Interstellar Transmissions
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Interstellar Transmissions |
| Author(s): | LovelyThings, ricca_riot |
| Date(s): | 2015-12-22 to 2016-02-27 |
| Length: | 193613 |
| Genre: | Het |
| Fandom: | Star Wars: The Force Awakens |
| External Links: | Ao3 Link |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Interstellar Transmissions is a Star Wars: The Force Awakens fanfic pairing Rey/Kylo Ren. This fic is an early example of a Reylo force bond fic, and became very popular. The author, Ricca_riot. originally started this story on her own; posting at least one new chapter every two days. LovelyThings was the first commentor on the fic, and soon joined Ricca as a co-author.
- Rey’s interrogation at the hands of Kylo Ren triggered an awakening in the Force, as well as an unwelcome bond that links them across the galaxy and grows stronger every day. An accidental encounter alerts Supreme Leader Snoke to the existence of this bond and he orders his apprentice to capture the girl and bring her to him. Sometimes it's not the big speeches that redeem people, but the actions you inspire them towards. Former PWP, now full scale adventure.
It was originally written for a prompt on tfa_kink on Dreamwidth: "One night, Rey's attempt at relieving some tension gets a little to real" and "...does it still count if like, they can force-sense each other while it happens? Long distance, force-assisted masturbation between them both?"
In spite of this premise, this fic is in fact a slow burn enemies to lovers work. Fans of Interstellar Transmissions praised it for its characterization and its worldbuilding, including a host of OCs.
Reactions and Reviews
A 190.000+ hell ride of a fanfiction. After a little Force bond encounter between the two of them, Snoke commands Kylo Ren to bring Rey to him in order to examine their bond for whatsoever reason. So Kylo does and Rey suddenly has to face living among her enemies at their base. The torch gets ignited quite fast in this fic, so a huge chunk of it is basically Reylo against the world and all odds, which is so much fun to read. What also strikes about this fic are the well-written minor characters - some of them made-up, some of them canon, but all of them are leaving their own footprints.[1]
This was the fic to read in the day, and it is still one of the fics to read nowadays. It’s got explicit sexual content, warning, but what starts as Reylo Force Bond frustration escalates into huge galaxy-spanning adventures with a creepy Snoke (tho he already is), well-written and memorable OCs, and one of my favorite redemption and development plotlines for Kylo.[2]
One of these stories that makes you wonder how come the quality of some actual published books is totally losing it compared to a fanfiction. Amazing quantity and a gorgeous build-up. There're chapters with the pace fast and furious, and then there're chapters of respite. There is darkness, captivity (on the both sides), tender forcebond and eventual freedom. A story that is most definitely worth reading - for all its beauty, the glorious language (how many pages did I bookmark for the sublime wording and genuine feels!), delicious lemony goodness and the love. Oh the love. ♥♥[3]
Some fan opinions changed in 2020, following comments by the authors on Reylo in an article published after the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Bruh I never thought it was hot shit like it was ok but only bc it was one of the few multichapter fics available back then. Whenever ppl would call it the reylo magnum opus I lost years lmao Tho I still think Forms is genuinely good so seeing the author talk like that about reylo now is incredibly disappointing[4]
The Fanfiction That Predicted a Big Last Jedi Storyline
This fic was brought to wider attention following an article in The Atlantic entitled, The Fanfiction That Predicted a Big Last Jedi Storyline. Interstellar Transmissions is not the first Force bond fic, with this Star Wars specific trope appearing in works across all three trilogies. It wasn't even the first Reylo force bond fic, but it's popularity inspired comparisons with Star Wars: The Last Jedi.[5]
Interstellar Transmissions wasn't the first fic TLJ creators were accused of plagiarizing. Before the Atlantic article, another fic Signs and Smoke Signals by StreetSolo had been pointed to as inspiration for the film.[6]
Related Works
Fanfiction
- Dinner by Reylo-spoken-here
Fanart
- Kylo's dream by LittleChmura
Further Reading
- Fifty Shades of Rey, an article in The Atlantic, March 2016. Includes comments from the authors on how Interstellar Transmission began, and the appeal of Reylo.
- The Fan Fiction That Predicted a Big Last Jedi Storyline, an article in The Atlantic, December 2017. Includes extracts from interviews with the authors.
- Imagining a Better End to The Rise of Skywalker, an article in The Atlantic, January 2020. Here LovelyThings and Ricca_riot give their opinion on the recently released Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Their opinions on Reylo as a ship were not appreciated by all Reylo fans.
References
- ^ Reylo recs by mrs-storm-andrews
- ^ Reylo recs in response to anon by the-apocryphal-one, 2018
- ^ "A Reylo Library". Archived from the original on 2022-12-25.
- ^ Response to anon from Tumblr user i-am-thesenate, Jan 2020. Original anon comment: "I'm so glad so many people feel free to talk about how overrated Interstellar Transmissions is now because it's one of the least in-character Reylo fics ever and deeply boring."
- ^ Was Rian Johnson reading fan fiction to come up with the story for The Last Jedi? asked on Quora, 2018.
- ^ Rian Johnson Plagiarist?!?! discussion on r/StarWarsCantina, June 2018. Responses appear to reference both Interstellar Transmissions and StreetSolo's fic.