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allgirlsareprincesses · 4 years

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The Death of Love and the Lonely Soul: Eros and Psyche in a Post-TROS World

This is the first of my follow-up posts to my series on Folktale Types in Star Wars, focusing on how the Sequel Trilogy retells (or fails to retell) the Eros and Psyche myth, and the potential psychological implications for our culture. This essay will frequently reference my original Reylo as Eros and Psyche post, though I will also occasionally refer to my other Search for the Lost Husband posts (2) (3) (4), so please consider reading those before diving in here.

To explain why I had a great deal of confidence in TROS being a classic happy ending to a Search for the Lost Husband tale (ATU 425), I have to share a little bit of what I learned about how folklorists view these tale types. A century ago, the popular theory about why myths and folktales were so similar all over the world was evolutionary: it assumed there was one origin tale, and that as humans traveled, they would carry the story with them and it would be retold and adapted by other cultures. This suggested there was one ancestral tale from which all the others developed, which accounted for the recurrence of the story’s basic plot and motifs.

Since then, however, advancements in anthropological research and the increasing appreciation for folklore in the study of human psychology has debunked the old evolutionary theory. It was discovered that cultures and societies existing at the same time in history, on opposite sides of the globe and which could have had no possible contact with one another, still told the same tale types with the same motifs. Details might be changed, but every culture had animal husband tales, or animal bride tales, and so on. This led to the now widely-accepted idea that universal human psychology accounts for the similarity in folktales. Basically, all humans tell each other the same stories because we all wrestle with the same fundamental truths, challenges, and transitions. This is why the swan maiden tales can be traced to male anxiety over sexual performance or the prospect of losing a wife in childbirth, or why animal husband tales can be traced to female power fantasies of taming a mate in a patriarchal society.

Based on all this, I assumed that even if Terrio and Abrams made a typically vapid modern action flick, they’d still hit all of the main beats of the Eros and Psyche myth because that’s what would come naturally to them. Obviously, Beauty’s love will return the Beast to his human form. Obviously, Psyche will complete her journey from child to adult and take her place as the true or metaphorical mother to the next generation. Obviously, they will end the story united for eternity to signify the end of the galaxy-wide conflict and the beginning of the true peace so long sought by the heroes of the Skywalker Saga.

While this was true to a limited extent in The Rise of Skywalker, several of the reveals and the final moments of the film not only departed dramatically from the structure of the Search for the Lost Husband myth, but the movie even fails to align with the commonly more sorrowful Quest for the Lost Bride. In a cruel and baffling twist, the story erases its hero and returns its heroine to childhood in a barren underworld. There is, frankly, no historical folktale I can find that matches this pattern. Even stories featuring preadolescent children are about disassociation from parental figures, not deeper dependence. (Note: Marie-Claire and Ty Black of What The Force and Wit and Folly have done some exploration of how TROS reflects the so-called “American Monomyth.” This is a valid interpretation but for the purposes of this analysis, I’m continuing to use stories more commonly recognized by the Aarne-Thompson-Uther classification of folktales.)

Rey’s Regression and Psyche’s Tasks

As a quick refresher of where we stood in alignment with the myth by the end of The Last Jedi, Rey is the mortal woman Psyche, and her force powers are akin to Psyche’s beauty in the myth. Kylo Ren/Ben Solo is god of desire Eros, Psyche’s husband and the son of god of war Ares and goddess of love Aphrodite. In Star Wars, it is the Dark Side and dark force users who play the part of Aphrodite herself, attempting to control Ben Solo and jealous of the powerful Rey. The symbolic marriage of the lovers has unmistakably occurred multiple times, but when Rey attempts to force Ben into the light and to accept his true identity, he recoils and they are separated. She has broken the taboo of seeing his true self, and so her animal bridegroom has fled to the safety of the Dark Side, or “his mother’s house.” Finally, all of Rey’s illusions, help, and protections have been stripped away, so she must now learn how to rely on herself to obtain what she desires. When Rey discovers her own worth, independent of anyone else, she will achieve womanhood. When Ben Solo accepts his full humanity, both dark and light, he will achieve manhood. Together, they will reach adulthood.

At the beginning of TROS, we may already suspect some trouble. Rey seems to have regressed to a childlike dependence on mentors, being trained as a Jedi by Leia in an attempt to “earn” Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber, even though she has used it without permission for two movies so far. Given the saber’s symbolic role as a phallic motif, this also suggests sexual repression or another reversion to a childlike state, especially considering the sexual awakening Rey experienced in TLJ. Ben, meanwhile, has also regressed to a dogged commitment to the dark side, seeking to remove any “threat to his power.” Still, there is time for the couple to recover their lost ground and achieve maturation in the course of the film.

In Apelius’ tale, the enraged Aphrodite confronts Eros about his marriage to Psyche:

“What! Is it she - the usurper of my beauty, the vicar of my name?…. Whereas thou shouldst have vexed my enemy with loathsome love, thou hast done contrary. Being but of tender and unripe years thou hast with too licentious appetite embraced my most mortal foe, to whom I shall be made a mother, and she a daughter. Thou presumest and thinkest that thou art most worthy and excellent, and that I am not able by reason of my age to have another son; which if I might have, thou shouldst well understand that I would bear a more worthier than thee. But to work thee a greater despite, I do determine to adopt one of my servants, and to give him these wings, this fire, this bow and these arrows, and all other furniture which I gave to thee -- not for this purpose, neither is anything given thee of thy father for this intent, but thou hast been evil brought up and instructed in thy youth.”

If we are to say that Palpatine fulfills the role of Aphrodite in this story, then a few things stand out: One is that Palpatine (and Snoke, given that they are one in the same) views Kylo Ren as a failure, recognizing his feelings for Rey. Darth Sidious sees Rey as a threat, and is both jealous and fearful of her power, of being “usurped” by her. Further, though it is not immediately clear that Palpatine intends to replace Kylo with Rey as his new host, it does become evident through the course of the story that he wants only revenge on Ben Solo. This idea of replacing Ben with Rey, though characterized as a Dark Side concept at first, becomes especially tragic later in the film when it seems that the Skywalkers have done exactly that. Finally, there is the affirmation that Ben “has been evil brought up and instructed in [his] youth,” when Palpatine tells him that he has been “every voice inside [his] head.” This suggests that Ben/Eros is evil as he has been raised that way from childhood, removing a degree of culpability for his nature.

Still seeking her lost husband, Psyche seeks out Aphrodite herself, who drags her by the hair as her maidens, Sorrow and Sadness, abuse and torment Psyche with whips and rods. The cruel goddess then gives her wretched daughter-in-law the first of her impossible tasks, demanding that Psyche sort a pile of grains and seeds in a single night. Though Psyche completes this task and a further two (gathering the golden fleece from vicious rams and collecting water from the mouth of the River Styx), she often despairs of success, twice attempting to fling herself into a raging river to escape her agony.

In TROS, Rey is similarly tormented by loneliness, as she tells Finn that she fears no one knows her. Though she meets with success in most of her efforts to chase down the film’s several McGuffins, she also seems to despair and give up more than once, most notably when she flees the scene of her oceanic battle with Ben on the ruins of the Death Star.

As for the tasks themselves, these appear differently in variations of the Search for the Lost Husband, but usually involve the heroine questing for her lost love, collecting objects and accepting help from various magical figures on her journey. By contrast, Rey does not seem to really seek Ben at all throughout TROS, as she consistently rejects him and is the aggressor in all of their confrontations. Though she collects objects and accepts help from other characters, including Force Ghost Luke, this assistance is always intended to help her defeat Palpatine, not recover Ben. I could come up with some tortured analogies between Rey’s mini-quests and Psyche’s labors, but truthfully I think those would be forced as the movie departed farther and farther from the mythological framework.

The Death Star Fight and the Revival of the Prince

Still, other aspects of the ATU 425 folktale type are distinctively present. Just as the Beast repeatedly asks Beauty for her hand in marriage, so Kylo Ren repeatedly asks Rey to join him on the Dark Side. With the words “take my hand,” this is explicitly presented as a proposal of romantic union, and just like Beauty, Rey repeatedly refuses, particularly as Kylo clings to his beastly form in the repaired mask. This brings us to the sequence which is on the one hand most aligned with the myth, and on the other hand serves as the most ominous sign of the lovers’ eventual fates: the confrontation on the Death Star.

The problem with this scene is that it can be interpreted as two different pivotal moments in the folktale. Firstly, recall that the turning point in the Search for the Lost Husband is the breaking of the taboo and concurrent wounding of the enchanted husband: The heroine, armed with “flame and steel,” attempts to look upon her husband’s true form. In some variations, she intends to kill him if she discovers a monster. However, when she finds a handsome prince instead, she is stricken with love and accidentally wounds him with hot oil or wax, signifying her perceived betrayal. Though we have already seen this in the previous films (in Rey’s slashing of Kylo’s face on Starkiller and again with her calling him by his true name in the flaming throne room of the Supremacy), it seems that this event is playing itself out yet again. Using Kylo’s own lightsaber (flame and steel), Rey stabs him with a mortal wound even as she is reminded of his true identity through the sensation of Leia’s death. Not only would it be odd to repeat the breaking of the taboo yet again in this story, but instead of the husband fleeing as he typically does at this point in the Search for the Lost Husband, it is Rey, the bride, who flees.

The other event that frequently occurs in this tale type is the revival or healing of the prince. And indeed, this is exactly what happens in the Death Star scene. Rey’s stabbing of Kylo Ren, though in my opinion out of character, is consistent with the violent means some folktale heroines use to transform their beastly husbands. For example, in The Princess and the Frog, she throws her amphibian suitor against a wall, causing him to retake his princely form. Other brides burn their husbands’ beastly skins, forcing them to remain human evermore. As I’ve said before, Kylo’s lightsaber is symbolic fire in Star Wars, so Rey stabbing him with it is akin to burning his beastly skin, forcing him to again become Ben Solo. It also can be considered the moment that she makes a blood sacrifice to recover him. Then, still surrounded by water (Rey’s element throughout the trilogy and also associated with healing and cleansing), our heroine heals the prince of all his wounds, including the scar she had previously given him. This is absolutely consistent with many folktales, among them Pajaro Verde and The Ballad of Tam Lin.

