#it occurred to me this evening that Finn is the only one who has seen Kylo Ren maskless

[runnning-outof-time]

Congratulations K 🎊

So for the 3 word sentence

“Are you jealous?”

With any Shelby brother of your choice

Thanks so much for sending this in, Juli!! I chose to write it for Arthur because I actually got this prompt for both John and Tommy also - it’s going to be fun to try and think up different scenarios for them…so if you didn’t like the direction I went here, there are the other two brothers coming! Enjoy! :)

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

Part of my 3.5k Celebration — find more stories here!

What A Chain of Events

Arthur Shelby x Reader

Warnings: language, drinking

Word Count: 985

Summary: Dancing at the Garrison turns into arguing at the Garrison, which then turns into…feelings being confessed?

(Y/N) didn’t know the name of the man that was currently spinning her around the floor of the Garrison, but she wasn’t letting that stop her from having the time of her life.

She loved when the energy would be high like this; when the patrons of the establishment would drink and dance and be merry. Events like this seemed to be occurring more frequently ever since Tommy assumed his duties in Parliament…not that she was complaining.

As she was being spun around on the floor, Arthur was sitting in the corner booth, sulking. Finn was sitting by him, but the brothers were paying no attention to each other. Instead, Arthur had his eyes fixed on the dancers, one in particular.

(Y/N), a longtime friend of the Shelby family, was smiling and holding on tight to the man who had swooped her away from the table she was at and, for some reason, Arthur hated it.

Deciding he had had too much, he grabbed the bottle of booze from the table, forgoing the cup and bringing it right to his lips to take a large drink. His eyes rolled to the ceiling as he tried to look anywhere but at the dancers.

But his eyes just couldn’t stray away for too long. They returned at the worst time possible. Just as the song was finishing, (Y/N) pulled the man she’d been dancing with into a hug.

Now he really had had enough. After one more swig of alcohol, he got out of the booth and made a b-line for the snug. A huffed breath left his lips once he was behind the closed door.

(Y/N) sent one last smile to the man she’d been dancing with before they parted ways. Immediately she searched for Arthur. His usual spot was now empty, which confused (Y/N) because he’d been sitting there only a few moments ago. He wasn’t behind the bar either, which meant that there was only one other, plausible place remaining: the snug.

That’s exactly where she found him; sitting with a scowl on his face as he stared at the table. The energy he was throwing off made her brows furrow. “Arthur?” she said his name hesitantly. “Has something happened?”

“No,” his answer was abrupt as he shook his head.

“Why’re you in here then?” she asked another question.

“Does it matter?” he countered with a question of his own, his one eyebrow raised as he shifted his gaze to her.

“Yes, it does,” she answered with an exaggerated nod, her eyes widening. “I was looking for you.”

“Oh?” Arthur sounded surprised, “I thought you’d be too busy with your dancing partner.”

(Y/N)’s brows furrowed at his statement. “What do you mean my dancing partner?”

“The man who’s been spinning you around the bloody floor all evening,” he clarified.

“It was only for two songs, Arthur,” she corrected him.

“Two songs too many,” he mumbled, but she heard him.

His words made her drop her hands to her hips as she got to work on putting the pieces together. She’d never really seen him act like this, and the chain of events that just occurred was really stumping her. Until a lightbulb went off. “Are you jealous?” she just had to ask.

“What?” his question came out as a snort, and he hoped that his facial expression didn’t betray him. “Why would I be jealous, huh?”

(Y/N) bit on her cheek to conceal her smile. “Well I asked because I thought that maybe you were upset by that man getting me to dance with him,” she explained her reasoning.

“I was upset by it,” he answered in a matter of fact tone.

“So you were jealous of him…?” she trailed off, her eyebrow raising.

“Jealous? No. I just know that you can find far better men to dance with, (Y/N),” he defended his thought process.

“Like you?” she suggested.

“Like me,” he affirmed without second thought.

The smile spread across (Y/N)’s lips at his response. Silence hung in the air for a few moments as she let him keep the upperhand for just a bit longer. “You’re jealous, Arthur,” she then delivered the blow.

“Fuck, alright, so what if I’m jealous, huh?” he conceded dramatically, throwing his hands up in the air. “I couldn’t take watching him spinnin’ you around any longer and that’s why I came in here. Seein’ you with that man bothered me, (Y/N). It bothered me because it was him out there with you and not me.”

(Y/N) kept her eyes on him as she let his words seep into her mind. The fact that he felt that way about her made the butterflies in her stomach flutter uncontrollably. She bit her lip to stop the wide grin from forming on her face, hoping not to fully give her thoughts away.

Arthur’s heart hammered in his chest as he tried to gauge (Y/N)’s reaction. He’d been harboring those feelings towards her for too long now. It felt good to let them out, but at the same time he was worried that they’d be unrequited. He knew that the ball was in her court now though…he just had to wait for a response.

To his luck, it came sooner rather than later. “Why don’t you ask me to dance then?” she asked him, effectively returning the ball to his court.

He wasn’t going to miss his shot this time. He stood from the booth and made his way over to her, stopping in front of her before he asked his question: “will you dance with me, (Y/N)?” He accentuated his question by holding his hand out to her.

(Y/N) let the smile form full on his face this time, and she wasted no time in placing her hand in his. “Yes.”

Tagged: @the-anxious-youth @mystcldydrms @look-at-the-soul @mrsalwayswrite @julkaamazing @evita-shelby @lilyrachelcassidy @shelbydelrey @theshelbyslimited @peakyswritings @watercolorskyy @strayrockette @peakyduchesss @alexxavicry @stevie75 @dark-academia-slut @zablife @cillmequick @letal-y-poetica @depxiety @shelundeadxxxx @areyenotfondofmelobster @padfootdaredmetoo @crabat-the-queen @sebastianstangirl01 @everythingelseisextra @kmc1989 @papichulo120627 @brummiereader @adaydreamaway08 @kissforvoid @raincoffeeandfandoms @peakyltd @johannelis2302nely @just-a-blackhole @anotherblinder @christinasyellowflowers @insanitybyanothername @daisyblinder @wotcherpeak @call-sign-shark

MASTERLIST

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[bylertruther]

Im like slash gen confused on the gnc debate like what sparked this. Will is canonically the most visibly gay out of everyone in the show according TO the show, so why are people so against it? Like I get headcannoning mike as gnc but that doesn’t take away or mean that Will isn’t bc he canonically is. I’m Actually confused

I wish I knew lmao. People think that calling him that or acknowledging the misogyny involved in being assumed to be gay due to a perceived lack of masculinity is somehow homophobic and enforcing stereotypes. As if refusing to acknowledge a very real phenomenon that still occurs now and thus insinuating that "those" kinds of gay people are invalid is somehow morally correct lmao.

Will is the ONLY character who is called all of the many slurs he faces and he's the only character we've seen be targeted for his sexuality. Will has never done anything with boys—he doesn't get called a fairy because of that, he gets called a fairy because of the way he acts and how he exists outside of what Hawkins deems to be acceptable masculinity.

We know that he's a sensitive kid who isn't like anyone else and who gets made fun of. They call him names and they make fun of his clothes among other things. The words used to describe him—gentle, soft spoken, sensitive, artistic—were all euphemisms for gay (and still are in some places, since the internet does not reflect real life and we do not live in a homophobia-rid utopia). Like, this is part of his character design. Those are the words of the Duffers themselves. He's the only character that experiences any of that. If you want to consider actor opinion, too, Noah has spoken for years about how Will feels like he doesn't fit in anywhere, that he's sensitive, scared of everything, he's the one that takes care of his friends emotionally, and so on and so forth.

I don't know why it's such a big issue or why it's something so many people are, like... unwilling to even consider. Men get called gay whenever they're deemed "not masculine enough." Nonconforming behavior is a part of Will's homosexuality and that nonconforming behavior is what clued the people of Hawkins in to who he is. They could've just called him a twerp, or called him a nerd the way they do Mike, but they don't. Instead, they call him gay and a fairy and his father calls him the f slur and he has people ranging from his peers to adults talking about his sexuality. Like, not even Robin gets that treatment lol. Will is literally the only one, and they went out of their way to show us that first thing.

Will isn't a stereotype. Not being super masculine does not equal being super feminine. Gender nonconformity is not about just what you look like, and it's based on your society's values as a whole, not your personal leftist values. Feminine gay men exist and have done so much for our community, and seeing people inadvertently hate on them online makes me wanna throw bricks. Headcanons are not canon, and discussing canon is not a diss to anyone's headcanons because those are two different discussions.

This was one of those things that I naively thought everyone knew only to post about it online and receive so much hate about it. People get really defensive when you talk about how Mike is canonically written. The same thing would happen whenever I'd post in support of Mike with a sword. People really act like you're disrespecting them personally and get super petty and spiteful, and I don't get it. Have your headcanon if you want, but don't get upset that it's just that: a headcanon.

The Duffers nor Finn speak about Mike the way they do, and the behavior Mike has exhibited on screen does not support the wimpy, meek, known by everyone to be gay caricature that they cling to and suggest is actually canon. If it was JUST a headcanon to them, then they wouldn't get so upset about it, but they do. They don't like the way Mike's sexuality has been depicted thus far, and now it's everyone else's problem, too.

There's more than one way to be gay, and those experiences help shape who we are. Will has never fit in and instead has always stuck out. The fact that he's never been allowed inside, so to speak, is why he tries his best to embrace/explore his otherness and clings to people who can make him feel better for being different. Mike has always been Wrong—deemed a nerd, then a hellion, then a satanist—but he's able to blend in well enough to not be found out. He gets mocked and bullied, but at least he can pass as straight and be targeted for that instead of his sexuality. He still has a shot at conforming and playing by the rules, even if it isn't fulfilling or something that comes naturally to him. This is in part why he became so attached to Eleven and why he struggles to accept that he can still be worthy without her.

I just... I don't know, man. I'm confused, too, lol.

#asks

[canyouhearthelight]

The Miys, Ch. 192

Queue lives forever!!

This is the second half of the previous chapter, and the intensity only picks up from the end of Ch. 191. It never would have happened if @baelpenrose hadn’t asked me to explain why someone was acting oddly, so all credit goes to him. All in all, I definitely think it made the entire story better.

It took less than a jiffy for my mind to account for what Eino’s replacement - a former warlord - would do in the next four months, four years, forty years. Aggressive but intelligent defense. Cultivating resources. Little to no mercy for those who forsook our survival.

The temptation to sustain the motion sat heavily on my tongue, but I made a point to speak before anyone else surrendered to the temptation. “Eino,” I squeaked before clearing my throat. “Eino.” Much better. “I know that this is a drastic change in what we were led to believe, but I need you to hear me out.” When he went to speak, I held up a hand. “Just hear me out. I’m not asking you to agree, just listen. You are free to make up your own mind after that, okay?”

He spread his hands at the Council. “I have no real choice, do I?”

“My instincts tell me that, if you consider all the information and still believe that the Galactic Council is acting in our best interest, it will at least be considered a well-informed belief.” Granted, after all this, we may think you’re insane, I thought privately. But at least we’ll know if you still want to hurdle into extinction headlong.

“Then I will listen.”

“Great.” I forced a smile before calling up a recording from several months prior. “This is a record of myself and - and Noah. Before we dropped back into real space. This is public record, as it occurred in a corridor, so you can all verify it at your leisure.  I’m sure someone can find a data analyst who isn’t fond of me and will be willing to take a swing at it.”

Eino scoffed, but Xiomara just stared at him. “I promise you, I can name four off the top of my head who aren’t terribly happy about learning to weave garments.  I also have a terrorist watch list you can pick from.”

He blanched, and I took that as a queue to play the recording. The entire Council, with the exception of Pranav - who had already seen the footage - gave various displays of curiosity regarding the relevance of the clip, right up until the end.  Grey looked the most curious, so I waved to them. “Feel free to zoom in. I’m sure everyone else wants to.”

As soon as they did, I gestured at the image. “This is Odvub. In their natural former, they are one tenth the size of a tardigrade. They are also so fragile that they die if you stare at them too hard.  You heard the information from the record - they mature, reproduce, and then join the singularity hive mind that runs the network that the Galactic Community uses on a day to day basis.”

I got several skeptical looks, not just from Eino. “I know, I know,” I rolled my eyes. “Doesn’t seem relevant yet. Promise, it will make sense.” With a deep breath, I called up my next piece of information. “This is the data that Pranav was able to copy from one of the Eko-Mari ambassadors while they were preoccupied being rude as hell.  Derek has been working on decoding it, which I am sure everyone in this room can agree is something that he is our top mind at doing.” Nods all around, including our wayward Finn. Time for more show and tell. “I can send you all the clip for evidence, but short story is that Derek found an error that kept repeating within the code. No rhyme or reason, except that it was particularly long and he couldn’t figure out how to filter it out. So, he came to me for a break, some food, and a wall to bounce ideas off of.”

I queued up the particular string of code. “This is the error. We were able to figure out that it repeats exactly, even when attached to disparate forms of data, and wasn’t consistently attached to data we shouldn’t have.”

“So it was deliberately placed there?” Xiomara leaned forward in curiosity, completely forgetting that I was making a plea with Eino.

I just shrugged. “It made sense as a possibility. Eino, I need you to request that this string of code be run through any and every translation protocol available on the Ark.” I flicked the string of code to him.

He carefully made sure it was the same characters showing in the emitter, then closed his eyes. “Ark. Can  you please translate this data code through every known language in every possible combination available?”

What followed was a lesson in slow torture. Eino sat for twenty solid minutes, with his eyes closed and doing breathing exercises while the translation ran.  I honestly thought he had fallen asleep, except that his eyes snapped open and alert as soon as the signal sounded to let us know the translation was complete.

No hesitation. “Display results on all human-preceptible channels,” he asked, staring me down.  I just blinked calmly, channeling Mac, as the room filled with holographic smog.  Eino sputtered, only getting more incensed as someone laughed. “Sophia, what is this!?”

“Zoom in,” I suggested. “A lot. A lot lot.”  Slowly, the images grew and resolved. I was able to finally see that Huynh was the one expanding the image as quickly as he could, twitching as a sound appeared. “Bear in mind, you’re enhancing on all channels.”

Seeing and hearing it for the second time only made the experience better, I found. Partially the sweetness of the anticipation, but also the delight in seeing everyone else see it at the same time.  Xiomara’s wistful gaze, Grey’s volcanic curiosity… both were dwarfed by Eino.

He was in nothing less than absolute rapture. “They are snow,” he whispered hoarsely. “They are living snow… so delicate, so brief.” His eyes closed and his head tipped back slowly.

Immediately I knew that he recognized the same sound that I had.

“Eino,” I begged gently. “This is the Odvub. They left the string of code that has been baffling Derek.”

“What is the information?” he croaked, eyes still closed.

“The Terran data.” I knew this was something of a hard sell, but I put every ounce of my people skills into it. “From Before, After, and everything in the century since we left.  Not just our data, but the data that the Galactic Community extrapolated from it.  That’s why not all of it would translate, because until we realized what the code was, there was no way to separate it from information that needs to filter several times. Because some of it isn’t from us, or for us, because we were never meant to see it.”

To my horror, that was the moment he realized that I was telling the truth. Not because he looked like he agreed, but because he looked like he was pleading guilty to a murder spree when he asked the next question. “And have you determined what that data is regarding?”

Dammit. “Not yet,” I admitted. “Derek and I only figured out the connection to Odvub a few hours ago - literally late last night - and after taking a swing at some of the newer data, he refused to continue.”

“He wasn’t tired?”

“I wish.” I found myself staring at my hands. “He took my cat, a whole plate of cookies, most of my blankets, and headed to a medbay on Level Fourteen.” High risk, violent patient was the unstated implication.

After a painful looking wince and gulp, Eino fixed his gaze on the Odvub. “Thank you. Admittedly, I was focused on the idea that any community that could span so many worlds would be enlightened enough to see the bigger picture. And they may yet still.” His head started shaking side to side, eyes never leaving the image. “But right now, that belief is clearly like unto an ant worshipping a human. We are pests to them.  I withdraw any objections.”

