#idk if it’s a full aesthetic but if I were to expand it I’d say photographs of anime girls with industrial themes

[nyaa]

there’s a certain aesthetic that doesn’t really have a name that I enjoy which is like how kig makers all have these dimly lit grungy workspaces and take pictures of their masks perched on an assortment of implements fashioned as pedestals

[bloo-the-dragon]

How about your boi Reala? (Idk if I spelled that right-)

You. You get me.

First impression:

Oh yeah this guy’s gonna be the bad boy jackass character of the fandom isn’t he LOL

I’m not ashamed to admit i was sold on his character even before i got into watching the full game walkthrough x’D gremlin characters are one of my biggest weaknesses, and i knew he was gonna be one of Those Types (little did i know he wouldn’t be the only one HJKSDF)

I definitely recall though i preferred his NiD design over his JoD design, like the JoD design is fine and all (i like the venice carnival theme with the persona mask) but the NiD attire fit with the clown aesthetic that has been giving me brain worms for the last year or so LOL

I was more attached to NiGHTS at first ngl but i found Reala to be a fun counterpart! I was also super happy when Reala referred to NiGHTS as his sibling because that instantly made their dynamic and potential backstory (which i was not yet fully aware of) much more interesting to me.

Impression now:

SON!!!

GREMLIN!!

ANGRY CAT!!

ALL THE ABOVE AND MORE-

I am VERY MUCH IN LOVE WITH HIS CHARACTER!!

No not in a self-ship romance way because i am ace/aro but even then i don’t mean in love with the character but i’m in love with how he is portrayed as a character, what with the backstory and everything!

Despite the fact his backstory and character is not fully explored or developed in the canon games (lookin’ at you especially JoD) the few tidbits we did get were enough to really spike my interest in learning more about Reala and NiGHTS’ shared past, and their relationship before NiGHTS’ defected. BUT ONCE AGAIN THE FANDOM PROVIDES and with that little info we did get, the fandom managed to expand on it with headcanons and other fun stuff and built Reala into a very interesting and complex character with a very heavy burden on his shoulders-

Favorite moment:

Man how do i CHOOSE-

Nah actually i gotta admit the scene in JoD with Helen falling through the portal Reala made with that ridiculous scream and Reala giggling his head off has to be my favourite because of how heckin HILARIOUS it is! x’D

But if i were to pick one also for NiD specifically, i’d say the entire boss fight with NiGHTS. :)

Idea for a story:

Ohhhhh i’ve had ideas galore for this guy HFJKDF

Specifically post-games where i’ve entertained ideas on how he and NiGHTS would slowly mend that broken bond, because even though Reala finally agreed to take his siblings side, doesn’t mean he isn’t still affected by past hurts and betrayals which would take a long time to heal.

Any ideas i have had though would all take place within the Theatre with Balan and Lance, because i love the idea the maestro brothers would play a big part in aiding in the mending of NiGHTS and Reala’s relationship. Originally i had thought on going the route with Lance working with Reala and Balan working with NiGHTS because their personalities seem to match each other-

BUT THEN! I figured it would actually be A LOT MORE INTERESTING if Balan worked with Reala and Lance worked with NiGHTS!

Balan works with Reala in helping to fix his trust issues, and help him heal from his traumas too as a result from suffering under Wizeman for so long. And the idea that Balan radiates this warming energy that just puts Reala more at ease, and makes him feel more safe and therefore more willing to open up i feel just works.

(NiGHTS on the other hand, i think would benefit from Lance’s aid because NiGHTS would have bottled up all his guilt over his defection and Lance would help him contront that guilt on how his actions had very real consequences in regards to how it affected his siblings, by bringing it out and helping NiGHTS to deal with it and overcome it)

Unpopular opinion:

Once again i had to ponder this one for a while because i don’t really think there is anything i outright disagree with a majority on. Most of what i disagree with many already are the same so it’s hard to really say xD

I guess his JoD design could count though... i’m not a big fan of it xD (aside from the persona mask) he looks more like a samurai/soldier than the jester he’s supposed to be which i guess does work in it’s own way when we consider how he’s trying to fulfil the role of general for Wizeman’s army and it’s a role he was never truly designed for, so it clearly clashes with his overall theme.

Favorite relationship:

Obviously his sibling relationship with NiGHTS and Jackle xD NiGHTS i’ve already gone into detail a bit, but Jackle also because i love the idea that after NiGHTS left Jackle was the only support Reala had left, and thats what kept him mostly stable during the events of NiD. But come the time of JoD, Jackle is no longer around (not dead but hiding from Wizeman whilst also searching for a new home for his siblings which i will mention is a hc of mine so don’t take it as being actual canon fact xD) and so he no longer has that support around to keep him grounded. But unlike NiGHTS, Reala understands why Jackle had to go into hiding and in fact even encouraged it!

Didn’t make things any easier for him though, and it would have definitely had an impact. (History always seems to repeat itself in one way or another doesn’t it)

Favorite headcanon(s):

I love the idea that NiGHTS and Reala, being twins were never truly meant to be separated which is why when NiGHTS defected it had such a devastating effect of Reala in the long term. Jackle being around in the beginning helped delay the worst of the emotional impact it had on Reala, and perhaps part of him at first thought NiGHTS would still come back, he’s always been rebellious afterall.

(Spoiler alert - he never came back)

Also i am 100% on board with the idea Reala was never truly evil. Being a nightmaren and following his natural instinct to gather ideya aside, he’s just doing what he must because he wants to please Wizeman, please his master, his creator his father-

This combined with the idea that of the two twins, NiGHTS was the favourite it really pushes on why Reala (at least in JoD) seems so intensly keen on being as loyal to Wizeman as he can, in both his dress and his actions. But i also enjoy the take that he was never truly jealous of NiGHTS being the favourite, but he wanted to be up there with his twin in daddy’s spotlight as his two most precious children. He wanted to share that with his twin, his other half, his sibling.

Really hits harder when you remember that NiGHTS eventually defected and abandoned him (the latter coming from Reala’s perspective) and instead of Wizeman’s gaze looking to Reala as the new favourite instead he see’s him as a new means to vent his frustration.

Which coincides well with the headcanon First Levels can’t be killed, not even by Wizeman himself. Gotta wonder where Reala got all those scars afterall.

