#honestly the whole show is one long fever dream but a very interesting one

[bucksangel]

milk and sugar

pairing: alpha!steve x alpha!bucky, alpha!steve x artist!omega!reader x alpha!bucky (poly) - omegaverse!au part two

word count: 5.1k

summary: “Are you nervous?” Steve asks, voice soft and caring. His hand settles on your arm, and Bucky appears beside you to place his hand on your back, as well as take one of your hands in his metal one. And despite your earlier anxiety, you mean it wholeheartedly when you say, “no.” or - it’s your first date with your alphas.

warnings: fluff fluff and more fluff, reader has insecurities, steve and bucky are adorable and caring, steve is very nervous bc he’s a romantic, like it’s almost unbearable how much of a pure puppy he is, bucky is extremely fond and a little teasing (bc of course he is), omegaverse, kissing, there are bits where it’s just steve and bucky

a/n: this fic doesn’t contain smut, however, due to the nature of my blog this is strictly 18+

milk and honey masterlist | main masterlist | tip jar

‘Good morning, darling.’

That’s the text you received from Bucky at nine that morning - in the group chat he’d made with Steve and you. And while you normally sleep in on Sundays since your studio is closed, you’d woken up early - seven to be exact -  due to the anxiety you’ve been feeling ever since your art class ended yesterday.

Truthfully, you didn’t really sleep well anyway. Going on a date with not just one, but two Alphas at the same time has you on edge - though, not in a bad way. No, not at all. These are the good kinds of nerves, the exciting kind.

Well, okay, not all of your nerves are positive. Being naturally shy and reserved has caused you to overthink every single interaction you’ve had with the Alphas, both together and separately. And now that you’re going on this date, you can’t help the way your insecurities come creeping in faster and faster as it gets closer.

Because what if they decide they don’t like you after they actually get the chance to know you? What if they don’t even pay much attention to you and treat this as a date with just them since that must be what they’re more used to? What if you say or do something wrong and they get scared away?

Now, logically, you know those first two outcomes are absurd. Over the past few weeks, they’ve each shown extreme interest in getting to know you, they show how much care they have for you, and oh boy does that knowledge make your heart flutter. It makes you feel good, really good about yourself.

But that last point? Well, that is a big insecurity of yours. As a child, you weren’t that open and didn’t have many friends. And it was hard to make new ones when you would always stutter and trip over yourself, causing many of the kids you’d gone to school with to laugh at you. You were so shy, always the shortest kid in your class which made you an easy target for bullying, especially since you couldn’t hold a conversation well and you’d constantly accidentally bump into someone. It’s honestly a surprise that Tori had stuck around this long.

And, to be completely honest, you think you could deal with them maybe not finding you as interesting as they probably thought, maybe even them telling you that it just wouldn’t work out. Yes, it would hurt for a while, but you would deal with it. However, you absolutely could not live with the Alphas finding you annoying. Because this whole thing already feels like a fever dream, and if you were to fuck it up by doing or saying something embarrassing it would only serve as proof that you aren’t fit for Alphas like them.

It’s nine-fifteen when you respond with ‘good morning :)’

And not even a minute later, Steve texts back. ‘how are you feeling about today?’

Well, isn’t that a good question? Because you want nothing more than to go on this date, you want this to work out so badly that you feel like your heart might burst out of your chest. But, again, those fucking insecurities are messing with your mind.

It’s maybe a few minutes later when you reply with ‘Feeling okay, you guys?’

A bubble pops up at the bottom of the text thread, Bucky typing for a good thirty seconds before it disappears. And it stays like that for another full minute, your heart hammering in your chest as your anxieties are jumping to the worst possible outcome. What if they cancel? What if they-

Your phone screen comes to life when Steve calls you. He’s calling you. And for a moment you want to let it go to voicemail, you don’t want them to hear how nervous you are. But you also don’t want them to think you’re ignoring them, so you answer with a timid, “Hello?”

“Hi, honey,” Steve says calmly, his smooth voice doing a good job of soothing some of your worries.

“Hi!” You hear Bucky yell in the background, causing you to giggle.

“Hi, guys.”

You hear a thud in the background before Bucky yells “Put her on speaker, punk!” And then you can hear both of them clearly, Steve laughing as Bucky huffs in what you assume is a fake annoyance.

“So, uh, I’m just wondering. Um, where are we going today?” Mentally, you curse yourself for being so awkward, for tripping over your words while talking to the two most handsome Alphas you’ve ever met.

“That’s a surprise, honey,” Steve says, the smile on his face is evident in his tone. “Just wear something comfortable.”

“And warm!” Bucky adds, coming closer to the phone. “We don’t need you getting cold, okay?”

The hint of authority in his voice makes your heartbeat pick up speed and the care that’s so evident in just the way he speaks kind of makes you want to cry a little. When was the last time any potential partner showed even these small acts of concern for your well-being? Too long.

“Yes, sir,” You joke, having to bite your lip to keep your smile from widening even further when both Alphas laugh. Butterflies are swirling in your stomach, forming a tornado of anticipation and nerves for the day’s festivities.

“Alright,” Steve says with a hint of laughter. “We’ll let you go get ready and we’ll pick you up in two hours, okay?”

Two hours? That seems like too long yet not long enough. You’ve already showered, all you really need to do is find something to wear and then fix your hair - maybe throw on some mascara. But, still. Two hours seems like the perfect amount of time to have a full-on breakdown over this date. But at least that should also give you some time to recover from said breakdown.

“Yeah, that works!” Internally, you cringe at how eager you sound. Because even though you’re nervous beyond belief, and a tiny part of you wants to cancel the date out of fear of anything embarrassing happening, you don’t think you’d be able to live with yourself if you let these two slip through your fingers without giving it a fighting chance. 

“Great,” Bucky says, clearly smiling. “Just send us your address and we’ll be there.”

Once you bid your goodbyes to each other you make sure to send them your address before deciding to freak out over what to wear. Luckily for you, and as though the universe knows you need the help, your doorbell rings soon after. Confused as to who would be at your door this early, you make your way to the door, and when you open it you see Tori standing on the other side with a wide smile.

“Alright, girl,” She says happily, ignoring the incredulous look on your face as she pushes past you to walk into your apartment. “We have to get you ready, where are they taking you?”

“Hello to you too, Tori,” you say with a slight roll of your eyes as you close the door.

“Hey, babe!” Tori grabs your wrist and all but yanks you towards your room, not really caring about the fact that you’re nearly tripping over yourself in an effort to keep up. When you both get to your room she lets go of your arm and heads for your closet.

“So, where are you guys going?”

“I don’t know, they just said to dress warm and comfortable.” Your shoulders shrug, fingers nervously fiddling with each other. You’re not too sure what exactly to wear based on those being the only two requests. Sure, you have plenty of sweaters and jackets and scarves - it’s New York after all - but you don’t know what will impress the Alphas.

You want to impress them so badly. You don’t want them to regret asking you out, and while clothing choices aren’t a ‘make or break’ type of thing it’s still important to you that you look the best you possibly can. After all, anyone who’s seen Steve and Bucky in person would agree that they’re most definitely the two most handsome men to ever exist.

Something soft hitting you in the face knocks you out of your thoughts.

“Hey!” You yelp, looking at the ground to see the thing that hit you - your light brown sweater with a cute graphic of a pumpkin patch on the front. Seconds later, a pair of leggings hit your chest. “Tori!”

Tori simply laughs, then heads to your shoe rack next to the closet door.

“How do you know this will be good for the date?” You ask as you pick up the sweater to inspect it as though you haven’t worn it hundreds of times. But, again, today needs to go perfectly so any stains you might’ve missed would not go down well with you.

“I don’t,” She admits with a shrug of her shoulders. “But that sweater accentuates your boobs and the leggings make your ass look great.”

Your whole body goes hot, the implication of them looking at those parts of your body doesn’t make you shrink away like it normally would, though you can barely stop your insecurities about your body from throwing the items to the side and picking something else to prevent that from happening.

“I-I don’t know, Tori…” You sigh, going over to your bed and sitting down on the edge. “What if they don’t like it? I mean, they’re-”

“Stop it,” Tori says forcefully, walking over to stand in front of you. “You’re beautiful and kind and wonderful and they’re going to love you. And if they don’t, then that’s not your fault. As long as you give it your all, everything will be fine.”

Coming closer, she places her hands on your shoulders so she can shake you a little bit. “I love you, girl. You’re my best friend and I want to see you happy. And it seems like they make you happy, but you make them happy too. I’ve seen it in the way they look at you, how they talk to you. It’s going to be fine, babe. I promise.”

After a long pause where you think over her words, you decide that she’s right - at least about your feelings. You like them so fucking much, so it wouldn’t be fair to them or yourself if you didn’t try your best.

“Okay… Okay, then. Let’s get me ready.”

And with that, Tori smiles brightly, leaning down to squeeze you in a tight hug before releasing you.

____________

It’s a few minutes before eleven when Bucky and Steve park out front of your apartment building. Steve is practically vibrating out of his skin, Bucky even had to convince his mate that he should drive to pick you up since Steve could barely keep his knees from bouncing.

“Baby,” Bucky says, shutting off the engine and twisting in his seat to face Steve. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to just be ourselves and treat her like she deserves, there’s no way she’s going to not like us.”

Steve nods, though he doesn’t look super convinced. It’s clear from how he spent fifteen minutes this morning in the flower shop picking out the perfect bouquet for you that he really, really wants this to work. And even though he doesn’t show it, Bucky knows Steve would be heartbroken if it didn’t. His mate’s always been a softie, and there’s something about you that makes him feel different - better than any other omega ever could.

Bucky knows exactly how he feels. Because, although he’s not as outwardly anxious, he just knows that you’re perfect for them, and he wants to do everything he can to make you see that they can take care of you, they can protect and love you. Your smile and sweet giggle haunt his dreams, his nightmares have long been replaced with his memories of him and Steve - and now you. He can’t help but imagine what it would be like to wake up next to you and his Alpha, to cuddle with you two in your nest as you all trade kisses and talk about anything and everything.

“You’re sure?” Steve asks with a timid voice, fiddling with the flowers in his lap. “I - we really like her.”

Bucky sighs, then reaches over the console to place his hand on the back of his mate's neck in a comforting manner. And even though it’s uncomfortable, Bucky leans over and presses a soft kiss to Steve’s lips.

“I’m sure, Stevie.”

Steve sighs too, leaning forward to kiss Bucky again before pulling back.

“Okay, Buck.”

With that, they both share a small smile and then get out of the car. It’s about a minute-long elevator ride up to your floor, Bucky holding his mate’s free hand the entire way and sending him feelings of calmness through their bond. It works until they get to your front door because now Steve is practically fumbling with the flowers as he figures out the best way to hold them while Bucky knocks.

It’s about a minute later when the door swings open, but it’s not you. It’s Tori with a wide, knowing smirk on her face.

“Hello, boys,” She says, crossing her arms over her chest. “Those for her?” She nods towards the sunflowers and daisies Steve is holding.

“They are,” Bucky says with a smile of his own. Glancing at Steve to see him nod. “Is she ready?”

“Yes!” You say, quickly running up behind Tori to gently push her to the side and give her a side glare. You’re fiddling with your clothes, tugging at the bottom of the sweater in order to smooth out the fabric.

However, in the Alphas’ eyes, there’s no need for you to do so. Through their bond both of them feel the other go kind of dumb - you always look pretty but today’s outfit just hits them differently. Your eyeliner makes the color of your eyes pop, and the shiny lipgloss makes your lips nearly impossible to not kiss.

They don’t, though. Not yet. The last thing either of them wants to do is make you uncomfortable, especially with Tori standing behind you. So, instead, Bucky smiles and elbows Steve to get him out of his trance.

“Hello, honey,” Bucky says, his smile turning into a smirk when you fail to suppress a squeak.

“H-hi, guys,” You say nervously with a small smile. “Are those for me?” You ask when you notice the flowers in Steve’s hand.

“Oh, um, yes,” Steve stutters ever so slightly, reaching out to hand you the bouquet. “You once said you love Sunflowers.”

____________

“You once said you love Sunflowers.”

Something about this gesture makes you want to tear up. Flowers may not be a big deal to some people, but they mean everything to you. Receiving gifts from partners has been rare for you, so the beauty of the petals and knowing that they’re for you just makes you preen a little bit.

“I do,” You say softly, almost like you can’t believe he remembered. “They’re beautiful, thank you. Really.”

“Just like you,” Steve blurts out before a redness covers his cheeks.

And you absolutely cannot be blamed for the embarrassing squeak you let out. You try being called beautiful by Steve fucking Rogers and not want to bury your face in his neck to inhale his scent.

“Th-thank you,” You say with a giggle, handing the flowers to Tori and giving her a grateful smile as she gives you a quick kiss on your cheek.

“You guys have fun,” She teases, waving you off with a smile. “Treat her well or you’ll have hell to pay.”

“Of course,” Bucky says with an assuring nod. “Wouldn’t treat her with anything but care.” He says this while looking at you though, the twinkle in his eyes making you want to bare your neck to him.

When the door closes behind you, you step closer to the Alphas.

“Are you nervous?” Steve asks, voice soft and caring, though clearly a little anxious. His hand settles on your arm, and Bucky appears beside you to place his hand on your back, as well as take one of your hands in his metal one.

And despite your earlier anxiety, you mean it wholeheartedly when you say, “No.” How can you be nervous now when the feeling of the men’s warm hands on you and their clear concern for your wellbeing makes your heartbeat quicken in anticipation?

“Let’s go?” You ask, face growing warm in slight embarrassment for your enthusiasm.

“Let’s go,” Both Alphas say in unison. And then all of you are off to the truck - a very nicely kept, sleek black truck. Steve opens the back door for you before, to your surprise, sliding in next to you.

“We agreed he could sit in the back with you on the way there as long as I could sit next to you on our way back,” Bucky pipes up at your questioning glance.

Feelings of warmth fill your entire being, and you already know that today is going to be the most fun you’ve had in a while.

____________

It’s about a thirty-five-minute drive before you finally arrive at a park - a beautiful stretch of the greenest grass you’ve ever seen with orange and red-leafed trees surrounding two sides of it. It’s big, but if you look close enough you can make out a trail off to the left. That half hour was, surprisingly to you, filled with pleasant conversation. Now, your previous interactions with the men proved that they were wonderful company, but you’re surprised that you’re not as nervous as you thought you’d be. Everything was moving smoothly, there wasn’t even a single moment of awkward silence.

“We’re here,” Bucky says, pulling into a free parking spot closest to the entrance of the trail. Steve opens the door as Bucky gets out as well and goes around to the back of the truck. And Steve, ever the gentleman, holds your hand as he helps you climb out of the backseat, only letting go when you begin smoothing out your clothes.

“Are we ready?” Bucky appears next to you holding a large blanket and a stereotypical wicker basket.

A small smile forms on your face, and your heartbeat increases ever so slightly. How are they so fucking sweet?

“Yes!” Immediately, your face goes hot, self-conscious of your enthusiasm. But the Alphas don’t seem to mind, in fact, Steve takes the blanket from under Bucky’s arm and tucks it under his own, then grabs your hand and intertwines your fingers together.

“Let’s go then,” Steve says, smiling softly down at you.

With that, the three of you head off to the trail, walking under colorful oak trees that flank both sides of the dirt path. A comfortable silence falls over all of you, only the sounds of birds chirping filling the air. You walk for a few minutes, the leaves crunching under your feet as you take in the beauty surrounding you, your eyes wide with wonder.

The environment is comforting, calm, puts you at ease in a way you don’t normally experience. It’s freeing to feel so content - so happy. It takes about five minutes before you come upon a set of wooden stairs leading down to the most beautiful lake you’ve ever seen. The water is nearly clear, the colorful trees reflecting over the surface, and even though it’s a clear day out, you can’t help but notice the golden hue filling the air. You don’t even notice you’ve stopped walking until Steve tugs on your hand.

“Do you like it?” He asks, almost nervous as he waits for your reaction.

“I…” You trail off, tears filling your eyes. This whole thing is just - just perfect. “I love it,” you say as you look at Steve, a wide smile spreading across your face. And you look at Bucky when you say, “It’s perfect.”

____________

“It’s perfect.”

Bucky can’t help but let out a small sigh of relief. They’d both wracked their brains trying to figure out where to take you, what to do. They want to wow you, to show you that they can - and hopefully will get the chance to provide for you, they can make you happy. You’ll never go without, if you want something, they will figure out a way to get it.

“Good,” Steve says softly, smiling down at you before looking up at Bucky and nodding his head.

With that, the three of you make your way down the stairs, Steve holding on to your hand tightly to make sure you don’t fall, and Bucky places his free hand on your back. He can hear how your heartbeat speeds up when he does so and tries so hard not to puff out his chest when you glance up at him through your eyelashes coyly.

Once you’re down by the lake, the men lead you to a large oak tree merely ten or so feet from the edge. Steve is quick to unfold the blanket and spread it out under the tree - large enough to probably cover an entire California King bed. Bucky then places the basket down as his mate takes your hand and helps you sit near the edge of the blanket leaving enough space for the men to sit on either side of you.

The Alphas quickly open the basket and pull out containers of food, opening the lids and placing them in front of you. When they finally sit down - obviously with you in the middle - Bucky notices how wide your eyes are, how you seem transfixed on the array of fruits and sandwiches and cake. It’s when Bucky pulls out the jug of homemade lemonade that you choke back a cry.

“Honey?” Steve asks, turning his body to face you with a concerned look in his eyes.

“Are you alright? What’s wrong?” Bucky places a hand on your back, sweeping it around to hold your waist. And can you really blame him if his whole body goes hot when you lean into his side and turn your face so it’s halfway buried in his neck?

It takes a few seconds but you’re finally able to gather yourself and pull away.

“You guys are just… I can’t believe it.”

“What can’t you believe, sweetheart?” Steve scoots closer to you, placing his hand on your head to smooth out your hair, and unconsciously turns your head so he can look directly at you. “Tell us what’s going on in that pretty head of yours.”

____________

You want to scream. You want to yell until your voice gives out. It’s nothing, in the grand scheme of things. Them preparing food - by hand - and bringing you to this beautiful spot might just be a normal thing for most people, but considering you’ve hardly ever been shown this much affection and thoughtfulness. Shaking your head, you look away, unable to withstand the Alpha's intense gaze.

“It’s nothing,” You mumble, fiddling with your fingers. “It’s stupid.”

“No, it’s not, honey,” Bucky says, giving your waist an affectionate squeeze. “If you’re upset, we want you to tell us.”

“I’m not! I promise!” You assure them, hesitantly reaching both of your hands out to place them on the Alpha’s legs. “I guess I just… I’ve just never been shown this much… care?” It’s phrased as a question, because you’re unsure if that was the right word to use, but it’s all you can think of at the moment.

“I know it may not seem like a lot,” You continue, taking a deep breath before looking up at Steve, and then Bucky. “But this means the world to me. You guys are just so sweet and thoughtful and I’m not really sure what to do, I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, let alone two people.”

Both of the men sigh, and you can almost taste the scent of disappointment wafting off of them. Suddenly your nerves spike, did you say something wrong?

You must have said that out loud because Bucky starts shaking his head. “No, no darling. You didn’t say anything wrong, I promise.”

“We’re just… I guess we’re disappointed that you consider this the height of romance because this is the bare minimum. You should be used to this, you should be loved and worshipped because that’s what you deserve, nothing less. And it’s not your fault, it’s every other person’s fault for not treating you like the perfect Omega you are.” Steve sounds upset, and your heartbeat increases to a degree that you’d think you were having a panic attack if it weren’t for how damn happy you are.

For a moment, you’re unsure as to what to say, it’s just baffling to you that one person, let alone two, can make you feel this way, this joyous and carefree. But luckily Bucky speaks up so you don’t have to.

“And we’d love to have the chance to do that for you,” He says softly, picking up your hand to cradle it in his own so he can place a delicate kiss on your knuckles. And when you stare up into his eyes, you can’t help but gasp at how loving his gaze is. “Will you give us that chance?”

“Yes.” And this time, you’re not embarrassed by how quickly your answer was to come. How can you be when both men sigh in relief and lean into your body so they can wrap you in their arms? It’s warm and comforting, filling you with happiness and care for these men.

When they lean back you really can’t be blamed for the way your gaze finds Steve’s, then drops down to his lips momentarily. At this, you’re a little flustered, suddenly overcome with the want to feel how soft they are.

Steve seems to read your mind because he places his hand on the back of your neck and forces you to hold his gaze.

“Can I kiss you, honey?”

“Please,” You whine, staying in place as the Alpha leans down slowly. Your eyes close when he gets close enough that you can feel his breaths against your mouth. And for a moment, neither of you moves, and your nerves climb higher and higher as the seconds tick by.

You’re about to speak when he finally, finally kisses you. At first, it’s just a simple peck, a chaste kiss on your lips, and then he pulls back by merely a millimeter. It’s you who leans forward to press your lips together again, and you let him lead as you lose yourself in the kiss. Though, it’s over far too soon for your liking by a soft groan.

Pulling away, both you and Steve turn to look at Bucky, who is now sporting a sheepish grin.

“Sorry,” He mumbles with a flushed face. “I just… I love seeing you two together. I love us all being together and having the two people I care about more than anything sharing your feelings. I know it’s-”

“Sweet,” You interrupt him, turning your body so you can face him better and slip your hand out of his. Placing it on his cheek, you smile when he nuzzles into your palm and gives it a little kiss. “I think it’s sweet, Bucky.”

“Can I kiss you too?” He whispers hopefully, smiling when you nod. Unlike his mate, Bucky doesn’t waste any time capturing your lips in a soft but passionate kiss. It’s clear he’s trying to hold back, and something in you just can’t help but feel wanted, desired. This kiss lasts a little longer, and although you can feel Steve’s gaze on you, you’re not in the least bit self-conscious. You know they wouldn’t lie to you, so you find comfort in knowing that you can show affection to both men without either getting upset or jealous.

When you do finally pull away, you can’t help but lean into Bucky’s chest, reaching behind you to grab Steve’s hand.

“I really like you guys,” You mumble into the Alpha’s chest.

“We really like you too,” They say in unison, causing you to smile.

With that, everything seems to fall into place, the men divvy up the food - giving you most of it - and you all eat in comfortable silence, occasionally stealing glances at each other. Once the food is eaten, Bucky wraps his arm around your waist, causing you to look up at him.

“Come here,” He says with a smile, guiding you to sit sideways on his lap, facing Steve. And there is absolutely no way in hell you could contain the squeak forcing its way out of your mouth. “Is this okay?” He asks as Steve scoots closer to sit right next to Bucky, picking up your legs and resing them in his lap.

You’ve never nodded faster in your life. You’re nervous, sure, but the utter happiness you’re feeling far outweighs it. That happiness only grows when Bucky nods to his mate, and you watch as the other man picks up the container with the cake. Your eyes widen when Steve picks up a fork and takes a small bit out of one of the slices, carefully leading it up to your mouth where you automatically open it.

