#I am so sorry if Ren is completely OOC in this

[callofbabythulhu]

Prologue: The Village and The Witch

This is the introductory prologue to an AU fanfiction of @14dayswithyou​.

CW: Strong language, religious imagery, bugs (like loads of em), most possibly OOC for Rendacted, not proofread

Word count: 1.1k

Witches. Wicked creatures that have made a deal with the devil to gain powers that no human should have. They live amongst the people, hidden in plain sight and conducting their sinister rituals in secret.That is what every hunter of the church is taught from the very beginning. However there are witches that decide to seclude themselves from society and live in the wild. More dangerous and powerful than any other witch they are said to drive a man mad just by looking at them. So it was no surprise that a small village at the edge of a bog petitioned for the church’s help when one such wild witch was spotted in the area. 

A month after the letter had been sent a young man arrived by coach. He was dressed in a long leather coat with belts across his chest and waist. A small silver cross dangled from the brim of his hat and underneath was a head of long black hair, tied into a ponytail. A pair of sharp, icy-blue eyes glanced about as the villagers started to assemble around him. A stout old man with bushy gray eyebrows made for the head of the crowd and looked at the presumed witch hunter in front of him. He was young, too young in the elder’s eyes and he made his doubts known. A soft smile graced the young man’s lips but it did not reach his eyes. “I assure you that I am quite capable despite my age. No need to worry yourselves.” 

A grumble escaped the old man who still seemed to doubt that someone of such a tender age could be any good in hunting a dangerous witch. “Well if you say so, son. Is just…we expected someone with a few more years under their belt.” A low mumbling of agreements were heard from the villagers and the hunter’s eyes twitched. “I guarantee that no witch stands even a remote chance against me. I have been training since childhood and have burned a fair share of the wicked creatures by now.” His blue eyes met the older man’s gaze who instinctively took a step back. “Duly noted. My name is Hanstrum. I run this village. May we know your name, so- sir?” The young man’s eyes softened just a bit as a satisfied smirk formed on his lips. “You may call me Ren. Now tell me about that witch of yours.” 

He was led to the small chapel in the center of the village and Hanstrum went inside to tell the hunter what had taken place over the last couple of months.

It all started harmless enough. A few missing chickens and other livestock, stolen crops and destroyed gardens. Nothing that couldn’t have been caused by the wildlife in the nearby bog. What alarmed the villagers however was the woodcutter’s son going missing for almost 3 days before returning shaken and muttering something about moving trees and swarms of insects. Only one thing could be made out for certain from the boy's mad ravings. He had spotted a hut deep in the swamp and after spending the night in there he saw someone by the fire pit outside of it. He tried to sneak away but after stepping on a branch and being spotted all he could remember was the buzzing of bugs and him running for his life.

The old folk were sure that it had to be a witch and wanted to call on the church then and there but the woodcutter wanted to take matters into his own hands and assembled a party of able bodied men to seek the hut out and burn the witch. No one could get any information of where the location of the hut was out of the boy. All he kept saying was flowers and bugs so that is what the men used to search. However as night began to fall they were still no closer to finding anything and under the light of a fire they discussed what to do next. There in the firelight they saw her. In the tree line not far away a pair of golden eyes was staring at them. The men gave a start and when the witch raised her hand and hissed in their direction they ran as fast as their feet could carry them back to the village. 

The call for aid was sent after they had returned shaken and mad with fear. Everyone who had seen the witch had been plagued by nightmares since with those that had gazed into her eyes having the worst of it. Everyone was sure that they had been cursed for daring to seek out the witch.

“Please. You have to help us before that witch curses the whole village and starts stealing our children!” The plea of old Hanstrum echoed in the chapel as he gazed at Ren. His eyes were closed and he seemed lost in thought. There was silence for a few tense moments as the elder didn’t dare speak again. Ren clicked his tongue and nodded, opening his eyes. “I will deal with your witch. But I will need supplies and this service does not come cheap.” His eyes met the elder’s who gulped and nodded. “We are aware. You shall have whatever you need just say the word.” Ren gave a satisfied hum and smiled. “I need provisions and all the silver you have. I will also need some holy water and if you have any black powder I shall need that as well.” Hanstrum nodded and took note of all the witch hunter demanded. “We will see that your payment is ready when you return with proof of the deed done and I will send someone to bring you the supplies you asked for.” He gave a nod. “Good. I shall head out at first light tomorrow. Be sure to have the supplies delivered by then.” The elder nodded and thanked Ren once again. He clapped the young man’s shoulder and left him to prepare in the chapel. Ren’s smile vanished and he wiped the spot on his coat where the elder had touched him. He huffed and turned to face the large cross at the head of the chapel. He reached under his coat and pulled out a rosary. Next to the small brass cross was a small golden ring that glimmered in the candle light. A long sigh escaped Ren as he first brought it to his lips and then his forehead. Wrapping his hands tightly around it he closed his eyes and began his silent prayers.

[ticklygiggles]

Name it | RenMasa

A/N: @ppystkposts someone admires you from afar and wanted me to write this little fic with a favorite pairing of yours! I hope you like it, cutie! I'm so so so so sorry in advance if they're a bit too ooc, I promise I did my best! I hope you enjoy this and also, big thanks to your admirer that commissioned this! ❤️

Summary: just two roommates, (or something else?), having fun.

Words: 2k+

For some reason, Masato couldn't take his eyes off Ren.

He watched his roommate walk into the bathroom with a towel and his pajama hanging from one arm. He came out only a few minutes later in only his pants; small droplets of water trickled from his soaked hair all the way to the muscles of his stomach. Masato followed the path of the drops until his cheeks became a little hot and he looked away just as Ren threw himself face down on the bed. Ren groaned tiredly, snuggling into his pillow and making Masato cringe a bit, seeing how wet the fabric was getting. 

It had been a normal day, but Ren seemed exceptionally tired, even though he had spent most of the morning fast asleep, barely aware of the noise Masato made as he moved around the room. Night had fallen once again, perhaps a little too quickly, and Masato felt that his day had not been productive at all; even after he had taken a shower as well, he felt a heaviness in his body that made him feel uncomfortable. 

His eyes left his phone to fall on Ren's back, it moved slowly up and down with each breath, but he was not asleep, as he was looking at Masato with a smile on his face. Masato felt his face redden and looked away once again, making Ren chuckle.

“What are you doing, Hijirikawa?” Ren asked lazily. 

“I was just checking social media– you're gonna get sick with your hair wet like that,” he said, looking at Ren again, his hair still dripping.

“Hmm? It'll be fine. Unless you want to help me dry it?” He teased with a bright grin and Masato rolled his eyes, but then his eyes landed on Ren's. Masato wasn't doing anything in particular at that moment and he thought that maybe helping Ren dry his hair would help him get rid of that unpleasant feeling of a wasted day. 

He stood up and Ren jumped a little, surprised. “W-Wait, are you actually going to do it?!”

“Hmm?” Masato hummed, straddling Ren’s waist. “You don't want me to?” 

“N-No, it's alright, I guess. It's just that- ack!”

Masato grabbed the towel around Ren's neck and pulled it over his head, roughly rubbing his strawberry blonde hair. He wasn't being truly rough, his touch was light, yet quite fast, and he expected Ren to whine about it some more, but after saying Masato's name once, he simply melted undee his hands. Masato felt something inside his chest, a tingle that made him smile softly as he dried Ren's hair, rubbing the top of his head, the back and the long strands sticking to the skin of his neck.

“That feels nice,” Ren mumbled, and Masato could hear the smile on his lips under the towel. “Although you're gonna mess up my hair.”

Masato chuckled. “I can also brush it, if you want.”

“... Yeah… that'd be nice.” 

Masato was not someone who showed his feelings so easily. Years and years of a strict life had taught him how to keep his feelings within and he refused to share them for fear of not being reciprocated, but with Ren… with Ren everything was different, somehow. With Ren, he felt like he could show a little more; it gave him freedom that he didn't usually feel with almost anyone and he knew that Ren was the same. When they were together, responsibilities, expectations, fears, everything disappeared and they could enjoy moments of peace, without pressure, finding comfort in each other’s embrace. 

However, their relationship still didn't have a name. Were they roommates? Of course. Were they lovers? Well... Masato would say yes for sure, but he wasn't sure how or when it had happened and he thought maybe it was too lame to ask Ren ‘what I am to you?’ or ‘what are we?’, besides it wasn't completely necessary to label what they had, especially when you were in the eye of the public, but-

“Hehehe, what are you doing?” 

Masato blinked, his hands had moved down to pat Ren's back dry. The ginger squirmed softly, giggling quietly as Masato brushed too close to his sides with the towel. Ah, of course, Ren was so ridiculously ticklish. 

He chuckled, his touch a bit more firm. “I'm just drying your back too, do you even dry yourself after showering?”

“I do! I was just… too lazy to do it today.”

“Mhmm. Of course you were.”

Ren's back was broad and Masato could see the little bumps his muscles created and the little dips between each rib. His eyes quickly scanned every detail of Ren's back, his honey skin made a pretty contrast with Masato's milky one… yeah, they really didn't need to label their relationship, but… 

“Are you tired?” Masato asked gently, throwing the towel aside once he thought he was completely dry. 

“Hmm, you could say so. I feel a little tense.” 

Masato was glad Ren couldn't see him perking up like a little dog. “Then, would you like me to give you a massage?”

“Eh~?” Ren turned his head back to look at Masato with a bright smile. “Would you do that?! Don't even worry about brushing my hair, I do want a massage!” 

Masato chuckled, nodding once. “Fine. Let me get some lotion first.” 

He gracefully unclimbed off Ren and opened one of his drawers to put out a bottle of lavender scented lotion he used at night to help him relax. Ren took the opportunity to settle in better; he laid down right in the center of the single bed, his head resting on one of his pillows and his hands were lost under it. He was looking at Masato curiously, his feet moving a little with excitement. 

Masato chuckled as he took a seat on Ren's lower back again. “Let me warm the lotion a little bit. It will not only feel better on the skin, but also it won't be annoying. Don't worry,” he said, pouring the lotion on the palm of his left hand, “my hands are warm.” 

“It's okay, Masa,” Ren said with a laugh in his voice and Masato felt a little shy. “I'm sure it'll feel good.”

Masato vigorously rubbed his palms together to warm up the lotion and spread it all over his hands and fingers, once ready, he placed his palms firmly against Ren's shoulders and squeezed. Ren sighed pleasantly and relaxed immediately as Masato's fingers worked on his shoulders. Thumbs pressed at the base of his neck, rubbing the nape and surprisingly finding some knots that he gladly dissolved. 

“Haaaaaah, that feels so good, Hijirikawa,” Ren mumbled, his words slurring a bit and his mouth salivating a bit too much. 

Masato laughed softly as he continued working Ren's neck and shoulders, gently kneading and rubbing the muscles. Ren seemed to be falling asleep, his breathing was becoming even and his legs would twitch lightly every now and then. Masato was very good at massages, it was a skill he was proud of, even though he didn't often say it. 

Once he thought Ren's shoulders had had enough, he poured more lotion into his hands and brushed his fingertips down the other's back and Masato jumped out of his skin when the silence was suddenly filled with a bright, surprised giggle. 

“Th-Thahahat tihickles!” Ren giggled, squirming slightly as Masato's fingers rested at the base of his spine. 

Masato rolled his eyes affectionately. He couldn't believe, after all this time, Ren was still so painfully ticklish. He remembered a few tickle fights they both had in the past and he chuckled to himself remembering not losing a single one to an extremely ticklish Ren that would give up with just a poke to his side. 

Masato couldn't lie, he had a blast tickling Ren back then. Hearing his high-pitched laughter, slightly different from even his voice as a kid, always made him smile and giggle himself. It was so bright and sweet, Masato couldn't get enough of it. Ren ticklishness was, simply put, adorable. 

“You're always so ticklish.” 

Ren giggled, his cheeks flushing. “I cahan't help it, I guess one just doesn't grow out of- ahahaha! M-Mahahasahaha!” 

Masato brushed his blunt nails up Ren's spine. The skin broke into goosebumps and Ren giggled, squirming and jolting as the soft touch spread towards that soft spot near his sides. Ren pressed his arms against his sides, laughing like a child and squirming like a fish out of water. 

“Hihihi- Hihiji- ahaha! Wahahait uhuhup!” His legs kicked behind Masato as he desperately tried to squirm away. 

“Would you stop moving? In trying to give you a massage here,” Masato teased, his fingers starting to knead at Ren's sides, making his laughter increase in volume and pitch. “I can see you have a lot of knots here. Let me get rid of them for you, okay?”

It wasn't common for Masato to behave like this, but he couldn't help it. How could he resist Ren's laughter once it had escaped his lips? That was not possible. His fingers easily found all those super sensitive spots on Ren's sides and all the techniques that he had learned about in their childhood. Rapid pokes up his sides would make him kick his legs and cackle loudly, soft scribbling and pinching would make him let out bubbly giggles that made him hiccup, but no matter what spot he touched, Masato would always get a reaction from Ren. 

“I think you're very ticklish for a massage,” Masato said, chuckling to himself and Ren shook his head. 

“Y-You ahahare tihihicklihing m- no! Not there! Nohohot thehere! N-Nohohot my r-rihihibs!” 

Taking advantage of how easily his fingers slid over Ren's skin thanks to the lotion, Masato sneaked his hands between Ren's body and the bed and he easily found the front of his ribcage, right under his pectoral area. He clawed at the sensitive skin, knowing perfectly well that that spot was one of the most ticklish in his body, if not the number one. 

“I think your ribs also need a little massage,” Masato said, leaning closer to Ren's head. “Let me just make sure you don't- oh!” 

Ren used his hands to lift his torso, and Masato took the chance to tickle the whole length of Ren's ribcage, causing him to fall back down against the bed, twisting from side to side as he tried to push Masato's hands away, loud, cackling laughter erupting from his lips nonstop.

“That was wild,” Masato teased with a chuckle, his blunt nail skittering across Ren's ribcage. “You should be careful, you almost hit my head.”

“Masatogetoffmepleaseahahaha!” 

“That doesn't make any sense, why don't you- ack!”

He should have known. As soon as his fingers brushed Ren's lower ribs, he finally was able to stand up in ticklish desperation, making Masato fall from his back onto the bed. Masato was a little dazed, so he couldn't do anything when Ren grabbed both of his wrists in one of his hands and raised his arms above his head. Masato gasped, but before any words could come out of his mouth, Ren was tickling his armpits, making him throw his head back in hysterical laughter. 

“Hehe,” Ren chuckled, still breathless after the tickle attack Masato had made him go through. “Did you think I didn't remember how ticklish you are here, Hijirikawa? Now die!”

“J-Jinguji!” Masato gasped out before he fell into loud laughter again. “Jihihinguhuhuji! S-Stohohop thihis instahant or ehehelse I- AHAHA! Ren! RenRenRehehen, plehehase!” 

“Oh you want me to stop? Let me think, did you stop when I asked you to?” 

“You dihihidn't ahahask me t-to s-stohohop!”

Masato could hear Ren's cheeks turning pink as the tickling only worsened. Ren's fingers scribbled against his right armpit briefly before jumping to the left one, there he poked the barely protected skin, making Masato shriek, before he jumped back to the right one, provoking a cacophony of laughter and shrieks as Masato danced from left to right. 

His own cheeks were starting to heat up. He tried to hide his face against the inside of his arm, but the tickling forced his head back to let the laughter flow out from his very core. He was going insane. He wasn't as ticklish as Ren, but he was not used to the sensation, especially not like this. Tears of laughter quickly started to run the sides of Masato's face and with an embarrassingly loud snort, he started to beg again. 

