Stark-Walker

Chapters: 11/? Fandom: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Kylo Ren/Rey Characters: Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Kylo Ren, Rey (Star Wars) Additional Tags: based on a book, Arranged Marriage?, Hades/Persephone Undertones, Beauty and the Beast undertones, Reylo - Freeform, Victorian era Summary:

It was said that Force users were nothing more than myths used to frighten young children into behaving. Tales of hidden communities and abducted brides were designed to deter youth from making ill choices. Rey Kenobi thought nothing of the stories, too concerned with her newly inherited estate from her grandfather. Unbeknownst to her, the stories were true. Even worse, she managed to catch the eye of the Emperor.

Based on Clare B. Dunkle’s “The Hollow Kingdom”.

Read Part One here.

One of the many things I’ve been grappling with over the 2 weeks since TROS came out is the validity and cause of my upset and anger. And it centres round the question: if Reylo had ended differently, if they’d had a happy ending, if Ben Solo had lived, would I still hate the film? Would I still be angry? Or would I forgive and overlook its other myriad flaws? And connected to those central questions is another that pressed upon me, namely: am I angry and upset because it is a bad film on multiple levels that insults its audience and breaks its own mythology in a way that is deeply distressing to female viewers and is fundamentally a poorly written film or do I only feel like that because I am a disappointed shipper? Am I only upset because I have got so attached to my HEA fluffy fanfic that I’ve lost sight of the story that canon is actually telling?

There’s a wider issue contained in these questions that I’ve been asking myself which is that there is a judgement implicit that responding to a film purely as a shipper is a bad thing, that it invalidates my criticism and my feelings if, in fact, I am simply an upset and disappointed shipper who wanted a happy ending. That’s an issue that is definitely worth pursuing but elsewhere.

It’s been two weeks. I’ve read multiple twitter threads, listened to bits of WTForce podcast (it’s very long… and was making me cry…), many reviews of the film, and today I finally started reading Valerie Estelle Frankel’s From Girl to Goddess: The Heroine’s Journey through Myth and Legend which is blowing my mind and giving me the confidence to say what I’ve known for a while:

My feeling that TROS is a terrible film on multiple levels - all of them actually - is valid. You may disagree and that’s fine. It’s only an opinion. But it’s my opinion and I stand by it. And, returning to the initial question that has been perplexing me - in fact I cannot separate the way the characters of Rey and Kylo/Ben were treated from the film’s other flaws. If Ben had lived, if Reylo had had a happy ending, if their relationship had played out differently, even if they had both died, yes, I would have been more inclined to forgive the film its many other flaws and misjudgements, but the fact is, if Reylo had been written in a satisfactory way then it would have been a very different film. Reylo is only one - one massive, egregious error - thing that contributes to the mess that this films. It is not the only thing that is enraging and upsetting but it is probably the biggest. I’ll talk about these other things in yet another post, but for now…

Let’s talk about Reylo.

tl;dr: Reylo is canon and the movie still sucked. Here’s a 5000+ word dissertation on why. Maybe don’t read if my opinions on this are going to make you sad/angry.

Darkness rises, and light to meet it.

(Another article deconstructing the why of the unsatisfying ending with a REYLO focus / source below)

With the Star Wars sequel trilogy now concluded with The Rise of Skywalker, fans everywhere now know how Rey and Kylo Ren’s story comes to a close. Those who have long shipped “Reylo” and yearned to see “Bendemption” finally saw it happen, but the film doesn’t quite do the work to earn those moments, and forcing these issues highlights how profound the thematic disconnect between TROS and its predecessors. What started out as a compelling dynamic between protagonist and antagonist in the The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi was unfortunately derailed in the last act, delivering an unsatisfying conclusion to Rey and Kylo Ren’s relationship.

A Knight and a Scavenger

(…)

They spend all of The Force Awakens and most of The Last Jedi being enemies, and as presented on paper in all three films, there’s simply not enough build-up to sell the romance that the final film wants to go for. Not even The Rise of Skywalker fully commits to this concept, because the first half of the film is so focused on Rey’s struggle with her burgeoning Dark Side power, and her big team-up with Ben at the end is cut short because the movie also wants to get to the “all the Jedi live in you” finale, which Ben has nothing to do with. Perhaps moving towards a romance in Episode IX was always the plan, but the way it’s realized here, what’s supposed to be their heartfelt final moments together are lacking the emotional weight they needed.

