“Force users, they’re so arrogant. They think this war is all about them.”
Rey and Kylo Ren – two halves of the same protagonist. But if they’re both right, then who is wrong?
What if the face of true evil wears an entirely different kind of mask? What if it’s something with impossibly deep roots – a corruption so insidious, it could hide itself in plain sight? What if it’s the very same military industrial complex needed to fight this war in the first place?
What if it’s simply… greed?
War is a Machine, internally combusting and turning itself over. Is balancing the Force enough to stop it?
Is saving what we love even enough?
Doesn’t mean they’re not going to try…
Rating and Tags: Fandom: Star Wars (Post TLJ) Canon Compliant Chapter Rating: GA, Teen & Up (eventual smut will be in a separate piece) Relationships Kylo Ren (Ben Solo) / Rey, Finn / Rose Tico Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Eventual Romance, Sexual Tension, Redeemed Ben Solo, Plot Driven, Adventure, Episode IX
“So it comes down to that, does it? That’s what this war is all about now. This is what we’re fighting for. Bank ledgers. Profit margins. And one stupid artifact.”
Would you like for me to tag you in future updates? I’m beyond thrilled to do so – just give me a holler and I’ll slap you on the list in a very sexy-yet-consensual sort of way!
“Force users, they’re so arrogant. They think this war is all about them.”
Rey and Kylo Ren – two halves of the same protagonist. But if they’re both right, then who is wrong?
What if the face of true evil wears an entirely different kind of mask? What if it’s something with impossibly deep roots – a corruption so insidious, it could hide itself in plain sight? What if it’s the very same military industrial complex needed to fight this war in the first place?
What if it’s simply… greed?
War is a Machine, internally combusting and turning itself over. Is balancing the Force enough to stop it?
Is saving what we love even enough?
Doesn’t mean they’re not going to try…
Rating and Tags: Fandom: Star Wars (Post TLJ) Canon Compliant Chapter Rating: GA, Teen & Up (eventual smut will be in a separate piece) Relationships Kylo Ren (Ben Solo) / Rey, Finn / Rose Tico Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Eventual Romance, Sexual Tension, Redeemed Ben Solo, Plot Driven, Adventure, Episode IX
Would you like for me to tag you in future updates? I’m beyond thrilled to do so – just give me a holler and I’ll slap you on the list in a very sexy-yet-consensual sort of way!
and I’m so happy a lot of Reylo authors decided to stay on Tumblr because I’m too lazy to learn Twitter. Thank you to the authors who still update on Tumblr so we can see what’s out there! I’m super busy this month, but I’m subscribed and looking forward to catching up to so many stories as I have time! I’d hate for our writing community to fall apart with so many people leaving Tumblr (not criticizing – people need to do what they feel they must). It is just easier for me to find stories and synopsis of plots here for recommendations.
I came to Tumblr for the Reylo stories, so I’m glad not all of our community has left! My blog is still mostly about promoting Reylo stories (my own when I’m working on it, but I’m sort of on hiatus from writing this month), and I try to get other authors work out there. I’ll continue to do that, so if you are feeling lost about how to find stories, I’m one of the blogs that follows Reylo stories. And there are others, like @nancylovesreylo who also do this, so Tumblr is still a good place to find your AO3 Reylo fanfic recommendations!
I hope all of us, readers and authors (and some of us who are both) can hang tough during all this transition so we keep the focus on the stories! I don’t know how people are producing content in December, but hats off to you and I’ll reblog you!
I will be here! I’m also on Twitter, same username.
Yay!!! I’m glad there’s still a presence on Tumblr. Actually, there’s not exactly less activity on my dash, but I’m seeing more reblogged stories which was my primary reason for being here in the first place anyway, so that’s good. I know people are ticked off about the Tumblr restrictions, but this is my place to network with authors and find out about new stories, and I honestly think we can still do that without leaving. I’ll have to stop dropping the F bomb, but that’s a sacrifice I can live with! 🙂
Someone asked the question of if they could send me a story to promote. Usually I like to be reading a story I recommend, but I’ll scan the first few chapters. What is helpful is if you could PM me and tell me:
1. What’s the appropriate age group
2. Are there triggers I need to give a heads up about
3. If you can kind of fill me in beyond the summary of what direction it’s going, because since this is December and because I’ve got an illness, I don’t have time to read new stories. I will scan the first few chapters before recommending, though. If you can help me understand the gist of the story in a PM, I can promote it better.
4. If there is underage Rey (under 18) and older Kylo/Ben in any kind of relationship, I don’t promote those. I’m not trying to be judgmental, but we had an abduction here of a teacher that got close to a student that way in my town (and this could apply to boss/employee etc) and it just hits home for me, so I stay away from those.
5. If it’s dark, kinky, explicit, etc., that’s fine, just tell me so I can suggest younger readers pass on it – there are plenty of older readers who will enjoy it!
I know only TOO well how hard it is to build up an audience and I’m happy to do my part to showcase new authors. And also, keep in mind it is December and a lot of people are out shopping, decorating, going to parties etc. and it may be a slow month for stories. I know I’m personally not going to be focusing as much time on it this month, but I’ll resume reading and commenting in January! Reblogs I can do, though!
