#considering luke was a literal ghost

[clarkgriffon]

ULTIMATE SHIPS CHALLENGE - [4/5] ‘We could have had it all’ Ships ↳ “No music is worth making, Julie, if we’re not making it with you.”

#Luke x Julie #jatpedit #julie and the phantoms #julieandthephantomsedit #jatp #luke patterson #julie molina #creations #ultimate ships challenge #this is only 'we could have had it all' because it got cancelled rip jatp </3 #it was good while it lasted #im really interested in how they would've made these 2 work #considering luke was a literal ghost

[websterss]

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒 — 𝐋𝐔𝐊𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: After dying a tragic death. You deal with an afterlife of loneliness. But that soon changes when were realize that more ghosts exist and you aren’t the only one. 

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆(𝐒): Angst, fluff, mentions of dying

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 5,466

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: Luke Patterson x fem!ghost!Reader 

𝐀/𝐍: Hope you guys like it!

𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

Do you ever think about death? What happens after you die? What happens to your loved ones you’re leaving? What follows after death.

You never thought such a thing as the after life could ever exist. It never crossed your mind. Not in the years that you were alive. Feeling as though your days of high school were miserable, being the shy type and having hardly any friends. It turns out being a ghost was some of the most miserable times you’ve ever experienced. No one could see you, nor listen to your pleas of hope to be heard. Three and a half lonely decades of isolation, and even though you were surrounded by the living, you’ve never felt so alone in a crowded room before.

It was bad enough that you were bound to the school. Stuck in the same black jeans, converse, and green blouse with two ripped holes on your chest. You tried figuring out for years what it was that was keeping you here. You could only wander the school, but you couldn’t leave, you’ve tried too. Never truly succeeded. The closed front doors of the school haunting you, causing you such rage, such sadness, you wondered why only you.

Why? Why did the quiet girl in school receive such hate, such torture that in the end her last moments at school were nothing but unkind to her. You placed your hands on your head feeling the overwhelming feeling of another panic attack beginning. When this happened you’d start orbing in and out of places. Almost like a glitch in the system. The noises from that day echoing inside your head. The quickening feeling of pain in your chest was like a memory. You’d never get over your tragic death.

“One…two…three…four…five…six!” You cried out falling to your knees. You finally stopped orbing. You cried as you sat on the floor glancing around into the darkness. For someone who’s spent three and a half decades stuck in this school, the pitch black hallways still managed to scare you. A big empty void at night and an overwhelming sea of students during the day. Night time is when you truly feel the loneliest.

There was no one around.

You sat down on the floor, back against the lockers. You closed your eyes. You didn’t sleep as much as you’d like too. In fact you didn’t sleep at all. Ghost didn’t do that. You lost track of the constant hours you spent staring off into space. Your inner thoughts kept you company. You were your only friend. You sighed, wanting tomorrow to arrive quicker than sooner already. As much as you enjoyed hearing the gossip and attending pep rallies. You would occasionally get bored, but you realized you had to stop trying to move things. You now refrained from touching things, since the music room was now considered ‘haunted’.

Apparently, the keyboard suddenly playing Fur Elise by itself did not sit well with everyone…poor Mrs. Clay. You shudder at the memory of the paramedics arriving. You just wanted this night to be over.

-

The following day you had waited for the principal to arrive. Always on time like clockwork, you were convinced she enjoyed being here as much as you did. You were literally stuck here. As she walked down the hall, you walked beside her. Enjoying the company she was giving you rather than keeping her company.

Even if she couldn’t see you or hear you, her presence alone made you feel at ease. Loneliness was real. Not something you were very content about. Some people longed to be alone, being alone is all you’ve ever known. It scares you to the brink of panic attacks. That’s why they mostly occurred at night. The only time where you truly felt small in the gigantic open space of nothing. A dark void you couldn’t escape. If only, if only this, if only that, it was a continuous repetition of hopeless wishing that was never coming true- no matter how much you wished for it.

So you’d surround yourself with the students and listen in on their conversations. If you were still alive people would think you were being weird by standing so close to them, but you were dead so you could get away with it, but you did back off when something became too personal. You always respected that.

You leaned back against the blue lockers with one of your black combat boots pressed against the door. You were zoning in on one of your usual people, who you liked to hear. Them being Katy and her girlfriend setting up plans to hang out for the weekend. You found them incredible. Thirty years ago this sort of thing casually happening now would not have flown by others. Especially the jocks from your school back then. To see it be so normalized warmed your heart. Something you’d never get over.

“So I was thinking, we could go skate, or watch that new movie you’ve been dying to see.” Katy offered her suggestions. Holding Emily’s hand.

“Or…we can skate to the movies. Split the money on popcorn and snacks like we did that one time.” Emily smiled. Swinging her hand in Katy’s back and forth.

“Ooh great idea Em.” You said playing with the black chipped nail polish on your fingernails. 

“Something for the both of you!”

“Something for the both of us, I love it babe.” Katy kissed Emily’s cheek. You laughed as she said the same thing you did. Surrounding yourself with them in school let you get to know more about them. You would have loved to have met them in real life as yourself. This was as close as you’d get. They reminded you of your only two friends you actually talked to. They too had loved each other.

“Alright ladies time to go see what Frank is up to.” You said your farewells not like they could hear you either way, but you still did it every time.

You orbed out and then appeared in the library. Finding the man of the hour. Frank sat alone in the back of the library, three books stacked on the table and a fourth one opened in his hands. He was reading like normal. You walked up to his table and sat in the chair in front of him.

“Hey Frank, how’s it going dude!” Being dead for so long, you had adapted to the language and use of new words. So many new ones that were being made up, you could hardly keep up. “What are we reading today?” You interlaced your hands and placed them on the table. Too intrigued in the book Frank sat back in his chair giving you a clear view of the book cover. “Ah, to Kill A Mockingbird. Good choice!” You exclaimed. Being from the 1980′s that was always one of your favorites to read in school. You too would sit in the library and read till your eyes hurt. Frank never really did much, but you did enjoy the peace and quiet. You saw yourself in him which made him easy to be around. Frank turned the page and you could see how thoughts flooded his mind from the facial expressions he was making. You smiled, “It’s getting good huh? Wait till you get to the end dude.” You laughed. Silence followed then a beat. “Alright Frank, I’ll leave you to it okay. Enjoy your day alright.” You stood up and pushed the chair in, but not before making sure Frank and anyone else wasn’t looking.

You orbed out of the library and found yourself in the hallways again. The loud chatter of students among you filled your ears. You looked around and began going down the hallway.

-

“Right, you’re at school first, now you’re leaving to go rehearse.” Luke shrugged. Julie made a face at him.

“Come on, I can’t do this without you…”

“I can’t. I told Nick I’d be his dance partner.” 

“Hey Julie!” Julie looked over Luke’s shoulder.

“And...he’s heading this way, gotta go bye.” Julie pretended to end the call and placed her phone in her pocket again.

“Hey!” Nick smiled.

“Well, don’t you look sharp.” Luke commented.

“Are you ready for our big performance?”

“Oh yeah yeah.” Julie brushed her hair behind her ear. “We’re gonna do great!”

“I’m glad you’re confident. Even after three classes I still think I got worse. It’s a good thing I got my secret weapon.”

“Uh oh I think somebody has a crush on Julie!” Luke teased.

“Shut up…” Julie told Luke which made Nick confused so she quickly caught herself. “Um shut up!” She playfully punched Nick’s shoulder.

“No seriously Molina. I’m nothing without you.” Julie was trying so hard not to be phased by Luke’s faces.

“Shh, no no, you’re gonna do fine. See you in there?”

“Yeah I’ll be the guy trying not to make us look stupid.” Nick laughed and Luke copied his movements. Luke mocking his laugh. When Nick was far away, Luke turned around. “Well, he is just too cute!” He exclaimed jokingly.

“Boundaries. I’ll see you after school.”

“I guess we’ll just have to carry you, just like we always-” Luke’s sentence was cut off when he felt a wall. He stumbled back, finally noticing what he ran into. More like someone. This caused Julie to stop and turn around. Making sure nobody saw her looking around.

-

You were walking, listening in on the many voices going around that you forgot to notice that someone was in front of you. But you never really worried about it because you always went through them. However, today was not one of those days.

You stumbled back when you collided with the person. Almost instantly you started freaking out as to why you didn’t phase through them like you usually did.

“Oh I’m so…” You stopped to look at the guy you ran into, not through, into. “S-Sorry.” 

“S’okay.“ Luke stared at you with a loss for words. You were too.

You were freaking out on the inside. You could feel him, someone could feel you, see you. He could see you?

“I-” You stumbled over your words. What the hell did it mean if he could see you. 

“Are you okay?” He furrowed his brows. Not believing his own eyes either.

“Could you excuse me?” You cleared your throat as you brushed past him. You continued walking but not before throwing a glance over your shoulder. Once you did you saw the guy staring after you with furrowed eyebrows. You quickly turned your head back and continued down the hallway.

Julie stood off to the side watching the whole thing unfold. Awkwardly shifting as she noticed Luke’s eyes were solemnly focused on you walking away.

“Who’s that?” He glanced around Julie then back at the hallway.

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen her.” Julie shrugged. 

“She could see you?” She pointed out. 

“Yeah…she could.” Luke ran a hand over his hair.

Julie said her goodbyes to Luke and left to go do her dance performance.

Meanwhile Luke made it his mission to go search for you, but not before telling the guys.

He could feel you and you could see him other than Julie and the guys, and Willie of course, and how Alex could feel him.

That got him thinking immediately. He quickly poofed out and landed back in Julie’s studio garage.

Luke met up with the guys and started practicing on the ‘Edge of Great’, like he told Julie he would.

When he arrived and immediately got to playing his guitar and focusing on the plan for tonight’s performance, he hardly said a word after that. The guys noticed something was up but decided to refrain from saying anything to him, well until he started getting frustrated and almost threw his guitar.

“You okay Luke?” Alex asked as he stopped his cymbals. The studio grew quieter as each instrument stopped playing.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Luke kept adjusting his guitar strap. “You seem off is all. Something on your mind?”