Further, Rey’s healing of Ben is a callback to her healing of the alien serpent she found wounded on Pasaana, a shockingly unsubtle analogy for Ben. In Apelius’ narrative, Eros himself is sometimes referred to as a serpent, and it is very common in other animal husband tales for the prince to marry his bride in the form of a serpent, as in the Italian tale The Enchanted Snake. This is usually interpreted to be a fairly obvious phallic symbol, representing the heroine’s sexual initiation or in this instance, simply the masculine power to the heroine’s feminine. We have previously heard Rey refer to Ben as a “treacherous snake,” so it’s obvious that her healing of both the snake and Ben himself is her healing the Wounded Masculine. Finally, Rey tells him she “wanted to take [his] hand, Ben Solo’s hand,” which is again a seemingly direct reference to Beauty finally agreeing to marry the Beast in order to bring him back from death.

Despite the close alignment of this scene with the revival motif in the Search for the Lost Husband, there is one glaring issue: that event always occurs at the END of the story. The revival of the prince is the final step in the searching bride’s journey, when she claims him as her true husband by drawing him back from death or a similarly dark fate. It is a testament to her power and her love, and it demonstrates the final transformation of the prince and his worthiness of his bride. It is most definitely NOT common for the bride to again flee after reviving her lover. Again, despite the fact that Abrams and Terrio are (likely unintentionally) using many classic ATU 425 motifs, the reordering of them is disorienting and unsettling.

Rey in the Underworld

Psyche’s final task in her story is to descend to the Underworld to gather a little bit of Persephone’s beauty for the jealous Aphrodite. Despairing of any way to get there and return safely, Psyche prepares to kill herself, but Eros speaks to her through an enchanted tower, instructing her to use certain objects to pass safely. He also tells her not to eat any food of the underworld, nor to open the box of beauty Queen Persephone gives her, or else she will not return. Psyche follows all of these instructions carefully, until she has nearly completed her task, and the temptation of opening the casket is just too great. She opens it thinking to take just a little beauty to please Eros, but inside she finds only the Stygian Sleep of the dead, and she falls down lifeless. Eros immediately flies to her side and wipes the deathly sleep from her eyes, reviving her and taking her in his arms. He then appeals to Zeus, who agrees to make Psyche immortal so that she and Eros can never be separated.

In TROS, the underworld is the planet Exogol, where lurks the personification of the Dark Side, Darth Sidious. In Star Wars, power is analogous to the beauty that is so coveted in the Greek myth, so the characters are all drawn to Exogol in a final struggle for ultimate power. Like Psyche, Rey has a moment of despair when she exiles herself on Ahch-To, thinking that she cannot possibly defeat the Dark Side. Oddly, instead of Ben Solo speaking to her through the Force Bond, which would more closely follow the myth, the person encouraging Rey in this moment is Luke Skywalker, her erstwhile reluctant mentor. He does indeed give her special objects to help her pass into Exogol (the lightsabers and his miraculously-preserved X-wing) and he advises her to confront her fears.

Another way to interpret this scene is as yet another instance of the heroine returning home to her suspicious family, where they poison her mind against her beastly lover. In Eros and Psyche, East of the Sun and West of the Moon, Pajaro Verde, Beauty and the Beast, and many others, there is always a moment when the heroine goes home to her family and receives dangerous advice warning her against trusting her husband, or attempting to keep her longer than she promised. I’ve argued before that this already happened in TLJ with Luke, when he repeatedly warned her away from her own dark side and from Ben Solo. Yet, it seems we again tread over familiar ground, with Rey’s flight to Ahch-To in TROS appearing as another regression of her character.

Rey flies to Exogol and attempts her final task, which is to defeat Palpatine. When he threatens her friends, she agrees to kill him in order to become empress (I really can’t type this nonsense with a straight face), which will make her the heir of death itself. Then, transformed Ben Solo comes charging in heroically to save his love, unwilling to let her face her final trial alone. Unfortunately, Palpatine sucks the life force from both lovers without much difficulty, then chucks poor Ben off a cliff. Rey is forced to defeat Sidious without her soulmate, though apparently a bunch of Jedi she doesn’t know are happy to give her a pep talk and make her “all the Jedi.” After finally destroying(?) Palpatine, she then inexplicably drops dead. Like Psyche, Rey has completed the final task but also taken the contents of the box (in this case, the power of “all the Jedi”) for herself, and as she is mortal, it is too much for her and she dies.

Just like Eros, Ben claws his way to his fallen lover’s side and gathers her in his arms, determined to retrieve her from death. Alive again, Rey calls Ben by his true name and professes her love in a passionate kiss. But whereas Eros then makes his soulmate immortal so that they can never be parted, Ben’s revival of her results in his own death, and the couple is again separated. Though redundant, it would be consistent with the folktale pattern for Rey to resurrect her prince in this moment. Instead, we see his body fade away, with no indication that our heroine clearly understands what has happened or really cares.

In each version of the Search for the Lost Husband, the heroine is a mortal woman who wins the love of a prince or even a god, and her final reward is to be elevated to royalty, or to immortality. Psyche becomes a goddess in her own right, dwells in the heavens, and gives birth to a daughter named Joy. Eros and Psyche, Desire and Soul, when united produce Joy.

But Rey is not united with Ben, in the end. In fact, with a royal heritage of her own, she doesn’t really need to be elevated any more. You could argue that she claims a more elevated title when she takes the Skywalker name as her own, but she still ends up alone, with only ghosts of someone else’s parents and her robot familiar for company. Rather than ascending to a throne or to the heavens, she literally descends into a ruin, a literal graveyard, in a barren wasteland. Her mythical husband is nowhere to be found, and there is no hope for a child. In a cruel and bizarre twist, TROS tells a fairly faithful final chapter of Eros and Psyche, only to strip its heroine of all she has sought in the last moment, leaving her bereft. And yet, the filmmakers dressed this as a happy ending.

TROS as an Allegory of the Lost Soul

Given how frequently the Eros and Psyche tale is used as a basis for psychoanalytic theory, what implications might this film have when viewed through that lens? In Jungian psychology, the human psyche can only achieve individuation - the knowing of oneself as a separate and unique person - if it can be separated and differentiated from the uroboric figures of parents, siblings, and mentors. Eventually, the repressed Shadow must be integrated into the Self in order for one to be a whole and healthy adult.

Within this framework, Psyche is a human soul trapped in a state of unconscious, lacking knowledge of her Shadow and therefore lacking agency. Eros is the Shadow, a collection of repressed desires which Psyche both fears and desires to claim. Her act of heroism is that same wielding of lamp and knife where she faces the truth, strips away her own illusions, and sees her Shadow for what he truly is. Psyche’s refusal to continue living a lie, and her subsequent pursuit of her desires leads her to achieve individuation signified in the product of alchemical union, Joy.

Up until the events of TROS, both Rey and Ben Solo were on this journey. Rey was trapped in a state of childlike unconscious in the graveyard of Jakku, having repressed the dark memories of the parents who abandoned her. In TFA, things tended to happen to her, but she rarely drove the action of the story herself. However, at the end of TLJ, she separated herself from the influence of uroboric mentor Luke and pursued Ben Solo, determined to truly see and claim her dark desires. With flame and steel, she stripped away the dark mask around him, but he also forced her to admit the truth about her parents to herself. Ben Solo, her animus, the projection of Rey’s unconscious, stood before her and forced her to bring what she had repressed into her conscious reality. Only then could Rey “let the past die,” separate herself from her parents, and “become what [she was] meant to be.”

Mirroring her journey, Ben was also trapped in a state of unconscious in the underworld of the Dark Side, having repressed his inclinations to the Light and to reconciliation with his family. His effort at separating himself from the influence of his mentors had a false start at first, as he mistakenly believed that he needed to “let the past die,” separating himself from his family and from the Light. With flame and steel, Ben killed his father, but to his horror, he realized that this did not rid him of his deepest desires. In TLJ, he got a second chance to separate himself from the controlling mentor by killing Snoke. Had he at that time faced his desire for the Light and acknowledged his true identity, he too would have been closer to individuation. Ben’s anima, Rey, stood before him calling him by the true name he had repressed and begging him not to stay in the Dark.

From this basis, we might assume that Rey, freed from illusions, would pursue her wayward Shadow in an attempt to integrate him. Ben, only a few steps behind, might finally accept his identity and his desire for love and affection, unite with Rey, and they would both achieve individuation, rewarded with Joy. In fact, for Ben Solo, most of this story does indeed occur in TROS. When Rey heals him and declares that she did want to take Ben’s hand, he is forced to finally face and accept his true identity. He then projects a memory of Han Solo, representing his repressed desire for the love of family, and he reconciles with himself. He then pursues his desires by running to Rey’s rescue, finally freed to act according to his own wishes. Does he manage to truly unite with her and achieve joy, though? More on that in a minute.

Rey, for her part, suddenly undergoes a regression into her unconscious state. Rather than becoming a unique and separate person, she again defers to mentors, training with Leia and claiming that she will “earn” Luke’s lightsaber. Consider that by the same point in his own journey, Luke was specifically defying the advice of his mentors, Yoda and Obi-Wan, who were advising him to kill his father and bury his feelings. They were of course proven wrong by the narrative, and Luke was validated. As the hero of her story and as a human psyche on its way to individuation, Rey should have separated herself from her mentors and the story should have validated her unique strengths and perspective. Instead, Rey’s success and heroism DEPEND on Luke and Leia, even to the end. In many ways, she is an avatar of her mentors more than a heroine in her own right.

The other way in which Rey regresses is in her discovery of her true parentage, as she is forced again to consider her identity as a child, an extension of the parents who (supposedly) loved her and the grandfather who might be the true source of her darkness. Recall that the action that launches Psyche’s journey into consciousness is a refusal to continue living a lie. Rey achieved this step in TLJ when Ben forced her to admit the truth to herself about her parents. Though it was painful and led to the loss of her lover just as with Psyche, it was necessary for Rey for understand that she could forge her own identity without relying on the false family she had built in her mind.

