Tag: rey

jewishcomeradebot:

lj-writes:

jewishcomeradebot:

All that fracas about my Finnrey meta has kinda made me want to write one about how Rey’s arc in TFA and TLJ is about growing up and letting go of childish things, her longing for her family and her belief that they cared about her and step into the adult world of responsibilities. But that it’s still emotionally satisfying because it does give her what she originally wanted, someone who loves her and comes back for her in Finn. It’s just not in the way she originally thought it would be.

And that when she meets Finn again at the end of TLJ it’s no longer as the child who seeks to run off and have her fairy tale happy ending without consequences or responsibilities, but as a young woman with commitments and responsibilities of her own.

People will point to her insistence that they see the BB-8 mission through in TFA as proof that she was already responsible and a grownup–but that wasn’t what was going on. She was bound by her desire to go back to Jakku, not commitment to the Resistance’s cause. She was looking to be her parents’ child again, not a grownup responsible for others. This is completely understandable and sympathetic because she had her childhood ripped from her and never got to be protected and cherished the way children should be. It’s very hard to grow up when you weren’t able to be a child first, and Rey’s story in many ways is about that difficult journey.

I never got that argument. When Rey runs off from Maz’s castle in TFA BB-8 follows her and corners her when she stops. 

Rey: What are you doing?

BB-8: *clearly wants to know what she’s up to*

Rey: You have to go back.

BB-8: *asks something*

Rey: I’m leaving

BB-8: *wants to come with her*

Rey: You can’t. You have to go back, you’re too important.

This doesn’t sound like someone who’s prepared to invest in the Resistance and who’s already ditched the idea of going back to Jakku. She’s at this point, which comes after the Force back and after Finn has left too, literally saying to BB-8 that she’s going back and not to the Resistance.

She was willing to take the droid to the Resistance, with Finn. I think that’s the crucial point for her. He was the first person who showed any kind of concern for her, but now he’s gone and with him her reason for staying and moving on with the mission.

And notice she only gave “we have to complete the mission” as a reason when she still thought Finn was a Resistance fighter. She thought invoking the Resistance’s mission would get him to stay because that’s what he was committed to do. Once he revealed he wasn’t Resistance she no longer brought up the mission because it no longer mattered to her, as you point out. This wasn’t irresponsible or heartless of her; thanks to her efforts, BB-8 already had people to take him back to the Resistace. Now that she had gotten BB to this point it wasn’t her concern anymore, Finn was. And with Finn lost to her she was going to go back to her hopeless waiting, the only chance she had at being loved and cared for again. And then Kylo Ren appeared, the dark Cupid that brought them back together

Also lmao this means Finnrey as a romance, unlike Reylow, passes the “Twilight test,” excerpted by @elaine-spades (link): the female protagonist wants something for herself, is proactive about getting it, and succeeds or fails as a result. The poster in the excerpt even says helping Finn would have been a valid motivation for Rey, but RJ had to be too clever by half and make it obscure as hell. I don’t blame the audience for not getting it, another case of “color-blind” writing not working out as @diversehighfantasy has discussed in Screw the Slow Burn (link).

jewishcomeradebot:

lj-writes:

jewishcomeradebot:

I don’t understand the people who say that Kylo would have worked better if he had been a random, I really don’t. Kylo’s connection to the Skywalker bloodline, along with the lack of clear motive for his actions, is the entire point.

See, he’s a Nazi.

Okay, so technically he’s an allegory for a neo-Nazi in a space fantasy setting, but given that this hellsite has a distinct difficulty with complex concepts I’ll keep it simple. He’s a Nazi.

Why did Nazis do what they did? Why do neo-Nazis do what they do?

If you peel away all the embellishments and propaganda it comes right down to this: they see themselves as having a special legacy, a special bloodline to protect and they have a right to do so because they feel they’ve been chosen.

JJ has said that the early concept of Jedikiller only started working when they made him connected to the Skywalker bloodline, to the chosen family in Star Wars.

Kylo’s motivation, like that of all Nazis, is that he’s doing this because he belongs to the chosen people and thus have a right to rule. Not because he’s qualified, but because he belongs to the destined people.