[mysticalmusicwhispers]

hey,,,your thoughts and headcanons on indchuran college au 😳😳😳😳😳(i am very predictable as per usual)

o-o o-o college aus have my heart so thank you for the ask! These turned out as platonic/general hcs but I hope you like them nonetheless! (also this isn’t really associated with any set AU and is separate from the indchuran bros for life AU)

notes: this is based on the little I know about how US colleges/universities work ahahah sorry for any inaccuracies lol

— They’re all in the same year, and China and India got put in a dorm together with Iran next door (oh my god they were roommates ;) )

— They meet when Roshan heard Aditya’s got a copy of a book they wanted, went over to borrow it, and found Aditya trolling Yao with meme songs while the latter was wearing headphones and trying to study (this is kinda half assed and I don’t think it’s funny enough so if you’ve got another meeting scenario please do tell 👀)

— Yao’s fashion is a hot mess, per usual. It’s half lazy college student wear and half blinding eye-strain. Sometimes he still goes edgelord mode and does dark colors and goth attire when he’s particularly annoyed or grumpy (in addition to threatening to evict Aditya/steal all his possessions if he’s bugging Yao); Aditya and Roshan just coo at this. 

— Roshan dresses very eccentrically. I think it’s called the art hoe aesthetic? They dress like an art student but pick even more outlandish outfits. But it’s elegant in an eye-catching way, and it makes them stand out a lot. They like it and also love the attention it gets them :) also Roshan would be an amazing person to ask for clothing opinions, except that they might criticize your current outfits too much hksdfsdf

— As for Aditya, I don’t really have a set image for him really? lol I'd give anything to see him dressed in some kind of academia aesthetic (glasses are a bonus), but I feel like his style is more casual and comfy? just average person casual shirts and hoodies. Still knows how to pick good outfits though, but makes awful decisions when in the wrong headspace (like being Severely sleep deprived)

— Yao either studies a) business b) politics c) game theory d) a mix of all three (overachiever). I think he’d also take some of those like, quantum math classes and stuff just to ~expand his horizons~ and ends up taking enough to get a minor in that. Also absorbs STEM stuff from other people although he never went that route :\

— Roshan studies art history! They’re wicked at math as well though, I think they’d definitely be interested in studying pure mathematics as either a minor or a fun side hobby.

— Aditya minors in literature/creative writing and regularly waxes poetic about life. He also complains about the school cafeteria food in flowery prose. Yao yells at him to just make food himself if it’s so bad, but it’s too much effort 😔 (this is literally me)

I’m still undecided on what he majors in, but for now I’m stealing your hc that it’s biophysics :>

— Yao’s tried dabbling in stocks as part class project and part personal side hobby; one of his professors probably helps him with this, and somehow he gets a lot of money even though he invests in some very questionable things that look like shitpost material

— Courtesy of talking with @luyous, these three competitively study during midterms/finals season. They hardcore compete to get the best grades, even though they’re in different majors, and literally. the temperature heats up a couple degrees in the dorm when they’re revising because they all want to “beat” the other two 😭

— Literally they’re such bookworms but have a thirst for being The Best 😔

— Yao has a shit sleep schedule and both Aditya and Roshan have called him out on this multiple times; Aditya more often because they share a room and it’s kind of annoying when your roommate’s desk lamp is still on at 3 AM while you’re supposed to be sleeping. He eventually bought an eye mask for this but still has to forcibly drag Yao to bed at least once a week.

— Aditya is the resident boomer and tech hoe (although he fools around on the computer more than he does useful stuff) inspiration from you raunak <3

— Roshan and Aditya once tricked Yao into watering a fake plant they bought from Target for a full five months :) They keep a log of the shenanigans on their respective social medias as proof <3

— Roshan has a windowsill with a line of very cute potted plants! It’s very aesthetic and they show them off to anyone who asks. Don’t touch though because the plants are their babies

— Aditya sings very well! Has perfect pitch and all that. Does karaoke nights with friends, drags Yao along even though all he does there is type away on his laptop (and sometimes glances up to simp for Aditya). Often prank calls acquaintances, occasionally with Roshan, because he’s also pretty good at voice acting

— Out of the three, Aditya’s probably the friendliest if you’re a stranger, but it do be hard trying to build a friendship with any of them 😔 yao’s condescending to strangers and it takes some time to crack him if you don’t come off as quick-witted and smart on the first try, Roshan doesn’t really take people they just met super seriously unless they can impress/charm them, Aditya’s flashy but is kinda flaky and sometimes talks down to you and seems to always have something else to do besides hanging out one on one unless you win his respect. They’re good with each other though, occasional spats are mostly misunderstandings unless there’s Too Much miscommunication going on

— They’re all kinda legends for academic achievements. Roshan probably got a paper published in some vaunted journal about idk, changing methods of making pottery in ancient Iran or something; Yao has his stocks (and is also kinda rich in the first place so he’s “famous” before that) and Aditya probably got an internship or opportunity to do lab work for a cutting edge research thing

— they no-homo each other all the time it’s insane. It doesn’t help that they’re in close quarters (Yao and Aditya being roommates and Roshan right next door) so it’s like, accidentally wearing the other’s clothes, stealing snacks, so much touching and closeness lol classic pining material

— Yao jokes at least once a day that Roshan is just a parasite of his and Aditya’s dorm, with the amount of time they spend in there instead of in their own dorm, but they sniff haughtily and say that at least their dorm is much more organized than whatever indchu have going on (it’s true; Yao believes in organized chaos and pretends his organization system is having No Organization; Aditya just does whatever he wants and “anyways I’ll find it when I need it”, Roshan is the only sane one here)

— Roshan drinks tea religiously (all three of them do, but Yao chugs energy drinks sometimes, Aditya binges coffee when needed, whereas Roshan’s solution is tea)

— They’re kinda chaotic but it’s fine they’ll make it through uni :)

[boglog]

HILL HOUSE NOTES !!

Objectively speaking, I like the show as a weird crossover between Transparent and American Horror Story but there are always some cons :/ One thing I will say is that I find it hard to review horror bc I'm too busy swimming in cortisol to notice plot holes but I watched the scary scenes w subtitles and no audio and that will have to do!!!

Cons:

The diologue is occasionally awful.