In TROS, not only is she unable to differentiate her identity from her mentors, she now has multiple new parental figures to contend with. Having accepted the truth of her deadbeat nobody parents and the losses of Han and Luke (and eventually Leia), she must now reconcile with loving somebody parents as well as having a grandfather who is basically the Satan of the Galaxy Far Far Away. Further, it seems she has been training herself to contact the spirits of many Jedi who have passed into the Force, all of whom also constitute mentors or parental figures. Rather than discovering how she is unique and what she might want in her adulthood, Rey is positively drowning in parents against whom she is derivative, still just a child.

Still, all of those parental figures are dead or die in this movie, which is traditionally one way that mythical children separate themselves from their mentors in coming-of-age tales. Theoretically, there should have been time for Rey to discover who she is apart from all these characters, decide she wanted something different out of her life, and then pursue and achieve it as heroines do. Unfortunately, we never see that happen in this film. At every point in her TROS journey, Rey is doing what a mentor instructed her to do. She’s following Leia’s guidance, or Luke’s guidance, or Palpatine’s…. In the end, it is Luke who is validated by the narrative, not Rey. She brings nothing new or unique to the galaxy, nor does she seem to have intense desires that would oppose what these mentors want for her. Yes, she did want to take Ben Solo’s hand, but she’s not on a mission to save him and she barely reacts when he gets tossed down a pit. Unlike Luke, who was determined to save Vader in spite of what everyone told him, Rey meekly follows her elders like a good girl.

In The Myth of the Birth of the Hero, Otto Rank says:

"The detachment of the growing individual from the authority of the parents is one of the most necessary, but also one of the most painful achievements of evolution. It is absolutely necessary for this detachment to take place, and it may be assumed that all normal grown individuals have accomplished it to a certain extent. Social progress is essentially based upon this opposition between the two generations. On the other hand, there exists a class of neurotics whose condition indicates that they have failed to solve this very problem."

Others have pointed out that Rey’s failure to reach full sexual maturity is also demonstrative of this problem, as evidenced by her virginal white ensemble, tight childlike buns after the soft long hair of TLJ, and loss of her intended mate at the end of the story. Rey’s journey to womanhood has been arrested in every way, but the ultimate illustration of this tragic regression is her slide down the sand when she arrives on Tatooine. To so perfectly mirror her childlike introduction on Jakku, without any reference to the later experiences that drove her toward adulthood…. It frankly suggests nothing so much as a psychotic break. In Jungian terms, Rey has been unable to break from the uroboros or collective unconscious, or to integrate her Shadow. In the loss of Ben Solo, she was unable to embrace her desires, and in taking the Skywalker name, she again lies to herself about her identity, repressing her connection to Palpatine and choosing instead a false family just as she did back on Jakku. Rather than the soul finding its way into consciousness, it is forever lost in the vast unconscious.

In a sense, Rey was not really revived after retrieving power from the Underworld after all, because she is metaphorically dead at the end of her story, just as she was metaphorically dead at its beginning. Living in the Imperial graveyard on Jakku, she had survived by remaining necessarily focused on herself. At the end of her story, she seems again focused inwardly, retreating from the galaxy and her friends, with no need to compromise or give of herself in a loving relationship with her soulmate. In Love and the Soul: Psychological Interpretations of The Eros & Psyche Myth, James Gollnick writes:

“Neumann interprets the beauty ointment which Psyche must fetch from the underworld as the eternal youth of death, the ‘barren frigid beauty of mere maidenhood, without love for a man, as exacted by the matriarchate.’ He sees in this deathlike sleep the pull of narcissism which would regress Psyche from the woman who loved Eros back to the maiden lost in the narcissistic love of herself. (Bettelheim also calls attention to the narcissistic state symbolized by Psyche alone in Eros’ magical palace, see The Uses of Enchantment.)”

This is to say that conjugal love, or a love that is physical as well as spiritual, is the ultimate form of self-gift. Though the sacrifice of one’s life is an admirable expression of love, it is inferior because it creates death, whereas the giving of self in an intimate embrace creates life. Hence, Eros and Psyche’s union created Joy. Has Rey found joy by the end of her journey? Or is she expected to be content with only power and the name that declares that power? And as for Ben, he has vanished completely. As Eros, he is dead and unable to be united with his Psyche. Though transformed from beast into man, Love is eternally separated from Soul.

When the Lost Husband Stays Lost

This might be a passable interpretation of the Sequel Trilogy, but it’s fair to ask the question: were we wrong? Was this ever a Search for the Lost Husband story, or did we simply see what we wanted to see in the tale? Indulging deeply in a Death of the Author approach to interpretation, I argue strongly that this was always a variation of ATU 425, because not only were all the pieces in place from the beginning, but the Sequel Trilogy was thematically the perfect inverse of ATU 400, the Quest for the Lost Bride, which was very clearly the story of the Prequel Trilogy. Further, many a mythical husband’s failed quest is actually the prelude to his bride’s successful search, as historical myths often start with the loss of the fairy wife only to switch perspectives to the feminine and have her successfully retrieve her lost husband. To the extent that Star Wars draws on the collective unconscious that produces these myths, I believe the parallels are unmistakable.

Still, these are films released by a corporation within a very distinct culture, the product of a particular time and place. They cannot be separated from the realities of the 21st Century America that produced them. This is why a deeper exploration of the American Monomyth is likely necessary to truly understand how TROS came to be. However, even within worldwide mythology, there are isolated examples of Lost Husband stories in which the bride does not retrieve her husband, or in which the couple remains separated by the end of the story.

One of the most notable examples of these tragedies is the Lohengrin Saga, a Germanic romance made popular by Richard Wagner’s opera. In it, Elsa, the Duchess of Brabant, is accused of murdering her brother, her case to be decided by trial by combat. When her accusers ask her who her champion will be, she tells them of a knight who has appeared to her in dreams. In answer to her prayers, her dream knight appears in a boat drawn by a swan, then agrees to be her champion under the condition that she never ask his true identity or origin. The swan knight wins the contest and marries Elsa, but before they are able to consummate their union, she asks him the forbidden question. Though he knows it will separate them forever, the knight cannot deny his love her request, and he admits to her that he is Lohengrin, Grail Knight and son of King Parzival. The laws of the Holy Grail say the Knights must remain anonymous, and if their identity is revealed, they must return home. Lohengrin leaves in the same boat in which he came, and Elsa dies of grief.

Many of the parallels should be instantly apparent: just as Kylo Ren often appears to Rey in visions, dreams, or in a dream-like state, so the Swan Knight first appeared to Elsa. As I stated in my Swan Maiden post, this means Kylo Ren is Rey’s incubus, or her dream lover and avatar of all her dark sexual fantasies. Just as the swan knight refuses to reveal his identity, so Kylo Ren declares that Ben Solo is dead and he is a monster. Further, the knight is a descendent of a powerful family, indeed one with mystical or holy origins given their association with the Grail. The last son of the Skywalker family, Ben Solo is even the great-grandson of the Force itself, with both royalty and magical power in his lineage. After several symbolic marriage encounters between Rey and her bond-mate, she insists on calling him by his true name and trying to force him to turn to the light, which constitutes the breaking of the taboo. After finally acknowledging his true identity and becoming Ben Solo once more, our hero is drawn away into death, his bride left to a sort of living death as a virgin on a dead world.

Though the story of Lohengrin predated the opera, Wagner crafted his version to explicitly reference the Greek myth of Zeus and Semele:

“Who doesn't know ‘Zeus and Semele?’ The god is in love with a human woman and approaches her in human form. The lover finds that she cannot recognize the god in this form, and demands that he should make the real sensual form of his being known. Zeus knows that she would be destroyed by the sight of his real self. He suffers in this awareness, suffers knowing that he must fulfill this demand and in doing so ruin their love. He will seal his own doom when the gleam of his godly form destroys his lover. Is the man who craves for God not destroyed?”

This too has parallels with the Sequel Trilogy couple, in particular with the woman demanding the god show himself in his “real sensual form.” As many have pointed out, Rey desired Ben completely…. His heart, mind, soul, and body. Having him with her in corporeal form mattered so much to her that the Force facilitated their touch across the galaxy, and she promptly shipped herself to him so that she could be physically with him, despite the risk to her. It is for this reason that I reject the interpretation of the ending of TROS that says because Ben and Rey are a dyad, his soul is with her when he dies. No, his loss is complete, and the fact that his body is gone is a tragedy. Were the living body not important, he would not have given his own life to save Rey’s. Absent any other visual or dialogue cues in the finale, it’s reasonable to assume that Ben’s separation from his soulmate is total.

In her book on swan maiden tales, author Barbara Fass Leavy points out that the taboos imposed on mythical husbands are different than those imposed on mythical wives. Men, for example, are most often prohibited from abusing their fairy brides, while women are prohibited from looking upon their fairy husbands or knowing their true identity. Leavy states: “In general, taboos imposed on the wife in Cupid and Psyche tales are often intended to keep her in her place, to prevent her from achieving some autonomy by knowing who her husband is, seeing him, or being able to disclose his identity to others.” Both taboos admit to an inherent imbalance in the relationship, and while husbands are instructed not to abuse their power, women are told not to challenge their husbands’ power or attempt to achieve a more balanced marriage.

Now the issue for Rey becomes clear: if she is to be her husband’s equal, then she cannot accept him as the unknowable Kylo Ren. He must become Ben Solo, fully-known and her equal in all things. This way, Rey claims her power and balance can be achieved both for the lovers and for the Force itself. Unfortunately, the creators seem to have overcorrected. They wanted Rey alone to be the ultimate hero of the Sequel Trilogy, but as long as a male Skywalker was on the board, they apparently thought he would overshadow her. It seems that the writers believed the man having power in a relationship is the natural state of heterosexual unions, a point made clear by their obsession with patriarchal lineage. So, rather than give the lovers an Eros and Psyche ending as equals, they removed the man from the equation to allow Rey to be the only hero and Skywalker, effectively punishing both of them for breaking the taboo and acknowledging Ben Solo’s true identity. When the lost husband is not found, this represents a narrative judgement on the mythical bride: she has challenged male authority, and so her heart’s desire is stripped away.

