#and it NEEDED to happen 8'))) ty for saying all that finn

[badboysupr]

“Listen, Leo” was basically the verbal cue for Leo to not listen and bolt immediately.

And, oh, he felt it. As if he wasn’t already wriggling about like he had ants in his pants (by the way: would not recommend, especially if they’re fire ants), Finn taking on an uncharacteristically soft tone that had to be as painfully earnest as Leo had ever heard him made it nearly impossible to not visibly squirm. He also had to pause before saying anything, like that one “Listen, Leo” wasn’t already blaring alarms in Leo’s head louder than the police who’d chased them so frequently back in the day. . . . Finn dropped those two words, then figured making Leo wait for more was the greatest idea of mankind, and in those few moments where the guy was taking a breath—

Guilty as charged: Leo’s attention definitely darted to the door as if he could make a hasty escape before anything else came.

Of course, spoiler alert, the escape was never accomplished. (For some reason, when Finn was involved, it never was. Heck if Leo ever figured out why, considering the numerous chances he got both then and now.) And so, as the dude had the gall to just pour his heart out like they were on Dr. Phil, Leo had no choice (presumably) than to sit there and take it. (So what if he almost snorted at that thought and how applicable it was to so many other things between them . . . ?)

Finn just talked. And talked. And talked. Maybe he deserved some sort of award for it: both the heartfelt confessions, and his ability to somehow render Leo silent for long enough to get it all out. Though Leo listened, sure as Hephaestus had to be one of the most awkward gods to exist (Thank you for your winning qualities, Dad!), Leo could just as surely not hold eye contact. Finn was making a point to, good for him, but somewhere along the line, and due in part to his feeling like those aforementioned fire ants were crawling up and down his legs, Leo looked down, shuffled in his seat with the stupidest nerves.

Because it was stupid, right? C’mon . . . Finn wasn’t supposed to be like this.

He swallowed what had to be the biggest lump to ever form in his throat, uneasy fingers tugging at the cuffs of his pant legs while he heard the guy out. By the time Finn finally reached an end—which Leo only determined by a silence lasting a bit longer than just “Wait, I’m collecting my thoughts”—Leo assumed it was his turn to say something. He hated that, weirdly. He hated when it was his turn to talk on a subject like this. Give him literally anything else.

But he managed a broken scoff, pinched expression matching it beautifully. “Man, there must be something horribly wrong with you,” he grumbled, but the funniest thing here was that Leo couldn’t be sure if he was talking to Finn or himself. “You can’t just . . . do that, okay? That’s not fair.” Leo yanked a string off his pants, set it up in the quickest flash of fire. “I had, like, a whole vision of you in my head, right? ‘Knife Guy.’ The guy who didn’t take anyone’s shit, who knew his way around the streets, who taught me a few of those tricks . . . ” He hunched his shoulders, feeling a new flood of warmth in his face that he swiftly shook out. “The guy who hated me.”

Leo faced Finn critically. “And that was fine. I mean, I’d accepted it, y’know? That was all just, ‘Haha wow what a crazy past I had! Moving on!’ But then I come across you again, and this . . . ? This is how you are, now?” He glared down at the soup, as if that was the most offensive thing here. “How in the world am I supposed to feel about you? It was easy when I could just . . . ” His knees tucked up to his chest, and Leo blew out a heavy exhale. “I dunno.” Seriously, how dare you suddenly be a decent person.

Leo wasn't wrong: his expression when Finn broke the oh-so-terrible news was pretty damn priceless. Faced with the dawning horror and shock that briefly painted that cute face, Finn could only laugh—but it was a humorless sound, quickly petering into a barely-concealed grimace.

Look, Finn knew that the awkwardness between them was his own fault. Only a few short years separated him from the person he'd been back then, but that was exactly the point: he was a different person, now. One who wasn't afraid to recognize his mistakes and try his damnedest to make amends.

And even if that weren't the case? The excruciating awkwardness of Leo's slow approach, antsy hesitation, and forced nonchalance when he finally settled near Finn's side would've given him a change of heart real fuckin' fast.

"Did I not? I dunno, with how on edge you look, I thought you might bolt if I went and said it outright." Despite the teasing words, Finn's voice was soft, understanding. A final chuckle was much more reserved, shaking his head as he glanced sideways at the other boy. The firelight flickering over Finn's expression illuminated a dozen emotions in his eyes: the positives of them (warmth, compassion) meant for Leo, and the negatives (remorse, shame) directed towards himself.

Man, what could he even say to make any of the awful shit he'd pulled any better? Good thing Finn had never been the type to think things through; for something like this, it was better to just dive in and speak straight from the heart, anyway.

"Listen, Leo..." He exhaled long and slow—not quite a sigh, but a fortifying breath. "I get why you're so uncomfortable around me. Hell, I would be too, if I were in your shoes. I don't expect you to believe me, much less forgive me for anythin', but..."

He met the other boy's gaze head-on. When he finally said it after all these years, it was plain, simple, and earnest: "I'm real sorry, for how I treated you back when we first met. It ain't an excuse, but I was...well, I was in a shitty place back then: mad at the whole damn world, and takin' it out on anybody I came across." Those were some of his ugliest memories. Back then, he was so full of hatred and rage that he saw the world in shades of red, distorting every good thing—and good person—he found into something malicious and cruel. Finn's shoulders deflated, exasperated with his past-self.

"You didn't deserve any of that." A hand raked through his dreads before resting on the back of his neck. Still, he didn't look away. "If I could take it all back? I would, in a heartbeat. But since I don't have any time-travelin' powers, all I can do is say I'm sorry."

There was nothing expectant in Finn's gaze. Just openness, and a willingness to listen, learn, and grow that hadn't existed back when the two of them shared their first wild romp across the country. He shrugged as if to say 'I know you probably won't believe this, but here it goes anyway—' before he continued, "Honestly? I'm just real glad to see that you're still doin' alright after all the awful shit I put you through."

[spaceorphan18]

Hi, I'm of new to Glee and I'm not american so I'm not familiar with how Glee club works. You seem to know a lot so my questions is, could you explain me why there is an episode where Kurt tells Blaine he never got any solo since Blaine transferred to McKinley? I thought in a Glee club everyone would perform a song for their weely assignment so I couldn't understand that part. And usually in the final number of the episodes it's Rachel and Finn who get solos... I'm a little confused :D Ty!

Lol, this ask is fantastic, thank you!

Okay, so first of all -- there's the way glee clubs work in actual American reality. And then there's Glee -- which... doesn't make much sense most of the time.

In American schools, glee is usually an after school choir that practices songs as a unit to either perform at a concert, or for a festival in which they're critiqued based on their performance individually. I can't speak for the entire nation - but choirs don't compete against each other like they do on Glee, and in fact, they're pulling more from the American athletic programs than actual fine arts programs.

Also - let's say a public school has two semesters. Most of the time, you'd probably spend an entire semester working on one or two performances. And each performance might have anywhere from 4 to 8 songs (usually a two hour performance).

Glee clubs are not essentially competitive karaoke nights - which is kind of how the show treats them.

Also, fwiw, there are different kind of choirs -- there's the traditional stand there and sing choir, the show choir - which uses more choreography (though not as elaborate as they do on glee, smaller ensembles called chamber choirs, a capella groups, etc, etc, the list goes on. Glee had a tendency to kind of mash all these styles up for whatever they needed to do.

Glee, because creator Ryan Murphy has an obsession where the only conflict he knows is about competition, uses show choir competitions as tent poles in their narrative -- some place for the overarching stories to go. It most definitely does not happen like that in real life (as far as I'm aware).

Meanwhile...

God, I hate that stupid Kurt like because... it's not true, and was inserted to placate fans who felt like this actually happened.

My meta reason for Kurt saying this is that he's deflecting his own wrong doings by saying that he has it rough dating Blaine. (He knows he doesn't - but he just wants to 'win' this argument.)

The reason it's actually there is that there were Kurt fans very vocal about how Blaine getting more solos on the show some how equated to Kurt getting less (which is totally not true - Kurt wasn't getting solos to begin with, and the way the show deals with him and music is different anyway), and the writers threw this in as acknowledgement. They often threw in lines like this, breaking the fourth wall, to speak out at the audience, saying - hey, we do here you.

Hilariously, as I stated above, in actual choirs, you may have someone take lead at the beginning or for a few bars, but the point of a choir is to have everyone singing at once. Not to have one or two people sing lead and the rest hum in the background - which is essentially what Glee did 90% of the time.

Hopefully, this helps clarify things for you - if you need more of an explanation, please let me know!

[gloomybabygirl]

{in my head pt.1} Poe Dameron x smuggler!reader (soulmate au)

series masterlist 

next part

a/n: hey y’all!! this is just a lil puff piece inspired by this cute trend on tik tok that i’ve been seeing :) I have no clue who started it but if you do please let me know!! It was originally going to be a blurb but I realized my words weren't flowing because I had so much more to say!!! so here we go with a four part mini series :) let me know if you want to be tagged for it!

warnings: swearing probably, soulmate trope, Poe in the shower if you squint

word count: 3.2k

songs used: quando, quando, quando - michael buble & nelly furtado and invisible string - taylor swift

summary: you’ve been able to hear your soulmate’s voice in your head since you were little. You haven't found him yet. But what happens when you start to develop feelings for a voice you don't recognize as your soulmate? 

You had been able to hear his voice since you were little. You’d been able to hear it as far back as you can remember. An invisible friend that had always been there. An invisible string tying you to your soulmate, whoever he was. 

You could remember the sound of his higher voice when he was in his childhood, sounding like a flute flitting through you head as you played dolls and went through primary school. You used to hold back giggles at inappropriate times when you could hear his voice cracking through his adolescence. Maker, his voice cracking did not stop him from singing at all hours of the day. You’d silently cursed him for singing so early in the morning when you were young. But as you grew older, it turned into your favorite alarm, your mystery lovers voice rousing you from sleep. And then his voice eventually matured and grew into the warmest, richest baritone you’d ever heard. You’d remarked several times how lucky you were that you got to hear his voice all the time. It was a voice you could swear you would recognize across the galaxy. 

But you still hadn’t found him. 

At this point, you were convinced you never would.

It wasn’t common for people to find their person. Often times, people settled with lovers that they knew weren’t their soulmate. But that never stopped them from hearing the others voice. You were determined you would find the man you were suppose to spend your life with. After all, you had a better chance than most. 

But there was always that nagging voice in the back of your mind, never forgetting to alert you to a cold reality. 

He probably already found someone else. 

You were a smuggler. Being separated from family at a young age had you learning very quickly how to take care of yourself. With the... line of work you were in, you had traveled to every nook and cranny of the galaxy and met more people than you could count. Still no him. You knew the second you heard his voice you would recognize him as the man you were suppose to be with. 

One small issue. He didn’t have that same confidence. 

You didn’t enjoy singing as much as he obviously did. You would sometimes catch yourself humming in the refresher but would quickly stop yourself. His voice was just so... soothing. Flowing out of him like caramel. You didn’t want to bother him with your voice. Finn and Rey were tired of hearing about it, in fact. He had only heard you sing a handful of times and always very softly. If he didn’t hear your sweet voice for too long, he’d go into a fit convincing himself you were dead. But then he’d hear it. The quiet humming that sounded like someone singing gently in his ear. Just as he would realize it was you, it would stop. It drove him absolutely crazy. He wanted to be able to know you. 

And you felt like he had given you a piece of himself by sharing his voice with you. The songs he chose always felt meaningful and each word told you the story of the man you knew was yours. 

Most nights he happened to be singing very softly at the same time you were trying to fall asleep after a long day. Tonight however, you were crash landed on some desert planet in the outer rim trying to fix your old A-Wing from the Imperial days.

You could hear his voice in your head, still smooth and rich even with the late hour. Periodically, he would stop mid phrase, or trail off into a hum. You knew it was something or someone distracting him. You’d silently wished he could tell you about these interruptions when he came home to you. 

Tonight he was singing a new melody. You liked his usual mix of songs, but this one made you feel like an exploding star. You knew it was about you and not some Twi’lek he’d accidentally fallen in love with. 

“Tell me when will you be mine? Tell me quando, quando, quando...”

His voice flitted around in your head. It sounded like he was singing as you laid on his chest. 

“We can share a love divine, please don’t make me wait again...”

You wish you knew when he could be yours too. It elated you that he wanted to find you just as bad as you needed to find him. You wondered aimlessly what it is that makes him so kriffing hard to find. 

“Oh my darling tell me when.” 

The way his voice landed softly on the last note made your heart flutter. You knew you needed to give him something in return. it had been too long since you’d given him a sign you were still there, waiting for him.

Knowing it would take him a moment to find another song that conveyed his blind love for you, you decided it was your turn. 

You’d been flirting with the idea of singing back to him for a while, you’d just been waiting for the stars to align and for the man to stop singing for two kriffing seconds. Not that you really minded. 

Poe almost knocked himself out cold on the frame of his X-Wing when he heard a quiet, sweet voice fill his head. The way the voice felt like it was coming from his own memory told him he was hearing his soulmate. He stilled, tools in hand and held his breath, almost worried he would scare you off if he budged. 

BB-8 gave him an aggravated round of beeps when Poe ignored the tool he was trying to give him.

“Shh buddy, they’re singing.”

Happy beeps. 

He was thrilled when he realized this wasn’t just you humming to yourself on accident. This was you singing to him. On purpose. He listened as you sang your way through the whole song, your voice flowing melodically through his head, making him dizzy with the love he already had for you. 

“Isn’t it just so pretty to think all along there was some invisible string tying you to me...” 

You finished the sweet song and Poe held his breath, hoping you would sing to him again. When you didn’t, he felt his heart sink, but he hoped it was because you were waiting for the lullabies he sang every night while working on his ship. His way of telling you goodnight. At least, he hoped they helped you sleep rather than keeping you up. He was sure one day he’d be able to lull you to sleep while you were in his arms. 

_

It had been a few weeks since Poe had heard your voice so clearly. He had been insanely busy in the weeks following that night that he didn’t have time to think. He had been on mission after mission, each more grueling than the last. 

The Resistance was loosing people left and right. Too many good people. Poe didn’t feel like singing when his hope was dwindling down to nothing. 

A bright spot in his week was the day a new recruit came to base. Anytime someone new walked onto the base, Poe made a point to introduce himself, always secretly hopeful the recruit would recognize his voice. 

Today was no different. And boy was he hoping you were the one he’d been waiting for. His breath caught in his throat when he saw you at the hangar. Rey showing you around and introducing you to everyone who dared cross her line of sight. 

“Poe, buddy? You good?” Finn asked. Poe had stopped talking mid sentence when he saw you. 

He followed Poe’s gaze and saw you with Rey, arms hugged around your middle, obviously overwhelmed by all the people she was introducing you to. 

“You wish, Dameron,” Finn laughed. “I guarantee you don’t deserve a soulmate that good looking.” 

“Shut it Finn, it could be them.” 

“Guess we’ll find out...” Finn clapped Poe on the back when he saw Rey leading you over to the two men. 

Rey had introduced you to practically the entire base, most names going in one ear and out the other. But now she was leading you to the last two people you had to meet. ‘Best for last’ as she had told you. 

A damn. She was right. 

Both men were handsome, for sure. But the slightly shorter one in the orange flight suit? Maker this was going to be hard. 

You’d made a habit out of turning off any sort of feelings you’ve had towards anyone in the past. You didn’t want to bother with someone that wasn’t your soulmate. Even if that meant you’d be lonely your whole life. Why would you have a half assed love when there was someone else out there that was made for you?

But Maker, this pilot was giving you butterflies.  And you hadn’t even spoken to him yet. Now you had to find a way to kill the damn butterflies...

“And finally, this is Commander Poe Dameron and our friend Finn!” Rey introduced you to the two cheerfully, giving them your name.

“Hi, nice to meet you,” You said quietly, offering them a small smile before looking down at your feet. You silently tired to make the ground open up and swallow you, but once again the universe insisted you weren’t force sensitive.

“Always nice to have a new person join the cause. Where are you from?” Finn asked, trying to politely make conversation. You noted to yourself that his voice was too low to be the one in your head.

“Nowhere. And everywhere I guess? I was a smuggler for years,” You explained, heat bitting at your cheeks at the admission of your unsavory past.

“Well, we don’t judge people for that here. Do we Poe?” He hit his buddy on the back again, encouraging him to speak. 

Poe seemed to be coming out of a daze when he spoke. He cleared his throat and finally spoke.

“Uh, no, nope, not at all. Very nice to meet you.” Your heart deflated when his voice came out. It sounded similar to your soulmate at first, but the more you listed the more you came to the conclusion that Poe’s voice was too raspy and rough to be his. 

You and Rey said your goodbyes and she finally showed you to your quarters. How the hell are you ever going to learn your way around this base?

“Hear anything familiar?” She asked as you got to your door. 

You sighed deeply, exhausted and dejected, “Nope. It’s okay Rey. I’m convinced I’ll never find him at this point.” 

“That’s a shame. I thought you and Poe would probably get along well,” she gave you a knowing look. Maybe you made it obvious how attractive you found the pilot.

“It’s really okay. Thank you for showing me around base today.” You gave her a soft smile and turned to punch in the code to open your blast doors.

_

Your soulmate’s voice had been absent in your mind since your first day on base. You dearly missed him lulling you to sleep at night, or pleasantly interrupting you throughout the day. 

Panic shot through you at the thought that maybe he had died. But every so often you would hear him softly humming to himself, keeping the spark of hope alive in your chest. 

Besides that slight nagging making its way back to your head, you were having a great time getting to know Finn and Rey. You got caf with them most mornings, and would often spend nights in Rey’s quarters playing Sabacc. You hadn’t, however, seen the dashing pilot again. Finn complained a lot about missing his best friend.

“He's been so depressed lately. He wants to find his soulmate so badly, but he doesn't want to leave the cause to try to find them.” Finn explained one morning. 

“He used to sing to them all the time, but I think he’s given up hope... I haven't heard him sing in ages.” Rey commented, sipping her caf. 

Just as you were about to comment on your similar lack of luck in finding your soulmate, the handsome flyboy himself walked up to your table in the mess hall. 

“Hey guys, mind if I sit?” He asked in that damned raspy voice. 

Poe wasn’t necessarily happy to be spending so much time apart from his best friends. They were the only things keeping him sane sometimes. But now they chose to spend every waking hour with that aggravatingly cute new recruit. 

Poe was a friendly guy. Some may argue too friendly. But he didn't want to be around you. Actually, this issue is that he did want to be around you. Very much so. 

You were a dream walking into Poe's line of vision. He suddenly felt like everything was in slow motion when he caught a glimpse of you in the hangar.  You looked so nervous, arms crossed over your chest, shifting your weight as Rey made it her life’s mission to introduce you to the entire base. His mouth popped open like he was the star in a damn holomovie. 

When Rey pointed your attention to his general direction, Poe's mouth felt like cotton. Which muscle did he use to breathe again? Oh Maker, you could probably see his heart beating through his chest. 

He hated that he got his hopes up like that. And Finn was right, he didn't deserve a soulmate as ethereal as you. 

Then of course there was the devastating (albeit familiar) ache when you didn't give him any inclination that you recognized his voice. Poe didn't want to waste his time with anyone that wasn't his soulmate. He didn't want to put either party through unnecessary heartbreak when they both knew it wasn't written in the stars for you to be together. He had to distance himself from you. 