No it’s not deep or complex, but it was never meant to be. Kylo is an antagonist and one JJ always meant to emulate a neo-Nazi. Giving him complex motivation would have detracted from this and, like with the real life equivalent, made it possible to justify what he’s doing because he has X, Y, Z motivation. Instead JJ gave him the most basic motivation of Nazis, he’s right because he’s chosen and because he has the strength to do what he does.

It’s not glorious. It’s pathetic, sad and ultimately someone who’s irredeemable. Not because he couldn’t choose differently than he does but because it’s not a motivation that makes anyone want to see him redeemed.

Of course, even people who sees Kylo as a villain and antagonist have a really hard time accepting him being a Nazi, so maybe this view isn’t really that surprising.

I mean the actor himself told us that Kylo Ren is an elitist (link), it’s not that deep people.

[Adam Driver] refuses to see his character as bratty. “There is a little bit of an
elitist, royalty thing going on,” he says, reminding us that the
character’s estranged mom is “the princess. I think he’s aware of maybe
the privilege.”

Cass Sunstein has criticized TLJ in part because Kylo didn’t fall due to losing a loved one (link), but maybe that’s because… Kylo is no Anakin… and is not nearly as sympathetic?

Mr. Dark Side, Kylo Ren, does have a bit of a struggle, and in that
sense, Johnson maintains continuity with Lucas’s vision. But in this
movie, at least, the struggle turns out to be a head fake. Because
Kylo’s descent doesn’t have the precipitating cause of Anakin’s – the
loss of loved ones – and because we don’t see Kylo suppressing the
better angels of his nature, the film doesn’t come anywhere close to the
depths of Lucas’s films.

If anyone is positioned as the new Anakin–but with a happy ending–it’s Rey, in struggling with the loss of loved ones, or at least her idea of them, and also in resisting manipulation by her would-be abusive mentor Kylo where Anakin fell to Palpatine’s manipulation. It’s interesting that Sunstein couldn’t recognize this story when it manifested in a female character, though to be sure it’s a common enough blind spot and RJ didn’t make it easy for anyone.

Precisely.

People, not just Cass here, are obsessed with having Kylo be the next Vader/Anakin, but he isn’t. Not to mention they’re even more obsessed with the reason why he fell to the Dark Side than they are with Rey’s parentage.

But let me ask you something. Did we know why Anakin fell in the OT? No, we didn’t, because the reason for it wasn’t relevant to Luke for whom Vader was a foil.

Is it relevant to Finn or to Rey why Kylo fell? So far we’ve been given not a single reason why this information should be relevant to either of them, so I don’t get why people are so upset about not knowing.

Except as yet another case of prioritizing the white guy over the two actual leads in the ST. Kylo’s motives for turning to the Dark are no more interesting or relevant to the narrative than Vader’s were in the OT. It’s not a plot hole, it’s not a flaw in the storytelling, it’s intentional. Only the parts of Kylo and his actions that are pertinent to Finn and Rey are relevant to the story, and unless someone can come up with a good reason why either of them should remotely care about it it’s going to remain irrelevant.

It’s why I was so attached to the idea of Rey Solo, I admit, because it would reconcile Kylo being like Anakin with the reason for his fall being relevant to Rey. The why would tie into Rey’s story while the how would directly contrast with Finn’s.

But it looks like the ST is going to go the route of only the how being relevant to both Rey and Finn. Rey at the end of TFA and even more throughout TLJ is where Kylo used to be, only to make different choices: she was chosen and groomed by a powerful Dark Force user while vulnerable and alone, but unlike Kylo she told the guy to fuck all the way off and chose to stand with her friends, not murder them. Finn throughout TFA and TLJ continues to present a direct contrast to Kylo Ren at every point, from backgrounds to choices to responses to abuse.

Rey is the one who could have been Kylo, had Kylo succeeded in his efforts. Finn is the one who stands in complete opposition to Kylo, and Kylo hates him for it.

