Yeah, those leaks about Finn and Poe going off on an unrelated subplot are bloody bs. It’s A. too early for leaks with the filming timeline and B. John and Daisy already confirmed they’d be shooting together, and that will talks that John and Adam were sword training together and that Gleeson said he had been filming with Adam so far, I think it’s safe to say that any leaks of separation are Reylow propaganda.
Is there any kind of non-shippy fic exploring Rey and Kylo’s Force bond? Because honestly, that whole Force bond is ripe for dramatic exploration (think Ezra Bridger and Darth Maul), but it definitely throws me off any interest in reading it if there’s a mutual romantic feelings element. (I wouldn’t even be that keen on Kylo having one-sided feelings~ for Rey, given the whole “blame her for Snoke’s death and later order her ship to be shot down and also try to kill everybody in the resistance” thing.)
Honestly, the Force bond stuff has a lot of fic potential for not-at-all-romantic Rey and Kylo. Not something I’d want to see in episode IX, but in fic it would be fascinating to explore the idea that Rey tapping into Kylo’s Force-abilities is something that can be affected and even stopped… and that Rey might have to re-learn how to do certain things in the Force for herself once the Force-bond is severed. Or that Kylo could tap into what Rey knows by using that Force-bond, and he attempts to harm the Resistance with what he learns.
People posting fic to AO3 need to learn that the & represents a non-romantic connection. In other words: there are multiple reylo fics using the tag Rey & Kylo Ren that should instead be tagged Rey/Kylo Ren.
Seriously there is not enough genfic about Rey and Kylo, and not enough genfic in general though that’s another (if related) complaint. Her becoming more powerful through the Force Bond is in fact an interesting idea that should have been shown and dealt with in the movie, and I think it also serves as a metaphor for the way people can hesitate to cut off unhealthy ties because they gain something through them–including survival itself. Like maybe Kylo threatens to cut the bond himself when Rey rejects his offer, warning her that she will lose her accelerated learning and will be defeated, giving her a real choice to make and actual suspense. She would in fact start losing, but the ship getting cut in half would save her much like the planet falling apart in TFA saved him. And then there would be other fallout later, Rey has to find harder but ultimately more lasting ways to train, Kylo uses information he gleaned from the Bond as you say. Like, give me actual consequences, choices, and tension. I did like that the idea of Kylo Ren as some poor misunderstood woobie was thoroughly trashed and Rey had one of the better arcs in the movie having to grow beyond her insecurities that he preyed on, but the execution was weak compared to the potential of the idea.
While on the topic of Finn, it occurred to me today that he does exactly what Kylo’s family/Rey wants Benny Boy to do: reject the First Order and find his place along the “good guys.” Now, this could be completely unrelated, BUT maybe Finn rejecting the First Order and becoming a “good guy” (I honestly don’t know why I feel the need to use quotation marks for this) is foreshadowing of Kylo’s story or maybe a parallel of some sorts? Regardless, Kylo and Finn start out the trilogy in pretty similar positions and then go down very different paths from that point. I’m hoping they have some sort of interaction that highlights the similarities of their stories in Episode IX cause Finn and Kylo actually have a lot in common.
Finn and Kylo are each others’ foils, as they contrast each other in every way.
Finn is not a device for Kylo’s story, he’s a protagonist, so I highly doubt his story is meant to foreshadow Kylo becoming a “good guy.”
Kylo highlights Finn’s heroism, not the other way around. If anything, Finn’s story highlights Kylo’s lack of anything resembling heroism, because Kylo was actually handed freedom from the FO on a silver platter multiple times and refused, while Finn, who made the choice to leave all on his own, had to fight his way out, and put himself at a grave risk by leaving.
There is one sense in which Finn’s choice might be seen as a foreshadowing for Kylo’s redemption: A mistaken one, and it was done in TLJ. Rey’s goal of bringing Kylo to the Light and her belief that he would turn make a lot more sense if she was thinking of Finn and how he turned away from evil. Except Kylo yet again proved himself to be the opposite of Finn and made their contrasts all the clearer. So, in my opinion, the foreshadowing that op theorized about has already been played with and discarded.