But it had been about a week since you first flew onto his radar. And you took the liberty of crossing his mind everyday since then. He knew he was risking falling for someone that he wasn't meant to be with, but he missed his friends. Sure, Poe was sad about his failed mission of finding his soulmate, but nothing could keep him down for too long. 

When Finn nodded for Poe to join, he scrapped his chair across the permacrete. He was purposefully sat next to you and across from Rey and Finn so he didn't end up looking in your direction for an inappropriate amount of time. But now he could feel the warmth emminating from you and smell the same waft of lavender her recognized when he first met you. Kriff. 

“Where have you been man?” Finn questioned him. “Avoiding us?” 

“Nah, nothing like that,” Poe lied. “I’ve just been working on my ship.”

“She must be in pretty good shape if you’re spending that much time on her,” You quipped. Shit, you hoped Poe enjoyed a good tease like his friends did. 

He gave you a lopsided smile, “You’ll have to come see her.” 

Unfortunately, the conversation continued on like this. Gentle, teasing, light conversation. It was easy. And Poe knew he was going to get hurt.

_

Your quick, light footsteps could be heard echoing through the halls towards your quarters. Alongside them was the heavy slow footsteps of the pilot you’d spent the whole day with. A chuckle rumbled through his chest as you reached the door to your quarters. 

You turned to face him and leaned up against the cold durasteel of your blast doors. There was a moment with no words shared between the two of you, just comfortable silence. 

Poe was so busy just looking at you that he didn't think twice before tucking a piece of hair behind your ear. He immediately pulled back and hastily shoved both hands in his pocket. He could’t help but notice the flustered smile creeping up on your lips. Damn, he’d like to make you smile like that more.

No, no. He had a soulmate to look forward to. He hoped. This wouldn’t end well. 

“Hey I wanted to apologize for the lack of usual ‘welcome wagon’ Poe this week. I just... I’m having a hard time finding my soulmate and I wasn't exactly in the right head space. I didn’t want your first impression of me to be depressed Poe.” He rubbed the back of his neck, obviously uncomfortable with the oversharing he couldn’t seem to help. 

“Don't worry about it. Finn and Rey may have mentioned something about you being upset about that this week. I completely understand.” 

“I take it you haven't found them?”

“Not yet, but I still hear him all the time so I have hope at least.”

Poe’s heart sank a bit. He hadn't been singing lately. 

“I’m sure you’ll find him then. Goodnight, thank you for today.”

“’Night Poe,” you smiled, turning to punch in the code to open your doors.

_

Poe was sat cross legged across from BB-8 in his charging station. 

“I don’t know buddy. I feel.... Guilty?” He nervously picked at the skin around his thumb nail. 

A series of confused beeps came from the droid.

“I guess I feel guilty that I spent the day with that new recruit and that I’m starting to have feelings for them when I have someone out there waiting for me. I wish this war would end so I could go find them.” He lamented to his little buddy. 

BB-8 let out a sweet melody, sounding like an automated songbird.

“Yeah you’re right. I’ll sing to them tonight, that should help me feel closer to them. Plus it's been a while, I’ll bet they miss this gorgeous voice.” 

He stood up and made his way to the refresher to wash off the day. He made it a cold shower to wash off his feelings for you. He wracked his brain for a song that would describe how he was feeling that day. When he came up empty, he resorted to the song he had fist sung a few weeks prior. Maybe since it prompted you to sing last time, he could have the chance to hear your voice again. 

“Tell me when will you be mine? Tell me quando, quando, quando...” 

When you heard the voice in the back of your head, you heart faltered. He was okay. Relief washed over you in a great, calming wave. 

“We can share a love divine, please don’t make me wait again...”

Your soulmate’s sweet voice cleaned away all the feelings you had developed for Poe. His soft voice felt like home to you and was soon causing your eyes to grow heavy. 

“Oh my darling tell me when.” 

He finished his lullaby with the usual soft tones that you already loved so dearly. Being friends with Poe was going to be difficult, but it would be worth it when you found your soulmate. His voice would always pull you back home to him. 

_

everything taglist: @softly-sad @clumsy-writing-rdb

[moonlightsolo]

Bête Noire

summary: You haven’t felt Kylo’s presence in the Force for a few months. You can’t stop overthinking about what could have happened to him. Maybe it’s because you’re too comfortable with his enemy. Your stay with the Resistance is starting to feel more like home. The twins have grown quickly, almost too quick. 

pairing: kylo ren x female reader

warnings: violence, action, and mentions of blood

wc: 3.6k

note: just mentally prepare yourself for this chapter

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

You haven’t heard from Kylo in a while. It’s been worrying you that maybe you’ve changed too much or maybe the Force has severed the connection.

Of course, the thought sits in the back of your head throughout the days, itching and begging you to worry about it even more.

The growth of your children is accelerating, making your abdomen seem much larger than it’s supposed to be. The doctors are dumbfounded but Leia tells you it’s because of the Force. So much strength was conceived into both of them.

Honestly, it scares you. Motherhood and the possibility of Force-sensitive children.

You help out around the base as much as you can and then you retreat back to your room to take a warm shower. Hopefully it’ll ease your sore back.You love the feeling of being pregnant and helping your babies grow but it puts a toll on your body.

When you get undressed, you can’t help but glance at your appearance in the mirror. Tiny indents and scars litter your body, stretch marks are gradually making their way onto your hips from the rapid growth of your abdomen. You notice the jagged line of the scar on your thigh, your fingers dance over the skin there as you remember the battle on Crait. 

The first time you met Kylo face to face. Back then, you would never have guessed you’d be where you are right now in life. If the First Order never attacked your village, would you have somehow met Kylo later on?

You take a deep breath before letting your hair loose from its tight bun and stepping into the shower quickly since the water doesn’t stay hot for long.

A few minutes into it you hear the front door open, then Poe’s bedroom door opens and shuts too. The walls are quite thin here, other than the walls that are supported by the cold mountain. Those are practically soundproof.

You decide to get out after rinsing yourself off, you grab a towel that’s hanging nearby and you wrap it around your body to soak up the water. Then you grab another one to dry your hair.

You hear Poe’s heavy footsteps through the wall and it makes you smile slightly. You knock on the wall in a pattern only he would know, the footsteps stop and come closer to you. He walks over to the wall, repeating the same pattern. “Hi, Dameron.” You yell at the wall, you can hear him chuckle.

“Hi. Get dressed, silly.” He laughs at you before continuing whatever he was doing. Your friendship with Poe is stronger than ever now. Maybe you do belong with the Resistance.

When that thought crosses your mind, everything goes silent. Your smile drops and your eyes widen as you look around. You hurry out of the steamy bathroom, chills dance up your arms. It’s Kylo. 

“The Force. It connected us again.” His deep voice echoes, “I haven’t seen you.” He turns towards you completely now, his jaw twitches as he looks at the state you’re in.

“They’re growing quickly.” He takes a few steps towards you and you do the same to him. He takes a glove off of one of his hands and it comes up to rest on your bump. He slips it between the slit of the towel so his skin is against yours. His eyes shut slowly as he focuses, his dark eyelashes resting against his pale skin.

“Wait you know there's two? What are you-.” He brings his free hand up to silence you. You gulp as you watch him. He finally looks back up at you, a small smile breaks out on his stern face. “I can feel the life in you. I know the gender of our children.” His hand travels around to your back and he pulls you closer. His free hand goes up to tuck your wet hair behind your ear, “A boy and a girl.” He whispers.

“Really?” You exclaim as tears want to fall from your eyes. His hands come up to cup your cheeks, bringing you close to leaving a soft kiss on your lips.

“I love you.” You blurt out, eyes squeezing shut as you realized what you said. His dark eyes are staring right into yours as you open your eyes, his face blank.

“You love me?” He asks, slightly hesitant. His voice is shaky.

“I do. I love you.” You smile as your chest rises and falls quite quickly. He can’t help but pull you in for another kiss, his smile is wide. You haven’t seen him smile like this before.

His dimples are on full display as he pulls back to look at you, his eyes falling to your lips and back up to your eyes.

“I love you.” His strong demeanor is completely in shambles, his soft center is showing. This is not the same man you met on Crait. He’s changed and you’ve been trying to tell everyone that.

“I miss you so much.” You shake your head as you look down. “If you just tell me where you are, I can come to you.” His grip tightens as he pulls you closer.

As much as you want to, you know you can’t. You let your head fall against his chest as you let a soft sigh out, tears finally roll down your cheeks.

A knock at your door makes your head whip around to look at it. When you glance back at Kylo, he’s gone. Your close your eyes as you take a deep breath then you waddle to the door. You hide behind it as you open it, peeking through the crack. It’s Poe.

“You okay? I tried knocking on the wall again and you didn’t answer. Leia has asked us to come to her. Some speech or something.” He’s concerned, his arm goes up to rest on the door frame, “I heard you talking to someone before I knocked on the door.” His eyes fell, you know he knows that Kylo was here.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks for checking up on me.” You smile, “I’m gonna get dressed I’ll be out soon.” He nods and backs up so you could close the door.

You groan to yourself as you get dressed, pulling a long-sleeved thermal top over your belly. You looked like you were about seven months pregnant but you were technically only four months if you were counting from the time you found out to now. You shimmied on some pants and your boots, brushing your damp hair and tying it into a braid that falls down your back.

You haven’t cut your hair since Jakku. It’s been a while. Maybe Leia knows how.

You rub your face with a sigh, looking around the room to make sure Kylo wasn’t there before leaving to join Poe. When will you see him next?

Poe and BB-8 lead you to Leia, hopefully, everything is okay.

When all three of you enter the command center, many heads turn to look at you. You felt slightly embarrassed as Poe picks up his hand almost like he was saying sorry for interrupting. Leia just shakes her head and continues her speech.

“The First Order has grown stronger. Their fleet has doubled across the galaxy as they search for us and any day now they could discover we are here.” Her voice is tough, but still nervous.

Rey is standing on the other side of the room next to Finn, Rose, Chewy, and C-3PO. You smile at her once she catches your eye and she returns it. Her brown hair is down, resting on her shoulders and not in her regular three bun hairstyle.

“We have been preparing for the day to come. Hopefully, it won’t be soon. Just stay prepared. We are severely outnumbered and hopefully the platoon that lands on the planet won’t be too much.” She sighs, “Many of you already know that Snoke is dead and Kylo Ren has taken over as Supreme Leader of the First Order.” Leia’s eyes look over the group, catching yours for a moment. “The only person who could hold him off is Rey.” She holds onto her cane as she talks.

“We will try to escape again if they find us. It won’t be pretty and we may lose a few of our people but we have to have hope.” She nods with a smile. One of the Generals comes up and starts talking about tactics with fighting and military things you really didn’t need to listen to.

Your mind goes silent again, it’s like your surroundings are put on mute. Your eyes look around as you try to find him. He’s not in this room. You didn’t take notice that Rey is watching you, she knows but you don’t know she does yet.

You leave Poe’s side and he looks over at Rey and Leia in confusion. Leia discreetly points at Rey to follow you. As you leave the room, you look down the hallway and then you turn around. He’s standing there.

“It’s happening again.” His voice echoes. You chew on your bottom lip as you walk towards Kylo. “Why did you leave?” You ask, eyes trained on how his facial features change.

His face angles down as you grow closer to him, yours angles up as he is taller than you. “I had to. I had other matters to attend to. You seemed busy anyways.”

You let out a breath as your hand grabs ahold of his, his jaw twitched again and he blinks. He gives you a gentle squeeze. His other hand comes up to brush across your cheekbone, the smooth leather is warm against your skin.

The door hisses behind you but you don’t notice. Rey is standing there, her eyes widen with fear but she stands strong. “Get away from her.” She growls her hand on the lightsaber. His eyes rise up from your face as he notices her, his jaw clenching in anger. 

His hands drop from you as he pushes you behind him, his hand also goes on his lightsaber hilt. “You took her from me!” He yells, his foot going forward into a fighting stance.

He grabs his lightsaber and ignites it. Rey holds her ground as he runs towards her, he swings the red blade at her head but she completely dodges it by leaning backward; A Jedi move. His feet slide across the cold floor as he stops himself and turns around angrily. Her lightsaber is on now, the blue clashes with the red when she swings at him.

You cover your mouth as you watch them fight, the loud vibrations of the weapons intensify every time they connect. Sparks fly everywhere as they fight, both of their faces are furrowed in anger. 

He swings at her, almost missing her but it hits her upper bicep making her cry out. “Stop!” You scream. Just as their sabers go to crash together, your hands go out and your eyes squeeze shut. 

Nothing happens, the vibrations of their sabers are still there but nothing else happens.

You peek open your eyes, seeing the sabers in mid-air with an unseen force blocking them from touching. Rey lets go of hers and so does Kylo as they step back in shock. You’re in shock too. Swiftly, you summon them to your hands. The red and blue hue of the light falls over your features as you look at them. You’ve never held a lightsaber before. Kylo’s saber was crackling and hissing at you while Rey’s was calm. 

How did you take his from him if he isn’t actually here? Will it disappear when he leaves?

Your fingers run over the ridges of metal on them both as you press the buttons to turn them off. The bright colors fall back into the base of the weapon.

“Enough.” Your voice is strong as you look at them both. “Enough with all this! I know neither of us believes in the same things but why do we have to try and kill each other?!” You yell, now Poe comes out with Chewy as he looks between you and Rey. He can’t see Ren.

You look over at Kylo, tears welling in your eyes again. “I just don’t understand.” You sniffle as you shake your head and wipe your tears on your sleeve. When you look up, Kylo gulps and averts your gaze. You can tell he is a bit emotional, Rey is too but she is showing it more as tears run freely down her cheeks.

Poe just stares as he looks between you both, he’s so confused. Then he notices the lightsabers in your hands and how one of them is a crossguard.

“Is he here? Where is he?!” Poe looks around, grabbing ahold of his blaster.

Then Kylo begins to move, he takes long confident strides past Rey and Poe. His dark eyes are on you and only you.

Poe’s eyes widen, he sees him now. “Stop!” He yells, veins popping out on his forehead. Chewy grumbles loudly at the dark figure moving quickly towards you. 

Kylo’s large stature towers over you as he leans down to capture your lips in his while his hand rests on his lightsaber. His other hand finds its way to the dip of your waist as he kisses you.

Poe pulls the trigger, the blaster bullet travels towards Kylo’s back as your hand cards through his thick hair. When Kylo realizes that Poe has pulled the trigger, he turns around to stop it but he’s too late. The bullet goes right through Kylo as if he is transparent, he winces as if it really did hit him. Instead, the blast hits your shoulder. 

The power of the bullet knocks your body off balance, sending you down towards the ground. Rey’s lightsaber falls from your hand as you land on your side, body bouncing off of the concrete. You’re in shock. It burns, it hurts so bad.

Kylo whips around, his eyes frantic as he watches you fall. Poe’s face goes into a panic and he pales, the blaster falls from his hand and Chewy roars loudly.

Ren drops to his knees, sliding his hand underneath your head. “I’m gonna die. I can’t die.” You sob, your hand going to grasp your wound but Kylo stops your hand. You can see the steam in your peripheral vision floating up from the hole, blood is all over the ground and his gloves. 

“It’ll be okay.” Kylo begins to fade from your vision, and you reach out and try to grab him but you get nothing as he disappears. Rey runs up to you, dropping to your side to inspect the wound. It’s deep, it’s messy and very bloody.

“Chewy! We need to get her to the med bay now!” She screams as she cries. She doesn't want to see you struggle. The Wookie runs over to you and easily scoops up your body and begins to run towards the med ward. You can see that everyone in the command room has flooded out to see what all the commotion was about. 

Rey gets up and follows close behind him.

Once Chewbacca makes it there, you’ve already passed out on the way. Your limp body is laid on a medical cot. The doctors tend to you quickly, trying to patch up what skin you have left since the plasma has burned your skin severely.

You wake up from the pain, letting out a cry. Rey and Chewy were kicked out of the room so they work on you more easily.

One nurse checks the babies, using the wand again to see them on the screen. More people rush by your side, you can barely hear what they are saying but it sounds frantic. “We need to operate quickly to save your babies. Their heart rates are dropping.” One of the doctors gets close to your face to talk to you.

That sentence makes your heart drop as you start to panic even more now, “Get them out. They have to live.” You say through your sobbing. One of the nurses sprays bacta on your bullet would and wraps it in a bandage as well as putting your arm in a sling.

The medical team wheels you down to another room with more supplies for the delivery. They lay you on a table and a nurse droid comes up to the end of the table to assist in delivering the babies.

Some members of the team leave the room to give the doctor some space to situate you. “We don’t have time to sedate you or administer pain medicine.” The doctor said and you just nod. “Just get. them. out.” You say through gritted teeth.

The droid sets up a barrier where you can’t see past your lower half, you can feel the droid pull off your pants and shoes and put your legs in stir-ups to prepare.

The droid starts to prod at you and get your body ready for the delivery of the twins.

Someone’s hand goes to brush the hair stuck to your sweaty forehead away, they’re so gentle. You look over and see Leia with a smile on her face. She grabs your hand and brings it to her mouth to kiss it. “Leia... I’m so happy you’re here.” You hiccup out, tears slide down your face and she wipes them away. “No need to be sad. You’re gonna see your babies soon. You got this.”

The droid begins to command you to push, you bear down with your chin to your chest as you push as hard as you can. The droid counts down from ten, leaving you breathless and tired when you finish. You let out a cry of pain as a contraction rips through your whole body, you push again.

The droid isn’t helping the pain as they reach to grab the baby and pull them out carefully. The cry of the first baby calms you, making you sob even more. “It’s a boy,” Leia says with a teary smile.

“Anakin...” You murmur with a big smile. Leia is taken aback by the choice, “Like my father?” She smiles and you nod in agreement. One of the human nurses brings Anakin around to show him to you, his abdomen sucks in as he cries.

The droid begins to command you to push but you’re too weak. You try but you stop halfway, your head lolls to side but Leia keeps you awake. “One more to go.”

You muster up any strength you have to push the last baby out, letting out a hoarse scream.

The droid reaches again and pulls her out, she doesn’t cry as loud but she is responsive.

You take a deep breath then you cry and laugh at the same time. “Ellie.” You breathe out as they show her to you. She is much smaller than Anakin. The happiness from seeing your children couldn’t beat anything though. They’re tiny so they bring them both over to a station to care for them.

Leia grabs your hand even tighter and shakes it to get your attention. Your head turns to her and she leans in to kiss your sweaty forehead. The nurse droid begins to clean you up, bringing your legs down and taking the barrier away. A warm blanket was laid on your naked legs, the smile on your face is permanent.

Leia lets go of your hand to stand up straight and walk over to the swaddled babies in their cribs. The droid helps you get into a hospital gown, it also pulls up your hair into a bun on top of your head and puts socks on your feet.

You quietly thank it as your bed is wheeled over to the babies, you look at their sweet round faces as they cry.

“They’re perfect. Ellie and Ani.” You reach your only working arm over to drag your index fingers down their smooth cheeks, they instantly calm down as you cherish them. 

They don’t look identical. Ani has dark black hair like his father, by what you can see that's peeking out of his little hat. He also has Kylo’s nose and your lips. Ellie has your hair color but not as much as Ani. She has Kylo’s lips and your nose and his almond-shaped eyes.

It baffles you how they both have a little bit of each parent. They couldn’t be more perfect. Leia gently picks up Ani and lays him in your arm, your hand that sticks out of the sling gently tickles his hand and he grabs onto your finger so tight.

