#star wars really had to go and make a Holy Trinity of the Force

[knightsofrayx]

Once more playing in @daisychainsandbowties LB-verse ‘cause brainrot 

A mural of The Ones, the living embodiments of the Force. the Son, the Fanged God. the Daughter, the Winged Goddess. the Father, the Keeper of the Balance. Emblazoned on the walls of the Lothal Jedi Temple, this painting of the Gods of Mortis serves as a gateway to the World Between Worlds.

[sword-of-summer]

All of them answer every question fuck you

ahahaha no i respectfully deny your "fuck you" and i accept the ask and so-

i am 5'10", and i don't wish to be taller or shorter- i am the perfect height for hugs and messy hair, and yep, i like it here-

dream pet would be a mix of golden retriver and a husky called Holly and a chonky cat called Loki- yes ofcourse my future kids have names everyone should name their future pets-

ripped jeans/black pants with a Darth Vader tshirt or a Ethnic Fusion Kurta with black sneakers/artificial leather slip-ons, and if it's cold, a black jacket open obviously- and a black wristwatch i love my black wristwatch.

favourite video game was Clash of Clans and going even back, GTA Vice City and, the og- MARIIOOOO

three things/people are Oreos, Nutella and Pizza. The Holy Trinity-

"Beware me my fingers are smeared with chicken popcorn grease"

you didn't mention an opinion, @chunkybirb, so imma give my opinion on Vanilla ice cream and Nutella- ANYONE WHO HADN'T COMBINED THESE TWO COMBINE THESE TWO THEY ARE FUCKING AWESOME

im either phlegmatic or melancholic bruh idk maybe ik or maybe not

im v v v v ticklish

not an allergy, but an intense hatred for ketchup- i vomit if it gets too close to me fuck you ketchup

im heterosexual

any between tea and coffee but full milk coffee (ik, kill me), never had cocoa- but i love a chocolate or nutella milkshake

both. both is good. (cat and dog)

i would be an elf cause hell yeah, knowledge and wisdom

favourite youtuber is Samay Raina, a stand up comedian turned youtuber who is just awesome-

as i mentioned in 1., i am 5'10"

i would not change my name cause it's the coolest fucking name ever, i am Tanay, and Tanay in Hindi means Son, and my parents literally named their son Son, and hell yeah i like it

i forgot how much i weigh- last i checked it was 75 kilos, but ive gained weight since 2019 so yep, gotta walk in the mornings

yes i believe in metaphysicality cause one- it seems cool- second- me and @theclassyghost discussed a metaphysical life theory that i really really like and metaphysicality gives preservation of knowledge so i believe in spirits

SPACE. SPACE. SPACE.

im not that religious, no

pet peeves no well nah not really

nocturnal def nocturnal i sleep at 4.50 anyway hehehehe

fav constellation is Cassiopeia

fav star is Sirius tho

what the fuck are ball jointed dolls

i do have a fear of losing people that's just anxiety i guess

yep, global warming is real

never thought that much about reincarnation tbh but maybe, i do

fav movie is Spider Man : Into The SpiderVerse and Inception and The Dark Knight Rises and Revenge of The Sith and yes, for my indian gang, 3 Idiots and Gully Boy

yep i get scared v v v easily

i have had no pets but i plan to once i grow up

@chunkybirb 's blog is fucking cool awesome and *chef's kiss* a masterpiece

blue calms me. i love blue.

live in Norway cause pretty lights, snow, and less people than this overpopulated country i am in

born in Mumbai, India

v v v dark brown like it's almost black but no it's dark brown

introvert

horoscopes and zodiacs, i do read them, never believed that much tbh-

HUGS I LOVE HUGS

i really wanna visit my brother i haven't met him in a long time i really wanna play cricket w him just like old times

my sister- she's annoying but well i care for her

nah

tattoos idk bruh im okay idk may get one or may not get one

nope, smoking is ewwww *vomits*

ah my crush- she's cool [ if she exists

when the chalk doesn't write on the board but goes iiiiiieeee I HATE THAT

a sound i love is rain pitter pattering i just hhhhhh sends me into happiness

nope fatass here

nope fatass here

favourite actors have to be eddie redmayne, oscar issac and pedro pascal- and margot robbie and winona ryder in the actresses section also yes, elliot page

bruh already answered in 30.

im okayish!! spotify and tumblr, cool combo-

my hair are okay being black for me

yesterday, monday, from 6.40 to 6.50

music

uhhh naah not that i know of

well in Rick Riordan's Magnus Chase books, the sword of Frey aka Sumarbrander TALKS and demands to be called Jack, so here i am

bakwaas, music and comfy

yep, i believe in evolution

unfollow on hate and when they dm me sending nsfw pics ugh why are people like that

follow, well, i like people and they seem cool, so i follow them

fav kind of person is the one who'll sit with me for hours not even talking and just vibing to music

fav animals are beavers, doggos and cats

three fav blogs are @chunkybirb, @theclassyghost, @little-boats-on-a-lake, @aredhel-of-gondolin, @sue-me-imbadass, @alleenkaas, @my-ackerman, @brrrrrrrrrrzone

fav emoticon has to be ☹ this me seeing my stupidity outrank others

fav meme has to be Butternut is a master of psychological manipulation

INTP

Libraaa let's go

no dog, i have

black darth vader tshirt, black pants, black sneakers and black wrist watch

i have no selfies my phone has no cameras i live in eternal darkness

what the fuck are platform shoes

i, uhhh, i remember weird things like what i drew in class in 3rd while i was supposed to be doing english

