#and there's something so genuinely tragic that poe's just. /so/ good at what he does that he ends up catapulting himself into the position | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

diagonal-queen · 2 months

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Your blog is very safe, me thinks. Very comfort, if that makes sense lol. I have a request, feel free to ignore this but I can't help but to wonder what a few BSD men would be like with a very mature/maternal and responsible s/o who tends to put themsleves last and burn themselves out (preferably fem, as I am an older sister who has taken on the role of caregiver and project HEAVILY) I'd like to see Fyodor, Poe, Ranpo and Jouno. (You can throw in anyone else if you want)

BSD boys with a self-sacrificing girlfriend

♡ pairing: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Edgar Allan Poe, Ranpo Edogawa, Saigiku Jouno x fem!Reader

♡ synopsis: How are they with a caring and self-sacrificing girlfriend?

♡ cw: Swearing, use of fem titles, she/her pronouns, mentions of stress and burnout.

note: Thank you for the sweet message anon <3 it's truly a shame that you and i are the exact same person who have experienced the exact same burden of raising children we didn't choose to have. but i've moved out now so i'm free!! come live with me queen tf we're besties now. apologies for errors and I hope you enjoy x

Fyodor:

Fyodor is a trad man. I'm sure he has some weird beliefs about how women are supposed to have some normalised feminine traits, but this is too much even for him.

It really pains him to see you be so selfless, truly. Though he admires your kindness and patience, he just wants you to be content. He wants you to be comfortable.

Does he enjoy having what is basically a personal maid around? Yes, yes he does. Does he feel guilty for feeling that? No. But does he recognise that your current self-sacrificing routine is unhealthy? YES HE DOES.

So...he simply does not make you do anything at all. If you want to do something for him that's on you.

If you want to do something for someone *else*, he probably won't really let you. Unless it's like family or something, then he understands, but no, you're not helping that random child get their kite unstuck from that tree no matter how much you want to, myshka.

Fyodor absolutely doesn't involve you in his work. He knows that'll only stress you out more, and that's the last thing you need. As such he keeps you away from his coworkers (especially Mykola. Sorry Mykola lovers)

He comes to value his time spent relaxing with you, because he also acknowledges that he could use a break every now and then as well. There's nothing quite as comforting to him as lounging around alongside you- you don't have to be talking or even doing the same thing, as long as you're there together.

Listen, Fyodor does care about you, and he values your health and wants you to be relaxed and uncaring as much as is possible. But if you, his sweet woman, wants to make him a cup of tea, who is he to turn you down?

Poe:

I don't know exactly how to explain Poe here. Just hear me out

He is genuinely so like stressed and anguished about your lack of self-preservation in favour of caring about others. He constantly thinks about it and writes tragic poems about it and shit

Like he's like 'my love......she does not see herself as i do, as a beautiful star....with every act of kindness her light dims ever so slightly...until she's reduced to nothing.........the irony of the good deeds of man..............;-;'

HE'S SO SAD OKAY HE LOVES YOU SO MUCH AND WANTS TO SEE YOU RELAX FOR ONCE

He will go all out in his attempts to make you feel calm and comfortable and happy. Oh he will buy you SO many presents it's disgusting. He will rent out whole restaurants and like even theme parks and shit if that's your thing. He'll stop at no lengths to give you some respite, and it's honestly quite sweet

All that being said, he does love that you're so attentive and caring about Karl. He's definitely watched you play with him and then started blushing super hard because the word 'parents' suddenly crossed his mind and now he's thinking about children and aaaaaa

ABSOLUTELY writes a scenario in which you can relax. Whatever you want- an empty beach, a forest, a liminal space, he'll write it all for you, and gift you the book so you can go there whenever you want :>

He's basically a sugar daddy, except you're in an actual relationship and it's not all about the money. Your boyfriend just happens to be loaded as fuck

At the end of the day, Poe is such a hypocrite because he himself is such a workaholic that he practically lets it consume him, too!

You're both absolute messes. Drink some water and sleep for god's sake. And for the love of all things good take care of each other.

Ranpo:

Bro knows exactly what's up. Sorry, he's got you all figured out fr

That doesn't mean he won't let you baby him though. At first. He'll just let you, along with everyone else, clean up after him and buy him shit

BUT soon, soon he realises that this behaviour is rather detrimental to your health. He sees the circles under your eyes, he notices these things. And he's like '...oh shit'

Ranpo doesn't have any shame or reservations. He straight up confronts you about it. 'Why don't you ever take care of yourself?' And he's not playing around this time

And no matter what your excuse is, he's like 'not good enough. We're going to get ice cream RIGHT NOW and you're going to talk to me about this. Now lead me to the ice cream parlour immediately'

(I may or may not be paraphrasing this particular quote)

The point is that he presents you an avenue to open up about your struggles, stress and psyche. And he really does want to help- the fact that he gets ice cream out of this is just a bonus

From here on out he'll keep an eye out for you. Every time you find yourself getting overworked or burning out he'll make you take a break. This could be a nap or sending you home or a surprise outing- anything to get your mind off work and people.

Ranpo is a stickler for the rules, sure, but he's also lazy as shit. Any time he doesn't feel like working, you're now not allowed to work either. You have to hang out with him or else (he'll be a little sad)

He doesn't necessarily introduce any...permanent solutions to your predicament, but he does have you looking forward to your couples-down time each day, and that's something!

Over time, you do learn to balance yourself and external responsibilities. And he will absolutely be taking credit for it lmao

Jouno:

Jouno is very...self-important, we'll say. Not like, completely selfish or anything, but very much tends to prioritise his own opinions and time and such.

You make him do a complete reassessment and breakdown of all of his thoughts and beliefs he's built up over the course of his lifetime

/j but really, you're unbelievably different from him. You're both willing to put yourself in danger or wear yourselves down, but *you* don't have anatomical medical adjustments that practically make you invincible.

Jouno wants to protect you- and he's not willing to negotiate. He's not letting anyone hurt you, even if on accident. He's especially not willing to let anybody take advantage of your generous nature, which is probably more likely anyway.

He's such a scary dog actually (lol get it?? get it cause he's one of the Hunting Dogs? DO YOU GET IT-) he'll accompany you anywhere if you ask him to.

When he wants to do something for you, he will do it. You're not lifting a finger miss girl

Like he really will take care of you! When he's off work, of course. His job is kind of important, but you best believe you're getting pampered when Jouno is off the clock.

My mans is romantic as FUCK: cooking you nice dinners, reading to you before bed, massages, cuddles- as well as engaging in your interests alongside you of course

He just thinks it's so cute to see you engrossed in something that YOU enjoy, and will encourage your down time

Jouno is gonna make sure that you take care of yourself too, because when he's not around, who better to look after anybody than you? That's the most important thing to him.

taglist~ ♡ @gettinshiggywithit, @fyodorhatr, @flower-of-darkness, @bejeweledgirl, @kokoenjiandco, @pinkiipeachiikeen

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only-by-the-stars · 3 years

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the annotated Tome of the Wild

Part 6: Into the Wild!

- I have no regrets about torturing you all with that dream at the beginning. Not just because it was a bit cruel, but because it’s a nod to the series tradition of Link starting his adventure by oversleeping.

- Anjean is a character from Spirit Tracks. A game in which you use a train to explore New Hyrule. Which I put into the chapter that has a speeding train play a pivotal role in Link’s accidental fall into the river, without realizing it till after the chapter was up. THIS WAS HILARIOUS TO REALIZE.

- A pale yellow half-moon and a canopy of stars presided over it all THERE’S THAT MOON AGAIN

- Teba! I like that guy. In BOTW it’s established that he looks up to Revali a lot, and is trying to master his Gale; this is understandable, given that Revali was a legendary hero of the Rito, who fell tragically in battle a hundred years ago. But when he gets to meet him during AOC, he’s... less than impressed with Revali’s behavior towards Link. He still admires his skills, of course, but that hero worship has been tarnished a little by the actual personality of the Rito Champion. It’s like that old saying about how you shouldn’t meet your heroes. So for this, I wondered: what would he think of him if that “hero of legend” factor were removed and Revali was just an exceptional student who also happened to be a major jerk? And thus you get his veiled references to behavior he won’t tolerate regardless of a person’s skill level.

- Aryll put one hand on her hip and thrust her other arm into the air. “Experiment time! OH YEAH!” She giggled. “He says that every time we get to do science stuff.” Another reference to Robbie being Aryll’s teacher.

- And we have our first onscreen appearance of Riju and Medli! I’d mentioned them in passing in one of the letters in things I didn’t send, but now they’re here. I chose them to be Link and Mipha’s friends for a couple reasons. One is simply that I really like both of them; another is that they’re close in age to those two, so it was easy to make them all the same age without it being weird. Medli is one of my favorite characters in the series, and I really liked Riju a lot, especially after being able to fight as her in AOC, so I have a lot of fun bouncing them off Link and Mipha.

- “Yes, we do see.” Riju sounded like she could barely contain her glee. “Thank you, Aryll. You've just helped us solve a very irritating mystery.” And thus is Aryll inspired to play at being “Detective Aryll”, thanks to Riju’s thanking her for this. She and Medli have been just as confused as Mipha about Link’s disappearing act, and very angry, particularly on Mipha’s behalf, as they’ve seen firsthand just how hurt she is by his behavior. But now, seeing that he made a mixtape for her? That changes everything. As soon as they see it, they finally understand: he’s been acting this way not because he suddenly dislikes Mipha, but because he’s got romantic feelings for her and is unable to talk to her about them. And as I established in Mipha’s second letter in things i didn’t send, they’re also aware of her love for Link, and so they really want to get the two talking to each other so this can be sorted out at last.

- “Don't they have to be somewhere wet?” Link glanced back at where the school was getting smaller and smaller as they kept walking. “I know they need a lot of water.” Yeah, like the river you’re about to fall into very soon.

- “You're right! I almost forgot! It talked about that in a show Mom was watching last week about people who catch frogs for making medicine and stuff. Did you know some people actually like to eat them, and think they're a delicacy?” A reference to how you put them in elixirs in BOTW, as well as the Akkala Buns that Midna loves. Link’s disgust here is a callback both to that and to his refusal to eat a frog in that memory in BOTW with Zelda trying to get him to eat one for science.

- Could this night go any more downhill? It can, actually. Literally, in your case, Link. Another bit that was completely accidental and I found myself laughing about later when I realized during the editing process.

- Look. Riju and Medli absolutely want their friends to get together, and they’re more sympathetic to Link now that they know what’s behind his recent actions. But they haven’t completely forgiven him yet, and so they kinda got their revenge by fucking with him a bit when he came back for the tape. Which they did genuinely put in Mipha’s pocket as a way to try to help the two start talking to each other and confess their real feelings.

- “Just think of us as mail carriers!” Medli piped up. Also this is a reference to how the Rito delivered mail in Wind Waker.

- Link's heart skipped a beat as he saw who was standing next to it, her sweater stuffed into the elephant's head-shaped basket as she put her helmet on and climbed onto the seat. Mipha’s bike is Vah Ruta.

- Bazz and Gaddison are, of course, two Zora who were friends with Link in the Domain when he was a kid there, who along with Rivan all formed the Big Bad Bazz Brigade. So naturally, they’re his fencing team teammates.

- “Oh yeah, that fucking guy.” Gaddison rolled her eyes. “Mr. 'I'm the best at everything and don't you forget it, you chumps can't hope to keep up with me, wah wah how asinine'.” She flapped her hands in a mockery of wings, and Link had to struggle not to choke on his water. Two things here. First, I really enjoyed writing Gaddison mocking Revali and using his ‘asinine’ catchphrase. Second, Link seems to keep choking on water, doesn’t he? First when Midna reveals her favorite meal, and now again. Hmmm...

- She laughed too, but something about it sounded strangely off. There was a long pause, as if she was weighing what to say next, and then she took a deep breath. As I established in the final letter in things i didn’t send, Mipha is well aware that Link was at her practice, and is trying to find some way of asking him about it, figuring that the walk to the graveyard will be a good opportunity. She’s also been trying to hide how hurt she’s been at Link’s behavior, so that’s why her laugh sounds off: she’s startled by him acting like himself for that brief moment, but doesn’t want to let it show, so Link is unaware for now of just how deep her pain goes. He’ll find out soon enough, though. And of course, Mipha is also unaware of the tape that’s so, so close, something she later feels a lot of horror and pain over.

- “... Oh. I see.” He looked up in time to see Mipha turn her head away, an unreadable expression on her face. “I understand, of course...” This is the moment when she all but gives up on him, which shatters her heart. It’s perhaps the most agonizing missed opportunity in the whole chapter, as the tape is right there and she doesn’t know, and Link fucks up by pulling away again. He does reach for her, which might have changed things if Revali hadn’t picked that exact moment to walk in and interrupt. If not for that, Link would’ve touched her arm and started a conversation that would’ve led to a breakthrough that didn’t require a near-death experience. All these points of divergence are going to haunt them both later.

- Mipha tries to be outwardly polite, but she can’t stand Revali because of how he treats Link and never would’ve dated him. She goes to the graveyard because she wanted to try and get a reaction out of Link, even if she can’t bear to look at him for fear of what she’ll see on his face, something she feels ashamed of later, but that attempt at politeness just feeds into Link’s insecurities, unfortunately. “The love is requited, they’re just idiots”, indeed.

- To fill out the graveyard group, I chose Yunobo and Komali. As a descendant of Daruk, it stands to reason that he’d still be related to him here, and attending school with Link and the others. Plus his anxious personality makes for a perfect fit for such a scene. And Komali is another Rito from Wind Waker, who is friends with Medli, so that was another no-brainer.