This only strengthens the Finnrey/Anidala feels, by the way. Anakin/Rey was Palpatine/Kylo’s chosen victim-apprentice, but where Anakin chose the darkness and servitude Rey chose the light and freedom. Padmé/Finn was Palpatine/Kylo’s rival and enemy, but where Palpatine succeeded in destroying Padmé Kylo failed because where Anakin turned against Padmé, Rey was steadfast in her loyalty to Finn. We have no idea and no reason to care why Palpatine fell other than his desire for power, and the same is true of Kylo.

jewishcomeradebot:

All that fracas about my Finnrey meta has kinda made me want to write one about how Rey’s arc in TFA and TLJ is about growing up and letting go of childish things, her longing for her family and her belief that they cared about her and step into the adult world of responsibilities. But that it’s still emotionally satisfying because it does give her what she originally wanted, someone who loves her and comes back for her in Finn. It’s just not in the way she originally thought it would be.

And that when she meets Finn again at the end of TLJ it’s no longer as the child who seeks to run off and have her fairy tale happy ending without consequences or responsibilities, but as a young woman with commitments and responsibilities of her own.

People will point to her insistence that they see the BB-8 mission through in TFA as proof that she was already responsible and a grownup–but that wasn’t what was going on. She was bound by her desire to go back to Jakku, not commitment to the Resistance’s cause. She was looking to be her parents’ child again, not a grownup responsible for others. This is completely understandable and sympathetic because she had her childhood ripped from her and never got to be protected and cherished the way children should be. It’s very hard to grow up when you weren’t able to be a child first, and Rey’s story in many ways is about that difficult journey.

jewishcomeradebot:

I don’t understand the people who say that Kylo would have worked better if he had been a random, I really don’t. Kylo’s connection to the Skywalker bloodline, along with the lack of clear motive for his actions, is the entire point.

See, he’s a Nazi.

Okay, so technically he’s an allegory for a neo-Nazi in a space fantasy setting, but given that this hellsite has a distinct difficulty with complex concepts I’ll keep it simple. He’s a Nazi.

Why did Nazis do what they did? Why do neo-Nazis do what they do?

If you peel away all the embellishments and propaganda it comes right down to this: they see themselves as having a special legacy, a special bloodline to protect and they have a right to do so because they feel they’ve been chosen.

JJ has said that the early concept of Jedikiller only started working when they made him connected to the Skywalker bloodline, to the chosen family in Star Wars.

Kylo’s motivation, like that of all Nazis, is that he’s doing this because he belongs to the chosen people and thus have a right to rule. Not because he’s qualified, but because he belongs to the destined people.

No it’s not deep or complex, but it was never meant to be. Kylo is an antagonist and one JJ always meant to emulate a neo-Nazi. Giving him complex motivation would have detracted from this and, like with the real life equivalent, made it possible to justify what he’s doing because he has X, Y, Z motivation. Instead JJ gave him the most basic motivation of Nazis, he’s right because he’s chosen and because he has the strength to do what he does.

It’s not glorious. It’s pathetic, sad and ultimately someone who’s irredeemable. Not because he couldn’t choose differently than he does but because it’s not a motivation that makes anyone want to see him redeemed.

Of course, even people who sees Kylo as a villain and antagonist have a really hard time accepting him being a Nazi, so maybe this view isn’t really that surprising.

I mean the actor himself told us that Kylo Ren is an elitist (link), it’s not that deep people.

[Adam Driver] refuses to see his character as bratty. “There is a little bit of an
elitist, royalty thing going on,” he says, reminding us that the
character’s estranged mom is “the princess. I think he’s aware of maybe
the privilege.”

Cass Sunstein has criticized TLJ in part because Kylo didn’t fall due to losing a loved one (link), but maybe that’s because… Kylo is no Anakin… and is not nearly as sympathetic?

Mr. Dark Side, Kylo Ren, does have a bit of a struggle, and in that
sense, Johnson maintains continuity with Lucas’s vision. But in this
movie, at least, the struggle turns out to be a head fake. Because
Kylo’s descent doesn’t have the precipitating cause of Anakin’s – the
loss of loved ones – and because we don’t see Kylo suppressing the
better angels of his nature, the film doesn’t come anywhere close to the
depths of Lucas’s films.

If anyone is positioned as the new Anakin–but with a happy ending–it’s Rey, in struggling with the loss of loved ones, or at least her idea of them, and also in resisting manipulation by her would-be abusive mentor Kylo where Anakin fell to Palpatine’s manipulation. It’s interesting that Sunstein couldn’t recognize this story when it manifested in a female character, though to be sure it’s a common enough blind spot and RJ didn’t make it easy for anyone.

jewishcomeradebot:

Finn and Rey are Padmé and Anakin, only with a happy ending.

