When scavenger-turned-Jedi Rey turns out to be a lost heir to the Hapes Consortium, she must adjust to an entirely new set of circumstances. In an effort to keep the galactic peace, while giving the Resistance time to make their move, this includes the prospect of marriage to her worst enemy, Emperor Kylo Ren of the First Order. It's okay though - they both know they can maintain a businesslike distance... right? As the newlyweds find themselves navigating dangers, plots, and complications from every side, their relationship shifts and changes... and for Rey and Kylo, nothing could be more dangerous than falling in love.
Landscape with a Blur of Conquerors provides examples of:
- After Action Patch Up: Rey looks after and heals Ben after his "punishment" from Snoke.
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Isolder gets himself and Ben rolling drunk, leading to some fabulous OOC bonding. Rey is not amused... or is she? After all, they are both very cute, affectionate, drunken idiots.
- All Amazons Want Hercules: Ben's a towering, muscled, incredibly strong Force user, and Rey, herself wildly strong and powerful, fancies the pants off of him.
- All of the Other Reindeer: In some ways, Rey feels very much like an outsider in the Hapan Court. And while she does have allies, there are many who make it their mission to keep her feeling that way.
- Always Save the Girl: Rey in danger? Emperor Ren doesn't care about intergalactic relations and diplomacy right now, he's a got a wife to rescue.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Isolder has a talk with Ben and Rey. A Sex Talk. And then warns them to stay in separate seats til after their wedding.
- Amazon Chaser: Ben is absolutely turned on by the fact that Rey can kick anyone's ass, including his own.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: True to their usual style, one of Rey and Kylo's most passionate verbalisations of their feelings comes during an argument where they yell about how terrified they each were that the other would be killed. Rey follows it up a few scenes later with a tearful declaration of her desire to be with him.
- Appeal to Familial Wisdom: In a fascinating twist, Kylo does this to himself, often quoting Leia or recalling Han's instruction to mind. Another clear giveaway of how much he is still attached to them, despite his best efforts to not be.
- Badass Family: It's a Skywalker story, duh; their emotional issues are exceeded only by their galaxy-breaking Force powers. Rey's family also more than hold their own, a combination of intelligence, toughness, and supernatural powers making them absolutely a force to be reckoned with. And the galaxy knows it.
- Badass Normal: They may not be Force users, but Finn and Rose prove themselves very brave and competent carrying out their Resistance missions. Isolder and Rey's other Hapan allies also show remarkable courage and battle prowess.
- Bathroom Break-Out: Luke makes his escape from the First Order by claiming to need the bathroom.Luke: Works every time.
- Battle Couple: The two most powerful Force users alive are now married, and ravenously in love to boot. The galaxy would be wise to seek cover.
- Becoming the Mask: Rey and Kylo's marriage begins as a reluctant arrangement, with both hiding significant issues from the other, but over the course of the story they fall deeply in love and want it all to be real.
- Being the Hero Sucks: Throughout the story, Rey is SO torn between her loyalty to the Resistance and her growing love for Ben. She cannot forget her responsibility to the good of the galaxy, but oh the cost to her heart.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: "Do I want to kiss you or do I want to kick your ass?" Ben and Rey oscillate between the two for a long, long time.
- Big Eater: Rey may dislike many things about the Hapan court, but the food is not one of them. Her handmaids know something is wrong when she doesn't even go for thirds at dinner.
- Black-and-Gray Morality: The First Order are ruthless and cruel, no doubt. But Hapes has plenty of its own darkness, as Rey finds out to her dismay.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Aleson Gray. Hot-headed, flirty, flamboyantly dresses like a pirate, he nontheless turns out to be one of the most crucial players for communication between Hapes and the Resistance. Underestimate him at your peril.
- Cannot Spit It Out: These two do not manage to actually say "I love you" for the entirety of their first married stint together, despite becoming painfully aware of the depth of their own feelings.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Rey confronts her grandmother for her treatment of their family, and actually scares her. That's right, Rey scares Ta'a Chume. And deservedly so.
- Can't See a Damn Thing: Rey and Kylo must fight their way out of the ballroom after insurgents cut the lights. Makes the whole thing wonderfully dramatic, no?
- The Chess Master: Ta'a Chume is always two steps ahead of everyone else's game. She has had to be, to survive as Ereneda, a truth she passes onto Rey, who shows signs of becoming a rather competent chess master herself.