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#the miys #found family #humans are weird #science fiction #aliens #apocalypse #humans are space orcs #humans are space fae #earth is space australia #post apocalypse #post post apocalypse #original science fiction #original sci fi #original writing

[klein42kaya]

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[renee-mariposa]

One way TROS could have ended if the writers weren’t hacks

As soon as her battered ship touches dirt and the cockpit opens, Rey’s panicked shouting cuts through the chaos on the base. “I need a medic here! I need...!”

Poe himself is reeling - shaking with adrenaline, head spinning with the unbelievable reality of we’re alive! we’re alive! - he needs to find Finn, he needs to...Rey is cut all to hell, dried blood all over her, and looks like she’s barely standing up. He reaches her just as she stumbles - he can’t believe she’s here, they’re all still here, this isn’t a dream - she’s heavy and he almost drops her. She’s only out for one moment, and when she comes back her eyes refocus on him slowly. “Poe?” she slurs, sounding bewildered.

“Rey!” he answers, unable to look away from her face - something he thought he’d never see again - shaking her a little in his arms, unable to voice anything else, unable to think over the din of celebration. Her brain comes back online and she grips a fistful of his jumpsuit - “I need a medic!” she panics, eyes wide, shaking him as if he needs to be convinced.

“Yeah, sure, just hold on!” he says, preparing himself to carry her to medical on his own to feet if he has to, when she shakes him again. 

“No, not me!” She gripes, somehow tugging them around to face her relic of a ship. “He’s in the gunner’s seat - he’s wounded! Please, Poe,” she implores, looking at him with a silent plea and he doesn’t really understand why, “I need your help.”

It’s on the tip of his tongue to ask what’s going on when the medical team finally arrives. It takes five of them to get the wounded man out of the seat - he’s a big guy - and if Poe thought Rey looked bad, he was clearly mistaken. The wounded man is young,  There’s a tense moment when they’re hooking up the scanners - Rey is trembling with the effort to remain somewhat standing, barely breathing in palpable fear - “We have a heartbeat!” one of the paramedics shouts, to be heard over everything else - Rey nearly passes out again with what Poe can only describe as sheer relief - and the entourage cuts back into the crowd to rush the wounded man to sickbay.

“Who is he?”

“I’ll tell you when I can hear myself think,” she says, avoiding his eyes. “We need to find Finn,” she says, gripping his jacket again. “And Rose. Where’s the General? Is Chewie okay?”

“One thing at a time,” Poe decides, visually scanning the crowd in what feels like building desperation. He needs to see Finn, needs to see that he’s alive and well, needs to see him smile and laugh again. “Let’s go find him.”

((Everyone hugs and cries like they do in the movie except there’s an actual gay kiss between Finn and Poe. Scene transition to the epilogue, still on the jungle planet.))

Rey only agrees to go to sickbay herself after visiting Leia’s deathbed and crying wearily, gripping Rose’s hand tightly the whole time. Rose remains while Finn and Poe escort Rey to the medics, but Rey stops them right before the three of them enter.

“I need to tell you something,” she says to them, calmly. She’s dead on her feet but grimly resolved. “I need to tell you who I brought back with me.”

Poe blinks. “Who is it?” he asks. She doesn’t answer immediately - she’s afraid, his brain supplies. “You can tell us,” he says gently. Finn nods in agreement, confused as to what’s going on but willing to listen.

“His name is Ben,” Rey says finally, visibly unsure of what to say. “He saved my life. More than once.” She searches their faces. “He’s very important to me.”

Into the silence, Finn jokes, “You had a cute boyfriend this whole time and you didn’t tell us?” and Rey frowns fondly at him, tension among them broken.

“The jury’s definitely out on cute,” Poe tells Finn in a stage whisper, causing Rey to frown at him, too. Poe restarts their three-legged march into sickbay. “He looks like death chewed him up and spat him out. He ain’t winning any beauty contests today.”

He can tell when Finn sees the wounded man - Finn stops dead in his tracks and nearly causes all three of them to wipe out. When Poe recovers his balance, he finds Rey gripping Finn’s shirt imploringly with all of her meagre strength.

“He’s the spy, Finn,” she says to him with an intensity Poe doesn’t understand. “He left the First Order just like you did.”

“Yeah, but...!” Finn protests, just now regaining his ability to speak.

Rey shakes him once, visibly shaking with the effort to remain standing, and Finn’s gaze snaps to her. Her face is deathly pale. “Please, Finn. He saved my life.”

Finn studies her, makes his decision. “Okay,” he says finally. Rey sighs with relief. “For you,” Finn gripes, and Rey almost smiles a little.

“Is he a stormtrooper?” Poe asks in confusion as they finally get Rey to a chair.

“Not exactly,” Finn mutters, and Rey very obviously elbows him. Poe tamps down a fission of irritation.

“Well, he can be processed with the former ‘troopers once he’s feeling better,” Poe decides, waiting for one of the medics to show. It’ll take some work and money, but they’ll get some doctors specializing in brainwashing to the base. The medic shows up, gets Rey some bacta patches. tells Rey to get some sleep, allows her to remain in sickbay to be near this Ben guy. She sits down on the hospital bed and, right as they’re leaving, Poe sees her take his hand and grip it tightly.

Poe and Finn walk back outside, hand in hand, to the roaring celebration. The defected stormtroopers are mostly helmet-less now, staring around in a daze, as if overwhelmed and not really sure how to celebrate. Looking out at the people he’s been chosen to command, the future unspools before Poe: rescuing the defectors from their brainwashing, tallying up what their people know how to do, sending out diplomats, building alliances, building a future. 

Together, he and Finn step out of the hallway into the bright, bright evening.

#tros roast #tros #tros fix it #my writing #long post #it occurred to me this evening that Finn is the only one who has seen Kylo Ren maskless #and TROS could have been written that Kylo only has his mask with the new batch of troopers #Finn acted as Stormtrooper Moses and rescued most of the troopers #so a way Ben could live in a Happily Ever After story is to emphasize 'Ren died so Ben could live' #this is unedited but it's still a better ending than TROS! #star wars #i just want a Happily Ever After in my entertainment goddamnit #obvs i'm not pulling from canon here but if it isn't in the movies it isn't canon to me #headcanon #unbeta'd

[peakyblindersxx]

whiskey business - john shelby x reader (part 6 of ?)

gif by my queen @michaelgreys, i'm basically her fanblog now but im not mad about it :) i mean just look at him!!1! i almost fainted

a/n: first of all, if you stuck around to this point, tysm for reading!!! this has been one of the most amazing fics ive ever been a part of and it's all thanks to the gorgeous @stxdyblr-2k, who generously took control of the next few parts. her brain is beautiful and we all owe her flowers or something. when i read what she sent me i couldn't bring myself to change much except for some small edits, so pls give her lots of love if you like it!!!! i'm still working on requests as well :)

love, abi xxx

read part one two three four five | my masterlist

tagging: @datewithgianni, @mayaslifeinabox, @deepdonutkid, @springsoulofengland, @lilymurphy03

prompt: nothing this good can last forever. john doesn't know how to feel, and neither do you.

warnings: nsfw! a teensy bit of smut, angsty as fuck prepare yourselves accordingly, a lil fluff if u squint, yeah this fucked me up

Obviously, it wasn't the last time.

Over the coming months you had many last times; his mouth pressed against your neck said as much. As his responsibility at work increased, you'd find yourself heading to his office after your lectures and night classes more often, perched on his lap, smoking, while he finished up his numbers under your critical gaze.

Thomas was more than aware; his snarky comments made it obvious he had his ways of monitoring your actions. You'd seen the dark car lurking outside your rallies and lectures, and no matter how you'd try to throw him off, not even telling Ada where you were going and even, in a moment of desperation, through your neighbours back window, somehow, his silent shadow was still looming. He was practically begging you to make a mistake, to give everyone an easy out. You just couldn't give him the satisfaction. You knew Tommy saw the world as a chess board, always several moves ahead of his opponent. Even when you played him in chess club all those years ago, you could outflank him if you thought on your feet and kept him thinking he was winning until you obliterated him in the end game. It was brutal, sure. But as he told you, there were bigger games at play. You had your own. Thomas could read your mail, intercept your phone calls and have you followed, but he couldn't hear what you said out of earshot. Your lot could smell an interceptor in your ranks, so spying at that close of a proximity was out of the question.

That's why he'd decided to let you have John. You knew his silent approval and his constant management of the narrative meant he saw a tactical gain. There was only so much information he could get from Ada, but John? He just had to agitate him in the right way and all your secrets would come tumbling out. It was difficult hiding your world from John; of what he knew of, he was supportive, quizzing you over current affairs and political discourse, listening intently. Yet, you had to watch your mouth. You had to keep a barrier up and you knew John sensed the distance. Fundamentally, there was nothing either of you could do.

So here you were, in a comfortable limbo. Your days were filled with work, evenings were for lectures and reading groups at the city's university, Ada and you often stopped for a drink or three; you'd go by your flat to freshen up, and then to John's office. Sometimes, you wouldn't visit for a week or so when the guilt sent you over the edge, it was draining to be living so many lives and knowing you were betraying the person you loved most on earth. Ada was oblivious, taking you on her nightly adventures filled with men, dancing and waiting while she was busy kissing in dark corners. Sometimes a young blinder would ask if you wanted to be walked home. The first occurrence you thought was sweet, but as the nights it occurred coincided with nights John seemed extra pent up, you'd decided to ask. The boy, who couldn't be older than twelve but who you knew was trained in using firearms and had a revolver pinned to his hip and a razor in his cap, looked confused.

"Mate, it's not a tough question. Why do you come and ask?"

"There's a phone call." He shrugs, "Isaiah or Michael tells us to go and get you."

Isaiah and Michael were somewhat aware? Fucking hell. Your fling was basically a military campaign at this point, so many of your friends were complicit. The little lads who ran as messengers around Birmingham were complicit. You had to just end it.

But when you sat on his thigh, his chin hooked over your shoulder, it felt so worth it. He never turned you away when you came crawling back. He never mentioned it until after you were finished, hooked under his arm.

"Fucking missed you, gorgeous."

Sometimes he'd remind you not to be a stranger with a wink, but you could tell it was tearing him apart too. He never once came to you. That's how he could justify it in his mind; obviously, the bare minimum was not having sex with his sister's best friend, but in failing that, waiting for you to initiate it was somewhat better. He barely talked to Ada now, citing work as an excuse, but truly the guilt sickened him. He couldn't believe he was prepared to continuously hurt his little sister and betray her. But every time you turned up at his door, he couldn't find it in himself to turn you away. In his mind, every single time you came to visit him was the last time he'd let it happen, yet he was always waiting for you to come back, his blind closed to signal he was prepared. He never would call, it had to be your choice.

You'd been off and on for over five months now. It was so difficult to hide in plain sight, but you just couldn't stop yourself. Neither of you purposefully meant for this to be happen but fuck, was it fun.

For your birthday he'd gifted you a fur coat from the same shop his sister, aunt and the fashionable crowd of Birmingham had purchased theirs. He joked that you looked like a "proper razor chaser", kissing you when you pouted at his teasing, begging you to wear only the coat when you fucked him next. It was a practice for blinders to buy a coat for their wives and girlfriends as a status symbol. You were neither, but John claimed that being his "favourite lass" also counted.

John was a laugh, but you knew at any time he could close his door to you. Until he decided he couldn't be bothered with you, you weren't going to get caught. You just had to be careful until he got bored.

***

You did end up putting a foot wrong. It was a Thursday night; you were sitting on the edge of John's desk while he was ridding you of your blouse. It was past midnight, Birmingham was asleep. You almost didn't bother coming out tonight, but you knew John had lost a deal and you wanted to be there for him. Your skirt and stockings were strewn across the desk with his shirt, vest and waistcoat, muddled into the files and papers which were once neatly stacked.

His fingers were pumping in and out of you, his mouth lapping at your breast, your head tipped back in euphoria, groaning. The stress made him more affectionate and tender with you, and it was nights like these that made you wonder. Wonder if this could ever be something more, something real.

John's body suddenly pulled away from yours, quickly turning the light off.

"John, what-" You were cut off by John’s hand over your mouth, muffling your words.

"Shut up and get behind the desk." He hissed. "Someone's coming upstairs."

You quickly grabbed your clothes from the shiny oak surface and crouched, hiding yourself from view, quickly making yourself decent. You weren't going to get shot through the head with your tits out. You listened to the stairs creek, and it sounded like a group. You two were easily outnumbered. They were talking, but the thick panels of wood muffled their voices.

As your eyes adjusted to the darkness, the cracks in the door giving the room a dulled glow, you could make out the figure of John. He was free of his shirt, toned body on display, standing with his back flat to the wall, revolver produced from a discreet notch in the door frame, gaze fixed on where they'd enter. He was tense, ready. The door was unlocked from the outside, the door handle twisting.

John's lip shifted in confusion yet still he kept his trigger finger ready, not a single shake from your general.

The light flicked on and a shriek rang out. It was blinding, and you stood up slightly dazed. Finn was in the doorway, John next to him clutching his chest, panting and lowering the gun.

"Jesus Christ, Finn, can't you knock like a normal person? Scared the shit out of us." John bellowed, shaking as the adrenaline coursed through his body, resting his hands on the edge of the desk as he regained his breath.

"You're the one who pointed a gun at me! I didn't even know you were in 'ere!" Finn yelped.

The commotion had attracted the attention of Ada and Isaiah, who had come running and stopped in their tracks upon seeing you standing behind John's desk in the middle of the night. They weren't stupid. John was topless, your clothes obviously rumpled, both with matching tousled hair and practically stinking of guilt. You'd been caught red handed. Ada's eyes flicked between both you and John, and you could practically see the pieces of the puzzle clicking together in her mind, all the moments she found questionable since you'd returned suddenly making sense, realising she had been deceived by the two people who she was meant to trust most in life. Finn looked absolutely crushed, he'd never been able to conceal his emotions as well as his older brothers and sister, linking his fingers through Ada's, squeezing her hand.

"I forgot to drop this off earlier." Finn stated, holding up a money box, "Ada had keys so we thought we'd sneak in so I wouldn't get done by Tommy. We did call round yours, Y/N. We thought you were in bed."

"I'm sorry." You said. It was not enough but you just didn't know what else to say. You couldn't make it right, you'd really fucked up this time. Tears pricked at your eyes, as Ada examined you in silence.

John stepped in front of you defensively. "Look, Ada-"

"How long has this been going on?" She asked, her voice shaking with rage. You and John exchanged a glance. "I said, how fucking long?"

"Five months, six in a fortnight." He answered.

Isaiah whistled lowly. "That's fucked. I thought it was only a few times, that it'd finished."

"Never really over when it's John is it." Finn interjects, you glance to him, were you just one in a long string? You shouldn't be surprised but it was easy to pretend he may actually care about you.

"You've been fucking around for six months behind my back?" Ada yelped, Finn trying to comfort her but she pulled away from him. "And you fucking knew Iz."

"I'd expect this from you, yeah? Wouldn't put anything past you these days.." she sneered at John, "But you? You?! You're meant to be my best mate, but here you are sneaking about fucking my brother?"

"Ada-" you began, eyes welling with tears.

"I thought I could trust you. You're just another fucking razor chaser, aren't you?" She spits. "That's why you came back."

"No it wasn't, Ada-"

Her eyes flashed with anger, but this time John was on the receiving end. "You bought her that fucking coat ,didn't you? The fur one. You did! Fuck's sake!" Her fists were clenched, shoulders squared. For the first time in your life, you understood why crowds parted for Ada Shelby. Understood all the free drinks and cab rides, the nervous serving staff declaring your meal on the house (always acknowledged by Ada with a hefty tip), understood why the men of Birmingham didn't last long with her.

"Did it feel good to swan about town in that fucking coat, while acting as though you cared about me? It's so fucking embarrassing. All trussed up because my knobhead big brother makes you feel special? Thanks for rubbing it in my face."

