Cody turns facing behind Rex with his hand rubbing his chin in an attempt to hide his laughing. Echo closes his eyes to possibly stop himself from smacking Fives.

“Good morning Captain.” Echo says opening his eyes again.

“Morning Echo.” Rex sighs before Echo elbows Fives in the ribs.

“Fuck Kix switch shirts with me!” Jesse finally pleads before they start forming up with the other men.

“I’m not rewarding you for being unprepared.” Kix says as they take their spots. The 501st form up on the right while the 212th form up on the left.

“Okay first, it is cold and even mynipples are hard, so I don’t know if that really constitutes as something ridiculously stupid!” Rex hisses to Cody when his men are out of ear shot. Cody just throws his head back laughing. Ahsoka slowly emerges from the crowds of men with a deep frown on her face.

“I’m offended by how cold it is this morning.” She mumbles standing beside them. Rex grins crossing his arms.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Cold? Commander Cody is it cold to you?” Rex asks. Cody tilts his head as if thinking.

“No, not familiar with that word.” He says. They both grin while Ahsoka rolls her eyes.

“Its to early for you two.” She groans rubbing her face.

“I’m cold!” Jesse calls from the ranks. Rex shakes his head as they wait for the last few stragglers to form up. Boil walks up from the 212th with a datapad.

“Here’s the roster.” He says with a yawn. Cody takes it and scrolls through the names. Appo finally makes it to the front with the datapad for Rex.

“Cutting it late there you think?” Rex says taking the datapad from him.

“Had to make sure the new guys had PT gear.” Appo shrugs. Rex frowns while scrolling through the roster. That’s right. Clone Force Zero. Rex watches as they walk around the rows of men to stand in front. They all wear 501st PT gear looking uncomfortable. X stands bored. Side-eye can’t stop yawning. Stitch and Flex can’t stop looking around the grinder while rubbing their arms from the cold. Ghost looks like he had just walked out naked and pushes himself against Side-eye with arms hugged tightly to his sides.

“How was your first night?” Rex asks trying to pull a smile on his face. X gives a shrug.

“It was like sleeping on a bunk bed in a warehouse full of snoring men.” X says crossing his arms. Rex keeps the forced smile on.

“Oh good.” He says through gritted teeth. “You can just fall in with the 501st.”

When they’re walking towards the back Rex lets out a sigh and shakes his head.

“Was that the clones Master told me about?” Ahsoka asks staring after them.

“Yeah, odd bunch that one.” Rex says trying to focus on the roster. Appo turns and waves into the crowd for someone to come up front. Rex watches two clones slowly walk forward.

“Captain, these are the two new members that got in last night.” Appo says with the two clones standing at full attention. Some men in the ranks laugh at their stiffness.

“At ease men,” Rex chuckles. They loosen up but in a stiff way. “What’s your names?”

“CT-5385 Sir!” The clone with a bun says snapping back to attention. Rex holds up a hand to try and calm the seriousness from these two.

“No, not the CT numbers,” Rex says hearing Cody chuckle beside him. “I’m Captain Rex, this is Commander Cody. And your names are…?”

“Ah I’m—I’m called Tup Sir.” The one with the bun says. The other one who Rex stopped before spouting CT numbers has a V tattooed across his left eye.

“I’m Dogma Sir.” Dogma says. Rex gives them a smile.

“Welcome to the 501st,” Rex says. “Fall back in so we can start the warmup.”

Appo leads them back into the ranks of 501st. Rex signals Fives to fall out. He hands him the datapad.

“You get to take muster.” Rex says. Cody hands the datapad back to Boil before they both stand in front of their men.

“Atten-tion!” Rex calls making both the 501st and 212th pop to attention. He steps back letting Boil and Fives walk forward.

“501ST attention to muster. When you hear your name sound off!” Fives starts. Boil does the same for the 212th. While they give muster, Rex has to fight the urge to spill everything about Clone Force Zero but not wanting to disclose anything to Commander Tano to soon. He peaks down at Ahsoka who rolls her shoulders slowly waking herself up.

“I don’t know how you talk me into these things Ani…” a voice sighs to the side. Rex smiles at Senator Amidala and General Skywalker walking across the grinder. It wasn’t odd for the Senator to join their morning workouts.

“Good morning Senator. Working out with us today?” Rex greets her. She gives him a warm smile and then an eye roll at General Skywalker.

“Yes, I was talked into it somehow.” She says eyeing the General. The General just grins with his hands on his hips more energetic in the morning then normal.

“It’s good for you,” The General starts. “Besides, the boys always seem more motivated when you’re around.”

He gestures out at the men who have perked up since seeing the Senator. Rex and Cody exchange a look before General Kenobi walks through the ranks.

“Blast this morning chill,” He says standing next to Cody. Both General’s wear the same PT gear as the clones except with a brown shirt instead of white. Ahsoka does the same except Rex and Fives tried drawing her face markings on her back. It doesn’t really look like them, but they tried. Many of the men have decided to make even their workout uniform unique. Hardcase scribbled GET THESE GAINS on the back of his. Kix had #MEDIC. Jesse proudly wears I DON’T WANT TO BE HERE on the back of his. Jesse’s wasn’t Rex’s favorite. Fives has IF FOUND RETURN TO ECHO while Echo has, I’M ECHO on the back of his. Echo still insists to have a blue handprint stamped over the right side of his chest. Rex got a kick out of all the messages his men wrote on their shirts. It started somewhat of a trend with the other clones. He’s been noticing more and more clones have been writing or even drawing things on their workout uniforms. “Well don’t delay on my behalf. Let’s get this over with.”

When muster is over, they start the warmup. It’s a series of basic exercises with ten four counts. The 501stand 212th try and outdo the other by who can count the loudest. Rex always felt sorry for the nobles living near the Jedi Temple. They probably never imagined they’d be woken up at 0500 to a clone army warming up. when the warmups done, they decide to do a Temple run.

“Alright, fast runners will be in group A with General Kenobi while slow runners will be in group B with General Skywalker.” Cody explains with the men breaking up into two groups. Ahsoka starts towards group B.

“Uh-uh come on kid.” Rex says leading her back to group A. she lets out a groan but doesn’t argue further. Cody stretches at the front of group A with General Kenobi. Normally General Kenobi would lead group B but with the Senator here General Skywalker volunteered to lead the slow group. All of Clone Force Zero stands in group A with mixed emotions of boredom or eagerness to get started. X turns his head meeting Rex’s eyes as if he could sense him staring. Rex looks away feeling a chill run up his spine. His thoughts are interrupted with Fives shouting towards the back of group A. Rex walks towards the back raising an eyebrow.

“Curse you and your slow running speeds!” He yells back to group B where Echo holds a hand up shielding his face as if it could hide him from Fives dramatics.

“Fuck sakes Fives its just a run.” Kix says in group A. Jesse leans on Kix’s shoulder.

“Yeah, Hardcase is a slow runner too but you don’t see us crying over it.” Jesse laughs giving a little wave to Hardcase in group B. Hardcase shoots Jesse the bird.

“Well since you’ve abandoned me, I’ll have to find a new running partner,” Fives says before grabbing the first clone he sees. He wraps his arm around Tup’s shoulders. “I’ll just run with… what’s your name again?”

“Tup.” Tup says uneasily.

“Tup!” Fives yells. Echo rolls his eyes while Jesse and Kix laugh. Rex walks back to the front where General Kenobi and Cody raise an eyebrow at him. He just shakes his head and waves them away in a you don’t want to know manner. With everyone in their groups they begin.

Group A always takes the lead in a steady pace with group B not far behind. Clones weren’t slow but some definitely were better runners then others. Rex had always struggled with running in the past. He never had that natural speed that others like Ahsoka or Cody had. He had to work for it and he still has to maintain a decent running schedule to keep his pace. Once they hit the one mile mark the groups begin to fizzle into everyone’s own speed. Group A and group B have now turned into a long line of runners around the Temple. Rex was impressed to see Tup near the front with General Kenobi, Ahsoka, Cody, and Rex. Fives struggled to keep the pace with his new running partner.

“Why don’t you fall back to Echo? He probably misses his running buddy?” Rex calls to Fives.

“Yeah… Echo… probably… does miss me!” Fives pants before slowing his speed. Rex gives Tup a grin before slowing his own speed. Cody gives him a look before slowing his own speed so they could run beside each other. With everyone a mile and a half in they were focused on their breathing and running speed.

“What’s going on?” Cody asks calmly. Rex peaks back at X and his men. They aren’t far behind them, but they also look like they haven’t even broken a sweat. They aren’t even trying. They could probably blow right past Rex and the other leading runners. Rex tells Cody everything he heard from X’s little meeting. Cody doesn’t answer at first as they take a turn.

“I mean… who gave them their orders? It wasn’t the Jedi that’s for sure.” Rex says with a small shake of his head.

“I keep thinking back to the first time we saw them fight. I’ve never seen any clone fight that way and I’m guilty of going hand to hand with droids all the time.” Cody says. Cody glances at Rex. “You don’t think they could be with the Seppies do you?”

“I’m not sure… If they are then how did the Seppies get ahold of five clones? Did they desert and make a deal with them like Slick?” Rex thought out loud. When they hit the two-mile mark, he was having a harder time thinking. Cody looked unfazed with only the sweat dripping down his forehead as sign of struggle.

“And another question is where did they get those weapons? I know they aren’t from Kamino.” Cody nods. “I have a bad feeling about this Rex ol’ boy.”

“Me too. But we can’t just start making accusations without proof. We’ll have to keep an eye on them until we have something we can bring to the Jedi.” Rex says. Cody opens his mouth to say something when someone runs past them so fast it nearly caused Rex to trip. X and Side-eye run ahead passing General Kenobi and Ahsoka. Rex frowns feeling his speed pick up.

“Hey!” Ahsoka yells before chasing after them. Rex and Cody reach General Kenobi who frowns after X. Ahsoka catches up to him. He smiles and says something they can’t hear. Ahsoka says something back before laughing and running beside them the rest of the way. Something stirred in Rex that made his blood hot. Rex can’t keep his eyes off X and Ahsoka. He didn’t think X would actually try and hurt her out in the open with two clone battalions running behind him. And even if he did Ahsoka was more than capable of handling herself but he still felt protective over her. She was just a kid after all.

When they finally reach five miles they come to a panting stop in the grinder. There was a small victory in seeing X and his men panting as much as Rex. When General Skywalker and Senator Amidala reach the grinder, she bends over to put her hands on her knees panting. Running at her speed was no challenge for the General who looked less worn compared to everyone else. Hardcase rolls on his back when he reaches the grinder and pants loudly while complaining.

“He lives!” Kix calls before walking over to Hardcase. Jesse places a foot on Hardcase’s stomach who makes a gaging noise.

“He pukes, you two clean it up!” Rex says snaping his fingers at them. Echo and Fives roll in with Echo placing his hands on his knees while Fives walks around with his hands over his head. They watch as all their men reach the grinder and slowly crawl back into formation. Not wanting to waste any time Rex and Cody stand in front of their men leading them in stretches. When the cooldown is down, they let their men go.

“501ST, we have duty tomorrow! Stand by for the watch bill!” Rex calls out before being answered with groans and moans. He looks over at Ahsoka and X still talking and sharing laughs. General Skywalker walks up to them when Rex does.

“Nah, I beat you!” Ahsoka says putting her hands on her hips.

“You must have used the Force or something because I was in the lead.” X says placing a hand on his chest.

“Master, tell X I’m faster then him!” Ahsoka says looking to the General.

“No way. I’m staying out of this.” He says with a chuckle and putting a hand on his hips.

“Fine, you won. But I want a rematch Commander.” X says crossing his arms.

“Oh, you’re on.” She says with a grin before walking back towards the temple.

“Settling in nicely I see.” The General says to X. X pulls a smile on and nods at the General.

“Everyone’s been very hospitable.” He says eyeing Rex who shifts his weight beside the General.

“Glad to hear,” The General says before looking back at the Senator as she approaches them. “If you’ll excuse me boys, I have to make sure the Senator makes it home safe.”

“I’m more then capable of doing that on my own.” The Senator raises an eyebrow at him with a smile.

“I know but it’s my duty as a Jedi ensure your safety!” The General says as they start walking away. When the General is out of ear shot X’s smile fades.

“Well,” X starts when Rex faces him. “This was a nice little jog. Me and the boys are going to shower. See you around Rex ol’ boy.”

The hair on the back of Rex’s neck stands on end. He watches X walk back towards the temple with his men. Cody and General Kenobi walk over to stand next to Rex.

“I don’t like that bunch.” Rex says narrowing his eyes at him.

“Patience Captain,” General Kenobi sighs. “They will reveal their true intentions in time.”

With nothing else to do Rex makes his way towards the Temple with Cody and the General. They change the subject to past tactics, but Rex couldn’t keep X out of his head. There was something off about him and it wasn’t just his armor or his weapons. It’s how he carries himself. How he acts. Everything about him was so familiar but Rex couldn’t pinpoint from where. Rex shakes his head. Maybe he was just paranoid. He decided he wouldn’t think about them for now. Now he has to prepare a watch bill for tomorrow and keep the 501st out of trouble while they awaited their next deployment. That alone was hard enough.

Click HERE to read full story on AO3.

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ilonga · 4 years

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rise of skywalker and sequels salt time, y’all

things I’m salty about in the rise of skywalker and the star wars sequels, in no particular order:

- Finn was sidelined

- FINN WAS SIDELINED

- he was such an interesting character with so much potential (a stormtrooper who deserted!! pretty sure that was the first time we’d ever seen that!!), and it was all ignored and he was turned into background noise for what?? kylo ren??

- seriously! after TFA, the movies should have explored his backstroy! we should have seen his stormtrooper past affect him!! maybe a stormtrooper revolution!! he should have had a CHARACTER ARC!

- also his force-sensitivity being turned into a joke and comic relief was frankly insulting

- they could have done so many things with that side of the character (even though it was kind of out of nowhere)! parallels between finn and rey, finn questioning his identity, the whole a former stormptrooper being force sensitive thing should have been explored!

- Poe was sidelined

- Poe was a spice runner for no reason?? 1) isn’t that a rude stereotype, and 2) Poe is not Han Solo 2.0!! he was his own, different character!

- Finn/Poe didn’t happen

- gonna be salty about that forever, though I guess I saw it coming :( (it’s disney, what did I expect?)

- but they gave Poe a straight love interest that we’d never heard of before this movie and who he had like two lines of dialogue with just to rub it in?? like, really?

- they completely forgot Rose existed

- like, listen, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the finnrose kiss either, but you can’t just pretend it didn’t happen and hope everyone forgets about it

- and sure, rose’s introduction and character in TLJ was a bit clumsy

- BUT YOU CAN’T JUST IGNORE HER AND PRETEND SHE DIDN’T HAPPEN

- she had a lot of potential as a character, and interesting backstory, a practical pragmatic personality, and a lot of ways she could play off the other characters

- TROS could have been where we saw Rose grow as a character and really shine

- instead, she was forgotten

- ugh

- REY PALPATINE WAS THE DUMBEST FRICKING THING OKAY--

- like, first of all, palpatine coming back for some reason somehow was the most ridiculous direction this movie could have gone and didn’t work, at all

- their enemy for the first TWO MOVIES was the First Order and Kylo Ren

- they had a huge moment in TLJ where the Resistance is steadily being destroyed and they won’t last long against the First Order

- now they’re supposed to take on the First Order and a now-supposedly-immortal emperor palpatine who has a collection of unmanned star destroyers he can control for some reason??

- both of them at once? the resistance is barely alive as is, now you’re adding an OP extra army + sith lord to the mix?

- I mean, this is ridiculous. Palpatine’s dead. Anakin’s big sacrifice in return of the jedi was KILLING palpatine. now he’s back, and the resistance somehow realises he’s back and decides he’s enemy #1 now?

- how did the resistance find out a dead sith lord came back to life on a remote planet anyways?

- and WHAT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE FIRST ORDER? AND KYLO REN?

- Kylo Ren, who they finally decided was going to be the main villain in TLJ (even with that stupid “rey trying to redeem the mass murderer” plot going on in the background), and now they don’t have the guts to commit to making him evil (which he was for the LAST TWO MOVIES AND THE MAJORITY OF TROS)

- so, since they weren’t committed enough to make Kylo a villain like he actually was and didn’t have the groundwork for a redemption, they just decided to ignore the fact that he was evil and hope it would go away

- like, are we going to forget that he literally MURDERED HIS DAD, HAN SOLO

- or that he and his first order destroyed a whole SYSTEM OF PLANETS? filled with billions of innocent people?

- he personally tortured Poe, he personally tortured Rey, and he was complicit in a system that kidnapped Finn, took him from his family, and brainwashed him

- not to mention that one of the opening scenes of TROS was him literally massacring people

- but no!! it’s all fine now, bc he looked at his dad’s ghost a little sadly and got a new lightsaber color

- like, no. he isn’t “redeemed” because he’s decided he has the hots for rey. heck, that makes it even worse. he’s been trying to manipulate her for all three movies, he’s gaslighted her, he’s threatened her, he’s hurt the people she cares about. NONE OF THAT IS OKAY. and it’s even less okay that all of his evil deeds can be written off because rey’s “”love”” for him “healed” him or whatever the fuck they want us to think

- and why would they have Rey HEAL him? after SHE stabbed him? in what universe does that make sense?? even if rey didn’t defeat him fairly bc he was distracted or whatever, this is still the supreme leader of the army rey and the rebels are trying to defeat. like, rey, are you a part of the resistance or not? it doesn’t matter if he was “nicer” to you than the rest of the rebels. He’s still your ENEMY. Your “”empathy”” here helps no one, least of all yourself. Kylo Ren dead would have been a massive victory for the resistance--maybe they’d even have had a chance against the first order then! you know, the first order? the enemy you were fighting for the last two movies?

- is this the message you want to be sending to young girls in the audience? that it’s ok if their partner hurts them, hurts other people, is a bad person in general, because their love can “”heal”” him? and that eventually, he’ll turn good if you just try hard enough?

- this is how people wind up in abusive relationships!! that shit is NOT okay

- and the kiss is ridiculous for the same reasons. you don’t owe kylo ren anything, rey. Not in the least for “rescuing” from a situation that was pretty much created bc of him. He’s the one who teamed up with palpatine at the beginning of the movie, remember?

- sometimes I feel like this movie forgot that kylo ren is, you know, a bad person, which the other two movies spent their entire runtime showing us

- like darth vader’s sacrifice was one thing. first of all, it was for his son, his child, and secondly, vader was very much under the power of the emperor and debatably had the mindset of a slave

- kylo ren, on the other hand, was completely under his own power. HE was making the choices, and calling the shots. HE murdered Snoke. And he died for a girl he was manipulating and gaslighting constantly and that he didn’t have much of a connection to other than “the force”

- like, darth vader’s “”redemption”” definitely wasn’t perfect either. you can argue that him killing the emperor and sacrificing him self to save his son didn’t negate any of his actions or him being a bad person. but it was definitely more meaningful and better handled.

- and let’s talk about rey

- I will forever be bitter that rey didn’t get a meaningful character arc and character growth

- which is so disappointing because she was SUCH an interesting (& mysterious) character with so much potential in TFA

- I feel like, in making her palpatine, which was pretty out of nowhere and contrary to the last jedi, they were so busy trying to fit her heritage into the movie in a way that sort of made sense that they forgot to make the movie about her growing as a character and person

- couldn’t they at least have given her her own lightsaber?

- I mean, her being a palpatine is already ridiculous because since when does palpatine have a son? (clone, whatever) And since when did that son have some sort of epic struggle where he refuses to join palpatine and runs away? and when did that son find someone he fell in love with, and have a daughter? and then subsequently abandon her, a seven-ish year old, on a dangerous desert planet? (I mean, wasn’t palpatine dead by then anyways?)

- it just doesn’t fit with the already established star wars universe. we already know palpatine’s story (well, not the beginning of it, but enough). It was movies 1-6, clone wars, and rebels. if he had had a son that had a luke-esque struggle against the darkside, it would have shown up.