Slowly, he slides the fork out, allowing you to chew the cake with a pleased smile on his face. It goes on like this until the slice is completely gone, with Bucky pressing kisses to your temple occasionally and bathing you in his warmth. It makes you preen having these Alphas take care of you like this, providing for you.

You’re content to stay here forever, wrapped up in their light, and by the time you’re done eating completely, you feel your eyelids grow heavy, a yawn forcing your mouth wide open.

“I’m sorry,” You say remorsefully, a little embarrassed by how tired you’ve become now that your stomach is full and you’re comfortably resting against Bucky’s chest.

“Don’t be, honey,” Steve says, leaning forward and placing a soft kiss on your forehead. “You can nap if you want, we’ll be right here when you wake up.”

A smile spreads across your face, and you instinctively bury your head into Bucky’s chest and reach out so you can hold onto Steve’s hands. “Are you sure?” You ask, peeking an eye open so you can look up at the blonde Alpha.

He smiles as he nods, pressing another kiss on the top of your head. “Go to sleep, pretty girl.”

It doesn’t take long for you to float off into dreamland, and the last thing you hear is, “I told you she’s perfect for us.”

tagging: @the-ginger-fairy-artist / @supernovatardis / @perdidosbucky-yyo / @wckedheart / @kandis-mom / @meteorshowercoffee / @wandaneedstherapy / @buckysbarne / @bigcreatorwombatdreamer / @p1ut0smoon / @venusfly11 / @buckybarnesmetalarmswife775 / @the-photo-hoe / @clownsbf / @matsumama / @fandoms-writings / @thornsnvultures / @sadboiabby / @lily-excal / @alright-i-guesss / @blondie-bluue / @loveforreading / @marvel-wifey-86 / @wheezy-stucky / @exposition-belongs-somewhere / @sweater-bee / @stuckysbike / @lovelylittleleigh / @buckyshbic / @starkblackwolf / @caitlink26 / @dreaming-potato / @emeraldfairy23 / @lethargicluv / @kinsssss / @perfectlyboring / @glistenuplove / @monicachic13 / @bbellen1411 / @akmenia / @shawnftjacob / @ladyravenclaw / @sadsadbabygirlrob / @hc-kerr / @iamfandomwasted / @sweetmoonlove0214 / @yesprettypleasesir / @duckies16 / @wizardofstories / @emerald-writes / @xonickibaby / @matchat3a / @hereticdance / @animegirlgeeky / @rippedpiece

[lesbianwithchainsaws]

Saw your recent post and this is a request for you to ramble about why you enjoy horror movies so much & which are your favourites & why. I love rambles.

Aaaaaaa this might be very long so just a warning in advance!!!

Okay so why I like horror: honestly I've always just loved horror. Like I remember as a kid being very fascinated by urban legends, and ghost stories and those totally-not-fake-totally-real videos and images of ghosts and other supernatural stuff. And over the years I just became obsessed with horror movies especially! But I think what really appeals to me about the genre is that anything can be made scary. Because really there is horror in everything imo. Even the most normal, mundane thing can be captured as the most terrifying thing in the world. And horror can also blend so well with other genres. Horror comedies are obviously very popular. So are dramas that have a lot of horror elements. Horror can be romantic, funny, action-filled, adventurous just as much as it can be scary. It's just such a joy to see all these different genres mixed together and to see how even the same or similar topics can be made in vastly different kinds of horror. Also like people will find the same thing scary for different reasons and in different ways, which is, again, what makes stuff like this so fascinating to see.

And another thing that appeals to me about horror is that horror reflects the society of the time it was made in really interesting ways, and can critique it in such interesting ways. Like nowadays there's quite a few horror movies about trauma and mental illness, and I think that reflects how nowadays those topics are more talked about so they're also portrayed more in horror, and shown how scary it can be to live with that. While in the past mental illness was used more as a way to demonise a character.

That's just the current day example, but every decade has had horror critiquing the way society is and showing the fears reflected at the time. Like, in the US, there was a rise in slasher movies/movies about serial killers after they were everywhere in the news. Or how in the 2000s there was a rise in brutality and gore because of 9/11 and the brutality of real life people kept seeing, which was reflected in the movies (I'm sorry this is more US centric. Unfortunately a lot of the horror movie stuff that is most available to me to read/watch tends to be more US centric). Of course this doesn't mean all horror movies do a good job at social critique, there are unfortunately a lot of horror movies that play into stereotypes. But a lot of them reflect something in society one way or another and I think horror is the most fascinating way to explore all these different themes!

Idk if that made any sense lmao.

Anyway aome of my favourite horror movies and why:

My fav horror film of all time is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) I could straight up write a whole separate long post just about why I love this movie so much. But aaaah I've never seen a movie that does horror so well. Like I've seen 554 horror movies and this is still easily the scariest one I've seen. It captures the fear and tension of the whole situation so well. Its an isolated setting. The product design is honestly *chefs kiss*. And like this movie feels like a terrifying fever dream and looks exactly like it. I've only seen one other movie that manages to capture the nightmare fever dream feel to a similar extent, but the movie was literally meant to be a ripoff of Texas Chainsaw Massacre lmao (the movie is the original Toolbox Murders. It's not very good overall but imo that feeling I'd there. Though fun fact: the Toolbox Murders remake was directed by Tobe Hooper, who is the director of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And I think that's hilarious since the original Toolbox Murders was a ripoff of his movie)

Another fav is Saw (2004). I can't even begin to describe why I adore Saw so much, but just look at it! The concept is cool and terrifying. And the movie is just damn impressive. Yeah you can tell it had a small budget and they shot the whole thing in like three weeks, but imo it's such a great and unique example of indie filmmaking. It also does a great job at making you care about the characters and so seeing all that happen to them is even more devastating. Also I would kill for Adam I can't even lie.

Honestly my "favourite horror movies" list has over 60 horror movies in there so I don't think I can ramble about every single one. But I'll ramble about what they're like at least.

A lot of my fav horror movies tend to fall in the slasher subgenre and honestly idk why. I just find slasher movies so fun to watch. They're so campy and ridiculous. But also when they're done super well, they make you abnormal forever btw

But also yeah I love psychological horror/horror with a much deeper meaning. I'd argue that every piece of art has a deeper meaning, even the shitty stuff, but there are movies that put in a bit more effort into it than others. And I do enjoy reading analysis of those movies and trying to think about them myself in that way. It's a really cool way pass time and to grow more insane about horror!!

Idk what else to say rn, but if you want to know more please ask. I love talking about horror literally whenever

[itmeblog]

Trying to get this book accepted when I should've picked one struggle and stuck with it.

The MC is a genderfluid thembo

They're also a faerie. Whole story takes place in Faerie. There are rules, but Pax sure as hell wouldn't be explaining it, so the whole thing feels like a fever dream.

The love interest is closer to an eldritch horror

There's a dumb slut/mean bitch combo that isn't end game but also isn't *not* endgame? (Like I don't bother cleanly separating physical from romantic and the amount of devotion Pax shows to both is about the same? The emotions behind the actions differ vastly though. Frankly it's giving Griiddlehark vibes)

Technically I believe it slots into erotic romance, but idk if it's really a romance because I'm painfully aromantic.

I've had a friend straight up tell me, in confusion, "No, it's good, it's just, I honestly couldn't tell you if this was a plot with a lot of sex or porn with a plot"

It follows the steps to finding divinity written by a nun in the 1500s

The "dominate me" energy in it is very high even when the MC is presenting masculinely (yes this actually is a problem when trying to pitch this thing)

It's too short to be a novel and too long to be a short story but because it's structure follows the 7 mansions of the interior castle I actually can't make it longer.

[spectraling]

How do you think things would have changed if Alt!Martha had stayed with Stranger Jonas in 1888? Once I had an idea of them actually having the baby in Jonas's world... Which technically wouldn't have changed many things because he would have maybe still married Agnes. Even when Dark is a super archy tight Stable Time Loop, one wonders...

Ooh, interesting. I had to sit down and think about this one, lol. I mean as long as everything checks out we can change things around! You need to strap in tho bc I am discussing this with myself at length.

One thing I didn't like about s3 is that it felt too rushed (we needed another season for all the things and characters they introduced honestly) and not nearly enough time was spent with a bunch of characters, the Sic Mundus crew being one of them. Jonas' arc to becoming Adam was one of the most engaging things for me to watch and it felt very bare bones in the end. Having Alt Martha staying around for longer would give us more time to spend with all characters in 1888, including Martha herself. If she'd also somehow become stuck, we'd also get to develop Jonas and Alt Martha's relationship more, which is another thing that just happened...way too fast lol, Martha went from not knowing Jonas to fucking him in like a day?? I'd prefer the drama of Stranger Jonas overcoming his distrust of Alt Martha slowly, and Martha warming up to him, mixed in with the already existing drama of that crew.

When Alt Martha went to 1888 she was already pregnant tho, right? She'd already fucked another version of Jonas lol. But I mean...technically Stranger Jonas already is the father of the unknown since the split versions of Jonas are just different instances of the same person (a sentence I never thought I'd write). Actually Martha at this point doesn't even know she's pregnant so uh, if she got together with Stranger Jonas they might not be able to tell it didn't happen bc of that (and again Stranger Jonas is also always the father of the unknown so identical child unless we're gonna bring age into the whole thing but let's not for simplicity's sake), altho she would still have been with younger Jonas and the timing might be more accurate for that encounter, especially if we imagine that she stays for a while before she develops a relationship with Stranger Jonas. Can't imagine tptb would allow Alt Martha to fuck around in 1888 tho, unless Stranger Jonas was the sole reason for the unknown. He would have to be uh, personally responsible for this one lol.

But maybe your idea didn't include Martha and younger Jonas' meeting and her indeed becoming pregnant by developing a relationship with Stranger Jonas instead...which would make the split Jonas redundant and we'd miss out on some great drama: Stranger's distrust being heightened bc of him not remembering her, showing Jonas the world he thought he wanted, which was one without him, and also we don't get the Jonas-being-killed-while-young-how-can-this-be twist. It's ofc possible to retain the idea of Jonas being shown the Alt world simply by having Martha explaining it to him, which she already does.

I'm not sure about Martha's motivations without having previously been intimate with/in love with younger Jonas tho. He's essential for getting Alt Martha's plot going, so having a hard time justifying getting completely rid of him (also that Jonas is the main character sort of so he couldn't be out of the game for most of the season until we get the third split in the finale). It would be possible to get around this by having someone else, maybe Eva herself who's sole motivation is to keep the loop going for her son, instigating Martha's plot. However, Martha would then have no prior emotional connection to Jonas so her developing/retaining feelings for Stranger Jonas seems more unlikely, unless we just want to go the "we are bound together by space and time and can't help ourselves" route, which I guess the show canonically does by having younger Jonas and Alt Martha get it on so incredibly quickly anyway lol. On the other hand I would terribly miss the parallel of OG and Alt Martha both seeing Jonas' older self and having the same kind of gut reaction bc both of them believe the Jonas they love is dead but have a chance to meet him again, only this time much older. They both become very emotional about it and accept Jonas' identity as this man instantly. This is a great segue into feelings deepening on Martha's end. We need the same kind of prerequisite for Stranger Jonas as well, as he's incredibly drawn to Alt Martha bc of her intrinsic connection to OG Martha and all of that emotional history. You can tell he's fighting so hard to keep his guard up even in the brief canon we get.

If we want to make things simple we could just not have Martha fuck younger Jonas, but they still develop feelings for each other and kiss (or just don't do that kind of fucking, but how would any filmmaker depict passion between cis men and women without its normative shorthands lol).

Anyway, Adam would still want to send Martha to Stranger Jonas in this scenario, as I'm assuming we would still get some kind of betrayal where she leaves..possibly with a baby/child? Jonas losing his child in the same way he witnessed Elisabeth and Noah lose theirs??? There is Some Drama to be had with this whole situation. Also just Stranger Jonas and a version of Martha uh consummating their relationship would be quite something to see just for the drama of that (not that regular surrounding people would bat an eye, this is the 1800's after all...). It would reinforce the mess that is the time loop, and would also be interesting bc of the what-ifs and tension that was left hanging when Stranger Jonas met OG Martha in s2 (answer: they get together but everything is still fucked). Also also, and this is important: it would make Stranger Jonas' dream about being with Martha foreshadowing. The nightmarish aspect of it, the God particle lunging out from her stomach, would be foreshadowing to their baby and the horrors that this Jonas would experience bc of it.

Pretty interesting, huh? I never understood why the obvious metaphor for the unknown was in the dreams of the Jonas that specifically never had their son - this would explain that. I guess it's also possible that it was just supposed to be some kind of metaphor for his anxiety wrt time travel and how it messed up his relationship with Martha but look the particle came out of her womb, that's a pretty obvious nod to pregnancy and the unknown being the ultimate result of time travel. The unknown is also the creator of the God particle. This show never misses an opportunity for some juicy foreshadowing!

What would the Sic Mundus crew think tho? They're friends (and relatives lol) of Jonas and even if this Magnus is not Alt Martha's brother I'm sure there would be some shock and horror of them getting together (feeding Bartosz's distancing of himself from Jonas anyone?). This doesn't comply with how Magnus and Franziska...comply with Jonas' plans. It's never even explained why they agreed to just end all of their lives and the lives of their loved ones in the first place, but I'm assuming in this theoretical season we would have more time to explore their motivations as well. Would Jonas and Martha keep their relationship secret? I mean if there's a kid involved I'm assuming others would be in the know. During this time Jonas might even become disinterested in working on the God particle and that would definitely not sit well with Bartosz for example. Jonas would be completely seduced by the fact he could be with Martha now, in some way (and only distantly related now, to themselves, lol).

At some point Martha would have to leave, tho. She could be manipulated into doing so, but also she still has her own entire world that is being destroyed and her motivations for going away can still be explained, even if it would now pain her immensely to do so.

She wouldn't have to be stuck in 1888 I guess, but it certainly helps with the development of their relationship since they would have a sort of enemies to lovers arc. You can also explain things like accidental pregnancy when you're you know..in the 1800's and there's no contraceptives and abortions must've been incredibly dangerous if they even existed. So you can see how, even if they might both be terrified of whatever this child means for the loop, they kind of accept it happening. Also I'm sure Adam wouldn't send her to specifically seduce his younger self, he just knows it happens anyway, so there's no weird baby-making mission lol.

It would definitely compound Jonas' trauma to have all of this happen. It would definitely be another way to just drive home how fucked everything is. He would be deceived in a much more severe way so I don't see this interfering with Jonas' arc to becoming Adam. In fact it would probably speed up the process lol. God, Jonas would be so crushed after growing to trust her, having a child with her and then being fucked over yet again. It would go just in line with his gullible personality and previous arc, tho. That poor man just wants to believe in love so, so bad.

The foundation of Martha's pain over Jonas would also be better I think, if she spent more than like two days with him and had the emotional connection of them having a child together.

Which, which, imagine Stranger Jonas having this child and then finding out he's the origin and having. To. Kill. Him. While I claimed earlier that Stranger Jonas (and by extension, Adam) was always the father of the unknown regardless, it would definitely be the ultimate act of violence upon himself to murder his own child in that sense. He murdered surrounding people, he murdered the love of his life, he murdered his mother, and by the end of it, he would murder his own son. That's some next level messed up shit. There would be a completely different and more severe tone if Adam was personally involved in who the unknown was and came to be, and the audience would've been on this journey too.

The issue here is that the unknown would probably have been born at this point, unless we keep the relationship with Stranger Jonas fairly brief and Martha is still pregnant. Would they be aware of it, tho? They could be. You'd miss out on some of the (amazing) drama I just described, tho. Or Adam tries to actually murder the unknown as a child, which is...phew. There are some things that don't check out at this point, tho. The unknown cannot die, so either Adam would have to fail in killing him or Martha has to be split, but she'd have to be split after she becomes pregnant, which messes with the timeline a bunch. Unless...since Adam only would care about erasing the unknown's existence Martha might be able to escape and goes back to be split during the apocalypse. But that doesn't work bc then she would have to still be pregnant and Adam wouldn't focus on the child. Maybe simply the Martha that has the unknown with Stranger Jonas is indeed killed (or her and the unknown) and the other Martha keeps going to become Eva and has the unknown with younger Jonas? No wait that doesn't work either. As soon as we need to split Martha for her and the unknown to survive we run into timeline complications that I think I would have to sit down and think about pretty hard to come up with a solution to. We can always have Adam failing in killing the unknown, but still have the drama of the whole situation (including Martha having to leave her own son to be murdered at the hands of his dad), but it's not as satisfying as Adam succeeding, but it still not working towards his ultimate goal and now he's just killed his own child for nothing.

If we somehow get past this plothole the unknown can still go back to Eva to be raised to become who he is, get with Agnes and so on.

I hope this made any kind of sense and I hope you're not dead by now, lol. Thoughts? What was your idea?

[sarahjtv]

BNHA Chapter 322 Spoiler Analysis: Bakugo’s Growth

Oh my god is this real life?  Am I reading Horikoshi’s AO3 fics?  I don’t drink or do drugs, so yesterday felt like a goddamn fever dream.  An incredible one at that.  Seriously, this might be one of my favorite chapters in the series for Bakugo’s moment alone.  I’m probably going to backtrack that later on if Horikoshi keeps this high quality up, but I’m cool with that.  This series has just been so damn good and it keeps getting better.  So, let’s go:

I’m going to get the smaller stuff out of the way first because I really want to focus on Bakugo’s apology this time because that’s the main course:

I love that Kirishima got something to do and say this chapter.  He was right there on the ground ready to catch Iida and Deku when they fell.  And he’s probably one of the more physically stronger kids in the class + his Hardening so Kirishima was a good choice to have on standby. Also, him realizing that Deku was the kid who tried to save Bakugo from the sludge villain at the beginning of the series was a good callback because Deku inadvertently inspired Kirishima to become the hero he is now.

Thirteen actually shows her face since her helmet was damaged in the war and WOW SHE’S PRETTY 😳 That was not on my bingo card, but I will take it happily!

Then there’s Ochako who grabs Deku’s hand to tell him it’s ok and that he doesn’t have to leave again after he, well, tries to leave again.  It’s really cute and feels like a resolution of some sorts of their feelings for each other.  Not a conclusion, but it feels like Horikoshi is wrapping things up.  I don’t know how deep Horikoshi’s going to go into Ochako and Deku romantically, but I like that it’s told subtlety.  And it looks like the next chapter will have Ochako do something cool, so I’m excited to see that.  

THAT UA BARRIER IS MASSIVE DEAR LORD!  And apparently it can do even more than that.  LIKE DOES IT HAVE GUNS TOO?  Hakgakure says it connects to Shiketsu too, so maybe we might see Inasa, Shishikura (Meatball boy), and Camie again.

Also, Hagakure and Aoyama didn’t do anything though during the VS. Deku fight, so take that as you will.

Also Bakugo’s suddenly not featured at the end of the chapter, which is weird.  

NOW BAKUGO OH MY GOD:

I really thought that we would have a Deku Vs. Kacchan Part 3 to be honest.  I really thought we would.  But no.  We got an honest-to-god heart-to-heart between these two boys.  And really, this is probably the best way to go about it.  Maybe we’ll get some D VS. K Prt. 3 one day because there might be more to be said, but if this is how their friendship is truly mended, I’m cool with a 2-parter.

So, Bakugo basically lays EVERYTHING out on the table.  How he’s felt like Deku’s always ahead of him, how frustrated he was, how scared he was, how insecure he was, and more beyond the surface.  Ultimately, he apologizes for everything.  He apologizes for over A DECADE of bullying.  He even bows to Deku.  He can barley look at Deku in the eye for the most part.  This is not the same Bakugo from the beginning of the series.  This is Katsuki Bakugo: a young man who took a long, harsh look in the mirror, learned from his flaws, decided to save the kid he bullied, and became a better person all because of it.

Bakugo also tells Deku that even though Deku did nothing wrong in going down this path, Deku needs him and his friends now.  Deku can’t do this on his own anymore.  Bakugo says him and the other will carry the burden with Deku.  Save to Win and Win to Save 😭.

What I find interesting here is that in this part of his speech, Bakugo says that he and everyone else will carry Deku’s burden with him “In order to surpass All Might”.  Bakugo’s ultimate goal has always been to surpass All Might and become the No. 1 Hero.  That’s been established from the very beginning.  And now, Bakugo will surpass All Might with his friends by his side.  That’s growth, my dudes 🧡

Visually, this whole thing is done so beautifully!  Just the way everyone is drawn and the expressions on the other student’s faces are really well done.  Everyone’s either in shock or in awe of what they’re hearing coming out of Bakugo’s mouth.  This is a side Bakugo hasn’t really shown anyone before (besides Deku, of course).  The reaction that spoke most to me is actually Shoto’s 💙.   He gets like 1 panel this chapter, but his face isn’t really in either shock or awe.  It’s kinda unreadable, but I think ultimately it’s like an “I get it” sort of expression.  Because Bakugo and Endeavor are so much alike.  Shoto knows what it’s like to have someone in their life trying to atone for their actions.  He gets it.  Maybe, one day, Endeavor and Shoto can get there too.

This might be my favorite part of the chapter: During Bakugo’s apology, Horikoshi draws Deku and Bakugo as heroes, then kids, then as middle schoolers, then in their UA uniforms, and finally back in their hero costumes.  Each time, Bakugo and Deku are framed face-to-face with Bakugo talking and Deku just staring in disbelief and awe like he’s trying to process what Bakugo’s saying.  It isn’t until the final one when Bakugo and Deku finally meet eye-to-eye and you can see some light come back to Deku’s eyes.  And finally Bakugo bows and apologize, even calling Izuku by name 😭💚🧡  It’s just so beautifully paneled and drawn.  In the span of a few pages, Horikoshi manages to take us through Bakugo and Deku’s childhoods of conflict and insecurity to their heroic selves in present day.  It’s like a quick recap of everything Bakugo and Deku have been through over the course of the series.  Because even though My Hero Academia is ultimately Deku’s story, it’s Bakugo’s story too (which a little Shoto on the side).  This feels like the culmination of their entire relationship and it’ll only get stronger from here too.

Lastly, as Deku is about to apologize for saying “You can’t keep up” because he realized his friends are actually ahead of him, he starts to pass out and BAKUGO RUNS UP TO CATCH HIM AS DEKU FALLS 🧡💚😭  WE DON’T EVEN SEE BAKUGO’S EYES HE JUST SAYS “WE KNOW” LIKE IS BAKUGO CRYING HORIKOSHI PLEASE!!!!!  BAKUDEKU’S HOW WE FEELING??? 💥🥦

But for real, this is as close to a hug between these two as we’re probably going to get.  There’s something so profound about this.  Bakugo has been trying to push Deku away since the beginning.  He even wanted to keep Deku at arm’s length so he can be protected even from Bakugo himself.  And how these two are together again.  No more pushing away.  

