#ben solo is a victim of abuse | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

darklinaforever · 2 years

Text

Evidence that Snoke is an abuser in an abuser / abused relationship, especially with Kylo Ben, and is also a metaphor for a sexual predator / pedophile :

Snoke is a manipulator who constantly pits Kylo & Hux against each other. When one is rewarded, the other is humiliated, whether verbally or physically. (Use force on Hux in front of the officers to humiliate him / Throw lightning on Kylo)

Snoke uses Kylo Ben as an object, an object that he will get rid of when he wants. Han says in Star Wars 7 : "Snoke is using you for your power. When he gets what he wants, he'll crush you." Also, Snoke says in Star Wars 8 : "I stirred up Ren's inner conflict. I knew he wasn't strong enough to hide it from you. And that you weren't wise enough not to take the bait." Here, Snoke openly admits that he used Kylo's weakness as bait for Rey.

Sometimes Snoke compliments Kylo Ren, sometimes he belittles him. Thus, nothing Kylo does seems to fit in Snoke's eyes. Examples : "The mighty Kylo Ren. When I found you, I saw what every master dreams of seeing. Raw, untamed power. And beyond that, something really special. The potential of your lineage. A new Vader." He continues with ; "Now I'm afraid... I was wrong." He will add a few lines later, "You are only a child in a mask." In the final showdown, when Kylo brings Rey to Snoke, the latter will say, "Well done, my worthy and faithful apprentice. My faith in you is restored." And then say to Rey, "Did you see anything ? A flaw in my apprentice? Is that why you came ? Young fool. […] I stirred up Ren's inner conflict. I knew he wasn't strong enough to hide it from you. And that you weren't wise enough not to take the bait." Here, he clearly mocks and belittles Kylo Ben for having feelings that stir up conflict within him, only to later say : "My worthy apprentice, son of darkness, heir apparent to Lord Vader."

Signs of regular physical abuse are suggested. Especially through the scene where Snoke sends Kylo flying with a discharge of lightning, and we see him recover and get up very quickly almost without any moan of pain. Compared to Luke in the confrontation scene of "Return of the Jedi", who suffers the same thing from Palpatine, and where he can be seen struggling to get up and screaming in pain, it makes sense to infer that Kylo had to undergo this treatment several times to cash it as well. There's also the scene in the throne room with Rey, when Snoke flies the lightsaber, we can see Kylo, eyes downcast, uselessly dodging the saber with two head movements in reflex mode, as if had already been beaten in this way. The impression is reinforced when we see Rey taking a blow to the head via the saber.

Snoke began manipulating Kylo Ben as a child. Indeed, in the 7th film, we learn that Kylo went to train with his uncle Luke. In the 8th film, Luke explains that he created a Jedi temple, where he brought in addition to Kylo a dozen students. Knowing that the only examples of Jedi training within temples that we have of the whole saga takes place during the prequel, where we see that the disciples are trained from childhood; there is therefore no reason why Kylo, being born with the force, was not also taken care of during his childhood by his uncle who himself happened to be the last official Jedi. Knowing that in addition, Leïa sent her son in training for fear that he would have "too much Vader in him" probably due to his power (raw, as Snoke says) in the force, and that she reveals then that "It came from Snoke. He dragged our son to the dark side.", we can also deduce that Snoke began his manipulation on Kylo before he began his training at the Jedi temple with Luke. So suggesting that this manipulation has been going on for years and started at some undefined point in his childhood. A mental manipulation, (because there is no suggestion that Snoke and Kylo met in the flesh during his training) Snoke using force to infiltrate Kylo Ren's mind,"I see his thoughts. I see his slightest intentions." he will say to Rey in Star Wars 8.

It's also important to note that although Kylo Ben's character is clearly an adult in the films, he is never characterized or referred to as such. He is clearly played as a teenager (confirmed by the actor) by his hypersensitivity, impulsiveness and temper tantrums. As referred to as a child by the other characters who repeatedly use the terms "boy", "young Solo", "kid", "child in a mask", etc.

We are therefore on a character who has not yet passed spiritually into adulthood.

Snoke is dressed as Hugh Hefner. An old man, famous for the sexual exploitation of women and numerous sexual allegations made against him.

The throne room is called "Snoke's boudoir." The main image that we retain of a boudoir today is that of a gallant, even erotic space. A sexual space then.

And again, here I am only talking about films.

It's even worse in novelizations and comics !

31 notes · View notes

love-too-believe · 2 years

Text

The Silenced Victims Meta

Similar to both Severus Snape and Ben Solo, Billy got the same narrative treatment of an abuse victim who didn’t “cope properly” being punished by no one giving a shit except that one “special person” bullshit and I hate it.

Because what a backhanded ass concept.

Harry for Severus: Harry is literally the only person alive who knows or cares about everything Severus did in the background for years to stop Voldemort. The only one who gave a shit about his own father's bullying of Severus and showed to be disgusted with it.

Rey for Ben Solo: Again, the only person left alive who knows about Ben's abuse by Snoke and him sacrificing his life for her. Hell, it's not even known if Ray told anyone about it. She's the only one who mourned his death (thanks novels) and saw him as a human and not a monster.

Max for Billy: Once again, only person that gives a shit that he's dead (yeah know besides his abuser) only person that seems to care about his sacrifice. Oh, and let's not forget the kick in the face line of "Your braver than you're brother." You know your brother who tried to fight off an interdimensional mind controlling monster for weeks alone. The one who sacrificed his life to stop it from, who knows taking over the world. But who cares about that, the writers clearly don't.

So, have you guys noticed a fucked up pattern here?

Abuse victim who did not cope properly must sacrifice their life for some great or good, and even than what they did will never fully be recognized.

Even in death the narrative is still actively punishing them, by either lack of acknowledgement or their sacrifice being reduced. Similar to the very abuse they faced.

Notice something else these three all have in common? No support system. No one to turn to, no one to acknowledge their abuse, no one to help them. And yet this itself isn’t even acknowledged or even brought to attention in the story.

Now in the end am I saying all these writers planned this narrative? No

But am I pointing out how strangely common this formula is? Yes

Because it gives a message. Those who react badly to their abuse via anger or bad coping mechanisms deserve the bare minimum in storytelling.

They don't get redemption arcs. You don't get to see them heal, see them progress. Because they're sacrifice was all they were in the end and even that won't be acknowledged. Even in death they're silenced once again.

159 notes · View notes

sailor-hufflepuff · 1 year

Text

I’ve been musing more on my villain binge. As a teenager, I DID NOT GET why so many people liked villains. I wanted a knight in shining armor, treat me right, get along with my mama boy in real life, so why would I want something different for the fictional heroines I lived vicariously through?

Zutara was my first “villain ship”, although I would have passionately argued at the time that Zuko wasn’t a villain, he was an antagonist - not evil, but a child soldier who had been brainwashed into believing he was truly helping the world.

I found the similarities between him and Katara fascinating. The loss of their mothers, their love for their nations, the absolute conviction in doing what they believe is right… the way that, even fighting, they were equals.

