#non sexually speaking I think he's an amazing person who commands much love and respect

[thegeorgiatennantblog]

Gay boys on Tumblr endlessly thirsting on DT is going to be forever beyond me. Don't know what they see in him. But I have come to understand that it's the same thing Georgia sees in him. Conclusion: Georgia is a gay boy on Tumblr ;P

[reconditarmonia]

Dear Yuletide Writer 2020

Hi! Thank you for writing for me! I’m reconditarmonia here and on AO3. I have anon messaging off, but mods can contact me with any questions.

Fiddler on the Roof (2018 Folksbiene Production) | The Psychology of Time Travel - Kate Mascarenhas | Simoun | Where the Sky is Silver and the Earth is Brass - Sonya Taaffe

General likes:

– Relationships that aren’t built on romance or attraction. They can be romantic or sexual as well, but my favorite ships are all ones where it would still be interesting or compelling if the romantic component never materialized.

– Loyalty kink! Trust, affectionate or loving use of titles, gestures of loyalty, replacing one’s situational or ethical judgment with someone else’s, risking oneself (physically or otherwise) for someone else, not doing so on their orders. Can be commander-subordinate or comrades-in-arms.

– Heists, or other stories where there’s a lot of planning and then we see how the plan goes.

– Femslash, complicated or intense relationships between women, and female-centric gen. Women doing “male” stuff (possibly while crossdressing).

– Stories whose emotional climax or resolution isn’t the sex scene, if there is one.

– Uniforms/costumes/clothing.

– Stories, history, and performance. What gets told and how, what doesn’t get told or written down, behavior in a society where everyone’s consuming media and aware of its tropes, how people create their personas and script their own lines.

General DNW: rape/dubcon, torture, other creative gore; unrequested AUs, including “same setting, different rules” AUs such as soulmates/soulbonds; PWP; food sex; embarrassment; focus on pregnancy; Christmas/Christian themes; focus on unrequested canon or non-canon ships; unrequested trans versions of characters.

—

Fandom: Fiddler on the Roof (2018 Folksbiene Production)

Character(s): Any (The Fiddler, Hodl, Pertshik, Shprintze)

I would love to read about the Fiddler from the recent Yiddish production of Fiddler on the Roof, understanding him/her/them as a real person with a backstory, present and future rather than a symbol. They seem to be female (and their actor describes them as female) but wear men’s clothes and are on the men’s side at the wedding, and everyone seems cool with that? I’m 100% on board with any gender identity you decide you’d like to write them with. How did he/she/they come to be who they are, and what are their interpersonal relationships (platonic, familial, romantic, any gender) like? What might an encounter between them and the supernatural (dybbuks, demons, witches?) be or have been like? Have they always lived in Anatevka or do they wander from village to village? What happens to them after the play ends?

Or, Hodl and Pertshik! I maintain a headcanon (which you don't have to share) that Hodl reads a lot of anarchist books and pamphlets while she's in Siberia and comes around to Emma Goldman-esque views on marriage, and she and Pertshik stay together but never marry. I'd be so interested in something about their future! (Or f/f with genderswapped Pertshik??) But I'd also be happy with fic about either of them individually - Pertshik pre-play or Hodl (post-play) on her own without him on screen.

Or, Shprintze! (Or Bielke.) I love the expansion in this production of Pertshik's lessons to the younger girls, and I'd be super interested to read about one or both of them growing up in America, a very different life, having maybe absorbed some of those political beliefs as children. I also headcanon that - following the play's plot trajectory of increasingly unsuitable matches - she's got to be a lesbian, right? Bring on the Shprintze/OFC! yes, I know what happened in Sholem Aleichem's original stories

For that matter, feel free to do the supernatural plots with the non-fiddler characters too! Someone talking politics with a dybbuk? I'd also be really interested in digging into the language aspect, which I'd never really thought about before seeing this production - when do or don't they speak Yiddish, in their past or future?

Fandom-Specific DNW/Opt-In: I'm explicitly okaying antisemitism appearing in the story as part of the world the characters live in, although I do not want a character's personally facing antisemitism to be the focus of the plot. I don't really want to hear much about Khave/Fyedke.