Honestly, I loved this chapter 10/10!  Peak character development, peak storytelling, peak fucking fiction!  It does feel like we’re coming to a conclusion soon with the series.  Ochako is accepting her feeling towards Deku more, Deku’s coming back to UA where the final battle will most likely take place, and Bakugo and Deku have mended their relationship as far as we know.  Again, I would like to see a Part 3 to their ongoing fights, but I’m cool if this is where their conflict ends.  It was really, really beautiful.  Horikoshi’s writing has been top-notch with Bakugo and Deku.  God, I’m truly going to miss this series when it’s done.

Me thoughtout the entiretly of Bakugo’s Apology:  

[ready-to-obeyme]

[OM!] All Demon Brothers + Undateables as Babysitters (Part 1)

Scenario: For the sake of the exchange program (probably), the entire cast is now in charge of taking care of kids ranging from infants to pre-K children at a daycare with you. Headcanons on what type of babysitter they would be + whatever cute shenanigans that may occur

Note: Baby fever!! Inspiration is the entirety of Gakuen Babysitter/School Babysitter. It is literally the cutest anime I have ever watched in my life and I highly recommend it if you want a cute feels-good, slice of life!! Some of the kids I may have based off of them, but you don’t need to watch it to understand this! :))

why do i always make my headcanons so long

Part 1 has the 7 Demon Brothers

[Part 2] has all five Undateables

--

Lucifer

This was probably Diavolo’s idea so he has no choice but to go along with it, much to his dismay

He already thought humans were fragile, and now they were going to take care of the smaller, younger ones? 

His face scares 90% of the kids on his first day as a babysitter, which kind of hinders his job because every time he tries to help them clean up or change diapers, the kids start crying 

The other 10% who are not intimidated by him claim him to be the Big Bad and play fight with him all the time, and considering his attitude, he’s a pretty perfect villain in their make-belief play so he’s won their hearts IMMEDIATELY 

Generally a pretty strict baby-sitter who is listened to without having to repeat himself; his power and authority is unyielding (and also he’s just plain scary even if he doesn’t mean to be, and lowkey he likes the power he has because the kids remind him of Mammon sometimes) 

It’s honestly a big debate whether he should just give up and ask for help or power through, but if he’s just babysitting with you, pleads with you to please help him because he’s so lost and why do they scream so loud and not that he would ever admit to it, but he is a tiny bit hurt that he can’t seem to have the kids trust him

Once he’s told that he should smile more and speak more gently, he implements it with mixed results (at first), but it’s a significant improvement from the first few days

During a moment of rest, he’s sighing when a baby crawls up to him and sits in his lap without warning, and he’s a goner 

Literally has the hardest time trying to train his face not to look so pleased or happy, but his smile is so soft (and he will not hesitate to kill any of his brothers that see him like that, but for you and the undateables, he’ll just be embarrassed) 

Loves infants and how trusting they are of him despite how scary his face may seem sometimes-- the epitome of unconditional love and he’s just… very tender

Probably ends up being the respected babysitter who’s super cool to all the kids but slightly unapproachable (unless you’re a babyyyy) but eventually climbs the ranks in terms of babysitters because he vouches for them if they do need him

Mammon

The kids have decided that he is the biggest kid on the playground and now to assert dominance, they must beat him up

Which is what they do-- or as much as they can with their tiny fists and miniscule strength and the fact that Mammon is a literal demon

You just stare at Mammon as he cries on the ground, whining at how the kids ganged up on him and you’re just like…. They’re literally <4 years old. 

Despite that part, Mammon gets along with all the kids really well!! 

He talks to them as normal and calls them ‘brats’ but they all know he’s soft for them so they kind of take advantage of that? But only a little bit because they don’t like seeing Mammon cry either

You forget who comfort the other more at this point, the kids or Mammon

Mammon is the best person to call for if the kids want to play around because he’s pretty animated himself and goes along with whatever the kids want to do 

You might have to reign them in a little yourself, because you’re not quite sure Mammon really knows what’s actually dangerous for them

“Mammon, please only carry one kid at a time please, you’re scaring me”

“Huh? You know I can carry all four of them on my head--”

“Please��

Suuuper popular with the kids even though he kept complaining about them to anyone who would listen that he had to look over these tiny humans

But the moment any of the kids ask for his help or do something cute, he’s the FIRST one to go and help because ‘you need the GREAT Mammon’s help? Guess you can’t help it after all…” and he just likes the fact that he feels reliable to these kids

He might… actually save money to buy these kids Christmas gifts?? Will maybe cry if they bring little Valentine's Day candies (that their parents probably told them to give but shhh let him dream)

Leviathan

May or may not be hyperventilating as he hypes himself up to go into the daycare and meet the kids

He tried to brush it off to his brothers that they’re just kids and he doesn’t care if they like him or not because it doesn’t matter to him because he’s just an otaku-- but my god he hopes they like him 

Little does he know, the fact he lets them play on his game consoles (whether or not they actually know how to play) wins them over immediately and breaks the ice

They find him super interesting to talk to and he ends up a pretty popular babysitter because he talks to them like adults (yes, even to the babies) 

Catch him giving a bottle to a baby while talking to them in baby-voice (that he adopts not on purpose) about his favorite TSL season 

One of the biggest reasons why the kids love him is because he really listens to them even though their rants and blabbing doesn’t always make sense

When he does talk about his interests (or it slips out, as it does), the kids are genuinely interested in what he has to say and that’s when his mission to convert all of these kids to watching anime and reading manga started

“Reading manga is going to help them develop reading comprehension!!”

Probably brings his entire stash of (kid-friendly) manga-- probably the magical girl anime with Ruri-chan-- and has the kids dig in 

It does have some negative repercussions because kids aren’t exactly good at handling precious material, so things do rip and break and Levi had to excuse himself to go outside and mourn his lost

But the fire of his mission burns brighter than the sadness over what he has lost (besides, he would never bring limited edition/1st edition things outside his room so these things are replaceable) 

If Halloween rolls around, the kids will exclaim that they want to be [insert character] from TSL or another anime and Levi may shed tears of happiness right there and then

Will make it his side quest to make costumes for ALL the kids-- especially if they can’t afford their own and will encourage them to be whatever they want to be!!!

He’s literally leading an army of newly-created weebs/otakus that look up to him in the daycare and the power he has over these kids is so formidable some of his brothers are actually a little jealous HAHA

Satan

Acts casual about the whole thing and is actually casual about it

He hasn’t necessarily spent much time with kids, but he figures he’d be able to do it-- and he’d be right; considering how natural he is with people in general, I doubt kids would be much different, especially if he talks to them like adults and respects their opinions 

Is definitely the type of babysitter some of the kids end up having a little baby crush on, considering how charming and prince-like he can be with his gentle tone of voice 

Not that he’s perfect-- some kids are just brats and he does get angry at them but he only needed to snap once before the troublemakers all learned not to mess with him

Despite that, he would most likely be the ones to keep an eye on the troublemakers, because it may be a sign of a troubled home (not always, but… well, he would know best, wouldn’t he?) and he’d want to reach out to them if he can help them in any way

What he loves to do with the kids-- and you can probably guess-- is have Story Time!!

The kids are so excited to circle around him before naptime and listen to him read storybooks, doing voice overs and dramatic/animated readings; the kids are so intently listening and giggling at the funny parts

At first, he attempted to bring all his books over to the daycare, but he had to put some back when you tell him these kids are literally three and probably don’t have the reading comprehension required to read Quantum Physics-- so he provides picture books instead; anything he procured from the human world

Really encourages the kids to try their best to read and, if he has the time of day, tries to teach them basic things like the alphabet, how to spell out each words etc (you may call him…. Sensei) 

Adores their imagination too because he knows adults could hardly compare at times and he encourages them to make up their own stories and he’d help them write it down 

Uses a lot of tactic like these to encourage their education and their development-- he loves books and the impact they’ve made on him and he wants these kids to be able to experience the same things

Asmodeus

A little hesitant at first because kids can be super cute and great for pictures but… they can also be super gross and kind of mean; and he’s seen both ends of the spectrum so he’s not really sure what to expect

Then one of the kid compliments his hair clip shyly and shows their own similar hairclip and he’s sold because obviously they have the cutest kids in the world

Hair undone? He’s there

You wanna try out painting nails? Oh hun, he’s got you-- free make-overs for EVERYONE-- except maybe the infants, he doesn’t wanna ruin the natural baby smell and softness they have going for them

He wants to encourage ALL the kids to express themselves so he sometimes brings old clothes he doesn’t wear anymore so they have a fashion show/runways

ALWAYS encourages the kid to wear what they want because gender norms who???

If ANY and I mean ANY parent comes up to him and talk about him letting them wear non-gender conforming clothes he WILL go off on them because they are LITERALLY KIDS-- let them express themselves and have fun

Kinda grossed out by snot and diapers tho so you’re gonna have to help him with that; and since the universe knows that he hates getting dirty, he’s probably the brother most likely to get peed on while changing a diaper

You have to force him back into the daycare after that incident because he refuses to come out of the bathroom after changing into clean clothes 

But he is so captivating that the kids usually don’t cause trouble when he’s around, and also similarly to Levi, he talks and listens to them blabber while he’s doing their hair so it’s always pretty soothing 

Probably ends up in charge of the creativity hour and cooing over everyone’s art project, encouraging them to sprinkle as much glitter as they want, use as many colors as they want-- as long as it makes them happy! 

Beelzebub

Considering he’s the sweetest and physically the strongest, he’s actually pretty concerned about hurting them, and asks you to help him adjust to this new role so that the kids will be okay (you know he’ll be fine, but if saying yes to helping him will make him feel better, you say it)

Beel keeps to himself as a babysitter for the first few-- oh idk-- hours before some of the kids figure out how STRONG he is and he’s the best thing since sliced bread

The kids start to literally hang from him, testing how strong he really is, and are all delighted that he can hold all of them in and from his arms; he’s a little worried he’ll drop them, but since the kids are so excited about it, decides to lift them only a little high just to please them

Happily, he eventually gets used to knowing how to deal with them, and it helps that the kids are so polite to him

He’s the ultimate Big Brother figure to them, much to his surprise since he’s used to being the younger brother, and it makes him really soft inside that these kids actually look up to him and rely on him 

During free play, he has definitely carried at least six kids on his back when they play horsey and not break a sweat and throws the babies up in the air playfully (and carefully) and let them pretend they were flying

He’s their protector, making sure that they’re playing safely, even though he went a little too ham on the protection, grabbing a kid by the scruff of his collar because he was running and beel was afraid of him falling and scraping his knees

“It’s okay Beel, they can handle it--”

“Are you sure?? But they’re so tiny and fragile--” 

Changes diapers pretty handily after the first time; has definitely tried the baby formula and ate the entire bottle by accident before feeding a baby

Makes sure the kids are nice to each other, especially siblings, and that they eat; you tell the kids that if they eat their vegetables they’ll grow as strong as Beel, and that’s the FASTEST you’ve ever seen picky kids eat them in your LIFE

Belphegor

“Alright, nap time, everyone!”

“Belphie, they just arrived;;;”

Honestly just thought this entire thing was a hassle because kids in general take a lot of work and he just doesn’t want to put that sort of effort into something he didn’t sign up for

But since you’re there, he may as well try to be proficient enough to be well-liked enough to not cause a fuss and be able to babysit with you

He’s the type of babysitter who converses with the kids and pretends he doesn’t know something so the kid tries to teach him-- and honestly this give the kid a chance to be confident in their skills and also lets Belphie not do as much work to keep the conversation alive so win-win

As you can probably guess, is definitely in charge of enforcing nap time… by napping with the kids-- gotta learn by example right?

There are probably mats that the kids lie on but whenever Belphie lies in the middle of them, they all end up rolling and curling near his side; when he wakes up he’s always surrounded by a sea of kids and he’s so confused and he can’t move unless you wake up the kids for him 

The most efficient babysitter out of all of them because efficiency means less effort and time taken to change a diaper, clean up a spill, or wipe a kid’s nose 

Doesn’t understand why the kids keep wanting to interact with him but he’ll always indulge them in the end regardless of his nonchalant attitude

He actually finds a lot of them endearing when they talk about the things they like to do and about their daily life because it’s always interesting to learn about their perspective on things

When it’s creativity hour, the kids like asking him to doodle something on their paper (it can be a small chibi or caricature or just some animal) and it always makes them super happy; you watch him crack a smile as he sees the kids try to copy his drawing right next to it

If any of them are interested in stars, will gently show them the constellations in books and watch as they fascinate over them as he did before

[villanellebeing-gay-iskillingeve]

Villaneve Fanfic Master List

With season three done, and the long wait for season 4, here are some fics to help pass the time.

Imagine Me and You (and Our Parents) in which Eve and Villanelle’s parents are getting married, forcing them to be entirely awkward with the unresolved chemistry between themselves. It’s basically the set up for a romcom. 

Love Language (fluent in your) a medical drama! Long but worth the read. 

Confessions, a one shot that takes place after the season finale. Definitely something I wished had happened in the show but oh well. Maybe in season four it’ll happen? 

Different for us is a slight au that features Eve as a forensic psychologist whose tasked with dealing with Villanelle and her shenanigans. Excellent world building and pacing in the story. Feels like reading an actual book. 

Professional boundaries is what I consider a classic Villaneve fic. It picks up from the season one ending and is a must read just because it’s fun.

Down, Down under the earth goes another lover, featuring a cat and mouse game where it’s more cat and cat. A lot of good plot twists so I won’t mention them, but it’s a good read and the way the author gets inside their minds and characterizes them is an art of it’s own. 

Step in front of a runaway train, another story where Eve is sent to kinda rehabilitate an in prison Villanelle. Except this story is about ten times darker and features Eve yelling at a boar, sweating in Florida heat, and dreaming about Villanelle (except maybe it wasn’t a dream?) This whole story feels like a prelude to a fever dream in the best way possible. 

In darkness she beckons, in which Eve has premonitions about murders, which leads her directly into the path of Villanelle. Only a few chapters out, but it’s very interesting and shows lots of promise. 

The Unconventional Bodyguard, only a couple chapters are out so far, but it looks to have great promise for comedy and for awkward situations to happen that will lead to them falling in love. 

Cuba, a funny fic about Eve, Villanelle, Konstantin, and Irina going to Cuba. This will brighten your day. 

Beep Beep, a one chapter fic about Villanelle being a dick to Eve when she loses her car, in the most funny fashion ever. It all leads to love, though. 

Quid Pro Quo, a lawyer!Villanelle fic, in which she helps Eve divorce from her husband and in the process they fall in love. It’s a cute fic, with plenty of action. Makes me think of the movie Legally Blonde, if it was ten times gayer. 

Love at First Swipe, a Tinder AU. Eve thinks she’s being catfished but she’s not, and it leads to an interesting turn of events. 

Straightforward, Eve wants to cut her hair; Villanelle totally does not freak out about it. Honestly, a cute and in character one shot. 

The Wrong Kind of Almost, Eve sees Villanelle working at MI6, but that can’t be true, right? No one else notices it, so it simply can’t be true. Right? Right????

Issues (We’ve got the Kind of Love to Solve Them) is a ten part series. It is an adventure and definitely worth the read. It will make you feel so many things. 

Not a Chance in Hell, is an assassin vs. assassin story. Eve calls Villanelle puppy. If that’s not reason enough to read, then I don’t know what is. 

The heat of the moment, a story where Eve is a trainer and Villanelle is her trainee. It’s a really good, fast paced story. The fights are detailed and will have you rooting for Villanelle to win so she can advance in her career. 

Love to the Point of Invention, a kinda sci-fi story where Villanelle is an android that Eve falls for. Haven’t seen this AU type yet in this fandom, so it’s a refreshing read from all the other ones. 

Only by dark is a great idea of what season two could have been like and it’s pretty good.The original characters are amazing and I wish the author of this could have written the actual season two. Another Villaneve classic. 

#Bringdownthe12 is a one shot in a very interesting and fun format. it details all of the seasons together and is a good refresher for plot details. 

Season 3: The Scripts basically an imagining of what season three could have been like in script format. It’s really good and honestly fills in more blanks than the actually season three did, while also maintaining a story about Villanelle’s past. The writers of the show should have taken some cues from this. 

Infancy the baby fic you didn’t know you needed. Seriously, it’s really cute and will have you in your feels. 

Manie Sans Delire another amazing fic. This one, post season 2. And still, filling in the gaps way better than the actual season three did. 

[itsmalachitenow]

BAT001- Down the Rabbit Hole

BAT001 – Case #0212403, taken from the files of Office 31 of the Gotham City Police Department 

Statement of Alice Pleasance, regarding her close encounter with one Jervis Tetch.

-STATEMENT BEGINS-

I know. I know, okay? You don’t have to tell me. I know I don’t match the picture on my driver’s license. I’ve been meaning to get it redone. But when you’ve been missing for a month and a half, a lot of things you mean to get done get piled up, and it takes awhile to deal with them. If the hair dye and piercings bother you that much, I can just leave.

…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s just…all of this has been awful for me. I think coming in and saying what happened, getting it all put down on paper, will help me process it. At least, that’s what my therapist says. You’ll have to bear with me. A lot of it is blurry now.

So….here we go. From the top.

It started with a hole in the road.

It was February 13th. …I don’t actually remember which day I disappeared, but that was apparently the last time anyone had seen me, so that’s what we’re going with. I remember feeling…sad. Lonely. You know that feeling when you see couples walking around everywhere and you’re single? Yeah. That’s it.

I was heading home. I work…worked at…a division of Wayne Enterprises. I was a secretary. I can’t do it anymore, though, after what that bastard did to me. But we’ll get to that.

I was taking a different route from usual. I thought I’d pick up some takeout on the way home, maybe a tub of ice cream, really treat myself, you know? To hell with valentine’s day and to hell with romance. Who needs love, right?

And…I guess part of me was hoping I’d find something interesting. Something to brighten up my day.

I turned down the street corner and was debating what I’d order from Dragon Palace when I saw the hole.

Now…you have to understand. This was a big hole. It was big enough to take up the entire street. I wondered if there was some kind of renovation going on with the sewers or repaving the road, but there wasn’t any kind of construction equipment or signs anywhere.

…but there was a stuffed rabbit.

It was a battered old thing. I think it used to be white, but now it was more of a dingy yellow color, with patches of fur scuffed off. Honestly, I got a creepy vibe from it. I remember staring into its big glass eyes and wondering if the kid who’d dropped it was better off for losing it.

And then it moved.

Not on its own, of course. I’m not an idiot. Something…tugged it, towards the hole, and it skidded across the pavement until the tugging stopped.

By that point, I was ready to get the hell out of there and go home the usual way. This is Gotham. I knew something fishy was going on, and I didn’t want any part in it. So I tried to turn around…

…and stopped.

Maybe that’s the wrong way to say it. I guess I should say, something stopped me from turning.

I could still move my feet, my arms, my head! But whatever had grabbed me wasn’t letting me do anything with them.

I saw the rabbit skitter a few feet forward again.

But this time, some force pulled me after it. It was…like someone wrapped a rope around me, and was pulling it like they were pulling the stuffed toy.

By that point, I was wondering if I was dreaming. I had to be, right? Even then, I recognized the similarities to that story—Alice in Wonderland? I know this is Gotham, and things are weird in Gotham, but girls named Alice don’t just chase a toy rabbit into a hole that spawned in the middle of the street. They don’t!

But it kept going. The rabbit would move, and then I’d move. It would move, then I would move. Until eventually the rabbit disappeared down the pit, and I was standing at the very edge of it.

My heart was beating so hard I could hear it, watching that stuffed toy fall into the darkness. I remember listening for it, waiting to hear it hit the ground…

…but somehow, some part of me knew that I wouldn’t.

I tried to fight back. But whatever was pulling me didn’t like that, and it gave one more hard yank. The next thing I knew, I was tumbling down, down, down into the dark.

This is where it all gets blurry for me. So…sorry in advance, I guess.

I was screaming. I remember that much, even though everything after the fall is…murky. I was screaming my head off as I fell down that pit. But somehow, the landing didn’t kill me. I hit something soft…mushrooms? Were they mushrooms? I think they were.

But now the rabbit was back in sight, and now I could see what was moving it. There was a bright red string attached to it, and it was pulling the thing along.

And now there was a bright red string attached to me, coming out of my chest, and it was pulling me right along after it.

I don’t remember how long I ran. It was a very long hallway, with twists and turns…I remember doors. But I didn’t give them so much as a second glance. I wouldn’t have, even if I weren’t struggling to keep my balance with the thread pulling me along. Some part of me knew…that they weren’t for me. Does that make sense?

Whatever. The doors don’t matter. The hallway doesn’t matter—it eventually gave way to…all these bright colors. It seemed like the landscape was changing itself around me. I remember flowers bigger than me, ones that waved to me as I passed them, I remember a technicolor forest…

…but we didn’t stop until we reached the tea party.

It was a huge table, about twenty feet long, covered in all kinds of teapots and cups. There were a few people sitting there. But…it was wrong. The whole thing was wrong.

A man and an older woman were seated across from eachother, drinking tea and chattering about something I couldn’t hear. But none of their movements were on their own—they had red string, the same kind that was attached to me, wrapped around all their limbs. Like puppets…they were like human puppets, being guided through the motions, with half-lidded and glassy eyes.

And sitting between the two of them was a man. That bastard—Jervis Tetch. I know his name now, but at the time I just thought he looked like the Mad Hatter had stepped straight out of the storybook. His fingers were entwined in red string, and he was playing cat’s cradle with them. Do you know that game? The one where you take a large loop of string and make shapes with it? That’s what he was doing—staring intently at his fingers as he moved the string and contorted it.

…and then he looked at me.

He stopped his hands, and the others at the table stopped what they were doing. They just…hung there, like marionettes. Lifeless.

Those huge red eyes were boring into me. He said my name, like a question. “Alice?” He tilted his head at me, like a kid might do at an unexpected toy.

I didn’t say anything. At least, I don’t think I did. I didn’t understand anything that was going on.

And then he smiled at me. That smile…it was horrible to look at. It curled across his face, wider than any human’s should be, with more teeth than any human should have. And what he said next, I remember more clearly than anything else in that horrible place.

“Your hair wants cutting.”

He never did, though. Cut my hair, I mean. In fact, I think my hair was his favorite thing about me—the way he’d coo to me as he brushed it…he ended up putting those same strings on me that those other people had. I couldn’t fight back—he was stronger than I was, especially once the strings were on. My limbs just…stopped working.

The rest of it is mostly a fever dream. We had tea parties and played croquet and ran about, all with me in some hideous Alice dress and parroting the things he wanted me to say. I begged him to let me go, of course. But he’d just tut and tap my nose. Something about me being ‘naughty’. Oh, I could’ve killed him.

None of it felt real. It was…it was bad. That’s the only way I can think to summarize it. Icky. Not right. Wrong. Jesus—listening to myself is painful. Any of those words, amplified a hundred times, wouldn’t be enough to describe the sensation that went on down there, down in ‘Wonderland.’

