In this AU, Rey made the hard choice to stay with Kylo Ren in exchange for him to stop attacking the transports during the throne room scene of The Last Jedi. Her reasoning was that his final 'please' sounded and looked more like Ben than it did Kylo Ren and that she believes she can turn him to the light by her extended presence in his life. And in the meantime, maybe make the First Order a little more humane since she has the ear and a great deal of sway of Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. She knows that even though he'd be the first to deny it, her influence makes him a little more thoughtful in how he approaches ruling.

However, what she failed to bargain for was that if she's influencing him, he can do the same to her. Think of it like a drop of oil paint in a glass of water. Of course the two don't mix, but in time the color of the oil paint slowly starts to tint the water in the glass.

Thus, shadows in light.

Character Base

• Character Name: •  Rey
Age: •  19
Canon (Date/Year Released)/Canon Point: •  Star Wars:  The Last Jedi (December 2017).  after being knocked out because of the tug of war over the legacy lightsaber with Kylo Ren but prior to waking up and leaving
Items Coming Along: 6 items only. •  the two pieces of the legacy lightsaber
Content Warnings for Character:  parental abandonment, anger issues, complicated relationship with Kylo Ren which could be perceived as negging/abusive, age gap relationship (Rey being 19 and Kylo Ren being 29)

Character Background

• History: •  <a href="https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Rey">here</a>
Core Relationships: •  Kylo Ren/Ben Solo:  if Facebook existed a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, her relationship status would be It's Complicated.  To put it mildly.  Their first meeting was inauspicious, as Kylo Ren knew that Rey had seen the part of the map leading to Luke Skywalker and chased her down in the forest of Takodana.  Rey was terrified of him, especially after he froze her in place.  From there, he knocked her out and took her to be interrogated.  She tried to resist his mind probe at first, but was ultimately able to turn the tables on him as her own Force abilities kicked in, letting her reveal a truth about Kylo Ren which made him break off the mental link abruptly.  And Rey had to witness Kylo Ren killing Han Solo, his own father, and was helpless to do anything to stop him or save Han.  Their next meeting on Starkiller Base didn't go much better, Kylo Ren badly wounding Finn, her friend, but Rey was again able to turn the tables on him, defeating him in a duel and leaving behind a distinctive scar on her opponent.  After that point, one could be forgiven for thinking that their relationship would only go downhill from there, but something happened that neither of them expected.  When Rey was on Ahch-To, training to become a Jedi, she got pulled into a Force bond with Kylo Ren.  Her first instinct was to shoot at him with a blaster while his first instinct was to try and figure out what was going on.  And it kept on happening, the two of them being linked through the Force.  Rey initially was very hostile and confrontational towards Kylo Ren while he accepted and confirmed her perception of him being a monster and a murderer.  Then there was the infamous scene where the Force linked them while Kylo Ren wasn't wearing a shirt.  Rey was immediately flustered, trying to look anywhere but directly at him and asking if he had a shirt he could put on.  That was also the first conversation they had which wasn't hostile, where each seemed to be trying to understand the other, Kylo Ren espousing his belief that the past needed to die and telling Rey why he turned to the dark side in the wake of Luke Skywalker trying to kill him over the perceived darkness within him.  Shortly after, Rey went to the dark side cave, trying to figure out what became of her parents, only to be bitterly disappointed.  And in that disappointment, Rey turned to Kylo Ren, expressing her unhappiness at her failure and her fears, only for Kylo Ren/Ben to comfort her, telling her she wasn't alone.  At this point, Rey's hostility had been replaced by a sense of camaraderie and an unspoken attraction.  So the two of them reached out for each other through the Force, touching each other's bare hands which is described in the novelization as being as intense as touching a live wire.  It seems likely that their unspoken attraction to each other would have been revealed, but they were discovered by Luke who destroyed the hut Rey (and seemingly Kylo/Ben) were in and breaking contact between them.  This angered Rey, angered on behalf of Kylo/Ben and she confronted Luke with what she'd been told about the circumstances leading Kylo/Ben to the dark side of the Force.  She accused Luke of creating Kylo Ren and even drew her lightsaber on him.  That led to her fleeing Ahch-To, given her conviction that Kylo/Ben could be turned back to the light side and wanting to go to him in an effort to make that happen.  She expressed that she'd had a vision when she and Kylo/Ben touched hands, seeing him turn back to the light and that she'd help him.  Her attitude towards him had done a complete 180, where once she was hostile and accusing him of being a murderer and a monster, she was soft towards him, offering to help him and expressing her conviction that Kylo/Ben wouldn't bow to Snoke when the time came.  However, Kylo showed clear deference towards Snoke, possibly as a ruse to conceal his decision to kill his mentor when he was told by Snoke to kill Rey.  That led to the infamous and fan favorite scene where Rey and Kylo/Ben fought together on the same side against a common foe.  Their cooperation and anticipation of each other's moves as well as their ability to not only fight back to back and to watch each other's backs as they fought together seemed to confirm Rey's conviction that Kylo/Ben would turn as she'd seen in a vision.  It's completely understandable that because of their close cooperation that Rey felt her vision would come true, only for Kylo to break her heart by maintaining his allegiance to the First Order and his clear desire for her to rule with him and worst of all, telling Rey that her parents were nobodies, that she herself was a nobody, and that she had no place in the story except presumably at his side.  Rey begged Ben not to stay on the path he'd chosen, but Kylo didn't budge and doubled down on his attempt to get her to join him.  That angered Rey and they had their tug of war over the legacy lightsaber, splitting it in two and knocking both of them out.

