Twitter user @gutlesswunder posted a romance-style fan cover of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, showcasing a shirtless Kylo Ren wooing Rey in Ahch-To.The fan cover was inspired by the hashtag #tenderisthestorm, which referred to a live-tweet read-along of Johanna Lindsey's 1985 romance novel Tender is the Storm, and by a recent Twitter trend of threads sharing vintage romance covers. Despite the 19th century Wild West setting of Tender is the Storm, eagle-eyed readers also noticed plot points it shared with Kylo Ren's backstory.
The original cover of Tender is the Storm was illustrated by Robert E. McGinnis and was part of a trend of over-the-top covers for the historical romance subgenre known as "bodice rippers". While for some time these covers have been considered too extravagant, their expressive style and lavish, unashamed illustrations are going through a revival of sorts.
The artist behind the Star Wars parody replaced the semi-naked figures of the characters from the original novel with Kylo Ren and Rey in their The Last Jedi attire. They also replaced the original teaser line with "When a woman searches for belonging, she finds it in the most unexpected place" and changed the Colorado mesa of the background by adding a First Order wall and the sacred Jedi island of Ahch-To.
These background changes reference the connection between Kylo and Rey established in The Last Jedi, which allowed them to communicate and see each other across the galaxy, and which culminated with their hand touch in The Last Jedi and their newfound ability to exchange physical objects and life-force through their connection in The Rise of Skywalker.
The cover was well received in Star Wars Twitter, so much so that the artist is now considering offering prints and donating the proceeds to charity.