- it just doesn’t fit

- but anyways, back to rey

- I guess they were trying to give her some luke-style struggle where she struggles with her heritage and a pull to the darkside that she has to ultimately triumph over? but it doesn’t work

- one, because she never HAS any struggle with the dark side. shooting lightning out of your fingers out of nowhere doesn’t count (and wasn’t that a ridiculous scene. it was more comical than anything else, which is definitely not what they were going for)

- a struggle with the darkside is about being tempted to give into anger, fear, and hatred, and struggling not to do the wrong things and turn evil. In luke’s story, we SAW that. we also saw luke’s horror and eventual acceptance of his heritage, which we never really saw with rey. It was just like, “okay, guess I’m a palpatine?” and it wasn’t nearly as impactful bc palpatine had been dead for the past thirty-ish years. as a contrast, vader was a living and very present villain who the heroes had to contend with, and it was personal for most of them.

- so I guess they tried to make that her character arc, but it didn’t work. so we were left with a stale character who didn’t really have any meaningful victories or losses.

- is she really a “”mary sue”” like everyone’s claiming if they never really made the story about her?

- I think that was the biggest thing that was so unsatisfying about the sequels

- she was hyped up to be the first real mainstream female jedi protagonist (obviously clone wars got there first, but movies are definitely more mainstream than a show, sorry cw :( ), but she never really got a journey, struggles, or real triumphs. which is such a shame because she was this really empowering character in TFA that I was so excited to see more! but her trilogy-wide character arc just wasn’t satsifying

- I wanted to see her really struggle, and rise above her struggles! I wanted her to have meaningful triumphs!

- also I don’t think she ever got injured either, which is definitely a deviation from the star wars trilogy pattern. that’s kinda strange. (luke lost his hand & got electrocuted, han got frozen in carbonite, leia got tortured & shot, anakin got, well, a LOT of injuries, but even before becoming darth vader w/ the foregone conclusion, he had his arm cut off, padme was pretty heavily injured on genosis, and obi-wan was injured in the fight against dooku)

- yup

- also the sith wayfinder was kinda dumb, and I never felt like there were real stakes in TROS

- and let’s address the rey skywalker thing: ok, fine, I get what they were trying to say, kind of

- and I’m not foaming at the mouth about it like some people are. I’m fairly indifferent

- but it would have been a lot more meaningful if rey had had like, a really close, deep relationship with Leia and Luke, so she could say that she and they considered her a skywalker

- but she didn’t have that sort of relationship with them, not really. Sure, she and leia were friends on-screen, but that was it. and luke didn’t really seem to like her all that much.

- so like, “meh”

- especially since Leia’s technically a Solo or an Organa, so that line working really relied on her relationship with Luke, which wasn’t strong enough

- yea, so that’s that

- the “jedi voices” scene was pretty cool though (AAAAH AHSOKA!! AND ANAKIN!! AND ALL THE OTHER JEDI!!), and I liked her yellow lightsaber (although she could have built her own lightsaber at the BEGINNING OF THE MOVIE, instead of carrying luke’s the whole time)

there are things I like about the sequels, mind you. a lot of things!! but there’s a lot I was disappointed in too.

congrats if you got this far, that was a LOT of salt

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constablewrites · 3 years

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In Which I Give Way Too Much Thought to the Sex Lives of Animated Characters

I’ve fallen off the wagon on my weekly posts here, because ::gestures vaguely at 2020:: It isn’t that I haven’t had observations to make, more that I lacked the particular motivation to actually write them up. But there’s one thing that can always drive me to the keyboard: getting nice and annoyed!

Star Wars Rebels is a deeply irritating show, mainly because when it is good, it is truly excellent, but there’s a lot of meh to wade through to reach those moments. It seems to be aimed at a younger audience than Clone Wars, and lacks that show’s advantages of both the well-established characters from the films and its urgent newsreel energy (because who needs Act I when Tom Kane can just yell exposition at you). There are a lot of interesting ideas and setups in Rebels that just never get properly explored, but the one I found most disappointing was the relationship between Kanan and Hera.

(Major spoilers after the cut. Go watch the show, it’s not terribly long and, as I said, the good stuff is really good.)

I was surprised by how much Kanan’s character grabbed me. Maybe it’s because I find the concept--someone who knows he’s unfit to be a mentor but has no choice but to fake his way through--to be highly relatable as an elder millennial, or maybe it’s just that I glom onto protector characters. He has great chemistry with Hera, and I am a shipper of the highest order. So when the final season started focusing on their romance, it should have been catnip for me.

Reader, it was not.

Oh, the interrupted kiss when they’re trying to get out of the city on Lothal is solid ship-tease stuff, to be sure. But then you get to 4x7 “Kindred” (not gonna link a video because I couldn’t find a good one and the damn things always get taken down later anyway). Kanan asks if she’s ever thought about their future together, Hera demurs and says that he knows how she feels. He isn’t so sure, so after a bit of cockblocking from the A-plot, she kisses him for the first time (that we see). The exchange is brief and doesn’t quite fit the established dynamic, but it’s fine.

The problem is, immediately after that kiss, she gets on a ship and leaves for rebel command. The next time Kanan sees her is the rescue mission that kills him. So for the [Babies Ever After] epilogue to make sense, one of these things must be true:

Force ghosts can fuck

They find time during the harrowing escape to sneak away and hook up

Hera is already pregnant when she leaves Lothal

Not only do the first two seem unlikely, but the third point works with most of the rest of the series. A show with such a young audience was probably never going to state outright that two characters are doing it, so they just have to imply it in ways that older viewers will pick up on: Hera calls Kanan “dear” in the very first episode. They talk to each other about things they don’t talk about with the rest of the crew. And Kanan being squirrelly on Ryloth? That isn’t a guy meeting the father of his best friend or even his crush, that is [recognizably] a guy meeting the father of the girl he’s boinking.

I don’t have a problem with a kids’ show not getting into detail about the love lives of its parental figures, and I honestly think more media should feature healthy, established couples. But I feel like the writers realized that they couldn’t show the impact Kanan’s death has on Hera if their relationship is entirely off-screen. So they did finally make it clear that this is a romance--but they did it in a way that makes it seem like the romance started right there at the end, since Hera’s unhappy “We’ve talked about this before” gives the impression that she’s turned him down in the past. And that just doesn’t add up. (Not to mention the sudden ramp-up makes it pretty obvious that one of them is gonna die.)

But this isn’t Fandom Bitching Wednesdays. Was there a way to do it differently?

Potential fix: Cut the kid. Probably the most straightforward, since that’s what creates the out-and-out plot hole Issues: Also the most depressing option. Kanan’s son is the thing that gives him a happy(ish) ending, allowing a part of him to live on beyond just the memories of his friends. Plus, it makes their interactions in the early seasons kinda confusing if they were never supposed to be in a relationship at all.

Potential fix: They were in a relationship but were very private about it and avoided any PDA around the rest of the crew. Conversation plays out more or less the same, but Hera’s reluctance to talk is because she’s aware that the others are watching, and the kiss is significant because she’s choosing not to hide anymore. Issues: My vote for most satisfying option, but would still benefit from a scene or two earlier in the series setting it up. Also means that if you wanted to keep the bit at the fuel depot where Hera tells Kanan she loves him as a big climactic moment, you would definitely need to establish why she’s never said it before. (Especially because she calls him “love” during the evacuation of Chopper Base.) There are plenty of options for this that would fit in with her character--perhaps something about her own parents, or how they’re in a war, or how she just thinks it’s less complicated if no one knows--but you would have to pick one and show it.

Potential fix: They were in a relationship but it wasn’t “serious,” or perhaps was even a strictly friends-with-benefits arrangement. So when Kanan is asking about their future, it’s not a new thing but an escalation, and builds more naturally toward Hera saying she loves him. Issues: This is how I tried to headcanon it initially, because it’s the only thing that makes any of it make sense as-is. And it’s easy to see how Kanan would have initially been happy with that setup (more on that in a second), but less so for Hera, with her pet names and talk of how they’re a family. As above, her reason for putting up that barrier, and for keeping it up this long, would need to be clearly established.

Potential fix: FWB but reverse this scene: Hera is the one who wants more and Kanan is resisting. I mean, come on guys, the “Jedi are forbidden to form attachments” thing was right there. It’s a stupid rule, but you have the opportunity for Kanan to acknowledge it as a stupid rule and reject it. Kanan is also exactly the kind of guy who would try to ride out the loophole of “It’s okay that I’m in love with her if I never say it or call her my girlfriend.” Variant: they were in a typical relationship but Kanan pulled back when he trained with Bendu to control his emotions, so what Hera wants isn’t something new, but rather what they had before. Issues: The dynamic of “girl wants romance, boy can’t express emotions” is pretty played out. The fact that Kanan broaches the topic by asking what would end her involvement with the Rebellion further adds an interesting angle that builds on stuff that’s been brought up before--war is all she’s ever known so she doesn’t shy from it, while he feels like he’s already survived one war and wants to be done with it--and you lose that if she’s the one who raises the question. It also follows that he would then be the one to say “I love you” at the fuel depot, which somewhat dampens the power of his sacrifice to say that for him.

Perhaps the real lesson here is that sometimes there aren’t any perfect solutions to story problems, just a series of trade-offs. This is especially true in a serialized medium, where part of the story might already be out there by the time you realize you would need to make changes to it to properly set up where you want to take it. If you missed the chance to show us a very important conversation, the best you can do might just be to reference that it happened and hope (in vain) that your audience will just roll with it instead of being nitpicky bastards.

And maybe Force ghosts just fuck, I dunno.

#star wars #star wars rebels #kanan jarrus #hera syndulla #writing #writing advice #plot holes #tv tropes links #relationships #romance #writing lesson wednesdays #i feel like i'm a little late to this discourse #but that's honestly pretty on brand for me

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supremeleaderkylo · 4 years

Text

Third Time’s A Charm

Read on AO3

Thanks to lockdown I had a lot of time for writing and now decided to post it on here too.

Just some Kylo x fem!reader porn, expect absolutely no plot.

Warning: Dubcon, Humiliation (ish?)

5.7k words

This was the third time you found yourself between the Commander's sheets. Or rather on them. Technically the first time was nowhere near his sheets but in a hallway, the feeling of humiliation was still deeply ingrained into your brain. You were working on the bridge when he came into the room, most people there tended to avert their gaze whenever he was close, hoping he won't notice them but you looked. It was the very first time you saw him without a mask and you were surprised that he was not some hideous creature as you and your colleagues often speculated but rather a young man, dark hair framed his beautiful face, the scar that ran from his brow down to his throat did nothing to change that and neither did the snarl curling his plush pink lips. For some reason however you were the only one who did not manage to seem unphased by this, on the contrary. When he entered you let out a weird squeal, you immediately slapped your hands in front of your mouth but all the attention was on you already. How did nobody else react to his face? You just ached to run your fingers through his soft hair while his lips sucked on your collarbone but apparently it was just you imagining those things.

You still remembered how his head had snapped towards you, his dark eyes piercing you and an unbearable pressure started to build in your skull, threatening to burst it open and revealing your brain, you had to lock your jaw and grind your teeth in order to keep yourself from screaming which would have undoubtedly just drawn more negative attention towards you. The pressure was gone as quickly as it came, the next thing you remembered however was how Commander Ren yanked you to your feet and dragged you out of the room, through the hallway and past a number of Stormtroopers who jumped out of the way and watched on, internally you were hoping at least one of them would feel heroic and somewhat suicidal enough to stop the Commander and rescue you. Needless to say that did not happen.

In the middle of some deserted hallway Kylo Ren had stopped and pushed you against a wall, the cold seeping through the fabric of your clothes and sending a shiver down your spine. You heard the beating of your heart in your ears, everything seemed to spin around you and did he not have his hands on you you might have just fallen down. You were certain you were going to die here, just some miserable officer impaled by a lightsaber because she was so desperate to be touched that she dared to crave the Jedi Killer. To your surprise his lightsaber stayed where it was, securely attached to his belt, and instead he ran his leather clad fingers through your hair, dragging them over your scalp and he leaned in, his lips ghosting over your ear and his breath hitting the side of your face.

"Do you really think I would allow you to put your filthy hands on me?"

His words were mere whispers and yet they pierced through the silence, he balled his fists, gripping your hair and pulling your head back, mustering your face. You swallowed, heat was pooling between your legs and rushing into your face at the same time, the embarrassment was unbearable and yet you melted under his touch, your breath ragged, his power over you caused excitement to shoot through you like lightning.

You remembered how he had spun you around, pressed your face against the cold gray durasteel wall, how he pressed himself against you, his chest flush with your back and whispered into your hair how lucky you should feel to even be allowed to breathe the same air as him, that you were just some useless low ranked officer who should feel grateful if he'd even just so much as let you lick his boots. You remembered how his hand landed on your hips, digging his fingertips into your flesh, how he yanked down your pants right then and there in the hallway, how the sound of the smacks of his hand on your ass seemed to ring all around you and finally how he pushed into you, filling your throbbing cunt, muffling your moans with one hand while the other was creating bruises on your hips. You remembered how he came in you, how after he pulled out he told you to thank him for this, how he watched you standing against the wall with your pants down between your knees and cum leaking out of you. And you remembered vividly how when you told him that you don't have anything to thank him for since you neither got to touch him nor to cum Kylo struck you across the cheek and left. Even now thinking about it shame was washing over you.

The second time he did take you to his chambers at least but was not any more giving than the first time.

You figured the third time would be a charm. Your mind told you it was madness, not only was he dangerous but he was also selfish and you were nothing more than a toy to him, what did you even get out of it? Your cunt however was aching for more and that was enough to shut your brain up and make you follow your needs mindlessly. And so here you were, sprawled out naked in front of him, Kylo stalking around you like a predator. He however was still in full garb, robes, gloves, boots and even his helmet.

"Can you at least remove the mask, please?" you asked him, only to be silenced by a smack on your thigh, numbing pain spreading through your leg.

"You don't get to make demands, whore" he sneered in response, making it once more clear that you were there for his pleasure, not yours.

His visor was trained on you when he pulled aside his robe, his hard cock was straining against his pants and Kylo did not waste another second to free it. You were unable to take your eyes off his cock as it sprung free, the tip read and glistening. His fingers ran over a vein on the top of his dick and he stepped closer, now being only inches away from your face and you licked your lips, mesmerized by his sheer size.

"Such an eager little thing" Kylo said, he grabbed your arms and spun you around onto your back so that your head hung down from the edge of the bed.

He gripped the side of your face, his fingers dug into your jaw, and he guided the tip of his cock between your lips. The pressure on your jaw increased and you were forced to open it, giving him full access to your mouth, the salty taste spread over your tongue, you couldn't help but use it to play with the tip of his cock to gather more of his delicious taste, your lips wrapped tightly around his shaft.

Kylo's hips started moving in a slow pace, dragging his cock over your lips. He barely made a noise so the wet plop when he pulled out of your mouth just to plunge back in was the only sound filling the room but it did not take long for him to pick up the pace and your gags whenever his tip hit the back of your throat mixed in with the sounds despite you trying to suppress them.

You could feel the veins underneath his hot skin as his cock was gliding over your tongue, a mix of spit and precum was pooling in the corners of your mouth and threatened to dribble out.

Kylo was grunting, at this point not even the modulator of his mask could hide that. Your own grunts were muffled by his cock deep in your mouth, the heat between his legs made you feel dizzy and beads of sweat formed on your forehead, you wanted to hold on to his thighs but were unable to, your hands were chained to the bed by seemingly nothing but air.

Strong fingers were digging into your aching jaw, the quick and relentless pace got a sloppy rhythm to it now and just as you feared he would suffocate you with his cock you felt it twitching on your tongue, Kylo snapped his hips forward as hard as he could, burying himself deep inside of you, your nose was pressed into him and he held your head where it was, seconds away from crushing it, and ropes of hot cum shot down your throat. Once he had emptied himself in you and his cock stilled Kylo pulled out of you, leaving a trail of tangy and salty taste on your tongue and you gasped for air, your now free hands found your jaw and drew gentle circles on the aching joint.

The Commander tucked himself away and you watched, disappointed that he was again not bothering to please you and instead simply using you for his own pleasure. Your cunt was still needy with desire, clenching and hoping for any touch it can get, you had to feel him in you.

You sat up, pushing your chest out and locked your eyes on his visor, you licked his juices from your lips, your tongue glided over them and gathered any fluid left, hoping watching you do this would arouse Kylo. His visor was trained on you, you wished you could see his face, know what he was thinking. With your thumb you collected what had dribbled down your chin and let it glide smoothly between your lips, you made a show of sucking and licking it, letting out a low moan. At that Kylo shifted, hardly noticeable.

"What are you doing?" His words sounded menacing rather than curious.

"Just cleaning myself" you answered, pouting and batting your lashes at him. "Am I not allowed to?"

"You know exactly what you are doing, slut!"

He took a few quick strides towards you, no doubt watching you behind that mask, his fists were pumping at his side, clenching and unclenching, the leather made a barely audible noise every time.

"What am I doing then?"

You loved playing the innocent, teasing him and earning yourself some form of punishment. The prospect of that made sparks go off in your chest and you clenched. Kylo however did not answer, instead one hand shot out in front of him and something invisible wrapped itself around your throat, applying pressure and making breathing impossibly hard. You tried to grab whatever it was but you just grasped air. The man responsible for this closed the little distance between you two and now his mask was mere inches away from your face.

"Do not believe for one second that I'm doing this for your enjoyment" he spat through gritted teeth.

You wanted to answer but the pressure of the Force on your throat made it impossible for you, you opened your mouth but nothing but incomprehensible noises fell from your mouth. Kylo took the opportunity to shove two fingers into your mouth as deep as possible and made you gag.

"You wanted my touch and now you have it, don't get greedy" Kylo continued.

Your lips sealed around his fingers, the taste of leather filled your mouth, your head was feeling light and the room started to spin around you and just as you were about to black out Kylo, or the Force, let go of your throat, his fingers slipping out of your mouth with a wet plop, making way for the air to fill your lungs. You coughed, gasped and swallowed, rubbing your throat where the pressure has been. The pain whenever you swallowed filled you with anger, he was definitely taking it too far for your taste.

"What the..." you started, intending to give your anger a voice but you were interrupted by the hiss of Kylo's mask filling the room, followed by a thump when he let it drop to the floor.

The sight of his face, those delicious lips and silky dark locks would never tire you, if you could you would stare at him all day. And in that moment you forgot about your anger.

His voice was much smoother without the modulator, hearing him like this had the power to make you wet if you hadn't been already. Not that you would be any less aroused when he has his mask on, knowing what was underneath was part of it.

"Whore..." he mumbled under his breath and to your surprise he was on you within a second, nibbling and sucking on the skin of your collarbone, drawing it between his teeth, licking it, planting wet kisses on it.

At first you were dumbstruck, the sudden change in his demeanor catching you off guard and leaving you confused but once you registered what was happening you shyly placed a hand on his head, fingers gliding through his hair, it was silkier and far softer than you had ever imagined, a soft sigh tumbled from your lips. This was the first time he allowed you to touch him and you wanted to enjoy every second of it, cherish it and above all cherish him.

You raked your fingertips over his scalp and he hummed against you, sending vibrations through your skin. A slight tug at his hair earned you another hum followed by a bite, his teeth sank into the curve of your neck and the hot tip of his tongue left a wet trail between the bite marks. Involuntarily you bucked your hips up and sighed, a reflex of your arousal, never in your dreams had you imagined being touched this way by Kylo Ren and yet here you were, squirming beneath him, his lips exploring your body and strands of his dark hair wrapped around your fingers. You became more daring, your hand slowly travelled down his neck, your thumb caressed his jaw as his lips kept attacking your shoulder and then you slid your hand over his shoulder, gently gliding down his arm and feeling every muscle shift beneath the fabric of his robe as he was flexing them to keep himself steady on the mattress.

You repeated the motions on the other side, caressing his biceps, squeezing it gently. Teeth sunk into the tender skin on your throat, soft lips sucking on it and you sighed into Kylo's hair as he licked the spots he made.