A Shattered Alliance

(…)

The Force connection they share is exploited further in The Rise of Skywalker, but rather than being used to explore their dynamic, it’s used more for the sake of spectacle. Consider how small moments of physical exchange in TLJ (some drops of water materializing on Kylo’s hand) are replaced with lightsaber duels happening in multiple locations. Cool? Sure. But the deeper meaning of why this bond was even established feels subdued here, particularly when Rey and Kylo destroy Vader’s helmet, not in a conscious cooperative act, but accidentally mid-battle. The thematic coherence of this aspect of their relationship feels lost in the chaos of the film’s frantic plotting and roller coaster pacing.

A Broken Promise

But with two major plot turns, The Rise of Skywalker tries to get Rey and Kylo back on the path towards not just reconciliation, but romance.

The first is the reveal that Rey is Palpatine’s granddaughter, which once again sends Rey into an existential crisis about her parentage, but this time saddling her with the same issue Kylo had: a grandparent on the Dark Side. Now her bloodline does matter, and it’s no coincidence that Kylo is the one who reveals this information to her. After all, he is a tragic example of how the weight of an important lineage can turn someone to the Dark Side – and now Rey is being crushed by it. While the attempt to create another mirror between the two makes sense in theory, it comes at the cost of being completely divorced from Rey’s character journey in the last two films. The shape of her own destiny she forged across the trilogy, the idea that her origins don’t need to define her capabilities, is destroyed. Becoming the Light Side’s new hero despite “having no place in this story” was powerful. Revealing that she did have a place in it all along feels like a shortcut to ensure Rey has another connection to Kylo rather than a natural evolution.

The second is Kylo’s rushed redemption arc, which makes no sense in the context it appears in. After Rey and Kylo’s duel on the Death Star wreckage, a defeated Kylo gets another chance to turn to the Light with some help from the memory of his father, and this time he takes it. However, nothing that has happened to Ben in the previous movies or this one indicates that this would turn him. His opinion of his father hasn’t changed in any way since he murdered him, and his mother reaching out to him through the Force sadly falls flat given that they haven’t shared any scenes across the whole trilogy. Rey says she wanted to “take Ben’s hand” after healing him, and while that is an effective call-back to TLJ that could possibly get him to reconsider his morality, it also feels like a small piece of what should’ve been a larger arc across the movie. Instead, everything related to Ben’s turn has been shoved into this one scene. It’s not enough to communicate why, after all the horrific things he’s done, now is the moment he is redeemed. Rather than getting us invested in an ending that felt thematically connected to the previous films or even coherent on its own terms, The Rise of Skywalker shuffles its pieces to get where it wants to go without justifying how it gets there. Ben joins Rey in her duel with Palpatine, running in with his father’s blaster, and all of his darkness is simply washed away. The idea of their connection being based on how they were representations of the Light and Dark Sides, how one came from nothing to become the last hope for the Light while the other was born from the Skywalker legacy and still turned to the Dark, is tossed aside. After such a strong first two acts, Rey and Kylo deserved a better conclusion, one that truly solidified the emotional bond these two characters were supposed to share. (…)

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read the full article, link below, 

I don’t agree with everything the author says, but I  find it interesting that  Reylo, now that it has happened is deemed worthy of a greater effort at story telling, compared to where we stood a few years ago. Obviously it does not change anything to the final movie now.

Here’s my fist imagine request. I tried my best! It’s my first one so I swear it will get better I hope 😂 I hope you enjoy 🖤 my inbox is open for more requests

First

Word count: 903

All rights reserved

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Rey was lying flat on her back, watching creatures of the jungle terrain fly above her. she closes her eyes, hearing their hungry chirps as they hunt for food. she hears sticks crunching and she shoots up startled.

"oh its just you." she says, softly smiling as Ben bends down to give her a quick kiss on her lips.

he laughs, sitting down beside her. "just me?"

Rey rests her head against his broad shoulders. "only you. you only."

he looks up to the trees to see what she was so invested in before.

"the world is strange. it stops and restarts with every death and birth. moments are the only thing that can hold these memories." she says, looking into Bens eyes.

he grabs her cheek and smiles. "who knew a scavenger could be this wise?"

