They're enemies now, but complicated enemies.

I tell you, the greatest touch is the one that burns. -Midnight Excerpts #30 // L.H.Z [x]

[Image Description: Digital painting of Chewbacca, wearing aviator sunglasses, carrying baby Ben Solo in a sling.]

I commissioned @holnnes again for a slightly happier piece than the last one.

She can’t save Ben/Kylo from the damage that’s been done, in the same way that a loved one can’t heal the scars of abuse just by caring. The victim has to want and be ready to heal and go through that grief process.

And Kylo is categorically not ready. He’s still in the destructive stage of “I was hurt and I want the world to burn”. And so Rey was ABSOLUTELY RIGHT to leave him. It’s saying, in essence, “You are a toxic presence right now because you are processing what happened to you in an unhealthy way. I refuse to be a part of this. Call me when you’re ready to start towards a more constructive path and we can do it together, but until then, you’re on your own.”

The TLJ novelization indicates in the last Force bond scene that Rey looks at Kylo with neither compassion nor hatred, which supports the above idea. She doesn’t hate him. But she’s not feeling sorry for him anymore, either. It’s his turn to decide if he wants to heal or continue his destructive path. She sets a rock-solid boundary and keeps it.

Now on AO3!

Part One: Rey     AO3

Part Two: Kylo     AO3

Part Three: Communion     AO3

Part Four: Fugue and Reverie     AO3

Part Five: The Tinkerer     AO3

Part Six: The Engineer     AO3

Part Seven: Rey     AO3

Part Eight: Kylo     AO3

Part Nine: The Princess     AO3

Part Ten: The Tinkerer     AO3

Part Eleven: The Princess     AO3

Part Twelve: The Pilot     AO3

Part Thirteen: Kylo     AO3

Part Fourteen: Rey     AO3

Part Fifteen: Caesura     AO3

Part Sixteen: The Huntress     AO3

“I Love my Love, because I Know my Love Loves Me”

My contribution for ReyloWeek2018- TOUCH CHALLENGE. For me braiding or brushing one’s hair is one of the most sweet and intimate ways one can bond with you! and i had a very old WIP of kylo and rey playing with each other’s hair, it seemed like a nice opportunity to finish it. 

REYLO WEEK 2018

I’m having a bit too much fun with Photoshop so here is an Ep. IX AU that I cooked up. 

Summary:

Looking through the security droids installed in Snoke’s throne room, Hux discovers the new Supreme Leader’s greatest secret. Having gained enough support from key First Order officers, Hux carries out a coup, then uses a special tech to nullify Kylo’s Force power. Half a galaxy away, Rey suddenly feels a void in the Force and decides to help Ben Solo escape his certain death. 

THAT

IS NOT

HOW HEALING FROM ABUSE

FUCKING WORKS

YOU FUCKING WALNUT.

If my father, to whom I have not spoken since 2005, dropped dead tomorrow, if I KILLED HIM MYSELF, I would not suddenly be free from the permanent damage his abuse caused. Getting away from an abuser? Does not mean you are instantly clear-eyed and perfect and their influence is gone and you get to skip off into the fucking sunset. The damage is done. And it lingers.