“I'm s-sohohorry! I'm sohohohorry, REHEN! P-Plehehease, no m-mohOHOre! Not thehehehere, plehehase!” 

“Hmm, you won't try anything funny again?” Masato couldn't see, but Ren had a huge smile on his face. He shook his head desperately. “You promise?”

“Dahahammit, Jihihinguhuhuji, I'm- ack! Nono! In sohohohorry! I prohohomise! I PROHOHOMISE!”

The tickling stopped and as he caught his breath, Masato felt the bed sinking beside him as Ren laid down as well, their shoulders touching. The only sound filling the room was their rapid breathing, and after a moment, complete silence enveloped them. 

“Hey,” Ren said softly, his pinky curling around Masato's. “That was fun.” 

Masato looked at their intertwined fingers and then up at Ren's face, he was smiling sweetly at him and something in Masato's tummy fluttered. He smiled back, letting out a chuckle through his nose. 

“Yeah, I guess it was,” he said and they both chuckled, staring at each other’s eyes. 

Yeah… it really didn't matter what their relationship was, Masato simply didn't want it to end. 

“Ack! N-No! Masa- ahahahaha! Not ahahagahahain!” 

“You can keep having some more fun, Ren.” 

In the end, being together like this was more than enough for him and he hoped, in the bottom of his heart, that Ren felt the same way towards him. 

[akunya]

utapri anon (again)

i don't have much this time i'd just like to ask your opinion on the baby my strawberry duo ... i have so many thoughts ab them

“good kitty!”

pairings: camus x m!reader x ren

summary: hitting the jackpot with two lovely boys to call your own!

tw: fluff, overstimulation, cuddling, dubcon. hate sex, petplay, cum eating, jealousy, bdsm, etc. dom/sub undertones.

notes: they’re actually my favorites, so here’s some little thoughts on them. probably terribly ooc but i don’t care.

ren is the most doting, caring boyfriend a guy like you could ask for. while camus has his own ways in taking care of you, ren is the perfect mix of physical and spoken affection.

chaste little kisses on your skin before you have to leave for the day. ren whispers sweet nothings into your ear as he wraps his arms around you, and while sometimes his affection can be overbearing, he can’t help it! he loves the way you become so flustered when he comments on how cute you are, the array of petnames making camus cringe.

however, camus will try his best to step up to the title of being your partner. while he can’t serenade you in tangents about his undying love like ren, he most definitely tries to make your day easier by acts of service. taking you where you need to go, cleaning, errands — if he notices youre especially burnt out, let the prince take care of you for a bit.

ren cant help but smile when he sees you in camus’s arms, sleeping soundly. his hold on you is a bit firm, but not uncomfortable. a gentle reminder that he’s there, rubbing little circles into your skin and watching you rest. it’s hard for him to admit it, but you make his heart flutter a bit more than he would like.

of course, i am desperate for these two, so onto the nsfw portion.

considering that in this situation you’re getting them as a duo, be prepared for LOTS of overstimulation. ive seen some people write ren as more vanilla and turned off by anything dubious, but i have to disagree. once he sees how ethereal you look completely fucked out and sobbing in pleasure, ren isn’t going to stop pounding into you anytime soon — neither is camus.

i cant see camus ever letting you on top, but ren doesnt mind- just know he's going to tease you the entire time you try and move your hips. at some point, it feels embarassing, sniffling in rens neck and whining about how good it feels. "aw, do you need some help, baby?" you cant find it in yourself to be upset when he makes fun of how you cum too fast inside of him, instead begging for him to take control. the closest you're getting to camus bottoming is him letting you eat his ass, and that's already a long conversation before he hesitantly agrees..

camus introduces you and ren both to some new bdsm elements whenever you all get frisky with eachother. the blonde loves to have his ego stroked, and when he puts a thick collar on your neck attached to a heavy leash, his cock is throbbing from the power trip it gives him. he doesn’t have to worry about being too mean, something he’s secretly insecure about ever since you three became a couple, so scenes like this are a perfect outlet.

camus is indifferent to petplay, but ren is all over the idea. “who’s a good kitty, hm? that’s right, you are. such a pretty boy.” he practically purrs in your ear, nails scratching at your scalp. camus scoffs in response, yanking your leash closer to your bowl — you’re a cat, aren’t you? “go on, lick up your reward, y/n. there’s more where that came from.”

god, ill pray for you if you ever managed to tick them off. camus is already a bit scary on his own, so if he’s having a bad day or you two get into a nasty argument, his solution is to just fuck the apologies out of you. nothing sounds more sincere then you constantly screaming you’re “sorry” as he makes your poor little dick cum over and over. there’s always a safeword, but most of the time your brain is too dizzy to try and get him to stop.

while ren wouldn’t normally take his anger out on you, i like to think he’s a jealous man. go ahead, flirt with another member of starish or any unit in front of him and see where it gets you. you’ll regret your choices when you see him slip a nice, tight cock ring onto your dick before he breeds you like a bitch in heat. brats don’t deserve to cum, and you havent been on your best behavior today, have you?

all in all, a very nice duo to have. if you can handle the whiplash of an overly flirty boyfriend to a stoic borderline asshole, then they’re perfect for you.

[poppyseed799]

You said you were taking oneshot requests so uh

Can I get just a little thing with Skizz and Etho during 3rd Life? Like before Skizz died but after the war started if that makes sense-

(Sure! But I’m a bit rusty on red army stuff (currently in the process of rewatching Martyn’s 3L series) and I’ve honestly never been SUPER familiar with 3L!Etho so sorry if this seems ooc or wrong! I’m gonna try to keep it short and simple due to those factors but hope you like it! (Also I’m gonna completely make up stuff that happens dw bout it))

Etho had turned red recently, meaning he was free to kill whoever he wanted. The problem? He didn’t know who burnt his castle this time.

He just returned home to see it up in flames. There was no one sailing away in a boat, no one fleeing on the nearby land. The culprit must’ve set the wool ablaze a while ago, and didn’t stick around to watch. Why even do it then? Isn’t it fun to watch things burn? What sort of monster sets a castle on fire and doesn’t even bother to watch it?!

Ren came to visit with the rest of the Dogwarts Alliance following behind him after hearing the news of the burning castle. “Etho! What happened, my dude? Are ye alright?”

“I’m fine, but my castle needs to be rebuilt… again.” Etho sighed. “Pretty sure I have enough wool, but this will take a while…”

“You are protected by the banner, Etho. That means we shall assist you!” Ren held his shield high, showing his own banner. Then his ears went down, and he looked around at his crew. “Unfortunately, we are uh… a little busy. But fret not, dear Etho! For we shall lend you… ONE SOLDIER TO HELP!”

“Ok” Etho said. “Thanks.”

Ren studied the army behind him for a moment, then pointed to Skizz. “SKIZZLEMAN! Are ye willing to assist our friend, our brother?”

“Of course I am!” Skizz declared proudly.

“Thank you! Now for the rest of us…” Ren turned to Martyn and BigB. “LET US RETURN TO OUR KINGDOM!”

They left Skizz with Etho. Once they were gone, Etho gave Skizz some wool. “I know there’s not much framework left to copy off of, but… just get some sort of structure going.”

Skizz took the wool in one hand and saluted with the other. “You’ve got it, boss!” He then laughed softly to himself and began working.

They had finished rebuilding a lot of the castle before Skizz had decided to ask, “Who did this, anyway? We’ve gotta kill them!”

Etho sighed. “No idea! Must’ve been a quick drive by. Interrogations aren’t working out, either.”

“WHAT?!” Skizz yelled too loud. “There’s no WAY they’re just getting away with this!!!”

Etho shrugged. “Unfortunately, looks like they will. I could just launch a missile at Bdubs and say it’s revenge for my castle, even if it turns out it wasn’t him.”

“Or, we could kill EVERYONE on the server! Then we’re GUARANTEED to kill the culprit!” Skizz smiled.

Etho blinked. “Everyone…? That seems like a lot. Some of them are allies.”

Skizz shook his head. “Yeah- you’re right- not EVERYONE… just people who aren’t our friends! Cuz a friend would NEVER do this!”

“That’s still a lot of people. I’d prefer to blow up the Crastle. Less risky, more fun.”

“You… don’t think it would be FUN?” Skizz frowned. “Ever since I turned red, all I’ve wanted to do was kill! Don’t you feel the same way?”

Etho thought for a moment. “Um… well, I guess I’d like to, for revenge. Am I supposed to want to kill… more? I’m still pretty new to being red.”

“I dunno! This is just the way I’ve felt ever since I turned red, I guess it could be different for everyone.” Skizz said. “Honestly, the bloodlust gets a little hard to control sometimes! I just get overwhelmed with the urge to STAB SOMEONE!!!”

“Well you’ll have to be careful. We’re in a war, you know. And I just lost one of my lives to our enemy.” Etho said. “You can’t just charge into battle, we’ve only got one life left.”

Skizz sighed. “Yeah, I know… but together, we can win this war! If you weren’t alone, Scar would’ve been the one to die in that fight!” He smiled at Etho. “He’d be so busy trying to kill you that I’d be able to charge at him and get the job done!”

Etho hummed, amused. “Yeah, that would be a more ideal timeline. Instead, we’re stuck like this, preparing for the big war.”

Skizz groaned in annoyance. “I just wanna kill someone, you know? Like, whoever burned your wool castle? Let’s find them and kill them!”

“We don’t know who it was,” Etho reminded the grey man. “Do you want to help me fire a missile at Bdubs’ castle instead? It’ll be worth it.”

“Hmm… alright, I’m in! You seem to have fun doing it, so I’ll help!” Skizz smiled at Etho.

Etho smiled back. Was it because Skizz did, or because Etho thought the idea of firing another missile at Bdubs was super funny? Didn’t matter, it’s not like anyone could see the smile through his mask… right?

“Alright, let’s take a break from this and do that real quick then.” Etho decided, putting his wool away and grabbing materials to build another one of his signature missiles. Skizz cheered and put his wool away too.

“Just remember to be careful, okay?” Etho said to Skizz. “I don’t wanna lose you because you decided to try to charge into a tough battle and kill everyone in sight.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll try not to.” Skizz said. “I could never abandon my people like that. I wanna be with you guys until the very end! Us against the world!”

At the moment, it was more like them against the Crastle. But it was fine, it was safe, it was fun. An exciting little moment for the two red soldiers. The war could continue at any moment, but they’ll be ready. They’ll be with each other. They’ll survive.

[trancelord]

OOC: HI I am so sorry I fell off the face of the earth with this blog but long story short my IZ hyperfixation got pushed to the back burner of my mind because I just generally couldn’t stand the fandom anymore and how unsafe I felt around the mass amount of z@dr shippers/supporters. I’m not posting in the fandom anymore because I kinda just couldn’t take the stress and it was becoming unhealthy. However, I was introducing the contents of this blog to a friend of mine and remembered that I had a bunch of asks typed up that I never had the energy to make art for. So I’ve decided to post them all here just in case anyone wanted to read them! Here they are under the cut:

"how long have you been in the business of mind control? Are you worried someone might follow in your footsteps?"

How long? (he pauses to consider this) I... Am not at liberty to say. Long enough for my antennae to lose color- but that might have been long before I had gathered up the strength I needed to manually override my PAK with my- (a few memories flash before his eyes) (kidnapping an unlucky invader to use as a guinea pig for the hypnosis vision) (completely alone in his ship, both hands on his head) (staring madly at the massive with his eyes just starting to spiral) I've said too much, on that end. I'm not telling you how I did it, you dirty cheat. No one can follow in my footsteps. I will die with my secrets. It will take anyone else far too long to understand the nature of irken hypnosis, how deep it runs, deep enough that I halfway decommissioned myself digging it to the surface. If you try, I will know. And if I know, it'll be the last thing you try. (he yawns) The only way YOU could actually perform hypnosis through natural means- that is, if you're irken- is through an accident. But that's rare. Rare enough that it might not even really happen.

(I'm hinting at what happened w zim and pustulio at the end there hehehehehehe) "why are you journeying to urth- urth? Earth. Why there?"

Oh, did the tallest spell it wrong? (he brings out a small tablet, fixing the error.) How embarrassing for them- but not surprising. Those two couldn't fix a single luminous unit between them. All they know is laugh at drones, lasers, "throw them out the airlock," eat hot chip, and lie. Anyway, weren't you listening? I'm journeying there to find Zim. The tallest are my clients; they sent me to go there in person to use my talents and throw him out of commission. Apparently the poor idiot doesn't know he's been exiled, and he's very serious about his "mission". I guess it's getting harder for the tallest to get any entertainment out of laughing at him, the more serious he gets about invading this backwater planet. You should have seen how many monies I squeezed out of them to perform this job! I have never seen a pair of irkens more desperate. I should have recorded the call so I could look back on it on a long day and laugh. They insisted the job needed to be done in person rather than through a call, so... here we are. (he hides a yawn behind his hand) "Hey since it will take a while to get to earth, wanna play video games?"

(Ren is asleep)

Lonny: Oh, looks like he fell asleep. (he hurriedly shifts the camera away from ren) It's just as well. He doesn't play games very often. I would, but I don't think we have any downloaded into our ship's console. Well, anyway, you all are already here, so I will entertain you in the meantime. Could I perhaps answer any of your questions?

OOC: Aaaaaaannd that’s where I stopped. Still though, despite all the adversity I’ve faced during my time in the fandom, I still adore IZ and all the happiness and inspiration that’s given me. I’m still really proud of the character and story I came up with, and am genuinely sad that I never got to go further with it. 

If anyone ever has any questions, my DMs are always open! I love talking about Ren and talking about him again after months really made me yearn for old times where working on his story and in relation to Zim brought me so much happiness. I hope y’all enjoyed the very brief time I was able to provide you with content of him, and I hope that y’all are safe and healthy and I wanna thank you for being interested in his story. 

<3

[ghastspidergwen]

I love @doctorsiren's dadskall au, and I thought I'd write a little fic about it. basically, the dadskall au is where xisuma and ex (alex)'s dad is doomguy, but some sort of accident/crazy magic/whatever made him and iskall share a body, go check out doctor siren for the whole story, she has great art, too!

disclaimers (you can completely ignore this section if you want): I have played about 15 minutes total of all the Doom games, read none of the books, seen none of the movies, but the ost is great, so this will probably be ooc for doomguy. xisuma and alex are more based on the featherweight au versions, not the real hermitcraft versions. this story is not part of the dadskall au nor any of dr siren's other aus, it's just a break for me to write some fluff. it takes place ~3-4 years after where fw currently is (s7 election era) but is not set in the fw au world. link to the post part of this is based on. ...and I think that's everything, onto the fic!

.

Xisuma took a deep breath, “I think dad’s alive.”

“You said you saw him die,” Alex, previously known as Evil Xisuma, said, turning to his brother, “They told me he died”

“He wasn’t exactly dead, it’s hard to explain. It’s more like...the horcruxes in Harry Potter. When dad died, I think there was some magic at play that made it so his ‘soul’ transferred into the nearest healthy, person. And I think I found them.”

“Uh-huh, and who might that be?”

“HALLO!” Iskall burst in, “What did you need me for?”

“Iskall? Seriously?”

“He was there that night and I have no reason to believe-”

“You really think Iskall-”

“It’s my best guess, everyone else was injured, and the magic had to choose the nearest healthy person, so it must be Iskall.”

“What must be Iskall?”

“Are you sure we’re talking about the same Iskall?”

“No, Iskall86,” Xisuma said, sarcastically, “Of course this Iskall, how many Iskalls do we know?”