lazy ass here, no front flips possible

i like birds they fly

nope i don't Iike swimming i like blankets

wrapped up in blankets reading books sounds better than both

ketchup

hyperspace travel

nope none

reading writing eating sleeping

my friend

tumblr seems cool

i have around 60-70 idk

yes i can run but why

yes they do but what's the fun in that

nope I'd fall over

sapphire let's go

koala bear or panda

sunflower or the one on a lemon tree

ketchup store

one cup of coffee is enough, tysm

read minds that sounds cool cool yeaaahh

nope never wore it a black clothes guy here BatMan

winter winter all year long

i don't know and i don't wanna try

i don't know and i don't wanna know

everyone cause they are better than me

bookstores cause bookstores any bookstores

sneakers, black onez

apparently some gas bitches mixed up to form a planet

non vegetarian but i partake meat just twice or thrice in two weeks

i don't know they don't seem like liking

naaaaaaaah

bugs ew

spiders ew

about the fact that i come off as arrogant and overconfident while in reality it's just that my communication skills suck

i can draw averagely whenever im in a mood

this thing im answering but i like answering it

uhhhhhhh brain freeze- idk bruh questions are good they give knowledge

yep, while sleeping

ahh yes calming, they are

cloudy days cause fucking cool vibes

hehehe wouldn't you like to know, weatherboy

CumuloNimbus i really like it's name yknow nimBUS

dark blue, dark blue always or black

naaaah no freckles

fav thing is when they laugh and it's just happy and we're both laughing like shitheads but who cares we're rebelling against depressing life and we laugh

both. both is good [ fruits and vegetables

sleep but i have to answer 170 questions cause @chunkybirb

sky sky sky it's my blog's header duh uh sKy

sweet and sour candy. SWEET AND SOUR CANDY.

dim lights it makes me feel cool

ahhh so here we go- Mooncalfs, Thunderbirds, Phoenixes, Sphinxes, Dragons that seem to be Space Nebulae, and more and more and more

i really feel like a boomer sometimes

i love everything about this site/app it makes me feel happy cause i like the people and the posts

uhhhhh i think too much about everything cause i just do. i like thinking

"He's dead, guys. For the sake of The Force, please watch Star Wars now he wanted to discuss it with you" actually no i would just say "A big shoutout to Garlic Bread he loved Garlic Bread"

myself cause i should be sleeping but sleep is for the weak and i am the weak and the strong i am a paradox-

that i obsess too much on things and try involving people it never works out

nope. had braces for 4 years, that beat out teeth showing smiles

i prefer computer-tv ahahahahaha

never tried them, so IDK

naaaaah not motion sickness- never travelled by sea so idk seasickness

lobed ears

yep i believe that deeds do count in life and beyond

idk bruh i don't believe in physical attraction too much- bodies are fake- mentally/metaphysically tho, im a 7

ahhhhh many many Stupid Genius, Tani, Tanu, Tanya

i still do-

i really want to talk to a therapist. converse. and discover.

im both, i am both.

10:1 is the ratio- giving 10, receiving 1

uhhh nothing just when i am right and people use the old "disrespect" argument

3, Hindi, Marathi, English

girls

uhh no i am not

my hair i love them everyone says things about my hair but i love them

knowledge vibes i give, someone tells me- and that's all i ever wanted

anyone i know tbh, my mutuals, my friends, my discord friends

ahhh no i wouldn't but i wish i was born 20 years earlier

bleh bloo, neither like nor dislike

i don't know if i have one

i don't know, haven't had physical contact in a long long long time in a galaxy far far away

the above point stands but i would like to ig

anything i write, 3 hours later, i instantly hate just idk why

anything i write

that i am normal no i am not and i am not okay hahahahaha

65-70 ish people

somewhere around-

many many many don't ask please but okay if you do ask

somewhat

uhhhhh idr exactly but i won't tell in public duh uh

mediummm hairrrr

last year lockdown i became harry potter

i don't know buddy i seriously don't know

yep i do cause knowledge i like knowledge

naaah never tried

no i definitely cannot stand on my hands or my head for more than 30 seconds

yep, im pretty sure i answered most of them correctly-

og link-

[nottonyharrison]

It's taken me ages but I'm finally getting back into Star Wars fic after reading a couple of your one shots do you have any recs for other angsty darkficcy canon divergenty stories? I'm mostly interested in stuff under 10k at the moment but I won't say no to novel length if it's that good! TIA and obviously no need to respond if you don't want to!

Oh trust me I’m more than happy to share recs, I just don’t do it much because I don’t have a lot of SW fandom followers so I’m never sure if anyone will take much notice of them!

Anyway sorry it took a while to respond to this, I wanted to make sure I had a solid list and said something meaningful about each story or author because that’s just the kind of thing that moves my furniture. I’m also terrible at bookmarking and making notes, so a few of these I may have read a long time ago and don’t remember a lot of details of. I didn’t turn on my history function until a month or so ago, so there’s definitely a bunch of stuff (in particular Kalluzeb) that I’ve loved but my memory is a total failure so I can’t remember enough detail to find them again. I figure if you’re asking me then you have a handle on my extremely diverse tastes in ships and premises so I’ll just go all out with this and hope you find something that hits your buttons! There’s a lot of porn.

Also I wanted to get the timing right so a decent number of people see it and aren’t you know... asleep or anything 🤣 I’ve attempted to tag authors in this but I didn’t have a lot of success

Authors:

(These are authors I will read almost anything by regardless of ship or premise, and have read a majority of their back catalogue)

(Sidenote I refer to these three authors as my holy trinity of brilliant TCW authors who can do no wrong)

subtropicalstenella ( @brighteyedbadwolf )

Wrote a story that broke my brain. Brilliant writing. Lots of excellent xeno. Probably some of the best smut I’ve read in my life.

@kaasknot | Ao3

Did you say brilliant use of language and military terminology? Check. Hot? Check. Dialogue you can hear in your mind? Check. This Fox/Fives series that will make you enraged there isn’t more of that pairing? Triple check.

@countessofbiscuit | Ao3

Continuing the theme of brilliant prose, great worldbuilding, and excellent smut. Wrote a fic that I have reread more times than I care to admit.

Individual fics:

(To be clear this doesn’t mean I don’t like their other stuff, it’s just I may have not gone through their profile yet, and there are definitely a couple on this list that the authors sadly only have one fic)

Tell Me No Tales by seastruck

One of the few Codywan fics that has sucked me in. Legitimately could be a published novel, it’s that good. I’ve rambled about this fic on my blog in the past and it’s sadly unfinished however that doesn’t reduce my enjoyment. Have read it twice now. Still brilliant.