Finn:  Finn is like the brother Rey never had, along with Han Solo, the closest thing to family Rey has had ever since she was a little girl.  They didn't exactly meet on the best of terms as Finn was wearing Poe Dameron's leather jacket and BB-8 thought that Finn had stolen it from Poe.  Rey was led to believe that Finn was part of the Resistance, which immediately fascinated her and inclined her to see him in a very positive light.  When the First Order came back to Jakku to find BB-8, Rey and Finn fled to escape the planet using the Millennium Falcon, working together as Rey piloted the ship away from the First Order TIE fighters and Finn used the gunner's seat to shoot down Finn's once fellow members of the First Order.   Finn clearly tried flirting with Rey by asking her if she had a cute boyfriend, but Rey seemed oblivious to his attempts but she felt incredibly close to him, again seeming to see him as family and someone to be defended and befriended.  When Han Solo and Chewbacca took control of the Falcon again and took them to Takodana, Finn revealed that he wasn't really part of the Resistance and wanted to find a way out of the danger he'd inadvertently gotten involved in, asking Rey to join him in fleeing the situation they'd found themselves in.  Rey was clearly disappointed in what Finn was suggesting, stating her desire to stick with the plan to return BB-8 to the Resistance.  That may have been the last time they'd see each other, but the First Order came to Takodana, attacking the planet in its attempt to claim BB-8 for themselves and find Luke Skywalker.  Finn saw Kylo Ren carrying Rey onto his shuttle and went to Han to tell him what happened and try to convince him to help Finn save Rey.  After the Resistance saved Finn, Han, and Chewie, Finn stated his desire to save Rey, clearly upset at the thought of what the First Order might put her through.  As a result, Finn along with Han and Chewie boarded the First Order ship to save Rey who'd managed to save herself by using a Jedi mind trick.  Rey and Finn witnessed Han's confrontation with Kylo Ren which ultimately led to Kylo Ren killing his own father..  Both Finn and Rey were very distraught at what happened and their inability to intervene.  As a result, when Kylo Ren confronted them on Starkiller Base, Finn immediately used the legacy lightsaber to duel Kylo, no only over Han's death but because Kylo had knocked Rey out by throwing her into a tree.  He managed to scar Kylo, but was ultimately defeated.   That angered Rey who'd since come to and claimed the legacy lightsaber herself to avenge her friend.  After the Resistance picked both Rey and Finn up, Rey kissed Finn's forehead and said that they'd meet again before leaving to find Luke Skywalker.