Leia grabs Ellie and rocks her gently, they are both so calm down. You felt tears fall from your eyes, you don’t know if they’re sad or happy. You wish Kylo could be here to experience this with you, to hold his children and take care of them.

Leia notices how you’re upset, she frowns and reaches her other hand to lay on your shoulder as tears silently roll down your cheeks.

“Maybe he’ll have a change of heart when he sees his children,” Leia says, but she’s just giving you false hope. The First Order is what he has dreamt of. All the power he has is his dream.

He definitely has conflict in him though. Especially because you’re here with the Resistance and he’s somewhere on a giant ship in space searching for you. He’s technically your sworn enemy.

The Force needs to bring him to you, bring you both together again someway, somehow. You’re destined for each other.

tags: @officiallpeterparker @funnysadshit @ymariejp @attorneyl @fangirl570 @trinityrud20 @kylos-sassy-cousin @delicatelyherdreams @fizzywoohoo @savvy7392 @angelias134 @that-girl-named-alex @cas-backwards-tie @glimmering-darling-dolly @glitterypinkkitty @blxkstar @his-snow-white-queen @elsasshole @smiithys @nanocoool @deathbyarabbit @alex-skr @theholycakehole @averillian @crazynocturnalkiki @arcanebabe @tinydancer40 @superduckypower @boba-bliss

[campingwiththecharmings]

ty for the tag, ivy 🥰 i love your poe crash lands on earth obsession, please feel free to elaborate anytime you want 👀

hmmm, okay, okay....how about this:

(this is long af sorry, got carried away lmao)

poe is a pilot and is always traveling off world for the resistance. you know, the usual. he's friendly with everyone but only truly friends with a few. one of those friends is you (obv~). one day in between missions, the two of you are walking through the forest of d'qar and come across this structure almost completely hidden by overgrown foliage and bushes -- a cabin! upon closer inspection, it looks to be long abandoned. you joke that the two of you should move out of the base and into this place and the suggestion stirs something in poe. he starts spending all his free time cleaning it and fixing it up and, of course, you help him and soon it almost starts to feel like a home. when the first order finds the resistance base, poe is already in the air and you're at the cabin, completely unaware that the base is being evacuated. once you realize what's happening, it's too late, you're stuck, unable to leave. so you do the only thing you can: you stay hidden in the cabin, praying that the first order won't find you and hopeful that you'll somehow be abe to send word to the resistance at some point so they know you're alive.

poe is devastated. the two of you had become extremely close the last few months. losing you guts him. he holds the memories of the cabin close, clinging desperately to that feeling of home he'd just begun to feel again.

months pass, but the ache in his heart doesn't ease. he wishes he could go back to the cabin again, just one more time. then maybe he'd be able to let you go, then maybe he could move on. who's to say it's even still standing though?

one day, leia calls an emergency meeting with her highest ranking officers. a transmission was received on a private, rarely used resistance channel; a transmission from d'qar. it's coordinates. most think it's a trap, that it's the first order fishing for their location but poe, he can't help the hope that stirs in his chest. could it be you? is there any chance you could've survived? the coordinates aren't far from where the base used to be after all...

without a second though, he volunteers to go investigate, saying he'll do it alone when leia tells him that they can't spare the man power. she almost says no but can see the desperation in his eyes. she knows how off he's been the last few months, he clearly needs this. she gives him permission, but tells him he can't reach out while he's there, that no one will be sent to rescue him if something happens. he agrees.

he spends all night going over the intel they have on the first order's positions on d'qar, trying to work out the best place to land. he sets out the next day with bb-8, rey and finn having wished him luck the night before.

he makes it onto the planet undiscovered thanks to some fancy flying, plugs the coordinates into his data pad, and continues his trek on foot. the closer he gets, the more careful he has to be; the first order is everywhere. a few miles out, he's forced to stop; a blockade has made the area completely impassable. he's at a loss as to how to get around it but he knows he has to, he has to know. just as he's considering trying his luck running at them with his pistol, he feels the sharp tip of a knife at his neck. a body presses against his back and a hand comes up quickly to cover his mouth as he's slowly guided backward, away from the storm troopers.

when they're a safe enough distance away, the person whispers for him to be quiet and releases him. he whirls around the second the knife is gone, his blaster raised--but then he stops. his eyes widen, mouth falling open in shock.

it's you.

he breathes your name, his heart beating wildly in his chest. "you're alive."

you smile at him, your eyes haunted, and it breaks something inside him. what must you have gone through to make it all these months, alone with no supplies? he does the only thing he can think to do, he steps closer, wraps you in his arms and pulls you in for a hug. after a moment, you sag against him, your arms winding around his middle, your face burying itself in his chest. it feels like coming home.

you make it back to his ship without incident and on the trip back, he asks what happened that day. you tell him and he nods grimly, his suspicions finally confirmed. his heart clenches at the waver in your voice. he reaches out and takes your hand.

"it's still there, you know," you say quietly, eyes glued to your entwined hands.

he hums, chewing his bottom lip. "think it'll be there when all this is over?"

you sniff a soft laugh and lift your eyes to meet his, hope reigniting in your chest. "guess we'll have to wait and see."

he smiles, gently squeezing your hand. "guess we will."

borrowed from @ominoose bc this looked fun!!

1. Type your name followed by core (i did jhonsicore) into pinterest and paste the first pic. 2. Refresh your pinterest homepage and paste the first person. 3. Refresh your pinterest homepage and paste a random aesthetic picture. 4. Write a little story :)

oh I just know this guy lost his cat and had been frantically asking everyone in the neighborhood if they'd seen her. i felt bad and decided to help him out; poor thing wound up stuck in the christmas tree in the middle of town. "it's a christmas miracle," he'd laughed as i handed his cat back to him. he told me all about his sweet girl on the way to pick up some hot chocolate :)

this was cute, np tagging @campingwiththecharmings @cositsamarvelfan @virtie333 @mrsnadeem @chrissymodi-frost @lunar-ghoulie @elfangel94 , if you'd like <3

[therewasatale]

how are you feeling?

On Ao3. 

The light that was filling the room slowly seeped into Poe's mind, chasing away his dreams. He still felt the hit he received to the back of his head and the roughness of the ground beneath his palm, yet waking up, his fingers touched only the softness of the blanket. There was a dull pang of pain in his side as he tried to take a deep breath. That was the moment he realized he was no longer on Oosalon.

"Morning, Commander."

Poe blinked a few times, waiting for the room to stop spinning in front of his eyes. When it finally did, he glanced to the source of the voice next to his bed.

'''ning? " It took some more time for him to focus properly on things, but he could recognize Finn's voice any time. "What happened? Were we successful?"

"Yeah, we got the blueprints, though you were out for a few days. How are you feeling?"

"Like someone who was ran over by herd of a tauntun." He swallowed hard and tried to get a clearer look of the room once again.

He was at one of the bases medical rooms. He already had the opportunity to visit a few times, so he easily recognized it. Machines lined the gray walls, monitoring his life sings, and a medical-droid was waiting patiently in the corner. His eyes finally settled on Finn, who was watching him carefully. He was also wounded in the fight. A deeper cut ran down his left eyebrow and a small bruise marked his chin.

"You got a pretty serious head injury, for a moment we thought ..." Finn pulled his chair closer but did not continue.

"Yes? What happened? How are the others?" Poe slowly pushed himself up on the bed but had to close his eyes as the room started swirl around him once again. "Where's BB-8?"

"With the General. He almost ran out of energy, he didn’t want to move away from you. The others are alive; I think you managed piss of the General."

"But are they all right?" Poe squinted as he felt Finn sitting down on the edge of his bed. Just on the edge of his awareness he felt him touching his hand.

"Yes, but you should worry about yourself now, Commander."

"Is that supposed to be an order?" He looked up with a faint smile and moved his fingers very slightly on the man's hand.

"No," Finn slowly shook his head and they looked at each other in silence for a few moments.

What happened on the planet was slowly coming back to him little by little. He still needed time to recall the details however, the picture of them standing disarmed and the stormtrooper lifting his blaster at Rose was perfectly clear. For a few moments he could feel himself jumping at the enemy and falling over the edge of the rock. His body moved instantaneously, he wasn't even fully aware of what he was doing, besides that he wanted to save them. For a few seconds he could even recall the roll. He probably hit his head then, because everything else was blank.

He took a deep breath and rubbed his face.

"I probably look horrible too, but certainly not as bad as you." He received only a snort in response, but he smiled gently. "How long ago was the last time you slept properly? You should probably eat something too."

"I said half a minute ago that you should worry about yourself."

Poe slowly shuffled around under the blanket, giving his numb muscles some exercise. "I do," he muttered, still slightly dazed from the long sleep. "I'm just focusing on what's important to me first."

The room was filled with embarrassed silence, but it couldn’t linger too long. The door opened and BB-8 rolled in with a loud beeping sound. Poe groaned softly at the sudden noises, but looked down at him with a grateful smile.

"I'm happy to see you too, BB-8."

The droid rolled around in the room, then stopped at the point where he could best examine his owner. He scanned his face and noted the tiny cuts and bruises. Even BB-8 was sure that Poe looked much healthier, and he shared this opinion with the other occupants in the room.

"Hmm? Well, maybe my beauty is slightly tarnished bat that’s all. " Finn snorted again, but remained silent. "But I really feel better, don't worry." Poe reached down to touch the droid's head as it rolled closer to him.

"You gave us all quiet a scare, Poe."

"Ma'am?" Finn jumped up to attention from the edge of the bed.

"General?" He tried to sit up, but his body failed him and he just dropped back on his pillow.

"Don't get jumpy on me, you had a serious head injury, and two cracked ribs on top of that."

"Aye-aye, general."

"I'm glad you woke up, the rest of us were worried. BB-8 kept all the droids with word and obsessively followed the progress of your recovery."

"He has always been a very dedicated little droid." Poe smiled, resting his hand on the droid's head, who stopped next to the bed with a small chirp.

A few moments later General Organa stepped beside the little droid and looked up and down the pilot's body, which was still hidden under the white blanket. She sighed and shook her head. "I would say something, but you two remind me of my brother and R2D2. They were just as close."

"Thank you."

"But next time please don’t play the hero, the Resistance needs its commander." Leia's voice became somber, and for the first time there was worry in it mixing with her usual seriousness.

"But the map," Poe paused as the General slowly shook her head.

"The map wouldn’t worth it if I had to lose my best pilot to get it."

Poe breathed slowly, rubbing his face tying to ignore his throbbing head. "I'm sorry. Really." Then, after glancing at Finn, who was rolling his eyes, he repeated it with a more serious tone. "I'm sorry."

"Well, you're in good hands now, and you can finally keep an eye on BB-8, I'll come back later, Poe. In the meantime, try to have some rest. Consider it an order."

"Yes, general." Poe gave her a grateful smile. "And thank you for watching over BB-8 in my absence."

"Don’t mention it, it was quiet nice. Reminded me of the old days." The look in General Organa's eyes softened and after a small nod, she left the room with a small smile on her face.

Finn's and Poe's eyes met, but the first one to say something was BB-8. The little droids beep filled the room.

"Yeah?" Poe chuckled softly. "Well then, you can spend more time with the General when I'm home."

BB-8 tilted happily back and forth as Finn sat back on the edge of the bed.

"As you can see, we were not bored even after we got back."

"I'm sorry, I made you worried." He gently touched Finn's hand and felt his face flush with red from even such a small touch.  "But it's worth it, now we can certainly make that sabotage mission on the First Order."

"We can?"

"A few days and I'll be back in shape." Poe could even squeeze a wink out of himself before his headache came back. "Ouch...Let's say, maybe, three, I can't stay put locked up in here for much longer anyway."

Finn chuckled and it made his heart pound much harder. Heat flushed his face as he felt Finn's lips touching his forehead.

"Huh?" He remained silent as he looked up in surprise, blinking. Even BB-8 nodded his head and commented with a little beep.

"Not now, buddy." Poe didn't turn his eyes away from Finn, who was equally embarrassed. "Hey," Poe cleared his throat sliding down a little in the bed.

"Hey?"

He adjusted the blanket on himself, but placed his hand on Finns once again, who looked down with an embarrassed smile. "I don't know."

"I see, what if I bring some food and then catch up on what happened?"

"Sounds lovely." He slowly stroked his hand and couldn't suppress his own smile.

"Great."

"Yes." Poe closed his eyes and moved a little, making some space, as he felt Finn lie down beside him.

"I will be leaving momentarily."

"Uhum." Half asleep he reached out and intertwined his fingers with his, before succumbing to sleep.

BB-8 rolled closer to the bed and in his own way, watched over them.

[geo-winchester]

DEAR BROTHER (7)

a/N: Hi! Si here is part number seven of this story! Thanks for reading and I hope you like it, I’ll try to post more often but with the school and everything sometimes is impossible. Let me know if you like it or you want to be tagg on this story.

Tag list: @reading--mermaid @thescarletknight2014 @chloe-skywalker

masterlist

———

Poe wake up in one of the resistance transport vessels, for a moment he feel like every part of his body hurt but when he realize where he was he forget about the feeling and run to a nearest window and he saw how the raddus make smaller as they get away from it, he punch the window as the feeling of failing invade him, in that moment he hear someone say his name, when he turn around he saw Leia sitting across the hall and she make him a sign to join her, she look at the window behind her and he saw they were going to a new planet.

-What’s that?

-The mineral planet, crait- Commander Larma answer his question -an unknowing hideout, from the days of the rebellion.

-That’s a rebel base?- he asked.

-Abandone but heavily armed and with enough power to send a distress signal to our allies.

-Holdo knew that the first order was tracking our big ship but they couldn’t track our little transports- Leia said making Poe understand everything and changing his mind about Holdo, he was so focus on the new plan that he almost forgot about Yn.

-Leia, I had something to tell you- he said, making Leia focus on him -Yn... it seems... that she turn to the dark side- He could see how sadness invade her -I fail you... I fail her...

-You didn’t fail us- Leia said.

-Of course I did, I could have stop her, but she used the force against me... and know she’s in that ship with her... with Kylo- he get up from his sit and walk from one side to the other when he stop he sight- I told Finn to bring her back... I need to know why she betray us... why she left me.

-we’ll found out what happened to her, and we are going to figure it out a way to bring her back to us.

Yn was standing next to Hux when they bring Rose and Finn in to the hangar after they torture them to found out the plan of the resistance, part of the troops of the first order were there to see the execution, Phasma make the prisoners to put on their knees. Hux face Finn and slap him in the face, he didn’t even move, he only look at Yn, who was emotionless on what she was watching, in somehow he could see something was bothering her, in that moment one of the stormtroopers told her something and she make her way out of the hangar.

-Your ship and paid as we agree- he hear Phasma say to someone.

They saw how DJ step outside of the troops and walk to the money, when Rose realize what he done she try to get him but the guard beside her stoped her. DJ told them that he took the opportunity to scape in exchange of information, but when Finn was about to asked a guard told them that the information they get from the thief was correct, the resistance was escaping in smaller ships.

-Well- Hux said -Lets take care of them

Yn was standing in the middle of the elevator waiting for the doors to open, she was a little nervous to see Snoke, every time she went there she get hurt in someway. Yn knew that Rey was in the ship, she feel her the moment that she arrived but Ben thought it wasn’t wise to saw her so he took her directly to Snoke, the door of the elevator open when she finally arrived to where Snoke was, the first thing she saw was Rey floating in the air, Rey look as if she was tired, she knew that expresión and she immediately know what snoke do to her, when she step in the room Rey fell to the ground, Yn kneel beside her brother and wait for snoke to give her an order.

-Yn? You really join them?- Rey asked her, Snoke laugh.

-Yn Ren- he way to Rey -she’s the proof of how powerful you can be if you embrace your darkness, before she came to us she was just a girl who can barely use the half of her potential, now... now she’s helping us to destroy the resistance and with them we destroy the jedis.

-You can’t destroy the resistance- Rey said -You underestimate Ben and Yn solo, they will help the resistance...

-Is that so? Then how you do think we know about their ships?- he lift her up and make her see to the window, she saw a few of the transporters flying away -You would see how that fleet would be destroy.

But when Snoke saw that none of the fleet was destroy he realize something was going on, she turn to the brothers and saw a little smile on Yn’s face, he make her come to him.

-You did this?- he asked.

-I don’t know what you talking about- she said but suddenly she feel a sharp pain in all her body, she try not to scream, she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction to let him saw her break for the pain.

-Yn- she hear the voice of her brother in her head -Remember our plan- she start to scream.

-Ok... ok I tell you- she said and she feel how the pain fades away -I damage the canyons the minute I was alone in this place... but I can fix it...

Before Snoke could talk Rey took Ben’s sable and turn it on, Yn fall to the groin as the guards turn their weapons to Rey but Snoke made a sign and they stay in their place, he saw Rey and laugh but Rey didn’t listen to him, she run straight to him but with the sable up, she was about to stab him but Snoke stop her and throw her away, Ben’s sable stop in front of him, and he saw how Snoke make Rey to step in front of Ben.

-You have the soul of a true Jedi and because of that you must die- Snoke said and then he look to Ben -My worthy apprentice, son of darkness, heir of lord Vader, where there was conflict now I seen resold, where there was weakness, strength, now complete your training and fulfill your destiny- Yn saw how Ben took his sable and she hear Rey calling him with fear making Snoke scoff -You think you can turn him- he smile and lift Yn again but this time she couldn’t breath -Tell me Ren, what are you going to choose? The Jedi or your sister -Ben look at her sister while snoke keep talking, she manage to give him a little nod -Yes, I can see his mind, I can see every intent, yes... I see him turning his light sable to strike true... and now full child he turn him on and kill the true enemy!- Suddenly Rey and Yn fell to the grown, Yn took a little time to get up while she try to catch some air. She know Ben’s plan so when she was ready, she made her way to the door but one of the guards took her by the arm and try to stab her with his spear but she was fast enough to stop it, he separate his spear and attack her, she defend and then she hit him in the neck and before he can do anything else she stab him with her sable. When she look at Ben she saw him struggle with three guards so she run to him and kill one of them while Ben kill the other two.

-You’re welcome- she said.

-Get out of here, I have this- he said and she nod.

She made her way to the hangar, it didn’t take her a long time to get there, she saw the troops in line watching what she suppose was the execution, she hear Phasma saying something to Finn and Rose, she stop next to her when two of the stormtroopers start their way to the prisoners, she could feel Finn’s fear in him, and Poe appear in to his mind, he feel like he had failed him and the resistance and he imagine the death of the resistance, the image of Poe dying make her hesitate and when she scream to stop the execution something hit their ship throwing her to the other side of the room and everything went black. When she woke up she saw how Finn was fighting Phasma, when she try to get up someone stop her, Rose put a feet on her back while she finish tying her hands with some handcuffs.

-Sorry but you won’t get away from this, Commander Dammeron give us the order to bring you with us.

-And since when you care about what that pilot say? You are nothing more than a trash of the plots.

She feel how Rose put more strength in the handcuffs. Even if she hate to admitted something inside of her was happy that Poe was alright, but it disappear when she remember that wasn’t her life anymore she try to fight but Rose hit her again making her pass away, she put something in her mouth and wait for Finn, when he come they start their way to one of the ties but instead they hear BB-8 beeps in a ship. He already had the ship Ready to fly and mad their way to the resistance.