—

Fandom: The Psychology of Time Travel - Kate Mascarenhas

Character(s): Any (none nominated)

This novel is so carefully worldbuilt, yet with such amazing potential for unusual character interactions, life stories, and relationships as shaped by time travel as well. I nominated this without characters because I would be delighted to receive fic that focused on worldbuilding, whether through the stories of OCs, or through any of the canon characters. I’m most interested in:

the Conclave and more broadly in social interactions and (romantic or friendly) relationships between multiple characters who are time travelers (rather than a time traveler and their non-time-traveling partner or family)

art that might be created with time travel (like Grace’s exhibitions or Angharad’s dance; what about novels or other fiction somehow created using time travel?)

the rules and customs of time travel (in-world documents? habits or observances that develop on a mass level beyond people’s individual compulsions or visits to significant dates within their own timeline? what fictional stories do time travelers write about time travel?)

more about the Conclave as a workplace, its social dynamics and logistics

interactive fiction?!

but really I’d love to read anything in this fandom. I'd be happy with fiction and/or in-world documents!

—

Fandom: Simoun

Character(s): Neviril

I've just completed a rewatch of this show, and it has reaffirmed for me that I love Neviril. She's a leader in both a military and a religious sense, respected by her squad and by the populace, but figuring out what that means to her is such a personal journey. I still love her scene in the hearing where she speaks aloud what no one has wanted to admit or talk about - that they're soldiers now, this is war, can they still call themselves priestessses? - but I was also struck on this rewatch by how Chor Tempest increasingly becomes a player in itself in the politicking (the bit in Episode 21 where the whole lot of them fly out against orders, because it's what they, with Neviril leading and giving voice to the group, think is what their role is about), and by the scenes of her blessing the people (when iirc she is needed elsewhere by the military governor for flight purposes) and Paraietta (after what Paraietta did to her).

I love the military aspects of this canon in general (and the associated tropes of loyalty and trust and bravery and positive/negative relationship to authority) and that definitely ties in to Neviril figuring out what her role is as the squad leader, but I'm also just here for that very process of figuring it out and defining it for herself.

So...what happens to her post-canon? What is the "new world" and her travel in it like? If she makes it back to the main world when war is brewing again, but her old cohort can't fly anymore, what does she see her role as being - a leader for peace, for war, something else? How do she and Aer interact with Paraietta, Rodoreamon, Floef, and/or Vyuraf?

Ship-wise, Aer/Neviril grew on me a lot! I appreciated Aer more as the determined bit-of-a-loose-cannon type than as the manic pixie this time, and noted Neviril's comments about how she was drawn to Aer's determination. But I'd also be up for a poly situation where she's involved with both Aer and Paraietta, who are friends, or, I guess, one where it's a three-way relationship, although I don't personally know what the Aer/Paraietta side would be like! (I do like how they work together in battle even when they're shown as having personal issues.)

I think this is the only fandom I could be interested in explict fic for this time around, as an option - the series is, on some level, about the contrast between the reality and physicality of their bodies and the general perception of what they do (which even in its non-spiritual military capacity is removed from a connection to their bodies via the Simoun aircraft), about becoming an adult, and of course about gender.

Fandom-Specific DNW: I'm not really interested in Kaim and Alty and would prefer for them not to appear or for their backstory to come up. I would also not like to see pre-timeskip Dominuura/Limone.

—

Fandom: Where the Sky is Silver and the Earth is Brass - Sonya Taaffe

Character(s): Any (Chaye Roznatovsky, Demon)

Anything expanding on this story would make me really happy. Chaye's years with the partisans, the comrades-in-arms she had and loved then and who else's memory she holds or makes into a weapon, her journey to America, going by the surname of "no one." The demon's mirror world, its loss of that world (what exactly happened on the other side?) and its need to be where Jews are, demon Judaism? Or the future of both of them now that they've found each other!

Fandom-Specific DNW/Opt-In: DNW Chaye/demon. The premise of the story being what it is, I'm explicitly okay with antisemitism being a prominent feature of the story if you write something that covers either or both characters' backstory, but would prefer post-war antisemitism not to be a focus.

[azriels-shadowlady]

Enchanted

Pairing: Kylo Ren x Reader

Words: 4.1K

Summary/Prompt:  As the Princess of your home planet Pulea, you were selected by the First Order to become Kylo Ren's 'companion'. Pulea is in debt, and the only way your father can find his way out of that debt is through the First Order, Reader stays with Kylo Ren for three months in exchange for Puleas debt paid in full.

A/N: This is just part 1/? also pre TFA (Pinterest board) (Request)

Your entire life was so predictable, after twenty years of your days consisting of the same thing you knew for as long as you were alive your days would be planned for you. As a child you didn’t mind the structure as much, because there was allotted time for you to play with some of the other children, you had time to actually enjoy your life. But now, you are no longer the young Princess of Pulea who brought joy to so many, now you are the Princess of Pulea, the woman in training to rule your planet if anything were to happen to your father. There was no room for fun for a Princess in training.