Scratch that it's terrible and the more the show goes on the more it nears Grey's Anatomy levels of nauseating

Firstly, there are way too many name drops esp when there are only two characters in the room, sometimes even one sentence after another, it's exhausting.

i.e. 'Stay right here, honey. I'm going to talk to the police now sweetie, I'll be right back.' // 'You eat people, Steve. You are a parasite, Steve.'

Second of all, 'Don't do that ever again. Don't do that. Where were you? I thought the house thingy got you.' kids don't talk like this. I know irl children tend to imitate the adults around them but the sheer amount of stock cliches these child actors are required to say is incredible

And honestly overall there's too much talking period. There are dozens of scenes where a character monologues for almost five minutes!!!!

I loved mind doppelgänger Leigh's speech but really let's tally it up: we've got Mrs Dudley's monologue, Olivia monologues a few times, Theo's monologue, Luke 2 or three monologues, one from Shirley, Hugh is not much of a talker so thank god they were consistent. And of course a lot of these are important to the story and even close to entertaining (see also: Nell yelling at Steve) but it's way too much and anything actually significant is diluted in this deluge of info-dump-y speeches

Why god??? Why?

Like this is television not radio but I guess it's another case of Forced Diegesis when summarising w flashbacks would actually be way easier on my psyche but Tacky for these Kinematic Auteurs

I would've liked a more in depth exploration of Olivia and her childhood experiences of paranormal tragedy to give us a better context for her morally grey slip into an evil mother

Still somewhat peeved at how, bc of supernatural instinct, we can justify Theo and CPS taking a child away from her home. Obviously the show can't waste so much time on what's only supposed to be a quick detour into Theo's character and it works within the world of the show given that the guy did confess but portrayals of police, first responders, social workers, ad nauseum making snap descisions like that is Not Good for people's real world perception of their rights. Just sayin.

Maybe a scene where Steve and Hugh apologise for being garbage humans or something idk that would've been nice

This show has many layers and interpretations which could either skew towards clever ambiguity or clumsy indescision and while I'm leaning toward the former, I will say it does go a little all over the place for me.

Are the Crains' superpowers genetic, from their mother? Did it come from the house? Why is the house was so vindictive? What does it want? Or is it more symbolic of the emptiness inside the characters? Why is Olivia decidedly an over controlling mother but Nell is an innocent? Is really the only thing Steve had to do to save his marriage was reverse the vasectomy? Nell died of her own paradoxical haunting that began when she was six so was the cause ultimately a sadness within herself before the house of strictly the house's pull?

Like it's v unclear (probably deliberately) wether or not the story was Psychosis All Along or it was the house's vendetta or bc the Crains specifically are a supernatural mutant family

We never find out what Nell does for a living and I'm curious

Finally: it's really white sometimes. Like. Painfully white. Granted, the Crains come close to my favourite kind of white person, the quirky dysfunctional family of adult children scattered all over the country who only reunite at their dead sister's funeral. Still, the POC tally up to two love interests (one of which DIES), one cop, one naïve widow, and one poor daughter-less foster parent. One could argue only a middle class white family would stay in a haunted house for so long ://

Pros

The show juggles seven characters and two plots flawlessly. Each character is recognisable w a distinct personality after about only two episodes, the nonlinear structure as we alternate between the present day frame story and the main plot in flashbacks before ultimately converging when the family reunites at the house for the last time is not only clear but parses its information in way that's not only not confusing but strengthens the tension and dread. Even while they show the flashbacks' ending (w Olivia and later Nell's death) as well as the epilogue, the build up still feels entirely justified. This is peak plotting right there.

Furthermore, Nell's ghost still manages to be in the spotlight with some jumpscares even after we know who she is

My soul pretty much left my body when Nell's ghost attempts to bond w her sisters via screaming as they argue in the car

A quintessential microcosm of the show's representation of time and memory is Nell's final speech: whimsically disjointed at first, poignant and clear by the end

It's a horror show that is completely dedicated to its characters (and I'm sure some of you already know my love of dysfunctional families) and centres around human themes of connection, mourning, and trauma and the necessity of vulnerability and letting go in order to live a full life. That's very rare in horror where we usually get gratuitous gore with a small spattering of sentimental scenes to further the gore.

Olivia's Forever House served as an excellent symbol for her need to control, the house's monicker implying her fear of change.

An incomplete but not bad portrayal of trauma, a decent addition to the topical and ever-expanding mental illness discourse

Also ft. meta commentary on writers

In the beginning, Olivia really was portrayed as a concerned mother who was always trying to be considerate of her children's emotional well-being despite her occasional snaps. One has to wonder wether her slip into an irrational need to control might reflect society's paradoxically oppressive expectations of motherhood: to have absolute control of your children while also being a benevolent saviour to them 24/7. I mean in all fairness to Olivia, she was working and raising 5 kids. I'd lose my marbles too.

Or maybe I'm giving the creators too much credit and they were only angling for an Other Mother thing. I like this Foucaultian nihilism though so we're gonna go w that.

The show's acknowledgment of Useless Dad and Entitled Eldest Son syndrome.

Spat my tea when doppelgänger Leigh ripped Steve a new one, and since she's a representation of his psyche maybe that means that Steve himself has gained some self awareness. (He should still... apologise to his family....)

I mean they were really spot-on with how birth order family drama goes.

Human portrayal of a lesbian as an adult and a child! As tumblr user Lesbeet said, this is very rare and deftly done!

Theo doing literally anything

Shirl is p adorable

Theo and Shirl: the comedy duo we absolutely need in our lives

Arthur and Nell's romance is joining Up's prologue in the golden vault of world's greatest ten minute love montages. (Both of which ended in tragédie. ☹️)

Shirl's AU dream sequence, which unlike the others, presents us with an extramarital faux pas that we were not previously aware of, manages to seem totally appropriate for her character

The set and costume design are perfect for the primordial fear of the unknown aesthetic the show was going for. Fairy flappers! Gothic stairwells! Punk rock leather gloves! A McMansion that doubles as a funeral home! Motels! A curvilinear LA mansion! The absolutely insane brutalist million dollar rehab centre! Oh boy!!!

Accurate mortician portrayal: they really do gotta wire the corpses' mouths shut. Those damn chatty dead people.