- Cool Old Guy: Luke. What could be cooler than a wise old mentor who can use the Force? Helps enormously that he is kinder to Rey in this universe as compared to movie canon.
- Cool Old Lady: Leia Organa. Even at her advanced age she is leading the Resistance, as well as scheming for grandkids - with results that surprise both the schemer and the schemed-upon.
- Conflicting Loyalty: Ben and Rey. How do you decide between loyalty to your empire and loyalty to your spouse?
- Costume Porn:
- Rey being heir to one of the most opulent families in the known galaxy and a growing political power player herself, not to mention a Jedi-in-training, she gets as many costume changes as Padme Amidala did in the Prequel Trilogy. Or maybe even more.
- Kylo Ren has a high amount of extravagant attire as he travels between the Hapes Consortium's spaceship and the First Order's. Being Rey's fiancee also increases that number.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Ben does not take kindly to the idea of other people wanting Rey. At the masquerade, he gets so jealous he basically drags her to a private room to remind her why he's the one for her.
- Dance of Romance: A "smouldering, electric charge" passes between Rey and Ben as they dance at their wedding.
- Decadent Court: The court of the Hapes Consortium is brimming with wealth, beauty and extravagance and is rightly described by Ta'a Chume as a den of vipers.
- Deceptive Legacy: Ta'a Chume is Rey's grandmother, and despite her hardness, seems to be more ally than enemy, she is family after all. Then Rey finds out what really happened to Teneniel...
- Distracted by the Sexy: Kylo is constantly taken off task by how beautiful he finds Rey, especially when her gown is kriffing backless.
- Dysfunctional Family: The Skywalker family, yet again upholding their reputation for leading opposing factions of a galaxy-spanning war. And then there's Rey's family, who may even be worse. Brutal confrontations, spying, betrayal, murder; these guys are the full package.
- Eating the Eye Candy: Ben absolutely soaks up Rey's beauty. Special mention to the scene with the pearl underwear, from which he presumably still has not recovered.
- Elevator Going Down: Things don't progress as far as they could've, but nonetheless let's just say Ben and Rey made it really, really uncomfortable for their companions to get in that elevator after they'd been in there alone a while.
- Everyone Can See It: Even while enemies, others notice Kylo and Rey's constant propensity to end up getting close. As for the Knights of Ren and Rey's handmaidens, well, they have the dubious privilege to see — and in the latters' case, hear — exactly how the Emperor and the Chume'da feel about each other, way more than they ever wanted to. Doesn't take long for Rey's relatives and other allies in Hapes to figure it out either.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: It doesn't occur to Snoke that Kylo and Rey's love for each other could be anything other than an exploitable weakness for them both. Welp, sucks to be him.
- False Friend: Daemora Al Gray plays a very, very long game of betrayal.
- Forces with Firepower: The final battle basically turns into a Mexican stand-off between the Hapan battle dragons, the Resistance, and the First Order.
- God-Emperor: The Hapans view the ruling Queen as a deity in near-human form. Ta'a Chume plays the part for all she's worth.
- Gone Horribly Right: Leia hoped that Rey would influence Ben. She did not expect them to fall so madly in love with each other that it would add a whole new layer of complexity to the situation.
- Grand Romantic Gesture: The moment when Rey turns the Battle Dragons to face the Resistance, showing Kylo she is genuine about her love for him. After some extra ado, it achieves the desired effect. Go get yo' man, Rey!
- Improvised Weapon: Kylo has a smashing time in the darkened ballroom wielding a table leg.
- Inconvenient Attraction: The core plot summed up."Force help me," Kylo thought miserably, resisting the urge to put his head in his hands, "I'm attracted to my wife.""It would have been so much easier to [learn] if she [Rey] could only stop thinking about her husband."
- Insatiable Newlyweds: Rey's ladies may never sleep peacefully again. Mitaka practically flees to avoid being present while Ben and Rey kiss.
- Interrupted Intimacy: Six moments they could've kissed, and didn't, during that dang final battle.
- Lessons in Sophistication: Ta'a Chume and Lairelosse give Rey detailed instruction on how to dress, how to act and how to scheme, as heir to the queendom.
- Lost Orphaned Royalty: Rey is discovered to be the lost heir to the throne of The Hapes Consortium.