I saw him kill a man down there. Or maybe the man was already dead. Either way, when the Hatter took a pair of scissors out of his coat and cut the threads holding him up, he didn’t try to get back up again. The Hatter just shook his head, and I watched the dead-eyed man sink down into the floor like quicksand. How many others had he done that to??

Toys. We were all toys, to be discarded when we were too broken to be fun anymore.

There were dozens of people down there.

Not just anyone, either—some of them…some of them I recognized. Cheryl Reed, an older woman who worked in the same building as me—she was down there too, dressed up all in red and crowing for decapitation. She didn’t recognize me, even when I pleaded her to. Or maybe she was just pretending. When the Hatter stomped his foot and demanded we ‘stop that nonsense’, neither of us felt like fighting back.

Neither of us wanted to end up like that man on the floor.

…thinking back…I don’t think all of us were tied up. There was a man who was…different. I know he was different, because he could walk around on his own. No strings. And I never saw the Hatter dress him. Instead of the gaudy colorful clothes he put us in, this person was walking around in a drab brown business suit. He was…tall, yes, he was tall. Taller than the Hatter by at least a foot or two. Brown hair. Glasses…a very sharp chin.

He’d show up sometimes. The Hatter would get very excited when he came to the table, and he made me curtsey to him the first time he came. Introduced him as…J…something. It was a J name. Jonah? James? I guess it doesn’t matter. The name the Hatter gave him was ‘the March Hare’. Whoever he was, the March Hare made it very clear that he wasn’t interested in helping me, or any of us. He’d sit down and talk to the Hatter. I could never follow the conversation, or remember it clearly. …always something about ‘spirals’, I think.

But the important bit here is that the March Hare could leave.

He had a pair of scissors in his pocket, and he’d just….cut through the air, tear a large dark hole into reality, and step through it. The Hatter would stitch it back together with the same red thread he used on the rest of us, though the closed rip would eventually fade into nothing.

It’s how I escaped.

See, most of the time he would take me with him wherever he was going or whatever game he was playing. I was his favorite that way. But everyone else, he’d have them doing something on their own without him having to constantly keep an eye on them. I guess you could call it ‘autopilot’.

After some romp with the Walrus and the Carpenter, we were coming back to the tea table, and I saw a chance at salvation. The Hatter’s scissors weren’t in his pocket anymore—they were laying there, on the floor, just under the tablecloth. He must have dropped them! I knew I had to act fast—who knew when I’d get another chance?

I brought up some fake inconsistency—that the Carpenter had a limb loose, or something like that. I remember how agitated he got. Insisting to me that no, the Carpenter did not have a loose limb, all the strings were still tightly in place. But I kept insisting, and he actually started to doubt himself to the point where he finally buckled and was going to go back and check. He tried to bring me along, but I huffed and said my feet were tired, I wanted to sit down and drink my tea and eat my biscuits.

Normally he would’ve scolded me and made me come along anyway, but I think by that point I’d stressed him out enough that he just let me sit as he hurried off, and for the first time in what felt like years, I was alone again.

It took…a lot of effort, to move on my own. It’s probably the hardest thing I’d ever done. But I managed to pull against the strings, to bend down, to pick up the scissors. And I cut myself free.

The minute the blades cut through the first strand of thread, I knew I’d made a mistake. He’d felt it. And he was coming back. Fortunately, with my arm free, it was much easier to get the rest of the string off of me.

I almost didn’t get out. By the time I was off my strings, the Hatter was practically flying back towards me, angrier than I’d ever seen him. He was screaming at me, screaming at me to stop, that he’d punish me if I went any further.

I tried swinging the scissors through the air, and I almost sobbed when nothing was happening. No portal was appearing, no salvation was coming…I was going to be a doll forever, or until he decided he was done with me.

But then, a thought drifted through my mind. It was something one of my old lecturers at university had said. The gist of it isn’t really important here—but I remembered the phrase ‘fabric of reality.’

When I was thinking of that phrase, suddenly I felt the blade of the scissors catch on something, and I was quick to pull it down. Like you’d tear through a sheet of fabric in your way.

Just before he could grab hold of me, I dove into the hole I’d made.

And then I woke up.

…well…I woke up on the pavement, with paramedics and a crowd gathered around me, along with reporters. The missing Alice Pleasance, returned home in strange clothes, and…you know the rest. Read the newspaper articles if you really want a rehash of that. Honestly, lying there on the street, I thought it really was a dream, that maybe I’d just gotten hit by a car or something and blacked out….but there’s a problem with that. One, I’d been missing for a month and a half, and two, I still had the Hatter’s scissors. I’m leaving them with you. Lord knows I don’t want them. And maybe they’ll help in your investigation.

I cut my hair. It was the first thing I did once I was out of the hospital. I threw out most of my old clothes, all of them were too close to the costumes he had me in for my liking. And every time I looked in the mirror, I saw Alice. Sweet, sassy, stupid Alice, from the books. …I can’t even think of those books now without feeling sick.

I had to quit my job. I can’t focus for long periods anymore, no matter how hard I try. I just lose track of the time, and all of a sudden it’s four hours later than when I last checked. Most of the time, I just stay in nowadays.

…and that’s not all…

Sometimes, when I look around outside…I can see red strings everywhere. Covering everyone. Guiding them. Controlling them. It’s not real. I know it’s not real. And most of the time, I can blink a few times or rub my eyes, and the strings will be gone.

Jervis Tetch…that monster…he ruined my life.

I don’t know how you’d go about capturing someone like that.

But I really hope this helps you catch him.

Archivist Notes: The scissors Ms. Pleasance included with her statement are now in artifact storage, awaiting inspection. If what Ms. Pleasance says is true, this marks the first documented case where someone’s ever escaped from Jervis Tetch—alive, anyway, instead of lying dead in some back alley as if they’d dropped from the sky.

One other thing to note is the description of the ‘March Hare.’ It might be a stretch, but it aligns very closely with a missing person’s report that’s currently ongoing. The case of one Jonathan Crane, missing for at least a year, and appearing in proximity to dangerous individuals. Something to look in to.

-END DOCUMENT-

[takerfoxx]

Here's the next part of the Walpurgis Nights girls watch The Rebellion Story, this time stretching from that upside-down reflection conversation to Homura and Kyoko's wacky bus trip.

Reminder:

G=Gretchen

H=Homulilly

Op=Ophelia

Ok=Oktavia

Ca=Candeloro/Mami

Ch=Charlotte

...

Ca: Okay, so, is everyone ready?

Ch: Yeah. Yeah. Sorry about losing my shit. I’ll try to keep it together.

Op: No, by all means. I’d say you’re entitled.

G: I mean, if I found out that I was a tiny, living doll that turned into a giant worm, I’d be upset too!

=Charlotte sighs deeply=

G: Oh. Sorry.

H: It’s a fake.

G: Eh?

H: All of it. The whole scenario. We’re caught in a super-witch’s labyrinth, or some kind of virtual reality simulation, or a shared dream.

Ok: Like the Matrix?

H: The what?

Ok: Oh, I’ve got to show that one to you. It’s this old movie from the world of the living about how all of humanity are trapped in this virtual world because machines have taken over the planet, and they use people’s bodies as living batteries or something. And-

Op: Tavi, starting to ramble.

Ok: Sorry. Anyway, there’s like three different recreations out there. Personally I like the one from Madd Dogg Studios the best.

Op: Because of all the sex.

Ok: Yeah, the other two don’t have those. Shame, really.

Ch: Okay, hold on though! If all that is some kind of weird simulation, then why am I there? By rights if you guys never turned into witches, I should be dead! You should’ve killed me, and then I would be comfortably here in Freehaven while you guys sit around singing songs to severed heads inside of demented teddy-bears!

G: Well, if there’s no witches in this world, then maybe we never fought you in the first place.

Ch: But I’m clearly a witch!

G: Yeah, that is weird.

Ca: Let’s find out.

…

Ok: You think that all of this being in an upside-down reflection means anything?

H: Yes. That it’s a fake.

Op: You are not going to let that go, are you?

H: Just watch.

Op: Have you seen this before?

H: Obviously not.

Ok: Well, this version of Candeloro is just as on it with her tea game, I see.

Ca: Some things never change.

Ok: Like Ophelia’s dislike for sour stuff, apparently.

Ca: It’s her tradeoff for her ungodly tolerance for spicy.

Ch: Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s not as high as she makes it out to be.

Op: Hey, who exactly ate those dockengaut viper peppers without flinching? Me, that’s who!

Ch: You literally had to the hospital and grow your tongue back.

Op: But I didn’t flinch.

…

Ok: They really like showing us around the town.

G: Do any of these locations mean anything?

Ca: Well, that’s the school, so I suppose-Huh?

G: UM!

Ok: Why is everyone’s faces suddenly horribly disfigured?

Ch: Are they melting? It looks like they’re melting.

Op: Yeah. And…ours are fine?

G: See! You two are sleeping in class! I told you that having a party right after fighting that Nightmare was a bad idea! Growing girls need sleep!

Op: Honestly, I’m more concerned about the horrific burns on everyone’s face than I am about our counterparts’ unhealthy sleeping habits.

H: HA! Called it! It’s a simulation! None of those people are real! We’re the only actual people here!

Op: Hey, credit where it’s due, you did call it.

G: Looks like Hitomi’s real too.

H: Oh, goody.

G: So’s that guy with the silver hair? Who is he?

Ok: Oh, so that must be Kyousuke!

Op: That was who I was up against? Huh. Well, he’s…pretty.

Ok: I always wondered what he looked like.

Op: …so?

Ok: I’m sure past me thought he was good-looking, but I still think I traded up.

Op: Darn right, you did.

…

Ch: So who took the time to make food in the shape of your heads?

Ok: You know, between this and Hitomi, there’s a lot of severed heads going around.

=Candeloro frowns and feels her neck=

Ch: You okay?

Ca: I’m fine. I just got the weirdest feeling of déjà vu all of a sudden.

Ok: Who wants to bet that the one with all the bags of junk food for lunch is Ophelia?

Op: What? Why me in specific?

Ca: That one must be mine.

Ch: Well, at least I get my own severed-head snack now.

G: Right next to Kyubey.

H: If there was any justice in the world that would be his actual head.

G: Still. Those soul-gem treats are pretty creative.

Ca: Oh, wait! Never mind! That’s Homura’s lunch.

Ch: Homulilly? Why are you eating my face?

H: Don’t ask.

Op: And of course I snatch Blue Raspberry’s soul-gem!

Ok: Even then, you couldn’t keep me out of your mouth.

Op: AAANNNDDD the rat just ate it. Huh.

Ok: Oh, that makes me so uncomfortable.

Ch: And we get a close-up of me looking like a lunatic. Thanks, movie.

Op: I mean, that is a pretty accurate depiction of your face whenever you get anywhere near a piece of mozzarella.

H: All of this making me incredibly uneasy.

G: What is?

H: The slow pace. The lack of audible dialogue. The somber music. Something is up.

Ch: That’s all kinds of deliberate.

H: Well, at least this other me can tell that something’s wrong.

Op: I for one am incredibly disappointed in the rest of us. Everyone in the city has their faces burned off. That ought to at least raise a few red flags.

…

Ok: AAANNNDDD it’s gone all weird again!

Ca: Okay, this is obviously a witch’s labyrinth. They’re not even hiding it anymore.

Ok: Except from us. Like, are we blind?

Op: Oh, hey. It’s me. A lunch date?

H: I doubt it.

G: Is any of this normal? I mean, I know Freehaven is strange to newcomers but normal to us, so in this world, is it normal to just hang out on a floating island filled with chairs and tables with really long legs while blimps fly by in formation?

Ok: To say nothing of that freakshow going on down there. What are those? Those creepy little girls and the guy with the wind-up box?

Ca: Witch’s familiars.

=everyone looks to Charlotte, who is nonplussed=

Ch: You know, I’m actually okay with being the villain. At least that would make sense!

Op: You better get some kind of redemption arc and a weirdly sexually charged gunfight with Candeloro.

Ch: That would honestly make up for everything else that’s happened so far.

Ca: I don’t know. All of this looks very witchy, but it wasn’t what I remember from your labyrinth.

…

Op: Hey. Teenaged me. Wake up and smell the bad drug trip.

Ch: Why do you guys have so many cups on that table? Do you have a drinking problem or something?

Op: Look, shit is weird. Don’t judge our coping mechanisms.

G: Is it just me, or is there a bunch of random objects just falling out of the sky all around you?

Ok: Is it just me, or did that blimp have to come literally out of the river to fly at that angle?

H: This is getting progressively more dream-like.

Op: Nice crotch-shot, movie. How come I don’t get the boob or butt camera like Candy and Tavi?

Ch: Do you really want us to answer that question?

Op: I’d prefer if you didn’t.

H: Anyone else notice that the number of cups keep changing?

Op: Like I said. We all have our own ways of coping. Don’t judge.

…

H: Well, at least I’m noticing that something’s off. Even if I’m completely blind to the obviously bizarre stuff going on all around me?

G: Oh, so it’s going to be like a mystery story! And you’re the detective!

Op: And I get to be the sidekick. There are worst roles, I guess.

Ch: I guess that means you’re the main character after all, Lilly.

H: Thank you, but I’d really rather be the lead of a completely different movie.

…

Op: And off we go, on our wild adventure!

H: Beneath endless stone bridges. I mean, seriously. If either of us wanted proof that something was wrong, all we have to do is look up.

G: If this is a fake world you’re trapped in, you’re probably programmed to not notice that anything’s wrong. You know, like how we never really how strange dreams are until we wake up.

Op: Oh, what the hell. The bus is dropping us off in this fever dream? WAKE UP, IDIOTS! WAKE UP AND SMELL THE FREAKY!

Ch: They’re not even hiding it anymore.

G: You know, I can’t help but wonder if this world was always this strange, but that since the first few minutes were from our point of view all the weird stuff not having to do with the Nightmare wasn’t shown. But now that Lilly’s noticed, the weirdness just keeps coming out more and more.

Ch: I would not be surprised.

Ca: I think we can all collectively agree that despite whatever the witch turns out to be, this is all Kyubey’s fault, right?

Op: Fine by mean.

Ok: Agreed.

H: I wonder where all those fake people are going.

Op: I’m just going to assume that there’s a big meat grinder at the bottom of those stairs.

G: Ew.

…

Op: Oh, that’s not right? THAT’S NOT RIGHT? YAH THINK?

Ok: Of course you would be tipped off by the wrong destination but not by the field of hazy red filled with windmills.

Op: Turn left? We were supposed to turn left? HOW CAN YOU TELL? THERE’S NOTHING THERE!

Ch: That does bring up an interesting point. I’m assuming that you’re just blind to the weirdness because it’s got you trapped. So, what is it that you’re seeing?

G: Probably just a normal road, I guess.

Ok: Well, what did you expect taking the loop line?

…

Ch: Okay, so there’s a clear divide between the big, empty, red field with the windmills and the mostly normal looking city.

H: A very loose definition of the word “normal.”

Ch: Well, yeah, but you know what I mean.

H: Like I said. It’s not real.

Ch: We know, I’m just trying to pick out details.

Ok: Hey, girls. Don’t get on the creepy bus.

…

G: If at first you don’t succeed…

Op: Come on, other me! Get a clue!

H: I notice the field is blue now.

Ch: Probably to signify the change from day to night.

Ok: That bus driver is weirdly okay with a couple teenaged girls jumping onto the front of his bus and yelling at him.

H: He’s a fakedy-fake-fake.

Ok: We know! It’s called commentary!

H: Sorry.

Op: “Crossroads”? “Left fork”? How can you tell the difference! It’s a bunch of shiny tiles and windmills!

G: Plus that giant tower made of pipes!

Op: That was probably where we were heading. Giant tower made of pipes.

Ok: Wonder where the ramen shop was.

Op: Third pipe cluster from the bottom.

Ch: Hey, girls. Word of advice. Don’t walk into the scary, blank void.

Op: I know they can’t see the weirdness, but I still feeling like yelling at them.

G: Oh, hey! It’s normal again!

H: They were brought back to the city.

G: Well, relatively normal, at least. With a really tall bridge and giant moon.

…

Op: So…are we about to kiss or something?

H: Obviously not.

Op: I don’t know. You’re holding me awfully close.

H: I’m just trying to keep you from doing something stupid.

Op: If you say so.

…

Op: Oh, hey. If we didn’t have enough problems, it’s a zombie apocalypse.

H: All with our faces, I see.

Op: Somehow, that’s freakier than if they were just the classic rotting kind.

Ca: Obviously a defense system put in place by the witch. Once one of its prisoners start to notice that something’s wrong, the familiars come in to stop them.

Ch: You know, as much as the early parts weirded me out, I am really starting to dig this! I mean, sure, the cake song was…a thing that happened, but now there’s a reason for the weirdness! There’s a mystery! There’s set-up and atmosphere! It’s not just weird for the sake of being weird!

Ok: I’m pretty sure there’s some of that.

Ch: Well, sure.

H: You do remember that with the way things are going, you’re probably going to be revealed as the villain, right?

Ch: I am okay with this.

…

Op: And the zombies leave after I change my stance?

Ok: Those hips don’t lie.

H: More of they sensed that you weren’t resisting anymore.

Op: Might want to rephrase that.

H: You made it dirty. Not me.

Op: At least this me is starting to wake up. So you have at least one bad bitch supporting you.

H: I feel so much better.

G: Oh, hey! Even then you did that thing where you give people candy as a sign of affection!

Op: I’m honestly surprised that more people don’t do that. Honestly, most problems would be solved if people just gave each other candy all the time.

[stinkysam]

Hey hey. I was wondering if I could ask for some help. My writer's block hit me like a brick, and I wanted to know if you would help me come up with some good ideas.

I have a character list and prompt in mind, and if you could, could you please tell me what comes to mind when you get those characters and prompt.

Characters:: Amajiki Tamaki, Sukuna Ryoumen, and Ukai Keinshin.

Prompt:: Alternate Universe- Mermaids.

If you'd like to do this, please tell me whatever comes to mind, and I'll be sure to tag you once I write out the fic.

I honestly had no ideas and then when i started typying i couldn't stop lmao. hope it helps you somehow ?

s/o is a merperson

Amajiki Tamaki

I don't really think an AU is necessary for that one since either he or reader could have a mermaid quirk. But if you don't want a world with quirk, it could be like him spending a lof times around fishes like in public aquariums, or maybe he works there. And one day he sees something new, a new specie that wasn't there before ? Yet he can't seem to actually see them. Maybe he just didn't recognize the fish or a weird reflection of people around him ? Though he keep seeing it. He vaguely asked his colleagues or guides but no ones knows what's he talking about. He finally manage to fully see the new fish, but it's not actually one : a mermaid.

Sukuna Ryomen

He's a fisherman. He's still a bitch tho. He don't care much about fishes, he just wants to be away from dumb people (aka the whole world) so he fishes and sell what he gets without really caring if it's good or not (some people got sick because he gave them old stuffs). He doesn't care what he catches, if he has to put them back in the water or not. "theyre just fishes, fuck off". One day he catch a big one though. Maybe he should keep it to eat it like a selfish glutton. Or sell it at a high price. indecently high price yeah. except its a mermaid. What the fuck is he supposed to do with that shit ? his first idea is to sell them to get rich. the only reason why he doesn't do it is because somehow that "fish" is not that stupid. Like, the two friends that look like they hate each other, always nagging and challenging and insulting one another.

Ukai Keishin

Basically like in the manga. But one night he sees something in the water by taking the kids to beach training camp. Sure he had a few drinks but not to the point of hallucinating. So next night he comes back and sees the thing again and he's fucking panicking because what the fuck is that ? is it dangerous for the kids ?? throw his sandal at the thing to make it go away except it throw it back at him ???? he goes to apologize when he sees an human form except it wasn't an human. So each night he comes back awkwardly placing stuff in the water as an apology, and if you could avoid killing them, that would be very nice. You throw a fish at him yelling that you get it, he's sorry, can he stop giving you food that you're not even fond of now ? The whole thing feels like a huge fever dream because, hello, he's talking to a mermaid/merman, what the fuck ? Ends up coming here every week-end to see them.

They're the merman

Hamajiki Tamaki

he fucked up. you weren't supposed to see him. and now he's panicking that the whole world knows about mermaids. He's going to be hunt down and he will be studied or fried to be eaten. fuckfuckfuck. Except you knew about him and his kind since a long time. in a panicked state he plans a way to kill you so you can't speak. But you know because you can hear his bones shaking lmao so like, he tries to stab you, but you had replaced the knife by a face plastic one, so you "die". But he panics a little because omg he's a fucking murderer, so you finally speaks, scaring him shitless, but you end up explaining yourself and so does he, and turns out you've been helping him for years on, sending fishes or food his way, making sure people don't go too much where mermaids are.

Sukuna Ryomen

He eats flesh. fish or humans or animals he doesnt care. meat is meat. he's heckig pissed because the water he's in is dirty af. there's floating trash. There's legit a floating fridge. Your plan was to clean the area because c'mon that's discusting. except something grabs your leg and bite you, you have no choice but to throw hands. you survive but you're as pissed as him because a fucking fish bit your ankle ffs. you're still cleaning the water but you're making sure to not even have a single toe touching it. sukuna is near, watching you, ready to drown you if you fall. you have big stick in your hand to bonk him if he goes too close. though he appreciate you cleaning his water, "please don't call it that, its not diapers" he's hungry so on top of that you have to throw fishes at him. maybe one day you spot someone taking a piss in the pond or lake- and let's just say poor soul won't ever piss outside anymore as something darted out of the water to almost rip his dick out and something else knocked the first "thing" away while also kicking him and insulting him for being gross. with that sukuna and you became acquintances.

Ukai Keishin

People knows mermaids and mermen are real. which is good because man gives zero shit about being seen. plus some human stuffs seems really interesting (beach volley). and he kinds of love screaming at hyper kids (hinata, nishinoya, tanaka.....) to scare them as they don't know who's yelling at them. and the human who's often with them is kinda nice to the eye. so he discreetly tries to get your attention without really showing himself. just really cute. okay imagine his wet hair please i would die please thank you sir

[septic-skele]

US - Spontaneous

Summary: Papyrus falls asleep during a movie night with Undyne. While not uncommon, it puts her in an awkward position. It feels different this time.

A/N: No hate to the canon ships! I just really like Undyrus in the Swap AU <3

Undyne was used to awkward situations; she seemed to find herself in them more often than anyone else she knew and when she wasn’t stumbling into something, an awkward situation came to her. Regardless, being used to them didn’t make them any easier to address.

How had it happened so fast? She and Papyrus were having a ball, she thought, yelling over the latest episode of their show. More honestly, she was screeching and squealing while he, sipping tea with honey, grunted and hummed in agreement every so often. All was well, all was normal.

As the credits rolled and the next episode set to autoplay, Undyne came down slightly from her adrenaline high. “Ahhh, this is getting so good!” Abruptly she recalled her cup of noodles, getting cold on the side table, but it was as she tried to shift that she noticed the warm, unfamiliar weight on her shoulder. Papyrus had fallen asleep on her.