"I've learned a lot since then." Rey sniffs looking away.

"sure you have." Ben smirks grabbing Reys arm and lowering her back down onto the soft ground.

Rey blushes at this type of affection.

Ben copies her and shakes his head. "Can I kiss you?"

"Y-yeah, I mean sure." She stutters, breathing heavily.

Ben lowers his head and places sloppy kisses on her neck. Rey tenses, unsure of what to do with her body as Ben showers her with love.

"You're scared too." Rey mumbles, grabbing his hair.

He looks into her eyes and grimaces. "Yeah.."

"Do you...?" She says unsure, propping herself up with her elbows.

His eyes widen when he realises what she's trying to say. He open and closes his mouth, lost for words.

"S-sure, I mean yeah. Please." He says finally, stumbling.

The both look at each other, waiting for someone to make their first move.

Ben lifted his hand and undid Reys brown belt, watching her as it slid off her waist.

She grabbed his shirt and gently pulled it over his head not while breaking eye contact with him.

They had never felt so connected yet, so far apart.

His eyes fell onto reys breasts as she took off her robe. His Addams apple bobbed as he swallowed, taking her all in.

She didn't know where to look, her cheeks red with embarrassment.

"What uh, do you want me to do?" She said softly.

He broke eye contact from her boobs and looked at his pants. "You want to uh?"

She nodded, helping him take off his pants. She was surprised to see the bulge coming from his underwear.

"Ben..."

It was his turn to blush as he climbed back onto her. "Can I tell you something?"

She nodded, bringing her hand up to his soft cheek.

"I've never...done this before" he mutters, not giving her eye contacts.

Rey breaths heavily, laughing softly. "Neither have I."

He looks back at her shocked, and smiles. "This is going to be beautiful baby."

Rey laughs nervously as he positions himself at her entrance.

"Relax." He says soothingly.

Rey nods, tightly squeezing her eyes shut as she feels his length enter her. She lets out a wimper . "It hurts."

Ben groans, bringing his hand to her cheek. " I'm sure, baby. Tell me when you're ready."

Tears prickle her eye lids as he fills her with his dick. He stops, waiting for her command.

Ben gently kisses her lips, soothing her.

"I'm ready." She mumbles, opening her eyes

Ben slowly  thrusts out and back in, repeating this slowly. He nuzzles his face into her neck moaning loudly, leaving wet kisses all over it.

She felt herself unravel, as his dick stretched her open. His twitched inside of her as it pressed against her walls. Rey moaned as she starts to feel the pain turn into pleasure. She grabs his bare back digging her nails into it.

"Faster." She begs as she bites his lip, pulling on it slowly.

He grants her wish and begins fastening his pace. She feels his dick go further and further inside of her as he lifts her legs up, gripping her thighs. Rey wraps her legs around his waist, moaning loudly.

"You're so beautiful." He tells her, intertwining a hand with her.

The slaps of their skins together echo through the forest, along with their moans.

Reys tummy tightens and she feels her legs begin to tremble. Bens pace starts to get sloppy as he feels her walks clench around his dick. They can tell they're about to release. Her eyes doll to the back of her head, her mouth open as screams and moans escaped her lips

"I think I'm close." Rey stutters.

"Me too. Wait baby, I'll tell you when to release." He answers urgently, slickly thrusting into her.

A few more thrusts later Ben gives her the command. She releases all around his dick, as he hits her orgasm. Ben does the same, emptying himself inside of her.

He pulls out, lowering her legs back onto the floor before falling down to her side, panting.

"I swear I saw stars." Rey confesses breathlessly laughing.

"I saw the whole galaxy." He replies, turning towards her. "I love you."

Rey pulls him close giving him a long passionate kiss. "I love you too."

They break apart, still trying to gain back their breath.

"Ready for round two?" He asks smirking.

"At least we now know what we're doing." She jokes.

Ben growls lifting her onto his lap. "Maybe I won't be so soft this time."

so this one's a long one, thank you darling anon for your request! This is another awesome idea, I'm rolling with what you said, a pre-TROS short fic of Rey training and bitter ben solo interrupting. Let me know what you think ! ♡♡♡

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Her arms are sore. The routines that leia had made for her were rigorous, and this was her fith set. The scent of the trees around her flood her senses. She's blindfolded, using the force as a guide for defense against a Marksman-H combat remote, shooting blasts at her from various angles.

