WAIT JUST A MINUTE YALL. WAIT JUST A MINUTE HERE. BRINGING THIS BACK BECAUSE…. IN TFA KYLO SAID:
“My allegiance is with you. No one will stand in our way.” … “No one.”
LIKE….?? HE KILLED SNOKE TO PROTECT REY. SHE LITERALLY GOT IN THEIR WAY. SHE GOT IN KYLO’S WAY. SHE CAME INTO HIS LIFE AND… HIS ALLEGIANCE IS WITH HER NOW. I CAN’T BREATHE HONESTLY YA’LL THIS WAS PLANNED FROM THE BEGINNING AND I’M FUCKING DYING.
THIS QUOTE HE SAID IS A LITERAL FORESHADOWING OF REY COMING IN HIS LIFE. THIS IS A LITERAL FORESHADOWING OF TLJ.
I honestly can’t breathe when I think about how we’ll get insight into their scenes and the ending especially.
I can’t say when leaks will happen because with TFA novelization it was released like a day after the movie, and I went into that movie completely blind of anything bu the teaser trailer.
However, I’ve seen some people mention that there were leaks from the novel before hand – from review copies and the like – but I think that’s mostly because it was NEW and people wanted the plot revealed.
With TLJ, that’s not really the case as people will have already seen it, so I find it hard to believe we’ll get any real leaks.
We may, however, get some reviews or snippets in articles maybe a few weeks before. Although press and marketing for something like this is usually not that big. If they time it with the DVD release, though, we might get some.
The alcove where Kylo Ren was kneeling and speaking was darker than the rest of the adjoining chambers. He kept it deliberately so, as seemed appropriate for its function. He spoke now in a tone different from the one he usually employed when conversing with others. There were no orders to be issued here, no pathetic underlings to command. The one with whom he was presently communing would understand everything Ren chose to say, in whatever voice he chose to employ. No need here and now for intimidation, for fear. Kylo Ren spoke, and the object of his words listened in silence.
“Forgive me. I feel it again. The pull to the light. The Supreme Leader senses it. Show me again the power of the darkness, and I will let nothing stand in our way.”
Alone in the room, Kylo Ren—saturnine of aspect, lithe of build, tortured of mien, and troubled of eye—gazed at the silent recipient of his confession.
“Show me, Grandfather, and I will finish what you started.
The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster
This description of Kylo Ren is the best written part of the novelisation and my favourite.
Like how can you ignore a person when they’re literally six inches away from you? How can you ignore them when they’re giving you the fuck-me eyes and seem unable to understand the concept of personal space?
Like if he had bit his lip like goddamn Poe, I’m done. I’m calling it. Subtlety is not this dude’s strong point.
The hash tags. I’m dying lol
WELL ITS TRUE
Fuck-me eyes! Yes. Yesyesyes.
Care to snapshot some clips of the novelization you’re referencing? 😀
Just a sample though, but the novel is not subtle at all. Their interactions it’s like they came up from a really dark fairytale :3 [x]
Halting an arm’s length away, he studied her face from behind his mask. When he finally spoke, he sounded at once impressed and surprised. “You would kill me. Knowing nothing about me.” As he spoke, he walked slowly around her paralyzed body. Frightened, she tried to follow him with her eyes, but her head would not turn. “So afraid,” he murmured. “Yet I should be the one who should be scared. You shot first. You speak of the Order as if it were barbaric. And yet, it is I who was forced to defend myself against you.” Having circled her, he moved even closer, peering into her face, her eyes. “Something.” He sounded mystified. “There is something…Who are you?”
Those last two, though!!! Even Snoke ships it, dude! ;D (Or at least picks up on that whole Death and the Maiden stuff that @ohtze is screaming at us about
Friendly reminder, that nothing’s a coincidence, everything’s intentional.
Stupid tumblr got rid of half my above reply. ^ -glares at it-
And seriously… I hope that it’s all intentional. The romances written into Star Wars have been grand love affairs before. And so have the friendships. And the antagonism. I just… I really really hope that they are aware of every last bit that we are picking up on, and that it’s not like “oh well that wasn’t meant to be taken that way at all.”
-kicks rocks-
But if it is all intentional and they have the gonads to go through with the relationship between Rey and Kylo (even if it’s a tragedy, or not even a romance… just something more)…. then I will be amazed and astounded and treat this as a beautiful piece of writing art for ages and ages to come.
