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Sorry that the next chapter of Midnight Sun is taking so long. My laptop battery died and my Kindle copy of Midnight Sun is on that computer, so I'll have to get a new battery before I can continue that spork (trying to use that laptop without a battery means it randomly switches off if the adapter cord is disturbed even a tiny bit).
In the meantime, let's talk a little about a subject that's oh-so-fascinating for me: the Star Wars sequel trilogy. We could talk a lot about the sloppy storytelling and the lack of a coherent plan, but I'm here to talk about that ever-present percentage of fans: shippers.
First off, let me say that comments WILL BE CIVIL or I won't hesitate to disable them. Also, this isn't meant to imply that I don't like TROS - I do. It had interesting ideas and the Han scene is my favorite scene in the entire sequel trilogy, but in terms of how it handled romance . . . yeah, to say it's sloppy is an understatement.
Love them or hate them, shippers make up a large part of any fandom - that's just the way things are. And let's face it, shippers like to see their preferred ships become canon. I still remember how elated I felt when Korrasami officially became canon in the Legend of Korra finale. Unfortunately, this is a double-edged sword, since everyone has different shipping preferences and as such, when a ship becomes canon, some people will inevitably walk away disappointed. And since we live in the age of the internet, there will probably be some morons who think sending the creators death threats will get them what they want.
But yeah, shipping wars can be a scary thing. Maybe Disney was trying not to piss off any shippers . . . but in doing so, they managed to piss off EVERY shipper. It's honestly kind of amazing.
Of course, there were some ships that had no chance of becoming canon such as Kylux or Ben/Poe (sorry idril), so we're only going to focus on the ships that had a chance of becoming canon. I'm also going to try to be objective here. This isn't about my personal feelings on each pairing - it's about how Disney performed the art of pissing off ALL the shippers.
*Rey/Finn. At the beginning, this seemed like the most logical pairing, and indeed TFA seemed to be going in that direction. They hug a lot, they enjoy each other's company, she kisses his forehead at the end when he's comatose, etc. Then TLJ and TROS came around and significantly dialed back the romantic hints between them. Even when they're sinking in the desert sands and Finn's desperately trying to tell Rey something, it SEEMS like he might want to tell her he loves her, but the movie never tells us what he was going to tell her and supposedly it was going to be that . . . he's Force-sensitive? Um. What? You're about to die and THAT'S what you desperately want to tell Rey? In the end, Rey/Finn shippers got NOTHING.
*Finn/Poe. These two had a fun bromance that could have developed into something more - I know Oscar Issac was definitely on board for it. I've even heard rumors that there WAS going to be a Finn/Poe kiss that was deleted, but I have no idea if there's any validity to that rumor. Alas, it was a long shot for this pairing to become canon since even though we live in the 21st century, Disney still tends to be squeamish about lead characters being LGBT and usually just throws in some same-sex activity for side characters or extras (yeah, I know about that cartoon The Owl House that has a same-sex lead couple and the Loki series revealing that Loki identifies as genderqueer, but that's still TV - Disney's still squeamish about their leads being LGBT in movies). In the end, Finn/Poe shippers got NOTHING.
*Rey/Poe. While this pairing was a longer shot, it was still a possibility. You could interpret Rey and Poe smiling at each other when they introduce themselves at the end of TLJ as a possible path to a romance. Hell, the way they're arguing at the beginning of TROS could even be seen as the sparks of a romance since in movies, bickering is sometimes the way people hide their feelings for each other (Han/Leia, anyone?). But after that, Rey and Poe barely interacted at all. In the end, Rey/Poe shippers got NOTHING.
*Poe/Zorii. Obviously, there were no Poe/Zorii shippers before TROS since no one knew about Poe's ex beforehand, but Poe having an old flame that gets rekindled when they fight for the Resistance could have worked and might have even gotten some fans, but they went their separate ways at the end. If there were any Poe/Zorii shippers rooting for them to get back together when they watched the movie, they got NOTHING.
*Finn/Rose. A lot of people were rolling their eyes at the Finn/Rose kiss in TLJ, but there were others who genuinely supported the pairing and if it had gotten more development in TROS, it might have gotten some more fans. Well, not only did Rose get maybe ten lines in TROS (nice job catering to the idiots who harassed Kelly Marie Tran, Disney), but there was zero hint that she and Finn had ever kissed, as if Disney wanted to erase all memory of it. In the end, Finn/Rose shippers got NOTHING.