Your days became more and more like your fathers days, small meals in between meetings with important political parties. Pulea was a non conflict planet, neither aiding in the First Orders rule over the galaxy, or the Resistance who tried so hard to fight them away. Deep down you know that there are plans for Pulea to become sanctuary for the First Order, for them to plan their next attacks in secret, but your father would never actually admit that to you.

Today, like any other, you sat in the oversized conference room, listening to your father debate and give his opinion on new policies that the people of Pulea were attempting to put in place.  

They all knew that your father had the final say on anything that happened on Pulea, but that didn’t stop the people from trying to put new laws in place. Most of which consisted of creating a law for after your father dies you will have to run and get the peoples vote on whether or not they saw you fit to be Queen. Both you and your father knew that if that were to happen you wouldn’t be sworn in as Queen, the people had grown tired of your family ruling Pulea, especially your father who had put Pulea in so much debt it seemed almost impossible to rid yourselves of this debt.

Later that night, after several more hours of listening to your people voice their concerns, you were finally free to relax in your bedroom, and do some light reading. You knew of your fathers secret meeting, but you paid it no mind it wouldn’t be the first or last time there was a secret meeting you weren’t invited to. More often than not it was your father brainstorming ways with other higher up political parties, and you never really wanted to be in those meetings, they ran into the late hours of the night, long after you’d fallen asleep.

The following morning you were awoken, seemingly much earlier than usual. Your handmaiden Zula stood beside your bed, with a regretful look on her face. Your heart dropped, something is wrong. “Zula, what is wrong? What is happening?” You sat up in bed, and let your feet dangle over the sides waiting for a response, but it never came. Your father opened the door, peeking his head in making sure you were clothed. You pulled your blankets over your front, you did have a nightgown on, but it was unheard of for a Princess to be seen by anyone other than her handmaiden undressed.

“I have it from here Zula, thank you for waking her for me.” Your fathers almost regretful eyes finally met yours, something is wrong. “Daddy?” You ask scared, using your childhood name for your father. “What is happening?” As he walked across the room, saying nothing your anxiety only grew more and more in your chest. “Darling,” He puts his hands over yours and rests them in your lap “Something wonderful, but heartbreaking has happened.” A thousand things were running through your mind, wonderful but heartbreaking, what could that even mean? “Tell me.” You insist, not enjoying the suspense. “We have found a way to erase every last credit of debt we have.” He was right, that is wonderful, but what could be heartbreaking about that? “That is amazing father!” A genuine smile spread across your face, you were unbelievably happy this is happening, but you knew that wasn’t all the news. Your face fell once more “What could be heartbreaking about that?” The moment of happiness that had made its way to your father's face was quickly washed away. “You have to understand y/n,” He started, remorse coating his voice “This is going to get us out of debt, and it’s only for a short amount of time.”  

“Just tell me!” You insist, wanting to get this news over with. “You will be moving to the Starkiller Base for three months to be Kylo Ren's companion.” He had spoken the words so fast you were sure you had misunderstood him, he would never send you into the arms of the First Order, let alone their commander, Kylo Ren, the murderer. “I’m sorry, what? I don’t think I heard you?” You mumble, knots forming in your stomach, your own father wouldn’t do this to you, would he?

“I said you will be moving to the Starkiller Base for three months-” You put your hand up wanted to stop his talking, you were about to be sick. You threw yourself from the bed and ran to the bathroom, just barely in time to be sick in the toilet. You becan sobbing, sitting on the floor of your bathroom, how could your father do this to you? He has to know you’ll never make it out of there alive, it’s Kylo Ren. But then you began thinking over his words again, Kylo Ren’s companion. You empty your stomach once more, fear building in your body, what exactly does his companion mean?

“Father!” You called, needing more answers, he was in the room at your side immediately, rubbing your back softly in an attempt to calm you down like he had done while you were still a child. “I’m so sorry my darling, I had no other choice, there was talk of another mutiny.” You shook your head, still not understanding most of the situation ahead of you.

“How will be being Kylo Ren’s companion free us from our debt?” You asked, trying your best to hold back your sobs. “The First Order has agreed to pay off all debt owed by Pulea but only if we provided Kylo Ren with you, our Princess.” You sat staring at your father in disbelief, how could he sell you like that? You may not be sold forever, but how could he do that to his only child, the only heir to the throne.