Your hand returned to his neck, fingertips brushing the exposed skin there and then it made its way down his back, here too you felt his muscles work and move beneath the robe whenever the Commander shifted to reach another patch of your skin. You reached towards the front and fumbled with his robe, trying to open it with one hand while the other was still occupied with exploring him but in one swift motion Kylo detached himself from you and grabbed your wrists, squeezing them so hard that you felt the joints pop.

"I just thought...." you stammered, his angry eyes filling you with fear.

"You thought wrong. From now on you keep your hands to yourself again" Kylo sneered.

Your heart sank, replaced by a sharp pain in your chest and your eyes stung, tears welling up. You came so close to getting what you have been craving for a while now only to have your Commander shatter them in his ruthlessness.

"Stop crying, it won't help you" Kylo said sharply.

You swallowed the thick lump in your throat and nodded, as much as his words had stung you'd still rather be here than being kicked out for crying.

Deep breath, you can do this, you thought, you're a grown woman.

Kylo inhaled sharply through his nose and looked you up and down, then he grabbed your breasts and squeezed, not very gently, pain shooting through your chest.

"Yes, you are" he mumbled, clearly having picked up your thoughts.

He pushed you back on your back and placed his arms on either side of you, the way he was hovering over you, massive and dressed in all black, like a creature keeping its prey trapped and away from anyone else who might try to steal it. You clenched.

Slowly he lowered himself, keeping his eyes locked on your tits and when his face reached them he immediately attached his lips to your nipple, sucking on it, flicking it with his tongue. When his teeth grazed the sensitive and hardened bud he looked up at you and his eyes of molten chocolate made you forget everything.

He moved on to the other breath, taking as much of it as he could into his mouth, tongue toying with your nipple and his hums vibrated through your skin. You arched your back, pressing your chest closer to Kylo, the need of being devoured by him sweeping over you, drowning you in lust and filling your chest to the brim, threatening to erupt any second and spill out of you.

If Kylo was seeing or feeling any of your feeling he did not bother showing, he kept giving his devotion to your breasts, peppering them with kisses and biting the soft flesh before he moved on, dragging his tongue between them, inch by inch exploring you, tasting you, trailing a wet line down your belly, dipping into your navel and further down, stopping just short before your cunt. You whimpered and bucked up your hips, wanting his face between your legs more than anything else. Instinctively your hands shot out to grip his head and push him down towards your core but they were caught midair by and invisible force and pinned down to the mattress.

"You are unbelievable" you groaned.

Kylo shushed you. "I'll let that one slide because you have those lovely lips but one more word and you are out."

Out how? Out the door? Out of this arrangement, whatever it was? Out as in dead? You did not dare to ask and instead kept quiet, rather playing along to get what you wanted. Kylo however set out to tease you, make you whimper and slowly go insane from the overwhelming lust and need.

He licked along your inner thigh, grazing it with his teeth, biting into the flesh where your thigh met your pelvis and then he dragged his tongue towards your aching cunt, licking up and down the outer lips and you bucked your hips once more.

Kylo grabbed them and held you steady, his fingers digging into you and surely leaving bruises but you did not mind, on the contrary, the way his large hands pressed you down simply turned you on even more. A moan escaped you when his tongue grazed your clit.

His eyes flicked up to you and he let the tip of his tongue glide over your clit once more, watching your reaction. Your mouth formed an o and more moans fell from it. You gripped the sheets and tried to buck up again only for him to hold your hips down, you groaned in frustration and Kylo seemed satisfied with it. In an instant his lips were on you again, sucking your labia into his mouth, rolling it around and playing with it with his tongue.

Kylo let go and propped himself up, his lips were glistening with your juices and his saliva. Slowly he crawled up to you and you wanted to protest, wanted him back between your legs but you knew better and instead a whimper left you, mourning the loss of touch and everything else he was denying you.

He grabbed a fistful of your hair and yanked your head up towards him, his lips violently crashed onto yours, teeth clanking together, he thrusted his tongue into your mouth and you were able to taste yourself on his lips. Feverishly you returned the kiss, your tongue toying with his, gliding over it and underneath it, a dance of lust, every once in a while your tongue left his mouth to lap at his full lips, gathering more and more of that sweet taste. The grip on your hair tightened and hurt your scalp, you stilled only to be met by more pain from his pulling so you gave in and continued the kiss, letting Kylo explore your mouth, your noses were pressed together and breathing became hard. Kylo pulled away just in time before you had to, he released the grip on your hair while you gulped in air, welcoming the loss of tension on your skin.

His hand slid down your side, caressing your skin in such a gentle way you did not think he had in him. His fingers glided over your thigh, leaving a trail of goosebumps on your skin, and dipped between your legs, brushing against your folds, the entire time he kept his eyes on you. One finger slipped between your folds and you couldn't hold back a moan. Kylo rubbed up and down, brushing over your clit, down to your entrance and back up, occasionally dipping the fingertip into you, collecting your juices to then spread them on your skin. He soon added a second finger and spread you open for his viewing pleasure, watching how his fingers got covered in your slick. He licked his lips, his eyes were blown wide with lust when they met yours.

"Stars..." he muttered under his breath before plunging both his fingers into you.

You let out a little scream, his fingers were thick and you were not prepared to be stretched out like this, especially since Kylo gave you no time to adjust and instead immediately pumped his fingers in and out of you, pushing in as deep as he could and his hand slapping against you.

The noises filling the room were lewd, your whimpers and moans mixed with the sound your wet cunt made every time Kylo slammed his fingers into you and pulled them back out and somewhere in there he grunted, evidence of the sheer force he was using to finger fuck you, almost painfully. His face was close to yours, his lips barely touching your skin but his eyes were fixed on you, watching you intently, catching every move you made, every change on your face. You knitted your brows, your gaze flicked from his face down over his body and to his hand between your legs and then back up to his eyes, your lips parted and twitched ever so slightly whenever the palm of his hand his your clit and sent a bolt of pleasure through you.

Kylo's breath was hot and ragged against your cheek, no doubt he was hard again, aroused by what he was doing to you. You closed your eyes, eager to project images of him fucking you into his mind, hoping he would pick up on your needs. If he wouldn't let you speak you needed to get creative to tell him what you wanted. A smack on your cheek followed by a sharp pain spreading over the side of your face pulled you out of it but you clenched and an involuntary moan escaped your lips. Shock and shame about your body's reaction flowed through you and you kept your eyes shut as if that could hide your feelings. From him but most importantly from yourself.

Leather clad digits grabbed your chin and buried themselves into your cheek.

"Look at me, whore!" Kylo spat at you.

Hesitantly you peeled your eyes open, the Commander pulled his fingers out of you to wrap his hand around your throat and straddle you.

"You enjoy it when I hit you, don't you? You are pathetic, do you get off on my power?"

You nodded as a reply and, smack, another blow to your cheek, this time your head fell to the side but he grabbed your chin again and turned your head to face him.

"Speak when I ask you something" Kylo sneered.

"Yes, I do, Commander."

"Yes, you do, slut."

His fingers dug deeper into your cheeks, forcing you to open your mouth and without a warning he spat into it.

"Swallow" he commanded and you of course obeyed, swirling his spit in your mouth for a second like a good drink before you swallowed it.

Kylo watched you, his eyes dark and full of lust but his mouth was still in a snarl, giving you very mixed signals, silence hung over you like an executioner's axe.

"Good girl" he finally said, words smooth as silk and causing you to clench around nothing, a whimper escaped you at the feeling of emptiness between your legs.

The Commander got off of you, you wanted to protest but your voice got stuck in your throat and you were unable to move, held down by the Force. Kylo's eyes were still glued on you when he fumbled with his robe, letting it drop on the floor carelessly next to his mask. You were hooked, there was nothing you could do but watch him getting rid of layer after layer. Finally his undershirt and gloves landed on the pile on the floor alongside his boots, his pants however stayed on and he simply freed his cock from the restraints, again as hard as it was when he had shoved it between your lips, tip glistening with a drop of precum.

You could not help yourself, you drank in the sight of him, the broad shoulders and chest, muscles rippling and shifting underneath the skin whenever he moved. Of course you had figured out that Kylo had to be strong, not only from what you felt under his robes but you also knew he was not just strong in the Force, he was a great warrior with his lightsaber. For some reason you still had not expected this.

He was massive. All those robes, armor, padding and such made him look gigantic and menacing but underneath it all he was no different, having a strong physique you now just craved even more to touch, let your fingers glide over his smooth and warm skin, explore the scars littering his torso, neck and face with both hands and tongue, peppering them with kisses. Though you were certain he would not like it. Still, you wanted to, needed to even.

Kylo stood at the end of the bed, watching you watching him, certainly seeing everything that went on in your mind.

"No, I would not" he said and grabbed your thighs.

He yanked and dragged you towards the edge of the bed, you squealed and felt the hold of the Force on you disappear and thus you were able to prop yourself up but Kylo had different plans for you. He turned you over so you landed on your belly and commanded you get on all fours. Not daring to object him you did as he told you, lifting your upper body off the mattress, your hands and knees sank into it and you awaited Kylo's next move.

A large hand was placed on your upper back and the feeling of his naked skin on yours spread goosebumps all over your body, a prickling sensation where his hand was. Kylo applied some pressure, forcing you to lower your upper back and arching it so your ass stuck out further.

With his free hand Kylo smacked your ass and you jolted forwards a little; when he did it again the pain shot through your whole spine and a groan escaped you.

He spanked you once more and then caressed your ass, getting closer and closer to your aching and needy cunt until his thumb brushed over your outer lips.

"You should be ashamed, being hit by your commander making you so wet, filthy thing" he whispered while his thumb glided up and down your slit, spreading your juices.

Whenever he slid it into your core you let out a whimper, clenching around him and raising your ass as high as you could, pushing it out and meeting his hand, trying to get as much of him as possible.

After a few more pumps however Kylo removed his hand and you whined at the loss of contact but he did not let you wait too long, only a few seconds later you felt the tip of his dick prodding at your entrance.

"Stars, Kylo..." The anticipation tingled in your core.

Again a smack on your ass. "What did you just call me?"

You groaned. "Commander."

"I'm starting to think you don't want this." And with that Kylo took a step back, leaving you with nothing.

You wanted to yell, get up and grab him by his beautiful stupid hair and make him fuck you but instead you took a deep breath, that plan would not work anyways. So you at least made sure he got a good look at your ass, making a show out of it you looked back at him, batting your lashes. That probably would not do either, you knew but you still hoped it would.

"Commander, please."

"Please what?" His voice was stern.

"Please fuck me, I need to feel you inside of me, Commander, I need you to fill me with your cum."

His eyes travelled up and down your body, stopping for just a second at your wet cunt on display for him, all the while his jaw was clenching and you wondered if he would really had been able to hold back and stop himself from fucking you if you hadn't played along or if he would have just taken you either way. The answer didn't matter, within seconds Kylo had one hand on your hips and the other was guiding his cock to your entrance, in one swift motion he was inside and a low groan fell from his lips as he situated himself in you, you answered with sighs.

Kylo's hips started to move, dragging his dick along your walls, spreading you open, filling you, stretching you out. Every inch pure bliss to you and when he picked up his pace you could not hold back, gasps and moans tumbling from your lips, mixed in with the noise of skin slapping on skin and Kylo's groans.

One hand went back to your upper back, pressing hard to keep you down and the other reached around to grab your tits, groping at them, his hands were large enough to reach both at once, the palm of his hand rubbing on your nipple with every thrust into you. He leaned so far forward that his weight added to the pressure on your back, his hips snapping into you relentlessly, his cock hitting that sweet spot whenever he pounded into you and his name tumbled from your lips, you had no control over it, the lust and passion were just washing over you, carrying you away.

He pulled on one nipple, yanking it hard and pain shot through you, so much so that you screamed out.

"You're not worthy of saying my name, whore. You are just some stupid slut lucky enough to be fucked by her commander" Kylo sneered.

This took a very sudden and far less pleasant turn, you wanted to speak up but you couldn't. Yes, he was fucking you. Yes, the pain and humiliation were a part of it, a nice little game to spice it up but he could not treat you like actual trash, that went too far. Obviously he did not hold back when it came to killing subordinated but this relationship was different, he was fucking you after all.

Your wrists got yanked together and bound on your back by the Force, the hand that was on your back was now pressing your face into the mattress and the other one was digging bruises into your hips.

"You are wrong" he spat through gritted teeth, his thrusting still relentless. "You are still below me, in any sense, and I can fuck you however I want."

Your mind was screaming and tears stung your eyes, your body however was complying and a tiny voice amongst the screams kept telling you how good he feels in you, that you are lucky to be fucked by someone like him. His power, his body, his face, those hands...

"Oh stars" you moaned, you just couldn't help it.

Kylo's groans became more frequent and guttural, his rhythm faster but also sloppier and you felt him twitch inside of you. He removed his hand from your head and placed it on your hips, holding on to them to be able to fuck deeper and faster into you and with one last loud moan he emptied himself in you, pumping it deeper while he was fucking you through his orgasm until he stilled.

Large hands still on your hips, Kylo dropped forward and his forehead touched your back, his ragged breath hitting your damp skin and his softening cock slowly slipped out of you, smearing the last drops of cum onto your cunt. Your muscles ached, you still were waiting for that sweet release but you were too exhausted to keep yourself up. Before you could let yourself drop onto the bed however Kylo snaked his arms around you, your back flush to his chest and you felt heat rising to your face, his chest was heaving with every breath, pushing into you and the warm feeling of comfort spread through your own chest. This was the position you wanted to cum in after having been used to your exhaustion.

"Don't be ridiculous" he whispered against your head and heaved you from the bed, carrying you to the refresher.

Shame replaced the feeling of comfort, feeling naive that you thought he was actually going to hug you and hold you tight. And make you cum for once.

Kylo let you down onto the floor of the shower and turned on the water, the heat melted the tension in your muscles.

"Your shift starts in 15 minutes", he said and left you to yourself.

#Kylo Ren #Kylo Ren x Reader #Kylo Ren x You #shameless smut #dom!Kylo x sub!reader

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hail-the-supreme-leader-kylo-ren · 4 years

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**TROS SPOILER WARNING** I saw it and ... 💔💔💔

Well after waiting 2 years, I finally saw The Rise of Skywalker and wow I’m devastated, confused, and angry. The worst thing that they could’ve possibly done they did. They killed Ben Solo Skywalker. I don’t know why screen writers today do this bullshit “bittersweet romance” thing where the two lovers finally have each other, only for one to die when it’s not necessary?!? It’s so cruel. The way the entire ending played out after they killed him, was like the knife they’d stabbed me with was being twisted. I can’t stop crying.

Rey defeated Palpatine, Ben pulled himself out of the pit (lol yes), cradle Rey is his arms lovingly, decided to try to Force heal her (I always had a feeling Ben would bring Rey back to life, because Anakin could never save Padme). Rey is alive again she says “Ben”, caresses him, they kiss, he smiles, REYLO IS CANON, and then shock twist he slumps and then instantly fades away. He’s dead.

LIKE WHAT THE ACTUALLY FUCK IS THAT JJ???? The final Skywalker, the one you’ve been building up as a tragically misunderstood, abuse victim dies sacrificing his life for Rey’s. Han, Luke and Leia all died and hoped that Ben would return to the light. And yeah sure he did, but I would’ve thought that his family would have wanted him to return to the light and LIVE out the rest of his days happily. Doesn’t he deserve that??

There’s so many confusing aspects to this, like A) why did he become “redeemed” then die sacrificing himself just like Vader? I thought that was the problem with the OT and why we have the ST... being that Vader died too soon and didn’t complete the full redemption journey and return to that innocent happy boy he once was and teach his story to others? B) does Rey love Ben? Because the whole movie was framed like she did. But the second he died, I don’t think she called out or even cried???? She goes back to the Resistance and is happy and hugs Finn and Poe. UGH THE “TRIO”. Isn’t she devastated she’s lost her love Ben? And then when she goes back to Tatooine, she sees Force ghost Leia and Luke but no Ben??!???!? A final slap in the face. C) since Ben and Rey were a “Dyad” and were one through the Force, I feel like they should’ve been able to both easily live??? Why bother making them Dyad if it ain’t going to serve the story at all? Is it supposed to just be a cop out and explain the Force Bonds? It’s all so infuriating.

They only reason I can think of why they’d kill Ben Solo is because they wanted to close the loophole of the “Skywalkers” so that they didn’t fuck anything up with the Force’s balance again. But even then that’s seems like a very thin idea, because Rey still exists and she’s a “Palpatine” and is uber powerful? How exactly was the Force finally brought into balance through this movie? Palpatine was defeated and the Palpatine bloodline/legacy “redeemed”? It doesn’t make much sense. GAH I would’ve preferred both Ben and Rey die, since their equals, why would one live and not the other?

To be honest, I was enjoying the film for the first half. It opened with Kylo/Ben so that’s a great. And the Force Bond scenes with Kylo/Ben and Rey screaaaaamed Reylo love. But so many of the leaks were right, it was becoming quite comical. And looking back of the film now it was all very clunky and had a lot of convoluted stuff in there that was so illogical and didn’t really serve a strong purpose to the narrative or any character development. When the watery Death Star scene went down, it seemed like (trope wise) that this would be the moment the Reylo kiss happens, but the dialogue wasn’t right it wasn’t angsty. And I thought, “oh no Reylo is not happening”. But then Bendemption happened and I was okay again. And by the time Rey went to confront Palpatine, I’d realised Ben really hasn’t been given enough screen time in this film, he wasn’t going to be the “hero” in this finally showdown, this was very firmly Rey’s story/saga. Which seemed odd, because they’re equals “dual protagonists”??! As Rey defeated Palpatine I was confused as to what the hell, because there was an obvious emphasis on all the Force ghosts telling HER alone to “Rise”, including Anakin. This was deeeply concerning because what about his own grandson Ben Solo??? At this point I didn’t know what was going to happen with Ben. But then like I said before he pulled himself out of the “pit”, very romantically came back for her and saved her and then just D I E D like it was nothing. I repeat W T F.

Now here’s all the other stuff I didn’t like about the film: - There was zero character development, except for Ben finally turning to the light and then he DIED - SNOKE WAS A PALPATINE CLONE???????? WTF JJ ARE YOU SMOKING CRACK? This was an early red flag that I should have heeded. I feel like all the fanboys finally feel satisfied with knowing Snoke’s backstory. - Where the fuck was Rose? Why didn’t she say like 3 words and get .5 screen time? that was some bulllllllllsshit. Why was she introduced in TLJ just to be sidelined? - Why the FUCK did they bother to make Finn Force sensitive? They hinted at it, and he never even got to tell anyone. It didn’t serve the story at all?!?!? Such a waste of time - Poe got to have a romantic happy ending with Zorri, while Reylo did not. - The C-P30 memory wipe had no lasting consequences, R2-D2 restored him in like 2 hrs? This screentime could’ve been used for Ben. All of Kijimi could’ve been scrapped to be honest. - The Knights of Ren were extremely useless, you could’ve swapped them for stormtroopers and it wouldn’t have made a different. Very disappointing. - Jannah was also useless, this screentime and scripttime could’ve been used for Rose. Her stormtroopers rebellion story was so heavy handed and terribly done. - Same goes for Dominic’s character, why did he exist? - Lando being back was also under-utilised, he had history with Ben why didn’t they use that? - Sooo many of the terrible leaks were true: the necklace grab, Luke/Leia training, Hux being a mole which was confusing and then he just died, Rey thinking she killed Chewie, the Sith dagger and C-3PO blah blah, Ben falling into “a pit” lol, the film finishing with Rey going to Tattooine and saying “I’m Rey, Rey Skywalker.” As soon as I saw Tatooine, I wanted to vomit because I knew that horrible horrible line was coming. - It wasn’t explained as to why Kylo remade his mask - Ben and Rey didn’t say I love you. And tbh, it’s probably good then didn’t since JJ killed Ben. - The finally “war” was very underwhelming and took place on one star destroyer - I was really hoping for some awesome Force Bond “world between worlds” jumping location stuff, and/or awesome new Reylo powers (but it was just healing)... so this was underwhelming. - I don’t know why Ben didn’t kill Palpatine instantly, opening scene? - They really emphasised babies and children on Pasaana with Rey, so I thought this was obvious foreshadowed of her and Ben’s future.... but no. - Pyrde wasn’t that interesting of a character, well acted but one-dimensional. - I really really hated Rey being a Palpatine. It makes no sense? I loved her being a no body and getting her powers from herself. What about her father, Palpatine’s son?? Did Palpatine try to get his son to kill him as well??? It’s so illogical. Also if everyone has to be if legacy blood, does this mean that Finn is a Konobi?! HAHAHA. I also hate how they added the fact that Leia and Luke “knew” she was a Palps all along. BAHAHAHAHA. Terrible. - Palptine wanted Rey to kill him, so he could live through her as a vessel. But then he Palpatine took Rey’s and Ben’s life essence, but they didn’t die? But he was back to his 100%. Then Rey killed Palps with the power of “all the Jedi”, and somehow Palpatine died? I thought he was going to go into her if she killed him? Or is the clause that she has to be angry and kill him with hatred? Boyyyyyyyyyy it’s so stupid. I can’t even.