For a split second the realization came with indignation and dismay. How could he have fallen asleep now?! He was going to miss everything! Then her soul performed a rather impressive triple-backflip, heat flooding her stunned face.

Oh, my stars. A…A guy…just fell asleep on me!

This wasn’t just any “guy”; it was Papyrus, one of her best friends. The fact that she could say that with any kind of certainty made him one of her only real friends. They were such an unlikely pair that half the Underground was unaware they knew each other at all, but for once it hadn’t mattered to Undyne how she was being viewed by others. Papyrus didn’t make a big deal out of it—out of anything—so she didn’t have to either. That was what made it easy to enjoy his company. He made her feel…safe.

Did this mean he felt safe with her too? While seeing him doze wasn’t uncommon, he was a guarded monster by nature. He seemed content to let others think he was just lazy, but as a doctor Undyne knew about the 1 HP, the everyday battle with his own body’s needs. Though they hadn’t spoken of it, she knew about the depression too, even if she didn’t know the cause.

Just another thing they had in common, that. They knew each other well enough to figure out where to step safely; they wouldn’t pry into each other’s wounds.

Getting off track. She knew Papyrus slept more than most but when he was in someone’s company, he would never fully relax. At the slightest rustle he would startle awake. Every so often his eyes would flare amber as he sat up, leaving Undyne to wonder what he thought he might find when he opened them.

He hadn’t stirred when she tried to go for the noodles. How deep was his sleep? How long had he been leaning on her without her notice? More importantly, what was she supposed to do now?

Wake him up, obviously. Right? Then he would push away, probably apologize for losing track of the plot. She could nervously laugh it off, grab her soup and everything would return to standard operating procedure!

“Hey, um…Pap? I-I kind of need you to move,” she whispered, feeling a little pathetic and helpless. “So I can…uh, reach my food.” It was a paltry excuse. He was on her opposite side, hardly in the way; reaching with her free arm to snatch the cup wouldn’t take much effort. Although, if she did lean that way, there was a real chance he could slide down unpropped and end up with his head pressing into her ribs, which would be even less ideal. Her stomach squeezed at the idea: he with an unnecessary crick in his neck and she popping a blood vessel by way of internally screaming.

Nudge him, then…?

Yet, knowing what she did about that 1 HP and chronic fatigue, she couldn’t in good conscience. When was the last time he had slept properly? He really had made himself comfortable, long legs curled up on the couch, arms folded into the safety of his hoodie and the curve of his cheekbone well nestled against her shoulder. Despite his angular features, his resting face was gentle—jaw loose, snoring softly. Even the dark, bruise-like rings under his eye sockets looked kinder under the light from the TV.

Either he produced more body heat than she would have expected or Undyne was coming down with a fever. Fins bristling, she struggled to tear her gaze away from him, focus on something else. The next episode was already a few minutes gone, but her mind was already spiraling. Watching her onscreen OTP dance shyly around each other sent nervous jitters coursing through her arms and legs. She could already imagine how freakin’ adorable it would be to see MC with her love interest dozing against her like this.

How did Undyne look right now? Anxious, uncertain, paralyzed? Definitely not freakin’ adorable.

Papyrus was rather handsome, in his own way…not that Undyne had taken note of it before. Obviously she didn’t pay any special attention to the unique lopsidedness of his grin, or the charming roll in his voice when he genuinely laughed, or how elegant and methodical his hands were, or the way his hoodie hiked up on his hipbones when he stretched—

Wheezing out a tiny, mortified curse, Undyne squeezed her clammy palms firmly between her knees. Shut u-u-u-up, she begged all of the traitorously cute mental images surfacing—things she hadn’t even consciously committed to memory, little quirks he had that she wouldn’t have given a second thought to before. Shut up!

Too late, they singsonged mischievously as she snuck another glance at him. He hadn’t budged an inch. Couldn’t he feel her trembling?

Ugh, stars, I’m getting all sweaty! I haven’t showered! Do I smell…fishy? Like, in the bad way? Would he even notice something like that in his sleep? He’d probably move away on his own if he did…

In such close contact, she was acutely aware of his scent now: mostly just the musk of cigarettes. He smelled like that more often than not—less than attractive, but she had become desensitized to smoke over the course of her more explosive experiments. It didn’t bother her.

Shouldn’t the snoring be an irritant then? Even the smallest noises could prove distracting for her, leading her on a hunt through the lab to figure out whatever was kicking up so she could silence it. But this was…different somehow. His faint, rattling breaths sounded rather like the fans in her computers—a consistent, cat-like purr. It was almost soothing.

So that wasn’t enough to stave it off either? Unbelievable. She was actually trying to rationalize herself out of a crush and failing. Her blush was so fierce now, it felt like her face would burst into flames at any moment.

It definitely would, Undyne decided half a second later, soul in her throat as Papyrus mumbled something unintelligible and instinctively snuggled closer, drawn to the warmth.

That’s it, I’m gonna die. Goodbye, world. Soul leaving body.

Before she departed this mortal coil, however, she would move her free arm slowly, very slowly, wrap her fingers securely around her phone and take a picture. She would bury it in an archive four subfolders deep, where no one else would see, just…to have for herself as reassurance. She needed some viable proof tomorrow that this whole scenario was more than a preposterous, adorable dream.

If only she knew what Papyrus was dreaming of. If she could take a peek, she absolutely would have combusted on the spot.

[mateoweston]

LIKE A CANDLE IN A WINDOW → HEADCANON

who: mateo weston, rory flanagan (@switch-it-up-rory)

when: march 6th, 2021

where: mateo’s room

warnings: feelings!!

Mateo Weston

"I'll have to swing by your work sometime this week," Mat mused, absently tapping through his Netflix library in a half-hearted attempt at finding a movie to put on. Mostly, he was trying to distract himself for at least a moment because he kept catching himself staring at Rory for just a second too long. Maybe some ridiculous comedy show would do the trick and keep him on track until Wednesday. This weekend was supposed to help him calm down so he could be calm, cool and collected when he smoothly told Rory about his feelings over perfectly made stir fry on Wednesday, god damn it. "I've never actually had a smoothie from there and I feel like I gotta change that."

Rory Flanagan

Rory was aware of how comfortable he had made himself on Mateo's bed, settled in as if he himself was part of the furniture, watching the Dominant's hands intently as he scrolled through Netflix, though Rory struggled to concentrate on his good days, never mind when he was this close to the one person he felt like he couldn't have. "They're not that great," He replied, though he felt like his mouth had disconnected from his brain, "Like I'm sure they just shot whatever's closest to them in. I'd just get like a coffee."

Mateo Weston

Laughing to himself, Mat shifted to shoot a look back at Rory who looked way too comfortable and natural cozied up in his bed. It was his fault, really. With his stupid face and stupid smile and the stupid way his dumb hair flopped in his face every now and then. "You're a great spokesperson," he managed after a moment, raising an eyebrow at the other. "They have you outside the store, advertising like that?"

Rory Flanagan

Rory noticed Mat glancing at him, and shot a wink in his direction. "I mean if I were going to be the face of any company, I don't think it'd be The Wave. My allegience is to to Golden Arches, obviously," He mentioned, daring himself to shift closer to Mat, to just be in touching distance. "But I do think me standing otuside with one of those signs would pull in customers. Raw sex appeal and all tha'."

Mateo Weston

His head shook fondly at the mention of McDonalds -- that whole concept still seemed like a fever dream to him that he tried to only acknowledge half of the time. Feeling Rory shift a bit closer, his eyes remained stubbornly on his Laptop even though he'd stopped actually reading any of the names or descriptions a while ago and instead focused entirely of the warmth of Rory radiating against his bare arm. God, this was ridiculous. "Think I'd get a discount for being the first customer?"

Rory Flanagan

Rory frowned slightly when he noticed Mat hover over some terrible chick flick, wondering briefly if the other man had officially lost his marbles. He also thought about taking overthe Netflix selection, but he didn't want to be too obvious in his excuses to simply touch the Dominant. "I mean I'd give you a discount any day, you just have to come in when I'm on shift." Rory told him, honestly.

Mateo Weston

"Oooh, that sounds special treatment to me," Mat hummed, maybe a little high on the proximity as he looked back again, a little distracted by how much closer Rory seemed now than the last time he'd looked at him. His gaze lingered this time, because apparently Rory was now also capable of hypnotising him or something. "Whatever did I do to deserve that?"5. März 2021

Rory Flanagan

Rory scoffed at Mat's light teasing, the words that he wanted to say to the Dom dying on his lips as quickly as they formed, so he shrugged and laughed again. "You feed me and entertain me. I imagine if the gremlins had part time jobs, they'd give those who got them wet and fed them after midnight a bit of special treatment too." He settled for, glancing up at him, feeling weirdly exposed that Mat was right there. Staring. He couldn' think for a moment, just looking up at his stupid face that made Rory catch stupid feelings for this stupid man. "But, uh, who knows. You might get a free smoothie I spat in or something." He tried, though it seemed to fall flat to his ears.

Mateo Weston

A slow, absent grin had spread across Mat's face as he listened. A small part of his brain was aware of how fucking done for he was, considering he was sitting here entirely charmed by talk of spit smoothies, but the bigger part was extremely distracted by that very thing. Rory's stupid pretty face and the stupid charming things he says and how he seems to be able to get under his skin without even trying. How him sitting so close made his skin prickle with heat and his mouth go a little dry. So it took a moment for his brain to recognise his own voice when he spoke. "You're so fucking cute."

Rory Flanagan

It was like everything stopped when the words had left Mateo's mouth. It wasnt like he hadn't complimented Rory before, but never cute, never in that tone of voice. He rasied an eyebrow at the Dominant, trying to work out the game, or the joke, but couldn't sense anything in the other man's facial expressions or the way he spoke. A little voice in Rory's brain, a semblane of hope he thought died long ago from the drugs and the drink, told the Switch this was the proof he needed that Mateo actually liked him, in the way he wanted him to, and he wondered if he dared put the feelers out, to see where this could head. "Aye, so I've been told," He said, after what felt like hundreds of years, "But I guess it, uh, takes a cutie to know one." The delivery couldn't have been lamer, but he felt suddenly sweaty and self-conscious. "I am like, being serious, you're cute too." He mumbled.

Mateo Weston

Where Mat's heart had been pounding a tad faster before, it seemed to straight up drop into his stomach once his brain caught up with his mouth. His eyes widened in realisation and he was about to back-track, cover up what he'd just said -- but he decided against it. It was out now and evidence suggested he was terrible at keeping this a secret anyway so maybe it was worth just seeing what would happen. The long stretch of silence that followed didn't help his nerves though and he almost considered changing the topic anyway. And then Rory spoke and at first, Mat thought he was just going to joke, that he'd have to try and pass it off as a fun little jest as well. But then he kept going and suddenly there was a nervous lump in Mat's throat. Swallowing thickly, he shifted more towards him, voice a little smaller and hopeful than the usual bravado he went into everything with. "Yeah?" he questioned. "...Been thinking that for a hot sec."

Rory Flanagan

It was like all the air had been sucked out of the room when Mat shifted closer to Rory, and though there had been times before this, where they had been intimate within a scene setting, this was so much different. He found himself glancing at the Dominant's mouth, before his eyes locked with his. "Yeah," He agreed, "I mean, I'd argue you're more than cute but if I go on about how attractive I find you, it'll only go to that head of yours," He teaseed, "You have?"

Mateo Weston

At the joke, a bit of held breath spilled out of Mat's lungs, a small chuckle going along with it. It was just what he'd needed to release some tension and with that out of the way, he felt a little brave. Like maybe this wouldn't ruin things. Maybe the opposite. Reaching for one of Rory's hands, he held it between both of his, thumbs rubbing against his skin. "Yeah. That okay?"

Rory Flanagan

Rory felt like a weight had been lifted off him, and he couldn't help the stupid grin on his face when Mat gently reached for his hand, like he was some sort of love interest in a rom-com. "That's more than okay." Rory promised him, "You can think about me being cute or amazing or drop dead sexy and gorgeous anytime." He teased. Another thought popped into his head that made the weight feel like it was slowly descending on him again and he cleared his throat, shifting slightly. "So I take it....by thinking that I'm cute....it means you feel a way about me?" He asked, the actual words he wanted to ask not forming, but he had a feeling Mateo would understand him regardless.

Mateo Weston

"You're gonna make me wanna take it back," he threatened, though there was no real weight to his words, grin still on his face. It was strange, how worried and nervous he'd been about this for a whole week only for things to go so much better than he could have hoped. Rory hadn't fled yet nor had the world collapsed because Mat was interested in a guy. He nodded at his words first, then cleared his throat -- then suddenly let out a small laugh. "God, and I had this whole fucking plan to wine and dine you on Wednesday and have a mature conversation about this. It's your stupid face that did this to me."

Rory Flanagan

Rory hummed in response but he rolled his eyes playfully at the threat, blowing a kiss in response. He knew there was a lot that they needed to unpack, to talk about, but in this moment, the Irish lad just wanted to be happy. Just wanted to enjoy the fact that the guy he had been yearning for returned his affections. His heart panged at the reveal of Mat's plans, and he reached out to stroke his arm in an assuring way, no longer worried about him freaking out at such a gesture. "I mean, you still can. I'm very good at acting surprised. And the whole mature convo, that can come too." He grinned a mischevious grin at the accusation, "Aye don't blame the stupid face you're insanely attracted to, it did nothing but develop out of a good pool of genetics."

Mateo Weston

The grin on his face widened, losing all of its unsure edge. He'd been so concerned that things would change, that they wouldn't be able to be them anymore once this was out in the open and he was so relieved to find that being untrue. "Alright, I'm gonna kiss you now," he announced before leaning in to do just that. It was soft at first, gentle lips against Rory's as his hands came up to cup his face. While Mat may not always choose the gentle approach, he wanted it for this -- he wanted to savour the moment and be able to remember it later.6. März 2021

Rory Flanagan

The Switch was about to make a smart comment about the time between Mat announcing his feelings for him and the lack of kissing, when it seemed like the Dominant had read his mind, and suddenly his lips wre on Rory's. It was much more gentle than Rory had expected, but it was welcome all the same, and he kissed back eagerly, whilst trying to keep things at this same, soft level. The Switch's arms found themselves draped over Mat's shoulders, and it could have been seconds, minutes or even hours by the time they broke apart. "That was nice," He said with a chuckle, feeling like his brain had fell out of his head.

Mateo Weston

Letting out a breathy laugh once the kiss broke, Mat nodded in agreement. "It was." There was a brief pause before he went back, more passionately this time. As ridiculous as he'd felt the past couple of nights, rolling around sleeplessly and thinking about kissing Rory like some sort of innocent schoolboy, he had to admit -- the real thing beat the fantasy. A hand slipped from Rory's jaw into the hair at the back of his head, tilting the other's head in a way that allowed him to deepen the kiss. He could spend forever doing this.

~~FADE TO BLACK~~

[creampuffqueen]

Manon x Dorian baby heacanons

Introducing: witches!

-Manon and Dorian are, to say the least, an interesting couple

-They both have a TON of rebuilding to do after the war, so they're incredibly busy. They do see each other fairly frequently, though, as their countries border one another and Manon comes to train the wyverns.

-And whenever she's over in Adarlan, Dorian always meets her. Like always. Almost like he misses and cares about her or something.

-And we all know what these two get up to when they meet. We know what goes on in those bedrooms, closets, bathrooms, abandoned hallways, etc.

-But as Dorian's court, and his mother, return to the castle, people are pushing him to get married. His mother is flinging courtly ladies at him every other day.

-The witches don't care if Manon gets married, because it wouldn't matter anyway. A man that married into the royal bloodline could never be a witch king, unless he was an actual witch.

-But people in Adarlan want a queen.

-And Dorian is thinking about Manon all the time, he never stops thinking about her. He also thinks about what Yrene said when they parted, about them getting married.

-Finally when Manon comes to visit, Dorian decides to talk with her about it. She's slowly getting better at talking about her feelings, so she doesn't immediately slice Dorian in half when he suggests they talk.

-Dorian remembers her proposal, that night in the snow during the war. He knows she could never stand to be shackled to someone.

-So they talk about it

-And they come to the conclusion: They could stand to be married to each other.

-But the problem is that both are sole rulers of their countries. Manon has no heirs, nor does Dorian, and there's no way in hell he's letting Hollin have the throne.

-So they decide that they will be married. But they will live in their own countries and see each other as much as possible. That way they can still rule, but they will appease the people and themselves. And since they won't always be living together, Manon won't feel tied down.

-Dorian jokingly gets down on one knee to pop the question, Manon just rolls her eyes, says "yes" and hauls him to his feet before shutting him up with a kiss.

-They announce it right before she leaves, and Dorian is surprised his mother doesn't faint with the shock.

-Dorian decides to go with Manon to the wastes to announce it, and nobody there is surprised. Like at all. Glennis just grins at him, and the rest of the witches are like "congrats. Let's eat".

-The wedding is a quiet affair. They invite their friends and family, and it's a quick ceremony. Manon wears her flying leathers and strides down the isle with Abraxos at her side.

-Despite the simplicity, it's a good wedding, and Manon feels happy for the first time in ages.

-For the first six months they hardly leave each other's sides. They alternate between the Wastes and Adarlan. It's great. After six months they separate just a little, like Dorian going back to the palace for a while, and Manon stays in the Wastes. They still prefer to be together, though.

-After Yrene, Aelin, and Elide start popping out children left and right, Manon and Dorian are like "oh yeah, we should probably do that soon."

-Honestly they're the most chill couple out there. They have a chill talk about the whole heir situation, and decide this:

-They need two heirs, one for each kingdom. As a man Dorian can have kids for like seventy more years to come, but they want to have some while he's still young, and they want to have some near the age of the other kids they'll inevitably be hanging out with.

-So they try for a baby.

-With Manon's Crochan blood and Dorian's magic, they conceive quickly.

-With how busy they've been, Manon hasn't had much time to dwell on the past. But when she finds out she's expecting it all comes rushing back. Asterin would have been so happy for her. All of the Thirteen would have been so happy for her.

-Her pregnancy is fairly easy, compared to some. She's mostly just very emotional, and it's annoying because she has to keep up a badass reputation with her subjects.

-Dorian is so on top of things, he just wants her to be safe. Manon is conflicted between letting herself be cooped up, as is the witch custom, or just going on normally. She decides to act normal around everyone except Dorian, who is the only person she will allow to bundle her up and keep her confined.

-Dorian is so so excited to be a dad, he's already a bomb uncle to little Amelie and Rygan, and he adores all the other kids he's around. But deep down he's super super worried, because his dad was an asshole and what if he ends up like him?

-Manon is sick of being pregnant when she's like five months in. Because people are treating her differently, even Dorian, acting like she's fragile. And she's not fragile, but at the same time she's scared that she is because she grew up hearing the horror stories of witch birthings. But Crochans have it easier, they often have multiple children, so she hopes she can make it through.

-Yrene offers to deliver the baby, which Manon is fine with. Even more fine with when she suddenly goes into labor about a month early.

-Its a good thing Yrene was at the castle with her husband and children for a small party (Celebrating Chaol's birthday)

-The baby comes fast, like, born in only a few hours fast.

-Manon holds her baby in the wee hours of the morning. The baby doesn't have the same birthday as Chaol.

-It's a girl, which Manon already knew. She knew she'd have a little witchling.

-Despite the fact that the baby was born early, Manon is perfectly fine.

-And despite the fact she was born early and is a little small, the baby is perfectly fine as well.

-The baby has shining black hair, like her father. But when she opens her eyes they are a burning gold like her mothers.

-They decide to wait a bit to name her. They want to know what her future will be.

-After some talking a bit of debate, they decide again. This couple has become very good at making decisions.

-This baby girl will be the Crown Princess of Adarlan. This is since Dorian is mortal, and he could die, at like, any time. In theory.

-He won't, but you know what I mean. Adarlan needs an heir before the Wastes do.

-Because she's Adarlan's princess, Manon hands over the naming to Dorian.

-He wonders aloud if its tasteless to name your baby after a dead lover. Manon shrugs and says "Aelin and Rowan have done it. Just name the gods damned baby"

-She is named Aris Sorscha Blackbeak Crochan-Havilliard. Her name rivals that of Lyria Nehemia Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius.

-Aris is a good baby. A very good baby. She's always smiling and is sweet and very curious

-Surprisingly, Manon takes to motherhood very easily and naturally. At first whenever the baby cried she put her in bed with her and Dorian, but eventually she just gives up on the crib and they all co-sleep, which Manon later informs Dorian is something most witch mothers do. But she thought she wouldn't be able to stand having a baby in her bed, which is why she tried the crib.

-Dorian is a bomb dad. He never puts that child down, like, ever. Manon thinks it cute until she wants to hold the baby, then its annoying.

-They don't know if it's safe for a baby to travel by wyvern, so Manon rules her kingdom by messenger for about six months.

-Then she starts wyvern-training Aris

-She and Dorian take the baby to Abraxos, who falls in love with the babe at first sight. A few days later they take her on a small flight around a tower. Then around the garden, just over the top of the bushes. Then around the castle. Aris loves it, and she lets out little baby squeals and giggles.

-Being a witch, the air pressure doesn't bother her, and Manon watches her infant daughter flick down her third eyelid against the wind on instinct.

-They bring her to the Wastes, where everyone is happy to see them. There's an actual party for the homecoming of Aris, despite the fact the witches know she's not their heir.

-Glennis takes on her role of grandmother, or in this case, great-grandmother.

-Aris takes her first steps in the Wastes, as any proper witchling should. By this time its plain as day that she has Ironteeth blood. Whenever the baby gets excited she accidentally flicks out her iron teeth or nails.

-Her first birthday is celebrated in Adarlan, and she says her first word the same day. It's "dada"

-After her first birthday, Aris starts to show signs of her father's raw magic. Random objects will be thrown from the shelves whenever she throws a tantrum, gusts of wind blow through the nursery whenever she dreams, water will spurt from her bottle across the room, and other incidents occur.

-Aris is extremely curious, and she has a bit of a free spirit. She has a whole castle to roam and explore, and explore it she does. Dorian and Manon lose count of how many times they lose the baby.

-When she's about a year and three quarters, Manon suddenly gets a little bit of baby fever. She can't believe her daughter is almost two, and she longs for the days when she was just a wee babe in her arms, and not a squirming, magic witchling toddler. She loves her baby, but she can't believe how fast she's grown.

-She thinks its a bit undignified to feel like this, but she tells Dorian anyway. They decide to start thinking about another baby, an Heir for the Wastes.

-Well, thinking apparently leads to doing, because Manon finds out she's pregnant again about a month later.

-They tell Aris first, that she's going to be a big sister. She's so excited that the bedspread catches fire. Good thing they're used to things like that at this point and Dorian quickly puts it out and gets new sheets.