“I still have no idea what we’re talking about, can -”

“No!” The void brothers turned to him and responded in sync. Xisuma pulled his brother into a side room, “Stay right there, thanks Iskall.”

“What?”

Xisuma exhaled and closed the door behind them, “Phew, OK, I have reason to believe that 13 years ago, Iskall was present the night that dad-y’know-and since everyone else there was either corrupted or injured, as the only uninjured person, dad’s spirit ended up inhabiting his body, but’s been so weak that it was only using Iskall as a means of staying alive, not influencing him or trying to take control of his body at all. Do you get me?”

“A little.”

“And I think I know the spell that will separate them, and give dad his old body back,” They went back into the main room with Iskall, “Should I do it now?”

“Blast ‘im,” Alex backed out of the room, putting a protective wall between him and the magic.

“WHAT?!”

A glowing green ball of energy swirled between Xisuma’s hands, and Iskall backed into the wall, “H-hey Xisuma, what are you doing?”

“This...shouldn’t hurt.”

Iskall held up a hand in a stop gesture, “SHOULDN’T?!”

Xisuma blasted him with the magic. Iskall glowed green, floated into the sir, then split into two people who fell down.

“I...think it...worked,” Xisuma muttered, collapsing to the floor.

Doomguy looked up, and noticed someone lying, unmoving, on the floor. His saving-people instincts kicked in, and he pulled himself over to the person. “C'mon, don’t be dead, don’t be dead,” he said, shaking them.

Someone was shaking Iskall. He sat up and opened his eyes, “Holy heck, it’s Doomguy!”

“You’re alive!” Doomguy said relieved, and pulled Iskall into a hug.

Absolutely starstruck, Iskall sat there, frozen. It’s Doomguy, I love Doom, Doomguy is right here, and he’s hugging me, it’s Doomguy! Iskall’s mind looped.

Pulling out of the hug, Iskall spotted Xisuma crumpled on the floor, “W-wait, I got-gotta check on my friend.”

Doomguy turned around, and spotted his son on the floor.

“Xisuma!” He stood up and stumbled toward him.

“Wait, you know Xisuma?”

“He’s my son. Well, your son, too. Our son.”

“Wha-”

“Short answer, I am you. You are me. We’re the same person.”

Looking at his hands, one thought crossed Iskall’s mind, I’m Doomguy. It was closely followed by “I HAVE A SON?”

“Two sons.”

“TWO SONS? And one of them is dying!” Iskall sprinted across the room and cradled Xisuma’s head, “I don’t know what to do!”

“Health potion?” Doomguy suggested.

“Oh, yeah,” Pulling a potion of healing out of his inventory, Iskall splashed it onto Xisuma. He held his breath and waited to see if it would work.

Xisuma opened his eyes. He sat up.

“Dad!” He jumped up, and buried his face in his dad’s chest plate, giving him a hug the same way he did when he was younger.

“I’m your dad, too,” Iskall said.

“You know?” Xisuma asked, breaking off the hug.

“Yeah, Doomguy told me. So give your poppa a hug,” Iskall uncrossed his arms and gave a very confused Xisuma a hug.

“Oh, OK,” Xisuma awkwardly pat Iskall’s back until he stepped away.

“Is Alex here?” Doomguy asked.

“He should be right outside, he didn’t want to be in the same room as an untested spell.”

“Wait, you didn’t test it? Then why did you cast it on me?” Iskall asked, panicked.

“How many people do we know that have another person living inside them?”

“Wels/Hels, I’m pretty sure Ren did for a while, a pregnant lady,” Iskall ticked off on his fingers.

“Different circumstances. Wels and Hels are one person, like two sides of a coin, Ren-I don’t know what happened with Grimdog or The Red King or whatever, but I definitely don’t want to mess with those, and did you just compare yourself to a pregnant woman?”

“Uhhh...nevermind.”

“You said Alex was just outside?”

“Yeah,” Xisuma pulled the door open, to reveal Alex sitting on a bench outside, drumming his fingers against the seat

“Did it work?”

“Yeah.” Stepping out of the doorway, Xisuma revealed their dad standing behind him.

“Hi, Alex.”

“Dad?”

“It’s me,” Doomguy sat next to his other son.

“Dad!” Alex hugged him, and they pulled Xisuma into the hug after a second. They sat there before the hug was interrupted by another pair of arms joining in.

“Family, together again,” Iskall sighed.

“What’s up with him?” Alex asked, glancing at Iskall.

“I’m part of the family, call me Dadskall.”

“OK...Dadskall, can we have awhile alone with our dad?”

“Oh, yeah. Sure. See you later.” Iskall trudged out of the room.

“I haven’t seen you guys in forever! How long was I…”

“15 years.”

“So that would put you guys in your mid-30s, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Has anything big happened in the last 15 years?”

Alex pulled off his helmet, “Nothing too bad. I was imprisoned for a bit of it,” he glared at his brother.

Xisuma also removed his helmet, “I said I was sorry, how many times do you want me to apologize?”

“I wasn’t saying it’s your fault, I was just making the point that-”

“I get it! I was an idiot and I didn’t listen to you when you were clearly right.”

“Just like old times,” Doomguy chuckled, he examined his son’s faces, “You look so much older, like real adults. I’m so sorry I missed out on the last 15 years, I would’ve loved to see you grow up.”

“It’s not like you could do anything about it.”

“I know you would have been here if you could.”

“Also how did you guys get those scars?”

“Someone needed to keep slaying the demons after you left,” Alex shrugged.

“I angered some Watchers years ago.”

“You angered some Watchers?” Doomguy asked, standing up.

“I just realized someone was right, but it was too late to save them.”

“Darn right, I was.” Alex and Xisuma also stood up.

“I...forgot how tall you were,” Doomguy said looking, at up at Alex, who was only a few inches taller.

“Oh, yeah. Xisuma was jealous he never got this tall.”

“No, I’m not!”

“Sure,” Alex smirked.

“So, anything else new?” Their dad intervened.

“Daisy’s still alive.”

“Should’ve guessed,” he chuckled.

“Oh! You’re a grandpa!”

“What?!”

“Yeah! I adopted a guy named xB. I’ll call him over, so you can meet!”

<Xisuma> hey xb, can you come on down to my base, I’ve got something to show you

<xBcrafted> ?

<xBcrafted> yeah, be there shortly

“How did you meet this xB?”

“I was doing some exploring between seasons, looking for a good seed, when I found a small single player world. xB was alone in there. Poor kid was only 13, didn’t know where his parents were, said he had been handling himself for the last 2 or 3 years, so I took him back to Hermitcraft with me. He’s a great kid, you’ll love him.”

“Xisuma has practically adopted the entire server.”

“Server? You’re an admin?”

“We both are. I’m main admin of Hermitcraft, Alex is the backup admin.”

“I’m so sorry I missed out on all of this stuff. I really wish I could have been there for you two.”

Something thumped into the outside of the building they were in, and the door opened, “Freakin’ rockets, stupid friggin’ elytra,” xB mumbled. “Oh, hey Uncle Alex, hey, dad.”

Doomguy gasped, “I love him already!”

“Wha-”

“xB, this is our dad, Doomguy.”

“Wait, I thought he was dead.”

“Wonky magic stuff.”

“OK then. I’m xBcrafted,” xB said, offering his hand for a handshake.

Doomguy scooped him up in a hug, “Hello, xB, you can call me Grandpa Flynn, or just Grandpa, or just Flynn, I don’t care. I have a grandson!”

“Nice-to-meet-you,” xB gasped.

“Dad, I don’t think he can breath.”

“Oh, right,” Flynn released his grandson, “sorry, got a little overexcited.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I’m glad you’re back.”

“Glad to be back.”

“Do you want to go meet the rest of the server? There’s just under 30 of us, total.”

“Oh, you’ll love all of them. There’s me, of course, but Hypno and Jevin and Wels and False are all set up near me, Stress and Gem are also pretty close, and Doc and Ren are just past them, and…” xB rambled as the other three grabbed their helmets.

“You ready?” Alex asked, pushing open the door.

“Let’s go, I want to meet the rest of your family.”

[snarkwrites]

Title: snowbound pt 2 of 3

Theme: holiday party

Fandom / Character(s):Ben Solo/Kylo Ren x Earth!FemaleReader.

Warnings: Honestly, if you read the first part, you knwo already. I am not a medical professional, nor am I a hardcore Star Wars fangirl, merely a casual fan. There is no blood!tw here, but.. There is still an injury!tw, because he ain’t just gonna heal over night. Oh and if you can handle reading my own personal take on Ben Solo (his father’s son, fyi) then you’ll be okay with him being construed as OOC. If not, sorry? Pls don’t murder me?

Word Count: 4k. Shit. I got carried away again, didn’t I?

Okay, so here’s the thing... That first part really got me in the mood to write a follow up. So, here we are. Even if it’s the biggest flop on my entire goddamn blog, I got these ideas out of my head and... materialized somehow. This is my second daily entry for my bb @champbucks over on the @12daysofchristmas challenge blog...

OH YEAH.. for the sake of a timeline here.. This part takes place  two and a half weeks later and part three will take part a day or so, maybe two, after part two. Trust me, this needed to be said.

Also, again.. I made the banner for this. Don’t steal or repost.

TAGGING:

@andie01 @helluvawriter and @kyleoreillysknee 

@champbucks and @12daysofchristmas

[ about my writing | masterlist | multifandom tag doc ]

“Are you even listening to me right now, Katie?”

My sister’s question and the annoyed tone she asked it in had me shifting my focus from watching Ben chop firewood down in the yard to at least making an honest attempt to keep up with our conversation. I rolled my eyes when I heard her annoyed sigh.

It took everything in me to remind her that I wasn’t a child.

She’s always been like this, and frankly, it has everything to do with why I don’t try to see her more than once or twice a year, when she insists on all of us siblings gathering at Grandma’s cabin to have a family dinner and pictures.

“What?” I asked, gazing out the window already, distracted all over again. Ben had shed the black thermal shirt now, it was tied around his waist. Each swing of the axe sent muscular arms and broad shoulders to flexing and that had me more than a little mesmerized at the moment. I tried to tear my eyes away. 

,, just like this morning when we had that awkward moment in the bathroom.” my mind taunted me and I sighed, turning away from the window and wandering into the kitchen. “I gotcha. You’ll do the turkey because I can’t cook. It’s already baking and you guys will all be here at 4:30. I need to have the oven turned on so things can finish. I’m not stupid. We do this every single year.”

“I’m doing you a huge favor, trust me, Katie. You wouldn’t be interested in all of this stuff. You’re barely listening to me now. Did you get the girls what I told you to get them both for Christmas?”

I glared at the phone in my hands, dragging one of them through my hair, tousling it a little. “You do realize I actually cook. And I’m pretty good at it. Oh and by the way… I’m not a child. I’d prefer it if you called me Katherine.”

She paused, hesitating. “I’d… really rather not risk the Christmas dinner on your hurt feelings. I’ll prepare most of it, you can do the potatoes!” she said it cheerfully, as if she were offering an olive branch.

She made it seem as if I were incapable of the simplest tasks. She probably didn’t even trust me to do the mashed potatoes either and that thought had me exhaling sharply in irritation as I pinched the bridge of my nose and grumbled to myself about her always doing this. And honestly, I didn’t care if she heard me or not.

The chopping stopped outside and I saw Ben walking from the pile of wood and up onto the porch. The door creaked open and Ben leaned in the doorway, filling it, gazing at me with a brow raised and arms folded over a bare chest.

I held up a finger and turned my attention back to the phone conversation with my older sister, pacing the area right in front of him as I did, lightly kicking at the little wooden table beside the door when she sighed again and for the fourth time, she reminded me calmly, “We’ll have it at 5. Like always.”

Ben tensed a little nearby and he eyed the phone in my hands as if he were picking up on my tension and current level of irritation. I mouthed to him, “It’s my nag of an older sister. The one you heard me talking to last Tuesday?”

He spoke up. “Katherine, I’ve gotten the firewood cut.” an amused smirk played at lips I’ve only dreamed of kissing practically every single night for the better part of two weeks now.

And almost immediately, I froze, biting my lip. Now, I wasn’t dumb. I knew that I’d have to explain Ben being here to my older sisters, but I just… I hadn’t bothered to do so as of yet.

“Is there someone there with you, Katie?”

“Again, it’s Katherine. And yes. My boyfriend, actually. He’s been staying out here with me. But you wouldn’t know, because you only call before Thanksgiving or Christmas and every night until we get together for those occasions. Now I’m gonna get off here. That oven’s not gonna turn itself on. Bye.” I said it pointedly and before my sister could ask anything else or bother me further, I disconnected the call.

I could feel the weight of his stare, I didn’t even have to be looking at him. And honestly, I didn’t dare.

Instead, I made my way into the kitchen, fuming out loud as I turned on the oven. Then again, as I rummaged through cabinets to find pots and pans and my grandma’s old recipe book.

I was so caught up in my tantrum, I didn’t hear Ben slip into the kitchen behind me.

I turned abruptly and found myself body to body with him.

“Why do you insist on putting everything out of your reach?” Ben smirked down at me as he stepped closer, reaching out to grab the pot that I’d been trying to get. He held it out to me and I swallowed hard. I tried to answer his question, but nothing was coming. All I could focus on was how close we stood. And of course, the way he was staring down at me right now.

I shrugged in lieu of an answer and put the pot to the side. For a few hot and heavy seconds, all either one of us really did was stare at the other. Finally, Ben spoke.

“Boyfriend, hm?”

,, think, think, oh my god, holy shit, think..” my brain was going into panic shutdown mode. I eyed him and gave a sheepish shrug. “It was the first thing I could think of. Trust me, my sister is NOT someone you want knowing exactly what happened to you. She’d probably break her neck to go report it to that damn base. And they’d be down here, breathing down everyone’s neck. It’s… Better this way.” I licked my lips, swallowing hard as I stared up at him intently.

He chuckled, shrugging himself as if it didn’t bother him at all. And why would it, you absolute goof? My brain immediately saw fit to remind me, this is just a ruse. When he’s healed completely and he’s got his ship going again, he’ll just leave.” and the thought had a pout forming. I was staring down at the old wooden floorboards.

Or at least I was until Ben’s fingers tucked beneath my chin and he made me look right up at him, that shit-eating smirk plastered on his face as he did so.

I’ve learned over the course of the past two and a half weeks… Ben’s a little on the cocky side sometimes. When he’s not being all broody and quiet. Or almost borderline teasing me on occasion.

“If it keeps this military you speak of out of my way, I’ll do it.”

And the exact second that his tongue trailed over his lips and he gave that smirk again, it was all I could do not to melt.

I digress, I will be a raw bundle of nerves before he’s all healed and he’s gotten his ship repaired.

We were doing it again, that thing where we wind up migrating closer together. Hips brushing against each other. I cleared my throat and glanced down at the walking cast that Doc had swapped him over to at the beginning of the week. “Excuse me, sir.. But I distinctly recall Doc saying to stay off your foot as much as possible.”

“And I would if I hadn’t seen that our heat source was about to run out, woman. How is someone so small still somehow so bossy?” Ben chuckled, that hint of teasing in his tone. I gulped and managed to grumble a little as I shrugged in answer to what he’d said. 

“Go sit down.”

“You come sit down too. If she’s so determined to do it all herself, let her.”

I tensed a little and eyed him. Pretty sure my anger was written all over my face because he chuckled and eyed me, making himself taller. “You let her get to you.”

“I’ve always let her get to me.” I sighed, shrugging it off as best as I could. We were inching closer all over again and my breath caught in my throat as I felt his hand lingering at my hip. “Perhaps you shouldn’t.”