“Is it Julie? Has she got inside your head.” Reggie asked. 

“Why would I be thinking about Julie?”

“Oh come on everyone can see the way you look at her when you sing.” Reggie smirked. “You guys ooze chemistry.”

“You should never say ooze again, but yeah I agree.” Alex nodded. 

“Okay no, I have chemistry with everybody that I sing with.”

The boys stood quiet.

“Seriously watch!” Luke put his guitar down and started proving his point. “I believe, I believe that we’re just one dream…” He started walking up to Reggie. “Away from who were meant to be…” He gripped the side of Reggie’s face and pulled him closer. “That we’re standing on the edge of…” He stared into his eyes and finished off. “Great.” He whispered.

“Wow, I see chemistry.” 

“That was pretty hot.”

Luke pressed his pointer and middle finger to his lips then placed them on Reggie’s and turned back around to grab his guitar again.

Reggie cleared his throat. “Girls am I right?”

“Yeah.” Luke smiled and looked away from the guys. 

“No.” Alex said.

Luke looked down at his shoes frowning, it didn’t go unnoticed by Alex though. “This isn’t about Julie is it?” Alex twirled his sticks in the air.

“No, it isn’t.”

“Then who is this about?”

“I ran into a girl at Julie’s school.” He paused to give the guys a second to comprehend what he just said. “Literally. I could feel her and see her, and she could see me.”

“So she’s a ghost?” Reggie questioned.

“I think so.” Luke shrugged. “It was weird though, she started freaking out when we touched.” 

“That is weird.” Alex admitted. “Did you at least get her name?”

“No.” Luke shook his head.

“Well, then go get it.” Reggie suggested. “You obviously can’t stop thinking about her. We’re good here.”

“But what about rehearsal?” Luke gestured to the instruments.

“You know the songs better than us. Go, but make sure to be back in time for the show.” Alex reassured him.

“Thanks guys.” Luke put his guitar down and poofed out. 

-

You couldn’t think clearly after you collided with that boy in the hallway. Your mind was all over the place. Too many thoughts, too many questions, to figure out how wrong you actually were about the afterlife. Did more ghosts really exist?

Were you no longer the only one anymore?

You chuckled as tears filled your eyes. There were more ghosts out there, and the one you ran into didn’t appear to be bound to the school. A combination of jealousy and happiness. Jealous because he was capable of leaving, yet happy that he didn’t have to be stuck in this place like you were.

Always on the verge of crying, you did. You weren’t ready for such a big change in your afterlife. Constantly feeling alone, now learning you weren’t the only one. How could someone ever forget years of being alone.

They couldn’t.

You couldn’t just forget that you spent the past thirty-five years talking to people who couldn’t hear you cry or scream. They could never see you hurting. That wasn’t something you were willingly ready to just erase from your memory.

You found yourself in the empty music room. Too scared to get caught again, you opted to sit in the back of the room. Your knees up to your chest, your head in between.

You hadn’t realized that someone had walked into the room because your cries were too loud for you to hear anything else.

Luke hesitated in his step once he heard you crying, never too fond of being around a girl crying, he opted to turn around, but stayed put. He wasn’t going to admit it, but it took him a long time to find you. When he got to the school he saw the back of your head but you vanished into thin air and that’s when his search began for you. Right when he’d spot you again, you were gone. It wasn’t long before he passed the music room with the door open and ended up backtracking to stand in front of the door. Now here he was. Hearing you cry, watching you hug your legs closer to you.

Luke walked closer until he was only a few feet from you this time. He crouched down to be eye level with you. Reaching a hand out to touch you, Luke thought against it, and took his hand back. The motion was too fast which caused him to crash into the chair behind him. The noise immediately startled you from your thoughts. You quickly lifted your head up scared. You leaned against the wall more to get away from the boy you saw early.

Luke winced at his lack of balance. He hadn’t meant to scare you, but he did. You were looking at him with a questioning expression, which he winced at.

“I-I can explain…” He motioned to the chair then himself, who was on the ground. 

“As to why you’re stalking me…I’d love to hear it!” You faked a smile.

“Okay, I can see you’re a bit upset…” Luke motioned to your eyes. 

“A bit?” You finally stood up.

“Okay a lot.” Luke winced as you took a step closer with a mad expression. He frowned, noticing that you had tightened your fist. “Okay, not a lot.” A beat passed. “Is it girl stuff?” He asked with furrowed brows. He then got scared when you reached for him. “Okay not girl stuff!” Luke yelped and put his hands up in defense, but he was surely not helping his case. He was intimidated by Julie when she was mad, but now he was more scared of you. You chased him around the room, and Luke kept avoiding your attempts to hurt him. He thought he was doing well until he spoke too soon and ended up tripping. You took this moment to straddle his waist and pin him down. If he wasn’t scared then, he surely was now.

“Why are you following me?” You frowned as you held his arms down, which you were surprised you could do.

“I just wanted to talk to you.” You raised a brow at him. “I swear.” Luke nodded his head. 

“Then start talking.”

“Okay okay, um today, in the hallway, when we collided.” Luke stopped then continued. “You looked scared.” You frowned, feeling your heart pick up. You looked away. “It was almost like you’ve never seen another ghost before.” That word got your attention. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

You opened your mouth to say something but closed it. You finally let go of his hands and got off him. Turning your back to him. So it was true.

“I didn’t think…” You let out a shaky breath. “I’ve been alone for so long I didn’t think more ghosts existed.” You turned back around to face him.

“What do you mean? You’ve never met another ghost?” He frowned. You shook your head no, in all seriousness.

“Sorry about that early?” You winced at the thought of pinning him down a few minutes ago. “I’m not used to being seen…” You let out a breathy laugh.

“I know the feeling.” He offered a small smile.

“I’m Y/n.” You point to yourself timidly. 

“I’m Luke.” He titled his head.

“Nice to meet you.” You smiled. You always had a hard time talking to guys, let alone cute ones. You didn’t think cute ghosts existed, until now.

Silence filled the music room. You kept taking off your chipped nail polish, while Luke rocked back on his feet with his hands in his dark jeans.

You bit your lip nervously. You’ve come to meet a bunch of people throughout your life, never minding the one sided relationship, but now it was different. Someone actually hears you. Having someone, like Luke, get to know your name, was new to you. You thought you’d never get used to it. Never having been able to tell someone your name, and now being able to. It felt like you finally existed. You were invisible again.

Luke’s thumb brushing against your cheek pulled you out of your thoughts. You hadn’t realized that you were crying again. Luke’s heart broke at the sight so he walked closer to you until he was in front of you and wiped away your tears.

“Sorry.” You grew embarrassed as you hastily wiped the remaining tears. “You probably think I’m crazy.” You halfheartedly laughed.

“We’re all a little crazy.” Luke laughed. His smile grew when he saw you smile slightly. You guys stood for a bit until Luke spoke up.

“What did you mean when you said you were alone for so long?”

“It’s a long story.” You grew flustered that he wanted to hear your story. You weren’t used to a guy caring about you. No one’s cared in a long time.

“I got time.” Luke shrugged.

“Yeah? Okay sure.” You smiled lightly. You situated yourself on the floor. Luke followed your actions. “Where do I even start?” You chuckled.

“Maybe the year you…you died. I died in 1995.” Luke smiled, offering to tell you first. 

“Straight to the point I see.” You laugh out nervously. “I died… in 1985. So ten years before you.”

“That’s a long time ago.” Luke frowned.

“Well, dying was a thing back then too ya know.” You joked. You never got to have a two-sided conversation with anyone before. It was a nice feeling.

“You seem comfortable talking about it…” Luke furrowed his brows.

“It happened so fast that I can’t really remember much about it. The pain was only there for a second.” You place a hand through one of the two holes on your shirt not realizing you had done so, a subconscious thing now. It made Luke shift in place. He really looked at you this time, taking in where two abnormally large holes were located on your shirt, a few smaller ones scattered over your shirt. He looked at the holes then at you as you continued talking. He could feel his heart sink to the bottom of his stomach. And idea of your death slowly came together in his mind. “Then it was gone, and I woke up here.” You shrugged, gesturing to the school. You looked up at him and noticed he was looking a bit paler than usual.

“You okay?” You touched his arm.

“Yeah.” He nodded, clearing his throat immediately to try and compose himself.

“So how’d you die, if you don’t mind me asking?” You playfully pushed him.

He was willing to keep that smile on your face, so he told you, even if it was embarrassing to say.

“I ate a bad hot dog from the back of a car trunk.” He shrugged.

You laughed then covered your mouth. Luke smiled at you nonetheless.

“Sorry.” You cleared your throat. “It’s not funny.” You shook your head, but Luke could tell you were trying hard to fight your smile. “That is…an awful way to go.” You halfheartedly laughed. Not as bad as yours, Luke wanted to say, but didn’t.

“Yeah, yeah it is. It sucks though. I was only two hours away from playing what could have been the biggest gig that would change my band mates and I’s lives forever.” Luke bites his lip.

“Death works in many ways doesn’t it.” You began. “You never truly know when your last day is.” You stared off.

“What was your last day like?”

“It wasn’t like yours.” You slightly chuckled then smiled sadly. “It was a normal day at school. Nothing special. I was more excited to leave than to be in class.” Luke urged you to keep going, he wanted to know why you were so excited. “It was my mom’s birthday.” You look down at your lap. Luke could feel the tears begin to form.

“My dad and I were planning to surprise her with a mini party at home. There were going to be balloons, her favorite flowers, her favorite cake.” You smiled at the thought. “It was going to be a great day, ya know!” You sniffled. “Then there was panicking…” You closed your eyes trying to forget the noises that echoed in your head. “People were running....” You opened your eyes when you felt Luke’s hand on yours. “I ended up getting pushed and I tripped from what I remember.” You shed a tear. “Then there was pain. So much pain. I tried getting up, but I couldn’t.” You breathed in deeply to gain some more air. “I didn’t get to see my mom that day.” You whimpered. Luke was now crying along with you.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you, Y/n.” Luke gripped your hand.