Fast forward a few years to Loki. How an abused child desperate for attention did something half prank, half sincere attempt to protect his people from Thor’s wildly unprepared rule spun out of control in ways beyond his ability to handle. The psychotic break that came from his discovery of his true parentage in the worst possible way. I myself had a mental breakdown when I was seventeen when I discovered the truth of my own birth, so that struck me especially hard.

Then in “The Avengers” he was so OBVIOUSLY not in control. The blue eyes. The rote recitation. The signs of torture. The way his “master plan” involved being as obvious a target for the heroes as possible. This was not a villain, this was a victim desperately trying to mitigate the damage he was being forced to do.

Kylo Ren - Ben Solo - took me a while. I was pretty unsympathetic with him at first; I don’t care if your parents fought a lot when you were a kid, that’s no reason to turn into a Nazi. And then it was revealed exactly what Snoke did to him - he’d been hearing voices in his head SINCE UTERO. He could sense everyone’s thoughts and feelings and knew that they were afraid of him, but was too little to know why. He found out that he was the grandson of the second greatest evil thr galaxy had ever known - and that his family had lied to him about it. (See above mental breakdown at 17). And then his parents sent him away, his uncle tried to kill him, and in the ensuing fight everyone he knew turned on him. Where else could he go, but to the voice in his head promising safety?

Once again, this is not a villain. This is a victim, trapped in a nightmare, being used as a tool by a madman to cause harm, and suffering for it

Finally, the Darkling. I’ve written on this topic before, and so have so many other better skilled than I, so I’ll keep it simple. I don’t understand how we are supposed to view the leader of an oppressed minority, trying to prevent the genocide of his people, as a bad guy. Especially when he’s spent the past seven hundred years trying to do things the peaceful way, only to fail again and again and again. What choices did he really have? His actions were acts of war, and arguably caused the least loss of life possible.

So now, I see posts decrying women who ship villains. They say we’re supporting abuse. They say we’re taken in by a pretty face. They say that we’re just rebellious teenage girls, and when we grow up we’ll know better.

My experience was the opposite. As a teenager I was so obsessed with black and white morality, with being a good person, that I couldn’t see the nuances. I couldn’t see that often, the villains were right. I had no grace for those whose lives gave them few choices.

There are still villains I don’t like. Most, actually. Those who kill or hurt for fun. Those in it for their own power and gain. Those who take their pain and lash out against the universe with no cause. Bullies. I don’t like them. I don’t ship them. But I don’t judge people who do, because I don’t know what story they’re seeing. What traumatic event their identifying with. What injustice the villain is trying to correct that they have to deal with in their everyday lives.

We come to fiction for different reasons. Maybe we want a way to explore our pain. Maybe we’re looking for an escape from a dark world. Maybe we feel powerless, and want to live vicariously through someone powerful. Maybe we’ve suffered, and want to see a world where abusers are punished. Maybe we just want to look at pretty people.

All are equally valid. All should be respected. There is a place for all of us in this wonderful online world of fandom, and no one should EVER be belittled for what they like in fiction.

Because you know what? Fiction is first and foremost ENTERTAINMENT, and sometimes the villains have the best stories.

103 notes · View notes

reylogirlie · 8 months

Text

“That’s abusive”

“That’s manipulation”

I’m gonna explain why it’s not in this context:

Now, is this how you should address your love interest irl? Definitely not. Is Ben Solo truly back to the light at this point? No. Is Kylo’s mindset still twisted? Yes. However, some don’t seem to understand what Kylo/Ben meant.

“You’re nothing.” Kylo/Ben didn’t mean Rey was actually nothing. Hell, he legit tells her she’s anything but that. “Nothing” , in his terms, means she’s seen as worthless by the people who are supposed to love her.(I know Rey’s parents are actually good people, I’ll get into that) means that they saw her as someone- something, honestly, to get rid of.

This is what Ben thought Leia and Han saw in him; that he was worthless and they needed Luke to off him. That nobody loved him. At least, that’s what he felt before he met Rey. He knows Rey grew up thinking no one loved her, and thought that she possessed nothing of value.

At this point, Ben hasn’t fully come back. He still feels like he was a victim to the light (when he was actually a victim to the dark) and he’s telling Rey “those people”- her parents, his parents, Luke, etc consider her nothing. “Real abusers brainwash victims into turning on their friends and family” Kylo/Ben doesn’t consider the resistance Rey’s friends. He thinks they’re just going to use and discard her the way he thought he was. He thinks he’s looking out for her. Real abusers typically know their victims loved ones care but wanna get rid of them so they can have said person all to themselves.

(And before you come at me like “actually a lot of abusers don’t get what they’re doing but it’s not an excuse” yea I got that, doesn’t apply here)

“But not to me”- This is Ben telling Rey that their view on her is wrong. That she’s not nothing. That’s she is, in fact, everything. To him especially. He’s not just saying this so she can be on the dark side, that’s not his main concern here even if he still is on the dark side. His main concern is what’s best for Rey, and he believes joining himself is what’s best for her.

His mind set isn’t “I’m gonna isolate her from her friends so I turn her evil and use her for my growth” it’s actually “Those people tried to kill me and use me for my power and they’ll do the same to her so I’m gonna protect her while I still can” he thinks he’s helping her. It’s pretty fucked, but he’s not trying to manipulate her.

“He lied about her parents” no he didn’t. Was Kylo/Ben wrong about Rey’s parents? Yes. But what you people fail to remember is YOU REALLY SHOULD NOT USE THE FORCE AS A FORTUNE TELLER. The future/ past visions are often vague and altered. He only saw parts of what happened. He had no clue that her parents were actually protecting her from evil, he saw them leaving and going to shady ass places and thought they were actually trading her for alcohol. That’s why when he found out the truth he told her!!! If he was manipulating her so he could have her all to himself, he would’ve never told her the truth. Notice how when she left at the end of TLJ he let her and didn’t form a plan to force her back or hurt her. He aggressively tried to persuade her, yes, but he never seriously threatened her. He even snitches on the dark side for Rey and offered to kill Palpatine instead of killing her to complete his mission.

So, bottom line- When Kylo/Ben called Rey nothing, he wasn’t saying she was actually worthless. He was saying that’s what her parents and the people who felt turned on him saw her as, but he considered her to be everything and the most important thing to him. You don’t have to like Reylo or agree with me, but I could go on about how Rey and Kylo/Ben don’t exactly fit the “toxic relationship” boat.

#star wars #star wars sequel trilogy #rey nobody #rey skywalker #ben solo #rey x ben #reylo #rey x kylo ren #ben x rey #the last Jedi #you’re nothing #but not to me #OTP #i will die on this fucking hill #i will die on this hill #pro reylo

26 notes · View notes

galaxicide · 8 months

Text

IMPORTANT CANON DIVERGENT POINTS: many of my divergency points are made due to the sore lack of context in the movies, messy writing, and a bit of downright terrible writing. most of these are probably already featured in my carrd. but this post will be directly accessible via my pinned post because the divergencies are important.

the og trio ALL survive, ben too. kylo injures han (the severity is up to rpers). leia does not die, neither does luke. why? well, I don't agree with the narrative of wiping out the old for the new. nor having kylo kill off han because harrison wanted out. given how close han and ben's relationship once was, this simply doesn't fit for me. and I also don't think there can be any true healing after the war for ben without his family there. this family is the HEART of the entire franchise. killing them all off was a bad move...as much as I enjoy a tragic narrative.