“Oh trust me. After you’ve had her around a few hours later tonight, you’ll see exactly why she gets so far under my skin.”

“Or maybe, she just needs someone who knows how to get under her skin.”

I laughed a little, eyeing him. “Oh, you’re confident now. But her royal naggingness has not arrived yet, either.. Neither have the other two, Margo and Cecilia.”

He chuckled, leaning down a little, his face almost well within kissing distance. “Did you just challenge me,hm?”

“Nope. Just know how crazy my older sisters tend to drive pretty much fucking everyone with their micromanagement and overall nosiness and assholery.” I dared to raise up a little, my face inching just a smidge closer to his. To a point where we lightly bumped noses. But Ben still wasn’t backing away. In fact… If I didn’t know better, I’d almost swear he moved just a little closer. And smirked down at me the entire time he was doing so.

The sound of a vehicle idling outside had me swallowing hard and turning a little, groaning almost the second I realized that apparently, Cecilia had decided to get here earlier than Margo or Dinah. “Well shit. This is a first.”

Ben’s gaze followed mine and he nodded towards Cecilia. Who as usual bought wine and a few presents and was wearing clothing that I honestly didn’t see how she wasn’t going to catch her death in.

“Margo and Dinah are gonna have a field day now. Dinah will have an absolute shit fit, because she wants us all to dress similar in the photos she’s gonna make us take.”

“Photos?” Ben questioned, a brow raised. I held up my cell phone and explained with a shrug, “It’s basically the same thing here as what you all do with your data pads back where you’re from, I’d think.” 

The door was being knocked on and I caught eyes with Ben, taking a few shaky breaths. “And we’re up… Are you sure you’re okay with this, Ben?”

“You said this was the only way. And from what you’ve told me about this military, I’d really rather not have to deal with them. Make no mistake. I could, easily. But I’d rather not.” that cocky smirk was back and there was this look in his eyes that I couldn’t quite get a proper read on.

It had my knees feeling as if they were going to go all weak and rubbery on me.

XXX

My sisters had finally all gotten to the cabin. My nieces and my nephew were running all over the yard, with my sisters husbands outside to supervise.

Ben had kind of wandered outside himself, leaning against the side of the cabin, arms folded over his chest as he watched my nieces and nephew laughing and playing. And I felt bad for him because I knew exactly just how much of this kind of thing he didn’t have as a kid. His early years had been all about training. Control.

Dinah cleared her throat and I turned around, facing my sisters. “What?”

“Boyfriend, huh?” Cecilia mused, giving me a teasing grin. Of my three sisters, Cecilia was probably the one I got along with decently. So I knew when she said it, it was kind of her being wistful because she is a magnet… For all the worst guys.

“You’re always saying you’re too busy. And your internship takes up all your time.” Margo echoed, giving a suspicious gaze in Ben’s general direction. I bit my cheek to keep from snapping out an answer at her, because as usual, Margo seemed to be almost accusing me of something.

Dinah eyed Ben and then looked at me. “Where on Earth did you meet him? I mean… He doesn’t seem like your type, Katie.”

I shrugged. Why was it their business? Anyway, I’m at least 90 percent sure that a man like Ben can have his pick of women. It’s highly illogical to think he’d choose me to begin with. And I knew that. I guess that’s why it bothered me so much because my sisters questions since all of them arrived seemed to further imply and echo my own thoughts.

I cut my eyes at Dinah and gave her a dirty look. “It’s Katherine. And what the hell does that mean?”

“Well,I just mean that I always pictured the guy you wound up with a little more like… That guy from X files.. And not an actual hunk.”

“Fox Mulder is a hunk, by the way. But what the hell does that mean?”

“Are you sure you really know him? I mean it seems sudden.” Dinah went quiet, biting her cheek as she shuffled her feet and eyed me expectantly. “You never mentioned him and then Bam, today, you’re telling me you have a live in boyfriend.”

“Oh my god, wait.. You two are living together?” Margo’s eyes widened as she looked at me.

“And she barely knows him.” Dinah interrupted, irritated because whatever she’d been trying to say without saying before was obviously being interrupted and cast to the side.

I glared at Dinah and shrugged, answering Margo. “Kind of. It’s temporary. Kind of like a test drive?” I did my best at being convincing, but the entire time I was saying it, the feeling of dread I’d been having about Ben’s upcoming departure rushed right back to the forefront. But I shoved it down again. I already know I don’t have a shot in hell there, there’s no sense in dreading it or letting it get to me.

Not when we were already such good friends. Anything further would be risking the total ruin of that. And I didn’t want to.

“Since when? And are there more out there like him?” Cecilia asked quietly, staring dead at him and fanning herself as she did. 

“Since like… a week after Thanksgiving?” I scratched my head as I thought back. Had it really been that long? My mind was blown because it honestly felt like only yesterday that I was finding the crash site for his ship.

The weeks following seemed to have just flown by. And the realization of just how much time had really passed only made me stop and think about just how much I was dreading Ben’s departure.

“You two don’t act like a couple.” Dinah spoke up, insistent. Margo glared at her and I sighed, shrugging. “Not everybody is into over the top PDA. Why do you always insist there’s more to something than there really is?”

“Yeah, Di? Can’t you just let Katherine be happy?”

“If she didn’t have crap judgement..” Dinah trailed off, glancing at me awkwardly. I tensed and rolled my eyes. “If you ever wonder why we never talk more than twice a year, Di? This. This is exactly why. You’re not my mother and I’m not a fucking child.”

I don’t know what got into me, but I was snapping and storming away before I could bother to censor myself or stop. And it felt so good. I stormed into the house to check on the food and just be alone for a few minutes.

To my surprise, Ben cleared his throat from the doorway of the kitchen before stepping in and sliding the doors closed.

“Are you alright? I heard what your sister was saying.”

I took a deep breath and shrugged. “Just ready for the afternoon to be over. She’s second guessing the whole thing and if she pushes too hard, digs too much I’m afraid that she’ll... “ I trailed off, going quiet. Ben swallowed hard and nodded, giving me this look that showed he understood.

And from the doorway, Dinah’s throat cleared.

“I came to talk to my sister.”

Ben tensed.

“She’s got nothing to say to you.”

His tone came out so calm and yet so angry that it had me glancing up at him. He was glaring at Dinah. Dinah’s mouth opened and closed and she looked from me to Ben. I gave her a half hearted smirk and she eyed us both, almost like she were determined to believe that we were lying and she wanted to dig the truth out.

Ben’s arms slipped around my waist and before I could stop myself, I gasped quietly, sort of melting right against him. “Katherine, all that’s wrong with your sister is that she’s jealous. She’s always been jealous.”

I eyed Dinah and a brow raised when I realized that Ben’s words had hit a very tangible mark. She flinched and her mouth opened and closed, and then when she had nothing to say, her lips pursed and she grumbled quietly, “I don’t trust you, Ben.”

“And I don’t particularly care for you, Dinah.” Ben snapped, giving a shrug when she gaped at him as if she were shocked that he’d dare to speak to her that way.

“You’re going to let him talk to me like this?” Dinah gaped at me and I shrugged, snuggling myself against Ben just a little bit, gazing up at him over my shoulder before turning my attention back to her. “Why wouldn’t I? You’re the one who’s acting like an asshole.”

“I literally cannot deal with you. I’m leaving.” Dinah stormed out of the kitchen, calling to her husband and my nieces. “Kids, get in the car.”

Margo and Cecilia eyed my sister and gave each other a look before hurrying inside, shutting the door behind them.

“Whatever you two did, we’re gonna need you to do it again next year.”

Ben chuckled, shrugging. “I just pointed out that she seemed to be jealous of Katherine.”

“Oh, damn.. That went well.” Margo laughed, smiling as she shook her head. Cecilia turned to me and nodded her head back at Ben. “I like him.”

“Wait.. you two weren’t on her side every single time?”

“What? No.”

“I just never said anything because I know she’s been having problems in her own life for years.” Margo mused and this got her a look from both Cecilia and I. Margo gave a shrug and explained calmly, “Her husband’s leaving her in January. For the secretary at his firm. Not only that, she’s got laid off last year and she decided to do the stay at home mom thing and it’s been depressing her. And when we were kids, she was jealous of you and Cecilia because you two were always doing things and she never really got to do any of that… Especially after dad died…”

“She didn’t have to take care of us? We had grandma. Everything was fine.”

“She didn’t think so. You know what a control freak she is, Katherine.” Margo sighed and shook her head. “I have wanted to tell her to grow up and get over it for years now. Just never had the heart to because I knew why she was like that.”

Cecilia and I shared a look.

Ben cleared his throat.

“Is the food in the oven supposed to be burning? Because it smells like it’s starting to.”

“Shit.”

“Listen.. We all know Dinah’s turkey is dry every single year. Let’s just find a pizza place or something?”

I nodded, laughing. “If she were here, she’d be throwing a fit.”

“You three can’t even wait until I’ve actually left to let everything go to shit?” Dinah wandered back into the kitchen, opening the oven and glaring at my sisters and I.

“You let the turkey burn?”

“I thought you were going home.”

“And I was… Until I realized that grandma would be disappointed in all of us. Me, especially.” Dinah was squirming. She’s never enjoyed apologizing. I laughed and shook my head. “Listen, if Jim is going to walk out, let him. The guy’s a fucking jerk anyway. I just never said so because I thought you liked… that kind of guy.” I advised.

Cecilia dug around in the drawers for the corkscrew to open her wine and Margo spoke up after a few seconds. “Just let everything go, Di. Life’s too fucking short, okay? We’re literally all we have left now.”

Dinah mulled it over, nodding. She eyed Ben, who was hanging back, leaning in the doorway with his arms folded across his chest. “Maybe I was wrong about you. I just… I got suspicious because that one,” she nodded towards me, “Doesn’t typically get involved with anyone, let alone let her guard down enough to trust.”

I could feel Ben’s eyes on me, but I didn’t dare look up to meet his gaze, instead, I focused on pouring myself a glass of wine.

XXX

I shut the door behind me and leaned against it. “Thank God. That’s done for another year.” I laughed out the words and Ben chuckled quietly. “Wasn’t that bad.”

“I mean..” I trailed off, going quiet. I knew from the little bits about himself that he’d told me, he’d never really been that close to his family. And when he’d chosen the path that he’d chosen in life, they’d only gotten further apart.

I got the feeling there was so much more to it than that, but I didn’t push. It wasn’t my business. Even though I hurt for him, because there had been points throughout the day that I could look at him and tell that he longed to have a family, even if all they did was fight. Like… maybe he regretted whatever he’d done immensely.

I sank down on the couch beside him, staring at my hands for a few seconds, nothing but the sound of the fire crackling in the fireplace filling the room.

“I’m almost healed.” Ben muttered. I glanced up at him, biting my lip and nodding, forcing a smile. “You are! Hey, if you want… I can get one of Doc’s friends to come out and move your ship back to the cabin… So you can use the garage and the barn out back to work on it?”

Ben nodded after a few seconds, muttering quietly, “Yes.”

After he’d fallen silent for seconds that seemed to stretch into hours on my end, he spoke up again. “I’ve actually enjoyed being here.”

“Honestly, I’ve enjoyed you being here. And I’m not really a people person.”

Ben chuckled. “Neither am I.”

I scooted a little close, tentatively leaning against him. “Sorry you got pulled into all that crap.”

He shrugged. “Wasn’t that bad.” as he chuckled and asked quietly, “Is it like that every year?”

I shook my head. “No, because usually, Margo and Cecilia and I just ignore her. Or do whatever she’s nagging at us to do. Just to keep the peace.”

“Oh.”

“But it’s fine, she honestly needed to hear everything we were all saying earlier. She’s always been… Overbearing.”

“Overbearing is just one word.” Ben mused, making me laugh and reassure him quietly, “I’m fine. I have a thick skin.”

He chuckled and nodded in agreement as he eyed the glass of wine I was sipping. I held it out and he took a sip, spitting it out.

“That’s awful.”

“It’s not!”

“It’s utter swill, woman.” Ben dragged a hand over his mouth and my eyes caught on the movement. I gulped and stood abruptly. Because if I didn’t, if I kept sitting there, I was going to do something dumb.. Like kiss him.

And if he’s going to leave soon, that’s the last thing I want to do.

I’ll only wind up getting hurt if I keep getting too close. I have to remind myself of that a lot lately.

[jcmorrigan]

//Oh!, ok, got it. I take almost everything literally, and don't understand idioms, metaphors, expressions, slang, certain jokes, and/or figurative language, sorry. //I've never seen the show, I've heard( that) it's bad though. If so, why?

Duly noted!

Okay, so the thing is, my memories of it aren’t clear. I know I did watch it as a child, since I was a 90s kid. It was never really something I...bothered to remember. I was more into Chip & Dale: Rescue Rangers as a kiddo (though somehow that one hasn’t held up to me as well on a rewatch; it kinda feels like a lesser version of Darkwing Duck and I never got past the pilot)

I had completely forgotten about it, and then all of a sudden I’m watching a review by a certain Internet critic who I am ashamed to admit I used to like watching (because people yelling at things that don’t make sense is my kind of humor; don’t worry, I stopped with him and instead just focused on the likes of Mozenrath and other fictional characters who would do exactly that), and he brings up Shnookums & Meat and I just go “IT WASN’T A DREAM. THAT WAS REAL.”

I admittedly haven’t actually watched it since...25+ years ago, but on principle, the thing is, it’s obviously a clone of Ren & Stimpy. It can’t be coincidence that while that show was at its peak, Disney decided to do a slapstick comedy series about a cat and a dog who sort of liked each other.

Am I defending R&S? No. I HATE that show and everything it stands for. I have a pretty high tolerance for cartoon hijinks that can be offputting or violent (The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy is one of my favorite cartoons to this day), but every single R&S clip I’ve seen feels...off. And I think I’m feeling the negative energy that radiates off John K. wherever he goes; I have heard horror stories about how he talks about women and his ego in what tropes he thinks he “invented” in animation. Also the fact that they tried to revive R&S as a show specifically way raunchier tells me quite a bit about what the spirit of it was at the core (compare and contrast: Samurai Jack’s final season was also TV-MA, but instead of crudeness, this was used to be able to up the stakes, have Jack deal with the topic of mortality, show carnage to depict the villains’ reach, have some edgy jokes that aren’t OOC for the characters involved, and yes, depict some sexual tension between a loving couple. SJ proves that the problem isn’t in suddenly making your show more adult, but in HOW YOU DO THAT).

So back to Shnookums & Meat, and unfortunately I am forced to type out that title each time because Disney never got that its abbreviation was “S&M”? You’d think that wouldn’t have cleared production. But anyway. This is the 90s, when Disney’s image as family-friendly and wholesome entertainment is in full swing. Meanwhile, Boomers absolutely HATE R&S. It only gets its popularity from the kids, and though I can’t speak to what percentage of that popularity rode solely on the shock-value factor, it was definitely a sizeable percentage. Disney’s already in the lead with the parents here. If they want to win this war, all they have to do is continue making shows with simple-yet-unique premises (along the lines of “Scrooge McDuck travels around the world having adventures”) with goofy banter, charismatic characters, and this same image of wholesome fun. Easy, right?

Except SOMEBODY in the writers’ room steps forward and legitimately pitches “We need to make a copycat show of that horrible one our target audience’s parents ban them from watching.” AND THIS GOT APPROVED, SOMEHOW

And I mean maaaaaybe Shnookums & Meat is the actual better version of R&S with good dialogue and far less discomfort? But the fact that it exists at all on the worst premise it could possibly have just makes me feel embarrassment rising even acknowledging its existence.