“What sucks is that I can’t leave. I don’t know why?” You shrugged. “I tried figuring out what it was, but I haven’t been able to.”

“You can’t leave?” Luke frowned. “What do you mean you can’t leave?”

“I’ve tried so many times.”

“What do you mean tried, Y/n?”

That’s when you stood up and extended your hand out for him to take.

“It’s easier if I show you.” Luke looked at your hand for a second then took it, standing up too. You then poofed yourself out of the music room and poofed the two of you in front of the front doors of the school. You let go of Luke’s hand and stepped closer until you were behind the frame of the doors.

“No matter how hard I try, I can’t walk through.” You glanced at him. Luke walked up to stand beside you. His hands reached forward to see if there was anything to prevent him from passing, but he was met with air. So he took a step and walked forward until he was on the other side of the doors. Whereas you were met with a wall. An invisible force prevents you from walking through. Luke grew shocked as he saw your hands hit the invisible wall.

“What the hell?” He walked closer to you.

“That’s what I said.” You joked. “It’s been years worth of trying and losing my energy. Whatever is keeping me here, isn’t letting me leave anytime soon.” You shook your head.

“Unfinished business.” Luke told you. 

“What?”

“It’s why some of us become ghosts. We didn’t get to do the one thing we had to do before we died.”

“What’s yours?” You asked curiously. 

“I’m not quite sure yet.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon.” You offered a small grin.

“Hey, we’ll figure out your unfinished business too.” You nodded, but you weren’t about to get hopeful. “You seriously can’t leave?” Luke observed the frame of the doors. 

“Nope.” You sighed as you hit the invisible wall with your hands. 

“Well I’m sure there has to be something that’ll work.”

“I don’t think so, it’d be stupid to try. It’s pointless.”

“Hey, don’t think like that.” Without thinking twice about what he was doing, Luke reached forward and grabbed your hand. You didn’t think much about it until you realized your hand was no longer being held back by the wall. You pulled your hand back, which made Luke think he did something wrong.

“Sorry about that I didn’t mean-” 

“Shh.” You quieted him.

You moved your hand forward and were met with the wall again. You furrowed your eyes until you got an idea.

“Luke, can you grab my hand again?”

“Yeah.” Luke nodded and grabbed your hand. When your skin met his, you moved your arm closer to him. The wall was no longer there. You let out a breathy laugh, then pulled your hand back. You repeated the process, and Luke finally caught on to what was happening. “That’s…”

“Yeah…” You breathed out.

You barely made a step out the doors when your hands disconnected. You poofed right behind the door again.

So I can only leave if I hold onto someone, you thought.

“I come right back when we let go…” You voiced your thoughts. Luke stepped forward again. 

“Then let’s make sure we don’t let go.”

Luke smiled then got an idea. He grabbed both of your hands and started walking backwards, pulling you along with him. You gasped when you passed the threshold of the doors and was met with concrete and the air outside. You looked up and gasped, you didn’t think you’d ever see a blue sky again. You laughed.

Luke looked in awe at you. You looked like a child in a candy store, he was the one that caused this reaction out of you. If he could, he’d kiss you right then and there, but there were boundaries he had to respect.

“Y/n?” He tried finding your gaze.

“The sky is so blue, and there’s trees!” You exclaimed as you cried. You laughed. “There’s trees Luke! Trees!” You then hugged him. Luke stood still then hugged you back. Placing his head in the crook of your neck.

“Thank you.” You mumbled.

“You’re welcome.” He held you tighter. As you hugged him you quickly remembered something. “Oh that reminds me!” You slide your hand down to his hand and gripped it. You used your other hand to fish out the red marker you kept in your right boot.

“A marker?” Luke laughed.

You didn’t reply, you only turned your head and began counting in your head. Once you stopped you knelt down and started drawing a straight line on the floor. Luke watched confused, not sure why you were drawing on the ground. Once you were done you stood back up and capped the marker and placed it back in your boot. You smiled at the thought.

“Why did you draw a line?” He asked as he rubbed his thumb on the top of your hand. 

“It’s twenty steps.” You smiled.

“Twenty steps?”

“I made it twenty steps past the doors this time.” Your smile widened. Luke was still confused by what you were talking about.

“This time?” Luke stopped himself when he looked over your shoulder, and finally noticed that by the doors were more red lines drawn, some worn out more than others, and some that looked like you had drawn over them more than once. Seeing them wasn’t what hurt him, it had been the fact that the red lines only stopped not even a centimeter from the door. He noticed that there had been one line that was an inch from the door, but that had been the only one that was the furthest. You really did try to leave for so long, and this was the only time you actually did, but you never had anyone to help you. For three decades you marked down how far you could actually get past the door, and there had never been any improvement, and today was a breaking point.

You were smiling down at your shoes. You suffered through so much and you still managed to smile. He had managed to make you smile.

He couldn’t hold back for much longer. He cupped both the sides of your face, which caused you to look up. He stared at you for a second then crashed his lips onto yours. You were shocked, almost wanting to push him off as this was your first kiss, but you stopped yourself, and melted under his touch. Your lips moved in sync with each other. This was the most human connection you’ve had in so long, it gave you butterflies.

Luke and you pulled back gasping for air. He pressed his head against yours caressing your cheeks with your thumb.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” You laughed lightly.

“Y/n, I just want you to know you don’t have to feel alone anymore.” You began tearing up again. “I’m not gonna let you feel that way again.”

“Thanks Luke.” You smiled as he continued caressing the side of your face.

“I actually have to...to leave though.” He winced at how bad that sounded.

You rolled your eyes laughing. You shook your head. “Of course you do!” You smiled. 

“I'm gonna be right back though, promise.” He laughed.

“Okay.” You nodded.

Instead of letting go of your hands like he could have, Luke walked you to the front doors. Giving you a peck on the cheek.

“I’ll see you later okay?” You nodded and let his hands go. He stood on the other side of the door then poofed out. You stared where he once stood and let a smile make its way onto your face. You turned around and glanced at the walls of the schools. For once in your life you weren’t scared to be alone. You had Luke to thank for that.

#luke patterson #luke patterson imagines #luke patterson imagine #luke patterson x reader #luke patterson x fem!reader #jatp luke patterson #jatp luke patterson imagine #my gif #writings by juls

[antianakin]

What would Sabine be like if she had fallen to the dark side and became a Sith?

This is a little bit of a weird question because I requires I pretend Sabine is actually Force sensitive and even CAPABLE of becoming a Sith which means looking more at her character in the Ahsoka show which I personally find to be wildly OUT of character.

The short answer is that the Sabine I consider to be the REAL Sabine, the BETTER Sabine, just quite simply doesn't have the ability to "become a Sith" because she isn't Force sensitive at all.

The less satisfying answer is to look at the Ahsoka show and what they did with her and say that, given all the fucking parallels they made between Sabine and Anakin that Sabine would likely end up looking a LOT like Anakin if she became a Sith. Or Kylo Ren, perhaps, constantly trying to measure up to a different Sith she's glorifying despite the fact in terms of sheer power she'll NEVER measure up and that constantly fucks with her head and shaves off little pieces of her every time she thinks about it. Oh man, there's a weird AU. The only "official Sith" I know about that's around at this point in the timeline is SNOKE, so like... an AU where Snoke ends up finding and brainwashing Sabine instead of Ben Solo and THAT'S why she's acting so fucking awful in the Ahsoka show, she's being slowly poisoned by the Dark side now that she's starting to touch the Force and is consumed by her own grief and anger, a perfect target for Snoke to take on as his apprentice. Guess I saved Ben Solo and Luke's Jedi in this AU haha. Lol get wrecked evil Sabine, Finn and Rey will EAT HER ALIVE.

But what I THINK you're asking is like... if Sabine were still in character and somehow also Force sensitive, what would happen if she were somehow pushed far enough to go evil and become a Sith. Which is hard, because I don't believe for a moment that Kanan would just ignore or not notice that Sabine was Force sensitive given how quickly he figures it out with Ezra. Which means, while you can go a little ways through Sabine's backstory without the Force sensitivity changing all that much, once Kanan gets involved, everything changes. Now Kanan HAS a student he's already trying to teach before he even MEETS Ezra, which means he's likely gone through a lot of his own journey as a teacher with Sabine instead of going through it with Ezra. Unless of course we presume Sabine refuses getting taught at all for whatever reason and then gets jealous when Ezra comes on and says yes to the training she rejected, which is what pushes her to darkness.

But I actually LIKE Sabine in Rebels, I LIKE the arc she goes on where she learns to face her fears and be merciful and patient and compassionate even towards those who have done her harm. So even if I put her in a situation where she IS Force sensitive and rejected Kanan's training and starts getting jealous of it all, I have a hard time believing it would push her enough to cause her to go full Dark side rather than a scenario where the rest of the Ghost crew realize she's struggling and work with her to help her figure out the real underlying issue so she can get better. And I dunno maybe she DOES accept Kanan's training this time and she and Ezra just end up training TOGETHER. Maybe she ultimately recognizes she doesn't truly want to be a Jedi, but she does want to know how to use these abilities so she has some extra tools in her belt when fighting the Empire. And of course then all of the parallels with Tarre Viszla and the Darksaber become even MORE stark if she's legitimately Force sensitive and gotten more literal Jedi training.

So I dunno, if I'm going to push Sabine into the dark I feel like I have to go back to prior to her meeting the Ghost crew and say that the Empire somehow figures out she's Force sensitive while at the Imperial Academy and she gets thrown to Vader and the Inquisitors while very young and she ends up one of the Inquisitors chasing down the Ghost crew or something. I can't imagine she'd end up feeling all that much different from the other Inquisitors we meet though: angry, cruel, competitive. She's not special, she's just broken.

