#anyways do you guys ever think about the conflict Luke would have with Ben | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

callioope · 4 years

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HEY GUYS! I watched the livestream of Rogue One with writers Gary Whitta and Chris Weitz. I took notes. Because that’s what I DO. I jotted down some of my takeaways. Please note I was watching RO, watching the stream, taking notes, and also doing a few other things so these MAY NOT BE PERFECT. Please feel free to correct me if you see something I misrepresented. That said I tried to be accurate.

YES they DO TALK ABOUT the romantic chemistry between Jyn & Cassian but that is literally at the end, but feel free to peruse the rest of the points because there’s some pretty interesting insights (some good and some bad O_O like Cassian’s original storyline, yuck)

ANYWAYS let’s go

Inglourious Bastards inspired the Lah’mu scene (Gary Whitta wrote this scene, although he admitted it changed a lot but a lot of the structure and ideas stayed in)

In the original version of the script, Lyra was a Jedi in hiding, but this was one of the first things that got killed

Mads thinks he plays a bad guy, but Gary thinks he played a good guy

They talked about how Galen originally wanted to use kyber crystals for energy, but it got weaponized (which is talked about Catalyst)

stormtrooper doll is a gareth edwards touch

idea was that there’d be good people on the Imperial side and bad people on the rebel side

Cassian’s first scene on the Rings of Kafrene was written by Tony Gilroy (who wasn’t present in the stream) later. In the earlier versions, the DS is something that Jyn goes and finds. It was much more like Zero Dark Thirty where she was putting together the clues, and it was a battle for Jyn to get the rebels to take it seriously, but that was too much of a slow burn. So the Tivik scene was to replace that and introduce the idea that Cassian can be dark. Everyone admired Diego’s beautiful bit of acting as he's just lost a little bit of his soul in the fight for justice, the morality is the first victim. It’s very subtle but it’s one of Gary’s fave pieces of acting in the movie

Chris said for awhile they had Ord Mandell, then shifted to the notion of something more like in Casablanca, so a bit of a flavor of that, a part of the Empire that has been taken over that is under violent oversight

Gary said in the original, Jyn went to Ord Mantell (mentioned in Empire?) to find an arms dealer to help her find Saw, then went to another planet where Saw was living on a moon called Yarid

Budget realities played a part in the decision making to scale this back; they wanted to put so much more but just couldn’t fit it in

Originally we were supposed to see the rebels evacuate Dantooine and move to Yavin 4, but it didn’t really accomplish anything in the story accept to nod to SW fans. It didn’t move the story forward and would have cost too much

It was Tony Gilroy writing with Jyn getting freed on Wobani. Some original ideas had toyed with possibilities that she was a deserter or Rey-like scavenger, but obviously you can’t do that once you learn what the the Empire does (chris)

Only time they didn’t use a title card was Mustafar bc they wanted fans to go OH SHIT IT'S MUSTAFAR, also worked bc Mustafar would have been one of those off-the-map planets

Gary was responsible for getting Mothma in the movie

How much did the Yavin 4 briefing get worked on? A lot. sort of inspired by a scene from Apocalypse Now.

“I think this movie really beautifully bridges the gap between the original and prequel” and one of the ways it does that is JIMMY SMITS

Lots of gushing over Yavin. “Gareth just shot the shit out of this movie.” so much praise for Gareth’s vision. “Gareth can compose a shot unlike anyone I know.”

The Yavin 4 set was fully contiguous; you could walk from the inside all the way outside in one continuous shot.

K-2SO is a great example of how one character can have many fathers. John Knoll originally came up with him and he was originally a rebel logistics droid envisioned to be a “black C-3PO” (whatever that was supposed to mean - Gary wasn’t sure). Gary proposed that he could be an Imperial droid that was captured by the rebellion and reprogrammed. K-2 was really limited with what he could do working for the Empire, but once he was liberated, he was going to speak his mind. Chris and Tony and Alan all gave him more life, everyone has a little piece of K-2′s parentage.

Only ever one casting choice for Saw, which was Forest Whitaker. Gary also knew Ben Mendelsohn would be cast as krennic, but no one else was cast at that point -- he knew it was down to 3 choices for Jyn, but wouldn’t say who

Chris brought Bodhi into the story (Gary said so but Chris wasn’t sure)

For Tarkin, they took shots from the ANH and unused takes. There was also a mold of Peter Cushing that had been sitting in a prop shop for decades (I didn’t get what movie it was, something where he needed a large prosthetic eye or something), and they scanned that.

Binoculars that Jyn and Cassian look through on Jedha were inspired from the scene in ANH (like when luke looks through them on Tatooine)

Chris was responsible for Jedha, Temple of the Whills, and Chirrut’s connection to the Force. And Bor Gullet, I think. They said Bor Gullet delights in traumatic memories (more delicious to him). There was a cut idea/scene: Bor Gullet made Jyn trade her traumatic memories for information she wanted.

They talked about the two dudes Jyn runs into that are also in ANH and how they survived the destruction of jedha only to get killed by a Jedi the next day - they must have needed to get a drink at a cantina after narrowly leaving Jedha. Puts their presence at the cantina in a new light.

Screenwriters would tell you this [Jyn saving the girl on Jedha] is a classic “save the cat moment” so that we like that character that otherwise we might not -- like jyn [RUDE, but I think they were joking] [also i took beginner screenwriting in college and YES the “save the cat moment” was like lesson 1 lol

They wanted this war to look like a proper war, and [Jedha] really looks like something you might see happen. Wanted people to feel like it wasn’t just about stormtroopers hassling the guy on the street corner but there were real lives at stake

Commentary on Jyn’s Awesome Fight Scene: this is the first moment Cassian really realizes that Jyn is no one to be messed with

They guessed that Tony came up with the K-2 gag after Jyn’s fight sequence

Lots of good commentary here about how action scenes need to serve a purpose, they can’t just be fighting: they gotta reveal character and story -- don’t write the specifics of the fight, but write what the action is supposed to mean, let choreographers make it look good

Chris said Gareth kind of requested a character like Chirrut, and Chris had been messing around with a Force priest and they became the same guy. Baze was originally a murderer and criminal, and Chirrut was his confessor figure, and they had a weird codependent relationship in which Malbus would commit crimes and Chirrut would forgive him for it. But in this they are both Guardians of Whills. Baze saving Chirrut reminds Gary of Indiana Jones shooting the guy with the sword. Good example of action sequence having a purpose: showing Chirrut & Baze’s dynamic

Coming up with names in SW -- no real formula, you just know it when you hear it

Lots of freedom to come up with new stuff as long as it doesn’t grossly violate canon. Two Tubes was Tony Gilroy or maybe someone just before him

Allegedly Bib Fortuna’s cousin is in scene at catacombs

Someone wanted a Tusken Raider to leave Tatooine to be one of the rebels, but that was vetoed bc they don’t leave Tatooine

“you don’t want every star wars movie to feel like a remix of your greatest hits” - gary [me: LMAOOOO not everyone got that memo!!!]

Guardians of the Whills: Chris said when he came on board, he wanted to go into some deep George Lucas stuff so he looked at the OG screenplay of SW which is pretty “cuckoo bananas” but it’s unfilmable because it’s so gigantic. but there were so many cool things in it. Originally the Force was known as “The Force of Others" by Lucas so he had Chirrut often referring to it as such

There had to be physical tapes because that’s what was mentioned in ANH. Similarly, Tarkin said it was the first time they destroyed a planet in ANH, so they had to do a smaller test that didn’t conflict with canon but we still get to see the DS do it’s thing

Gary said he got sick of everyone on the internet saying “If the empire’s so smart how come--” so he wanted to make it happen for a reason

Chris said - John Knoll, who apparently has some kind of engineering background, said a project the size of the DS, there’d be hundreds of flaws that would bring down the station. Gary responded - it makes sense that there would be a flaw, but it’s more interesting if the flaw would be there deliberately

They went back to the idea that SW was a fairytale and “only one key that the lock fits in in a fairy tale”

They talked a bit about the “nerdy stuff” and technical details, like how fast does a Star Destroyer go, how fast is travel through hyperspace,” but they were pretty insistent that Star Destroyers go at the speed of narrative. Hyperspace moves at the speed of plot. They don’t think about the gritty details. Story always wins. You try to hide those bits. If tech stuff comes into conflict with story, the story has to win. If you can make it work great, but story should win otherwise. [MY TAKE: I think it’s lazy and you might as well try to make it work if you can, BUT I agree that it shouldn’t necessarily hang up the process, per se.]

They talked about Jyn & Co witnessing the test on Jedha and how it’s important that Jyn & Co witnessed the terrifying destructive power of this weapon, so they know better than anyone how important it is to stop this thing

They said Saw always died in the weapon test. Originally it was on a different moon, but always planned for him to die like that.

Gary mentioned in ANH, there’s more than one empty chair in the DS conference room, but Gary wished there had been only one chair so it could have been Krennic’s specifically and he wasn’t in it.

The idea was that Mothma and other Generals were desperately trying to avoid a war and trying to find a political solution to this crisis, but Palpatine is stringing them along long enough for the DS to be ready. So the Rebels have been strung along and played for fools by Palpatine, but once we realize the Empire has built a genocide weapon, the Rebels finally wake up to the idea that the only solution now is war. Empire has forced our hand. the movie is about the idea that tyrannical regimes always fall bc they go too far and they do something so terrible that people are forced to stand up and fight back. If the empire had never built the DS, Gary thinks they could have won the war and ground the Rebellion down. but bc they got greedy they forced the entire galaxy to take the war seriously, so the DS was really the Empire’s undoing

The Rebellion was like the equivalent of the Second Continental Congress, with squabbling factions and not able to get anything done, and the Empire was able to win in the beginning bc they are authoritarian, unified top down

Gary came up with Eadu, but it was originally in the first act. The whole movie got restructured. Originally they went to Eadu very early and discovered they were building the giant dish for the DS. That was the first scene that Jyn had the clue that the Empire was building something terrible. Later it became less a place where the dish was built and more just where they were harvesting and refining the kyber crystals.

It was originally Saw’s X-Wings that attacked Eadu

“rain = mood” idk who said it but that line popped

originally there were local people called Eadui who told story how facility had poisoned rivers and valleys and farmland. Gary wanted to put a face on the crimes the Empire had committed

Mads doesn’t believe that what Galen did absolves him

In Gary’s version, Krennic came to inspect final version of the dish

Cassian was always meant to be compromised in both Gary and Chris’s versions. He was a double agent: for a long time, he was working for the Empire. Chris added: he had lost people who had been killed by Saw Gerrera, and all he wanted from the Empire was the go ahead to kill Saw rather than Galen. That transmogrified along the lines post-Chris and post-Gary into a rebel intelligence officer who had done terrible things. In the original idea, he changes heart after seeing the Death Star bc it wasn’t what he signed up for, and he had to win back Jyn’s heart bc that DS reveal happens after his double agent ness is revealed.

In the original, Jyn actually gets Galen back to the rebel base, but he’s beyond saving, but his whole speech he gives Jyn in his last moments happened in a medbay

They talked about the score instead of the awesome fight scene after Eadu so BOOO on that. I mean yes the score is brilliant but still I wanted insight into this scene.

I blanked out a little because I was mad they didn’t talk about the Eadu fight scene argh

They were talking about Krennic standing his ground against Vader. and then someone said it was probably something among the Imperial officers that “you haven’t really made it until you’ve been choked by Vader.” O_o sorry we could be talking about Jyn and Cassian DAMNIT

the debate scene on Yavin 4 was recontextualized. always this idea that the rebellion is not one monolithic entity, it’s a collection of worlds all of whom have own leaders and own opinions. rebellion historically messier because it’s democratic and harder to get things done.

briefly toyed with a Leia appearance (chris) at the big conference scene, but best for Jyn to give the most rousing speech here.

Who wrote the hanger speech? Spirit of it might be Chris’, but Chris thinks it’s Tony Gilroy. Big difference from version Gary wrote: Jyn convinced the rebels. But he thought it was cool now that Jyn goes rogue and it’s only when Mothma finds out she’s committed to that that she makes the decision to back her up. But in the original she convinced Mothma, and everyone got around the table and said here’s the plan. Chris thinks it was in one of his drafts that they went off on their own.

in Gary’s version Jyn was Rogue Leader.

Chris had grunts complaining all the flyboys create dramatic names for their squadrons but that got nixed

Gary had idea that K-2 had scraped off his markings but had to have them painted back on to go to Scarif and K-2 hated it

Mothma talking to Bail is one scene that survived word for word form Gary’s original script

They talked a little bit about the decision to have the characters die, but I was drafting a question and missed it

They talked about how they came up with Scarif and decided to make it tropical -- what sort of place hasn’t been seen before? sort of coming from production and gareth. but also building these places to fulfill the needs of the story -- like building a walkway that only one person can get across

a lot of extras in Scarif were real ex-military, and Gary said a couple of the X-Wing pilots were real-life RAF tornado pilots

didn’t have Blue Squadron in the ANH bc it interfered with the blue screen

Gareth said “give me a mon calamari that looks like churchill’ and that’s Raddus

Chris and Tony killed pretty much everybody. Sounds like Gary just killed K-2? Unclear bc I missed the main part of that when they were talkinga bout it.

They commented on how RO is one of the darkest tonally movies but also so colorful, beautiful blue sky

They wanted to pay tribute to Battle of Endor

they couldn’t remember who was responsible for ‘stardust’ but it wasn’t gary or chris

who’s idea was it to cut off the “I’ve got a bad idea about this”? gary had a different version of it, Jyn said “I've got a good feeling about this” (which ultimately got used in Solo)

Someone asked about the footage in trailer that wasn’t in the movie: Chris heard on good authority that the TIE fighter in front of Jyn was actually never intended to be used, was always a trailer-specific moment. he said he didn’t know how she would have gotten out of that one. k-2 died on the beach. chris wasn’t sure but as the scenes get cut together in production and post, the narrative necessities can change bc of logistical needs. but some shots were so cool they were perfect for trailers. Some talk on how trailers and movies are very different things in general.

Gary said originally there were two separate facilities on Scarif: vault and comm tower were separated by stretch of beach. so needed to liberate plans from vault and get across beach to tower. as they looked at what they had, there were too many moving parts and they wanted to simplify, so they put vault and tower in same complex.

did they ever consider letting Chirrut pull the lever using the force? NOPE.

“I am one with the Force and the Force is with me” was Chris. it goes on, it’s supposed to be like a psalm for Jedi, but eh wanted a sort of lord’s prayer type of thing.

HELL YES someone asked about the romance between Cassian and Jyn! Was there any romantic potential in any script? YES!!! they said!! yes!!! And Chris said he wouldn’t be surprised if a kiss was shot either!

BUT they went on to say they wanted to side-step the trope that every male and female hero have to be involved.

But clear GARY said yes early on, there was definitely romantic chemistry that got scaled back to a mutual respect, but they’ve obviously grown close. Gary doesn’t think there was anything romantic and they said people found that refreshing. ‘what they’ve been through is the meaningful part” and “‘the stuff that is happening around them is too important" and “it speaks to their character that they wouldn’t let that intrude”

someone said it was like they were walking into a sunset but it was a mushroom cloud and THEN someone QUIPPED that it was sorta like the sunset walking into them RUDE

There was more after that but that was pretty exhausting to keep up with!!!! so i’m wiped. anyone else get any fun takeaways that I missed?

#rogue one

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damn-stark · 4 years

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Luke Skywalker

Chapter 5 of Dark Temptations

A/N-we have some Rey this chapter :) anyway I loved how this chapter turned out!! Hope you guys like it too, let me know what you thought?! Also some parts this chapter were inspired by the song ‘Exit Music (for a film)’ by Radiohead (listen to it or don’t, up to you all)

Warning-Violence, swearing, ANGST, flashback, SLOWBURN, long chapter, Snoke :/

Pairing- Dark!Poe x Skywalker!reader

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

Rey slowly lifted her gaze to meet Ben’s and the corner her lips tugged to a wicked smirk, “she’s dead.”

Ben froze and his world collapsed around him, he sucked in a shaky breath and he shook his head, swallowing down the thick lump that formed in his throat. He gasped, “no, you’re lying...LIAR!” He threw his arm upward, whilst he ignited his blue lightsaber so the point of his blade swung up on Rey in intentions to slash her, but as his blade passed her nothing happened, no blood, no gash. Nothing.

Rey gasped and that stupid smirk she had was gone in seconds as her eyes darted to what she had seen the lightsaber slash to find herself unharmed.

Again Ben repeated in a more demanding and angrier voice, choosing to ignore Rey’s previous statement; “where’s my cousin? Where’s y/n?”

Rey straightened her shoulders and her gaze turned to a glare, blinking to meet Ben’s scowl to voice her comment with added annoyance and anger, “dead...your precious cousin is dead…” she smirked again, “or maybe not...why don’t you come to find out?”

Ben grimaced, “trust me. I will.”

Rey slowly walked towards him, making Ben stay his ground and lift his lightsaber to threaten her, disgusted by the way she smiled, like if this were a game to her. It was also in this moment where he now fully realized that whatever enchantment he had been under after he left the capital ship, after her and her mindless white helmets, or snoke had put him under vanished at the mere sight of her, at the sound of the words that spilled from her mouth. All he felt for her was pure anger, he no longer thought of her as anything else but his true enemy. Whatever she was doing now, this-this illusion he just wanted it gone.

“You’re not doing this…” she voiced wanting to sound confident but sounding confused. “No, this is something else.”

“I’ll kill you. You’re a monster.” He seethed, following by taking careful steps towards the body, thinking that it wasn’t his cousin..it couldn’t be. It wasn’t—Rey saw and felt Ben’s confliction and just smirked wider, raising her hands to lift her hood over her head again, stopping as she heard loud footsteps come from Ben’s side, she met his gaze and then looked towards the doorway in Ben’s ship, her smirk faltering as she saw the famous Jedi her master had spoke almost so fondly about.

“Ben.” He spoke, breaking Ben’s gaze away from the body and looking over to see his uncle stand at the doorway, confused more than ever before. “I wanted to talk to you….is everything okay?”

Ben blinked and looked to where Rey had been standing only to see a chair and a wall filled with buttons and controls, no cloaked Rey or the body she claimed was his cousin. Nothing but his surroundings. Ben nodded stiffly and deactivated his lightsaber to hang the hilt back on his side, sighing before looking to his uncle once more, seeing his confusion spilled all over his face.

“Are you sure?” He repeated.

Ben answered bluntly, “yes. We’ll leave shortly, I don't know where she is, but I’m sure we’ll figure it out.” Ben moved to walk past his uncle, but he was quickly stopped much to his dismay.

“Look what I did in the past, judge your confliction, I’m sorry.” His uncle began to explain, making Ben’s eyebrows pinch together, feeling more anger at his words.

“It’s all in the past.” Again he tried to walk away, but he was stopped and before his uncle could press on the matter, Ben cut him off, letting his anger speak for him. “I’m not mad about that anymore, that’s long been forgotten. I’m angry that you left her. You left your daughter when she needed you most, she suffered and you left her. Maybe it’s your fault she was taken away and that she’ll get killed.” With that said, Ben took the chance that his uncle froze to finally storm away, ignoring his family calling out to him as he stormed past them almost feeling as if he were leaving a smoked trail behind him with the anger that burned inside. All he could picture was the body and all he could hope was that it wasn’t really her….what would he do if it was?

Fall into the pit of darkness he felt creeping inside him? Something that tried to take over and cloud his judgment and every part of himself? She wouldn’t want that, his parents wouldn’t want that, but if the reason he had turned away from the dark temptation was gone. What did he have left? Jacen was gone. She couldn’t be gone as well.

Ben hurried into his small room in the ship and let the darkness and coldness of its now closed surroundings swallow him, leaving him to wallow with his anger all alone. What Rey said, what she taunted him with left him fuming. Made him grip onto the small desk for some form of stability as he tried to control his breathing and his anger, tried breathing in and out and forget the loud voices in his head. Tried to think that she was okay and that he was going to save her soon...that Rey was lying—she was lying. She was just trying to trick him and get him angry—she was lying—Ben tilted his head up to see his reflection through the mirror hanging on the wall.

Noticing nothing, not even a shadow or an outline of himself with the darkness of the room swallowing this place whole, swallowing him whole—he gripped onto the edge of the desk tighter until he swore he heard the wood crack underneath his grip, feel a pinch of sharp pain on his palms that made him throw the desk to the side to make it slam into the wall. Made his hands fly to the mirror and rip it out of the wall to throw it to the broken desk on the floor. Hearing the glass crack as it hit the wood. And now when he looked up to the wall he saw nothing but darkness again.

“Fuck!” His shoulders finally dropped and he let his head fall, sucking in a deep and shaky breath of air. Moments ago he had felt somewhat happy, now he felt angry, he felt tears well in his eyes, both angry and sad tears. He felt like tearing this whole room and just sit in the darkness with the mess around. The anger and darkness was just so loud. Almost frightening so. He felt like he could do nothing, felt alone…

Until out of nowhere a bright blue light casted on the wall, distracting him from his thoughts. He slowly lifted his head and let this feeling of familiarity seep through. His lips parted and he turned around slowly to see….“Grandfather…” his eyes drifted to the other blue silhouette beside him, “Master Tano.”

His grandfather smiled, “Ben.”

Ben’s eyes bounced from each of them, hearing Master Tano greeting as her eyes darted to the mess, her smile wavering and her gaze turning concerned, before she could question it, Ben spoke up first. “I’m honored to see you two, it’s been a while, but uh, why so out of nowhere?”

His grandfather blinked and let his arms drop to his side, “we’re looking for your cousin, we want to talk to her,” he pauses and collects his thoughts, like if he had trouble describing what he was feeling.

“We’ve tried to reach her,” Master Tano added, “but it seems she’s still blocking us out. We’ve tried multiple times but everything just comes out weirdly blank. Like if, like if she were gone.”

Ben sighed deeply and his shoulders dropped just like his eyes had, focusing on the floor and trying to push out the anger from before—“she….she,” Ben took a deep breath and cleared his throat to talk clearly, “the first order took her, they muted her force abilities which is why you can’t feel her presence.”

Both ghosts looked to each other and seemed to share a look that spoke words Ben didn’t or could ever understand, all he could do was stand and wait, begin to wish that the person they spoke of was here, she’d know what to say, she’d know the quiet but knowing looks, she’d make this less awkward.

“What can we do to help?” Ben’s grandfather asked, his happiness gone and only expressing the same concern as Master Tano.

“Unless you know where the capitol ship she’s in is…”

His grandfather chuckled softly and shook his head, “the force may be powerful, but it is not all knowing, without her presence we are as stuck as you. Sorry.” He walked up to Ben and lifted his arm to rest it on his shoulder, offering an assuring squeeze that his smile also expressed, “but we’ll see what we can do. You’re not alone Ben.”

A faint but soft smile tugged at the corner of his Ben’s lips, “Thank you.”

His grandfather pulled away and crouched down to collect something small and golden from the floor. Ben's eyes followed his movements as he stood back up and stepped forward to take Ben’s hand and place the golden dices on his palm, offering him the same smile and a quick and short nod, “we’ll talk soon.”. Ben didn’t respond and just watched as both ghosts disappeared just like they had appeared out of nowhere and out of sudden, leaving him alone once more, cradling the dices in his hand and using them as a sign of hope.

Hope he very much needed after feeling as if his anger and desperation were pulling him into a dark pit. It was overwhelming feeling such a thing, like if he were being choked, like the darkness was grabbing him by his throat and pulling. He just wanted it to stop, the faster he could find his cousin, the quicker this damned feeling could go away.