- Mipha's expression was closed off and neutral as she stared down at her own hands in her lap She is trying her hardest to conceal how heartbroken and miserable she is, the poor girl.

- “Give it a rest, Revali!” Riju, sounding remarkably like her mother. I went ahead and made Urbosa Riju’s actual mom in this AU, and this is my little hint as to that.

- “Hey, what's all this ruckus, then?” bellowed a loud, croaky voice. “Buncha Poes sneaking into my graveyard? I'll show you what for!” Another reference to Poes, and though I don’t mention his name, the gravedigger is of course Dampe from OOT, MM, ALBW, and the LA remake.

- “Link, look!” She held it out as he walked over to join her. “I got a frog!” Which means you’re close to water! ... oh shit.

- Which brings us to the cliffhanger, with the reveal that Link and Aryll are drowning while the events in the Wild are happening. I was so excited for this, it’s what so much foreshadowing has been leading up to. I even stuck it in the first letter of Link’s in things i didn’t send, when he compares the effect Mipha has on him to drowning. Which is easy to mistake for yet another use of water imagery in connection with our lovely Zora princess, a recurring element in my work, but becomes more sinister when you know what befalls him here.

and that covers part six!

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unexpectedreylo · 4 years

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Here It Is: My Spoilerific Review/Post Mortem of TROS

When I saw The Last Jedi two years ago, the movie haunted me for days, for weeks, for months. It inspired the imagination, dragging me into the world of Reylo and reassuring whatever reservations I had about the post-Lucas sequel trilogy.

The Rise of Skywalker haunts me too but more in a “Demon House” kind of way. It fires up the imagination, but more in the sense that it keeps you up at night thinking of all of the ways it could’ve been better.

This isn’t to say I hate the movie. I don’t. It’s not even entirely or mostly bad which is what makes it extra frustrating. You can laugh your way through a total disaster like “Cats” or “The Room” but a movie with plenty of promise and of talent behind it that makes some bad decisions is tragic. Especially since this is the closing chapter to a trilogy and the saga itself.

You can see there are bones for what could’ve been a really good, maybe even great movie. One of my favorite parts was the opener where Kylo Ren literally descends into hell/the underworld to confront the devil for no other reason than he didn’t even want Satan above him, a man who serves no gods or devils. (That right there is a classic Byronic hero.) Exogol is a great haunted house/spooky setting. The revelation that it was Palpatine manipulating him all along was a shocker and makes Ben’s story that much more poignant. I also really liked the contrast with Rey’s introduction, a beautiful shot of her in the verdant forest floating among rocks as she’s meditating. She is Persephone in her element (which makes the ending all that more baffling but don’t worry, I’m getting to that).

This sets the stage for the revelation that the two are part of an intriguing concept, a Force dyad, kind of a Star Wars version of soulmates maybe even twin flames. The two just had to acknowledge the feelings between them, reunite, and take out the Sith trash while Rey finally confronts her own dark side. I don’t mind the latter concept at all because with the trilogy’s thickest plot armor, I think it’s valuable to put her in some peril and to have her better understand Kylo/Ben.

Abrams also wanted to recapture the feel of 1980s blockbusters like the Indiana Jones films or The Goonies, both made by his old mentor Steven Spielberg. That’s most palpable when the Space Scoops Troop, er “trio,” falls into quicksand and pokes around an underground cave looking for one of the film’s many MacGuffins. Abrams does good set pieces and powers them along with snappy dialogue. Like TFA, it’s peppered with some genuinely funny scenes.

If nothing else, you can’t blame the cast for any of the film’s problems. Everyone does the best they can with what they’re given and the long-standing chemistry between various pairs (Adam and Daisy, John and Oscar, Adam and Harrison Ford for example) do a lot to serve their scenes. I think Oscar’s best scene was when he confesses to Leia lying in state that he doesn’t know if he can be the leader the Resistance needs. It’s an honest, human moment. Daisy continues to infuse Rey with her natural luminance. I particularly liked the few quiet moments she has, such as meeting the children on Pasaana or healing the snake. It shows her compassion and foreshadows healing Ben.

Daisy does pretty well with what she is given about struggling with her dark side. (Remember, she didn’t write her own screenplay.) Maybe it’s unpopular to say this but I kind of liked her brief turn as “Dark Rey.” I have no doubt had she turned dark she would be pretty scary. Her desire for revenge and fear of her own nature--driven by genetics or not--were intriguing concepts and I thought she tried to make the most of it in her performance.

Ah Adam Driver. God bless that man. He brings his considerable A-game 100% of the time no matter what and it shows. He could sell sand on Tatooine. I have no idea why they put the mask back on him other than a marketing department decision as I suspected, but taking it off when he’s making his appeal to Rey before she leaps out to the Falcon carries a gravity few people can pull off. His reconciliation with Han was one of the film’s highlights. For once the repetitive nature of the script actually worked in TROS’s favor, as Kylo retraces his steps in that fateful scene from TFA and finds a way to clear his conscience. I also think this was originally meant to help the audience forgive him, especially since right after this he renounces the dark side. Which makes later choices baffling, which I’ll get to. Driver’s shiniest shining moment though is when he is once again Ben Solo. Deprived of dialogue for the rest of the film other than “ow,” he nevertheless manages to convey a different personality that is very much Han Solo’s son. His fight scene is right out of a 1970s martial arts movie, imbued with determination and sass. I want to see a trilogy about THAT guy.

The Reylo scenes are, well, until it goes south, wonderful. Some of us would’ve preferred a lot less fighting but I see it as mostly Rey trying to deny herself and Kylo not being sure if he really wants Rey to turn to the dark side. (On that note, I wish we’d seen Rey’s vision of sharing a throne with Kylo rather than just hear her talk about it.) As I predicted, the turning point of the relationship came after the lightsaber battle on the Death Star wreckage. I find it interesting that Kylo hesitates to kill Rey--partially because of his mother’s influence--and it’s she who could’ve killed him. She immediately recognizes the dark side was turning her into something she didn’t want to be and nearly costs her the man that deep down she loves. She heals him completely and along with her confession that she would’ve taken Ben’s hand, his soul is nearly healed by the power of love alone. Which makes the film’s later choices baffling. If you think about it, Ben’s turn is even more dramatic than Vader’s. Vader chose his son over the Emperor at the last minute, some inkling of his light still there shining through at the right moment under duress. Ben flat out rejects the dark side of his own volition. That is pretty powerful. Which makes the ending far more painful.

Rey and Ben’s one big romantic moment was tender and sweet and that was a pretty good kiss. We finally get to see Ben’s big toothy grin. Even though we all hate it, Driver did an amazing job conveying first his sorrow over Rey, then his relief, his joy, his love, and finally his strength leaving him.

Visually, the film looks great. I think J.J. did an even better job shooting this film than TFA. Adding to the visuals is the fabulous art direction. They hired supervising art director Paul Inglis immediately after his previous flick Blade Runner 2049 came out, and that decision paid off. This leaves the film with a number of beautifully-rendered scenes, whether it’s the haunted house scary underworld beneath Exogol, Kylo Ren’s starkly white quarters, the landscapes of Pasaana, the stormy seas around the Death Star II’s wreckage, the shot of Rey hesitating in the Star Destroyer’s hangar before leaping out to the Falcon, or Rey meditating among the floating rocks during her introduction.

I liked D-O and Babu Frick. I even liked the lady who complimented Kylo’s helmet.

Where do I start having problems? The first time I saw the movie the scenes with Leia didn’t bother me but the second time I saw it, it was far more apparent they wrote around the bits of footage they had left. It was a valiant effort to make Carrie Fisher part of the last film she never had the chance to perform in but it didn’t feel organic. Since Leia dies during the movie anyway, I don’t know why having her pass away offscreen in between TLJ and TROS is less merciful to the audience than having her body lie beneath a sheet for half the film. No wonder Billie Lourd skipped the premiere of this flick. I couldn’t take it if it were my mother either.

On my second viewing, the Resistance base scenes started to get on my nerves. Maybe it’s because I got tired of looking at the same group of like 10 people over and over. Maybe I was annoyed that the only purpose of those scenes was to earnestly spout exposition. Now, exposition is important. I’m surprised Abrams, notorious for not bothering with it even if it’s necessary, even did this much. But there was something about George Lucas’s Rebel base scenes that made these people look and act like guerrilla soldiers. Maybe it was Lucas’s experience shooting films with Navy guys as a student, or his documentary style. Abrams’s Resistance behave more like college students and activists than soldiers.

But TROS’s biggest problems lie in its breakneck pacing and its writing. Parts that should’ve had greater emotional resonance don’t because it moves along too fast. I would’ve sacrificed one of the set pieces/action scenes or chuck one of the pointless new characters for the sake of deepening the relationship between Kylo and Rey or showing us more Ben Solo.

Some of the characterizations seemed off. I know a lot of fans are deeply unhappy Rose Tico didn’t get to do much but I was surprised to see her in it even to the degree she was there. What gets me about the whole Rose thing was her relationship with Finn is totally forgotten FOR NO REASON. Really, why drop it? There was no narrative purpose for doing so!

General Hux is totally wasted in this film, reduced to little more than a cameo. Sure it might be a surprising twist that “I am the spy!!!” (LOL) but his reasons for it are totally OOC. He might despise Kylo Ren but to the point of helping the Resistance? This is the guy who cheerfully blew up the Hosnian Prime system and wanted to blow up more. He’s evil, a psychopath, a true believer in the First Order. He might give the Resistance a tip that would result in embarrassing Kylo Rey and use that to start a coup against him but just helping the Resistance out of petulance and spite? Nah.

Poe tries in this film to be a combination of rogue and deadly earnest idealist, but you generally don’t find those two qualities in the same person. One second he’s talking about smuggling space dope, the next second he’s saying stuff like “Good people will fight if we lead them!”

Finn, God love him, is reduced to largely running around yelling, “Reeeey!” and eagerly trying to tell Rey something but the film never really got around to what it was. It wasn’t until a Q&A session that Abrams revealed Finn was trying to tell Rey he was Force sensitive (something that should’ve been developed over the course of the trilogy). Abrams had time to show us a random lesbian kiss for representation points, but no time for Finn to tell Rey he was Force sensitive? Huh?

The story not only contradicts the previous films--I wonder if Abrams even saw his own movie TFA much less anything else besides the OT--it contradicts itself throughout. Palpatine’s return is never really explained and his motives with Rey keep changing. MacGuffins are added on top of MacGuffins with side missions thrown in. Chewbacca is blown up then he’s miraculously alive on another transport we didn’t see. Abrams and Chris Terrio didn’t just add to Rey’s origins, they blatantly spackled over it and TLJ’s overall message. Discovering one is of evil origins is a gothic storytelling trope but really, it should’ve been developed since the first film so it doesn’t feel like whiplash from something else. Everyone keeps telling Rey don’t be afraid of who you really are, but Rey ultimately does nothing but run from who she really is. With each reversal, retcon, or contradiction in the film, it leaves a mess. We’re supposed to believe Rey was better off sold to Unkar Plutt than be with her not-so-bad parents? Who the bloody hell had sex with Darth Sidious? You mean to tell me Luke and Leia knew all along Rey was a Palpatine but they never bothered to say anything and somehow they had more confidence in her than in their own flesh and blood? Oh while we’re at it, I noticed the second time I saw the movie they straight up gave away Ben’s death before it happened! WTF? “Leia saw her son’s death at the end of her Jedi path.” It seems like Luke and Leia were resigned to Ben’s fate as some horrible destiny that couldn’t be changed but Rey was still an open book to them. That’s so stupid and really fellow OT fans, how does this respect our childhood faves? Han comes off as the only decent person in this thing.

Rey and Ben taking on the Emperor was a great applause moment, the dyad unified against the ultimate evil. For the most part it was fantastic...until The Yeetening. Two things annoy me about the remainder of the conflict against Palpatine. One, Rey and Ben should have destroyed Palpatine together. If Rey could do it on her own then what the hell did she need Ben for? He could’ve sat out the rest of the movie at Starbucks and remained alive while Rey killed Palps on her own. There’s no point to their combined power because it wasn't necessary. Two, while poor redeemed I-turned-back-to-the-light Ben was crawling up the pit with no help from anyone, every good guy we ever knew of in Star Wars, even from the cartoons, is giving a voice over pep talk to Rey. (It seems cheap too since we don’t see the characters. Avengers Endgame did this kind of thing far better.) How about if the pep talk was given to the BOTH of them? That Anakin Skywalker, the man Ben had idolized, had time to say “wakey-wakey” to his tormentor’s granddaughter and not his own grandson is appalling. The third thing is while Darth Vader defeated Palpatine with the love for his son and his long-gone wife, Rey defeats Palpatine simply with power. Rey and Ben’s love for each other could’ve been the force that defeats the Sith once and for all but for some reason it doesn’t occur to Abrams and Terrio.

I could’ve forgiven most of this--the jar of Snickles and all--had they got the resolution right. But they didn’t.

ROTJ and ROTS’s endings were masterful. ROTJ gives you an idea of what trajectory our heroes were likely to follow: Han and Leia were going to end up together, Luke was going to bring forth the next generation of Jedi. ROTS sets up Obi-Wan on Tatooine, Yoda on Dagobah, Leia on Alderaan, Luke on Tatooine, Darth Vader on a Star Destroyer, and poor Padmé on her way to Star Wars Heaven. I have no idea what happens to Finn. Maybe he’ll train with Rey. Maybe he’ll go to college. Maybe he’ll backpack through Europe. I have no idea. His story just stops. Same deal with Poe. Aside from getting shot down by Zorii, what’s he going to do? The film gives zero indication. It goes from the Free Hugs session to Rey squatting at the old Lars homestead.