So yeah, I feel like I can't take true canon Sabine from her days in the Ghost crew and make her go dark. We see her go up against some gnarly stuff, we see her struggle a lot with fears and doubts and pain and loss and overcome it EACH AND EVERY TIME because she does actually RESPOND to the support she gets from the other Ghost crew members and she learns to be better every time. She learns how to trust Hera and be patient, she learns how to be merciful and compassionate to her enemies with Fenn Rau, she learns how to face her fears rather than bottling them up and refusing to acknowledge them with Kanan, and she learns how to make a selfless sacrifice with Ezra. I truly don't see a Force sensitive Sabine somehow being so different that she COULDN'T still overcome those struggles with the same support. Much like with Obi-Wan and a lot of other real Jedi characters, I just don't find it realistic to see this version of Sabine going dark at all, I think it requires breaking her character too much and ignoring too much of what makes her who she is.

#star wars #sabine wren #star wars rebels #anti ahsoka show #ahsoka show critical

[piece-of-hweat]

So. About Danny Phantom and Underworld Office...

Quick break from my Little Nightmares brain for a sec, I wanna talk about stupid ghost creatures.

Recently, I rediscovered a whole ass discord thread I made a year ago, which was literally filled with Charlie in Underworld/Underworld Office stuff. What is Charlie in Underworld and Underworld Office? Well, the first novel (Underworld Office) is a visual/digital novel about a kid named Eugene who stumbles upon the ghost realm. They are also adopted into a found-ghost-office-family. Important note: Eugene's soul can exit their body while they rest. So basically, going ghost, but not really. (the second thing/sequel just follows the redemption arc of an antagonist, Charlie, from the first game)

Now. Danny Phantom. A couple of months ago, my friend introduced me to the show as well as the Phandom, and gotta say. It's pretty cool. Danny Phantom is a cartoon series about a lil silly dude named Danny Fenton. He is half ghost. Because of his half-ghost-ness, he can "go ghost". This is where he turns into a ghost and kicks ghost-ass.

Alright, let's regroup. Now that you know a bit about both fandoms, remember that note from earlier saying that Eugene can "go ghost"? Yea. See where I'm going with this?

My proposal, fellow DP and/or CIU/UWO fans, is to make a crossover AU. Why? Because I need it. I need these two idiots to bond over the fact that they both have connections to ghosts and how, in a way, they're both half-ghosts.

What is the plot/storyline? No fuckin clue All I have is:

Danny's been Danny Phantom for a while now

Eugene moves into Amity Park. Danny, honestly, can't really give two shits about that.

One day, Eugene and Danny meet, they become friends and bond over the fact that they're both dead and alive.

Danny meets the Office Ghosts and they both become allies or smth (tbf, they both fight monsters/bad ghosts)

Both Danny and the Office have a common goal (perhaps a conflict they both want to solve? Maybe)

Now, as for lil stupid notes:

Danny is creeped out by Boss and River. (Boss is cold and Danny feels like Boss would just casually murder him if he looked away for 0.001 seconds. River is just chaotic in a "high-aunt" way. The shit she does probably scares Danny in a "BRO WTF" way)

Eugene and Danny, unlike the other ghosts, are more warmer-coloured and less monotone.

Charlie will spit on Danny's grave and Danny would do the same. They'd probably hate each other's guts in a sibling way.

Luke, Oliver and Joy would probably meet Sam and Tucker. (Tucker and Oliver would honestly be besties ngl. Joy and Sam can both judge each other silently over a cup of coffee)

Alright, that's all I have to offer. Hope you'll uh, consider this possible AU. Um. Have a nice day or night. Don't turn into a half ghost. Or do, I don't know man--

#danny phantom crossover #dp crossover #danny phantom #danny fenton #charlie in underworld #underworld office #crossover au idea #eugene uwo #*simply explodes* #I am also really mentally stable if you couldn't tell from my endless amounts of AU ideas #hweat rambles

[thedeathdeelers]

thinking about the word smitten and how perfectly it suits juke — especially luke.

the way it looks like he was struck by lightning the moment he hears julie sing for the first time; he’s stood there, too stunned to speak after having witnessed what he probably considers to be the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen

like a literal strike of lightning — blinding and awe inspiring and leaving you speechless

a miracle more earth-shattering than having come back down to earth as a ghost

anyway, he was smitten from the start and i love that for him (them)

#i cant stop thinking about that smitten post and juke #jatp #juke #julie and the phantoms

[vttrvm]

i like Physically Need ezra to be around during the og trilogy timeline and after it so ezra and luke could be THE fruity jedi besties like obi-wan and quinlan once were but like forty years younger. imagine luke going to dagobah to seek jedi knowledge from master yoda himself and when he comes back and tells ezra what happened he's like THE FUCK?? i had to talk to that old bastard through the force and crack his fucking riddles but when YOU needed guidanse he was like yeah hmu i'm chillin out there my god ahsoka was right those damn skywalkers are force's favorites. i need them gossiping about obi-wan (“uncle ben? kriffing a sith lord? no way” “BRUH I'M TELLING YOU I KNOW THEY DID IT BUT I JUST CAN'T PROVE IT”). i need ezra seeing luke for the first time and IMMEDIATELY knowing he was gay even when luke himself had no idea. i also need to see luke's face when they first meet and ezra introduces himself as nothing less but jabba the hutt. i need leia and ezra to lovingly make fun of how little luke knows about the galaxy outside of tattoine and about the force and them having the longest chats about their home planets (because ezra can't be normal about lothal and leia is literally the princess and representer of alderaan). i need ezra and luke to start a new jedi order together, with ezra honoring kanan's teachings and also his example of how a jedi can have attachments and still respect the code. i need ezra to tell luke kanan's story because he was obviously curious to learn about another jedi but too awkward to ask and i need luke to tell ezra about his father, who also was a jedi (the vader era of his father was not considered important to mention). also, my wife's take: i need ezra to be ben solo's jedi master because ezra as someone who was impacted by the dark side at some point of his life would understand ben's struggle more then luke could and he could actually set healthy boundaries between them, which luke could not do - simply because he was ben's uncle. (i also just like the idea of ben being mace windu's lineage). i need ezra to make fun of luke when he can't hide his crush on din djarin properly and i need luke to make fun of ezra even more when ezra can't hide his embarrassingly huge crush on sabine wren who visits their temple sometimes (and they gossip about their mandalorians A LOT). i need ezra to celebrate the victory over the empire on endor with all the rebels (including hera and rex) and while luke is chatting with his force ghosts he is talking to kanan's ghost. i just want luke to have another jedi around that is not a force ghost and not ahsoka who can't always be there, someone to share his frustration and fears with, someone to meditate with, to run a new jedi order with, to train with, because at some point they both feel like they are the only jedi in the galaxy and they just don't have to be

#ezra bridger #luke skywalker #obi wan kenobi #obimaul #leia organa #kanan jarrus #ben solo #dinluke #sabezra #star wars rebels #star wars

[watcherintheweyr]

i think your idea that viserys named naerys after rhaenyra it's so sweet, i'm crying it rare seeing such lovely post in this fandom especially about viserys since for some reason people say he hated his mother

do you have more ideas or headcanon like that? if you do i would love to know

People only think Voserys hated his mother bc they have poor critical thinking skills. He and Aegon mourned her their whole lives. She loved them and raised them to be phenomenal princes and kings. I don't particularly like Viserys II but I can't deny he's effective.

As for other similar headcanons... hmmm....

I think Rhaenyra and Daemon would've had more kids if they'd been able- and girls would've been names Visenya, Alyssa, and Aemma.

I think Rhaenyra specifically.picked Mornong's egg for Rhaena because the lovely pink and strong black made her think of her stepdaughter.

I think that while Baela and Rhaena obviously love and miss their mother and carry many of her traits, I think that while Baela is Daemon's mini-me, Rhaena is Rhaenyras. I've had that hc since the book- and in the show, Rhaena often matches her dresses to Rhaenyras, and from what we've seen of her in s2 she's started styling her hair similarly to how Rhaenyra did at her age, and appears to be wearing Rhaenyras gold necklace from her wedding (or a very similar one!)

Rhaena had six daughters with her second husband and I firmly believe that while Baela named her daughter Laena, Rhaena defied political niceties, and named one daughter Rhaenyra. And perhaps another daughter was named a feminine version of Lucerys- to honor her first betrothed, who she clearly had a good relationship with.

I think that Luke and Rhaena would have made a fantastic Lord and Lady of the Tides- and Baela and Jace would've been among the best rulers Westeros ever had.

I also will die on the hill that if she hadn't been so deeply sabotaged and destroyed by grief and betrayal, Rhaenyra would've been a solidly good queen.

I think that Cregan, Jace, and Baela would've been the OT3 to end all OT3s and I honestly think Cregan mightve considered staying south to be Jace's hand, if things had played out differently.

I definitely think Aegon3 wanted to name his sons for the brothers he lost, but was pressured out of it due to the political unrest. And honestly, sadly, I do think Viserys would've been the one to dissuade him, and that likely would've deeply damaged their relationship

I headcanon that every time Rhaenyra had a child, Syrax laid a clutch- their bond is shown to be so deep to the point that they share paim, and Rhaenyra shows a deep love and respect for Syrax. Honestly all of team Black show their dragons a lot of love and respect- unlike team Green who sort of just use their dragons as tools of war and naught else.

I think if things hadn't ended how they did, Aegon 3 would've claimed Grey Ghost. Their personalities suit one another so well! Rhaenyra would've been so proud, and Daemon would've helped him every step of the way. (Side note, @spreta-invidia wrote the Best aegon3 fic quite literally ever, and he and Grey Ghost... 👀 anyways you should read the fic)

Idk I have a lot of Targaryen headcanons, particularly for Rhaenyra and her family bc they're my favorites of House Targaryen. If you'd like any more feel free to shoot me another ask- but I tend to kinda error 404 when questions are vague so if there's anything specific you'd like to know my headcanons about that'd be super helpful lmao

#rhaenyra targaryen #team black #pro team black #vira's headcanons #my writing #house targaryen headcanons

[raya-rhaenyra-ahsoka]

Things I love about Ahsoka Ep. 7: Dreams and Madness

Anakin making holo-recordings for Ahsoka.

All I see is Anakin making video diaries and tutorials for his little sister. We hadn’t hear him say it, but he absolutely loves her and cares a lot for her. The question now is, how the hell did she get hold of those holo-recordings? Also, we need to see all 20 of them. I also think she had probs shown it to Luke and Leia at some point.