*Finn/Jannah. Again, there were obviously no Finn/Jannah shippers before TROS since no one knew about Jannah yet, but I could see this pairing working. Two former stormtroopers who both rebelled against their upbringing could have made a decent romance and I know of a few people who thought Finn and Jannah should have gotten together, but of course nothing came of it. Anyone hoping for Finn and Jannah to get together when watching the movie got NOTHING.
And now, the big one.
*Reylo. Whether you love this pairing or hate it with a burning passion, the fact remains that it was the most popular sequel pairing by FAR. And yeah, Disney obviously noticed. Even though TFA had nothing to indicate Rey and Kylo becoming a couple (if you call the interrogation scene romantic, I will slap you - hard), that didn't stop the pairing from EXPLODING in the fandom and then in TLJ, suddenly we had Rey and Kylo spend a lot of time staring at each other and giving each other longing looks and of course, Rey saw Kylo shirtless.
Then in TROS, they kissed.
Unlike everyone else, the Reylo shippers got SOMETHING. For a few brief seconds, they were squealing in happiness. Reylo was canon! Woot! Yay!
But then Ben immediately dropped over dead.
I mean, seriously, even if you hate Reylo, imagine that your pairing becomes canon, but you have no time to enjoy it before one of them dies. That's a low blow. At least we Han/Leia shippers got to enjoy them for thirty years before Han got murdered.
But things STILL could have been salvaged. It could have been a tragic romance like Titanic or something, except . . . after Ben dies, he vanishes both literally and figuratively. The rest of the movie acts like he never even existed. Unlike Anakin, he gets no funeral, no ghost, and Rey doesn't even seem to mourn him. There's NOTHING.
And THAT is what REALLY pissed off the Reylo shippers.
So what's worse - getting NOTHING like all the other shippers, or getting SOMETHING like the Reylo shippers did only to have it taken away and made into NOTHING? There's no right answer, but as I said, it's kind of amazing how TROS managed to so thoroughly piss off EVERY SINGLE SHIPPER. There's probably a lesson here. Try too hard to please everyone and you end up pleasing no one, or something like that.
In the meantime, let's talk a little about a subject that's oh-so-fascinating for me: the Star Wars sequel trilogy. We could talk a lot about the sloppy storytelling and the lack of a coherent plan, but I'm here to talk about that ever-present percentage of fans: shippers.
First off, let me say that comments WILL BE CIVIL or I won't hesitate to disable them. Also, this isn't meant to imply that I don't like TROS - I do. It had interesting ideas and the Han scene is my favorite scene in the entire sequel trilogy, but in terms of how it handled romance . . . yeah, to say it's sloppy is an understatement.
Love them or hate them, shippers make up a large part of any fandom - that's just the way things are. And let's face it, shippers like to see their preferred ships become canon. I still remember how elated I felt when Korrasami officially became canon in the Legend of Korra finale. Unfortunately, this is a double-edged sword, since everyone has different shipping preferences and as such, when a ship becomes canon, some people will inevitably walk away disappointed. And since we live in the age of the internet, there will probably be some morons who think sending the creators death threats will get them what they want.
But yeah, shipping wars can be a scary thing. Maybe Disney was trying not to piss off any shippers . . . but in doing so, they managed to piss off EVERY shipper. It's honestly kind of amazing.
Of course, there were some ships that had no chance of becoming canon such as Kylux or Ben/Poe (sorry idril), so we're only going to focus on the ships that had a chance of becoming canon. I'm also going to try to be objective here. This isn't about my personal feelings on each pairing - it's about how Disney performed the art of pissing off ALL the shippers.
*Rey/Finn. At the beginning, this seemed like the most logical pairing, and indeed TFA seemed to be going in that direction. They hug a lot, they enjoy each other's company, she kisses his forehead at the end when he's comatose, etc. Then TLJ and TROS came around and significantly dialed back the romantic hints between them. Even when they're sinking in the desert sands and Finn's desperately trying to tell Rey something, it SEEMS like he might want to tell her he loves her, but the movie never tells us what he was going to tell her and supposedly it was going to be that . . . he's Force-sensitive? Um. What? You're about to die and THAT'S what you desperately want to tell Rey? In the end, Rey/Finn shippers got NOTHING.