Here’s the stuff I did like: - The Reylo kiss and Ben’s smile. - Ben offering his hand to Rey again, and all their Force Bonds of them trying to one-up each other with how well they know each other’s fears etc. - Him crushing the Sith wayfinding was hawwwwt. He was like if you’re going there, you’re gonna have to go with me. (Also leaves open a plothole of how the fuck did Ben navigate his way there in the finale) - Rey not killing the snake but healing it, yeah it was really odd but I don’t like how previous Jedi always slaughter animals so this was a plus for me. - Ben Solo in his “redeemed” outfit, he looked soo fine, and it reminded me of Han too which was sweet. - Leia’s death being the prompt to finally turning Ben back to the light. Finally a mother she did something right, looool. - I thought it was weird for Star Wars, but I did like Han being back as a memory, to talk with Ben. And the “Dad....” “I know” killed me. I knew they needed to resolve the one evil deed Ben performed, so this worked fine. - I loved Rey mediating with the rocks at the start of the film, and I loved her and Ben’s prequelsque Force jumping. - I loved that Jodie Comer was Rey’s mum!!!!! (I love Jodie) - I did like how the Luke’s water sunken X-wing from TLJ was used in this film, it was predictable but satisfying somehow. - There was so much FinnPoe tension through the film like Poe was jealous of Rey, it was hilarious. - I liked the queer kiss, even though it wasn’t much.

So there that’s everything I needed to say. I would’ve been sad and confused if Reylo didn’t happen, (because they’d set it up for 2 films), but I’m devastated that they killed Ben. Bendemption isn’t truely complete if he doesn’t get to live. I know he means so much to people, people who connected with him/who faced similar trauma as him. I know they’ll be a devastated as I am and that is what makes it so much worst. I saw someone say on Twitter a few weeks ago that it’s be horrible for Ben to die, who had suffered so much only for Rey to take the name of “Skywalker”, basically stealing his identity.

And yeah that’s exactly what happened. Ben deserved better, the fans deserved better, and the Reylo’s deserved better. 💔💔💔💔💔💔 In a few hours I’m seeing it again with my family this time, and I really don’t want want to rewatch it.... isn’t that horrible.

#the rise of skywalker spoilers #tros spoilers #ix spoilers #star wars spoilers #sw spoilers #theriseofskywalkerspoilers #episode ix spoilers #trosspoilers #spoilers

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crmediagal · 4 years

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I Have A Lot of Thoughts...

Okay. I just got back from seeing TROS. Bearing in mind that I already knew the main spoilers involving my precious boy, Ben Solo, and my beloved ship Reylo, I still have So. Many. Questions. And a flippin’ series of disappointments to whinge about, so get ready.

!!! WARNING: #TROS SPOILERS AHEAD !!!

Lets start with the main and, for me, most important factors: Reylo and Ben Solo

At the end of the day, if Reylo wasn’t ever intended to be end game, I could have lived with that. I’ve shipped whatever the heck I wanna ship and written those ships in fandoms I’ve loved for years, regardless of their basis (or more often, not) in the canonverse. I’d have survived if there was no kiss at the end.

Back in early 2016, when people were still speculating that Ben and Rey were related, I was writing them as lovers and doting parents, so, erm, again, for me, the ship wasn’t contingent upon them becoming canon in order to hold legitimacy/meaning. It shouldn’t for anyone, really. Ship whatever you wanna ship, guys! Love them regardless of screen time or lack thereof!

That being said, I will cherish That Moment™ forever when the Reylo shippers got a glimpse of what this incredible coupling could have been. And in the actual canon material, no less. That’s more than I'd have ever expected to receive and, frankly, was enough for me to be satisfied.

HOWEVER.

I was fully invested in this trilogy from start to finish for Ben Solo. And that is where I've been most letdown, disheartened, and pained.

At the off, sure, Kylo Ren made for an interesting archetype “villain” in TFA, but the moment we learned of his true identity, the Bad Boy™ appeal, for me, melted away. I fell in love with the tortured young man who had never really had the freedom of choice; who had the burden of war heroes for parents and a royal bloodline that traced back to Vader; who was abandoned by his family and left to navigate the enormity of his powers and abilities on his own. I was taken with Ben Solo’s troubled, many-layered complexity and this character took on a whole new meaning for me after TFA.

Like so many other Ben Redemptionists, I desperately wanted to see Ben Solo free of the torture he’d suffered all his life. And that life wasn’t long in years, unlike Anakin’s. By the end of Anakin’s life, he was more machine than man and middle-aged.

All the more reason that I needed to see Ben redeemed in this story...and allowed to walk freely in the sun.

SW is built on forgiveness and redemption, after all, so why would they not bring Ben Solo back to the Light and take him where Anakin’s story never could go? The groundwork was laid in two films and reiterated in countless interview quotes the creators dropped on us for four effin’ years. Disney and the creators seemed as invested in Ben Solo’s redemption arc as the fans were, so I wasn’t too worried about seeing it come full circle.

Hooooo boy. #MyBigFatMistakeThatIWillNeverMakeAgain

Ben Solo’s redemption, while earned in the last few minutes of TROS, was horribly cheapened when the creators decided to ‘play it safe’ by making him sacrifice himself. It wasn’t romantic and tragic, as I’m sure JJ and the creators were aiming for, but, rather, a Grade F example of very poor, very subpar writing. We got to see Ben for a few moments as himself whilst much of his storyline and importance in TROS was cruelly (and, it would seem, very purposely) reduced in the last film, too, when such plot for his character was supposed to be centre stage.

Less time devoted to Ben’s arc and then killing him off sends so many terrible messages, particularly for kids. You’d think Disney would understand that better than most.

Death is not hopeful. Redemption in the form of a young man, who was barely given the chance to live in Light and Love, dying as soon as his true self was realised isn’t hope. It’s been done before in this saga, as it has in many others, so it just makes the whole play-by-play defeatist and devastating. And after 40+ years of Skywalkers and Solos suffering in this universe, haven’t we ALL had enough of that, JJ? Disney?

They made Rey a Palpatine--a ‘surprise’ that had me actually laughing in the cinema and asking myself nervously, ‘Is this a joke?’--who takes the name of Skywalker to renounce her own bloodline but in the end, JJ, Disney, and the creators still sent us the same damnable, harrowing message: that Palpatine won.

#YIKES. That isn’t hope either, JJ! Disney! ABORT ABORT ABORT!

I thought JJ and the creators would be bolder than this PG-level crap. I thought Ben’s journey would be a true reversal of Vader’s, just as the director himself quoted not too long ago, and what did we get instead? Dusty old tropes and the sour takeaway that redemption will always come at a price rather than at its simplest, most exceptional form: the beauty of a second chance.

In the end, Ben Solo’s never to know freedom from Darkness? He's never to have the opportunity to make right of his wrongs by living in the Light? He's never to grow old? Instead, he’s to die a too-young death in the hands of a woman who actually loves and cares about the role he has to play in this whole saga; perhaps, the only one who cares at that point?

That’s cruel, JJ. Disney. And, again, utterly hopeless.

Hell, Ben’s not even one of the Force Ghosts Rey sees in the last scene of the movie! (A convenient loophole, yes, and the flicker of an opportunity to, perhaps, bring him back but it’s a wildly overlooked mistake if that wasn’t intended by the creators...and I don’t think it was intentional to make him Not There™.)

I don’t get this saga anymore. I failed to grasp the overall message of Hope in TROS. At all. I’m beyond disappointed at the assassination of Ben’s character to give others, who shall remain nameless, more screen time and a beefier storyline which was, frankly, always quite thin to begin with. I feel like I’ve been cheated on...and it hurts so badly to be so letdown by something you’ve loved and supported for so long.

And some other ridiculous absurdities in TROS while we’re still here:

Why was this film ALL about Rey’s lineage, a direction that seemed to come out of nowhere when it was already established in TLJ that her background wasn’t important or crucial to her part in the story? She came from nowhere, so why did this become a central thing?

I’ll admit that I never really cared whether Rey was a Skywalker or a Kenobi or had any given name. I rather enjoyed the idea that she had built herself up from nothing. That was an empowering message, in fact, and a strong one, I think. It was certainly leaps and bounds better than the, ‘HA! GOTCHA! SHE’S PALPATINE’S GRANDDAUGHTER!’ reveal that was laid onto us way too thick in the Final Act.

Ew. Gross. No thanks. I hate it. Take it back. It’s a passe trick to try and pull on the audience at the last minute.

One of many more examples of poor writing by the creators, I suppose.

Also, since when is Finn a Force sensitive? Did I miss something in TFA or TLJ that suggested he possessed that gift? No? Ah. More lousy writing.

Additionally, why does Finn spend the entire movie running after Rey? Why was his romantic storyline with Rose completely dropped and nonexistent in TROS?

It’s almost as if JJ and the creators were giving TLJ director, Rian Johnson, the middle finger throughout the entire finale that was this garbage of a movie. Nice work in undoing all the innovative things Rian brought to the saga, JJ. TROS is even worse™ than the Prequels...and THAT’s saying something.

Why did all the voices of Jedis past speak to Rey but never the helpless Ben Solo who had Palpatine raping his ear from the time he was a baby? It seems sketchy and unfair?

Again, lots of TROS makes little sense. It felt like an entirely separate movie to me--separate from the rest of the saga--and doesn’t wrap 40+ years of this series up all too nicely. It’s anything but. It’s confusing, heartbreaking, and leaves one without much hope.

So...we come to the end of my ramblings and wailings:

Ben Solo was the most interesting, convoluted, and beautifully crafted character from this new trilogy and a true redemption would have served the legacy upon which the SW saga is built--Hope™--so much better, including but not limited to its utilisation in making Han’s death carry meaning. Because his son would have not only returned to the Light but gotten to Live™ and experience it fully.

What a remarkably hopeful ending that would have been...

Instead, we got garbage writing and the redundant SW tropes.

Ben Solo deserved better. JJ and the creators absolutely wasted his potential in this story and I’ll be forever crestfallen..and retreating more and more into my own Ben Redemption fics because to hell with this elementary-level bullsh*t.

Han Solo deserved for his son’s part in his demise to not be utterly pointless at the end because, hey ho, guess what? YOUR SON DIED ANYWAY?!

Leia Organa deserved to not only see her son redeemed but to have that emotional reunion many of us were craving. She had already lost so much, but I guess JJ and the creators decided to just...serve the general more pain in the end. Wow. Rude. Such disrespect. Carrie Fisher wouldn’t have stood for it.

And Rey... My gawd, she deserved better, too. She should never been tied to Palpatine in order to make her seem more important. That grossly underserved her character.

She also should have had her other half. The yang to her yin. The only other person in the entire ruddy galaxy who understood her: Ben. She deserved to not be left alone at the end of TROS, just as she had started in TFA.

I’m going to go work on my WIP Reylo fic now and try to forget TROS entirely.

#ben solo #reylo #reyben #tros #tros spoilers #rey #star wars #i am in pain #i am....so heartbroken

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starforged · 4 years

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general general and skywalker: a post-tros finnrey

He dislikes the desert. It’s too hot. There are two suns. Who just has two suns? And the sand, it’s everywhere. It’s in his mouth and his eyes and he doesn’t know how, but it’s in his pants. Against his skin in places nobody wants sand to be.

But…

It isn’t Jakku, so he supposes he can give Tattooine the smallest of passes.

Very small.

The cantina is full of tired humans and aliens, and some that look like they would shoot him if they could. It’s the only place with people. The only place where he can pay for information.

“Listen, I am General Finn. You know, of the Resistance?”

The barkeep, a gaunt Twi’lek with skin the color of dying grass, stares at him. Mostly, that tactic works. General, Resistance. Everyone eats that up, and it makes Finn’s life easier and keeps his pockets kind of heavy. Metaphorically speaking. Because credits didn’t actually have weight.

“Finn what?” the barkeep finally says in return. It’s not an answer to his question.

Finn blinks and takes a deep breath. “Just Finn. No, not just. General. Point being, I am looking for my friend. A girl. She carries a lasersword. There’s an orange droid. Can you tell me where she is?”

The Twi’lek holds out his hand. Rubs two of his fingers together.

Finn transfers over the credits.

“You must mean the Skywalker girl. Homestead has been empty for years, but I knew the family that lived there. Owen and Beru and their kid, Luke.”

This is too much information to receive all at once, and Finn doesn’t know how to process any of it. Skywalker girl? Luke? What?

Rey is waiting for him outside of the little home, built right into the sand. A moisture farm, the barkeep called it. Finn doesn’t get it, but there she is, standing in the middle of the sandy yard. BB-8 beeps with delight and rolls up the incline to him. He asks about Poe, who isn’t here with him.

Poe is busy. Everyone is busy.

“I’m confused, you’re a Skywalker now?”

Her lips part, but she doesn’t have anything to say about it. So her shoulders lift in a shrug and a faint smile paints over her lips. “What are you doing here?”

“I missed you.”

They’ve all needed time. She’s never told him all of it, what happened down on that planet’s surface while he had been on the destroyer. And then, a few months later, she was gone. Something she had to do. She’d be back.

That was three months ago.

And now here he is, on this dreadful planet, standing before Rey Skywalker.

They move towards each other at the same time, without having to think about it. Her arms loop rightly around his neck, his around her waist. They press together, too warm, but it feels like it always has: a missing piece slotting back into place.

“I missed you,” she whispers into his shoulder. When she pulls away, he tries to not feel disappointed. “Let me show you around.”

The machinery for the moisture farming is, surprisingly, fascinating. And it’s nice to talk about something that isn’t war or death or First Order or who the hell is gonna run the Republic now because most of the Senators were blown up and who is going to trust any of them. They’re no Princess Leia or Mon Mothma, who he hears was fantastic. This is just weird rustic living.

He hopes whoever his parents were or are, that they aren’t moisture farmers.

She makes him dinner. He helps to clean the dishes.

The room she lets him sleep in has old models of x-wings and other ships. There are spare parts buried in bits of sand, nothing that is good enough to salvage. The room vibrates with this energy of more.

Luke Skywalker must have been some kid.

“What are you really doing here, Rey?”

“I buried Luke and Leia’s lightsabers,” she tells him.

“In the sand?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“I don’t think they minded.”

She seems different. Well, they all are, so that’s a stupid observation. But she feels more calm, more sure of herself. This is not the Rey he knows. She’s still there, the bright eyed girl from Jakku and the angry girl during the war. There are just parts of her that he feels but doesn’t know. He wants to.

He’s always wanted to, and she was too wrapped up in her anger to understand that he wasn’t going to leave. That he wasn’t scared of her, but for her. She kept trying to be alone, and all Finn has ever known is working as a unit. As part of a whole.

He feels that this is what’s happening now, too.

“I’m sorry,” Rey says, cutting through his thoughts. There’s a certain flicker of grief that crosses her face, of regret and pain.

He reaches out, across the table, pushing her cup of tea out of the way. He takes her hand. It’s warm and rough. He remembers the first time he took her hand, when it had been rough and sweaty against his palm. “Me too.”

“Ben saved me,” she whispers. Her dark eyes are downcast, lips parted.

“Ben? Solo. Ben Solo, Han and Leia’s son? Our enemy? Who was hunting us?” Sometimes, Finn feels like his mind is splitting apart. When he thinks of Ben Solo, there’s only Kylo Ren. The ghost stories the troopers spoke of him in whispers during training. The feel of his blade striking against Finn’s when they fought. That mask.

But when Rey raises her gaze to his again, squeezing his hand, he sees parts of Ben Solo that are just Ben. It doesn’t change his opinion of him. The guy was a monster. And he is dead.

“He gave me his life. There’s this ache, like a part of me has been hollowed out.”

He swallows. Hard. “Tell me about it. All of it.”

She does. And he does his very best to understand the things he doesn’t get. He doesn’t ask many questions, afraid that she’ll shut down on him again. Shut him out again, and Finn doesn’t want that.

And he thinks, while she tells him her story, her past, her future, her other half, he understands what love fully is. Love is not a continuous act of sacrifice for someone else, but it is a helping hand and a listening ear and an acceptance of some things that he can’t change. He’s not jealous. No, okay, he is, because other half is such a serious notion and if Ben was alive… Finn would love Rey enough to keep an eye on a reforming monster so that she could be happy. And he would move on.

He can’t change who Ben Solo and Kylo Ren were to Rey anymore than he can change what Poe and Rose and Jannah are to him. He can’t change that her power is something he can’t exactly touch. He’s never wanted to change any of those things.

A month passes. It’s a hot, sandy month. Farming is hard work. But it’s good work.

A month passes. He begins to learn the names of the regular crowd at that cantina. They teach him card games and how to gamble. He’s terrible at it. Rey is great at it. Nobody likes to play with her.

Trusk slaps a card down, rattling some machine parts on the table. “Where’s the wife, Skywalker?”

Finn frowns. “It’s General.”

“General General?”

He realizes how stupid it sounds the second Trusk says it. “Yeah, yup. General Finn General.” It only takes him another second for him to register that Rey was referred to as his wife. The wife. To his husband. His cheeks burn hot, and he’s thankful for both the darkness of the cantina and of his skin.

Rey teaches Finn to lift rocks. Small ones, at first, because he tried a rather large one and nearly took out the rear section of their home. He learns how to build instead of destroy. He learns to reprogram. He learns that he is not a Jedi.

He learns that she has six different smiles and a storm in her heart.

“He’s still with me,” Rey confesses one night. It’s cool when the suns are down, and they sit outside.

“He’s always going to be with you,” Finn says.

“No. I mean - he became part of me, when he gave me his life force.”

“I - what.”

“And his ghost--”

“Nope.” Finn holds out his hands, shaking his head. “Nope, I don’t do ghosts.”

Smile number five comes out, brighter than any number of suns combined, a wide grin that stretches across her face and reminds him of how young they really are beneath the war wounds.

“Oh, so having him part of me is fine--”

“No that’s just weird. The Force is weird. Jedi are weird.”

“I just wanted to say that, if you kissed me, you’d be kissing part of him.”

Finn gapes. It takes a few moments for everything to catch up with him. Time, breathing, his brain. Rey’s cheeks are burning red in the faint light he can see her in. But her gaze is even, steady.

“Do you--” He coughs, because his voice becomes high pitched and he remembers coming into puberty all those years ago and how squeaky he sounded. He lowers his voice an octave. Manly, smooth. “Do you want me to kiss you?”

She takes her time, thinking that question over. He waits with a patience he didn’t think he could have in this situation, because really, all he wants to do is grab her and kiss her until they both run out of air. That’s all he’s wanted to do since the day she looked at him, him.

“You had something to tell me once,” she says instead of answering him. “What was it?”

All those missed moments, all of Poe’s butting in and the near death, and his desperation for her swell up inside of him. “I love you. I always have.”

“The thought of losing you hurts me,” she tells him. Her hand is over her heart. “Here.”

“What does that mean?”

They stare at each other, and his body is twitching to move, and his mouth is itching to kiss her, and his mind is screaming at him to do something, say something. Her eyes are glassy, and he’s ready to face the rejection. He can do that, for her. So she can heal.