And I think most people (or at least me) shipping Reylo want nothing more, but an exploration of their intense and complicated dynamic, without ruining their dynamics, but giving this something more these two have and it is throwing in our faces in the whole movie. These two combined are poetry. I just want them to give Kylo/Rey’s relationship, the attention it deserves. They can be something dark, tragic, unrequited, really deep than just a physical attraction, and not the half-@ssed and recycled trope “I’m your sister/cousin”.
I’m pretty sure that’s what all of us Reylo shippers want! Just some acknowledgment. Something that makes this a complex, multi-layered story that Hollywood has been lacking. Star Wars has given us those multi-layered relationships/stories before, and I just don’t want them to wimp out on it here.
I hate doing things by halves. If I’m going to ship these two, I’m gunning for fated lovers, Force bond, Force babies, happy ending – the whole shebang. Might as well think big if you think anything at all 😛
So I’m going to ride into battle with my Reylo banner fluttering in the air, my armour gleaming in the sun, my head held high and my sword drawn out, and by God, I’m not going to back down until they cleave my head with a pole-axe.
If we’re going down, we’re going down as heroes, in the name of everything that is right.
*looks dramatically into the distance as dramatic music swells in the background*
Her muscles tightened. “Then you don’t need me to tell you anything.”
“True.” He rose, resigned. “I would have preferred to avoid this. Despite what you may believe, it gives me no pleasure. I will go on easily as possible- but I will take what I need.”
You know me. or maybe you don’t. I am Ellie, I’m a writer (fanfic, unpublished but eh…I’ve been doing this since I was fourteen, which is over ten years at this point – I am getting very old). And as you should know, I am first and foremost writing romance stories.
In all my writing years, I’ve written countless romances, meet-cutes with super-fast infatuations, slow burns, friendship leading to interest, leading to sexy times, whathaveyou. I’ve also written enemies to lovers, awholefuckinglot.
So I know a little bit about how to drop little hints very early on in the story that the animosity between the two people we are watching hate each other fervently are not going to do so forever.
If you work under that premise, you find multiple ways of establishing the fact that there is something simmering beneath all the hate and rivalry you’re exploring in the first act of your story.
note: [usually a 3-acter in these circumstances: act 1: establish connection, fester some reciprocated loathing // act 2: turn the tables, things are changing, our heroes discover different sides to each other, maybe spend a long time reliant on each other and mostly alone (GO SEE the movie LEAP YEAR FUCKING HELL, go do it! It’s a prime example of enemies to lovers if I’ve ever seen one) // act 3: they own up to their feelings for each other, we get a kiss or a day or two of fluffy shit and then something happens that threatens to tear them apart again, something to overcome before they get their HEA]
So, this past weekend I’ve been in London (sitting at a Costa in St.Pancrass right now hehe) and went to Forbidden Planet to buy some Star Wars crap and instead read the Reylo-bits in the TFA novelisation by the shelf like a word-thief and I noticed 3 (three, THREE) literary tricks used in those scenes which I would have used just the same had that been my enemies-to-lovers-act-1-writing.
1. “This gives me no pleasure” – And all it entails.
Disclaimer: There is a part in this argument that many, many, many people on here will hate and will want to misconstrue, misunderstand and burn my house down for it. You will know it when it comes on and I implore you to PLEASE read my words of explanation and keep your pitchforks holstered, thank you.
Throughout all of Rey’s and Kylo’s interactions, Kylo doesn’t tire of saying how he does not want or wish to hurt Rey and that he wants her to comply so he won’t have to. He says “I will go as easily as I can” and “This gives me no pleasure” before he mind-probes her.
If I was writing their scenes as a first act to what would later become an enemies-t-lovers-romance, I would lay the groundwork establishing a way back for both the characters in their being shitty assholes to each other. So we can all back paddle together later and understand why these carnal enemies are suddenly locking lips.
In more traditional stories you would give both enemies a reason to be shitty (example: “You’ve got mail” – this asshole corporation-greedbag is forcing my wonderfully lovely little bookshop off the market, I will be a colossal dick to him” while, and this is important, maintaining some boundaries, like: “I will be an ass to him but I won’t push him into oncoming traffic or, more realistically, here is the guy who I hate because he is destroying my livelihood but he’s having a really shitty day so I’m gonna lay off of him, because I’m not that much of a monster.
In terms of Reylo, this is Kylo, rehashing time and time again that he does not want to hurt her. That is something I, as a writer, would call to later. That this man never had any fun hurting this woman. That is the foundation on which the second act will be built on.
AND there is another hint pointing in that direction (the direction being: we need way back for Kylo, a reason why he can be forgiven) and that’s the frequent repetition of how Rey is hurting while he rummages through her brain.