Leia saves Hera.

Of course, Leia would save everyone’s ass from trouble. It has always been her thing. C-3PO's timing was perfect. Also, Senator Xiono can go fuck himself. Chopper ready to throw hands at a senator is icing on the cake. And if they translate what he said, the entire thing would probably be bleeped out.

Huyang is an Obi-Wan Kenobi droid version.

Huyang complaining about Ahsoka’s reckless actions is so funny to me, honestly. In a way, she's being the Anakin to Huyang, being that Voice-of-Reason Obi-Wan persona to contradict to.

Thrawn’s mini-heart attack when he finds out who Ahsoka’s master was.

Thrawn, externally: *pokerface*

Thrawn, internally: What? No. That togruta bitch was trained by Anakin fucking Skywalker?! Omfg, this changes things.

So, a little background, Thrawn had always admired Anakin Skywalker and had worked alongside him since the clone wars, then as Darth Vader during the empire era. And to put it on modern terms, Thrawn was his biggest fan. He knows how powerful Anakin was and what he was capable of doing. So knowing that Anakin taught Ahsoka is information that could either make him or break him.

Ezra’s reaction to Sabine telling her about Ahsoka taking her as her padawan.

His reaction is the most Ezra thing ever. Obviously, he didn't expected Ahsoka to take on Sabine as her padawan considering she isn't force-sensitive. And Ezra is literally all of us when when we first watched the show, btw.

Ahsoka and Sabine’s Force bond.

It’s natural for the master and padawan to have a bond through the Force, regardless if jedi or sith. But with Sabine’s lack of force-sensitivity, this was something I did not expect. But nevertheless, I’m extremely happy about it.

Ezra and Sabine’s chaotic sibling energy.

We all know Ezra and Sabine go way back. They’ve been friends for a long time, they radiate chaotic sibling energy (sorry, sabezra/ezrabine shippers), even to the point of arguing while fighting for their lives. It's good to see that some things haven't changed.

Ahsoka and Ezra’s hug.

The last time these two met each other was in the World between Worlds, after Ezra saved Ahsoka from Darth Vader. Ahsoka had promised to find him when they get of there. But then again, they were at different points in time and Ezra disappeared with Thrawn to another galaxy. That makes this hug much more heartfelt and meaningful.

Ahsoka Tano of the Disaster Lineage™

• Unpredictable

• Reckless

• Purposely coming in late just to make a dramatic grand entrance and/or exit

• Never runs out of sassy comebacks when talking to the enemy

• Annoying the crap out of the people around them

• Has the signature troublemaker smirk 😏

• Expert lightsaber duelist

• Not following the no-attachment-rule

• Having good friendship with their padawans

Yep, she checks all the boxes and just further cements herself as part of the infamous Disaster Lineage™. Not to mention that she's indirectly teaching Sabine the same stuff. I can already hear Force Ghost Anakin cheering her on.

There are a lot of loose ends to tie in the season finale. Let's hope they'll give us an epic one and an interesting plotline for season 2.

#star wars #ahsoka series #ahsoka spoilers #ahsoka episode 7 #dreams and madness #ahsoka tano #sabine wren #ezra bridger #hera syndulla #leia organa #luke skywalker #anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #huyang #c3po #chopper #shin hati #thrawn #star wars ahsoka #ahsoka

[smokeybrandreviews]

God Mode

This is the last thing i'm going to post about episode five of Ahsoka, i promise. It just kind of f*cked my whole perception of the entire franchise, all the way up. Never mind the fact that the Jedi Council was legit grooming child soldiers to send them off to the front lines of a war over f*cking tariff disputes, or the fact that Maul got absolutely bodied by a whole ass teenager, there is a fully realized Anakin Skywalker just hanging out in the World Between Worlds. I'm not talking Clone Wars Anakin who got quadriplegic'd by old man Ben, or the hulking, cyborg, menace of an attack dog for the Galactic Empire, but a full potential Anakin Skywalker. An Anakin who has mastered the Force to the point he has transcended even the ability to project as a Force Ghost. An Ankin that somehow found his way into The World Between Worlds with no maps or clues. An Anakin fully at peace with who is, who he was, and who he can be. The truest version of The Chosen One legend, given form.

The quiet feats he demonstrated during that little training session with Ahsoka, were ridiculous. This wasn't a Force Ghost because he physically fought Ahsoka with a perfectly mastered Form Five. Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker was considered one of, if not the best, Jedi Duelist in history, and even that from couldn't master Form Five. This wasn't a memory because he referenced the sh*t Luke said to him during his duel, and inevitable defeat, on the Death Star II. “I won't fight you”, Ahsoka said. “I've heard that before”, Anankin replied. This was Grand Master Anakin Skywalker and he taught Ahsoka a real lesson, forcing her evolution into Ahsoka the goddamn White. During this process, he flitted between himself and his Vader form, like it was nothing. Light and Dark at the drop of a hat but, when Vader finally clashed with Ahsoka, it was Anakin's face he wore. I'm talking full power Darth Vader, without the cybernetic handicaps. Sh*t was glorious to see. He was vicious, brutal, but controlled. The anger was there but it was focused. This was Vader perfected but used for a purpose. This Vader was truly the Sith Lord he was under that armor, but lacked the self-loathing. This Vader was more a tool used to show Ahsoka that she, too, can fall. That it was a choice. That she could overcome even the greatest evil, ever, in her mind; Her fallen master, Darth Vader. But those are just glimpses of Anakin's power. This man literally reshaped The World Between Worlds on a whim.

Anakin motherf*cking Skywalker literally warped an entire reality, just to train his Padawan one last time. He took this adult Ahsoka, and reverted her back to a teenage form. He used her memories to, not only reshape the landscape, but draw in actual people she remembered as tangible representations from that time. F*cking Rex was in the Clone Wars flashback, man, in full Clone Trooper armor. Anakin did that through sheer Force of will. Do you have any idea how f*cking powerful in the Force you have to be to do something like that? Just getting to the World Between Worlds is a feat but Anakin can shape it like clay. Not even the Father, The Daughter, and The Son could do that sh*t and Anakin was shown to be stronger than all of them when he was still just a Jedi Knight. The only other entity that i think can come close to this level of power is Abeloth from Legends and she was a f*cking problem that Grand Master Luke Skywalker barely solved. I mean, this version of Anakin Skywalker physically pulled Ahsoka into The World Between Worlds right before she crashed into that sea. That, alone, is a big ass "The f*ck?"

What does Force Entity Anakin Skywalker mean for the rest of the franchise? This thing is bound by nothing, limited by nothing. He exists at the crossroads of all time, all reality. He can shape this core existance into anything he desires and carries a wisdom that only someone who has mastered the Force fully, can even begin to understand. In canon, that's just The Father, i think. In legends, that's just Luke, if I'm not mistaken. Like, he's stronger than the f*cking Whills, man. But, as broken as Anakin has become, that presents a problem for everything which comes after this episode. The sequels, specifically.

Grand Master Anakin Skywalker is the caretaker for the Star Wars version of a Hyperbolic Time Chamber. He is some sort of extra-physical representation of true Force balance. He can physically pull anyone he wants into this Room of Spirit and Time to train them. He literally gifted Ahsoka all the knowledge he possessed, leveling up her Force abilities like they were nothing, and she was already technically stronger than Obi-Wan before that point. Even Palpatine understood that Force Potential alone, was only a part of true strength. That man spent years of his life, studying under one of the most pragmatic Sith to ever live. This version of Anakin has access to so much more of that knowledge, plus his near infinite potential with the Force. That fleeting thought, on it's own, it's just staggering. If Anakin can do that much, if he is some limitless Force God now, how does he let Poppa Paps manipulate his grandson into being just another tool? How the f*ck does Anakin Skywalker, the man who sent the entire galaxy into a murderous, imperial, dark age over the death of his wife, let his own, personal, abuser, do the exact same sh*t to his grandson? How does he not intervene with Luke during his exile? How do these narratives even work anymore now that Grand Master Anakin Skywalker, Keeper of The World Between Worlds, exists?

#Anakin Skywalker #Darth Vader #Star Wars #Star Wars: Ahsoka #Ahsoka #Lucasfilm

[padawansuggest]

AU where force ghost can and do change their ages for comic reasons. Luke has to explain to Din that, yes, his father was Darth Vader, and YES, he is the small ten year old ghost hiding in Force Ghost Ben’s robes rn, and yes, he committed atrocities, and yes, Ben just pinched his cheeks and told him he was a naughty lil brat, and yes, he trained Ahsoka, plz take him seriously he’s a man of dark power and skewed morals, no, you may not adopt him cause he said he likes your armor, Force Ghost Obi-Wan will literally fight you for him, literally he’ll probably try to possess you and beat you to death for touching his kid, he’s been mega protective over him lately. Din is considering adopting both of them. They look cuddly.

#star wars #force ghost Obi wan #force ghost anakin #din djarin

[notthestarwar]

Fic rec

Why do I hardly ever see lists of fic recs anymore?

I've decided I'm gonna be the change I want to see and make an effort to start listing fics I like on here cause I miss the days when we had to do that because Fic was like all over the Internet on custom sites and live journal and literally anywhere and you'd never find anything good just by searching

And so in no particular order here are some star wars recs:

End game Jango/ Obi Wan but focused more on Obi Wan and the journey.

Teen

Obi Wan chooses to stay in the agricorps at 12, he meets Jaster on bandomeer, Jaster offers to adopt him after antics but Obi Wan wants to stay a corpsman. However they stay friends and Obi Wan chooses to visit often. Obi Wan still ends up on Kamino. Overall its just great, Obi Wan has a unique perspective on the force thanks to his work and he uses that to try and save the clones and Mandalore. I love it!!

Obi-Wan meets Jaster Mereel and Jango Fett when he visits Bandomeer at age 12. He also joins the Agricorps. Jango still goes on to Kamino, but when Dooku is killed a few years early he finds an opportunity to save the clones from a life of senseless war.

And honestly, that's just where the story begins. Because anyone can raise an army, but you start to run into trouble around dinner time, and Mandalore's really not equipped to feed that many people.