“I love you.” Her voice is a whisper. “And I love him.”

Competing with a kind of dead man who may or may not live inside of her soul and also probably comes to visit when he isn’t around isn’t exactly an ideal situation.

“I know,” Finn reassures her. He takes her hand and kisses her knuckles, one by one.

One tear falls, then another. They make silent streaks down her face. “It’s not a competition.”

“I mean, I’d kick his ghostly ass.” His smile is fragile, wobbly. “Rey, whatever you want to do, I will be here for you. There’s no rush.”

“I know.” And then she closes the distance between them, her mouth on his in a gentle kiss, sweet and undemanding. She tastes of sand and soup and power. She tastes of love.

He tries his very best to not think about kissing Kylo Ren.

#star wars #the rise of skywalker #tros spoilers #the rise of skywalker spoilers #finn #rey #finnrey #canon compliant #so there is reylo #rey tries to grieve #finn becomes a moisture farmer #i needed him to finally tell her his something #sequel trilogy fic

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thelastjaedi · 4 years

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TROS Rant

This post will contain spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker, so below the cut is spoilers.

The Palpatines Ultimately Win

Rey, a palpatine, ends up taking everything that belong to the skywalker family: the legacy saber, the millennium falcon, Han’s blaster, leia’s ex machina saber, the chosen one prophecy, the last skywalker’s life force, and their name/legacy. And her first act as a skywalker is to bury their sabers on the planet they all hated. The planet where Anakin was enslaved and where his mother’s life was stolen from him. The planet Luke could not wait to get off of and where his aunt and uncle were murdered. The planet where Leia was enslaved by a crime lord.

And the worst part is that Palptine gets what he always wanted: the lifeforce of a skywalker is used to keep a palpatine alive.

It Makes Everything the Skywalker Family Went Through so Pointless

If they were going to undo RotJ’s happy ending, they should have made the ending of the sequels even happier and more triumphant.

But instead, Anakin’s sacrifice amounted to nothing because Palpatine just lives on to completely wreck his family. Luke was a complete failure when it came to rebuilding the Jedi order. Palpatine manipulated/groomed Ben Solo since infancy, turning him against his family. Leia‘s wish was to create something better than the Republic and the Empire, but the New Republic was destroyed by the First Order. She wanted her son back, and Han sacrificed his life to try and bring their son back. Luke did too in TLJ. He gave his life to manufacture a situation where he could apologize and acknowledge what he did to his nephew, and in such a way to where Ben could not act out without ending up with another family member’s death on his hands. And then with the whole “salt purifying wounds” symbolism of the planet in general, it felt like the first steps to repairing this family. This story’s trajectory seemed to be about saving the last skywalker from the mistakes of the previous generation and in doing so, allowing the new generation to learn from those mistakes and build something new. Han, Luke, and Leia gave their lives to try and right that wrong and bring the last scion of this bloodline home. And when Ben FINALLY makes the right choice, he is excluded from the final fight against Palpatine via yeet pit, and then dies 2 seconds after finding the happiness and acceptance he was never allowed to have with Rey.

They Did The Character of Ben Solo So Dirty

They took a huge retconnish step back after TLJ paved the way for something really cool in TROS. He was finally free to be his own person, out from under the thumb of an abusive master, leader of his faction, and resolved rather than conflicted. Resolved to do what, we will never know—would he have acted as an anti hero against palpatine’s sith army? Would he have been dethroned by Hux/Pryde and have to operate independently? WHO KNOWS. But instead of exploring anything NEW with him, TROS has him reforge that mask (for no given reason), still be conflicted about everything, and have to plot with Rey to overthrow yet another abusive master. He just repeated his arc in TLJ, but with prequel-level dialogue with Rey and a RotJ-Vader ending. Except he gets NO LINES in the last act beyond “ow”. After his scene with Leia-induced-memory!Han, he essentially becomes a mute. Also that scene where Luke gives Rey Leia’s lightsaber, saying that she always knew Ben would fall so she gave it up and wanted Luke to pass it on to someone worthy? What? Give up on your son I guess. Way to destroy Leia’s character and make her look like a terrible mother.

And because of how exhaustingly how contrived the whole reylo angle was presented in general, the kiss scene probably felt REALLY forced for the general audience. Like the actors played the scene well—Adam’s facial expressions of utter hopelessness and regret upon finding her dead was absolutely gut wrenching. But his death happens SO fast: he meditates, she wakes up, they kiss, the music swells and you think everything is going to be ok—then he drops dead 2 seconds later and neither the audience nor Rey are given enough time to process that. It moves on to the celebration montage ripped straight from RotJ’s remastered version—AND HE IS NEVER SEEN OR MENTIONED AGAIN! Not even as a force ghost on Tatooine with Luke and Leia when she proclaims herself a Skywalker. Are they going to edit his force ghost into the scene 20 years later when they remaster this film? Or are we just going to pretend this character never existed and he was not the hero--because he really was the hero of this film.

Balance is Never Restored

Did that “Journal of the Whills” passage in the TFA book even matter? In the end, balance was never reached. The light won the day and the darkness perished. Again. History literally repeated itself. So what’s the next fascist regime or sith zombie that’s going to sprout up in 30 years? There was no resolution or catharsis between the two aspects of the force. It was just “Sith avatar Sideous bad, Rey jedi avatar good, don’t think too hard, enjoy the holidays and see you in 30 years when we want to see what Rey Skywalker is up to!” And you know that’s coming — they did not even give us closure to the Skywalker saga because they can always make movies about her and any of her false-Skywalker decedents! It’s SO UPSETTING.

I’m mostly disappointed because it would have been nice to see a resolved view of the force that is not so black and white. Like maybe the Sith were a perversion of what the dark side is: a cancer or parasite that has corrupted it. TLJ opened the door for so many nuanced and honestly really intelligent concepts that TROS just threw out the window for “cool force powers”. There is absolutely no “peace” in the force, it’s used with straight up aggression constantly save for the force healing/life transferring, which is overused in this film and has therefore lost any substantial weight in the story because of it.

Rey Repeats the Mistakes of a Past Generation

She literally repeats Leia’s mistakes. She is a Palpatine, but in choosing to hide that from everyone (besides Finn, I guess) by taking another family’s last name, she is essentially lying. That did not work out so well with Leia, who hid the fact she was Vader’s daughter from everyone besides Luke and Han. It got out, her political career was tanked, she lost the trust of a lot of her friends, and it helped alienated her son from their family.

And what is this nonsense about Luke and Leia having always known she was a Palpatine all along, but never said anything? Even though she was aware of Rey’s desperation to know where she came from and why her family left her behind? Did she just omit the truth from Rey just like she did Ben? WHAT? THIS IS SO HORRIBLE.

If they had to make her a Palpatine, why not have her own it and be like “it is not my bloodline that defines who I am, but the choices I make.” Which is a nicer message and juxtaposes with Kylo who accepted his dark legacy because he felt like he had no other choice—especially when everyone who was suppose to help him thought he is another Vader/a lost cause anyway.

I personally really like the message that she was no one, and you did not have to be anyone special to be a hero. I also hate how her bloodline diminishes her struggle with her affinity for the dark side. Her backstory as an abandoned orphan provided enough reason for her to struggle with the pull to the dark side. But this reveal oversimplified that and just chalked it up to her genes. And to say that her power was a result of her heritage, and not because she was a chosen vessel of the cosmic force is a mistake.

Rey and Kylo’s Force Bond is Terribly Misused

Their force bond (which was arguably the most compelling part of TLJ) was turned it into exposition fodder and weaponized. It was originally created for the purpose of allowing these two opposing forces to TALK to each other rather than fight. TLJ established that they could not use the force on each other OR harm each other through the bond for a reason: so they could communicate and learn from each other. It really felt like foreshadowing for some sort of catharsis or resolution between the light and dark aspects of the force. Especially with the whole spiel about balance, and how the light and the dark are both natural parts of life and the force (warmth, cold, peace, violence, death and decay that brings forth new life ect). That was such a lovely and spiritual interpretation.

But instead of expanding on that idea, TROS not only made them able to fight each other through it, but he took it to video-game-super-power level extremes. And it was just plain absurd. Were some scenes cool? Yeah, I thought him pulling the legacy saber out from behind his back to fight the knights was great, and the teleportation was hinted at in TLJ, but I hated their lightsaber fights. It was too over the top with the flipping and such. I really liked TLJ’s message that the force is not a super power, but rather a mystical force that guides you if you are open to letting it work through you. This movie just spat in the face of that idea.

And it’s so annoying that they described their bond as this mystical “dyad” that occurred because of who their famous grandparents were—THAT IS SO INFURIATING! It’s not the will of the force that these two people on opposing sides were linked so deeply, but because of their family legacy. Bloodlines are all that matter apparently—not that the force is working through these two similarly broken people in an effort to fix and balance itself. And ultimately refine the incomplete view of the force that the Jedi and Sith tore the galaxy apart over.

I also hated how the bond is described “two as one”, but then one dies without the other (twice!) and Rey can wound him without so much as a flinch. If the bond is really one life force/spirit inhabiting two bodies, shouldn’t they have to die at the same time? Or at least be able to feel each other’s pain? Or be able to share this life force they supposedly already share and both survive? Like you can’t kill one without killing the other, sort of deal? It just feels like it was hyped up to be this immensely powerful thing, and that in order to defeat Palpatine, they would have to do so together. But all that exposition seems pointless after one half of the dyad survives without its counterpart. And it is never addressed after. Like what even is the point of any of this yin yang stuff if yin can just die off with no consequences? Was the entire point of that plot thread meaningless exposition? And if the explanation is that Palpatine stole their force bond to revive himself, that’s straight up stupid. TROS will have wasted this unique connection that had so much potential for good and for meaningful resolution and fabricated yet another way to empower the already OP villain.

But if you pretend none of that dumb dyad shit happened, Ben Solo’s death is one of the ONLY things about this movie that makes sense thematically. I’m not happy that he died. I do not think it was necessary. But I am trying to make peace with the fact that it is a beautiful sacrifice. I always felt like their arc was reverse Padme x Anakin, and Anakin’s entire fall to the dark side was because he wanted to become powerful enough to save the person he loved from death. He never achieved that because his love for Padme and his motivations were inherently selfish. He wanted her save her so he could keep her beside him. Ben, however, rights that wrong and selflessly gives his life for the one he loves. He does so knowing that he will die, and does not even hesitate, because he wants her to live even if he can’t be with her. So in that way, and excluding the dyad stuff that makes his death confusing and nonsensical, I actually felt like it was fulfilling. Sort of. One of the only things that came close to feeling well thought out in that movie, I suppose. But it still did not land quite right because of how poorly it was orchestrated. I genuinely do not think people picked up on the subtle romance hints they dropped around those two. Like the tropes are there, but it’s almost entirely subtext and not something the general audience picked up on until the shirtless scene and even then it was more of a meme. But regardless of whatever romance was set up in the previous films, I felt like their entire arc in this film was dysfunctional as fuck and not cathartic at all. It was very juvenile and reduced to a series of “join me! No! —sword fight— Join me! No! —sword fight—” Did I enjoy some of their banter, yes. But it was not nearly as satisfying as their exchanges in TLJ.

The Retconning of TLJ and Extended Material

It felt like TROS was trying so hard to pacify everyone who hated the direction TLJ took the narrative. And so much of the movie’s run time is spent retconning what was revealed in that movie, with no explanation other than “from a certain point of view” loopholes. And there were so many tasteless digs at TLJ. The comment about the Holdo maneuver. Luke catching the lightsaber and raising that ancient, sea-corroded x wing from the water on Ach-to. Rey’s parents becoming nobodies to protect her from Grandpappy Palps. Leia unable to get a single ship to answer her distress calls at the end of TLJ, but Lando can fetch the whole damn galaxy in an End Game like fashion.

Poe is randomly a drug smuggler despite his backstory already being established as being a part of the New Republic’s Navy and having Rebel Heroes for parents.

Chewbacca already got a medal in the comics, so that scene was so redundant. Did the writers even consult with the Lucasfilm’s story team?

Leia was trained as a Jedi and only gave it up because she knew her son was going to turn to the dark side. It was already established in Bloodlines that Leia chose to be a senator because the galaxy needed her in politics more than it needed her with a laser sword. That was where she could do the most good. And she sacrifices everything--even her family--for the sake of building something better and new. But that sacrifice is reduced to her giving it up because she essentially has given up on her son before he is even born? I just do not understand why that flashback was necessary. Or why she needed a lightsaber. It is like it was included to pacify people who were upset with Leia using the force to save herself in TLJ, but an explanation is not needed because we have already established in the films and in extended material that she is force sensitive.

I don’t even want to talk about the vats full of Snokes.

Finn being force sensitive is cool, and I could totally see the potential in that from TFA, but it goes absolutely nowhere and his character is back to being Poe’s sidekick and Rey’s lost puppy. Rose gets absolutely NO screen time, and is sidelined the entire film to pacify people who hated her character in TLJ. I do not need FinnRose to be canon, either. I loved their development in TLJ because Rose challenged and progressed Finn as a character. And even though I always thought FinnPoe was going to be endgame, I never thought they would sweep her under the rug. Speaking of Finn and Poe, they queer-baited everyone with Stormpilot, only to give both of them hetero love interests. Finn and Poe have so much natural chemistry and meaningful interaction, especially in the last resistance novel that came out, that it was a slap to the face to see Finn psuedo-paired with Jannah/Rey and Poe paired with Zori.

Hux was set up to have all this ambition and a tense rivalry with Kylo Ren. But he gets shot by a random new character for helping the Resistance he hates so much-- that is incredibly nonsensical. There was so much potential for a First Order civil war between Kylo Ren and Hux, and he was hyped up in the comics to be a very dangerous adversary. What a waste.

Were there moments in the film that were fun and enjoyable, sure, but I find that all of the problems eclipse those moments. It’s really hard to find stuff I actually liked about it. C3PO was great, but I felt like him getting his memories restored removed the weight of his sacrifice. Much like everything else in this film. There were way too many fake out deaths for anything to be meaningful. The movie itself was, admittedly, gorgeous. The Death Star ruins was such a magical set. The soundtrack was beautiful as ever. But I just feel so depressed and sorry for the tragedy that was the Skywalker family after watching it, that I cannot even enjoy the parts that were enjoyable.

#TROS #TROS spoilers #Reylo #Ben Solo #spoilers #Rise of Skywalker

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onwardintolight · 4 years

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My initial TROS thoughts

I’m still on cloud nine from last night. Not only did I get to fulfill a dream of trooping at a local premiere with the Rebel Legion, but the movie.

THE MOVIE.

It was so much more than I’d hoped for. It was an incredible end to this saga.

I have a lot of thoughts, and it’s still all kind of jumbled up since I only just saw it last night (I know I’ll have a crazy amount of thoughts and theories and meta after I’ve seen it a few more times and had more time to digest it all) but I just wanted to get some of this out right now because I can hardly bear keeping it all in.

I will keep this spoiler free initially, then delve into spoilers under the cut.

First of all, I haven’t felt this way watching a Star Wars movie since I was a little girl watching Return of the Jedi. I seriously felt like a kid again. I felt that “Star Wars” feeling, that magic. I felt completely immersed in the story, led on a wild ride with no clue where it would lead. I felt the enormous stakes, I felt the camaraderie and love between the characters, I felt the depth and the meaning of the story that was being told and how it was both incredibly personal and galactic in scope.

Everyone has their own Star Wars, and I’m of the opinion that it’s all valid. Whether you’re primarily an OT fan, a prequels fan, a sequels fan, strictly old EU, or whatever else you may be, I’m here for you enjoying Star Wars in your own way. So please understand that when I say that, to me, this movie is the Star Warsiest Star Wars to ever Star Wars since the OT, that’s my perspective, and I respect your right to disagree (and I know many probably will).

But to me, this movie felt like coming home. This was, once again, my Star Wars, the Star Wars I fell in love with as a little kid.

When I say that, I also say that as someone who is a fan of the entire saga. I’ve grown to love and deeply appreciate the prequels. While I was initially disappointed by them, I’ve grown to love and appreciate the sequels, too. Rogue One is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I adore Solo. But TROS will likely be among my top Star Wars movies of all time, right up there with ESB and ROTJ.

I know this movie has divided a lot of people. Many people who had specific hopes had those hopes dashed. And I acknowledge that there were some problems that should be critiqued. If you didn’t like this movie, your feelings are valid.

But right now, for the most part, I don’t want to think about all that. I just want to celebrate something that I love and that has already meant so much more to me than I could have possibly guessed.

Before I go to the cut, I just want to urge you not to continue reading if you haven’t seen the movie and haven’t heard all the major spoilers. There are some pretty huge moments and reveals in TROS. I managed to avoid all unofficially released spoilers, and I’m so glad I did, because it wouldn’t have been the same. Seeing the facts laid out on a page is not the same as watching the journey. If I’d seen the facts, I may have scoffed at some of them. Instead, I let the story lead me, and I believed in it and I was invested in it with my whole heart. Unless you have your heart absolutely set on a specific outcome and you know you will feel devastated if it doesn’t happen, I HIGHLY recommend going into this movie with an open mind, free from spoilers.

AGAIN: DO NOT READ ON IF YOU DON’T WANT MAJOR, MAJOR SPOILERS. THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING

Okay, now for some random spoilerific thoughts! This is by no means comprehensive (and rather OT-character heavy, though I feel a lot too about the ST characters), but just a few things I wanted to get out.

First of all, they did my OT characters so right. This was a better ending than I could have imagined. I do wish we’d gotten to see all three of them on screen together one last time, and I also wish Han and Leia had never broken up before TFA. But those objections feel pretty small now. The books made Han and Leia’s separation much easier to bear (it was clear it was only for a few years, and they still loved each other). And despite not being physically all together, I felt almost as if they were together in this movie in spirit. Each of the three got to play a part so magnificent and meaningful, I can still hardly believe it.

HAN!!! HAN APPEARING TO BEN!! I HAD NO IDEA HE WOULD BE IN THIS MOVIE BUT HE WAS AND IT WAS SO INCREDIBLY GOOD!! I want to cry just thinking about it. I know Ben said he must have been projected from his memories, but I think maybe, just maybe, it might be something more. Either way, it was one of the most powerful moments in the film and I wept.

LUKE. Luke got to prove that, as Yoda said, “the greatest teacher, failure is.” He was such a strong, benevolent, encouraging figure in this movie. I have no objections to where Rian Johnson took his character in TLJ—we all spend our lives learning and relearning the same lessons, after all, in deeper and deeper ways, and I felt it made sense for his character, AND it was a meaningful and powerful message/representation for those struggling with mental health—but I was also incredibly glad to see this Luke in TROS, “more powerful than you can imagine” as a Force ghost and just as much the Jedi he was when he threw his lightsaber away in ROTJ—and more, because of all that he’s grown through and how much wisdom he’s attained since then.

And OMG LEIA.

THEY DID MY PRINCESS RIGHT.

JEDI MASTER LEIA. LEIA TRAINING REY. LEIA’S LIGHTSABER!!!

I started sobbing the moment it became clear that she was going to use her last strength to try to reach Ben (more on that later). The sobbing continued when her lightsaber was given to Rey, and then that AMAZING FREAKING TRAINING FLASHBACK scene happened, and I was sobbing so hard from pure happiness, just processing all the joy, that I hardly noticed any details and had to ask someone later what color her lightsaber was and what was said.

This was, truly, Leia’s movie, just as it was always supposed to be, just as TFA was Han’s and TLJ was Luke’s. I couldn’t believe that they managed it. It was so incredibly meaningful and it was an incredible tribute to Carrie and to my favorite character.

Back to Leia reaching out to Ben. Over the years, I’ve slowly grown to be pro bendemption. That might surprise a few people on here since I haven’t written much about it—not for lack of wanting to, but just because I never really got around to it. I know many people who fervently aren’t a fan of the idea. I could write a whole essay on this, but it’s late so I’m gonna leave it at this for now: to me, it became so clear that he still had light in him, and the potential to turn back and atone. Plus, it hurt too much to think that Han and Leia’s son, and the Skywalker legacy, could fall and end in such evil and ruin. I wanted the Skywalkers to ultimately change the galaxy for good and bring balance and all that, just as was promised. I wanted this family to ultimately be this vast force of Light, despite all the evil the Dark unleashed through some of them.