[jbuffyangel]

Bored Now: Arrow 6x19 Review (The Dragon)

What in the ever-loving hill tops of Olympus was THAT?

I was exhausted Thursday, so I missed the episode. However, I waited until Sunday because I wasn’t motivated to watch given the fan reaction. But I figured it couldn’t be that bad right?

Yes. Yes it can.

I would rather watch Oliver pontificate about his super-secret plan to stop gun violence (without revealing his super-secret plan to stop gun violence) than “The Dr*gon.” I would rather watch L*urel earn her BC suit (without really earning it) by hallucinating her dead sister. I could watch Oliver and Sara bang fifty times over. Yes, I know what I am saying. 6x19 is worse than all the terrible 13th episodes combined! After six years and 134 episodes I am bestowing “The Dr*gon” with the title of WORST EPISODE EVER.  Congratulations. We have a new low.

I flitted between enraged and bored watching “The Dr*gon”, so I feel Evil Willow’s iconic expression conveys my emotions nicely.

Let’s dig in… it won’t take long. I promise an excess of snarky gifs.

Felicity Smoak and Curtis Holt

This is the first week post Oliver firing Felicity. Yes, he can dress it up any way he likes, but that’s exactly what he did. Felicity chooses to devote her extra free time to her company and reaches out to Curtis for a truce. A truce in these writers’ minds means FELICITY APOLOGIZES TO CURTIS. 

Liz Kim, who co wrote the episode, explained:

Let’s pretend we live in a world of rainbows and unicorns where the main governing body is the Girl Scouts and instead of paying taxes we get free cookies. 

We must live in this kind of world to understand what Liz Kim is pushing. Fine. Felicity isn’t holding a grudge. She’s being the bigger person and is sorry for her role in the fight. If we look objectively at all six characters Felicity has the least to apologize for, but that’s just details. 

What infuriates me is Curtis just stands there and glowers at her. He oozes moral superiority, contempt and arrogance. 

Why, dear writer, didn’t Curtis then apologize to Felicity? If this is all about being the bigger person and not holding a grudge, why didn’t Curtis step up to the plate next? Last time I checked, Curtis has as much to apologize for if not more than Felicity. Instead, we get Felicity apologizing to yet another man on this show and Curtis just stands there like a condescending lump.��

UNACCEPTABLE.

Then Curtis cannot hide his glee over Diggle quitting the team. He wants to skip around the room and sing, “Nananana boo boo” while Felicity is distraught about her husband being alone in the field. CURTIS HAS THE NERVE TO TELL FELICITY HE MUST FIGHT THE DESIRE TO GLOAT. But sure, what an amazing friend. 

Listen asshat, if you tell someone you are trying not to gloat that’s the same as gloating.

Why is Curtis the only “friend” Felicity is ever allowed to speak to? Why couldn’t she have gone to Lance or even Diggle. Diggle has a beef with Oliver, not Felicity. I don’t see how going to Curtis is any better than going to John in Oliver’s eyes. Hell, I’d take a phone call Thea over this. I don’t need to hear her side of the conversation.

How does anything Curtis says correlate to real friendship? He states the obvious – Felicity is using work to distract her from worrying about Oliver. OH MY GOD. THANK YOU SO MUCH CURTIS. WHAT WOULD WE HAVE DONE WITHOUT YOU HERE TO EXPLAIN THAT COMPLETELY OBVIOUS PLOT POINT TO US ALL?

Then, he almost laughs in her face about it, but can control himself enough to only gloat. Wow. Felicity’s friendship cup runneth over. And last, but not least, he refuses to take any responsibility for his role in the team breakdown. How magnanimous of him. What a petty little prick.

Also, why is Curtis always the one to fix a problem with the Helix tech? JUST ONCE I would like to see Felicity solve something tech related to this company without Curtis’ help. Felicity Smoak can program and hack anything. SHE INVENTED THE KEY PIECE OF RAY’S ATOM SUIT. But whenever Curtis is around she is forced to be clueless and rely on Curtis’ brilliance to save the day because LOOK AT WHAT A GOOD TEAM THEY ARE. She is a shining example of a genius female character and now she’s being used to prop Curtis’ man baby brain. It’s nauseating and unbelievably insulting to my gender.

If this is the route Arrow chooses to fix the breach between the two teams (OTA members apologizing while Newbies gloat) then I can safely say I will not forgive the newbies for anything they’ve done. They will be on my list of “Characters Who Need to Die” for the remainder of the show. Starting with my number one spot – Curtis Holt.

Olicity

At least the writers knew the only way to get Olicity fans to watch this garbage pile of nonsense was to stick a 3 minutes Olicity scene at the end and promo the crap out of it.  Unfortunately, the scene didn’t give me “all the feels” the writers intended. 

Felicity comes home in a panic after watching a news report stating the Green Arrow is probably dead. 

Source: @oliverfelicitygifs

Oliver pops up behind her and a very relieved Felicity throws herself into his arms. Any gooey feels I have over Felicity’s concern and emotional hug are about to be obliterated. Felicity informs Oliver this set up doesn’t work for her. When she’s in the bunker, and knows where he is or can see what is happening, it’s easier to cope with her worry. Oliver condescendingly implies there’s very little Felicity can do to help him while she’s in the bunker.

Excuse me, but is Oliver a pod person now? How do we get from THIS

to THIS 

to THIS. 

Do the Arrow writers watch Arrow? This is why people get so fed up. We can go from one episode to the next and characters act completely OOC to push a storyline along. Oliver “You’re My Partner” Queen is now saying Felicity can do very little to help? 

Let’s just unravel the entire basis of the show and the reason the character exists in the first place 

for another bullshit Oliver Queen regression that makes no sense. 

All I am asking for is a modicum of character cohesion and storyline consistency. Is it so much to ask that the Arrow writers know the show and characters they are writing for? I think not.

After Felicity correctly argues she can and HAS helped Oliver many times, he does another 180 and tells Felicity she can never be helpless. Cool bro, but you stated the exact opposite 15 seconds ago. 

Oliver decides it’s time to placate his wife’s legitimate fears by telling her he will always come home.

Source: @oliverfelicitygifs​

Sure, it’s a nice foreshadow for the future since Oliver is probably going to land himself in jail. This scene can serve as reassurance for all those terrified Oliver is going to do 25 to life. I take issue with the promise, however. Do you know why Oliver didn’t make that promise to Felicity in 2x09? 

Because he respected her too much to lie to her. Oliver knew then he doesn’t always have control over what happens to him in this line of work. Accepting death and not being afraid of it is part of the job description. Oliver knows this is a promise he can’t keep because NOBODY CAN. The tiny look of hesitation and resignation his face after hugging Felicity proves it.

Source: @oliverfelicitygifs​

We tell our children little white lies to ease their fears because sometimes they aren’t old enough to understand the truth. Was the promise Oliver made to William completely true? No. Should he have made the promise? Probably not, but I understood why he did. Oliver was trying to ease his son’s fears because William is a child.

But Felicity is a grown woman. Oliver doesn’t need to tell little white lies to his wife so he can continue his deeply stupid need to regress. The only reason Felicity needs to buy into this obvious lie is so she can function while Oliver is out in the field by himself.  How about Oliver LISTENS to his wife and acknowledges the truth – he can’t do this without her. Even emotionally stunted Oliver Queen understood THAT. 

We’re really supposed to believe emotionally evolved Oliver doesn’t? 

I MEAN GIVE ME A FRIGGIN BREAK.

This is why viewers get so frustrated with Arrow. The characters can change personalities like the show changes writers. 

Things we know to be true, and are the backbone of the series, are tossed aside to make an illogical plotlines work. It does nothing to service the characters, show or viewers. All that’s left is a terrible hour of television.

The Dr*gon and Bl*ck S*ren

The function of this episode is to make us give a flying flip about the Dr*gon. However, we are given a sloppily slapped together back story that doesn’t connect to any of the main characters whatsoever – particularly Oliver.  

Di*z grew up in an orphanage and was bullied by an older boy. This is the reason he’s become a menace to society. 

He named his fear “The Dr*gon” and tattooed it everywhere because he’s so tortured and intense.

He’s been trying to move up the criminal ladder to conquer his fear and be respected as a legitimate crime lord. Ummm… okay? Good luck with that. WHY DO I CARE? Oh, that’s right. I don’t. 

Ultimately, Di*z gets a seat on the Quadrant (Season 7 villain set up for sure) and revenge on the kid who bullied him as a child. The moral of the story is don’t be a bully because someday the kid you tortured might show up on your door step and light you on fire.

I thought this was supposed to be the season of many villains. Weren’t we doing away with the singular Big Bad? Why are we suddenly zeroing in on the lamest villain in the group? He’s so lame the writers had to come up with an entire episode to mitigate the lameness.

Di*z and Sir*n spend 85% of the episode sitting in a car trading fortune cookie sayings with one another. They go on and on and on about power, control and not being a dog. It’s a lot about not rolling over, bellies, tails... maybe an ear. Think of every single villain cliché you’ve ever seen and that sums up “The Dr*gon.” 

Di*z’s moves are utterly predicable and I’ve heard the dialogue in about fifty other shows/movies. I wish they had just gone full throttle with plagiarism and stuck, “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse” in there. It’d feel more honest.

BS spends the entire episode asking the big strong man how to be a big strong villain. So, a win for feminism all around. 

BS is so busy telling Di*z not to “roll over” she fails to see she’s following him around like a lost puppy.  

Di*z is the lamest Arrow villain in history (Yes, even worse than Sebastian Blood), but BS is his henchman. So, what does that make her? Nothing good! I’ll tell ya that much. 

In C*ssidy’s defense the dialogue is cringe worthy, but she didn’t make it any better with the over the top acting.

BS tells Di*z not to be a wuss, but when he listens she acts like she has a problem with violence. YOU JUST TOLD HIM NOT TO ROLL OVER. HE’S DOING WHAT YOU ASKED, KEVIN. 

Yet, her eyes cannot behold the horror of Di*z beating a man. Her soul withers at the sight of Di*z killing. She blinks, sighs and turns away in disgust. SHE IS SO CONFLICTED.

Oh, holy hell. Are you kidding me with this crap? This is the same character who killed a security guard begging for his life. This is the same character who screamed in another man’s ear until his veins popped. She’s tried to kill the team multiple times. It’s a little difficult to believe BS has a hard time watching someone get punched. But we’re supposed to believe it because REDEMPTION. Sorry, Imma gonna need a little more than excessive blinking from C*ssidy to sell me on that one.

Di*z’s need to be a legitimate crime boss doesn’t mean the character translates as any more than the common street thug he is. His backstory is intended to make him look complex, but it does the direct opposite. We’ve seen “a villain is made not born” trope a thousand times, including on Arrow. Unfortunately, “bullied in an orphanage” doesn’t hold up against the backstories of Slade, Merlyn, Ra’s Ahl Ghul or Prometheus. 

BS has the nerve to compare Di*z to Adrian Chase and I laughed out loud. 

BS spent all of 15 seconds with Chase, but she knows his anger consumed him? Okay, cupcake. Whatever you say. Comparing the genius ways Chase inflicted pain and revenge on Oliver to the Dr*gon’s hum drum plan of vertigo and the Quadrant is just wrong. Why didn’t they do this villain focused episode with PROMETHEUS? That would have been a good time.

“But Jen, you didn’t like Prometheus at first. You thought he was boring and then you loved him.” Sure, that’s true, but by episode 19 we were full throttle on Adrian’s crazy.

There’s nothing to unmask with Di*z. This isn’t Josh Segarra going to another level. If it was those things then 6x19 was the episode to do it. All that’s revealed is more boring on top of boring.  I can tolerate a misfire in the 10-15-episode range, but we’re rapidly approaching the end. It is incredibly late in the season to be telling us why we should give a flying fig newtin about Di*z. The writers need to come armed with a hell of a lot more than bullied and power hungry for a chair.

Stray Thoughts

It’s safe to say it’s going to be a terrible episode if the writer is tweeting as a PR defense strategy. We shouldn’t need episodes explained to us, but if we do then the answers should make a modicum of sense.

Oliver was in episode 3x10 more AND HE WAS “DEAD.” There’s a reason why Stephen Amell is the star. He carries the show. Don’t ever bench him, writers.

This wins Twitter:

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me. 6x19 gifs credited.

[iabsolutelyresentthiswebsite]

The Romantic Relationship Development Rebuttal

I received this comment (below) on my post for the second installment of my “Fundamental Misunderstanding of Rian Johnson” webseries and comments are not long enough for what I need to say.

Them: “I think you mistaken that the relationships in TLJ are meant to be explicitly romantic? You basically have a bunch of broken people just trying to connect to one another as they try to figure themselves out/their places (in the often flawed ways people do), which is much more realistic in an imperfect/war torn world than romantic love is. The OT and PT directly romanticizes these unhealthy relationships in Anidala and Han/Leia, but they both fail for lack of substance. On the other hand everything in TLJ is pretty subtle, tho Kylo and Rey have and spark more substantial development in each other than either Anidala and Han/Leia in the OT/PT. Is it romantic? Who knows. Affection doesn’t always have to be. What matters is that these characters and their relationships become the catalyst for growth, romantically or otherwise. Besides this, Rose’s character is there to give a voice to the rebels (in and outside the mobilized resistance) and their motivations. Perhaps the reason it was shown this way will be clearer in IX, as XIII clarified much of XII. TLJ and what Johnson was trying to do seemed pretty clear to me but I understand we all have diff opinions. Anyway, Happy V-Day!“ 

Because of their respectfulness, I have declined to include their name, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are so wrong on almost everything. Including the episode numbers... (BTW, I electively ignored the comments until someone slid in and agreed with them. This is the only reason I am replying now.)

Never did I say in that video that the relationships were intended to be explicitly romantic. The problem is, nowhere in The Last Jedi, was it ever even implied it was supposed to be something else. I understand the whole “imperfect people trying to find imperfect ways to make sense of things”. I like that concept. I do. But even on that front, both FinnRose and most especially Reylo fail on every account.

Finn and Rose don’t play on each other well, don’t challenge each other in any logical manner, and nor do they find any kind of solace or understanding that the commenter is referring to in one another. Finn is an escaped Stormtrooper, who is extremely conflicted, scared, but brave, however doesn’t know his place outside of the fact he feels semi-indebted to both Poe and Rey for saving him in different ways. Rose’s purpose is still unclear outside of the whole forced romance arc. She is a useless character, aside from the fact the whole purposeless excursion on Canto Bight that should have been between Poe and Finn led to Finn voluntarily aligning himself with the Resistance. But I truly believe, without Canto Bight, that whole alignment arc could have and should have been done much better and more convincingly. Rose’s character did nothing to serve to give the rebels of voice, so I don’t know what you’re talking about. We know that the rebels come from everywhere and have their own reasons for joining and exploring that would have been great and even hearing the little bit of Rose’s backstory was...fine, I guess, but it does not change the fact she handicapped the entire plot- rather, lack thereof. It’s never been necessary to have a poorly-designed side character’s motivations explored in a poorly-constructed environment completely being forced by the plot in a main canon movie. That is exactly what the books are designed to do. Cover information that is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things so that it gives backstory on people we didn’t really think twice about. We saw Rose’s sister die for the Resistance and that was pretty powerful, but we didn’t even seen Rose really grieve over her sister, except lashing out at Finn, whom she was just fawning over. Like...I’m sorry, she was written so badly. She is a detriment to the plot, to the necessary relationship developments, and even to herself. 