Han Solo:  Han found Rey when he returned to take back the Millennium Falcon for himself after it had been stolen from him.  Rey pretty much immediately imprinted on him as a father figure, clearly wanting to impress him with her own knowledge of how ships like the Falcon worked, saving everyone when the Falcon was on the verge of destruction.  She gave Han a wide, girlish grin when she did so, wanting him to acknowledge her and her knowledge.  When Han took them to Takodana, she stuck by his side and wanted to help him get BB-8 to the Resistance after seeing the map portion to Skywalker the droid had access to.  She was clearly in awe when Han acknowledged that while once he'd been skeptical of the idea of the Force, binding together the universe with a light side and a dark side, but had since been convinced through experiences and observations that it was indeed true.  Han offered Rey a job with him and Chewie on the Falcon and taught her how to use a blaster.  Rey was tempted by Han's offer, but felt that she needed to return to Jakku to continue waiting for her parents to return and claim her.  Shortly after, the First Order attacked and Rey was abducted.  Han agreed to go on a mission to get her back as well as try to turn his son back to the light.  Rey witnessed the confrontation between the two men and screamed in rage and heartbreak when Han was murdered, this rage fueling her desire to defeat Kylo Ren, to avenge the father she appreciated and Kylo didn't.

Luke Skywalker:  Rey had initially thought that Luke was a myth but became intrigued by the fact that he was not only real, he was every bit the powerful Force user and Jedi Master she'd heard about..  After her own awakening in the Force, she was sent to Luke to be formally trained as a Jedi.  However, what she didn't know was that Luke had cut himself off from the Force and was no longer interested in training anyone or restoring the Jedi Order.  That was an unpleasant shock to Rey who felt that he had to help the Resistance defeat the First Order.  Luke mocked the idea, asking her if she expected him to charge in with a lightsaber and save the day all on his own, leading Rey to feel foolish.  And he did it again when he told her to meditate to try and find the Force, tickling her hand with a leaf and claiming it was the Force causing the sensation.  It was quite a fall from a pedestal Rey had put him on, but she still tried to convince him to train her.  As part of her training, she meditated but was immediately drawn to a dark side cave, making Luke wary of training her further, saying that he'd only felt such raw strength in one other person, revealed to be Kylo Ren..  Luke told his side of the story about why Kylo fell to the dark which Rey initially accepted as the full truth only to have Luke fall from the pedestal again when Kylo told his side.  She didn't know who to believe at first and when Luke broke up Rey and Kylo/Ben's Force bond, Rey became extremely angry, first attacking Luke with her staff, only for him to toy with her and disarm her easily.  At that point, Rey drew her lightsaber against him, a clear sign of how angry and betrayed she felt.  She wanted him to go with her back to the Resistance, only to be disappointed again.

Rey's Parents:  We get a flashback to young Rey watching the ship with her parents aboard leaving Jakku as little Rey screams for them to come back, only to be told to be quiet by Unkar Plutt, her apparent guardian at the time.  Rey never gave up hope that her parents would return for her, wearing her hair in the same three bun hairstyle that she'd worn as a little girl and dressing very similarly to how she'd been dressed when her parents left..  On the wall of her AT-AT home, she'd kept a tally of the days she'd been separated from her parents, clearly stretching out over multiple years as Rey never gave up hope.  When she's offered a job on the Falcon by Han, she tells him that she has to return to Jakku and continue waiting for her parents to come and be a family with her again.  She's desperate to believe that her parents were important somehow and thus making Rey important as well.  Her whole motivation to go into the Dark Side cave was to try and see a vision of her parents, only to be bitterly disappointed when all the cave shows her is a reflection of herself with no hints about the identities and whereabouts of her parents.  That's part of why it hurts so badly when Kylo Ren tells her that they were nobodies who sold Rey for drinking money and were buried in pauper's graves in Jakku, that her parents being nobodies meant that Rey was a nobody as well, Kylo Ren lancing into Rey's deepest insecurities about herself and her parents.  That was the worst possible outcome for Rey, given that she wanted so badly to believe that her parents loved her and were still going to come for her somehow.