"Ada, I love you. I never meant to hurt you, I got caught up and that's on me. It's my fault."

"You're not acting like you love me. This isn’t what love is, Y/N." She retorted.

You couldn’t do anything but nod. She was right.

John opened his mouth to speak, Ada silencing him, a scowl darkening her features.

"I don't care what you have to say. Any of you. Who else knows?"

"Thomas, Michael, Arthur-" John listed off slowly, each name prompting Ada to break down a little bit more in front of you.

"I didn't know Arthur knew." You said pointedly, John sending you an exasperated glance. He was planning on dealing with that later, but right now was about his sister. Fuck him if he thought you were going to stick around much longer. You didn't want to hear him justify everyone else knowing about your fling with your best friend being left completely in the dark.

"That all you have to say for yourself?" Ada snaps at you.

"I have fucking no defense, do I Ada? I should've walked away." You pushed your hair back, frustrated at yourself, tears pricking at the corners of your eyes. You begged yourself not to cry. Tears wouldn't help anything.

"Why didn't you?"

You didn't know. Your silence only riled her up.

"Why didn't you fucking walk away?" Ada yelled, slamming her hands on the desk.

You felt hot tears run down your face, quickly moving your hands to dab at your tears.

"Don't you dare fucking cry. After all you've done, you don't get to cry in front of me." Ada growled at you, John going to shush her, obviously wanting to comfort you. "You can all fuck off. You've all lied to me and gone behind my back. Fuck’s sake, you could've just told me. You could've just told me."

"We didn't want to hurt you." John said, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder but she flinches away.

"This hurts so much more. You get that you all lying to me is so much worse, don't you?"

"We weren't thinking."

"You really fucking weren't." Ada laughs bitterly, shaking her head, blinking away tears. "Fuck you lot."

She stormed out, tailed by Finn, begging her to slow down and talk to him, protesting his innocence in the situation. Isaiah hesitated in the doorway, his eyes flickering between you and John.

"I had no idea you two've been at it for so long."

"Iz, fuck off yeah? I've had enough today." John shot back, sliding across the desk towards you. "You alright, lass?"

"We're done here, John."

He slid off the table, his hand cupping your face, "Hey, gorgeous, I get it but don't go breaking my heart tonight. Can we just leave this for tomorrow? Sleep on it."

The idea of getting any sleep at all tonight was laughable, you'd be up all night replaying these moments and torturing yourself. Tonight couldn't get any worse so you had to finally end it. Now was the right time.

"John, it should've never happened."

"But it did."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore. It's over."

"Y/N. You know for me it was never just about-"

"You're making it difficult. Stop making it difficult. Whatever you say isn't going to change that right now we have to do the right thing."

"I know you're right, but I don't want to let go. Is it so wrong to want you? I adore you, you know that."

You wouldn't meet his eyes. Sighing, John pressed his forehead to the side of your head, chin brushing your shoulder, eyes closing. He was begging you to stay with him. There had to be a solution, you'd figure it out together. His voice was cracking, eyes glassy. He looked so much younger when he was pleading. The tall bloke who terrorised the Midlands with his razor rimmed cap, a revolver in his hand, and a ruthless trigger finger had vanished. You wanted to stay, burning to curl up with him and for him to kiss it better.

"I should go." You told him. He rested his forehead on your shoulder, letting out a shaky sigh before pulling away, nodding.

"I'd drive you home but obviously-"

"Obviously."

John suddenly turned from you, eyes narrowing at Isaiah who was still hovering at the door. "Thought I told you to fuck off. Make yourself useful and get Y/N home safely." His tone was ice cold once again.

Isaiah nodded, offering his arm to you. You reached the door and instinctively looked back at John. His eyes met yours, staring at you from his desk, just as you knew he would. He prepared himself to watch you leave every night, but this time was different. That was it with you two.

Isaiah strode down the street with you in silence. You were tucked into his side as was customary with the upcoming blinders who were particularly ambitious, but there was no relaxed chat.

"Isaiah. What’re you thinking?" You asked, voice tinged with nervousness.

He sighed, running his free hand across his jaw, "That was intense in there."

"Just how he is." You shrugged.

"Does he love you or sommet?"

"Fuck knows… does it matter?"

"Of course it does. Do you love him?"

"Drop it. None of that matters, it shouldn't have happened in the first place so it can’t," You snapped, the anger at the situation you'd created suddenly overwhelming.

Isaiah whistled, raising his brow at your obvious turmoil. "You're in fucking deeper than you want to admit."

He walked you up your path, watching you turn the key to the side door leading to your bedsit. You paused, turning to him.

"Iz… I don't know what to do next."

It was so dark, you could see his face only by the lit cigarette burning to embers between his fingers. He inhaled deeply, pausing before delivering his carefully laid out plan of avoidance. Obviously the event of him crossing the Shelbys and losing their good graces weighed heavily on his mind. You nodded, listening intently, noting his ideas of relocation but he explained they were a final resort. The best thing to do was try to regain their trust; in the long run, he had calculated, it was the only option that didn't result in your life being haunted by the Shelbys. Even if they left you alone, their enemies would make a point to go after you, seeing you as an easy target. The other option was to leave the country.

"Good luck, Y/N. I mean it." He muttered as you turned the handle to the temporary safety of your home. You nodded, offering you cheek for the polite good night kiss you'd become accustomed to. He rolled his eyes and obliged, pressing an affectionate kiss to your cheek and ruffling your hair. "I'm serious. Watch your back."

***

John broke down when he finally heard the lock click shut. His eyes had been prickling with boiling tears, his jaw tensed to hold them back. He yelled out in anger, flipping his desk with force, a loud crash as the wood splintered against the stone flooring, glass shattering from the photo frames. His hands went to his head, unable to stop the gasping breaths escaping from his trembling lips, his face reddening.

"Fuck’s sake." He growled. He'd fucked everything up. He had nothing, just as he'd told you the first night you returned. The consequence was no surprise, he'd anticipated the fall out for a while, but he couldn't resist you. He was completely guilty and had no defense; his only justification being that you made him think with his cock, not his brain.

Fuck’s sake. Polly was going to murder him. She'd always had a soft spot for Ada, as the only girl in the family, and was no stranger to lecturing him over his flirtatious behaviour around Ada's friends. She'd murder him. He had a half mind to never go home. He rubbed at his eyes with his knuckles. Polly had no use for tears. That's what she'd tell him when he was a boy coming home with a skinned knee. This was far worse.

He was also sure that he was a worse brother than Tommy, perhaps the worst in the world. His baby sister, who he'd helped to toddle, carry proudly on his shoulders after school and race with her on his back through the fields on the outskirts of Small Heath, had walked in on him obviously in the midst of fucking her best mate. If he had swallowed his pride and actually talked to her, he wouldn't be in this mess. He could've told her that things changed, that for the same reasons Ada loved Y/N he had fallen for her, that he was truly sorry but she had to know before it got too far and someone got hurt. He couldn't go back.

He should've never approached you that night.

He should never approach you again.

He looked over the mess of his office, the splintered wood and shards of glass, a confetti of paperwork. Now nothing mattered. None of this mattered. He'd lost everything and he had only himself to blame.

#john shelby imagine #john shelby x reader #john shelby fluff #john shelby series #john shelby fanfic #peaky blinders fluff #peaky blinder fanfic #john shelby smut #peaky blinders smut #peaky blinders #peaky blinders x reader

[otp-armada]

If Jason wanted to convince me that Lxa was the love of Clarke's life, he wouldn't have killed her off, effectively cutting their love story permanently, with 4.5 seasons left of the show. Their arc, starting with their introduction in 2x07 and concluding with L's death in 3x07, is 17 episodes long, accounting for 17% of the entire narrative. If I generously add 3x16 to the count, an episode in which L is already dead in the corporeal world Clarke is trying to return to, it's a whopping, grand total of 18%. An 18% congruous with Clarke's intense connection to Bellamy and vice versa, which even A.lycia confirmed as romantic. Feelings romantic enough to spur the formation of a love triangle. An 18% ignoring Clarke's ultimate choice to go back to her people when L wanted her to stay.

CL is a chapter in the story begun and wrapped up in the first half of the narrative. And that's omitting further illumination on the finer details making CL so problematic for Clarke. Do you expect me to believe it was coincidental for CL to occur at a time when Clarke was spiraling down a dark path, commencing with Finn's death? Who played a hand in forcing Clarke's own hand, with Finn, and TonDC, and Mount Weather? Whose example inspired her to ensnare herself in armor and warpaint to be strong enough to save her people? Whose behavior did she emulate in the pushing away of support from her people? Who gave her a place to continue hiding from Bellamy, her mom, and her friends? A place to be someone other than Clarke Griffin? In lieu of facing her fears like the heroine she is? The purpose of CL wasn't to provide Clarke with a magnificent, fairy tale romance gone tragically wrong. I believe Jason's intent with the relationship aimed to further damage Clarke's psyche after L's death, to solidify the belief that her love is not only deadly to its recipients but renders her too weak to do what must be done for survival.

After 3x16, CL is an often superfluous namedrop or two per season for Clarke to briefly react to before carrying on with the plot. Season 5 aside, most of these references are needless enough to be able to interpret them as attempts at reparations for the L/CL fandom's benefit -and their views- without altering the course of the story. Crazy me for thinking it's not enough to constitute an ongoing love story. Crazy me for not thinking this was on par with interactions between living characters. Crazy me for thinking it doesn't befit a love story for the protagonist.

This sliver of the story is what Jason and the CLs would have us unquestionably believe is the pervasive love story of The 100's seven seasons?

Despite his lie and the constant gaslighting from the pineapple CLs, some of us know how to decipher what a temporary love interest is. Lxa? I think you know where I'm heading with this.

I'll acknowledge my admittedly negative appraisal of CL as someone who recognizes its value to the LGBT+ community and treats it as valid while not caring for L/CL on a narrative level. I felt, when swayed by L's influence, Clarke became the antithesis of what I found admirable about her. I resented Clarke's acquiescence of her power to the commander. I wanted nothing more than to remove the wedge L had driven between Clarke and Bellamy.

Let me try to give L/CL the benefit of the doubt for a minute. I don't hold L as responsible for Clarke's choices, but I recognize the prominent role she played in their upbringing. The push and pull was an intriguing aspect of their dynamic, as was the chance to meet a manifestation of who Clarke might have been if she was all head, no heart. Her fall from grace was arguably necessary for her to be a fully-rounded character, not a Mary Sue. It wouldn't be realistic for the protagonist of a tragic story about a brutal world to be a pure cinnamon roll. When forgiveness is an innate theme with Clarke, it would be my bias at work if I was content with her applying it to everyone but Lxa. Clarke saw enough commonalities between her and L to identify with the latter. When she extended forgiveness to L, I believe it was her way of taking the first step on the path to making peace with herself by proxy. None of this means I wanted them paired up. At best, I made my peace with seeing the relationship through to its eventual end. In time for L's death, ironically. My passivity about them notwithstanding, my conclusions are, however, supported by canon.

If I may submit a Doylist reason for romantic CL? Jason knew he had a massive subfandom itching to see them coupled, thereby boosting ratings and generating media buzz. A Watsonian reason? Without relevance, I think L would have been another Anya to Clarke. Grapple shortly with the unfair taking of a life right as they choose to steer towards unity, melancholy giving way to the inconvenience of the loss of a potential, powerful political ally. Romance ensured her arc with L would have the designated impact on Clarke's character moving forward in the next act.

For a show not about relationships, Jason has routinely used romantic love as a shorthand for character and dynamic development. It's happened with so many hastily strung together pairings. And when it does, everyone and their mother bends over backward to defend the relationship. It's romantic because it just is. Didn't you see the kissing? Romantic.

No, The 100 at its core is not about relationships, romantic and otherwise. But stack the number of fans invested exclusively by the action against those of us appreciating a strong plot but are emotionally attached to the characters and dynamics. Who do we think wins? Jason can cry all he wants over an audience refusing to be dazzled solely by his flashy sci-fi.

Funnily enough, "not about relationships'' is only ever applied to Bellarke. Bellarke, a relationship so consistently significant, it's the central dynamic of the show. The backbone on which the story is predicated. Only with Bellarke does it become super imperative to represent male-female platonic relationships. As if Bellarke is the end all, be all of platonic friendship representation on this show. In every single television show in the history of television shows.

Where was this advocacy when B/echo was foisted upon on us after one scene between them where he didn't outright hate Echo? When one interaction before that, he nearly choked the life out of her. If male-female friendship on TV is so sparse, why didn't B/ravens celebrate the familial relationship between Bellamy and Raven? Isn't the fact that they interpret Clarke as abusive to Bellamy all the more reason to praise his oh-so-healthy friendship with Raven as friendship? They might be the one group of shippers at the least liberty to use this argument against Bellarke, lest they want to hear the cacophony of our fandom's laughter at the sheer hypocrisy of the joke. Instead, they've held on with an iron grip to the one sex scene from practically three lifetimes ago when the characters were distracting themselves from their feelings on OTHER people? They've recalled this as "proof" of romance while silent on (or misconstruing) the 99% of narrative wherein they were platonic and the 100% of the time they were canonically non-romantic.

Bellarke is only non-romantic if you believe love stories are told in the space of time it takes for Characters A & B to make out and screw each other onscreen, a timespan amounting to less than the intermission of a quick bathroom break. If it sounds ridiculous, it's because it is. And yet, some can't wrap their heads around the idea that maybe, just maybe, a well-written love story in its entirety is denoted by more than two insubstantial markers and unreliable qualifiers. B/raven had sex, and the deed didn't fashion them into a romance. Jasper and Maya kissed but didn't have sex. Were they half a romantic relationship? Bellarke is paralleled to romantic couples all the time, but it counts for nothing in the eyes of their rival-ship fandom adversaries. Take ship wars out of it by considering Mackson. Like B/echo, the show informed us that Mackson became a couple post-Praimfaya, offscreen, via a kiss. Does anyone fancy them an epic love story with their whisper of a buildup? Since a kiss is all it takes, as dictated by fandom parameters, we should.

If Characters A & B are ensconced in a romantic storyline, then by definition, their relationship is neither non-romantic nor fanon. "Platonic" rings hollow as a descriptor for feelings canonically not so.

If the rest of the fandom doesn't want to take our word for granted, Bob confirmed Bellarke as romantic. Is he as delusional as we are? Bob is not a shipper, but he knows what he was told to perform and how. Why do the pineapples twist themselves in knots to discredit his word? If they are so assured by Jason's word-of-god affirmation, then what credibility does it bear to have Bellarke validated by someone other than the one in charge? They're so quick to aggressively repudiate any statement less than "CL is everything. Nothing else exists. CL is the only fictional love story in The 100, nay, the WORLD. CL is the single greatest man-made invention since the advent of the wheel."

We've all seen a show with a romantic relationship between the leads at the core of the story. We all know the definition of slowburn. We can pinpoint the tropes used to convey romantic feelings. We know conflict is how stories are told. We know when interferences are meant to separate them. We know when obstacles are overcome, they're stronger for it. We know that's why the hurdles exist. We know those impediments often take the shape of interim, third-party love interests. We know what love triangles are. We know pining and longing.

Jason wasn't revolutionary in his structure of Bellarke. He wasn't sly. Jason modeled them no differently than most other shows do with their main romances. Subtler and slower, sure. Sometimes not subtle at all. There's no subtlety in having Clarke viscerally react to multiple shots of Bellamy with his girlfriend. No subtlety in him prioritizing her life over the others in Sanctum's clutches. In her prioritizing his life above all the other lives she was sure would perish if he opened the bunker door. There is no subtlety in Bellamy poisoning his sister to stave off Clarke's impending execution. In her relinquishing 50 Arkadian lives for him after it killed her to choose only 100 to preserve. In her sending the daughter Clarke was hellbent to protect, into the trenches to save him. In him marching across enemy lines to rescue her. In her surrender to her kidnapper to march to potential death, to prevent Bellamy's immediate one. No subtlety in Josie's callouts. No subtlety in Lxa's successful use of his name to convince Clarke to let a bomb drop on an unsuspecting village. Bet every dollar you have that the list goes on and on.