Featuring Farmer!Obi-Wan, Working-on-himself!Jango, unimpressed clones, and a quest to save a planet.

Next up

Codywan cowboys!!!

Mature

This one is just beautiful. Cody loves his brothers so much. He is taking them on his search for work when they get caught by bandits. He's hoping to save enough money to buy them a home. It's lovely.

Or: While travelling with his brothers, Cody and his brothers run into trouble, and meet a sharp-eyed lawman. Plans go awry, a river diverges.

"He moved to push himself up, panting with the effort, pushing past the scream of his shoulder and the exhausted shaking of his good arm. But a hand pressed flat against his chest, another on the back of his head, and pushed him gently to lay back down. “You need to move slow,” the voice said, “or your stitches will open.”

Mature

Omg this is great. Boba is our main character and there is din/boba but my favourite part of this is Cody!!! This is post empire and includes academic!Cody accompanied by ghost Obi Wan so Cody/ Obi Wan for that. I love this Cody so much. He is an academic. He loves sarlaccs. It's just 💚💛💙🧡

Boba leaves Djarin to his tracking while he takes deep breaths and tries to convince himself that running screaming into the wastes is not how he is going to deal with all this. He needs to think smarter, not harder. The sarlacc is an enormous motherfucking terror dome. It cannot move far, and it cannot possibly move fast. If it moved, it has to be around here somewhere. Someone has to have felt it or seen it.

Someone has to know something about sarlaccs. Someone living. Someone dead.

(Boba sets out to hunt his white whale.)

Teen

This one has a pairing I'd never really considered before Luke/din/poe set in a modern au and I love it

Poe is a us marshall. Din and luke are living in witness protection with grogu but are overly capable of looking out for themselves. As with all spqr fics it is both beautiful and hilarious

As much as Poe is a method actor doing his best to inhabit the role of Pool Boy in the low-budget porno that is this assignment, he is also not and has never been a manwhore.

#star wars fic #star wars fic rec #codywan #dinluke #fic rec #jangobi #dinlukepoe

[gabbasposts]

]Luke Skywalker Master List[

Main Master List:

A/n: Some I’ve already written for, some I have the drafts for in my notes and google docs 💀 and a minority I plan to write once I edit, and figure out how and when I want to to post. I’m trying to de-clutter my google drive because I literally have fanfic material from ELEMENTARY school… like bro, I’m in college now 🫠

•~•Main Fics•~•

}Distracted Me on Purpose{ ~ Fem!Reader distracts Luke while he was in the middle of something, and he decides to give her attention/punish her (the scenario on how, is up to you 💀)

>Luke finding out you’re still alive and years after leaving Tatooine< ~ Fem!Reader who still holds a bit of a grudge towards Luke for the way they left things, or more so the way he left things. A self-indulgent fic to say the least ✌️🤡 Reader has a sister who wants to leave home join Luke as a Jedi. I was going to make a full fledged story but decided against it.

}I miss you…{ ~ Being older Luke’s Padwan who never got to properly tell him goodbye, but is visited by him as a force ghost when they feel like life’s getting a little too rough.

>Was it worth it?< ~ Finding out about Luke and Mara Jade growing a little too intimately close, and confronting him. (this is an angst account before it’s a smut one 😤)

}You could’ve came in to watch… I wouldn’t have minded{ ~ You and Luke are sharing a hotel room as you both finally came to visit Leia and Han for the baby shower which was being held in Embassy City, the planet they chose to live on. Needless to say, living alone with Luke again in close quarters, its only bound to have… moments, you two catch each other in 👀

•~•Featured Fics•~•

>How’d they react to you loosing both romantic and platonic feelings for them after knowing you liked them< ~ Angst 💀 I mean, why not?

>Day Dreamer< ~ A silly little rambling about being caught by Luke or Anakin while daydreaming (also very self indulgent considering I too, have a tendency to maladaptive day dream 🫠)

#gabbasdumbthoughts #luke skywalker x reader #luke skywalker #angst #star wars smut #luke skywalker smut #I plan on adding more #im just tired lol #anyways

[authoroftwwm]

AAAAAAAAAAAAA BRO I NEED IT

tl;dr is that Professor layton helped w trauma, listed is the journey through the games and future hype for PLWoS

So, I recently got into professor layton (a year ago, to be specific) and I must say, It has helped me SO FUCKIN MUCH WITH SO MUCH TRAUMA--

I have schizoeffective disorder. I have severe PTSD from years of mental and physical abuse from my parents. I have ADHD and may also be autistic, getting tested at 25 years is difficult.

When I started Professor Layton, I decided to play in release order--"I want to experience what long time fans experienced." I felt it would be more genuine. So, I downloaded an emulator (yeah i know, bad Vero) and started to play. I wrote down my reactions to each game after i beat them:

PLCB: THIS MAN GOT CHASED BY A FERRIS WHEEL!!!! THATS COOL AF! It was a really fun game, cool story with neat puzzles tHaT wErE hArD aF (i was kind of nonchalant about the games, just getting into them)

PLPB: ayo he got a box OH WAIT HE DED--i enjoyed the gameplay and watching the bad guy be the bad guy. interesting sequel, hopefully luke stays with the professor a long time lol (I jinxed it lol, also felt a bit more connected to Luke as a character and his admiration for Hershel)

(I took a long break after this one due to college lol but now i just play after my homework is done)

PLLF: I didnt write anything after this one. i just sat in silence for about a week, and I didnt eat for a few days. This was when my foster dad died, and i felt strangely as if i had healed a lot. After that week. I guess I just kinda took the time to process the loss of someone who i consider my true father. It was at this point I realized that playing the games had helped. I also didnt mentally process that luke left the professor lol until i watched someones playthrough of the last part of the game again

PLSC: BRO ITS LUKE AGAIN BUT HES YOUNGER AND HAS TRUST ISSUES WTF ITS MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE except luke didnt go through massive trauma (unless you count the ghost stuff and the witch stuff and the house stuff as trauma) yeah i like it very good

PLMM: RANDALL IS WAY TOO FUCKIN HOT FOR MY LIKING I JUST NNNNNGGGUHHUHUHUH also SIBLING BINDING WOOOOOOOOOOO

I am currently playing through Azran Legacy, and I must say it lives up to the hype. Havent reached the ending tho so im trying to not run into spoilers. also I know descole is sycamore im not dumb THEY LITERALLY LOOK ALIKE AND THE BUTLER IS THE SAME WTF if theyre not the same person im gonna spazzzzzzzz

All in all, I plan on figuring out how to a b s o r b all the content from the spin offs (in order to do this i also want to play all the phoenix wright games, wish me luck lol) and will eventually get the Katrielle game.

I have a lot to do in preparation for New World of Steam! I hope im able to do it in time, and also that its just as good as the previous games. I know Quizknock will do a good job, its just whether i will enjoy it or not.

Thank you for reading, sorry for the long post; i have no potatoes to offer but nevertheless have a good day~!

-Vero

#professor layton #new world of steam #pl nwos #hershel layton #he isnt my savior but MY GOD I GOT SO ATTATCHED TO THE SERIES #rant post #self healing #self love #healingjourney #rip dad i miss you and love you #i wish i couldve said goodbye but i know youre doing alright #nintendo #nintendo switch #ill be okay #tldr #puzzle games

[phoenixkaptain]

I can’t help but find something so fascinating about Legends’ Luke.

He grew up on Tatooine, a place I am still unconvinced has an actual school on it. He grew up somehow being optimistic on the worst planet in the known galaxy. Do you realize how bad Tatooine is? They have a Sarlacc Pit, they have two suns, they have a den of evil and corruption and villainy, and a Hutt lives there! And Luke is still an optimist!

But the way the novels especially portray Luke’s thought process is what fascinates me. Luke isn’t confident in his abilities. Luke doesn’t even fully understand his abilities. He has to figure out how to train Leia when he was barely trained himself. He has to figure out how to teach children when he doesn’t even understand what that would even entail.

He is nervous and he is depressed and he has moments where he thinks about old fights and gets more nervous. He’s also friends with Lando Calrissian, who for all intents and purposes set a trap specifically for Luke! Nobody else trusts Lando as much after that debacle, except for Luke, who apparently talks to him enough for Lando to teach him how to make hot chocolate.

Luke gave his father a second chance. His father who killed countless people and killed Luke’s friends and killed Luke’s family and Luke still believed that he could be good. So of course Luke gives Lando another chance, Luke is the King of Giving Out Second Chances.

There are parts where he just drifts. Where he’s alone and he feels lonely and he doesn’t want to do anything and the weight of everything feels like it’s crushing him. But, he still tries to convince Threepio and Leia that he’s fine. Leia can literally feel his emotions and Luke just tells her he’s fine. Luke tells everyone that he’s fine, when he really just feels lost.

Luke refers to Yoda as his Master and his friend. He considers Obi-Wan his Master and his friend, but more than that even, he loves Obi-Wan and is absolutely crushed when Force Ghost Obi-Wan tells him he’s leaving. Luke went through the most rushed and hurried Jedi training in the history of ever, but he still tries to remember what Yoda and Obi-Wan did. More, he tries to understand why they taught him the way they did. Were they pressed for time or was Luke really just that quick of a learner? Luke has no idea.

But, I think of Luke losing time, a lot. Where he’ll be doing something and he’ll blank out the whole memory. And yes, this is mostly referred to when Luke uses the Force, and I like to think it’s the Force letting Luke sit in the backseat while it drives for a few seconds or minutes. The point isn’t that though. The point is that he loses time and he doesn’t remember things and he doesn’t know how he can use the Force, he doesn’t understand why he can use the Force, and he can’t explain it to anyone, because Luke doesn’t really consciously use the Force that much.

I think we’re meant to assume that Luke is sort of always using the Force. I say this because from the very start back in 1976, we know that Luke would drive full tilt at canyon walls to pull away at the last second. We know that he had a somehow impeccable aim with a blaster. We know that he dodges attacks without even really comprehending why he’s moving. Luke is sort of always using the Force, especially as the movies go on to the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. I don’t think Luke knows how not to use the Force, really.