“What is included in being Kylo Ren’s companion?” Knowing the answer would break your heart further, you pulled your knees to your check, and rested your chin on your knees as if it would protect you somehow.

After your father explained to you what your duties were to appease Kylo Ren you fell silent, you were basically going to be his whore. Whatever he wanted, you would have to provide him with. Your father hadn’t outright said it, but you could tell one of those duties would be to please him sexually. That thought alone scared you more than anything, you would be losing your virginity to the commander of the First Order, whether or not you wanted to do so.

You packed some of your things quietly in your room, avoiding your father. He told you that you would be leaving just after nightfall of that very same day. You had no words for your father, the man who had raised you would never have agreed to letting you be a companion for someone so widely known for killing in anger. But maybe the man who you thought raised you was long gone, Pulea was all that mattered to him now.

Zula knocked on your door softly, indicating it was time for your departure. You took in every intricate detail of your home as you walked silently through the halls. As you walked down the stairs in the foyer you noticed the staff who worked in the castle lined up near the door, as if to pay respects to you. It’s like I’m already dead you think to yourself. You nod your head to each and every person, the people you’d grown up around, many of the people watching you had tears in their eyes, the reality that the Princess that they had all watched grow before their eyes was leaving, possibly forever.

Your father stood waiting for you at the ship you were about to board, his hands crossed in front of him while looking at the ground, not able to meet your gaze. “Darling,” He started once you had finally reached him, you held your hand up though as to tell him to stop speaking, something you normally would have never done. “Don’t.” You whisper softly, before hugging him and kissing his right cheek. His arms wrapped around you, tighter than you were really comfortable with, but you know he needed to hold you one last time before you left so you allowed it.

“I love you.” You both whisper in unison. You finally step away from your father's embrace and walk towards the large shuttle in front of you. Not having the courage to look behind you at everything that you’re leaving behind, you walked aboard, and stood listening to the airtight lock of the doors closing.

You weren’t sure how long the trip to Starkiller Base would take, you assumed several hours so you moved a few steps behind you and took a seat as you felt the ship start to take off. “Excuse me,” You ask softly, hoping the Stormtrooper or pilot might answer you. The Stormtrooper turned his head and glanced at you, but remained silent. “How long does it take to get there?” You felt as though you were being an inconvenience so you averted your eyes away after asking your question. “An hour and thirty minutes, Princess.” You were surprised at the use of your title, you had assumed you would be stripped of it the minute you got on board.

You nod your head in thanks, and look down at your hands resting in your lap. Your mind began to wonder to what the next three months would be like for you, would Kylo Ren be as awful as he’s made out to be? Probably. But maybe he would be bearable, maybe if you were lucky you’d make it out of this situation alive. You try your hardest to stay positive, your father surely wouldn’t have sent you if he feared for your life, right? You feel tears start to form in your eyes and shake off the thought of your father, it would serve you no good for the next few months, it would only cause you heartache.

The entire flight was silent, aside from your question, neither the pilot or the lone Stormtrooper said a word to you, and hardly even looked in your direction. You hadn’t realized an hour and a half had gone by until you felt the shuttle slowing down, and eventually landing. You took in a sharp breath, unsure of what was awaiting you beyond those doors now. Would Kylo Ren be there waiting? Or would you be locked and interrogated before you laid eyes on the man, fear took over, and you began to shake wanting nothing more than to go back home to Pulea.

The door opened, and the Stormtrooper stood beside you, giving you his hand to stand up. You accepted his help, and stood taking deep breaths, if you’re going to make it through the next three months, you must remain as calm as you can. “This way, Princess.” You were escorted down the ramp of the shuttle, and were met with a ginger haired man waiting for you at the bottom, you somehow knew just by looking at him he was not Kylo Ren, you had heard stories of the Jedi Killer, and he would have to be much more intimidating than the man before you.

“Princess y/n.” The ginger haired man greeted you, bowing his head slightly, you did the same in return waiting for his name, but it was never given. “This way.” He put his hand out before him as to tell you which direction you would be walking. You followed closely behind him in fear of getting lost, there were so many people in the room you didn’t want to chance anything happening.

“Before meeting Commander Ren you will be evaluated by our team of medical staff, to insure you have no disease, or any other health problems that we should be made aware of.” The ginger tells you, after a  minute of silence. You had gone down several hallways, each one looking the same as the last, you wonder how he keeps track of where he’s going, there is no indication of where anything is.