Their story so far has many of the same beats as Anakin’s and Padmé’s had in TPM and AotC. 

In the first installment of the story Rey (Anakin) is trapped in a life of servitude on a desert planet. While she might not be a slave exactly, she comes across as a form of indentured servant. 

Finn is the rebel against the status quo, the way Padmé rebelled at the stagnation and indifference of the Senate and at the end of the day will take matters into their own hands and resort to armed might to set things right, when the large galaxy appears to don’t give a fuck about their issues.

In part two, they’re kept apart. Where what kept Padmé and Anakin apart was social strictures and rules, Finn and Rey are kept apart physically. But in both cases both of them are yearning to be with each other against all the odds.

Their reunification after the battle is as tender and passionate as Anakin’s and Padmé’s after the Battle of Geonosis. They rush to each other and hold on tight, finally in the arms of the person they love.

But unlike Padmé and Anakin, Finn and Rey don’t have to hide. There are no strict Jedi masters spouting a dogma against romance to tell Rey she can’t show the love she feels for Finn. And Finn’s position in the Resistance as a leader and hero is not at odds with him loving and showing love, for Rey.

So though we lack an actual wedding scene I wonder if in Episode IX we’ll be presented with Finn’s and Rey’s romantic relationship as a already given entity, they’re simply presented as a couple from the beginning. Or if the confession of their love will happen very early instead.

Either way, it would make the most sense if the two of them spend most if not all of the movie as a couple and we see them navigate the obstacles of an ongoing war alongside the obstacle they face as a couple, the same way we see it with Anakin and Padmé in RotS. Only in this case Finn and Rey will have the happy ending Anakin’s obsession denied him and Padmé.

YES I’VE BEEN SAYING THIS FOREVER. Finn and Rey are genderflipped Anidala with a happy ending and better lines.

Other similarities, if you go back to TPM:

– Padmé/Finn originally met Anakin/Rey under an identity they assumed for safety reasons

– Both eventual couples became friends under Padmé/Finn’s assumed identity, and Padmé/Finn willingly revealed their true identity much to Anakin/Rey’s shock

– Both couples were good friends first. This stage was much longer for Padmé and Anakin since they were children when they first met and there were 10 years between their meeting in TPM and realizing their feelings in AotC. It’s pretty clear Rey and Finn were attracted to each other almost from the moment they first met, but they still started out as friends first and foremost.

Additional similarities with AotC:

– Rey and Finn  meet at almost exactly the same ages Anakin and Padmé
were in AotC, 19/23 to Anakin and Padmé’s 19/24. Incidentally 19 is the traditional age for Skywalkers to begin their adventures as adults including meeting prospective love interests, and 23 is the traditional age for Skywalker men to choose a side

– Padmé/Finn was marked for death due to their principled actions, and Anakin/Rey became involved in the situation by order or circumstance

– Padmé/Finn went to rescue a friend (Obi-Wan/Rey) despite the threat to their lives

– The rescue did not go as envisioned and it turned out the rescuee was more than capable of handling themselves

– Padmé/Finn is slashed across the back by a monster

– There’s a heartfelt declaration by both Padmé/Finn and Anakin/Rey, though the guy made the first move in both cases (”You are in my very soul, tormenting me”/”Rey, come with me”) and the girl initially refused (”It’s impossible”/”Don’t go”) before she reciprocated in the face of almost losing him (”I’ve been dying a little bit each day”/”Thank you, my friend.” I’m not kidding about the better lines here…)

In TLJ, arguably there was a form of social stricture that kept Finn and Rey apart physically–Rose and her demand that Finn give his full allegiance to the Resistance. As I discussed in The Temptations of Finn and Rey (link), this was a callback to Finn’s being coerced to give everything to a “higher cause” his whole life. This in turn ties back to the similarities between the FO’s Stormtrooper program and the Old Republic Jedi, taking children from their families at a young age and transferring their attachment to a larger cause. I like to think Rose grew as a character and realized that she had been wrong about Finn, but RJ’s execution is so muddled it’s hard to tell ¯_(ツ)_/¯