We know that Jedi can hide themselves, even that early on, because Obi-Wan managed to hide his presence from Darth Vader while they were on the Death Star (for a while, at least, and even then, it’s implied that Obi-Wan slipped up for one second. Vader just noticed that slip up because he’s so familiar with Obi-Wan). But hiding himself from Vader is never really an option that Luke considers. He doesn’t know how to hide himself, he doesn’t know how to be anything other than a flashing beacon. Luke uses the Force so casually in Return of the Jedi, and maybe it’s strange, but I really think he can use it so easily because he’s always using it.

Luke dissociates and Luke zones out and Luke thinks about things that have nothing to do with his current dilemma and Luke’s aunt and uncle both died and Obi-Wan (who in the novel is described by Luke as practically being the desert. Luke associates him with Tatooine, because Ben has always been there, and therefore, on some level, Luke associates him with his home) dies and Luke has to shove all of that emotion down to do more action sequences. Luke believes in his father even when Vader is watching him be electrocuted and Luke tried so hard to save Vader by getting him off the ship and Luke burned Anakin in a pyre then went and smiled at Leia to tell her that he was fine.

Luke is a self-sacrificing character on a fundamental level. He does stupid stuff and he doesn’t really expect to live through it. We know this because he’s so excited to live through it. His assumptions were proven wrong, he’s still alive, and he didn’t see that coming.

Luke is also unlike every other Jedi we ever end up seeing. He has attachment because I honestly think that splitting up Force twins would be the equivalent of splitting an atom, so… Luke tries to speak around things, but he always ends up explaining in layman’s terms in the end. His plans are very clear cut, it’s obvious that Leia is the one who comes up with plans because Luke isn’t good at coming up with plans. (All of Luke’s plans are: jump in and hope for the best. Luke should not be allowed to plan anything, I’m hesitant to even let him try and plan lessons, honestly-)

Luke is kind of similar to mavericks like Qui-Gon, but Luke, for the most part, tries to stay in the lines? I cannot stress enough how law-abiding Luke somehow is, despite growing up on fucking Tatooine. Maybe a part of that is that Luke doesn’t have a Council to answer to, but I don’t know. While his actions feel kind of like Qui-Gon, Luke isn’t because Qui-Gon was obsessive and Luke just isn’t. Luke isn’t like Obi-Wan either, because Obi-Wan is one of the most pessimistic optimists in the whole series, and Luke is just an optimist. Anakin is based, later on especially, more on Luke, but Anakin honestly acts more like Leia.

Leia is the one who had a whirlwind romance with an older person, just like her father. Leia is the one who is a War General. Leia is the one who gets angry and irate and hides it beneath a very thin veneer. Leia is the one who talks back to people who want to see her dead. Leia is the one who was still casually chilling in her cell on the Death Star, after being tortured and before her scheduled execution. Leia is the character who chases after escaping figures without really stopping to think. Leia is like Anakin, and I can’t help but think that Anakin’s writing is purposefully based more off of Leia than Luke.

Luke isn’t like the Jedi Council, who answer to a Senate. The New Republic wants him to answer to him, but Luke up and ditches them to go to Dagobah multiple times. In fact, Luke never checks with the New Republic before going somewhere. He might check with Leia, but even then… Luke straight up is like “I’m going to Dagobah. Does anyone know? Of course not. That would be silly.”

Luke is so chaotic, honestly, when portrayed with the New Republic, because they ask him to do or not to do things and he does not listen.

They tell Leia “There’s no time for you to train as a Jedi.”

Luke says: “Dang, I better learn how to becoem a teacher quicker so I can teach you despite the leaders saying no.”

They say: “Luke, the Rebels are going to this rendezvous point, meet us there.”

Luke: “I’ll meet you there in a few months, give or take.”

They say: “Luke, you need to fly in formation.”

Luke: “I am going in, guns blazing, with only fifteen monutes experience driving a ship in outer space, and I am going to go for kills with no back up, and I’m going to encourage my friends to get out of bad situations while I get myself into worse ones, and I’m going to turn off my targetting computer and blow up the Death Star.”

And what can the New Republic even do?? Luke doesn’t have a position, outside of the nebulous “Jedi Master” and Luke doesn’t even have a Jedi Council, so they can’t complain to the Council, like they did in the good ol days and if they treat Luke too poorly or don’t listen to him enough or bother him in any way, Leia Organa Solo will descend upon them with the wrath of ten thousand men. And, to make matters worse, Luke doesn’t let this power go to his head, so they can barely even complain to each other!

The New Republic has literally zero control over Luke and Luke’s actions. They can suggest things and he might do them, but Luke has the power to do whatever he wants whenever he wants. They are lucky he’s loyal, or he would probably dip out mid-mission.

This fact alone makes Luke the strangest Jedi. Luke answers to no one. The Jedi had a Council for thousands of years, but Luke doesn’t. Jedi Masters perform some feat of strength and overcome great trials to reach their station. Luke wasn’t even the one to actually kill the Emperor.

If I were to liken Luke to anyone, maybe it would be Yaddle. Especially with Tales of the Jedi’s depiction of her basically making her a direct mirror to Luke. Yaddle is young, for her species. Yaddle became a Master (I cannot stress enough that this may not be canon anymore, but it was at one point and good God I want it to be so bad) by meditating in a prison for a hundred years. Yaddle is willing to find a way to forgive Dooku for all of his innumerous crimes and she wants to be there for him because she knows Dooku had a strong attachment to his Padawan. Luke is what I imagine Yaddle would act like without the Council. Or maybe, Yaddle is what I imagine Luke would act like with the Council.

But really, there’s no Jedi that acts the way Luke does. Even when they tried to make Rey into a Luke-type, it just didn’t turn out that way. Luke is self-sacrificing, yes. Luke is reckless, he is dumb, he zones out, and he gets attached. But, Luke wants to help people. And Luke has an undying loyalty. And Luke responds to problems in the same way Anakin did, minus all the wrecked ships.

He’s such a unique character, especially in Legends’, and I think what strikes me is that they clearly wanted Luke to be a small version of his father, in the beginning.

But, somehow, Leia still has more in common with Vader than Luke does. Leia and Vader both are the faces of their respective organizations, despite not technically leading. Leia and Vader are both feared when they’re angry. Leia and Vader are both unimpressed and unintimidated by Tarkin. Leia and Vader have parallels and they act as opposites, the obvious being Leia in white and Vader in black. But, there’s also Vader’s complete faith in the Force, and Leia’s line that force just leads to downfall. Even their heights, with Vader being so tall and Leia being so short. They are clearly narrative foils, but in the way that they are similar depsite their differences. They’re both leaders. They even both act arrogant with fake accent. I cannot stress enough that Leia and Vader are so clearly two sides of the same coin, especially in A New Hope. Even down to them both getting excited when they realize Obi-Wan is aboard (albeit for different reasons…)

Luke just doesn’t have that with Vader. I feel like we as a culture are so aware of the twist in the second movie, that we just know it’s coming and so don’t think about Luke’s similarities. The only similarities they really share are that Luke looks like his dad and Luke pilots like his dad. Oh, and Luke has the Force like his dad. They’re both from Tatooine. I suppose you could call Luke’s unwavering faith in Vader’s goodness a reference to Vader’s unwavering faith in the Force. Luke does wear dark colours too. But those are things that come later!

In the first movie, the similarities are just looks, Tatooine, piloting. Luke is inherently innocent in the first movie in a way Vader or Anakin are never portrayed. It’s hinted in the novel and deleted scenes that the Lars family is poor, but just looking at the first movie and novel for reference, there’s no evidence really there to support the idea that Anakin grew up poor. Anakin went off to train with Jedi and fight in a war. Luke also runs off to train with Jedi and fight in a war, but even their motivations are different. Luke only leaves when there’s nothing left for him on Tatooine. Anakin probably could have returned at any point and Owen and Beru would’ve just shrugged and let him stay.

I just, I know Luke is supposed to be a mini version of his father, but it doesn’t feel like Vader was supposed to be that father, in A New Hope.

But, I’ve gotten sidetracked. Luke is a strange character. He dissociates. He cut off Vader’s hand and went “Yeah. I feel like we’re even now. I’m content.” He wonders how he can teach Leia and then dissociates for twenty minutes while using the training bot. He made Leia a lightsaber. He barely ever listens to any authority figure, but he almost always listens to Leia. He can understand binary and is fond of Artoo and Threepio. His best friend was the Force Ghost version of Obi-Wan. He considers Yoda his friend. He strangled a Gamorrean guard to death. He has a friendship with Lando Calrissian that is apparently very strong, but you almost never see them even stand next to each other. He and Leia are so ridiculously intuned to each other that they respond to each other’s thoughts and they can tell if each other is alive even when Leia’s on planet and Luke’s on the second Death Star. Luke probably would have had a similar bond with Vader, but he tried to keep it closed off. Leia gets pregnant with Force-sensitive twins and Luke’s first thought is “How am I going to train these children when I don’t know how to teach???”

Luke is so weird. He’s so strange. He’s absolutely adorable. He’s unlike any other Jedi in the series, and he found the stew Yoda made to be quite tasty, actually.

(Also, speaking of Yoda. Luke shimmied around Yoda’s little house, careful not to break anything, and he ate some stew and he had a talk and then he goes “Wait a minute, why am I sitting here with you? I was looking for Master Yoda >:/“ He got distracted, he got sidetracked, I occasionally jokingly say that Anakin has ADHD but actually it isn’t a joke and Luke definitely isn’t neurotypical either, Luke was just having a gay old time with the weird green man who introduced himself by stealing Luke’s stuff.)