You are a darling angel. This fandom doesn’t deserve you ❤
First off – if you’re someone who can’t handle reading about mental problems, abusive situations, and the whole host of things that come attached to those, don’t read this. You’ve been warned.
This is a deeply personal meta for me, not only because this was something I wrote alongside the most recent chapter of Footnotes (where I did a lot of speculating on Whatever Happened to Baby Ben), but because I drew a lot from my own personal experience. A lot of thoughts I have here are probably similar to what many of of us have had who connected deeply with Kylo/Ben as a character. I’m by no means a mental health professional, everything here is anecdotal from my own life and experience as an educator. This is also SUPER long, so there’s another warning for you. I really don’t even expect people to read this, but I figured I already wrote all this, so what the hell. Here goes.
Ben Solo was a Troubled Child. Capital T and C. Because he was literally present since his infancy, how much Snoke impacted his becoming a Troubled Child is something we’ll never know. It’s entirely possible that he would have been a Troubled Child without his influence, though perhaps not as dramatically. I am both a former Troubled Child myself, and a teacher of many, many Troubled Children over the last several years, and think I can loan some insight on how things went just so, so wrong:
Ben Solo was a Troubled Child without an advocate.
Ben Solo was strategically isolated by Snoke.
Ben Solo will be redeemed because of Rey’s actions as his advocate.
I know so many of you are thinking “But Leia! Han! Luke! Ben Solo was a privileged child who had everything!” – let me back up and explain.
So, my friend @reyloisthelastjedi recently finished reading the Star Wars: Thrawn novel and was finally able to understand why I had changed my username from Reylo-n-starwars to Thrawn-Created-Reylo. And it was during this moment of realization that she took her fangirling here to tumblr and had sparked some interest in my silly theory.
So, for those of you who don’t want to read through another book and dig too deeply into such small fragments of possible Reylo goodness, I have taken the time to summarize the theory here for all of you to read without needing to dive into the Thrawn novel. (Though I highly recommend it, especially if you watched Rebels.)
Spoilers, of course, for the Thrawn novels, TLJ novel and Star Wars: Rebels ahead!
From the ashes, a fire shall be woken. A light from the shadow shall spring. Renewed shall be blade that was broken. The crownless again shall be king.
This speculation/meta can be tacked onto my Hearts of Kyber as I will be going into further detail of why I think Anakin’s/Legacy Saber will be mended/made into something new in Episode IX. Again this is all for fun and I really don’t know if this going to happen. I’m just making predictions and what I think may happen in the future Star Wars film. More below the cut!
So before I went over what kyber crystals are and how they “choose” their owners based on what we’ve seen already in Star Wars Lore. What I’m going to go over is how the Legacy Saber is based off story tropes, motifs, and mythology. There are few things that have been in all three trilogies so far. Two of them have been R2-D2 and C3PO which I find fascinating cause they’ve been in all the films (what if they are the ones retelling the story at the end of all of this). Another is Anakin’s saber. The only movies it is not in is EP I: The Phantom Menace and EP VI: Return Of The Jedi. In Ep I it was not made yet and in Ep V it was lost after Luke’s duel with Vader. What I find interesting about Anakin’s first saber is that it is “The Chosen One’s” lightsaber. This was the kyber crystal that was attuned to Anakin who was prophesied to bring Balance to the Force hence The Chosen One. But the sword was taken from him by Obi Wan after he lost to their duel on Mustafar. In a way, this follows the trope of a weapon failing its owner cause they were not worthy. Remember Kyber crystals are naturally light side attuned and there is a reason the Sith bleed their sabers, because a Jedi’s saber would resist or not always obey a dark side user. So they force their will on the crystal, thus turning it red and dominating it. Now we haven’t seen direct evidence of a saber not heeding a dark sider’s call except maybe we have…
Oh yeeeeaaaah…
Funny how “The Chosen One’s” saber would only answer the Force pull of Rey’s and not Kylo’s in The Force Awakens. I love that this is calling back the pulling the sword from the stone. This trope has been around forever and what makes me believe the Legacy saber had its inspiration from two swords from mythology. I believe it shares its inspiration that also inspire Tolkien’s Narsil/Andúril.
One sword that is the inspiration is Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur and where the sword and stone comes from. Excalibur has two origin stories one where Arthur pulls the sword from the anvil and stone from the Merlin story. The other is it’s given to Arthur by the Lady in the Lake, but we’ll focus on the former instead of the later. The sword stuck in something and only the worthy may pull it out is so old a myth that it pops up several times. There is even a saint with a similar story attached to it, the Legend of the Sword in the Stone of San Galgano.
The other sword that inspired Tolkien and I think the Legacy Saber is Sigmund’s sword, Gram from Norse mythology. What’s funny about this sword was it too was stuck into something and only the worthy owner can pull it. It was placed into a tree by Odin and any one who could pull it out can keep it as a gift and would find that it was the finest sword ever held. Sigmund was the only one who was able to pull it out. Later it was broken in half in Sigmund’s last battle and his wife saved the pieces as the sword was suppose to be passed down to their son, Sigurd. Their son reforges the sword and slays a dragon with the new Gram. There’s more to this mythology but it is a saga, the Völsunga saga to be exact and I highly recommend looking it up if you would like to find out more.