Well, I feel like I got that in this movie. And not only the Skywalkers, but the granddaughter of Palpatine, too. It was as if everything that was dark and evil got overturned from the inside. It was so triumphant. The Skywalker legacy lives on in the best way.

But yeah, Leia being the one to really reach out and help bring Ben back to the light, and Han helping, was just everything my heart could have wanted.

Gaaaahhhh there’s so much more, and it’s getting late and I need to go to bed, but a few short things before then:

- THAT FINAL CONFRONTATION HOLY CRAP. I have so many questions but also I just loved it

- I even loved the kiss.

- Ben crawling back to help Rey 😭

- LANDO LANDO LANDO

- FREAKING WEDGE

- the whole dynamic between the new cast was just perfect

- the one thing I’m mad about and probably always will be is that Rose was horribly sidelined :(

- however I’m not mad, like a lot of people are, that Rey isn’t actually a “nobody.” I’ll write more on this later but for now I’ll just say that, while Rey being a nobody is a powerful story, I never felt like it had to be that way, because we’ve already got Anakin’s story. And, tbh, many of the Jedi. Star Wars, while revolving around a certain family, has never indicated that lineage is everything or that people can’t be heroes from anywhere.

- And FINN

- OMG FORCE SENSITIVE FINN I JUST WANTED TO JUMP UP AND DOWN AND CHEER

Okay this is really enough for tonight. Can’t wait to see it again tomorrow!

#TROS #TROS Spoilers #The Rise of Skywalker #The Rise of Skywalker spoilers #Star Wars #thoughts

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storyknitter · 5 years

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“To you, Master Jedi.”

Hey, so remember when I wrote this angsty mini-fic and then @commanderlurker asked if Sanna ever found Theron’s drunken “I miss you, but you’re dead” message? (The answer’s “yes,” by the way. She totally did.)

21 ATC

Soft footfalls approached the War Table, where Theron studied the data retrieved from the Star Fortress formerly above Belsavis. A small smirk crept onto his face, recognizing Vassanna before she even spoke. “Hey,” he said, glancing over his shoulder. “What's up, beautiful?”

The endearment was still a bit clunky on his tongue, but her reaction was worth any awkwardness he might have felt: A flush crept into her cheeks and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth, a smile twitching at the corner of her lips.

“This hasn’t worked since they rescued me, and Lana said you might be able to help. Apparently,” she said, an impish grin lighting up her face, “I'm not the only one who reacted poorly to carbonite.”

His heart stopped at the reminder of how he'd almost lost her a second time, before he'd even had a chance to see her, hold her, kiss her again. He shoved the memory of those dark days aside and did his best to focus on Sanna: she was holding out a small, banged-up holocomm, an expectant look on her face, that smile of hers doing things to his lungs.

Dammit, he couldn't breathe when she did that.

“I’m not sure exactly how much can be retrieved or salvaged,” she said, “but I had some old messages saved that I’d really like to keep. If it’s possible, of course.”

Theron smirked and raised an eyebrow as he took the comm, trying to recover his balance. “What?” he asked, feigning disbelief as his fingers brushed hers. “A sentimental Jedi? Not possible,” he said, shaking his head.

Hurt ghosted over her features and Vassanna slipped on her Jedi mask. “Nevermind, it’s fine.” She reached for the comm, but he tightened his grip.

“I never said I wouldn’t do it,” he said, holding the comm above his head. “I was just giving you a hard time.”

She eyed him warily and he immediately regretted his retort – this must be more important to her than he’d thought.

“I’ll understand if it can’t be done. I won't hold you responsible if it never turns on again.”

“I’ll do my best, Vassanna. I promise.” And he meant it, even if he had to stay up all night to make it happen.

Sanna thanked him with a smile so bright it took his breath away again.

–––

That evening, Theron sat at the new desk in the Commander's quarters, pieces of holocomm and wires littering the space, and stretched the kinks out of his neck. He'd found the problem – a broken connection or four – and had finally managed the repair after cannibalizing parts from his spare datapad. The comm itself wasn't fit for daily use, especially with the days that Sanna always seemed to have, but as long as she didn't toss it around, message playback was possible.

Well, theoretically. He hadn't tested it out, but found himself hesitant to invade her privacy by going through messages deemed important enough to save during her years as a Jedi. Justifying the need to snoop (he had to be sure it worked properly after all), he chose a file at random, pressed play, and found himself face to face with an older Mirialan male covered in tattoos, his features pulled into a smile.

There was something familiar about his eyes...

"Happy birthday, Sanna," the man said in Mirialan. Theron's implants translated for him and he froze, curiosity warring with his conscience – he'd started calling her 'Sanna' after a few weeks on Odessen and hadn't ever heard anyone else use it as a nickname.

“I don't know where you are or what you're up to,” the man continued, "but I wish you many happy returns. I do hope you're enjoying this beautiful day with your crewmates. Here, the sun is shining, the winds are singing softly, and we're having your mother's sweetcakes in your honor tonight. But don't worry, Star-Blossom: I'll be sure to sneak one into the freezer for you. Though you know they only last for so long, so hurry home. We miss you, daughter, and–"

Theron turned off the message abruptly and glanced at the file's date. After a bit of mental math and cross-referencing her history, he realized this message was from when she was... off the grid. Vitiate's thrall, his mind supplied helpfully, his stomach twisting as he remembered her quiet, shame-filled confession just before she'd gone off to Wild Space.

Missed birthday greetings from the family she loved, while she was going through one of the worst times of her life – no wonder she had wanted to save some of these messages.

“How goes the surgery, doctor?” Sanna's voice came from the door and Theron startled, so lost in his own thoughts that he had missed her arrival. “Were you able to save the patient?”

The hope on her features did something funny to his stomach – he wanted to give her the galaxy on a string, to make her smile, to never disappoint her. What the hells was wrong with him? Focus Shan, he thought, irritated.

“Yeah. Yeah, I did, actually,” he said, trying to play it cool. “I wouldn't recommend taking it on any more missions, though – it's too fragile. I think leaving it on the desk is best.”

Vassanna gave him that damned smile again and before he could blink, she was in his arms, squeezing him close, her face buried in his chest.

“Thank you, Theron.” She glanced up, blinking away wetness at the corner of her eyes. “So much. I–”

Unwilling to see her cry, he kissed her, his hand curling behind her neck to hold her close. She tasted like caf and something sweet – juna berries, maybe – and the smell of her shampoo wafted past him. When he pulled away, he nuzzled her nose and excused himself, fabricating a meeting to give her some time alone with her precious memories.

He'd gotten as far as the War Room when something prodded at the back of his mind – he was forgetting something, something important. Then it came to him: the remnants of his extra datapad. He'd left a mess of connectors, processor parts, and wiring all over her desk, but he didn't think Sanna would mind too much. Just to be safe, he sent a quick message letting her know he'd tidy up the desk when she was done.

–––

After an hour or so, Theron arrived back at the Commander's rooms (which were also his, at this point, though it still seemed a bit odd), dinner for them both in hand. He knew she hadn't eaten dinner yet and was willing to wager good credits that she'd skipped lunch, too.

Knocking with the toe of his boot, the door slid open on its track and he saw Sanna sitting at the desk, entranced by a recording, her arm slowly drifting back to her side after opening the door for him with the Force. She met his gaze over her shoulder and stood up, her features unreadable – some combination of shock, regret, and something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Had she been crying? As she crossed the room, he saw a blue-tinged image of himself projected above the desk, a half-empty whiskey glass raised in salute and grief plainly etched on the hologram's features.

Shit.

Shit shit shit. He'd completely forgotten about that comm message. How drunk had he been that night?

Theron had no time to feel embarrassment or to worry about what she thought: Sanna took his face in her hands and pulled him to her, capturing his lips with a kiss – hard, demanding, desperate – as though trying to make up for lost time. Their sandwiches fell forgotten to the floor as he slid his fingers into her hair, loosely pulled back in a braid, and returned the kiss.

Breathless moments later, she leaned back, meeting his gaze. “I’m sorry,” she gasped out, eyes shining with emotion. “I’m so sorry. I should have been more careful. I promised you I would and then–”

Shaking his head, Theron gently rested a thumb on her lips. “Stop. It's...” It wasn't okay, but it wasn't completely her fault. And to be fair, he knew – he had known in his heart before she even left for Wild Space, before Ziost and Yavin – that she would have done everything she could to protect people, including sacrificing herself.

His stomach twisted, aching, and his head swam as though it were five years ago and Rineth Nabeshin had just shared Sanna’s parting words to him. Hells, he couldn't do this. The air in the room disappeared and he was drowning.

Five years. Five years. How had he made it so long? And how had he let himself get so wrapped up in one person, to begin with? And a Jedi, no less. An attachment-avoiding, logic-driven, practical, and self-fucking-sacrificing Jedi.

Well, maybe that description wasn't entirely accurate: she had been close with her family (before being trapped in carbonite, at least), saved old messages, and cared for people – cared for him.

A thought struck him, one that had crossed his mind any number of times since he’d met Master Vassanna Nabeshin – Hero of Tython and Upright Paragon of the Jedi Order – all those years ago:

“I’m so screwed,” he murmured as he pulled Sanna close. She was soft and sweet when he kissed her and, gods help him, this felt so damned right. She might be an optimistic, overly forgiving, stupidly self-sacrificial Jedi, but she was his optimistic, overly forgiving, and stupidly self-sacrificial Jedi, dammit.

And he didn’t plan on letting her go any time soon.

#swtor #swtor fanfiction #Jedi Knight/Theron Shan #Theron Shan #Vassanna/Theron #oc: Vassanna #knitter writes #HEY LOOK I ACTUALLY WROTE SOMETHING THIS SUMMER!!!#CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE IT?#(sorry it's not answers to the prompts sitting in my inbox. I haven't forgotten them I swear!)#but omg these two dorks #I love them regardless

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smuthuttpodcast · 4 years

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I have read some great or good pieces of fan fiction that incorporate a trial of Ben Solo into their stories.

Name/Handle/Alias

BonnieSwims (Twitter & AO3)

About how long would you say you’ve been rooting for Reylo?

I've been rooting for them since mid 2016. I REALLY started reading a large amount of fan fiction after seeing The Last Jedi. I am not sure if I read stories on AO3 before The Last Jedi, if I did, I started reading in mid 2016.

What did you think of the way Rise of Skywalker handled Rey and Kylo’s relationship?

I do not think it got enough screen time. The time consuming scavenger hunt with Poe & Finn, only having Kylo & Rey cross swords...all would have been forgiven IF Ben Solo lived or, if he HAD to die, if there was more screentime of redeemed Ben Solo AND Rey told others of Ben Solo, grieved his death, took Solo name, and ended up somewhere green.

Do you think the film understood why you, and other people, felt like Rey and Kylo had something together? Did it get their chemistry?

Given the acting between Ridley & Driver, I do believe the film makers understood the chemistry between Rey & Kylo. I also believe they FAILED to see how Kylo could become Ben Solo again and deserved to live. They did not acknowledge how his connection to Rey & her influence on him made Kylo believe that Rey trusted him and wanted a better life for him. Instead they went with "let's have them fight at every chance." It is true he was enraged at the end of TLJ but that feeling was from his perceived abandonment by Rey. Plus, TROS takes place a year later. The rage would lessen somewhat I imagine or if the rage against Rey was still so high, Kylo would have been MORE terrifying and just straight up kill Rey early in the movie. They did not understand Rey also insisted Ben do this for himself not for his mother, Rey, or Han or for power. That is why he was so upset that she did not take his hand when he offered. (The TROS story did get the "i wanted to take Ben's hand" correct.) There was also the strange scene of Rey looking happily at children. Was it an attempt to foreshadow a family with Ben? That's what it seemed like they were telling the audience but then at the end of the movie, I was left with thinking maybe Rey is now going to have two lovers and create a family with Finn & Poe.

What about the handling of Kylo’s redemption? Was it something you had to think through in your stories?

I have read MANY pieces of fan fiction on AO3, listened to Girls with Sabers & What the Force podcasts which seemed to focus on comparing Star Wars to works of great literature & myths, how Star Wars incorporates the Hero's & Heroine's Journey, and aspects of filmmaking. Given all the marketing with #ReyandKylo , #KyloandRey, the comics emphasizing the verbal (psychological) & physical abuse of Kylo, the comics showing how Ben Solo may not be responsible for the destruction of the Jedi Academy, the comics foreshadowing how Ben could survive being thrown off a cliff, the videos of little BB Ben Solo or Rolly Ben Solo (that never aired) and other items, it really seemed like the story was leading up to Bendemption. They did have Ben Solo redeem himself. I do think they had NO IDEA how to present Ben Solo to the Resistance after Palpatine is killed by Rey & Ben. They could not figure a way to do that so they just killed him off. I have read some great or good pieces of fan fiction that incorporate a trial of Ben Solo into their stories. Many were done well with Poe, Finn, & Rey coming to the defense of Ben because he helps them end the First Order. One story has Ben banished to a deserted planet for a year or two, then at the end he rejoined society where Rey was waiting for him. One has a trial that ended with a sentence of rehabilitation/probation where Rey might be the person in charge of controlling Ben. Other fics had it where Kylo is dismantling the FO from within so the Resistance can defeat them. Others have the First Order request an armistice. Another storyline I have read decided that since Ben saved the galaxy with Rey & he is Leia’s kid, he is pretty much absolved of his crimes since he will always have to atone for and live with the guilt of killing his father. The scene with Han in TROS was a great scene & did go a long way to Ben being redeemed and forgiven for his worst crime. The stabbing of Kylo, Rey’s healing of Kylo, & his tossing his saber was a great part of the movie and a good redemption arc. So that was good. Where the story lacked was the decision that Ben Solo still did not do enough so he needs to die. That was the mistake they made. They could have redeemed Ben & had him even start atoning for his crimes in the smallest way before the credits rolled IF they had a different plot than the LONG scavenger hunt.

Regarding stories after TROS, I have mainly read ‘fix-it” stories that are WIPs. The newest stories have Ben alive where he & Rey fly back to the Resistance where Rey has to protect Ben from being killed. He may be in a holding cell and discussions begin on what to do with Ben Solo. Those stories are pulling on the heart strings of “What would Leia want us to do with her only child?” and so far are resulting in sympathy for the fate of Ben Solo. I have read others that are basically have Rey telling the resistance that he can’t die or she will too or Rey is protecting Ben.

What did you think of where Rey landed at the end? There had been a lot of excitement around Star Wars having a female protagonist. Do you think she lived up to the promise of her character?

I did not like the ending. She was alone on a desert planet at a house where Luke's relatives were burned alive. She did not get a family. Well sure, she knows she is a Palpatine but from the beginning with TFA, I always felt like she wanted people around her that she was related to or had the capacity to help her create her own family. I did not like how the costume & hair reinforced Rey as a child virgin. That is where she was at the beginning of TFA. At the end of TLJ, her hair in not in her childhood style, she is wearing more 'earthy' colors showing character growth. Then with TROS, Rey regressed BACK to her childhood hairstyle and went to virginal white to show she is a 'good girl in white" and also a virgin. So she did not grow, in fact, she regressed. Her ending does not come off as the hero in white. She appears as the pure woman untainted by desire or love solely focused on protecting the galaxy. Additionally, she must be a robot because she was serene and happy as she flew away from Ben’s death. She was elated to see her Resistance friends. She was also so happy to be alone with BB-8 on a desert planet where the Skywalker Family has faced a lot of sadness. SUCH A HAPPY ENDING WITH SO MUCH HOPE. Wow, that is a lonely job for a scavenger that just wanted a family. So, girls, don't lose sight of your purity and you can be a hero if you are willing to bear the weight of that role only on your shoulders because you will have to do this alone. So Rey did not grow as a character and she did not get a family (unless you count her stealing the Skywalker family name but still alone because the last Skywalker died.)

There’s criticism of the movie that argues it’s akin to “fan fiction” and that is has too much fan service. As fans and fan-fiction writers, how do you react to that?

I have read many excellent stories that are fan fiction for Star Wars. The best fan fiction are stories that are planned, follow a plot structure, have a writer that RESEARCHED the characters, planets and ideas they were incorporating . TROS was not as good as the best fanfiction out there. It is very disappointing that some people and critics are excusing TROS by saying it is fan fiction. I disagree with that. If "fan service" means throw as many planets as we can into the story, add random things that are never fleshed out in the story, have a movie full of action with too many quick cuts with a lack of dialogue, and add a bunch of ships from the larger SW universe, then yes, the movie was fan service. What happened with just making a good movie? A good movie would have been acceptable. A great movie would have been wonderful. We were given a mess of movie that killed off THE LAST SKYWALKER (Ben) with no acknowledgement, reduced Hux to a very minor character when he could have been Kylo's main adversary, and Rey takes the name Skywalker with no explanation. Strangely, Terrio implied the sequel trilogy was a set of movies about the Skywalker Twins and they are now so happy to be Force Ghosts with their sabers buried on Tatooine. Does anyone believe that when Leia tells Han to “bring our son home” she means she wants to meet Ben in Force Ghost Heaven soon? One could argue that TFA was Han's film, TLJ was Luke's film , and TROS was Leia's film. That became difficult to accomplish with Carrie fisher's death. PLUS, WHY EVEN HAVE THE VILLAIN BE THE LAST SKYWALKER if that character wasn't supposed to even be a big part of the film? So confusing & disappointing, especially since JJ made Ben Solo into Kylo Ren. If he did not want Kylo/Ben to play an important role as The Last Skywalker, why didn’t he just make Hux the bad guy all along? The only conclusion I can come to is the sequel trilogy was always intended to be a tragedy like the prequel trilogy to teach kids about tragedy, disappointment, death, the importance of mortal sacrifice for your sins even if you are mentally and physically abused. (Anakin & Ben were both psychologically manipulated.) What a way to teach a moral lesson about trust, family, friendship, and hope. Kinda hard to see those messages as the credits rolled on The Rise of Skywalker.

Are you still writing any Star Wars fanfic? Tell us about it! (Don't forget your Ao3 handle!)

I am a reader only.

I will mention that I am almost convinced that all the Terrio comments about Skywalker Twins, special effects personnel saying they were never asked to make Ben a Force Ghost, the three month delay for the TROS artbook, and so little information about Ben Solo’s ‘death” is LucasFilm admitting that Ben is not dead and they will do another Rey movie or a Solo movie called "The Resurrection of Ben Solo." Who knows if Driver or Ridley will EVER do another SW movie, though. Animated movie/TV show? A miniseries for Disney+...”The Search for Solo.”

Thank you Bonnie Swims

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tams-writeblr · 4 years

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The Rise of Skywalker - Ending Fixer upper

So, um, I kinda did a thing? I was super disappointed by the ending of The Rise of Skywalker and I couldn't really get over it, until I fixed it. Just for me, just for my own peace of mind. It's not good. English is not my first language, I initially wrote this in German and it's a little better there. I wrote this in between going to the hospital (my dad is still hospitalized after his stroke on Dec. 21th) and work and taking care of my mother so it may seem inconsistent at times since I sometimes could only write two sentences before hurrying to the next appointment. But I have the urge to share this, somehow. I don't want that writing to go wasted and maybe, just maybe someone out there feels better after reading this too. Shout-out to all the great fan fiction writers out there, that made the time after TROS more endurable especially to @shruggyben that's trying to fix the whole mess that TROS is in their fan fiction.

Word count: 4.569

#BenDeservesBetter

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Ben's torso collapsed feebly on the ground.

Rey didn't have the slightest chance to catch him but her hands were right at his chest and neck. “Ben! What's wrong with you?“

But Ben Solo couldn't answer. Her words only got through to him like through a long tunnel. Well, seems this is the end, it crossed his mind. But he wasn't afraid of death. He got ready to become one with the force. Maybe he would finally be reunited with his mother, for sure with Luke. And maybe, if he allowed him to, he would finally be able to speak to his grandfather Anakin. The force wrapped comfortably warm around his heart and his soul. Using the last of his strength, he got a glimpse of Rey beautiful, gracious face. No, he didn't want to see tears on it. Of course, Rey, she won't be lonely without me, will she? She does have her friends. She was ready to die for those people up there. They'll be good to her, right?