The biggest crimes though occur to Ben and Rey. Ben’s death sucked all of the air out of the film. Yes, it’s beautiful that Ben loved Rey so much and so selflessly he was willing to surrender his life for hers. It’s beautiful that it never mattered to Ben who Rey was, whether it was “nobody” in the last movie or the granddaughter of his tormentor/enemy in this one. Had the Palpatine concept been there all along, there would’ve been something sweet about healing the rift originating in the prequels. But I wanted Ben to live. I wanted for once for someone to address the issue of atonement but Terrio and Abrams were too lazy to bother. If The Grinch could be redeemed AND find atonement with those he wronged in a 30 minute Christmas special with commercials, then why not Ben Solo in a 150-minute movie?

I could have lived with a sacrifice arc though had it been handled correctly. But they flubbed it big time. The sacrifice isn’t honored at all. He just dies, he vanishes as Leia’s body vanishes, and he’s “never to be seen again.” Or mentioned. Rey barely reacts on camera. It’s as though reviving Ben from certain death, choosing good over evil, making a valiant attempt to save his girlfriend armed only with a blaster, and giving his life for hers weren’t valued by anyone. The movie didn’t give a damn. When Vader died in ROTJ, he at least had final words with Luke who then burns Vader’s remains on a pyre. We see Anakin restored to his true self join the Force Ghost crew at the end of the movie. We got none of this with Ben.

It’s also the most frustrating and disappointing disruption of a romantic arc since 1980′s “Somewhere In Time.” In that film, Christopher Reeve travels back to 1912 and finds true love with Jane Seymour. Everything is going great and Reeve’s character has made the choice to stay in that time and marry Seymour. Then he pulls out a 1979 penny and is sent “back to the future” as Seymour screams. At least that film though had the decency to reunite the love birds in the afterlife. Which might explain why the movie still has a cult following to this day. Tragic love stories always make sure there’s some kind of catharsis for the audience. Rose takes Jack’s name, lives her life as he asked her to do for him, tells his story, and reunites with him when she dies. Romeo and Juliet are united in death and the healing of their respective houses begins. Even Padmé got a state funeral and had the legacy of her children. There was no such catharsis for Rey and Ben.

Rey ends up right where she started: alone and in the desert. She got the Dorothy ending, there’s no place like home. But the difference is Dorothy is a child not yet ready for the big scary world and the answers to her problems weren’t out there but right where she was. Rey is a grown woman. She should’ve been treated like one. Instead she is deprived of her lover/soulmate and while such a separation should have been painful, it doesn’t even register. She has a “found family” but they’re not there with her. She’s in a home others tried to escape from, haunted by ghosts instead of being among those she loves. Taking the Skywalker name seems tacked on, as though they realized if the name is to live on somebody needed to take it. Why not then just have made her Han and Leia’s or Luke’s daughter in the first place? It’s worse when you remember it’s a Palpatine who’s usurping the name. Or when you realize she’s still hiding who she is.

Here’s what would’ve been better. Rey tells the Resistance about the pure selflessness of the Skywalkers and she wants that to be the core value of the new Jedi going forward, where every new student was going to learn their story. Then we see her anywhere but Tatooine, happy and surrounded by students of all ages. Maybe Finn training too. She sees the approving Force ghosts of Leia, Luke, and Anakin. Then Ben, clearly a different entity, materializes beside her.

Or something, anything other than what we got.

It’s as though they kept making story decisions without giving any thought at all to their implications. They tried to do too much while being lazy about it. They went for expedience--copy pasting ROTJ when convenient--over meaning.

The ending accomplishes what no other Star Wars film has done to me in 42 years of being a fan...it broke my heart and fulfilled my worst suspicions about where the ST was going to end up, largely due to its deflating ending and terrible denouement. It leaves for me and many other fans a big gaping open wound, not closure.

Ultimately the sequel trilogy’s biggest flaw is that there clearly was no plan. What we got was a billion dollar game of exquisite cadaver with no real design for characters, their arcs, the story, or even what message these films are supposed to have. Every decision was based on the director’s own ideas along with corporate meddling. So we get conflicting ideas and blatant spackling over what the last director didn’t like. Was Kylo Ren meant to be a guy we love to hate or a lost boy we want to come home? Was Rey a heroine we can all aspire to be or a lost princess of darkness? What the hell was the point of Finn or Poe? What does this add to the saga overall aside from more stuff? Who are these films even for, old OT fans or young fans? I believe it’s this lack of a plan that has generated so much confusion and bitter internet wars among fandom.

#reylo #tros review #spoilers #rey #ben solo #kylo ren #ben solo deserved better #rey deserved better #we all deserved better

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morethanonepage · 4 years

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wip meme: 6, 13, 20

6. the world, safe and sound for you

lmfao the shara bey backstory fic i will legit never finish bc ugh, star wars. some #commentary in this section you haven’t read before, at least:

“Your father’s an illegal merchant."

“He’s unlicensed."

“There’s a difference?"

Shara sits back in her chair. It’s very uncomfortable but she thinks it adds to her air of casual nonchalance. “Of course."

“How about a more neutral term, then. A smuggler."

She narrows her eyes. “My father provides goods and communication between planets that the Empire has decided are without value. He doesn’t trade in drugs or weapons. His prices are fair and reasonable. You’ll find no complaints."

The officer looks at his holopad; obviously, there have been complaints. “Tell me more about his business model."

“Primarily barter based. We don’t have a lot of liquid assets, you understand. That makes things like licensing fees a little complicated."

“Yes, not breaking the law can be so difficult,” he drawls. “What else?"

“What do you mean, what else?"

“I mean how else does your father make his living, aside from smuggling contraband?"

Shara tries not to react. “I don’t know what you mean."

“I think you do.

13. ok I’m about to spam you with prompts sorry friend: Finn/Poe Regency bc I am always thinking of that fan art John instagrammed

you prompted this! amongst many other prompts which I also started and then uhhhhh did not finish. But it’s basically my Belle (2013)/Portrait of a Lady on Fire Regency era finnpoe au mashup where Poe is hired to paint ~a portrait of the Han/Leia + Rey & Finn family on their fancy English estate. Their backstories are like, Finn was Luke’s son that was left with Han & Leia to raise after Luke died, and bc he’s black the family’s a little bit like 🤷🏻‍♀️ with regards to his prospects but he has $$$ from Luke’s inheritance; and Poe was born in colonial Guatemala but when he was little there was some Spanish artist guy commissioned to paint the flora and fauna of the New World and bb!Poe had some talent for that kind of stuff so he got apprenticed to painter guy and taken away to Spain to become an artist and it’s all very tragic BUT ANYWAY i love coming up with historical fiction plots and then NEVER WRITING THEM. I don’t think I’ve shared this part of it before?

“Will you marry for love as well?"

Finn shook his head. “I doubt I’ll marry at all, Mr. Dameron."

Poe glanced at him. “Why?"

Finn looked at him, long and incredulous. “Even if there were a family — a proper family — willing, for the name, and the money, if naught else — a child from that union — what life would it have?"

“Nonsense,” Poe said. “I was born of such a union."

Finn stopped short. “Were you?"

Poe nodded. “My father is Spanish. My mother was not.”

“And you…” Admit it. Advertise it. You needn’t, but you do.

“I take pride in it. As should you."

“It’s different for me.”

“I know,” he said, low and sad, as if he did. Glanced over at Finn again, and hesitated for a moment. “I will…likely remain a bachelor, as well."

“Why?” Finn said, sudden and thoughtless: it was none of his business, terribly presumptuous of him. Poe did not seem to notice his embarrassment, and merely shrugged.

“It’s an unpredictable life,” he said, not quite meeting Finn’s gaze. “Living commission to commission. I wouldn’t want to try and raise a family on it, or burden anyone else with it. One could not live on paint alone, after all."

“Not for long, at least.”

Poe laughed at that, shaking his head. “Indeed not."

“I must apologize, Mr. Dameron."

Poe’s brow furrowed, and he cocked his head in genuine confusion. “What for?"

“To speak to you so, with such—candor.” It was unbecoming, Finn knew: Poe had no reason to listen, no reason to care about Finn’s fears, about the uncertainty of his position.

“Think nothing of it,” said Poe, waving his hand as if to shoo away the suggestion. “People often speak to me that way. I’ve that sort of face."

“The handsome sort?” he found himself saying, and resisted the temptation to compound the indignity by slapping his hand over his mouth. Stood, instead, with his shoulders inching up to his ears and his hands in fists by his side.

Dameron, at least, did not seem to take terrible offense. “If you say so,” he said, smiling. “Perhaps I should’ve been a spy."

“Perhaps you still could be.”

Poe laughed at that, shaking his head. Turned to look at Finn again, as if to ask another question, and Finn leapt at the chance to forestall him.

“And what of you, Mr. Dameron? A bless’d childhood of your own?"

20. when the leather runs smooth on the passenger’s seat

oh lol this is a john and chas fuck in the cab fic, the title’s from The Smiths’ “This Charming Man.” I mean WHAT else can i say about that except that it’s hard to come up with a position that would work given uhhhhh how tall Chas is, which is why I never get any further than the blowjobs when I try to write a version of it:

"Who indeed," John says, rubbing the inside of his thigh against Chas's ribs, running his fingers lazily through Chas's thick hair.

Chas lets out an amused huff. "Did you want something else?"

John arches his back, stretching contentedly over the leather seat. “Dunno,” he drawls. “What else’ve you got?"

Chas throws him the usual indulgent smile, but there's a softness in his eyes that John's too satisfied to worry about. He crawls up along John's body carefully, knees digging into the seat on both sides of John's waist. His kiss is just as carefully, gentle even after John opens his mouth to it and sucks at his tongue. Chas tastes, unsurprisingly, of spit and come. John wraps an arm around his neck and pulls him closer.

#wip grab bag meme #you picked well jill this is actually basically the cross-section of me as a writer #ambitious but perpetually incomplete fic #focus on minor characters with glancing attempts at hashtag commentary #and always a willingness to write john & chas effing #youandthemountains

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misscrawfords · 4 years

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The Rise of Skywalker: Part One

I have lots of thoughts and feelings about TROS. Most of them negative. For three days I’ve been alternating between raging and crying. Finally, I’ve felt able to start writing.

This is a negative review. If you loved the film then this might not be the post for you. I am very sensitive to what happened after TLJ. And I want to reassure anyone reading that I would never turn criticism for a film (which is absolutely a valid response to seeing something that you disliked and are trying to understand) into personal attacks against the actors or creators involved or, worse still, fans who liked it. If you liked TROS, can’t bear to hear any criticism of it, and still choose to read my posts about it, then that is on you. (I really shouldn’t have to say this but this is a hellsite.)

This post contains spoilers for TROS... and Jumanji 2. Go figure.

Things I liked:

· C-3PO and everything he did. This droid is the character I identify with most in the entire SW series (which probably says some uncomfortable things about me but this is not the time!) and he had such a big and important role and his quips were genuinely great and funny and I loved everything he did. Apart from – but more on that later.

· Ben Solo. Uh, other people have talked about his little shrug and his “ow” and his smile – oh god, his smile. Ben Solo is amazing. It’s a shame that – but more on that later.

· I didn’t hate Rey Palpatine. I mean, I literally wrote this story when I was 13 when I made Hermione Voldemort’s daughter as a way of explaining her inner darkness and had her team up with Harry (with whom she had a telepathic bond) to destroy him. (You can read the story here if you really want to.) So it would be pretty hypocritical of me to hate this plotline. I enjoyed seeing angry, feral Rey on screen, I enjoyed seeing a female hero confronting her capacity for destruction and darkness. I was okay with the idea of a final face-off between a Palpatine and a Skywalker and how this is a way of bringing final balance to the Force. This was pretty interesting and I’d be up for this. I much prefer Rey Nobody but as a concept I’m not actually against it. Unfortunately the execution – but more on that later.

· I really enjoyed more of Finn and Poe. I love both of them as characters. I mean I can’t think of a single bit of dialogue that was meaningful between them or what they accomplished in particular for they had some fun moments.

· Finn and Jannah’s conversation about being ex-stormtroopers was a lovely scene, a moment of much-needed quiet and reflection and bonding in a film that was far too hectic and crowded. Shame it went nowhere.

· Reylo kiss? I mean, that was cool.

· Unironically, I loved Hux. He was snarky and his revelation of being the spy because he just hated Kylo that much got the biggest reaction in the cinema of the entire showing. Admittedly it was derisive laughter as we all realised what a clusterfuck of bad writing this film was, but still. It crossed over into so-bad-it’s-good territory. Hux gave me considerable pleasure in a film that otherwise made me very angry.

· My favourite scene in the film was when Rey and Kylo fought on Pasaana over the transport ship with Chewie (apparently) on and Rey blows it up. The cinematography was amazing, it was a visual representation of both balance and building on the lightsaber breaking scene in TLJ while upping the stakes considerably and Rey’s reaction of visceral horror when she realised what she had done was truly shocking and unexpected. To have Chewie killed off so suddenly like this for no reason except that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and the stakes are high and this is a desperate war with casualties – genius. A perfect way to make Rey and Ben even more similar – both having killed father figures – and have Rey confront her dark side as she wrestles with what she has done and the consequences of having a non-unified relationship with Ben while also being in a position to truly empathise with him – this was exactly the content I had signed up for. But it was the moment that it was revealed that Chewie was still alive that I realised what I’d only suspected before then: that this film was terrible and I would not be able to trust any emotion it was inviting me to feel.