Good Order and Discipline by Succorelle

Alternate telling of TCW with added Codex, and I’m not normally into canon retellings so take from that what you will. Really well written. You may feel an emotion

Permission Granted by sushifish

Look there’s like twenty Fivesoka fics out there and this one is HAWT. The author is also writing a five times fic with this pairing and I’m anxiously awaiting chapter 3 because that too, is *fans self*

Commander Fox is Completely Fine by Maddy_B

Fox centric fic that’s just muah *chefs kiss*. Some great action and worldbuilding, slow burn Fox/Vos that makes me want to punch something. Beautifully written with some great smatterings of humour. Another WIP but hey I’m trying to read more of these at the moment and all the fics that are pushing my buttons are still in progress (damnit)

Brute Force by mistr3ssquickly

Honestly I’m just a sucker for force sensitive Kallus and want to read more of it. Really really nicely written. Lots and lots of gut punches. Definitely a must read.

[dalekofchaos]

JJ Abrams inability to understand Finn

Finn being the one Stormtrooper who could break away had a lot of potential. That potential died within minutes.

The death of Slip, one of his comrades that turned him... That made him torn apart, so he refused to kill the villagers... But then, he kills other stormtroopers without hesitating, without any remorse? I get they were on the run, but this is so tone deaf.

Then JJ Abrams made him the comic relief by drinking the space cow water and making bad jokes. You can argue that Rian did it worse, but JJ still made him the bumbling sidekick and even made him the janitor. All the while JJ PROMISED John he was the new star of Star Wars.

But Finn’s time as a Stormtrooper doesn’t really make sense when you think about it and his defection ultimately doesn’t matter. Let me explain.

Finn is not affected despite a life of conditioning and indoctrination. Finn is a character who was raised as a Stormtrooper, but there doesn’t feel like any indoctrination to begin with. Finn’s defection could’ve been a great story but it is never brought up again. What was life like in the First Order? But instead, his Stormtrooper past is never brought up again. When he throws away his armor on Jakku is when any exciting character development is thrown away, too. His past as a Stormtrooper is barely mentioned and is hardly relevant. For someone who’s kidnapped as a child, why does he act so "normal” when he escapes the First Order? People that escape cults and child soldiers have difficulty adjusting back into normal society. Why is he never affected by his supposed “indoctrination” why are there no signs of trauma or PTSD? Why doesn’t he hesitate to kill his FO brothers and sisters? It honestly feels like it didn’t have any impact on the story whatsoever.

Finn seeing Han Solo, Chewbacca and Leia has no effect on him. Finn was taken and raised by The First Order. He should be raised to hate Han, Luke Leia, Chewbacca and Lando. Hell, he doesn’t even know what Wookies are. He knows what Raftars are, but not Wookies? You’d think that growing up with Imperial Indoctrination, he’d be raised to believe that Wookies were their slave race, but no. He was indoctrinated as a child, so Finn should be taught from childhood to adulthood that Han, Luke and Leia are terrorists and war criminals who destroyed over 20 years of peace and would be taught that Luke, Han and Leia are responsible for genocide(you know that “I had friends on that death star” joke) so he is taught to hate them from birth and to kill them on sight. But he wasn't....he even says Han is a war hero....what kind of fucking indoctrination do you call this?

Has no problem killing his brothers and sisters. Seeing Slip die was the breaking point. He was so affected by his friend's murder that he swore he would never kill The First Order again. Finn is meant to show that Stormtroopers are human....only to show that they are back to being cannon fodder. The message they were trying to tell was dropped immediately. Finn defects because his Stormtrooper friend is killed. So what does he do? Kills more of his old Stormtrooper friends! Throughout the entire trilogy they don't acknowledge or care about that "Stormtroopers are human and could leave like Finn" they don't give the other child soldiers a chance to break free, everyone else is just disposable as Red Shirts.

Jakku is his first mission. Really? You expect me to believe a life time of serving The First Order and he only has his only mission that conveniently is the mission where he decides to defect?

Poe killing Slip is never brought up again. Just think, the very person he is saving is the very person who caused his break down on Jakku. Not once is it brought up. You'd think Hux or Phasma would've used it against Finn. Just imagine, Finn finds out and we have tension and animosity between Finn and Poe. It gives us the possibility of Finn going back or Finn forgiving Poe. None of that is presented. It's just never brought up again.

Finn and Kylo’s tension and animosity is never brought up again. After the massacre of Tuanul and Finn’s refusal to fire, Kylo stares at Finn. Then Kylo immediately knows that Finn was the one who helped Poe escape. Then Kylo screams traitor at Finn. Originally I thought this was because Finn was the awakening that Kylo and Snoke felt and my theory of the Knights Of Ren being Force Sensitive Stormtroopers, this is why Kylo saw his defection as a betrayal. But Finn and Kylo never share the same screen again. Really....the easiest thing they could’ve done was make the Force Bond be between Rey, Kylo and Finn. If you have to have a force bond. Make it between all three of them. Finn and Kylo are obvious foils. Finn was taken from his family against his will into the First Order and realized on his own that murder was wrong. Conversely, Kylo willingly ran from his family into the First Order and consciously uses murder to gain power. As Kylo kills his father, Finn becomes a Resistance hero. Their storylines and development are inversely proportional to each other- when Finn moves toward the light, Kylo falls further toward darkness. Finn is the humanity Kylo rejected when he chose to kill his father.  Kylo is the darkness Finn could have succumbed to but ran away from. So why not have them being connected by the force. Keep the dynamic with Rey and Kylo, but with a force connection established between Finn and Kylo, we could have Kylo wondering why Finn would desert The First Order, while Finn wonders why Kylo betrayed his family, the Jedi and joined The First Order. Kylo wanting Rey AND Finn to join him in bringing a New Order to the galaxy. They reject. But just imagine Rey, FInn and Ben  unite to end Palpatine. The Trinity in the Force. I just....they did nothing with Finn and Ben’s staredowns/animosity. Seeing the three main characters in this trilogy  first become enemies, then allies and finally friends who unite and bring down the Emperor would’ve been great. But no, instead we get nothing to resolve their differences.