Luke did NOT try to kill Ben. Ben finding out his relationship with Vader triggered his fall to the dark side, and he accidentally summoned a force storm during his rage (fanned by snoke too) that razed the entire temple, its students, and luke too, under bens impression. believing he'd murdered his uncle, ben ran. and wasn't seen again for some years. Though this divergence is negotiable if Luke rpers would prefer to write the actual canon!

Kylo does NOT kill Snoke. Snoke is the big bad here for me, not sOmeHoW pAlPaTiNe rEtUrNeD. Therefore, Kylo does not become supreme leader. He is so brainwashed by Snoke, that even though he suspects one day Snoke will eliminate him, he is still loyal. Snoke is ALL he knows.

I do not write the dyad as a romantic bond, at least not with rey and ben. their relationship is utterly atrocious, and kylo does exactly to rey what snoke is doing to him. it's manipulative and abusive and is not a good foundation for any relationship. i think they can achieve something akin to siblingship one day. but that's years away after tros.

ben's identity as kylo is only known to VERY FEW, including snoke, some highers up in the first order, and a few in the resistance. it's probably less than 10 people altogether. he NEVER removes his helmet in public for various reasons not related to this post. so if you're unsure whether your muse is or might be one of those 10 or so people, please feel free to ask.

it's honestly not as obvious in the movies as it should be imo, and is not a canon divergence. but it feels like it needs to be said often cus people still want to dismiss this fact in 2023. ben solo is a victim of decades of abuse and manipulation. no, it doesn't excuse his actions, but it gives context and explanation to them. i will never not make this point enough.

annnnd here comes the maybe controversial one. might depend on how well i explain it. han and leia are/were not purposely neglectful parents, nor perfect people...please, keep reading after that sentence. take a step back and think about it in terms of real adult life, okay. both of them are important people. leia is a senator. it would literally be impossible for her to be around all the time for ben. you simply cannot be a person that powerful and have a well balanced family dynamic. han, on the other hand, we know canonically was ben's primary caregiver for 6 years, which is a hot win, imo. stay at home dad, excellent. but he, too, eventually goes back to training pilots at the academy because it's what he's good at, and he deserves to continue it. i am in NO WAY saying that han and leia are bad people or parents. far from it. I've no doubt they tried endlessly, and they still are, even with ben falling to the dark side. they're just doing normal things that adults do. just because you have a child does not mean you stop being a person. BUT their busy adult lives paved the way for Snoke to move in and do what he wanted with Ben, which was to slowly turn him against them and make him believe he was unwanted and unloved by them. and that's not han and leia's fault, they didn't know what was going on. Ben was a child, and Snoke was an abuser that easily slipped through the cracks because he couldn't be seen. i realise this also wasn't really a canon divergence, but it needs to be said some more.

#pinned post.#i'm probably going to edit and add more at some point #i'm committing sacrilege here probably #but eh #ii. HEADCANON. 🌓

9 notes · View notes

blaacknoir · 1 year

Text

Re: the Adam Driver post

Someone replied (then blocked, so I had to go incognito to find it): remember when this site didn’t get horny over nazis?

First of all, it was solely about his looks and appearance. Regardless of what you think of Kylo Ren (a fictional character) this wasn't about him. It was about the appearance of Adam Driver vs. Oscar Isaacs and John Boyega.

Second, Kylo Ren isn't a Nazi, because Kylo Ren exists in a fictional universe. He has never, to my recollection, displayed any hint of white supremacy, homophobic attitudes, or anything else Nazis stood for.

Third, the arc of Kylo Ren Ben Solo is incredibly important to me. He was an abuse victim, groomed from birth by Snoke via the Force. He was assumed to be evil because of his lineage. His lineage which was hidden from him. And he woke up in middle of the night to find his uncle--a man that he loved and trusted, both as a family member and a teacher--about to fucking murder him. When he was a teenager. When he was a fucking child.

(His uncle, by the way, who never apologizes for trying to murder him.)

He continues to be abused by Snoke as he gets older, torn apart because of the conflict within him--the dark that he tries to embrace, because he feels as though it's his only choice, and the light that he feels he doesn't deserve. He became a monster because that's how he was treated.

And yet.

There was good in him. There was always good in him. And finally, finally someone sees it. Someone tells him that he is good. He is worthy of love. He is not owed forgiveness, he is not exempt from the horrors he's committed, but nonetheless, he is still worthy of love. He has done monstrous things, but he is not a monster.

And do you understand how important that statement is? To people who have hurt others? To people who have been hurt by others?

I got into Star Wars in 2016, about a year after I cut my dad off for Reasons. He hurt me and has never showed any sign of apology, or any interest in reconnecting. But in 2016, Ben Solo's inevitable redemption arc gave me hope that... maybe he would. Maybe there was a possibility that my dad would redeem himself. It offered me hope that someone who had been very important to me might realize he hurt me. And... that helped me through a hard time in my life.

I was also struggling with the fact that I'd made some stupid decisions when I was younger and said some stupid stuff, and it helped me realize that I wasn't defined by that either. I could grow and change, and be better than the person I had been.

I don't "simp for fictional Nazis." I relate to the story of a manipulated kid who ended up realizing that he was more than that. A story about growth and redemption resonated with me during a time when I needed it.

Honestly, if you look at Ben Solo and all you see is "fictional Nazi" then... that's a you problem. And if you look at Adam Driver's large nose and ears, crooked teeth, and pockmarked skin and think there's something wrong with me for finding that attractive?

Then I'm really not sure what to tell you there.

#adam driver #sw thoughts #star wars #ben solo

20 notes · View notes

redrascal1 · 11 months

Text

How a comedy/horror film truly made me think

I saw ‘Renfield’ recently.

I loved it. Great horror comedy with delicious performances from a wonderfully over the top Nicolas Cage and a sweetly earnest Nicholas Hoult...but when the film was over I couldn’t help but think how much the ‘toxic relationship’ between Drac and Renfield reminded me of the one between Snoke and Kylo.

Renfield is Drac’s ‘familiar’. In return for superhuman abilities he takes care of him, even saving him from the ‘good guys’. And he does this because despite the ‘gift’ of supernatural power Drac gives him, he’s actually completely under his control. Drac is his master, his puppet, who continues to serve him because Dracula hammers home that he is Renfield’s only friend, that without him he would be a ‘nothing’...

.....and that he has no one else.

This is exactly the type of perverse bond Snoke had with Kylo. He repeatedly told him he wasn’t wanted, that his parents didn’t love him, that Luke would betray him. And when that terrible misunderstanding happened between Ben Solo and his uncle, he thought that Snoke had been right all along. He was a frightened boy fleeing a man he’d worshipped, who he genuinely thought was trying to kill him. And as soon as he was caught in Snoke’s web, he was trapped.