——

(Luke Skywalker’s p.o.v)

“Jacen! Jacen! Where’s your sister?!”

The freigented boy ran up to Luke, his blue eyes wide and expressing a fear he so rarely expressed as his words fumbled as he tried to talk, his eyes narrowing on the jungle in the distance as he tried to look through the rain, “th-they took her that way! I wanted t-to go after her but I waited for you.”

Luke stood to his given height and his eyes snapped to the jungle, finding it unlike before, darkened and unlit by fires as the rain poured down. A detail he couldn’t think of anything else but horrible. It meant that the raiders had gone either into hiding or maybe even left the planet. Which he hoped wasn't the case, he didn’t see a ship leave, but amongst the chaos it could’ve happened without him knowing. But again he hoped that hadn’t happened, that they hadn’t taken his little girl.

“Okay,” Luke breathed, his hand resting on his son's shoulder to look down and give him an order, “you stay here with Lor San Takka and Ben. I’m going to go find your sister.” Without waiting for a response he tried to rush past Jacen, but he was too quickly stopped as he felt the eleven year old boy tug at his robe to stop him.

“No!” Jacen argued, “I want to go with you!”

“No! You’re staying, I'll be back.” Luke countered sternly, “stay, Jacen.” Feeling said boy let go, Luke continued with his mission to find his daughter, running in a pace faster than he’s ever run, noting the sound of his hammering heart inside his chest, not only for what he had been doing to drive the raiders away, but out of fear for his daughters safety. He couldn’t deal or even think of the possibility of having her be taken, a girl of seven defenseless against a group of nasty and distasteful raiders. He only hoped that he could reach them even still.

All he could think of how scared she might be, how disappointed that he wasn’t there to save her in time, his mind spun with that thought that he only barely managed to catch the sound of a snap of a twig not far from where he was. The sound made him stop in his tracks as he also held onto his breath to listen better, catching the sound of rustling straight ahead. Luke pulled out his lightsaber and slowly stalked towards the sound, his eyes wide and intent to where he heard the noise come from past the trees, spotting a blue hue shine in the distance that got brighter the closer he approached and the closer it seemed to get.

His grip tightened and he kept slowly stalking forward, exhaling slowly as he felt a familiar feeling, making him feel a mixture of different feelings that ranged between scared, determined and assurance. He tried to focus on the reassurance, but as he saw the blue hue get closer he could feel that getting dim—he slowly moved aside a big leaf and he froze as his eyes widened at the sight of the ghost of his father and Master Tano holding onto y/n’s hands as they stopped at the sight of him.

Luke’s lip parted and he put his lightsaber away and looked to the ghosts and his daughter, feeling now more surprised than anything.

“Dad!”

Finally snapping from his stupor he focused on his little girl and got onto one knee as she broke away from both ghosts and rushed to embrace him in a hug, her little arms trying to wrap around his neck. “Hey, little sun, are you okay?”

She nodded and pulled away to face him, smiling wide as she looked back at her grandfather and Master Tano. “Yeah! Grandpa and Master Tano helped me get away from the bad people!”

“Yeah?” Luke reassured, his eyes drifting to his father and Master Tano to offer them a grateful smile.

“Yes!”

She followed by wrapping him in another tight embrace and holding onto him as Luke stood back up and addressed the ghosts before him. “Thank you to the both of you, so much. I can’t ever express how thankful I am.” He smiled softly, earning the same gesture from both ghosts before his father responded first.

“It wasn’t a problem, Luke, we would do it anytime.”

“Yeah,” Master Tano agreed, “plus she’s a fighter, I think the raiders were more scared of her than she was of them.”

Luke laughed softly and pressed a hand on y/n’s back. “Well isn’t that good?”

“Yes it is!” She answered happily, pulling away and looking at both ghosts, “will I see you guys again?” She cocked her head to the side and moved aside the wet strands of hair from her face, offering them a questioning gaze.

Master Tano grinned, “of course you will, soon.”

“We’ll talk again, soon Luke.” His father interjected, offering y/n a wave and a smile before they both disappeared, leaving the area surrounded by darkness. Finally letting him put the little girl down and take out his lightsaber to ignite it to provide some light as he put it down on the wet ground, noticing through the bright green light that her smile slowly began to disappear as his face dropped and twisted into one that showed his anger at her actions.

“Y/N.” He spoke sternly, “I’m very disappointed in you. You disobeyed me.”

Her face fell and her lip pouted as her eyes fell to the ground, “I know,” she whispered.

“I told you to hide and you did the opposite, you could’ve been killed or taken by the raiders. You put yourself in danger.”

Her chest heaved as tears began to roll down her cheeks while she tried to explain herself in a shaky voice, “I was just trying to be brave like you. They wanted to hurt Lor San Takka and I wanted to help him, like you would have done.”

Luke again got on one knee to get to her level and cradled her cheek to wipe the tears off, “being brave doesn’t mean you go looking for trouble.”

“But I wanted to be like you, not be scared of anything.”

“Who says I don’t get scared?”

“Jacen.”

“Well I do get scared. I was today.”

She sniffled and finally met his gaze, “You were?”

Luke nodded, “yes, I was scared I was going to lose you.”

“I thought Jedi couldn't get scared.” She countered. “That they we face them. Because it’s our destiny.”

“Who said that?”

“Jacen.”

Luke smiled, “well maybe we shouldn’t always listen to Jacen now should we?” She giggled and shook her head, but said nothing to let Luke continue, “it’s true that fear is something that can lead to the dark side, but being scared is part of being human, as long as you know how to control it there's nothing to worry about. Being scared especially for someone as young as you is normal. It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay for me to be scared as well.”

She smiled and moved the same strand of hair away from her face, “but you know who was more scared?”

“Hmm?”

“The bad guys.”

A grin spread on Luke’s lips and he chuckled as he pulled her in for a hug, “that’s cause no one messes with a Skywalker—” he abruptly cut himself off as he heard rustling coming from behind him, making him pick up his lightsaber to get ready to fight any stragglers left behind. Only to see Jacen walk past some trees and move past the big leaf, his still widened and terrified expression softening as he noticed his sister with Luke.

“Y/N!”

“Jacen!”

Said boy ran to her and hugged her from behind, only to be moved after Luke had put his lightsaber on the ground in order to grab Jacen’s arm to maneuver him to his side so he could pull him into a hug as well. Having to leave the lesson on disobeying for later as he took in both kids' presence and thanked the force that they were okay before kissing the top of their heads.

Y/n pulled her head away to meet Luke’s gaze to ask him her question, “dad?”

“Hmm?”

“You're going to go find me if I’m ever in trouble like today, right?”

Luke pressed a kiss on her forehead before answering with a smile, “always.”

——

Takodana

Luke takes a deep breath and stops in his tracks, looking up at the huge statue of Maz Kanata in the middle of the courtyard with what seems to be hundreds of flags decorating the walls, his gaze lowers and reads the words at the foot of the statue ‘Pirate Queen’. He can’t help but show an amused smile tug at the corner of his lips as Han joined his side.

“Is she your pirate queen, Han?”

Han face scrunches and turns to shoot Luke a glare, scoffing as the only audible response before he continues to move along, leaving Luke to walk aside his sister while Ben slowly follows from behind, his mind seeming to be miles away from this castle. Perhaps just like Luke’s, his body might be here, walking into the castle, but his mind was worrying about the only child he had left living. Thinking of keeping a promise he made her years ago as well as thinking if she was okay, that’s all he could let himself think of, the other outcome was too painful.

“We’ll find her.” Leia suddenly said, breaking Luke from his train of thought with words he needed and she of course knew to share.

Luke smiled softly and mouthed thank you before the loud outburst as they entered the castle interrupted him; “Han Solo!” Said man stood awkwardly eying the crowd and lifted his hand stiffly to greet the now silent crowd which seemed to get even more quiet as Luke entered the castle. His presence made someone drop their platter to the floor, creating a stunned tension that kept everyone staring, even the wrong type of people; until Ben closed the front doors.

“Luke.” The small orange sentient maneuvered through the crowd, until she reached the group, greeting Han first, “where’s my Wookiee boyfriend.”

“He stayed behind fixing the Falcon.”

Her gaze narrowed before she moved towards Leia and showed her a kind smile, “it’s been a long time princess Leia.”

“Too long.”

Seconds later Maz continued to move before Luke, smiling and taking his hand in hers. “It’s about time you returned Luke, the Galaxy needs you.”

Luke sighs quietly, “as much as you say it does need me, there's someone who needs me more, do you—”

“You need to talk.” She interrupted, pulling away and offering Ben a greeting smile before she turned her back to them, making everyone go back to what they were doing before their grand and unexpected entrance, only following the group as Maz waved them over to guide them towards an empty table, “why else would you be here.” She sat across from all four of them and took a long look at Ben, making said man squirm under her gaze, looking to his mother before meeting Maz’s gaze. “You have your mother's eyes.” She smiled.

Ben just offered her a shy smile before she turned away and focused on all members of the group, seeming to be mentally counting the people on the table multiple times before her eyes went back to Luke, her face dropping and seeming to connect the dots all by herself.

“We came,” Luke spoke up, “to know what information you have on the first order, mainly Snokes ship. My daughter, they took her and I can’t connect with her to know where she is. We came to you for your help.” His voice cracked and at that moment he looked at Maz like if she were the only person in this galaxy, his eyes burning with hope on what she could know.

Maz didn't smile, nor did she repeat her outburst from before, instead she looked down for a second before meeting Luke’s eyes once more. “I’m sorry, Luke, but I have nothing. Some resistance spies came here not long ago mentioning that they were going to the ship, but they never gave any coordinates nor have they returned. But,” Luke's attention didn’t waver at all, his attention focused solely on her, the hope in her voice. “You could try Ilum, it's a planet located in the 7G sector of the unknown regions, within the Ilum system. It’s as you may know where young Jedi used to go before. The First Order uses it now for its resources, it’s supposed to be their main base, your daughter might be there or information on her or Snokes ships might be within their base.” Her expression turned pitiful as she took Luke’s hand, “I’m sorry I can’t provide more, but if I can and theirs new information that passes by here I’ll let you know, you—”

Her words began to tune out as she kept talking, as the people he came with began talking, it was just hard to focus on anything as he thought about how he had broken his daughter's promise to keep her safe, to go after when she needed help. All he could think of was that same little girl that his father and Master Tano managed to help and return to him, all he could see was the face of that little girl in his mind asking for his help, urging him to hurry. His own desperation felt almost like a choking feeling, he felt as if every bad memory from his past piled on too, making him even more desperate, choking him. There was a light of hope, he always knew how to hold on to that, it felt almost as if that hope was calling him, a sense of light.

“Luke.” His eyes lifted immediately, feeling like the familiarity that was calling him was coming from inside this castle. “Luke.” His eyes again looked, only this time around, noticing that they were talking amongst themselves, none of them even looking to Luke to be that who called him. “Luke.” Again his eyes lifted and this time he focused on a door in the far end of this room, feeling the call come from there. “Luke.” Said man suddenly stands from his chair and excuses himself away from the group, not waiting for a response before he begins to maneuver past people and tables to reach the door where the call was coming from, said door opening and showing a hall dimly lit by torches on the walls.

Luke didn’t hesitate to walk past the door, letting it close behind him before hearing the call again, louder this time more persistent. But with that also came more...his daughter's voice, “You're going to go find me if I’m ever in trouble like today, right?” His breathing hitched but he kept moving, hearing more voices the more he continued, his father's voice, Master Obi-Kenobis, Master Yoda’s and Jacen’s. “I only wish to be as great of a Jedi as you.” They were followed by one another, louder and louder each time, speaking words from past conversations until it all suddenly ended as he reached a single dark door—his eyes examined the door before a small control panel lit beside it, opening said door and showing all types of things stored inside, but only one that caught his full attention.

Without having to wait, he walked in and walked directly towards a small but long box, halting once he stood before it and heard the voices again, louder, booming this time. His gaze narrowed and his hands reached to the box, flipping open the small lock to open it, seeing a black silk cloth covering what was contained inside. The voices only grew louder and more intense until he flipped the cloth over and it all suddenly stopped as he saw something he thought he’d lost forever.

His father's lightsaber.

——

“Poe?”

Said man’s head instantly flew up and he was quick to put the ring in his hand into his pant pocket before he turned to see you inside the small room. His eyes were wide and seemed to express shock, but he was quick to change his demeanor, putting on a smug smile before he put the butt of the cigarra between his lips, sucking in the smoke and inhaling deeply, following by taking the small object out with the sides of his index and middle finger to exhale and blow the smoke upward a few seconds later.

“I’m surprised you came.”

You huff, “like I had a choice.” Your eyes fall on the cigarra between his fingers and you shoot him a disapproving look, “that’ll kill y’know?” You walk up to the balcony’s rail and press your body on it to watch the soft purple and orange hues of the sunset, seeing the birds in the screen fly past, again giving it such a vivid scene, the songs they produced barely made you hear Poe’s lighthearted scoff as he copies your movements, looking at the side of your face as he turned his head to watch you.

“Argue anymore and I might think you’re worried.”

Your nose scrunches up and you scoff, “keep dreaming.”

He extended his hand out to you in a gesture to offer you a puff of what he was smoking which you were quick to react with a lift of your eyebrow, “no, thank you.”

He smiles, “you hate me and you still manage to respond so kindly.”

You roll your eyes and turn back to the screens, smelling the same pungent smell release into the room as he blew some of it out. Feeling his eyes on you as you admired the virtual sunset you wished were real. You felt almost felt like a teenager in one of those books you used to read as a child, one where the character sighed as she watched the sunsets or really anything pretty as she was locked in some high away tower….wait...oh the fucking poetry—you sigh and ask, “where is this anyway? This sunset?”

Poe finally turns to watch the screens again and hesitates to answer, “uhh, I don’t know, some random planet.”

You hum softly and have the thought of asking him to change it and maybe display Tatooine or Yavin-4, but you didn’t want to bother actually asking so instead you had to deal with watching this, being left to wonder again of what he did and what he wanted; “so, what do you want? Finn said you wanted to talk to me.” Both Poe and you turn to meet each other's gaze, whilst he also used the force to place his cigarra in the ashtray all nonchalant and very cocky like, his gaze never wavering in the meantime.

“I wanted to talk to a pretty girl, is that hard to believe?”

You roll your eyes and shake your head, “I will punch your lung, see how you do breathing after with all that crap polluting them.”

Poe’s lips broke into a genuine smile, “I like it. You. You’ve really grown into yourself, y/n. I mean it, and not like in a sexual way that you’re thinking of, okay? Like really, you have grown into yourself.”

You narrow your gaze on him and tilt your head as you lean one arm on the railing of the balcony to try and figure out what he was trying to get at with this talking down memory lane. He avoided your question and brought this up again….he was up to something or wanted something...hmm—“okay,” You breathe, “well if we’re doing this, why did you spare those spies, hmm? I mean they got killed regardless, but why did you want to spare them? They had important intel I’m sure. I don’t believe you would spare them out of the kindness of your heart.”

Poe swallowed thickly and looked back at the sunset, letting you notice once again the soft colors bask his face, almost seeming to highlight the scar trailing on his face, showing the red color that still stained it, that would always stay as a reminder of what you did. Looking at it almost made you feel guilty...almost! Because it was well deserved. Plus...it suited him, but that-that was just a quick comment inside your head, completely harmless and innocent. Maybe not like those words about his parents, but those were words out of anger, a stupid and vicious comment you should’ve never made, it was a low blow….

“I did it because I didn’t feel like killing them. Simple.” He answered, his jaw clenched and his gaze solely focused on what was displayed before him, which is why you didn’t believe him.

“Bullshit. They had info your dear master Snoke wouldn’t want out.” You remark, your attention still on him, noticing as his eyes slid to the corner to watch you. Waiting to see if you would look away and leave the subject, but once he noticed and took in the silence and tension of the wait he sighed and turned his body again to face you.

His voice was soft this time, sounding almost sincere? “Because it wasn’t the right thing to do, believe it or not, Princess we’re not as evil as everyone paints us to be.”

You both keep holding each other’s gaze for a moment, a second of disbelief showing behind your eyes as your mind tries to process his words. Lingering in between the line of believing him or not. Half of you did, but the other half didn’t, which should you believe? Well...that was hard to choose, his face seemed to be sincere as he spoke, his words as well. The only thing that didn’t let you believe him was well, going based on strategic points from his persona. His first order persona more like. And he noticed your unsure expression.

Poe leaned in slightly and reassured his statement, “it’s true, it wasn’t right. You of all people know how that feels. You’re too morally good, always have been. That’s a compliment.” He smiles softly.

You scoff, but the corner of your lips twitch, “not true, I’m not all morals...not anymore, I’ve gone off that path and disappointed everyone that I cared about in the meantime.” Everyone except Ben, you thought.

“Then fuck them.” Your eyebrows furrow at his comment and he quickly follows his comment. “I just mean that the perfect person you tried to portray in the past. That person your dad wanted you to be was just not going to happen.”

“My dad didn’t want me to be someone I wasn’t, he wanted me to be me, the person I wanted to be. Don’t talk like you know him.” You snap, surprisingly not getting him mad, instead hearing him try to correct himself.

“Listen, okay? We’re not perfect, we’re not meant to be perfect. Plus try to deny the fact that what you’ve done to be where you are now, hasn’t made you stronger?”

Your gaze falls and you simply shrug.

“I'll tell you, you’re a hell of a fighter. Not everyone would’ve stood up like you did today. You’ve got fire in you, Princess.” You turn to once again look ahead of you, but look to the side to hide your smile, hearing as he gets closer to your side, his gaze lingering on you before he spoke again. “I really am sorry for last night.”

At the sound of those words your smile falls and you swallow thickly as you think of what you told him. You didn’t want to say it, but you also did. Again you were stuck. Or as he pointed out, it was your morality. Pesky thing—you sigh and again meet his gaze, noticing this time the brown of his eyes, noticing the way he had his attention on you. It didn’t waver, nor did he just do something else, he was genuinely listening; “I’m sorry for what I said, I shouldn’t have said those things to you, I’m sorry.”

Poe surprisingly chuckled before he responded to your comment, “see again. Your morality. Don’t apologize. You don’t have to.”

“You just did.” You quickly remark.

He shrugs nonchalantly, “because I meant it.”

You lean in closer to him to reply, “and I meant mine.” His gaze stays locked on yours and the room falls in silence as tension builds. Something that lasted for a long moment, whilst neither of you broke the gaze, nor the silence. Poe leaned in closer and you stayed where you were, letting him for awhile until you snapped from your stupor, furrowing your eyebrows and turning away, clearing your throat before you broke the never-ending silence. “You never told me what you wanted.”

“I just wanted to talk, unless you want to go back to your room?”

You deadpan, “no.”

“Exactly,” he pauses and faces the sunset again, letting for a moment silence cover this room as he seemed to debate on what he wanted to say. Or more like, if he actually wanted to say it. He breathed in and slowly exhaled out, his words quieter but still seeming to remain that cockiness in his demeanor. “Why do you still call me..that?”

You blink and instantly know what he’s referring to. “What? Poe?” He nods stiffly and you shrug, “because that’s who you are...to me anyway.” You take a brief glance at him and continue, “I see you and you’re still the guy I met eight years ago. Not Nomad. Poe. Of course when you have that ugly helmet on all I see is Nomad and I want just stab my lightsaber through your chest—not like I won’t do it without it; but I don’t know I just see your face and it just comes up.”

Poe stays quiet for a short moment until he adds as his eyes narrow to the point his eyelashes almost touch—“no one has called me that for a long time, not until you came.”

“I could try and call you by your other name if that’s what you want.”

He blinks and his head falls for a moment before he pushes his body off the railing and turns to you. His face changed and didn’t contain the same softness, it was hard and serious, just like his words were now blunt. “Come on, let’s go.” He extended his arm out and opened his palm to receive his helmet as he summoned it with the force, while with his other hand grabbing your arm as you pushed your body off the railing to face the door. It was an odd sudden change in demeanor, but you also didn’t try and question, you just let it happen.

Watched as the hues disappeared as Poe pulled you out of the room, letting the hall you were in be covered in darkness, only one light at the end where the lights of the big hall slightly peeked in. You let the tension filled silence blanket over the both of you again and felt as it grew thicker as Poe put his helmet over his head, covering everything that defined him as that, showing your reflection on the dark visor of the helmet that identified him as his usual dark persona, Nomad…

——

Ben,

I don’t know what’s going to happen to me, I’ve been here, taking in injections that mute my force connection on a daily basis. It feels like months, but it’s only been a few days. I don’t know what to do with myself, all I can do is sit and do nothing, or lay down and do nothing. I want to write to my dad, but the truth is I wouldn’t know what to say, I’ve sat for hours with the pen on the paper, not writing anything, just simply staring at it. I don’t think he even knows what’s happened to me...I hope he does, I hope he comes and

No. You crumble up the paper and throw it into the small bucket beside you, pulling out a new piece and simply looking down at it, sighing before you begin to quietly hum to the song playing on the radio, spinning the pen between your fingers to then hold it correctly and tap the the point on the paper, making only a dark dot of ink before you picked it up again and continued spinning it between your fingers. Glaring at the delicate white paper and loudly muttering your answer as you heard someone knock on the door, seeing seconds later the bright light cast followed by heavy footsteps that walked up behind you. Such a familiar sound now that you didn’t need to look back to know who it was.

“What are you doing?” Poe asked.

You smirked, “writing a secret note to the rest of the spies on this ship. ‘We attack at midnight, get the one with the over gelled hair first.’” You look over your shoulder and offer him a teasing grin, one that fell as he didn’t laugh and seemed to try and read your expression to see if you were serious. Which you weren’t. “It was a joke. Obviously.” You sigh, looking back to your unwritten letter.

“I knew that.” He breathed.

You huff, “Ben would’ve laughed.” you slump into the chair and throw the pen on the desk. “You need something or are you gonna stand there like a creep?”

You hear the material of his suit shift as he began to shift from one foot to the other, clearing his throat to add, “I’m finally done with my briefings today, would you like to come train with me and a couple of my troopers?”

You shrug, “I don’t know, I have things to do today—Like sulk on the couch and stare out the transparisteel for a few hours, take hours in the shower. Wishing I was breathing real air and uhh writing letters to my family in case Snoke kills me.” Poe scoffs as a response and just as you heard his lips part to counter your remark you stand from your chair and turn to face him to continue, “but I guess I can squeeze you into my busy schedule.” He doesn’t respond and just motions you to move after him, using no cuffs to take you out the door (surprisingly) and guide you down the brightly lit and grey empty hall. Walking in silence until he turned into the same room he had taken you the first time he brought you to train with him.

This time though it wasn’t lacking people, there wasn’t a lot but there was more than before. A selected few it seemed. Two females and three men, one who was Finn, actually—All collectively looking at Poe and you walk in. You look away and speed towards Finn, taking a seat on the empty seat next to him and ignoring the icy glare the pretty purple Mirlian was shooting at you.

“Here.” Finn said, handing you wrappings for your hands. “I’m surprised you’re here.”

You carefully take the wrappings from his hand and shrug, “your dear master Poe asked me to come, so it was either this or sulk in the room.” Finn hummed and slightly nodded, parting his lips to follow up on you calling the man he knew as Nomad, Poe, but getting interrupted by your questions. “Who are the four people here?”