For this reason I think there’s a chance that “will they or won’t they” will still be a thing in Episode IX. Finn and Rey ended TLJ on essentially a misunderstanding and on opposite ends from their last real talk on Takodana. For all they love each other they are still essentially strangers who spent maybe a grand total of one day together in the midst of a galactical crisis. (That’s another parallel to AotC Anidala, incidentally.) The crisis is worse than ever at the end of TLJ, providing plenty of excuse for two uncertain and traumatized people to bury themselves in work and avoid talking about things too close to their hearts.

diversehighfantasy:

lj-writes:

diversehighfantasy:

imagine-mystrade:

jewishcomeradebot:

Why does Rey intended to try and bring Kylo back to the Light? She makes it clear to Luke that she’s doing it for the Resistance’s sake when he still refuses to return after offers him the lightsaber for the second time.

But why would the Resistance ever need Kylo? Even without any kind of training Rey kicked his ass. She “borrows” Luke’s books, presumably to use them as a reading course for brushing up on Jedi skills. With that she’d be more than able to kick his ass again.

If the Resistance has her it’ll never need Kylo, Ben or whatever he might choose to call himself.

Except, the Resistance doesn’t have Rey does it?

She had no plan on joining forces with the Resistance after they deliver BB-8 to them, only wanted to go back to Jakku. In TLJ her two constants while she is with Luke is to consistently ask him to return with her and try to get information about or word to Finn. And her last words to Finn in TFA is that she believes they’ll see each other again.

In fact she seems intent on dispensing with her errand as quickly as possible so  she can return to the Resistance so she can return fast. Last she had a chance to really talk to Finn he made it clear he had no intention of becoming a part of the Resistance or stick around, for all she knows he’ll be gone the moment he’s up and about.

She has no intention of sticking around with the Resistanc, she just want someone else who can deal with all of this and when Luke refuses to return, Rey turns to Kylo as her second option. If she can turn him back to the Light then she can dump the Resistance and all this Force nonsense in his lap and fly off into the sunset  with her new boyfriend – the only living person who cared enough for her to make sure she was safe and free even at great cost to himself – and enough knowledge that she doesn’t create mishaps with her new abilities.

I think a lot of people miss this, tbh. Rey was looking to get back to Finn. You get the impression that Rey felt that the “Luke issue” was not that he was depressed, necessarily, but that he was somewhere no one could find him and that as soon as he was found and told that the First Order was killing people, he’d just come back immediately. She likely thought she’d be on Ahch-To only long enough to find Luke, tell him the deal, help him back his stuff, and then head back to the last reported position of the Resistance fleet.

It’s still bad writing for her to assume that Kylo is the last hope. Why not try to find Maz, who is Force Sensitive, though not a trained Jedi? Maz said in TFA she knows the Force, and I think she probably knew her way around a lightsaber. She’s obviously worried about Finn. He’s out of the woods in TFA (which is another continuity shitball courtesy of Rian Johnson), but not conscious. It’s clear she wants to return to him. I think she also wants to help rid the galaxy of the First Order, but I think she thought her part in it was to scoop Luke up and bring him to where he could help. The whole “There’s something inside me that’s awakened” is Rian Johnsass’s projection bullshit that had no place in this movie.

If you look at Rey as the actual protagonist of her own arc, her story is like a classic Odyssey; like Odysseus the goal is to get back home (Finn has replaced Jakku as her belonging place). She faces a string of mental and physical challenges to reaching that goal, including breaking through to an uncommunicative Luke, finding the lightsaber, learning Force control, facing herself in the cave, and, of course, Kylo Ren, who tries to Siren-song her to the Dark Side, and the physical battles with the Guards and the FO ships at Crait.

Holy shit this adds a whole new meaning to the look Rey gave Finn and
Rose. It’s like Odysseus braving gods, witches, monsters and what have
you to come home to Penelope, only to find her beleaguered by suitors.
Finn has a new commitment to the Resistance and at least one new
friend–perhaps girlfriend?–that he cares about very much. Rey doesn’t
know how hard he tried to keep her safe and meet up with her, and we
don’t know if the deleted scene where he saw BB-8′s recording is canon.
The deleted scene being canon would explain much about his attempt to
leave, but there’s also dramatic irony in the two of them being like
ships passing in the night, each pining for the other while being
unaware the other feels the same. It’s the classic “mutual unrequited
crush” situation, except with magic, lasers, and fascists.