Like Renfield, Ben/Kylo’s master pushed him into doing terrible things. Like Renfield, Kylo was completely under his control. Renfield found friends that helped him break away. Kylo found Rey.

But...Renfield found forgiveness. Ben was fated to die even after he’d redeemed himself. And that is the biggest disappointment...that Ben’s reward for ‘turning good’ was to die. That all a lonely, depressed, brainwashed young man was good for was to donate his life to someone else, someone who didn’t give a toss for him, and was apparently more worthy of him because she was a woman.

A virginal woman.

Ben was ‘tainted’ because he was a victim of abuse.

No matter how much you try to gloss over it, he was psychologically and physically abused by Snoke. And TROS’s message was: ‘if you are abused, you will always be soiled, and better off dead.’

How ironic Disney...that a comedy/horror film got right what you, once the home of happy ever afters...didn’t.

2 notes · View notes

goatrocket-moved · 4 years

Photo

be with me

#reylo #kylo ren #ben solo #rey nobody #rey #star wars #the rise of skywalker #as an abuse victim please do not jump down my throat about this and tell me im wrong #i have first hand experience and don't want to hear it #thank you #my art

3K notes · View notes

frumfrumfroo · 4 years

Note

Remember how Ben was a metaphor for struggling children rebelling against parents and moving from adolescence to adulthood and trying to find their way? Guess the message was unless you were the perfect child, you didn't deserve to be with your family ever.

I honestly, really and truly thought this meant they would never dream of doing this to him. The two posts before I had to admit the leaks were true are literally me going on about what fucking scumbags they’d have to be to do this. To sit in interviews and say that shit, to encourage vulnerable people and kids to identify with him, to go even harder ramping up to this film underscoring he was a child and victim and in need of help he never received.

I thought being the last Skywalker and being knowingly, intentionally and decisively a touchstone for lost children whom they seemed to invest so much in creating, for whom they’d made the stakes so high meant there was no way in fuck they could ever, ever do this. They couldn’t possibly mean to treat iconic characters like this, to kill off the entire original cast for nothing, to destroy their happiness and victory for nothing; they couldn’t possibly be so callous with something millions of people care about?

They HAVE TO KNOW making this already sympathetic character more and more and more relatable and loveable and vulnerable while telling a story which makes him above all a victim of the Skywalker legacy who has never once since conception had a chance to be his own person because of it and then saying he’s unworthy to carry it was a fucking HORRIFYING take. They said that’s a lonely little boy whose parents failed him who is trying his best to find any ANY sense of safety in the world by becoming what they’ve all told him he was all his life. Someone so desperate to give love, his compassion is spilling out all over the place even when he’s wrapped himself up in graveclothes and a machine-like mask.

They wrote him as coming of age and they had him fall in love with a similar lonely young soul and they told us this was a fairy tale about hope. They made the culmination and healing of the legacy of Star Wars and the resolution of he new ST protagonist’s arc the same thing- everything is pushing towards this perfect capstone. You can deliver everything and actually add something genuinely meaningful and significant to this epic saga, make it richer and more complete. They told us this was about hope, about a real ending, about everything SW was ever about, about a myth for kids that would help us understand our own comings of age.

And JJ fuckface Abrams sat in an interview and said this on 13 December 2019

The Skywalker Saga is and has always been a family story. But I do think that complexity, the question of if the son of Han & Leia can be turned to the dark side can’t any of us, what is it to be the kid of these heroes.

Like the basic lack of fucking decency, the disregard for a beloved cultural institution, the message of ‘hope you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps children because if you can’t you don’t deserve love and if you can’t get your shit together without any love then you deserve to die!’ Knowing what he’s saying. He knows.

In the franchise which asked you to love Darth fucking Vader unconditionally and made ZERO apologies for it because anyone can be saved and everyone is deserving of compassion. I genuinely… I just genuinely… how dare they.

#trosspoilers #ben solo #he's an abuse victim #that's not even a metaphor or an interpretation #it's just text #he never had a fucking chance #and the thesis of this fucking film is that no one should care about him #because he was damaged by it #because his parents bad parenting fucked him up #they should get a better kid #they all die for him and it still manages to convey that he doesn't matter #STAGGERING #Last Skywalker Last Solo Prince of Dust and Ashes #thrown in a pit for being born his mother's son and left to climb out of it by himself while his family helps someone else #a metaphor for his whole fucking life #and then he gets to fucking die #and NO ONE MOURNS HIM #NO ONE CARES #we have the Good Child now

712 notes · View notes

cassianandfenrysaremyboyos · 4 years

Text

Do you ever think about how after Ben killed Snoke he was finally free from the voices in his head but now with tros retconning tlj, the whole year between tlj and tros he STILL had Palpatine in his head. He had the darkness in his head from the day he was born to the day he died. He never got to live free in his own mind. Never got to know what it was like to be free of the pain, to just be himself. That's so heartbreaking.

#ben solo #kylo ren #the last jedi #the rise of skywalker #tros #tlj #star wars #palpatine #snoke #i hate tros so much #bens death is so cruel #to kill an abuse victim who never had a chance to be happy #it's so depressing #it hurts so much #his mind was literally never free of abusive manipulative invasive thoughts #cassfenposts

122 notes · View notes

darklinaforever · 2 months

Text

Daemyra = I support pedophilia, grooming and physical abuse.

Zutara = I support colonizer x colonized relations.

Sylki = I support incest with oneself.

Charlastor / Radiobelle = I erase the canonical sexuality of the characters.

Reylo = I support the Nazis !

Darklina / Alarkling = I support a pedophile, a groomer, a pro-genocide and child killer in his spare time.

Sareth = I support pedophilia !

Sessrin / Sesshrin = I support pedophilia, and grooming.

Persades = I support kidnapping, rape and forced marriages.

Wyler / Weyler = I support psychopathic serial killers ! And grooming too ! (Because apparently for some Tyler is an adult and not a teenager as he is canonically in the series...)

This is usually what I get insulted about for loving these relationships... and it's just bullshit.

Daemyra is not grooming and pedophilia, book and show, I have already explained countless times why and I won't do it again here. And Daemon do not abuse physically Rhaenyra in Fire and Blood.

Zutara is not a relationship of a colonizer with a colonized person. Zuko himself is not a colonizer and the people of Katara were never colonized by the Fire Nation.

Sylki is not a true incestuous relationship, especially not with yourself. Sylki is not shown and characterized as truly the same person but as different people with the same role in the universe.

I'm not erasing the canonical sexuality of Charlastor / Radiobelle by shipping them into the context of fanon.

Kylo Ren / Ben Solo is not a Nazi, I also already explained why. Essentially he has no ideology of his own and has been manipulated since his fetus by hearing voices in his head 24/7 again today, and above all the defenders against grooming keep quiet this time ironically, since Kylo Ren / Ben Solo is actually a victim of grooming by Snoke / Palpatine.

The Darkling has not committed any genocide, he is not a pedophile or a groomer either and is even less a killer of childs specifically...