“Oh,” his gaze turned to the mat a few feet away from the both of you and pointed with his eyes the two girls that were on it, beginning to train a hand on hand session. “The purple Mirlian is Odette, she's part of the squadron just like the rest here.” Your eyes once again land on the purple Mirlian, seeing the black geometric tattoos gently line her high cheekbones and decorate in a line under her thin lips while three were also drawn below each brown eye. She was really pretty and her body was very toned, showing how much she took care of her body. You'd compliment her if she weren’t staring daggers at you—“the other girl, the Lethan Twi’Lek is Sibyl, I wouldn’t talk to her, she can be a little...stuck up and egotistical, y’know, Nomad picking her to be part of his squadron got to her head.”

You chuckle and look at him, “I feel some hidden disliking towards her.”

Finn scoffs, “that doesn’t even do it justice.”

Finishing with the wrappings you place them on the bench and look towards the two male near human sentients in the back, both seeming to be in their own world, but making it easier for you to really study them, one of them in particular catching your eye and making your face fall. Before you could think too much of it, Finn noticed you looking at the guys and spoke up. “The other purple Mirlian with the buzz cut is Odette's twin brother, Otto. Again stuck up, but he’s a great shooter and very smart.” You hum and nod, noticing the same tattoos on his face that Odette had, but that was irrelevant compared to the chiss talking in front of him.

“Who’s the chiss?” You question, your eyes never leaving his tall stature.

“That’s Dario, he—”

“Why Princess, you interested?” Poe suddenly asked, poking his between Finn and you, looking to the man in question and then turning his head to look at you, making every part of his face be only mere inches from yours, causing you to slide further to the side of the bench and roll your eyes to answer bluntly.

“He just reminds me of someone I used to know.”

“Who?” Poe probed, sitting himself between Finn and you.

You look back to Dario and deadpan, “it doesn’t matter who.” Turning your head you meet Poe’s gaze, seeing a cocky smile on his face before he continues.

“Why don’t we spar like last time, hm? Bet I could take you down this time.”

One eyebrow quirks up and a smug smile threatens to show on your features, but doesn’t as Odette walks over and cuts you off. “Finn why don’t you come spar with me?” She smiled sweetly and twirled the end of her long dark ponytail with her finger. “I believe you owe me one match.”

Your eyes dart between Finn and the very smiley girl, your smile curling up regardless and only widening as Finn seemed to be clueless on her intentions, answering very calm and unbothered; “next time, I don’t feel like doing too much training today.”—Poe and you looked at one another and shared a look at Finns clueless behavior. It reminded you of Ben and how he would be with girls when he was younger, a trait that his mother said wasn’t picked up from his father or her. You couldn’t help but snicker.

“Oh,” she mouthed, her eyes losing their twinkle, “fine then.” Like that she turned back around and walked towards Sibyl, both whispering to one another before their attention just like yours was caught by the two sparing men on the mat. You cross your arms over your chest and sigh, rolling your eyes at their technique and moves, gaining Poe’s attention as he leaned over to whisper in your ear, feeling the skin of his shoulder touch yours, almost feeling his words as he talked in your ear. All it overall makes you freeze and hold onto your breath.

“What do you think? I trained them myself.” He pulls away, but his eyes are still trained on you, letting you turn your head to share your quip with a hidden smirk.

“They need work, just like the teacher.” You glance at them again and notice all things wrong in just a second. “Their stance is all wrong, you see their feet are too spread apart and they’re impatient with their movements, just like you. They—”

“Okay,” Poe cut you off, a hardened look on his face, “okay, I get it. If you’re so good, why don’t you fight against them, hot shot.”

You bite the inside of your cheek and unfold your arms to rest your hands on the bench, tilting your head Poe’s way to comment. “I wouldn’t want to hurt them too bad.”

“Since when have you been so cocky?”

You shrug nonchalantly and just as you were going to reply, a voice beside you startled you—this time instead of it being Poe, your eyes slid to the corner to see Rey’s head poke between Poe and you—what the hell is wrong with these people and getting so close?—you breathe heavily and slide away again, shooting Rey an annoyed look as she shot you a taunting smile.

“I’ll spar with you. If you fight anything like your cousin it should be a good match.” She provoked you, looking only at you with the same smile, batting her eyelashes as she did so. “What do you say...I’ll let you fight with one of my lightsabers while I fight with the other.”

“Rey.” Poe hissed beside her. “Don’t.”

Said girl was unbothered and lifted her eyebrow as she pulled out her lightsabers and pulled them apart for them to become twin sabers, lifting one hand to bait you with it. “I’ll tell you what, you win and I’ll let you go back to your cousin. Something tells me he might not be doing so good without his hope of light.”

Your eyes drift to the sabers and then up to her, narrowing your gaze and not believing a word she said, but feeling your hand still go towards it instinctively.

“Rey.” Poe called again. “I’m telling you, stop.”

“Shut it.” She snapped, her gaze not bothering to turn to him as she continued trying to convince you. “I promise I’ll let you go.”

Inhaling deeply you think, fuck it and snatch a hilt from her hand, jumping to your feet and noticing the fighting had stopped on the mats and all four of them were grouped together watching Rey and you intently, a hint of fear and cursisoty in their eyes—you on the other hand felt fine, you had this, it’s no different than sparing with Ben or any of the ghosts jedi. This was the same...or so you tried to convince yourself.

Taking the hoodie off your body, you threw it on the bench leaving yourself in a black tank top and basic leggings. A comfortable outfit, but you usually preferred your tunic, much warmer; Regardless you follow Rey to the mat, standing with your back facing Finn and Poe, whilst you got into your usual fighting form, igniting the saber in your hand and seeing the red blade emit from within the hilt. Noticing the same thing with Rey, her own red blade basking her face as she ignited it, hearing nothing else but the lightsabers usual hum.

Spinning the lightsaber in your hand you watch her intently, seeing the same smugness on her face as she holds onto her saber, gripping onto it tightly. Unlike Poe, she’s more patient with her movements, waiting to see what you’d do. Watching as the corner of your lips tug into a smirk as you eyed her, making her hastily rush towards you and swing her lightsaber at you, quickly causing you to duck and do a spin trick that caused you to have your back on the intent audience and see Poe and Finn behind Rey, Finn showing more fear for your fight than Poe was. You shoot them a small smirk before flipping the saber in your hand, holding onto it with a reverse grip like Ahsoka did, moving your stance to be ready to block Rey like Ahsoka and your grandfather had taught you to do. Doing as they or at least Ahsoka and master Kenobi said, wait.

“Red is really not my color, but I’m getting to like your lightsaber.” You remark, making Rey respond with silence as she watched you, patiently, gripping onto her hilt and beginning to move around, her eyes following you as you moved with her, moving the position of your arms.

“I think I’m going to switch my training partner with you instead. You’re much more fun.”

You scoff and barely catch as she moves to lunge forward, causing you to quickly do a backhand swing and meet the red blade with hers, a bright red spark emitting from the impact. The hues of the red blades showing the amusement that had disappeared from her face with the clash. She tries to push you back, but you dig your heels into the mat and stay grounded, using your strength to slightly pull back but suddenly push back with more added force. Missing your force abilities now even more—Rey stumbles, making the perfect chance for you to raise your foot and kick her back, causing her to crash on the mat and roll to the edge of it, her back on the material and her eyes focused on the ceiling. The action creating an even more tense silence.

Carefully you stalk forward with the saber raised, seeing her chest rise up and go down heavily, her chest beginning to heave as a soft but angry growl leaves her lips. She gripped onto her hilt with a death grip that made her skin turn even whiter, before she jumped back up and looked at you with a burning glare. You swallowed thickly at the sight and moved back as she moved forward, a nasty smirk growing on her face before she spoke up. “I talked with your cousin Ben, recently.” Your eyes widen and the grip on the lightsaber in your hand loosens at the news. Rey notices and continues, “he seems very distraught, seems the search for you might be over, since he thinks you're dead….sorry.” She feigns to be hurt and plays to be innocent. All while your whole body freezes.

No—Your eyes water out of anger, but your body doesn’t react, your mind doesn’t fully react, it feels more numb. Beside the anger that is. You knew what the news could do to Ben. He struggled, he always has, hearing that won’t do him good, you knew that. He needed you and you weren’t there. Rey on the other hand took advantage of your moment of weakness and lunged forward, making Finn yell out your name to snap you from your stupor. And reacting with the wrong move. Instead of raising the lightsaber, you lifted your free hand to try and use the force to stop her movements, but coming out empty as it was impossible with that certain ability muted. Ultimately causing Rey to force throw you back harshly, letting her come before you, her legs on either side of your body as the tip of her blade went down to hover over your throat. A mischievous and proud smirk growing on her face, “looks like I’ll be seeing more of you. Good.”

Rey offered her hand to you whilst she deactivated her lightsaber, but you being in the heated anger you were, ignored and slid back to push yourself off the floor by yourself. Noticing the people that were still here now move to do their own thing, pretending as if nothing had just happened. All while you handed Rey back her lightsaber and stormed over to Finn, ignoring both Poe and Finn's stare. Hearing as Rey added one more comment. “Oh, Snoke said he wanted to talk to you. Nomad too.”

——

Breathing out heavily you hear the tremble in your breath, but ignore it as you focus your eyes on the passing red colors as the elevator goes up into Snokes throne room. Feeling like you did last time you saw him, a cold chill run down your spine. A shiver on your skin and dooming feeling at the pit of your stomach. Now more than ever you hoped Ahsoka, or your grandfather, or master Kenobi would appear to be a comfort in this unexpected meeting with a man that you didn’t like, that if you didn’t lie scared you.

“He’s not going to do it.” Nomad said to you as his arm hovered over yours—you just briefly glanced at him from the corner of your eye and didn’t answer, hearing your breath hitch and your body go stiff just like Nomad gripped onto your arm with a stiff hold as the elevator stopped and the doors flew open moments later. The dimly red room coming to view and a much colder chill running all over your body. You didn’t try to move, but Nomad pulled you forward, forcing you to move regardless, forcing you to see Snoke sit on his big fancy throne, an evil smile brewing on his face as he saw you walk in.

“My girl,” Snoke boomed, “I hope your stay is going well and that my apprentice is treating you kindly.” He waved his hand and the cuffs on your wrists fell. A surprising move to say the least. Just like the venom in his voice as he directed his comment to nomad. “Take that ridiculous thing off.” Not hesitating, said man did so, pulling the black helmet off his head, his head quickly going back to its previous bowing position. You watched, that’s all you could do, noticing Poe’s long expression as he stayed on one knee, only hearing as Snoke got up from his seat and walked over to you both. Mainly you, voicing a cold chilling voice one word as he moved. “Hope.”

You blinked and kept your eyes glued on Snoke as he continued moving, continued speaking, “what a funny thing. Many desire to get an inkling of it, to feel what that truly feels like.” He moves forward until he stops a few inches before you, towering over you whilst he grabs the charm hanging from your chain with his long white fingers, chuckling when he sees you swallow thickly; “while you, so gracefully cling onto it like your life depended on it.”

Your gaze narrows and you manage to straighten your shoulders, responding in a cold voice that matches his. “Hope like my aunt Leia says, is like the sun you see. If you only believe in it when you see it, you’ll never make it through the night.” Your lips curl into a smile and you fully meet his icy gaze when he lets the charm drop, “I plan to make it through, whatever you might want to throw at me you’ll never see me fall because of that hope I believe in. Or as you say cling onto.”

Snoke chuckles, “wise. Hmm, so wise. I’m impressed.” He walks back and his eyes never leave yours, “but I know where your perfect persona falters my girl. As much hope as you may have, I see it, sense it. Fear.” He begins to walk towards you, but passes you, making you turn to see him, noticing as he turns to gesture for you to follow. His eyes drifting to Poe as he stood up as well, throwing him a quick order not seconds after. “Stay boy. I’ll talk with you later.” You look over your shoulder to see Poe simply and stiffly nod, his eyes avoiding yours before you completely turned away and had to follow after Snoke, feeling a small sense of pity for Snokes way of talking to Poe. It was so cold and bitter, nothing like how he talked to you. It made you wonder how he talks to Rey? Kind or bitter?

However it was, you had to leave those thoughts behind as you continued to walk beside Snoke as he led you to a different hidden door, that led to a hall that looked like all the others, grey and brightly lit. Only this hall on Snokes right side there was transparisteel lining all down the long hall. Getting a view at the stars of space. A view you cherished the more you were here. It was silent and peaceful, nothing like being by Snoke or hearing him continue speaking as if he knew you—“I knew what you fear, Skywalker.”

You shake your head and scoff, answering bitterly, “you know nothing about me.”

“You’re afraid to lose people like he was.”

You gulp and your confident demeanor falters.

“Your grandfather. The great Anakin Skywalker. The chosen one.” He pauses and tries to see if you would respond, but once he notices your silence he continues, “but as hopeful and great as he was, he feared just like you. Feared to lose the people he loved just like you. Feared not being able to help them.” The both of you walk into a darker hall, one lit by red lights instead of the usual white, where the only source of bright lights is from the outside of the transparisteel; Where the view is replaced by showing the inside of this ship instead of the stars. Adding to your chills and adding to the dooming, dark tempting voice he was using as he continued to explain when he and you came to a stop; “what if I told you that you didn’t have to lose your loved ones anymore. Not Ben solo, not your father. Not like how you lost your brother Jacen Skywalker.”

Your breath hitches at the sound of his name and at the offer Snoke tempted you with. You knew what he was saying was a lie, just trying to tempt you to go towards the dark side, but there was something within you that couldn’t help but ask. “What could you offer me?”

Your hear Snokes lips turn to a wicked smile as he gestures his hand so you could look out the window. Your eyes drift to where his pale hand is pointing to, seeing the transparisteel, knowing he was pointing to what is shown behind it. You walk forward and see the platform below, filled with squadrons of stormtroopers, all neatly lined up, listening to what their general said. Raising their fists all at once as they felt their inspiration at the words.

“Everything.” Snokes voice echoed behind you, seeing his reflection casted on the transparisteel as he stood closely behind you and asked, “have you heard of the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?”

Tagged- @thescarletknight2014 , @softly-sad , @golden-guide , @abysshaven , @a-dorky-book-keeper , @kit-jpg , @mybarnesmyhero

Permanent taglist- @ms-dont-care , @commondazy , @paintballkid711

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illfoandillfie · 4 years

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5 Simple Rules for a Successful Fake Relationship: The Proposal

Pairing: Ben Hardy x Reader

Summery: Your's and Ben's agents approach you about pretending to date in order to boost interest in your new movie.

Warnings: Nothing for this chapter other than some swearing maybe? Things may get a little spicy in later chapters though.

Words: 5843

AN: This fic was written for El @laedymoon for her 1K celebration! I took the trope 'fake dating' and this was the result! Honestly fake dating is one my my fave tropes and I've been wanting to try my hand at it for a while so this was so much fun to write! Originally it was meant to be a one shot but when have I ever been good at sticking to plans lmao? Instead it'll probably end up as a three or four part series, maybe with an epilogue as well, who knows.

I’d also like to point out I started writing this months before we got those photos of Ben and Olivia so this was in no way inspired by anyone’s theories about whether or not their relationship is a PR stunt and I’m not particularly interested in that kind of talk.

Taglist: @laedymoon @dtfrogertaylor @ezmina98 @vee-ndetta @atomic-watermelon @kellypenac @labessieisallama @deakyclicks @jennyggggrrr @drowseoftaylor @hannafuckingsucks @i-cant-hangout-im-drumming @queenmylovely @supersonicfreddie

You’d known fake celebrity relationships were a thing that happened, you just never expected to be approached about one. But, here you were, sat next to Ben in an office usually reserved for producers meetings, a slight frown on his face as he listened to your agents explain how beneficial it would be if the public believed you were a couple. “It’ll be good for the movie,” your agent, Mary, said matter-of-factly, “Studies show that if people – particularly women ages 15 – 45, the exact demographic we’re targeting – believe a real romance sprouted during the course of filming a movie, they are 78% more likely to see the movie. Plus, your names in the tabloids mean more exposure for both of you which means more offers in future, no matter how well this movie does in the box office. It’s all about being seen, people knowing your names.” “Are you serious?” Ben asked slowly, glancing to you, as if trying to determine your reaction. “Look, Ben, obviously we can’t force you or Y/N to do this,” his agent, Peter, introduced to you moments before, said, “the movie has already started filming and everyone appreciates your opinions, so saying no isn’t going to affect your jobs. But,” he paused, making sure the words were getting through to you both, “we strongly recommend you consider it. There are enough pros to make it worthwhile and it would only have to last until a week or two after the premiere. We can give you the rest of the day to think it over and make your decisions, but we will require an answer by tomorrow morning. If you agree, we can discuss terms and get everything in order to run the first story early next week.”

You and Ben left, tempted to laugh at the strangeness of your morning. “Think I need a coffee after that. You wanna come over to my trailer for a cup?” “Yeah, okay, sounds good,” you followed him quietly for a moment, thinking over the conversation you’d just been part of, “What do you think?” “About what? Coffee? You know I love it,” “Not coffee, the whole pretending to date thing,” “Oh that,” you could almost hear his eyes roll. “You don’t think it’s worth it?” He paused. “Saying no won’t hurt my feelings,” you nudged his shoulder, hoping to ease his obvious discomfort, “it is a weird situation.” “Weird is an understatement. And weren’t you with that Luke guy, what would he say about it?” “He’ll say nothing since we’re not seeing each other anymore,” “Wait, what?” “Yeah that lasted like three dates and went nowhere, I haven’t seen him in weeks.” “Oh, sorry.” You shrugged, “What’s there to be sorry for, he was boring. Anyway, we were talking about you and me.” “Right, that.” Ben opened the door to his trailer and waved you inside, following you over the threshold, “What do you think about it?” “I’m not opposed to it. We already spend a lot of our time pretending to date anyway.” Ben chuckled as he flicked the small kettle on, grabbing your two mugs and the instant coffee. “Plus it would be good to get our names out there a bit more. And we're friends, right?” After the weeks of pre-production costume fittings and script read-throughs you certainly thought you were friends and hoped Ben did too. “Of course we’re friends doofus,” “Thanks dweeb. But that means it'll be fun getting to hang out and stuff.” “So, wait, you think it’s a good idea?” “Well it can’t hurt, can it?” Ben frowned, forehead creased, “Don’t you think it’s all a bit, well, daft? As if us dating, real or not, would really have an impact on the movie, I think that’s bullshit. Plus, y’know, the work we’d have to put in to making it seem real or whatever. That’s just inviting extra stress into our lives and extra work which it doesn’t sound like we’d be getting paid for. Acting’s fun but I don’t want to spend every waking moment doing it.” “Well it wouldn’t be every waking moment would it? Just the ones when they had photographers around. They’ll get a few photos of us leaving set holding hands or out having dinner together and spin it into a big romantic story and all we’d have to do is hold hands and have dinner. And you can’t call bullshit when they had actual statistics to back them up.” “It sounds like you’re trying to convince me.” “No, if you don’t want to I don’t mind, but I also don’t see anything wrong with it. And I think you should actually think about it instead of writing it off instantly.” “So if I said I was into it, you’d want to?” You shrugged, “Yeah. I want this movie to do well, I want this job to go somewhere. And if I have to date you to make that happen I will. That sounded better in my head. I just mean that I’m happy to pretend to date you, even if I wouldn’t in real life, no offence.” “I’m a little offended,” he chuckled, “but really can’t argue with that can I?” “If you’re not comfortable with it, say so and we’ll tell them no,” Ben paused, staring at you as he considered what you’d said, quiet for so long you were sure he was going to say he wasn’t interested. You were about to put him out of his misery and tell him you didn’t want to anymore when he spoke up. “They did say it would be good for the movie and out careers,” “Someone’s coming around,” you sing-songed, taking the mug he offered you. “Alright, I admit, maybe not as awful an idea as I first thought. There are…some pros anyway. And I guess we can hear the terms and then make up our minds properly.” “Aww, looks like I got myself a boyfriend,”

The next morning you found out what you were in for if you did agree to it. Once again both of your agents were waiting in the office but this time a third person was with them when you arrived. “Y/N, Ben, take a seat. This is Barry, he’s a representative from Paramount Pictures.” Barry, with his salt and pepper hair and well cut suit, leaned forward in his seat to shake Ben’s hand and then yours with a pleasant greeting. “Well,” Mary spoke up, “have you made a decision?” Ben looked to you before he spoke, “It’s a tentative yes from both of us. We’d like to hear a bit more about it before we fully agree but, so far, it sounds okay.” “Glad to have you on board,” Barry said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a manila folder full of paper. “In that case, the terms,” Peter said, glancing around to make sure everyone was ready, “If you do agree, we’ll need you to sign some paperwork stating you understand your obligations and all that, so take a copy of these,” he took two small stapled documents from Barry, handing you each one, before passing another to Mary, “just so everyone has all the info at hand.” “Are these the terms?” “Yes. Don’t worry, we’ll explain, but it’s all laid out in there if you need clarification.” “There’s more pages than I was expecting,” Ben said, already sounding like it was becoming too much work to worry about. “You don’t have to worry about the last few pages, it’s mostly just legalese. Essentially, you’ll be required to act like a couple in public. That’s really all there is to it, though contractually it’s a little more complex.” “What does that mean?” “We just need you both to agree to perform specific relationship type moments that we can sell. For instance, Y/N, we will need you to be spotted by paparazzi leaving Ben’s apartment a couple of times. Or vice versa. It is the 21st century afterall.” “You mean like a walk of shame?” you asked, glancing at the paper in your hand. “That’s not the official term on the contract but it’s more or less correct. You’ll need to change clothes, make it look like you stayed the night even if you didn’t really.” “Wouldn’t it be more traditional to wear the previous day’s gear?” “Perhaps but if you’re in the same clothes as the day before the paparazzi can’t sell the photos as easily because they can’t prove they were taken on different days. We want to make these photos easy to sell and easy to circulate. To that end, some paparazzi and gossip blogs will be tipped off by the studio and hopefully word will spread as the buzz around you gets stronger.” “There will also be required dates, of course. At least one of them needs to take place at the French restaurant Boucher because they have a partnership with the studio. There is also a clause about an argument, provided people become interested in your relationship and we keep it going all the way to the premiere.” “Wait, an argument?” Ben flipped through his papers, trying to find the right section. “You just have to be caught arguing, or at least looking like you’re angry and about to fight, just so we can sell the whole trouble in paradise storyline.” “People like conflict,” Mary shrugged, “Otherwise all we need is the two of you to act like a couple in public, maybe a few social media posts, from now until a week after the theatre release. After that you’re free to ‘break up’, though you will also need to sign a non-disclosure agreement which will stop you from talking about it for a few years. We’ll organise a few magazines and gossip sites to run stories about the split and, depending on how the public react to your story, may later run some Ben and Y/N, back together question mark type pieces, entirely fabricated of course.” “You will attend the premiere together and, obviously, do press together. We will tell reporters not to ask about your personal lives, so no one suspects the relationship to be fake, though a few questions may slip through. Though we don’t expect this movie to earn any award nominations since it’s not being marketing for any there may be some later down the track. In that case we may ask you to extend your relationship long enough to attend the ceremonies together, provided you aren’t working on other projects at the time.” “The only other requirements are that, a few times a week you allow yourselves to be seen in public. Hand holding, kissing, really sell the whole fallen in love thing. That’s it really.” “And we can’t even tell our families?” “One leak is all it would take to have this revealed. You tell your mum who accidentally lets slip to the neighbour who sells it to a magazine. And if it’s revealed it could be harmful when it comes to box office numbers, which is the exact opposite of what we want. But enough of these have been done so that we know how to manage them, and all you have to do is keep quiet about it and act like you’re in love. Easy. Are you both on board?” Barry, who’d been quiet throughout the meeting, leaned forward expectantly. You already knew what to say, "I’m in if Ben is,” Ben chewed his lip as he skimmed over the paper in his hands again. He sighed and raised his eyes to where Barry sat, waiting. “I don’t know I-” You’d seen it coming, his answer. Really it wasn’t much of a surprise. Ben didn’t strike you as the sort of person to go in for schemes like this and he’d been hesitant from the second it was suggested. You heard him sigh again as his gaze landed on you and you wondered if he thought less of you for wanting to be part of it. “Okay. I’m in.” You were a little stunned by his change of heart but you were the only one. Everyone else in the room seemed relieved and a little frantic, Barry reaching back into his bag, Mary and Peter talking over each other to assure you both that you’d made the right choice. “Glad to hear that, Ben,” Barry was saying as he pulled out another folder of documents, “Now, we’ll need you to both to sign here.”