You decide not to respond to the man, finding him to be rude for not sharing his name, or status within the First Order with you. After a few more halls you finally showed up to a brightly lit room, with several more rooms off that one. A kind looking woman greeted you with a smile “General Hux,” She bows her head “is this Commander Rens companion?” You take note of General Hux's name, finally knowing something about the man. “Indeed, I leave her in your care you have instructions on what do you. She is yours now.” General Hux turns and walks away without another word to you.

“He’s not a very personable man.” The doctor smiles at you again. “I’m Doctor Kille, I’ll be the one performing your tests. Did General Hux explain to you what we will be looking for?” You shake you head, and look around the room trying to gain the courage to speak. “This way.” Doctor Kille says leading you to an examination room and closing the door behind the two of you. “I can see you’re experiencing some anxiety right now, that is very normal, are you able to speak?” A blush crossed your face at her knowledge of the reason behind your silence.  

“I am.” You speak softly, sitting on the plastic bed in front of you, setting your hands in your lap and staring at them nervously. “Very good!” She practically cheers, causing you to blush more. “What kinds of tests will you be doing?” Your voice is still very quiet, but you look up to meet her eyes so as to not be rude.

“Yes, so we will be running a few non invasive tests, and one that may be uncomfortable but won't take much time at all.” Your heart rate picks up, you’d never had any kinds of tests on your body done so you weren’t sure what to expect. “Will it hurt?” She smiles apologetically. You decide she’s almost too happy to be doing this job, who smiles this much? “It will be uncomfortable, but it should not hurt you.”

A few minutes later after she explained to you that she would be needing blood samples, a urine sample, and a swab of your cervix she got up to get the supplies. You had felt embarrassed at not knowing what your cervix was, but back on Pulea the anatomy of a human body only really came down to what you could see on the outside, it was considered impolite to discuss things such as the inside of your body. Doctor Kille also had to explain to you how she would be getting a blood sample, you had never heard of someone sticking a needle in your arm for blood before, you still didn’t quite understand why the First Order would need your blood, but she insisted it was necessary.

She arrived back in the room with a plastic up in one hand, and two clear bags in the other hand holding various medical supplies. “First we are going to get the blood sample, can you turn your arm out like this?” She asks you, showing you to turn your inner arm out. You copy her and look up for approval, she nods and walks to you with a small pad. “This is just to sterilize your arm, okay? Just to make sure that the blood we take will be clean, and not contaminated.” You mumble a soft ‘okay’ and watch as she cleans the fold between your forearm, and bicep.

“This part shouldn’t hurt too bad, it’s going to be a small pricking feeling, and as long as you don’t tense up it won't hurt you.” She makes sure you nod your head before sticking the sharp needle in your arm, you take in a sharp breath at the feeling but make sure not to tense up so it doesn’t begin to hurt. “Very good.” She smiles -again- and pressed a cotton ball onto the area, and taping it over with medical tape.

“Are you set to use the bathroom, or will you need some water?” You had needed to use the bathroom since you’d gotten off the shuttle, you had just been too nervous to ask permission to use one. “I can now.” She explains to you to use one of the sterilizing pads she had used on your arm just moments before, just to make sure your urine was clean. It didn’t quite make sense to you that urine could be clean, or how the cloth would help, but you agreed anyway.

You take the plastic cup from her hand and walk to the bathroom behind you. There was only a curtain for a makeshift door, leaving you little privacy to use the bathroom, but you had to go bad enough you barely noticed her feet standing directly behind the curtain. After washing your hands you bring the cup out to Doctor Kille, and sit back on the plastic bed waiting for her next request.

“I’ll be right back darling, hold tight.” Your chest tightened at her use of the word ‘darling’ the nickname your father had always had for you. “You're doing it for Pulea.” You repeat to yourself over and over again waiting for her to return. When she walks back into the room you see a fairly large instrument in her hands. “This is the part that will be slightly uncomfortable, but I need you to trust me, can you do that?” You nod your head slowly, looking at the tool, wondering what the in the galaxy it could be for.

“Alright, so I need you to put this on, you can leave on your bra, but your underwear needs to come off, okay?” She hands you a gown that opens in the back, you do as she asks and strip yourself of your clothes from home, and put the gown on. She was polite enough to turn around and give you some privacy as you changed, but you were still unbelievably nervous about what was to come next.

“You can go ahead and lay down on the bed, and put your knees up, alright?” You hesitantly lay down, and put your feet below your butt and keep your knees in the air “What are you about to do?” You had realized by now that whatever it was that she was holding was going to go inside you, but you demanded to know why before she got any closer.