For Sareth basically... Everything that happens in the movie is essentially a representation of the desires / fantasies of teenage Sarah. Jareth is the reflection of her dreams, he literally acts according to her. He is the product of his fantasy. Please note, I'm not saying that what Sarah experiences in the film is literally a dream. No, I'm saying that the film, through its story and especially the character of Sarah, is in a way a representation of the adolescent's desire / dreams, and also a bit of hormones / sexual awakening. Without forgetting the fact of accepting to grow. That's why everything in the maze is in Sarah's room. That's why Jareth's universe is in this book, and also why the way to defeat Jareth there is. This is why Jareth is “in love” with Sarah. That's why he looks like a walking sexual fantasy with his tights on. Why there is a snake, a cane. Why does everyone at the ball wear masks with horns and long noses (= just falic / sexual symbols) Brief. There's nothing wrong with shipping Jareth with Sarah, since he's literally her personal fantasy and he's acting on that. (in the sense that he takes the role she gives him in the story)

Sessrin / Sesshrin is also not a relationship based on pedophilia. Sesshomaru clearly didn't feel anything romantic or sexual about Rin when she was a child. As for the accusations of grooming, they are unfounded because there is no proof. The fact that Rin gave birth to twins at 18 is not proof of this. Inuyasha takes place in the feudal era where a girl under 18 is seen as an adult. Essentially, Sesshomaru simply fell in love with Rin as she grew up. And he came to see her from time to time from the moment he left it with Kaede as a child. He was not responsible for her education. That was Kaede. He wasn't her father figure either, that was Jaken.

And Hades and Persephone must be read in the context of the time when the myth was written, otherwise you lose its true meaning. I have already reblogged excellent analyzes on the subject, I invite you to go and see them. Hades, essentially, is not the true villain in this myth.

No. I don't support psychopathic serial killers. The proof, I hate Laurel. The real psychopathic serial killer. Tyler is a teenager who she manipulated and enslaved for her cause. Literally, Tyler is a hyde, implying a personality disorder, but more than that, canonically, he must obey and approve of what his master does. Tyler is a victim. Not a bad guy. Moreover, once again, a real case of grooming under the arms. Yes, Laurel groomed Tyler, I've written lots of articles on this subject, you can go and see them. But once again, ironically, no one talks about it, and what's more, the antis will try to say that Tyler groomed Wednesday by inventing a new age for him...

67 notes · View notes

smolbeanee · 4 years

Text

It's crazy because Ben Solo was manipulated and abused and a victim from before he was even born.

Yet, in the end he wasn't allowed to break free from his abuser. Instead, he was violently pushed away into more pain and then died remaining a victim.

#star wars #tros #ben solo #adam driver #kylo ren #anti tros #abuse #victims #it's so fucking sad #why must a victim stay a victim #why aren't victims allowed to overcome their abusers #why must they only be pushed into more pain

43 notes · View notes

lyledebeast · 4 years

Text

First Order Victims and Resistance Compassion

Isn’t it fun that Finn and General Hux both betray the First Order by helping Resistance heroes escape? But here, apparently, the similarities end. For Finn, this choice begins his journey to becoming a Resistance hero himself. Hux dies for it. A superficial reading of The Rise of Skywalker completely justifies this. Hux and Finn are such different characters that their reasons for doing exactly the same thing must be completely different. Hux’s motives must be petty and selfish because he’s the villain and Finn’s must be as lofty as he says they are because he’s fundamentally heroic. And if that’s not enough, Finn’s indoctrination as a child solider makes him a victim of the FO, while Hux is one of the most powerful people in it. However, a closer look at the similarities between these characters reveals a deeper, messier difference that presents the Resistance in a much less flattering light.

The similarity from which all others spring is that both Finn and Hux are, in some sense, products of the FO. Finn presents his time there as a source of nothing but trauma and horror, but in TLJ, he turns out to be one of the best fighters the Resistance has. Where did that come from? Not the Resistance. He is able to defeat Captain Phasma, the best fighter the FO has, because she’s the one who trained him. Which isn’t to say that this is not also a case of a victim killing his abuser; the two are not mutually exclusive. It’s worth keeping in mind that she also trained the stormtroopers Finn kills. What makes him so different from them? He’s different from the others in his first scene of TFA because he refuses to fire on unarmed civilians, but the ones he kills later are firing on armed Resistance soldiers. The anonymity of stormtroopers makes it entirely possible that the ones he kills are as innocent of civilian deaths as himself. He is an ex-stormtrooper using the skills he was taught in the FO to kill stormtroopers, and he never really seems conflicted about that.

While the advantages the FO gives Hux are more obvious than those it gives Finn, the ways it disadvantages them both are not as different as it may seem. Hux has the privilege of individuality, but when that becomes a reason to blame him for the actions of others—like Phasma and Finn—the privilege is dubious indeed. It clearly does not protect him from being abused by the two Supreme Leaders he serves under. And yet Hux, unlike Finn, makes no attempt to take any advantage of the one opportunity afforded him to leave. He does not make taking him with them a condition of setting Finn, Poe, and Chewie free. He just does it and then asks Finn to shoot him so it will look like he was overpowered. There are a few possible reasons for this. Maybe Hux is simply so arrogant that he actually believes this ruse will work (considering that Hux’s death, like all his pain, is treated as comic relief, this is probably what the writers are going for). It could also be that he doesn’t trust the Resistance heroes to take him, and nothing they do suggests he’d be wrong. A final reason is that maybe Hux, like many abuse victims, cannot imagine a life for himself outside of this situation because the abuse has been so effective. Whatever his reasons for staying behind in imminent peril, Hux is trapped in the FO in a way that Finn never is.

Finn is not special among FO characters because he’s victim. Just about every member of this organization who has someone in power over them is a victim, and the stormtroopers are all victimized in exactly the same way as Finn. What does make him special is that he’s very lucky. First, his resistance to FO brainwashing stratagems—a randomly dispensed gift from The Force, it seems—makes it easy for him to join the capital-r Resistance when give the opportunity. It also makes it easy for the Resistance to accept him. Besides that, he’s lucky to have the greatest pilot in the Resistance dropped into his lap at the precise moment he needs a pilot, and that Poe is willing to help him before he even has to ask. That said, the Resistance benefits as much as Finn does. It gets to make use of his FO insights and skills without the commitment of deprograming him or any pesky conflict on his part about killing his former peers. Literally all Finn needs is a ride.

On the surface, yes, Finn is a hero and Hux is a villain. If we look beyond that, though, what saves Finn is that he is a model victim, the only kind of victim that appeals the Resistance. Even though he was taught to hate and want to destroy the New Republic, he’s actually never done anything the Resistance has to forgive. He’s compassionate towards Resistance allies but has no empathy for people who are still trapped in the situation from which he himself escaped. The only person from the FO that he encounters after his escape that he does not fight or kill, directly or indirectly, is someone who has already escaped without any help from him Finn isn’t responsible for this self-serving, stingy compassion from which he benefits, but he adapts to it very quickly. Considered in this light, the contrast between Finn and Hux underscores the idea that the only people who deserve help are the ones who have already been able to help themselves so much that they barely require any effort or accommodation from anyone else.