After shooting was done for the day you accompanied Ben to a small pub for a drink. Mary and Peter had left the meeting on their phones making hurried calls to get photos of the two of you leaving the set together. You’d jumped a little as Ben grabbed your hand before realising why his fingers were linked through your own. It was warm and he didn’t let you go until you reached the pub, the snap of cameras audible as you walked down the street. You found a booth while Ben headed to the bar, returning a little later with a drink in each hand. “One G and T for my girlfriend,” he laughed as he put the drink in front of you and slid into the seat opposite. “Y’know if you told me last week that I’d have had a boyfriend before we finished filming and that it was you, I would have laughed.” “God me too. Our jobs are so bizarre. Literally what other profession would encourage you to pretend to date?” You laughed and pulled out the papers you’d been given that morning, “And who’d have thought there’d be so many contractual requirements.” “We should add our own set of rules. Like just so we’re clear about what we’d be uncomfortable doing or whatever.” “Safewords?” “Get your mind out of the gutter. Christ, you fake ask a girl out and suddenly all she can think about is sex.” “My mind was in the gutter long before we were set up.” He let out a huff of laughter and shook his head, reaching for his glass. “I know what you mean though. We should definitely define some things,” you grabbed your bag and began digging through it for a pen. When you found it, you turned the papers over giving you a blank canvas to work on, “Firstly sex.” “Should have known,” “May as well start with the big one. Rule 1: No Sex. Completely off the table.” you took a sip of your drink as you began jotting it down. “Your wank game strong?” The conversation was interrupted as you choked on your drink, finally recovering enough to splutter, “excuse me?” “Well it sounds like we might be together for a while. Can’t go on any tinder dates or anything since that would look like cheating. You sure you can last that long? “100 per cent.” “Alright, if you’re sure. Rule one, no sex.” You finished writing it down, rolling your eyes, “What about PDAs? We have to do some but is there anything you’d be uncomfortable with?” “I’m not really one for like public make out sessions,” “Thank god, me neither.” “Okay, good. What about cuddling and that kind of thing. Man this is weird to talk about,” “Yeah, is a bit. I can do some cuddling in public but y'know, nothing too much. Hugs are fine, an arm around my shoulders is fine. Holding hands is obviously okay.” “What about an arm around the waist?” “Hmmm….maybe. Yeah, I think I’d be okay with that. But your hand never goes below my lower back. I will have no arse grabs or pinches or hands in my back pocket.” “Wasn’t planning on that but good to know. Does cuddling include lap sitting?” “Absolutely not.” “Okay, strong boundaries, I respect that. You going to write all that down?” “Rule 2: PDAs kept respectable and to a minimum. And rule 3: hands above the belt at all times. What about our families and friends?” you asked as you made notes on acceptable PDAs, “chances are we’re going to have to deal with them at some point since they’re going to think it’s real.” “Okay, um, how about…no meeting anyone unless there’s a reason like a family gathering you’d be expected to bring a partner to. And if that does come up we can work out a game plan then.” “Make sense. Rule 4: No families unless no escape.”

By the time you left the pub, your list of rules tucked into your bag, it was quite late. “Hey, you wanna crash at mine tonight?” Ben asked, “we can text Peter and Mary, let them know so they can organise paparazzi for the morning.” “Tonight? I don’t have a toothbrush or a change of clothes or anything.” “We’ll pop into a shop and buy you a new toothbrush, should probably get you one for my place anyway since apparently you’ll be staying over more than once. And I’m sure I’ve got something you can sleep in.” “And tomorrow? Can’t wear this again in case we get photographed.” “I’ll give you something and then I’ll drop you home in the morning,” he shrugged. “I guess that would work,” “C’mon, it’ll be like a sleepover. Stay up late and talk about boys, have things devolve into a sexy pillow fight, sleepover stuff.” “And you say my mind lives in the gutter.” “That’s not a no,” “Alright, I’ll crash at yours. Closer to here than mine is anyway.” “Awesome,” he grinned at you, “c’mon, this way….babe?” “Didn’t sound so convincing there, Ben,” you snorted. “You should have used a pet name then, instead of my actual one. And I was just testing the waters, what’d you think?” “Babe’s okay. As long as we don’t get into weirdly cutesie things like turtle dove or snookums.” “You don’t want me to call you snookums? How about cuddle bunny? Pumpkin pie?” “Oh fuck off,” “Think you mean fuck off honey bear.” “Rule 5: Standard pet names only!”

As much as he clearly enjoyed teasing you, Ben made sure you had a good time with him. He took your hand again but it was only so he could pull you into the warmth of a small Chinese restaurant. It was one he seemed to regularly visit judging by the way the man at the counter knew Ben’s order straight away. He seemed a little surprised when Ben asked to add extra dishes, eyes darting to your entwined hands, and then back to Ben’s face, but he said nothing, just cheerily gave Ben the new price. “What was that about?” you asked as you walked the last block to Ben’s door, each of you carrying a bag, his full of food and yours supplies from the grocery store, “the look he gave you when he saw me?” “Oh, that’s nothing. I used to go to that place a lot with my ex and then we broke up and I kept going on my own cause it’s close and it’s fucking good food. But, um, they know me pretty well and I guess it’s been a while since I took a girl there.” “Well I’m flattered that you chose me to be part of this touching moment,” you laughed and followed Ben to his front door, taking the second bag from him so he could pull his keys from his pocket and let you in. You’d never been inside Ben’s place before so you let him lead you down the hallway towards the kitchen, taking charge of pulling everything from the bags as Ben got out plates and cutlery. “Oh shit, hang on gotta text Mary and Peter,” You took over dividing up the food as Ben dug his phone out of his pocket. A few seconds after he’d sent the message and put his phone down a ding made him snatch it back up again. “Peter says there’ll be someone here to snap us while we leave. They want us to kiss if possible. Guess it’s really started then,” “Guess so. Can I ask one thing?” “Sure,” he said it slowly, almost nervously. “Why’d you change your mind about this? I thought for sure you’d say no.” “Oh, that. I don’t know, I guess I figured it wouldn’t hurt, especially if it was going to benefit the movie. C’mon, don’t want this to go cold,” You weren't sure you believed him but you let him shrug off the question as you picked up your plate and followed him into the living room. The next couple of hours were spent eating and watching trashy reality tv shows, making jokes at their expense. You and Ben kept talking long after the show ended, until he realised how late it was getting. “Better turn in otherwise I won’t get up in the morning,” he laughed. “Yeah, probably a good plan,” you stretched out on the couch, placing a cushion under your head. “C’mon, I’ll show you to your room.” “You mean I’m not sleeping on the couch?” “Oh my god you’re a dork,” he threw another cushion at you, “I have a spare room you can use.” “Well I didn’t know that,” you laughed as you pushed yourself to your feet, following him back down the hallway towards a closed door you hadn’t noticed before. “Nah, you’re all good. It’s honestly mostly used by my friend Joe when he’s travelling over this way. There’re clean sheets in the linen press in the bathroom which is the next door on the right, and extra blankets in the cupboard just there. Also watch the blinds if you try to close them, they can be a little stiff. If there’s anything else you need let me know, my bedroom is at the end of the hall, near the living room.” “Some PJs would be good, if it’s no trouble.” “Oh right, yeah of course, give me a second.” You dropped your bag in a corner of the room and then popped into the bathroom to grab some sheets. Ben came back with an old t-shirt and some flannel pants. “These are mine so they’ll probably be a bit big but they’ll be fine for the night. And they’ll look good for the camera in the morning.” “Thanks,” “That everything?” “Think so, night Ben,” “Night, snookums.” “Rule five mister,” Ben just laughed, pulling your door shut behind him.

Waking up in Ben’s spare room was mildly confusing. The bed faced a different direction than yours did, the blinds blocked out too much of the morning light, and the sheets felt different. But the previous night came back to you and then the reason you were staying at Ben’s did too. It made you too nervous to go back to sleep, too restless to stay there, so you got up and stumbled to the door, opening it just in time to see Ben leaving the bathroom. “Morning,” he groaned with half shut eyes and sleep mussed hair, “you want a coffee?” “Please. Thanks.” He yawned, acknowledging your answer with a nod and left the bathroom to you. When you were done you found him in the kitchen with a steaming mug of coffee in his hands and a second on the bench in front of him. You took it gratefully, letting the warm caffeine wake you up.” “Breakfast? I can offer you toast or cereal unless you wanna wait for pancakes to cook.” You shook your head, “Don’t normally eat breakfast,” Ben looked aghast, “You know breakfast’s important, right?” “Shhh, lemme wake up before you start lecturing me,” Ben smiled into his own mug, falling silent until you’d downed half your drink, “You good now? Alert?” “Close enough. Please don’t tell me about breakfast though.” “I wasn’t going to. There was another text from Peter this morning.” “What’d it say?” “Well, a photographer will be here around nine-ish ready for us, but they said he’ll stay for as long as we take.” “Okay.” “And, um, he was very careful in how he worded it, but they want us to look like we fucked. Also I told them I’d take you home so there may be someone waiting for us there too, he never got back to me on it.” “Shit, okay. Umm, guess I’ll just wear this then?” you indicated the pyjamas you’d borrowed, “might lose the pants though, help sell it a bit more.” “Yeah, guess so,” Ben cleared his throat and took a sip of coffee, his eyes firmly fixed over your shoulder. “What time is is?” “Uhhhh,” he glanced at the oven, “Twenty past eight.” “God I haven’t been up this early on a weekend in months.” “Not one for farmers markets or anything then?” “Not really. Much prefer lying in bed doing nothing.” “Me too,” “We’re meant for each other,” you laughed, “did you want to have a shower or anything?” “Nah, you can if you want though,” “Might as well wait until I get home. But I am gonna clean my teeth, especially if we have to kiss.” “Maybe mess up your hair too, make it look like you didn’t sleep much.” “Well how could I when you’re such a good lover,” “I know you’re joking but if anyone asks, I’m incredible. You came like three times.” “Did I now?” “Of course.” “Good thing no one’s gonna ask then, don’t think I’m great at lying.” “You’re an actress, Y/N. Besides, it’s not really a lie, I am that good. You just haven’t experienced it personally.” You poked your tongue out at Ben as you stood and headed towards the bathroom again but you did as he’d suggested and messed your hair up as much as you could.

“How do I look?” you ask Ben when you were done. “Gorgeous,” he said, eyes raking over every inch of your appearance from the ruffled hair to the hint of panda eyes you’d manufactured with your eyeshadow to the slightly unbuttoned flannel shirt and missing pants. “But do I look like I’ve been thoroughly fucked?” “Oh, right, umm, yes I think so,” “You do? I feel like theres something missing.” You darted back into the bathroom to look in the mirror again, “Oh! I know. Might be taking it a bit far though.” “What is it?” Ben asked, following you and watching you in the mirror. “What if you gave me a hickey?” “Y/N, I-” “Yeah, I know, that’s a weird thing to ask. Don’t worry, I think we’ll be fine without it.” Ben’s cheeks puffed up with air that he slowly let escape his lips, “no, you’re right, if I’d really slept with you last night I would have marked you up a bit. A hickey will definitely make it look more authentic.” “It’s not totally inappropriate for me to ask?” “No, no, we have to make it look legit, it’s a good suggestion. Here, I’ll uhh,” he stepped in close, one hand tentatively winding around your waist to pull you back against him, the other moving to push your hair aside. His breath was hot as he leaned into your neck. You saw him glance at your reflection, eyebrows slightly furrowed, but then his lips were on your skin, sucking at you until a bruise formed. Your own breath quickened with the contact but you knew it was just because he’d found a particularly sensitive spot and it had been a while since anyone had handled you like that. It was still just Ben and it was still part of your jobs. But all the same you let your eyes slip shut and hummed at how nice it felt. You were almost disappointed when it was over. Ben stood there for a moment, head bent over your neck, long enough to take a deep breath, but then he seemed to collect himself, taking a quick step back. “Will that do?” “It’s great Ben, really ties the whole look together.” Ben returned your smile but it didn’t quite reach his eyes, “Good. Good. Okay then, I’ll umm, what time is it?” “Just after nine,” you said, glancing at your phone, “wonder if the photographer is here yet.” “I think I will jump in for that shower actually, by the time I’m done he definitely will be.” “Okay,” “Make yourself comfortable though, watch some TV or something.” “Alright. Thanks for being so cool about all this. I know you’re a little sceptical about the benefits and everything.” “It’s fine, Y/N, no need for any of that.” He smiled again as you left the bathroom and the door shut behind you, but it still seemed off.

You settled onto the couch to flick TV channels, pausing at a breakfast news show and then at some kids cartoon you didn’t recognise, only stopping when Ben entered the room, clean and dressed. “Hey, I was wondering,” you said, turning towards him, “should I give you a hickey as well?” “No,” You were a little taken aback by how quickly he’d answered. “I mean, I think that’d be overkill. Keep it up our sleeves for next time, yeah?” “Okay, yeah, sure,” “Is he there?” “I think so.” Ben walked towards the window and twitched the curtain aside just enough to peek out, “Yeah, looks like him. Big camera pointing at my front door.” “Okay,” your heart began to beat a little faster, “show time then,” “Show time.” Ben nodded as he turned back to you. “Do we have a plan? I kinda wish I had a script right about now,” Ben laughed a little and you thought he seemed more himself, “I think you should go out first so they can get a good clean shot and then I come out after, maybe with my hand on your back?” “Sounds good,” “Okay, umm, I’ll lock the door and when I turn around you kiss me and then I’ll open the passenger door for you and we’ll drive to your place.” “Don’t bother opening my door. I’m not big into that kind of gesture, plus I think if we were actually being caught by the paparazzi, we’d be getting into the car as quick as possible. Maybe throw a look his way like you aren’t happy about being photographed just so it doesn’t seem too staged.” “Okay, no opening doors, noted.” You shrugged, “I just think it’s a bit old fashioned and unnecessary,” “I’ll keep that in mind for our dates. You ready to do this?” You nodded and stood up, leading the way to the front door. Ben collected his keys and wallet and placed a hand on the lower part of your back, your signal to open the door and step outside. “Kinda wish I had pants on,” you said softly, “It’s a bit brisk,” Ben chuckled as he followed you out, “We’ll put the heating on in the car for you,” he turned to lock the door. You watched him, fingers gripping the key a little tighter than he perhaps normally would, and as soon as he began to turn back around you were moving towards him, one hand thrown around his neck, the other in his hair as your pressed your lips to his. His hand found your back again, pulling you in close as he kissed you back fiercely, as if he were unwilling to let you go after such a good night together, the kiss of a man falling in love. For half a second you forgot it was an act. And then he was gone, his nose brushing yours briefly before there was space between you. You felt a little dazed with Ben looking at you so softly but you took a deep breath and reality came back to you. With another breath your turned and headed towards the car, able to hear the rapid click click click of the camera. You shot a look towards the noise and then got into the car, Ben hopping into the driver’s seat about a second later.

“You’re a good actor,” you said before silence could settle between you, “I already knew that, of course, but the kiss was really good. Almost completely believable.” “As long as it’s believable enough in the photos,” “I’m sure it will be. I think we pulled it off.” Ben nodded, “Yeah. You still chilly?” “Little bit,” He reached over and twisted one of the dials blindly, warm air suddenly washing over your goosebump covered legs, “better?” “So much, thanks.” “I think he might be following us,” “You did tell them we were going to mine, s’pose he’ll be trying to grab a couple of shots of us there.” “Yeah, probably.” “Should we come up with another game plan? Maybe you walk me to my door, we stand there talking for a bit, saying goodbye. I stay and watch you leave before I go inside.” “Perfect. Is another kiss part of the goodbye?” “Careful Ben, you sound almost like you want to kiss me,” you laughed, “but yes, think it needs to be.”

It went completely according to plan. By the time you were getting out of the car the photographer had pulled up outside your house, his camera sticking out the window of his car so he didn’t miss his shot. The camera clicked as Ben took your hand and you led him to your door. “Well, guess that’s it for today. I did have fun with you last night, even if it wasn’t the kind of fun everyone else will think it was.” “Yeah, me too. Happy to have you stay anytime you want to be photographed again. Maybe we’ll get you some PJs that can live at mine though.” “Probably for the best. If this goes well I can see them wanting us to do it again soon.” “Oh definitely. They’ll probably have notes for us so we can get an even better performance next time. You ready to wow them with another kiss?” “Lay it on me, babe,” “Anything you want, snookums,” You groaned but before you could protest too much Ben was kissing you again, softer than before, no longer trying to convince you to stay, just trying to prolong the moment before the goodbye. It left you a little breathless as he cupped your cheek, leaving his hand there when he pulled away. As you opened your eyes you saw him bite his lip and then he leaned in to leave you with a final chaste peck before his fingers slipped from your skin and he was walking away. You let out a long exhale as you watched him go, waving as the car took off. Once you were alone inside, the door firmly shut behind you, you laughed at how ridiculous the whole arrangement was. But at least Ben was a good kisser. Not too firm, not too wet, just the right amount of tongue. Believable enough to give you butterflies.

#my writing #my fics #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy imagine #ahhhh #this was fun #i hope ya'll like it

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user-name-not-found5 · 3 years

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Interrogation Techniques pt. 8

Whew! Sorry this has taken so long to update, I had to take a little break from social media. Anyway, I'm hoping to finish this up soon. Previous: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , 6, 7

Kylo Ren is determined to get the map out of the Resistance Pilot. By any. Means. Necessary.

Even if that means exploring new ways to sexually psychologically manipulate his victims into getting what he wants.

AU where the map leads to Luke’s new Jedi Temple, where he is training the next generation of Jedi. Poe is a Resistance pilot, who General Leia Organa has put in charge of running the transport routes in order to bring force-sensitive younglings to the temple where they belong. The First Order is headed by Kylo Ren, a fallen Jedi just as Count Dooku was, and he is determined to end the Jedi for good.

Warnings overall: non-con, torture, violence, manipulation, smut, absolutely filthy smut, degrading language, abuse

Warnings for this chapter: Mild violence/references to violence, references to killing of the younglings in the original prequels, villain is convinced he's the hero

BB-8 rolled down the corridors, occasionally stopping to consult the holo-map he’d pulled from the base systems. The trooper jogged beside him, wheezing through his helmet.

“Come… on…. man…” BB-8 stopped at a door port, letting the trooper catch his breath as he docked into the system. Hands on his knees, 2187 yanked his helmet off, tucking it under his arm. “You’re going to need.... A retinal… scan… to…” He held up a hand. “Gimme a sec…”

I’m not sending a comm outside the base. I’m sending one from inside.

The trooper sighed, running his hand over his face. “I don’t. Speak. Droid!”

Well, I don’t speak IDIOT.

The door whirred open, and BB slid inside, 2187 close behind. He quirked an eyebrow at the array of glowing panels and buttons, placing his hands on the center console. BB docked into another port, navigating slowly through the system until he found what he was looking for.

“Alright, you do your thing, we’ll get your pilot, and then we’re out of here, okay?” He paced, running his hands over his short-cropped hair. “Stars, let the Captain be on… I don’t know, a lunch break? Blaster-cleaning? Disciple row? Anything but patrol right now.”

A panel across the room began to hum, and BB rolled over to access the new port. He turned his head towards the trooper, giving his best attempt at a reassuring beep. The half-hearted smile he got in response was encouraging enough that he didn’t feel so guilty turning back to his work. The pair sat in silence for a bit, the soft whirring of machinery keeping them company before BB slid back with a triumphant little ditty.

“You got it?”

Hell-fucking-yeah I did!

The trooper’s comm beeped, and he clicked the speaker, letting the automated voice play out.

“Attention all base personnel. Please route around the detention corridor. A hazardous chemical spill has made the area unsuitable for transversal. Repeat. Route around the detention corridor.”

He raised an eyebrow at the droid. “For a little guy, you’re really scary, you know that?”

Thank me later. Let’s go get Poe.

Ren sat completely still, his legs crossed in front of him, his back perfectly straight as he inhaled, and exhaled again slowly. His mind floated out, spreading like a dark cloud. Something was catching his attention, something drifting closer, ever closer. Something strong, something… He stiffened. Her face formed in the cloud, the darkness draining and replaced by blinding light until she blinked into view. Her dark hair fell around her shoulders, brown eyes full of sadness.

“Ben.”

“You know that isn’t my name anymore.” His voice came out as a low hiss, eyes boring into her, willing her to go away.

Rey shook her head. “I will always look at you as the man who used to be my friend. Not the man you have become.”

“Then you are weak. Blinded by foolish attachments,” He sneered. “Your Master would be disappointed in you.”

He swallowed the lump in his throat as she flinched back, barely perceptible, but he knew her well. Too well… they’d grown up together, in the temple. She had been one of his closest friends, for so long…

“Ben,” Her voice was soft, coaxing. “I understand your anger. Your pain. Luke has made many mistakes, but he is only one man. He is haunted by a past that we may never understand. I’m sorry that he pushed you so far.”

He inhaled sharply. A bitter laugh slipped through his lips. “I thought you were more than this- his feeble messenger. Rey, a noble Jedi Knight, has been reduced to a mouthpiece for a corrupt, mad old man.” He shook his head. “You excuse his actions so easily- no matter his past, I trusted him. I needed him, I needed his guidance against the darkness,” His voice caught in his throat as the familiar roar of anger pressed in. “And he tried to murder me. His nephew.” His fists tightened. “Who’s to say he won’t try to kill you? Or follow in his father’s footsteps, and end the Jedi Order, bathing it in blood once again? It wasn’t the Clones that ended the next generation- it was my grandfather, from the inside.”

He was surprised when she nodded.

“You’re right, Ben. What he did, it was unforgivable. You needed him, you needed his confidence in you, you needed his trust. I’m sorry that he failed you. Which is why I won’t,” She brushed through the mists, and he could almost feel her hand on his skin back in his quarters. “I won’t fail. I will bring you back where you belong. Together, we can fix this. We can bring peace, Ben. Your anger has guided you this far, but where does it leave you?” She wrapped her arms around him gently. “You traded one Master for another.”