“Of course they'll be good to her. But nevertheless Rey will be lonely without you. Have you already forgotten what Palpatine just revealed to you?“

Ben twirled around. Without any warning he found himself within a blazing white light. He couldn't identify a room and the voice he had heard was unknown to him until now.

Behind him stood a young man with wavy brown hair.

Ben's lips parted and he gasped for air in disbelieve. „Are you … Anakin?“

The man nodded and smiled softly. “Finally you are listening to me. I'm impressed by you capabilities. If only I had had half your abilities and half your dedication, maybe I could have saved your grandmother Padme from death too.”

“I wanted Rey to live. She deserves it more than me. But … I don't want her to be lonely. She will get over it, won't she?”

Anakin looked down. “You are two pieces of the whole. Do you know the term ghost pain? When I was alive I lost all my lips and even with the best prostheses I got, I kept on feeling pain in places that weren't even there anymore. And I fear, that Rey will feel that too.”

“No!”, Ben screamed at this grandfather, his idol, at the top of his lungs. “I won't allow that! Send me back to her! She must not suffer! She doesn't deserve this!”

“No, she doesn't.”

Ben froze. Without turning his head he set his eyes on a second person that appeared out of nothing on Anakin's left. “Mother”, slipped out of his mouth. Red spots spread on his cheeks, endless pain mirrored from his face.

“That's why I am here.” Leia walked towards her son. Her face was full of determination – and love. “Ben, I have seen this day coming when I finished my training as a Jedi. I swore off the force to protect you, to protect my then unborn son. I collected my energy all my life for this moment. Give me your hand.”

Hastily Ben grabbed both hands of his mother. “I'm so sorry. There are so many things I need to tell you.”

But Leia shook calmly her head. “This is not the time for that. Rey is worried about you. But bear in mind, my son, when you need me, I'll always be there for you.”

“All of us.”

Ben looked up watching into the faces of dozens of Jedi, whole generations of them. They all nodded cheering at him. In the front row Anakin and Luke Skywalker.

“And now take my force and be there for Rey. She needs you.”

Ben's eyelids started flickering and his brown eyes opened.

“Good gracious Ben, are you alright? I was so afraid you'd die!”

Ben found Rey's worried glimpse. She had tears in her eyes but hadn't started crying yet. Ben smiled. “No, rubbish. It just crossed my mind that I have to face your friends now. And for them I'm still Supreme Leader Kylo Ren.” Painfully he sat up. Too bad, his mother wasn't able to heal his broken bones.

“Of course I'm going to explain everything to them. When I say it's okay, they'll accept that.”

But Ben only shook his head. “No Rey. I don't want that. They are right. I've done so many unforgivable things. I'm the last one, that's gonna forgive me. I have to receive my just punishment.

“But you've been possessed by the dark side - “

“But I have let myself be seduced by the dark side”, he cut her word harshly. “I can’t shuffle out of my responsibility.”

Rey yielded some inches away from him. He had never been so harsh to her before. “I am not going to accept that”, she said determined and got on her feet. Troublesome she walked over to one of the dead Sith guards and ripped his cloak. “Leave your clothes here and escape. You shouldn't struggle finding a ship in this tumult. I am going to tell everybody that you saved my life and became one with the force. Only someone with a really pure heart can become one with the force. And if they need evidence, they'll find your clothes here. I don't think that anyone will come check, but we should play it save.” With her face averted Rey held out the long, black cloak to Ben.

Ben ran his fingers through his hair and pulled his brows towards his hairline. “You want me to get undressed? That's not quiet the right moment for that, is it?”

Rey countered his words with a strict view of her eyes. “It is not the time for some Solo-joke! I did explain my plan to you, didn't I? To calm you, I'm going back to my ship and return to the resistance's base.” Her eyes got softer when Ben finally took the cloak out of her hand. “I am going to find you.”

“I know”, Ben answered and looked after her, as she vanished form the cave system. Painful he got out of his clothes and wrapped the heavy cloak around his body. It had to look natural, if really somebody came to check Rey's story, so he draped his clothes like he had died lying on the ground, like he almost did. Should he tell Rey the truth someday? He limped his way back, had no idea how he managed to climb the iron chains back to the top and reached the surface as the last ship of the resistance made his jump into hyperspace. Around him, everything was in flames. It smelled like spilled fuel and burned, organic material. Soon Ben found an X-wing that was taken from the sky by Palpatine's force flashes. The pilot was sadly decreased but the ship was in a good enough condition to not call it suicide to fly off with it. So Ben pulled her out of the cockpit and took of her helmet – red seven was her identification. Ben closed the green eyes of the pilot and put on her helmet. Then he got into the ship and hasty started all systems. But where should he go? Soon the resistance would be the new government of the galaxy, so it had to be a remote place. His mind crossed Jakku for a second. That place was so remote that even Emperor Palpatine couldn't find Rey there for over ten years.

“Tatooine”, suddenly rang Luke's voice in his head. “Go to Tatooine and find Owen and Beru Lars' hut. I was raised there. So the hut more or less yours anyway. I wasn't found there for nineteen years, while still carrying my fathers last name.”

“Tatooine”, Ben murmured. “Yet another desert dump. If Rey would be happy with that?”

“I thought it's you going into exile?”

Ben rolled his eyes. “I don't wanna talk about that now, uncle Luke, okay?”

Uncle Luke chuckled knowingly and vanished from Ben's head.

“So it's Tatooine!”

Ben landed the X-wing ungently yet safely on Tatooine's desert ground. Two suns stood high on the sky and burned into his pale skin. Life on a space station had taken its toll. His bare feet touched the hot sand. Not a soul was seen anywhere or … Was that a market back there on the horizon? Clunky he dragged himself through the desert, still the pilot's helmet under his arm. The market seemed to never come any closer and Ben was more than once assured, he wouldn't make it. But finally, mobilizing all of his left energy, he reached the last stand before the desert began.

An old lady served the stall and sold strange dried fruit.

“Please”, Ben panted. “I need your help.”

“Watcher!”, gasped the old lady. “Young man, sit down!” With impressing speed for her age she placed a stool right behind Ben, so that he only had to dump down. “Here, take a sip!” She placed a bottle with some red liquid on his lips.

Ben took a tiny sip and looked intensely at her. “I'm looking for the hut of Owen and Beru Lars!”

The old lady pulled her eyebrows up in surprise. Then she pulled her arms confidently into her sides. “First, you need a doctor. You are lucky, my friend Maisie owns a medidroid. I'll take you to her.” With that, she turned over her shoulder and shouted at an other stall owner: “Hey, Butchwaa! I've some small emergency over here. Could you please shut down my stand?”

Butchwaa, a humanoid, winged life form, made an approving noise in a language Ben didn't know and the old stall lady helped Ben back on his feet.

While they walked over the market towards a small settlement, she pointed at the helmet in Ben's hand. “You're from the resistance?”

Ben nodded briefly. “Yes, you might say that.”

“What happened to your stuff?”

Awkwardly Ben realized that he still was only wrapped into a single cloak and avoided the lady's glimpse embarrassed. “I can't talk about that right now.”

The woman nodded understanding and took him quietly to a small, dark mud-walled house.

Ben, where are you? Rey sat in the middle of a roaring celebration, her eyes closed, her mental hand pulled out to the farthest edges of the galaxy but she didn't get a response. It was so strange, usually she could always feel Ben at the back of her mind but now there was only emptiness.

“Rey!”, Finn's voice took her out of her meditation. “You should also have some fun!”

Rey opened her eyes and saw Finn, Poe and Rose standing under her den and waving with some beer jugs up to her. Finn even held two jugs in his hand, one of them was for her. Rey slowly came down to them, a small smile on her lips. She took a jug out of her friends hand and took a deep drag out of it, then she smiled labored at her friends. “Yes, it's a good day for the galaxy.” She let her view run over the celebration resistance fighters. All of them were happy and danced, drank and whispered sweet nothings to their loved ones. Only one of them let his shoulders hang even with the big golden medal, that he always dreamed to have, hanging down his neck. “Excuse me for a moment”, Rey murmured and pointed at Chewbacca with her chin. She paved her way though the celebrating folks and knelt before the Wookie.

A sad buzzing left his throat.

“I know, I'm so sorry for you, that they all left us.”

Chewie whined for a heartbreaking half of a minute and then dropped his head into his hands.

Rey looked at her hands. “Well, you know … About Ben …” She struggled with herself, could she really include him in her secret? “Ben isn't dead Chewie. I'm in contact with him. He went into exile and he's going to tell me where he is. Would you like to join me, when I got to Ben?”

A deafening relieved whining left Chewbacca's throat and Rey quickly told him to be less noisy.

“Nobody must know about it. I haven't heard of Ben yet, but I'll leave tonight. There is something else I need to do. So you'll join me?”

Chewie nodded quietly, relief and real happiness was on his face. He snatched behind his back, where he had left his bear jug. The beverage in there was already flat but he touched her jug so hard, that half of her beer slopped around.

Finally it was a happy party for even the last members of the resistance. They celebrated until deep into the night and when a small stripe of light scratched the horizon, Rey was already back on her feet.

She trailed her way through drunken bodies and overtired soldiers and finally reached Finn's den.

He was asleep on his back with his mouth wide open and his arms spread away. Loud breathing sounds left his throat. Rey had to smile. She would miss him the most, he was her best friend. She put her hand into her leather bag where she carried Luke and Leia's light sabers and the old Jedi writings with her and pulled the tiny blue fragment of a crystal out. It was a part of Luke's kyber crystal, broken from the big part of the crystal during her fight with Kylo Ren. The fragment of course was too small to fuel a light saber but if Finn was only half as force sensitive as Rey thought, he knew what to do with it. Rey leaned over her friend to place the crystal into his hand when his blanket moved.

The dark haired head of Poe Dameron came twenty centimeters out of the blanket, still a comfortable smile on his lips, his face snuggled at Finn's broad chest.

Rey wasn't surprised at most amazed. Smiling she placed the crystal between Finn's fingers and turned away from her friends. On quiet soles she sneaked through the sleeping resistance fighters.

Chewie was already at the falcon, eagerly standing at the ramp, the engine running. He asked her with a quiet roar to hurry up.

Rey stepped next to her co-pilot. “Chewie, set our course on Endor. I have to go get something there.”

The ramp of the falcon closed behind the two that left without looking back.

Chewie let the falcon fly off on half power. Him and Rey didn't want to risk being noticed and followed by someone.

But of course their action wasn't unnoticed. A former storm trouper opened his eyes as the falcon rose from the surface. Finn rubbed his eyes in disbelieve and noticed the crystal fragment in his hand. He looked at intensely it for a moment and then looked behind the falcon. Take care, Rey, he thought and pulled the crystal at his chest. We'll meet again for sure. He buried his face in his best friend's hair. Poe still was his best friend,, no matter what happened between then tonight right? Finn looked once more back to the falcon, that than made his jump into hyperspace.

“Hyperspace jump successful, autopilot activated”, Rey resumed, pulled some flip switches and stood up from the pilot's chair.

Chewie road pleased and tried to stand up too, but a muted beeping from the engine room stopped him.

“Did you hear that?”, Rey asked.

Chewie got energetic on his feet and almost ran Rey over as he passed her. He pulled the engine hatch open and pulled without effort an in protest piping BB-8 out of the shaft.

“BB-8, what are you doing here?”, Rey asked terrified. On BB-8 piping her facial features fell. “What do you mean, you listened in on us and preferred to follow us? What about Poe?” Again BB-8 piped his answer nervously. Rey’s face got soft. “Oh, of course, Poe now has other responsibilities and doesn't fly as much as you used to, but that doesn't mean he likes you any less. But to be true, I'm actually glad you're here, we didn't take a board droid with us …”

Chewbacca murmured apprehensively and BB-8 beeped in protest.

“I know you won't betray us BB. But you must not overreact when you find out where we're about to go.”

“Rey!” Ben startled up from a deep almost coma-like sleep.

“Good evening, my name is ZB-29, I'm your medidroid in charge. I splinted your multiply broken leg as well as stopped an inner bleeding. Against the broken rips only helps quiet and relaxation, I am afraid. I therefore ask you to stay in bed for the next five to eight days.”

Ben looked skeptically at the medidroid. An old, outdated model with rusty hinges but he hadn't expected more. And he didn't intent to listen to ZB-29. He pulled the blanket away and found his legs covered in ugly brown trousers.

“Please young man, remain laid down. Such a behavior is not beneficial for your healing. Lay down or I have to call for my master.”

“Just call her”, Ben murmured and tried to stand up but his splinted leg failed to hold him.

In this moment the old lady from the market and her friend, who introduced herself as Maisie, entered the room. “What did I tell ya, Anuk, he already tries to get lost. Nothing is so hard as a man's ingratitude!”

So Anuk was his rescuer's name. “I didn't want to get lost and I am very grateful for both your help. But I really need to go. I have to find the hut of Owen and Beru Lars!”

“Oh my, Lars, I haven't heard that name in centuries”, it slipped out of Maisie's mouth. “Beru and her man have been very good to me and my Jericho when he had that attack on the field back then. How long ago is that horrible story? At least thirty-five years. She and her man have been killed in such a horrible manner and their foster son vanished. He is reputed to have become a hero of the republic but he was never to be seen around here anymore. Anyway, new or old republic, Empire or first Order, out here that doesn't matter. We don't feel a difference here. I'm turning one hundred years soon, boy, I've seen so many systems come and go. Of us, nothing ever changed. We don't care who takes our taxes. Senators, Grand Morffes or Generals, for us as small system, nothing ever changes. We've always been the last ones of the food chain.” “Geez Maisie. He only wanted to know where the farm of those two is. Nothing about your political views. Once you feel better, boy, we'll take you there, okay? Anyway, what's your name? How do you know the Larses?”

Ben looked briefly at his hands. “I'm Ben, Luke's nephew.”

“Nephew?”, it slipped out of both women's mouths. “I didn't knew Luke had any siblings.”

“A sister”, Ben answered and smiled at Anuk. “My mother.”

Anuk and Maisie returned his smile. “Very well, then get some good rest, Ben. The farm of the Larses is empty for more than thirty-five years, it won't run away within a week.” The two women left Ben alone only with ZB-29 at his side.

Rey, Ben sent his thoughts back out traveling. Rey, I'm on Tatooine. Come here in a week. I'll transmit the exact location where we'll me to you later.

A week passed surprisingly fast and finally Rey landed the falcon on Tatooine, the planet, that looked so shockingly like the place she grew up on. Almost with disgust she left the falcon into the boiling sand, felt the heat of the soil through her canvas shoes.

BB-8 didn't like the sand either as he got stuck in the Sand again and again.

“A desert planet of all things”, Rey murmured an Chewie howled assuring. She had landed pretty near to the Lars moisture fare. Surprised Rey noticed, that the sand had taken over more than half of the main building. It must have been abandoned for a very long time. Sadly there was nothing to be seen of Ben. Rey killed some time with sand sledging on a metal plate and inspecting what was left of the Larses household. Then she finally heard steps above her head.

“I'm sorry, I'm late. The medidroid wouldn't let me go.”

Immediately Rey's eyes welled up in tears. “Ben”, she gasped and levitated with the help of the force the dune up.

Ben walked with a stick, wore rundown brown clothes that were way to short for him and sandals of which his toes came out. “The people around here, have been really generous to me. They took me in like I was one of their kind and shared everything with me, they could do without.”

Rey hugged Ben happily. “I'm so glad to see you. I was worried sick, when I didn't hear of you for more than a day.”

Ben places his giant left hand on Rey's hand and lightly kissed her hairline. “I was pretty much incapacitated. But ZB-29 has put me back together pretty well.”

Rey gave him her bright and shining smile and Ben forgot all the pain that had pestered his body before, the stiff leg the probably stayed like that forever and the countless new scars he had taken. This smile, this warm loving welcome, redressed him for all that. He hoped to see that smile every day for the rest of his life. Did he deserve to be happy? Probably not. But Rey did. And as long as he was the one to bring her happiness, he had a reason to be alive.

“I've got them with me”, Rey remembered impetuously and dug in her big leather bag. She pulled out Luke and Leia's lightsablers.

“You want to do it here?”, Ben asked, not without a hurt glimpse at both sabers.

Rey nodded. “Yes, I will be nice, to have them near us, wouldn't it?”

Ben wasn't quite sure about that. Jedi-relics were known to attract the force ghosts of their former owners and he didn't know if he really wanted to be haunted by his crazy uncle for the rest of his life. But he agreed with a little nod. He was physically just not able to disagree with Rey.

And so he watched her from a distance as she knelt down into the sand and placed the lightsabers next to each other. Then she placed both her hands above them and the sabers started to sink to the ground. Deeper and deeper they sank into to chilly, almost damp soil. Rey was adamant that they gave his mother and uncle a symbolic grave and bury their lightsabers there. That was a typical Rey idea, how could he have said no to that?

Rey slowly turned around and faced him. There were red dots on her cheeks but she didn't start crying yet. “There is something more I have to show you, well actually more than one thing …“First she took a grip into her bag again and pulled out a completely new lightsaber. The handle was beautifully done and from a dark material with a ring on the one end being the fuse. Rey turned the ring and a yellow light-sedge evolved.

“Yellow?”, Ben breathed doubtfully. “But yellow lightsabers … “

“Are made of refined, red kyber crystals.”, Rey ended his statement. “It's your kyber crystal. I've been on Endor to get it. It's your, if you want it. I can build myself a new lightsaber.”

But Ben only shook calmly his head. “No Rey. I don't need a lightsaber anymore. I don't want to be a warrior anymore.” He pulled his hand around her wrist and she deactivated the light-sedge again.

“Good, then I'll keep it for me for now. I hope it brings me more luck than you.” She clipped the lightsaber on her garment as she always had done with Luke's and looked shyly at her feet. “You should know, that I haven't been alone on Endor. And I'm not alone here.” She quickly looked at Ben and pointed at a place behind him with her chin.

Puzzled Ben turned around. Who should Rey take with her? Wasn't it her plan that he went into hiding? And then he recognized Chewbacca, standing next to the falcon.

BB-8 was standing next to him, beeping in stir.

Chewie protested against BB-8's objections with an unnerved barking and kicked the small round droid to the side. After that he sprinted to his good-son and pulled him into a might and hearty hug only a Wookie was able to perform.

“Chewie”, Ben gasped and dropped his stick to return the Wookie's hug. “I'm so sorry for everything … “

Chewie cut vocally his words. He didn't want to hear any excuses. Of course the loss of his best friend still did hurt but having his good-son alive and well was enough for him for now.

“He would like to stay here with us. And BB-8 too. It'll take him some time to get used to you, but he promised to stay quiet about our whereabouts.”

Ben looked leery down at the little droid that still beeped nervously and carefully kept his distance from Ben. He would have to keep a close eye at the bucket.

“So that's our new home”, Rey noted and walked back towards the main house. From that point she could see a local woman walking past them in a distance with her pack animal.

When she noticed the foreigners too, she led her beast away from the invisible path the were walking and came towards them. “How unusual to meet new people around here”, she stated in her native dialect. “But it's also nice, to see some new faces. Who are you?”

Rey turned over her shoulder to look at Ben, Chewie and BB-8. Surprised she noticed Luke and Leia's force ghosts standing right behind them. No one except from her had noticed them yet. “My name is Rey and they are Ben and Chewbacca.”

“Rey and Ben … “, echoed the native woman. “And further?”

There Ben stepped next to Rey and took her hand with a proudly swelled chest. “Skywalker, Rey and Ben Skywalker.”

Chewbacca hollered pleased and offered to help the native woman to carry her goods bring home what she accepted gladly.

Slowly the two suns of Tatooine sank behind the broad horizon. “Do you think you can get used to this place?, Ben asked, still holding Rey's hand. “I know that you hate desert planets.”