There are a lot of layers to what this show was. It was a tragedy, with hope for light at the end of the tunnel. It was, first and foremost, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi survival drama. Within this overarch is the story of how the union of Clarke Griffin and Bellamy Blake saves humanity, ushering in an age of peace. In this regard, their relationship transcended romance. But with the two of them growing exponentially more intimate each season, pulled apart by obstacles only to draw closer once again, theirs was a love story. A romantic opus, the crescendo timed in such a way that the resolution of this storyline -the moment they get together- would align with the resolution of the main plot. Tying Bellarke to the completion of this tale made them more meaningful than any other relationship on this show, not less.

Whereas the trend with every other pair was to chronicle whether they survived this hostile world intact or succumbed to it, Bellarke was a slowburn. A unique appellation for the couples on this show, but not disqualifying them from romantic acknowledgment.

Framing Bellarke in this manner was 100% Jason's choice. If he wanted the audience to treat them as platonic, he should have made it clear within the narrative itself, not through vague, word-of-god dispatches. A mishandled 180-degree swerve at the clutch as a consequence of extra-textual factors doesn't negate the 84% of the story prior. It's just bad writing to not follow through. And Jason's poor, nearsighted decisions ruined a hell of a lot more than a Bellarke endgame.

The problem is, when Bellarke is legitimized, the pineapples are yanked out of their fantasies where they get to pretend the quoted exaggerations above are real. Here I'm embellishing, but some of them have deeply ingrained their identities in CL to the degree where hyperbole is rechristened to incontestable facts. An endorsement for Bellarke is an obtrusive reminder of the not all-encompassing reception of their ship. A lack of positive sentiment is an attack on their OTP, elevated to an attack on their identity. Before long, it ascends to an alleged offense to their right to exist. The perpetrators of this evil against humanity are the enemy, and they must attack in kind, in defense of themselves.

Truthfully, I think it's sad, the connotation of human happiness wholly dependent on the outcome of a fictional liaison already terminated years ago. I'm not unaware of the marginalization of minorities, of the LGBT+ community, in media. I haven't buried my head in the sand to pretend there aren't horrible crimes committed against them. I don't pretend prejudice isn't rampant. When defense and education devolve into hatred and libel for asinine reasons, though, the line has been crossed. You don't get a free pass to hurt someone with your words over a damn ship war. No matter how hard you try to dress it up as righteous social justice, I assure you, you're woefully transparent.

#my thoughts #thoughts i wanted off my chest #don't mind me #i'm trying to keep this out of the main tags #la dee da #ok here we go #bellarke #anti jroth #the 100 #cl #the 100 ships #long post #fandom wank #sorta #if you read all this #you're a real trooper #i salute you #anticlexa #antibecho #antibraven #late night rambling #an autobiography #my post

[sellyoursoulforagoodfic]

Shelbys at Somme Chapter 17

Thomas X Reader

Word Count: 2640

Summary: Another memory from the trenches claws its way to the surface after the Lees leave behind wire cutters. 

by @adventuresintooblivion

Thomas was shaking so badly he was convinced that he was rattling Finn to his core. His ears rang from the explosion they’d narrowly avoided.

“This is why you never pretend to be me. Ok?” Finn vigorously nodded his head. Maybe Thomas wasn’t the only one shaking. He ushered his youngest brother off to join the rest of the family. 

Those damned Lees! How am I going to end this without us all getting killed?

It wasn’t until he’d made it a few feet down the road before he froze. If they had enough knowledge to place the grenade in his car, they had to have been watching him. If they were watching…

“Y/N.” He launched himself down the street. His feet pounded against the ground, the soles of his shoes skidding against the gravel or sliding through the mud as he bolted towards the Garrison. 

Men dove out of his way, some of which had seen the grenade. Shouting grew up around him as innocent onlookers saw something for the first time. A Shelby sprinting through the streets. Thomas Shelby of all people. The crowd didn’t follow, only gazed in wonder at the gang leader that hadn’t shown an ounce of fear since coming back from the war.

He didn’t twist the door knob when he arrived, only shouldered the wood. It was well into operating hours and the wood gave easily as he skidded to a halt in front of dozens of men. His eyes scanned the room. He refused to wait long enough for them to adjust, but soon enough he didn’t have to.

“Thomas?” Y/N asked, a hand reaching out to him in the dark as he gasped for air.

He clapped his hand over hers, some irrational part inside him screaming that she wasn’t real. It was telling him that these last few months had been some fever dream, that he’d finally overdosed on opium and was holed up in some bed somewhere, while Arthur ran everything into the ground.

Y/N squeezed his hand, “Tommy what’s going on?”

Tommy. No, she was real. And she was in danger.

His voice cracked as he answered, “Have you seen any of the Lees around? They booby trapped my car.”

Her brow furrowed as she shook her head. His eyes had finally adjusted enough that he could see that everyone was staring at them. Even those who tended to keep to themselves had peeked over their tankards. It took every ounce of discipline he had not to draw Y/N closer, to hide her from the prying of Birmingham.

“You can guarantee no one’s been upstairs besides you?” 

Y/N glanced at the stairs, then back at him, “I guess I’ll have to go check.”

Before he could stop her she strode towards her room, “Y/N!” He followed quickly. 

She was already checking the floor of her bedroom when he caught up. It wasn’t until he found himself glancing to his own rooms that it occurred to him that, instead of her, they were after just him.

He began towards his room as he absently asked, “Where’s Grace?” He didn’t need her following them and getting in the way.

Thomas was answered by a loud thunk and a curse, “She took the day off.”

Y/N sounded more annoyed than usual, but he couldn’t lose focus as he quickly opened his door. As no explosion greeted him, he slowly made his way further and further into the room. After a few minutes, he was startled by Y/N leaning against his dresser.

“I think the Lees don’t know about this place just yet, Tommy.” There it was again. A sense of warmth coiled in his chest as his muscles relaxed. If he could have one thing for the rest of his life, it would be Y/N saying his name like that. With a deep sense of familiarity that made it sound like they’d known each other for a lifetime, maybe even longer.

He cleared his throat, “You’re probably right.” 

Thomas glanced up at her, only to be answered by that playful look in her eyes. He took a deep breath as he stood. The room was actually clear. God, I need a cigarette.

He grumbled idly as his fingers closed around a rectangle of cool metal. He quickly pulled it out and barely registered the feel of it in his hand as he jammed a cigarette into his mouth. Thomas could already taste the nicotine, a part of him buzzing to life as it demanded the satisfaction of the burn going down his throat. 

“Holy shit.” He barely heard Y/N, but after a pause he turned to face her, cigarette still dangling out of his lips. 

Y/N’s eyes had gone wide, her posture rigid as she stared down at his hand. He glanced down, as horror gripped his heart. Did she see a wire?

Her voice broke when she spoke again, “You kept it.” She pressed her hands over her heart, as if to rub away the sting. 

That’s when he realized what he had grabbed. In his hand was his “ring”, a cigarette case with Y/N’s initials engraved on the face in elegant swooping letters. The silver box was heavy against his calloused skin as he reflexively rubbed his thumb over the engraving, more out of habit than anything, over the only spot where it’d tarnished from human touch. For the first time in years, it felt foreign in his hand.

Thomas was at a loss for words until, with shaky hands, Y/N pulled out a familiar lighter from her pocket and lit his cigarette for him. While it could’ve been a part of a matching set with the case, one thing set it apart. Instead of engraved initials, they were inlaid gold that spelled out “T.M.S”.

He nearly choked on the smoke as it filled his mouth. Then, taking a shuddering draw, he reached out and brushed his thumb over his initials. There were a thousand things he could say and a thousand more he could deny. But in that moment, after being rubbed raw by the events of the day, he didn’t much care.

“Of course, I did. Do you really think you mean so little to me?”

Y/N took a deep breath, “I was dead, Tommy. You had every reason to get rid of it.”

His hand closed around hers, and the lighter within, “And get rid of the last piece of you that I had left? No, it’s a part of me now. Just like my cap, even my own name. I am Thomas Shelby, leader of the Peaky Blinders, and I carry around a cigarette case that has the wrong initials.” 

He’d stepped closer during his little speech. One small step, on right after the other until he wasn’t even an inch from pressing his forehead against Y/N’s. His lips, hovering nearby in some sort of limbo, between the need to kiss her or to keep talking and fill the silence. 

“Do people think it belonged to an enemy?” Y/N chuckled breathlessly. He could hear the sound of tears in her voice as she desperately tried to lighten the mood.

Thomas shrugged, “It’s an easy rumor that helps with my image.”

She couldn’t help but laugh as she finally rested her forehead on his shoulder, “Everyday?”

“Everyday.”

〜

It was the next day; Thomas resisted the urge to pace as he waited for the Inspector to arrive. It’d been a long day of pulling strings, but with the communist’s address in his pocket, he felt oddly hopeful. Now he just needed Ada and Freddie to be anything but stubborn.

Inspector Campbell rounded the corner. In the rain it was difficult to see, but something about the man seemed more haggard, more animalistic. It wasn’t until farther in the conversation that Thomas realized how wrong he was to bring an innocent man into this. But he’d offer up all of Birmingham, if it meant Ada wouldn’t get caught up in all this.

The officer began his tirade, threats against his family. Each one was something he’d anticipated before coming here. The Inspector somehow managed to always ride the line between predictable and problematic. Though, even Thomas had to admit he was seeing red a little by the end. It wasn’t until the Inspector made his last comment that he was caught off guard.

“You know, despite our little feud over these guns, I’m actually surprised by your restraint Mr. Shelby.”

Thomas blinked away the rain, “Pardon me, Inspector?”

He shrugged, “Well, after we grabbed your little friend off the streets, I was expecting more retribution than getting off scot free. Maybe Ms. Y/L/N isn’t as important to you as we thought. Oh well, what’s one more broken girl in Birmingham.”

Inspector Campbell turned to leave and in that moment that it took for his words to sink in, Thomas’ world exploded. 

It was HIM.

Thomas’s gun was out of it’s holster before he could stop himself. White hot rage coursed through his veins, his finger twitching on the trigger. Aunt Pol’s voice in his head, reminding him of something called consequences, was the only thing that gave him pause. Then the Inspector was gone.

Thomas knew he looked wild as he lowered the pistol. The image of Y/N shuffling toward him, supporting herself with garbage, burned itself on the back of his eyelids. She was there when he closed his eyes. She was there when he opened them, shadowed by the rain. Her face was turned up in pain. Then it was Arthur he heard, first telling him about the copper that had ambushed him outside.

He stood there for a long time, rain soaking through his coat. It wasn’t until a shout from down the road caught his attention. Y/N, not the ghost, was striding closer beneath an umbrella.

“Tommy? You ok?”

He forced himself to nod, “What’re you doing out here in the rain?”

She raised her eyebrow, “Did you forget? It’s Wednesday.” 

〜

[Two Months before Somme]

“Christ Tommy, you’ve got that stupid smile on your face again.” Freddie elbowed him with a grin.

Thomas blinked, “What smile?”

Freddie didn’t answer, only rolled his eyes. The day had actually been a slower one for once. Something in the air had changed and a hush had settled over the soldiers in response. Everyone knew something big was on the horizon, but only a select handful would know for certain. And it definitely wasn’t Thomas.

Instead, Freddie asked a question, “So, when is Y/N gonna become queen of the Peaky Blinders?”

“Queen, huh? What’s that make me?” Thomas snorted.

“You’re dodging the question. I know you’ve got no one back home waiting. And I’ve got that little thing called eyes.” 

Thomas ducked his head. He didn’t like talking about the life he could have had. But then something else about what Freddie had said caught his attention.

“It’s that obvious?”

Freddie nodded, “Hopper’s convinced you have a thing for the blokes. Even he sees how you look at her.”

Thomas grimaced, “Well, as long as he’s paying attention to me.”

“You still haven’t answered the question.”

“What question?” Y/N huffed as she tossed a bag down beside the two men. Thomas could already smell the cured meats, she’d been “acquiring’ again. 

He quickly shook his head, “Nothing. What’s all this for?”

Y/N flopped beside him, “Made a deal with a regiment or two. If I can get them tasty food, they can get us better guns that aren’t falling apart.”

“And how do you know they won’t turn you in?”

She flashed him a feral grin, “Last time they asked me for whiskey, remember that?” He nodded. “Well, I’d gotten it from their commanding officer. Who is still pissed about that by the way.”

Thomas found himself laughing. It was then that Freddie glanced between them.

Freddie gracelessly stood, “Well, I gotta head out and do the thing. I’ll see you two later.”

“There’s a thing?” Thomas waved away Y/N’s question as Freddie squelched away in the mud.

Queen of the Peaky Blinders.

Thomas ran his fingers through his hair, “So besides wrangling up stolen goods, what have you been doing all day?”

“Christ, don’t get me started.” When he gestured for her to continue she settled in to explain her little misadventure. “Turns out that the Acquisitions Officer is on the hunt for whoever has been taking socks from the stores. He assumes it’s me, which is fair, but it’s not for once and I’ve been dodging that man all day. Not to mention I got a letter.”

He glanced at her, “That’s a first. From who?”

Y/N grimaced, “My dad, the coward he is.”

Thomas scooted closer, his arm brushing against hers, “What’d he do?”

“Idiot didn’t realize he was too old to draft. So, instead of there even being a possibility of him going to war, he smashed his own knee cap. I’ll give him credit for the no hesitation.”

She took a steadying breath, “However, could you imagine what would happen if you’d done something similar? Everyone was already terrified of what would happen to them. So when word got out about what the Old Man did, other’s tried to do the same thing. Except, most people can’t just break their own knees, so they got drafted anyways. And for everyone else? They’d given up before they were even shipped out.”

“He’d rather cripple himself than go to war?”

Y/N nodded, “It’s why I’m here. Almost everyone who worked for my dad got drafted, but upper management was too old. I was the only one left to look out for them.”

“And that’s your job why?”

“I’m the Boss’s daughter, it’s always been me.”

He nodded, “So what’d you do with the letter?”

Y/N flashed him a grin, “Burned it. Got myself a bit while doing it though.”

“Oh you poor thing, if we make it through this will you marry me?” the question was out of his lips before he could stop himself.

Y/N raised her eyebrow, “Are we going around using that for every little inconvenience now?”

He shrugged defensively, “Maybe I just like to say it.”

Y/N barked with laughter, “Keep this up Shelby, and you’ll actually have to get me a ring.” He stared at her for a moment stunned. Had that been an actual ‘Yes’?

Thomas groaned, “Where the hell am I gonna find a ring in a war camp?”

“That’s up to you.”

“You’re the one that usually finds things,” he grumbled exasperated. 

She reached down and pulled something out of her pocket, “Here. This can be your ‘ring’.” 

He gazed at the cigarette case for a long moment before producing an almost matching lighter. The air had almost grown solemn, the whole world was holding its breath to see if either of them were brave enough.

With a reverence he didn’t even show Aunt Pol’s God, he placed the lighter in Y/N’s hand. And in return, the cold metal of the case slipped between his fingers. Something about the moment felt final, monumental almost. As if these two trinkets had actually been rings exchanged in a church.

“How is it that we even have the same taste in accessories?” Y/N joked, but he could have sworn her grip tightened around the lighter that was once his.

He tugged on his cap, “Dunno, I had mine made after my first job. At least the first one that went right.”

Y/N gasped in mock horror, “The great Thomas Shelby making mistakes?”

“That’s no way to talk to your husband.”

She curled over laughing.

#thomas shelby x reader #thomas shelby imagine #tommy shelby x reader #tommy shelby imagine #reader insert #peaky blinders imagine

[jadegrey711]

Hey there, Little Red Riding Hood

Kylo Ren x Rey

A/N: I decided to make a very late or very early Halloween treat for everyone and make another vampire Kylo Ren post. It’s pretty short and I’m not sure if I’m going to add on to it later on and make it a bit more smutty but I just love leaving my writing off on one-liners lmao. 