#armitatge hux #abuse #abuse victims #tros #i'm not talking about ben solo here For Reasons #that's a whole other post

47 notes · View notes

agir1ukn0w · 4 years

Text

I’m really starting to wonder why Hollywood is so afraid of writing stories in which victims of abuse and neglect who end up doing terrible things later in life, whether they’re considered “good guys” or “bad guys” by the narrative, can actually heal and grow from that place of destructive behavior and be redeemed without dying. Whatever the reason, I cannot wait for more people in my generation to get jobs in big movie businesses so we can change the game completely 😊

72 notes · View notes

ariainstars · 4 years

Text

The Rise of Skywalker or Well, It Seems Santa Won’t Come to Us This Year

Warning... this is a long entry.

A satisfying ending to such a universally beloved story after 42 years and 9 episodes, in the hands of one of the most renowned and expert film studios in the world ought to look different. As the final chapter and with the way laid out by Rian Johnson, it could and should have been epic. But for some obscure reason, the Disney studios decided to let JJ Abrams f*** it up royally. As if they did it on purpose.

Honestly, what did we expect? Abrams is a copycat, we saw that with Star Trek, too. He can tell old stories again in a rather fresh way, but he can’t think up anything really good of his own.

I admit that at first, I didn’t like the sequels much. They seemed adamant to tear down the past, no wonder so many fans got upset. Besides, I was devastated by Han Solo’s death at the hand of his own son.

But then I warmed up to the other characters, and I said to myself that it’s not wrong to start afresh and give a new generation a chance. The old doesn’t become bad because new things come up. And our heroes Han, Leia and Luke had their happy ending; it wasn’t cancelled. It was interesting to think, “What happens after a happy ending?” (For the record, it seems war heroes do not exactly make good parents / uncles. I guess you need other qualities for that.)

Honestly, I did have a vaguely bad feeling a few weeks before TRoS came out; I couldn’t say why. Anyway, looking back there were a few giveaways that the story would end the way it did.

1. The title: “Rise of Skywalker”. Though the last of the Skywalker blood, Ben technically was a Solo (Organa-Solo to be exact). He did redeem himself, but he did not rise above it all.

2. Kylo’s light sabre is the only one which looks like a cross. Anakin was a child without a father. Both suffered terrible pains and then died - due to other people’s sins.

3. The saga’s themes are many and a lot was set up in Episodes VII and VIII. It was to be expected that one film wouldn’t be enough to wrap everything up. TLJ had a new and fresh approach; but apart from the fact that so many fans hated it, it packed the film so full of new themes and subjects that it took us as fans months to inspect it all. We should have guessed that there wouldn’t be enough time in TRoS to finish the old story, start the next one and wrap that up, too.

4. Circumstances be as they may, Kylo / Ben is still a patricide. He did evil things before, but killing Han definitively damned him. And very many people unfortunately take these films at face value and do not go into depth. If TLJ stirred up a wasp’s nest, I don’t want to know what would have happened if in TRoS he would have been redeemed and had survived, and maybe also found his happy ending. Much as I love him, from a moral standpoint it sounds somewhat ambiguous.

The Rise of Skywalker assuredly is Star Wars-y. But is that really more important than making good and uplifting films?

Rogue One was so Star Wars-y that fans almost went nuts about it; I still remember my shock when I actually watched it and found it a deeply sad, melancholy story, thematically the exact opposite of A New Hope’s joy and optimism.

Rose was detested by many fans because she was a quirky personality and so unlike Leia: no wonder she almost disappeared. And her relationship with Finn, which was set up as perfectly fitting, vanished as well: no, no, no, we always have a trio in the middle of the story. More than three heroes, that’s not Star Wars-y. Rey’s spunky, sassy personality reminds of Leia, so she is seen as Star Wars-y. And fans couldn’t accept that she comes from nowhere because in Star Wars it has to turn out that you’re related to someone: so she had to be Palpatine’s granddaughter (ugh) and Saint Rey at the same time.

Fans were hurt by Han Solo’s death in TFA, but at least got to see him being cool and swashbuckling. Luke died in TLJ, but as far as I know fans didn’t send a petition to Disney asking to take TFA from canon: they only did so after TLJ. Reason? Because as it seems, they could forgive anything that was done to Han, but not Luke’s green milk.

Ben Solo, the last of the Skywalker blood, was judged an unworthy heir to Darth Vader due to his emotionality, that’s why everybody left him to rot in a pit. Who hated him for being a “whiny sissy” at least will be content now.

As for us, who have looked more in depth at the saga as a whole and its themes, we can go home with hollow hearts and feeling numb.

My compliments, JJ. You managed to destroy both the probably most famous and beloved film franchises in less than ten years. And you have spoilt our Christmas.

Worse, you have ruined the franchise for the many, many children who grew up loving Kylo Ren and Rey and rooting for their happy ending together. I have heard that a lot of parents had to bring their kids home weeping. Do you believe they will love the saga now still? They will probably only remember it as a terribly sad story and not want to have anything to do with it ever again. And this from the Disney studios, experts for children’s stories, fairy tales and happy endings. A few days before Christmas. I never would have guessed that making older fanbros happy would be so much more important. At least their heroes had their happy ending, their successes, their friendship. Ben Solo had nothing. And this was the very last episode, so we can’t even hope for the future.

I myself right now don’t know whether I can ever watch anything about Star Wars again. I was so elated, so sure of a happy ending after 9 episodes and 42 years. Now every time I will think about watching something related to SW, I will be reminded of how sadly it all ended. And with no warning, mind you. At least watching the prequels we all knew how it would end.

Rian Johnson had set everything up beautifully. I can’t believe that Disney studios and JJ can have been so blind as to not see it, they’re supposed to be experts and to be paid for storytelling. To me it was abundantly clear that

- Ben Solo’s redemption were the children (an inversion to the Jedi Temple carnage, and a parallel to Leia’s meeting with the Ewoks where she immediately became motherly)

- Rey would fall to the Dark Side something ugly and then understand that she had no right to judge Ben

- Ben and Rey would be together and have their happy ever after

- They would take care of the children together, learning from their own upbringing to be protective and understanding parents

- Ben would be the Good Father opposite to Darth Vader the Evil Father and this would “finish what he started” (excuse me, why choose an actor for the role who has Vader’s stature but whose features are the exact opposite? Who has repeatedly proven that he deals well with children in films? Why not use his potential??)

- They would start a new Jedi training or academy, where children would no longer be taught to suppress their emotions

- Rey would in this way finally find the family she craved

- Balance would mean a rainbow or a prism, not Black against White, or Grey

What I still can’t believe

I guess most of you have read some of my meta’s. They were written after thorough researc of the saga’s themes. And I still can’t believe that I got it that wrong.

Yes, as I already wrote above there still is the fact that Kylo / Ben is a patricide and that having him survive after he damned himself like that might have been a bad message. But I still believed that he was in for redemption and survival, and that he was meant to be a father figure.

What about all the messages in TLJ, which all seemed to point to the future?