Lastly, Leavy also points out that most Beauty and the Beast tales involve a passing of the bride from father to husband, and that many animal groom stories can be interpreted as the bride learning to accept her new husband’s authority. If then the husband is eternally lost rather than found, custody of the bride logically reverts to her father. TROS contains numerous father figures for Rey: there is Luke, Palpatine’s son, and Palpatine himself. Rather than focusing on her mythical husband, our heroine seems to be questioning throughout the film to which father she truly belongs. In the end, she rejects her biological father and grandfather and loses her lover, then takes the name of her only remaining male authority figure, Luke Skywalker. Once again, Rey’s regression to a child is made clear and the myth structure utterly broken.

Conclusion: Star Wars and the Lost Children

Star Wars has always been a story of lost children. First it was Luke, then his sister Leia. Later, we learned of Anakin’s childhood, and finally Ben and Rey’s (to say nothing of other characters like Jyn, Ezra, Din Djarin….). We understood it to be a coming-of-age story in which these lonely children resolved their traumas and made adult choices. Those choices might have had sorrowful consequences, but the overall theme of the story has always been hope, so we knew there was always a chance for redemption, for the lost children to be welcomed home. Sadly, The Rise of Skywalker has deeply undermined that message. Mythologically, psychologically, and symbolically, Ben and especially Rey have reverted to childhood. They are both alone, separated from their families and prevented from forming a new family to provide hope for the future. Whereas the union of Eros and Psyche, Love and Soul, produced Joy, there is no union for Ben and Rey, and no Joy. I truly hope that in the future, Star Wars creators find a way to remedy this pandemic of lost children.

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emperorren · 4 years

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I'll say it: I wish the ST was all about Reylo because I didn't care about anyone or anything else (with the exception of Rose; she was a breath of fresh air, but we all know what happened to her role). The ST should've went full-blown on romantic!Reylo being obvious from the start and made it clear it would be a story about a Light sider and Dark sider falling in love across enemy lines. But DLF are cowards. Some people would've been salty, but many others would've loved an ETL-focused trilogy.

I agree. That would have been a bold choice that would have divided the audience but there was so much potential for sheer greatness in it, and for creating a brand new fanbase + setting a new trend in mainstream fiction that would have made SW once again a precursor and a modern myth maker. Imagine a full blown Reylo trilogy delving deeply into the mysteries of the Force and the *true balance* between the dark side and the light side, into the origins of the Force itself, into the dehumanizing nature of war as opposed to the healing power of love, then diving straight into redefining the concept of the Force and creating a new order. What a waste.

They had ONE strong and original idea for this trilogy but they diluted it with a bunch of lazy derivative stuff, OT hero worship, boring resistance stuff that is identical not only to rebellion stuff from the OT but also to the gazillion movies about *guerrilla fighters in space* (most of which are SW knockoffs in turn). Every cheap sci fi blockbuster can have aliens and space battles, but only Star Wars has the Force, only Star Wars has the Dark Side and the Light. They squandered it all.

#sw criticism #anon #asks

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secretreylostan · 4 years

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Got it.

I have finally found my TROS Reylo coping strategy analogy.

I present: “The Myth of the Taj Mahal.”

The Taj Mahal is a gorgeous white marble palace tomb built in the 1600′s that if you don’t know about, go google it right now you ignorant fuck.

It was built for (and houses) the remains of the emperor’s favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal. (Her name apparently means “Chosen one of the Palace,” okay? Witness me.)

There was a theory for several hundred years that, originally, the Shah was going to build a black version of the tomb for himself directly across from hers, but because his son overthrew him, it never got built.

This myth could be like Reylo, with Rey standing white and glorious, adored by millions, a Wonder of the World... gazing out forever in the desert sunset, where her black Other should be, but isn’t for reasons beyond her control.

BUT, that’s not all, for the truth of the design is where the spirit of Reylo really lies.

You see, the Shah was obsessed with symmetry, which helped fuel the myth of two tombs. However, once archaeologists reconstructed the pool in the Mehtab Bagh, (aka “Moonlight Garden,” I shit you not) the design’s true symmetry was revealed.

Her Dark Other is always with her, a mirror reflection of herself from which she will never be parted.

And that, human beings, is how I will [need to] think about Reylo forever and ever, amen.

Reylo Art courtesy of @stavrogin80

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

#reylo #rey x ben #ben solo #rey #star wars tros #tros fix it #kylo ren #adam driver #daisy ridley #taj mahal

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human-calcifer · 4 years

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Joseph Campbell about love from Myths

Excepts from Ep. 5: Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth — ‘Love and the Goddess’.

A lot of thinks talked in this episode about love could be applied to Reylo romance

Transcripts (quotes from Joseph Campbell):

JOSEPH CAMPBELL(about romantic love):

Yes. It’s the seizure that comes in recognizing as where your soul’s counterpart in the other person, and that’s what the troubadours stood for, and that has become the ideal in our lives today...... But the kind of seizure that comes from the meeting of the eyes, as they say in the troubadour tradition, and the purely personal, person-to-person thing, as far as I know it originates as an ideal to be lived for, with the troubadours.

Agony of love:

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: That’s a very mysterious thing, that electric thing that happens. And then the agony that can follow, which is that which the troubadours celebrate, you know, the agony of the love, the sickness that the doctors cannot cure; the wounds that can be healed only by the weapon that delivered the wound.

BILL MOYERS: Meaning?

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: Well, the wound is the wound of my passion and agony of love for this creature, and the only one who can heal me is the one who delivered the blow, you know.

BILL MOYERS: So we often hurt most the person we love, and heal the hurt by the love that hurt.

Story of Trystyn and Isolade

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: Yes. Isolde was engaged to marry King Mark. They had never seen each other. And Tristan was sent over to fetch Isolde to Mark. And Isolde’s mother prepares a love potion, so that the two who are to be married will have real love for each other. And these two youngsters, they think the love potion is wine, and they drink it and then they’re overtaken with this love. But Brangene, the nurse of Isolde, realized what had happened. She went to Tristan and said, “You have drunk your death.” And Tristan said, “If by my death you mean this agony of love, that is my life. If by my death you mean the punishment that we arc to suffer if discovered, which is namely execution, I accept that. But if by my death you mean eternal punishment in the fires of hell,” in which thesc people believed, “I accept that, too.”

BILL MOYERS: Yes. So what’s the significance of what he was saying?

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: What he was saying is that this love is bigger even than death, than pain, than anything. This is the affirmation of the pain of life in a big way.

#reylo metas #reylo fandom #rey x ben #ben x rey #bendemption #ben solo #star wars sequel trilogy #tros star wars #star wars: sequel trilogy #star wars tlj #Tros spoilers

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diwitchmagic · 4 years

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Reylo “Marriage”

“[Marriage] is the reunion of the separated duad. Originally you were one. You are now two in the world, but the recognition of the spiritual identity is what marriage is.” ― Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

Duad is basically dyad. Force Dyad.

#reylo #reylo fam #rey #ben solo #reylo wedding #force dyad

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wishingupontheskyandstars · 4 years

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Yes I’m late but I really had fun writing this fanfic and yeah I definitely wrote more than I originally had in mind so *shrug* :)

Reylo Week 2020

Day 2: Fairytales

Title: A Fairytale of Butterflies, Love, and Dragons Rated: M (Mild Violence)

Summary: "Where two are one of spirit, will be the time Mortis is seen, at last, with refined sight. Believe and follow the ones with blue wings that will lead where two suns meet and they will see dragons from old flying above and will help against a regime, when in need."

Click Here For AO3 Link

Once upon a time... In a land where power tried to triumph over peace, an upcoming unique union would see myth and destiny be forever intertwined, diminishing powerful darkness.

In an isolated and almost abandoned village, Jakku, there lived a young woman who had raised herself since she could remember. She didn't know any other land. Her days were as miserable as the work she did to survive. She was known as the Scavenger; she retrieved weapons and machinery of old from the last battle that occurred there, for little coin and food. Sunset was her favorite time of the day as the air was cooler. She would find a secluded place to eat her supper, looking up at the stars wishing to earn enough coin to leave the village so her life could begin.

Days away from Jakku was the lovely town, Naboo. It was known for its waterfalls, meadows, and peaceful folk. In the Royal Palace, lived House Skywalker where Queen Leia reigned. Her husband was a famous equestrian and former soldier, Han Solo. Decades past, when the war between House Skywalker and House Palpatine occurred, Han was a soldier from another village and became the princess' bodyguard. As the war progressed they became each other's bodyguards and fell in love. House Skywalker conquered House Palpatine near Jakku. The night of victory for Naboo was the night Leia's and Han's son, Ben, was born, promising a new era of hope.

Prince Ben of House Skywalker was studious, always practicing his calligraphy. He was a master swordsman, learning from the most skilled and helped to train Naboo's soldiers. He loved spending time with his family. His grandmother Padme always shined his visits with picnics at the meadow, eating exotic foods, and giving him a fashionable wardrobe. His grandfather Anakin was a man he barely knew as he passed when Ben was still an infant. Throughout the years he would hear tales of the infamous Anakin Skywalker, the Hero with no fear was the best swordsman there was, beating the power-hungry Sheev Palpatine who would have brought endless destruction through the empire he was creating.

Ben grew up wanting to be like his mother and father. Throughout the years he observed his mother through her diplomacy, kindness, and sharp wit. Ben would go with his father all across the kingdom, overseeing the lands, villages, and the wellbeing of the people. At a young age, Ben was taught how to use a crossbow with the help of Han's best friend, Chewie.

For three decades, there was peace, until one afternoon at the beginning of Spring. In the Palace's council room, Leia received a letter, recognizing the fast and sloppy handwriting to be her husband's. She closed her eyes and fell in her chair.

"My Queen!"

"What is it?"

"Are you okay?"

Voices rang in the room, but Leia did not hear. She opened her eyes and told her advisors, "There has been an ambush on Han and others." She looked to her brother, Luke, a former monk and healer for the Palace. "Please tell Ben," she said in a hoarse tone.