It’s not a continuation of my other one but one I got inspired for because of this picture from vivisketches on Instagram. If you haven’t seen her stuff yet I would highly recommend checking out her art cuz she is amazing. Most definitely part of the pantheon of Reylo goddesses who bless us with content!

Here’s the link to her Insta and the drawing she posted! 

Summary:

Kylo Ren a vampire decides to have fun this Halloween and enjoy the first full halloween moon in a few years and seduces Rey at a college party who’s dressed as little red riding hood.

If you like my stories you can check out my sideblog @jadegreywriting​ to see all of them and my masterlist without filtering through my main blog.

I own all rights to this story and do not give permission for my stories to be published, translated or reposted anywhere else. The only places I have published my stories is here on Tumblr and on my AO3 account (LadyAuthor711) 

Soundtrack 

1999- Prince 

Lil’ Red Riding Hood - Sam the Sham and the Pharohs

Magic Man - Heart 

This certainly wasn't his normal hunting grounds but it was halloween night and the moon was full and he was in the mood for some trouble. The vampire had chuckled when he’d chosen his costume and looked at himself in the mirror. He took in the sight of himself dressed in one of his old white shirts from another life, a pair of leather britches, black riding boots and to top it all off; a black cloak with a red silk lining. He chuckled to himself, truly a wolf in sheep’s clothing. This had to be the most dastardly plan he’d come up with, a true creature of the night walking amongst the humans who were playing pretend at being a monster only for a real monster to be walking amongst them tonight playing human. 

He was just walking and enjoying the night, enjoying the sounds of shrieks, screams and laughter of others enjoying the magic of the night. When he found himself at a college fraternity, they were having their own fun in the form of a halloween party, Kylo smiled to himself as he walked up the steps of the fraternity and immersed himself with the rest of the humans, officially on the hunt. 

***

Rey used to adore celebrating Halloween, obviously dressing up was her favorite part apart from gorging on candy that is. But recently with all her loads of classwork that she’s been doing and trying to finish up her bachelors’ she’s been too exhausted to even notice it was halloween. That is until her best friend and roommate Rose, ripped off her headphones and almost scared Rey half to death as she came face to face with a zombie bride. 

“Jesus!” Rey screeched as she clutched her hand to her chest.  “You scared me half to death Rose!” 

Rose just smiled and said. “Thank you! I worked really hard on this outfit and on Finn’s so I’m excited I actually got to scare someone with it!” She said excitedly. “But, where’s your costume? You’re not going as a zombie student are you?” 

“I’m not going as anything because I have to study.” 

“What! You have to go out tonight! It’s a full moon! On Halloween!” Rose said pointing outside Rey’s little window and saw the full moon blazing down at her and all the other girls and ghouls that were prowling the campus in search of candy and a good time. 

“Wow.” Rey said revertely as she stared up at that bright moon shining down on her. “How often does a full moon occur on Halloween?”

“Not very often so let’s go! Get up and out of that chair, turn off the laptop and let’s see if I have a costume for you.” 

Rey watched as Rose spirited to her closet and flung open the close doors to reveal her repertoire of costumes that she kept year round. I guess having a theater major as your roommate did come in handy sometimes. 

“Oh! What about this?” Rose asked as she pulled out a red riding hood costume, with corset and all. “It’s a classic costume, very sexy, and also helps keep out the cold later on in the night. Maybe when you have to do a walk of victory at the end of the night.” Rose chuckled. 

“It has a corset Rose!” 

“It’s not as bad as everyone always makes them out to be, they actually help with your posture and besides it’ll make your boobs look killer, take it from me.” Rose winked and just then Finn decided to come into the room in all his gory zombie groom state. 

“I know first hand that they do.” He chuckled as he fully came into the room and came up to Rose and gave her a chaste kiss so they wouldn't mess up each other’s makeup. 

Rose let out a satisfied little hum and threw the outfit at Rey. “No more fighting, we’re going to have so much fun tonight. And you need a break from studying, maybe you need to have some tall handsome stranger ring your bell to get you out of this study stupor you’ve been in all month. It’s like I’ve been living with an actual zombie!”

Rey just chuckled to herself and knew there was no fighting her bestfriend or the corset she’d just put in her lap. And instead she decided to get swept away in the magic of the night. 

**

Rey thought she wouldn’t have any fun at the halloween party that was happening at Finn’s fraternity, but all the fraternity guys seemed to be cool, played decent music and always kept her drink full. Rose had been right, this is exactly what Rey needed tonight. She needed to let loose for a night, dance and get drunk, although it looked like the handsome stranger bit wasn’t going to be happening tonight. Which she thought was a bit of a shame since she was definitely feeling herself in this corset; another thing Rose was right about and Rey would most definitely hear just how right Rose was in the morning. 

As Rey poured herself another drink, suddenly the song changed from the thumping beat of Prince’s 1999, to a slower song and definitely older song, Rey realised as she recognized the opening howl of Sam The Sham and the Pharoh’s Lil Red Riding Hood. And as she looked up from where she was pouring her next beer, her eyes locked onto a pair of dark alluring eyes from across the room. Rey felt transfixed to these dark eyes, that felt like they belonged to a predator and a part of her; a primal part confirmed her suspicions and demanded that she run as far and as fast she could. 

Rey tampered the voice in her mind and tried to calm her suddenly racing heart as she wretched her eyes away from the dark eyes that seemed to command her to him. Rey didn’t dare look back at the stranger lounging on the wall in the fear that she wouldn’t be able to look away next time. But, that awful sense of curiosity filled her, tempted her to look at the stranger again; but Rey knew what happened to that cat who let curiosity get the best of them. Rey decided after another swig of her beer that she’d take another look at him, that feeling of dread was just her imagination getting the better of her, the halloween night air filling her head with visions of dark strangers. 

However, when Rey looked back up to where the stranger was lounging on the back wall he was gone. Rey furrowed her eyebrows and looked around for the stranger but he was nowhere on the dance floor or anywhere near where he first was; maybe she had imagined him. 

Rey turned around to fill her beer again and bumped into a large chest and felt strong arms wrap around her, bracing her so she wouldn’t fall on her ass. When she looked up to thank her savior and apologize, she was struck with terror and awe as those dark eyes pierced her soul. 

“Hey there lil red riding hood.”

#reylo #vivisketches #rey x kylo ren #rey x kylo #halloween drabble #halloween reylo #reylo au #college reylo au #reylo is the waylo #vampire au #vampire! kylo ren #jade tries writing

[sepublic]

Starkiller Base was unnecessary

           Re-watching The Force Awakens, and… It’s occurred to me that, even more than I initially thought, Starkiller Base is a genuinely useless, pointless part of the plot that’s just shoehorned in for the sake of arbitrarily raising the stakes, in a blind attempt to redo the Original Trilogy while one-upping it at the same time; Taking pot shots at the original Death Star’s ‘absurdity’ to try to make Starkiller Base’s destruction feel more ‘involved’ and ‘sensible’ with having an inside job to sabotage and blow up key components, yadda-yadda; Almost feels like the writers are punching down at the Original Trilogy in a vain attempt to look more clever and ‘self-aware’, without considering how reckless power-scaling doesn’t work (Which we see once more and somehow even worse in The Rise of Skywalker).

           The thing about why the Death Star works is like… It’s relevant. It has build-up. We’re introduced to it from the start, the entire story revolves around destroying it; R2-D2 is important because he has plans to the Death Star, Vader is seen chasing Leia because she had those plans. It all comes around to and circles back to the Death Star, we have a sense of what it is from the start, there’s build-up. You NEED the planet-killing machine for the climax of A New Hope, because the only reason to go there is because, surprise- The Death Star IS there, it just arrived right besides Yavin IV!

           But Starkiller Base… When you watch the movie, it just pops in out of nowhere, amidst the pre-established plot threads. Without any prior context or build-up, we’re just suddenly treated to a shot of this huge, mechanized planet, and then Hux almost casually drops that the ‘superweapon’ is ready, and then suddenly it’s firing and blows up the Hosnian System. The Death Star is justifiable because it’s the first of its kind, Starkiller Base is the third. In canon and Legends, there’s a lot of side-material going into the sheer enormity and horror of the Death Star, the amount of manpower it takes to construct such a thing, its formation is treated with gravitas; And yet something WAY bigger and more advanced comes out of nowhere, from a group even less powerful than the Empire?!

           Again, you need the Death Star, it’s why the rebels are being chased, it’s why Leia was captured, it’s why R2-D2 meets Luke and then Obi-Wan, bringing up the Rebel journey; It’s why Luke’s aunt and uncle die, it’s why there’s no Alderaan and instead the Death Star itself to capture the protagonists when they arrive there. But Starkiller Base is pointless- The plot is about BB-8 because he has the map to Luke Skywalker, it’s about finding Luke through BB-8. Starkiller Base is just so casually dropped for something that should be so much bigger than the Death Star in the narrative… And likewise, we don’t need it for anything.

           Is it to prove to Finn that the First Order is dangerous, that he can’t just ignore its destruction? The thing is, he already has Rey’s capture to motivate his participation. Starkiller Base could not fire, but Finn would still help the Resistance infiltrate, because Rey would still be captured. It’s not needed for Poe and the Resistance to arrive on Takodana, because they came for BB-8 after getting that message, the Hosnian Cataclysm totally unrelated. You could argue it gives the Resistance an excuse to fight back against the First Order in the film’s climax… But that does not justify creating another superweapon, much less one as implausible and redundant as Starkiller Base.

           Like, maybe the writers wanted to REALLY return to the status quo, so having the New Republic be devastated was a requirement… But was it really? Just have the New Republic continue to be ineffectual, it’s even a plot-point in side material that its military is embarrassingly small; So just say the Resistance IS the full extent of that military! You still get an underdog situation. And again, if you really want to forcibly cut off any support for the Resistance… You don’t need a giant superweapon to one-up the Death Star. Just have the First Order demonstrate its traditional military power, by having a fleet invade the New Republic’s capital, unexpected, able to waltz in because everyone is so incompetently lax about these rising fascists; And with recent real-life events, it only makes more disturbing sense.

          Instead of getting a pointless superweapon, have a bunch of Star Destroyers attack Hosnian Prime and take it over, show a montage of destruction and civilian death, etc. This still establishes the danger of the First Order and how it’s quickly decapitated the New Republic and left it in shambles, setting the stage for the underdog conflict; But you don’t have to rely on something as absurdly over-the-top as Starkiller Base, which has no build-up to its unprecedented firepower besides “Oh yeah this exists” and then watching it fire and finding out firsthand.

          The death of trillions with the Hosnian System is senseless violence both in-universe and from a narrative, writing perspective… And again, this arguably establishes the First Order as a threat better, because they don’t need to rely on a superweapon; And even after The Force Awakens ends, the audience still knows that they have access to an entire fleet… Whereas with Starkiller Base, that threat is lost by the end of the film and thus made redundant. The scene could become even more disturbing if we straight-up see some civilians on Hosnian Prime welcome the First Order, adding additional world building that helps explain why the First Order was able to develop, how it got support- And again, being topical to what happens today. It connects with canon lore about the First Order’s supporters in other worlds (such as Coruscant), and could even be a callback to liberty dying with thunderous applause in Revenge of the Sith! We could still have the people on Takodana react in horror, through the Holonet’s broadcasting of the coup.

           Of course, this is Star Wars- And what’s more iconic than thrilling space battles and trench runs? Sometimes you want sci-fi fun and stuff for the sake of it, nothing wrong with that, that’s always important too… But again, you don’t need a giant super-laser to have that. Just make up something else; Like Starkiller Base is the planet that the First Order has taken over. Perhaps they intend to launch a bunch of new Star Destroyers, or are about to finish production of a whole new batch, which would make things even worse. Instead of destroying a superweapon, you could have the Resistance crippling the factories that finish these Star Destroyers- There’s your trench run! Have them blow up a power plant that’s running the factories, instead of a thermal oscillator. There’s still a victory at the end, and while the threat is far from over, time has been bought- And it makes the First Order’s immediate retaliation in the next film more sensible, adds to the idea that every second, every bit of progress helps, you gotta take what you need… Even an extra day to prepare and evacuate is a miracle that furthers the underdog motif.

           Plus, with a batch of Star Destroyers that need to be stopped- There’s still the need to rescue Rey. The Resistance still needs to cause damage at the First Order’s base, and Finn is still needed to infiltrate and lower the shields, while taking advantage of this operation for himself and Rey. Most importantly, you don’t get a contrived superweapon that only adds to the bland, carbon-copy standard of the Sequel Trilogy; And perhaps best of all, we don’t have to see Ilum retroactively bastardized and destroyed, with Starkiller Base’s identity revealed AFTER we see it get blown up… The legacy of the Jedi and its history is not further destroyed with the loss of this sacred planet of kyber crystals.

          And that’s better, because this trilogy about passing the torch, seems as insistent as Kyle Ron, the villain, on interpreting this theme as utterly wiping out all traces of the past, and leaving nothing for the next generation to work with. Which, I’m not surprised at a corporation thoughtlessly razing and salting the earth in selfish disregard for those who will need and use it afterwards, but still. And while a star that burns brighter than most thanks to its heart of Kyber IS a neat concept that could be worked with, especially with what Chirrut Imwe says, in addition to the motifs of flames of rebirth and the Phoenix… It’s not something that justifies the further eradication of Jedi history and effort on a level that even the Empire didn’t go, just to arbitrarily raise stakes with yet another uninspired superweapon.

           Like, the Duel of the Fates script and its concept of a device that blocks off all inter-galactic communication is MUCH more interesting, clever, and innovative than the Death Star Lite, and it hits closer to home in this age of internet and mass communication; In contrast to the Death Star, which fit more in its time as a criticism of the stockpiling and development of nukes, and how that tapped into the public’s fear at the time of nuclear Armageddon. And a device blocking off intergalactic communication provides good reason for why the Resistance doesn’t have the full might of the New Republic behind them, because they can’t even communicate to collaborate, and it adds to that idea of people made to feel ‘alone’ or whatever and thus isolated, so they can’t band together and rise up. That adds to Rey feeling alone, and makes Poe and Zorii’s discussion at the end of the trilogy that much more meaningful… Not that the Sequel Trilogy was planned to consider the latter, of course.

           (Actually, I wonder if it’s possible to cut Starkiller Base’s superweapon scenes from the film. Like a cut where any references to its superweapon, and the scene where it fires, is cut out; I think the film might still work that way.)

#star wars #the force awakens #sequel trilogy #starkiller base #ilum #meta

[tthael]

I really admire so many things about your writing - the introspection and deep meaning, the realistic and sensitive way that you handle topics. Do you have any recs for fav media/books/tv shows/fanfics ? I guess I'm curious if there are any you think might have similar qualities/themes?

This is a tough one because basically everything I consume gets picked apart and reused in some way. However, I’ll give it a shot:

The Book Thief and I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. There’s quite a lot I like about Zusak’s use of language and have since 2007 when I read The Book Thief for the first time, and there’s something very cinematic and magical about I Am the Messenger (particularly in the chapter with the young track runner).

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. He’s most commonly known for Cloud Atlas, but he has an ongoing theme of vampires and cannibalism reappearing in his work (I just read Slade House for the first time while I was in quarantine) and there’s something deeply satisfying about the way that all of the disparate pieces come to fruition at the climax of The Bone Clocks. Not a perfect book, but deeply satisfying.

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. Again, she’s most commonly known for The Poisonwood Bible, but I liked that well enough to read The Lacuna in 2013, and I completely hated it for the first half of the book until finally something clicked in my brain and I activated the literary critic within, who doesn’t care so much about whether they enjoy something and more cares about how well something is done. The description of US American rationing during World War II really got me onto the novel’s side, if that makes sense; and I do love a good family epic, and while this only focuses on one protagonist instead of generations of them, it’s interesting in a similar way to The Bone Clocks where you see everything start to snowball together.