“This is called a speculum, I’m going to insert it inside you, and take the swab of your cervix now, that's all. It’s going to be uncomfortable, but just like before, if you don’t tense up, and let me get the swab quickly it will be over before you know it.” You did trust Doctor Kille, but you didn’t trust the First Order, she still hadn’t explained to you what the purpose of this test was. “Why do you need to do this?” She looked up at you nervously, at least she wasn’t smiling this time. “This swab will tell us if you have any sexually transmitted diseases.”

Your heart sank, you knew why they needed the test, but you had put it to the back of your mind. You didn’t want to admit that you would more than likely be losing your virginity to Kylo Ren. You had nothing more to say after that, you fell silent again, and listened to her orders for the swab, just wanting it to be over. It was uncomfortable, just like she had said it would be, you had tears freely falling from your eyes once she finally took the speculum out, but the pain wasn’t the only reason you were crying anymore.

You sat, and waited while she finished getting the results for the tests she had done. It was then that you realized just how tired you really were. It must have been after midnight by then, you had left Pulea just after ten at night, it made sense that your body was finally getting tired. “May I rest?” You ask Doctor Kille, in the hopes that you could get some sleep before meeting Kylo Ren. She nodded and left the room. You close your eyes and fall asleep quickly on the uncomfortable bed.

Unsure of how long you had been asleep, you sat up and looked around the room to see if your doctor was back with results yet. The lights had been turned off, and a blanket had been draped over your body, you smiled, grateful for whoever let you sleep. “Hello?” You call, hoping to find out how long you had been asleep in the medical bay of Starkiller Base.

“Y/n!” Doctor Kille greeted you, another smile plastered across her face. “You’re finally awake, how was your nap?” You tell her that you had slept fine, but wanted to know the time, and possibly get food, after all it had been at least six hours since you’d eaten last, and you hadn’t even eaten much because of your nerves.

“It’s a little after eight in the morning, Commander Ren decided to let you continue sleeping on account of the changes you’re going through right now.” You stared at her puzzled, had Kylo Ren been in here while you slept. “He was in here?” You felt your nerves building up, he had seen you asleep, not prepared to meet him at all. You must admit, you felt bad, that is no way to meet someone you’ll be spending three months with, if you even could call it a meeting.

“He was, he is the one who got you the blanket, and turned the lights out.” You hadn’t even considered that he had done that, in your mind you were sure he would have been annoyed at you falling asleep before meeting him. “Your tests call came back clear, just as we thought! We just have one last task at hand before sending you to Commander Rens quarters.” You weren’t sure what the last task was, but you had hoped it was a shower, and clean clothes.

“We just have to put an implant in your arm before we send you on your way. The implant will aide in making sure you do not get pregnant in your time with us.” Her smile wasn’t as wide as it had been last night, she looked exhausted.

Putting the implant in your arm wasn’t as painful as you had thought it would be, it didn’t feel good, but it was bearable. Not long after the implant was placed two Stormtroopers showed up, ready to bring you to Kylo Ren's room. You were disappointed you weren’t able to shower, and more than that you were frustrated that you had to wear clothes from the day before while meeting Kylo Ren for the first time.

The walk to his room was much longer than the walk to the medical bay had been, but it did feel good to be moving your feet, after being in the examination room for so long. Just like the trip to Starkiller Base, the Stormtroopers didn’t say anything to you, nor did you say anything to them, it made no sense to engage in small talk, you’d more than likely never see them again.

Once the three of you stopped at the door, one of the ‘troopers entered in a series of numbers to unlock the door before you. “Here you go.” He tells you once the door opens, motioning for you to go inside.

[roblnwheeler]

TBH and Rouge One

Returning from Rouge One I had a few thoughts I wanted to write down before they fluttered away (which they’re already starting to!). These were just my perceptions and options of the movie overall. I’m not well versed in Star Wars, and I’m certain that has had an effect on my experience, for better or worse. I personally really loved this movie.

Here are some of my thoughts:

All the characters die and I think its Great

In fact, if they hadn’t died, I would’ve been disappointed. I’m not heartless, and I loved each of the characters to death (pun intended), but it made for the whole tone of the movie. (In general, I actually typically dislike character deaths but more on that later).

The movie and the franchise speaks to the symbolism idea that we as individuals are something a part of a bigger whole and that it is more important to us than ourselves. The rebels die for their cause because they believe in the greater idea of the mission and its importance. They themselves do not matter but what they chose to do with themselves does. If the main characters, particularly Jyn or Cassian had lived, it would’ve made for a much different tone. One that spoke to the idea that the characters themselves were more important than the thing they were accomplishing. 