A defecting Stormtrooper was ruined when we have him be revealed as the janitor. Instead of a battle hardened Stormtrooper who breaks free after realizing what he's doing is wrong, we get comedic relief: he drinks dirty water made for animals, and he acts funny. But what truly sealed away his fate was the moment he uttered the word “sanitation” We know most FO do Sanitation as jobs, but the way JJ wrote the movie made everyone think that’s all Finn did and only did it as a joke. There are some serious racial undertones with writing Finn as a janitor. People saying Johnson’s depiction of Finn was racist, but JJ was the one who ultimately decided that the one Stormtrooper with a face, who just happens to be black, was a Janitor.

His defection has no impact on the rest of the trilogy. As soon as we meet Jannah, I was like "holy shit, his defection finally inspires something???" and...it did not. His defection was taken from him. Finn refusing to kill for The First Order got copied on to a bunch of other Stormtroopers. Don’t get why we couldn’t at least have had Jannah mention they were inspired by Finn. Finn’s defection from the First Order ultimately meant nothing in the end and that is just depressing. Finn doesn’t even get to have what made his character great mean anything. There is no Stormtrooper Rebellion nor is Finn a symbol. Finn’s defection is forgettable….that’s the final insult degradation of Finn’s character

Bad enough he doesn't even come off as someone who's been indoctrinated for his whole life. He declares Han as a war hero, he doesn't know about Wookies(you think Imperial indoctrination wouldn't brainwash him into thinking Wookies are their slave race???) in fact none of the Rebel heroes are terrorists that destroyed 30 years of peace in Finn's eyes. Finn doesn't have any problem adjusting, he instantly acts normal upon defecting to the good guys. I thought it would've made for a good story to see Finn struggling with indoctrination(even attempting to shoot Han and Chewie) resisting with conditioning and programming and ultimately Finn overcomes it and chooses what's right. Instead "haha silly man drinks cow water, haha he falls down and Rey kicks his ass. Haha he knows about raftars but not wookies. Oh you better talk to Rey or woman will find out they always do. He wants to run away, isn't that funny? Haha he's not a battle hardened soldier, he's a janitor, isn't that funny?" Apparently comic relief and wanting to run away was more important to overcome than over a decade of indoctrination and conditioning.

It bothers me that the first time we see Finn is when he’s compassionately holding his fallen fellow trooper, but then TROS shows him mowing them down with Poe without even the tiniest flicker of hesitation or reluctance. And With Poe, the person who killed Finn’s squad mate. This is never brought up again or resolved.

“Like all of them I was taken from a family I’ll never know and trained to do one thing” But JJ wrote it that he can run through the halls of a FO ship blasting troopers the same as him without any hesitation, nice one JJ

Like I understand they had to fight their way through the ship to rescue Chewie, but they could have given Finn a tiny second or flicker of doubt and remorse and it would have instantly give a load of character depth and emotion. Hell show Finn running into Zeroes and they have a confrontation and Finn makes the same decision on Jakku. He lets Zeroes go and we see Zeroes leading a squad of Stormtroopers against The First/Final Order and they all throw their helmets to the ground and declare themselves for Finn the "Phasma Slayer"

Like everyone thinks that Finn was ruined by Rian Johnson, but at least he never had Finn mow down his fellow child soldiers. Hell, he was even pleading with the one Stormtrooper not to turn them in or kill them, DJ was the one going for his gun but Finn simply talked to him. In that one deleted scene. He showed more compassion for a fellow Stormtrooper in a Rian Johnson directed scene than he ever showed in both JJ Abrams movies. Yet JJ is the guy who “gets” Finn.

When I first learned about Finn and that he was a stormtrooper, I was excited. I really wanted a character with a different perspective/moral conflict like that in the movies. And I really wanted them to explore the PTSD and trauma of being indoctrinated your whole life as a child soldier. But they just wasted his potential.

It just comes off as

"Hi I'm Finn. I don't want to kill people, and my best friend was killed by The Resistance. So let me free that Resistance pilot and kill more people to escape with him." That's totally how character development works.

Finn’s defection ultimately means he’s good, his past doesn’t matter and it doesn’t affect him and we can’t see his slow process of fighting and resisting years of indoctrination and programming, his defection does not inspire Jannah, the millions to billions of potential people like Finn and Jannah do not matter and they are all expendable and canon fodder. The potential of the Stormtrooper Rebellion was wasted. JJ Abrams did not understand his own character and reduced him to a meme who just screams “REEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYY”

What Finn should have been.

Finn becoming a Jedi and leading a Stormtrooper Rebellion would’ve saved the Sequel Trilogy. I really wish Finn got to lead a full on Stormtrooper Rebellion in Episode IX. I think it was a perfect ending arc for him after where his character went in TFA and TLJ.  Sometimes a few pictures say it all...

A Finn who was able to resist Stormtrooper programming because he was force-sensitive and went on to become a Jedi himself and force the First Order to crumble from within by encouraging the other Troopers to rebel would have actually made for an original Star Wars plot that wasn't just a rehash of the OT.

To Explain how this Stormtrooper Rebellion could work, let’s go from the beginning.

In the TFA novelization, it’s stated that Hux ordered that  Finn's mutiny is to be hidden from the rest of the Stormtroopers out of concern that the potential mutiny within The First Order  and for others to start catching ideas like "independence" and "individuality. The vibe I get is Phasma would want it to be personal. Hux wanted it to be a quiet execution. And Kylo being the dramatic slut that he is, would want it to be a public spectacle. From this post it’s clear The First Order would prefer quiet executions to deal with traitors and deserters. Hux is all about control, of himself and others, while Ren is just an asshole who wants to destroy the things which make him upset. He wants to put the fear of the Force into people while Hux just doesn’t want them thinking anything other than the thoughts he put there.