Literally anything by Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher. I particularly recommend The Raven and The Reindeer, which I read shortly after being diagnosed with my chronic illness and really helped me to understand the irrelevance of shame. There’s something very satisfying about saying “a reindeer doesn’t care if it smells bad, so I’m going to lean into that particular apathy and not allow a bully to take me down over it.” Something comforting about taking shelter in the animal and in survival, when you and your body are in one place and working on the same side, and it’s your brain that’s ready to give up first but your body will keep dragging you through because that’s what it does. Certain lines in Indelicate were inspired by her adaptation of Tam Lin in Jackalope Wives and other Stories (https://www.amazon.com/Jackalope-Wives-Other-Stories-Kingfisher-ebook/dp/B071946RLN). Lots of her short stories are available at this link for free: http://www.redwombatstudio.com/portfolio/writing/short-stories/

TV’s a little harder to unpack, since I don’t always think in terms of visual media, I tend to default to words first. Recently I’ve been enjoying New Amsterdam on NBC--it’s nice to see the radical socialist doctor doing his damnedest to secure the right thing--and Call the Midwife--similar reasons. There’s a lot about meeting someone where they are in both shows that I appreciate.

There’s also a lot of music that inspires my writing so I’ll have to dedicate a post specifically to that in my methods and materials.

Fanfic, though! Lots of my favorites, lots of genres. Here we go:

we are all stardust by synergenic (Losseflame) (https://archiveofourown.org/works/5682496) Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, pairing Finn/Poe Dameron. Sexually explicit, but also leans a lot into physicality. You can probably see the influence on the very first chapter of Indelicate when Eddie’s waking up in pain and Richie’s at his bedside. It’s very much inspired by a similar sickbed scene here.

If They Haven’t Learned Your Name by silentwalrus (https://archiveofourown.org/works/6329503) Captain America/Marvel Cinematic Universe Steve Rogers/James “Bucky” Barnes. The holy grail of Steve/Bucky fanfiction. If you want independent character exploration, this is the place to go. Natasha shaving her head? Yes. Sam pleading with Steve to keep his shit together while thirty Koren grandmothers assume they are American celebrities? Yes. Bucky defiantly hunting down his sense of self while bingeing romance novels in a space ship? Yes. Pay particular attention to the Sam chapters, because they’re a beautiful way of defining Steve’s characterization from an outside perspective, and I’m trying to do the same with Eddie looking at Richie in Indelicate.

An Ever-Fixed Mark by AMarguerite (https://archiveofourown.org/works/8523001) Pride & Prejudice (Jane Austen) Elizabeth Bennet/Colonel Fitzwilliam, Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy. Soulmark AU. This is one of my longtime favorite fanfictions and what it taught me was cause and effect. The characters move the plot forward based on their assumptions and decisions. Definitely very helpful when I was writing TTHAEL by the seat of my pants.

You Can Keep Holding On by NorthernSparrow (https://archiveofourown.org/works/7233709) Supernatural Dean Winchester/Castiel. Sexually explicit. A lot of the summary I can give here is spoilers, but if you read this one through, you’ll be able to see the inspiration for the “Can you tell me where I can get another Eddie Kaspbrak?” scene in Indelicate.

Work of All Saints by antistar_e (kaikamahine) (https://archiveofourown.org/works/15006644) Coco (2017) Imelda Rivera/Héctor Rivera/Ernesto de la Cruz. Sexually mature. Oh my GOD this is a beautiful coming-of-age story set in turn-of-the-century Oaxaca, this is the best complete expansion of canon that I’ve ever seen; the author takes the pieces and runs with them and it is WONDERFUL.

Lycanthropic Studies by Eiiri (https://archiveofourown.org/series/575263) Harry Potter, Remus Lupin/Sirius Black canon-divergence AU. I very much enjoy the meditation on lycanthropy as a chronic illness and I sometimes reread this for comfort. Particularly early on Remus has a rant about how he’s sick and he’s always sick and his life doesn’t stop for it, despite holidays and birthdays he still has to deal with the consequences of his illness and take the devastating medication, and there’s a lot about that that speaks to me. I haven’t kept up with the series for some time, though.

Careful Truths by SassySnowperson (https://archiveofourown.org/works/12111966) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Bodhi Rook/Luke Skywalker canon-divergence AU. Sexually explicit. Honestly identity p!rn fics are a good inspiration for that third-person limited perspective I’ve been working on in Indelicate. Also I love love LOVE Bodhi Rook. It’s fun watching him run in circles trying to conceal his identity from Luke while completely oblivious to Luke doing exactly the same thing.

Stammtisch by chaya (https://archiveofourown.org/works/15060152) Critical Role: Season 2, Caleb Widogast/Mollymauk Tealeaf, AU. Sexually explicit. Long before Caleb actually leveled up enough to cast Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion, chaya speculated about what kind of spaces he might create for each of his friends. I think it’s a very good resource for really condensing characterization down into lots of images and concepts and deciding what other characters know about them. The idea of making space for someone else is something that I lean into a lot when I write Ben, who’s the kind of man who will set himself on fire to keep those he loves warm, and even though Critical Role has far more material than even IT for determining characterization, and even though this particular moment has already occurred in canon--it’s just a wonderful homey story, and has the kind of found family vibes I like for the Losers as well.

I know that’s a lot to unpack there, but all of those fics are very good and I recommend reading any assortment that appeals to you. (Work of All Saints in particular you don’t have to be familiar with the source material beyond the basic premise; it stands on its own.) Thank you for asking, and thank you for reading!

#nocturnalpinkcat #my fic #indelicate #now what i'm gonna say may sound indelicate #nwigsmsi #things that happen after eddie lives #tthael #fic recs #book recs

[marmolita]

dear tumblr, I cannot keep up with as many fandom social media outlets as there are right now, so I keep falling behind on tumblr, but since I am here now here are my thoughts on this trade deadline monday! which you probably don't care about but too bad you're following me and you get them anyway!

Stars collecting more Finns? Specifically Vatanen who was last season's Canes deadline pickup and was a beast in playoffs? Yeah I'm cool with that.

I was gonna joke about him being a dad friend except first off he's only 29 and second Esa is already somehow the dad even though he's only a year older than Kivi and two years older than Roope

Apparently Miro showed up to watch Roope's instagram live today and dropped some eyes emojis in the chat and I need more content guys pls

Canes trades, also fine by me I think. Fleury was fine but I wasn't super attached to him. I enjoy the fact that they were like "hey we keep getting stomped in playoffs because we don't have a big tough guy to muscle everyone out of the way so Aho et al can do their thing" so they went out and got a big tough guy to muscle people out of the way and create space. Good move, Canes.

Taylor/Tyler full circle completion. I hope Taylor brings his curse to the Bruins because if the Bruins end up in the cup final and it happens to be against the Canes (wacky that that could occur this year, but it could!), and the Bruins win, I might ragequit all of hockey

I guess some big names got moved around in other teams! but I gotta be honest I don't really care

okay wait I guess there's one I kind of care about and that's Nick Foligno becoming part of the Maple Leafs dad collection....or is it the Mitch Marner dad collection?

and yeah okay I guess I care about Matthew Tkachuk losing his buddies

Avs made a lot of moves but I honestly haven't even been following them this season. They never play my other teams and west division games are all on when I'm going to sleep. Shrug. I'll care when we're in the playoffs.

Tyler maybe coming back in two weeks???????????? /insert a hundred eyes emojis

JASON ROBERTSON FOR CALDER

I hope Dylan Larkin welcomes the new guys to the Wings in the sluttiest possible way

this meme post kills me because it's true

Miro and Roope been looking GOOD in the stars miscellaneous photos as seen here

the smut4smut deadline has passed and I filled my two assignments but I'm still working on a treat for one of my recips and I want to finish it in time but WHAT IF I DON'T, alas, it's half the omegaverse tripping me up and half the playoff timeline

#lita talks about herself #lita watches hockey

[livlepretre]

Okay I just had a passing thought about how Hope is basically a werewolf who can do magic (I’ve never seen legacies so idk how the vampire thing factors into that), but I know why you can’t be a vampire hybrid without something like doppelgänger blood allowing you to bend the rules, but why can’t you be a werewolf/ witch? Maybe it is just never mentioned in canon, but Hope is portrayed to be special because of this, so idk. In the Originals season 2, the whole focus was that Mikaelson witches are like Uber powerful (even though it was always my understanding that Esther was literally leeching off the Bennett line for her extra power), but the magic gene doesn’t seem that strong in the Mikaelson family. I always thought Klaus didn’t have magic growing up because he was a werewolf (that would make sense), but then to my knowledge, Rebekah and Elijah also didn’t have powers. I think Kol is the only one who actually practiced in canon during their human lives, so I can’t figure out why Klaus’s child would be a witch, an extremely powerful one at that. What are your thoughts on the whole werewolf/witch hybrid thing? Do you think they exist and we just never see them? Maybe they have magic until they trigger the curse? Maybe you are born one or the other? It honestly confuses be tbh, and I think the whole super powerful tribrid concept was a weird and illogical choice for Julie Plec to make.

It’s definitely a weird and illogical choice that, like most of JPlec’s choices, appeared to just be thrown in to stir the pot. However, glutton for torment that I am, I have tried to make it make sense-- or at least enough sense that I can incorporate some salient ideas into my world-building. 

I think your supposition that you can be a witch who carries the werewolf gene but triggering the werewolf gene would nullify your witch powers is probably correct. 

The whole big driving world-building thing in TVD is this idea that Nature has a Balance, and that the Witches are attuned to this Balance and pretty much take it upon themselves as Servants of Nature to maintain the Balance. If we simply think of Nature as the big mystical energy source that drives the universe, then we can imagine that the witches draw their power from this well-source and that’s why they’re beholden to maintaining it; we’ve seen in the show that while there are Unnatural magics, like Expression, practicing these magics comes at a terrible cost. The only way to practice magic in any way safely is to practice Spirit magic, which plays into the cycle of life/death and borrows from Nature. As far as I can tell, witches are either 1) the only Naturally occurring supernatural or 2) there’s some ancient coven that figured out how to tap into the power and witches are all descended from that “founder” group. Anyway. 

It’s clear why one can’t be a vampire or a werewolf at the same time, or a vampire and a witch at the same time, or any other kind of supernatural; vampires seem to be the most Unnatural of creatures-- neither truly living nor truly dead, forced to subsist on the blood of the living to survive, the result of a horrifying curse laid using human sacrifice and if you think about it also the ritual sacrifice of all five of the caster’s children the result of a “protection spell,” ie not something that could ever occur without outside intercession. So, vampires are Unnatural, can’t tip the scales further. 

What about werewolves? All we really know is that lycanthropy is genetic and passed down exclusively through the father’s bloodline. Honestly I always assumed it’s a curse as well, and also a pretty bone-chilling one considering the torture the inflicted must endure each month, though not quite as abomination-level as vampirism since at least it doesn’t hijack the victim out of the cycle of life and death... although the hereditary nature of the curse is far-reaching and pretty terrible (it’s just so weird and specific, it must be a curse??? Like, Remus, I curse thee and all of thy descendants of thy body through the male line! it feels like the kind of conditions that would have been laid in a very patriarchal world). So, if it’s a curse, then that makes sense that one can be a witch until and unless the curse is activated. This would also be something that would cause an Unnatural state since werewolves are themselves inherent Unnatural creatures.

As with vampirism, though, the show seemed to backpedal on whether it was like a fate worse than death or actually awesome to be a werewolf, and therefore whether it’s a curse or just Something that Evolved and is therefore a Natural creature. I vote Unnatural and cursed, but that’s just how I view it. 

If a werewolf is an Unnatural creature, then triggering the curse is analogous to becoming a vampire, and it would nullify any previous supernatural affiliation. Now that I think about it, that would make sense for why a witch can be turned into a vampire, but a werewolf (previously) couldn’t-- if you’re a witch, you’re a Natural creature just living your life. If you’re a werewolf or a vampire, you’re a victim to a curse. You can fall victim to a curse, but a cursed creature can’t transition to being another type of cursed creature without something like doppelganger blood to change the rules up. 

As for the Mikaelson children and their powers: so, we see in the Originals that Kol practiced, and we have to assume that Finn knew what was up because he was able to practice effectively when he was possessing that witch. I’ve always headcanoned that all of the children had the ability, but Esther only ever expected for Rebekah, her sole remaining daughter, to follow in her tracks. I can imagine Finn and Kol having an interest which is why they picked up more, whereas Elijah, apple of his father’s eye, had no interest and did not pursue it, and Klaus was too busy struggling under various middle child syndrome issues/Mikael inflicted psychological pressures to do something so feminine-coded as learn magic. The funny thing is I doubt Rebekah paid very much attention to her mother’s instruction or got very far into the craft because I bet she was too busy daydreaming. 

I don’t entirely understand the tribrid thing myself. I think what it comes down to is: she’s a witch with the werewolf gene, which I know gets triggered, but from what others have told me, it probably means that if she dies, she just automatically revives as a vampire-werewolf-witch. What I don’t understand is why Klaus is not a tribrid by the same standards. Does he have a recessive gene? Does Hayley also have a recessive gene? Does Klaus just not bother learning witch craft because he’s like that? Infinite questions with infinite answers. 

#anonymous #tvd #the originals #tvd meta

[theloneliestshipper]

Boba/Leia AUs

Something like...oh four years ago I invited people to send me prompts based on a trope or an AU idea and I wrote various Boba/Leia scenes based on the prompts. I have reopened that collection for requests because they are a heckin’ fun writing exercise and so I’m kicking off Round 2 with a request by @nyelung for a Vampire AU.

AO3 Link

Vampire AU

Rated T

It’s dusk when Leia leaves her room, lamp in hand. With the curtains parted there is still enough light to see by, but in all common areas of the house the drapery is drawn tight. The master of the house suffers terrible headaches from light and so prefers shadows and gloom.

It’s a good story. She believed it once.

She slips quietly into Rey’s room first and tucks the blankets in around the sleeping girl. She never thought being a governess would suit her, especially after her uncle thwarted her true ambitions, but she has grown genuinely fond of Rey. She’s an orphan, as Leia is, both with solitary men as their guardians. She has her uncle and Rey has Mr. Fett, who took her in after both of her parents were slain in their beds by an unknown assailant.

The people of Mossbrook praise his kindness but all admit he’s a strange man. A handsome man, who apart from his headaches, gives every appearance of vigor. Yet he seeks no wife or companion. The only visitors to his manor house are the staff, who do not live on the premises and his attorney, who often brings along his son Finn along to play with Rey.

When Leia took the position, his instructions were explicit that Rey should not fall into his isolated patterns. “She must have an education and friends. She is an active child and she should be outside as often as the weather allows.”

This suits Leia well, as she was an active child herself. She takes Rey beyond the garden walls and they roam the woods. They climb rocks and wade into streams. They come home with muddy hems, hair askew and no one aside from the laundress looks askance. Every morning and evening Leia brings Rey to Mr. Fett’s study, a dire, windowless room she feels certain was meant to be a pantry. Rey doesn’t mind the stuffy atmosphere. She reports happily on their plans or activities and then wishes her guardian good night or good morning.

Sometimes she confuses the phrases, wishing him a good morning at night and a good night at morning, but he never corrects her. He responds in kind no matter what she says.

Leia would be more inclined to believe him to be a kind man if he were a man at all.

She suspects that he is not.

From Rey’s room she turns down the hall. His bedchamber is at the very back of the house. The lamp quivers a little in her hand but she keeps on, determined to persist. Perhaps if she were just a woman avoiding the title of “spinster” by seeking employment she would be content with her pay and the roof over her head. Perhaps she would not notice that she has never seen Mr. Fett eat or drink, and that he rides out at night and does not return for hours.

She has begun to track these occurrences. While Rey is at her music lesson in the village she reads the paper and takes note of any events within a certain distance. Disappearances. Deaths. People and animals found drained of blood. Strange markings found on the throats of people who don’t remember how they occurred.

The door creaks as she pushes it open. It’s a large room, well decorated, with a four poster bed. A fortnight ago she tucked a copper coin in the bedding, carefully concealed in a place where it would be easily dislodged by anyone using or making the bed.