Tldr:

Diologue is lengthy and cheesy while the characters are Too White. The rare portrayals of POC and how social services work were lacklustre. 👎

The show's incredible ambition and dedication to its characters and themes of trauma, dysfunctional family relationships, and the consequences of coping via trying to control your life is amazing. Theo, especially, is amazing. It's a very goth show with clinically depressed ghosts.👍

[notthelasttime]

mmmmtagged by @flykiwiflyaway

Rules: Answer 30 questions and tag 10 people

# following: around 250

# of followers: 70ish here, 300ish on my main blog

Average hours of sleep: really really depends tbh. been trying to get a solid 7-8 hours bc i’ve felt pretty garbage lately but sometimes shit happens and i’ll get like. 4 or 5.

Lucky number: 8 and 13

Instruments: haven’t picked it up in a considerable amount of time but I can still play (badly) the viola and violin

What are you wearing: sweat pants that are too big on me and an old tshirt that’s been washed too many times and is starting to fall apart. it says ‘dissent is patriotic’ on it, bought during my young edgy teen punk™ days

Dream job: GOD anything self employed at this point, either art or writing, but my production is so up and down i.. don’t know if i’ll ever actually be able to make it happen. you can’t finish one thing every 6 months and hope to support yourself on it so

Dream trip: I have romantic ideas about paris that i know would realistically only lead to disappointment. otherwise i’d probably give my left tit to see ankor wat irl

Significant other: nnnnnah son

Birthday: october 5th

Height: 5′6ish, maybe a little taller

Gender/pronouns: female, she/her

Other blogs: main blog, art blog, a shared writing blog for short stories i have with a friend that we keep forgetting about then trying to revive, that blog i kept while working at a sex shop to save ridiculous stories but is now defunct and i just don’t have the heart to delete it, a blog for my/my best friends youtube channel which has turned into nothing but bad video game memes

Nicknames: jess is already a nickname. sometimes my dad calls me jezebell or just bell. a last-name related nickname that would make no sense out of context

Star Sign: libra. why i’m so full of Justice and can never make up my mind, apparently

Time: 8:59pm

Favorite Bands: thee michelle gun elephant

Favorite artists: ummmmmmmm idk that i can settle on one favorite but i went through a pretty hardcore ivan albright phase for a while lmao. and i strive for my linework to be as intense as junji ito

Favorite tumblr artist: UH well not a tumblr artist so to speak, more like an artist that happens to be on tumblr - daisuke ichiba. i've also been very in to apollonia saintclair but BIG nsfw warning on her tumblr

Song stuck in your head: my very uncool answer is that the bridge combat music from hellblade has been stuck in my head for like a solid week

Last movie you watched: jiro dreams of sushi but idk how much it counts bc i just had it on as background noise

Last show you watched: started watching one punch man recently

Why did you make your blog: this blog in particular was made to keep my fanfic bullshit separate from my regular bullshit.

What do you post: bad opinions, video games, occasionally writing and even less often art

Fandom contributions: initially all promnis fic but now i’m branching out. expanding my horizons. trying my hand at gladnis, sheith and fenhawke. becoming the one woman ignyx show. 

Last thing you googled: john corigliano

Ao3: notthelasttime

Do you ever get asks: i do on occasion. more after i starting live blogging the dragon age experience lmao

How did you get the idea for your url: i wanted something for ao3 that had no connection/similarities to anything else i had online but i have no idea it just sort of popped in my head. i think initially i was thinking like.. won’t be the last time or something similar, but i like the repeating letters in notthelasttime

Favorite food: man idek i couldn’t even narrow it down i don’t know

Last book you read: currently reading Hannibal mostly because clarice can be cool sometimes

Top 3 fictional universes: DA has gotten fantasy on my brain so middle earth absolutely comes to mind. columbia from bioshock strictly from an aesthetic standpoint my... issues with the game itself aside.and there’s a big soft spot in my heart for deepgate from the book scar night but i would definitely not want to live there, also the other books in the series were so... mediocre in comparison. but there’s something about deepgate for sure. 

from my recent notes minus people that have already been tagged: @breotch-iunderstoodthatreference @libertusostiums @lunaloupgarou @the-mad-duchess @muncharoux @cheepx2 but also ZERO pressure if you don’t wanna

[solerey]

Rules & Verses for Mobile:

Having had these requested for my Finn account, I thought I should go ahead and make some mobile-accessible rules/verses for the rest of my accounts too, so here are Rey’s! (This also includes the various parental backstories I will play for her.) Note that while I don’t change my rules much (or basically ever lol) the VERSES information here is definitely not going to be up-to-date because I am forever making new aus…but here’s a start, at least, to give you something to explore until you get back to your computers!

Mun is named Nicky and is well over 21. Muse’s age will vary. Multi-ship and multi-verse.

RULES:

Following and Mututals:

This is a sideblog of nickyrp and as such cannot follow back.

We do not need to be mutuals to send memes or starters. Feel free to throw things like that at me at any time even if we’ve never played or plotted before. If I’m not interested or just too busy etc I promise I will let you know politely and not just leave you hanging!

If you want to play please send me a message or toss me a starter; I’m bad at paying attention to my follower count and probably didn’t notice your subtle arrival! Or thought you wanted to lurk idk. Say hi!

If you are a multimuse with a lot of characters or a lot of fandoms all on one url, I may not follow you because that tends to be overwhelming for me. It’s nothing personal nor a comment on your writing style; it’s just more than I can easily keep track of, myself. (That’s why mine are all on their own sideblogs.)

If I can’t read your blog (small text, low-contrast colors, etc) I will not interact with your character. I don’t have the best eyes and straining to read sucks all the fun out of rp. If you need any of my formatting or color choices adjusted for your own ease of accessibility please let me know! I will do so happily.

You can reblog any of my shit (headcanons, graphics, verses, meta, whatever) even if you’re a personal blog, I don’t care; it’s all one fandom imo. That said please don’t reblog my interaction threads with other people because most rp-ers do not like their things reblogged and I want to respect that. If I reblog anything of yours you do not want reblogged just let me know and I will delete it; I promise it’s just because I thought the thing was cool and got excited!

Interactions:

I am always up for trying new things so if you have a crazy idea, please hit me up! I promise I rarely disintegrate anyone.

I am happily open to interacting with Original Characters! I need to know who your character is though, so if you don’t have a bio or background I can find on your blog I’m not going to be interested.