[warzofstarz]

star wars Thoughts at 4 am

ok so rise of skywalker happened,,, and i have mixed feelings. i didn’t hate it but i didn’t love it either (and i usually love star wars movies), so i am in desperate need of a little rant about both the good and the bad in the conclusion of the saga

DISLIKE

1. JJ ABRAMS DISREGARDING ALL OF THE DEVELOPMENT WE EXPERIENCED DURING LAST JEDI. this is what i am most upset about. you don’t have to like tlj, but you can’t pretend it never happened. it’s like he was trying to completely backtrack on everything that happened in tlj bc it was ~his~ vision for the franchise. i think that is disrespectful to not only rian, but to fans who grew attached to the development of the characters. we see finn revert back to first movie finn (lovesick puppy lowkey), rey become an invincible child of the sith, the end of the skywalker family line, complete abandonment of rose, and a total shift in the message of the trilogy. all jammed last second into the film. the next few points all have to do w this

2. the fact that in tlj it is revealed that rey is truly nobody- she’s not some all-powerful descendant or some with royal blood- and tros completely ignores this and makes her a palpatine. the whole point before was that she’s normal, but that doesn’t make her any less powerful, smart, or strong. the message from the first two movies was that you don’t have to be in these elite categories to be special and powerful, which is an important message to every single child and adult watching. it empowers us as viewers to believe that we have the capability to be great, no matter our status, birth name, ethnicity, class, or where we are from. you can find family when you have none. you have the power to change your life. when jj decide LAST SECOND to make her a palpatine, with no clues thrown into the first two movies to lead us to believe this, it feels like a joke. the rey we had come to sympathize with is suddenly an all-powerful sith, seeming stronger than even anakin and yoda, even though she had never even completed training. this reveal is not emotional and literally loses respect rather than gaining any from the audience. a cop out. i felt less emotionally attached to rey than in the previous two films bc of her sheer perfect power

3. rose being 100% sidelined even though her character was incredible in last jedi. her arc was one that i truly couldn’t wait to see finish and sadly we never got it because she was completely abandoned so it could just be a trio once more. i love her. the disrespect.

4. the sudden introduction of zorri just so that poe has someone to flirt with??? like if you wanted to prove he was heterosexual make him flirt w someone he has actual on screen history and chemistry with, like uhhhh idk? rey?????? dont get me wrong tho she is a badass and i love how she shuts poe down!! queen

5. how they throw it in there that finn is force sensitive but don’t fully explain it?? and he never even tells rey??? this is SUCH a cool concept yet it’s never even hinted at until the third movie and its not further developed as to why. likewise i wish we saw the stormtroopers before they left the first order. see what they dealt with and the abuse they endured bc it’s such an important facet of the trilogy and literally drives finns character

6. how we never touch on why poe felt it when rey was tortured?

7. i wish leia hadn’t died and she rallied support w lando

8. if they are a dyad why didn’t rey and ben fight palpatine together?? then no one would have died??

9. i’m just really sad that they chose to kill ben because even though rey takes their name, the skywalker bloodline is gone, while a palpatine lives on. the entire purpose of the first six movies is anakin bringing balance by defeating palpatine. somehow, palpatine survived this (never explained!!!!), which completely defeated the purpose of the first six films and strips anakins chosen one status and ultimate sacrifice of any true importance. in the end of tros, the palpatine bloodline lives on while the skywalker bloodline is gone, and i can’t help but to feel like that contradicts the theme of the original saga in which the skywalkers defeat palpatine and hope lives on.

10. lastly, i just don’t think george lucas would have wanted ben to die. when people kill off main characters to make the movie more emotional, he has literally said “i don’t like that and i don’t believe that” he goes on to say that he hates when main characters are killed, stating “the whole point of the film, the whole emotion that i am trying to get at the end of the film, is for you to be real uplifted, emotionally and spiritually, and feel absolutely good about life. that is the greatest thing we could ever possibly do.” so, i’m sure some of you could see why i have a little issue with killing someone who has finally recognized the error of their ways and wants to be better. yes, he has done awful things that cannot be separated from his new identity as ben, but i think that it would have been even more impactful to make him live with the crimes he has committed and still make him keep fighting his demons to join his legacy on the light side. overall, bens death left a sour taste in my mouth, and for that reason i don’t walk out feeling uplifted. i just wish i knew what george lucas is thinking right now.

LIKE

1. ben solo’s arc and han. now, before some of you pop off at me, i still think he was awful and horrible and didn’t deserve instant forgiveness, but i also think that someone who has grown up his entire life being treated like the spawn of satan by all adults who are supposed to love him would fuck him up majorly, like it would to anyone else in that situation. i think that he deserved another chance at experiencing love and happiness, and i absolutely adored the scene with him and han solo. it was honestly one of the best parts of the whole movie. thank you harrison ford. the whole ��i don’t think i’m strong enough” and him tearing up to his dad CUT DEEP. AND THE “dad-“ “i know” LIKE LITERALLY MY HEART. bringing back the “i love you” “i know” so they are LITERALLY TELLING EACH OTHER THEY LOVE EACH OTHER!!! i’m at peace. adam driver’s acting was absolutely phenomenal. so much respect for him. truly incredible.

2. i loved poe and rey’s bickering. lowkey thought it built some chemistry between them. and how poe seemed quite jealous that finn knew stuff about rey that he didn’t, literally asking him more than once (1nce) about it, like???? han leia vibes. tea. but also poe and finn

3. i really liked jannah SOOO much (and i usually am not one for introducing a character so late) but, like i explained in detail above, i wish they had built that backstory better and introduced her a little bit sooner with more screen time. but i loved her and finns connection and understanding of their trauma.

4. FINN AND POE BEING THE CUTEST HUMANS EVER. that’s all. i just love how they care so very much about each other like stop. cogenerals.

5. ALL THE JEDI VOICES WERE SO FREAKING COOL. CHILLS.

6. i honestly think that’s all. i don’t have anything more

7. OH WAIT HUX BEING THE SPY. i ate that shit up. yes. we stan. AND the hint that he was going along w poe’s phone call in tlj so that the resistance could escape (that’s how poe KNEW it) like YES

8. the animation of young luke and leia made my heart weep

9. that lil sketchy bitch babu and the new cone droid that talks,, mmm

10. OH THAT THE FORCE BOND LETS THEM TRANSMIT OBJECTS THRU IT LIKE THE VADER MASK SCENE WAS ICONIC

11. this is so sad that i am putting this in my “like” parts but the fact that they didn’t kill chewie and that they showed him being so torn up about leias death

12. OH AND CHEWIE GETTING HIS MEDAL THAT WAS SO HYPE

13. rey burying the skywalker lightsabers and looking into the sunset, perfectly tying back to luke doing the same 42 years ago

overall, if i don’t think too hard, i did like it and felt kind of at peace. BUT it could’ve been much better @ JJ :/ i feel like it didn’t do the saga justice as the “conclusion of the saga” bc there is still so much left unanswered. but, like i said, i did enjoy it a lot and have so much love for this world. rant over. i love u star wars. thank u for everything. <3

[redtutel]

Rewatching Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Although I have vague memories of the Episode III promotional material, this is the Star Wars movie where I truly was a part of the hype. December 2015 was a magical time where everyone was just...loved Star Wars. And it created a meme and parody culture that was just as wholesome as the original trilogies. None of that cynical and nitpicky, or in extreme cases sexist and racist, Star Wars fan culture we’re dealing with today.

So much like the first Avengers movie, the magic surrounding its release will make it impossible for me to judge this movie fairy. But I don’t care. I’m still very attached to it. Will this be the viewing where the magic wares off? Or will I find myself considering this better then the film it pays homage to. I’m excited to find out.

Seeing a brand new “A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far, Away” and an opening crawl in theaters was just awesome.

“Will not rest until, Skywalker, The Last Jedi, has been destroyed,” Hey, Foreshadowing! I know there’s a ton of debate as to what was or wasn’t planned in advance for this trilogy, but still.

The First Order is Space ISIS/Neo-Nazis, and Leia leads an army to fight it. Pretty simple. I don’t get why people get so up in arms about how little the politics are explored in this movie. It’s probably a side effect of just how lore heavy Star Wars got after the original trilogy.

The opening shot of a space ship completely covering a moon. A new take on ironic Star Wars imagers. A pretty good summary of this movie. But I feel like such new takes make up for just how many recycled plot points this movie has.

The opening action sequence is the first time in years Storm Troopers have been intimidating (Clone Troopers and Stormtroopers are two different things). It’s pretty impressive. It’s a great way to establish how evil the First Order is.

Finn’s introduction is so impressive. A Stormtrooper who in his first fight, completely looses the will to participate in war. We may never know about his friend he saw die, but despite that, we still understand why he lost his will to fight. It might be a bit awkward for Finn and Poe’s friendship if they ever find out Poe shot Finn’s old Stormtrooper friend.

Kylo Ren stopping a laser with the Force. An awesome new way to use the Force. And I love Poe’s quip “So who talks first?” It establishes Poe as a fun, jokey character, which is why I don’t get why people got upset about his sense of humor in Last Jedi. He’s the sort of character that uses humor to relieve the tension of any situation he’s in.

J.J Abrams made this movie to be watched blind, and I really wish I could (but I saw spoilers before I watched it). Where is Luke? Who is this new Sith? What’s the backstory the old man hits at? There’s a good Stormtrooper? He talks off his helmet? Who’s this girl in the desert? I’d love to discover these things for the first time all over again.

I’m found of robot characters that go against their programming. Finn’s not a robot, but the beginning of his character arc has that concept. He does not believe in this cause, and he fights war terrifying. And he wants to escape.

Anakin was a slave, Luke was a farmboy, and now we have Rey, a scavenger, all alone in the world, just tying to service. She quickly establishes herself as incredibly tough, but also a bit cute. 

Of all the protagonists Rey’s backstory is the saddest in my eyes. While Luke had a happy but boring life with his aunt and uncle, and Anakin had a hard life but a living mother, Rey has had to fend for herself since she was a child, holding onto hope that one day her parents will come. She was all alone in the world. But now that’s going to change.

I don’t take any sides in the CGI/Puppets debate, but seeing puppets in a big Hollywood blockbuster again is pretty nice.

BB-8′s so cute. I have too much R2-D2 nostalgia to consider him my favorite Skywalker Saga droid though.

Rey’s relationship with BB-8 establishes that although she’s a survivor, she hasn’t let it harden her heart. She’s willing to help BB-8, and although she wants him to be on his way, she still won’t sell him off (despite being tempted to)

...Poe’s technically the Leia archetype in this movie. This tough rebel who got captured by the villains, and who sent a droid with something important.

The Finn and Poe escape scene has a lot of great dialogue. I’d argue some of the best banter in the series. It’s a pretty good action scene too.

Of all the characters, I like how Finn’s take on his archetype the most. He’s the Han Solo, the deuteragonist who wants nothing to do with the battle, and joins for selfish reasons, but in the end proves to be a loyal friend and hero. But unlike cool and collated Solo, Finn is nervous and cowardly. But that makes his eventual bravery and loyalty all the more satisfying. 

I don’t know if this is true, but I’ve heard Poe was originally going to die, but Oscar Isaac was so great they kept the character alive. I do believe keeping them separated is for the best, seeing how it makes sure Finn stays around for as long has he does.

Early on we establish that Kylo Ren is abnormally obsessed with Luke Skywalker, to the point where Gnearl Hux questions him.

Finn and Rey’s friendship stars off pretty rocky, but even then they have some good chemistry. At one point Finn’s all beat up, and he asked Rey if she’s okay. He may not be very good at it, but he’s trying to be a gentleman.

I love how the Millennium Falcon gets called garbage. It’s a funny bit of irony, concerning just how sacred everything else from classic Star Wars gets treated.

The first Millennium Falcon chase is another great action sequence. Rey and Finn are figuring things out as they go along, and BB-8′s being cute. And in the end they’re very impressed with each other. Characters becoming friends tough action sequences is a favorite troupe of mine.

Everything from Finn and Poe’s escape to meeting Maz Katana has nothing to do with a New Hope, and thus is a very underrated part of the movie. Although the tentacle monster scene is kind of forgettable.

Both Finn and Rey have no last name. They’ve never had any sort of family before. Heck, Finn didn’t even have a real name until just a few hours ago. They’re nobodies trying to find themselves, which sets of their arc that carries over into the next film

Kylo Ren destroying the console establishes him as short tempered for the first time. He drops his stoic facade and shows his true colors. Kylo looks indimiateing, but deep down he’s an insecure manchild trying his best to inhert a dark legacy. I’m found of this character, as well as similar characters like Berkut and Shiguraki

Did BB-8 give a thumbs up or a bird? The world will never know.

Rey keeps her guard up around people she doesn’t know to well, but she has a very soft and kind side as well. She’s pretty aggrieve to Finn early on, which is probably why....certain people, dislike her. Women and aggression tends to lead to backlash, after all.

I love how Finn slips in a bit of Stormtrooper knowledge. It comes in handy a few times in this movie. Some could say it should come up a bit more, but I think it’s used enough.

“Chewie, We’re Home” What an iconic line. I can still hear the applause.

Seeing Han become the Obi Wan archetype is a very unique direction for the character to take. And he handles the role very well. Harrison Ford may have been sick of this character, but he still brought his A-game. I love that Rey admires Han more for his smuggling than for his war heroics. And it’s very sweet seeing Han admiring just how much Rey knows about piloting. It’s a very sweet father/daughter relationship. In hindsight, Rey and Han don’t even need to be related for this relationship to be this good. Rey lost her parents and Han lost his son, and they can’t help but see each other as a means to fill those voids, even if they deny it to themselves.

The events of the original trilogy are legendary to these characters, which make the “It’s True, All of it” line so cool. It’s pretty interesting how chronologically, the events of one trilogy are legends to the characters of the next one.

Seeing Han be exactly how people remember his is pretty cleverly deconstructed. In-Univse it happened because he needed to escape from the pain of what happened to his son. And now he’s at the point where there’s nobody left to swindle. 

Whenever Rey’s in trouble, she’s always the one to get herself out of it. This is definitely meant as pushback to the fact that in so many things, women always need help while men can aways get out of a situation by themselves.  And I’m all for it. It’s great to see a woman be this strong, but she’s not flawless. After all, she shuts people out and is struggling to accept the fact her parents are never coming back.

Snoke even says “Last Jedi.” Even in this movie, Snoke is convinced that Luke is the hero of this story, and will stop and nothing to stop him. It is interesting that they introduced the Emperor archetype in this first movie, although maybe it was a sign that he wasn’t actually the big bad of this trilogy.

“It the hands of your father: Han Solo.” And the audience gasped (unless they got spoiled first. It’s one of those things we can never un-know). Although if I have to nitpick, I’d be nice if we found out alongside Finn and Rey.

I love that the space chess still looks like stop motion.

Rey doesn’t see herself as the hero. Just the delivery girl. Even Luke saw himself as trying to save a damsel in distress. But though this journy, she becomes a hero.

"Luke felt responsible. He just, walked away from everything.” This was established in this movie? Why did it take until Last Jedi for people to react to that plot point?

“I didn’t know there was this much green in the whole galaxy” I love that line. It’s so endearing!

Finn reminds me of Usopp. A liar and a coward, but someone who will always do the right thin in the end. He’s my personal favorite sequel character

“Women always find out.” Han has a ton of great lines in this movie.

“I’ve already been away too long” She’s so convinced her parents will come back she won’t even leave her planet for a few hours.

With Maz Katana, we’re back in a New Hope. I’m found of this character. It’s fascinating to see someone who’s Force Sensitive but not a Jedi. And she offers some great advice to Rey and Finn. I’d love to see her in the next season of Clone Wars.

Kylo Ren sees Darth Vader as the hero, the dark as good, and the light as bad. But he has regrets, and lakes the discipline and fidelity of Darth Vader. Of all the characters, he’s the one most desperate to fulfill his archetype.

“Though the ages I have seen evil take on many forms. The Sith, the Empire, today it’s the First Order.” “If you live long enough, you see the same eyes in many different people.” Of the the sequel’s trilogy’s biggest themes is that history repeats itself. But despite that, it’s still important to fight evil whenever it arises, instead of just sitting back and letting it happen.

It never occurred to me before, but Finn’s cowardliness might be the lingering effects of his brainwashing. Although he does not believe in the First Order’s Ways, he was still convinced all his life that they’re unstoppable, which is why he wants to run instead of fight. I also like how he’s admits the truth, instead of there being this “liar revealed” thing.

Finn and Rey have truly become friends at this point. Instead of just running away, now Finn wants Rey to come with him. As far as he knows, she’s the only friend he has, and he doesn’t want anything to happen to her. Meanwhile, Rey doesn’t want Finn to leave, because he’s one of the few people in her life to stick with her for this long. If he leaves, he might end of like her parents, who never came back.

Wait...how come nobody was demanding to know Finn’s parents. He was taken from a family he’ll never know after all. How come people accept that Finn’s parents don’t matter, but insist that Rey’s does?

Seeing Rey connect to the force for the first time (outside of  the piloting and scavenging skills I assume she she used them for subcoinsously before the events of this movie) is really impressive. We get flashes of her past, as well as Luke’s past and Kylo’s past, and even hear the voices of Yoda and Obi Wan. ok She’s getting her first glimpse at the Force that binds everything together, and she’s terrified of it. It’s also yet another divination from the New Hope plot, which is very welcome.

I forgot that Rey being Force sensitive was once a spoiler. How time flys.

I really hope Obi-Wan appears in Rise of Skywalker. He spoke to Rey when she connected to the Force for the first time, and I’d love to see that expanded upon.

“They’re never coming back.” A lesson Rey, and the audience, finds difficulty accepting. 

“The belonging you seek is not behind you, it is ahead.” Such a great line. It’s a great summery of Rey’s arc, and I imagine people with difficult pasts can relate to it.

Maz tells Rey and Finn exactly what they need. Rey need to learn to move forward, and Finn needs to learn to fight for what’s right.

Why does the lightsaber choose Rey? I guess her midichlorian count is just right or something. It doesn’t really matter, and I personally find the idea that the next hero can come from anywhere inspiring.

...Come to think of it, Luke’s the only protagonist who isn’t just some rando.

“Why is Maz so interested in Rey” Probably because of her strong connection to the Force.

Rey rejects the saber. Classic rejection of the call. Can you blame her, after that vision?

The First Order sees the Republic as weak and dishonest. Seems straightforward to me. Maybe people were underwhelmed because Neo-Nazism didn’t get as much attention as it did just a few months later.

Starkiller Base. It’s cool looking power-creep. On one hand, since we don’t know anyone from those planets, it’s not as impactful as what happened to Alderan. But then again, we actually see people on that planet die. So It’s a bit of a mixed bag overall.

Finn’s not going to leave until he knows Rey is safe. How touching.

TR-8R. I miss that meme.

Seeing Poe’s triumphant return is pretty great.

Seing Rey’s trying to fight off Kylo Ren with a gun is very tense. This the the first time she looses a fight in this movie. Seeing someone so strong get captured really raises the stakes. This is where they first meet. Their relationship is standard Hero vs Villain in this movie, but things are going to change a LOT in the next one.

Despite how scared he is, Finn still rushes in to try and stop Rey from being capture.

Seeing General Leia for the first time is awesome. Han and Leia’s reuinon is so touching as well. C-3PO’s back to disturbing Han and Leia moments as well, which is pretty funny.