Fundamentally, I think that this film is incredibly poorly written and emotionally dishonest. It is telling that I saw Jumanji 2 earlier in the day and out of the two films, the only point at which I cried was when Milo decided to stay in Jumanji as a horse. Why did I cry? Because Milo and Grandpa’s relationship had been gradually built up over the course of a film that was not afraid of quiet moments and building a narrative of a relationship that revealed what it needed over the course of several meaningful scenes. It allowed Milo’s decision to stay to be both a tragic loss but also a happy ending for him. Truly bittersweet and in a way that everyone can relate to. The loss of a dear friend to illness is a horrible but human thing to contemplate. To be able to set this friend free through a metaphor of a beautiful death and afterlife is genuinely moving and hopeful. Unfortunately TROS did not manage to give me any such emotions or elicit a single tear.

At least not till afterwards. I’ve subsequently cried a lot, some of it over the tragedy of Ben and Rey in a film that promised hope, but mainly for myself and the other (mainly) young female fans who have poured all their knowledge and intelligence into analysis of TFA and TLJ and who seemed to understand the story that was being told and who had been promised more of this story in the interviews and trailers released prior to this film – and who are now feeling like absolute garbage as this film throws out its own mythology for an incoherent, self-serving mess that in many ways defies analysis. The only thing I feel really capable of analysing is how much it doesn’t work, as opposed to what the film is trying to do. Where is the symbolism? Where is the metaphor? Where is the hero’s journey? Where is the heroine’s journey? Where is nuance? Where is everything that was set up in both TFA and TLJ? IDK, I can’t see it. It’s a kick in the teeth.

So, no matter how many individual things I was able to enjoy at the time when watching TROS, they end up being meaningless because the entire film was so bad. I can’t feel pleasure thinking about the good bits because they were mired in context (or lack of it). I can’t feel genuine sorrow about the fate of Rey and Ben because the execution of that fate was so poorly done. I don’t even mind that Ben died. It was always an option and the story of redemption followed by death is a very common story, a very Christian story. Though the death of Christ to save us from our sins, is crucially followed by resurrection. I mean, literally everyone can and does die. That doesn’t make you special. If you’re going for a Christ metaphor, you kind of need resurrection too. But I’m not sure that was exactly what they were going for with it; it was a mess and the execution made little internal consistency.

It may be that if I watched the film again, my problems would be lessened and I would see new things in them and they would make sense. I’ve read some twitter threads of people who are making connections and finding explanations on a second or third viewing. But the problem is that I shouldn’t need to see a film more than once to fundamentally understand it. I don’t mean picking up on new and interesting features and subtext which a good film, like a good book, rewards you with on multiple viewings. TLJ does that. But you should be able to follow what the ultimate meaning of a film is when you see it first.

If that is the case, then the ultimate meaning of TROS is that the good are good, the bad are bad, change is rewarded with death, a character who was once alone ends up alone again, plot coherency is sacrificed for whatever explosion or cool backwards-reference is needed at the time, death is not the end except when it is, there is no cosistency and consequently no emotional impact. And apparently it is a happy and hopeful ending? The tonal disconnect with the story being told and the way it was shot and the music being played and the clear intention of the people making the film is utterly jarring.

To famously quote Macbeth:

It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

This post is already too long so I will go into my criticisms in more detail in a further post. Stay tuned!

Read Part Two here.

#tros #tros spoilers #star wars #the rise of skywalker #anti-tros

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two-are-the-trees · 5 years

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31 Days of Poe Day 10: “The Sphinx”

“The Sphinx” is unlike most of Poe’s other tales in that it completely subverts the usual Poe formula. While his stories usually build mystery and climax at the point of utmost terror, “The Sphinx” provides the terror early on and the rest of the story is spent unravelling the mystery behind it. It’s a showcase both of Poe’s signature grotesque language and of his interest in deduction as the characters attempt to conceptualize the unexplainable.

The story begins in the middle of a cholera epidemic in New York as the narrator seeks an escape from the tragic deaths by staying at his relative’s cottage. One day, while looking out of the window, the narrator believes that he sees a strange creature on the distant hills. He describes the creature as a large monster with horrifying features and an unearthly screech. The narrator turns away, shocked and terrified, but when he looks again, the creature is gone. Over the next few days the narrator sees the creature again, coming down the hill, and seeks the advice of his relative. They must decide what the creature is, if it is dangerous, or if the narrator is simply mad.

When I first read the story, I was very disappointed. To me, the ending seemed surprisingly anti-climactic, especially compared to most of Poe’s other works that peak at the very end. However, once I read the story again for 31 Days of Poe, I was taken aback by the underlying layers within the narrative. The setting and timing of the story are extremely significant and it becomes much more than a typical story of deduction when you think about the themes at play. Poe does create mysteries very well and the way in which this one plays out is unique and genuinely unexpected as well.

Would I recommend “The Sphinx”? If you are looking for a horror story, then, no, you will be very let down. While I am glad that I re-read it so that I could understand the context a bit more, this is not a story I will be coming back to very often. It’s good for a one or two time read if you are really curious to know what the story is actually about, and it is very short, however, you also won’t be missing too much, in my opinion, if you skip this one.

For more analysis (which contains spoilers!!!) please read below the cut!

As I mentioned above, “The Sphinx” subverts the usual expectations of a Poe story by having a rather mild ending, the strange creature turning out to be nothing but a moth on a spiderweb. As a master of terror, then, why would Poe write an ending this way when the beginning of the story is so suspenseful by comparison? The obvious answer is a commentary on the validity of reason and science over superstition. I mean, Poe even mentions a trend in superstition early on in the story and the narrator’s relative uses very reasonable methods of deduction in order to come to the conclusion that the creature is nothing more than an insect. It fits within the timeline of Poe’s writing as well, as spiritualism and mediums were rapidly rising in popularity in the 19th century, despite many people calling the movement utter nonsense.

I feel that this analysis, however, makes “The Sphinx” out to be more shallow and, frankly, more boring than it really is. I mean, after all, most of Poe’s stories deal with the fantastical and the supernatural in some way. Surely the message here isn’t that all terror based on ideas of the supernatural is illogical and easily reasoned with. I think one of the most important aspects of the story to give us some more context, then, is the event that serves as the story’s background: the cholera epidemic in New York. The story opens with the horrible descriptions of the tragic epidemic. The narrator remarks that every day, they receive messages of another friend who has died and thoughts of danger and fear are on everybody’s mind.

It is in this continual state of mind, then, in which the narrator first observes the “sphinx” and immediately perceives it as a terrible threat. One might question how someone could possibly mistake a moth for a monster, however, the narrator is not a beacon of rational thinking; he is a man shaken and troubled by a horrible disaster. This is precisely why he believes he is seeing a terrible omen of death rather than coming to a more reasonable conclusion; death is on his mind. This isn’t just a story about the triumph of reason over superstition. This is a demonstration of how human minds attempt to cope with tragedy or uncontrollable forces, how the public loses rational thinking in times of panic. Perhaps by uncovering that this sphinx was just an insect in the end, Poe instills the idea that, despite the horrors that come with unexpected disasters, reason will always allow humanity to gain control once again.

So, what did y’all think? Did the ending leave you wanting more? Were you stumped by the question of what this creature could be? If you have something to add, please comment on this post or send me an ask! You can also use the tag #31daysofpoe to create your own response post!

#31daysofpoe #Edgar Allan Poe #gothic literature #gothic #halloween

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benisasoftboi · 5 years

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In Which I Explain The Entirety of Star Wars, Despite Being Very Much Unqualified To Do So

I have only seen one Star Wars movie - it was The Last Jedi. I saw it, with no context, two years ago in theatres when it first came out. I was very surprised to find out that it made a lot of people very angry, because I quite liked it, as did the friends I saw it with. I can’t say I remember much though.

All the rest of my Star Wars knowledge comes from its generally inescapable nature in the pop cultural zeitgeist. I might have seen a bit of Episode 6, which I don’t know the name of, when I was round a friend’s house once, but I was very tired, and it was about a decade ago anyway.

That’s just some context for my lack of qualifications to do this. My friend said I should still do it anyway. I will not be looking anything up as I write this, so all spelling mistakes and other general errors are mine.

So anyway - The Entirety of Star Wars:

Original Trilogy

There is a guy called Luke. He is played by Mark Hamill and he is George Lucas’s self insert. He lives on a planet where there is only sand, because in this universe all planets have only one terrain, I think. He drinks milk. The milk might be blue.

A guy played by Liam Neeson finds Luke. I think this guy’s name is probably Obi Wan Kenobi, but I might have that wrong. At some point he will die tragically and it will be formative for Luke, but then he will also come back as a ghost. Ghosts exist in this universe.

Possibly Luke has known this guy for a long time or possibly he is a stranger, I am not sure. Somehow they end up on a spaceship.

Luke needs to learn how to use magic powers called the Force, which seems to be mostly telekinesis, and also lets him use a really fancy but probably impractical sword called a lightsaber that shoots blue or sometimes green or sometimes red light. This is called Jedi training. Jedi Knight is a religion. You can claim to be one on the census in the real world. They seem to be really serious people despite having a silly name.

Everyone also has guns that go ‘pew pew pew’ and nerds get really mad when you make fun of that.

Luke will meet many colourful and interesting people on his journey. These include:

A woman played by Carrie Fisher who is also his twin sister but he doesn’t know that until after they kiss. Her name is Leia or maybe Laia. She has silly hair. At one point she wears a slave bikini because she’s enslaved to a gelatinous blob because that’s just how it goes when you’re the woman in a 70s sci-fi movie

A guy called Han Solo because he is Edgy and Does Things Solo. He and Leia have a romance and it’s Drama. He also has a spaceship that people will build very impressive lego replicas of. He dresses like a cowboy. I’m 90% that he is played by Harrison Ford

A bunch of walking teddy bears called Ewoks who can kill you and live in a jungle

A guy called Lando Calrissian who I think wears fancy clothes and that’s all I know about him, he might actually be a villain I’m not sure. He might die?

A little blue robot who hid behind some rocks one time and then in the re-release he hid behind more rocks than before and the fans got Mad

A big gold robot who is nervous and gay and might be gay for the little blue robot, like they might be married but that also might be a meme I’m not certain

A weird green goblin thing called Yoda who makes Luke carry him around and speaks in broken English that annoying people have spent the last thirty years imitating. He dies, but then is a ghost so it doesn’t matter really

A guy called Boba Fett who is a bounty hunter. I genuinely have no clue how he fits in to all of this. He might not actually be from Star Wars, maybe I’m mixing him up with something else.

Luke is also trying to fight the Evil Darth Vader who works for an Evil CGI Emperor of the Evil Empire. They live on a big spaceship called the Death Star and it looks like a moon but isn’t and people think it’s funny when you point that out for some reason. They are the Dark Side, which makes them easy to root against because they’re just cartoonishly evil I guess. I think they are also bureaucrats. They have Stormtroopers, who might be brainwashed people or might just be robots, or might even be clones. They all wear identical white armour with helmets so people don’t care when they get shot. Kinda like fencers.

Darth Vader is actually Luke’s father and this is a twist except not anymore. This means he is also Leia’s father, I’m not sure if she knew. Also Luke loses his arm. Darth Vader gets redeemed and then dies but also takes down the Evil CGI Emperor with him.

I don’t know what happens in any of the movies, but I know that the first one ends with them getting plans for or from Leia, not sure, the second one has the dad twist, and the third one has ghosts. Also they blow up the Death Star by shooting a garbage chute really hard.

Prequels

These movies are widely disliked. The first one has too much bureaucracy. They are about Darth Vader’s backstory. He used to be a guy called Anakin. He will Become Evil. He will also meet many colourful characters. They include:

His love interest, who is called Padme. She wears a silly hat and dies of a combination of Childbirth and Sadness. I saw this bit happen one time when I was a kid and I was stuck round my mum’s friend’s house and her son was playing through this part in the LEGO game. It was sad

A guy with a red face whose name might be Maul and has robot legs?

A guy called Jar Jar Binks who everyone seems to simultaneously hate and feel a desperate need to make sex jokes about

Angry Jedi People

Probably some robots

Anakin hates sand and is pretty but grumpy. His hatred of sand is what will prevent him from finding Luke in the original movies. He falls in a volcano and gets turned into a robot man and it’s very dramatic. He has an angry red lightsaber. He murders a bunch of children by executing Order 66. Or maybe that was in the first set of movies I don’t know. I’m not sure how they made three of these movies, there doesn’t seem to be much to them.

Also there is something called ‘mitoclorians’ and I don’t know what they are but they make nerds Very Mad.

Expanded Universe

There was an expanded universe, but Disney said it wasn’t canon when they bought the rights, so now it isn’t. If I were a Star Wars fan, I would not take this lying down, because what right does Disney have to say what’s canon? Why is it up to the copyright holders? They are a corporation, not a writer. Expanded universes are always really fun and full of wacky nonsense that would never get put in the mainline stuff. I don’t like it when people try to dismiss them.

Stand Alone Movies

When the new trilogy started, they also made some stand alone films. They were called Rogue One and Solo. Rogue One is about a woman named Gin or Jinn or Jin or Ginne or - I wish I hadn’t restricted myself to not looking anything up - Urso. The spelling doesn’t matter because she dies. So does everyone else. Then Darth Vader shows up.

Solo is about Han Solo and his friends and they have an adventure and there’s a robot who wants robot rights but she dies so no one has to address the slavery thing. Also apparently it was going to be a comedy but got reshot as a drama. I hope I never watch it because that sounds terrible, even as much as I like Donald Glover who I think is in it probably. I think his character might have been in love with the dead robot.

Sequel Trilogy

These movies are about a girl called Rey. She makes nerds mad by existing and being the protagonist. She is Space British. She is a scavenger and is friends with a really cute little orange robot. Somehow she ends up in space. She starts hanging out with Older Leia’s crew, which include a pilot named Poe Dameron and a guy called Finn, but I don’t know why he’s there. People ship them with each other, and also with Rey.