- The hand-touching scene with the set-up which was exactly opposite to Anakin’s and Padmés wedding? Why did both couples have to end tragically?

- Why were enslaved children introduced in a sympathetic way, the film even ending showing one of them being a Force User and dreaming of being a Jedi? What about Anakin’s promise that he would come back and free the slaves on his planet? That promise was never kept.

- What will become of new Force Users? The last person who was taught both the Jedi and the Sith knowledge is dead.

- Why did Maz Kanata announce to Rey that “the belonging she sought was ahead of her”? She is on the planet that both Anakin and Luke ardently wished to leave. How is that belonging? She knows who she is now, but she is just as lonely and overburdened as when she started. She has not found the family she sought, and she hasn’t founded one of her own. And where’s the ocean she used to dream of?

- Rey had told Ben that “she saw his future”. What future was that? “You will be a hero for ten minutes, have almost all your bones crushed, get a kiss and then die”…?

- Why did Leia ask Han to bring their son home? He saved his soul, but as for finding home, not a chance.

- Luke had promised his nephew that they would see each other again. Nope. And both he and Leia took Rey’s side, abandoning their nephew and son in favor of the offspring of their worst enemy. This is destroying their legacy, not the green milk. Luke panicking and contemplating to kill Ben in his sleep lasted a few seconds. It is not understandable why Luke and Leia should believe in Rey while they were afraid of their own flesh and blood. Because she’s cooler, I guess.

- TRoS destroyed the Jedi’s legacy as well, respectively proved once more what terrible people they were, ready to sacrifice everything for their victory. All of them spoke to Rey, not one to Ben. As if he didn’t even exist. He wasn’t useful to them, that was all.

- After the victory of the Light Side and the Dark Side, logically Balance should have come. Where and how did we ever see this balance? Oh, the bad guy is dead again, that’s good. If at least his granddaughter was dead, then maybe the galaxy would finally have some peace! But that besotted idiot had to resurrect her. Out of love.

- In the end, who won? The Skywalker Curse. The last of their blood is dead. Their name lives on, together with the flesh and blood of Palpatine. As if all had been for nothing.

- Rey is not the winner in this story. She did not inherit the Skywalker name, tokens, emotional support, memories, lessons: she is a usurper just like her grandfather. Except that she didn’t do it on purpose.

- What is the future of the galaxy now? Rey lives, thank to Palpatine’s and the Jedi’s power and Ben Solo’s love. But what is the political future? What became of the First Order? What will become of the future Jedi, or will there be any at all? This whole mess doesn’t seem at all a reason to rejoice.

- What did Anthony Daniels mean when he twittered that the ending of the saga would contain a message for all of us? Almost everybody dies, that’s great, Merry Christmas? ☹

The Last Jedi was packed full of wonderful messages: you can be a nobody and still carve your way in life, failure is the greatest teacher, war makes unscrupulous people rich, good and bad are made-up words (you blow them up today, they blow you up tomorrow), you have to save what you love not destroy what you hate… and so on. Luke’s lesson explaining that the Force is not some kind of superpower was tremendous and necessary for all fans to hear. His confession of the Jedi’s sins and his decision that they had to end was the right conclusion after all that we learned about Anakin. But alas, the older fanbros hated each and every one of these messages and lessons. Star Wars may be for twelve-year-old, as Lucas once said. But twelve-year-olds are supposed to grow up, some day or other.

The Force Awakens had not promised anything. If you believed that the old trio would be back to kick ass, watch it again. It’s clear from the start that this time it’s up to the next generation. Our heroes had not only grown older, they were visibly tired and disillusioned. And there obviously was a whole baggage of secrets and problems to be unpacked. Did anyone honestly believe Luke would jump right back into the fray, like he was not an exile by own choice but some kind of Robinson Crusoe who simply hadn’t found home again?

The Last Jedi, by comparison, had opened a whole treasure chest of promises for love, hope, future and homecoming. And The Rise of Skywalker spat them almost all into our faces. It almost seems like the petty work of an envious man - like children who mob and publicly humiliate one particular child because it’s more intelligent and has achieved more than them.

So, what’s the moral for Ben Solo at the end - see to it that you’re not in the wrong place at the wrong time? Don’t trust anyone, not even your own family members, not even the greatest hero of your time?

Anakin won the pod race, he destroyed the star base over Naboo, he became a valiant Jedi, he married the love of his life. He once said, “This is the happiest day of my life.” But apart from a childhood that was probably more or less positive, as far as we know Ben Solo had nothing but pain and sorrow from life. He wasn’t torn from limb to limb and burned alive and then had to live on for decades, but he lost his home, his integrity and his life, merely due to… fate. Twenty years of struggle, frustration, loneliness, anger, death, sorrow and destruction. The only glimpse of hope he saw was in Rey’s eyes as they connected in TLJ, and his only moment of happiness when he sacrificed his life to save her (I will never forget that smile). Reylo was canon for a few seconds… and the SW couple with the strongest chemistry did not even get a love theme. ☹

I admit I was doubtful whether it would have been a good idea to let Ben survive and be happy after all the bad things he had done. But the message we got now is infinitely worse; and being an abuse victim myself it is a personal hurt to me. So, if you become the victim of abuse because nobody was there to help you, you are doomed and can only escape through death. And we saw nobody grieving for him, no Force Ghost among the others, no grave, no body to burn as in Vader’s case. As if he never existed. Another unsung, unhappy hero without an epitaph like the ones from Rogue One - it seems that viewers liked that, so let’s give them some more of it. Even if we’re called Disney.

The prequels look positive in this light. At least we always knew they would end as a tragedy, and there was hope in the end. Rey is left with nothing but sad memories. The prequels had a story arc; they told the story they wanted (the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker) in their own way; they were a massive, ambitious project in the style of colossal movies like The Last Day of Pompeji or The Fall of the Roman Empire. In this light they’re pretty good, the OT fans simply didn’t like them because they weren’t Star-Wars-y enough. The sequels tried to patch that up and ironically, the best sequel is the middle one, which was hated by the OT fans for trying to open the way to something new. And maybe the sequels never were meant to make a real wrap-up, to give us a satisfying happy ending; because the more fans protest, the more it will give the studios the chance to explore the possibilities for new stories. It’s in their right, I guess. But nevertheless, it leaves a bitter aftertaste.

And sorry, this whole story proves to me once more that the Jedi were nothing but petty little f***s who cared only for letting Their Side Win no matter the cost and didn’t care in the least about the human lives and happiness involved. Anakin, Luke and Ben all wanted to be pilots, not Jedi! Anakin’s tragedy was that he had to become a Jedi instead of being himself. His grandson’s tragedy was the same. He was targeted from birth not only by Snoke but also by his uncle and his own mother who saw nothing but his potential for the Force - not a young man like any other who wanted to be happy, to love and belong like everybody else. Only exception, Han. To him, his son was always simply his son, whether he was powerful in the Force or not. No wonder Ben loved Rey to death: after his father she was the only one who ever saw and loved him simply for being himself. The Jedi all spoke to Rey encouraging her to stand up against Palpatine; the last son and heir of the Skywalker was ignored by his own flesh and blood, because to them he was officially “Dark Side” and thus not interesting for the final fight. They did not even care whether Rey died after the victory; the supposed “bad guy” had to come and rescue her. Out of love, not because of her power. And the Jedi are supposed to be some kind of heroes and glowing examples. What a terrible sarcasm.