And
now Luke is gone and Kylo has refused yet again to return to the light.
Rey is the only known Force user left to fight for the Resistance, and
Finn, who had asked her to come with him, is staying of his own free
will. In TFA it was Finn who said “Come with me” and Rey who told him,
“Don’t go.” In TLJ it was Rey who was fighting her way to his side, for
the chance to say  “Come with me” with a clear conscience, and now both
the needs of the universe and Finn himself are telling her without
words, “Don’t go.”

As Rey watches Finn and Rose, is she
regretting the fact that she didn’t go when he asked? Wondering if she
might be the one he would be tucking in if she had left with him? But
also realizing that this isn’t  just about the two of them, they can’t
ignore the threat of the First Order and now they are both enmeshed?
Wondering if they will ever be able to live free of the looming menace
and the moral obligation to fight it, whether they will both make it out
alive to think about a future together, doubting whether the two of
them together is even on the table for him anymore?

Like John said on Twitter (link here), that look said it all.

Yup. Finn isn’t purely a Penelope, since he has his own hero’s journey. But in the context of Rey’s journey, he’s a classic Penelope, complete with a “suitor.”

Exactly. What I love about their intertwined stories in TLJ is that they are each their own Odysseus and the other’s Penelope. (Also I love the idea of a Black man being a cherished and protected love interest that a heroic woman is lifting heaven and earth to come home to.) Rey has her Odyssey but so does Finn, to protect Rey and also to find a new purpose, a new commitment. Rey also has her “suitor,” the Force and being a Jedi, and this is made quite explicit in the novelization when Finn fears, right before their reunion, that she might no longer be the Rey he knew. And then Rey falls into his arms, laughing and sobbing at the same time and my heart send help

diversehighfantasy:

imagine-mystrade:

jewishcomeradebot:

Why does Rey intended to try and bring Kylo back to the Light? She makes it clear to Luke that she’s doing it for the Resistance’s sake when he still refuses to return after offers him the lightsaber for the second time.

But why would the Resistance ever need Kylo? Even without any kind of training Rey kicked his ass. She “borrows” Luke’s books, presumably to use them as a reading course for brushing up on Jedi skills. With that she’d be more than able to kick his ass again.

If the Resistance has her it’ll never need Kylo, Ben or whatever he might choose to call himself.

Except, the Resistance doesn’t have Rey does it?

She had no plan on joining forces with the Resistance after they deliver BB-8 to them, only wanted to go back to Jakku. In TLJ her two constants while she is with Luke is to consistently ask him to return with her and try to get information about or word to Finn. And her last words to Finn in TFA is that she believes they’ll see each other again.

In fact she seems intent on dispensing with her errand as quickly as possible so  she can return to the Resistance so she can return fast. Last she had a chance to really talk to Finn he made it clear he had no intention of becoming a part of the Resistance or stick around, for all she knows he’ll be gone the moment he’s up and about.

She has no intention of sticking around with the Resistanc, she just want someone else who can deal with all of this and when Luke refuses to return, Rey turns to Kylo as her second option. If she can turn him back to the Light then she can dump the Resistance and all this Force nonsense in his lap and fly off into the sunset  with her new boyfriend – the only living person who cared enough for her to make sure she was safe and free even at great cost to himself – and enough knowledge that she doesn’t create mishaps with her new abilities.

I think a lot of people miss this, tbh. Rey was looking to get back to Finn. You get the impression that Rey felt that the “Luke issue” was not that he was depressed, necessarily, but that he was somewhere no one could find him and that as soon as he was found and told that the First Order was killing people, he’d just come back immediately. She likely thought she’d be on Ahch-To only long enough to find Luke, tell him the deal, help him back his stuff, and then head back to the last reported position of the Resistance fleet.