She sets her lamp on the nightstand and feels for the crease in the brocade coverlet. The coin is still there, just where she left it.

There is a certain humor in the fact that Uncle Ben refused to train her in the ways of her ancestors, a long line of Skywalker monster hunters. It’s no life for a young woman, he told her emphatically. I cannot lose you as I lost your father. So she took a posting as a governess instead and now finds herself in the lair of a vampire.

He’ll have a coffin somewhere. That’s his true bed.

Her heart pounds as she looks down at the coin in her hand. If she slays this unholy being, her uncle will have no choice but to see her destiny.

“Miss Skywalker?”

She reacts on pure instinct and adrenaline, dropping the coin to the floor and reaching into the pocket of her skirts. Fett is behind her and then in front of her and then sprawled out on his bed with Leia on top of him and a sharp-tipped wooden stake poised over his chest.

She whittled it herself in the woods while waiting for Rey to climb down from the top of a tall fir tree.

The attack might have taken him by surprise, but once his eyes fall on the stake the transformation is instantaneous. Dark eyes heat to a glowing gold, like an ember in a smithy’s fire and sharp fangs emerge from his parted lips. “I knew you were clever,” he says. “It almost seems a shame to undo all of your hard work.”

“You can’t mesmerize me.” With her free hand she opens the hook that closes her bodice at the neck. Her hands are shaking and two more hooks pull free. Why should she care if he can see the top of her corset and chemise? The important part is the birthmark just below her clavicle. The same mark her father had.

“A trueborn hunter,” he says in a measured tone. “Remarkable.”

“I am Leia Skywalker, the daughter of Anakin Skywalker, slayer of demons. And today you will meet your end.”

“You appear to have me at a disadvantage,” he acknowledges. “But your mark only protects you from enchantment. At any point I could throw you into that wall and bury my teeth in your throat, but I have not.”

She would laugh if she weren’t still breathless. “You claim to have spared me while I hold a stake to your chest?”

“Aside from this unfortunate incident, you have been an exemplary caretaker. I would prefer not to deprive Rey of your company.”

“You have no heart or soul. How can you claim to care for a human child?”

“And yet, I have cared for a human child since the day she was orphaned. Her relatives abandoned her. The people of the village said she was cursed to madness because she witnessed her parents’ murder. I took her in and made her my heir.” A smile curls his mouth, baring more of his deadly teeth. “I also found the man who killed her parents. The blood of killers in a fine vintage, Miss Skywalker.”

“Do not speak my name, you monster.”

“What should I call the woman who has me in such a compromising position?” His hands move to her hips, a touch she can feel even through her bunched skirts. “Perhaps you would prefer ‘wife.’”

“How dare you.” She presses the stake into his shirt, her face flushed hot.

“Consider this, little hunter. Rey cannot legally inherit my estate until she comes of age. Kill me now and she will once again lose her home and security. If you can abandon her to that fate, you are the monster, not I.”

“First you question my honor and then you play on it.”

“I do not play with my daughter’s future, Miss Skywalker. You know the truth about me now. If you marry me you will have control of my estate and can therefore protect her.”

“This is only an appealing case for being your widow.”

“If you marry a dead man, what else are you? You may try to stake me again as often as you wish. I would not deny you the opportunity to hone your skills.” His tongue briefly appears, running along the edge of his fangs. “But in the future you should expect me to defend myself.”

Her breath catches in her throat. She should drive the pointed tip into his undead flesh. He’s a wretched, unnatural being who only feels warm and solid beneath her because he drinks the blood of other human beings. But she cannot argue with his logic. If she slays him Rey will be orphaned for the second time in her young life. And if she marries him-

No. It’s madness to even consider it.

Fett drops his hands to the bed and pushes himself up with no regard for the stake she still holds loosely in her hand. Their faces are inches apart and his eyes are still glowing with the fire of the immortal. “If it is monsters you want to hunt, I can help you find them.” One hand rises to touch her cheek and then lingers at her throat, caressing her skin just over her hammering pulse. “There are many in this part of the world, some human and some not. People want them gone, so badly that they will pay handsomely for their disposal. Marry me, and we will hunt them together.”

#boba fett/princess leia #rebelbounty #random au #vampire au #my fic #boba fett #leia organa #rey #really went back and forth about who was going to be undead #but couldn't pass up Boba with fangs

[unexpectedreylo]

Yes, It’s Been Half A Decade Since TFA Was Released

Five years already?  Geez!

If you’ve been following my humble Tumblr blog since the beginning, you’ll know I was not truly a Reylo until I saw TLJ.  Before then, I was dealing with a movie that left me with a lot of mixed feelings.  Why?  I missed George Lucas for one thing.  He has an indelible style that few can match and few really cared about that universe and its characters as much as he did.  I was very unhappy to hear a month before TFA’s release that Disney tossed out his story and came up with something he didn’t really like very much (as later confirmed in Bob Iger’s memoir).  As a long-suffering prequels fan I didn’t like either the vaguely anti-prequel tone the pre-release hype took.  Whatever you do in life, don’t disrespect the man who created the GFFA. 

The post-release hype probably annoyed me even more.  Remember the doofuses screeching on t.v. that it was the best SW movie since TESB?  LOL.  (No, that would be ROTS and the only thing that came close since was TLJ.)  I hated that a movie I felt was flawed not only got passes from the media that really trashed Lucas and everybody who worked on the prequels, but also got lavish Best 10 lists and award nominations.  I was one bitter chickie for a while and later got a good laugh out of the backlash.

I thought it would be funny to post what I thought at the time, with added commentary:

Oh yes, the movie. My mother called it…it’s good, we all enjoyed it and were entertained, but Lucas’s touch is definitely missing. The romantic epic sweep of Eps I-VI, the goofy and whimsical touches, the feeling of being immersed in another galaxy, and Lucas’s gift for aesthetics aren’t there. The visuals don’t have that beauty and some of it is kinda ugly. The creature designs just aren’t as good. It’s not the kind of movie you watch dozens of times to catch little things. Even John Williams doesn’t have a knockout track like “Duel of the Fates” or “The Imperial March.” But it’s hard to think of how this was ever going to live up to any of it any more than I’d expect Suzanne Collins to write a Narnia book as good as C.S. Lewis. We lost those things when we lost Lucas.

I like the visuals a lot more now but TLJ’s cinematography rules the ST.  Still feel the same about creature design; I see better aliens and creatures on The Mandalorian.  One weird thing about the ST is how the filmmakers seemed to have avoided putting in anything at all that we’ve seen before.  No Jawas, no Togrutas, no Twi’leks, no Zabraks, no Quarren, etc.. Just Chewbacca and Admiral Ackbar.

The music didn't leave much an impression on me at the time but now I love “Rey’s Theme,” “Kylo Ren’s Theme,” and “March of the Resistance.”

As long as we’re on that note, I’ll get to the film’s flaws first. The movie has a lot of snappy, arch, and funny dialogue but you can tell the script was cranked out in a hurry. It lacks the careful structure of its predecessors and cribs a little too much from ANH. Poe disappears and you are led to believe he’s dead then he suddenly shows up healthy and hale with no explanation. Abrams’s first Star Trek film was riddled with unbelievable coincidences and unfortunately this movie has some of those too, such as when Han and Chewie just happen upon the Falcon in space. The film does very little to set up what’s going on and why, such as why the hell is the Republic fighting the same a-holes after all of these years. Abrams prefers instead to keep the action going instead of doing much exposition, which is pretty much what he did with the Trek films. Those little moments in Lucas’s Star Wars films don’t happen much here. Things must always be occurring, which dumps all of the responsibility for character development and world building on Rian Johnson and Colin Trevorrow. I have no idea why they decided to be all teasy-weasy with who Rey’s parents are instead of just telling us. (I suspect Luke is her father.)

LOL!   I guess the adoption by proxy thing at the very end of TROS proved me right or...did it?  Yes, my first assumption after seeing TFA was that Rey and Kylo Ren were cousins.

As for the rest of it, I still feel the same.  Rushed script, borrows too much from ANH, precious few explanations/set-up, not as good structure but still full of humor.

BB-8 is a charmer, Finn and Rey (who are so going to hook up) HA!  But remember I thought Rey and Kylo were cousins! have some charm and potential growth as characters, and it was great seeing our old crew again even if not under ideal circumstances. (Personally I would’ve preferred NOT to have broken up Han and Leia.) Hux had some mustache-twirling moments and Abrams was at least smart enough not to kill off him, Ren, or Snoke just yet. Finn and Poe have a good rapport (maybe they’re going to hook up).

Stormpilot definitely pinged the slash-dar.  It was completely unsurprising to find fans shipping them.

Abrams seemed to have avoided the mistake James Cameron made in “Avatar” when he killed off his most threatening villain while planning sequels. As you might have guessed, I was really shocked at Snoke’s death in TLJ.  I wasn’t expecting that until IX.  I was also really shocked at the casual, quick-get-rid-of-him ways both Hux and Ben were killed off in TROS.

The most compelling aspect of TFA for me was the Skywalker family drama, which made me wish it was more up front rather than a subplot. Ben Solo/Kylo Ren is a conflicted guy with a huge chip on his shoulder and it makes you wonder exactly what happened to him because I think he may have mental issues. Leia knows there’s still good in him but can a guy who commits patricide be saved? (RIP Han…I so knew this would happen because I figure it was the only way Ford would’ve done another film). Can his cousin/half-sister or whatever Rey save him? Would she want to? With Luke back in the picture and Artoo activated again, what will happen next? Even though they split up Han and Leia I liked the banter between them; it’s sad because they clearly still loved each other.

This is still true for me.  A few days after posting this it struck me just how nihilistic TFA was because I found Han and Leia’s split unnecessary (had Han gone out for Chinese food or on a mission for the Resistance instead of just being a loser smuggler, it wouldn’t have changed anything that happened in the film) and what I thought was Kylo’s certain fate to be a narrative bummer.  TLJ made me think they weren’t going on that direction only to be proven right in TROS (sadly).

I’ll dispense with the stupid Snoke is Plageuis theory and my dad wondering if Finn was Mace Windu’s lost son or something, though I’ll give him half a point for Finn turning out to be Force-sensitive after all.

I don’t know why people have said this takes them back to the ’70s because the film really is a 2015 movie made for an audience reared largely on the MCU, YA flicks, and other staples of contemporary geek culture. It is what it is and we aren’t going to get back the films of George Lucas and his influence. TFA might not be an awesome Star Wars movie but it is at least a good sci-fi action flick.

I still stand by most of this.  Time and TLJ made TFA a better movie in my eyes.

#tfa #star wars #sequel trilogy #reylo #kylo ren #ben solo #rey #jj abrams

[mnemehoshiko]

STAR WARS INTO DARKNESS

A (Salt) Review of Star Wars Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker.

Warning 1: All opinions are mine and no one (sadly) paid me for them.

Warning 2: I’m going to strive to be charitable as possible. Keyword, STRIVE.

It finally came. The conclusion to the Skywalker Saga, a nine film series starting with Shmi Skywalker and her lineage. 

When we left the The Last Jedi; Finn was tenderly checking up on Rose who endangered her life to save him. Steadily finding his place in the Resistance and deciding that it was a cause worth fighting for. Ben Solo, also known to the galaxy as Kylo Ren, has just killed his life long abuser but failed to relinquish himself from the ties of the past. Rey was dealing with detaching herself from the idea that she needed to Be Someone in Order to Do Something only to realise that she, a nobody, was good enough. As Leia Organa said, we have all we need.

Cool right?

Yeah, just forget that movie. Actually, just forget like any development that occurred over the last two movies. Furthermore, turn your brain off. No, really please remove any kind of higher cognitive function and any knowledge of Star Wars beyond “pew, pew, pew” and “wOOO”. That’s literally the only way to truly enjoy this film.

This movie is a quest. A long big-budget multi-step fetch quest. Fetch quests are a common part of RPGs and can be enjoyable! Add to the narrative! Interactive. A movie that is nothing but fetch quest after fetch quest to the point that honestly, the first two thirds of the movie could have been dropped because it was so distressingly nonsensical. 

Loose summary; 

Ben Solo is on a planet. Being very very lorge and murking people left and right. Why? Because reasons. That this planet happens to be Mustafar and that he’s killing Vader Cultists evidently is not considered relevant. Even though Ben Solo introduction in TFA, which JJ wrote (with the assistance of Kasdan and Arndt), is basically as Vader’s #1 fanboy. But who cares about narrative information when you have sweet sweet red lighting and like a flight scene.

Anyway, Ben heads to Exegol because evidently that’s where the fancy schmancy totally Not A Holocron is directing him towards. In which he approaches some goth-esque temple with vats of Snokes. Yes, You Heard Correctly, Vats of Snokes. And Palpatine. Who’s just hanging on a crane. Just chillin’ and gleefully tells Ben Solo that he’s been every voice in his head since birth. So learning your abuser is still alive is totally dope. But hey, PALPATINE IS BACK! REMEMBER PALPATINE? ISN’T THAT COOL, yells JJ Terrio desperately trying to like Hype You Up And Remind You Of The Star Wars of Their Childhood.

Finn and Poe “I Have Literally No Purpose To Any of This Narrative and JJ Terrio is About to Fuck Over My Backstory” Dameron are getting data from a contact. For some reason a glorified dick-shaped Alien is there. Consequently, this is the same alien that replaced Rose Tico on merchandise. A reasonable person with minimal brain function would assume it’s because he plays a critical role in the plot.  Remember what I said about thinking? Stop it. Klaud is there primarily for you to admire that JJ’s tentacle kink is Alive and Well and Thus Everything Is True (tm) Star Wars Again. 

Rey is floating surrounded by rocks because That’s What Cool Jedi Do. Then she does a training course because after two films we have absolutely no proof that she has any fight training, according to Reddit and like JJ Terrio is trying to get Reddit to go to the Star Wars Prom with them. So, we need a training montage and Rey going to robo-Leia and saying that she will “earn [Leia’s] brother’s saber”. Why would she want to earn a grumpy curmudgeon who fucked over his only nephew and hid from his twin sister for years? Well, JJ Terrio dreamed of earning Luke’s saber and like what is the purpose of writing other than Wish Fulfillment.

Palpatine is back! Why? We don’t know and we don’t even know what he said because evidently it was decided that it belonged in Fortnite...instead of the film. Why? Here’s a lollipop and a pew pew to stop thinking sweetie. Either way he’s on Exegol and Rey saw notes scribbled in the margins that you need a Sith Holocro-- I mean ~Sith Wayfinder~ --because JJ has never seen Star Wars since he saw it in the theaters in 1983-- to get there. Which is on Pasaana.

WHICH IS HAVING SPACE BURNING MAN RIGHT NOW! (which happens every forty two years. Which is how long ago Star Wars Episode 4 Premiered. Remember fans! Isn’t that a Cool Thing To Drop? says JJ Terrio deftly skimming Reddit in order to gain fanbros love and affection and nostalgia boners.) LOOK AT ALL THE ALIENS DOING THE SPACE MACARENA! Because WOO DON’T YOU LOVE PARTY SCENES?

The force bond shows up and you can some how transfer stuff between the bond? Which like in the hands of another writer would be fascinating and engaging. Sadly, this is a JJ Terrio production and nuanced storytelling and dialogue is Fake and Not Star Wars.

Either way, Ben knows that they’re there and they are running from stormtroopers RIGHT INTO LANDO CALRISSIAN,-- remember him? goes JJ Terrio. You remember Lando right?. I do, I go. I’ve seen the movies and you’ve given no reason why Finn and Rey would know who the fuck he is seeing how he’s evidently been living as a hermit In The Same Outfit for over a decade. (BUT REMEMBER HIM, whines J.J. Terrio. Yes, I do. I SAW THE FUCKING OT JJ).

Anyway, more exposition occurs because JJ Terrio has no understanding how visual language works and it detracts from Real Star Wars Things Like - Space Chases - Pew Pew - Witty quips! because Witty quips! Are Important for A Star Wars, says JJ Terrio.