Moreover, to boldly claim that it wasn’t intended to be explicitly romantic is objectively wrong. This is Disney we’re talking about. To them, love solves everything and for the things it doesn’t solve, it excuses. Rose kissed Finn because they wanted us to see them together romantically, but they gave Rose no personality and therefore, she and Finn have no chemistry. A kiss on the lips is a universal symbol of romantic love and as someone who was very mildly interested in a potential friendship between the two, that even I saw that kiss as romantic 100% of the way (btws, that was the only thing that lead me to that conclusion cinematically), it really says something. Also, cinematically speaking, the moment they kissed, an explosion went off, which is very clearly indicative of the romantic aspect I am so confidently asserting was intended to be in The Last Jedi between these two. They tried to make us see the “spark” by literally showing us them, but failed because of everything else wrong with their dynamic. 

Moreover, I explicitly do not see Reylo as romantic at all. They are completely 100% at opposite ends of the spectrum and cannot reconcile at this point. A Reylo endgame is completely asinine with what Rian Johnson did to them, which has always been fine by me. I don’t like/respect/enjoy a Reylo endgame as a narrative concept because it does not make logical sense based on their characters and interactions. It would have been asinine after JJ’s first installment, too. Reylo simply cannot happen, logically-speaking. As TFA began to explain, TLJ solidified that Reylo is DOA- Dead On Arrival. 

But the problem is, Rian Johnson basically said he ships Reylo, so we know that’s what he was trying to do. He said he played with the idea of them actually making out  in The Last Jedi. That is proof enough he fundamentally misunderstands romantic relationship development, but also fundamentally misunderstands these characters he’s writing! He did not and continues to not understand their real dynamic, which I really don’t get. It’s not that hard. 

Again, I concede that how someone might see the whole “imperfect people/imperfect places” thing. It makes more sense than what Rian tried to have happen. Rey and Kylo having this Force bond, which would have been fine under different circumstances, is a thing I was totally down for. Loved the concept. It made sense after what The Force Awakens established their relationship to clearly be, but now...suddenly that is thrown out the window for a shallow, Dues Ex Machina, self-fulfilling prophecy-esque plot device initiated by a person who simply is not powerful enough to make this thing happen. So is the Force-bond genuine or fabricated? No one will ever know. 

Kylo is very broken, although clearly not nearly as broken as we were lead to believe considering Rian decided to have him throw his redemption away in favor of the lies and power his now-deceased master promised him in his youth. Kylo knows what he’s doing now. And Rey, completely stripped of her personality, is unrealistically believing every single thing Kylo Ren has to say without consulting Luke Skywalker about anything. I’ve already spoken about how OOC Luke was, so we are not going there right now. Rey, based on her characterization in TFA, would not have done that, especially considering Kylo had just murdered his father in front of her and knew that his father meant something to her. He did it as much for himself as he did to hurt her intentionally. If they were supposed to be “imperfect people finding meaning in imperfect ways”, Kylo would have actually gotten something beneficial out of it, much like Rey. Instead, we have Kylo Ren’s arc assassination and Rey being completely and utterly betrayed by Kylo Ren with no good reason and now the Rebellion is pretty much up shit’s creek without Han, Luke, or Leia. Maybe Rey learned a lesson that she wasn’t supposed to trust Kylo Ren, but why did she in the first place? She literally detested him all of about 18 hours prior. Maybe Kylo Ren learned that people cared about him, but Leia literally telepathically sensed her son and sent him good vibes and Han put his life in jeopardy for his son. He knew that, too. 

Moreover and very quickly, Anidala wasn’t really all that unhealthy until Anakin became obsessed with protecting Padme. It was weird to us because Padme was 14 when Anakin was 9 and they got married when he was like 19 and she was 24. But like, it was what it was until Palpatine really started trying to turn Anakin’s heart by playing on his fears of losing Padme. And at really no point in time was Han and Leia’s relationship unhealthy. They fought a lot because they were denying the sexual tension that did exist between them and their personalities were both fairly dominant, so testing the waters was necessary. Couples fight all the time and their bickering really lead to them being able to see each other for who they truly are. Neither relationship was what you assert it was. 

I will say, again and a-fucking-gain, nothing in this movie should have logically happened and what happened actually is illogical from the very concept to the way it was executed. Rian Johnson wanted us to see failure, but unfortunately for this franchise, the failure we saw was this God-awful movie. 

But like you said, we all have differing opinions. Happy Valentine’s Day.

[airis-fantasy]

I got this ask from someone regarding “Reylo / Star Wars TLJ” off anon and since I didn’t get any reply until now, if they want me to answer in public or in private, but I wanted to post this thing here, I will just answer through this post!

Please don’t be sorry, it is absolutely okay to talk to me! :D 

I’ve put it all under read more, because it’s very long and there are 

major spoilers 

in my reply.

I think I understand which scenes you’re coming from with your assumption and to be honest, that was my first thought as well.

When Kylo is holding out his hand to Rey and she doesn’t take it, they get into that “fight”, the saber breaks because they’re equally strong pulling at it and then we also see Snoke’s ship breaking - or more being cut in halves right after. 

Then we have also the scene, after Kylo screamed at Luke that he will destroy Rey and everything, where Kylo see’s Rey again, kneeling in front of her and looking at her with puppy eyes, but she resists and shuts the door of their ship in front of him.

These scenes pictured a real “cut” between them and I thought as well that they’re done for. That Rey is too disappointed in him and now doesn’t believe in him anymore as well. That she also abandoned him, and I was really really disappointed in Rey at that moment, because she fought so fuckin much for him the whole movie. This girl is so freakin stubborn and wouldn’t give up that easily, yet she gave up so quickly after his offer and really seemed to be done with him.

But after I thought about it the whole night, I don’t think so anymore. Her actions seemed to be too OOC for me and that’s why I gave it more thought again.

I don’t think they would make a whole movie on developing and discovering their bond and at the end, everything was useless. So I’d like to explain a few other scenes to you, which I think are more important than those 2 scenes described above or should at least be seen in connection.

The scenes I want to talk about were so so so important, there’s clearly no discussion about that. They wouldn’t set the focus on such a detail otherwise.

When Rey is on Luke’s island and bonding with Kylo, they have this scene at the fireplace. Rey is holding out her hand towards him, Kylo hastily takes off his glove and reaches out for her as well. They’re reaching out for each other, they both clearly want this physical and emotional contact. The focus is set completely on their hands, the background is dark and you can’t see anything else beside just their fingers touching. 

Then we get a second scene later, where the focus is on Kylo’s hand as well.

Kylo makes this stupid offer to Rey, that everything should just be destroyed and that they should build a new order in this universe together. Kylo is looking at Rey, emotions clear on his face and pleading her to stay with him.

Then the focus is set on the same detail as before. Kylo is holding out his gloved hand to Rey and Rey refuses to take it.

If you compare these scenes directly, you can interpret them far better, but it’s difficult while watching the movie, because these scenes are so far apart in time from each other. 

My interpretation is the following: In the first scene, Kylo was willing to touch Rey’s hand skin to skin. He took off his glove and it was like he was taking off his mask for her only, so that they could feel each other directly and Rey was touched by it. He showed her the deeply wounded Ben Solo and she is willing to take his hand.

But in the second scene, he didn’t take off his glove. Instead, Kylo was holding out his hand to her still gloved - he didn’t take off his mask for her in that scene and Rey refused to take Kylo Ren’s hand.

So, even more if I take those two “figurative cut” scenes in consideration, I would say that Rey is always willing to take Ben Solo’s hand, but she will never take Kylo Ren’s hand.

It was like she was saying “Boy, you can do better than this! I know you can and that this is not your true self.”

It was made clear that she turned her back at Kylo Ren, but I don’t think that she turned her back at Ben Solo.  She is disappointed in him, that he lost direction again after all that progress he’s made and she clearly showed him her disappointment. With good reason! He was being immature again and a total asshole, not only with what he offered to her but with how he behaved towards Luke after that as well.

That she showed him her disappointment was very very important for his upcoming character development.  If she wouldn’t have done it like that, Kylo wouldn’t have truly changed. We could see that he was going back in his development again and it wouldn’t have helped at all, if Rey would have stayed with him. It’s 100% clear that he wants to be with Rey - I mean just look at those puppy eyes and what he offered to her. That boy is so fuckin deep in love, he wanted to gave her the whole universe!

But that boy doesn’t know how to properly express himself. He says many things he doesn’t really means. He has no experience in love and he is a real Tsundere and showed it even more at the end of the movie. 

[A/N: Tsundere = a person who is sharp, sarcastic, cold and even aggressive on the outside and in their actions, but becomes lovestruck and then can be super sweet and soft towards their loved one. There’s this gap between their actions (cold and aggressive) and their true feelings (lovestruck, soft and sweet). Reasons for that hot/cold temper are their own insecurities.]

There is still a third movie to come. There wouldn’t be any need for a third movie if everything gets solved in the second.  With Snoke dead and Kylo on Rey’s side, what enemy would they have to fight in a third movie? Even if they would have solved this problem somehow, it wouldn’t have been truly satisfying with them being together at the end of TLJ.

Kylo and Rey have had some real character developement, for themselves and for their relationship. Rey fell in love with Ben Solo and he with her. She doesn’t believe in Kylo, she knows that he is evil and Ben himself knows that as well. He didn’t sugarcoat himself and his actions only for the sake to please her at all!  But Rey believes in Ben Solo and she wants him to do so as well.

Rey wants Ben Solo to take off his mask for her that is Kylo Ren, just like he did in the fireplace scene. She is a very strong and stubborn woman and she knows what to do. She knows that it wouldn’t help Ben at all if she would take Kylo’s hand and stay with him. And she will make him realize that he has to change if he wants her to stay with him, intentionally or not. She will make him realize that “Kylo Ren” isn’t the answer to Ben Solo’s problems. 

In fact, I think he already realized that he fucked up greatly when she shut the doors of the ship in their last scene and that he began to think about what he did. So what Rey did in the end of the movie was very important for Kylo’s character development. It was a good and the right decision to leave him and she had all the reasons to do so. 

Kylo can’t change over night, he needs time for a proper change and proper redemption and Rey realized that. She didn’t look at him like she did at the beginning of the movie, full of faked hate. She was simply disappointed and showed him that. I don’t think she is completely done with him. She looked too determined for that, more like “I am so disappointed, I don’t want to have anything to do with Kylo, Snoke’s product, but I will come back to get you, Ben.”

Remember how often she said his name in this movie. Ben. And always with tenderness. 

And don’t forget that they both saw their shared future. Rey saw that she will have Ben by her side, in the light, and Kylo saw Rey standing next to him, in the dark, as well.*

Don’t forget all these things and don’t loose your hope. 

Even General Hux realized that Kylo’s mask already has its cracks (see the last scene where Kylo goes into that room where Leia and Luke were before and how suspicious Hux looked at him) and I am sure there’s more to come in the next movie. And remember what Rose said, that they shouldn’t fight someone they hate, but to save the ones they love.

Let’s have faith in our Knight in Shining Armor, that is Rey, and let’s wait for her to save the captured princess, that is Ben Solo inside of Kylo Ren.

*) My prediction is, that neither of them will be able to drag them to their side.  Just like they showed in TLJ now, this imbalance is an impossible thing and if they try to do so, they will get seperated. But I strongly believe that they will be together and find balance instead in the next movie. That would also explain why Rey saw Ben on the light, but Kylo Rey on the dark side.

[leonum-matrem-blog]

all of the munday meme questions!

Munday Meme WELL THEN | AnonymousAccepting But this is all of them LOL

♻ Any advice on improving Tumblr RP experience?

      I think my advice for this question has always been the same for everyone. Just don’t stress about things here. You haven’t written in weeks? Doing one more OOC post? Haven’t replied to someone in a month? That’s okay. I want to advise everyone that this is suppose to be our fun space, where we can sit here and talk and enjoy the things we love together. I know that it’s easier said than done but everyone stresses SO MUCH over this stuff when really it’s stress that you can easily avoid. Just take in a deep breath and have fun, it’s as easy as that. And if anyone gives you issues ever, just unfollow, block, and blacklist.

     Simple. But saves you so much more stress. 

⛅  Do you believe aesthetics are another form of expression?

       I love the form of aesthetics. I really do. I think it’s fun to find something that screams your muse, to see aesthetic boards, with images that all represent one thing or person and more often than not you can tell what it means. It’s fun interpreting it and figuring out how each would fit a muse or person. It’s very much like an individual representation on on a poetic level, except it’s like poetry in a visual representation. And I personally, am always a sucker for symbolism and aspects that mean so much to muses.

☮ Are you feeling happy and inspired right now?

       Well. I’m listening to music, I feel asleep for 3 hours, and I’m bundled up. I enjoy my muse and I enjoy her general time period. So in a sense of muse yes, I am feeling inspired. Now whether or not I’m responsible with that is a completely different matter.

☄ Has someone ever admitted to being inspired by you?

       Yes, @kingslaying actually started up an RP blog because of me. She is my anon’s HERE , HERE , & HERE and is now my Main Jaime because she has a dedication and love for him that is always poetic and so true to his character. She has quickly become one of my most cherished friends next to @cerseilionesslannister and our triplet verse is one of the best things that has ever happened on my blog.

⚌ Who inspires you?

      Wow this might be such a long list. @cerseilionesslannister @kingslaying , @starkmatriarch , @handofhonor , @killthebxy , @taintedblccd , @princessbcrn , @mistressmxleficent , @watcherandshield , @phaesm , @neitherknightnorlady , @iniziare, @kingwhocared / @fadetogrey, @undeadcersei , @boltxnbastard . @decthsentence , @royalsadist-hiatus (sorry but I STILL ADORE YOU REN!!!) , @rainbowguard  , @scarredhound , @predative / @conduicive , @willbeshot (listen- we don’t talk but my dash would seriously be less without you in it) , @wildmoored , @thecodekeeper , @hangtherules , @trickstercaptain , @obdurare , @obuljagon , @queenlannistertyrell , @theeldestsun , @thesellsword , @womenwritten (we don’t talk but heavens you’re quality ) , @twiicetheheart , @podstye , @aloneinmycage , @dxdger , @drdumaurier , @donapirata ,  @flxbber (adorable bean ) , @goldenhaircd , @godsiwasstrong , @hydrophobiic , @needlcd @mithraiic , @lynchthedove , @akingslayerx

♋  Are there any FC’s you believe should be used more? Why?

       I honestly have zero complaints about FC’s aside from the point that I am UNCARING of the popular fancast of younger Cersei. That one from Reign.

☸ Do you reblog from the source when someone practices reblog karma or do you follow it?

      I am really respective of someone’s rules if they wish for someone to send, or if i feel like they’d be more comfortable with me sending one in, I do it. Sometimes it’ difficult because while Cersei is fake nice, when true colors are shown she doesn’t like very many people so I have to go through the options with a very meticulous thought process. I personally never require people to practice reblog karma and would never mind being someone’s meme source. 

☯ Do you believe you’re a forgiving person?

      I honestly am always willing to work through conflicts and do what is best for the sake of peace but I have to work at it. I’m not an automatically forgiving person, and I can be pretty petty. But I’m always willing to let bygones be bygones if necessary. I suppose it depends on the situation.

⚑ Have you been forgiven for a mistake you’ve made?

      Yes, I have. Thankfully. And I have made mistakes, plenty of them. I’ve accidentally jumped the gun on some people, I’ve made wrong assumptions, and I’ve lightly confronted and came out completely wrong. And each time I apologize I never expect someone to automatically forgive me always keeping in mind that if they don’t and they wish to unfollow me. I make it clear that it is okay and I will not respect the many less. Thankfully, I’ve been forgiven and am always as honest as I can be.

♛ Have you ever seen drama be maturely sorted out?