The other person people ship Rey with is Kylo Ren, who I call Space Zuko because when I saw The Last Jedi, he showed up and I was like ‘oh, it’s Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender but in space’, because he has bad hair and is angry about his Daddy Issues. I hope in the next movie he gets better hair and fewer Daddy Issues like Real Zuko did. A lot of people get really angry about Rey and Space Zuko being shipped together, but they’re still the most popular ship on AO3. So no matter what happens in the next one, nerds are going to be mad about it, and I am not looking forward to it.

Kylo Ren killed his dad, Han Solo, because he was radicalised to be evil for reasons I don’t know. The guy who runs the New Evil Group, which is called the First Order, is an ugly CGI guy called Snoke. It was apparently a Big Twist that Kylo kills him Last Jedi, and it made nerds really mad. I don’t understand why people were surprised, because when I saw the movie, I saw that guy and was like ‘oh he’s gonna get killed by Space Zuko because that would be Drama and also from a production standpoint having a guy who needs lots of special effects is much more difficult than just having Adam Driver wear a scary mask’ and then I was right so maybe I’m smarter than all the nerds.

There is also a guy called Hux and he is a ginger. I think he is evil.

The other thing people got really mad about was that Rey’s parents were not established characters. People wanted her dad to be Luke, I think, who is in Last Jedi. I was happy about this because I like Mark Hamill. He spent the movie teaching her about the force while they hang out on an island with a race of merchandising opportunities called Porgs. He dies at the end but he might be in the next one as a ghost anyway.

Also there was a girl called Rose and people decided that not liking the character meant they could be mean to the actress, which is not true and everyone who was mean to her should be ashamed. There was another woman as well, but I don’t remember her name, she had purple hair and was serious and I have no idea if she was good or evil.

Kylo Ren’s real name is Ben which is not very sci-fi. Maybe that’s why he changed it.

Though come to think, Luke isn’t a very sci-fi name either.

Anyway, that’s everything I know about Star Wars.

Feel free to ask me questions about Star Wars and have me try to answer.

Do not, under any circumstances, try to actually explain Star Wars to me. I’m much happier as is, thank you very much

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xaoh-f-goon · 5 years

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Denouements: A Spotter’s Guide

In this essay I shall be attempting to identify the distinguishing features of the Denouement siblings, and then theorising on what this means for their character and scene-to-scene motivation. Being just one person I will have biases and projections, so please do say if something doesn’t feel right. Also, a lot of what I will try to describe won’t be visible in screenshots, only in motion, so I encourage watching clips to help understand my angle.

I am taking as a starting point, which will be revised if it doesn’t bear out, the theory that the brothers embody their name: Frank is frank, and Ernest is earnest. Both words mean truthful, but in different ways. Frankness comes via bluntness, factual, to the point, brusque. It implies serious and businesslike, efficient, rooted in reality. Earnestness comes via (positive) emotional intensity, sincerity, enthusiasm and being willing to please. It implies personal conviction, being trustworthy, friendliness and passion for the subject at hand.

Both men are keeping up a controlled facade in order to catalogue and manipulate the hotel occupants, and I believe the word definitions characterise their respective approach to this. Remember, Frank is the fireFighter, ErneSt is the fireStarter. Let’s trust Kit Snicket’s words (and netflix’s intentions) and do some close observation. Here is a screenshot from when we know who is who.

So, the characterisation I am driving at here is that Frank is being impenetrable, relying on saying exactly the right thing, analysing the response and passing judgement to keep safe. Ernest is being quickly ingratiating, performing as a warm presence that you are more likely to trust, especially in the face of his brother’s apparent rudeness. Plus, Kit calls him out as an active liar (’Do not trust him, no matter what he says’) rather than Frank’s passive status as a person the Baudelaires need to behave right to gain access to.

This Denouement is secretly observing before making himself known. He is blunt with his sentences and his impassive face gives no indication of what he wants to hear in return. His rattling speed of speech implies efficiency. I am presuming he is Frank.

He introduces himself in a position of power, having startled them. He wields his authority by assuming his orders are being followed, leaving sharply without checking to see if the kids are following. He speaks in a low flat monotone manner. He uses an air of disdain to keep himself distant and above those he is talking to, and his default position is to look down at you with narrowed eyes. These are things we have learnt about Frank.

This Denouement lets the kids know he is coming, calling out to them softly and clearly. He is smiling and welcoming. His quick speed of speech implies enthusiasm. He sounds relieved to see them, thus initially giving the impression of power to the Baudelaires. His open manner invites openness in return. He is the only one to ask outright for vital information. I am presuming this is Ernest.

He talks calmly and clearly, and emphasises important words that he wants the kids to pick up on and react to. He looks and sounds appropriately curious, worried, and pleading when he asks for information, hoping for an automatic sympathetic response or at least to evoke some sort of tell. When he gets an answer he doesn’t like, he signals being disappointed and hurt. However he still seems very distant from what he’s saying, and his expressions are switched between quickly and grandly, like a performer. It feels disingenuous and too symmetrical. His default position is looking up at you with an expression of concern. These are things we have learnt about Ernest.

Now there is Dewey. He does not have the facade of his brothers. He alone has natural asymmetrical expressions that lend him a twinkle in the eye, as if about to wink, and an actual air of confidentiality. Incidentally, ‘dewy’ as a word doesn’t only mean moist, but also naive, innocent, unwary etc, implying a lack of artifice. He talks quietly and furtively, conveying information quickly because There’s Not Much Time.

So we have our potential players. Now lets prove the theory.

Who does Violet meet?

He remains impassive, does not speak until asked and considers his answer, he seems tired, aloof and critical as if he knows that he knows best. He speaks in a low voice and only in factual information. And, he is very blunt, for example saying very clearly that Not Doing This Would Be Suspicious and saying the name VFD out loud. He’s Frank.

Who does Klaus meet?

That’s Ernest.

Therefore Sunny...

There’s nothing to suggest this isn’t Dewey.

We have a Confirmed Ernest appearance, and he does superficially appear deadpan and stern, possibly throwing doubt on the definitions. However, he is no longer trying to be ingratiating, he is acting villainous and threatening and theatrical. Which is very much in line with what we presume to know of him.

In Part 2, we have a Confirmed Frank appearance, which I have documented here. I think you’ll agree Frank’s manner is perfectly in line with previous conclusions - the mask-like lack of reaction, the disdain in his comment to Poe, the looking-down-from-above posture, the unmoving mouth. Yet there is emotion in his eyes for the first time, staring hatred towards Olaf (and being rough with him) outside of his safe businessman persona. I think some of that is directed towards the Baudelaires too, as he approaches his gaze is fixed on them like a laser. But that could also be an unspoken question for them, or high emotions in general.

[Edit] Further analysis and other possibilities discussed here.

Supposing all of the above is correct, here’s how I see the courtroom scene.

Frank on the left, having had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Ernest on the right, holding a tense but pretty unreadable expression of attentiveness.

Ernest is the one to let Olaf out of the closet. That’s his same thug stance and poise type from when he’s facing down Larry. It’s Ernest’s way of making himself look big - Frank’s way is to appear a superior authority. ....also, there’s the rope thing.

At the submission of the harpoon gun and mention of Dewey’s killing, Frank looks down and is visibly processing. Watch his mouth. Ernest remains an entirely emotionless mask and bows his head at the appropriate time.

Then the Baudelaires make their statement.

Ernest is showing a textbook expression of wonder and compassion, and immediately joins in when the clapping starts...

...and Frank is exasperated. He hates it. It’s fair to say he knows his brother and very clearly doesn’t believe a metaphorical word of it. And I don’t either. Because we’ve seen Dewey happy. We’ve seen Max Greenfield play genuinely happy. And this perfectly even grin does not reach his eyes in the slightest. There is no twinkle. And to my eye Frank’s reaction backs me up on that.

Here, Count Olaf is listing shooting Dewey Denouement as one of the Baudelaire’s crimes. What Ernest is doing is visibly blinking back tears. I do not know whether they are real or fake or both. I do not know what Frank is thinking. It’s something, but I don’t know what it is.

Until finally, we end up here.

Why would the brothers appear to swap roles, Ernest supporting them and Frank condemning them? Here’s what I think.

Both brothers are feeling the loss of Dewey equally deeply.

Frank has come to blame the Baudelaires, perhaps not directly but at least in the sense of them bringing their situation and causing unpredictability in the perfectly ordered hotel. Certainly in this moment, he blames them from an emotional standpoint and is incensed enough to argue with the kids almost on principle. Or, perhaps, he does in fact truly blame them. They weren’t very good at their job, they were indiscreet and didn’t know any codes, perhaps that made him suspicious of them and was already unsure about working with them before Dewey died. It certainly didn’t seem like the kids ever convinced him of anything, and it’s reliably reported in all the news that the Baudelaires are definitely there when firefighters die.

Ernest, while running on almost an autopilot of acting how he is expected to be seen, has come to blame Count Olaf. He knows first-hand that Olaf’s thirst for violence, specifically for the people in this hotel, is very real and dangerous. After all, he did just boil a man with him. Ernest may not care about the Baudelaires, but he very likely doesnt care for this nonsense of a court proceeding either, and wants eyes on Olaf as soon as possible. Or, perhaps, he does in fact truly believe them. Maybe Dewey’s death sent him reflecting on the probably unbelievable and definitely tragic series of events that got the triplets to where they are now. Maybe he is feeling the futility and wants even just a small revenge or point scored. Olaf was right, there is arguably a lot more truth on the firestarting side and Ernest knows, he knows with a certainty his brother cannot have, that the Baudelaires didn’t murder anyone.

#asoue #denouement siblings #asoue spoilers #frank denouement #ernest denouement #dewey denouement #a series of unfortunate events #max greenfield #asoue theory #the penultimate peril #penultimate peril #netflix asoue #netflix a series of unfortunate events #netflix scrutiny #hotel denouement #denouement #denouement brothers

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electricbluebutterflies · 6 years

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easier than echoes

Post-TLJ-ish Damerey hurt/comfort smut. Idk how to describe this but it is a Thing. NSFW and also on ao3.

The nightmares just keep getting worse.

Ever since… ever since the thing he does not want to put into words, his mind hasn't been safe. Supposedly that's a normal trauma thing, or at least as normal as anything gets in the aftermath of another person burning their way through your fucking brain, but that's not really reassuring.

Poe is not supposed to have this kind of problem, okay? He's not… he's not victim material, he's pretty sure. He's kind and he's damningly easygoing and he's very good at his job and almost everyone he's ever met adores him and his brain was totally freaking fine before this bullshit happened. And then it did, because apparently nobody's safe from anything anymore, and now it's been a couple weeks and the aftershocks are still there.

He has a couple options, he thinks. He's tried a variety of sleeping meds, including at least one that supposedly isn't safe for humanoids, and no luck. He's tried not sleeping for three days, and that ended with him passing out in the hangar while trying to clean something (he doesn't even remember what) and having a bad one right as someone else walked in (he's blanked out who that was). He's tried exercise, a slight change in diet, and just about everything except for, y'know, actually talking about it.

He's not weak. Really. But damn, he's getting real sick of this.

It's been a couple months now, maybe. Dust is still settling in their latest base, as it's prone to here, and it's another long awful night when Poe gets what might be his weirdest idea yet for dealing with the brain-scars. Which probably ought to have occurred to him a while back, maybe before the more mundane // useless shit he's tried, but better late than never. And yet, awkward, because…

Well…

People-person that he is, effortlessly charming and a little bit in love with the whole damn galaxy, he's a little intimidated by the girl. But on the other hand, from the rumors he heard, she might be the only person he has access to who's been through the same problem, and who knows how well she's dealing.

He wanders down hallways. He knows what room is hers for now, and he's pretty sure that she'll listen for five damn minutes. The girl - Rey, he reminds himself, Rey the desert-planet feral girl who might be salvation someday but at this point in time is mostly just lost and overwhelmed - has been kind enough the few times he's managed to have an actual conversation with her. He thinks, hopes, that will continue.

(Wants, in the back of his mind, to see what else she can do.)

The door opens before he knocks. She hasn't been able to sleep tonight either, from the looks of it - there's a newfound tiredness to her young body, something he hadn't noticed in her before, maybe even more tragic than anything else about her.

"Bad night for you too?" she shrugs, forcing an almost-laugh.

"Thought you might empathize," he replies. Casual. He can do this. He's not asking for much, dammit, just a little sharing of misery or whatever.

She nods. Her hair is loose, too much of it obscuring her face, and on impulse he reaches out and pushes the worst away behind her ear.

The moment his hand touches her skin, something strange and electric comes to life inside him. He doesn't know words for it beyond that it isn't lust or love or anything that cliché. No, this is something else, something-

She flinches back after a couple seconds and locks eyes with him. "That was new."

"Good," he mutters, shaking his head. "I mean-"

"I don't know how this… how anything I am works, really, what I can or can't do, if… if maybe this is part of it or…"

"Or it's the middle of the night, neither of us know how to sleep anymore, and we're freaking out about harmless static because it's easier than anything else around us."

"Or that." She smiles, genuine this time. She's going to be beautiful in a couple years, he can't help thinking - not that she isn't now, but in a decade she's going to blossom into everything she could be and…

He feels himself blush, well aware he's going to have to explain this. Dammit.

"Are you alright?"

Oh, there's gonna be no hiding anything from this woman. Perfect eye contact is both blessing and curse, and the fact that Poe is currently staring a hole into the floor instead might be a little bit of a problem. "Fine. Just… thinking."

"About?"