Though Rey shook her head, her eyes fixed on the two suns. “No, I don't hate them. I'm coming from such a planet. They are exactly my line.” She looked at him with a smile. “We only have to get the farm free of the sand.”

Ben nodded and smiled. He didn't know that the future would hold for them, but with Rey at his side, he knew he could face all adversities.

#ben deserves better #star wars #star wars: the rise of skywalker #star wars: tros #fan fiction #star wars fan fiction #reylo #rey of jakku #ben solo #rey skywalker #ben skywalker #chewbacca #bb-8 #rey x kylo ren #rey x ben #tros spoilers #tros fix it

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whereismywizardhat · 4 years

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I know I’m not the first one to say it, but the thing that has really been driving me mad every time I devote brain space to The Rise of Skywalker is that it is a thematically dead movie, that not only cheapens its own trilogy, but the original trilogy too. Like, every negative stereotype of the sequel trilogy is represented in force.

I hated this movie. I truly loathed it. I put spoilers under the cut but the basics are that I’ve been ruminating on it since I saw it opening night and it’s made me more mad the more I turn my brain back on. Any good reviews of this movie you see are probably because this movie moves faster then the Millennium Falcon, shooting stupid, pointless sequence after stupid pointless sequence into your brain so quickly that it makes you forget that what it’s showing to you is utterly banal and gross.

I think that the Sequel Trilogy is, ultimately, a failure. A lot of people believe Return of the Jedi is the weakest of the original trilogy, that cast fatigue and the beginnings of Lucas’s drawbacks showing as a writer hurt that film overall. If that’s the case, then The Rise of Skywalker shatters it’s predecessors because the film’s contempt for the Last Jedi in turn tells you that none of it was worthwhile. The Last Jedi was a flawed film, but it was trying to drag Star Wars into a place that was healthy for the franchise. Rise of Skywalker says “No”, and tells you that the sequel trilogy was afterall nothing but digging up the corpse of the Original Trilogy and parading it in front of you one last time.

Rey being born of nobody was important both as a way of getting away from the weird eugenics thing that Star Wars courted as Anakin Skywalker went from “Powerful Jedi” to “Virgin Birth Chosen One”, and as a way of differentiating herself from her nemesis. Kylo Ren is the heir to some great dynasty, Rey comes from nothing, it’s part of their yin/yang thing. Making her a dynasty too destroys that, brings back the eugenics in full force, AND adds a bunch of plotholes to boot. “They sold you to save you” is probably the worst dialogue I’ve ever heard, including Anakin’s attempts at flirting under Lucas’s pen.

Palpatine being alive is... nonsensical. A desperate plea for forgiveness to twitter after not explaining Snoke. Going in, I assumed it was an evil force ghost, the sequel’s equivalent of that period from Legends where Palp’s rapidly decaying clones were being burnt through and he tried to possess Leia’s baby in the womb. Not so much. It seems Palp just... kind of appeared through a plot hole. Exxegol is fine as a base, I thought it was Korriban/Morriband and was disappointed that they didn’t go with the Sith planet (except they did, I guess Sith all use the same firm for designing their ).

Which goes into Kylo Ren. Adam Driver was really just... not given anything to do (a recurring problem). To his credit, the character is on the ball for the first half of the story. It’s just... all chemistry with Rey is gone, a problem Finn has too. The movie doesn’t have time to take a breath to allow the actors to emote at each other, and Kylo takes the worst of it because he’s already a terse character and the mask is back so you don’t even get his face. The film gives one moment that works with Kylo: his vision of Han. I’ve seen some comments on this that didn’t like it, but to me it’s quite obviously the light side equivalent of Rey’s evil Rey scene. Rey looks forward and sees evil, Kylo looks backwards and sees a version of the first films climax with what he was supposed to do. It’s... the one moment in the entire film where I felt like there was some actual craft in what was going on. That’s without getting into how robbed Kylo Ren was as a villain. The Last Jedi basically set up Kylo Ren as the ultimate big bad, having achieved everything Vader wanted. Here, he’s back to being a lackey of a weirdo in a bathrobe, who doesn’t even have the benefit of being a force ghost who he can’t stab.

I mentioned Finn before. Finn has... no presence in this film. He screams after Rey, he gets a one film love interest while the previous movie’s love interest kinda just sits there scowling in the background while a hobbit whose name I didn’t catch gets more lines, he has some force sensitivity but the kind from the original movie where you squint at the screen and learn what the audience just saw while Rey has taken levels in D&D paladin. He has about the same amount of significance in this film as Obi-wan did in Phantom Menace, that is to say none except we know he’s an important character in a movie that came out before this one and he gets one action sequence near the end.

Poe makes out slightly better, taking up a lot of screen time. Poe has never been a consistent character in this trilogy. One movie he’s a compassionate cool dude, the next he’s a fuckup cowboy who doesn’t play by the rules, this one is he’s a weird stand in for Han Solo, being handed Han’s smuggler backstory and acting like Han did in ESB’s first half (without the UST with Rey). He is just as unimportant as Finn, but ALSO has to be given a lot of screen time to actually establish some rapport with his castmates because he wasn’t previously given any time with Rey and only a small amount of time with Finn.

The supporting cast from previous movies... may as well not exist. Other then Leia, all the original trilogy characters are just around. Chewie gets a fake out death. Lando shows up, gives a speech, and disappears til the end. Wedge makes a cameo ten second after his stepson dies and has no reaction to that, and the only reason I know that is because I’m so invested in Wedge that I bought the tie-in novel because it had him in it. In fact, most of the supporting cast from Force Awakens dies. Snap, Hux... that’s about it. I’m sure they would have killed off Rose if JJ thought that letting her languish in the background with no lines wasn’t a worse fate for the character. As previously noted, one of the Hobbits from LoTR has a bigger role then she does. The movie also introduces an entire legion of runaway Stormtroopers... for no reason other then to introduce Finn’s third love interest in three movies, Tika. She’s fine. I’ve heard there’s a deleted scene that says she’s Lando’s daughter kidnapped by the FO. Glad we got the weird “Who’s Your Daddy?” thing out of the way with this side character before the fans bullied the director into retconning it to being Mace Windu’s secret love child.

Consistently, this movie feels like a fever dream fan fiction with a budget. I consider A New Hope’s original cut to be the platonic ideal for an adventure film in terms of pacing. Prologue, Three Acts on Three Planets, with the tension ratcheting up with each planet. It’s follow up is a slower, more cerebral film after a bombastic opening. Rise of Skywalker takes neither option, instead going for a hypnotic, Fincher-esque pacing with no brakes. It doesn’t want you to realize what you’re watching is shlock. What isn’t a calculated spit in the face of it’s predecessor, The Last Jedi, is a stab at the hypothetical second JJ Abrams Star Wars film which didn’t exist to reference back to. Rise of Skywalker exists, and it exists to appeal to the most toxic elements of the Star Wars fanbase. I don’t think it’s salvageable.

Somewhere, out there, there is a version of Rise of Skywalker that is thematically coherent. Maybe there’s one that actually follows up on it’s predecessor like... every other Star Wars saga film instead of an imagined film that didn’t happen. I dunno. Regardless, it really makes me question whether Disney actually understands what they’re doing, or if it’s all just luck and nonsense that let them become a monopoly.

I guess it wouldn’t seem so awful if the Mandalorian wasn’t just sitting there.pursuing a part of the Star Wars universe that feels fresh and original rather then ruining better films.

#star wars #ros #rise of skywalker #rant warning

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mantra4ia · 4 years

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The Rise of Skywalker: Expanded Reaction Episode II (spoilers ahead)

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I must preface my opinions with the one central point of view that has never wavered: you can be a Star Wars fan and a film critic simultaneously.

Dislikes (big and small)

So in this new trilogy, does everyone know all about the secretive Sith? No one knows where Exogol-Sith-home-world is without a wayfinder. Yet some random spice traders know who the Sith are and that they have a runic language, but nearly the entire Jedi culture disappeared until the tale of Luke Skywalker revived it. This dislike is not isolated to RoS, but it's so odd considering that in the prequels and OT, the Emperor did not put the knowledge of the Sith right out in the open.

Too much telling, not enough doing. I detest plot reveals via exposition, because a majority of the time explain-y dialogue is far inferior to natural conversation. But for two-thirds of the movie, I couldn't settle into the world because I felt like I was being told a Star Wars story instead of being in it. Case point 1: Poe's argument that Rey is training instead of being on the front line to try to verbally push the narrative that she's not just naturally too-gifted. Case point 2: Explaining Force heal to the audience (via droid) after its already been demonstrated as if we can't interpret how it works. AND YET we get no planet captions? Who's advice are you listening to? Disney could spell everything else out in dialogue when it was unnecessary and borderline condescending to audience, but when it mattered you couldn't give us planetary captions so I blinked and missed the fact that we opened with Kylo Ren kicking a** and taking names on freaking Mustafar! That was a great scene. Epic. Kylo’s on a mission, and there ain’t no questing here - it’s as fast and direct as the throat punch. He’s tired of being jerked around, he’s in a position of power to demand answers, and he’s going for the head of the Emperor, all while I was like...was that Mustafar, that was Mustafar, except now we just left Mustafar. DAMMIT.

We see the repair on Kylo's mask but not the repair of Luke's saber, or Rey building her own saber? TLJ broke the most iconic lightsaber and RoS just fixed it off screen (see point above)? I suppose this shouldn't be shocking since they introduced Palpatine IN THE CRAWL, but it was disappointing.

Did like the opening crawl, did not like how it was used as Palpatine’s business card. I think my exact words were: did they really, what kind of movie am I here for?

Leia's death. I don't buy for a second that establishing a Force visitation with Kylo across the galaxy was enough to kill her. TLJ (in my opinion) demonstrated enough to establish her as a powerful force user, which Rise of Skywalker doubled down on using the flashback training scene. So no, I don't think the exertion of it was enough to take her life unless it was inferred that she either wasn't recovered from the events of TLJ or that the Force sensitive impact of Luke's death was taking an extended toll on her, or that she was somehow already overdoing it trying to use other Force abilities behind the scene to protect the resistance/ reach out to Luke. I understand that with Carrie Fisher's (rest in peace) sudden death it would make certain practical sense for Leia to die if fitting, but put all that explanatory dialogue to some good use for once and build up tension so that Leia's death makes sense.

Luke's Force ghost being underutilized. From the beginning I didn't have a problem with Luke's conclusion in Last Jedi (minus a subtle eyeroll at the noble sacrifice trope being easily confused with honor) because it doesn't bother me whether a character is living or not as long as they are still growing. I thought, I hoped, I legitimately put money on the fact the Rise of Skywalker would use Luke in the training of Rey or the haunting of Ben and that he would play an active Force ghost role. He was used for damage control. That was infuriating.

Han Solo. I recognize the irony of this moment being in both my likes and gripes. While I liked seeing Han bestow Ben forgiveness, even if he was just a memory and not a ghost, it quickly became a hollow sort of nostalgia. FULL POST HERE.

Why in the world is there an arbitrary 16-hour frame before the Exogol fleet strike? The Last Jedi gave us a slow space chase and now what, the executive team thinks that the polar opposite is the answer? So you already have to wrap of an entire saga in a 2-3 hour real world runtime, and you've decided to amp up the pace and cram that into 16 hours of Star Wars time just for funsies while the Emperor broadcasts propaganda to kill morale? Rushed, forced, we just spent a chunk of the movie at Fyre Festival in a space desert, don't tell me there wasn't more time to allocate for imminent doom.

So essentially, we had a StarKiller base in TFA, mini-Death Star canon in TLJ, and a thousand Death Star planet killing cannons on Star Destroyers? LET that part of THE PAST DIE!

The execution of Leia training Rey. The idea was wonderful...in practice you can really tell the dialogue was built around her, and the scenes suffer for it. Execution, for the sake of preserving the character Carrie built, may have been accomplished by Tricia or Joely Fisher or her friend Meryl Streep as a way to still honor her.

A case for triple / quadruple convenience. Star Wars has always been a universe of happy coincidences, but Rise of Skywalker takes them to new extremes to the point it smacked me out of the movie. Every movie has it's own unique level of “good faith reserves” after which point plot conveniences elicit “you've got to be kidding” reactions. This happened to me during the setup of Force healing. FULL POST HERE.

Execution of Finn's character. Apart from his force-sensitivity and connection to the trooper defectors, I think Finn's plot regressed in this film each time he had to follow in Rey's wake every time she went solo, (going after Rey in the sciff, yelling Rey in the Death Star battle, Rey I have something to tell you). I thought that we had gotten past this in TLJ when Finn found purpose in the Resistance and something worth fighting for, but old habits die hard.

Scavenger hunt questing and the damn Sith Dagger. If part of this was in the crawl, that might have been good with me. I get that Rey's a scavenger – it's good to see her in her element like TFA, climbing through the Death Star at the culmination – but it's far too time consuming to do the double header of dagger/wayfinder and coincidental. She could have been standing anywhere on Kef Bir, the oceanic moon of Endor, but she happened to be standing exactly where she needed to be with no reference to force power, and the tides hadn't moved any part of the wreck and the topography hadn't changed at all for the protractor on the dagger to work?! I’m a nerd about mathematical, logical tools, but they don't work well in a Sith alchemy plot! Even when we try for logic, the convenience appears, which could have been passable if I still had good faith. In the words of John Mulaney, “you spent it already?!”

Nostalgia aside, where are the stakes? They're trapped in a sand cave / wait, no they're not. They're being hunted through Fyre Festival and they don't have a get away ship / oh yeah they do, and its fully fueled, parked in the open, not stripped for parts. There are about five different “fake” deaths where the tension releases so fast, and two real deaths of spies that should have been given beats but were skimmed over: Chewie's dead / but no it was the wrong transport, 3PO's peril / never mind we've got backups, Zori wants to turn Rey in for bounty / then they have the quickest fight in Star Wars and are on good terms. Instead of taking big risks and getting reward, this film banked on unraveling the plot by the flip of a two-headed coin and settling for surprise “Oh, they did wot now?” instead of awe.

“Retconning” The Last Jedi / plucking it out of the timeline. Rise of Skywalker, in many ways, feels like a direct sequel to The Force Awakens. Direct slaps to TLJ include but not limited to: Holdo maneuver “one-in-a-million,” and Luke plucking Rey's saber from the fire. “A Jedi’s weapon deserves more respect (except when its Kylo’s),” and Luke lamenting about going into exile as a mistake. Concepts that could have been accepted, some even verbatim foregone conclusions from TLJ, were it not for terrible execution clearly framed at goodwill appeasement.

So, the Knights of Ren were window dressing? They just follow Kylo around like bouncers and when he turned to the light, they turned on him? A) Like the praetorian guard for Snoke, they are supposed to be loyal to Kylo and if they’re not we should get to see that, B) they just made Ben look boss as he took them out. Epic saber fight, lackluster idea, especially when the Knights were so speculated on and could have had mythos. Take them out of the film and put Luke's ghost in. Problem solved.

Rey as a Palatine / OP (Overpowered) Rey. All the one-ups that ensued between Rey and her grandfather. No thank you. I don't mind that she has power and is very naturally and diversely talented, don't let lineage play a factor. It was vastly more meaningful when she was ‘ordinary.’ I could go into a whole dedicated post on this.

Hux as a spy? No, I can't imagine that's what TFA set him up for. Interesting concept - I don’t want you to win, I want Kylo to lose - terrible setup. The Last Jedi did it better, Benicio del Toro is one of the only things I'll give Canto Byte credit for.

What even is the point of Zori apart from a character used to deliver a plot point of security clearance? She is very much used to prop up Poe's story. I like the idea of the character, I don't dig her role, and even more so I don’t like how the destruction of her planet first was used to fish for emotion. Invest more in Poe's struggles ascending to acting general.

Palpatine overall, from his intro in the crawl to his motives – He's such a cool, larger then life character, it shamefully never feels like we JJ knows what he wants out of the Emperor as his villain. Palpatine's motivation for decades was the dark, unnatural Sith ability to live forever sought by his master Plagueis before him, yet in RoS he's so utterly content to say “kill me so that you can ascend to Empress and I can flow through you (possess you)” – and then the discovery that draining the “Dyad in the Force” can regenerate him changes the plan immediately. Principally its an interesting idea using him as a puppet master to tie *all* the trilogies together, but for me it didn't work as nothing else about his character felt cohesive. And then when his own Force lightning is blasted at him, hasn't he learned to stop using it (throwback: Mace Windu) and pick up a saber and fight. Fool my once, shame on you, fool me twice and I'll cut you down. Wouldn't it be so great if, despite his wizened state, he still had latent combat skills? We were sooo robbed of that opportunity.

“Undermining” Anakin’s arc as the chosen one. I don't think bringing in Palpatine undoes Darth Vader's sacrifice – because Anakin still brought peace and balance to the Force when he sent Papatine back to the shadows. Balance restored by nature is not a permanent state, so it makes sense that the balance Anakin brought would eventually be challenged - but it does take away from the satisfaction of his story, especially considering that we do not see him return in physical form.

I get the "Be with me" use of Force ghost voices from all the Star Wars mediums. It was teed up right in the very beginning of the training montage. But you’re STAR WARS, you are making history. Go big, take a risk, PUT THE FORCE GHOSTS ON SCREEN (or at least a few from the central saga)! Give me Obi-Wan, Anakin, Yoda, maybe Mace, Luke, and Leia bestowing their energy on Rey, or go home! I mean my goodness, the Emperor had Snoke clones, but they were just sitting around as props in tank. If you wanted to go really big you could get all the clones of his main Sith disciples on screen (Snoke, Maul, Dooku), and have him force drain them to illustrate Sidious matching the power of the Force ghosts. But instead Disney played it safe.

Rey’s return to Tatooine and taking on the name Skywalker. FULL POST HERE with better options than appropriating the name Skywalker, especially considering that the plot does plenty to fulfill the film’s marquee during the Final Order Battle on Exogol when Rey embodies the Force of the Jedi and they will her to RISE. Taking on the name by contrast seems to trivialize via overkill what was delivered on (imperfectly, but powerfully).

The death of Ben Solo / “the redemption”: This depends on largely on what how you define and merit redemption. I can see why some loved it and others hated it – if you define redemption as “Kylo turned good after all that universe wrecking carnage and now he has access to light side force ability?!” then I can see where you didn't like or want his redemption arc, and might be satisfied with his death as a conclusion. If, like me, you didn't see Kylo's redemption not as the act of turning good but rather turning to face his own reflection / the thing he most feared – himself – exactly like Rey – and that's what allowed him access to the light side abilities to heal, that's fascinating as h***. My gripe is I don't think Ben needed to die for the redemption to work or as a way to finish his arc. (FULL POST HERE) Again, why another Luke-themed noble demise? It could have worked for Luke’s character because Rise of Skywalker follows TLJ and gives you room to breath and play. But there’s nothing after this episode for Kylo in the same way.

So peace was created by defeating Palpatine and his fleet? Nah. First of all, Rey killed Darth Sidious exactly like he “wanted” her to and yet he didn't possess her as promised, while an order of Sith stand around watching– okay, was the Emperor really that attune in his Force Cognizance that he expressed with full confidence to his followers “whatever happens, the ritual will be complete. Don't move, sit back, enjoy the show”? And there's still the fragmented First Order (see the previous point above). Not every First Order officer and ship were loyal to or trusting of the Emperor and his comrade General Pryde, so it would stand to reason they didn't all heed the call to the final order and join the fray. What happens to them now that their Supreme Leader (Kylo) abdicated and then died? Yes, they are far fewer in number and they no longer have the firepower of Exogol behind them so they retreat into that shadows and regroup like opposition always does. I don't believe for a second that they all gave up or were defeated by the groundswell of Resistance. And now we are right back to where Return of the Jedi left us almost beat for beat.

Initial Reaction *** Episode I *** Episode III

#star wars #star wars saga #star wars ix #rise of skywalker #sw: the rise of skywalker #dislikes #reaction'd #star wars spoilers #rise of skywalker review #tros #leia's death #ben's death #anakin skywalker #rey skywalker #force ghost #empress palpatine #mustafar

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