I will not write smut with anyone under the age of eighteen.

If I ever do something that upsets or confuses or offends you, please let me know. It probably wasn’t intentional and I always want to be called out on problematic behavior because how else can I learn to do better? I promise to react apologetically, not defensively.

Formatting:

I’m a visual person so I like icons and gifs and will almost always incorporate them. If you don’t want to use images that’s cool with me, but I majored in comic book art so I enjoy the marriage of words with images. I should further admit that interactions with visuals do tend to keep me more excited than plain ones – I’m shallow!

I’m not a big fan of fancy formatting. I don’t mind if you use it but I don’t. Feel free to adjust my formatting to suit your aesthetic if that makes you more comfortable, but I’ll likely keep mine simple.

If you need any triggers tagged message me and I’ll do so gladly.

Canon & AUs:

I have as of yet read very little of the expanded universe materials for the New Canon (a few comics, the Thrawn novel, etc). As such, my portrayal of Rey may at times be lacking in regards to supplemental canon information. Please never hesitate to inform me of any details relevant to your character or any ongoing/burgeoning threads. I appreciate that assistance!

As far as the Legends EU goes, I have read most of the old novels (excepting NJO period) and many of the Dark Horse comics but that is a lot of material and I do not promise to remember everything. Please let me know if I make a mistake or assumption you do not agree with; I promise I will not be offended!

I will generally default to putting Rey into the canon of the Sequel Trilogy because that is where she comes from, but I am happy to play her in Legends Canon too – just let me know! If you don’t indicate verse/time on a meme or starter, I might pick another verse (or make a new one) so please indicate where you want to play if you have a preference!

I also love making AUs whether canon-divergence or totally off-the-wall so please don’t hesitate to throw new verses my way! I love both plotting and winging-it when building new worlds, so don’t be shy!

Characters Relationships & Shipping:

Platonic Ships: I generally enjoy Rey without any ships and am thus extraordinarily eager for friendships, familial relationships, and Found Family interactions. (Antagonistic and abrasive interactions are also welcome – it doesn’t have to be all sweetness and light all the time!) Rey very much wants to be loved, but it isn’t romance she is primarily looking for. I will usually write Rey as being either an aromantic or biromatic asexual.

OTPs: That said, I do thoroughly enjoy the idea of a Finn/Rey/Poe polyship and would be thrilled to play out interactions under that set-up. I will also happily ship her with either of those two gentlemen on their own, or with Rose Tico or Jess Pava or Jannah or really anyone whom it makes sense to ship her with, providing there is chemistry and a basis in friendship to build the ship from (whether that be formed via interaction or plotted ahead of time). Interspecies ships with non-human characters are also welcome!

NOTPs: No teacher/student, adult/minor, or incestuous ships, please. Additionally I will not ship Rey with Kylo Ren in any verse. I have no objections to playing in verses where they are not related, but due to the fact that I started thinking of them them as siblings about five minutes into my first viewing of TFA (the Jaina/Jacen vibes were too strong for my Legends-based heart, sorry!), it is simply something that I am not comfortable shipping regardless of their actual familial status in a verse or lack thereof. Please tag your reylo so I can block it?

One-Way Ships: I will never force a ship on you. I expect the same courtesy in return. That said, you are more than welcome to have your character express unrequited romantic feelings toward mine. (In most cases I expect I’d even be okay with this sort of one-way attraction coming from a Kylo Ren character; if it ends up crossing the edges of my comfort zone I’ll let you know!)

Main Faceclaim: Daisy Ridley [older: Keira Knightley] [younger: Raffey Cassidy]

“We are the spark that will light the fire that will burn the First Order down.” ―Poe Dameron

VERSES & BACKSTORIES:

I am a big fan of AUs and canon-divergent verses so if you don’t see something here that looks like your cup of caf know that I am always happy to plot out a new one! Also feel free to pull anything from my wishlist.

BACKSTORY OPTIONS: I find that I enjoy the Rey Palpatine/Rey-Chooses-Skywalker Idea more and more the longer I contemplate it. I do however remain wholly convinced that Rey Organa-Solo was the original intention with the character in TFA. Thus, for threads set early in Rey’s character arc I am likely to default to Rey Organa-Solo while in threads set later I’ll probably go the Palpatine/Skywalker route. (And I have other options too!) If you have a backstory preference, please specify before starting a thread.

The Last Solo (default canon verse): Rey was too little to remember that her full name was Breha Organa Solo but it wouldn’t have mattered if she’d been one hundred; when Emperor Palpatine decides to mind-rub the entire galaxy, they forget. Sensing the all-but-unprecedented power within the little girl, the half-resurrected shadow of Palpatine was too tempted by her potential to destroy her outright; instead he erased her life. He couldn’t erase the emotional weight of her absence, though, nor the instant sense of connection felt by both Rey and those who had once loved her. Even Kylo Ren didn’t know why the little girl he dragged from the ruins of the Jedi Temple mattered, but he couldn’t bring himself to kill her, instead abandoning both her and his father’s ship on Jakku before following Snoke into the Dark. Palpatine’s lies about Rey’s lineage fooled everyone for a time – but in the end, the truth felt real in a way that the lies did not, and Rey reclaimed the heritage he had stolen. In the end, Palaptine lost everything.

The Last Skywalker (secondary canon verse): When the half-resurrected former Emperor mind-rubbed the entire galaxy to forget Luke Skywalker’s daughter, he succeeded – but his former Hand recognized the feeling of his touch on her thoughts. Mara Jade immediately knew he was back. She didn’t know why she felt such a connection to the little girl buried beside her in the ruins of the Jedi Temple, but she knew she had to kill her former master – and that she had to keep this child safe. She “borrowed” her brother-in-law’s ship and went searching for Palaptine, her forgotten daughter in tow. When she reached Jakku, she left the girl and the ship behind, knowing the next step was too dangerous to bring a child she loved along – but the Final Order she found was more than the fragments of the Empire she had expected, and Mara never returned for her daughter. That didn’t stop the girl who called herself Rey from sensing a connection to her true family when she finally found them again, nor stop her from claiming her true lineage in the end in spite of Palaptine’s lies. (Can also be played with a different mother!)