I am not kidding here; every single time it’s mentioned that Rey is hurting from that its in some version of this:
“Rey strained under the pain OF RESISTING HIM”
“Rey tried TO KEEP HIM OUT SO BADLY IT HURT”
etc.
This is the dangerous ground I talked about in the disclaimer and I’m sure you can already see why. Because this reads, if you look at it with tumblr’s eyes, like duper obvious victim-blaming.
“Rey was only in pain because she tried to fight it.”
Which is horrible, obviously, a terrible concept and a terrible thing to say: You only hurt because you were trying to fight it, had you let it happen, it wouldn’t have hurt.
This, in the context of sexual violence, is fucking terrible and should not be a message communicated in a movie like Star Wars.
BUT if we take off the tumblr goggles, and especially the ones that ant*s like to don when looking at Reylo and desexualise their interactions connected to the mind-probing, we will have to look at the intention behind those sentences and how they play together with the “I don’t want to hurt you”-postulations.
Because it’s just another way of showing: Kylo does not want to hurt her, truly and he wouldn’t if it was just him. Had Rey been placid, she wouldn’t have been in pain, had she let him get the information willingly, she wouldn’t have suffered. The pain derived from trying to lock him out of her head – Rey hurt herself trying to shut him out.
PLEASE LOOK AT THIS SENTENCE OUTSIDE OF A SEXUAL/SEXUALLY VIOLENT CONTEXT! It is a form of violence but it is not sexual – or at least, I don’t think it was intended to be perceived or received as sexual. This might have happened and that might as well be another horrible thing – with coded sexual violence as a plot-device yadda yadda, that’s another post.
It comes out the same.
Kylo did not want to hurt her, this is evidenced in both his words and actions and very, very deliberately written to reflect that.
2. “There is…something” – A lot of it.
This is a short point, because it’s very obvious.
From memory, I can account at least three instances in their shared scenes where one or the other remarked about something ‘special’ about either the other person (Kylo about Rey) or the connection they seem to have (Rey & Kylo).
This is another thing I would do to establish that whatever is going on between our hateful heroes is going somewhere…what can I say…special.
3. “Drawn to – you” – aka Club-you-over-the-head-obvious
“…she felt herself inexorably drawn to– to–
‘You,’ she said. ‘You’re afraid that you will never be as strong as Darth Vader.’”
This is a direct quote from the book. Let’s look at it again, shall we?
“…she felt herself inexorably drawn to– to–
‘You,’ she said. ‘You’re afraid that you will never be as strong as Darth Vader.’”
And now read this and realise what part of the two sentences sticks with you. I’m pretty sure you will find it’s this:
Inexorably drawn to you
INEXORABLY DRAWN TO YOU
This is deliberate. Do you know why? Because the ‘you’ is purposefully added right after the ‘to–’ so it serves as a completion of the unfinished sentence and then is set apart by the rest of the sentence by the interjection of ‘she said’.
Had this not been intentional, the scene could or should have read:
“…she felt herself inexorably drawn to– to–
“You are afraid that you will never be as strong as Darth Vader,” she said.”
This would illustrate that she has been drawn to this piece of information just fine and it would have disrupted the previously started sentence like only a new piece of information can disrupt a train of thought.
But the way it is written, it is not a disruption of a thought, it’s its completion. It’s a ploy. It’s foreshadowing. It’s a hint.
It’s exactly what I would do if I was writing this and that’s because I’ve seen it done a million times. It’s because I then went on to use it myself.
It’s why I was standing by the book shelf at Forbidden Planet and made a face at that damn book because FUCK YOU. I see what you are doing, I see what is happening, I see the groundwork you’re laying there.
No matter what will happen with Kylo and Rey, no matter what plans are final, their scenes in the novel and thus in the original script are setting up an enemies-to-lovers or at least keeping the door for it wide open and there’s nothing anyone can do about it, because it’s already been done.
It’s already in motion. Do with this what you will.
Aside from the fact that the author is QUITE preoccupied with Kylo Ren’s physical appearance more than any other character’s, some other stuff I took note of:
– The book is told in sections of third-person limited narratives, which I love because it echoes ASOIAF. Honestly I don’t think I can read anything any other way from now on, LOL.
– It’s supposed to be for ages 8-12, but I found it really sophisticated for elementary-age kids! Not just in the language but in the themes and emotional nuance and whatnot. Maybe I’m just underestimating the reading comprehension skills of 8-12-year-olds?
– Even CHEWY gets a POV section??? LMAO. It’s a good one, though – it’s immediately after Han is killed. So, it’s super sad but also gives insight into his decision not to kill Kylo.