Luke knocked on Ben's door, then opened the door revealing his nephew practicing his calligraphy. He looked up in concern. "What is it, Uncle?"

Luke sighed in disbelief. "Your father and others were ambushed in the outskirts of Naboo. It seems they were lured in that area by House Palpatine."

"How could that be? Palpatine is dead," Ben said with furrowed brows.

Luke nodded. "Yes, but the ashes of what Palpatine tried to achieve—his army, lives on. They're calling themselves the New Empire and they are rising in numbers, threatening to have revenge and destroy peace as we know it!" Luke sat across from Ben, staring at his calligraphy.

Ben tossed his quill, stood up, and walked to his large window, overlooking the grounds. He had his hands in front of him. His stance reminded Luke of his father, Anakin. "Where is my father?" Ben asked.

Luke sighed again, unsure of how to respond. "We're assuming they're on their way back. He was able to write a letter and give it a fast riding messenger so..."

Ben didn't respond. He continued to look out at the lush greenery in front of him. His expression said everything he couldn't. His eyes were watery, his mouth moving to one side then to the other, then partially open, unable to say anything.

Later that evening, the gates to the Palace were abruptly opened, letting in a badly wounded Han, Chewie, and others. Ben was dressing into a white tunic and black trousers when he received word that all the attackers were dead and his father had returned home. Ben ran down the hallway and two flights of stairs to the great hall. He helped take his father to his parent's chambers, with Leia walking at their side.

Han was placed on the large bed. His eyes were closed; he was barely breathing. Luke attended to Han first, felt his pulse, and put his hand on his blood-stained forehead. He looked at Leia and shook his head. Luke left Ben and Leia alone with Han and attended to the others.

"Han, darling? Please, wake up." Leia said softly. She held on to one hand, sitting on the bed with her husband. Ben held his father's other hand on Han's other side, his knees on the floor.

Hearing Leia's voice, Han opened his eyes slowly. "Sweetheart," he whispered. He and Leia shared a knowing look as she pressed her lips to his ever so softly. "It wasn't all bad, was it?" Han tried to smile.

"It was better," she assured him, laying her head near his.

Ben gazed at his parents in awe, wanting to leave so they had their last moments together, but he too wanted to say goodbye. "Dad," he whispered, gently squeezing his hand.

Han turned and tried harder to smile. "Kid," he said lovingly. He squeezed his son's hand back.

Ben's eyes were glassy. "Dad, I—"

"I know." Han gave his son one last half-smile before he looked at Leia, taking his last breath and closing his eyes, in peace.

Leia's guarded face she wore well as Queen crumpled into despair as she leaned into her husband, holding him. "Han," she said in a raspy tone.

Ben felt the loss of warmth from his father's hand almost instantly. He carefully guided his hand with his other, on top of his mother's. He went around the bed, sat near his mother, looking at his parents together one last time. Tears started to stream down his cheek.

The next evening funeral pyres were set up for Han and others that didn't make it through the night. Chewie, the beloved family friend, was gravely wounded but would take time to recuperate Luke thought.

Feet away from Han's pyre were Leia, Luke, Padme, and Ben. Everyone was dressed in black cloth and each held a torch. Leia closed her eyes, seeing Han's smile hearing him call her, "Princess." She opened her eyes, looked at her family, nodded, and they each set their torches at the bottom of a pyre. Leia put her hand over Han's one last time before setting her torch at the base. She stepped away and instantly felt Ben's hand holding hers. She leaned into him as he held her close.

The same night in the village of Jakuu, the young woman known as the Scavenger wrapped herself with one blanket, laying her head on a pile of hay, looking up at the night sky filled with stars. She felt great sorrow but did not know why. She reached next to her and felt for her sword with the unique jeweled hilt. Once she felt it, she sighed with relief, hoping the next day would be better than the last.

Leia sat at the head of the table, listening to her different advisors about the recent man that defected from the New Empire. They heard this man's—Finn's story from himself just an hour ago. His knowledge of the New Empire was valuable, revealing that the Supreme Leader was a young man named Armitage Hux and with his father's help he was able to rebuild a vast army to take down kingdoms, steal infants and children from villages and brainwash them to be soldiers. Finn was one of those children that will never know his real family. This plan of revenge for House Palpatine has been in motion for years, in unknown areas that are months away travel from Naboo and neighboring Kingdoms. Finn was a part of a group that was looking for young children and babies to steal. He knew that the big Army was weeks away from striking. The ones that ambushed Han and his group he figured were scouting the kingdoms, before reporting back to the New Empire.

"I believe what Finn was saying," Ben said. Others nodded in agreement. "We have received word now that the army is getting closer to our neighbors and us. We have to make sure we have all the help we can muster—"

"I found it!" Luke yelled, entering the room with everyone staring at him with looks of confusion.

"Luke?" Leia asked, needing to know what he found.

Luke stood next to Leia's chair and placed a vintage scroll in front of her. "I had not read this prophecy for decades but knew it was still out there once we heard about the New Empire Army and it took me a while to find it, but here it is."

Leia opened the scroll and read out loud, "Where two are one of spirit, will be the time Mortis is seen, at last, with refined sight. Believe and follow the ones with blue wings that will lead where two suns meet and they will see dragons from old flying above and will help against a regime, when in need." She finished reading and set down the scroll.

"Mortis?"

"Dragons? I thought they were a myth?"

"No one has seen dragons for centuries, my Queen.

"Prophecies are dangerous to depend upon."

Loud voices were talking over each other and all Leia had to do was raise her hand and the squabbling ceased. She handed the scroll to Ben.

He picked it up and at once felt a certain energy in his fingers. He didn't know why. He furrowed his brow, reading the scroll. Since he was a boy, he had read myths about Mortis and dragons. What if he wondered. He looked at his mother who was staring at him, with a knowing look. He knew she believed and he trusted her judgment.

In the Queen's outside courtyard, Leia, Padme, Ben, and Luke sat around a wood table eating their supper.

"I remember this prophecy when I was a little girl. I believe it to be true," Padme said.

"Why didn't father ever look for this place—Mortis?" Leia asked.

Padme, in her exquisitely designed black dress for mourning, leaned back in her chair. "House Palpatine and their army were not as big and Ani—" She smiled, letting his nickname slip out, which she did once in a while. "Your father wasn't sure this prophecy pertained to him." She shrugged. She looked at Ben. "You, my boy, I know what you're thinking and I agree."

Ben finished eating a boiled potato, put down his fork, and nodded at his grandmother. "I will leave tomorrow."

"You're going alone? I can't let you do that Ben—" Leia started to say.

"Mother, I think with the skepticism from the council, we shouldn't tell many of this plan. We can't let the enemy know of this prophecy, whether it is true or not, but I think...I believe it." He stopped and looked at his mother, "The New Empire is threatening to strike anytime. I need to get to Mortis as soon as possible. I will ride out this evening."

Luke nodded. "You should take that soldier that defected. He might know where other armies are along your journey."

Leia agreed. "You will take him, Poe, Rose, and a few soldiers for protection, okay?"

Ben nodded. Padme patted her grandson's hand with assurance. "The question is, which way will you go?"

"Ben has always had good instincts. If he believes, he will start to see certain wings," Leia said with a nod.

Ben shared a smile with his mother, knowing he was meant to do this. He believed it.

"Kylo?" Ben looked ahead. "Kylo?" "Kylo! Hey...Prince," Rose whispered as she brought her horse to walk along with Ben's.

Ben looked at Rose with an apologetic expression. "Sorry, Rose. I suppose an alias name is something to get used to."

"What does Kylo stand for, anyway? It seems pretty unique."

Ben nodded. "I combined both of my last names, Solo and Skywalker."

Rose raised her brows and grinned. "Clever." She adjusted her cape then asked, "It's been a couple of days since we left—You haven't seen another one of those butterflies?"

Ben shook his head. "That sole one, the evening we left, that nobody else apparently can see but me, was it." He looked around at the sparsely wooded area around them as they kept progressing on this path. "We're heading towards the graveyard—Jakku," Ben noted.

"Indeed." She looked at the empty fields of banners and rusted machinery. "It's near dusk. Should we set up camp in Jakku?" she asked, with distaste.

"We're going to have to." Ben sighed, not wanting to sleep where so many perished but they would have to, just for the night.

"I'll go tell the others." Rose rode with her horse a few yards back to Finn, Poe, and the few soldiers.

The sun had just started to set as Poe and another soldier prepared food. Finn and Rose were sitting next to each other by the campfire. They were in an area where few dry trees and bushes were surrounding them. It looked like the best spot in the whole village. Ben was feet away, sitting on a rock, looking up at the stars. He took off his dark cape and used it as a pillow, slowly closing his eyes.

A minute later he felt the tip of a sword barely touch his neck, along with, "Who are you?" Ben opened his eyes and saw a young woman standing over him, in trousers and a fitted top, both sand-colored. She wore her hair in a triple bun hairstyle. She looked at him with a fierce expression and the first thought that came to his mind was that she was beautiful, even with a blade at his throat.

"Sir!"

"Kylo!" Poe yelled out as he and others drew their swords.

Ben lifted his hand like his mother would do to stop their actions. "Good evening, my lady." He stared at the young woman and saw she had lovely hazel eyes. There was something about her that captivated him; he couldn't understand it.

"Your name is Kylo?" The girl asked, this time in a gentler tone. She started to lower her weapon.

For some reason, he couldn't lie to her and he wouldn't. "My name is Ben and I'm from House Skywalker."

"You shouldn't say your name...Sire. She could be a spy!" Poe said in frustration.

Ben shook his head. "No, I don't believe she is. Please, all of you put down your weapons." The soldiers, Poe, Finn, and Rose lowered their swords but continued to stare at the two of them.

The young woman's eyes enlarged as she immediately put down her sword and said, "You're Royalty. I apologize--I shouldn't have—"

"It's fine."

"It's just this is the area I usually reside for the night." She fidgeted with her hands in front of her.

Ben furrowed his brow, looking around the area, again. "You sleep on a rock?" He looked at her in confusion.