Palpatine’s Heir (canonical canon verse): When Rey at last discovered her lineage, she was horrified. She was the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine, the man who had destroyed the Old Republic and created the Empire – and was now the resurrected Lord of the Sith. After initially giving in to fear and despair at the darkness she believed she saw within herself, Rey eventually returned to the war. With the assistance of Kylo Ren, who had turned his back on the Sith at the last minute, she was able to destroy Palpatine while the Resistance obliterated the Final Order’s fleet. Hope was restored to the galaxy, Rey was restored to life in a final act of atonement, and the stain of the Sith was at last ended…at least for now. Choosing to turn her back on the bloodline that spawned her, Rey has instead declared herself a Skywalker in essence if not in birthright, carrying on the legacy of the late Luke and Leia. As the first of the new Jedi, Rey now looks to teach others the ways of the Force as Leia did her – starting with her dearest friend, Finn.

Not So Nobody (alt canon verse): The daughter of Kam and Tionne Solusar, two of Luke’s earliest Jedi students, Rey was the first child born within the Temple. Kylo Ren desperately wanted to make her his first apprentice of the Dark Side, but the Solusars escaped the slaughter and fled across the galaxy. The First Order pursued. Unable to shake them, Kam and Tionne made landfall on the nearest planet: Jakku. They hid Rey with a junk dealer and left, planning to lead Ren away and double-back when it was safe – but the First Order caught them. They convinced Kylo Ren that Rey had died of wounds taken during the attack on the Temple, but the deception cost them their lives. Kylo Ren was irritated to have lost Rey as an apprentice but had more important things to do than dwell on the death of one child…until he heard about the girl on Jakku who helped the deserter. He knew immediately who she had to be – and that she would become his apprentice after all, or he would ensure that her parents’ lie became the truth.

Orphan of Jakku (alt canon verse): Kylo Ren told the truth: Rey’s parents were nobody…but what does that matter? A person’s worth isn’t determined by their lineage but by their choices. And Rey chooses the Light and the Resistance and she will give her all to defend her friends and to free the galaxy from the shackles the First Order wants to wrap them in. Kylo Ren might be descended from Darth Vader but Rey doesn’t need to be a Skywalker too in order to end him and his reign.

Twinverse (for duplicates): Twins run in the Skywalker line, and B(rey)ha and Pad(mey) were no exception. Named for both of Leia’s mothers, their loss hit her as hard her son’s fall to the Dark Side – and hit the girls even harder: separated for the first time in their lives, they were scattered to distant planets and lost, abandoned. So young they could barely remember their own names let alone those of their family, they grew-up like orphans until one day “Rey” found herself leaving aboard a ship whose controls fit her hands like they’d been made for her. When the Force stirred in Rey, it reached out to her sister as well and Mey went looking for the family that had never come back to find her. (I’m happy to play either Rey or Other Rey in all versions! Can also be done as Skywalker twins or nobody twins. Names changeable!)

SEQUEL TRILOGY VERSES:

Her Mother’s Daughter (alt post-TFA): Leia had always been too busy running rebellions and piecing-together governments to truly master the Force, but she knew enough to teach Rey the basics – at least until the old friends she dispatched to fetch her brother could talk him into coming back. She could have sent Rey, but after losing Han she didn’t want to let her daughter out of her sight – not so soon after finding the long-thought-dead girl again. Besides, they had so much to catch up on…and the Resistance could use a Force Sensitive woman like Breha, training or no training. And for General Organa, duty always came first.

Corrupted Coordinates (alt post-TFA): the map did not lead them to Master Skywalker. Artoo wasn’t sure if the data was corrupted or if Luke had been there at one point and then moved on – but wherever he was, it wasn’t here. Unwilling to return to the Resistance empty-handed (to fail again the way she had failed to save Han, to protect Finn) Rey went looking for every rumor of Luke she could find. Aboard the Millennium Falcon with Chewbacca and R2-D2 in tow, she is determined to keep searching until she can come back to Leia with something that will give them all hope.

A Newer Hope (alt TLJ): It wasn’t Rey who finally convinced Luke Skywalker to come back to the Force, back to the Resistance, back to his sister; it was the droid Artoo Deetoo, perhaps Luke’s oldest living friend. Artoo’s old hologram reminded Luke of the boy he’d once been and the hopes that had once filled his life to brimming. Lifting her Jedi Master’s ancient X-Wing from the water had been the last task Rey completed before Luke deemed her ready to return to the galaxy and to continue her training from within the Resistance, although he was cautious about letting her progress too quickly, unable to shake his fears of creating another Kylo Ren.

A Skywalker Returned (alt TLJ): If Luke had not cut himself off from the Force he would have recognized his daughter’s presence the moment she set foot on that island. As it was, the resemblance she bore to his sister – to the woman his daughter would have been if she had lived to grow-up – seemed like a cruel joke of the Force and inspired him to push her away instead. His daughter had died alongside her mother, murdered by Ben Solo in an attempt to hide his fall to the Dark Side…or so Luke had thought. Unable to kill his little cousin, Ben instead mind-rubbed her and dumped the confused girl on an out-of-the-way planet. He never expected the girl from Jakku to come back to haunt him – but the Force has a way of returning things to their proper balance, and Kylo Ren knows now that no lies will keep him safe from his long-lost cousin. Unless he can twist her to the Dark Side the way Snoke once twisted him, their next meeting will leave one or both of them dead.

The Rise of Organa-Solo (post-TLJ): Rey felt an instant connection to Han and Leia (and Kylo Ren), the Force within her whispering that this was the family she sought. Her father thought her resemblance to his beloved Leia was mere coincidence and died before learning the truth; her mother surely sensed something when they met but whether out of concern she might be wrong or hopes of sparing Rey further emotional turmoil before she started her Jedi training, Leia said nothing…and Luke had cut himself off from the Force and thus was unable to recognize his niece. Now only Leia remains to guide Rey into the Light away from Snoke’s lies and toward her destiny – but will the truth make it harder or easier for her when she has to kill her brother?

The First Jedi (alt post-TLJ): While Leia reforges the fragments of the Resistance into a New Rebellion, Rey has a mission of her own: finding other Force Sensitives and leading them with her into the Light before Kylo Ren’s agents can drag them to the Dark Side. She is no Jedi Master but she has the ancient Jedi teachings to draw from, friends to support her, and her own clarity of vision to guide her. She will learn, and she will teach. The Jedi will not end with her.