Ben snapped out of his meditation, sweat pooling on his back. She had seen so far into him, looked at his anger, and hatred, and hurt, and had still asked him to come home. Rey had always been good at that- they had a deep connection, growing up so close together. Hers had been the shoulder he cried on when he missed home, his was the shoulder she leaned on when a nightmare about the desert sands plagued her. She never spoke much of her past- he knew that in the power vacuum left after the Sith destroyed each other, several factions of the former Galactic empire vied for power. Many people had died, and the carnage had continued until he’d risen. He rolled his shoulders back. She spoke of bringing peace, and yet the Resistance was the source of the continued conflict. He had reunited the Empire, shaped and molded and forced it into the form of the First Order. He had ended the needless battles of factions, quelled the bloodshed, using force only when those little scraps had failed to recognize his new rule. He was the son of a Princess, he was well-versed in the lessons of diplomacy that she had vested to him; where his diplomacy failed, the anger of his Master’s betrayal fueled him into battle.

“I have brought peace,” The words slipped from his lips, hanging softly in the air. “The Jedi are meant to be peace-keepers. They should be on my side.”

But he was a tyrant. His hands curled into fists.

He had a map to follow.

Poe groaned. He was hanging from his wrists, held in suspension as energy surged around him, occasionally hitting him with a pulse that left him gasping for breath. He wasn’t sure when he’d last seen Ren- a few times, he’d passed out from the pain, or exhaustion, leaving him to wonder how many hours he’d lost to darkness. He was alone, at least. A few times, he’d woken to the stares of a few troopers, muttering orders to each other and adjusting the dials on the console. He was beginning to lose his resolve, as much as he hated to admit it. It would be nice, really, to just let go. Give the map up, and at least he could die. He snarled, fire surging in his gut. What was he thinking- he wouldn’t be the only one to die. These were children he was talking about, innocent kids, born with a power through no fault of their own. They needed the Jedi, needed that guidance, and he wasn’t going to let them suffer just because he was hurting. He jolted again as another surge crested through his body. He’d almost rather be under Ren again…

He shivered, despite himself. The aphrodisiac had a lingering effect, creeping into his dreams with memories of the heat in his belly, the leather glove clasped around his mouth, fingers curled in his hair. The way he’d shaken beneath him, the hot breath against his ear as he’d been fucked into a daze. He’d enjoyed it, and that thought disturbed him more than the idea of further torture.

The door slid open as another surge hit him, and he gasped, his back spasming at the pressure. Chest heaving, he jut his chin forward at the trooper who hovered in the doorway.

“Come to turn up the pressure again? Shame, I was getting a bit bored of this method.”

His eyes widened as the trooper leaned back into the hall, and waved someone forward, ducking into the room. Rather than head to the console, he waited by the door, until a small ball of energy rolled into the room. Poe laughed incredulously.

“BB-8?!”

Thank the stars! Master Poe!

BB-8 whirred happily, docking into a port. Poe dropped, the trooper catching him carefully in his arms, and helping him to his feet. He fixed him with a confused glance, flicking his gaze back and forth from the white helmet to BB.

“He a friendly?”

As far as I can tell. Looking for a pilot to get off this hellhole.

He arched an eyebrow, cocking his head at the trooper. “You a defector?”

The trooper was quiet for a second before pushing his helmet up, and setting it to the side. Poe’s eyes lingered on his face. He had wide, dark eyed, short-cropped dark hair, and full lips. He was handsome. He shook the thought, tacking it up to the last of the drugs.

“I’m not going to kill for them.” His voice was firm, but he spoke quietly. Poe just nodded, and let him help him hobble towards the door. BB picked up the rear, and the trio moved quickly down the hallway, to the hangar.

#poe dameron #poe dameron smut #canon offshoot #star wars #star wars smut #tros #darkpilot #tfa #tlj #reylo #finnpoe

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wolfpawn · 4 years

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I Hate You, I Love You. Chapter 151

Chapter Summary - Danielle has a day that literally just keeps going bad to worse and it all culminates with Tom telling her something.

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long. This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously.

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog @jessibelle-nerdy-mum @nonsensicalobsessions @damalseer @hiddlesbitch1 @winterisakiller @fairlightswiftly @salempoe @wolfsmom1 @black-ninja-blade

Tom poured the water into the kettle and turned around again. “And what dates are they?”

“The seventh of September,” Luke responded, looking at the diary in front of him. “Does that work for you?” Tom nodded. “And Danielle?” Tom winced and cursed. “No?”

“It's two days before her Ironman.” He thought for a moment. “Can I get back in time?”

“I guess?” Luke looked at the dates, making note of her sports events in case it became more relevant in the future. “Didn't you say she has a few more beforehand?”

“Yes, sort of warm-ups,” Tom explained. “I can't miss that one though.”

“You'll need to talk to her.” Luke acknowledged. “Speaking of her, where is she?”

“At Emma's. She is doing a few things for her today.”

“Such as?”

“Cleaning, laundry, cooking. Letting my sister get a shower unmolested by Lucy.”

“So she is okay with babies?”

“She was a medic.” Tom chuckled. “No, she loves children.”

“Children and small babies are different though.”

“Danielle is great with them, she's one of those people that can interact well with children.” He smiled. “She's the same with Ben and Sophie's boys.”

“So I take it if you ever have the sense to ask her and she has the lack of sense to say yes to marrying you, kids would someday be a subject up for discussion?”

Tom gave him a bemused glance knowing that Luke was teasing regarding if he would ask such a question. “If such ever comes to pass, then yes, children are indeed on the cards.”

“Tom Hiddleston, talking about settling down and having kids, did I ever think I would ever see the day” Luke goaded. “And with a no-nonsense woman like Elle. No actually, the only woman that would endure you is Danielle Hughes.”

“Good thing she's the only one I would want anyway.” Tom chuckled. As soon as he ceased speaking, he noticed the dogs looking curiously at the door. He turned and put on the kettle again and took out Danielle's favourite mug.

It was a minute or two before she came into the room, when she saw Luke and Tom, Danielle gave a tired smile. “Gentlemen.”

“Everything alright?” Tom asked worriedly.

“Just one of those days.” Was all she commented.

“How was your training?”

“There was an issue with the pool so it was closed and a spin class used all of the bikes, so that was something of a washout.” Danielle laughed. “That can happen though.” She shrugged.

“And Emma?”

“Emma had to go to the doctor because Lucy has gunk in her eye, so rather than help her with her home, we spent the afternoon in the doctors. And I got a call from work, there was an issue I need to look at that apparently was faxed through, but the fact you have not mentioned it to me would suggest that it hasn't.” She put down the items she had brought home with her. “So what is new here? Luke, how was Venice? I haven't seen you since before you left, you got some colour anyway.”

“Yes, some much-needed sun and wonderful Italian food, of course. It was good, thank you.”

Danielle smiled, pleased to hear he had a pleasant time. When she looked at Tom, she frowned. “What?”

“Are you okay?”

Danielle laughed at him. “Do you ever get that day that it just never stops going wrong, I mean it just is one thing piled on top of another? That is my day and I can get angry and upset and negative which seems to only ensure further negativity, or I can accept that it is what it is and continue on and make what I can of it all and I choose the latter. I assisted Emma, I helped her bring Lucy to the doctor, we also got some shopping and I will cook and clean hers tomorrow instead and if work is really having a shit fest, we have a department for that now so I don't fucking care and I am going to cook my dinner and not stress myself about it.” She explained.

“Good plan.” Luke commended.

“After tea though, I really need a cup right now.” Tom moved, revealing to her that her mug was ready by the steaming kettle. Danielle smiled at him but quickly noticed the manner in which he was not really looking back at her. Then she looked at Luke who also looked slightly awkward. “One moment.” She put a tea bag and hot water into the cup for her tea before turning around, folding her arms and leaning back against the countertop. “Right, what is it?” Both men said nothing. “Look, there is clearly something to be said and with the way today went, I know it will stay true to form and be something negative so just come out with it and tell me now.”

Tom looked at Luke for a moment who had an expression on his face that showed how greatly he felt his earlier comment regarding Danielle as Tom's partner was made apparent by her current actions. Tom decided to just be honest. “I have been asked to attend the Ralph Lauren fiftieth anniversary show in New York in September.”

Danielle processed his words for a moment. “What dates?”

“It's on the seventh.”

“Right.” She sighed.

“I am going to be home in time, I promise.”

“Tom, don't promise something like that, please.” She stated. “I know you will do everything to try to get home.”

“You're annoyed though?”

“See it from my point of view, Tom. Your big premiere and I miss it for a fashion show, how would that feel to you?” She pointed out. “I better check the fax machine, excuse me.”

Tom and Luke said nothing as she left.

“If you are not in Wales on the 9th of September, you may lose her.” Like declared. “If you need to get a private jet, you better be back.”

“Just keep that small block free,” Tom ordered, which caused Luke to nod.

Tom walked upstairs and listened to the sound of paper whirring through the fax machine. He walked to the office room and looked at Danielle. He swallowed as he looked at her.

Her hair was tied up and she wore an open cardigan and comfortable tracksuit pants. If the papers saw her, they would ridicule her immediately, but he liked seeing her like this, this was Elle, who only cared about getting work done and being comfy doing it, not Danielle, who worked tediously and had to uphold a certain professionalism. She was wearing her glasses and chewing on one of the small snack meals her dietitian had planned for her. When she looked up, she noticed him there and waited for him to speak.

“How much in the dog house am I?”

“At present, you're on a rehoming advert for Dog's Trust after being surrendered to them.” She stated, picking up the papers and putting them in a file.

Tom walked into the room. “I will be there, Elle, I promise.”

“I know that. You have thirty-six hours, even with delays I know you would make it. It doesn't make it any less of a slap in the face though, does it?” She pointed out.

Tom was going to argue that they had cut it close on a few events before but stopped himself and reminded himself that she was being honest and communicating with him and that her opinions and feelings on the matter were valid too. “No, it doesn't. I am sorry. I am going to cancel.”

“You can't, you have a contract with them and you did sign in that you would do a few of these. I don't blame you, you know, I blame whatever power in the universe that has caused this day to occur.”

“So you're not sending me to Dog's Trust?”

“Tempting, but no.”

“Is the idea of getting a new boyfriend that daunting?” He joked.

“Oh if this goes belly up, I am joining the fucking nuns or something, I genuinely couldn't go again, it's exhausting.” She laughed.

Tom chuckled, walked over and pulled her against him. “I'm sorry you had a bad day.”

“We all get them.”

“How is Lucy, I forgot to ask. Is her eye sore?”

“Probably just irritated more than anything but she seems to just be herself. She is good, she seems to have a strict routine. I never met a baby to stick so rigidly to a natural schedule. Two weeks she has been like it every day. It's not perfect or easy, but it's consistent so they can plan around it.” She smiled. The machine continued to whir next to her as more paper began to come through. “Dear Jesus, this will take half a forest.” She growled.

“What happened?”

“Some bollox to do with apparently falsified paperwork by one of the guys. I know his work, he's not someone to do that, I am getting a copy to see what happened, the internal affairs department is checking over it, but I want to see if there is something dodgy in my office, but I really doubt it.” She explained.

“You really are having an odd day.” Tom acknowledged. “What about your training, you didn't get much if it done?”

“I will have to check this then go for a cycle. Tomorrow is supposed to be an easy say so I am going for a five k then.” She looked at Tom who looked around at her. “Care to join me?”

“Would you mind?”

“Not at all.” She beamed. “We should get you cycling too.”

“I would look like the crazy frog.” Danielle erupted in laughter at the image. “I'm sorry, Elle.”

“Don’t, we can't help some of your work stuff, the same with mine. We will sometimes miss things. I mean, I have not seen Nacelle in six weeks because of conflicting work schedules.”

“When is she around again?”

“In a fortnight.”

“While you're in LA?”

“Yep.”

“That's a pain.”

“And most of the summer I am going to be by the sea and she will be home. But we talk most days so that's something.”

“Poor Becky.”

“They are used to it at this stage, they have always juggled it.” She smiled.

“Will that be us?”

“Not as drastically, I think, but we have those times too. I fear your next major movie. Up to three months or more without my handsome, kind and loving Tom.”

“Yours?”

“Mine.” She reiterated with a cheeky smile, leaning up and kissing him.

#i hate you i love you #chapter 151 #wolfpawn #tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston fic

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lovelyirony · 4 years

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avengers B99 au, interactions with secondary characters :))

Bruce Banner doesn’t like doing his job. He really, really doesn’t. Usually Thor can make arrests or something, but no. They needed someone with scientific backgrounds, and Tony already said he would and could launch himself across the room and ruin society if it meant he would have to take a different shift.

There’s a mole somewhere. And Bruce? Well, he’s about the least-threatening person on the Avengers force.

(This is in fact a lie because if possible, Bruce would take over the government.)

This is why he’s at work on a Sunday at six p.m., which is horrible and awful.

He meets Reed Richards, who is perhaps the worst man ever and is very bad at science. Somehow, he’s gotten ten papers published.

“I’m Dr. Richards,” he says, extending his hand. “Are you new here?”

Bruce has passed Dr. Richards every day on his way home for the last six years.

“Um, no,” Bruce says, taking his hand in a shake. “Just switched shifts. I’m usually the day, week shift.”

“Oh, you were with those guys. Stark drive you crazy?”

“No,” Bruce says, gritting his teeth. “More of the others.”

“Well, glad you’ve joined our team. Better over here, right?”

“...remains to be seen.”

(It does not remain to be seen. This shift notoriously sucks.)

Bruce is in charge of observing the different people. He finds out that Susan Storm has horrible taste in men, her brother is an asshole who everyone says Tony would get along with--which means they don’t get Tony in any way--and he doesn’t know what Ben Grimm’s deal is or why people call him “Thing.”

“You’ll get it soon,” Susan says. “Just...wait.”

Bruce emails Fury.

Dear Captain Fury,

You owe me margarita mix and at least 10 gazillion dollars in emotional damage. I cannot believe that I have to socialize with Reed Richards. In my scientific opinion, I hate this. I am very very close to total anarchy and getting rid of Barbra. Consider this your threat.

Sincerely,

Bruce Banner

(Barbra is the Keurig. It is Tony’s prized possession and almost 48% of the reason he was still at the precinct.)

The mole in the department is hard to find. Everyone has a reason, except for Dr. Richards, who doesn’t have a reason on the basis that he is a horrible person who Bruce would not be surprised to know that he probably owns at least twenty different sponges since he wants to be so absorbed in himself. You’d probably just need to hold a mirror up to his face to distract him.

The arrests made are also different.

A lot of drunk and disorderly, which Bruce handles with efficiency although he gets embroiled in a conversation about different brands of shaving cream.

The only good thing about any of this is that Bruce gets to see Luke Cage in action. Luke is most likely the best human being in New York, and this isn’t just because he’s one of the few that can be partnered with Detective Jessica Jones and not die by the end of it.

“I have really thick skin,” Luke jokes.

“I think I’m in love with you,” Bruce announces. He’s on his seventh cup of coffee. “That’s the coffee talking.”

Luke doesn’t treat that awkwardly, because apparently “more than five people have said this to me.”

Bruce thinks it’s what he deserves.

Meanwhile on day shift during the weeks, it has gone to chaos. Bruce Banner is one of the main team members, and holds many people together due to a.) the fact that everyone on the team would kill for Bruce, b.) he makes good tea and knows the gossip, and c.) he’s perhaps the only one who can calm Thor down because Thor loves his husband more than life itself.

Things are not going well.

Plus, Dr. Richards keeps emailing Tony different stories about “how much better suited” Bruce is now.

This conflicts with Bruce’s emails about “wanting to severely injure certain members of this shift, which initials are the same and are ‘R.R.’

Thor is cranky and wants his husband back and knows that he will riot if he doesn’t get to sleep in the same bed as his husband at the same time soon.

Bruce is getting suspicious of a guy who goes by the name of Aldrich Killian. Just got hired by the precinct for tech support, but keeps weird hours and wears green polo shirts. Light green. This doesn’t necessarily mean a lot of things, but seriously. Who wears a light green polo shirt? To work? Get real.

So Bruce starts his investigation and sends information to Fury and Tony.

Killian then finds out that Bruce suspects, and traps him in the file room.

“I literally, quite honestly, hate you a lot,” Bruce says. “It’s not even ten p.m. yet and I’m stuck here.”

“And you will be unless you send your boss a message saying that I’m innocent,” Killian hisses. “And then you quit your job, or so help me I’m gonna kill you.”

“Go ahead, try it,” Bruce says. “Kill me, I bet that’ll be real fun for your court case. Especially when everyone knows I’m here. And when you skip town, and you will, they’ll hunt after you. Tell me, you want Natasha Romanoff standing over your bed? Not fun.”

“I’ll manage.”

Bruce does not think he will. Because while Bruce has been talking, he’s realized one thing: the shelves are not bolted down.

Then he remembers the time that Steve knocked one over because he was very angry about a case.

So Killian gets a whole row of unsolved 1970s cases dumped on top of him.

Bruce then doesn’t feel the need to do anything for the next ten minutes, because it is quite heavy.

So he gets a coffee, has a stimulating conversation with Clint about “whether or not deer could actually feel anything but hubris and greed,” and then decides to casually tell Fury he found the mole.

“When?”

“Um, ten minutes ago? I went to get coffee. Clint wanted to talk about scientific things.”

“Please tell me you did not leave the mole for your damn conversation about deer. Don’t.”

“Then I won’t tell you shit. Just let me have my shift back.”

Bruce comes back to the weekday shift. Thor decides to take his husband out to lunch and sweep him up into a hug.

“Never volunteer again. Ever.”

“I didn’t volunteer, Tony opted out. I missed you too, babe.”

“Now that you guys are being disgusting and I think it’s over, I want to take this opportunity to announce that I got published,” Clint says.

“What? No you didn’t,” Bucky says. “You don’t even do any research! Did you write your crime novel?”

“No, I gave up on that because I can’t spell handkerchief.”

“You used it that much?”

“Yes, it was important to the plot. But anyway, Bruce kept talking about deer and about our theory about greed and hubris so I published the paper.”

“Who published it?” Bruce demands.

“Um, I don’t know? I just know that it’s apparently ‘wildly new’ among ecologists.”

“This doesn’t sound right, but I don’t know enough about scientific publishing to prove it,” Bucky says. “Congrats, Clint? I guess?”

Bruce grins.

He’s happy to be home.

Even if he just learned that they have to deal with some FBI chump about inspections. But that’s okay.

#b99 au #ANYWAYS. AMAZING.#lovelyirony writes #yes i will fucking roast reed richards within an inch of my life #fantastic four #avengers #bruce banner #thorbruce #thor #give thor his husband back!!!!!#also yes clint can't spell handkerchief i had to look it up for this

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myflutteringheartcondition · 4 years

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anyway so TROS has a brutal, loveless, miserable ending that was completely unnecessary (and makes me feel sick).

obviously im talking about the fate of Ben Solo, and how it's probably the least hopeful ending i could think of for him. here's my numbered list on the top 5 worst things TROS did to Ben (in no particular order, they all suck).

Palpatine threw him down a pit. Basic fact, Ben spent his whole life tortured by Palpatine/Snoke, canonically even when he was still in the womb. Palpatine/Snoke poisoned his entire life, and I’d like to make the obvious statment that: it wasn’t Ben’s fault. He was child, and no one around him was there to/willing to help him. No one looked at him and wanted to protect him, not really. Leia may have sent him to Luke under the guise of protection, but really it was all fear based. She just wanted someone to fix him. Ben Solo has been disregarded and shoved aside his whole life. Here are a few quick examples: -as i just mentioned he was sent away (despite his mother being a fully trained Jedi) because his feelings and the force conflicted. -Luke tried to kill him for the same reasons his parents feared him -Snoke treated him like a play toy and was never satisfied with him (literally throwing Kylo to the ground when he disappointed) -and then at the end of TLJ, Luke just openly taunts him for being a screw up! Therefore, being disregarded as unimportant in the final take down (with his life long abuser), like he has been his entire life is the worst sentiment. At the very end, when Kylo Ren is dead, and Ben Solo has reemerged you’d think that the narrative would finally give him a strong standing. He knows who he is, he finally knows what he wants, and after being tortured he rises up to dig his feet in, AND YET Palpatine was still able to treat him like actual garbage. Throw him down a pit! And that's it! Just Ben Solo disregarded... again.

Leia's love redeemed him. Relax, I think Leia reaching out (and giving Ben the Han memory/vision thing? correct me gently if I’m wrong) was fantastic. Like despite feeling rejected by his parents, and in an ironic twist telling Rey to stop needing her parents in TLJ, Kylo can’t stop needing his parents. After killing his father, it’s so clear that he was full of intense amounts of regrets, but to him it was his moment of no return. He did it, because he was brainwashed into believing that this is who he was meant to be. Leia was afraid of him, Luke saw evil in him, Palpatine/Snoke whispered in his ear forever convincing him that we was supposed to be the bad guy. The New Vader. But Leia reaching out, Han’s memory, and the forgiveness it afford him is what gave him strength to go back to light. That’s beautiful. He finally understood that his parents loved him, no matter where he stood. BUT. But, here is the flaw. This is why I feel this was dirty. What was Leia's motive? It was completely ambiguous. All three movies we are unsure how she feels about Ben, other than: she thought he'd come back, then she was sure he wouldn't (oh and i guess she didn’t initially want to forget about him). She only decided to reach out when she could sense Rey (and the whole of the Resistance) was in danger. Apparently, she could have called to his resoundingly conflicted heart, at anytime but for whatever reason she didn't. Who’s to say if the intent really was to make him feel loved/understood, I mean Maz has a speech about it explaining what Leia was doing--the last attempt to save Ben Solo. But without that???? Totally unclear. What was she even doing? The timing that she did it in, can’t lead me to any other can conclusion than a last stitch effort to save the Resistance. Ben recieved so much from it. It literally caused his transformation, but was that even Leia’s intent? I think the movie wants you to assume that it was. But it’s also confusing, and holds itself up for scrutiny because she called to him at the perfect moment for Rey to kill him. I guess she just hoped Rey wouldn't???? I mean it seems like Rey sensed Leia’s presence/message too, and maybe that was Leia finally protecting her son. If this was all Ben needed, his mom to say his name, and his father to forgive him, it irks me that Leia wouldn’t try before that moment.

“Just you,” and then it was literally just Rey. Let’s do a quick play by play, Kylo gets the upper hand during the Death Star fight, Leia distracts him, Rey decides to kill him, hears Leia too, force heals him, tells him she wanted Ben Solo’s hand not Kylo’s, ditches his ass again. Then Kylo sees Han, throws the coolest light saber ever into the ocean, and is finally Ben Solo. Amazing. Ben then goes to Rey where Palpatine is, kicks ass against the Knights of Ren, alone (apart from that dope force bond light saber trick), he and Rey team up again, the find out they are two halves of the same soul, Ben gets tossed like garbage, Rey did that, she dies, Ben saves her, they kiss, and that’s the end of Ben Solo. That’s it. No one sees Ben Solo but Rey. All Kylo could see in the force bond was Just Rey, and the only person who got to see Ben Solo alive and complete, was Just Rey. That’s not pretty. That doesn’t even strike me as romantic. That’s soul crushing. Ben Solo will never get to exist outside of what Rey saw. He died hated by everyone. He died, and he will be forgotten. Left behind like a villain, who’s redemption was saw by only one. If Ben had lived, he would have been able to thrive and become someone who was loved and appreciated by others. It’s sick, and unfair that he died essentially alone. With only one person to remember him fondly. The Skywalker legacy ends in unseen heroism, and a whole galaxy of hate.