-Manon's second pregnancy isn't as emotional as it is nauseating. She's so sick, she can't hardly think about flying or else she'll puke. They're in the Wastes at this point, and Dorian has to return to Adarlan for an important meeting, and he doesn't want to leave Aris with Manon when her mother can hardly move without getting sick. So he takes the baby with him, and Aris is separated from her mother for the first time.

-She handles it surprisingly well, except for asking "wheres mommy" every ten minutes.

-Dorian spends as much time with his wife as he can while she's pregnant, but because the pregnancy is so rough he often has to take full charge of Aris, which usually means he has to leave Manon.

-It's upsetting, but it all works out in the end.

-The second Blackbeak Crochan-Havilliard girl is born in the middle of the afternoon, in the Witch Kingdom. Dorian had planned to bring Aris with him to stay with Manon in the final stretch of her pregnancy, but the baby comes early, while Dorian is still in Adarlan.

-Another witchling, with moon-white hair and sapphire eyes.

-Manon's heir, the Crown Princess of the Witch Kingdom

-Manon names her daughter Nysa Asterin

-She wishes she could name her daughter after all of the Thirteen, but that would be way too many names. So she settles for Asterin

-Right from the start, Nysa is a difficult baby. Unlike Aris, she is very fussy all the time and only quiets down if she's being held. After being separated from her family for so long Manon isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so she's fine with constantly holding a baby.

-Aris loves her baby sister, she always wants to hold her, but that makes Nysa cry, so then Aris gets upset and cries too.

-Nysa is wyvern-trained as well, and she loves it as much as her sister does.

-All of Nysa's firsts are in the Wastes. First steps, first words (Mama), first birthday. She goes to Adarlan as well, but she waits to have a first until she gets back to the Witch Kingdom

-Its right after Nysa's first birthday that Manon starts to feel funny. Like a, morning sickness funny.

-Oh

-They didn't plan for a third baby. They didn't plan for another baby at all. They had their heirs, their perfect and wonderful daughters, and that was all they needed.

-But, hey, it's happened, and there's no turning back now.

-So they tell their girls that they're getting another sister. Because Manon is sure that she's having another girl.

-This pregnancy isn't hard, like, at all. It's a breath of fresh air after the last one, especially since she has to look after two toddlers this time.

-And as usual, Manon is right. It's a baby girl.

-Her hair is white, like hers, but her eyes...

-One is bright gold. And the other is sparkling sapphire

-She's gorgeous

-They decide on her name together, because she technically is heir to both kingdoms.

-Her name is Kerrigan Rhiannon, along with her massive amount of last names.

-And holy gods, Kerrigan is a wild child.

-She walks and talks earlier than both her older sisters. By the time she's one and a half she's stringing together full sentences.

-And like both her sisters, she has both the iron nails and teeth, and raw magic. And she uses all her abilities to make trouble. Since she's not really a Crown Princess like her sisters, she gets away with a lot more and gets into way more trouble.

-When the girls are six, four, and three, Manon and Dorian decide to split them up and take them to their respective kingdoms. They see each other and visit often, but they spend a majority of their time with one parent. Except for Kerrigan, who hops between her parents nearly every time they visit.

-As the girls grow and their training gets more intense, both as warriors/magic wielders and princesses, they spend less and less time together.

-Of course, except for Kerrigan. She does what she wants. She has basic etiquette lessons and basic fighting lessons, but that's about it. Sometimes she requests more training, sometimes she doesn't.

-Manon and Dorian do their best to keep their children on good terms with each other, but it can be hard. Mostly between Aris and Nysa.

-The schedule for living with their parents is that they stay with one for nine months, and the other for three. Aris stays with Dorian for 9 and Manon 3, and Nysa has the opposite. And again. Kerrigan does what she wants.

-Some jealousy grows between the sisters, for getting to spend more time with one parent or whatever. Sometimes Kerrigan gets jealous that her sisters have such a structured life, and sometimes her sisters get jealous that she gets to do what she wants.

-As Aris gets older, she gets very bookish. She lives with Dorian for nine months of the year, so it's natural she loves reading. But she loves reading so much that she'll stay up late and be tired in the morning. Dorian, with a heavy heart, tells Aris that she can't read at night so she won't be tired. And Aris, naturally, doesn't listen, and instead reads by a single candle, or sometimes by moonlight. She does it so much she wrecks her eyesight.

-Nysa, living with witches for most of the year, is a lot more ruthless and bloodthirsty than her older sister is. She isn't raised to be a killing machine, like Manon was, but she's raised to be powerful.

-This difference in training creates a bit of a rift between Aris and Nysa, as Nysa believes her sister isn't using her full potential as a raw magic wielding witch when she spends so much time reading, and Aris thinks her sister is too bloodthirsty.

-However, they keep their arguments to themselves. So much, in fact, that their own parents don't know they don't get along

-When Nysa is ten, she begs Manon for a wyvern. And in this case, Manon relents to her children right away. She lets all three of them get a wyvern.

-She lets them each pick a hatchling and train it themselves. (Or really, train it themselves with quite a bit of help from Manon)

-And honestly it's the best feeling ever for Manon to be riding Abraxos through the clouds, with her daughters following behind her on their own wyverns and whooping to the skies.

-It's the best mother-daughter bonding moment possible. When they go off riding Dorian always conveniently has something to do. Really he just loves the idea of his wife and daughters all having bonding time together.

-For Dorian, the best bonding moments with his daughters differ for each. With Aris its either reading together or teaching her to do ballroom dances. With Nysa it's fencing and sparring. And with Kerrigan it's teaching her how to use her magic.

-They're a sight to see all together, five terrifying yet attractive people, all on wyverns.

-And even though they squabble and fight, they still all love each other.

-And that love is all Manon and Dorian could ever ask for.

The story Worlds of Fire and Darkness takes place when Aris is 18, Nysa is 16, and Kerrigan is 15

[jlf23tumble]

My 1D-related fic faves of 2019

I've read a TON of great fic this year in all kinds of fandoms, Jeeeeeeeeeesus, there are so many talented writers out there, but I won't list it all here (or even list everything I bookmarked this year). Instead, I'm gonna stick with 1D-related works released in 2019 that pulled me in hard and made me stare at the wall and/or read again and/or scream about with other people, and I'll try to do it in cutesie number order because WHY NOT make it that extra level of arbitrary, lmao. I love fanfic because no matter what fandom I'm dipping in, something new is gonna jump up and kill me (this year in particular, I've subscribed to a lot of "new to me" writers that I LOVE, and I hope you know who you are [do you know who you are, etc.]). Thank you for the free gifts, for your time, for your blood, sweat, and tears! I owe you hugs, coffee, and my undying love, gratitude, and support! I'll put my list under the cut to avoid some v. v. real screen scroll rage--happy new year, y'all!

2 lactation kink fics

(aka the Jaerie category, nobody else is out there writing this even as Harry's tits get bigger and milkier and why am I the only one fully appreciating all of it?????)

I Think You're Already Home, by jaerie, Seeing Louis Tomlinson today, it would be hard to guess that he was ever once a member of the world's most famous boyband. These days he doesn't even the leave his own house. The truth is he can't leave his own house. (a December gift to remember for all of us! a/b/o dynamics, famous Louis, omega Harry--which is practically canon at this point--crippling agoraphobia, lactation-related sexiness, I would read at least ten (10) more chapters of this)

freaks from the internet, by jaerie. Harry sells his breast milk to freaks on the internet. Louis turns out to be one of those freaks. He also happens to be Harry's ex. (I legit can't believe this came out this year, I rec it all the time! it was anon for forever, and I was low-key obsessed because I just wanted mawrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr of it, and I got it, thank CHRIST)

3 fics for meeeeeeee

(These works were gifts to me, and I am so truly hashtag blessed to receive!!!)

I Just Wanna Taste It, by @homosociallyyours​. In his mind it's watermelon and sticky strawberry sweet, and he craves the feeling of his own round, firm belly warm under his hands on a summer evening. (Megan loves to kill me with Harry mpreg imaginings, and this one feels like canon to me!)

Powerless (and I Don't Care It's Obvious), by objectlesson/ @alienfuckeronmain​. He should not be getting turned on by Harry’s full-bladder discomfort, his little twitches, his hips-stuttering. And yet. (AND YET!!! I don't even know where to start with how much I love Phoenix, what a treasure her work is in ANY fandom, how shitty this particular fandom has been to her, how much I'm gonna miss harry/louis fic gifts from her in the future, how HOT this pee kink fic is in general, dot dot dot)

Tuxedo Classic Dance Party, by Blake/ @newleafover​. Instead of flying out to meet his touring boyfriend in Madrid, Louis sticks around to be responsible and do things like dance at Lady Gaga night at the gay cowboy club in West Hollywood. (Blake has written at least five fics in various fandoms that I would say are my favorite fics of all time, but they really topped themselves with this one!)

4 fic series

(I feel like there are probably loads more that qualify, but these ones grabbed me in their own particular way)

Not That Gone, by abrighteryellow/ @a-brighter-yellow​. Louis’s 20-year high school reunion takes a turn when a celebrity classmate – who also happens to be Louis’s long unrequited crush – unexpectedly shows up. (this was inspired by Chris Evans, and both parts stand on their own, tbh)

Maybe I Miss You, by 13ways. Louis is on his way back to London after the Hits Live Birmingham concert. Harry is flying to New York for the Met Gala. They connect. (from the very first story in this series, I was HOOKED, canon angst that builds up to something truly wonderful)

There's something I want to try..., by TheMagicWord. Harry wants to try something. Louis's not convinced. Until he is. (the installments are super short, super hot)

One More Time Again, by orphan_account. On the morning of his second sold-out performance at Madison Square Garden, Harry wakes up to find that he's sixteen years old, on The X Factor, and that he has a chance to make things right. (I'm sad that this author orphaned, but I seem to recall her getting a TON of shit, which is unfortunate because this is a great read, and part two is an imagining where Louis goes back instead)

5 fics featuring holidays

(These ones are basically from Christmas and Halloween of this year, so quite recent!!)

once bitten and twice shy, by @pinkcords​. In a rush of bravery only senior year can bring, Harry confesses his feelings in a letter to his neighbor and best friend, Louis, only for the entire school to hear it and laugh him out of their small town in Wisconsin. (the notes on this one blew me away: first-time author, pinch-hitting for a fest, and damn, a knock out)

you've set my soul to dreaming, by we_are_the_same. Thirty-year-old Harry Styles goes to bed single on Christmas Eve, only to wake up on Christmas morning with a husband in his bed and a son down the hall. (I'm not always into this trope, but when it's done well? NICE, and this one did it well)

when half spent was the night, by @juliusschmidt​. I’ve skimmed your website and am interested in hiring you to be my doula. I’m 7 ½ months pregnant and not keen to do this whole labor and birth thing alone. After looking around, I thought you might be a good fit. (girl direction advent fic with pregnant Louis that’s incredibly well done, especially given how short it is, I was so sad to see it end, but the author says something about act II coming??? YES!!!)

Fictober 2019 Collection, by flowercrownfemme/ @lesbianiconharrystyles​. Features lots of monsters and creatures and Harry Styles being a general nightmare as well as a few Girl Direction drabbles and a timestamp for Fool For You and one for Treat Mothman With Kindness. (Chloe's Halloween drabbles, each of which could outrival other stories 4x the length...she's a GIFT)

Cat & Mouse, by jaerie. It's the one day out of the year that Harry doesn't have to hide and can be himself — at least he thought so. Louis is just a little more observant than he anticipated. (I'm not a big hybrid fic fan, BUT GOD THIS STORY IS SO GOOD, it's so short I wanna cry, but so good!!!)

6 a/b/o fics

(I can handle "traditional" a/b/o if it gives me my dose of omega Harry, but I absolutely adore "untraditional" a/b/o, you know, where it actually is NOT about straight dynamics being put on a m/m or f/f couple (excuse me, a/a or o/o)...these ones NAIL IT, as did the entire gaybo ficfest)

violence of my own touch, by 14hrflight/ @silverfoxlouis​. Louis hasn’t said anything, but Harry knows something is wrong. Harry’s rut had ended a few days ago, and Louis had kept him under as best as he could. (whenever I read Chi's alpha/alpha fics, I find myself internally screaming "CHI!!!" god, do they Get It, and I really hope they continue this one!)

Amor Victorious, by HappyPrincess/ @pattern-pals​. Louis finds himself following Harry on a journey through Italy, complete with long train rides, greasy food, naked Christs, and too many lingering touches. They're definitely not like other tourists and he definitely doesn't have a crush on his best friend who happens to be an alpha, too. (this one came out during Thanksgiving week, so I held it to savor, and BOY, DID I SAVOR, it's so incredible, the gorgeous writing, the visceral, indescribable feeling of reading it, sighhhhhhh)

do you know me by heart, by HappyPrincess/ @pattern-pals​. Harry comes back wearing alphas' scents, a pleased smile and a lace dress. Somehow, Louis still ends up making him come until he cries. (for me personally, 2019 was the year of Nina: getting to know them, catching up on all their writing, falling in love with the way they can kill us all with beautiful angst and the hint and hope of redemption...here's a tissue, you'll need it!!)

the way that you're thrilling me, by @hereforlou​. Alphas were smelly and cocky and mostly arseholes, in Harry’s experience. Or at least they were at school. He didn’t understand how his friends—lovely, soft-skinned, sweet-smelling omegas—could actually want to touch them, or be touched by them. (this is just one of the many, MANY faves I had from the gaybo ficfest, A+ all around)

Constant Debauchery, by Blake/ @newleafover​. Harry is an alpha who loves getting his mouth knotted by other alphas. Louis is happy to serve. Fun smut! But also angst and sexual awakenings. (Blake knows how to sum up their writing, lol, but YEAH, me as at least one of the comments both public and private saying they'd want to read 100k more of this)

how many nights did I crash against the waves, by Blake/ @newleafover​ Louis is going into heat and Harry thinks it's hot. (the SKILL of writing something that's 1.7k, yet builds a complete--and v. v. hot--world)

7 fics with Harry and someone else

(I still have a few I need to read in this category--I'm getting there! But these are some from my fave authors that really had me pondering some walls [heh])

I Want Your Belly, by @glasscushion​. Harry wants Adam to knock him up. Inspired by on-stage thirst, the Instagram Stories Shirt, Watermelon Sugar, and Harry’s persistent baby fever. (Adam/Harry, mpreg kink of the finest order!!)

Rachel, Nevada, by @vondrostes​. Harry has a close sexual encounter of the fourth kind. (Jeff/Harry, Rachel/Harry, and I honestly can't even BEGIN to describe this, holy WOW)

Sea Salt, by @glasscushion​. Nick's drunk, and he can't avoid his feelings forever. Set in 2013 and 2019. (Nick/Harry, rip gryles...the grylers I know had an absolute field day in terms of angst, damn!)

all my lies are safe beside you now, by HappyPrincess/ @pattern-pals​. They both know what it was like to love Louis Tomlinson fiercely, irrevocably, ghosts of it on their skin, even if the traces were etched in vastly different ways. (Zayn/Harry, and FOR REAL, this is a huge ouch)

call me anything you like, but my name is, by @wishforwishes​. Some conversations are better left forgotten, some conversations are worth remembering, and some conversations you never get the chance to have. Featuring three mentors, two tea parties, one and a half recording studios, and a reference to Archie comics. (Harry/CHASM, essentially; LISTEN, I am obsessed with this fic, you don't need to read part one to really Get It, but the bits with Zayn, and James/Ben, and all the parts with Harry working through gender? SO GODDAMNED REAL)

Come Out and Play, by @dinosaursmate​. Harry and Louis discover a new kink in their relationship, and it brings all the boys closer than they could have ever imagined. (ot5 orgy, so not really Harry with anyone so much as everyone with everyone, and let's call this one canon)

Like a Rolling Stone, by @vondrostes​. By the end of it, Nick realised his tea had gone cold in his hand. He’d barely taken a single sip in the hour-plus he’d been sat there, unmoving, transfixed by Harry’s songs—haunted by the knowledge of what had inspired them. (Nick/Harry, rip gryles)

8 canon fics

(This was a VERY hard category to narrow down, but yeah, a big push this year from "newer" writers = lots of nuanced fic)

Per Aspera, by @sedfierisentio​. Louis’s throat feels tight, his heart like a hammer in his chest. You know my rot, he thinks, and I know yours. I love you still. (these achingly beautiful time stamps are centered around taste, and if this fic has taught me anything, it's that buying an author a coffee has a ripple effect)

A Nullo Amato, by @sedfierisentio​. Inspired by Harry carrying books around outside LAX, a canon-compliant, Canon AU fic set between 2014 and 2015; mostly, timestamps roped together by a common theme—literature. (this was removed four years ago and reposted, so maybe it's a cheat??? i don't care, it was brand-new to me and a lot of other people, I'm so glad the author shared it again!)

no love like your love, by @dykes4louis​. A collection of tumblr drabbles. (Hima is REALLY burying the lede on this one because each of these is short and SCORCHING, her skill, check out her other works, too!)

Dancing in My Dreams, by @kingsofeverything​. Louis doesn't mean to imply that Harry's too old to dance for him, but Harry takes it that way, and sets out to prove him wrong. (this is one that *could* go in the series pile, but I love it as a standalone...feels like canon to me, regardless!)

Sonic Sounds, by @glasscushion​. "Harry takes a deep breath, suitably embarrassed, “I’m just really...” and he can’t say the obvious. He can’t just say "really wet." Or Harry loves feeling embarrassed. Louis is happy to help. (I'll never look at those One Direction electric toothbrushes quite the same way again)

Bruised Fruit, by @glasscushion. Louis is obsessed with the way Harry smells in the heat of LA. (hey, you know what, me, too, bitch, you ain't special...the way this fic SMELLS, my god, I"m obsessed)

be my once in a lifetime, by HappyPrincess/ @pattern-pals. Just like there are only four other people who will ever understand what it’s like growing up in One Direction, there’s only one other person who knows what it’s like to find your soulmate just before you’re thrown into the spotlight and forced to acknowledge that the both of you have too many flaws and vices to make it through fame together. Or: It's all about having sex and being sad. And drunk. (can u believe Nina wrote this before Fine Line???)

in this dress, by cabinbythesea. Louis is so lost in his eyes and his words he feels if a step above heaven exists, it has to be Harry. Loosely inspired by Harry’s dress from the director’s cut of Lights Up. (I sure hope we see even more fic inspired by every bit of this album/every video it produces)

9 fics by Phoenix/ @alienfuckeronmain

(This fandom doesn't deserve her, and I hope everyone's reading her other works because they're all so amazing, she's such an incredibly gifted writer, my fave of faves, my life is so much brighter with her in it...I could rec her all goddamned day, and I do slash will!!! Here are nine she cranked out this year, each one a gem in its own way)

Silver White Winters. In which Louis catches a cloud and pins it down, aka, a Sound of Music AU (the shittiness in the comments underlines why we can't have nice things, but jesus CHRIST, this is so pure and good, and she cranked it out in, like, two hours)

I don't do that dance. Harry is easily the worst ballet dancer in her whole Intro to Ballet class. Except maybe Taylor Swift. (I adore how Phoenix writes girl Harry, but the way she writes Taylor? Unparalleled...nails her perfectly!)

magic, madness, heaven, sin, by @kerasines. It’s the flashing lights painting colors on her eyelids, it’s the drumming bass competing with her heartbeat. It’s the manic energy rippling through the crowd in waves, the deafening, frenzied passion filling the stadium that remind Eleanor that she actually used to like going to concerts. (technically, this one is FOR Phoenix, from Kim, but it takes a pairing that Phoenix is making her very own, so I'm counting it, lol)

Snakes and Stones. If you call a girl a snake enough, sometimes she becomes one. Her legs lengthen and fuse, her pupils shrink to slits. She gets colder and colder, until she has to spread herself on the warm cement beside the pool, soaking in heat, sipping gin and tonics to warm her blood so she does not turn to ice and shatter to bits. (god, I'm blanking on this ship name, but El/Taylor is such an inspired pairing, and I hope that P's drabbles make it over to ao3 in full)

Something good (will come from here). Taylor does not answer, because she is too busy licking her lips and pitching forward, as if Eleanor is the sky, or the sea. (you can practically SMELL this fic, El/Taylor drabble)

I Must Confess (I Still Believe). Harry is the new girl at an all girl Catholic Girl's School, and Louis is the unattainable, dashing senior who changes her forever. (this fic breaks my heart, the entire experience of its production and aftermath will forever be bittersweet, a gorgeous swansong)

Only One at the Finish Line. “I want to be another alpha’s omega,” is what he says, and it comes out like something reckless, something wild. Like he doesn't care anymore if Louis hates him or not, if Louis understands, he just needs to speak his truth aloud to darkness, to the slender pines that surround them like a jury panel. (Phoenix was the gaybo mod, and this was her contribution, and it is PERFECTION PERSONIFIED, fest goals)

The Pink Ghost of Princess Park. The thought of the vibrator does not go away. It’s sitting there collecting dust all through January, and every time Harry and Louis have to leave town for a press event or a show or to record or what have you, they come back home, and it’s still there, the Pink Ghost of Princess Park, the fucking glittery haunting that Harry cannot stop thinking of Louis stuffing up his arse. (a very good year in general for Princess Park clapbacks)

Life Saver. Louis is a sweetheart punk with a theater background and a heart of gold, Harry is an inexperienced nerd who plays by the rules. Classmates, lab partners, and eventually friends, what happens when Louis knows he’s in love, but doesn’t know how tell Harry? (this one came out a year ago tomorrow, and it had a tough birthing process, but it's so good, so hot, my love for virgin Harry gettin’ it on knows no bounds)

10 AU fics

(yes, yes, this could be LOADS longer, but I’m sticking to my theme!)

breathless for an eternity, by cabinbythesea. Harry conquers double duty on SNL and Louis wishes he was Nick Jonas. (dangggg, this came out too late for me to rec it along with my other snl-related fic, but it joins that lofty canon!)

Pretty Baby, by @littlelouishiccups. Louis helps Harry unwind after a busy week. (I was NOT expecting a new chapter in the iconic sugar baby Harry series, but HERE WE ARE)

into another (another) serotonin overflow, by @mercutionotromeo. Sweet first time sex wherein Harry's adorably awkward, Louis is achingly cool, and Harry rides Louis wearing his jersey. (this is one of my all-time fave fics, and I'm not sure what changed in it to get it reposted, but yeah, HERE FOR IT, THANK YOU!!!)