The Sunrider Option (alt TROS): With Kylo Ren dead at her hand, Rey  faced Palpatine alone – but she had read the old Jedi texts and knew of a different sort of sacrifice she could make. She did as commanded and struck him down, claiming her position as Empress of the Sith – but severed herself from the Force at the same time. The spirits of the Sith moved from him to her…and found nothing waiting there that could house them. They faded, dissipating into nothing but impotent screams. Before the Final Order could realize the ritual had failed, she gave the command for their fleet to stand down. The combined Resistance and Free People’s Fleets destroyed most of their ships before they could fight back or flee, and Rey returned to her friends alive and untainted – but forever sundered from the Force. Now she does her best to pass her training on to Finn so he can guide the new generation of Jedi that she will never be a part of…and learns to live with a world that will feel forever muffled, forever less.

The Balance Restored (post TROS): While Poe Dameron, Rose Tico, Kaydel co Connix, and the other leaders of the Resistance turn their hand from rebellion to building a government, Rey has a mission of her own: finding other Force Sensitives and training them as Leia did her. From the fragments of the Jedi Order, something new will rise – something that is not bound by the limitations of the Jedi Code or the sins of Jedi past, but something nonetheless firmly rooted in the Light. She will restore balance to the galaxy one student at a time, starting with her first apprentice: Finn.

Rebel Daughter (pre-TFA divergence): Breha was not lost when her brother fell to the Dark Side. She grew-up amidst the strain and stress of political upheaval and imminent war, but she also grew-up surrounded by family. Breha’s devotion to the Resistance is total – almost. The loss of her brother cut her too deep for even the dozens of unofficial aunts, uncles, and quasi-siblings of her parents’ friends and allies to assuage – but dragging Ben back to the Light would do it. Breha refuses to give up on the big brother she once adored, no matter what Uncle Luke or her parents caution her, but will she risk the continued survival of the Resistance she loves on her certainty that Ben is still in there somewhere, and she can bring him back? She tells herself it’s the will of the Force guiding her – but maybe she just misses her brother.

Scoundrel Daughter (pre-TFA divergence): when Ben Solo fell to the Dark Side, Leia and Han decided that the Force was too dangerous for their remaining child. Duty demanded that General Organa stay with her burgeoning Resistance, so Han and Chewie took young Breha away from war and into the safety of the seedier side of life. She grew up more on the Falcon than off, flitting from port to port and learning the tricks of the smuggler trade rather than the ways of the Force. It wasn’t until Hosnian Prime met its grim fate that they came home to Leia, joining the Resistance for a desperate mission to Starkiller Base – and Breha’s first confrontation with her brother since she had been a little girl and he had not yet become a monster.

Dark Lady of Ren (pre-TFA divergence): When young Ben Solo proved resistant to Snoke’s manipulations he set his sights on an easier target: the boy’s baby sister. His assault on the Jedi Temple left many survivors, but it had all been a distraction so he could kidnap Breha. Raised to the Dark Side and indoctrinated with the beliefs of the First Order, Kreya Ren has few memories of any life before and even less interest in uncovering them. With her family convinced that she died thirteen years ago, she might never have discovered her origins – save that Poe Dameron knew the moment they came face to face who this woman who looked so much like Leia had to be. That had been Kreya’s first mission as a Knight of Ren and she took Dameron’s escape and the defection of the traitor FN-2187 personally. Vowing to destroy the Resistance once and for all, Kreya Ren never expected to discover a brother barring her way – nor parents who refused to accept that she would never turn her back on the Dark Side.

Orderly Mechanic (pre-TFA divergence): The First Order was never picky about where it harvested its resources – or about how willing they were. Rey didn’t want to leave Jakku but she wasn’t given a choice when stormtroopers marched over the sands “recruiting” anyone useful. She was barely a teenager but everyone knew she was good with machines and they needed people to keep their ships spaceworthy. At least she’s learned a lot, although “traveling the galaxy” probably would be more exciting if she ever got to step foot off the ships for more than the occasional dirtside repair. Being a young and self-taught prodigy has netted Rey few friends among her co-workers, but some of the stormtrooper recruits at least are nice to the girl who helps fix their boots and blasters…and so far no one, not even Rey herself, has realized that her instinctive avoidance of Kylo Ren is anything more than ordinary prudence. And every day, her lost family feels a little further away…

More Coming Soon! like literally as soon as soon as someone asks for or suggests one, I love AUs. Don’t be shy!

LEGENDS EU VERSES:

Another Desert Daughter (as Shmi’s great-granddaughter): Luke felt an instant connection to the new Jedi trainee the moment Rey stepped into the temple. Here was yet another Force user from Tatooine, another orphaned child of the sands who dreamed beyond the confines of her hot and distant world, like Taihiri Veila and himself before them. So why did the extent of her powers frighten him? Was it because the coincidental resemblance of her features and his niece’s, his sister’s, had Luke making the mental leap to yet another Jedi from Tatooine? But this girl was no Vader, surely! Of course, if he had known that she too carried Skywalker blood in her veins, Luke might have let himself worry more…but Shmi Skywalker had died too quickly to tell her son that there was another. (can be set at any time in Legends Continuity but probably not NJO because I don’t know it)

Lost Hapan Princess (as Allana Djo Solo): deeming it too dangerous to hide her daughter in plain sight with Han and Leia Organa-Solo, Tenel Ka sent Allana to Dathomir after faking her death – but the ship never made it there. Left on the nearest planet for safe-keeping by her escort while they dealt with the threat pursing them, Allana soon found herself abandoned and alone. Her memories damaged by the upheaval in the Force following Caedus’s fall and Abeloth’s rise, she spent the next several years sure of nothing but that she had family out there somewhere who would be coming back for her…but as the amnesiac girl drew inward to shield herself from the darkness in the Force, Tenel Ka was forced to conclude that her deception about her daughter’s death had become the truth: Allana was gone. But the Force wasn’t done with the woman now called Rey just yet… (for post-LOTF interactions)

Littlest Solo Sister (as Breha Organa-Solo): either taking Anakin Solo’s place as the youngest of the three Solo children, standing alongside Anakin as the second set of Organa-Solo twins, or as the fourth and youngest of the siblings, Breha grew-up as the daughter of the New Republic’s Chief of State and the niece of the Jedi Grand Master. It was a life that involved lots of affection from a host of unofficial aunts and uncles, the occasional kidnapping, and training in the Jedi Temple on Yavin Four. It eventually involved war as well, interspersed with tragedy and darkness. (can be set at any time in Legends Continuity but I really don’t know the NJO so assistance with details may be necessary if you want that)

More Coming Soon! like literally as soon as soon as someone asks for or suggests one, I love AUs. Don’t be shy!