Nevermind that stormtroopers could fly since the Clone Wars and there’s literally no reason as to why Finn would not know this but like that would require you to give him

- a character arc - character growth - dialogue beyond “WOOOOO” and “REYYYYYY” (also side notes; it was depressing as fuck seeing Finn’s growth in TLJ to going beyond being Rey-centric to only spend the entire movie yelling a White Lady’s Name. I GO TO THE THEATRE TO NOT SEE REALITY, JJ.)

JJ Terrio: BUT HE’S FORCE SENSITIVE?? me, who’s been on the Finn is Force Sensitive Train since TFA: AND YOU DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WITH IT AND IMPLIED THAT IT WAS ONLY REASON HE WAS ABLE TO FIGHT THE STORMTROOPER PROGRAMMING??? (i.e. this is really fucking gross eugenics shit pls stop JJ Terrio and like just stop)

*deep breath*

ANYWAY, where was I? Oh yeah, Star Wars Into Darkness.

Either way, they find the Subtle Knife a Sith dagger? Along with force healing foreshadowing. But they have a dagger! Which They Can’t Read! But Threepio can! But He Can’t Say It Out Loud Because His Programming Forbids It.

And then the KoR, the galatic boy band, and Ben show up because of course. And they capture Chewie and put him on a transport.

Rey, of course, reaches out to Stop The Transport.

Ben, tries to stop her.

They to a back and forth that is similar to TLJ without any of the emotional build up of TLJ but that’s because JJ Terrio believes Emotions Are Not Star Wars.

And she lets loose LIGHTNING and makes the transport blow up and she believes Chewie is dead. Problem: Chewie isn’t dead. Which means she would be able to sense him in the Force. “But Mneme”, you say, “the Force isn’t like a GPS where you just Sense People.” That’s fair! Except....then...she does...when she’s on the Snow Planet. So like???

Either way, we have a Dagger that We Need to Read That Threepio Can’t Say Out Loud.

A Solution That Uses Braincells: well we know that the Millenium Falcon has three droid brains! So like we could just hook up Threepio to like the Falcon and transmit the codes and get some really great Easter eggs re: the Falcon and like the setup of the ship! 

....

JJ Terrio: OR WE COULD GO TO THIS SNOW PLANET me: wha-- JJ Terrio: SNOW PLANET WHERE POE DAMERON RAN SPICE me: did you just make....your Only Latino Character Into A---Drug Runner JJ Terrio: REMEMBER HAN SOLO?? HE’S JUST LIKE HIM!!! me: pls stawp pls, I’m begging you stawp JJ Terrio: ALSO LOOK AT HIM FLIRTING WITH A GIRL SO HE’S LIKE OBVIOUSLY STRAIGHT me: bi....people.....exist...like...that is...a thing JJ TERRIO: ALSO WE’LL SHOW U HER EYES TO SHOW THAT SHE’S HUMAN AND NOT A WEIRD ALIEN BECAUSE POE DAMERON IS A RED BLOODED AMERICAN LIKE REDDIT  me: pls....stop...why....

anyway, he needs a memory wipe in order for it. Which is a really touching scene....or would have been if it wasn’t immediately retconned because like R2 has backups. So like whoo.

So that’s like *two* instances of fakeout death because like Nothing Is Of Consequence Because Star Wars.

Except Leia dying because fuck moms, say JJ Terrio. Moms are Not Star Wars. The Reddit bros have now started to return their text messages.

More busy stuff happens. Hux dies. I wasn’t able to thoroughly enjoy it because by this point I had A Headache from all the Pew Pew and Wooooo~~.

Ben tells Rey that like ~her power is Palpatines power because like How Else Can Rey Be Powerful.” Does this make any sense? Not at all but like Don’t Think Too Hard.

He also finally takes off his stupid helmet that was glued together by ~Sith Alchemy~ that they bought from Space!Michaels.

Rey is vaguely disraught but like She Finally Has A Purpose and the Reddit Bros are Appeased.

More shit happens. Does it matter? Not really.

They meet Jannah! She’s cool and has the exact same backstory as Finn. Because in Star Wars There Are Only (2) Backstories for black characters.  They line up the dagger that is old as fuck with the death star wreckage. Which lines up exactly. Evidently erosion is Not A Thing. 

Finn and Jannah and basically go, Wow Isn’t It Rad That Because We Have The Force We [Finn, Jannah and her crew] Were Able To Reject Brainwashing and Bounce Because We Have The Force.

Rey runs off and Finn yells “REY!!” at some point but at least he knows his best angles while he does it.

Rey meets Dark!Rey who’s a vision....for five seconds. Because Remember if Girls Go Dark They Have Sinned In The Eyes of The Force. Ben shows up and crushes the Holocron because I refuse to call it that stupid-ass name-- dear fucking lord his hand is big--and WELP I GUESS I HAVE THE ONLY ONE.

They fight because We Need A Light Saber Fight Except This One is So Lackluster.

Then Leia reaches out to do something that will use up all her strength says Maz. How does Maz know this? Idk but she’s played by Lupita N’yongo so at least it sounds Deep And Wise because That’s Why You Cast Black People...to sound deep and wise. =_= **deeper breathe**

Anyway, she reaches out to her son! Her son hears her? I think? Either way it distracts him which lets Rey impale him. Except then she heals him?? And is like, I wanted to take your hand, Ben’s hand. which like I’d be fine with if like the movie had like worked for it. But like That Would Involve Actual Conversations Between Characters and We Are Going At 34243242432 pps (parsecs per second) and thus DO NOT HAVE TIme For That.

Ben then has a rehash of the scene from TFA because JJ Terrio is a fucking hack and is unable to create original material and this would have been meaningful if like Any of the Emotions Had Been Earn in The Fucking Film. But hey, I felt .75 of an emotion when Han Solo cradled his cheek so I will accept this. Then he yeets his saber into the ocean. Because. Yeet. Sadly, this movie is Not Over and My Suffering Will Not End

Poe and Finn head back to base with Jannah because I guess that’s what we’re doing? They find out that Leia is dead etc etc etc. The Resistance has a Circle Planning Session for the Final Battle that JJ Terrio lifted straight from ROTJ and the Reddit Bros brought them a corsage for Fanbro Prom. I am reminded that ROTJ was better than this garbage that I Paid Actual Money To Watch. Rey heads to Fish Nun island and decides to pull a Luke Skywalker move even we learned from the Last Movie (TLJ) why that was a Bad Idea but you know WE GET TO SEE LUKE AGAIN IS A GARBAGE WIG BECAUSE REDDIT BROS AMIRITE? We get the most hamfisted performance out of Mark Hamill and I’m just like damn The Last Jedi as a fucking gift and a _Jedi’s weapon is important_ platitude like his dad wasn’t yeeting his saber left and right. But Who Cares About Canon When We Have Pew Pew Pew Pew.

Luke tells her that Yes He And Leia Always Knew She Was A Palpatine which like means - Leia literally did not learn from the Last Time She Obscured Someone’s Parentage and the Fall Out - Actively lied to Rey - Luke actively lied to Rey - jfc this poor girl has been aggressively lied by most of the authority adults in her life??? - HER PARENTS SOLD HER TO PROTECT HER which is such a fucking damning think along with the fact that her parents are idiots and like didn’t think to take her to the new republic and like THERE ARE 23432432 things wrong with this set up but that is a Whole ‘Nother Rant

Also evidently? Leia ended her Jedi Journey (which abbreviated as JJ, coincidence? I THINK NOT.) because she saw her sons demised but evidently....couldn’t sense her son being groomed by Snoke, creation of Palpatine and like this entire movie makes Leia look like an ineffectual idiot?? Like I was really hoping that Leia was going to be able to escape the “Fuck Mom’s” curse of Star Wars BUT I GUESS THAT BECAUSE THAT’S NOT ~true star wars~

Anyway, evidently Leia gave him her saber which I guess she made but no one decided to show that but instead some freakish CGI (that they swore they wouldn’t do) fight scene because like Leia Obviously Isn’t A Real Force User Unless You Use A Lightsaber. The Reddit Bros Nod Sagely. So Rey decides to go to Exegol.....using the Luke’s X-Wing. The Reddit Bros are weeping tears of joy at this point.  The Resistance starts their FINAL ASSAULT! THEY HAVE SPACE HORSES RIDING ON A SHIP BECAUSE DOESN’T THAT LOOK COOL! FINN KIND OF USES THE FORCE. THEY DECIDE TO BLOW UP THE STAR DESTROYERS BECAUSE FUCK CHILD SOLDIERS AMIRITE (rip Finn’s Stormtrooper backstory that JJ constructed that He Couldn’t Even Be Arse To Complete or like Think Of Because Like That Would Be Nuanced Shit but like He Gets to - Jump Over Things! - Run! - Know His Angles - Yell desperately After A White Lady because ahahahahha fuck WOC when there’s white p*ssy on the line AMIRITE?)

Either way they’re in trouble and Poe is dismayed and is like yo i’m sorry we’re doomed. Because...that’s.....what generals do. Give The Fuck Up.  BUT DON’T WORRY LANDO IS HERE TO SAVE THE DAY BECAUSE EVIDENTLY WHILE THE GALAXY IGNORED LEIA ORGANA’S PLEAS, THEY LISTENED TO LANDO

(Crack theory: He hit up all his exes.)

Rey flies to Exegol to confront Grandpalps. Who never wanted her dead but to become Empress after spending 2.5 movies wanting her dead via puppet!Snoke. Also kudos to JJ Terrio to making a Sith Temple be so fucking boring and lackluster. That Took Skill.\

ANYWAY SHE SEES HER FRIENDS IN TROUBLE MUCH LIKE IN TLJ and in ROTJ but JJ Terrio really really loves his nostalgia and ROTJ was very very very formative evidently. She’s about to Strike Him Down In Anger And Absorb Grandpapa’s essence in order to save her friends but WAIT WHO IS THIS IDIOT RUNNING IN WITH NO FUCKING PLAN Yes, it is Ben Solo channeling his father. As carrying the blaster that Lando gifted to him in Aftermath but like we can only suppose that because who Needs Convos When You Have Pew Pew Pew~ His former Knights show up (who have also never spoken because hahahahah dialogue? Sounds fake. Also moment of Silence of Rian who kept them alive and used Praetorian guards in TLJ instead because he assumed that JJ made them for a meaningful reason because he was Unaware That JJ Was A Fucking Hack)

Anyway, Rey senses him! They do a super cool force bond moment that actually Pays Off and Rey hands off her saber to Ben. Through the force. It’s dope.

#BenSoloChallenge happens.

[In spite of like No Speaking At All, Adam Driver successfully channels the aura of Han Solo in spite of JJ Terrio desperately Insisting That Poe Dameron is Obviously Han Look He Even Ran Spice!!! Look!!]

Eventually they both stand before Palpatine Ready To Throw Down except in stand Palps leeches the lifeforce from them and then yeets Ben into a pit and Rey collapses.

THEN ALL THE JEDI FROM THE MOVIES AND CLONE WARS INCLUDE AHSOKA WHICH MAKES NO SENSE GIVEN CLONE WARS BUT WHAT EVER DON’T YOU FEEL VALIDATED!!! FANS!!! SCREAMS JJ TERRIO

me: no.

Rey pulls a Wonder Woman move because all you need to do to redirect Force Lightning is cross your light sabers.  Anyway, that effort kills her (or like maybe not? Says Terrio in multiple interviews because men from Harvard Literally Never Shut Up.)

Ben somehow?? Climbs?? Out of the pit?? Under his own power because The Jedi Still Haven’t Forgiven the Skywalker Line for Anakin. Even though Anakin also reached out to Rey? I’m just assuming the soul of St. Maul of the Pit was yelling angry motivational speeches to get him out of the pit while St. Ventress adding sarcasm commentary comparing Ben and his namesake. 

EITHER WAY HE’S OUT OF THE PIT! And is like in agony because Rey is uh in limp ragdoll mode so probably dead? We’re gonna go with dead.

He limps over to her because uh evidently getting yeeted into a pit is Not Good For Ones Health or Limbs.

Ben cradles her in his arms and at that moment I had to Apologize For Everyone I Dragged for Size Kink because Adam Driver is Fucking Large and His Hand is Fucking Huge and I, Mneme, Was Wrong You Are Valid.

*cough* where was I? Ah yes, he’s cradling her in his arms realizing she’s dead and I guess? Channeling the force to heal her. Which it does.

He’s happy! She’s happy!

She says “Ben” breathlessly. 

AND THEN SHE SNOGS HIM LIKE THE AWKWARD VIRGINS THAT THEY ARE.

The Force realizes that a Male Skywalker is Getting A Boner and Goes Nope. And he just collapses and fades away at the same time that Leia fades away because ~symmetry~.  Was a war going on? Uh maybe but like LETS NOT WORRY ABOUT LOGISTICS BUT INSTEAD CUT TO EWOKS!! WE ALL LOVE EWOKS RIGHT!! Rey flies back to Ajan Kloss. Poe, Finn, and Rey hug because this movie is almost over and they can stop trying to sell a non-existent trio created because JJ didn’t have the balls to let Poe stay dead in TFA.

Commander D’Arcy kisses her wife in the background but no one really notices and it was cut in Singapore but like JJ Terrio are Woke AF Y’ALL but not too woke because else they’ll get dumped by Reddit Bros.

No, we are Sadly Not Done.

LETS GO TO A SAND PLANET. No, it’s not Jakku it’s Tatooine~ DON’T YOU GUYS REMEMBER TATOOINE!! go JJ Terrio.

You mean the planet where Anakin Skywalker was a slave, Luke Skywalker desperately wanted to leave, and Leia Organa was put into that humiliated outfit? Yes. I remember.

REY’S HERE TO BURY LUKE AND LEIA’S SABERS HERE!! At the Lars homestead that is somehow intact....in spite of Jawas. 

What wha-- why??, you may ask.

Well Luke never got to show Leia his home planet, goes JJ Terrio. Literally anyone who saw ROTJ.....they were on it in then?? JJ Terrio: i can’t see mariah carey dot gif

Rey also shows off her new lightsaber that was evidently crafted from her staff but we were not shown that  on screen because like It Was Considered To Emotional for this Film.

Then finally some old woman passes by and is like Who are you? Rey: Rey Old Nosy Lady: Rey who? *Rey stares at the Force Ghosts of Luke and Leia looking like her parents* Rey: Rey Skywalker JJ TERRIO: SEEEEE WE DID REY SKYWALKER!!! AREN’T WE COOL me: she took the name of a grumpy old man who rejected her and whom she bounced off with his shit because he was being a dick....OKAY JAN

(ffs they could have let her take the name Organa but like Fuck Women amirite? *DRINKS*)

and yeah that’s it. Kid that was brainwashed as a child was reduced to going WHOOOOO every 5 seconds with no thought regarding his fellow stormtroopers who are still brainwashed.

Kid that was abandoned under the guise of ~love~ and sold to an abusive guardian and struggled and starved for years returns to a planet of sand and yes I know that she is probably going else where but that was a choice they made to have the last shot of her Alone with a Droid staring at the twin suns because JJ Terrio have been doing nothing but spraying nostalgia in my face for just under 2 and a half hours.

Kid who was actively groomed since childhood and only just now released from said clutches but lol can’t atone because he dead now.

Kid who lost her sister to the machine of war is pushed aside because she dared to exist.

and Poe.

The End of the Skywalker Saga y’all.

Bonus: “Uh, Mneme what about Rose?” She got exactly a 76 seconds that she acted her heart out in but evidently seeing a non-submissive Asian woman in Star Wars was too much for people last film so that uh Essentially Cut Her Out. Don’t worry they made sure to give her a quarter of a page in the visual dictionary and the Merry the Hobbit two page spread. So like Don’t Worry The Asian Girl Will Not Hurt You. “Mneme, what as the point of Poe?” Fuck, if I fucking know.

“Uh Mneme, the Only Reason Finn Didn’t Have An Arc Is Because of KYLE RON!!!!” 

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

trust me, it really wasn’t.

#tros spoilers #mneme watches: TROS #Star Wars Into Darkness