Finn had to fight against one of his friends in his unit, FN-2199 or “Nines” as Finn called him. Nines was unaware of why he defected and I’m sure Phasma fed Nines lies, so Finn was forced to fight his own friend. How much do you wanna bet that Finn will be forced to fight the last member of his squad, Zeroes?

As for Finn’s time in the First Order, he was one of their best Stormtroopers and one of the elite. Highly valued by Phasma and Hux, yet his defection shocked them.

Phasma’s alternate death scene

I will never understand why this was deleted. Finn calls her out about her betrayal of lowering the shields and when this information is revealed, the Stormtroopers near her look suspicious and it looks as if they are going to turn on her. Phasma like the ultimate survivalist she is kills them with no hesitation. Finn cuts her hand off and blasts her into the abyss, giving Phasma a more deserving and better send off. Seriously, this is way better than their actual confrontation.  What I really like about this scene is its direct connection to The Force Awakens plot point and that it acknowledges Phasma's survivalist attitude which was introduced into her novel.

Now finally to the Rebellion itself. This all ties into it. Hux hiding it from those who needn’t know, Phasma’s killing everyone who dare believe her treachery, Kylo’s tyranny as the Supreme Leader and Palpatine’s return will all lead to Finn leading a Stormtrooper Rebellion. I think Finn will possibly use his force sensitivity and letting everyone in the FN corps feel what he felt when he could not bring himself to pull the trigger. What he felt when Starkiller Base committed genocide and what he felt when he stood his ground and fought Kylo Ren. This will inspire everyone to rebel, the first one to throw off his helmet will be Zeroes and everyone follows through. Humanizing Stormtroopers and having one become a hero is was a stroke of genius, but the way they did it in Episode 7 made it seem like Finn was the ONLY good Stormtrooper, which has to be an impossibility. If one Stormtrooper can suddenly switch sides, what's to say that others couldn't? TROS fucked up by not showing the fall of the First Order, I personally think that Finn should’ve convinced all (or most of) the Stormtroopers to turn against Pryde and Hux, leading to a cool final scene where the First Order is ultimately destroyed by their own henchmen. That would be cooler and more unique, I think, than fucking space horses, idiotic and incoherent Star Destroyers with Death Star lasers, another Resistance vs. First/Final Order space shootout, or Rey and her possible Jedi apprentice army taking them down. 

The children the First/Final Order abducted and trained against their own will finally taking back their narrative and fighting back against their oppressors. The First Order will be burned down from the inside, and I think that’s beautiful.

But as the Stormtrooper Rebellion happens, just imagine if Finn got to stand alongside Rey and Ben. Just imagine if all 3 were bonded by The Force. The 3 main characters of the trilogy. It began with Rey and Finn being at odds with Ben and it ends with Rey, Finn and Ben united against Palpatine and together they end the Sith and bring balance to the force. 

This was the best possible way you could’ve utilized Finn and JJ Abrams squandered it. He’s not a Jedi, just hinted at being force sensitive and we don’t even get an ending of Rey beginning to train Finn. Finn doesn’t lead a Stormtrooper Rebellion, he just takes a group of already deserters and leads them on space horses while running on the surface of a Star Destroyer(yes it’s just as stupid as it sounds) Finn is not a symbol to  the Stormtroopers, hell Finn doesn’t even inspire Jannah. Finn doesn’t save his fellow brothers and sisters, he kills them off like they’re canon fodder. Finn doesn’t get to be the catalyst in destroying the very people that took him away from his family or even free his brothers and sisters. Finn gets nothing, like at all. JJ Abrams failed Finn more than Rian Johnson ever failed Finn and JJ is the one that John Boyega and the fanboys thinks that “gets” Finn

[roses-are-blue16]

Novels-Random order

Novelupdates.com for more info about anything -> Back to Masterpost

Fave: 5/5

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation/Mo Dao Zu Shi

Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Historical, Mystery, Romance, Shounen Ai/Yaoi Other Unofficial tags: Smart Protagonist, Shameless Protagonist, Smart ML, Love interest falls first, Devoted Love Interest,  beautiful couple, power couple, wuxia, interesting supporting characters    

Status: Ongoing 

Art: 1 2 3 4 5 

Other things: there is an Manhua & Donghua out, all posts tagged by name here

Official Summary: As the grandmaster who founded demonic cultivation, Wei WuXian roamed the world in his wanton ways, hated by millions for the chaos he created. In the end, he was backstabbed by his dearest shidi and killed by powerful clans that combined to overpower him.He incarnates into the body of a lunatic who was abandoned by his clan and is later, unwillingly, taken away by a famous cultivator among the sects—Lan WangJi, his archenemy.This marks the start of a thrilling yet hilarious journey of attacking monsters, solving mysteries, and raising children. From the mutual flirtation along the way, Wei WuXian slowly realizes that Lan WangJi, a seemingly haughty and indifferent poker-face, holds more feelings for Wei WuXian than he is letting on…

My Thoughts: First chinese novel I stumbled upon and I fell in love with. To me everything about this story is absolutely perfect, from characters, to plot, romance, mystery and worldbuilding...everything was so unique and beautiful. And the translation group Exiled Rebels does an excellent job portraying it in english as best they can. There are some hurdles tho: for example if you haven’t read any chinese novels before you have to adjust to terminology a lot- especially names (everyone has like three names). So if you’re like me who stumbled into it with no idea what expect you’ll probably get confused a lot but if you stick out you’ll get used to it and rereading the first few chapters later after adjusting is probably a good tip. Unlike other BL/Yaoi stories that I’ve seen (mostly japanese manga) the romance actually blends and makes sense; and not fetishized or forced, even if you don’t like the genre it won’t get in the way of the story (especially with china’s censorship).    

   2.  The Legend of the Sun Knight 

Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Mystery  Other Unofficial Tags: Shameless Protagonist, Anti-Hero Protagonist, Strategy, Hilarious interactions, War, Neocromancy, Leader, Loyalty, Elemental Magic, Black-Bellied Protagonist, Demons, Sarcasm abound

Status: Complete  Other things: Manga-(Discontinued?) 