Seeing BB-8 and Finn get reunited with Poe is also very touching. 

Finn is helping the Resistance for the sake of Rey. He’s not quite a hero yet, but he’s getting there.

So the movie did established R2-D2 had the map in his back-up data in the actual movie.

Han and Leia went back to what they know best after the loss of their son. It’s such a tragic moment. 

Kylo almost has the depth  in one movie that took Vader two or three movies to get. I feel like that should be discussed more often.

Kylo’s face is removed to reveal...a normal person. Ben didn’t get any external injuries to turn him into Kylo Ren. It was all manipulation

Rey takes on the Leia role when capture, and Finn briefly takes on the Luke role, But when she frees herself they go back to being Luke and Han, respectively.

Even in this movie, Rey and Kylo are using the force to get to know each other, although mainly on accident. Maybe that’s where Snoke got the idea in the next movie.

After seeing Kylo using the Force, Rey decides to use it in order to escape, although she’s a bit hesitant to do so. It takes her three tires to do the Jedi mind trick, after all. I do wonder where she heard about it. Maybe she figured that if you can read minds, you can change minds.

Rey is a very fast learner in any situation, be it piloting, shooting or using the force. Maybe it’s her midichlorian count. 

Starkill base makes very little logical sense, but its still a very cool concept, and seeing day turn into night serving as a ticking clock is a very cool visual.

“No matter how much we fought, I always hated watching you leave” “That’s why I did it, so you’d miss me.” All these years later, and that still have such great chemistry. 

“That’s not how the Force works.” I love that line, but people misuse it.

Finn is doing something very heroic, putting himself on the frontlines and disabling the shield. But he’s only doing this for Rey. Despite that, he stays true to his word and disables the shields. I love seeing him stick it to his old boss. It’s a fun moment.

The Rouge One “Womp” is even in this movie! How did I never notice it until after Rouge One?

“As Long as there’s light, we’ve got a chance” A classic symbol, but one that still works.

Seeing Rey and Finn reunited is just another very touching moment. “We came back for you.” For the first time in Rey’s life, somebody actually came back for her. I love how Rey describes how using the force to escape was “Something I can’t explain, you wouldn’t believe it.” In general I love how the Force is depicted in this movie.

“We’ll meet back here” No! That was their last moment together!

Ben and Han’s confrontation is another utterly fantastic moment. Ben is tempted to go back to his father, but he’s too devoted to Snoke’s teachings. On top of that, he feels like it’s too late to go this far. He figures that to get rid of these regrets, he has to kill Han Solo. I love how the sky gets dark, leaving red as the only light source. It really makes Ben’s lightsaber stick out when he kills Han. And yet, Han still touchings the check of his son, showing that even despite this, he still loves him. Instead of letting the past die by killing his father, Kylo is left more conflicted than ever.

Meanwhile, Rey lost a chance to have a father yet again.

The snowy forest at night is such a great setting, and leads to an awesome lightsaber fight. Rey gets knocked out, so Finn has to protect her with a lightsaber duel. Kylo is beating himself, increasing his pain to increase his dark power. Finn puts up a valiant effort, but in the end, he gets knocked out, and Rey has to save him. But still, he bought her time, and gave her the strength to use the force to stop Kylo. Seeing Rey grab the lightsaber for the first time using the Force is just awesome. She’s barely holding her own, but true to the character, she’s a fast learning. Meanwhile Kylo is still injured, and maybe a bit worn out from fighting Finn. At the cliffside, Rey is at the ends of her seat, but when she trusts in the force, she manages to beat Kylo after he overpowered her during the rest of the movie.

Finn ends with the movie more devoted to Rey than the Resistance, but he still proves himself to be a loyal friend and a hero. I was worried about him for the two years between Force Awakens and Last Jedi

There’s no words between Leia and Rey. They both just know, Han is dead, and they both loved him. And that’s enough for them to mourn him together.

But in the midts of dealing with the loss of Han, there’s is hope. Specifically, the New Hope.

Seeing Luke for the first time in this movie is such a fantastic cliffhanger.

Overall, I still love this movie as much as when I first saw it. It’s got great action and effects, the new characters are some of my favorites in the series, and the old characters give some of their best performances of all time. Sure it messed with a happy ending, but I’m still investing in seeing how characters old and new are going to try and get that happy ending back.

[poeticandors]

Safe

Poe Dameron x Reader

Summary: Y/N and Poe get caught in some trouble, will they be able to save themselves?

Warnings: A bit of Violence, Angst, a little swearing, mentions of torture and death, fluff at the end though

A/N: This is for @propertyofpoeandbucky 3k Disney Challenge! I hope everyone enjoys it as I kind of just went with whatever came into my mind first! Don’t really know what I think of it lol. Thank you all so much! Also, be on the lookout for In My Dreams Part 2. I know it is late but congrats Iylla on your 3k!

“Y/N! Look out!” You quickly turned your head only to see one of the Devaronians aim their blaster towards you.

As soon as he pulled the blast went off, someone tackled you to the ground—your head hitting the dirt floor hard. Your chest felt instantly heavy and you caught yourself trying hard just to inhale. Groaning, you slowly opened your eyes to see a concerned Poe glancing down at you.

“Are you alright, sweetheart?” Poe’s scent instantly filled your nose as he lay on top of you: leather, oil, and… cinnamon? Yeah, it was definitely cinnamon.

Your heart fluttered and you tried to ignore the warming sensation in your cheeks as you nodded and tried to push Poe off of you.

You would never admit it to his face, but you have had a crush on your Commander ever since you have been assigned to him. The way he always throws his signature smirk at you, how he always manages to find time to ask you how your mission was or how you were, and how he would take it upon himself to clean you up if you had gotten hurt. It also didn’t help that Poe insisted on calling you every sort of pet name and flirt with you every chance he got to see how flustered you would get, just like now.

As Poe helped you up, the two of you quickly backed up against the wall of an alleyway, your blasters pulled up against your chest. Poe leaned his head out to see if the coast was clear, only to quickly bring his head back in and dodge a blast.

“You do know that this is your fault, right?” Poe huffed as he threw his blaster around the corner to shoot at the Devaronians.

“Me? How is this my fault, Dameron?”

“You were the one who decided to mouth off at them when they wouldn’t give you the directions to the cantina our informant was at.” This time it was you who turned around the corner to shoot your blaster, hitting one of the Devaronians in the process.

“Well, maybe they should have pointed us in the right direction. Besides, you also decided to throw a few choice words yourself.”

“Oh, because calling them a group of bums is so much worse than calling them kriffing horned bantha fodders.”

“Okay, fine you’re right. Can you just contact BB-8 and Finn? This is getting little inten—“

“Already ahead of you.” Poe waved the com-link in your face and you smirked.

Before you could reply with a smart remark, you watched as a grenade rolled from around the corner. You and Poe took one look at each other before quickly running down the alleyway. As you both tried to round the corner, you were thrown into the air, hitting the wall in the process.    

You landed front first onto the ground, and as soon as you opened your eyes, your world began to spin. Everything was in slow motion—chunks of the ground fell from the air, dust surrounded you, and there was a ringing sensation in your ears you wanted to get rid of.

Blinking slowly, you tried lifting yourself up, only for a white, burning pain to go up your chest. Crying out, you fell back to the ground and tried to control your breathing.

Poe, where’s Poe?

You instantly began to panic and looked around you, only to see a figure crawling towards you through the dust. The ringing in your ears began to slowly decrease as you could faintly hear the sound of someone calling for you.

“Y/N… hang on sweetheart, I’m coming for you.” The dust cleared and you could see that it was Poe getting closer to you, his hand reaching out.

As soon as you reached your hand out for his, a pair of strong hands grabbed your arms and lifted you up in the process. You looked up to see two of the five Devaronians that were chasing you and you began to struggle. The pain in your chest was nothing compared to the sharper pain in your ankle you soon realized as they forced you to stand. You began to cry out for Poe and tried reaching for him again as he pushed himself up shakily to run towards you.

Before his hand could brush against yours, a Devaronian hit Poe on the back of the head with his blaster, instantly knocking Poe out.

“Poe!” You tried to break free from the Devaronian’s strong grip, only to be pulled back.

The Devaronian who knocked Poe out walked up to you, gripping your chin in the process—his dark, purple eyes staring down at you. As you struggled to turn away, you could feel blood being drawn from his disgusting nails digging into your skin.  

“Maybe next time you and your pilot will think twice before mouthing off to us.” His hot breath fanned over your face and you forced yourself not to gag at the smell.

“Well maybe next time you and the rest of your goons will answer our question instead of pretending to be a bunch of bantha fodders! Or were you all not pretending?” The Devaronian flashed his sharp teeth and tightened his grip on your chin as he leaned in close.

“You’re going to be a fun one to break.” As he finally released you, your gaze went straight down to Poe who continued to lay motionless on the ground. Before you could call out for him, something hard hit the back of your head causing the world around you to go black.

You jolted awake at the sound of a cell door slamming, groaning at the pounding in your head. Your entire body was instantly sore: your chest from the hard impact against the wall, your ankle from the ridiculous landing onto the ground, and you swore that there was a harsh burn on the back of your calf.

As you tried to sit up, your movements were halted and you looked down to see a rope across your chest and arms tying you against a pole. Before you could begin to panic, Poe called out your name.  

“Y/N? Y/N, are you okay?” You realized Poe was behind you and you tried to look back towards him, only to be able to see the side of his face through your peripherals. From what you could make out, he was pretty banged up from the slight speck of blood on his cheek.

“Poe? What happened?”

“Well, while you were asleep, ol’ red face decided to come in and give me a pounding for mouthing off to them earlier.” You sighed and leaned your head against the pole.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sweetheart, I’ll be fine. Just gonna be a little bruised up is all.”

“Did they say anything else?”

“Hmm? Oh yeah, just something about how we are either getting tortured or executed at dawn.” Poe groaned as he shifted in his seat.

Poe began to talk about something else but your mind was elsewhere. Tortured? Executed? You didn’t want to die. More importantly, you didn’t want Poe to die because of what you caused. You were the reason the two of you were in this mess in the first place.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Poe started, knocking you out of your trance. “Don’t worry about what those goons said, we will be fine. I’ll come up with a plan to get us out of here.”

“This is all my fault,” you said with a heavy voice.

“What? No sweetheart, don—“

“No, Poe,” you shook your head, despite knowing that Poe couldn’t see you. “Don’t try and make things better—“

“Y/N—“

“—we are going to die because I couldn’t keep my dumb mouth shut like usual—“

“Y/N,” Poe said in a calm voice as his fingers intertwined with yours, causing you to shut your mouth. “It’s okay.” Letting out a breathy laugh, you closed your eyes—trying to ignore the burning sensation—and took your quivering lip between your teeth.

“I am so sorry, Poe.” Poe sighed and tightened his grip on your hand.

“It’s okay, Y/N. I just…” He released a deep breath. “I need you to know that… I’d rather die tomorrow than live a hundred years without knowing you.” Your breath hitched in the back of your throat, but you were afraid if you said something else that you would start crying.

So instead, you grasped his other hand with your own and squeezed lightly.

After a few moments of silence, Poe cleared his throat and began to speak.

“Y/N, I… I haven’t been completely honest with you, and I need to tell you this before...”

“W-what do you mean, Poe? Honest about what?”

“I mean—oh stars—Y/N I care about you, more than anything.” Your heart felt like it was going to jump out of your throat as your mouth slightly fell open.

“Poe—“

“Please, Y/N, let me finish or I will never get this out,” You stayed silent and Poe continued. “I just can’t, for the life of me, get you out of my mind. It’s like everywhere I go I can’t seem to stop thinking about you. I always find myself wanting to know how your day was or if you were safe on any mission that you went on without me. Y/N I… I think I’ve fallen for you—I think I’ve fallen for you hard. And I was always scared to tell you because I didn’t think you felt the same way towards me. So I just needed to let you know in case I don’t get to tell you.” The tears finally fell from your eyes and you swallowed deeply.

“Poe, I—“

Your head shot over to the cell door as it opened with a loud screech. The Devaronian from before, followed by two others, stalked up to you and Poe only to stop right in front of you.

You glared at him as he kneeled down to get eye level with you.  Baring his teeth in an evil grin as he saw your tear-stained cheeks, he lifted one of his dirty fingers to wipe a stray tear off of your cheek. You flinched back harshly and Poe tried to launch himself forward,

“Keep your filthy hands off her!” You watched as one of the other Devaronians made their way towards Poe out of your view. A loud thud followed by Poe groaning was enough to make you whimper.

The Devaronian in front of you finally stood up, looking between the two of you.

“Well, I was going to start off with the pilot for what he said to me on our previous visit. But you just look so close to breaking that I want to enjoy those last few moments.” He nodded back to his lackeys to motion for them to untie you.

You tried moving away from their grasp, but it didn’t matter—everything was happening so fast. Poe was yelling out and you could feel him struggling behind you, his hands refusing to let go. The Devaronians finally freed you from the pole and began to lift you up by your arms, dragging you towards the cell door.

You managed to struggle out of their grip and ran straight for Poe, gripping tight onto his jacket as you stared directly into his eyes. Before he could say anything, you leaned forward and brushed your lips against his for a quick, but passionate kiss.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered against his lips.

The back of your jacket was pulled and you were yanked back into the hands of your captors. Poe continued to thrash out and call out your name as they dragged you out of the cell.

Your heart was beating loudly in your ears and you tried to control your erratic breathing as you were being dragged into another dark cell. Although this one was just as muggy as the previous one, in the middle of this one was a metal table.

The two Devaronians reached down to grab your legs in order to lay you down on the table, the metal sending a shock of cold up your spine.As soon as you were secure, the table began to tilt upwards until you were now facing the purple-eyed Devaronian.

He made his way to one of his goons that held out a tray topped with a syringe and a bottle of green liquid. He began to inject the needle into the bottle and suck up a great amount, not bothering to look up at you.

“You know what I love most about this whole ordeal?” He asked as he finally became satisfied with the amount of liquid in the syringe. Instead of answering, you glared daggers at him, which caused him to snicker as he made his way towards you.

“That pretty soon, when I inject this into your system, your body will start to instantly react to the drug.” He began to walk slowly around you; like a predator circling his prey. You kept your gaze on the wall in front of you, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing how terrified you really were.

“There will be three stages to this. The first being that your blood will feel like it is boiling… all through your veins and you will scream and scream for the pain to stop. Next, your body will begin to convulse into multiple seizures. Now sadly, this will mean that the screams will come to a halt… but not for long. And finally,” He stopped right next to you and gripped your arm, bringing the syringe down to your skin. “When you think it will all start to get better, each of your organs will begin to shut down. One by one. And the beautiful sounds of your screams will fill this entire cell… and the next for your pilot boyfriend to hear.”  

“Not if I have anything to say about it, asshole.” Both you and the Devaronian looked towards the entrance of the cell door just in time for Poe to shoot his blaster.

You watched as the Devaronian fell over and a sense of relief rushed through your entire body. The bastard was finally dead—and you were finally safe. You looked up to find not only Poe at the entrance, but Finn and a couple other Resistance members.

Poe quickly ran over to you and you just watched as he gave you a once-over and eventually grabbed your face in his hands, his thumbs gently grazing your skin. Although his hands were calloused and rough, his touch was gentle—almost as smooth as silk.

“Are you okay?” You couldn’t bring yourself to answer—too shocked from the previous events— and instead choked on a sob.

Poe undid the metal cuffs that held you to the table, careful to catch you before your legs decided to give out underneath you. You gripped onto Poe like he was your lifeline as you let the tears continue to fall.

You weren’t even sure why you were crying. Was it because you were so close to death? Or that you were so relieved to see Poe again?

Poe began to shush you quietly as he wrapped his arms tight around you.

“Shhh, it’s alright sweetheart.” His hands began to rub up and down your back, you felt yourself trying hard to control your crying. “No one’s going to hurt you. Didn’t I tell you I would come up with a plan to get us out of here?” You let out a breathy laugh and looked up to see Poe smiling slightly.

“You really are somethin’, you know that Dameron?” Poe smiled at you in a way that you somehow knew was only reserved for you as he smoothed your Y/H/C out of your face, leaning forward to place a feather light kiss on your forehead.

“Just someone who is crazy about you, sweetheart.” You sighed happily and leaned into Poe’s touch—wrapping your arms to lessen the little distance that was between the two of you. Despite everything that had happened just moments ago, Poe’s familiar scent of leather, oil, and cinnamon still hung onto him.

None of what happened earlier had mattered anymore. 

Clinging tightly onto Poe, he led you out of that horrible place you longed to forget as he continued to rub up and down your arm, whispering sweet nothings in your ear.

You’re safe, Y/N.

I won’t ever let anything like that happen to you again.

You’re going to be okay.

And in that moment, as you looked up into Poe’s dark eyes, you knew that even though it was going to be hard, everything was going to be okay.

[edsrich]

Bruised (Richie/Eddie) 2/12

Summary: It’s 1993 and the summer from many years ago is dead and gone. Many have drifted apart from the Losers club and its at the point where there is no club at all. The atmosphere is cold just like the winter months and the only blushes to be found are the ones that are caused from the piercing spikes of cold that heat skin up. Being a teenage boy is hard; especially for the two boys that now count each other as strangers. In which both boys make a plan, but both disrupt each others.

Warning(s): Depression, angst and fluff throughout the whole series, suicide attempt

A/N: Im so happy at how much support part 1 got?? Thankyou all so so so fucking much ily all also!! credit to @finn-got-tall for an idea in one of the scenes!! (I wont reveal which scene bc i want people to just read) but ty lovely

Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 

Eddie and Richie blinked at each other, stunned to see one another in such a strange coincidence. Eddie still had his hand up, but Richie still hadn’t took it. Richie merely brought his hand up that held the cigarette, taking a drag and allowing the toxic waste to decay against his lungs. Eddie visibly cringed at the sight, but stayed silent; he only continued to watch in hope that Richie would somehow step down. Richie took away the small stick, blowing the smoke out slowly and staring at Eddie through his large obnoxious eye glasses.

“Why are you here, Eds?” Richie asked, as if a day hadn’t passed since they last talked.

Which was funny, considering they had barely shared a word in two and a half years. They were both 17 now, not two 14 year old boys with hormonal issues and experiencing puberty. No, they were grown but not quite men yet.

“Why are you hanging off the side of the school ledge? C’mon, get down-”

Richie flicked the cigarette over the edge, watching it fall over his shoulder and getting lost in the distance to the ground.

“Why should I?” Richie tilted his head, his curls dangling to one side more than the other. “Your life wouldn’t change if I jumped, in fact- you were coming up here to jump yourself. Weren’t you, Eds? So who are you to say to someone that they should get down?”

Eddie felt speechless, the hairs standing up on the back of his neck as he realised that what Richie was right, who was he to tell Richie to not end his life?

“I’m Eddie fucking Kaspbrak and I’m telling you to not jump, asshole. We might not be friends anymore but I really don’t want you to die. Please Richie, just step down.”

Richie whistled in taunting amusement, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow. 

“Are you begging me right now, Eds?”

Eddie felt anger surge in his core, “What the fuck is wrong with you? Of course i’m begging! A guy I know-”

“You don’t know me.” Richie cut Eddie off with a monotone voice.

“I used to know,” Eddie corrected before continuing, “is stood before me and could jump at any second. I don’t want that happen and neither does anyone else!”

Richie furrowed his eyebrows, “like who?”