"Whatever the hell that was, maybe it'd get us through the night." Real fuckin' smooth, but no easy way to proposition her without seeming and feeling like absolute scum and-

"I've heard that's a thing," she shrugs. "Never tried it. Never done much of anything with another person, but… you're kind, I trust you, and if you think our connection might delay the nightmares…"

Rey leans forward and kisses him full on the mouth, and it's pretty obvious she's never done this before but what she lacks in experience she more than makes up for in determination. There's that electric shock again - maybe it's the Force, Poe can't help but think, that'd be his luck to finally feel all the realities of the universe just as he's about to get laid for the first time in just a little too long - but something else too. She tastes like hope, and he's gonna feel awful about this in the morning but right now, again, worth a shot.

"Are you sure you want me to corrupt you?" he breathes.

"I don't think that's what this is," she counters. "This is light. This is good."

How they make it into her bedroom and get the door shut behind him, he has no fuckin' clue. But somehow it happens, and then she's on her back on a thin mattress just waiting and this is probably the worst idea he's ever had, even worse than most of his impulsive battle decisions, and yet it's such a good bad idea and-

"Poe? Something wrong?"

"Don't hate me if this doesn't work," he mutters. "I'm just human, not… whatever you are. I'm not sure if-"

"I don't care. Can't go worse than anything else I've tried. The echo just won't shake and-"

He sits down beside her, pushes her hair out of her face again, and maybe what she actually needs is someone to cuddle with and he can easily be that person too but he'll let her lead. Whatever she wants. Her scars are worse, what he heard, and her before was worse, and all is in her hands.

She senses that somehow and moves to straddle his lap and okay, even if this doesn't actually fix anything, his body is going to enjoy this. She weighs borderline nothing, perched above him, and he'd bet she learns fast and follows instinct in all the right ways. He's seen her fight, and he's pretty sure he heard once that that's a great way to tell what kind of fuck someone will be, and if that's true…

"You're a good distraction," she breathes, feathering kisses on his face as her arms loop around his torso. "This is good."

"Whatever you want, Rey."

She laughs and he feels it echo through his body somehow. "Are you sure you trust me that much?"

"I came here in the middle of the night and figured you'd at least talk to me. So yeah, I think I trust you."

From there, it's a little bit of a blur. There are kisses, the shedding of clothing, scars to trace and unexpected sensitive places to trace with gentle fingers. Poe feels like he's floating, not fully present in his body and yet present enough to appreciate his current circumstances. Rey is… there aren't words for her, at least none he's ever heard. She's an innocent in some ways, yes, but again that fire in her that's made him so damn curious since the moment he first heard of her existence. Her instincts are solid, the way her hands and lips find all the right places of his skin, and-

"Are you absolutely sure?" he asks as he hovers over her.

"Please. Try to make me forget."

He covers her body with his own. That's the only way he can think of to describe it. Being inside her and around her feels amazing, the primal act of their bodies colliding, but all he can focus on is that this is how he can keep her safe.

He's no good with a blaster at close range, never has been, always better in the air away from the actual conflict. He's even worse in a fistfight, learned that from more than enough experiences to know better. He's made too many bad calls to ever be a war hero, at least in the current war (and oh let there not be another in his lifetime, and may that life be long). As a protector, in the standard sense of the word, Poe is borderline useless. And yet this here, holding her close and covering her with kisses and blocking out the world around her? This he can do.

"Breathe," she murmurs, and he is brought back into his body. So close, another few thrusts, and-

"Was that enough?"

"It'll help me sleep."

He moves off of her, moves to stand up but her fingers loop around his wrist and pull him back down.

"Something else wrong?"

"You could stay. If you want. There's enough space."

Normally, he tells himself, normally this would be a bad idea. But hell, his room's a couple hallways away, and it's fucking late, and he's never been able to say no to people who genuinely want him.

"Yeah. I can do that."

#ebf writes fic #damerey #oh fuck I'm BACK y'all #and maybe this time I'll consistently write them for more than a week #echoesfictag

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proudtoehaver · 7 years

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I'm SO TIRED of KR's face being everywhere. He has NO REDEEMING QUALITIES. Jfc at least Loki had a sense of humour. Meanwhile KR's just moping, dad-murdering, razing villages, assaulting main characters, and hasn't even had a tragic backstory on screen as an excuse for people to woobify him? Meanwhile you've got Finn and Rey, both adorable, both badass, both brave af, both genuinely funny, both loyal to good things, and dashing af Poe getting sidelined for KR's emo (and yes, WHERE IS ROSE).

I am so far beyond tired of Kale Rubbage’s ugly mug and uglier personality being promoted as something worthy. He’s a hideous human being with no redeeming features. (No feeling bad about doing evil doesn’t count, just makes you a bigger fucking asshole as you literally should know better.)

The fact that we didn’t even get one single glimpse of Rose is infuriating, as is the total sidelining of Finn in this.

Though I had not guessed until now that I might have to be worried about Rey too, I had thought her being white would mean that Rian could handle her without screwing her over too much.

Apparently I was wrong.

Inb4 “but Rian doesn’t control the trailer or marketing”.

How fucking right you are, but let me tell you something, he freaking does control what he says in interviews and he can’t shut up about space Nazi, but never brings up Finn, Rose or Poe. Fuck it, even Rey can’t get mentioned on her own.

Lesson to all. Never trust a white goy until they deliver, because 99,9% of the time they don’t.

#the last jedi #nazi mention #emeraldembers

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athenajdavid-blog · 4 years

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6 SHORT STORIES

The Masque of the Red Death

by Edgar Allan Poe

The Masque of the Red Death a short story written by the American writter, Edgar Allan Poe. It was originally called, "The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy". It was also published in 1842.

This story tells us that no one can escape, even your wealth can't save you. In the story, Prince Prospero try to escape his death by at least having a masquerade ball. No one can change his fate but instead you can do something to somehow swerve on the designated path you are going to. Thinking and trying so hard to leave the fate you're about to conquer brings more damage to what you are actually getting in return.

The main theme of this story is that no matter how effective you do to change your fate, especially death, is useless. If it is your time, its your time. Its crazy how Prince Prospero held a party for his own sake. Your fortune won't come to you the way you imagine it. Only time and fate will dictate your life.

A Father

by Anton Chekhov

"A Father" is a short story written by Anton Chekhov. He is a known Russian playwright for being the most frequently produced playwright after Shakespear. He is also a short story writer in Russian society. He is one among the greatest writers of short fiction in history. His works are considered as the modern short stories which he is known for.

The short story mentioned is about a tragic father, Old Musatov, who is a drunkard and always seeking money from his sons. The most touching part of this story is that his sons never hesitate to give him the money he do not deserve out of love and sincerity to their father. The father appreciates the love given to him by his sons but he is being haunted by the guilt of nothing to give them in return. He think he doesn't deserve this kind of treatment after all the troubles he brought into their lives.

This story depicts the true love of children to their parents no matter what. We all do bad things most of the time but at the end of the day there is still someone waiting for us to accept us back over and over again. Parent - children love is so genuine that no boundaries can stop it. Everyone deserve to be loved and love back. We must be grateful that we have these kind of people and cherish them forever.

The Piece of String

by Guy de Maupassant

"The Piece of String", also known as La Ficelle, is a short story written by the French writer, Guy de Maupassant. It was said to be included in the short story collection, Miss Harriet. This short story was published back in 1883.

"Everyone is perfidious, a liar, and a phony. Everyone wears a false face."

That quote was by the author himself. This is exactly the them of the story. This is all about being mean, cruel and injustice to humanity. The author also wrote some stories about the bad traits of us, humans.

In this story, we can say that Hauchecorne should've say the truth than dying 'guilty'. Out of his pride, he chose to just kept the truth that he just picked a string on the ground and rather being accused as someone who stole the missing wallet.

Meanwhile, Malandain stereotyped the peasant for robbing someone's wallet just because he saw him picking something he haven't seen and because he is his enemy. Eventhough the wallet was found the next day, you cannot erase to the people's mind that Hauchecorne stole it. It was so annoying that Hauchecorne told the truth when it is late and no one wants to believe him even if he died.

This basically teach us that everybody will remember the bad thing you've done when you were alive for the rest of their lives. You cannot erase them in their minds once you've dirt their minds even if it is not true. Who will be willing to accept the truth if they already closed their minds to the lie being fed to them? It is always important to be honest, be responsible with your actions and do not judge others without basis because it can affect a big part of their lives.

God Sees the Truth but Waits

by Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy is the Russian writer of the short story called, "God Sees the Truth, But Waits". It was published in 1872.

The story focuses on Ivan's strong faith in God and forgiving. For me, it isn't easy to forgive someone who causes you long time suffering and even protecting him from being caught by the police. Why would you protect someone if that someone does the opposite to you? Im really moved by Ivan's faith in God, after all the time he's far away from his family and spending his life in prison for a sin he didn't commit. How can he forgive that person? He didn't even feel to be free because he died before his case was voided.

There are still people who have good and pure heart to forgive those evil acts other committed to them. Having faith in God isn't easy but it is really wonderful how it can change a person. We must learn to forgive those unguided people and to educate them so they can flourish.

The Cask of Amontillado

by Edgar Allan Poe

"The Casque of Amontillado" is one of the short story written by the famous Edgar Allan Poe. It was published in 1846.

The theme of this story is revenge. Revenge will always be bad. It is so pointless to kill your friend because of a simple matter. At the end of the day, he'll always be your friend. It is also ironic how Montresor exclaimed "for the love of God" when he is about to commit a sin God prohibited us. Thou shall not kill. We don't have the authority to take away someone's life not even ours.

A Rose for Emily

by William Faulkner

"A Rose for Emily" is a short story written by one of the famous American writer, William Faulkner. It was featured in the issue of The Forum. The story was published in 1930.

Isolation really affects someone who experience this. Emily was used to being on the highest place in rhe society and used to having his father on her side. Its really tragic how she lost her father and have no one to be with. A big part of the community also contributed to the changes in her behavior. They don't even know how to respect her privacy and attempted many times to enter her home. They always criticize her everytime she went out of the house. Although we cannot change the fact that she killed Homer for her own sake, I still pity her for longing for someone that's she did that. But killing someone isn't an excuse to fulfill your needs. After all, she's just a lonely girl seeking for love and company.

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aion-rsa · 5 years

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Stephen King: 16 Best Scary Stories to Read

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Here are 16 of the very best horror stories from Stephen King!

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Stephen King is a master of the short story, able to dish out horror tales to make your skin crawl, astounding sci-fi, and even literary reflections aimed at more "sophisticated" readers. He's done it all, with no sign of stopping.

Although I've had the tough task of picking 16 of my favorite King horror tales for this list, you should absolutely pick up ALL of his collections and give them a read through. You'll always find something to give you the chills.

Make a note: this is a list of short stories, not novellas. And on top of that, stories that are genuinely scary. I didn't forget "The Mist" or "N." or "Secret Window, Secret Garden" or any of those other goodies. Those deserve their own article, don't they?

So below: a list of stories and what collections you can find them in. "N." would have been my inclusion from Just After Sunset, but again, that's really a novella. "The Cat from Hell" ain't bad, either. But really, none of the stories from that collection made the cut for me. You can yell at me in the comments.

Enjoy!

Night Shift (1978)

Graveyard Shift

Night Shift, King's first short story collection, is really the crux of this article, as it features several of his best scary tales to date. They have a B-movie sensibility right at home in the late '60s and early '70s, and were influenced by campy cult films and plenty of EC comics. Hell, many of the stories have even become cult films themselves.

"Graveyard Shift," the second story in the book, is a great example of what King can do with seemingly ordinary situations turned bad...really, really bad. In one of his most campy stories to date, a group of men are tasked with cleaning up the abandoned basement of a textile mill that's been infested by rats for years. As they descend into the depths of the mill, the horrors they find are...well, you'll just have to find out, won't you?

Read more: Stephen King's 10 Best Horror Novels

I Am the Doorway

If you're a Constant Reader, you're probably used to King's use of body horror. This is one of his early ones and features a bit of science fiction as well. An astronaut returns from a mission to Venus after coming into contact with a strange alien mutagen. Upon his return, he discovers that eyeballs are growing out of his hands! This one is just too much fun to miss...

The Mangler

You've probably heard of this one: a series of very weird (and unfortunate) events causes an industrial laundry press to become possessed by a demon. No, I don't know where the hell this guy comes up with all this stuff. King has a way of turning ordinary blue-collar life into grisly death. This one was turned into a movie directed by Tobe Hooper a few years back, and it stars Robert Englund. Yes, it's as bad as you think.

Trucks

You've probably heard of this one, too. Because King tried to direct a movie based on this story. Motor vehicles have inexplicably come to life and decide to murder all humans who disobey them. The doomed characters in this story suffer a very tragic end that's almost poetic. By the way, the movie King directed is called Maximum Overdrive, and it's the only time anyone was crazy enough to let this guy behind a camera.

Sometimes They Come Back

Okay, you're probably wondering why I totally skipped "Children of the Corn." The answer is simple: that story has become so twisted in its movie form that a) you already know how the story goes, b) what you've seen in those god awful movies has tainted any good perspective on said story. That said, yes, read it or whatever.

read more: It Chapter Two Easter Eggs and Reference Guide

BUT, you do get this treat instead: "Sometimes They Come Back" is one of my favorite King stories to date. A teacher is haunted by three psychotic greasers from his childhood. After those around him begin to die, he realizes that he has to fight pure evil with pure evil. Truly creepy.

You can buy Night Shift right here!