 

Character Personality Through Key Moments

(2+) Positive Experiences:    One positive experience Rey has is her closeness with Han Solo.  Much of what they meant to each other was already covered above, but Han was one of the first people to acknowledge that Rey was capable and had worth beyond simply who her parents were or weren't.  She grew close to him very quickly and the gruff smuggler clearly thought that Rey was a capable young woman, good to have around in a dangerous situation.  That bolstered her self-esteem significantly even though Rey felt like she had to refuse the offer to continue waiting for her parents on Jakku.  However, fate intervened, keeping them as parts of each other's lives longer than Rey had expected, making her feel extremely close to him as though he was a father figure to her and that she knew he cared about her and her well-being.  That he wanted more for her than a scavenger's life on Jakku.  

Another positive experience was the touch of Kylo/Ben's fingers to hers in the hut on Ahch-To.  The two of them had been drawing closer and closer over their conversations through the Force bond, going from open antagonism to fascination to an unexpected mental, emotional, and physical attraction to each other.  As stated, in the novelization in the movie, it's described as being as intense as touching a live wire.  Due to their prior conversation about how Rey felt after her failure in the Dark side cave, they'd reassured each other that they weren't alone in the galaxy, implying directly that they had each other to rely on in the moment.  Something Rey never would have expected given the way they'd initially met, but something growing out of multiple meetings between each other, down to when Kylo was first interrogating Rey using a mind probe.  He'd commented on how lonely she was and that comment came full circle when for a brief moment when it seemed like they had each other and didn't have to be lonely anymore.  This leads Rey to come to Kylo's defense when Luke discovers them in the midst of their bond with their hands still touching and breaks the connection.  For at least a little while, Rey felt like she had someone who cared about her.
(2+) Negative Experiences:  Pretty much the entirety of Rey's process of growing up on Jakku.  She was clearly traumatized by her parents leaving her behind and at the not so tender mercies of Unkar Plutt.  While Rey learned a lot about the inner workings of ships and other technology as well as a variety of languages due to her experiences as a scavenger, she's afraid that that's all she's going to be in life, shown visibly in The Force Awakens by Rey staring at a little old lady still working as a scavenger and her clear expression of distress, likely afraid that she was looking at her most likely future.  Unkar Plutt kept changing the standards for however many portions certain pieces of tech were worth, Rey commenting on how similar items used to be worth one half portion each rather than the quarter portion of food she was  now being given for pretty much the same things.  She's clearly distressed and indignant that the standards had changed, but knew there wasn't anything she could do to change Plutt's mind and receive what the pieces used to be worth.  It's likely that Rey was always on the verge of starvation due to the small amount of food that the quarter portion amounts to, what looks like some kind of stew and a green bread-like item.  She was afraid of wanting more, though, since she still felt her parents would come for her in the end.

The immediate aftermath of the throne room fight.  There was a certain kind of intimacy between herself and Kylo/Ben at that point, but it seemed to frighten her in the end, given her immediate refocus of attention to the Resistance fleet being shot down by the First Order.  Rey tried to get Kylo to intervene and call off the attack, only for him to reiterate his belief that the past had to die in order for the future to become what he thought it should be.  She begs him to change his path from the Dark side and the First Order only for him to yell at her that she was still holding onto the past and needed to let it go.  When Rey pushed back, he told her that she was a nobody, her parents were nobodies who sold her for drinking money, and that she had no real part of the story, clear attempts at negging.  Rey starts to cry, hurt to her core by someone she thought understood her and she tries again to get him to change his path.  Only for him to offer to her to rule at his side in a clear moment of vulnerability on his part.  Rey very nearly takes his offered hand, but instead her anger at him and the situation to surge to the surface, resulting in the tug of war over the lightsaber and their previous intimacy destroyed.