'Sup, by @mediawhorefics. All Louis wants is to finish the play he’s been commissioned to write, but one of the regulars at his local coffee shop keeps distracting him. ft. older larry, pushy gemma, harry being a disaster gay and silver fox louis. (this is so short but so tantalizing, GOD, DO I WANT MORE OF THIS UNIVERSE)

Tan Lines and Some Memories, by twoshipstiedup. Harry Styles is the indie movie darling he’d been avoiding ever since Louis saw his movie at Cannes and harbored an unreasonable grudge against him. A unicorn t-shirt finally brings them together in person. (I honestly thought we'd get more unicorn shirt fic, but this is a wonderful standard-bearer, banter city)

Bitter Tangerine, by purpledaisy/ @daisyharry. Nine months after they break up, a twist of fate brings Harry and Louis back together at Christmas. (so much ouch in this, but wow, do you feel like you're reading fully realized, realistic, growing characters)

We're Driving in Your Fast Car, by @sadaveniren. Harry felt himself light up - both with excitement and the thrill of getting what he wanted. “Really?” “Of course, anything for you." aka Louis and Harry are car thieves about to pull off a million dollar job. (another one I'd love to read more of...how did they get here, where are they going, etc.)

remember you well, by @fondleeds. Harry’s a criminal, Louis’ a cop, and they’re stranded overnight at the Motel 6. (what's with me and my love of heist/caper fics this year?)

Tied Down, by HamPalpert/ @ham-palpert. The most interesting case in Liam and Niall's careers falls directly into their laps, courtesy of an epic fuck-up of one Harry Styles, partner to the almost-infamous drug dealer Louis Tomlinson. The investigation yields an unexpected yet satisfactory outcome for Liam and Niall. For Harry and Louis, however, things are far more complicated. (SEE ABOVE, JESUS, I THINK ABOUT THIS FIC...ALL...THE.......TIME)

Harry Styles Cooks..., by sunsetmog. Louis owns all of Harry Styles’ cookbooks, and he never intends to cook a single thing out of any of them. (yeah, it's a wip, yeah, I flatline every time it updates, what of it, I'm living my best life vicariously through it!!)

[sw-daydreamer]

More fan reactions!

SOURCE: tvsourcemagazine.com/2019/12/the-rise-of-skywalker-roundtable/

First Impressions of the movie?

Cam: Honestly, the first thought that kept repeating in my head as I continued watching the movie was “Who greenlight this?”. Too many hours spent on pointless plot points, bad dialogue, character regression and a clear intent to take digs at the previous movie.

April: The first time I saw the film I found it largely enjoyable. It reminded me of “old school” Star Wars films, which fits with J.J.’s nerdy love for the original films. However, there were glaring issues, largely that, in an effort to make every fan group happy, J.J. created a film where every fan group instead found something to nitpick. He bent to the will of the racist fans from “The Last Jedi” and shrunk Kelly Marie Tran’s role to nothing, he created women out of thin air (Jannah and Zorrie) to stand as helpmates to the men around them, just to name a few things. But as an end to Luke Skywalker’s story, it’s acceptable.

Anika: Thanks to spoilers, which I actively sought, I already knew what to expect. While I didn’t hate the movie in it’s entirety, my dissatisfaction with it made it the only Star Wars movie that I am quite happy seeing just once. So much of it just felt cobbled together and didn’t make any sense. It felt like the writers were trying to please every Star Wars fan base with this film, but never quite managed that feat.

Logan: As the credits rolled I thought, “Well, I enjoyed a majority of that movie until the end.” Originally, I said I enjoyed about 80% of the movie but the 20% I didn’t like were huge plot points. After thinking about the movie for a week, I’d say my percentage of enjoyment has majorly decreased.

Maggie: Unfortunately, I was entirely spoiled by Reddit and Burger King by the time I sat down to watch The Rise of Skywalker opening night. I mostly felt dread throughout the entire film and struggled to even enjoy the enjoyable moments. I think “fever dream” is the best way to summarize my first impressions.

Jenna: Like most people, I was spoiled by Reddit leaks that none of us could have ever anticipated being true. Sadly, they were. Although I knew what was going to happen, I still tried to go in with an open mind. While I did enjoy some of the movie, those feelings were unfortunately overshadowed by my intense dislike of the major plot holes and the poor messages this movie conveyed.  

Heather: My first impressions were from Reddit Spoilers months ago because I am a known Spoiler Whore (I don’t like surprises) so if we’re going from the leaks my first impression was, “There’s no way this is true. It’s so stupid. Most of this doesn’t even make sense. Nah. I’ll wait for the LA premiere and the real leaks.” Little did I know.

When did you become a fan of Star Wars?

Cam: I have first watched Star Wars when in 1999 (Phantom Menace), then I watched the rest of them in 2015. But I only became a fan on 2017 when I watched The Last Jedi.

April: I was introduced to Star Wars when I was 7 years old. My cousin, 10 years my senior, had been tasked with babysitting me for the night and, in her desire to keep me quiet and happy she did what most teens would and plopped me in front of a VHS tape playing ‘A New Hope’. Within moments of R2-D2 and C3PO showing up on the screen I was enthralled.

Anika: I was 11 years old when I first saw Star Wars. The story of Luke, Princess Leia, Han Solo and a galaxy far, far away was an immediate obsession for science-fiction/fantasy nerd girl me. A New Hope is my favorite childhood movie and the saga, along with Rogue One and Solo, continues to be my obsession. I cried when I saw the first trailer for TROS because the movies were a big part of my childhood and teen years and knowing this would be the last story ever told about the Skywalkers was an extremely emotional moment for me.

Logan: The better question is when wasn’t I a fan of Star Wars. I grew up with a brother who is 10 years older than me and he was small during the theatrical release of Empire and Return of the Jedi. I grew up watching them because he watched them and I immediately wanted to be a part of that world.

Maggie: My father took me to see The Phantom Menace opening weekend when I was six years old. Despite the devastation of losing Qui-Gon Jinn, Star Wars basically overtook my life from that moment forward. For twenty years I’ve collected Star Wars ephemera and read through nearly the entire library of the Extended Universe.

Jenna: When I was around 10 or 11, the first six episodes were playing on TV for about a week. I saw my step dad watching one of them and I was captivated by it as soon as I walked by. I asked him what order I should watch them in, and then I could be found that whole week in front of the TV watching them every time they came on. After that, I didn’t watch them for a long time, but my love for the franchise returned when The Last Jedi was in theaters.

Heather: Star Wars has been a part of my life in a mostly passing way since I was nine years old when I was brought to see one of the prequels in theaters. My aunt and uncle and I also watched the originals and prequels at various points when I was a teenager though admittedly my interest was fleeting at best. In January of 2016 that very same aunt and uncle were back in our hometown visiting from England and they wanted to go see The Force Awakens for their third time. I had absolutely no interest in going to go see it but I wanted the family time so I did and I’m glad I did because I walked out a huge fan. For all of the grief I now give JJ Abrams I will say that he set out to make TFA both for old fans and to create new fans and he succeeded in that.

What did you think of Rey’s journey in this movie?

Cam: A complete regression of whatever it was supposed to be. I can’t explain it in a different way. From the beginning Rey was alone, in a desert planet, begging to find her parents and a belonging. As the movies progressed she finally learned she had to continue her life, she couldn’t be stuck in that place forever, and that she could find other people who would love her, “the belonging you seek is ahead” and all. She realized she could be powerful and important just for being who she is on the Last Jedi. She didn’t need famous parents to matter.

On Rise of Skywalker they reverted all that, she did need famous parents indeed and she never should have had to learn how to move on from her pain and self doubt regarding them since they were always good people that had loved her. Despite her entire journey, the movie frames her ending as someone who was again alone and again on a desert planet (despite arguments that it didn’t mean she would be alone, when a movie ends in a certain note that’s what you want your audience to take from it). It’s just a terrible regression that didn’t care for all the things this character needed but that instead cared about online complaints regarding her surname.

April: Rey’s journey in this film felt, in many ways, unfinished. We’ve always known that the Star Wars Saga was ultimately Luke’s story, even as we had other protagonists in the prequel trilogy it was clear that we were watching the beginnings of Luke (Padme and Anakin wind up being his parents and we watch the birth of his ultimate foe, Darth Vader). Unfortunately, “The Rise of Skywalker” (and indeed the entire sequel trilogy) struggle with the idea of Rey being anything more than just the final piece of Luke Skywalker’s story. Perhaps this would have read better had Rey been a Skywalker (as was clearly J.J. Abram’s (director of “The Force Awakens” and “ The Rise of Skywalker) initial plan, but instead Rey doesn’t actually begin her journey until the moment she stares off into the sun on Tatooine as the music swells dramatically. While it’s not unusual for a story to end with the hero heading into a new adventure, for this to be the “end” of Rey’s story feels almost empty, because we never truly saw her beginning.

Anika: Where do I start with Rey’s journey in TROS? Quite honestly, except for Rey becoming the powerful Jedi we all knew she would be, I don’t think she had much of a journey. She wanted to know her place in all of this and she does learn it along with a few other truths, but her reaction to every thing she learns was virtually non-existent. Rey’s journey is the saddest part of this movie. She finds the belonging that she wanted, but she has lost a maternal and paternal figure, a mentor and her other half in the Force. Rey is at the end of it alone again. How is that a happy ending for her?

Logan: Trying to think through my opinion is making me realize she didn’t really have much of one in this film. She started a strong Jedi and ended a strong Jedi. She started out as part of The Resistance and ended as part of The Resistance. The only changes to her journey revolve around finding out her lineage, which didn’t change any part of who she is, and also loss. Loss of Leia. Loss of Ben. Isolating Rey’s journey leaves me sort of depressed. So, my thoughts are that I don’t like it.

Maggie: At the end of The Last Jedi Rey was posed to have an incredible final act, unfortunately The Rise of Skywalker ended up being a regressive ending to her story. Her journey is rushed, disjointed, and nonsensical in this film. We never get her reacting to the revelation that she’s Darth Sidious’ granddaughter, which is perhaps one of the worst mistakes this film commits. The main protagonist is presented with a life changing detail about her past and is denied the chance to react verbally to the revelation. Not only was the implementation lacking, but the reasoning behind her having to be related to someone felt unnecessary. If Palpatine had always been the endgame for the trilogy, he should’ve been alluded to in the previous two films.

Jenna: Not only did I think that Rey had no growth in this movie, but I would even go as far as to say she regressed. In The Force Awakens, Rey’s story began with her living in the desert alone and waiting for parents that would never come back to her. In The Rise of Skywalker, Rey’s story ended with her living in the desert alone and isolating herself from the friends and family she has come to know. At least, that’s how I interpreted it. The Last Jedi set this movie up to have Rey realize how special and loved she is regardless of who her parents were, but this idea was thrown aside in favor of making her special only because of her family name.

Heather: Hated. It. I loved the message of TLJ that you don’t have to come from a powerful bloodline to be special or important and it was completely re-written. You’re only special if you come from one of these two families. Sucks to suck for the rest of you.

What was your favorite part of the sequel trilogy?

Cam: Ben and Rey’s ever growing understanding and love for each other. And Kylo Ren/Ben Solo’s entire arc that showed his pull to the light and his pain regarding the darkness.

April: The chemistry between the new trio (Rey, Finn and Poe) is hands down my favorite aspect of the new trilogy. Oscar Issac, John Boyega and Daisy Ridley play excellently off of each other and their interactions are a joy to watch. One thing The Rise of Skywalker did tremendously well was highlight their relationship and it is my opinion that Rey is now happily touring the sky with her boyfriend (Finn) and his boyfriend (Poe).

Anika: It’s a tie between the Throne Room scene and the hand touch scene in the hut. In the scene where she touches Kylo’s hand, we get to see both their vulnerabilities. He’s admitting that what she is going through, her loneliness is how he feels, too, and she’s reassuring him that it’s never too late to change that. The Throne Room scene is the best one in the trilogy. It was perfection in it’s execution. They way moved in sync with each other, watched each other’s back and that heartbreaking end when he offers her his hand and she knows she cannot take it was beyond anything else I had seen.

Logan: Admiral Holdo lightspeeding through a Star Destroyer. Hands Down. For me, Holdo was one of the most memorable characters of the sequel trilogy and that moment was followed by an eerie silence in the theater that I will never forget. Aside from that is all the confirmation of Jedi Leia, the return of Han, Poe’s introduction in The Force Awakens, the glory of Rose Tico. There are many moments that I will remember for many Star Wars films to come.

Maggie: The Throne Room scene in The Last Jedi will remain my favorite part of this entire trilogy. The fight choreography is incredible and I felt like it was really a defining moment for both Rey and Ben. Watching them fight back-to-back was pretty amazing to see. Not to mention it’s some of Adam and Daisy’s best acting in the trilogy. So many emotions play out from the start to end of that scene. It’s flawless.

Jenna: The Throne Room scene in The Last Jedi, by far. Adam so clearly showcased the emotions passing through Ben’s mind when he decided to take down the man who had been abusing him his whole life. When Ben and Rey stood back-to-back to fight together after Ben ripped Anakin’s lightsaber through Snoke I could feel every cell in my body start to scream in excitement. It felt like such a pivotal moment in not only the movie, but the entire trilogy. Seeing a clip of Ben leaning forward so Rey could grab onto his thigh and balance herself on his back to kick one of the Praetorian Guard is actually what convinced me to watch the sequel trilogy.

Heather: Reylo. Kidding…mostly. I can’t deny that their chemistry and the thrill of a possible enemies to lovers/good girl & bad boy story was what made me originally interested in the first place but I think my favorite part was all of the fandom anticipation. Who would Rey be? Would Kylo turn back to the light? Would the Resistance survive? Would Leia keep her role as General? In between each movie fandom was always alive with theories and speculation and there’s a sort of magic and unity in that that I’ve always enjoyed.

What was your favorite part of TRoS?

Cam: Ben Solo being redeemed, as he should have. And all of the amazing scenes between him and Rey.

April: My favorite part of The Rise of Skywalker would have to be the reinforcement of the idea of “togetherness”. You see it, perhaps most clearly, in the moment when, wrapped up in his devastation about leading his forces once more into a hopeless battle, Poe hears Lando’s voice over the radio. When he pulls up and sees the crowd of ships full of “just people” to quote one First Order combatant, it’s such a powerful feeling. That same theme makes itself present again in Rey’s battle against Palpatines, when she is at her most defeated and we hear the voices of Obi-Wan, Anakin, Yoda, Luke, Ashoka and more, reminding her that she is not alone, because she is “all the Jedi”, it’s also repeated throughout the trio’s interactions, they even go so far as to use the word “together”. It’s a constant message in this film and it’s so necessary in our current time. It’s a reminder to each one and all of us that there are always “more of us” then those who would seek to keep us downtrodden and together, we can spark a true revolution.

Anika: Without a doubt, Han and Ben’s scene on the Death Star. Leia reached Ben, but it was his father’s love and forgiveness which truly made the difference. Ben was never the same after killing Han and he needed to make peace with what he did and to accept that forgiveness is possible. Change is possible, even if we veer so off course that we can’t possibly see the way back. My two favorite characters in Star Wars sharing a much needed cathartic moment literally made me tear up.

Logan: If I’m picking just one thing then I’m choosing General Leia Organa. My gasp at the flashback of her and Luke was loud and probably annoying to everyone around me. She has a lightsaber. She’s a Jedi Master. She’s fearless and selfless and as bad ass as she ever was. I got to say a beautiful goodbye to Carrie Fisher and that meant more than anything else. Honorable mentions, though, to Harrison Ford returning as Han for one brief shining moment and to Kylo/Ben’s redemption arc that I never for one second thought I would ever buy into and yet somehow did. (Also, D-O and Babu Frik because how can you not love them?)

Maggie: I wish I could say the Reylo kiss was my favorite part of the film, however the moment was so rushed and poorly orchestrated that I struggle with enjoying it. I can’t even think of dialogue in this film that I enjoyed. With The Last Jedi so many lines stood out — lines with substance. I suppose I enjoyed seeing the porgs one last time.

Jenna: My favorite part was when Ben showed up on Exegol to help Rey. The second you saw him running, you knew you were no longer looking at Kylo Ren. This was now Ben Solo. From his hair to his loose sweater to his quiet “Ow”, there was no question about who was on the screen. When Rey and Ben finally used their forcebond to help each other and she gave him Anakin’s lightsaber, I could physically feel my heart squeeze in joy. Oh yeah, the Reylo kiss was pretty amazing, too. Too bad he had to die right after.

Heather: The final force bond between Rey and Ben when she gives him the light saber and he pulls it out from behind his back. That was a moment. I also really liked when after the trio fell through the quicksand stuff Rey lit her saber to light the way and Poe turned on his little flashlight. It was a cheap way to make the audience laugh but it worked and I did.

What was your least favorite part of TRoS?

Cam: I could say literally anything else but i’m gonna go with Ben Solo’s death.

April: The sidelining of Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose along with the insertion of Jannah and Zorrie feels purposeful and wrong. It was recently announced that Rose had only about one and a half minutes of screen time in the entirety of “The Rise of Skywalker” which seems particularly egregious when one considers how prominently she was featured in “The Last Jedi”. Even worse, she is almost ��replaced” by the insertion of Zorrie and Jannah, both of whom serve no true purpose to the overall plot of the film.

Zorrie is there to forcefully remind us that Oscar Issac’s Poe is straight and that’s it! You could argue that she put them in contact with the tiny alien (Babu Frik) who wound up highjacking C3PO’s memory drives, but, Poe was a spice runner in this same crew and thus already knew him. We never even see her entire face, but we do get to see her modeling a skin tight pink catsuit-to emphasis her femininity.

The same thing happens with Jannah, an ex-Stormtrooper who exists only to provide a point of similarity with Finn and also to be Lando’s daughter (something that’s not even clearly told in the film. She’s tough and strong and has grit and determination in spades. She doesn’t hesitate to run into battle and in fact supports Finn as he makes what could be a suicide play to take out the lead ship. Both Jannah and Zorrie serve almost as opposites of Rose, in Zorrie: the ultrafeminine and in Jannah, the toughness that Rose wasn’t allowed to have. They even manage to strip Rose of her leadership, refusing to allow her to wear the badge of her station (commander). It’s a disgrace and it should be discussed far and wide.

Anika: I have two that really ticked me off. I absolutely hated Rose Tico’s arc in TROS. New character Beaumont had more lines than she did. After playing a big part in The Last Jedi, I expected more interactions between her, Finn, Poe and Rey, but instead she played the part of an extra, more or less. TROS made it seem as if she was an afterthought for Finn. I never got a chance to see a Rey and Rose friendship or even Rose on a mission with the others. She lost her voice because whiny, entitled fans were upset for no other reason than she was a woman and a person of color. It is even more upsetting that their vitriol was rewarded. The second thing that really bugged me was the predictability and, therefore, unoriginal end of Ben’s death. For once, it would have been nice to see the redeemed hero live.

Logan: There are two least favorite things that are tied for how enraged they make me. One, the obvious sidelining and invalidation of Rose Tico. Which is thanks to Abrams and Company caving to racist and misogynistic nerd boys. Two, the death of Ben Solo. I am by no means a fan of Kylo Ren. Prior to this movie I did not believe for one second that he could be redeemed. (Check my tweets, seriously). But his death does not enrage me for Ben’s sake but for Han and Leia’s. They sacrificed their lives to reach Ben and hopefully save his life. Ben’s death makes their sacrifices pointless. My two favorite Star Wars characters of all time were killed for nothing. Great. Perfect. Thanks, JJ Abrams. That feels fan-freaking-tastic.

Maggie: Where do I even begin? There was about 131 minutes of content I didn’t care for. I will die bitter about how they reduced Rose Tico’s role in response to racist men from the worst parts of the internet. The lines that were given to J.J.’s buddy Dominic Mongaghan could’ve been given to Rose. The fact that the only real lines that Rose had in the film were lines were she rejected joining the main plot seemed far too intentional. Outside of the #WheresRose issue, what they did with Poe Dameron’s character was perhaps my number one complaint coming out of the film. The entire subplot with Zorri Bliss was unnecessary and only served to remind FinnPoe shippers that Poe had a girlfriend and change his backstory to incorporate an unfortunate Latinx stereotype that he was a drug smuggler. Outside of yelling Rey’s name, what was Finn’s role in this film? Coming out of The Last Jedi he had matured as a character, but throughout The Rise of Skywalker it seemed like J.J. had no plan for what to do with him. Wouldn’t it have been awesome if he’d actually been able to say he was Force Sensitive and we didn’t have to get that information from subsequent interviews and an Instagram post? 

Jenna: I could probably write a whole book about what I didn’t like about this movie. Plot holes (how Palpatine is alive, Palpatine wanting Rey dead then all of a sudden wanting her alive, how a spaceship that’s been underwater for years and has been torn for scraps actually works), character stories (Rose being sidelined, Poe being a drug dealer, Ben’s redemption arc fading away with his body), and many many more aspects of this movie keep me up at night.

Heather: The sloppy editing, the incoherent storyline beats, how much this movie wanted to be an action movie with all of the “pew pew!” instead of focusing on character and emotional beats and attempting to distract the audience with bright flashing lights and loud sounds so that they wouldn’t notice how nothing was actually making sense with the plot.

If you could change one thing about this movie, what would it be and why?

Cam: I’d definitely make Ben Solo live. Perhaps this sounds simple for some but the fact is, for one if that happened I would have hope for the Skywalkers. All of their suffering, from Anakin Skywalker to Ben Solo wouldn’t have ended in such a bitter note. The Star Wars Saga have always been about the Skywalkers and while a lot is wrong in the last movie, you would think they at least would have respected the legacy and the theme of a 40 year old saga. But the way Rise ended the story Palpatine was able to manipulate and ultimately end their bloodline. It wasn’t a victory, it was a tragedy.

(I won’t even get into how watching the death of a character that felt lost and needed redemption is just a terrible message as well. The number of people that felt utterly defeated and left the movie crying speaks on its own)

April: The kiss between Kylo and Rey. I’ve seen the movie three times now, once alone, and two other times with people who are aware of the films but are not superfans. In every instance the kiss feels out of place, abrupt and unearned, not just to me but to those I attended with. I believe there were other ways to show the connection between Kylo and Rey (and in fact we’ve seen it highlighted in both “The Last Jedi” and “The Rise of Skywalker” via their force connection) without having them kiss. It is perhaps even more jarring to see them share a kiss in the moments before Ren’s death because we’ve never seen Rey or Ren acknowledge the injuries he’s dealt her, both physically and emotionally. It’s impossible to form an emotional investment in a relationship that is built on dishonesty, lack of trust and no genuine affection between either party. Perhaps if Kylo had actually been redeemed it’s a conversation worth having, but he wasn’t and thus, it isn’t.

Anika: Ben Solo’s death and, therefore, the end of the Skywalkers. When I say Ben deserved more, I am saying it from a place that wanted, needed and expected better for the last Skywalker and the child of Leia Organa and Han Solo. Ben Solo has never really known a moment’s peace. I wanted him to live so he could discover who he was without a Sith Lord in his head, to atone for the things he did and to finish the work his mother started. It was lazy and easy writing to kill Ben.

Logan: I’m gonna change two, because if you’re giving me this chance I’m pushing my limits. One: Ben lives. Two: Rose goes with our Main Trio. Ben lives so that Han and Leia’s deaths have meaning. Rose goes with the trio because the amount of times they needed a mechanic were numerous and Rose was wasted staying behind with Leia. (Obviously considering Merry from Lord of the Rings had all the dialogue Rose should have had.)