Official Summary: I am a knight. To be precise, I am the Church of the God of Light’s Sun Knight.The Church of the God of Light worships and serves the God of Light, and theirs’ is one of the three largest religions on this continent.As the whole continent knows, the Church of the God of Light has the Twelve Holy Knights, and each one has his own unique personality and features.To be the Sun Knight is to have shining golden hair, sky blue eyes, a compassionate nature, and a brilliant smile.“The benevolent God of Light will forgive your sins.”I must have said that line at least a million times in my time as the Sun Knight.However, the greatest wish in my life is to be able to stand before the entire continent and roar, “Damn your ‘the whole continent knows’! This Sun Knight just doesn’t feel like smiling! I just don’t want to forgive these human trashes! I just want to pepper my sentences with ‘f***’!”Unfortunately, even to this day, I continue to wear a smile as I say, “The benevolent God of Light will forgive your sins.”

My Thoughts: Actually read this years ago (5-6?), and I always thought it was a japanese novel but I guess it isn't(?)-anyways not important. This story was absolutely hilarious, you won’t meet a more entertaining guy.  The contrast between how he’s forced to act as the leader of the religion- belevont, kind, smiling, pure- is the total opposite of his real personality so much so that it gave a shock (of pure delight) cuz of the drastic inner and outer faces. There’s 12 knights in total ,each is totally unique and you get introduced to them super fast. There is different conflicts that occur, that fall on Grisia’s ( the mc) shoulder to solve as he is the leader and while it starts off lighthearted, in the end some serious stuff occurs. This is a very warm hearted story about brotherhood i think overall. (Also heard that Grisia falls into the legendary trinity of shameless protagonist: Wei Wuxian from GDC is one of them and I agree lol). Very unique storytelling, it twists all kinds of classic tropes and plays with them, overall a very fun read.

   3. Eight Treasures Trousseau 

Genre: Historical, Josei, Romance, Drama Other Unofficial Tags: Arranged Marriage, Calm/Lazy Protagonist, Ambitious ML, Politics, Power Couple, Royalty, Doting Love Interest, Beautiful Couple 

Status: Complete

Official Summary: Everyone in the City of Jing thinks that bestowment of marriage between Xian Junwang and the daughter of the Yi’an Marquis House is to insert a fresh flower into manure.Xian Junwang was that fresh flower and the di daughter of Yi’an Marquis House was that manure that was not liked.It is said that what is heard is false, seeing is believing. Who knows what the truth really is?

My Thoughts: A really nice story set in Ancient China, and in my opinion the best one written. The story has both the female lead and male lead on pretty equal field in terms of their relationship, you won’t see any weak-willed person in this couple. This story also portrayed realistically the difficulties of living in Ancient China as a woman, by showing us many different kinds of people. The villains make you feel complicated emotions even when you hate them, which shows you great storytelling. No-one is excessively stupid and the mc is just stomping over them with her “cleverness” in this story which I liked. The MC is actually very lazy and this gave the story a very relaxed feel, which lead to time just flying by. I’ve just recently reread it which rare for me to do.  

   4.  A Slight Smile is Very Charming  -Side Stories

Genre: Romance, Comedy,Josei,School Life, Slice of Life   Other Unofficial Tags: MMORPG, Gamers, College/University, Power Couple, Beautiful Female Lead, Handsome Male Lead, Smart Couple

Status: Complete 

Other things: Adapted to a drama: Love 020

Official Summary:What is it that makes a man fall in love with a woman at first sight? Appearance? Aura? Wealth? NO, when campus prince and gaming expert, student Xiao Nai first saw Bei Wei Wei, what made him fall in love was not her extraordinary beauty; but her slim and slender fingers that were flying across the keyboard and her calm and composed manner!!! Embarrassing, no?At the same time, gaming expert Bei Wei Wei was on the computer methodically commanding a guild war, and won a perfect and glorious victory despite being at a disadvantage; completely unaware of the fact that cupid is nearby.Soon after basketball player; swimmer; all-around excellent student; and game company president, Xiao Nai, uses tactics both on- and offline to capture this beauty’s heart. Therefore this romance slowly bloomed.

My Thoughts: This is a very quick, lighthearted story. It gets straight to the point with no drama, if you just want a nice, quick romance to read then I highly recommend. When I was debating whether to read it or not, one of the reviewers on novelupdates said it had a drama, and I usually hate drama’s but they recommended it, so I went to check it out before I started reading and I surprisingly loved it. I usually hate cheesy but they managed to pull it off real well, so I was squealing and cringing at the same time (lol), it’s probably because the actors are really good looking so you can’t help but let it slide. The drama added some drama not a lot but some to the story. When I went back and read the novel I realized how quick it was compared to the drama. I recommended both honestly, if you’re looking for some fun. 

   5. Rebirth of a SuperModel

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Slice of Life, Yaoi  Other Unofficial Tags: ShowBiz, Transmigration, Black-Belly Protagonist, Love Interest Falls First, Clever Couple, Talented Couple, Power Couple, Celebrities, Acting, Media 

Status: Complete    

Official Summary: In his past life, Ming Yu struggled in the European and United States fashion circles, eventually becoming the well deserved king of the catwalk.After dying from a serious illness and being reborn, Ming Yu was surprised to find: Huaxia stars shone brightly, there were successful names everywhere!In this better world, on a more vigorous and brilliant stage, the first supermodel tries to reproduce the glory of another world! Interviewer: May I ask Mr Xi, this year Ming Yu said he would surpass you. As the number one global supermodel, what is your opinion on this? Xi Ze: This is a bad question. My family has very strict rules. Home Owner Ming Yu: …….  The pair of black-hearted husbands will sweep the fashion industry, conquering the world. 