Deer Country Attributes
• Canon Powers: Rey's ability tap into and use the Force is incredibly strong once that ability is awakened in her.  She's described as being more powerful with it than even she realizes at first, able to win a duel with Kylo Ren without ever having used a lightsaber in her entire life.  She also has fairly strong Force telekinesis, able to pull the fallen legacy lightsaber to her without visible effort.  Her telepathy was already in existence having been able to turn the tables on Kylo Ren during his interrogation of her, tapping into his deepest fears and insecurities.  She was also able to use a Jedi mind trick successfully after trying a few times before success in getting a Stormtrooper to let her out of the interrogation table and leave behind his weapon for her to take for herself.   She also has visions of the past, present, and future 'seeing' Kylo and the Knights of Ren in a vision before she'd ever actually ran into them.  Rey is also able to sense the emotions of others and be alerted to ripples in the Force along with the presence of light side and dark side users.  Rey does skirt close to the edge of the Dark side given how often she lets her anger fuel her in duels, giving her a boost in power, stamina, and control.  And there are the Force bond and Dyad in the Force she forms with Kylo Ren.  This power is described as being incredibly powerful and making them two halves of a single whole.  The link allows them to communicate telepathically with ease as well as basically download skills from each other which is why Rey was successful the first time she used the lightsaber.  It also allows them to physically interact with each other through the Force, despite being vast distances apart.  She's also extremely strong using both a staff and a lightsaber in combat, the staff something she'd grown up using.  

Blood Type: •  Paleblood
Omen: •  a Porg
Blessed Day: April 2nd
Patron Pthumerian: Argonaut
Blood Power Manifestation:  This blood type works well with the mental/emotional sides of the Force, so she'll be able to pick up thoughts, even stray almost subconscious thoughts easily when speaking directly to another and not over the network as well as grant her the abilities to dreamwalk and turning her Force visions of the future up to a much more significant ability.  She'll lost the bulk of her physical Force abilities, left only as physically augmented as the rest of the Sleepers are. Telekinesis won't be impossible, but it will require far more effort. It will also turn the Force bond/Dyad with Kylo Ren up to eleven, something which has been discussed ahead of time and approved of by Kylo Ren's player.

Writing Samples

One:  <a href="https://countryclub.dreamwidth.org/56304.html?thread=13776624#cmt13776624">here</a>
Two:  <a href="https://folkooc.dreamwidth.org/22179.html?thread=9926819">here</a>

The Player

• Player Name: •  kittenbiscuits
Player Age: 46
Player Contact: •  PM the character journal
Permissions: <a href="https://shadowsinlight.dreamwidth.org/1930.html">here</a>

PHYSICAL AFFECTION: Rey will be awkward at first receiving physical affection from anyone other than Finn, but he's like a brother to her so it's okay.

PHYSICAL VIOLENCE: Oh, jeez. She got her lightsaber back in the TDM, she'll figure out a way to make a staff quickly, and then there's the Force. While I'm trying to dampen down the latter, she'll still be very powerful.

ROMANCE/FLIRTING: Only if you're playing Kylo Ren/Ben Solo!

SEXUAL CONTENT: Only if you're playing Kylo Ren/Ben Solo!

PSYCHIC ABILITIES: She can read minds as a Force ability and prevent her own from being read. MAGIC/POWERS: The Force, the Force, the Force, dear Jesus the Force!

MEDICAL INFORMATION: She's as human as they get. In a time long, long ago in a galaxy far away.

OFFENSIVE SUBJECTS OR TRIGGERS: Kylo Ren! The First Order! Why she likely made a mistake in staying with Kylo because she thought she saw Ben Solo there instead of Kylo!

⇓out of character⇓

BACKTAGGING: Absolutely!

FOURTH WALLING: You can try, but she won't believe it.

THREADHOPPING: Go for it!

CONTENT I ABSOLUTELY NEED WARNINGS FOR, BUT CAN STILL PLAY: For me, nothing. However, imply that I'm a racist or an abuse apologist for shipping Reylo and expect to be treated with extreme caution in the future.

CONTENT I ABSOLUTELY NEED WARNINGS FOR AND THAT I CAN'T PLAY: Harm to cats.

ANYTHING ELSE: I'm pretty easy-going! Even heavy subjects like rape doesn't bother me. The only thing which flat-out sends me into an anxiety attack is harm to cats.