- Love Redeems: Ben comes to peace with himself, his past, and his wife, all due to the impact he and Rey's mutual love has had on his life.
- Love Transcends Spacetime: What's a few lightyears when the Force itself has bonded you together?
- Mama Bear: Leia goes on the warpath for Ben in the final battle.
Leia: I order you to protect my son.
- Magical Land: Dathomir, land of wise, witchy women and strange, annoying apparitions.
- Meet the In-Laws: Isolder cherishes the opportunity to spend more time with his future son-in-law.
- Moment Killer: Isolder often interrupts some highly charged moments between the Imperial couple.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Rey's brushes with the dark side in times of heated emotion, in which she realises, to her horror, that she is more similar to Kylo than she is comfortable admitting.
- Papa Wolf:
- Isolder is very protective of Rey, taking Kylo to task for not treating Rey more gently. Kylo also has a moment of this towards his future children, privately vowing that Snoke will never touch them.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Ben and Rey, due to extreme Force powers. Special mention to Rey for throwing tanks at other tanks, and to both Rey and Ben, along with other force users, destroying the First Order's girnormous mega-weapon.
- The Power of Love: Ben and Rey's powers seem to be magnified when they are together, acting as a sort of anchor for each other in the Force.
- Puppet King: Kylo is Emperor in name only; it's Snoke who is the true power. Rey calls Kylo out on it, wanting to see him break free.Rey: You are Emperor and I am Empress, and that means we have no more masters.
- The Reason You Suck: Rey delivers an epic verbal smackdown to Snoke, one line at a time, upon she and Kylo's arrival in his throne room. Oh yeah, she also punches him in the face.
- Returning the Wedding Ring: Kylo returns the wedding ring to Rey after Rey's Resistance reveal, to show how done he is with her.
- Relationship Sabotage: Whoda thunk those First Order officers would be so petty? It's so bad that Hux, of all people, calls them out on it.Hux: You're going to break them up? Is this amateur hour?
- Romantic Rain: It starts to rain just as Ben tears up to Rey on the beach, whereupon he kisses the living daylights out of her.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: The Hapan royals run their queendom with an extremely active iron fist, with several fingers in every conceivable pie. Rey especially, would rather stay up all night drafting proposals to benefit the galaxy rather than let it suffer through her inaction.
- Shipper on Deck: Rey's ladies seem to be our in-universe Reylos. Kylo certainly suspects them of trying to off him, via putting Rey in the most spectacular and revealing dresses they can find. Mitaka also seems to be on board, if the fact he "forgot" to get rid of Kylo's wedding ring is any indication.
- Slap-Slap-Kiss: Ben and Rey end up ferociously kissing after a heated exchange of verbal slaps, on more than one occasion.
- Snow Means Love: Our main couple share a sweet, tender bonding moment in a snowy graveyard.
- The Starscream: In any universe, Hux seems to feel compelled to usurp Kylo. He seizes his chance to defeat both Hapes and Kylo's loyal FO followers in one swoop during the final battle. Aaand as in every universe, it doesn't end well for him.
- That Man Is Dead: Rey has heartbreaking moments of believing that Ben Solo is truly gone, and only Kylo Ren is left. He himself also vehemently objects to being called by his birth name... at first, anyway.
- There Is Only One Bed: For their union to be accepted, Ben and Rey must reluctantly begin sharing a suite and a bed after their wedding. Shenanigans ensue.
- Unbroken Vigil: When Ben is seriously hurt, Rey stays with him all night, seeing his vulnerability and need for care.
- Unwanted Harem: Referenced, then averted. The Hapan Court expectation would be for Rey to take many lovers, to her consternation. She has many admirers who would swoop in in a heartbeat... if they could first get past her hulking, jealous, highly volatile and dangerous husband.
- Vagueness Is Coming: At the story's beginning, the Goddess tells Rey she and Ben will bring "ruin" upon each other. She does not, however, go into detail about what that ruin will entail. Wink wink, nudge nudge.
- Vision Quest: Rey's sojourn on Dathomir involves both questing and visions.
- Was It All a Lie?: Ben asks Rey if it was all a lie after discovering she was working with the Resistance all the while they were married and falling in love. Spoiler alert: It wasn't.
- You Must Be Cold: When Ben holds Rey at the funeral in the snow.