Skeleton Crew (1985)

Here There Be Tygers

King loves tormenting little kids in his stories, and believe it or not, "Here There Be Tygers" is one of the lighter examples. And it has nothing to do with the Ray Bradbury story of the same name. In King's story, a little boy really needs to go to the bathroom but is too frightened to do so when he encounters a tiger in the school lavatory. Because of course there's a tiger waiting in a bathroom. King has said that this was one of his earliest stories, written when he was in high school.

The Monkey

This a weird one. A diabolical cymbal-banging monkey toy torments several characters through the years. How does a toy cause such dread in its owner? Well, every time it bangs its little cymbals, someone or something dies. Simple enough.

Read more: 12 Best Stephen King Movies

The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands

In a sort of "campfire story" format that's quite fitting for King, a mysterious club in Manhattan gathers to tell tales of the strange and grotesque. A companion to a novella called "The Breathing Method" from Different Seasons, tonight's tale is about a man with a peculiar phobia: he's terrified of touching anyone and avoids all physical contact like it's the plague. The conclusion to this one is quite fun. Maybe not a traditional scary story, but the story circle format really lends it that Halloween feel. I'd love to see an anthology series based on this format - Are You Afraid of the Dark? for King fans.

Gramma

You might know this one. It was later adapted by Harlan Ellison for Twilight Zone '85 and was recently turned into a movie starring Chandler Riggs (Carl from The Walking Dead). A little boy is left alone with his gramma, a bed-ridden old woman who frightens him deeply. As you'd expect, he indeed has a lot to be frightened about. Interestingly enough, horror buffs will notice that this story is part of the Cthulhu Mythos, the shared fictional universe created by H.P. Lovecraft, one of King's idols.

You can buy Skeleton Crew right here!

Nightmares & Dreamscapes (1993)

Home Delivery

I like this one because it's a Stephen King zombie story. Part George A. Romero outbreak epic and part intimate story about reuniting with those you've lost, "Home Delivery" is a good read and even gives us a reason behind the apocalypse that's too fun to miss. King's other "zombie" tale, a book called Cell, is also worth a read.

Sorry, Right Number

No, I guess this one is technically a teleplay, which was produced as an episode of Tales from the Darkside, but it's short enough to read as a short story. Sue me. This is the first King story I ever read—in a school textbook, no less!!—and it remains one of my favorites. A woman receives a very strange call from a distressed woman, who can't quite deliver her message. The message and the outcome of this story are really heartbreaking.

You can buy Nightmares & Dreamscapes right here!

Everything's Eventual (2002)

Autopsy Room Four

Perhaps the most fun story King has ever written, this isn't the kind of King horror you're used to. Yet, it's still exceptionally terrifying. The situation is as real as they come (in a King story, anyway) and the outcome is actually pretty funny. A good story for those looking for lighter fare on Halloween.

The Man in the Black Suit

King's most literary horror story to date tells the tale of a boy's encounter with the Devil, who appears to him as a man dressed in a black suit that smells like burnt matches. The story isn't so much horror as it is a rumination on mortality. The monster in this story isn't out to get you. Instead, it wants to let you know it's there and it's waiting.

Read more: A Guide to Stephen King's Dark Tower Universe

The Road Virus Heads North

A killer painting is the subject of this story. Yes, this list has proved that if you put the adjective "killer" in front of pretty much any object, you get a Stephen King monster. Still, this one's plenty of fun, if you like a little camp with your horror.

1408

Rounding Everything's Eventual is "1408," another one of King's "writer in peril" stories that he loves writing so much. This one stars Mike Enslin, a guy who writes about haunted places he's visited. He arrives to the Hotel Dolphin in New York City after he hears about the infamous room 1408. Although he doesn't believe that any of the places he's written about are truly haunted, room 1408 does a lot to change his mind.

You can buy Everything's Eventual right here!

Bazaar of Bad Dreams (2015)

The Dune

King really is having fun with "The Dune," a more classical horror story with a twist ending that will give you chills. A man tells his lawyer a story about his secret obsession with a dune on an unnamed island off the Florida coast that can predict people's deaths. Every time he makes the trip to the island, the man sees a new person's name written in the sand, and within a month, that person is found dead. It's a haunting little story that might remind you of Poe, as the shocking truth behind the man's tale is revealed with a sinister smile.

You can buy Bazaar of Bad Dreams right here!

Alright, Constant Readers, what are your favorite Stephen King horror stories? What are you reading leading up to Halloween? Tell us in the comments!

John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9.

A version of this article originally ran on Oct. 30, 2015.

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Sep 9, 2019

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twopointthreeninetoone · 7 years

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Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)

I’ve a lot of thoughts that can’t be explained sufficiently without employing massive spoilers, so continue below the cut only if you’ve seen the film (or don’t mind being spoiled)

I don’t think it needs to be said (so I’ll go ahead and say it) that I’m a rather big fan of Star Wars and have been looking forward to this new film for a while. Natural wariness at the prospect of a new Star Wars film was tempered by the news that the original cast was returning, was overwhelmed by the giddiness at seeing the first trailer, and had completely disappeared when the stellar reviews came in a week or so ago. I stayed religiously away from spoilers, and set my mind on the popular opinion that JJ Abrams’ new film captured the bubbly energy of the original trilogy, and offered us a new cast of fun characters effortlessly merged with our iconic heroes. To say that I was really, really, really, really excited would be an understatement.

And JJ Abrams really does deliver in terms of high-voltage (yet expertly controlled) energy in The Force Awakens. This movie wasn’t bogged down by the prequels’ morose sense of self-importance and ham-handedness and it was made with an expert, self-assured hand. It follows a very finely orchestrated plot structure, designed to give us a story-line that borrows components of the original trilogy in such a way that it does feel more or less fresh. You have a three fresh-faced, disparate heroes who find each other, instantly connect, and join together to go on incredibly daring and exciting adventures, but Poe, Rey, and Finn are so fun and attractive that they don’t necessarily feel like a rehash of Luke, Leia, and Han. You have a complicated family dynamic, except now Darth Vader’s enigmatic relationship with his son and daughter has been passed down to Han and Leia’s troubled relationship with their son. There’s a new droid that again holds the key to important information that both the Resistance and the Empire (now a faction called The New Order) are both fighting to get their hands on. And a desert rat is again the Chosen One, but at least Rey isn’t a whiner like Luke was.

I don’t mean to say that this movie is antiseptic–yes, a lot of it does lend itself to mass-produced consumerism (a lot of action scenes felt like they were designed specifically to be really cool video game sequences) but it’s always been that way: the cool merchandise tie-ins are one of the reasons why A New Hope did as stupendously well as it did, and by proxy why The Force Awakens has already broken a number of box-office records. The thing is, the movie really is imbued with that ol’ Star Wars magic, and it’s incredibly easy (and in a way, perfectly natural) to lose yourself in that childish glee, to stare at the screen unblinking as Han Solo, Chewbacca, C3PO, and Leia Organa return to do battle with the evil Empire and its hordes of Storm Troopers and black-clad Siths. It’s how it should be. It’s what I’ve always wanted.

And then there’s a–I don’t want to call it a misstep. I don’t know what to call it. I want to preface what I’m about to write by saying that I think it’s probably specific to me and my own relationship with the original trilogy, and its characters. I can understand the dynamics involved that led JJ Abrams to kill off Han Solo. He wanted to grab the audience by the throat and inundate them completely into the new series. Kill off a major character (really, one of the most beloved characters) and you sort of hold the audience hostage. And, more importantly perhaps, Harrison Ford probably didn’t want to play Han Solo anymore. He’s never been as invested in Han Solo as much as he has been by Indiana Jones. He was never sure (after A New Hope, or even after The Empire Strikes Back) that he would return to play the character, and even wanted George Lucas to kill him off in Return of the Jedi. He sort of stumbled into the role of Han Solo to begin with (having worked on George Lucas’ American Graffiti prior, he was asked to help Lucas by feeding lines to actors auditioning for Luke and Leia, and Lucas decided he was the best man to play Han) and the sensation that ensued really plays more like a crazy happenstance than anything more concrete and fateful. Harrison Ford would go on to play more complex and intelligently devised characters. Like Alec Guinness, I don’t think he ever really “got” what made the Star Wars movies so magical to its audience, because he’s really been on the inside looking out. I think he’s relieved that he doesn’t have to carry the weight of the character anymore, and I think that, consequently, he can enjoy the novelty of the series more now. He definitely looks happier talking about it now, in interviews and on promotional tours for The Force Awakens.

Harrison Ford does a good job in The Force Awakens. He’s in the film more than any of the other original actors (or maybe second to Peter Mayhew, who plays Chewbacca) and he still employs that magnetism that made him the highest-paid movie actor of the 1990s. This is Han Solo, piloting the Millennium Falcon with Chewie. This is Han Solo, trying to talk himself out of a mess he made by swindling two bands of smugglers. This is Han Solo, trading sassy barbs with Leia while still obviously exuding love for her.

And this is Han Solo, being gutted via light saber by a character that is, at this point in the new series, not fully formed, and it just seems really, really wrong. It feels innately wrong to kill one of the three main characters of the original trilogy, and arguably one of the most popular characters in movie history. But if it had to have been done, couldn’t it have been done better, or at least later in the series? The backstory behind Han and Leia’s son (and new series villain) Ben/Kylo Ren is compelling, but only so much of it can be fleshed out in the first film (a film that’s already juggling several other equally compelling plots). We don’t know the finer points of what Kylo Ren rebel against Han and Leia or what made him join the Dark Side, and as a result his showdown with Han (and, by proxy, Han’s death) feels rushed and unsatisfying, an attempt at emotional manipulation more than anything else.

And as I said before, I get it. I get the attractiveness of killing off Han Solo. I even admitted in my recap of The Empire Strikes Back that Han isn’t nearly as bad-ass once he falls in love with Leia, and that he isn’t given much to do in Return of the Jedi. JJ Abrams has subsequently explained that he killed off Han, in part, because he would’ve have been something like a dead weight, and that his character desperately needed to evolve. But how does killing him off in the first film help him to evolve in any way? His new, complicated, dysfunctional feelings for Leia and his son Ben are never really given the chance to evolve; what could have been a promising story line about Han fighting to pry his son away from the Dark Side was snuffed out before being given the time and thoughtfulness it deserved in a second film (or third) film.

But, you know, with that being said.

When all is said and done, I’m upset with The Force Awakens because one of my favorite movie characters died, and as lame and absurd and stupid as it may be, I kind of have to grieve for Han Solo now. I have to grieve for a fictional character, and that’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous that I haven’t been able to get through the day without crying every couple of hours, and it’s ridiculous when I try to explain to my family why I’m so gutted by this. It’s ridiculous that I don’t think I can watch the original trilogy now without that footnote in the back of my mind, that now Han Solo is dead. Han–who returned to save Luke Skywalker and help blow up the Death Star in A New Hope, who awesomely replied to Leia’s admission of love with “I know” in The Empire Strikes Back, who fumbled his way around the Endor in Return of the Jedi–isn’t around anymore. His story is finished. And the story of a character like Han Solo shouldn’t end in death. He should just be allowed to continue on into that ethereal epilogue, ready to be picked up and utilized for any choose-your-own-adventure that your giddy imagination can come up with. Reality is littered with the tragic deaths of heroes. Fictional heroes are awarded that power of immortality. Why kill them off so casually? Why hoist that upon your audience?

So, I’m sad. And I’m embarrassed that I’m sad. And I’m frustrated that, save for this one point, The Force Awakens is a genuinely good movie that deserves its stellar reviews and deserves to break so many box-office records. But it makes me feel alone in this. And maybe I deserve to be, because, as I said before, grieving for a fictional character, a character was never even really liked by the actor who played him, is ridiculous, and it was obviously done for very practical, understandable reasons. I get it. I just don’t like it.

#Star Wars: The Force Awakens #Harrison Ford #Chewbacca #J.J. Abrams #movie reviews

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onesunandnight · 6 years

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thought on some star wars shit

Okay, the shit I’m seeing about The Last Jedi on here is really disconcerting.

Obviously, my feed is showing me a smaller than small slice of people who have disliked it, but I can’t understand the degree to which people are vehemently bashing this movie.

A good number are mad that Finn and Rey haven’t been made into a couple. So? At what point did the creative team make any promises as to how your preference for romantic coupling of characters was going to influence the story? Just as well, the amount of bullshit regarding Rose and Finn is making me so angry. You either don’t like that they’re paired up for the whole film, or don’t like the possibility for them to be romantically linked (which probably represent some seriously racist unvoiced opinions). And honestly, I’d hesitate to put a definitive stamp on what their relationship is. I really love the idea of Finn/Rey. I also can see how potentially problematic it is if they were brought together as an onscreen couple. And honestly, everyone in this series is so goddamn attractive and (seemingly) wholesome I’d be happy if any of them ended up together. I admire the relationships that have been forged between these cast members. I don’t really care if there’s romance involved.