Rey fought Palpatine alone. Most of why this is garbage is in point 1, but I have to expand it a bit more with Rey V. Palpatine. Ben and Rey should have fought Palpatine together. Rey didn’t need a shining moment of heroism where she did the final battle all alone. Rey and Ben, as canonically established, are two sides of the same coin. Two halves of the same soul. One protagonist, two characters. She had Luke’s light saber, and Leia’s. Ben should have gotten to use Leia’s against Palpatine. They should have fought side by side, in the final stand of being together, being one. Because Rey had even LESS build up to deserve a win over Snoke. All of her backstory and connection to him was crammed in our faces in the third act of this trilogy. Ben's fight has been waiting since day one. It was bizarre and cruel to give Rey both light sabers.

He died.

#the rise of skywalker #star wars #star wars spoilers #kylo ren #ben solo #redemption arc #reylo #rey #the last jedi #the force awakens #luke skywalker #han solo #leia skywalker #ben solo deserved better #star wars tros #sw tros #tros spoilers

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kirareykenobi22 · 4 years

Text

Force Dyad - Reylo TROS Fic

Guys

Rise of Skywalker destroyed me

I have so many feelings

I loved it

But I kind of hated it at the same time

If you've seen it, you know why

I've only seen it once so I'm super conflicted

I'm hoping I'll know what to feel more once I see it again

If you couldn't tell, this is going to have spoilers for the movie

So if you haven't seen it, don't read

Last chance to leave

Okay

Here we go

Rey took a shuddering breath as her hand shot to the one resting against her stomach. Her heart raced, but it shouldn't have. She was certain she had died, but now she stared into the face of Ben Solo very much alive.

She rested her hand against his cheek. "Ben..."

As if pulled by a magnet, she leaned forward and captured his lips with hers. His arms tightened around her as all they wordlessly communicated all their thoughts and emotions through their bond.

When they pulled apart, Ben smiled the first true smile Rey had ever seen from him. Her heart soared to know that Ben was back. He was really back this time; it wasn't like the time in Snoke's throne room. Ben Solo had returned for good, and he was hers.

His smile faded as his grip on her loosened. Rey felt was happening before it did and a horrifying realization came over her. She had died. But Ben transferred his lifeforce to her. He intended to die in her place.

"No..." Rey held on tightly, one hand on his shoulder and the other against his chest, and instantly began transferring the force back to him. "No..."

For five seconds, she felt pure happiness. She wasn't sure she ever felt as happy as she had in that moment. She was letting anything take that away from her now. She'd been alone her whole life, and she would not sit by and watch while Ben threw his life away for her. She couldn't let him do that.

Ben knew what she was doing, though, and grabbed her wrists, a panicked look in his eyes. "Stop."

"No." Tears pricked Rey's eyes. She felt herself grow weaker with every passing second as the force continued to flow through them.

"I just saved you," he said desperately, now trying to send the force right back to her.

"No!" Rey's voice raised in pitch and volume. "Let me save you now!"

They didn't speak anymore. Each focused intently on healing the other, determined to die themselves. Their force pushed against each other's unmoving. As they struggled, the tension grew and grew until -

A flash of white light knocked them apart.

When Rey opened her eyes, she was surrounded by darkness and stars. She instantly looked around for Ben for lied by her side. She reached for him and collapsed from relief when she felt a pulse. He wasn't dead.

He slowly opened his eyes and reached for her hand. "Rey... where are we?"

"I don't know, but we're together."

They stood up, still holding on tightly to each other. Ben looked around with furrowed brows.

"Are we... both dead?"

"Quite the opposite actually," a voice from behind them said.

Rey took in a sharp breath as she felt rather than recognized who the man behind them was. They turned to see a young man, a force ghost, smiling widely.

"Anakin," Rey breathed out at the same time that Ben said, "Grandfather."

Anakin winced and ran a hand through his hair. "Grandfather... that makes me feel old."

"I don't understand," Rey said. "What are you doing here? Where are we?"

"You're in the World Between Worlds," he said calmly. "Your force dyad is quite curious you know. Being connected to someone the way you two are allows for very rare occurrences."

Rey and Ben exchanged glances. He asked slowly, "What do you mean?"

"If two individuals share a force bond, the death of one would leave the other feeling empty, half alive. But you," Anakin said with a pointed look, "are a force dyad. You're not two individuals who happen to be connected. You're already one, just split into two bodies. So one of you could die by giving all your power away, but when you are trying to support each other -"

"The power balances out again," Rey said slowly.

Anakin nodded with a smile. "Exactly. As long as you continue to share your power neither of you will die."

Tears came to both Rey and Ben's eyes as they squeezed each other's hands tightly. They would never have to lose each other.

"But how do we leave this place?" Ben asked.

Anakin shrugged. "You can leave at any time you wish, but I think there are a few other people who wish to speak to you."

As he said that, two more force ghosts appeared. Rey gasped again as Luke and Leia walked towards them.

"Mom..." Ben said, his voice weak. "I am so sorry. About everything."

She shook her head with a smile. "You have nothing to be sorry about. I knew you'd do the right thing in the end."

"I'm the one who should be sorry," Luke said. "I never should've doubted you."

Rey held on protectively to Ben's arm. "I told you he'd return."

Luke chuckled. "That you did."

Ben quirked an eyebrow.

"This girl physically fought me when she found out what I tried to do to you," Luke said. "She insisted that if she went to you that you'd turn to the light again. I think she loved you before she even knew she did and was able to see what the rest of us couldn't."

Rey blushed bright red and sputtered unable to form a reply. Ben laughed and hugged her. "Well I've always loved her. I just never thought we'd really be on the same side."

"We all make mistakes," Leia said softly. "We just want you to know that you're forgiven."

"For everything," Luke emphasized. "We're all proud of you."

"We love you," Leia said with a smile. "Now, go. It's time for you two to go home."

There was a flash of light again, but this time they were prepared for it. It faded, leaving them standing in the broken throne room of Exegol. They continued to hold on to each other still not quite believing that the other wasn't disappearing.

"Never scare me like that again," Rey murmured.

He chuckled as he leaned down to place a light kiss on her lips. "I love you so much, Rey."

"Well," Rey said, hooking her arms around his neck to pull him down for another kiss. "I love you more."

Okay so basically I loved every moment of Rise of Skywalker EXCEPT for Ben's death. I am legitimately in denial over it. I can't accept that he's really gone. I'm genuinely upset about this and have a ton more fics planned where I intend to remedy this crime.

Ugh. I'm just so frustrated about this. Anyway! I hope you guys enjoyed this story! Please like and comment to let me know what you think!

#reylo #reylo fanfic #tros fix it #reylo happy ending #ben solo deserved better #rey #ben solo #bendemption #I am genuinely upset about tros #ben solo death #ben solo still alive #tros #rise of skywalker #tros spoilers #star was #star wars spoilers

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sheikah · 4 years

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Have you seen Rise of Skywalker yet? Im looking forward to your opinions!

I did! Thanks for your interest haha. I just wanna quickly preface this by saying that I know that SW is very polarizing and that the fandom can be very toxic, people are passionate about their opinions, etc. I don’t want to step on any toes with my opinions. I don’t often post in depth or candidly about SW because I have friends from all parts of the fandom and I’d hate to hurt someone’s feelings. But these are my opinions! (Under a cut :D)

I loved the movie. At first I wasn’t sure, but I saw it a second time with a friend and I loved it. Does it have plot holes, inconsistencies, and issues? Absolutely. It does. It’s far from perfect and I absolutely understand why so many people have such intensely negative reactions to it.

But if I’m being 100% honest I just wasn’t one of those people. Yes, it was rushed. But that made it interesting from start to finish. I almost always step out to use the restroom during a movie in theaters. I think it’s a mental thing–I’m constantly thinking of how I DON’T want to step out to pee, so I always have to haha. But I didn’t even think about it once during this movie! I just had that much fun watching it.

I can acknowledge that it had a lot of weaknesses, though, and I’ll talk about that first. I think most of the issues were a result of the film being the end of a trilogy that was helmed by two different people. It felt confused to me at points because I could see where JJ was trying to stick to what he clearly wanted to explore post-TFA while also trying to pick up where Rian Johnson left off post-TLJ. It’s like they had different visions and JJ was trying to include aspects of both in TROS. In a lot of ways, that didn’t work. I don’t want to go into too many nitpicky details but I can sum up my one big gripe by saying I think Finn was done wrong.

I think this movie had a lot of big character moments for Rey, Ben, and Poe, but I don’t feel like Finn got his due. I also think that from a shipping standpoint he was treated really unfairly. I genuinely felt while watching TFA that JJ was trying to lay the groundwork for canon Finnrey. In TLJ, Johnson went in a different direction with Finnrose and Reylo. So the problem, to me, is that in TROS JJ tried to follow up with Johnson’s Reylo groundwork while still including nuggets of Finnrey. Watching the film, it seems abundantly clear to me that Finn was harboring feelings for Rey that were unrequited. His devotion to her felt one-sided and the almost-love-confession in the sinking sand seemed to confirm that for me. I realize at some fan panel JJ apparently said that what Finn was really going to confess was that he was Force-sensitive, not that he loved Rey. But any viewer watching the movie without that knowledge would not get that from it imo, so the average viewer is left thinking the writing left Finn in unrequited love with Rey. And the writing completely brushed the Finnrose relationship to the side. I’m a Finnrey shipper so I didn’t really love Finnrose to begin with. But since Johnson started it, I honestly don’t know why JJ didn’t just continue it if he was going to continue Reylo. It seems better than spending time establishing Finn’s continued feelings for Rey only to leave him alone, especially since TLJ ended with Finnrose: it should have been easy enough to pick up their relationship and carry it forward. I know unrequited love exists, and exploring it in fiction can be poignant. But in this case it just didn’t track to me, and felt like a slap in the face to Finn’s character and anyone who was shipping Finnrey, Finnrose, or even Finnpoe. There seemed to be no reason to write Finn’s actions toward Rey the way they did if they weren’t going to put them together. Finn wasn’t together with anyone in the end. And in the same vein, shoehorning in a past romance for Poe with Keri Russell’s character just felt like a cheap way to make sure Finnpoe wasn’t going to happen. Idk. But these were the only aspects I really didn’t like.

I loved the many displays of Rey’s incredible power. I loved seeing Rey use the Force to heal, just like we saw Baby Yoda do in that week’s episode of The Mandalorian. I thought the scene where she accidentally used Force lightning was chilling and interesting foreshadowing for Rey Palpatine, even though I don’t really love that she’s a Palpatine. That being said, as a scorned Dany fan, I really enjoyed the message that who you are by blood should not define you. GoT ultimately ended with the message that your family and your family’s legacy are inescapable, grim realities. TROS had a much more hopeful message. This is also an important message to me personally because I have a lot of baggage with my father and his side of the family. It’s something I’ve struggled with. I never want to be like him. That aspect of Rey’s inner conflict was really beautiful to me and I think Daisy portrayed her struggle with darkness very well. I also thought her vision of dark!Rey was terrifying and really well done. The scene of her looking in the mirror at herself under Ahch-To in TLJ was probably my favorite scene of that movie so I liked seeing JJ utilize similar imagery there.

I loved seeing the trio together on a mission. The chemistry between Daisy, John, and Oscar is excellent and the comedy and wholesomeness between them is what made the movie so fun and memorable imo. I would have been happy with an OT3 for their characters, but c’est la vie haha.I loved the fan service. What can I say? I’m a fan: I like to be serviced lol. I know it was cheesy to some people, but Force Ghost!Luke lifting his X-Wing out of the water for Rey made me tear up. It was a nice callback to the moment with Luke and Yoda on Dagobah. Speaking of callbacks, I also loved the final shot with the binary sunset on Tatooine. I’ll admit I don’t really get why Rey has BB-8, or why she’s alone, or why she would choose to live in a place that even Luke wanted desperately to leave… but the visual and musical parallel to ANH got me right in the feels in the best way.

I loved seeing Ian McDiarmid return as Palpatine, who was as delightfully evil as ever. I don’t really understand how or why Palpatine had to come back, and I am not satisfied with the explanation for Snoke. But the Emperor is a classic and an iconic character I love. Having him as the ultimate baddy was satisfying in its own way. I also thought everything abot Exegol and the Sith fortress was terrifying and visually stunning. Even the sound effects of the lightning, and the way that blended with ominous music, was really interesting to me. I loved almost every sequence that took place on Exegol.

Lastly, (and this is the part I have been nervous to post about haha) I liked Ben Solo. I am not a Reylo shipper. That’s not something I talk about really because I have a ton of Reylo friends and I really treasure those people. The last thing I want to do is hurt their feelings or make them feel unwelcome on my blog. But In TFA and TLJ I didn’t really see that many redeeming qualities in Kylo Ren, and I certainly don’t ship him with Rey. I liked the character as a villain from the first moment I heard Adam Driver’s epic voice and saw Kylo Ren freeze Poe’s blaster bolt in stasis using the Force. I thought he was cool and I loved the crazy sound effects and unstable appearance of his unique lightsaber. But I just didn’t really romanticize him at all. I also thought TLJ ended on a pretty definitively negative note for the character. He told his men in no uncertain terms to blow the Falcon out of the sky with Rey in it. And I didn’t think killing Han and trying to kill Luke was something he was going to come back from. I didn’t really want “Bendemption.”

I say all this because I think this is one of the reasons why TROS impressed me so much. When it actually happened, I was happy that Kylo was redeemed as Ben. The scene with Han reminded me that above all, this is Han and Leia’s son. No matter how much of a villain I thought Kylo Ren was, I didn’t want Han and Leia both to die and for their son to die in disgrace without ever having made amends for the things he’d done. I couldn’t love Han and Leia the way I do without hoping for some semblance of peace for their family. And when he took off the Kylo Ren getup and dressed more like a regular guy, when he adopted some of Han’s personality, when he stormed into Palpatine’s lair on Exegol blaster blazing, and most of all when he wielded a Jedi’s lightsaber alongside Rey, I loved it. I really, truly loved it. And for someone who went into the movie theater expecting to hate that aspect of the story, I think that speaks volumes. They won me over. They made me like Ben Solo. I don’t really think it’s a great social message for the real world in 2019 to forgive him despite all he’s done. But if I divorce it from real-world implications and just treat it like Star Wars, I’m actually glad it happened the way it did. Leia deserved to have her death mean something. She gave the last of her strength to reach out to her son. Not to Kylo Ren, but to Ben Solo. She and the audience both deserved to see Ben Solo before the end. And for him to make the ultimate sacrifice for Rey was, to me, the best possible way he could go out. I found it to be a very compelling end. His death made me surprisingly sad, but it was a noble death.

Anyway, like I said above, I know the movie has a lot of issues. I haven’t even addressed a fraction of the things I could say about this movie–both good and bad. But ultimately I boil it down to how a movie makes me feel. This one left a strong emotional impact on me and I was happy to watch it a second time. I laughed, I cried, I reflected on why I’ve loved Star Wars for my entire life. So I have to say I liked it. Sorry for the giant answer haha :P

#answered #i realize i am in the tumblr minority with this opinion lol #please don't hate me guys

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midnightrooftops · 4 years

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Rise of Skywalker should’ve been the entire trilogy.

Allow me to explain: Opening crawl to Force Awakens: The emperor is dead! The New Republic has enjoyed twenty years of peace and rebuilding after the Battle of Endor under the leadership of Galactic Minister Leia Organa. But, on the eve of her resignation, a voice from the past has been broadcast across the galaxy. The First Order, a group of Empire loyalist, has been waiting in the shadows for just this broadcast. Uprisings across the galaxy have erupting and the new peace has been threatened. With Luke Skywalker missing, Leia sends one team to find her brother and another to find the source of the broadcast. Poe Dameron, the Republic’s best pilot, heads to the planet of Jakku where an old Republic friend has information on Skywalker’s whereabouts. *End Crawl* The beginning of Force Awakens opens pretty much the same. Poe locates Old Guy, gets the information and gives it to BB8, then gets captured. Finn questions his position in the First Order. Kylo is introduced, as is the First Order’s harsh nature. The village isn’t ready for an attack and maybe there’s a throw-away line about “peace”. Finn’s scene reveals old stormtrooper tactics are still being conducted with the First Order. Poe should say something like “The Republic has outlawed kidnapping children” or something. Maybe he’s also surprised to see so many storm troopers. It should be evident that This Doesn’t Happen Anymore and is another thing for Finn to think about (”if it doesn’t happen, why did it happen to me? Where do I come from? Why am I doing this?”). They escape and crash. Rey is introduced the same too. She’s an orphan living alone in the scraps of the Empire, trying to survive. She meets BB8, property of the Republic and wonders why a Republic droid is this far from the galaxy capital. Finn finds her and they escape in a ship that isn’t the Falcon. They start to get boarded by a Ship We Don’t See and panic, thinking it’s the First Order hunting them. It’s actually Han Solo and the falcon. He returned to smuggling but heard a plea for help from the Republic. Rey questions why he’s not with his wife but he deflects the question, saying something like he’s “not one for politics” or maybe “peace doesn’t pay the bills”. MEANWHILE, Kylo is angry the pilot and droid got away, as he’s also trying to find Skywalker. He asks to hear the broadcast and it’s revealed that it’s Palpatine’s voice declaring ownership of the galaxy and for the loyalist to rise up. He demands any new leads, of which there are none. It’s revealed that the First Order has been decades in the making, even during the Empire should it fall. His character is very much revealed as ruthless and has something to prove. Han takes the kids to a remote “safe spot” where smugglers, bounty hunters and other criminal frequent. This is where Maz is. She’s force-sensitive, but not a Jedi and says something like “The Jedi weren’t responsible for peace but for war” or SOMETHING to open the line of questioning about the past republic system. Rey says she feels something here, something she never felt on Jakku. “They say no one remembers Jakku, not even the Force” or something to indicate maybe the Force is “blocked” or something. This would later give reason to Rey being left there ( abandon a force-sensitive girl on a force-void planet. Also, Luke leaving any information being left of Jakku would also make sense. Who looks for a Jedi on a planet where he can’t use his power. Also, it could be an old Sith Planet. Have a line about “the Jedi never went to Jakku. It’s history with the sith make it unbalanced with the Force”. That would leave it open for guessing what happened there before while still explaining that Jakku was not a planet people went to.) If you really want to stay true to the movie, stick with the First Order having a Death Star planet-destroyer ray. This would make sense because they want to RULE THE GALAXY AGAIN and this is a time of peace. So they DESTROY the New Republic. There’s a moment of fear for Han and gang about Leia. The First Order then attacks Maz’s place for the droid and we get the same results. You can end the movie the exact same way. We find our Kylo is Han’s son, Han dies. Leia is fine, steps down as leader of the Republic but into the role of general again. (Afterall, the ENTIRE REPUBLIC was just terribly attacked. It’s war for the first time in two decades.) On the ship, Rey should discover the broadcast. Maybe this is the first time we hear it and someone says “That’s the Emperor. But he’s dead” or something. Or she SEEMS to recognize the voice but doesn’t say anything. Either way, Rey is then directly connected to what’s going on with the galaxy. For the first time in her life, she’s directly involved with the fate of the galaxy. It ends with Leia getting the information about where Luke is and Kylo getting a clue on where the Emperor’s broadcast came from. Rey finds Luke, Kylo finds... a sinister planet. Basically, the beginning of Rise of Skywalker is the ending of Force Awakens. We don’t see who Kylo finds, adding drama and suspense. Maybe we have the line “I have been the voice inside your head this whole time” and the Emperor’s laugh but we shouldn’t see him. Cue- The Last Jedi Leia and co are under attack by the First Order. The galaxy is in chaos with the destruction of the Republic Capital. The Galactic Minister that was supposed to take over for Leia is MIA and so Leia is forced to do both politics AND battle strategy. Someone offhandedly makes a comment about how “this is how the Emperor got his power last time.” Therefore, doubt is being cast on the New Republic and Leia in general. Conflict! Drama! Last Jedi happens the same with Rey and Luke, revealing he left the “Jedi” after failing to restart the Jedi Order. We learn that Kylo/Ben was a failed student and he couldn’t face his sister and brother in law afterwards. Again, this reflects on the prequeals (not that anyone wants to connect to that) and criticizes them for what they did before (took children from their homes/families, rallied hard against the sith and threw the galaxy into way. It’s a great way to criticize the prequeals while actually giving them A Point, yknow?) HOWEVER, the space race with Leia, Poe and Finn doesn’t happen. Or rather, it does but not for the entire movie. They try to outrun the First Order ships to get to a safe point. Poe is frustrated with the chain of command not saying anything to anyone and tries to mutiny under the guise of Leia being incapacitated during a firing attack and rumors on the ship that people INSIDE THE REPUBLIC are trying to restart the Empire. Finn attempts to leave to find out where he came from but is stopped by Rose, thinking he’s a deserter. She traps him and Poe comes to find them, talks about the mutiny. Rose, having just lost a sister from the First Order attack, is horrified to hear it might be an inside job and agrees to the mutiny to get answers. Finn realizes Poe, his first ever “friend” is asking for his help and agrees to stay and support him. Leia wakes up in time to stop the “mutiny”. It’s revealed they’re heading to a secret Rebellion base, used during the wars that no one but Leia and Holdo knows about. But, she agrees, someone is helping the First Order track them through hyperspace. She turns to Finn and for a horrifying moment, everyone believes HE’s THE SPY. Storm troopers have implanted tracking chips, Leia explains. It’s been outlawed in the New Republic but the Empire used tracking chips to ensure absolute loyalty. She asks Finn if he knew. He didn’t. He agrees to undergo an surgery to remove the chip and it’s clear in his face he’s reflecting on the idea of continuing to help the First Order even after rebelling. He’s been a tool his whole life and can’t escape it. The tracking device is removed and the Republic makes for the hidden base. Meanwhile, confrontation on the main First Order ship with Rey, who came from Luke’s planet and Kylo. Kylo, with the whole movie “seeing” her, is trying to get her to rebel. She shows up, dedicated to “save him” but Kylo reveals she knows who she is. “You’re a Palpatine” he says, as the reveal. “You belong to the dark side. We KNOW how to run the galaxy so no child is parent-less again.” Rey refuses and she’s faced with a room full of guards and Kylo. Kylo orders her to be let free but Hux, being as he’s been (the Tarkin character) orders them both dead (BETRAYAL!!) Rey finds herself fighting along side Kylo and, even thought she failed to save him, she’s not sure he’s beyond redemption. However, her own reveal is haunting her. The republic has gained safety in the hidden base. But then! The First Order shows up. Finn yells it’s not him (funny moment) and of course not but how did they know about the base?! Oh no! Finn runs a suicide run to defeat the first order from destroying Leia and the remaining acting government? But Rose stops Finn from sacrificing himself with a message more like “you were raised for evil, but you deserve good.” instead of her stupid protest. This is stating to Finn “YOU ARE VALUED BEYOND WHAT YOU CAN GIVE” I don’t even know what to fill in for the casino scene. Maybe Finn and Rose going to a more Republic town that talks about the differences between the Republic and Empire, something that skews the line so that it reveals citizens are confused from propaganda on both sides and the role of the Empire is just a “concept” to younger people. It’s a great metaphor for WWII. Also reflects how you “can’t trust the government, can’t trust the Jedi” mentality. It’s refreshing for Star Wars fans while also being politically correct. There’s no right or wrong about the message so it still works in the Disney family. ANYWAY. Last Jedi ends with Rey saying she needs more training and Leia smiling. Even though Luke is gone, Leia has the means and desire to train Rey. “As a Jedi?” “As a promoter of peace” again to reiterate that the Jedi are DEAD as is their belief. In the next movie, we’ll see more of that. Also, it should be revealed by LUKE, that he is not the last Jedi, but Leia is. It’s probably revealed by him when Rey heads out to help the Republic. She asks Luke to take on his position, “Be a Jedi!” but he reveals. “I am not a Jedi. The path of Jedi was peace. I never was. Leia, she’s the jedi.” This reveals that Leia is the last Jedi and maybe the “past training” montage takes place in Last Jedi. Anyway, Leia is revealed as the Last Jedi. During Rise of Skywalker, Rey is trying to find the evil behind Kylo, aka Palpatine. So she is searching for the Sith Planet. This leaves her a bit MIA while Finn and Poe try to find more information on the First Order. Especially because the New Republic is in desperate need of help since the government is destroyed. Basically, the Last Jedi ends with on the idea that “the New Republic is dead thanks to attack, propaganda and doubt of the government. Stakes!!! Anyway, Leia says they need to find the source of the “First Order” and rey is off to search, all the while Kylo is starting to question his position (like FINN!!!) but Palpatine tries to use his parent’s transgressions to keep him loyal. (It also starts weighing on him, like Rey, like maybe he’s just being the tool he was trying to avoid being for the Jedi, but only for the Sith.) Rey tries to find a “wayfinder” from the first movie, leads her to the Death Star Crash Site. Finn meets fellow Storm Troopers who have rebelled and made their life on their own. He learns from them that it’s not important where you came from, or what you did, but what you strive to do. Leia dies trying to reach Ben and Poe gets notification that he’s the new LEADER OF THE REPUBLIC, like, not just the general but LEADER. He struggles to understand what that means. He’s been impulsive in the past and has learned politics through the mutiny so he’s not confident with his position. Maybe before Rey leaves, she says something like “power belongs to those that don’t want it” or something, bc she’s thinking about being a Palpatine” while Finn says “You were kind to an enemy, you’ve got my vote” or something to indicate that Poe believes in kindness over enforcement (reflecting on the mutiny) The galxy coming together to fight against the First Order/Palpatine in the end would mean more. That the galaxy fights for Peace, for the Republic would be a great moment after all those moments of doubt and manipulation. Palpatine would be defeated again by the REPUBLIC, by people that believed in the good of other people. Rey would still have a whole conflict about her “heritage of evil” while Kylo would have a full teenage rebellion arch. Basically, Kylo would eventually be redeemed like the Star Wars way while Rey succumbed more and more into darkness and hate (My parents SOLD ME, I’m the granddaughter of the EMPEROR, I mean nothing but my power) WHAT THIS ACCOMPLISHES: The ending isn’t rushed. Palpatine isn’t “oh hey, he’s alive” but instead a questionable option throughout three movies. It also expands on the lore of Star Wars with the Sith stuff and hopefully explains why certain people are more adapt at the Force (Palpatine explains his bloodline is PURE and maybe he created the Skywalker bloodline so they have a link. Or whatever they deiced to do. Maybe it’s “Skywalker was pure of Force, so I had to create my own” or something. Make the lore interesting, especially since they destroyed all of it, bastards.) Anyway, Kylo’s sacrifice MEANS something, because Rey was the first person he felt believed in him. Palpatine wasn’t a random “Oh btw, i’ve been here all along!” And the New Republic wasn’t disregarded but heavily scrutinized to create a better galaxy. It really explains the aftermath of the Empire without staying in the status quo. It doesn’t disregard what the original trilogy did but expands on it. It also unites the mistakes of the Prequels to a tangible ending. Also.... The Emperor makes so much sense, though the daughter/son should’ve been a lot older. Maybe make Rey a Great Granddaughter. Because family life in an important stance for politics, so “Senator Palpatine” would be totally more believable to have a family. Maybe we didn’t see it but I think it’s okay to say that he had a wife. A flashback about his SON, who wanted nothing to do with politics, would explain why he wasn’t evident in the prequels but also the idea of Rey being abandoned. “No one escaped the Emperor, not even his Son.” With the dialogue of the Rise of Skywalker, he didn’t give a shit that she was family except that she could give him a new body, like Voldemort.” Anyway, the “Final Order” is just an old “Empire” plot Palpatine has been saving and building. It’s not that each star destroyer has the means to destroy planets but that the Republic is so vulnerable right now. This is a sinister enough plot because not only are they the reason the New Republic has failed but they are also causing strife and doubt about the New Republic not being better than the Empire. Also, you have Rey struggle with Power vs. Corruption and then removes herself from the galaxy. You also have Leia being the Last Jedi, as intended, even though she put away her lightsaber for the galaxy. You also have the answers to the important plot questions: 1. Why is this happening NOW (bc the changing of the guard for the New Republic is a great time to sow distrust and propaganda) 2. Why are these characters important to the plot (Because Rey is the grand/great grand daughter of the last Emperor, Ben is the son of the ruling figure, Poe is a great man in line for the “throne”/leadership and Finn is a victim of the wars/ a regular joe shmoe that could change the war” 3. What do your characters want? (Rey wants to be part of something, learn where she comes from; Finn wants to understand why he’s here and what he has to offer; Poe wants to do the right thing) 4. What’s the conflict in the story? (Rey learns she could destroy the Republic and her search may have put everyone she’s grown to love in jeopardy; Finn has to reconciling being a pawn in way with being a PERSON to make a choice and what that means for his identity; Poe is battling the “do everything for good” mentality with his past mistakes and questioning how “good he really is.) Overall, all three of the “trio” teach us about choices, destiny, upbringing and that doing what’s RIGHT is a choice. Which is the main goal for Star Wars. Luke was the son of the most ruthless dictator and he fought against temptation. Anakin loved more than any Jedi and it lead to him choosing Her over EVERYTHING ELSE. Palpatine represents complete temptation and power.