My Thoughts: A really fresh story, I never got bored. It focuses more on the MC and his rise as a supermodel, and sprinkles in the romance with ML. While reading it (before it got completed), it felt like me and other readers were cheering on the MC as fans as well, which was a lot of fun. I’ve read some other showbiz transmigration stories but I got annoyed or bored real fast, this one I found real fun, no matter how many days until the next chapter you could pick it up and feel happy. Some things people might not like: there a lot of photoshoot scenes (he is a model) so some might get tired of that, but they go by pretty quick. While MC was the number one model in his old world, it doesn’t make him OP, he has his own flaws and he grows a lot which makes him more interesting. 

   6.     Sansheng, Wangchuan Wu Shang

Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Josei, Romance, Supernatural, Tragedy   Other Unofficial Tags: Goddess, Gods, Mythology, Heavenly Tribulations, Honest Protagonist, Protagonist loyal to Love Interest, Reincarnation, Beautiful Couple  

Status: Complete

Official Summary:  This is a story that follows the courtship between a stone from Hell and a god from Heaven that begins in the underworld and spans for three lifetimes in the mortal realm.

My Thoughts: Honestly was suprised how much I liked it. Despite the MC being naive, and ready to throw it all away for the ML, you can’t hate her. This a very fast story (about 15 chapter and 3 bonus stories), which adds to its charm. If it was longer I might have not liked it as much. There are overwhelmingly positive reviews about this story on novel updates which made me give this story a chance and I agree with them. If you like romance definitely check this out.   

    6.  The Earth is Online 

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Psychological, Sci-Fi, Supernatural, Shounen Ai/Yaoi   Other Unofficial Tags: Game Elements, Thriller,  Survival Game, Special Abilities, Calm Protagonist, Clever Protagonist, Slow Romance, Modern Day

Status: Complete       

Official Summary: Six months ago, tens of thousands of black phantom towers appeared all over the world, floating above the cities. Chemists, physicists, religious people… all of them could do nothing.Six months later, people became used to the towers and no longer paid them attention.One day, Tang Mo saw a flying insect crash into it instead of going through it. The next day, a sharp and clear child-like voice issued an announcement to all humans. “Ding dong! November 15th, 2017. The earth is online.”  The black tower’s three iron-clad rules: 1. Everything is explained by the black tower. 2. 6 o’clock to 18 o’clock is the game time. 3. All players, please strive to attack the tower.

My Thoughts: You won’t find a story more unique than this. I doubt there’s anything similar to this story. Something that might come close might be the manga Tomodachi Game, but that's only the doing games for survival bit. I don’t know how the author came up with this, the games are so smart, that you may feel like you’re getting smarter by the end of it or that you’re IQ is hopelessly low. And it’s not the fact that rules are ridiculous and don't follow logic either, when the answers are revealed they make sense.. Honestly reading this I’m glad something like (probably ;) ) won’t happen because I doubt I would survive. I have a real admiration for the author for coming up with this. The story is good at keeping you wary and on edge that something is going to happen at any moment. Some issues?: The romance was so so slow burning that it became a background character, and there wasn’t a big payoff moment like the author gave us this weird analogy when they finally did the deed, that I was burning with indignation, just thinking about it pisses me off, but it probably has to do with the censorship in china. Also there were too much straight explanations that kinda got annoying but could be ignored. I think with how well the author set up the survival element that you could ignore the flaws pretty quickly. So glad I found this novel.      

   7.  Quickly Wear the Face of the Devil - Side Stories

Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi, Yaoi Other Unofficial Tags: Acting, Apocalypse, Artificial Intelligence, Episodic, Mob Protagonist, System, Virtual Reality, Cunning Protagonist, Devoted Love Interest, Possessive Characters, Hacker

Status: Complete       

Official Summary: A top hacker was chosen by the Lord God to be reborn into countless worlds, always as an expendable villain.With no free will, every world became a dead end. Every one of his lives ended tragically. Finally, after wresting control of the Villain System, this ace hacker decided to enact revenge. Even if his very bones were rotten, he’d choose to occupy the very heights of morality, if only on the surface.Thus, he would change his fate as an abused slag.

My Thoughts: If you’re on novelupdates you’ll hear about this story at some point, it has become infamous on the site. And for good reason, this is the top written System transmigration into multiple world stories, or just system stories. There a multiple worlds and each one has it’s own flavor you’ll definitely have your favorites. It’s a very fun story to read and if you’re new to system stories like I was when I read this, you’ll inevitably compare all others to this one.  

    8.  The Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage

Genre: Historical, Josei, Martial Arts, Mature, Romance Other Unofficial Tags: Betrayal, Politics, Military, Royalty, Scheming, Revenge, Beautiful Female Lead, Handsome Male Lead, Cunning Couple, Slow Romance 

Status: Ongoing 

Official Summary:  Shen Miao, the Di daughter of a military lineage, pure, amiable, quiet and yielding, foolishly in love with Prince Ding, threw herself into the role of a wife. After assisting her husband for six years, she finally became the mother of the world (Empress).She accompanied him to fight for the country, flourished the country’s territory, took risks to become a hostage in another country. When she returned five years later, there was no place for her in the Inner Palace.The beauty in his arms smiled brightly, “Older sister, the country is stabilized so, you should retire.”Her daughter met with a violent death and her son the Crown Prince was deposed. Her Shen family who sacrificed themselves for the country and the Emperor, not a single one of them were lucky enough to escape. With the change of one dynasty, everything was overturned. Her clan perished and she had to mourn for her children.Shen Miao never thought that being a married couple who have gone through trials and tribulations and mutually assisted each other was just a stage joke to him! He said, “Seeing that you have followed Zhen for twenty years, Zhen will grant you an intact corpse. You should thank this kindness.”Under the three Chi (1 chi = 1/3 meter) of white silk, Shen Miao made a malicious vow: In the time to come, she will take part in each and everyone’s end!Upon rebirth, she returned to the time when she was fourteen, when the tragedy had yet to occur, her family was still alive and she was still the pure, amiable, quiet and yielding Di daughter of a military lineage. Relatives hiding a black heart, Elder and younger (female) cousins are ruthless and malicious, the new Yiniang is like a tiger watching its prey and the disreputable man who wants to repeat the events?Her family must be protected, the huge enmity must be avenged, the Imperial seat of the country must also be a part of the trophy. In this lifetime, let’s see who can beat the others!