Also, each death was so well handled and I didn’t really have any complaints (which if you know me I almost always have complaints when deaths are involved, they’re usually done so cheaply and unnecessarily). Each member of Rouge One gave their live respectfully and appropriately. Their deaths felt meaningful, not shoddy and done for dramatic effect. 

I honestly loved each and every death in it’s own right. They each fulfilled a purpose in the end. My favorite of the favorite death would perhaps be the last couple of significant deaths, Cassian, Jyn, and the random rebel.

The rebel who tries so desperately to escape the closed door but, when seeing Darth Vader mow down his fellow crewmen and knowing he’s also going to share their fate, chooses to pass off the information but it is so vital that it gets to the Alliance. There are a lot of World War references throughout Star Wars but this scene specifically reminded me of that emotional feeling, of one individual doing everything they can in their last moments to save something bigger than themselves. Doing what they can to save others they will never meet.

(Weirdly enough watching Rouge One to me felt a little like if one lived in the Star Wars universe and it was their version of watching a historical movie bringing an amazing wartime story to the big screen because we all knew coming into the movie theatre that the events in Rouge One have already happened. It was much more about the journey itself than the ending.)

Jyn and Cassian’s death.... It was incredibly well done in my opinion and I loved every cut scene of it.After sending out the message, Jyn helps Cassian to the beach to send their last moments alive somewhere pleasant. They can’t escape, there’s no way out of the situation and the ripple of the blast is swiftly coming down upon them, and they find it in themselves to accept that and to find comfort in a companion’s presence in their last moments because they’ve done what they needed to do. They knew coming into this mission they likely weren’t getting out alive and given the options, going this way is better than they could’ve hoped for.

(Also on a small note, the white coat commander [Idk his name] being on the planet and seeing his creation rise in the sky to end his life. That was some poetry right there. He never honestly thought of just what his weapon would be like if he was on the other end and you see, that now he’s about to experience the full spectrum of the Death Star and all it’s “beauty”.)

The Romance, or lack thereof

If I rant to you irl, you probably already know but to put it mildly, I just don’t have much time for romance in movies; particularly action movies. I always feel they they are forced, crammed in too tightly, and poorly written to the point that they completely miss the goal they were trying to achieve leaving no one rooting for the couple or even the characters.

Rouge One didn’t do that, and dear lordie did I love it. There were zero outright romance plots (minus Jyn’s parents and not even them really), and the undertones were subtle and perfect. All these characters are in the middle of warzones and high risk, covert operations and don’t have time for any budding romances and surprisingly; the writers accepted and worked with that.

Throughout the entire movie you see these people slowly learning to trust and appreciate each other, working together toward their mutual goal and accepting the fate they have chosen before them. But there is not one kiss or awkward sex scene throughout.

Instead, the audience receive several subtle, non-disruptive moments between characters that leave much up to interpretation because, much like the character’s, the plot doesn’t have time to concern itself with the foolishness of romance. That would’ve been something to deal with outside of this time period in their lives.

With Chirrut and Malbus, you see a long standing companionship from the start. These two have obviously known each other a long time and have many shared moments together. They fight, discuss, and jest well together. Still, their relationship remains ambiguous throughout (there is a particularly adorable scene in which Chirrut says he’ll be safe because he’ll have Malbus with him-- a giant who constantly complains about saving the guardian despite his impressive fighting skills). Malbus, never one who is seen directly believing in the Force, and often joking about Chirrut’s fate, never attempts to dissuade him and during their final moments together he prays for Chirrut’s sake out of the respect for the connection they share. He is distraught to see Chirrut die and in his own final moments, Malbus finds comfort in looking upon Chirrut one last time.

Jyn and Cassian, the two protagonists, were obvious and almost dreaded choices for a romance in the movie. Surprisingly, there isn’t really any romantic or sexual tension between the two throughout almost the entire movie. It isn’t until their last few moments that the audience receive the potential undertones, (which are never fully brought up). Instead of having them share a kiss during their final moments, they hold hands and hold each other close, facing their impending deaths together using each others strength. For me personally, I don’t think that Jyn or Cassian even ever really saw themselves as friends but they came to share a great mutual respect and admiration for one and other in the end.

Both of these relationships presented the subtle possibility for more than a friendship but also allowed the viewer to accept their relationship as only a friendship if they wished.

[Only in a little part of my head did I imagine all the characters were asexual and it was also beautiful but probably complete nonsense. Still  so Beautiful though to watch them from that perspective none the less.]