There’s a larger conversation about the people of color represented as well. To say nothing of Kelly Marie Tran’s casting: a Vietnamese woman, of a way more representative body type than Hollywood ever acknowledges, integral to the plot of the film, given agency and character depth and complexity. Or how she speaks to the inherent brutality and horror on Canto Bight, a gleaming city of war profiteers who have built their fortunes off the blood and backs of beings they treat like cattle. Or even the very first fucking sequence of the film where her sister is given such an amazingly powerful (albeit arguably unnecessarily tragic) sequence all to herself. Or Poe Dameron’s recklessness and courage, how the traits of every white male lead ever are translated through a more nuanced lens, and given some fucking weight and shown to have consequences. Or Finn’s...everything? His past, his conflict, his naiveté which is never played up as stupidity, his ability to listen and change his actions based off what he’s told, how he believes in the people he cares about and fights alongside, how he accepts when he’s wrong and doesn’t fight it (usually), his warmth and his belief, all portrayed by a black man (and not an unambiguously black man either) in an industry that has historically and systematically denied black men the chance to display their full humanity outside stereotypes revolving masculinity, aggression, sexual violence, etc. I hate the way these conversations about representation go because it becomes a matter of who got to do what, for how long, how visibly, and it all revolves around them being given something. The fact that this film’s writer/director is a heterosexual white man never slipped my mind. But I also can’t imagine that the actors involved, as well as producers, weren’t also vocal about what they expected out of their representation and character direction. And with these things, you’re not able to invalidate the response of those who feel empowered. People of color don’t have authority over other people of color as to how they should react. If you see something wrong or problematic in The Last Jedi, voice it. This is not a sacred thing nor is it at all perfect. But also know that there are people who have had a really affirming experience seeing these people living and breathing as important characters on the big screen. It’s not about who’s right and who’s wrong. That’s a fundamental problem with how people seem to be criticizing this movie.

Even more people are angry about Kylo Ren’s characterization and how much more complexity he’s given. I don’t particularly like his character but I think that’s a function of what he represents, especially when you think about pretty much every patriarchal white male fanboy who wants the franchise to be only about them. In an article from Wired, Angela Wattercutter puts it pretty perfectly: “If it weren't for his willingness to go outside, he'd be every entitled troll on the internet—and the stench of his toxic masculinity only intensifies in The Last Jedi, with his surrogate dad Supreme Leader Snoke calling him ‘just a child in a mask’ while harassing him for being bested by a girl (aka Rey)”. Having said that, I admire Adam Driver’s performance a lot. It’s raw and he obviously seems to be drawn to the conflict and instability that comes with that role. He does it really well. There’s no cop out for his behavior either. The movie constantly puts forth the reality that Kylo is choosing to be the way he is. No easy justification or excuse given.

I’m also seeing so much shit about Luke being unrecognizable, but isn’t that the fucking point? Isn’t the entire arc of the film supposed to be how far from himself he’s become? Also, I don’t know, it’s been...34 years since Return of the Jedi? Luke is presented as weathered and much older. I wasn’t expecting the same guy I last saw. I feel like a lot of people who disliked this movie had that complaint at the heart of things, that this didn’t feel like a Star Wars movie. What does that mean though? Honestly, what does that mean? Everything is different because you have different players. I don’t want the series to regress into the original trilogy’s tropes. The Force Awakens did that already and showed the limitations of how far that mix of nostalgia and callback can work. Same with Rogue One. I think it’s true that the series hasn’t had this bold/singular of a vision for a really long time and that might be part of the reason why it feels so different. But even more so than The Force Awakens, I was so engaged and so pleased with how things were handled. The Last Jedi is massive and it’s dense and that necessarily makes it pretty messy in places. That also doesn’t preclude any genuine arguments people may have about what was mishandled or problematic. There’s shit I know I’m forgetting about, which is why I want to see it again. But I also want to see it again because I really enjoyed it. The people who see films just waiting to pull it apart and piss on the scraps can do that. But their arguments aren’t arguments, they’re tantrums with little substance to them that are treated as universal opinions. And they write off the entire thing because of it.

I think I’m writing this because I’ve seen this in other fandoms outside Star Wars and it’s making me fed up. More than I’d like. Come at something with some consideration for what you’re criticizing and an acknowledgment that you’re voicing a personal opinion rather than attacking the people you disagree with. How is that even being a fan at that point? It’s just derisive. I’m bewildered by people who want JJ Abrams to “turn this franchise around”. I don’t know that anyone wants that. Unless playing these narratives from a safe and crowd-pleasing perspective is what you’re looking for. The Last Jedi isn’t a pandering experience which I really appreciated. It’s also not an unfairly revisionist experience either. Old ideas get twisted or put to an end, new ones are built upon and given prominence. It felt new. Which is what I think people were hoping for, even if it might not have been as beholden to the original trilogy as The Force Awakens (it sounds like I’m really hating on TFA. Full disclosure, I love that movie too and after seeing The Last Jedi, I appreciate it even more for laying the foundation for the new characters we have. It was just too much of a retread in key parts which is also why it can be frustrating to watch). The Last Jedi makes me appreciate where this franchise is going. It’s more inclusive and nuanced and interesting than it ever has been.

You’re certainly not going to get any of that from a fucking Ewan McGregor solo Obi-Wan movie.

#tlj spoilers #star wars #the last jedi spoilers #personal rant

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emperorren · 7 years

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on reylo being one-sided

(and why I’m not a huge fan of this scenario)

This is something I’ve wanted to address for a while---the fairly popular idea that the “only” romance we’re going to get in canon between Rey and Kylo will be one-sided on Kylo’s part. That there’s no way Rey can ever return his feelings (or, more accurately, his obsession), and will never forgive him for what he’s done.

I’m curious as to why this became so easy to believe in our corner of the fandom (and I mean specifically reylo shippers). Is this because we want to keep our expectations low? Is it because we recognize that some of the arguments “against” this ship are valid? Is it because, despite all meta and character analysis, we ultimately see Rey’s character as incompatible with Kylo’s, or we don’t believe in the writers’ ability to make her compatible without “ruining” her? Are there any actual signs of this dynamic being necessarily, intrinsically unrequited?

The answer to the last question, in my opinion, is no. Kind of the opposite. But I’ll get to this later; meanwhile, I’ll concede that this is probably the easiest, safest scenario to speculate on. Kylo being fixated on Rey is already de facto canon, we’re not exactly making wild speculation here. From “what girl?”, to "forget the droid, we have what we need”, to the way he watches her for who the hell knows how long while she’s unconscious, to “I can be your teacher”, it’s clear that our bad boy finds Rey fascinating, and it’s not a stretch of imagination at all to assume that this fixation will only get worse from this point on---that he’ll probably try again to kidnap or lure her again to his side, now that he knows how powerful she is. Villainous crushes are a Thing, so there’s nothing particularly outrageous or unrealistic about this.

Rey, however, is much more problematic. Her developing some feelings (whatever their nature) for Kylo really seems at odds with the way her character is portrayed and with her other main relationship (Finn). She doesn’t seem to feel anything but unadulterated hatred for Kylo at the end of the movie, and she has every reason to feel this way: the guy killed her newly found parental figure, hurt her best friend, is complicit in genocides and the destruction of an entire solar system, his every action proved that Leia was wrong about him. That Rey can ever feel even the slightest sympathy, let alone attraction, for such a person does sound like a stretch. "Falling” for Kylo would either irreparably taint her likability as a protagonist (what kind of person is attracted to someone who hurt her friends?), or, as many ant*s fear, turn her into an ooc, pallid imitation of the strong willed, independent, loyal young woman we’ve seen in TFA. Rey doesn’t have any real “reasons” to fall for Kylo, and the authors can’t make it happen unless they bend her character in really unpleasant ways. That’s the assumption.

But we shippers still want to see some romance---because what we saw blossoming in Kylo is unmistakable and too juicy not to be explored by the narrative. A tragic unrequited love on Kylo’s part that ends with him embracing the fact that Rey will never return his feelings, but still sacrificing himself for her safety, and redeeming himself with this purely selfless act---that sounds like a good compromise, right? Right. It’s not bad. It’s feasible from a storytelling perspective, it leaves Rey’s agency, personality, motivations etc. intact, while giving a payoff to Kylo’s anticipated *pull to the Light* without turning the story into a cheesy, bad trope-ridden romance in which the bad guy “gets the girl” as a prize for becoming good.

Still, I'm skeptical.

I’m 100% here for angst and a conflicted, tortured Kylo Ren who doesn’t know what to make of his feelings for the enemy, but do I really want to watch him chase a recalcitrant, disgusted Rey around the galaxy for the next two movies? Hell, no. Not only I’m afraid I’d find this repetitive and quickly exhausting, but the discourse around him would only get nastier, the “stalker” reading of his character more substantiated. Honestly, I don’t want to hear any of that.

But more importantly: even if it’s done well and the stalkey vibes are kept at minimum, it would work for Kylo, for his arc. Rey, on the other hand, would remain crystallized in her rejection of everything Kylo Ren is and stands for, which reeks of character stagnation, tbh. Especially compared to the enormous development that Kylo would undergo should he start to genuinely care for Rey.

You know, if you put all the burden of character evolution---of “meeting halfway”---on Kylo Ren and none on Rey, the inevitable risk is making him much more interesting than her. (honestly, he already is, because the writers bothered to give him some complexity, some flaws that read as flaws, and not just as endearing quirks that don’t compromise the overall adorableness of the character.)

I personally don’t see Rey as already whole, and I strongly reject the idea that “she shouldn’t change anything about herself”. Not changing anything about yourself doesn’t sound like a great idea if you’re the protagonist of a trilogy that is simultaneously a hero’s journey and a rite of passage into adulthood. Rey needs an identity arc, a trajectory. She starts as a character with a rather black/white sense of morality, that the narrative doesn’t really challenge or present as even remotely problematic. That’s definitely less complex than, for example, Finn, who has a moment of “fuck, I’m getting the hell out of dodge” and then comes around, who lies repeatedly to Rey, to Poe, to Han, to the Resistance, who has this huge shadow of his former identity as a stormtrooper looming above him for 3/4 of the movie. Finn is conflicted---he doesn’t share Rey’s unflinching loyalty to bb8 (although, unlike Rey, he did meet bb8′s owner), and his primary concern is getting the FO out of his system and saving Rey. Rey otoh jumps on the good guys’ bandwagon almost immediately, the only thing holding her back (her desire to go back to Jakku to wait for her family) conveniently pushed aside to shove her into action. Amazing, but two more movies of Rey never questioning herself, her loyalties, her assumptions, never showing a single flaw, never even being tempted, sound absolutely dull to me. Luke is so memorable as a hero because he evolves throughout the movies; he’s not stagnant. He begins his journey as an idealist, naive farm boy with a very black/white mentality (the same we find in Rey), but then he’s broken, he learns something that forces him to reconsider his place in the war (in the universe) and his perspective shifts, and he sees a man to save where he used to see only an enemy.

Of course, Rey’s arc doesn’t necessarily have to be similar to Luke’s, and her evolution surely doesn’t hinge on her relationship with the main (anti)villain. But the way they’ve framed her interactions with Kylo---including the fact that their duel represents the climax of the movie---tells me that this dynamic is going to be crucial. It would be a missed opportunity if Rey’s feelings weren’t as complex and layered as the ones Luke has for Vader.

I see the word “agency” tossed around a lot when promoting the idea of Rey never *falling* for Kylo. It’s a legitimate concern. But I think there’s a difference between:

a) feeling something for a person; b) acting on those feelings; c) letting those feelings define all you are or, worse, destroy who you are d) becoming a passive object of someone else’s desire

I definitely don’t want options C & D for Rey, and I only want B with... reservations (that is, if Kylo stop being an aggressive, self entitled ass, and changes himself in turn) but I think A is crucial---not for Kylo, but for Rey’s arc and complexity as a character. Feelings don’t have to be explicitly romantic, and she might continue on her path without giving in to them (i.e., refuse to let them dictate her actions)... but that she’s never going to feel sympathy for him in her heart is nonsensical given the way they shaped them as each other’s foil.

It’s important to note that Rey’s esteem of Kylo has already hit rock bottom by the end of TFA. Henceforth, it either rises or remains static, and I think we can all agree we can’t just watch two more movies of Rey thinking of Kylo as a monster. Well, I suppose someone could, but I for one would be bored to tears. (storytelling-wise, a character screaming their hate against their enemy in such a transparent, literal way in the first act is only a good choice if it’s going to be subverted later.)

Unrequited love is also at odds with my perception of this dynamic as intrinsically mutual.

Everyone commented on the yin and yang subtext, that was possibly a source of inspiration for a lot of imagery surrounding Rey and Ren (starting from their curiously similar names). The thing about yin and yang is that they both need each other---they both strive to incorporate the other to achieve wholeness; it’s a two sided feedback. If Rey, the yang, doesn’t need, or care for, or feel temptation for Kylo, the yin, then you can throw the whole yin/yang narrative out of the window. There’s no yin/yang dynamic if the yang doesn’t need, or want, the yin.

Even at this early stage, it’s a give and take between them. Kylo invades Rey’s consciousness to grab the map, Rey turns the tables on him and “steals” power and knowledge from his mind. The duel is a power play, a battle for dominance where each of them gets to have the upper hand at some point. Everything Kylo does to Rey, Rey returns in spades, almost mirroring him. So far, their interactions have been essentially violent, but should Kylo begin to feel something akin to affection, or compassion, or attraction for Rey, it makes sense to me that this would stir something of the same nature in her, an equal but opposite reaction. Why? Because they’re linked through the Force, she “feels” him as he “feels” her. Because she learns his story, and realizes that he wasn’t born bad. Because she starts dealing with her own darkness, and this makes her see Kylo’s in a different... light, no pun intended. I think these issues are already solidly rooted in canon, and in the hands of a skilled writer (and I think the authors behind this trilogy are skilled, if maybe lacking a bit of courage), can become a perfectly realistic premise for Rey to start feeling “something” for Kylo while maintaining her complexity

tl;dr; “Rey redeems Kylo by doing absolutely nothing” is infinitely less interesting to me than “Rey and Kylo change and redefine each other through their collisions and interactions”. If I had to choose between a one sided romance on Kylo’s part and no romance at all (but rather, a mutual... friendship? ambiguous antagonism?) I’d choose the latter without blinking. I’m more interested in the mutual nature of whatever’s going on between them (even if it’s just platonic), than I am in any explicit (but one sided) depiction of romantic feelings.

#ramblings #possibly fanwank #tagging later #**#one sided reylo

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