kylo ren (ben organa, he’s never quite clear on the dividing line, it gets very muddled once he strays outside of ‘murder’) loves nothing so much as to be told what to do, inside outside and inclusive of Sex Stuff
He does not trust himself at all. Not to make decisions, and definitely absolutely not to make moral judgments. It’s complicated, he’s complicated and pained and very ill-equipped to meet the kind of complex moral demands that existing on the broad political stage of the New Republic (First Order. Knights of Ren. Any political designation.) requires. Fundamentally, he’s a coward, and he’s never more at ease than when someone is telling him how to negotiate between his two main drivers.
(Much like his mother, he believes in lofty ideals with a profound conviction that burns planets to ash. Much like his father, he has a hard time looking beyond the immediate individuals who comprise his social set. This makes literally everything very hard, because selfishness and idealism are ill-equipped to exist in the same person.)
But when you get him into bed with someone bossy or violent or even just dominant, his whole being goes quiet. he gets to be loyal and yet intensely and affectionately individual, a happy mix of appeasing and principled. There is absolutely nothing he loves like knowing exactly what his parameters are, and how to negotiate them, how to meet standards he’s been set.
In short? the subbiest sub to ever sub, and appreciates it when a partner recognizes that.
I haven’t seen anyone talking about how Kylo Ren inherited the strongest traits of the people who collectively raised him.
Han’s an ace pilot, so is his son. Luke is a Jedi master, Ben turned out to be incredibly powerful.
But what did he get from Leia?
If he’s so great at what Han and Luke both did, the funniest fucking possible thing for JJ Abrams to do in IX would be for Kylo to be good at ruling the galaxy.
It’d be like Mojo Jojo suddenly getting what he wanted in that one episode of the Powerpuff Girls. World hunger? Solved. Water crises? Sends in the storm troopers and fixes an aging pipe infrastructure in 12 hours. Overall health immediately improves.
The Resistance are constantly confused and surprised by all the public works projects that keep springing up on every planet where they’re trying to drum up support and open new bases. Trading Outposts are now part of a free and open market, and scavengers are ensured fair prices based on economic projections set by the government.
There are murals, and not ones depicting the glory of the Supreme Leader, but just… murals. On the sides of buildings. Nice views to break up the monotony.
Hux is forced to play nice with his new boss and keeps having to scrap all his fun assassination plots because Kylo is pretty popular with the on-board staff. “Sure, he’s a bit weird, but full-coverage dental insurance goes a long way, and I got shore leave to visit my mum last month,” Hux overhears one admin saying to another, and starts grinding his teeth so hard the med-droids have to make him a night guard. The fact that it’s free doesn’t lessen the blow any.
People are starting to shrug their shoulders and say, Eh, he’s not that bad, you know?
Finn and Poe are outraged just on principle. Rose is constantly getting into arguments with anyone who’ll listen about why Kylo needs to be doing more to expand welfare programs to put money back into the hands of the workers, I mean it’s okay, but honestly there could be a universal income introduced, and maybe that’s what he’s aiming toward over the next three years…
Rey is unsure how to feel about this since the Bond’s gone cold.
And Leia? Leia just looks over the Holonet for the latest news articles, shakes her head and purses her lips, muttering You little shithead to herself.
I’m probably not the right person to make these predictions because I do not have a good grasp of the kind of narrative priorities that value Power and Dark Prince stories in general. But I will be stunned if Supreme Leader Kylo lasts for more than a weekend. Like… people are talking about him ascending to power and crossing the ultimate line by becoming the ruler of the galaxy, but let’s be real about this guy’s leadership abilities. What qualities do we associate with a strong leader? Clear vision, high executive function, the ability to inspire respect and loyalty from their subordinates. Kylo Ren… where do I even start. We have yet to see him complete a single task, whether he fails OR succeeds, without having a massive mental/property destruction breakdown. He can’t get anything done because he’s constantly falling into dramatic meltdowns over his personal and spiritual problems. He screws up almost every villainous task he’s given in the entire first movie. I guess the raid on Takodana isn’t a complete disaster, but immediately afterwards he flips out and is back on his bullshit destroying infrastructure because he can’t and won’t regulate his emotions, because part of him hates the First Order and hates his job and wants to smash it all to pieces. I think the only time anything he does in TFA goes according to plan, it’s Han Solo. This fucks him up so much he loses his focus and is more or less directly responsible for the rebels destroying Starkiller Base. Hux hates him. All the First Order officers and stormtroopers we see steeling themselves to walk into or nope away from a room he’s freaking out in hate him. Even the red guards, who you’d think would be hip to Dark Sider power struggles, don’t recognize the apprentice gaining mastery by killing the master and attack him. How long can you hold a military organization together on the basis of personal magical powers alone? Because that’s really all Ben has going for him when it comes to the First Order. My son doesn’t have any friends at his school. He is 100% going to get fragged. He is a logistical disaster. A more entrenched dictatorship could probably survive that kind of volatile figurehead, but the First Order hasn’t been in at their current level of power for more than, what, a week? If I were a higher ranking officer who actually believed in the First Order and didn’t want the organization to implode, I would want him gone ASAP. If I were a petty officer, trooper, radar technician, or anyone else more anonymous, I would probably run. If I were Hux, I would just ditch him on Crait. I’m probably biased because the thing I want most for this guy is to be sent on the run and given a Zuko Alone arc to pull himself together as a human, but I really do not see this Emperor gig working out.