*Finn/Poe. These two had a fun bromance that could have developed into something more - I know Oscar Issac was definitely on board for it. I've even heard rumors that there WAS going to be a Finn/Poe kiss that was deleted, but I have no idea if there's any validity to that rumor. Alas, it was a long shot for this pairing to become canon since even though we live in the 21st century, Disney still tends to be squeamish about lead characters being LGBT and usually just throws in some same-sex activity for side characters or extras (yeah, I know about that cartoon The Owl House that has a same-sex lead couple and the Loki series revealing that Loki identifies as genderqueer, but that's still TV - Disney's still squeamish about their leads being LGBT in movies). In the end, Finn/Poe shippers got NOTHING.
*Rey/Poe. While this pairing was a longer shot, it was still a possibility. You could interpret Rey and Poe smiling at each other when they introduce themselves at the end of TLJ as a possible path to a romance. Hell, the way they're arguing at the beginning of TROS could even be seen as the sparks of a romance since in movies, bickering is sometimes the way people hide their feelings for each other (Han/Leia, anyone?). But after that, Rey and Poe barely interacted at all. In the end, Rey/Poe shippers got NOTHING.
*Poe/Zorii. Obviously, there were no Poe/Zorii shippers before TROS since no one knew about Poe's ex beforehand, but Poe having an old flame that gets rekindled when they fight for the Resistance could have worked and might have even gotten some fans, but they went their separate ways at the end. If there were any Poe/Zorii shippers rooting for them to get back together when they watched the movie, they got NOTHING.
*Finn/Rose. A lot of people were rolling their eyes at the Finn/Rose kiss in TLJ, but there were others who genuinely supported the pairing and if it had gotten more development in TROS, it might have gotten some more fans. Well, not only did Rose get maybe ten lines in TROS (nice job catering to the idiots who harassed Kelly Marie Tran, Disney), but there was zero hint that she and Finn had ever kissed, as if Disney wanted to erase all memory of it. In the end, Finn/Rose shippers got NOTHING.
*Finn/Jannah. Again, there were obviously no Finn/Jannah shippers before TROS since no one knew about Jannah yet, but I could see this pairing working. Two former stormtroopers who both rebelled against their upbringing could have made a decent romance and I know of a few people who thought Finn and Jannah should have gotten together, but of course nothing came of it. Anyone hoping for Finn and Jannah to get together when watching the movie got NOTHING.
And now, the big one.
*Reylo. Whether you love this pairing or hate it with a burning passion, the fact remains that it was the most popular sequel pairing by FAR. And yeah, Disney obviously noticed. Even though TFA had nothing to indicate Rey and Kylo becoming a couple (if you call the interrogation scene romantic, I will slap you - hard), that didn't stop the pairing from EXPLODING in the fandom and then in TLJ, suddenly we had Rey and Kylo spend a lot of time staring at each other and giving each other longing looks and of course, Rey saw Kylo shirtless.
Then in TROS, they kissed.
Unlike everyone else, the Reylo shippers got SOMETHING. For a few brief seconds, they were squealing in happiness. Reylo was canon! Woot! Yay!
But then Ben immediately dropped over dead.
I mean, seriously, even if you hate Reylo, imagine that your pairing becomes canon, but you have no time to enjoy it before one of them dies. That's a low blow. At least we Han/Leia shippers got to enjoy them for thirty years before Han got murdered.
But things STILL could have been salvaged. It could have been a tragic romance like Titanic or something, except . . . after Ben dies, he vanishes both literally and figuratively. The rest of the movie acts like he never even existed. Unlike Anakin, he gets no funeral, no ghost, and Rey doesn't even seem to mourn him. There's NOTHING.
And THAT is what REALLY pissed off the Reylo shippers.
So what's worse - getting NOTHING like all the other shippers, or getting SOMETHING like the Reylo shippers did only to have it taken away and made into NOTHING? There's no right answer, but as I said, it's kind of amazing how TROS managed to so thoroughly piss off EVERY SINGLE SHIPPER. There's probably a lesson here. Try too hard to please everyone and you end up pleasing no one, or something like that.