It’s still bad writing for her to assume that Kylo is the last hope. Why not try to find Maz, who is Force Sensitive, though not a trained Jedi? Maz said in TFA she knows the Force, and I think she probably knew her way around a lightsaber. She’s obviously worried about Finn. He’s out of the woods in TFA (which is another continuity shitball courtesy of Rian Johnson), but not conscious. It’s clear she wants to return to him. I think she also wants to help rid the galaxy of the First Order, but I think she thought her part in it was to scoop Luke up and bring him to where he could help. The whole “There’s something inside me that’s awakened” is Rian Johnsass’s projection bullshit that had no place in this movie.

If you look at Rey as the actual protagonist of her own arc, her story is like a classic Odyssey; like Odysseus the goal is to get back home (Finn has replaced Jakku as her belonging place). She faces a string of mental and physical challenges to reaching that goal, including breaking through to an uncommunicative Luke, finding the lightsaber, learning Force control, facing herself in the cave, and, of course, Kylo Ren, who tries to Siren-song her to the Dark Side, and the physical battles with the Guards and the FO ships at Crait.

Holy shit this adds a whole new meaning to the look Rey gave Finn and
Rose. It’s like Odysseus braving gods, witches, monsters and what have
you to come home to Penelope, only to find her beleaguered by suitors.
Finn has a new commitment to the Resistance and at least one new
friend–perhaps girlfriend?–that he cares about very much. Rey doesn’t
know how hard he tried to keep her safe and meet up with her, and we
don’t know if the deleted scene where he saw BB-8′s recording is canon.
The deleted scene being canon would explain much about his attempt to
leave, but there’s also dramatic irony in the two of them being like
ships passing in the night, each pining for the other while being
unaware the other feels the same. It’s the classic “mutual unrequited
crush” situation, except with magic, lasers, and fascists.

And
now Luke is gone and Kylo has refused yet again to return to the light.
Rey is the only known Force user left to fight for the Resistance, and
Finn, who had asked her to come with him, is staying of his own free
will. In TFA it was Finn who said “Come with me” and Rey who told him,
“Don’t go.” In TLJ it was Rey who was fighting her way to his side, for
the chance to say  “Come with me” with a clear conscience, and now both
the needs of the universe and Finn himself are telling her without
words, “Don’t go.”

As Rey watches Finn and Rose, is she
regretting the fact that she didn’t go when he asked? Wondering if she
might be the one he would be tucking in if she had left with him? But
also realizing that this isn’t  just about the two of them, they can’t
ignore the threat of the First Order and now they are both enmeshed?
Wondering if they will ever be able to live free of the looming menace
and the moral obligation to fight it, whether they will both make it out
alive to think about a future together, doubting whether the two of
them together is even on the table for him anymore?

Like John said on Twitter (link here), that look said it all.

Hi where the link or interview of Daisy against Reylo? I want to read it

lj-writes:

It was an interview on the Chinese entertainment site Mtime (source), excerpted and translated by @kellymarietran (link). Reylows are predictably saying it’s fake, but @diversehighfantasy has discussed why that’s unlikely (link). I personally like the idea that antis are a powerful international conspiracy that infiltrated a major entertainment site, but instead I’ll have to settle for the less-exciting likelihood that the interview is legit. Mark, when asked about it, said he did not recall the specific interview but that it sounded like something he and Daisy might have said (source*), so it sounds like they’ve had similar conversations before.

* For extra entertainment read the desperate reylow shipper comments below Mark’s tweet 😂

Another thing I love about these comments by Mark and Daisy is that the two of them, Mark especially, are laughing at the idea of Kylo being just misunderstood and “missing his dad.” They dismissed not just the pairing but the woobification behind it.

joenessalovesu:

lj-writes:

joenessalovesu:

my honest to god aesthetic till the end of time itself

tweet: https://twitter.com/d_mich2013/status/1004027227380449280?s=21

The entire (small) thread following the tweet is made of win, too:

Never apologize for being right, Danna.

Update: It got better. They snapped.

Some may not agree with the last tweet in this thread (I personally do), but the rest is spot on honestly.

Omg we got an anti in the house 😂 Always refreshing to see pushback for these horrible apologetics. And ftr I agree with the final one too and wrote an analysis where I read the Rey and Kylo scenes much as Danna did, that Kyle was trying to do to Rey what Snoke did to him. Pablo Hidalgo of the Story Group has also said that being manipulated doesn’t absolve Kyle of responsibility. Many reylows, and many antis tbh, refuse to see that nuance.