The woman looked anywhere but at him, feeling her cheeks warm up.

Ben immediately regretted his words. "I didn't mean anything by it." He changed the course of their conversation. "May I ask, what is your name?"

She looked back at him and raised her chin. "I'm Rey."

"What house are you from?"

"I..." Rey hesitated but truthfully said, "The house of nobody." She wasn't ashamed she came from nothing. "I don't have any family--It's just me."

Ben looked at her with compassion. "You've lived by yourself."

"Ever since I can remember." Rey pointed towards the graveyard where the battle took place decades ago. They could view the sight from the rock they were both on. "Collecting from the old is how I survive." She gave him a hopeful look. "But, I'll make enough coin to leave this place, someday." She said with a small smile. She believed it.

Ben was moved by her story. He looked down then up and saw she was staring past his shoulder. He looked behind him and saw them. This time, two blue-colored butterflies swarmed around each other and moved farther away toward the pathway, fluttering about. He looked back to Rey and saw her head tilt in question. "You see them?" He asked, breathing fast.

"The blue butterflies? Yes," she said, almost in a daze, as she continued to stare at them. "It's something I've never seen before. It feels...magical," she said at last. She finally looked at Ben. "Doesn't it feel like that?"

Ben nodded. He was glad he had someone to share this with. "It seems nobody can see them, but us."

Rey looked down at the others and saw they were still looking at her. She saw the two butterflies were swarming around them but they made no movement or gave any recognition they saw them. "You're right." She looked back at Ben, amazed. "Whoa! What does this mean?"

Ben, feeling more hope now than when he started this journey, gave Rey a half-smile. "I'll fill you in on everything, Rey."

The next morning, Rey rode on a gray horse, next to Ben's, similar in color. Two soldiers rode ahead of them. Rey looked back and saw Finn, Poe, and Rose riding together and talking amongst themselves, smiling and laughing. She smiled at them before looking back at Ben more closely in the light, seeing his dark locks and strong nose, his lips--He caught her stare and she felt her cheeks warm again. She looked away with a small smile. He gulped before asking, "How does it feel to finally be away from Jakku?"

"A relief." She made sure the dark gray cape Rose had given her was on correctly before continuing. "I've always wanted to go on an adventure but seeking dragons of old is much more than I expected."

Ben nodded. "I feel the same."

They rode on a path near the sea, into the village of Ahch-To. All around them were green-leaved trees, rocky terrain, and green grass. They rode higher and higher up a hill.

By sunset, they made camp. As Finn and Poe prepared the supper, Rose and Rey sparred enthusiastically.

Rose put her arm up and saw Rey put down her sword. They both had to catch their breath. "You're excellent, Rey! Who taught you to fight?"

"Me."

"Amazing." Rose drank water from her flask then offered it to Rey.

"Thank you," Rey whispered as she drank the cool water, feeling instantly refreshed.

"How about you and I practice, Rey?" She turned around and saw Ben with his well fitted black trousers, without a tunic. She starred at his well-defined naked torso and saw his skin was wet, as was his hair.

She licked her lips without meaning to before looking down, feeling flustered. "Shouldn't you wear a tunic or something?"

Ben shook his head. "Nah, this is how I usually train. Come on," he said, raising his long sword.

Rey nodded and raised hers and they sparred, moving together in sync as if they practiced these movements before. Minutes later they both yielded, out of breath, looking at each other, with intense stares. Rey stared at his torso again and saw it glisten with sweat. She wondered for a few seconds what it would be like to run her fingers across his chest and touch--She shook her head, trying to rid her absurd thoughts. She sighed, looking back at Ben and saw his look of awe and amazement, towards her. It made her feel butterflies in her stomach.

Later, as the other slept, Rey and Ben were near the smoldering campfire, inches apart, sitting next to each other, looking up at the stars. "It's a beautiful evening," Rey remarked.

"It is." Ben looked at Rey's sword hilt again, viewing the jewels. "Can I ask where you received that sword?"

She grabbed her sword and handed it to Ben. He looked at it more closely. Rey said all she knew about it. "Years ago, I saw it covered by shields and dirt and kept it with me ever since."

"If you had sold it, you would have made enough coin to leave Jakku ages ago."

Rey shrugged. "Yes, but for some reason, I wanted to keep this for myself. I don’t know why. It's like it called to me." She scoffed. "You might think me foolish."

"No." He ran his fingers over the hilt. He had heard tales of this sword and seeing it in person was a majestic sight. "After my grandfather defeated Palpatine, he came across one of his followers, Dooku, and that man fought with everything he had. He even cut off my grandfather's arm that carried the sword." He looked at Rey's astonished face. "If it wasn't for his best friend, Kenobi, he would have died on the battlefield." Ben looked at the sword again, feeling the hilt. "They never found his sword." He handed it back to Rey. "It seems that it was found by the right person, though."

Rey's eyes widened, looking at her sword. "This is your grandfather's?!"

Ben smiled slowly and put his hand over hers. They both felt a warmth and energy, as they stared at one another, intently. "It was and belongs to you."

"Thank you, Ben." She interlocked her fingers with his. Ben stared at their hands and felt at ease, smiling at this closeness, with the fire in front of them. It was—

All of a sudden, there moment of intimacy was interrupted, by screams and men in guarded armor, running towards the camp, with weapons raised.

"First Empire! First Empire!" They chanted as they ran. "For our Supreme Leader!"

The fire and moonlight was their only light as Rey and Ben raised their weapons and fought with all their might. Dozens of soldiers ran towards them.

Poe, Finn, Rose, and the Naboo soldiers woke up, alarmed, but grabbed their weapons and fought with ease against the First Empire soldiers.

Rey and Ben were back to back, fighting each soldier with expertise, seeing the soldiers lacked skill. Rey looked back and ran her sword through a soldier's gut, who was prepared to strike at Ben. Ben nodded at Rey and fought with fierce strength. At one point, Rey felt for Ben's thigh, using his bent back for leverage, and with her foot pushed a soldier in the stomach, knocking him down hard. Ben gulped but shook his head and kept his mind on fighting the enemy.

A voice rang out, "I see we have the mighty Prince Ben of House Skywalker. Wonderful, indeed." A man with red hair and in black attire, had his arms behind his back, looking at the battle before him.

"Don't let him distract you, Ben!" Rey yelled as she and he got separated and were fighting by themselves against two and three soldiers at a time.

Ben kept his mind on the enemies before him, took a few seconds to strategize, but then heard Rey yell out in pain. He looked ahead and saw a sword pierce and scar her right arm. He needed to get to her but had to defeat these soldiers first. He took a deep breath and fought brutally, piercing his sword through a stomach, punching a man in the face as he swung his other hand with the sword, decapitating. "Ahh!" He yelled, fighting others coming towards him.

"Kill, Prince Ben!" The man with ginger hair yelled. "Bring his head to me, your Supreme Leader, now!"

Armitage Hux Ben thought as he easily killed another solider in the heart. The Supreme Leader was just yards away. He figured he could reach him.

"And bring the traitor to me!" Hux said with menace.

Finn, fighting his own, looked at Hux, sneered at his former tormenter, and continued to fight alongside Rose and Poe.

Rey gave all her strength but with that pierce to her arm, she made sure not to be weakened by it. "Ahh!" She yelled as she swung at two soldiers. They were moving towards a large circular area, filled with moss all around. Rey ran towards it, looking down and seeing water below. It looked like a cave in there. Before she could look further she turned and stabbed a soldier, seeing more come her way. She saw Ben, still fighting. For one second their eyes met until Rey felt a blow to her head and she fell into the hole. The last thing she recalled was hearing Ben call her name, as her eyes closed, hitting the freezing water.

Hux and a couple of soldiers looked down the hole and smiled. The sound of fighting could still be heard in the background. They had their backs to the battle.

One soldier pointed down the hole. "Supreme Leader, do you want us to go find the Prince?"

Hux shook his head. "No. That fall killed him. I know it. Just kill—" He stopped as he felt a stab to his back. His eyes were wide with shock as he heard in his ear. "Your senseless bloodshed ends now."

In the dark cave, Ben gently retrieved Rey from the icy waters. He placed her on the rocky ground, in front of what looked like a mirror. "Rey?" He shivered, feeling the effects of the water. He felt for her pulse at her wrist and neck; it was weak but there. Like him, they needed to be warm. He knew what he had to do and hopefully it would help both of them. He took off his clothes quickly and hers. He looked away from her intimate parts and just focused on getting her warm, pulling her to him. Her hair, loose from her buns, was placed over her shoulder as he rubbed her back and arms, making sure she was receiving warmth. He pulled her close and laid his head near hers, closing his eyes.

A while later, Rey opened her eyes and instead of the cold, she thought she would feel, she felt incredible soothing warmth. She moaned and especially felt the warmth behind her. She then realized she wasn't wearing clothing. Her eyes widened as she saw her bare breasts stomach, and... She gulped as she turned and saw Ben sleeping. She then knew what he did and was grateful to him. He kept them both alive. She felt her breasts touch his strong chest. She liked the feeling as she finally ran her fingers through his dark locks, tracing a finger down his nose, to his full lips and strong chin. The gentle tickle of her finger woke him.

"You're awake," Ben whispered as he slowly opened his eyes.

"You saved us."

Ben put his arm around Rey's waist, pulling her close. "We've known each other for such a short while but that's just enough to know that..."

Rey raised a brow and asked, "Know what?"

"I love you, Rey." He stared into her eyes, not caring if she said it back. He wanted her to know of his true feelings towards her.

Rey felt a certain warmth in her heart as a single tear rain down her right cheek. She felt a happiness she thought she would never feel as she said, with all her heart. "Ben, I love you, too." She leaned forward, their lips inches from touching, and in a second she touched her lips with his, feeling an intimacy she had never felt in all her life. She felt him respond and she smiled against his lips, kissing him deeper.

Ben pulled Rey to be on top of him, breaking their kiss. He looked up and saw the woman he was in love with and he sighed in relief as she leaned down and kissed him again. He caressed her scar on her arm and felt a part of him awaken and she must have felt it as well as she looked at him intently with her hazel eyes and breathed just as hard as he was. She kissed him again and again. He rubbed her back lovingly as he felt they instantly became one, moaning together, their breaths mingled as they continued to share their love, together.