      Yes, I’ve seen it and experienced it . And thankfully it has led to a peaceful existence between both parties. And thus far, so long as each party, [myself included] remain a 100% honest and communicate wholly when it comes t our feelings. It’s a relaxing and honest partnership.

♞ Do you tend to ignore drama?

    Ignoring it, solving it, and not feeding it are three different things and more often than not they mix together. Ignoring it to solve it is actually the biggest and best way to solve it, because you are actively not feeding it. Because 90% of the things that I have witnessed lately have done nothing but feed the drama instead of solving it. (this is where I always say to block if it becomes too much. People always think that unfollowing and/or blocking are the ultimate taboos of tumblr. which they aren’t. The whole reason that these two options exist is to make YOU more comfortable in your space and once you realize there literally is no shame in using it then your dash is a 100% stress free space in true.) 

      I also highly believe and always recommend solving issues privately. If there is a user that you have an issue with or a concern or a question concerning an issue. Just go right to their PM’s and talk it all out in a civil matter, and if it doesn’t work that’s okay. Just unfollow and/or block by both parties. And if the said person doesn’t wish to talk and ends up being rude, then end the conversation and again, block and ignore.

      So I don’t ignore it, so much as I prefer to settle things privately without a show on the dash and the wrong kind of attention brought to both parties. You know I’m not the type to play white knight in my valor armor and my sword of justice. No I’m more like the average jane wrapped in leather climbing over walls with my slingshot because I want to face an issue directly instead of making a show for dozens of people.

☾ Have you ever tried to bring peace to a situation?

        Always. I always recommend peace to all situations. That, or just parting ways and going on their way. There are often times that so many different people confide in me and always advise the best course of action to get them to come to a form of peace. (often times I would be the confidante of both parties working it out for the best)

        And in situations like that I always ALWAYS stress how much I will not utter a word of the other’s conversation and I haven’t. (unfortunately it drove one in one of the situations to try and guilt and lie to me to make it sound like the other party turned against me. And then proceeded to lie to OTHERS about the situation and continuously vagues like crazy about it today; but I won’t go into too much detail)

☻ Have you ever made someone a promo or a positive shoutout?

         Plenty of times actually. My most recent promo, i suck at them, was for @kingslaying , and I’m always doing some sort of positive shoutout for someone.

☎ What do you think about bias lists?

        I enjoy them so much , and they’re so fun to make edit wise. But when it comes to trying not to forget someone I’m ALWAYS so paranoid. I cherish all of the ones I do get tagged in and am always thankful and humbed because I know how hard it is to remember so I’m honored alone by simply being remembered? I also enjoy them because they’re convenient for those of us who don’t have any photoshop or the skill for it, to do any proper giveaways.

☈ How many people would you say likes you?

       Enough for me to respond to hate with ‘bitch everyone loves me’ LMAO. No but I get along with enough people to safely assume that a fair amount of people do like me? I’m annoying half the time in my own opinion but the most common word that is used for me is ‘cute’ so I suppose that says something? :)

♡ How many people do you like? Are there any people in particular that pop up?

       I LOVE EVERYONE!! But my squad is definitely consisting of @cerseilionesslannister , @kingslaying , @princessbcrn ,  @iniziare , @neitherknightnorlady , @phaesm , @kingwhocared , @taintedblccd

☢ What calms you down after negativity?

       I try my best to stay away from negativity but you all know how much salt I have and how littler my tolerance for bullshit and illogical stupids are. So when I’m overwhelmed I liked to leave my computer to watch a movie, or play a game, or lay down on my bed and sleep for a few minutes. Or even ALL of these. Now there is a puppy I have, his name is Hector, who I take outside for a walk or lay with, or play with. For someone who is equally chill, I am actually NOT so chill.

☠ What keeps you happy?

       Writing, music, my love for @cerseilionesslannister  and @kingslaying and everything that is Cersei Lannister.

☘ Is there anything that makes you instantly want to follow someone?

       Respect. Respect for my Muse. Respect for her family, respect for her characterization. Whether the mun seems nice, the muse works, I am wanting to write with them, or even the smallest thing as I am a pure fan of their work or their muses. There are somethings that I am extremely picky over but, there is that.

☕  Is it often you hear people complimenting your blog? Characters, writing, theme, icons, etc.

        YES. I’ve actually come to meet a LOT of people who enjoy Cersei Lannister and everything that she is. But a lot of the times I get compliments on my theme which was made by the beautiful @iniziare . Same with some of my icons, and even my URL. I appreciate all of the positivity and I am more often than not unsure of what I’m doing . So positivity. always helps me get back on my feet and I always appreciate it whenever it comes.

☂ What’s your best RP experience?

      You know I’ve seen so much crack wars and angsty things, and different verses. But nothing has ever, EVER, come close to the craziness that was the FIRST MINT WAR. I remember that 4th of July. I just got home smelling like gun powder and ash because it was my nieces first firework day. And I LITERALLLY come online and make one dash commentary post because the dash is dying. LOL. And everything just spiraled out of COMPLETE control. Ironically it was also the first time I met @predative

⚈ What sweet things tend to happen to you from time to time RP wise?

        When Cersei’s children come and love on her and show how much they cherish her as their mother. I’m looking at you @princessbcrn . And when she does just small family things that speak volumes and that just make Cersei’s heart MELT to bits and pieces because Cersei just loves her children so much.

☐ What trends are you currently into?

       I try not to be a trendy person but I will always love 100x200 icons. I don’t CARE. I love them so much. I know some people find them annoying but I love the added piece of scenery and mood to the icon.

★ What fandom do you consider welcoming?

        I haven’t really been dabbling too much in any other fandoms but our little corner here ins the ASOIAF/GOT is known to be quite welcoming to new people. That and the WestWorld fandom. When I made @sanguissanguini every single person there has been nothing but nice to me.

☆ What are some the perks with the fandom you’re currently in?

       Well as stated above we are infamously welcoming to new people. We look out for each other and we cherish one another. Everyone is seriously SUPER super nice and more often than not if you IM’s one of us you’ll find that we’re always here willing to talk about anything, chat on life, or just listen to you talk about things.

      Of course we have our bad corner, you know, the bullies, the ones who send themselves fake hate to get attention, or the ones hell bent of stirring the pot to cause drama, the thievy bullies. You know. Problematic corner. But every fandom has one. But all in all, most of use are GENUINELY good at just keeping the peace, and minding our own business, and being honest, all the while being sure to RESPECT one another.

☉ What fandom do you believe needs improvement? What could you do to do that?

       I have heard nothing but BAD things of the Marvel Fandom. I myself really REALLY enjoy Marvel things and the Avengers, and Tony Stark, and Peter Quill, and the Hulk. But again, I’ve heard nothing but baaadd things about the Marvel Fandom. If there is any fandom that needs improving; i’d say that one.

        I’d say that people genuinely need to start respecting one another and respecting the fact that people DO and are ALLOWED to have differing opinions on things. Learn to separate muse form mun, fantasy from fiction, and a joke from seriousness. All in all; just chill. Have fun. Be nice. Treat people how you want to be treated. Easy.

♦ How has roleplaying on Tumblr improved since you started out?

      I actually DON’T know the answer to this question because I was largely unaware of the trends when I started out with  Cersei and I literally had nothing but a cheap gifted theme from octomoosey and a few images off google. BUT I do know that I have learned since than wit ha fair amount of trial and error. But I’d like to say that people are more respectful of one another, thankfully. 

♨ Have you ever roleplayed with someone that has been problematic but offered critique and then watched them improve?

         With people I have had problems with that don’t work out I usually end up blocking. Once I had someone who is actually pretty hugely Anti-Cersei who was more or less TELLING me how bad Cersei was to one of her kids and made me feel wrong for disagreeing. THAT one was a problematic one  that I tried to work with that just ended up with me blocking for the sake of my own comfort.

⚓ Are there any small details you tend to like in roleplays?

       Well that’s just it. I love attention to DETAIL in the first place. I’m always so thoughtful and meticulous about the smallest of things when it comes to Cersei and how I portray what she does and why she does what she does. When I see someone else pay that much attention and CARE as much as I do. I like it.

⚡ What are the good sides with duplicates?

      I actually enjoy duplicates ! SO MUCH! And I always promote duplicate love because it’s so much funner this way than having competitions and long standing paranoia over ‘who is better’ because I imagine that is exhausting. I actually have a longstanding ship with one, the lovely and perfect blessing incarnate @cerseilionesslannister . We have so many things built into our verse that they’ve become their own form of canon. 

       Plus it’s always nice to have someone else to scream over when it comes to loving our muse. And it’s amazing how we’re both true to our muse but in our different ways? I love her too so much, and duplicate things are fun and are honestly my favorite.

☀ What’s the best thing about roleplaying? (tagging @handofhonor for these two)

       Being able to write and get into the heads of the characters selected to write, and being able to meet some of the nicest people along the way. I know it’s cheesy but it’s honestly the best experience for me. I’ve also fallen in love with a fictional character and I hold ZERO regrets for it because I would honestly die for Cersei.

⛵ What genres do you like writing the most?

       It’s not really a genre that I enjoy but more like a topic? I love the dynamics between Cersei and her family so whenever I have threads explaining different aspects of it I am really happy. Whether it’s Cersei and Myrcella having ANOTHER fight, or when Myrcella is being there for Cersei. Or Cersei and Jaime wanting to be with each other but can’t, or THEIR fighting, or THEIR loving, or loving while fight and vice verse. Or even Cersei and Tywin, Cersei and Tommen and that dynamic. Cersei and Joffrey, and how each dynamic affects the other. Family things. THOSE are my favorite.

      That and things that challenge Cersei as a character, challenges her beliefs, challenges the way she thinks or the way that she believes. Things that give Cersei a run for her money basically. (and she always in every verse has a LOT of money.)

☺  What tends to bring out your muse the most? What inspires you?

      Music, music has always ALWAYS been an inspirational thing for me when I want to write a certain mood. That and certain fan videos that put my mentality in the mood that I want.  I have no idea why this is, I only know that it’s always been this way. When I hear something, and sometimes it will give me a certain emotion. [ I even have select songs that scream Cersei for me that I throw on.] Either she wants to kill something, love someone, or step on someone. It’s always a mix of them but- music brings out the most emotion.

[supremepizzasnoke]

Last Jedi Thoughts

It was neither as good nor as bad as the internet led me to believe it would be.

Reylo

My biggest source of initial hesitation, but even though I read spoilers saying it wouldn't happen, it seemed pretty clear that it REALLY wouldn't happen now. Rey's biggest character flaw is that she sees the good in people, but I think the movie indicated that Rey's perception of Kylo was right from the beginning: He's weak, he killed his father, and Ben Solo is gone. I think the hope she had that he could be good is gone for good now. As it should be. He's still abusive and not romantic. Who tells someone they're nothing and expects a positive response? Fuck off. Als about Rey's parents, I truly think he was LYING. It's not out of character, and this movie was so thematically about lies and perceptions, I think this was just another Dark Side Lie.

Kylo

I still don't think he's a compelling villain. I don't understand his motivations, and this movie did nothing more to tell me about his relationship with Snoke or how Snoke influenced him as a youth. Nada. He's not mentally ill or complex. He was used, yeah? I guess...but he makes bad choices, which I don't get.

Luke

Most of the negative reviews I read ahead of time were about how Luke's character was completely assassinated in this movie and that he was totally OOC. I guess I could see that? But also he's obviously seen a lot in the last 20 years and had being a Star Wars Legend (TM) really affect his own self-view. I like that he has grown to question the Jedi, who, let me say, he had always been questioning.......I didn't like that whole thing about him almost killing Ben Solo, his nephew, I thought that was stupid. But also all the reviews I read were like OMG HE TOTALLY ALMOST DID THIS LUKE SKYWALKER WOULD NEVER DO THAT and yeah he wouldn't, you're right. BUT HE DIDN'T. He thought about it for, like, a second, and he came to regret that second forever. Also I had a theory that Snoke got in his head, but that's a theory for another post.

Snoke

I think this was a wasted opportunity to give Snoke and the Knights of Ren much-needed story...Also is that who those Nerds in the red were supposed to be? Luke's former students??? Like, they were cool, but they just existed to die. A waste tbh. I hope IX gives us more on Snoke or reveals this was all part of his plan or some shit because I was not satisfied. I did like that he apparently has the power to alter memories and perceptions, which means I think he lied to Kylo about a LOT of shit.

Finn

My son. I love every minute of him. But I will say, I thought his storyline dragged and was unnecessary. That is the case. In a two-and a half hour movie, this was one storyline that probably could have been cut or at least replaced with something more compelling. I love his relationships with all of the other characters, and it seems like he was wildly underused. But the moments he was on screen were my absolute favorites. Especially his first and last moments wiTh regard to Rey. Also the kiss with Rose was not as bad as I thought? All the reviews seemed to be like THIS WAS A FORCED SHIP TO STOP THE GAY SHIPS!!!!! and yeah in a lot of ways it was that. But also, the kiss was initiated by Rose and not reciprocated by Finn. He seemed surprised. I like their friendship, and I hope he turns her down in IX... BECAUSE I ship Finnrey :/ Biased review, I know, but I'm sorry.

Poe

Like Finn, I felt he was underused. Saw a lot of people call his storyline sexist and I actually have to say that I don't agree...but then again, I'm male, and I am probably seeing this through a biased male lens and I'll acknowledge that right now. However! It felt like most of what Poe was trying to accomplish was more about chain of command and authority problems (and not being told what the fuck was going on) than anything about Holdo being a woman. That being said, Poe fucked up a lot in this movie, and I hope he grows and develops because of it? Like, failure can teach etc etc etc...

Admiral Holdo and Paige Tico

Holdo could have done with development. I would have preferred that to the scenes on the gambling planet. I loved the scene where she sacrificed herself, I thought it was STUNNING but also I wish she hadn't had to? In a movie so full of Rebellion deaths and sacrifices (seriously, so much loss in this movie...) Holdo felt...idk. unnecessary. It could have been someone else. Maybe Ackbar. I mean, he got the shaft too. As for Paige, I really liked her sacrifice, but again, in a movie full of them, it gets muddled. For that matter, it feels unfair that the two biggest losses in this movje are from female characters. One? Yeah okay. But two? Mmm...side eye for Rian Johnson here.

Rose

I love Rose, and I think her story was fine, but in a movie crammed full of so much, it was a bit of a distraction. I also would have enjoyed to have seen her interact with Paige or at least talk more about her. I'm not feeling romance between her and Finn, but friendship and partnership I could deal with.

Phasma

GOD I LOVE PHASMA BUT WHY WON'T THEY JUST GIVE ME MORE!!!! I don't think she's going to come back for the sequel again, but I desperately want her to. She was amazing and I love her...

Leia

I loved Leia, I don't want her to die. But I bet she will. I love the cane they gave her, I love that we got to see her fly through space with the force, love love love love love

Porgs vs Vulptex

I'm still not sold on either of these little guys, but the design on them was pretty good. And Porgs were less annoying than I thought they would be.

BB-8

BB-8 got to do more than Holdo or Rose in this movie, actually. I like the Droid, but I think I need a little less of him...

I think that's it for now. I'll post more as I remember it.

[ofcacthuxandkylosaur]

Shook in a good way or a bad one?

Hello Anon, thanks for asking and sorry for my late answer (busy days, sleepless nights :/ ) This got bit long and also took time to write…

I’d say Shocked because I was so not excpecting this…unfortunately, althought I did like some stuff in the movie and I could have actually enjoyed it had it not been a Star Wars sequel, it was not a really good surprise… Too much OOCness for me.