“Like- fuck, Bev! She’s your friend, right? You can’t just leave her.” Eddie squeaked, taking a subtle step forward.

“She has Bill, she’ll probably replace me as her smoking bud.” Richie shrugged as if it meant nothing to him, but secretly him being replaced could possibly be one of the worst pains that Richie has ever experienced. “Just like you did and everyone else did out of the losers club, isn’t that right Eddie?”

Eddie flinched, knowing all too well that his comment hit home to both of them. “I didn’t mean to cut you off, Richie.” Eddie whispered softly, looking to Richie’s eyes. “I can’t speak for the other guys, but I had a lot going on-”

“And you don’t think I did?!” Richie exclaimed, balling a fist, “Even you knew what my life was like Eddie, you knew how shitty it was for me and it’s only gotten worse.”

Eddie already could tell that he was talking about his neglectful parents, Eddie was the first to know about his situation and comforted him for days on end with Richie in his arms. 

“Richie, look I’m an asshole okay? I get it, I left you when you needed me. But please, I can help you. Step down.” Eddie cried again, stepping forward and holding his hand up helplessly for Richie to grab.

Richie fell silent, staring at Eddie’s shaking hand before glancing at his features. He was still the same Eddie, still having a baby face traced on his doll like skin, still having those brown bambi eyes of wonder and his hear was still neat in the same style.

He really was just Eddie Kaspbrak, he hadn’t let the world break him down into shreds whereas Richie had.

“Please, Richie.” Eddie pleaded, reaching his hand higher.

Richie shook his head, feeling a sigh break out into the cold air. “Sorry, Eds.” He finalised on his last words before taking a step back.

Eddie’s eyes widened, a shrilled yell piercing through the afternoon breeze, quickly reaching out with his inhaler dropping to the ground. Eddie grabbed at Richie’s shirt, feeling all of his strength pull back Richie as quick as he could before he fell back which would result in his death.

Richie felt nothing beneath his feet, but a second later felt the whole world against them once again.

Eddie pulled him forward, feeling the weight of Richie fall on top of his smaller 5′4 frame. Both collided against the school roofs concrete, on top of one another with a little grunt leaving their lips.

After a moment of silence, Richie finally erupted.

“Eddie what the fuck?!” Richie had tears in his eyes, threatening to spill but he would never let someone else see him cry.

Especially not Edward Kaspbrak.

Eddie felt emotions that he had never felt so harshly before tug at his heart strings and pulse at his templates, he had his arms wrapped around Richie tightly in order for him to keep him away from the ledge.

Richie felt entangled with the boy below him, closing his eyes to fight the urge to cry in a mixture of anger and sadness. His heart sped up rapidly, feeling Eddie hold tighter against the clothes on his back with his legs wrapped around the back of his thighs.

“I-I’m not letting go until you promise.”

Richie winced, he didn’t want to promise anything because breaking them was the worst part.

“Promise me you won’t kill yourself!” Eddie croaked in his ear, gripping tighter and forcing his words upon Richie.

He didn’t want to promise, but he didn’t want to let down another person in his life. Richie remained silent for what seemed like hours, but those hours were only seconds in reality.

“I promise, Eds.” 

Eddie heard his promise loudly and clearly, but he still held tight- not to keep Richie from moving, but to help him know that even though those two and a half years were empty of each other for either one of them, Eddie was still there for him.

Half an hour had passed since the incident, with both boys sat side by side on the roof top against the small bricks of the fire escape. Silence remained the two, but the company of one another was all the comfort they both desired.

Richie couldn’t help but glance at Eddie every so often and ponder about the boys situation since they had last talked. He of course came up to the rooftop to kill himself also, this was common sense. Richie came up here to smoke with Bev almost every day and not one student would wonder upstairs for anything, so if Eddie Kaspbrak just so happened to come up to the roof top, it certainly wasn’t for a smoke.

His eyes were soft and staring at the clouds above, oh how those eyes said a story that Richie felt his heart ache for. Richie knew what happened around the school, how he was severely bullied for simply coming out to his friends and family. 

Richie wasn’t one of those people he came out too. 

Richie had to hear it from the gossip, just like most. Somehow the word got out about Eddie being gay, which lead to the bullying getting worse and worse as time ached on. Somehow Eddie remained confident on the outside, from what it seemed and pulled himself up each time he was thrown down. But after todays incident, it seemed as if it was all getting too much for Eddie.

Richie frowned, letting all of the thoughts roam his mind in realisation that this boy could possibly be just as bruised as he was.

Eddie glanced down at the pack of half empty cigarettes that were between both himself and Richie and his own inhaler. There was an actual contrast between the two objects just as there was between him and Richie as people.

Him and Richie were two completely different people and Eddie couldn’t ever see them being friends with their different habits. For example, Eddie loved everything to be clean of germs and to stay away from illness or diseases whilst Richie was practically smoking himself to death in order to get one.

Eddie laid his fingers upon the trim of the box of cigarettes and he began to carve his finger on the edge, feeling the ragged structure. Richie raised an eyebrow, saying nothing and just watching the small acts.

Eddie then took out a single cigarette, wincing at how it felt on his fingertips and how many illness’ the single stick held inside of it.

“Why do you smoke?” Eddie asked softly, lifting the cigarette up into the air.

Richie shrugged, re-enacting what he had said to Bev a few days ago, “I like smoking.”

“But why?” Eddie sighed, “Your lungs decay, you cripple and cough whilst cancer creeps up on your shoulder. It’s repulsive.”

“Like I said, I just like it. I don’t smoke to look ‘cool’ Eds.” Richie now stared at Eddie’s side profile.

Eddie stares at the rips in Richie’s jeans, frowning, “It’s a slow death.”

“Maybe thats what I want.”

Eddie sighed, putting the cigarette back in the box and grabbing some hand sanitiser from his pocket and squirting a dollop onto the palm of his hand where the same scar remained from the blood oath. Richie analysed it with soft eyes, his head tilting before lifting up his own hand and tracing the scar from the oath with his free hand. He remembered how he held Eddie’s hand in the cast, his blood on Eddie’s skin and connecting the two as one. The oath was to signal that one day they’d all come back together as one.

Maybe this was their early and personal reunion.

Eddie was too busy scrubbing in the hand sanitiser into his skin to notice Richie’s soft smile on his lips at the thought of him and Eddie talking again.

Everything was fuzzy about their childhood in the big group that they had, but if one thing was clear to Richie, it was the blood oath. Everything about that memory was so vivid to Richie and easy to remember, whilst the memories with himself and Eddie having sleepovers and crashing the arcade were hazed like a dream. At some point he even remembered a clown coming into play, but that was nothing more than a nightmare.

“I think your hands will be raw if you keep scratching the germ repellent into your skin.” Richie remarked, smirking a bit.

“At least I’ll be clean.” Eddie sighed, before finishing his work and patting his bare knees. 

Richie placed a sturdy hand on Eddie’s shoulder, causing him to flinch but settle quickly and looking at Richie in confusion. Richie simply pushed himself up, holding his hand out to Eddie instead- unlike the circumstance before where Eddie was holding his out to Richie. 

“C’mon, I’ll walk you home.”

Eddie lifted his scarred palm out, with Richie’s own scarred palm grabbing his and pulling him to his feet.

Even after all these years, Richie still remembered where Edward Kaspbrak lived. He still lived in that small button house that had a cozy atmosphere to it. He even remembered the exact route he’d take when he used to ride to Eddie’s house every night for a sleepover. He remembered the damn smell of Eddie’s house, he remembered it all. 

The two walked close, every now and then their fingers would graze at the other persons skin but that was the only contact that they had.

Eddie watched as the sun started to set over the several houses that were next to them, being only 5PM and in a gloomy November setting- it was bound to be that the nights were starting earlier. The streetlights began to flicker on one by one and the cold air started to spike at Eddie’s bare legs.

“Why the fuck are you wearing shorts in November?” Richie chuckled, looking down at Eddie’s quivering legs.

Eddie huffed slightly, “Because I hate wearing jeans or anything else.”

Richie cooed, leaning forward and pinching the boys cheek. “That’s cute, Eds. But you might wanna wrap up for winter, it’s gonna get cold.”

Eddie felt his face heat up, adding to his already flushed cheeks from the cold air. “Its not cute and don’t call me Eds- I hate it, asshole.”

However, Richie knew that Eddie didn’t hate that at all as this was the first time he chose to deny it out of all the times in the past few hours. Richie confidently wrapped an arm around Eddie, pulling him closer to his side to keep him warm.

“I’ll keep ya’ warm, Eds.” 

Eddie blushed, looking up at Eddie before down at his feet. It was if the days without Richie had never passed- he was still the same with him despite how Eddie cut him off along with the other losers. Eddie felt a true attachment to Richie click inside of him again as he didn’t protest against his actions.

“You may as well if you’re gonna be having your arm over me.” Eddie whispered, leaning into the taller boy with a little bit of courage.

Richie grinned down at him, holding his shoulder as they walked the same route the way their bikes used to go. But it wasn’t long until Richie’s smile was wiped away by the droplets of heavy rain that fell onto them and the concrete. Eddie gasped, feeling the cool air now become freezing and quickly splatter onto his bare legs. 

Richie noticed Eddie’s attire again, seeing as he was wearing knee high socks, shorts and a sweater. Not that good for this type of weather. Richie quickly stopped in his tracks, taking off his grey hoodie with the Guns’N’Roses sign imprinted onto the fabric and holding it out to Eddie.

Eddie’s eyes widened, his arms wrapped around himself and his hair starting to soak up.

“Richie- no, It’s fine. You’ll be-”

“I’ll be freezing, I could get sick, blah blah. I don’t care, you don’t want to get sick and you don’t want to be cold so just take it.” Richie then forced it into the boys hands.

Eddie nodded, quickly sliding on the oversized hoodie over his smaller frame. The sleeves hung past his fingertips and the trim went past his hips and down to his thighs. The smell of cigarettes and cheap aftershave filling his senses and making his pupils become blown out. Richie smiled as he wore a plain white tee and his black ripped jeans and some cheap sneakers. Richie quickly lifted the grey hood over Eddie’s head, it hanging down to his eyebrows and covering him from the rain entirely.

“There we go, you’re all cosy.” Richie smiled, feeling his curls become more and more tight on top of his head due to the wetness.

Eddie felt himself blush and felt his own heat radiate himself, he couldn’t help but roll one sleeve up and reach his pale hand out to Richie’s.

Richie glanced down at the hand with a raised eyebrow, but took it in his scarred palm and held it close to him as he guided Eddie along to his house.

The streetlights lit their way up the path as their feet splashed in new forming puddles and soaking the insides of their shoes. As they arrived outside of Eddie’s small home. They both stopped, staring at each other for a moment and looking into each others eyes.

“Well, today was interesting.”  Richie breathed out, feeling his goosebumps grow more along the skin of his arms.

Eddie nodded, his eyes drifting elsewhere. “Please- please don’t tell anyone about why I was up there.”

Richie smiled sadly, “I wasn’t counting on it anyway bud.”

Eddie nodded again, fidgeting with the sleeve of the hoodie before curling his fingers under the trim- ready to take it off.

“No, no. You can.. you can keep it Eds.” Richie started, “It looks better on you than it does on me.”

Eddie smiled, his perfect white pearls showing between his lips as the apples of his cheeks tinted pink. “Oh really now?”

“Really.” Richie chuckled, shivering visibly but ignoring it.

“I might just keep it then.” Eddie whispered, removing his fingers and wrapping his arms around himself. “Thankyou, Richie.”

“What did I do?”

“You kinda saved me today, if you weren’t there...”

“Eds, if you weren’t there I would’ve jumped.” Richie started, stopping for a moment before whispering with a sad smile yet again, “We saved each other. Simple as that.”

“We did, huh?” Eddie looked at his white sneakers and smiled at the realisation, “Yeah, we really did.”

The two boys stood in silence for a moment or so, with Richie analysing the boy again. He loved how he looked in his clothes, it seemed so natural on him.

“Well, looks like that was meant to be then.” Eddie spoke up again, now looking up and adjusting his hood so he could see Richie better.

“Maybe you’re my guardian angel, Eds.” Richie cooed once again with a lop sided smirk and his eyes lazy, “Or maybe I’m yours.”

Eddie blushed, giving Richie the middle finger. “Shut up, that stuff doesn’t exist dumbass.”

“Well we’ll have to make it exist then, wont we?” Richie asked rhetorically.

Eddie laughed and took a step back away from Richie’s close form. “I’ll see you around then, Richie?”

“Yes you will Eddie Spaghetti.”

Eddie frowned quickly, “I hate that, don’t call me that.”

“I guess I’ll call you Eds instead!” Richie smirked.

“No-”

Richie blurred out his protest, gazing down at the boy with admiration. “Just get inside before you get sick, Eds. Say hi to Mrs.K for me, I haven’t stayed the night with her in a while.” Richie teased softly.

“Gross.” Eddie muttered, but smiled. “See you around.”

“Yeah, see you around.”

With that, Eddie turned on his heels and rushed to his door- fumbling with some keys that he found under the plant pot next to the front door and quickly unlocked the door, opening it and running inside.

Richie stayed for a moment or two with narrow eyes, watching how the door closed. He then relaxed when he saw a minute or so later that Eddie’s room light was shown through his window. A sigh of relief left Richie’s lips as he turned to continue walking down the path with rain soaking his form.

As he was walking, his hand jittered towards his hoodie pocket- only to remember that he gave his hoodie to Eddie. He chuckled, realising that he had left his cigarettes and lighter in there before walking on.

He couldn’t care less about his cigarette’s for once, in fact- the chainsmoker only cared about his old friend and how he was now back in his life once again to make his world turn from grey to colours.

Eddie had finished changing into his Star Wars pyjamas, now folding up the clothes that he had wore on the previous day to send into the hamper to be washed. 

He hummed, folding up the damp grey hoodie with a soft smile on his face. His eyebrows quickly narrowed in a thin line when a box dropped out of one of the pockets and onto Eddie’s wooden floor. Eddie held the folded hoodie in one hand before leaning down and picking up the box that had dropped. He then turned it over only to reveal Richie’s pack of cigarettes.

Eddie sighed sadly, dropping the hoodie back onto his bed and he proceeded to clutch the pack with both hands.

He wanted to mend Richie Tozier.

Eddie then walked out of his room and into the bathroom, staring at the pack that had warnings of ‘lung cancer’ spread all over it. He couldn’t help but worry for Richie’s health and mental health too. He sighed shakily, before focusing on the toilet.

He knew that he should probably give the pack back to Richie, but Eddie knew that he could never bring himself to give him the cancer sticks willingly. He only had one true option at this point.

He stood over the toilet, before dropping the pack of cigarettes into the water. Eddie watched the cigarettes float out of the box and on top of the water. Eddie then reached for the flush valve and pushed down on it. It was then revealed that the water started to drown the sticks, flushing them down into the sewers and away from harming a human.

It might only start off as baby steps, but he was going to mend Richie. One step at a time.

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[aomoviegeek]

Why are filmmakers and fans more concerned with plot twists over quality stories?

This is gonna be a long post, so get ready.

Let’s look at Star Wars. Personally, I really enjoyed The Force Awakens and Rogue One. I thought they were some great, fun movies with a lot of action, humor, drama, etc. in them. I thought the actors & actresses were great. The musical score was amazing. Rogue One also did a fantastic job at tying the prequels and originals together, bringing in Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Bail Organa, Grand Moff Tarkin, Mon Mothma and, although he was a Clone Wars character, Saw Gerrera. 

I thought both stories were well done and even though it seemed odd regarding the Skywalker/Solo family (Luke running away, Han & Leia separating and Kylo Ren turning to the dark side & idolizing his grandfather Darth Vader), I thought there was potential to expand upon it in Episode VIII and IX and give a realistic-enough explanation as to how these characters ended up where they were as well as find a way to include Rey in there, potentially as the secret daughter of either Luke or Han & Leia.

However, I am not a fan of The Last Jedi. I didn’t like it. And before you go off and say “Well that’s only because your favorite fan theories didn’t come true” or whatever bulls--t is said to TLJ haters, no, that’s not the case. There’s a lot of different reasons to dislike the film. All these different plot twists and surprises, most of which are completely unnecessary and they even destroy the characters we love from the original trilogy and The Force Awakens.

For example, they had Luke Skywalker - a Jedi Master who was the only one to believe there was still good in his Sith Lord father despite everything that’s happened in the original trilogy - try to murder his nephew because he could sense darkness in him but he wasn’t even fully dark yet. Luke could have tried to save him somehow. Maybe kill Snoke instead? After all, he was the one seducing Kylo to the dark side. Maybe bring Han & Leia over to spend more time with Kylo (since it’s been said Kylo feel neglected by his parents)? Maybe try to get in contact with Anakin’s Force Ghost so he can talk with Kylo (after all, Kylo idolizes his grandfather)? 

But what they did was absolutely stupid and an absolute disgrace to Luke’s character. Not to mention what a horrible plot twist it was. Why are filmmakers and fans so much more interested in plot twists and surprises than good, quality stories? Why? Why? WHY?!!!

Star Wars fans are usually like “Well I don’t want Rey to be a Skywalker because it’s so boring and predictable! I want her to be related to this character because it’d be so surprising!”, “I don’t want Snoke to be revealed as some other character because it’d be so dumb! He should be his own character!”, etc. But why are these fans - and the filmmakers as well (e.g. Rian Johnson) - so interested in plot twists and big surprises? Why can’t we focus on good stories?

If you ask me, had Rey been revealed as a Skywalker or a Solo instead, I think that would have made a terrific story and a great way to push forward the story of the sequel trilogy. It would mean she is the granddaughter of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. She now knows why she is so powerful. She was destined to learn the ways of the Force. Not only that, but if she was Rey Skywalker (daughter of Luke), it would create an interesting, emotional, heartwarming story-arc for Luke & Rey as father and daughter would reunite. The same would also apply for Rey Solo, the daughter of Han & Leia. Rey’s grief over Han’s death would increase, knowing he was in fact her father, and we also would have gotten to see a heartwarming mother/daughter reunion between her and Leia.

It would also create an interesting story-arc for Kylo Ren as Rey would be his cousin or sister and as a matter of fact, her being left on Jakku may somehow be connected to how he turned to the dark side. Maybe he felt guilty for what happened to her (thinking she was dead) and blamed Luke, Leia, Han and himself. Snoke used this pain within Kylo to manipulate him and turn him to the dark side. And when watching The Force Awakens, it definitely seems that Kylo has a familial connection with Rey. He Force-chokes a First Order officer when he brings up how a girl helped Finn and BB-8 escape Jakku (”What girl?!”), he took his helmet off for both Rey & Han and he noticed how strong she is with the Force, as strong as he is if not stronger. In The Force Awakens novelization, when Rey picked up the Skywalker lightsaber from the snow, Kylo looked at her and said “It is you”, so it seems he had come to the realization that this girl in front of him was in fact his long-lost cousin or sister. He even offers to teach her the ways of the Force during their duel. He wants the other grandchild of Darth Vader by his side to rule the galaxy. Just like how Vader wanted Luke (and later on, Leia in ROTJ) by his side to rule the galaxy.