Later, dressed back in their clothing, Rey and Ben held hands, their swords held by their free hands, as they followed more blue butterflies through the cave, toward the opening revealing a beach.

"We made it out, Ben!" She squeezed his hand and felt him squeeze back. He looked at her, with a gentle smile, leaning down and kissing her soft lips. They were heavenly. She smiled and caressed his cheek.

They both looked around and together saw others running towards them.

"Do you see—" He started to say.

"Yes, I see—Rose and—" They walked in their direction. "Poe, Finn, and the New Empire soldiers?" She turned to Ben and gave him a quizzical look.

Ben's brows furrowed, knowing Poe and Rose wouldn't betray him and Naboo.

Rose had her arms raised as she hugged Rey, breaking Rey's hold on Ben's hand. "You are both safe!" She turned to Ben. "We thought we lost you two. We walked back and forth on these shores three times. She looked towards the rocks. "How did you get out?"

Rey pointed towards the entrance that was now covered in rock. "Ben? Do you see what I see?"

Ben nodded, mystified. He looked towards the water, seeing the gentle waves roll in. He looked back at the crowd coming towards them. "Where's Hux?"

Rose crossed her arms. "Finn killed him and he was amazing." She smiled toward Finn and Poe, as they finally made it to her, Rey, and Ben.

"Finn, I'm grateful for what you did," Ben said with a nod.

Finn nodded towards him and explained, "There are generals just like him, with dark ambition. One of them will be the new Supreme Leader." He turned and put his arm out toward the New Empire soldiers. "After I killed Hux, I called out to the remaining soldiers that they didn't have to keep being brainwashed in fighting a senseless war. They could be better and live a new life," He said that last part as he looked at Poe and Rose with a smile.

"We stopped because what Finn says is right. We're not going to fight for power," a young woman said as she walked a few steps toward Ben. "My name is Jannah, Sire..." She started to bow but stopped once she heard his voice.

"We're in this together, Jannah, and that means equally helping each other." He looked at Rey and saw her smile. He looked back at all the soldiers. "You must all know where we're heading to. We ask that you join us, to help and stop the New Empire. Will you help?"

More soldiers walked behind and beside Jannah. One soldier ripped the cloak that held the New Empire's symbol and he stepped on it, with meaning. Jannah looked around at her friends and said, "We will."

The day passed on as they walked along the shore and that's when Rey and Ben both saw in front of them, more blue butterflies. They followed down the shore until everyone saw the binary suns and nearby were the dragons, flying above, as they just appeared out of nowhere.

Everyone looked in awe, seeing eight dragons, of large size, soar above them, calling out to each other.

"Mortis," Rey whispered. She took Ben's hand in hers and smiled.

Ben squeezed her hand, feeling her squeeze right back, as he continued to look above. "Beautiful," he said, simply.

In minutes, the dragons circled them. Ben and Rey walked toward one that looked dark gray. They raised a hand and the dragon moved forward, it's snout touching their hands. It made a cooing sound. "We'll ride this one," Ben said. He looked at everyone else. "Remember our plan, everyone. See if they will come on our side first but if they attack..."

"The dragons will do the rest," Rey said with a nod. Everyone nodded and cheered.

"Let's do this!" Jannah said to her fellow soldiers.

"We are the spark that will burn down the New Empire," Poe said with determination.

Ben nodded toward his friend as he and Rey easily climbed on their dragon. Everyone else did the same with the remaining dragons, some with four on a back.

"Ready?" Ben whispered in Rey's ear, as she sat before him holding onto the dragon as he had a hand on her stomach, keeping her close to him.

Rey looked back and kissed Ben, their lips moving in sync. She smiled and said, "Ready." Then at once, they were in the air, ready to fight a regime and restore peace for all the lands, and afterward, live happily ever after.

~The End~

#reylo #reylo fanfic #fanfic #ao3 #reylo week 2020 #writing for fun #this one was soothing to write #rey x ben #fairytales #yup I love dragons so :)#fluff #romance #<3

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theoriginalsuki · 4 years

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Now that you've posted the beautiful epilogue to hiraeth, what's next for you? Have any new writing and/or reylo writing projects set up or are you taking a break from fics for now? :) If you do have something in the works for the future, I can't wait, your writing is incredible! Your Hiraeth is truly brilliant ❤️

I have way too many ideas, but I'm hesitant to -- yet again -- start something without a plan. Hiraeth was unusual for me in that I had the skeleton of a plot all visualised, so all I had to do was push at writing until I got to the stopping point. I should return to Battlefield, which is my version of dark Reylo (secret: it's not that dark), but I'm feeling funny now about canon divergence because, there are so many places that things could have gone differently and I feel kind of overwhelmed. What if Rey didn't escape from the interrogation scene? What if Kylo had gone with Han? What if Rey said yes to Kylo in the throne room? What if Luke hadn't died? What if ... And I think I get intimidated about what to keep and what to cut. It's much easier for me to either keep it, warts and all (such as Hiraeth), or throw the entire baby out with the bathwater.

So. I was telling a reader the other day, there's a pull -- which I ought to think better of because what a tall order! -- toward retelling the ST in a way that addresses the holes (as I saw them, your mileage may vary) with 150% more Reylo. I wish Finn got to see his potential. I wish the Boss villain had been more original. I wish we'd got to see Poe, Finn, and Rey develop a real warmth and friendship. I wish Luke had been shown mourning Han, etc.

I'm not a big AU person, but I'd be open to attempting something if it sparked my fancy. That goes for historical AU’s as well. It would have to really have parallels to canon, though. Rey would be an orphan and/or mechanic, not a lawyer or fashion designer, and such. And while I don't have anything against writing for sexually experienced characters, I can't put Kylo/Ben in the role of an experienced rake. It's just not possible for me, I'd feel like I was betraying him!

The other interest I have is in fairy tales and myths and I could see indulging in a canonverse Cupid and Psyche from scratch. Maybe I'll develop that idea a little further and see where it takes me. It's fun to try to manoeuvre the elements of canon to fit the archetypes.

Thanks for the words of affirmation. There is ever-present, niggling guilt that I should be writing original fiction, or doing something "better" with my time, which I would smother immediately if I caught it on anyone else, so I should afford myself the same courtesy. The fact is that if the characters and stories are important enough to make an impact to us, and I can move just one person by writing about them, then it's time well spent. Also, it's good practice!

Thanks for the ask! <3

#Reylo #fanfiction #ask #ask me a question and get an essay #over-indulgent navel gazing #writing

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mandaloriangf · 4 years

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Personally, I think the Hades and Persephone comparison is the only somewhat accurate parallel the reylos have actually come up with. Namely because if you read the original myth, the relationship is just as toxic, you know because he kidnaps her. It's even more disturbing when you remember that technically they're uncle and niece.

thats true, reylos always play themselves

#ask amanda #anti reylo #sw discourse #anonymous

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writing-with-dragons · 4 years

Text

So, I wrote a thing?

I have not written anything in YEARS so this will probably be dreadful and have an unforgivable amount of grammar and style errors. Oh, well.

So how do I explain this...? This is a kind-of Frozen inspired fix-it / re-imagining / alternative universe Reylo fanfiction?? I’m really just using the some of the SONGS from Frozen and not much of the story itself as inspiration. Frozen 2 and TROS are both available to watch at home now and I’ve been kind of bored during self-isolation and well, this is the result?

In this AU, Ben and Rey are only 5 years apart. Their storylines and the major events in their lives are even more closely linked together than they are in the original story. This is just the first part. I’m posting this now, as a sort of test I guess. If anyone actually likes it I might polish it up a bit and continue it? Here it is kiddos:

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The day Rey is born, on the other side of the galaxy and many planets away, 5 year-old Ben Solo feels a shift in the force. It was as though a wave was crashing over him. Overwhelming and drowning him in its intensity while also completely wrapping him in its welcoming warmth. Being only a child he is unable to put his feelings into words. He is both uncomfortable and fascinated by these new ripples in the usually still water-like presence of the force. His confusion leads to unprecedented tantrums and outbursts of the force from the usually sweet-tempered child, leaving his family concerned and starting to fear the worst. This disturbance in the force becomes the new normal for young Ben as he continues to grow, he subconsciously begins to accept and even expect this other presence in his mind.

Every time he mentions or tries to explain this foreign feeling to any of his family he can sense the fear and even grief it brings, so he begins to keep both the presence and his own feelings to himself. As he grows Ben discovers that as it turns out, his abilities in the force are even more rare and unusual than he had originally thought. They frighten and confuse his teachers, they alienate his classmates. His mother skirts around the issue, finding increasingly subtle ways of advising him to conceal his abilities as much as possible. Being a very astute little boy, Ben quickly realizes that his abilities are very much tied to his emotions and so the solution becomes quite obvious. In order to conceal his abilities he must first keep a firm hold on his emotions. It was simple, really: conceal, don’t feel. Don’t let it show. Very quickly, the young Solo becomes quite skilled at pretending and hiding behind a mask of self-control. A skill he would later learn was more of a family trait.

At around the age of eight, Ben was playing outside by himself as his mother kept a loose watch over him. Normally, he would make his toy ships fly around the garden using the force. He would stage what he believed to be elaborate battles, using small rocks as asteroids and his mother’s rose bushes as canyons and mountains to maneuver through as his nursery droid kept a detailed score of battles won and lost. But not today, not with his mother around. The young Solo knew that his frequent use of the force was unsettling even to his parents. He didn’t want to give her a reason to leave, not when this was one of the few times she decided to work at home rather than at her senate office. So he pretended to make repairs on his ships, like he had seen his uncle Chewie do on his father’s old ship so many times before. He muttered to himself about compressors, leaks and motivators while his mother worked on the seemingly endless documents she always had to prioritize.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ben saw his mother suddenly stiffen and turn completely towards him. The rare gesture caught Ben’s full attention as he pretended not to notice the sudden shift of atmosphere in the quiet garden. He kept up the air of nonchalance as he heard his mother approach him and tried not to flinch as he felt her hand stroke his hair.