I am also left with some frustrations and a lot of worries about what will happen in ep IX and what will happen to the fandom…

I put more details (a lot of it being kylux related) under the cut (beware for spoilers (obviously), me being the anxious and dramatic bitch I am, rambling and probably poor english (I am so tired,sorry)).

So first of all, as I said, there were things I liked: Rose (being a badass), Finn wanting to find Rey, BB8 being a badass ass well, Luke being critical of the old  jedi order, Kylo not being able to kill Leia despite trying, Leia being alive at the end of the movie (I didn’t thought It’d hurt so much when I though she died!), R2D2 showing Luke Leia’s message, all those new alien spieces (loved those big cat-horses!!!), lightsaber duels (wow), new and interesting ways to use the force (I am now craving for long distance cuddling/sex thanks to the force), getting to see a lot of Kylo’s face and hair (dashing!),Kylo dropping his robe Obi-Wan style,…

But my main and big problem was how OOC felt most of the characters…

Luke. Luke with a lightsaber above a sleeping Ben and wanting to kill him. No. I mean, they did explained he never wanted to kill but lighted it on out of pure reflex when his jedi senses went tingling, but still…

Hux. Come on, Hux is not an idiot! He is competent and rutheless and sassy. It didn’t bother me seeing Poe making fun of him. I mean Hux is his enemy, of course he would take on the occasion to diminish him/make him look like a fool. What did bother me was Hux’s reaction. Like he wouldn’t realise what was happening!! Only at the end of the movie did I feel like I recognised him (It was relieving reading I was not the only one in the case)! Also I didn’t see him repeating Kylo’s orders as a joke but rather as a proof the he was the one in command (they did obey him!).

Kylo may be the one that upset me the most thought! He turned from Snoke too fast if you ask me (Rey too was prompt to “accept” Kylo) . And him being unable/unwilling to kill her! So what he can kill his father (even if it shatters him) but not a girl he met twice?? This plus the topless scene makes me fear they could make Reylo happen (I do respect people shipping it but I really don’t like it). Since they obviously won’t make Stormpilot happen (I did not have a lot of hope but well) my only hope is now that Finn and Rey end up together (and that the “purpose” of that kiss with Rose was to introduce unecessary jalousy in their relationship (and not a way to destroy all the other parings involving Finn, making Rey “available”)).

And the way he treated Hux hurt me. I know I sound dramatic and all but it did (I was uncomfortable with the strangle and actualy yelled in protest in the cinema when Hux was pushed against the wall). I know they kind of hate each other and that Snoke himself made sure to maintain a rivalry between them, but that was unessessary (I could even argue that if Snoke took the calculated risk to encourage the rivalry, it was because he knew that Hux had the shoulders to take on the competition and that Kylo somehow respected him enough to not kill him/damage him (otherwise the co-commandship would have been compromised)). You don’t see Vader strangle Tarkin, and I can’t imagine him doing so even if the Emperor had died. Plus, Kylo may be a bad guy but he was never shown taking pleasure in inflicting pain for the sake of it, so I don’t see him enjoying hurting Hux for revenge.

On a side note, as much as I like how “Supreme Leader Kylo” sounds, part of me still fail to understand why would Kylo want to be Supreme Leader in the first place and why he didn’t just…leave. Maybe he would want to “take” his master’s position, but the fonction is also highly political, and at that point Kylo was pretty much “fuck the resistance fuck the order fuck them all”. Of course ruling the Order would mean he has troops and equipment at disposal (useful to track Rey, Luke,…) but for that he would need Hux… And where are my Knights of Ren anyway??

I am scared for the Kylux fandom right now. With a new movie coming, the perspective of gaining new shippers was real. But now I feel like Reylo will be the (only) ship that will gain a lot of popularity (again, I don’t mind people shipping it, as long as no one spread hate, but it makes me still sad for Kylux (+Finnrey and Stormapilot)). To be honnest, had I only see TLJ, I would have never shipped Kylux (hopefully I’ve seen TFA and I don’t intend on stopping). The relationship was depicted differently, in a way I don’t like. I am aware I may seem like an oversensitive bitch but I need a relationship to be balanced for me to ship it  And I absolutely hate anything that looks like an abusive relationship to me (of course I am not talking here about consensual practices between responsible adults). I don’t fancy seeing Kylo raising hands on Hux and I would basically rather have had no scenes of them together than having had those. I have read meany beautiful Kylux fic, were I found them to be on character and and I didn’t have this feeling during the movie.

This somehow terrifies me because I felt like there was a Kylux dynamic (now of course everyone has their own headcanons, that’s not what I’m saying) and I am so affraid that all this could be lost. That they may be seen as a violent/abusive couple now besause no. That is never how I’m gonna see them. And that is not how their relationship was depicted in TFA (and yes I know I am not completely stupid, TFA did not declare Kylux canon I am just talking about their interactions in general). And I know my anxiety may seem stupid and ridiculus and anxiety episodes might often look that way, even from the point of view of the anxious person but it doesn’t stop it from deeply shaken you because for you it’s important and frightening. And I have really not been good lately with a weight on my stomac (wella big weight that hurt) since leaving the room and my mind running wild on bad thoughts so.

But enough with my state of mind, their are also two other main things that bothered me and that was

-Snoke’s dead. WTF???(I was in shock in the cinema with my mouth open, yes) How did Kylo turned against him so fast (I can consider the fact that killing his father made him reconsider things but still it was a big turn) and mostly What? Like that? So fast? It was almost too easy! And won’t we have any explainations about him?!? Who is him? What are his motives? Why is he so force-powerful? What was he even doing on this ship in person after being a distant hidden figure during ep VII? (and where did he find those golden bathrobes??). At this point I am almost convinced that he is not dead, that his presence aboard the ship was a force projection (like Luke’s) and that it all was part of the plan, and I am going to be pissed if he is not in ep IX (and if we don’t at least get information about him!).

-The second thing was Holdo’s actions. I was waiting to see her and was happy to see the actrice again (I am also happy everytime 35+ looking actresses get a job) but I found the character frustrating. I can’t find a single reason why she woudn’t inform her fellow resistance members that she did have a plan (a retreat planet waiting for them). Was she afraid of a mole? Was she afraid Poe was a mole (he was strangely careful in the begining of the movie but that’s a bit extreme)?? If not why did she not just told him what was planned? And if she thought there did was a mole or had any other valid reason not to tell it, why did she not at least tell “Yes, I have a plan. I cannot explain it to you yet but there indeed is an other option than to run out of fuel and be killed”. When there begins to be this much tension inside the group it may be time to do something so you don’t destroy each other before the enemy can! ‘You don’t have to wait for the day to believe their is a sun’ well at least tell me there is a sun so I can believe in it and wait for it! How can people trust you if you don’t inform them their is something to trust? If you don’t tell people there is an option of course they will try to find one?!

In the end I felt as if TFA had been made by people who knew and love Star Wars (I had low expectations about it and ended up so happy!) while TLJ was made by someone that wanted to made a sci-fi movie and that’s all. And since I came to see a Star Wars movie I feel somehow tricked…I also had the feeling that things were a little bit rushed, as if this was supposed to be a stand alone movie rather that the middle part of a trilogy… And I am not sure I amgoing to take everything in the movie as canon rather than as the realisator’s own vision…

Wow this got really long, thanks for reading if you did and sorry for throwing my fears and frustrations around but I needed it! And don’t let soft Kylux die please…

[luccie-eclair]

Keeping Score (Renora Week: Dress Up)

“Stop moving.”

Ren sighed. If his eyes were open, they would have been rolling. A soft sponge coated in green foundation patted away at his once olive complexion. This had been going on for a good few minutes. He felt the skilled hands travel under his jaw, so he took it as his cue to open his, now green eyes. His best friend, partner, and girlfriend sat on his lap with her brows scrunched in intense focus.

Her face was patted to a light blue and she temporarily dyed her hair black with a white streak. A stitched scar ran at the bottom of her left eye and she wore black lipstick on her top lip with black contacts. Her costume consisted of a form-fitting, short navy blue lab coat that flared out under a black belt and reached her thighs, black leggings, and matching combat boots and gloves that sat next to her.

Nora had worked incredibly hard in between her classes and the occasional mission to create her costume. To create all of their costumes, actually. Ever since Jaune had gotten them all hooked on Kim Possible, they’d taken to binging it on team bonding nights rather than actually going out. Thus, their team costume for the Hallows Eve party materialized itself in a few weeks time. Pyrrha and Jaune’s costumes were relatively easy and the champion had makeup for herself and Jaune’s freckles. However, Nora never half assed anything and simply made her and Ren’s costumes from scratch. (She really should consider making a career out it. She certainly had the talent.) But that brings us to a female Drakken, or “Drakkene” as Nora called herself, meticulously covering “Hego” in green foundation and contour.

“Drop your jaw,” she commanded lightly. Ren hesitantly opened his mouth. He knew what was coming and they bickered over whether it was truly necessary to wear lipstick. Then his teammates sided against him. Then he lost… Point one for Nora. The cold, black solid brushed against his top lip and glided across, then again to fill in any light gaps. “Do not rub your lips together or so help me, Ren,” she warned. “But, you’re done!” She happily jumped off of his lap to put her gloves on and he did the same. He began to miss the pressure of her weight upon his lap.

Ren stood from his and Nora’s bed to inspect her handiwork. Despite stating that he didn’t mind temporarily dying his pink streak, Nora elected it to stay. It made his costume seem more suited for him, she’d said. Speaking of, the costume itself wasn’t skin tight which was a blessing. It took her hours to sew it in a way that he wasn’t restricted and his “goods” wouldn’t be seen. His boots and gloves were two different hues, black and green. She’d completed his look by styling his hair into gentle waves that morning. His girlfriend always did an amazing job on their costumes, but this one had to be his personal favorite despite the lipstick that he’d be more than happy to remove. 

“Ren,” Nora called from the hallway. “Quit checking yourself out so we can take pictures and party!”

~*~

Pictures actually took longer than they thought, especially when RWBY and SSSN and CVFY and Penny and Oscar all decided that they wanted pictures as well. It was quite the spectacle seeing eighteen hunters attempting to squeeze into a front facing scroll before giving up and asking for outside help. 

Eventually, after nearly an hour, the group had arrived when the event was in full swing. The ballroom was decked in dark colors with spider webs, blood, and Grimm corpses. Everyone dressed in either actual scary costumes or cosplaying as pop culture figures. RWBY toed the line and accomplished both at the same time. 

Ren had given his first dance to Nora, of course, before she quickly jumped off to dance with everyone else. He’d seen her give a dance to Jaune, Sun, and Neptune at some point, but mostly stuck to Pyrrha, Penny, and RWBY. Later, Sky Lark got brave enough to ask her to dance before he was shot down almost painfully. The dark haired man himself had danced with Pyrrha and most of RWBY (the leader herself felt too shy to even ask before he asked her onto the dance floor). However, he mostly stuck to the sidelines watching his girlfriend smile and dance with everyone. 

It was hypnotizing, he thought. The way she moved her hips and swung her hair every which way. Her dancing was both erratic and controlled in a way he couldn’t describe. Nora knew how to dance and how to move to any beat -the two of them often learned routines from their favorite Mpop groups together. But when she lacked any set guidelines and she was amongst trusted peers, she liked to hang back and go with the flow of whatever felt right. 

“How are you holding up,” the voice of his leader, Jaune took his attention away from his girlfriend who had gotten rather close to a zombified Goldilocks. The young man himself looked a little worse for wear. His hair even more disheveled than normal with a brown top lip marked on his jaw.

“I’m doing well. You seem like you could use a break, though,” Ren replied a smirk gracing his lips.

“Pyrrha has way too much energy. This is the first break I’ve gotten all night.”

“You should use this break to wipe off her lipstick.”

Panic set on Jaune’s face as he excused himself to the bathroom. Ren chuckled and turned back to Nora who now shuffled with Oscar, the latter seeming a tad awkward though still enjoying himself. She laughed and looked in his direction. Black contacts met green ones as she winked at him and turned back to their circle of friends. She said something before separating herself from the clump and skipping her way to Ren.

“Having a real group of friends is actually a little tiring,” she said as she got closer. “I almost wish it were just us again, but then who would I hang out with when you’re doing your meditating thing?”

Ren huffed out a small laugh and turned to get her a cup of punch, but took a small sip to make sure there was no alcohol. He couldn’t have her getting drunk. Once failing to taste anything out of ordinary, he handed her the cup. “I guess you’d have to sit and get bored waiting for me to finish.”

She scoffed. “I’d rather sit in class. At least there’s background noise.” She took a sip of the bright red drink, her tongue lightly poking out to nab a lost drop on her blue, bottom lip. The innocent move shouldn’t have affected him as much at it did, but there he was staring at her plump, black and blue lips. They quirked into a small smirk. “Ren, you’re not good at hiding your stares.”

He looked into her eyes. They dazzled despite her colored contacts. “Well, it took you years to figure out I was even staring in the first place, so I believe I am doing something right,” he gave her a coy smile as though he’d one-upped her in a game. Ren: 1, Nora: 1.

“Oh, but everyone else seemed to notice, so you clearly didn’t do as well as you think.” She gained the upper hand.

“And whom are you referring to?" 

Nora gave him an incredulous look and pulled out her scroll. Ren knew that he definitely lost this one. She scrolled through her gallery and began to show him various pictures of him staring at her when she was turned away. "This one was taken by Jaune.” She flicked her finger. “Pyrrha.” A flick. “Yang.” Flick. “Blake.” Flick. “Ruby.” Flick. “Sun.” Flick. “Coco.” Another one. “Os-” He pressed his lips to hers in an effort to gain the leas once more. He was still down by a point.

The female Drakken brought her gloved hands to the back of his neck and pulled at his waves until their lips parted. Bits of blue foundation stuck to his green bottom lip as green foundation stuck to her blue lip. She chuckled and leaned onto her tip toes to reach his ears. “What do you say we leave and turn our makeup teal,” she seductively whispered into his lobes before playfully nipping at them.

After that pick up line, Ren honestly couldn’t take her seriously. His chest rumbled as he laughed and clutched her closer to him. His head lazily fell into the crook of her neck as his laughter got a tad softer since it was muffled. “That was very bad, Nora,” he said once he got a little more control over himself. She definitely lost a point for that. They finally tied.

The blue woman whined and tried to push him away, but his kept a firm hold on her. “I was trying to be sexy,” she exclaimed before lightly swatting his chest. “Bully.” She pouted and crossed her arms. Gods, did he love this girl.

“You don’t have to try for me. I already think you’re the sexiest woman alive.” He kissed her pouted lips and watched as it melted away into a tiny smile. Yet another point for the young man. “Can I still take you up on that teal offer?”

She peered back at their friends, still having a ball before looking back. Something told him that they’d be doing a lot of one-upping for the next few hours.

A/N: God this took so long 😧 There’s bits of fluff. Lots of my headcanons at work here (sorry if Ren is a tad OOC, I tried). I totally think that Ren and Nora have little battles of one-upmanship before it dissolves into either laughs or kisses. Mostly playful fluff with implied NSFW after the ending. Jaune and Pyrrha are dressed as Kim and Ron. Ren and Nora are Drakkene and Hego. Ren’s costume is the same as Shego’s just for males (this is my way of getting out of drawing a trash illustration). The inspiration for Nora’s Drakkene costume came from my favorite Kpop group, Gfriend 😍😍😍, during their Fingertip era (link: https://www.gfsquad.com/forums/topic/2075-170306-starcast-gfriend-jacket-photoshoot-behind/). Dammit, every time I think of Hego, I think of He-man, then I start singing that dumbass song 😒😒😒. I need sleep.