" Your posture has improved but anyone could disarm you with that saber form"

Rey grits her teeth together. She can hear the taunt in his voice. This would be the third time the force had connected them since their stare down on the bridge. Just continue to ignore him, she thinks. Everytime they've been connected, she's managed to block him out despite his petulant attempts of getting her attention.

She hisses in pain, with her thoughts distracted, she doesn't notice a laser before it's too late and feels a stinging in her calf. In annoyance, Rey retracts her lightsaber and tears off her blindfold, then she turns to focus a glare at Ben. He's giving her a slight smirk and she ignores how much better he looks with even the slightest of smiles.

"You distracted me", Rey nearly spits out.

" Ah, so the scavenger ceases her silent treatment". There's a lazy drawl to his voice and rey realizes just how exhausted he looks. He's slouched on what she assumes to be a chair, hair tousled and his brown eyes are surrounded by dark circles. She tries to ignore the pain she feels for him.

She rolls her eyes, deciding he's not worth the response. She limps over and sits down on a fallen tree, and begins to unwrap the bands around her leg to assess the damage.

" Nevermind then" Ben continues, " I can't help but to wonder...just how powerful you would be at my side, with me training you. You're only hindering yourself, by relying on those ancient books of yours"

Rey continues to ignore him, now looking at her wound. She winces at the sight of it,the blast had gotten more of her than she thought, a stripe down the back of her calf scarred black.

She can hear Ben shifting in his seat,"You've really made a mess of yourself."

Rey looks up at him and notices the concern on his face. He gets up to move closer to her.

"Back away, no, I don't want your help" she refuses, but unable to move away in her state. Her pain has only intensified after sitting.

" Rey" Ben pauses, "I won't hurt you, I think- I think I can help but you'll have to let me."

She thinks about her other options first, she's quite a few kilometers from base camp and she hates the thought of bothering anyone to help her over a training incident she caused herself. Then she thinks about how at their last encounter Ben had the opportunity to kill her, and yet he hadn't.

Reluctantly, she nods to him, signaling that he may approach her.

He carefully bends down right in front of her, looking at her leg.

He removes his gloves and places one hand by her side for balance and shakily raises his other hand over her calf.

" I was reading... about the powers of healing through the force. It was a skill that my grandfather desperately wanted" he nearly whispers to her.

"I thought you said reading was holding me back" Rey jibes at him.

A half smile returns to his face "I only meant the Jedi texts, why even they never believed in mastering the forces powers in healing. They'll only teach you a quarter of what you're capable of." His focus returns back to Rey's wound, and she watches his face contort in concentration, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead.

She suddenly feels a sharp pang of heat that wasn't there before in her leg, she gasps in surprise and grabs Bens other arm for support.

His eyes snap to hers, breathing heavily and his concentration breaks; the heat in her leg stops and a slight throb of pain replaces it.

Her eyes don't leave his and she thinks he might have shifted closer to her as they share a breath. His hand that was raised over her leg gently grabs at her waist, and their foreheads gently touch. She feels simultaneously dizzy and alight with fire.With one hand still on his arm, she raises the other to brush his hair back a bit behind his ears, then gently holds onto his shoulder. His breath catches in his throat as he raises his other arm that Rey is gripping tightly to raise her chin, closing the distance between them, lips not quite touching. A quiet whimper leaves his lips that shakes Rey to her core.

His eyes are nearly shining as he mutters her name several times, " Rey, oh Rey, the galaxy can still be yours."

His words snap her out of the haze that she was under, Rey pulls away from him as she says " I don't want to rule the galaxy, that was never my desire kylo ren"

He grimaces at the sound of that name coming from her, "What more could you want? I can't fathom anything greater!" He's standing now, nearly shouting.

Rey rises to her feet to match him, " I'm sure you can't, you can't understand why someone would turn down the power you value so much!", now she's angry, at him and herself for missing his warmth.

" You want it too, I know you do, we're the same" He walks closer to her.

" We are nothing alike" she hisses back.

"I'll find you, and when I do, I'll show you" Ben yells his promise.

Before she can retort, the force takes him away, leaving her alone in the forest. Rey breathes deeply, in a moment she determines that she can never let him that close to her again, afraid of what she might do.