Ever heard of the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?

No?

Try the tragedy of Ben Solo the Fucked-Up Loser Who Just Wanted to Be Himself.

What I hope for…

I want to spend my time in other ways from now on. I will read meta’s and fanfics about Star Wars still, but not so assiduously.

Maybe this entire f***up was a well-planned strategy in order to make us wish and ask for another sequel, so that the Star Wars story can go on like an endless soap opera. And the studios make money while we wait for every single scrap of news.

And yet, I can’t accept that this was supposed to be all. The saga is at its end, but is Ben Solo really finished?

Rian Johnson confirmed that he is working on a new trilogy. I can only hope that he will pick up the themes which he started in TLJ and finally give us the happy ending we craved. The next film starts in 2022 if rumors are right.

In a way, it is understandable that Ben Solo’s arc had to finish here and without a happy ending: after all he is not a Skywalker but a Solo. In the end, it was not his story. Who knows what the Force has in store for us. 😊

I would love for Johnson to come back and give our hearts what we wanted after Abrams satisfied (it seems) the fanbros of the original trilogy who hated TLJ so much. Everybody would get what he wanted; fans of OT could simply not watch / ignore the continuation and we could root for Kylo / Ben to our heart’s content. I figure that would be a fair compromise. And if it is indeed a trilogy, there would be plenty of time to explore the family / father / mother themes, and create a new life and identity for Ben. (Who, I am saying it again, assuredly deserved better.)

However, that is all in the future. I haven’t a clue what Johnson is planning, I only think that it would make sense if he explored TLJ’s themes more in depth and with more time.

I really want to pester Rian Johnson right now to give us Ben Solo’s story and to make it happy at last. (Pretty please with cherries on top. 😉)

If you are interested, there is already a petition: https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story

What has actually improved for me

1. In my youth I had to spend a large portion of my life under very disagreeable circumstances and I learned to zone out mentally to this or other “dream worlds” as a meaning to cope. (“Dreams Are My Reality” was my song, growing up. 😊) My life is much better now, but the tendency to zone out is still there. Now I remind myself every day that dreaming is good but that no one ought to spend so much time dreaming that his actual life passes him by. I don’t need to escape into dreams any more, I can just enjoy them. So, I feel more grateful.

2. I have learned a lot about myself these two years. I question my intelligence less and I overestimate other people less. I am less timid. I notice that I am calmer and speak slower and do more small talk. The reason: I have realized that many, many people value “coolness” most of all in fictional as well as real people and that one of my main problems is that I am oversensitive and doubtful, similarly to Kylo / Ben. No wonder he’s hated: not so much because “he did so many evil things” but because he is seen as a whiny sissy. (Vader did much worse things, but his “untouchable” attitude made up for it.) I found out that many people mistake a haughty or nonchalant attitude with strength. I don’t need to feel ashamed because I am willing to learn and develop my mind. Anyone who takes me for a fool because of this, it’s his loss. Vader was over-the-top cool, but lonely and miserable. For happiness, we need other humans. Not superhumans.

3. I have spent two very agreeable years exchanging points of view with other fans in this community and I have learned a lot about narratives. I have gone in depth in the Star Wars saga and now I appreciate it much more than before. (I actually consider watching the prequels again to get over TRoS. I never would have believed it if anyone had told me, a few years ago. 😊)

4. I feel closer to my husband. We’ve spent so many evenings apart the last two years because I was elbows-deep in Star Wars! Now we talk more, go out more and watch more films or TV shows together. (BTW, I read many fanfics were Ben and Rey had a playful, teasing relationship. Now I tease my husband more and our marriage is improved. 😊)

5. I used to laugh at who detested TLJ and / or the prequels and to think that who didn’t get the messages was just too lazy to think about them. I do not think that the original characters were ruined in these films at all, but fans who expected them to kick ass until retirement and beyond of course were disappointed. I figured that to make a credible sequel you had to lend more depth to characters and themes and couldn’t just start off again like nothing happened. Most reboots are like this and that’s why they fail: a film is not the same as a TV show. I found Star Wars’ approach more intelligent. But I disrespected other people’s hurt and irritation… and now I find myself in the same situation. I count myself lucky because I waited only 2 years and not 30 years like other hardcore fans.

We are depressed now and feel that Christmas is ruined. Hardcore OT fans must have felt the same two years ago - I remember quite a lot of meta’s and videos where people vented their rage and frustration, some going so far that they declared they wanted to abandon the franchise for good. They felt betrayed. As do we now: we feel that TLJ set up the stage for a brilliant redemption arc and love / family story, and now here we are, looking like fools.

Maybe next time we ought to be more specific with our wishes. Reylo is canon - what did that mean to you? I never hoped for Ben to be redeemed through Rey’s love, that would have been mushy. But I did of course hope for them to have a Happy Ever After. What did Bendemption mean to you? I of course hoped he would redeem himself and survive. The meanest thing about this film is that it gave us what we hoped for only to take it away again... And differently from the OT fans, we can’t say to ourselves, “Well, there’s still one film to be done, let’s hope it will make up.” Nostalgia has won. Not compassion, or the willingness to look beyond one’s nose.

Lessons learned

1. Try not to get so worked up about a film. After all, it’s just a story. It’s not our fault if studios, directors and story writers are little sh**s who like to have us build our hopes up and then deflate us.

2. Appreciate the world around you. It’s more complicated and frightening because contrarily to your dreams you can’t keep it in control. But it’s real. It makes you a more real person, and also the ones you interact with.

3. Make your own happy ending. a) That a hero you identified with didn’t get his happy ending doesn’t mean you won’t get yours. If you are already in a satisfying life situation, be grateful for what you have. If you’re not, roll up your sleeves more and do your best to escape reality less. b) Write stories that go the way you would have wanted them to.

4. Start something new to clear your head. A new project you didn’t have “time” for or perhaps not enough courage. Pour your energies into that.

5. Question yourself. Why did this story, these characters intrigue you so? You do not live in the galaxy far, far away after all. If you identify with Kylo / Ben, why? If you would like a partner like him, why? What can you do to implement your wishes into your life?

If you feel with lonely, misunderstood people, reach out in real life. The prequels were a cautionary tale about a good boy becoming a monster because he was overburdened from early age and left alone with his fears and doubts. Society had created its own monster. Don’t let us contribute to that kind of society.

I was adamant that Ben Solo was supposed to become a caring father figure in TRoS. Ironically, I have no children of myself and I don’t deal well with other people’s: I don’t dislike children, I just don’t have practice with them. If Ben didn’t get the chance to be a loving and caring figure for abandoned children, I think I ought to do something for children myself.

In the meantime, merry Christmas. We will always have each other. 😊

31 notes · View notes