I’m also curious, what do Finn and Kylo Ren have in common? I’ve actually tried to think of something, anything, and didn’t come up with much. For the most part I only see contrasts.
Contrasts:
Birth and background: Stolen from a family he never knew/Grew up with loving parents and uncles galore
Personality: Exceptional empathy considered to be his only problem/Showed signs of entitlement and violence
Affiliation: Left an evil organization/Voluntarily joined one
Circumstances of changing sides: Refused to kill innocents/Willingly killed innocents
Relationship with Poe: Rescue, friendship/Capture, torture
Relationship with Rey: Helping, affirming/Hurting, tearing down
Endgame with abuser: Refuted Phasma’s abusive training/tried to continue Snoke’s abuse with Rey in his old role
Commonalities:
Left family for an education–but only if we reeeeallly stretch the definition of “left” and “education” in Finn’s case
Both considered exceptional and talented in training–which is not saying much tbh, action movie heroes and villains tend to be extraordinary individuals
Went from a place of doubt to certainty: The only commonality I can really see, if we interpret Kylo Ren’s internal conflict as doubt.
So I’m not seeing “a lot” in common, personally, maybe I’m missing something.
It’s finally done! Thanks for sharing my artwork! (Moth)
I think it’s become all but imperative for anything like a realistic Resistance victory after Johnson killed off all but a dozen of the Resistance in TLJ. The Resistance is toast if they can’t shave off the FO’s numerical advantage. It would give Finn a meaningful plot that isn’t just busywork, would bring his and Kylo’s enmity to a head (you thought Kylo hated Finn in TFA? Wait until Finn dissolves his little wannabe Empire from under his feet), would bring the series full circle from the enslavement of the Clones, would give the culturally iconic imagery of the Stormtroopers a whole new and positive meaning, making for something actually subversive and new, AND would be excellent fodder for post-IX shows and comics. Honestly it would be a giant missed opportunity on so many levels if they passed on a Trooper uprising.
Sorry to hijack your post, but there’s actually a fantastic art print like that GIF & you best 100% believe that my petty ass bought it 😂 The artist is Brett Bennett & his Instagram handle is @brettsartworld 😁
Re-posting this cause the original video was uploaded wrong and the link was broken, so if you saw the original and liked it please check this one out!
This is my tribute to Finn and Kylo’s foil dynamic and how their journeys through the movies parallel and contrast each other. I poured a lot of my crazy energy into this and I hope you guys like it!
So going by hints on social media it seems that Adam is in Jordan too. So we could be getting a return to Jakku for not just Finn and Rey, but for Kylo too.
Or course there might be something in that old Imperial base that the First Order wants.
Or maybe Kylo is once more chasing Finn and Rey while they’re trying to find or save something or someone.
Or given that the late post-Palpatine Empire or early First Order depending on how you look at it was tied to a Dark Side sect called The Acolytes of the Void as well as the fact that that base was where the FO Stomtrooper program was born there might be secrets for both Finn and Rey to uncover and information that Kylo would want for himself and the Knights of Ren and any encounter between the three is entirely by chance. Though given Kylo’s hatred of both Finn and Rey that would be bound to end in violence.
~Mod Mara
“hatred of Finn and Rey” That’s… did you watch the movies? He most certainly doesn’t hate Rey and Finn is pretty much too indifferent for him to hate (unless he’s standing between him & Rey).
Yes I watched them, but clearly you didn’t. Or just blanked entirely on them.
You… kinda missed Kylo’s hate on for Finn in TFA. It had nothing to do with Rey, but accepting that means accepting that Finn is the central, male lead and you guys just can’t handle that.
And you missed that entire bit where Kylo tried to kill Rey at the end of TLJ after she rejects him, orders his troops to blow the Falcon out of the sky knowing she’s on board and he straight up promises to destroy her when confronting Luke.
But dream on. Take your ignorance, racism and misogyny elsewhere.
I mean Kylo stared for an uncomfortably long time at Finn on Jakku and intimidated him by unfreezing Poe’s blaster bolt, immediately came up with Finn’s designation number when Hux mentioned the escaped pilot, and destroyed a whole console at the mention of Finn all before he had ever heard of Rey, but sure he only cares about Finn when Rey is involved 😂
L.J.'s Obsessions 