Post-TROS Ben Solo is a force ghost, just trying to convince Rey she’s not alone.

Feel free to read it after the cut or here

Happy New Year @angstywriterangst  !!! 😊 I’m your Reylo Secret Santa! 

I have written you a one-shot reylo fic with fluff and a happy ending <3 Hope you like it and wishing you a wonderful new year! 

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22063420

An almost gentle breeze fans Rey’s face as she heads back to the Millennium Falcon. Before she walks up the ramp, she stops suddenly, making BB-8 bump into her leg. Rey turns around to see the end of the Binary Sunset, staring at the majestic twin suns, and wants to feel something here on Tatooine but what she feels in return is an emptiness. It’s an emptiness she has felt since that day on Exegol. She suddenly stares away from the sunset and looks around the sandy terrain before walking up the ramp.

Later that night, in the Falcon’s quarters, Rey pulls a blanket and covers herself. She turns over and puts her hand on Ben’s clothing…what he wore before he…Rey instantly feels tears run down her cheeks, remembering the blissful moment they shared. She closes her eyes and can feel his lips on hers as if he was there with her on this bed. With her eyes still closed, she puts her head on his shirt, and lets herself dream for the first time in days.

The room is dark and silent for a few moments until Rey’s eyes open and she sits up and yells, “Ben!” Her breathing becomes rapid as she puts her hand on her heart. She looks around the dark room and the lights turn on with BB-8’s help. He asks her what happened which makes Rey shake herself from her daze and says, “It’s all right.”

Rey gets up from the bed, and hurries out of the room to the cockpit. She looks to her side and studies a navigational chart of the systems near Tatooine. She hears BB-8’s beeps asking if she’s okay. Rey puts her hand over heart again and looks down to smile at BB-8, “I know where we’re heading next.” She walks to the pilot’s seat, sits down, and starts up the Falcon. She looks ahead at the dark night with a crisp moon glistening over them and for the first time in days feels hope.

Ben Solo doesn’t know how long it has been where he hasn’t been able to see nor feel anything. He has felt still, waiting for something, until he hears a familiar voice; one that he had been wanting to hear for years. “Ben…” He hears his mother whisper his name. Instead of being able to talk, all he could do was hear her gentle voice. “We’ll be with you, always.” Ben wants to respond that he misses her and… “I know,” he hears her say. “I love you,” are the last words she whispers before–

“Mom!” Ben finally says out loud. He opens his eyes and sees a clear blue sky above him. He shields his eyes from the initial brightness. He turns his head and sees a field of green grass. He slowly gets up and looks around him. A lush meadow is all around him. The sounds of numerous waterfalls get his attention as he turns his head and quizzically looks around again. Where am I?

Ben slowly stands up, looks at his arms, down at his legs, and sees himself in familiar clothing he used to wear, colors of beige and gray. He looks around the meadow again and recognizes what looks to be Shaaks. He feels strength in his legs again and walks toward the waterfalls. He crouches down on his knees and looks at his reflection on the cool water. He doesn’t see anything different except the disappearance of the scar…“Rey,” he whispers. He looks behind him and all of a sudden his heart starts to beat rapidly.

On instinct, he starts to run through the meadow, knowing what he’s going to find; not even a second of doubt could shadow what his feelings. Could it be? He wonders as he keeps on running to Force knows where, he just runs, past the Shaaks, until he sees a YT Corellian freighter he recognizes immediately. Home. He smiles and waits for it to land, knowing who’s on that ship.

Rey runs down the ramp impatiently and sees Naboo’s beautiful green meadow. She closes her eyes and feels the sun kiss her face with incredible gentle warmth. The feeling in her heart deepens and she turns around and her heart stops as she sees him, running towards her, meters away, and a tear runs down her cheek, as she runs towards Ben.

They reach each other within a minute and on instinct put their arms around each other. Ben caresses Rey’s cheek softly, his thumb tracing over her tears. He whispers, “Rey.” He smiles which makes Rey beam up at him.

Like before, she puts her hand on his right cheek, and brings him closer to kiss her. Ben closes his eyes and gives into this feeling of being loved.

Rey contemplates how much like his father Ben Solo really is. 

Feel free to read under the break or here

On Exegol, Ben fades into the Force. He awakes, solid and warm and alive, in the temple on Ahch-To.