[soloharryenthusiast]

oh my god ana i finished the picture of dorian gray the unscensored version and please don't disown me but i was so...disappointed? with it. i don't know, from what people were talking about this hedonistic life he lived i was expecting like masquerade parties and orgies and a ton of drugs but all i read was how he had these obsessions with jewels and like embroidered tapestry???? maybe i was relying to heavily on what i had envision in my head !!! idk ??

I’ve been staring at the screen for a good 20 minutes writing and deleting typing and backspacing and yet here I am writing the opening sentence to what I think will be an Unnecessarily Long Reply for the umpteenth time. I apologise. It’s just that I know & love this book so intimately and effortlessly that the thought of someone being disappointed by it leaves me gobsmacked. Let’s see, let’s see.

The fact that you approached The Picture expecting explicitly illustrated instances of raw hedonism is hardly your fault. Every blurb and every ~critic’s~ insistence on classifying it as Gothic Horror would lead you to believe that this is a novel about a beautifully wicked man whose portrait grows old in his place. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. The ageing portrait, the beautiful man who never changes in appearance… that’s merely the excuse, the metaphor Oscar chose to convey a greater ideal, to serve Art, to express what Victorian society insisted on repressing. Because that’s one thing you ought to keep in mind: As brave, as beyond-his-years as Oscar was, 1880’s Victorian England was still 1880’s Victorian England. Oscar couldn’t have expanded on Dorian’s hedonism more graphically even if he wanted to, or else no one would’ve printed it in the first place. But back to basics: Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul (TPODG Chapter 2). This book is an ode to the senses, a celebration of art for art’s sake. It’s not about the orgies Dorian partakes in or the drugs he experiments with or even the atrocities he commits post-Henry, it’s about everything in between. You speak of his obsession with jewels and embroidered tapestry, but this is not an obsession born from a materialistic streak in him, but from his fascination, or rather his reverential attitude towards beauty in all its forms. Dorian doesn’t love these things because they are expensive or exclusive, but because in his eyes they exist with the sole purpose of being admired. Because that’s what lies at the centre of the Aesthetic Movement - Oscar being the face of it -, the worship of beauty & pleasure above all else. That’s what lies at the centre of this book. But underneath all that the fact remains that Dorian was influenced into becoming who he eventually became, because he was forced to confront a reality that was much too great for him to bear. It’s easy to forget that once upon a time Dorian used to be good, that he wasn’t always vain and selfish and cruel. I think he often tried to forget that, too. Tried to drown out whatever remnants of his old self came knocking at his door by indulging in everything & anything worth indulging in. It was, perhaps, some of Henry’s cowardice that rubbed off on him. From Dorian Gray as a Symbolic Representation of Wilde’s Personality: “[Dorian’s] subsequent passion for objets d'art, so lengthily described in chapter XI, is simply a way ‘by which he could escape, for a season, from the fear that seemed to him at times to be almost too great to be borne’ (140). He is afraid of that side of his own personality for which he is not prepared to accept responsibility’. Take, for instance, what Dorian said to Henry about Sibyl’s suicide: “I must admit that this thing that has happened does not affect me as it should. It seems to me simply like a wonderful ending to a wonderful play. It has all the terrible beauty of a Greek tragedy, a tragedy in which I took a great part, but by which I have not been wounded”; Dorian, unable &/or unwilling to accept that his actions have moral consequences, has chosen to seek refuge in art, by choosing to see life from a purely aesthetic perspective. His sorrows are Romeo’s, his madness he borrowed from Hamlet, his joys belong to Bacchus. The Picture is, I’d say, a philosophical novel with Gothic elements to it, not the other way around. It’s a menagerie of sins disguising themselves as a thousand shades of grey (ha!). Reading this book, becoming involved in Dorian’s descent into wickedness, it’s supposed to be a subtle, almost imperceptible transition; we are, as we read The Picture, experiencing things vicariously through Dorian. The devil’s in the details. We, too, are kept away from the ever-changing portrait, charmed by Dorian’s faux naivete and bewitched by his looks. Distracted - or fooled - by ephemeral but true displays of humanity - his initial interest in Sibyl Vane, a moment of pity after Basil’s confession, ‘you must always call me Master Dorian, Leaf […] I assure you I am quite as fond of jam now as I used to be’ (chapter 8), his treatment of Alan Campbell in chapter 12, how you can feel Dorian’s pity for him, the by now out-of-character yet ultimately touching gentleness with which he treats him, even while asking him to do the unthinkable - all of these things make it so easy for us to forget about the skeletons in the closet, the picture in the attic. The chapters about the tapestry and the china and the perfumes are Oscar’s way of showing you what Dorian’s life was all about. What he gave his soul up for: Freedom of sensation. ‘TO drift with every passion till my soul Is a stringed lute on which all winds can play’. The Picture is not a graphic novel. It’s not a Horror novel. It’s not a cautionary tale. It doesn’t hand you vices & morbid obsessions & forbidden desires on a silver plate, it alludes to them, it whispers them in your ear, it offers you glimpses but never the full picture. And therein lies its charm, methinks. 

The full text of Oscar’s Helas, because I think it’s relevant to Dorian’s, shall we say, predicament, and very reminiscent of the whole “Lord Henry is what the world thinks me” bit: 

TO drift with every passion till my soul Is a stringed lute on which all winds can play, Is it for this that I have given away Mine ancient wisdom, and austere control?— Methinks my life is a twice-written scroll         Scrawled over on some boyish holiday With idle songs for pipe and virelay Which do but mar the secret of the whole. Surely there was a time I might have trod The sunlit heights, and from life’s dissonance  Struck one clear chord to reach the ears of God: Is that time dead? lo! with a little rod I did but touch the honey of romance— And must I lose a soul’s inheritance?