#thank you for coming to my ted talk #star wars #star wars spoilers #rise of skywalker #rey skywalker #poe dameron #finn star wars #spoilers #swspoilers

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clock-work-crow · 4 years

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I know what I have to do, but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it.

TROS SPOILERS!!!!!!!

These are my thoughts on Kylo Ren/Ben Solo’s character in TROS, and it’s all spoilers.

All of it.

You have been warned.

I recently saw someone complain about Rey's treatment in TROS and say she was treated like a doll, taken off the shelf and put back without any change or character growth. And this is what disappointed me in TROS the most. None of the characters had either development or growth. It's easy to see in Rey, but I'd argue the same is true for Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, despite what seems like his redemption.

First, let me clarify what I mean by development and growth. Character development is something that tells us more about the characters. It helps us understand their past actions and their future ones. Growth is some form of change in the character; they are no longer approaching the world in the same way.

For example, in TLJ, when we discover that Ben Solo only attacked Luke Skywalker after his life was threatened, that was development. It sheds a whole new light on his motivations, and how he came to be where he is now, and also helps us understand why he tries to obliterate Luke on Crait. But it should be noted that after believing he killed one Master, Ben Solo runs off and immediately finds another in Snoke. There was no growth there.

On the other hand, after Snoke's death, when he decided to stay with the First Order and not to follow Rey, that is growth. Kylo Ren has no more masters. He is going to determine his own fate, make his own path. He wants Rey to join him, but he's not going to follow her blindly the way he followed Luke and Snoke.

It should also be said that not every character needs to grow, although they should always have development. Fiction is filled with beautiful, tragic characters who fail because they can't grow. Ned Stark leaps to mind. His character continues to develop even after he has died, as we learn more about the choices he made before the books/show began, and they inform the actions we saw him take. However, his character never grows. He is the same man of honor he always was, and that inability to grow destroys his family.

Alright, back to Star Wars and TROS. At first glance, it's easy to say the Kylo Ren had become Ben Solo and been redeemed; that his character has grown. But has it?

At the beginning of the movie, we see him tracking down Palpatine, storming into his floating citadel, and trying to fight him. What do we see at the end of the movie? Ben Solo storming into Palpatine's floating citadel to try and fight him. He's been on one trajectory the whole movie, and it doesn't change.

Sure he's there to fight at Rey's side the second time, but so what? He did that in TLJ as well. He turned against Snoke, his Master, to save Rey. But Palpatine was never Kylo Ren's Master. They were never on the same side. In fact, the first time he talks to Rey in TROS, he tells her they should team up to fight Palpatine. At the end of the movie, they team up to fight Palpatine.

He's doing exactly the same thing at the end he was doing at the beginning, only without any dialogue to explain his actions.

So why do we think anything has changed? Why do we even think he might have been redeemed? Because of what happened in between. Because of the scene with Han Solo.

But he's not actually talking to Han. He tells us this is just a memory. This is Kylo Ren reliving his past. We have the same line of dialogue, "I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it." And then he does something different. He throws away the lightsaber.

Or is that different?

In both cases, there is something he feels he has to do, and it isn't easy. He worries he will fail. But he does the difficult thing anyway. That isn't growth or development. That is him acting the same way he did in TFA only in a different context.

Sure, he gets rid of the lightsaber he killed his father with. But he's always regretted killing his father. This allows him to fight with the Skywalker lightsaber at the end, but since TFA, he's been telling us that the Skywalker lightsaber belongs to him. You could call that foreshadowing, you could also call it further proof that he is who he was in TFA all along. Because he's always been conflicted, he's always struggled with the Light and the Dark. In TFA, he tries to embrace the Dark; it doesn't work out for him. In TROS, he (maybe) tries to embrace the Light. But are we really supposed to believe that he will be able to be at peace with that? That all his conflict is just gone now?

This is the difference between him and Vader. In the original movies, Vader has no conflict until the very end. He is absolutely sure of who he is and what he's doing. Darth Vader has fully embraced the Dark Side, which is why when he sides with Luke, it's a significant change. We have seen zero sign of that in him up to that point, and no reason to believe he will act that way.

As the prequels later tell us, so much of his life has been about fighting against death, that giving in, accepting it to save his son, is a big moment.

But Kylo Ren is not Vader. He's not calmly menacing. He constantly reacts with big dramatic gestures that he hasn't thought through. Then he regrets them, even if they are small, like destroying his helmet. If anything, having him repair his helmet only shows us that Kylo Ren is not likely to have changed. It tells us this is a person who goes back to his old ways.

And that's the problem. It's easy much easier for him to make the big dramatic gesture. He can kill Han Solo, but he can't live day to day fully in the Dark Side. He can toss away his red lightsaber, but can he live day to day in the Light? Who knows? If Ben Solo had lived, would he always have been just as conflicted as he's been through the entire trilogy? Would he ever be at peace with himself for longer than one kiss?

And what is it that supposedly prompts this change in him? His mother dies. He even says in the conversation with his father's memory that he can't go back because she's not there. If he really has returned to the Light, he's only done so at the point at which he doesn't have to deal with his family and his past. That doesn't feel like growth, that feels like he just doesn't have two run away anymore because the past is now dead. He doesn't have to face her, so yeah, maybe he can go with Rey now.

So what would have growth been? What would have been real redemption for Ben Solo? It would have been him having to look Poe in the eye and apologizing for torturing him. It would have been him in some way taking responsibility for the First Order and what it did while he was Supreme Leader. Real change and redemption needed Ben Solo to live. He would have had in some way to try and make amends. He would have had to figure out who he is if he's not trying to lead the Galaxy (because I don't see anyone putting him in charge).

And his death doesn't do that. And it's hard to know if it's a sacrifice since it's so arbitrary. We don't know what kills Rey. She's dead because the plot needs her to die. She uses her lightsaber to stop Palpatine's Force lighting, and that kills her because…? I don't know; it just does. Ben on the other hand got tossed down a pit and pulls his way out. He's clearly severely injured but alive. Yeah, I get it; he uses the last of his life Force to save Rey, but…we have no real precedent for this being something that will kill you.

When Rey heals the big worm (who is painfully injured, but not dying), she says she's given it some of her power/force whatever and implies it has weakened her. But when Ben is dying after she stabs him in their fight, and she's able to heal him, bring him back from the edge of death, and it doesn't seem to affect her at all. She just gets up and leaves with no ill effects.

So Force healing just acts however the writer wants it to. There are no rules. There's only a cost when the writers wanted there to be one. Otherwise, it's just kind of fine. That's why it's hard to assign emotional value to what he does. Does he even know it might kill him? Is he smiling in that last moment after the kiss because he's about to start his new life? Or is it some attempt to let Rey know he's okay with this?

That's up to you to decide, but not in a good way because whether or not this redeems him depends on whether it's a knowing sacrifice, not just a side effect.

Also, we do have precedent in the Star Wars universe for attempting to bring people back from the dead. It's bad, and it's wrong. Wanting to keep the people he loves from dying is what brings Anakin Skywalker to the Dark Side. Palpatine even reminds us in TROS that returning from the dead is considered unnatural. But it's just fine for Ben Solo to do this. It shows he's a good guy. Honestly, this bothers me more than anything else. I think if given the chance, Anakin would have given up his life Force to save Padme. So despite his body vanishing, maybe he didn't embrace the light after all? Perhaps he's a Sith ghost? Who knows, we didn't see him at the end.

***Edit**

Also, the Jedi way is supposed to be one of patience and acceptance. Not accepting Rey’s death, trying to force the universe to obey his will one last time, that seems like he isn’t really on the Light Side of the Force.

***End Edit**

But the important thing is that his death is the easy way out. He doesn't really have to grow and change; he doesn't have to stand up and face the Resistance and the rest of the Galaxy because he's just dead. He doesn't have to live with the choices he's made, to resolve the conflict that has always been there.

Of course, I did say that characters don't have to grow; that tragedy often comes from the characters who can't grow. But he hasn't developed either. We know nothing about Kylo Ren or Ben Solo in this movie that we didn't already know. The fact that Rey is a Palpatine just feeds into his previous vision of destiny and great bloodlines ruling the Galaxy. We already knew that killing his father split him in two, that he also loved his mother, because he couldn't kill her in TLJ. He doesn't fall in love with Rey during this movie, you could argue it wasn't confirmed until TROS, but now that they've kissed, we can say it was the last movie where they fell in love.

We don't even know what kind of leader he's been between movies. Only that Hux didn't like him being in charge, oh, but we already knew that from the last movie also.

So yeah, Rey wasn't the only doll in this movie. Kylo Ren was also picked up off the shelf and put back just the way he was found.

#tros spoilers #meta #kylo ren #bendeption #ben solo

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alcida-auka · 5 years

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Rey Killed Her Parents

Rey Killed Her Parents — Just One of My Crazy Star Wars Theories

Hey everybody, I don’t do this too often, but I love the new Star Wars movies so much that I’m coming up with all kinds of crazy speculations for the trilogy and 9th movie, much like I did with X-files back in the 90s. Now I’m not the first person to have theorized that Rey killed her parents — which I find oddly reassuring–but I’d like to add my own process as to how I came to this fun little tinfoil theory with some visual cues from the films.

So how did I come to the theory that Rey is responsible for her nobody parents never coming back?

The Force Awakens

Well, it goes back to something I first noticed back on my second viewing of The Force Awakens a few years ago. I would not really come to the conclusion that Rey destroyed her parents at that time, but I did notice something that seemed too significant to ignore.

Namely it’s this:

In Rey’s force vision, in which she sees scenes from the past and future, she stands outside of herself as a young girl, arm held tightly by Unkar Plutt [likely why she has an aversion to having her hand held by the way]. As her family’s craft leaves her behind, ascending to the sky, she cries out pleading with them to come back.

But this particular vision of the craft ends strangely. As the ship ascends, the sky turns an ominous red. And take note of that, because in Star Wars red lighting is often used to denote something evil or dark afoot.

Later towards the end of the film, we will see this darkening of the sky and subsequent red lighting again. We will see it when Kylo Ren kills his father immediately after the Star Killer base planet begins to implode. From Abram’s commentary on this scene, Kylo Ren is entirely conflicted just prior to this darkening of the sky, and up untill that point he is truly thinking of leaving with his father. When the sky darkens, the lighting on Kylo Ren’s face changes from blue to red, and it signifies an abrupt change to evil/darkness. He immediately kills his father, an act he regrets intensely upon its conclusion.

Now, at the time, I only noted that the darkening sky in Rey’s vision was a parallel to the darkening sky above Star Killer base. I knew it was intended to be significant, but I was unclear as to how. It could have meant nothing more in Rey’s vision than a foreshadowing of Kylo’s patricidal act, a blending of timelines. But why cast that dark red shadow on both scenes? A dark red shadow that is specifically intended to symbolize the dark side?

This is where the Last Jedi comes in, and where I started drawing my theory.

The Last Jedi

In the throne room of the recently deceased Snoke, Kylo Ren makes his famous plea to Rey to join him in creating a New Order. Desperate to get her on his side, to “let go of the past”, he encourages her to remember her parents, something that she has been actively repressing for years.

Rey admits they were nobody. Kylo Ren, who so far has never been deceitful to Rey (and Rian Johnson the director backs this up), clarifies further her own memories that he saw back during their force bond in the hut. They were drunks, junk traders, who sold her for drinking money. Rey does not deny this and her face shows an unhappy acceptance.

But where it gets interesting is this: Kylo also says her parents are dead, buried in a pauper’s grave in the desert.

Now many fans have thought this a discrepancy from what Rey’s vision in the Force Awakens showed us.

But I don’t think that it is, and I certainly did not think it was in the movie as I watched it.

It’s entirely possible that Rey’s vision of her parents leaving were a fabrication in her mind. After all, Rey is an unreliable narrator of her own life, and created the fiction of her parents coming back as a way to rationalize her abandonment and the notion her parents did not want her. If she believed her parents were “somebody”, a great Jedi hero, a warrior, she could fantasize that they HAD to leave her for heroic reasons, and thus it would mean she was loved, and they would come back.

However, I find the idea that her vision of the abandoning ship being a fabrication to be unlikely. The Force does not create deceitful visions.

Thus, Rey’s parents did leave her.

But how did they wind up dead in graves on Jakku? Why are we told this?

This is where the Force Awakens vision and red sky comes back into play.

Just as the darkening sky and red light immediately preceded the violent action of Kylo Ren killing his father–a sudden, impulsive act–this image of the same red light symbolizes a dark act immediately after the ship’s ascension into the sky.

That act is Rey, a child powerful in the Force, unintentionally killing her parents by bringing down their ship, in a naive attempt to bring them back to her.

This is why she remembers being abandoned, and why Kylo Ren has seen their graves in her mind. Rey’s parents never got to leave, and furthermore, she remembers them being dead. I can imagine that this would be such a traumatic act that she blocks it out, and over time creates her comforting myth that someday they’ll return for her, that she was never a bad girl who hurts people, a girl that gets abandoned for being bad.

Now, obviously, this is just a theory of mine, and some other folks on Reddit and Tumblr. But it’s cool to see others have arrived at the same minor theory on their own as well.

There’s no telling if it is remotely true until the 9th movie comes out December 2019, but if it is, it has some interesting implications for her character.

It becomes yet another parallel to Kylo Ren. These characters are both mirrors of one another in several ways–they feel abandoned by everyone around them, they are intensely lonely (even Rey, when surrounded by her new Resistance friends, comes off to me as standing a part from them), and possibly, they have both killed parents.

Ben Solo is a character that has been described as “coming from the light [eg, has good, heroic parents]” but is putting on the dark persona of Kylo Ren. Nonetheless, he is drawn to the light, both in himself, and in the person of Rey.

If Rey is a mirror of Ben Solo/Kylo Ren, we can surmise that she “comes from the dark” but wears a persona of light. She is drawn to the dark side, something that Luke Skywalker points out repeatedly. Of course, she is also drawn to the darkness of Kylo Ren/Ben Solo.

How is Rey “from the dark”? Possibly this references her parents being good-for-nothing drunks, happy to sell their child. Going with my theory, though, it could also be that the “dark” is her darkside powers that she used to kill her parents.

Again, as much as Kylo/Ben is dark and light, so is Rey, their approaches to it are simply reversed.

And it’s not talked about much, but Rey wears a mask as much as Kylo Ren wears his metal one. It’s simply that Rey’s mask takes on the form of her la-di-dah, Pollyanna unbridled optimism. It’s a shame that people feel Rey is a dull character, because in reality she is as complex as he is, and is also fighting conflicts within herself. Through the Force bond conversations with Kylo Ren, the Last Jedi film was showing us the growing cracks in her ever-happy facade.

If Rey has killed her parents, not only will it bring about further conflict within her character for the last film, it may help to shatter some of her Jedi-like self righteousness that she tends to have. Granted, killing your parents when you are 5 years old cannot be compared to a young man in his 20s killing his father, but she will realize how intense the darkness in her can be. So far she has chosen the Light side of things easily, but I envision her having a crisis of faith in the next movie.

Ultimately, whether this theory is just tinfoil over-analyzation or something that could actually be realized, I suspect that the next film will have both Kylo Ren/Ben Solo and Rey achieving balance of Light and Dark within themselves and between each other.

Side observation–one does wonder if Kylo Ren saw in Rey’s memory that she killed her parents and not just the graves on Jakku. If he did, it would mean he chose not to tell her, either hoping she remembers on her own, or not wanting to hurt her in that moment any more than she already is.

I could see the latter being a possibility–much of his suffering has been in the perception that people think he is a monster, and he is just stepping into the role he thinks everyone has driven him into.

While Kylo Ren certainly wants Rey to stop pining after her parents in the hopes that she’ll rely only on him and no one else (he is desperate not to be alone in this scene), he doesn’t exactly want her to become so utterly despondent to believe she is a monster incapable of being loved. Hence the “You’re nothing but not to me”, but no “And you’re a murderer just like me!”

Also, Unkar Plutt must know some shit, he’s the last guy aside from Rey to have seen her parents. I get that Rey hates Plutt and does not want to talk with him any more than she has to, but I wonder if she will ever consider asking him about that deal her parents made.

Anyways, that’s my crazy tinfoil Star Wars theory. I have no idea if Rey actually killed her parents, but it’ll be interesting to see if this one pans out or not! Have you got any zany wild Star Wars speculations or theories? Post them below!

#starwars thelastjedi rey reykilledherparents starwarstheories

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unexpectedreylo · 6 years

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Bendemption Song Part 2: The Villain’s Redemption Arc/The Anti-Hero’s Journey

First, we have to ask: what kind of redemption arc is Ben getting? Mythcreants.com lists three kinds: sacrifice, temptation, and forgiveness.

A sacrifice arc is one where the redeemed villain does something good and ultimately sacrifices his/her life because of the gravity of the villain’s crimes. Darth Vader is given as an example: Vader kills Darth Sidious to save Luke, but in the process is mortally wounded. I would sort of put Gollum in this category and maybe Severus Snape too. In Ben’s case, a sacrifice arc is possible. I know those of us in Reylo-land don’t want to think about it, but I wouldn’t say it’s totally off the table. But to make you all feel better, I think there are problems with a sacrifice arc in this situation. Of all of the potential redemption arcs to use, this one is the easiest because it just repeats what was done in ROTJ. And “easy” usually carries the least amount of payoff. Two, it’s debatable whether Kylo’s crimes are so great, he cannot be allowed to survive. Fans who want revenge for Han’s death might have one view, Reylos might have another. It’s apparent though that Kylo’s rap sheet isn’t as long as his grandfather’s and Kylo is already showing far more remorse, regret, and conflict than Vader ever did. It’s also clear that Kylo was victimized as a youngster in a way Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker never was. Palpatine was a manipulator but he used flattery and kindness to snare Anakin while what Snoke did went back to when Ben was a fetus and it’s clear it wasn’t all “nice.” Three, it would collide with some narrative brick walls I will discuss in the third part of my Bendemption Song series.