so fandom’s reaction to hux as a whole annoys me but i just want to throw this out there: hux is an eighties yuppie. he snorts stims. he never sleeps. he gets precious about his uniform, and wants it to be made of the most expensive fabrics. he’d vote thatcher. he works himself to the bone and he expects everyone else to do the same. he’s a cokehead. he wears red braces. he schedules meetings for four in the morning to get everyone else off balance. he goes for powerplay, and stands too close when he’s talking to you and his breath reeks of caf. his emails are ninety per cent buzzwords. he hates miners. he believes unions are a sign of moral degeneracy.
greed is good. the whole universe is his, or it will be.
By now the infamous black robe Hux wears in Phasma is its own character, and we all have a precise image in mind. Needless to say, that’s a sexy, silky and half-naked image. But. There is a but. Indulge me for a second.
In SW not only are robes common articles of outdoor clothing, but they are also charged with meaning: they are what Jedi and Sith wear. A black robe is a Sith robe. Emperor Palpatine used to wear a simple black robe. Robes are uniforms. And Hux wears his robe like a uniform.
I like the idea of Armitage getting ready for Kylo, in his wanton, silky and sexy robe, as much as any other girl does; but I am becoming more and more convinced that, in his downtime, General Hux dresses up like the old Emperor. Besides, we know from Before the Awakening that Hux is one of the hugest nerds the Galaxy has ever seen: he takes the time to explain how Starkiller works to the stormtroopers – even to those working in sanitation! Him cosplaying Palpatine is just the next little (oh, so little!) step.
[OR. Or. If Hux’s robe is actually intentionally reminiscent of a Sith robe, there might be some plottier implications. But that is a topic for another post]
ok so I watched TFA after not having seen it for ages and I was taken aback by how angryhux is under the surface. just… simmering. I remember discussing this way back when but I guess I kind of forgot. fanon can take on on a life of its own, and in fic hux is often written as being very steely and calm (guilty of this myself.) and to a degree, he is. but I think it’s worth nothing that this is hard-won: he puts in the effort to maintain his composure. this discipline is important to him. he isn’t naturally the icy, unruffled villain, at least not once you take a good look at him. he isn’t a first order tarkin. in phasma he’s described thus: “confidence, vitality, sureness… and yet there’s something cruel and savage in the man.” I’m interested (and hopeful) to see more of this duality in TLJ.
I also think that calmness is a facade he wears like another greatcoat.
He’s not an “independent contractor” like Ren – he must serve as example to thousands of soldiers, and if he expects them to conform, and desert their individuality, he must serve as example of a perfect ice-cold machine.
But that’s not what he is underneath.
He’s like Dupont in ‘Equilibrium’, who doesn’t take the feelings-suppressing drug, but in public must pretend that he does, to lead by example.
Hux feels everything, but he’s seen what chaos comes from people who act on those feelings (his own co-commander is the latest example), and he has no choice but to hide behind his own mask.
“Without the mask he looked more human. It was easier to remember he was just a man, with all the weaknesses and vulnerabilities that implied. With the mask, however, [he] was an icon, a symbol. He was the shaper of history, an individual defined by his actions rather than his thoughts, feelings, and beliefs.”
Things I have learned about General Hux from the tfa novelization:
He paces when he’s anxious, and when he forces himself to stand still (because it’s a “waste of energy” to pace), he starts scraping his palms with his nails.
He’s something of a military mastermind. Always planning, always thinking ahead.
He trusts his men and treats them without unnecessary belittling.
He studies people’s behavioural pattern and body language to be able to read them better.
He hates to admit his failures, but readily takes responsibility for them anyway.
He respects Kylo’s powers and ability to use the Force, but he is not afraid of him (at least according to himself).
He is a fucking smartass.
Even though he and Kylo hate each other and neither bothers to hide it, Hux has no problem to try and be manageable in order for them to work together more easily.
He is confident, but also very defensive.
While he is all too eager to destroy the planets that house the Republic, he protests when Snoke orders him to destroy all planets in the Ileenium system since it’s “unnecessary” and those planets could be claimed by the Order.
He is susceptible to praise.
He recognises that aggression from him won’t make his underlings work faster after they’ve been given orders, but rather rattle them, so he keeps it in.
Even though he’s obviously a good leader, he isn’t a very good team player (just look at the disaster that is him and Kylo trying to work together as equals).
He is willing to sacrifice his own men as collateral damage if he thinks it’s necessary.
He has a tracker in Kylo’s belt, and there’s no explanation as to why.
dispatches from the dumpster 