By doing things the way they did, it actually had me appreciating the potential couples in ways I never can when couples are outwardly done in these kinds of films.

Diversity and Accents

Diversity in casting today is something I’m rather passionate about. I think it’s incredibly important and needed to be telling a competent and fully fleshed out story of the human people and I think we’ve fallen short in this department more often than we’d like to think in recent years, filling the potential for good storytelling with the poor substitute of diverse casting for the sake of having it. A character of a specific gender/race/religion/orientation/etc, should not exist simply to be that one specific quality. Humans are diverse and complex in their existence and successful characters should reflect that. [I’m rambling now... Back to Rouge One points...]

Diversity in this movie... I loved it. In the beginning I had some disappointing doubts about the diversity of the film watching the opening scenes but when we got into it, the movie really ended up impressing me.

The majority of the main characters came from racially different backgrounds and their accents, their accents. Not being entirely familiar with SW universe and such I know they have their own languages (which was cool to see) but also each of the characters spoke with their own distinctive accents, suggesting a truly diverse and multicultural upbringing between all of them. Even Jyn’s accent is not distinctively American (which to me personally seemed to be many of the older SWs characters [I could be wrong here]). It’s not a bad thing to have a American accents and such, but I think it’s important to have more than just that one perspective in a movie like SW because the world created includes it because you are talking about people living on so many different worlds with different races... just think of all the differences in human culture within our own one little Earth.

Anywho, the accents really brought something to each of the characters and gave them a special kind of identity that often isn’t seen in popular franchised movies.

So yes, it was great. And I enjoyed it greatly.

Cassian should have shot Him

There were only about two things in the movie that I thought were a little cliche but with all the other amazing things in the movie (and with how small they were), I really didn’t mind.

During the scene where Cassian was looking through he sniper scope...It was here that, despite his dilemma over shooting Jyn’s father, Cassian totally should’ve shot Mr. White Coat Commander dude. 1) meta-speaking, it would’ve saved them a ton of time down the road a little bit of hurt, and 2) Cassian being a rebel member should’ve known this guy was a high ranking Empire member and should’ve taken him out on site for the sake of the alliance. it would’ve been a good hit to the Empire.

The other thing was actually a split up of two things relating to Galen Erso. 1) he’s wife’s death was a little cheesy, just having her die at the beginning and him holding her body. and 2) him dying as soon as he reunites with his daughter. Both of these things were pretty small to the overall point of his character and the movie and with everything else going on (so much amazing plot, characterization, etc.), it’s honestly easy to give these few little things a pass.

Starship battles always make me cry

Seriously though, every fantasy movie I watch with star fighters blowing up and random big battle scenes make me getting teary-eyed and I’m not a particularly big crier. It’s just, I don’t see ships blowing up, I see people with families exploding. And I see their families being contacted later on to inform them of the tragedy. [You should’ve seen me in GOTG when the Nova core all die... so many silent movie theatre tears]

Star Wars may be all about fighting got a bigger cause/idea but I also feel like there were men stationed at that Comm tower (Ik there were clones [they’re another deal] and stuff but here I especially mean the regular blokes) whose partners told them them if they were going to be joining the Empire’s Militia, they’d have to find a station somewhere out of harm’s way where they won’t get hurt.

Now imagine the pain of losing the loved one, added to the fact that you thought they had chosen a relatively safe planet to work on.

Rouge One is Basically a fantastic fanfic

What I mean here, is that we already have the setup of Star Wars in canon, and we know what’s already happened to original main characters. Rouge One is like a fanfic that creates other characters within the same world, existing at the same time, and we see the world from their perspective and from their story.

It’s so great to me that this exists and is done so well, especially with the age difference in the movies and ugh, just so good. I’ve died because of fanfics that worked like this.

In Conclusion...

Basically, in short, Rouge One is Just Brilliant.

In my opinion, it has just so much to offer people, both those who do an don’t know the franchise well.

I was rather neutral going into the film but man, it just blew all my expectations and presumptions out of the water. In the best way possible.

The biggest things I usually have problems with in modern cinema, unnecessary/cheap death scenes and romance were both handled practically flawlessly.

So much heart was put into this and it shows.

It renews and reinvigorates my standards and hopes for the future of cinematic film.

[Also, jokingly I just kept thinking how much differently this whole movie could’ve gone with Star Trek beaming tech xD]

I highly recommend seeing this, if you haven’t already. You won’t be disappointed (I don’t think)!