Maggie: That’s a loaded question. If I had to choose one singular change, I would’ve started the film with Leia having died in the time between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. In that situation, J.J. wouldn’t have been limited to playing around unused The Force Awakens scenes. Poe would’ve been General Poe outright, rather than handing him the role in Act 3 without any follow through. The pacing of the film would’ve likely been better and the stakes would’ve shifted.

Jenna: There are many things I would change in this movie, but if I had to pick one, it would be that Ben would get to live in the end. I’ve heard arguments that he deserved to die because of everything that he’s done, but I would argue back that he deserves to live for those same reasons. Dying is easy, but living is hard. If he had lived, he wouldn’t have just been able to jump into the Resistance with open arms. He would’ve had to work for forgiveness. He deserved to live so that he could eventually earn that forgiveness. Not to mention that his dying also ripped away not only the first love that Rey ever had, but also her Force equivalent of a soulmate.

Heather: I’ll give you three because I do what I want:

Ben Solo should have lived and earned the right to his redemption. Being redeemed through death is cheap and manipulative and had already been done in the original trilogy. Tell a new story. Let the villain earn his redemption by actively righting their wrongs instead of just killing them off.

Rose going on the adventure with the trio. Her underutilization is disgustingly criminal.

Not making Poe a drug runner just for a laugh and a plot point. There wasn’t even a hint of shady behavior in the other two movies so pulling it out of left field was not only jarring but for fans who actually read the supplemental material, noticeably false.

What unanswered questions would you like to have been addressed?

Cam: How is Palpatine back? Why didn’t Rey’s dad show up to her all these years if he was Force Sensitive? If Palpatine created Snoke why didn’t he know about the Force Dyad until the end of the movie? Why didn’t Ben Solo’s force ghost show up? Why didn’t we see Rey mourn her canonical soulmate? What is happening between Finn and Rose?  Why was Kelly Marie Tran so terribly sidelined?

April: What is the confession Finn is trying to make? Yes, it has been purported that it’s pertaining to his force sensitivity. But this is a fact already known since The Force Awakens and one that he would not seek to hide from Poe, especially not in his potential dying moments. In fact, he mentions to Jannah that what led him away from the First Order was the force. We have no reason to believe force sensitivity is truly the secret.

Why didn’t Lando search for his missing daughter? The Visual Dictionary advises us that Jannah is Lando’s daughter and yet we are to believe that Lando has not spent the past 20 years searching for his daughter but stuck on another desert planet doing exactly nothing. Even the ending scene is ambiguous about who Jannah really is.

How did Palpatine survive being thrown down a shaft by Darth Vader and blown up in the second Death Star? We’re given no hints about that, although we are shown Palpatine hooked up to a crane like device receiving constant transfusions to a zombified corpse.

When did Palpatine even have time to have a child? Given the time frame, the only possible time for Rey’s father to have been, well…fathered is between “Revenge of the Sith” and “A New Hope” and I don’t know a lot of people who would have slept with Palpatine the way he looked back then.

How did Luke and Leia discover Rey was a Palpatine? Did Luke discover it in the Force? Was it just a feeling he had? Why did neither of them think to mention it to to Rey? Why did they continue to train her after discovering it?

Anika: How is Palpatine still alive and, if he created Snoke, why didn’t he know Ben and Rey were bonded? If Palpatine could find Ben in Leia’s womb, why couldn’t he find his granddaughter who shared his blood? Why didn’t Leia become a Force Ghost until Ben’s death and why didn’t Ben become one at all? Most importantly, I need to know where the Sith death eaters came from?

Logan: Does Rey ever find out that Finn has been pining for her for three films? That seemed like something important they introduced in The Force Awakens that got dropped for no reason. (Bonus: How was Palpatine behind Snoke this whole time? That made no sense whatsoever.)

Maggie: Why wasn’t Ben a Force Ghost at the end? Why did Rey decided to bury the lightsabers on Tatooine — a planet Luke despised, Anakin hated, and Leia never visited. How is the galaxy going to react to the granddaughter of Darth Sidious? How does Rey feel about the revelation? Why didn’t Rey mourn the loss of Ben? Why was Maz smiling when Leia vanished, given that Ben had died? Why was there so much focus on Rey staring at children? What was the point of the Force Dyad? What was the point of the visions in The Force Awakens? Why did the Knights of Ren exist? Why didn’t they just say Jannah is Lando’s daughter?

Jenna: How did Palpatine survive? What happened to Finn and Rose’s relationship? What was the point of Rey’s vision in The Last Jedi signifying that she was a nobody if she was a Palpatine? How did Ben not die after being thrown off the cliff? Why did the Jedi not help Ben? Why did the Jedi not do something to help heal Rey when she died after killing Palpatine? Why was Ben not a Force Ghost in the end? Why did we see such little reaction from Rey when Ben died? Why did Rey bury the lightsabers on Tatooine? Why did Leia wait to become one with the Force until Ben died, as if that’s something she wanted? Why did Rey take the Skywalker name instead of embracing that she didn’t need a name to make her special?

Heather: So many questions. How is Palpatine back? How did Ben get to Exegol if Rey stole his Tie Fighter on the Death Star? Why did Palps not know Ben and Rey had a force bond if Snoke claimed to create it and he created Snoke? Why did both Snoke and Palpatine want Kylo to kill Rey if in the end he wanted Rey to kill him instead? How was Poe ever a drug runner when in his comic he was born and raised on the Rebel base? If killing Palpatine would bring all of the Sith in to Rey’s body and she did in fact kill him, do all of the Sith and all of the Jedi live in her now? Why did Anakin say, “Rise and bring balance to the force like I did.” when Palpatine wasn’t dead meaning he didn’t bring balance to the force (and really his whole arc is now obsolete since he was in fact, not the chosen one after all)? There are more but if I kept going I would have an entire essay. 

Were you satisfied by the ending of the trilogy? Why or why not?

Cam: Not at all. This trilogy ended making an even bigger tragedy out of the Skywalkers, I can barely watch the other movies without thinking “this was all for nothing.” The one character that knew enough about the Skywalkers and survived the ordeal (Rey) is alone. What is there to be satisfied about?

April: As an ending to Luke’s story I am absolutely satisfied with the ending of the trilogy and as a fan of his, I’m happy with what we received for him, Leia and even Anakin. As a fan of the new trio, I find myself wanting more of their stories. Who are they besides a former scavenger, spice runner and stormtrooper? Yes, Rey is “all the Jedi” and the granddaughter of Palpatine but who is Rey? We’ve spent three films with her and her primary focus has always been saving a male of the Skywalker line, in “The Force Awakens” that’s Luke and in “The Last Jedi” and “The Rise of Skywalker” that’s Kylo.

Who is she when that’s not her primary focus? Now we’ll never know. Yes, Poe is a child of the resistance, a spice runner and, now, a general, but who is Poe? In both “The Force Awakens” and  “The Rise of Skywalker we see the beginnings of his story, a child of the resistance who, perhaps due to his parent’s deaths winds up a spice runner (something I don’t find as objectionable as many do-historically People of Color often do things deemed objectionable  to support themselves or their families in troubled times) before coming back into the resistance fold with the return of information about Luke Skywalker’s return. We are given hints of his time as a spice runner, a possible past romance with Zorrie and then nothing else.

Finn is perhaps the biggest mystery. Even his name is not his own, given to him by Poe upon their first meeting. We will never know who he came from, what specifically about “the force” drove him to leave the First Order and trust the Resistance. We’ll never learn more about his force sensitivity and what that means for his potential future as a Jedi, we’ll never learn about the other stormtroopers who are also potentially force sensitive. So much is left up to guesswork and it is the worst part of the ending to me.

Anika: I was not satisfied at all. As I said before, the redeemed hero dying is so predictable. The story of the Skywalkers ends as one of tragedy and not hope(I’m sorry saying you are a Skywalker does not make you one). Rey is back in the desert again. I really don’t see how some found this satisfying.

Logan: No, because now Han and Leia died for nothing. That is the worst ending I could have imagined for two heroes of their caliber.

Maggie: No. I genuinely do not know how anyone can be satisfied with that ending. Han, Leia, and Luke died for nothing. The Skywalker line is dead. A Palpatine is using their name. Rey is back on a desert planet, right where she began.

Jenna: No. I felt like I left the theater with more questions than when I walked in, and that’s never something you want from the conclusion of a trilogy. I walked out literally feeling used and abused.

Heather: No. I am not satisfied at all. As a whole this movie was a mess. I know that JJ Abrams and Chris Terrio want to place the blame of that on to literally everyone but themselves but the fact of the matter is Rian Johnson dismantled everything in The Last Jedi which gave them a fresh start to tell a different story. Instead, they pretended that TLJ didn’t happen at all, retconned everything that happened in it, and once again fell on to using what worked in the original trilogy, instead of doing what their paid to do and giving us a cohesive, good, imaginative story. Putting all of your faith in to a trilogy and thinking it’s going to lead somewhere that they assured you was hopeful and good and having the rug pulled from under you is not what I would call a good time.

Kylo Ren; Redeemed or not? Do actions speak louder than words?

Cam: Definitely yes. Adam Driver was given nearly 0 lines after the redemption, so it’s hard to speak about words here, but ultimately his character did everything in his power to fight Palpatine and save Rey, so, yes.

April: I do not believe that Kylo Ren was redeemed, nor do I believe it was ever in the cards for him to be redeemed. There is a common belief that Kylo turned due to abuse, but we are not canonically shown any evidence of this. Yes, a voice whispering in your head can be stressful, but Kylo was born to two of the biggest heroes in the resistance and nephew to another, even if he didn’t feel comfortable turning to Luke (and who can blame him) in the aftermath of Luke contemplating killing him, his parents were still there. In choosing to run to Snoke, Kylo made a choice that would forever taint his life. In each movie of the franchise, we continue to see Kylo choose darkness and power.

In “The Force Awakens” he slaughters a village to obtain information about his uncle. He kills Snoke to become the Supreme Leader, in “The Last Jedi”,  and when Rey offers him her hand, the final opportunity to truly do good, he refuses because his desire for power is stronger. Even as “The Rise of Skywalker” begins he is once again slaughtering people (who, to be fair, were a cult loyal to both Vader and Lady Corvax-but again, this information is not shown it is told in the Visual Dictionary). When he is searching out Palpatine it is, once again, to kill the person standing between him and the potential for true power. Kylo is, for all intents and purposes his grandfather all over again and neither of them deserved redemption in the true sense of the word.

Kylo’s last few acts, to run to Exegol, to fight against Palpatine and to give his life force to Rey are-ultimately much the same as his grandfather’s. He realizes that he’ll never truly have the ability to atone for his actions and so he gives his life to Rey, allowing her to be the balance his grandfather was always meant to be. This sacrifice is the most noble thing Kylo is ever shown to have done and because it comes so late in the trilogy, literally the final act of the final act, it is largely worthless. It is possible to give characters like Kylo real redemption (see Zuko of “The Last Airbender” fame) and it would perhaps have been possible even for Kylo, if only they’d begin his journey to that redemption in the end of “The Force Awakens” or the beginning of “The Last Jedi.”.

Anika: Redeemed. It’s been something I have wanted for him since The Force Awakens. I expected more with his redemption, however. He never got to express himself through words and I hate that he was sidelined for the fight with Palpatine. I’m glad we got a redemption, but it felt a little anti-climatic.

Logan: Not a fan of Kylo Ren, but I would say yes. I think as Han said, Kylo Ren is dead. We were seeing Ben Solo by the end of that movie and I wish we hadn’t had to say goodbye so soon. Adam Driver made him the perfect combination of Han and Leia and that could have been a joy to watch for more than just a few minutes.

Maggie: I have been rooting for Bendemption since The Force Awakens. The execution of redemption was awful. I would love to know what J.J. has against Adam Driver, because from the moment Kylo Ren is “redeemed” he speaks a single line of dialogue — “ow”. While I love the moment where Ben fights the Knights of Ren, I would’ve preferred some sort of dialogue as a trade. Not to mention the film starts with Kylo Ren reduced to his The Force Awakens persona and seems to forget The Last Jedi even happened. I got redemption, but at what cost?

Jenna: Kylo Ren being redeemed was one of the things I was looking forward to most this movie, but I was severely let down with how I got it. The scene with Kylo and Han was cheaply ripped straight from The Force Awakens. I believe they could have done this in a good way, but sadly, the way they chose to do it wasn’t the best. However, I did enjoy his scene on Exegol when he fought against the Knights of Ren. Unfortunately, this was also downplayed by Ben’s lack of dialogue in the whole end of the movie. After his redemption, we never get to hear him talk again, and then he dies.

Heather: Absolutely redeemed. Not only did Han explicitly say (and it doesn’t matter that it was in Kylo’s head because it’s what the writing wanted the audience to take away from the conversation by explicitly stating it) that “Kylo Ren is dead, my son is alive.” But Kylo threw his saber in to the ocean, picked up a blaster, and became Ben Solo. His mannerisms, his wardrobe, everything screamed, “I’m a different person now!” So, yes. It’s funny that you ask if actions speak louder than words though since the only word he said after his redemption was “Ow.” Don’t get me started.

Would you like to see more of the Skywalker saga? Is it put to rest?

Cam: Before watching Rise of Skywalker I would say no, but right now I kinda need one last movie to actually give justice to the Skywallkers. Just saying.

April: As I stated earlier, I believe that “The Rise of Skywalker” puts paid to the Skywalker Saga. I believe that their story has reached it’s natural, hard fought conclusion. I am satisfied with where our original characters have been left, with perhaps the exception of General Leia Organa but we all know why her story ended the way it did. With that being said, I would be interested in following the story of our sequel trio for one more film, watching them truly discover themselves and their reason independent of the influence of the Skywalker family. I’d also love a story about Rose Tico and Paige Tico, if Kelly Marie Tran would be interested.

Anika: In the current state of affairs, no. If they explain that Ben isn’t really dead, but exists in the World between worlds and there is a quest to bring him back, I’m all for it. I don’t see how you continue the saga without a Skywalker. Again, I don’t count Rey as one because she says so.

Logan: Unless they can give me a do over of this entire movie then no. Leave it lying in it’s own mediocrity. It’s what Abrams, Kennedy, and crew deserve for allowing fear of a fandom to dictate their every decision. They were afraid of giving any one group something so, as a result, no one got anything. Let’s just put the Skywalkers out of their misery and move on to new characters and new sagas. (Once again, unless I can get a do over of the final film in the saga which will never happen.)

Maggie: Look, if it’s the actual Skywalkers and not Rey Palpatine using their name, then sure. I keep saying I would love to see them create something like The Clone Wars to improve upon this terribly rushed film.

Jenna: I would only like to see more of the Skywalker saga if they would bring back Ben. Put an actual Skywalker on my screen, or I don’t want it.

Heather: I’m not particularly thrilled that at the end of the “Skywalker Saga”  all of the Skywalker’s are actually dead. In fact, I’m downright bitter about it and don’t find that satisfying in any way whatsoever. So, I think after a rest (perhaps 5-10 years) I would like to see more of the Skywalker Story. Maybe Ben is in the World Between Worlds paying penance, maybe Force Ghost Luke is getting up to some after life shenanigans. I don’t know but I do know that I’d love to see it.

Who is your favorite character of the sequel trilogy?

Cam: Ben Solo.

April: My favorite character in this last installment of the Skywalker Saga is Finn. Former stormtrooper turned resistance hero his story is what a lot of people wanted Kylo Ren’s to be. He’s bold and protective of his found family. He’s kind and generous and, even as he makes mistakes, he works consistently to correct them. He has never left a friend behind. He is loyal and fair. His choice to consistently do “the right thing” when every piece of his upbringing tells him otherwise is hero-worthy. I’m so grateful that he was created and so grateful that John Boyega was chosen to breathe life into him.

Anika: Kylo Ren, hands down. He was more of an emotional, adult child still seeking love and approval than a real villain to me. His struggle with the Light that’s still a part of him, his connection to Rey which is his first real connection to anyone in years, his vulnerability and his redemption made him more than a one dimensional villain. No one could have done this character any more justice than Adam Driver did.

Logan: If I discount one off characters then Poe Dameron. He’s a lot like Han Solo, who has been the love of my life for as far back as I can remember. Also, his introduction in The Force Awakens is one of my all time favorite sequel trilogy moments and I loved him butting heads with Holdo all through The Last Jedi. He was also was the sole character in our main trio to truly keep me invested in this last film.

Maggie: I’m torn between Kylo Ren and Poe Dameron. I think they’re both phenomenal characters and I only wish that the final film had done better with their storylines.

Jenna: Kylo Ren is my absolute favorite. Watching his internal conflict turn to redemption, hate for Rey turn to love, and everything in between was what captivated me to this trilogy. It also helps that Adam Driver is such an amazing actor. He could make watching a cactus interesting.

Heather: Despite being Reylo Trash (which I am and have the necklace that says so to prove it), after much thought I think I’m going to give my favorite character award to Rose. While she was disgustingly underutilized and truly only got one movie to show her stuff I find myself often thinking about “We win not by fighting what we hate but saving what we love.” I find Rose to be an inspirational character. She’s tough but loving. She seems less like a character and more like someone I would know in reality. I don’t know if my love for Rose is for the character herself or because of Kelly Marie Tran’s performance of her but that’s my final answer.

Do you agree? Disagree? Love it, hate it? Either way sound off below in the comments or find us on twitter @TVSource. Thank you to all of our wonderful participants for giving us your wonderful, well thought out answers!

[italianeyes]

what are your favorite twilight zone episodes :0

oh hii ok i haven't finished watching it yet but these are my favorite so far (in no particular order (for the most part))! it's gonna be pretty long so i'll continue under the cut 😳

1. and when the sky was opened (s1e11)

truly my favorite twilight zone episode of all time! the plot and characters are very well written (it's based on the short story "disappearing act" by richard matheson) and also the acting is really good too like the emotions are so vibrant and effective and real just wowzers. there's this one part where the look on the guy's face is just so haunting and idk it really sticks with me. also the actors 👀👀👀 i think everyone in the 50s/60s was just really attractive but yeah. also it's #relatable but in a sad way 😔 and it makes me cry so overall 5386464/10 very good highly recommend!

2. mirror image (s1e21)

SUCH a great episode. the directing, the attention to detail, the atmosphere just mkaes it so interesting and thrilling to watch. it made me audibly gasp so much bc it's frightening. also the ending is just. wow. wow. great episode.

3. the after hours (s1e34)

omg hi good cool episode !!!!!! right? wrong!!!!!! the directing in this episode makes it ABSOLUTELY FUCKING TERRIFYING to watch!!!!!!!!!! as if mannequins aren't scary enough on their own. i love the vibe of department stores in the 50s (i really wanna live during that time period!) and the atmosphere that's created is bonechilling and eerie. very very good episode bc it feels like a fever dream and as you will see most of the episodes on this list are ones where it feels like you're losing your mind and i love that. it also does a good job of like putting the audience in the shoes of the main character.

4. perchance to dream (s1e9)

another terrifying episode? more likely than you think. this episode is a WILD RIDE (haha pun) and is the definition of a fever dream. the directing is so so so good and perfectly captures what a nightmare can feel like and it's exhilarating to watch bc it is also extremely terrifying. i once watched it to try to scare myself to sleep so i could have a nightmare just to feel something (it didn't work😔). OH YEAH ALSO THE TWIST AT THE END it spins your head i honestly didn't even see it coming WOW

5. twenty two (s2e17)

another fever dream episode!!!!!!!! so cool the directing is wow and the setting is even more wow and theres so much tension in it and the ending i wasnt expecting it at all! very solid episode perfectly crafted

6. walking distance (s1e5)

this episode made me sob so hard! it's about like growing up and revisiting your childhood and it's so tender and sad but there's a good lesson ig idc. it's #powerful and i thoroughly enjoy it but it's also painful to watch bc it is TOO RELATABLE

7. where is everybody? (s1e1)

genuinely the best pilot episode for any series that i've ever seen. it's so memorable and right off the bat makes the audience feel like they're going insane bc they don't know what the fuck is going on. this episode sets a VERY good precedent for what the rest of the show is gonna look/be like. very good one ! oh yes plot the plot was good and so was the directing but a little anticlimactic i think but whatevs.

8. two (s3e1)

this episode is so <3333333333333333 i think it's a good first episode for s3 bc honestly it gets worse ngl. it seems kinda pointless but the ending is nice and honestly it's pretty much everything i wanna see on a screen like a woman with a gun in an army uniform? are you serious?? sign me up pls 🤲🏽🤲🏽🤲🏽

9. nick of time (s2e7)

stereotypical predicting the future type episode but i really like it bc of the vibe. you know it's the 60s where there's diners and jukeboxes and milkshakes! i mean yes we have those things today but it just hits different in this episode just the vibe is chef kiss very very neat and nice and also the couple in it is really attractive. oh yeah i still like the plot tho and like what it means from a human pov like do you let a machine control your life or do you make those decisions by yourself and agree to face the conseqeunces? very neat i think ! it reminds me of the summertime that's the vibe of it i really wanna live during that time period.

10. the purple testament (s1e19)

literally everyone in this episode is SO HOT 🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵 god. the plot is good too but it's pretty predictable but the concept is really cool and well written and ofc the ending is also predictable but whatever !

11. a hundred yards over the rim (s2e23)

very cool episode i love the whole cowboy / western vibe i know 🤚🏽 those were dangerous and not optimal times ok but seriously the drip and the whole saloons and small town stuff? can we bring that back pls and thank you xoxo but yeah this episode is cool and it has a very empty feel to it and it makes you feel like a stranger i do like it a lot

12. showdown with rance mcgrew (s3e20)

oh i really like this one !! it's one of the only episodes i think that's like comedic on purpose. like the main character (the one in the cowboy hat) is so stupid and the way his character is written is mwah im blowing a kiss to the sky for him as we speak. the plot is alright it's like the redundant time travel so whatevs but i like this one bc it's funny:) i think after s1 the show went downhill bc u can see that they were running out of ideas so yeah. season 1 really had no reason to go that hard but it did!!

13. to serve man (s3e24)

oh yes this episode is short and sweet and gets straight to the point which i really appreciate<3 just the vibe of it is very very good and there's nothing like a great twist to top it all off! solid episode 10/10 also the girl in it is really pretty

14. the night of the meek (s2e11)

this! one!! it is SO sweet and actually has a good ending and it made me cry and it's so pure and happy and nice and christmas and i love christmas and i love this episode

15. judgement night (s1e10)

i love the trope of "one person realizes something is very very wrong in their world and they try to explain it to others but no one believes them making the main character feel like they're going crazy!" i would say this episode is haunting i don't remember like the specifics but i just remember watching it for the first time and just being like speechless and sad. the plot is very nice too and like the thought of eternal terror makes me very uncomfortable which was probs this episodes goal so good job !

essay over xoxo if u made it this far hi here's a hug<3