Slowly, he put down his toy x-wing as he turned to face his mother, trying to keep all apprehension from his face and maybe even smile at the touch. Turning to look at his mother, he could tell he was not the only one forcing nonchalance. His mother looked at him the way one looked at a wild animal they were being careful not to startle, fearing what might come from its agitation.

Her hand moved down to his cheek and stroked it as her eyes searched his and her mouth parted slightly. She was weighing her words, he realized. She was being careful around him, trying not to spook him. They always seemed to be walking circles around him as of late, it no longer surprised him. Finally she spoke, her voice saccharine, completely unlike her normal tone. “Sweetheart…” she said softly. Trepidation hiding behind her smile. “Do you remember a long time ago, you said you felt a presence? In your mind?”

Ben nodded, keeping his face as still as possible.

His mother nodded along with him before pausing and stroking his cheek with her thumb once again.

“Do you… do you still feel that presence?”

Yes. Everyday. That presence felt like a part of him now. Sometimes he felt it more strongly than others, but it was always there in the back of his mind. Like an imprint on his very soul. He wanted to tell her; he wanted to be honest, to be able to share all of his secrets with his mother. His fears of this presence and even how sometimes, the presence comforted him and eased him into sleep at night.

But he saw the fear in his mother’s eyes, felt it in her touch. He wanted her to tell him that whatever it was, they would figure it out together and that nothing would change. He wanted her to see his entire self and accept him, regardless.That wouldn’t happen, of course. His mother feared the presence more than he did, so did his father and his uncles. But they would never tell him that. And more importantly, they would never tell him why.

So he lied.

Forcing a smile, he shook his head.

“No. No, I don’t.”

The change was instantaneous. His mother’s shoulders relaxed and her smile seemed to finally reach her eyes as words left her lips in breathy sighs. “Good, that's good.” She said, leaving a kiss on his temple as she rose, turning her back to him and walking back towards her work.

Ben kept his eyes on her back for as long as he could before being caught and turning back to his toys. He traced the design on the x-wing with his finger as he finally felt his own tension leaving his shoulders.

He had done the right thing, he thought to himself. The truth would have only upset his mother, it would have made her turn away from him. People always fear what they cannot understand, and she wouldn’t understand. She couldn’t understand. Neither could his father, or uncle Chewie. Least of all uncle Luke.

No, he would keep the presence to himself for now. He scratched the paint on the miniature x-wing with his nail as he continued to ease his nerves. He had painted it to look just like his Uncle Luke’s old ship, or at least as close as he could make it. His uncle had long since turned in his flight helmet for jedi robes and all that remained of the young rebel pilot were the stories he would pry out of his father and a few blurry holos.

It was then that a sudden realization struck the young Solo. Just because he couldn’t share his secret with his uncle, it didn’t mean the legendary jedi couldn’t help him understand the mysterious presence.

The presence, he knew, was tied to the force. And so, in order to understand it, he had to first understand the force. He had always been fascinated by the myth of the jedi, the legend and the hope they embodied. And taking into account his heritage and family legacy, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to his parents if he suddenly showed an interest in learning more about the force and the jedi. He decided then and there that he would become one of his uncle’s apprentices, he would learn the way of the jedi and on the way he would learn the truth of this other presence in his mind.

*************************************************

Ben waited about a month after his encounter with his mother to mention his desire to learn the ways of the jedi to his parents. It was one of the very rare occasions in which his entire family was sitting down, sharing a meal together. His father and uncle Chewie had already had a few drinks, they were cracking jokes and challenging each other to not-so friendly games of Dejarik. His mother and uncle Luke, ever the more solemn members of the group, looked on with pleasant smiles on their faces as they quietly reminded the ex-smugglers just how badly their last Dejarik competition had turned out.

This was good, they were all enjoying themselves. This was the right time, they were happy and relaxed, there was no way they would say no!

Ben reached out his small hand and grabbed a hold of his uncle Luke’s sleeve, both he and his mother, who sat close to him as usual, turned to face him with comforting smiles. Yes, this couldn’t go wrong!

“What is it, Ben?” uncle Luke asked. His face was open and welcoming and it filled Ben with confidence.

“Um, I was thinking��,” his excitement was growing, he could feel the smile on his cheeks as he spoke and he met his uncle’s eyes with his own.

“I want to train to be a jedi! Just like you, Uncle!”

Ben regretted his words only seconds after they left his lips. There was another shift in the force, but this time the source was not unknown. It was more than obvious as the glass in his mother’s hand shattered, and the banter coming from his father and uncle screeched to a halt.

Ben let go of his uncle’s sleeve as though the fabric might burn him, clapped his hands together and placed them firmly on his lap. He stared at them as his mind raced, trying to figure out how to undo his mistake.

“I- I’m sorry… I didn’t mean. I just… I thought-”

Panic enveloped him, words stuck in his throat forming a lump that made it hard for him to breathe.

“I’m sorry”, his face was hot and his vision was getting blurry… was he crying?

A heavy hand was placed firmly on his shoulder, he willed himself to look up to his uncle Luke, his expression once open was now serious and questioning.

“Ben, are you feeling the pull of the force?” his uncle’s voice betrayed no emotion.

He wanted to be honest, he wanted to tell him the truth. But he could feel it, he could see it; their fear, their rejection just lurking on the horizon ready to tear him down. Ben’s eyes darted across his uncle's face, looking for any clue as to what the right answer might be but the jedi offered him no life line.

His mother’s voice broke through the thickening silence. “Is it…,” she swallowed heavily as she pushed the words out of her throat and Ben thought he saw her eyes watering. But no, it must have been a trick of the light. His mother was the mighty General Organa, she wouldn’t let her emotions overpower her.

“Is it the presence? Are you feeling that presence again? In your head?”

All eyes were on him, he could feel himself shrinking under the weight of their stares.

Ben started to speak, “I -”

His words died on his tongue as his father shot out of his chair, the shriek of wood over tile stunning the boy into silence.

“Absolutely not.” Han spoke out harshly, he was looking directly at his uncle Luke. Ben had never seen his father turn so serious. Han’s hand was twitching over the spot where his blaster used to reside and immediately Ben felt as though he was no longer part of the conversation but rather, just a spectator.

His mother’s hand was resting on her forehead now, shadowing the rest of her face. She looked so prematurely tired, as if she knew the conversation that followed would use whatever strength she had left.

“Han... “ she started, already sounding out of breath. “Please.”

His father bristled, and turned his attention towards her as uncle Luke kept his eyes firmly on the ex-smuggler. Uncle Chewie stood slowly and silently behind his friend, placing a paw on his shoulder, clearly trying to act as a calming force during the increasingly tense situation. His father’s temper and volume of his voice only seemed to rise. “No. No, we talked about this Leia! We agreed! A long time ago, when he first started…” His eyes flickered quickly towards his son, never actually looking at him as he struggled to find the right words.

“When he first started showing signs…” he said, his tone now more resentful than enraged.

Showing signs. He spoke of his abilities as though they were a disease, something he should be cured of, expunged from his body like a plague. Ben knew his father was not intuned with the force like his mother and uncle Luke; he generally avoided talking about the subject all together. They bonded over different things, like flying and ships even games and stories. It had never occurred to him, until that moment, that his father might have actually hated his force abilities; that his father could actually hate a part of him. Ben felt completely stupefied by this realization, the conversation being carried out in front of him started going in and out of focus.

Ben registered Luke’s voice in the distance, “Showing signs? Showing promise is more like it.”

Han’s lip twitched as he consciously tried to ignore him, refusing to acknowledge his words and keeping his stare directed at Leia. Han’s voice picked up once more, “We agreed we would try to give him as normal a life as possible. Away from all this... “ he waved his hands wildly in the direction of Luke, “mystical force mumbo jumbo!”

His mother’s head snapped up as her hand slammed down on the table. She rose from her chair, her voice now matching her husband’s.

“Well clearly, that HASN’T WORKED!” she screamed, while aimed a well-manicured finger towards Ben; pointing but not looking.

Han walked towards her, towering over her smaller stature, “You cannot be seriously considering this.”

“What other choice do we have, Han? He’s not…” her voice grew quieter for a moment. “He’s not like other children, Han. He needs guidance, a kind of guidance that neither one of us can give him.”

Ben watched as his father raked his fingers through his greying hair. Slowly, Han looked up to Luke, giving him an expectant stare. Luke simply raised an eyebrow in response. An exasperated sigh escaped his father as he scratched his stubbled chin. “Well?” he questioned. “Can you do it? Can you promise me Luke -”

The jedi master interrupted him, “I would not have made the offer all those years ago if I wasn’t sure.” Luke stood up slowly, “I can train him, put him on the right path.”

His uncle’s words started to sink in, all those years ago, he could have started his training years ago but his parents had forbidden it! He could have been closer to understanding the presence, he could have been feeling less alone, like less of an absolute freak all this time but his parents had kept him from others like him. And what’s worse, they had done it on purpose. Ben knew his uncle Luke had other students but he had always assumed they were much older, that he would have to wait a couple more years to even be considered a proper apprentice. But no, his uncle had offered to take him under his wing years ago! A cold resentment started to wash over him as he looked up to adults surrounding him. Ben had never felt smaller than he did at that moment with those four towering figures casting shadows over him, deciding his fate without giving him any say, as though he wasn’t even in the room. He felt angry and powerless, and in a moment of desperation he reached out to the mysterious presence, hoping to find some semblance of comfort.

He closed his eyes and the loud voices around him began to fade away. He knew they were still arguing with each other, he could hear their screaming but he was no longer listening to their words. He barely registered his uncle Luke smugly stating, “If anyone can help him, it’s me. And you know it.” Then, it all faded and he was sucked into what seemed to him like a whole other realm. He felt the presence all around him, it covered every part of him. For the first time in his young life, Ben Solo felt truly safe and comforted. For the first time, he did not feel alone.

And then he heard it, a voice. Sweet and innocent, like a child’s.

“Aah, aaah…”

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