And there was also potential to create a story-arc for Snoke that would connect him to the Skywalkers somehow. My personal favorite theory is (or rather was) that he is Darth Plagueis and the creator/”father” of Anakin. There’s already some pre-sequel trilogy information about him in that scene in Revenge of the Sith where Palpatine and Anakin are talking about him. It’s said that he was able to use the Force to create life and it’s even hinted that Anakin’s miraculous birth could have been caused by Plagueis. Maybe Plagueis used the Force and impregnated Anakin’s mother in an attempt to create the Chosen One himself. Then when the time came, the Chosen One would be found and Plagueis could seduce him to the dark side, making him a very powerful and very worthy Sith apprentice. It’s possible he may have even wanted to treat Anakin as his own son since he technically did create him.

But of course Palpatine had different plans and decided to seduce Anakin himself. So he killed Plagueis. Or did he? Perhaps Plagueis successfully faked his death and watched over Anakin/Vader, watching the rise and fall of the Empire and then once Anakin redeemed himself to save Luke and died, Plagueis saw it as an opportunity to come out of hiding and recreate the Empire as the First Order. If Plagueis wanted to treat Anakin as his son as much as he wanted him as his apprentice, then it makes sense: Plagueis/Snoke did it all for Vader. He did it for his creation/“son”. The Imperial officers, Stormtroopers, etc. He even seduced Vader’s grandson to the dark side and made him his apprentice. He created the First Order in Vader’s memory to finish what he started and rule the galaxy.

Then it would have all came full circle: Anakin Skywalker’s family (Luke, Rey, Kylo & Leia) had to face off against his creator/”father” and finally bring balance to the Force. You might not agree, but I think that would have made a terrific story. A great way to tie together the originals, prequels and sequels and a great way to end the Skywalker Saga so that Disney and Lucasfilm can make new stories about new characters. Three trilogies about the Skywalker family. A beginning, a middle and an end. Then it’s over. Time for new characters and new adventures in the galaxy to explore.

But unfortunately, that never happened. Instead, we got what The Last Jedi gave us. A bunch of unnecessary plot twists and surprises (some of which ruin the characters of both the original and new trilogies), the Skywalker bloodline is pretty much dead; the only survivor of the bloodline being Kylo Ren who turned to the dark side for pretty much no reason other than disliking everyone in his family besides his grandfather. Oh, and because Luke suddenly decided to kill him even though he didn’t do anything wrong yet and there were in fact ways to save him.

The characters were ruined, the Skywalker legacy has been destroyed, Snoke died without us finding out his backstory, Rey’s parents are nobodies (and we don’t even get a good enough explanation about them; it wasn’t something like “Your parents were students of Luke’s Jedi academy. The First Order attacked them and they left you on Jakku to keep you safe. They were going to come back for you, but they were killed in the fight before they could”. Instead, it was “Your parents were junk dealers who sold you for drinking money.”) And the new characters didn’t even stay there too long. DJ turned out to be a traitor and we’ll probably never see him again. Admiral Holdo (who was completely unlike-able during the entire film) sacrificed herself, so we’ll most likely never see her again. And Rose, well... if you’re gonna get rid of 2 of the 3 new characters, you might as well get rid of the other one.

And that last scene with the little boy playing with a broom and looking at the stars. WTF?! What is the point of that scene? Is that little boy going to be in Rian Johnson’s new trilogy? Is he supposed to represent the younger Star Wars fans who use toys, brooms, etc. and pretend they’re lightsabers? Is he supposed to represent that whole message people are passing along saying “Anyone can use the Force, anyone can become a Jedi or a Sith” (even though half of the people in the galaxy are actually NOT Force-sensitive and therefore they cannot become Jedis or Siths if they wanted to).

And besides that, if you really want a Force-sensitive hero who isn’t a Skywalker, there’s always Finn. Yes, it’s been hinted in The Force Awakens that Finn is in fact Force-sensitive and if he & Rey got together, they would not only make such an amazing couple but also a very powerful couple. Plus, if Rey was a Skywalker or a Solo, Finn could have married Rey and adopted one of the two surnames. Finn & Rey Skywalker or Finn & Rey Solo. So there you have it.

All these stupid plot twists and everything, all this unnecessary filler, etc. I’m sorry, I just really needed to get it all out of the way. They had a lot of potential with this movie and this whole trilogy. But they threw it all away. The Last Jedi was not worth the two years of fans arguing with each other over Rey’s parentage, Snoke’s identity, etc. It really wasn’t. It’s the worst Star Wars movie ever in my opinion. And it’s also sad that people don’t even care about good, quality stories anymore. They don’t wanna go into the movies and watch a heartwarming parent/child reunion or a well-written explanation as to why a specific character is on a specific side of the fight. They just want plot twists, surprises, etc. To them, it doesn’t matter if it changes the entire story for the worse. As long as their jaw drops, that’s all that matters to them.

[drreporting]

Echo Pt.8

The car ride home was dead silence. Ryan and Rosie could feel the tension, so they remained quiet, and Amelia refused to speak with Owen.

“Amelia, how did…” Owen began, unsure of what to ask, “What did I…”

“Not…in the car,” she answered in a calm, low voice, although the tight grip she had on the wheel told otherwise of how she was currently feeling. Ryan squirmed in his seat, knowing how truly angry his mother could get at Owen. He hoped it was nothing like last time…

---

20th March 2019.

“I made a mistake, but you haven’t been around,” he told her.

“I haven’t been around?” she laughed, “Your sister all but tells you she hates you and you come home here, where I am, but I haven’t been around? You drink in front of me, in front of the kids, but I haven’t been around? You leave and go off somewhere and, instead of letting me in, letting me help you, you end up kissing another woman, but I haven’t been around?” She smiled to herself. “I must be some sort of witch to you, huh?”

“Amelia, I didn’t mean it like that,” he said, knowing he’d worded himself wrong, “I just…”

“No, you know what, Owen?” she asked. “Screw you.”

“Amelia,” he begged, watching as she stormed off to their bedroom. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall, sinking to the floor. He felt hopeless and disgusted at himself. What was wrong with him? When Amelia emerged from their bedroom, she had a suitcase in her hand.

“Where are you going?” Owen inquired, hastily getting up off the floor as he followed her down the hall.

“I don’t know if you’re too drunk to notice,” she said as she neared the twins’ bedroom, “But this is what it looks like when your wife is leaving you.”

“Amelia, please,” he begged, standing in front of the twins’ door to block her, “Don’t leave.”

“Give me one good reason why I should stay, Owen,” she said, knowing he’d have no response to it.

Surprisingly, however, Owen bargained, “Finn and Isabella are my children too. You can’t take them; I’ll sue you.”

Amelia raised her eyebrows at him in surprise before eventually morphing her face into a cold smile. “Ryan’s not yours.”

---

The rest of the night had been painfully quiet. Their Chinese takeout dinner with the kids was almost unbearable, considering the huge elephant in the room. Owen kept hoping that she would speak to him, but he’d eventually given up after watching her tuck both kids in without a single word to him. Instead, he decided he’d finally shave off the stubble that had turned into a fully grown beard over the last few days. He’d gotten past the lathering part without any issues, but once it came to finally shaving, he couldn’t get his hands to stop shaking. He managed to cut his face a couple times before angrily throwing the razor into the sink. He thought he was alone but, when he looked up from the sink and at the mirror, he saw Amelia leaning against the doorframe, wearing a Harvard hoodie and a pair of shorts.

“My hands won’t stop shaking,” he muttered in shame, “A side effect of the brain trauma? I don’t know.” Without uttering a word, she walked over to the sink, pulling up her sleeves before retrieving the bloodied razor.

“Shep…Amelia,” he corrected himself, “I don’t want you to shave my beard for me.”

“If you continue, you’re going to bleed to death,” she lightly joked, rinsing out the blade. She then grabbed the cloth Owen had put on the table and used it to wipe his face clean again. He stayed quiet as she squeezed some of the cream into her hand and began lathering his cheeks, eyeing the scars on the hand that was holding his razor. They looked painful.

“I can’t ask you to shave my beard for me,” he said, constantly wanting to be the gentleman, even with his brain injury.

“You don’t have to,” she responded. Gesturing to the marble table top, she asked, “I’m a little short, if you haven’t noticed. Can you…?” Owen held her by her hips and easily lifted her up onto the table top surface. Standing in between her legs, he watched as she held his chin with one hand and gently glided the razor across his cheek with the other. Her touch was soft but firm, gentle but effective.

“You kissed Teddy,” she murmured, almost completely focused on the task, “Nothing more, but it still felt like…”

“Like a razor dragged across your face by someone with shaky hands?” he described, making her smile a little.

“Something like that,” she agreed. There was silence once more, nothing but the sound of the razor gliding smoothly across his face being heard. Not being able to focus on much but her, because of her close proximity, Owen analysed his wife’s face. The soft cluster of freckles situated directly beneath her caring, icy blues, the way her cheeks had a mildly puffy way to them, the way her lips held an inviting, pink tinge…

“Like what you see?” he heard a voice say, interrupting his thoughts.

Knowing he’d been caught staring, Owen’s face slowly turned red with embarrassment. “Sorry, I was just…”

“It’s okay,” she smiled. He watched as a dimple poked out at him with her smile. He couldn’t believe that his past self would be stupid enough to cheat on a woman like this.

“So if I kissed…” he began, not sure how to ask the question, “Who did you…”

Amelia sighed. “It happened a month after the thing with Teddy.”

---

30th April 2019

Amelia sat at the bar table, downing another shot of vodka as she ignored yet another call from Owen.

“You gonna answer that?” a familiar accent asked. A guy sat down next to her.

“Is the sky still blue during the day?” she rhetorically asked, waving at the bartender for another round.

“Aren’t you like an alcoholic or something?” Nathan calmly asked, not wanting to scare her off.

“Not tonight I’m not,” she shrugged, “So save your lecture for some other day.”

“Well, in that case…” He called the bartender and ordered four shots of tequila for the two of them to share. For a couple of hours, he let her drink and dance and sit in the laps of other guys; she seemed like she needed the fun. But then he drew the line once she’d gotten up on the bar table and, evidently, fallen off, nearly getting into a fight with another woman that was brave enough to call her easy. He grabbed her hand to help her up, only to realise that there was now blood on his hand.

“Oops,” Amelia slurred as she looked at the laceration on the side of her hand.

“Come on, let’s go to the hospital before you bleed out,” Nathan told her, grabbing some napkins and handing it to her.

“I can’t go to the hospital drunk,” she muttered once they’d reached outside of the bar, “Bailey will fire me.”

“You can’t go home to your family drunk, Shep,” Nathan reminded her, “They will fire you, so sober up, because I’m not letting you bleed to death.”

“Whatever.”

Once they’d reached the ER, and discreetly bypassed the sleepy night shift personnel, they set up in a trauma room. While Nathan gathered a suture kit and set up an IV, Amelia continued to ignore the calls from Owen, which were now minutes apart.

“You gotta answer at some point, you know,” he lectured her, donning a pair of gloves.

“No, I don’t,” she flatly responded.

He chuckled as he injected the local anaesthetic. “Whatever Hunt did, knowing him, he’s probably out of his mind guilty about it.”

“He clearly didn’t feel guilty about it when it happened,” she retorted.

Nathan smirked, knowing she was probably right. “Well…Megan basically spat at me to leave her alone forever. But, if she called me, I’d still answer.”

“Would you still answer if you found out Megan cheated on you and kissed her best friend?”

Trying to hide his shock at her revelation, he calmly answered, “You know what? Probably not.” When she said nothing further, he added, “But I’m not married to Megan. We don’t have four kids together, so you owe it to them to try and make things work.”

“I have tried-ow!” she yelped, “Be careful!”

“Sorry.” He pierced her skin with the suture needle a little softer. “If it helps, I think Hunt is stupid for even thinking of cheating on you.”

“It doesn’t help,” she sulked, although he’d gotten her attention with the compliment.

“Well, he’s stupid. You are incredibly smart, incredibly funny and you are an amazing mom, like superhero amazing,” he listed as he tied the suture, “You have those gorgeous blue eyes and that super cute, dimple smile…that’s popping up right now!”

Amelia rolled her eyes at his enthusiasm, but still smiled. “None of these things change what happened.”

“That’s not the point, Shep,” he said as he began tying another knot, “The point is, if there’s anything wrong that caused it to happen, it 100% had nothing to do with you. You shouldn’t blame yourself for something that I’m sure wasn’t your fault.” He tied off the last one. “There, done.” He looked up at her and smiled. “You are the best druggie I know.”

Amelia laughed heartily, making him laugh too. “Thank you.” Once their laughter had died down, the two stared at one another, stolen gazes at lips being exchanged. Neither had realised how close they were.

Inhaling deeply, Nathan tried to snap himself out of the thoughts running through his mind. “I should…We should get you home…”

She nodded, but instead of leaping off the exam table, she grabbed the middle of his shirt and pulled him closer, their noses nuzzling against each other.

“Amelia…” he began to warn her. She closed the gap and cut him off from what he was about to say, desperate to feel any form of emotional connection, and he didn’t stop her. Instead, he found himself deepening the kiss, gliding his tongue across hers as she shrugged off her jacket. His hands eventually found their way under her shirt, slowly making their way up her back to her breasts before logic finally kicked in and he pulled away.

“Wow, okay,” Nathan breathlessly commented as he turned away from her, “I see why Hunt has trouble keeping his hands off you. You are…” He looked over his shoulder at her, at her messy hair and red cheeks, and he felt his stomach churn.

“I am…?” she prompted him, a smug smile on her face.

Nathan sighed and finally turned around. “You are good at this.” It took everything in his being not to resume their previous activities. He reminded himself that she was with Hunt. Those were Hunt’s boobs, and just knowing that was enough for him to not go any further than he already had; he’d already gone far enough.

“So are you just gonna stand there or do you want to see how good I really am at this?” she asked.

Ignoring the dirty thoughts overriding his drunken brain, he said, “You are attractive, trust me. But you belong to someone, Amelia, someone who loves you. You don’t want this. Not with me.”

“He’s made it very clear that he doesn’t care,” she coldly reminded him.

“But I care, and I think you care,” he told her, “If you do this, if we have sex, you’ll be worse than him.” Nathan cautiously approached her, taking her hands in his. “If you’re marriage is going to be over anyway, then fine. But don’t let it be because you’re trying to hurt him because he hurt you.” He looked down at her sad, glistened eyes. “You are hurt and you feel unloved and you are trying to repair yourself by looking for that love in other things, other people.” He brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “Amelia, you are only going to destroy yourself more if you do this.” He watched as her bottom lip trembled before she finally caved, dissolving into a pool of tears.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice watery with emotions, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m-“

“It’s okay,” he sighed in relief as he enveloped her in a bear hug, thankful that he finally got through to her. Crying, he could deal with. That lustful gaze she’d been giving him, he couldn’t handle.

“I’m sorry,” she said into his shirt, her body shaking as she cried. Nathan kissed the top of her head and held her, swaying her body from side to side. Almost a few seconds later, however, someone opened the door to the trauma room.

“Amelia?” Owen called, confused at the scene playing out in front of him, “What’s…what’s going on? Why are you crying?” He tried to ignore the compromising position he’d found her in with Nathan and instantly walked towards her, replacing Nathan’s spot as her comforter. He sniffed. “Have you been drinking?” Shocked at Owen’s sudden presence, Amelia was unsure of what to say. She looked at Nathan, who nodded at her before walking off.

“I have been drinking,” she slowly confessed. She hated the concerned look in his eyes; she didn’t deserve it. “I fell off a bar table.” She showed him her hand and the three stitches and he got even more worried, if that was possible.

“Are you okay otherwise?” he asked, analysing her entirely, looking for anything that was wrong. It was then that he noticed her lips, the redness in them. He knew all too well what she looked like after she’d been kissing someone, that someone being him. “Why…why do you look like you kissed someone?” Amelia opened her mouth, but no words came out.

His once caring and worried demeanour turned into one of rage as he put two and two together. Storming out of the trauma room, Owen walked right up to Nathan and punched him across the face in front of the entire ER.

“If you ever touch my wife again,” he muttered under his breath, “I will kill you.”

“Oh that’s real rich coming from you, mate,” Nathan chided as he wiped some blood off of his now busted lip, “Considering everything Shep has told me.”

“You shut your mouth before I shut it for you,” Owen threatened, loudly this time. Nathan rolled his eyes and walked off, not wanting to make a bigger scene. Returning to the trauma room, Owen forcefully grabbed Amelia’s good hand, pulling her off the exam bed. “We’re going home.”

She pulled back even harder, taking her hand out of his possession. “I can walk myself.”

---

“I’m sorry for making you drink,” he said, feeling apologetic for the actions he didn’t remember.

“No one forces anybody to do anything,” she assured him, “I drank because I wanted to, doesn’t matter why.”

He didn’t respond to that, just simply watched the way she was so focused on the task in front of her. “So what happened after that?”

“We got into the plane crash about a month later and here we are,” she explained as she passed the shaver across his face one more time. “Done.”

“Thank you,” Owen told her, feeling like he was thanking her for more than just shaving his face.

Amelia inhaled deeply and smiled, her eyes briefly focusing on his lips. “You’re welcome.”

“I know this probably won’t mean much right now,” he said, his eyes also glancing at her lips, “But I’m sorry for everything that I put you through, whatever it was.”

She exhaled. “It doesn’t, but thank you.” The two exchanged polite smiles, neither one making any movements to go anywhere. Once again, Owen’s eyes drifted to her lips, wondering what it had been like to be with her.

“Uh, Owen?”

He looked up at her eyes. “Hmm?”

“I can’t move if you’re in between my legs,” she gently reminded him.

His face turned red at her choice in words. “You’re right, sorry.” He stepped away and helped her off the table before watching her leave. There were so many more questions he had.