#luke skywalker #leia organa #darth vader #anakin skywalker #character analysis #but more like #character rambles #star wars #star wars the original trilogy #star wars novels #star wars tales of the jedi #i do find it very strange #that yaddle is a mirror to luke #padme is also a mirror to luke #all of these women are mirrors to luke #it’s weird right? #luke’s mirror narratively is almost always a woman #with the exception of din #because din oddly also mirrors luke #the inane ramblings of a madman #very long post #long post #i am so tired #please brain #let me rest

[strangesmallbard]

What do you mean by "bad adaptation?" I would say that haunting of hill house is maybe an inaccurate? adaptation, or like maybe subversive adaptation is better, but it's still a good adaptation. Ig I'm curious if by bad adaptation you mean it doesn't match the source material in terms of story or in terms of narrative meaning or both?

while i enjoy flanagan's hill house and think it carries enough of the core themes to have a passing connection with the source material, i ultimately believe it works much better as an original story rather than as an adaptation. "bad adaptation" is definitely an oversimplification for the sake of a meme lmao - unsuccessful is a little closer to what i mean, which i'll explain in more detail below.

first, i want to clarify that analysis of book-to-screen adaptation that only considers 1:1 story accuracy (called "fidelity" by adaptation theorists) when judging the final product's merit is often super myopic. many adapters seek to faithfully recreate the story in a new medium using their own artistic skills, but other adapters like our boy mike flanagan employ more artistic freedom.

to adapt hill house, he changed the basic plot/character elements and explored the nuclear family in more definitive terms than the novel. he also set the story in contemporary times, allowing him to modernize the story. this form of adaptation is totally legitimate and can work amazingly, but i believe it requires a certain recognizability to be truly successful.

here is where i believe flanagan went a few steps too far. his hill house is a good story, but it's a fundamentally different story from jackson's hill house. (this is a whole book ahead, i'm so sorry.)

the characters

again, it's completely okay for adaptations to change up the characters + their dynamics. some works combine characters or remove them altogether if they feel their presence isn't necessary for the version of the story they're trying to tell. but the hill houses have an almost entirely different set of characters, with entirely different dynamics.

in the books, a scientist interested in paranormal phenomena contacts individuals with recorded experiences to explore hill house alongside him and the owner's son, luke sanderson. these individuals are eleanor "nell" vance and theodora, who doesn't have a last name. other characters include the caretaker, mrs. dudley, mrs. montague—the scientist's ouiji board-obsessed wife—and arthur, who works for mrs. montague. the characters bond as they discuss the house's history, their own backgrounds, and the origins of supernatural phenomena. meanwhile, hill house slowly ingratiates itself in nell, who's mourning the loss of her mother.

meanwhile, the tv show centers around the crane family, who move into hill house to renovate and eventually flip the property. the show chronicles their tragic interactions with the house—which resulted in the death of olivia crain, the family's matriarch—alongside the house's robust, terrible history. it also chronicles the crain family in current day after the youngest sibling, nell vance nee' crain completes suicide in the house. throughout the season, we see the crain family learn to deal with their tragic past, their ghosts, and the stories they tell each other to cope.

the tv show's story works really well for its medium, but it's a different story. while some core themes stay the same, they're approached from very different angles.

the house

until the very last episode, i would have argued that the house is the most successful aspect of flanagan's adaptation. it's big, scary, and wrong-looking. you don't want to walk into this house. the angles are quite literally wrong. the addition of actual apparitions complement book!hill house's tendency to entrap its victims and haunt them until they eventually join its history.

olivia crain assumes the role of book!nell in the flashbacks; the idea of a proper home/family drives their internal arcs in both books, with some key differences. nell receives the letter from dr. montague about hill house after losing her mother, whom she took care of her entire adult life. nell and her mother eventually resented each other, and this resulted in mach 10 complicated grief for nell, who suddenly has no place and no one to call her own, to call home. she arrives at hill house ostensibly to search for this place and her fears of eternal loneliness drive her spiral.

in flanagan's hill house, olivia crain's fears over her children drives her spiral. the house ostensibly sends her a premonition of nell's death, leading her to believe the house (and the world outside) will kill her children. in desperation, she tries to kill nell and luke. while these internal arcs are demonstrably different, there is also a through line that allows book readers to recognize olivia as the "nell" figure. this was quite good and fun, aside from my issues with olivia crain's character and how flanagan uses the theme of motherhood. that's for another essay.

HOWEVERRR the last episode happened. the crain kids reunite with their sister, leave their dad in the house, and even see the dudleys reunited with their murdered daughter. afterward, the crain kids live happily. flanagan gave hill house a redemption arc, dismantling the fear from the previous episodes in one ten minute montage. at the end of the book, nell dies and the book ends by repeating the opening line. hill house has stood for a hundred years, and will stand for a hundred more.

a thousand essays could be written on this line alone. does this refer to the perceived permanence of the nuclear family? will humans always destroy themselves if they can't confront the immovable haunted house in their own lives? and so on. you can't unhaunt hill house without writing a fundamentally different haunted house.

theo and nell

in jackson's hill house, the relationship between theo and nell are arguably the heart of the story. the majority of nell's interactions are with theo, including the main "haunting" of the book - when the ghost rattles the walls and door of nell's room. we watch nell become equal parts entranced with theo and resentful of her perceived freedom. she's drawn to theo's vivaciousness and regrets that she's so meek in comparison. she later dreams of living with theo, who gently shuts her down, sending nell further into the spiral that eventually leads to her death. theo is also the last person nell touches when she tries to leave hill house. while i read their interactions as super mega gay, there are many alternative readings. either way, nell and theo are inextricably linked in the book.

in flanagan's hill house, theo and nell are siblings. this automatically changes the relationship and, obviously, removes any possibility of romantic feelings. the most salient parallel is how nell tries to reach out to theo for help; her rejection pushes nell further towards her deadly return to hill house. (not that it was actually her fault, but theo felt like it was her fault.) otherwise, flanagan nell's greatest connection is to her twin brother and her mother, olivia crain. the latter is ostensibly the most like book!theo, but show!nell has very few memories of her mother, and what she does remember, she cherishes rather than interrogates.

theo continued

theo herself is a very, very different character. she's closed off emotionally and her sarcasm is biting, rather than charming, like jackon's theo. book!theo also has a roommate heavily implied to be her girlfriend, which has been the subject of many literary journal articles over the years. while i think it's genuinely great that flanagan's theo is openly gay, she's just. an entirely different lady. this choice is ostensibly subversive, but i think her overall lack of connection to the original character diminishes this quality. (in a more faithful adaptation, i'd love to see a depiction of theo's internal life; it could be a realy interesting juxtaposition to nell's pov, which dominates the original book's narrative.)

nell continued

we are veering a little bit into My Personal Reading of the Text, but i think it holds some merit for this conversation. in jackson's hill house, nell reads as gay and closeted. she feels fundamentally displaced in then-modern society. she's in her thirties and unmarried, and she also isn't a working professional. her sister tolerates her, but nell perceives herself as an unwanted presence. i believe she's partly attracted to theo because she wants aspects of her life - the little house theo describes, her confidence. when book!luke (who's very much not her twin brother) flirts with nell, she recognizes how much she hates the interaction. she doesn't want to flirt with men. this realization makes her a little giddy. the tragedy in hill house is that nell reached out a hand for help, for home, and only the house answered. everyone else lets her drive away.

making nell unequivocally straight in the tv show just. eschews this entire aspect of the book for me. show!nell has a husband and a loving family. she definitely has ptsd from her experiences at hill house (and the vision of her own corpse looming over her head) and grieves her mother, but those societal factors are gone. i can't entirely claim this is an adaptational failure, but it's definitely the biggest missed opportunity of the show.

tl;dr

both jackson's and flanagan's hill houses did what they set out to do. those things are just irreconcilably different. i enjoyed the show and its versions of the characters have stayed with me. but it's not a "successful" adaptation of the book's story, themes, and narrative as i understand them.

#the haunting of hill house #jomarchofficial #ask #this got much longer than i anticipated LMAO. i'm passionate about critiquing mike flanagan

[the-invisible-queer]

Let’s Talk About When Matt and Luke are Saved in Ghost (15.05):

This scene is 1 minute and 10 seconds. I am writing this to applaud Daniel Henney and Adam Rodriguez’s acting. I will include the clip at the end of this post.

Here’s a cut so it doesn’t kill your dash. You’re welcome.

It starts off with Dave shooting Carson who was about to shoot Matt. However, you don’t see the relief on Matt’s face like you’d expect. The man has been fighting for his life so I can imagine based on his shell-shocked reaction maybe he thought there was someone else that could have hurt him and Luke. He almost has a look of disbelief when he sees Carson fall. Probably because he doesn’t have time to process anything that’s happening.

I would like to point out that the first person he looks at when Carson falls is Luke. He doesn’t look where the shot came from, he looks at Luke.

Even after seeing Dave and Emily, Matt doesn’t seem relieved. He’s still very much in his fight or flight (in this case fight) response. His adrenaline is pumping and he just seems genuinely out of it. He lowers the gun, but not his guard. You can even see when Dave checks on him, he gives Dave a blank stare. Matt looks right through him. He hasn’t processed anything that has happened yet.

I would just like to say Dave checking to see how he’s doing after the hell he’d just been through is so good. Especially since Dave previously said that he considers Matt and Luke like his sons. And we’ve seen Matt and Dave get closer in the previous episode, Saturday (15.04).

When Matt looks at the scene, almost in disbelief that all that just happened. Whether he’s in disbelief that he did all that, or that he survived is unclear, but he’s going through it. He literally just strangled a guy moments ago.

Then we see Luke. He has a similar shell-shocked expression. Like what they just went through was not a walk in the park. They fought for their lives quite literally. He looks around the the carnage only for Dave to grab his face to look at him and check if he’s okay.

Once again Papa David Rosi making sure his boys are doing alright.

Then Matt and Luke hug. Everything about their hug breaks my heart. These two guys who are like brothers just trauma bonded by going through a life and death experience that no one should ever have to go through, especially not them. This is when they both fully lower their guard because they know they’ve been saved and everything is going to be alright.

The way Luke shrinks into the hug. He looks so small. And not just because Matt is taller. On the other side, the way that Matt holds Luke’s neck I don’t need to do an analysis on the hug. It is giving protector and protected, though.

#Criminal Minds #Matt Simmons #Matthew Simmons #Luke Alvez #David Rossi #Daniel Henney #Adam Rodriguez