The temptation arc and the forgiveness arc could end with the death of the character, but unlike the sacrifice arc, these two arcs also allow for the possibility of the character’s survival. Kylo’s arc could follow either one.

The temptation arc is where the character feels pulled to the good side as well as the bad and is in a battle to decide where he falls. Zuko from “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and Spike from “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” are given as examples. Kylo’s line in TFA, “I feel it again, the pull to the light,” signals his own struggle. He’s always being described as “conflicted.” I think this arc is a really good fit for him for this reason. If this is the route they go in IX, ultimately he will choose “the light,” or at least reject the dominance of the dark side over his entire personality. He will learn to integrate his shadow self, to use a Jungian term, and recognize the light side aspects of his personality are a strength, not a weakness.

The forgiveness arc is where the character has already forsworn villainy but has blood on his hands. Furiosa from “Mad Max: Fury Road” is given as an example. I would add Bucky Barnes and Loki from the Marvel Cinematic Universe as further examples. Most of what they are doing is trying to make up for past crimes, earning the trust and forgiveness of others, and reaching the point where they can forgive themselves. Had Kylo turned in TLJ, this would’ve been his arc for sure in IX. It’s still possible, but it would depend on how soon he turns. If it’s early in the movie, then a forgiveness arc might happen. If it’s in the second or third act in the film, then it’s too late for a forgiveness arc to occur and it will likely be a temptation or sacrifice arc instead.

When the writer has chosen the arc for the villain, there are certain things the writer must do to establish redemption.

The anti-hero is at first presented as purely villainous.

TFA largely shows Kylo Ren The Villain Who Does Bad Stuff. He kicks off the movie by killing Lor San Tekka, taking Poe prisoner and torturing him, and ordering his troops to burn down a village. He kidnaps Rey and attempts to enter her mind. He is shown later on as conflicted but he works up the nerve to kill off Dear Old Dad, then he fights Finn and Rey.

The anti-hero is humanized, often through a tragic backstory or showing they have good intentions.

Basically, everything that happens in TLJ. Kylo discards his mask and humanizes himself to Rey and by extension to us. The books reveal Snoke had been messing with Ben since he was in the womb. We learn of the tragic murder Luke almost commits, which turned Ben Solo into Kylo Ren.

Start Dropping Hints

This has already happened in TFA and TLJ. Hints include Kylo’s perpetual conflict, his less-than-enthusiastic reaction to committing Han-icide, his refusal to kill his mother, his lack of enthusiasm for blowing up planets, his bouts of gentleness/empathy/compassion for Rey, etc.. If you want an early sign in IX that Bendemption is going to happen, keep an eye out in the first act for the “Supreme Leader” to do something uncharacteristic for an evil despot. He might refuse to commit an atrocity against innocents, he might save a group of children (to counterpoint Anakin’s Great Youngling Massacre), or he might start to question the whole enterprise of the war. Perhaps he always makes sure Rey and her friends escape the First Order. Maybe he’ll be a “Fulcrum!” You never know.

Introduce A Good Influence

Obviously, that’s Rey. She can’t pick him up and drag him from the Dark Side, as she learned the hard way in TLJ, but she shows him just as she doesn’t have to live in anger, hurt, resentment, and fear, neither does he. She offers him forgiveness and the possibility of life beyond and better than what he has. If there’s any incentive at all for Kylo to change, it’s her.

You might have noticed these movies seem to be big on “girl power.” It’s as though the power of the feminine—all but destroyed by the end of the prequels, corrupted in the “Solo” era, and missing but for a few key figures in the original trilogy—is making a roaring comeback in the sequels. You might also have noticed that Kylo has a big problem with male authority figures (Han, Snoke, Luke) and male rivals (Hux, to some degree Finn). Yet who is the one relative to escape his wrath? His mother. Who does he finally open himself up to? Rey. This tells me Kylo is receptive to the power of the feminine and it’s likely his maternal ties and his deep connection with a woman will play an important part in his redemption.

I believe the original plan for IX was for Kylo to atone with his mother and this part of the story is so fundamental, there was no way to get around it ergo they are going to use footage of Carrie Fisher shot for TFA and TLJ. How they’ll use it is still a mystery. We’ll just have to see.

Less obvious is another good influence, and that’s Han Solo. Not only is Han genetically encoded in Kylo anyway, Han’s actions at the end of their encounter left an indelible mark on him in both a negative and a positive way. I think we’ll see the true beginning of his turn was at that moment; in fact it’s obvious from watching TFA Kylo almost left with his father.

Subtle Shift In Loyalty/The anti-hero goes through a phase of internal conflict, or their inner conflict is revealed/amplified. This is when he is waffling between good and evil./This internal conflict drives him toward Team Good.

While Kylo shows no inclination yet to join the Resistance, his loyalty in TLJ shifts from Snoke to Rey. It’s as close to Team Good as he has gotten in this trilogy so far. Of course, the shift wavers and he retreats to lead Team Evil. But his connection to and feelings for Rey remain, as demonstrated in his last scene in TLJ. This gives us hope for IX.

The anti-hero isn’t ready to be redeemed and he falls back toward Team Evil. This is often due to their own desires or temptations of another character. This usually involves a betrayal. The betrayal leads to them achieving a goal they had become evil in the first place to obtain.

Kylo doesn’t betray anyone besides Snoke but he decides he’d rather be Supreme Leader than be the Resistance’s new lightsaber-swinging hero, which breaks poor Rey’s heart.

Villain Becomes Unhappy With Team Evil/The anti-hero realizes he made a mistake. The goal isn’t what he wanted after all or it backfires on him.

Kylo’s going to find that heavy is the head that wears the crown, isolated and having to watch his back at all times. I don’t see Kylo as an ideologue as I see him as using the First Order to get back at his family and their value system and latching onto Snoke because he feels like he doesn’t belong anywhere else. In IX, that family will be mostly gone and Snoke’s dead. The only things holding Kylo to the First Order would likely be his desire for power and control, despair, guilt, and fear of being on his own. But even those may not be enough. Kylo could question further the First Order’s goals and methods. In addition, I predict Hux will stage a coup against Kylo by turning the First Order’s leaders and money guys, and possibly even the Knights of Ren, against him.

This realization leads him to repent and seek to fight for Team Good.

I think he will likely approach Rey first and once she indicates she is willing to forgive him, he will come to fight alongside her.

The Villain Must Stop A Great Evil And Make A Great Sacrifice

While a new, hitherto unknown threat could be the great evil in IX, I doubt they will introduce one this late in the game. Likely the great evil will be the First Order or something connected to it.

Dave Filoni said during The Clone Wars panel at SDCC 2018 the true conflict in Star Wars was between selfishness and selflessness. In order to be redeemed, Kylo MUST do something selfless. It will likely be something very risky to life and limb to correct his error and stop the First Order. The greater the error, the greater the potential sacrifice will be. I will stress that a willingness to sacrifice your life isn’t an automatic death sentence in film and literature.

It will show tremendous growth if he is also willing to sacrifice the possibility of a life with Rey. As Yoda said in ROTS, you must let go of everything you fear to lose. Think back to how possessive Anakin was with Padmé in ROTS (“you will not take her from me”) versus how Han Solo was willing to let Leia choose Luke, not knowing they’re twins, if that’s what would make her happy. I could see Kylo letting Rey choose another, if anyone, if that’s what she wanted or asking Finn or Poe to take care of her if something were to happen to him.

A willingness to abdicate power, wealth, and status are great sacrifices as well. So is a willingness to completely change your value system and goals. I think Ben will do all of the above.

The Villain Must Show Remorse

In Ben’s case, this is VERY important. I think one reason why some fans are very unforgiving of him is because they don’t think he yet shows sufficient remorse. Regardless, the audience has to believe his turn is sincere by witnessing him acknowledge his misdeeds and express mourning, sorrow, and regret for committing them. The signs are there in TLJ and TFA but we need to see more. I’m talking about big ugly sobbing here. At the same time, he cannot wallow for long in despair and guilt or else he’ll be at best worthless and at worst, he can be drawn back to the Dark Side. He can’t punish himself by refusing forgiveness, kindness, or mercy. Showing remorse has to be cathartic, it cannot be a perpetual state of existence.

I predict that a significant part of IX will be about Ben integrating his shadow self, Kylo. How will he do this? He needs to release his anger, resentment, and hurt instead of clinging to them like a security blanket. He has to forgive those who have hurt him: Luke, his parents, Rey, even Snoke. Most importantly, he has to forgive himself. Once he has done these things, he can finally be in control of his emotions, letting himself feel freely but without being overtaken by them.

The villain finds direction, a problem in need of solving; humbles himself

For a character like Ben, this probably means taking on an insane, undoubtedly suicidal mission on behalf of Team Good, providing insider information on Team Evil, and of course putting his Force-skills—likely in conjunction with Rey’s—to work. He won’t do it expecting thanks; this is to prove his worth, earn trust, and of course, attempt in some way to make up for what he has done.

The villain is forgiven

Rey will happily forgive Ben if he decides to side with her. It seems she has already forgiven him for his pre-TLJ crimes and will forgive him again when the time comes. The question is whether anyone else will. Leia, if she’s alive by that time, definitely. I think Chewie will come around and when he reconciles with Ben, there won’t be a dry eye in the theater. It’ll be a big moment if/when Ben reclaims everything that had once been his or should’ve been his: a relationship with Chewie, the Falcon, Artoo and Threepio, his mother’s cause, etc..

Would Finn forgive Ben? Maybe, especially if it’s for Rey’s sake. Poe would be a hard sell. Kylo Ren had brutally tortured him and he’s not likely to just forget all about it. On top of that, he’s a True Believer. I can see him being very skeptical of Ben turning and not exactly willing to let bygones be bygones. But that’s okay. Not everyone needs to forgive Ben by the time the credits roll.

And then what?

The very end of the arc is the question of whether the redeemed villain lives or dies. I will answer that question in the next part, “Live Or Let Die.”

Check out Part One if you haven’t already!

#reylo #reylo fam #meta #kylo ren #ben solo #redemption #bendemption #episode ix

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apriki · 6 years

Text

WARS OF THE STARS

So ya homegirl finally saw the last jedi and oh, there are THOUGHTS to be HAD below the cut for spoiler purposes but guys. GUYS.

I LOVED IT

IT WAS WEIRD AND AMBITIOUS AND OVERTHREW THE CONVENTIONS OF THE STAR WARS UNIVERSE IN A WAY FORCE AWAKENS SPECIFICALLY DIDN’T AND I LOOOVVVED IT

when luke threw the lightsaber over his shoulder at the very start i was like OHHHHH YES BITCH...... ITS FUCKIN ON

‘this isn’t going to go how you think’ INDEED

my heart siezed when i saw leia ugh.... and this film treated her with the gravitas she deserved and i loved that

POE IS A COCKY FLYBOY BUT OKAY THE HUX SCENE WAS LEGITIMATELY FUNNY and domhnall gleeson is having THE MOST FUN

ROSE’S SISTERRR and i feel like this film took pains to show a more diverse range of people in the resistance and also in the background on the star destroyers? and i really loved that

snoke’s red room of pain lmaoooooooooo. and his mara jade bodyguards

snoke forcing kylo to take his helmet off because he knows kylo needs it to disconnect shut the fuck up

kylo tantrum™ and him wrecking the mask because snoke shattered its meaning to him but also YOU DON’T GET TO WEAR THE MASK IN THIS MOVIE, KYLO. A BITCH IS GONNA BE OUT HERE VULNERABLE AS FUCK

the timeline of this movie was... odd? i feel like we were meant to think rey was with luke for weeks but the rebellion plot was suuuuuper super fast. i employed some mental time dilation to make sense of it lmao

KYLO NOT BEING ABLE TO TAKE THE SHOT AND KILL LEIA

EMO SON LOVES HIS MOM 2K17

holy SHIT i really thought they were going to kill leia off 20 MINUTES IN for a hot minute there

but then she FORCED HER WAY BACK INTO THE SHIP? SUCK ON THAT DUDEBROS WHO SAID SHE WASN’T STRONG WITH THE FORCE LIKE DIE

SPACE LAURA DERN

We Need To Talk About Rey And Kylo’s Sense8 Plot

THAT FIRST SCENE WHERE SHE DIDN’T HESITATE, BITCH

and he FELT IT. HE FELT THAT BLASTER

THEIR FACES when they force felt each other what the guuud FUCK

kylo: you will lead me to skywalker

rey: i think the fuck not

‘i don’t see where you are... only you’

BI.......TCH

THE REST OF THE WORLD FADED AWAY AND THEY WERE STUCK WITH ONE ANOTHER

luke’s sad hermit routine lmfao

luke: the jedi weren’t shit really

me: absolutely fair and true

when rey was like ‘please take this lightsaber and all the responsibility that comes with it’ and luke was like ‘this bitch empty YEET’

porgs are whatever. i wouldve eaten that one on the stick lmao chewbacca is a softie

am i the only one who like doesn’t remember the millenium falcon’s dice in the mirror lmao

sidenote like, adam driver’s voice. right? right?

KYLO CALLING HIMSELF A MONSTER WAS WHAT MADE REY START TO BELIEVE HE WASN’T? WHAT KIND OF BYRONIC NONSENSE......

‘i’d really rather not do this right now’ / ‘yeah me either’

I CACKLED.

THESE TWO SHIT KIDS WITH A SENSE8 CONNECTION THEY DON’T WANT DROPPING IN ON EACH OTHER’S NARRATIVES

I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS MOVIE IS REAL.

i heard that kylo ren had a sixpack. that kylo ren is shredded

DON’T YOU HAVE LIKE, A COWL OR SOMETHING?????????????????????

MAZ KANATA IS LIVING HER OWN ACTION FILM SHE DOESN’T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR BULLSHIT

loved the casino world that was so obviously based on monaco and dipping into the muddy waters of arms dealing and showing how deep the fight between tyranny and freedom runs in the galaxy. it can get quite baroque with the skywalkers and their drama and i felt like it was a smart smart move to have finn team up with rose to see how exploitation and cruelty don’t always have to be in the form of sith lords or first orders

this movie is so busy dismantling the ideas of heroes and villains. it’s just people making choices and that’s the point and it’s TRRRUUUUUUE

benicio del toro is the new era boba fett and i love HE

poe getting SLAPPED and BLASTERED like multiple times lmaoooooooo like i like him well enough but bitch listen to your betters!

i kind of loved that finn and rose went off on this grand plan to save the resistance and it.... didn’t work. like everything they kept trying just DID NOT WORK but there was still hope at the end? friends it was beautiful

YOU’RE NOT ALONE

KYLO SLIDING OUT INTO THE CORRIDOR IS UHHHHHH THE STRAIGHT UP BEST THING I’VE EVER SEEN

HE’S A SIXTEEN YEAR OLD LINKIN PARK FANATIC AND I LOVE

rey in the rain

the first time she’s ever felt it?

and then the world goes QUIET AGAIN

WHAT KIND OF WOLFGANG AND KALA BULL SHIT

and okay the end of this scene where kylo pulls his hand away

AND WIPES OFF

THE RAIN

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

CANNOT

I CANNOT.

WHAT IS THIS AGE OF INNOCENCE FUCKING BUFFONERY SCREAAAMM

‘did he tell you what happened?’

and like, kylo could just say it himself

but he knows rey wouldn’t believe him

and luke fucking LIED

‘THAT SKYWALKER BLOOD’

me two years ago: what’s an adam driver

me now: (laughing nervously) what the f

‘why does the force keep connecting us?’ BITCH ME TOO LMFAO

the way the world STOPS ALL AROUND THEM

oh my god the flashbacks

like i feel like we got more than enough of this alluded to in force awakens but some people need it in black and white i guess and HERE THE FUCK IT IS

‘and the last thing i saw were the eyes of a frightened boy whose master had failed him’

and okay WOW @ ME EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO HAS CONTINUALLY SAID HAN, LEIA AND LUKE DIDN’T FAIL KYLOHE LITERALLY TRIED TO MURDER HIM

look.

i am the most stoic bitch in a movie theatre. like shit does not phase me but i fucking teared UP my face just CRUMPLED LIKE UGHHHHH

AND ADAM’S DRIVER’S STUPID FUCKING FACE AND HIS DUMB EYES

HIS PARENTS SENT HIM AWAY BECAUSE THEY WERE AFRAID OF HIM AND HIS UNCLE TRIED TO FUCKING MURDER HIM

‘YOU WERE WRONG TO THINK HIS HEART HAD DECIDED!’

and THIS is what’s at the heart of the last jedi - dismantling the myth of the hero. there are no heroes, only people, and luke is the embodiment of thatto rey he’s a myth but to kylo he was a man and that’s how he stumbled but he stumbled because he believed his OWN myth i’m just..... dying slowly

THEIR HANDS TOUCHING

THEIR FINGERS

FUCK OFF

THE ELECTRICITY

I FEEL THE CONFLICT IN HIM

REY CRYING AND KYLO TEARING UP

GOODBYE BITCHES I’M FUCKIN OUTTA HEEEYYYYA

rey: i saw you at my side

kylo: well i saw YOU at MY side

me: fellas,

REY BLASTING OFF RIGHT INTO THE HEART OF THE ENEMY CAUSE SHE BELIEVES SHE CAN SAVE BEN’S SOUL

REY GOING INTO THE DARKNESS AND NOT BEING AFRAID

AND TRYING TO SEE HER PARENTS BUT ONLY SEEING HERSELF

snoke claiming that he mainpulated rey and kylo looks up in FURY because he realises he was manipulating him too

LIKE HE ALWAYS KNEW

BUT HERE IT IS IN BLACK AND WHITE

his fingers twitching

the saber moving

me in my seat: boy he bout to DO IT

AND KILLS

HIS

TRUE

ENEMY

i SCREAMED

well i didn’t scream because i was in a theatre but i screamed on the inside. i would watch kylo or ANY character kill every person who ever manipulated abused used them and HOW oh my GOD

HE COULDN’T KILL REY AND HE KILLED SNOKE INSTEAD.

HE COULDN’T KILL LEIA AND HE COULDN’T KILL REY

JUST A BOY IN A MASK

THE EYES OF A FRIGHTENED BOY

like he just wants someone to to TRUST and they all keep FAILING for all his talk to rey of her constantly looking for parental figures like all he fucking wants is to belong to something??

it’s whatever.

like i can but i also can’t believe we actually got this character so shaped and formed by abuse and manipulation KILLING HIS ABUSER. like KNEELING IN FRONT OF SNOKE and being beaten down and down and FINDING THE STRENGTH TO KILL HIM ANYWAY

the conflict of this series is happening in the galaxy but it’s also happening in ben solo’s heart and that’s just about enough for me to mcFREAKING lose it

THE WAY REY CONSISTENTLY CALLS HIM BEN.’

BEN. BENJY. BENJO BOY

REY AND KYLO FIGHTING

BACK TO BACK

BACK! TO BACK!

REY WITH THE CROSSGUARD SABER KYLO WITH ANAKIN’S SABER

KILLING THOSE RED DUDES MAYBE THE KNIGHTS OF REN? THE SLOW MO

FIGHTING TOGETHER.................

POETRY

I DIED

I FUCKING STRAIGHT UP ASCENDED

REY CALLING HIM BEN AND HIM FLINCHING

EVERY

SINGLE

TIME

‘you’re nothing to the story - but not to me’

LOOK,

LISTEN,

I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS MOVIE IS REEEEAAALLLL

when kylo asked rey to join him i swear to god i heard the opening synth of carly rae jepsen’s ‘run away with me’

FORCE FIGHTING FOR THE SABER

DARKNESS AND LIGHT TO MEET IT

BUT ALSO DARKNESS IN HER AND LIGHT IN HIM

THE BALANCE

THE BALANCE!!

THEY’RE EQUALS THEY’RE SO EQUAL THEY FUCKING

TORE

THE SABER

APART

i seriously thought this was going to be the film’s climax but there was like 40 more minutes after this ksadjfkdsfj

LAURA DERN AND LEIA wow that was some BUSINESS

and leia explaining to poe about doing the right thing vs. looking like a hero MY GOD this film is on another level. how the fuck did it both take star wars to town over like its most fundamental conventions but still feel true to the series and respectful and genuine? I AM... AGOG

LAURA FUCKING DERN LIGHTSPEEDING INTO A SPEED DESTROYER HOLLLLYY SHIT

and the no sound CRACKING APART of the cruiser the LIGHT

this movie was shot so beautifully thanks disneymarvelfox conglomerate

honestly i’m still astounded that a film so rooted in nostalgia, nearly dependent on it in a way, firmly and deeply embedded a ‘let the past die’ moral through its narrative. LIKE, WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF BLOCKBUSTER???????? but i loved it, i loved that luke and kylo were both so determined to bury the past and rey was equally determined to dig it up. because how can you have balance without it?

the whole hoth version 2 snow planet was beautiful and the BURGUNDIES the contrast i love an aesthetic!

(tastes red substance hesitantly) ‘Salt.’

i want a crystal wolf

LMFAO YODA JUST BEING A FUCKING TROLL WHAT THE HELL

they couldn’t phone ewan mcgregor for a yung hot jesus obi wan cameo? i’d be into it

LUKE’S FOOT NOT SHOWING A RED PRINT THAT’S WHEN I KNEW HE WASN’T THERE

kylo: .........i’ll destroy the girl

luke: no you wont

kylo: yeah no i wont u right u right

LUKE AND LEIA OH MY GODDDD the GRAVITAS of mark and carrie!!! it was so beautiful

when kylo gave an order and hux repeated it super loud and kylo GAVE HIM THE WILDEST SIDE EYE I FUCKING CHOOOOKEKEKKEKEKED

i’m glad somewhere along the way they realised hux is like the biggest joke character lmfao

bye phasma

finn’s storyline really god sidelined this movie huh? i loved rose a LOT and i loved them together but did we need the poe plot like really

all the scenes with the og trio have been so layered and beautiful you can

though i thought luke died in the fire and it was his force ghost not him like force astral projecting lmao

LUKE WALKING OUT OF THE RED SMOKE FROM THE GUNFIRE DDDAMMMMNN

‘do you think you got him????????’ KDBFKSHDFKHDS

ooof that final confrontation scene though

damn right you should apologise luke lmfao

SEE YA, KID

kylo’s anger in the last third is just wooooof like he thinks he can destroy every person and every remnant that rejected him but he’s just running on his own anger until he realises luke isn’t really there and there’s nothing else for him to fight

OOOOF

THE BINARY SUNSET

that GOT me i was verklempt

rey and poe meeting was cute

i hope they’re not setting up a love triangle cause like that shit is tiiirrreeeedddd

i like finn and rey and also finn and rose like im happy to go down whatever road they take

THAT FINAL SCENE

SNOKE WAS WAY FUCKING DEAD BUT THEY WERE

STILL

CONNECTED

HIM BENEATH HER ABOVE

YES BITCH LOOK AT EACH OTHER

and shutting the door but like the FALCON

I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S GONNA BE TWO MORE YEARS

is the fucking novelization out yet?

or the script?

i want to swim in this movie god stay tuned as my thoughts #develop and #grow

#star wars spoilers #the last jedi spoilers #spoilers #tlj spoilers #I DON'T WANT TO SPOIL ANYONE #i can't BELIEVE i lasted like FOUR DAYS without getting spoiled #but i'm so glad #it was such a joy to watch #star wars #i've been GRINNING like an IDIOT all afternoon and night like this movie has made my YYYYEAR #RIAN JOHNSON SAVING 2017 LATE IN THE GAME

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