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 13 November 2017

Quick Bits:

Babyteeth #6 opens the floodgates of story after getting through the initial hurdle of getting Sadie and Clark out of imminent danger. Donny Cates gives us more depth as to what’s going on broader picture of the world and introduces us to the cult geared to protecting and raising Clark.

| Published by AfterShock

Black Science #33 has the shit hit the fan as the confrontation between Grant and Kadir reaches its peak and then reality breaks. The mix of mad science and philosophy from Rick Remender on display here is wonderful, seeing a representation of Platonic ideals mapped onto quantum realities in a kind of unfurling of Gnostic cosmology is impressive. So too is Matteo Scalera’s art. He and Moreno Diniso really get to cut loose this issue and it looks wonderful.

| Published by Image / Giant Generator

Bloodshot Salvation #3 gives a revelation to the “soon” timeline of what’s happened to Ray, while in the “now” we get a confrontation between Ray and Daddy, Colin King helping out Magic, and Project Omen causing complications. I probably sound like a broken record, but Jeff Lemire, Lewis LaRosa, and Mico Suayan are doing some great things with this series.

| Published by Valiant

Brilliant Trash #1 is an interesting take on superheroes. It’s a mix of government conspiracy and potentially mad science, told from the perspective of a journalist looking for a story in the appearance of a V-like figure, Lady Lastword’s, final speech and death. Tim Seely’s got something interesting here. Priscilla Petraites’ art is also quite nice, kind of a mix between Jamie McKelvie and Phil Hester.

| Published by AfterShock

Dark Fang #1 continues the trend of not naming the protagonist in the body of the first issue. The solicitation copy and end piece are what’s needed to piece together the full premise of the series and name of the protagonist. That said, Miles Gunter does have a decent story here. It’s environmentalism through the lens of a centenarian vampire, Valla, who was friends with a fish until modern industry destroyed her ecosystem. But first, earning money as a cam girl and getting caught up in society’s obsession with cell phones and the internet. The art from Kelsey Shannon is a definite plus.

| Published by Image

Deadpool vs. Old Man Logan #2 is every bit as fun, humorous, and action-packed as the first issue. Declan Shalvey has a great feel for both Wade and Logan and Mike Henderson’s art is truly wonderful. Only two issues in and this is just a fun, must-have wild ride.

| Published by Marvel

Evolution #1 is a very strong debut issue with multiple voices brought together by the singular visuals of Joe Infurnari. Infurnari has a style that is a bit Tom Mandrake and a bit Bill Sienkiewicz and it is absolutely perfect. If you like David Cronenberg’s early horror films, even just a little bit, you owe it to yourself to at least check this out.

| Published by Image / Skybound

The Family Trade #2 continues Jessa’s investigations into Berghardt and Mikkaelsen despite the protestation and outright prohibition by her Family. Her technique of getting close by blending in as a simple cleaning woman is a nice touch. The end, though, suffers a bit in who exactly Jessa is speaking to. I think it’s supposed to be her uncle, but I’m not sure.

| Published by Image

Fence #1 gives me the impression that everyone, even the protagonist, involved in competitive fencing is an asshole. That’s not necessarily a good impression of the sport, and gives a poor outlook on who to “cheer” for in the endeavour, but it may be an accurate depiction. Especially since many sports seem to be populated by jerks.

| Published by BOOM! Entertainment / Boom! Box

Generation Gone #5 is a suitably insane conclusion to the first arc of this series. It’s violent, angry, and explosive - kind of like how you’d expect kids to react when they find out that the world is designed to see them fail. André Lima Araújo’s art has just been fantastic on this series.

| Published by Image

Hawkeye #12 is a team-up issue between Kate and Laura (All-New Wolverine) with Gabby and Jonathan in tow as well, illustrated by guest artist Michael Walsh who is easily proving he’s a force to contend with. This issue looks great and is fun as hell.

| Published by Marvel

Jenny Finn #1 now in colour. If you haven’t read this masterpiece of Lovecraftian lit from Mike Mignola and Troy Nixey before, now’s a good time to do so. If you have, especially since this has been reprinted and repackaged a few times before, you’ll have to decide whether or not you want Dave Stewart’s colour. There was something to be said for the original black and white, although the colour version’s not bad.

| Published by Dark Horse

Kill the Minotaur #6 is both an expected and unexpected conclusion to the series. Ariadne and Theseus’ confrontation of the Minotaur is suitably epic. I can’t say much more than that because they’d be massive spoilers, so enjoy this amazing artwork from Lukas Ketner.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Killer Instinct #2 does what I was afraid the first issue was going to do and dumps a lot of characters with intricate backstories from the game on us in one go. Where the first issue mainly focused on one character to ease us into the world, this issue gives us more of the Coven, a bunch of characters fighting over the Killer Instinct Tournament, and Jago. While the Jago and Tsar bits are fairly well executed, the central bit over Ultratech is a bit of sludge. As I said in response to the first issue, I’ve never played the game and know little about the world, so this felt a bit like being dropped right in the deep end. The art from Cam Adams is still nice, though.

| Published by Dynamite

Maestros #2 quickly installs Will as the new Maestro and he begins making sweeping changes to the multiverse’s society, trying to bring concepts like equality and freedom to a world that only seems to know subjugation under magical will. It’s an interesting exploration of sociopolitical ideas from Steve Skroce and naturally it brings about severe pushback from those previously in charge. And betrayal.

| Published by Image

Mech Cadet Yu #4 features the cadets first full on confrontation with the Sharg and it’s about as exciting as you would expect. Takeshi Miyazawa’s art is just wonderful and it’s really nice to see Yu thinking on his feet during the battle to ensure the continued survival of the entire team.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Minky Woodcock: The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini #1 is interesting. The relationship between Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has certainly been in the zeitgeist lately, this one doing something different and focusing on the end of Houdini’s career, long since the two had their falling out. Cynthia von Buhler sets up Minky looking into Houdini debunking spiritualists at the request of Doyle fairly well, but the main enticement is von Buhler’s art. She has a style that reminds me a bit of Melinda Gebbie and it works incredibly well for the smoky, pulpy atmosphere of the story.

| Published by Titan / Hard Case Crime

Misfit City #7 lines up the dominoes in this penultimate issue. Overall this has been a great series and I’m excited to see how it ends. That being said, I wish there were more. The world needs more girl adventurer books and this one has been excellent.

| Published by BOOM! Entertainment / Boom! Box

Ninja-K #1 is a damn fine new direction for Colin King, looking deep into the past of the Programme, dealing with the history of Ninjas A through L, and putting forth a mystery as to who killed Ninja-D and appears to be targeting the other remaining operatives. Christos Gage gives us a compelling mix of mystery and spy thriller that’s only topped by Tomás Giorello’s incredible artwork. Damn fine work.

| Published by Valiant

Rasputin: The Voice of the Dragon #1 begins another pre-Hellboy, pre-BPRD series tying numerous disparate threads together and giving more backstory on the world. This first issue focuses more on Trevor Bruttenholm tracking down a decrypted Nazi message, but it could be about a talking head describing how to prepare an avocado because Christopher Mitten makes everything look amazing. Thankfully, though, the story isn’t bad either.

| Published by Dark Horse

The Realm #3 reveals some chinks in the baddies’ armour as strong personalities clash. The artwork from Jeremy Haun is again one of the main drawing factors. This series just looks great.

| Published by Image

Retcon #3 finally gets around to the premise that Matt Nixon and Toby Cypress were on about in the interview in the first issue. I’m thinking maybe for a storytelling point, they should have led with this, but it does give the series a better cohesion and purpose. This was the make or break issue for me and Crowley ripped from time to tattoo a baby won me over.

| Published by Image

Star Wars: Darth Vader #8 continues Jocasta Nu’s infiltration of the Jedi Archive to retrieve an artifact from under the nose of the Grand Inquisitor. This issue gets a little...explosive.

| Published by Marvel

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #14 is Emilio Laiso’s debut on the comic and the artwork looks gorgeous. He did a great job on the Rogue One adaptation and it’s nice to see him back on a Star Wars title. Even if I’m going to miss the hell out of Kev Walker’s art.

| Published by Marvel

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #76 allows no rest for the turtles as they return home from Dimension X, also after the brief excursion with the Ghostbusters. Damian Courciero looks like he’s handling the art chores for this arc and it’s a welcome addition. He has a darker, somewhat more realistic style and it suits the chaos and destruction going on with the Earth Protection Force’s first contact with the Triceratons.

| Published by IDW

Unholy Grail #4 continues this dark and twisted retelling of the Arthurian legend. Part of what really works about this series, though, is that it really isn’t that far removed from the other stories of glorious knights and magic, just given a different context,

| Published by AfterShock

Other Highlights: Adrift, Alien Bounty Hunter #2, Amazing Spider-Man #791, Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #10, Bolivar, Champions #14, Curse Words #10, Defenders #7, Descender #26, Doctor Strange #381, Dreadful Beauty: The Art of Providence, East of West #33, Guardians of the Galaxy #147, Horizon #16, Incidentals #4, Incredible Hulk #710, James Bond: Kill Chain #5, Mage: The Hero Denied #4, Mighty Thor #701, Not Brand Echh #14, Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #297, Postal #24, Punisher #218, Ringside #13, Secret Warriors #8, Sheena: Queen of the Jungle #3, TMNT/Ghostbusters 2 #3, The Wicked & The Divine #33, X-Men Blue #15, Zojaqan #2

Recommended Collections: Ab Irato, Goldie Vance - Volume 3, James Bond - Volume 1: Vargr, Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Star Wars: Captain Phasma, Luke Cage - Volume 1: Sins of the Father, Nancy Drew & The Hardy Boys: The Big Lie, Regression - Volume 1: Way Down Deep, Rough Riders - Volume 2: Riders on the Storm, Star Wars: Poe Dameron - Volume 3: Legends Lost, World Reader - Volume 1

d. emerson eddy knows that evolution is a mystery, full of change that no one sees. He sees the line in the sand.

[buffylikescoke]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer 11#8

You're my dog, Y'know? ~ Faith Lehane

Ordinary People is an entertaining issue. There are some things I don't like about it but hey, it's fun, so, like, whatever, go read it!

Buffy and Willow are back in San Francisco, free but under constant surveillance - phones wiretapped, drones floating outside their apartment, drones hovering over the city watching them, drones seemingly following them everywhere they go. Basically, the logical next step of the modern surveillance state. Mentally, Buffy's deflated, as Dawn describes it, but there is a plan. At the moment, though, Scoobies need to stay put. Not that Buffy manages to. A few days after her release, while jogging ( Sweet! I adore jogging Buffy, OK? Lovely workout clothes too! ) Buffy witnesses some asshole harassing a Wiccan. Buffy steps in, confronts the aggressor and beats the crap out of him. Then, after it's over, Buffy melts down. Visually, the scene is amazing! It's brutal and kinetic and art team, you are so killing it but I don't understand Buffy's reaction, I don't understand why she's so affected by violence and it's not just me, wife of Riley actually asks her about it as well. Buffy says that it was about realizing that she could've killed that guy. And that he could've killed her. Sam counters with the obvious question - how is that different from any time you fight a monster, or some whacked-out cultist? Yes, tell me Buffy! It just is. I don't have to justify my feelings to you. Oh, are you serious? Get the fuck out! Look, I don't get it. Buffy has been killing daily for the last whatever years, she's been in countless life or death situations, she even died too! What's going on here? What, it's 'cause it's a human? Buffy killed humans before, she's been killing humans since she was a teenager, she Ichi the killed a human in half and found it hilarious. I mean, OK, it was hilarious and...and Ted! What about Ted? Sorry, I’m not feeling it. If you want a constructive take, here’s what I’d do. I sorta feel more when I don't have my powers, it happened in Tibet too. Boom! All the shock value you want and it still makes sense. Finally, I'm not sure what was even the point of that scene. That, even without her powers Buffy can still kick ass? Yeah, no shit. That even without her powers Buffy's still heroic? Duh.

But what about Willow? There's something interesting Xander says about her and can I just say how much I missed Xander? I haven't seen Willow like this since high-school, he says, making everything she says a question, spending all her time on the computer.... And true, Willow seems less confident in this issue, even her clothes reflect that but I'm not sure if the idea of explicitly tying Willow's confidence to her magic works for me. Willow had no magic in season nine and it didn't turn her into high-school Willow, I mean, she bitch-slapped Angel, right? And I understand that, in theory, it’s not the same thing, outside versus inside power but the effect, as in no magic, is basically identical. Moreover, Willow started becoming more confident before she discovered magic. She casts her first spell in Passion and that's after Halloween and Oz and whatnot. Of course, I don't know when exactly Willow started practicing magic ( high-school series, you're on it, right? ) so maybe it all checks out? Or maybe it's just like Xander said, after what they've been through, they deserve some space. Willow's romantic non-situation ties into this too. She bumps into Calliope and her girlfriend, happily on their way to watch a movie. Willow was right in the previous issue, it really is two different worlds and on the outside Calli's clearly not interested anymore. Now, I can't complain, Calliope is boring but man, aside from some character development, this non-romance seems kind of like a waste of page space. You know, another one. Oh, well, this is Willow, she'll be suffering from respiratory issues soon enough if you know what I mean.

A few days after Buffy’s fight Riley and Sam visit Scoobies' apartment and no, not to arrest Buffy because she beat up that asshole. They're in on Buffy’s plan! This is why, I reckon, Riley was so eager to convince Buffy to take the deal and leave the safe zone, I suspect that Lake is also a part of this. However, Buffy and Willow are suddenly not sure, hesitant to take action. Seeing that, Sam suggests that without their powers, Buffy and Willow are nothing. Of course, Ms Finn doesn't really mean it, it's a gym teacher mind game as Buffy puts it but it works. I mean, OK, it's clunky but you know what? Buffy’s and Willow’s dialog makes it worth it! Don't blame Willow for my problems, Buffy starts. She's never needed magic to be amazing! She's smart, and kind. She sees the big picture, but never loses sight of how it affects everyone. And draining her magic didn't affect her computer skills, which she's been putting to pretty damn good use lately. Wow! Haters are finished, done etc. I'm the one who's useless now, continues Buffy. Jesus, Buff, can you stop with this nonsense already?! Like, she beat up a guy twice her size just to protect a nameless innocent and she thinks she’s useless? Buffy, you beautiful dingus, just, just love yourself already, OK? Thankfully, Willow is quick to destroy her bullshit. Except that's a load of crap, she points out. Your powers aren't why you never give up. Why you refuse to leave anyone behind. Why you never accept anything less than what you know is right. Why have you done things no other slayer in history ever did, even though they had the exact same abilities? That's you, Buffy. That's who you are. Now kiss. No, I mean, this is almost like that Touched speech, don’t you think? Anyway, just like that, Buffy's and Willow's doubts evaporate. With a text send from Riley's burner phone the plan is put into motion. Outside a literal ninja goomba stomps the surveillance drones and stylishly lands on the apartment's balcony. It's Faith and she came to help. And Buffy hugs her! And gives her the scythe! L-look how far they've come! It's beautiful! Anyway, Sam suggests that Dawn and Xander leave the country, since Dawn is, you know, magical, she even has fake IDs prepared but well, you've seen Chosen so you know how that goes. Dawn and Xander receive an address they're supposed to show up at in two days but for their own safety, they're not given any details and the two groups split.

The Finns, Buffy, Willow and Faith travel then to the safe zone. Willow hacks into the facility's systems. This allows the team to simply drive into the camp through the front gate as the guards can't verify Riley's and Sam's bullshit because the system is down. When they're in Wi133t Rosenberg shuts down the electricity as well. Finns then drive out of the facility action movie style drawing all attention allowing Buffy, Willow and Faith to gain access unopposed. They make it to the power drainer room where they find Jordan and her slayers waiting for them. This is where the issue ends, yes, it's all very cliffhangery.

So yeah, this issue is pretty great! It's entertaining and packed with content. I recommend it!

[theconservativebrief]

Every week, we pick a new episode of the week. It could be good. It could be bad. It will always be interesting. You can read the archives here. The episode of the week for September 30 through October 6 is “Back to School” the fourth season premiere of NBC’s Superstore.

What is “The Great American Sitcom”?

Never mind that it’s not really an established construct; indeed, I just made it up. But it’s an interesting question to think about in the vein of the Great American Novel — a book so understanding of America’s soul that it bypasses the intellect and burrows straight into the heart of the country. Just about any popular, acclaimed book written by an American author has been called the Great American Novel at one time or another, but popular candidates include Melville’s Moby-Dick, Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and Ellison’s Invisible Man.

And yet the idea of the Great American Novel is also that there can never be a Great American Novel, because every book eventually becomes limited by the understanding of its author. Sooner or later, you bump up against something they just don’t understand about the country, and you have to go looking for thoughts on that topic or theme in another book.

The Great Gatsby is my favorite book ever written, for instance, but good luck finding any thoughtful dissection of America’s fraught relationship with race and racism, an enormously important part of the country’s history. It’s just not in there.

Anyway, if we apply this rubric to sitcoms — an American artform that we sometimes try to pretend isn’t an artform — it’s a lot harder to find shows that fit, because sitcoms are so dedicated to assuring us that everything will be just fine. Still, some solid candidates exist. All in the Family, certainly, for its understanding of American political conflict. Cheers, I think, for how deeply it grasps the country’s uneasy relationship with failure. The Simpsons, surely.

And now, though it’s still early in its run, I would think about adding Superstore to the list.

Just a few members of the massive cast of Superstore. Eddy Chen/NBC

What gives me pause about declaring Superstore a potential Great American Sitcom is how badly it clearly wants to be one. In nearly every episode, it tackles some important issue or idea of the day, in a way that makes it feel vital in its best episodes and grasping beyond its reach in its worst.

But beyond occasional clunkiness, tying a show’s storyline to whatever’s in the news at the moment can end up hopelessly dating the series. All in the Family, for instance, mostly survives on the strength of its character relationships, not because the Bunker family’s battles with inflation still feel relevant 40 years later.

With that said, “Back to School” illustrates how Superstore avoids overloading on the sorts of “timely” elements that might otherwise hurt its legacy. It is, very loosely, an episode about coworkers navigating workplace relationships and flirting in a world where the #MeToo movement has exposed a lot of the dark power imbalances that exist across nearly all industries, especially (but not limited to) those between men and women.

What keeps the episode from feeling didactic, however, is the way Superstore’s characters genuinely don’t know how to apply the #MeToo movement to what happened at the end of season three, when the series’ main will-they/won’t-they couple, Amy (America Ferrera) and Jonah (Ben Feldman), hooked up — but in front of a camera they didn’t realize was streaming their hookup to the entire workforce of Cloud 9 department stores worldwide.

The sex was consensual; nobody doubts that, because they, uh, saw how consensual it was. But Amy is Jonah’s superior, and there’s an inherent power imbalance there that no one is sure how to navigate. What’s more, Amy is pregnant with her ex-husband’s child, Jonah used to date a coworker, and their fellow Cloud 9 employees treat the two of them very differently when they come back to work post-hookup. There are all sorts of minefields to tiptoe through — personally, professionally, and ethically. But Jonah and Amy insist their tryst was a one-time thing, a stupid mistake they won’t repeat for fear of losing their jobs.

One of the smartest choices Superstore makes here is to have Jonah and Amy return to Cloud 9 after several months away, because they were both suspended for their behavior (their punishment lasted roughly the entire summer — funny how that works out). Thus, their hookup has become a piece of store gossip and rumor that has only festered in their absence.

When Jonah comes back, the guys in the store joke about what happened. But Amy can’t seem to find a way to joke about it with the store’s women, to let the water slip under the bridge. The disparity, she concludes, is a sign of how women and men are socialized to process things differently when it comes to sex — women to be ashamed and men to be at least a little proud.

This double standard is another subtle way Superstore removes itself from the present and makes itself more timeless. The differences in socialization between men and women run far deeper than even the patriarchal structure of America (though the two are, of course, interlinked), and they’ll probably remain long after anybody involved in the show is gone. By nodding toward them, Superstore casts a line out to the future — to anybody who might be listening 40 or 50 years from now, and who might find themselves nodding at how an old sitcom managed to understand their situation so many years in the future.

That’s what makes Superstore such an effective Great American Sitcom candidate. Though it tackles timely issues, it always uses them to dig deeper into the interpersonal dynamics of the characters in the store (especially as they apply to Jonah and/or Amy) and into what those issues say about the broken systems that human beings have constructed to live within.

Lest Superstore sound too much like homework, let me assure you that every episode is also damned funny, especially when all of the characters gather in the backrooms of the store to discuss whatever is happening that week. It’s in those moments — when their various personalities bounce off of each other at length — really shine.

And on top of that, Superstore is just a beautifully plotted show. When the end of “Back to School” arrives — and with it the revelation that Amy and Jonah have been dating in secret all this time and intend to keep doing so — it serves as a reminder that this comedy can play a long game as well as any other show on TV.

What Superstore does isn’t particularly flashy, but maybe it doesn’t need to be. Maybe the Great American Sitcom is just a show that’s incredibly well put together.

Superstore airs Thursdays at 8 pm Eastern on NBC. Previous episodes are available on Hulu.

Original Source -> Superstore is the next Great American Sitcom

via The Conservative Brief