What is neat about the Reforged Blade trope is the symbolism of it. Taking something from the past and making something new and/or repairing it. I feel this going to be part of the message going into Episode IX.
These new Star Wars films had a tough task with transitioning of the old characters to the new generation. The Prequels didn’t have this issue as they were working from characters from the Original Trilogy and fleshing out their backstories to how they become how they were in Episode IV, V, and VI. The Skywalker Saga is a Generational Saga and is following its similar format with three distinct generations.
1. The first-generation protagonist is an immigrant.
Anakin Skywalker was born a slave in a world outside of the Republic control and is brought into the Jedi Order. He is taught by Obi Wan and the Order. He fights for the Republic and the Jedi Order under it morphs into the Empire and starts the major conflict.
2. The second-generation protagonist are assimilated in the host culture.
Luke Skywalker grows up on Tatooine knowing only the control of the Empire even though it doesn’t affect his life until two rebel Droids show up throwing him into the conflict. He learns to be a Jedi like his father before him and takes up their cause. His twin sister Leia is a princess from Alderaan who is already fighting for the Rebel cause and joins Luke in helping to bring down the Empire.
3. The third-generation protagonist learn to appreciate their ancestral heritage.
Ben Solo, son of Leia and Han, has his past hidden by his parents and Luke who do not tell him of his grandfather’s history fully. Ben falls to the Dark Side like his grandfather and relates more to him for he feels alienated by his intermediate family. He is now at the stance that the past should be erased cause for him it just causes pain and turmoil. Rey has hidden her own past from herself because it is too painful. She uses the stories of old to help her carry on and give her hope. Finn had his past stripped from him as he was stolen as a child by the First Order. He ran away from the First Order when he couldn’t kill for them. He too draws hope from the past, but hasn’t come to terms with his own past.
The whole Sequel trilogy is the new generation coming to terms with their own past and the past generations. Let’s take the message that Kylo Ren was pushing in TLJ at the beginning.
“Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.”
We already know that he will be proven wrong since Luke’s sacrifice already showed this. He thought as Kylo did that the Jedi should end because of the errors they did. But he learned that it is the mistakes of the past that helps make and bring new answers and solutions for the future. Like Yoda said of the new generation
“They are what we grow beyond.”
The broken Legacy Saber represents the past. A past that had mistakes made and wounded others. That is why I believe it will be made into something new using the broken pieces. Mended and healing the wounds of old. The Saber will be what ties the past to the future.
This new Trilogy has been hard on some in the fandom. It challenged the past films, but I think many misconstrue that what TLJ was saying was that it should be thrown out. No, what it was trying to say was that the Jedi and heroes of old were flawed and made mistakes. But these mistakes are what will help the next generation learn and grow. It’s a hard lesson and its uncomfortable to have someone you idolize not only not take center stage after a long period, but to point out they are flawed. However that does not make them any less of heroes.
TLJ had a lot dark turns and was pretty bleak, but it has to be so the end film can be more satisfying with its conclusion.
Reblogging cause I’m tend to post my metas/speculations at odd times and I keep forgetting to tag those that might be interested in it. So let me do that:
A sword, broken by a father, repaired by a mother and given to a son. It makes me think of Anakin trusting his lightsaber to Padmé, and how we could draw parallels between her and Rey, another mother figure to be, that could heal the Skywalker legacy in behalf of Padmé.
Good one, very interesting read and I love this take on the ST is what grows beyond the OT and PT… Arguably, since it has so many parallels I think it is more what grows beyond the PT, the PT being the source of so much criticism and often seen as a disappointment, aka failure of sorts… so, yea, I love this parallel…
“Force users, they’re so arrogant. They think this war is all about them.”
Rey and Kylo Ren – two halves of the same protagonist. But if they’re both right, then who is wrong?
What if the face of true evil wears an entirely different kind of mask? What if it’s something with impossibly deep roots – a corruption so insidious, it could hide itself in plain sight? What if it’s the very same military industrial complex needed to fight this war in the first place?
What if it’s simply… greed?
War is a Machine, internally combusting and turning itself over. Is balancing the Force enough to stop it?
Is saving what we love even enough?
Doesn’t mean they’re not going to try…
Rating and Tags: Fandom: Star Wars (Post TLJ) Canon Compliant Chapter Rating: GA, Teen & Up (eventual smut will be in a separate piece) Relationships Kylo Ren (Ben Solo) / Rey, Finn / Rose Tico Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Eventual Romance, Sexual Tension, Redeemed Ben Solo, Plot Driven, Adventure, Episode IX
“So it comes down to that, does it? That’s what this war is all about now. This is what we’re fighting for. Bank ledgers. Profit margins. And one stupid artifact.”
Would you like for me to tag you in future updates? I’m beyond thrilled to do so – just give me a holler and I’ll slap you on the list in a very sexy-yet-consensual sort of way!
Vespaer's Dark Side 