– Lots more Poe! This book actually gives us what happened to him after he crash-landed on Jakku with Finn and how he got back to the Resistance. Since this book is considered official canon, it makes me wonder/worry if Poe really IS the #3 in the Holy Trinity of the new trilogy along with Rey and Finn, and not Kylo. Not sure of the timeline of this book in relation to the film, but I wonder if it wasn’t just simply a response to the reception Poe received from audiences? So then they decided to build him up more in this book?
– This book lays on the Rey/Finn shippiness reeeeaaaal thick. Even moreso than the film. Thing is, they kinda lay some groundwork for Rey/Poe too?? They actually meet face-to-face in the book (during the scene when R2 comes back to life and they put the map together). There’s actually some chemistry there too, I felt. Almost as if the author is trying to cover his bases in case either pairing goes canon, LMAO. Also, the last line from their scene together is: “Poe had a feeling their paths would soon cross again.” Again, more evidence, it seems, that Poe might be the third in the Trio.
– So, where does that leave Reylo? I gotta say, I didn’t really feel like the book was laying too much (if any) groundwork for a potential Rey/Kylo “romance” or anything approaching it. Rey seems to express only one emotion towards Kylo, and that is RAGE. Which, you know, you can hardly blame her, but there’s little nuance outside of that. Kylo, on the other hand, does most definitely display an acute fascination and curiosity about Rey, so if anything, the book is building up a one-sided obsession on Kylo’s part.
– But I have to say, the language the author chooses when describing Kylo and Rey’s interactions is very… sensual?? Talking about how Rey can still “feel him” even when she’s not looking at him, describing his reading of her mind as “tendrils”, having him physically touch and stroke her face, addressing her by her name… whew! It should also be noted that he removes her restraints after she wakes up in the interrogation room. It should definitely be noted that this book goes out of its way to clarify that Rey was not afraid of Kylo in this scene – pissed off af, yes, but fear, no. In fact, the only fear she feels in this scene is HIS fear!
– The book also explicitly states that Rey could have killed Kylo in the forest but deliberately chose not to. This is told from Kylo’s POV, so we don’t get a definitive explanation as to WHY, but it’s clear that she had every opportunity but declined, instead just walking away to tend to Finn.
– The book makes an interesting parallel between Rey and Kylo though – Rey actually states to Leia, right before leaving to find Luke, that this must feel like deja vu all over again, because of how Leia sent away Ben to Luke too. EEP!
– Rey’s interactions with Unkar Plutt made my skin crawl. Almost feels like a deliberate parallel with Kylo and Snoke.
– Leia’s one POV section, following Han’s death and the destruction of Starkiller Base, reminded me a lot of Cat’s chapters following Ned’s death… all about how she wanted nothing more in the world than to be alone with her pain and grieve for her family, but she can’t because she needs to appear strong for her warriors. UGH….
– “In his last few seconds of life, he thought of the Falcon and his furry first mate and his beautiful princess, but he saw only his son. The darkness in his eyes. And the sadness. Han forgave his son for what he had done. He prayed someday his son would forgive him in turn.” (ooooommmmmgggggg)
Stunned by his own action, Kylo Ren fell to his knees. Following through on the act ought to have made him stronger, a part of him believed. Instead, he found himself weakened.
Depiction of the deferences between the movie and the book (pages 186-187) versions.
This scene I refer to when I think of Kylo Ren’s hope of redemption.
In the book, Snoke senses Kylo Ren’s compassion towards Rey and calls it a weakness. In contrast to Anakin, who believes compassion is essential.
“Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is essential to a Jedi’s life. So you might say, that we are encouraged to love.” Anakin Skywalker
Hux enters and explains that they have traced reconnaissance ship back to the Ileenium system. Snoke does not want to waste time and wants to destroy the entire Ileenium system, which consists of 5 planets, only to prevent the Resistance from “convince [Luke] to return to challenge our power.”
Kylo Ren takes a step forward in both book and movie versions, but does not say "no" in the movie version, nor "that will be the end of it". The exclusion of these parts of the dialogue intrigue me. The direction was to show his defiance through actions and not words. Possibly too afraid to voice his objection, yet he does in a different manner.
As for "that will be end of it’’, I get TPTB did not want to make beat down the fact that he is torn on the subject. To me it was clear that their intention was to isolate Ren from the destruction of the planets. Once they fire the weapon, Hux and all the stroomtroopers are on the Starkiller Base, while Ren is on the ship. Not taking part of the ceremony.
Reylo Source 