My Thoughts: I’ve tired to read numerous novels with the reincarnating to get revenge trope and I’ve never been able to complete them for variety of reasons but ultimately it’s because they end up sucking. This novel however is like a ray of light for this trope. Whatever way you think she’s gonna resolve something you’ll never guess right. I’m always pleasantly suprised. That’s something I can say for the whole novel it’s always surprising even with the current chapters with story almost at a close we readers just got shocked yet again. You’ll definitely experience a variety of emotions watching the story unfold, right now I’m pulling a napkin between my teeth (please author put us out of this misery already T.T). I doubt you’ll be disappointed.    

Great: 

Everyone Thinks that I Like Him 

Genre: Comedy, Romance, School Life, Shounen Ai/Yaoi  Other Unofficial Tags: Uni, Dense Protagonist, Slow Romance 

Status: Complete 

Official Summary: From infancy to maturity, what Ye Zhou dislikes the most was “two”.The reasons were: he was ranked second at home, he had been forever ranked second at school, no matter how diligently he worked and tried, he couldn’t shake off that “second” curse. What was more exasperating was that, at University, not only was he ranked second, but even his appearance that he was proud of had to be classified as second best! Why can’t I obtain the first place!The eternal second will rise!Then, Ye Zhou, after his vigorous efforts finally rises and the result was… the first became his boyfriend.This is the story of a man who has been forced to be “second” and how he became the first, most popular.Protagonists: Ye Zhou, Shang Jin.

My Thoughts: Cute, Fluffy, Funny. As you can see there is no drama tag so if you’re looking for an explosive story this is not it. But it is a very realistic story especially in regards to the acceptance of the couple how it differs for the younger generation vs. the older generation. The story is very natural and the characters believable. If you a cute story this is it.  

    2.  Empress with no Virtue 

Genre: Adult, Comedy, Drama, Josei, Mature, Romance, Smut Other Unofficial Tags: Arranged Marriage, Bickering Couple, Politics, Misunderstandings, Politics, Royalty, Imperial Harem, Power Couple,

Status: Complete

Official Summary:  The free-spirited and brutally honest Ye Zhen Zhen was unwillingly chosen as Empress to the playboy Emperor Ji Wu Jiu. Their very first wedding night, she kicked the Emperor down from their bed and he sought out his concubine instead. This completely disastrous start was only the beginning of their eventful life together.

My Thoughts: Although not especially memorable, I enjoyed reading it. It was fun watching the couple act petty to one another. Honestly their relationship reminded me of boys pulling on pigtails to get the attention of their crush. There are a lot of funny and fluffy interactions, made for a fun read.   

tbc.... Posted 2/13/19

[darkling-er]

Hope’s Savior ( John Seed x OC ) | Part 20

Summary: Trinity-Hope Johnson finds herself in the middle of a holy war, leading the Resistance, while having a complicated relationship with one of the cult’s herald. And she thought her first case would be easy. Oh how wrong she was!

Pairings: John Seed/Fem!Deputy, John Seed/OC, Earl Whitehorse & OC ( uncle&niece ), Joseph Seed/Fem!Deputy ( kind of ), might add more later

Warnings: mild language, violence, eventually smut, masturbation, oral sex, you know guys the usual, use of drugs ( bliss and other, thanks to Sharky ), fluff ( does that even need a warning? ), manipulation, angst, mention of mental illness ( insomnia, depression ), mention of child abuse ( from John’s side ), torture, I think that’s it? I swear it’s not so bad!

Word Counter:  7664

Notes: I played with the time skips a bit, I hope it’s good, I enjoyed writing this chapter. Although the next chapters will stay the same as before, because it was kind of weird, writing in first person, haha.

Also the part list became too long so there’s a masterpost to the parts from now on! 

Parts Masterpost  | Part 21 ( coming soon )

The silence is unbearable. At first they were fighting against their ropes, screaming words at their captor. Well, mostly tried to scream as they were both silenced with a tape on their mouth. But they stopped after a while, realizing it won’t do any good for them. So now it’s just silence.

John at one side of the room, his hands roped behind his back to a wooden pillar, while Hope opposite to the man, her hands roped behind the other wooden column.

The attic - which could easily be mistaken for a bunker, only it’s made of wood - is dimly lit by red light, hanging from one of the house roof’s pillar. And an oil lamp being against the wall, a flame burning inside of it. It reminds Hope of John’s bunker in some ways.

The man, their captor sits in a metal chair just between the two prisoners. He’s in his late 30s, maybe early 40s. Bald, a creepy grin on his face, his eyes weirdly wide. Just like in a horror movie.

After the man enjoys the silence he walks toward Hope, getting the tape off of her mouth painfully. She huffs, but doesn’t say anything. She’s too pissed at the whole situation. It’s all John fuckin’ Seed’s fault! She thinks, sending angry gazes toward the younger Seed. He looks pissed as well, angry at the woman, thinking it’s her fault they are in this attic with this maniac.

The stranger moves toward John, removing his tape as well, earning a painful groan out of him. Thanks to his beard it might have been uncomfortable, but Hope can’t think of anything else just: You deserve it, you fucker!

The stranger moves towards his desk and starts gathering his tools, turning his back to them. Hope looks around, looking for an escape root. There’s a way down to the house, but being roped to a pillar does not help. But if she could get free somehow that’s the only route she could take. There’s a huge window on the house, but it’s boarded, only letting in some light of the moon. It’s nighttime.

Hope tries to move her wrist in the ropes and winces in pain. The wound on her side bleeding and hurting at her moves. She looks down, her shirt torn apart at the place of the injury. Shirt and skin dirty and bloody.

She stops moving, her world turning blurry from the pain. If I won’t stop the bleeding I will die. She thinks, closing her eyes, trying to calm her breathing. She opens them up, looking into John’s blue eyes. He looks at her wound with remorse, then catches her eyes and looks away at the stranger.

Sure, can’t even look at me, when it’s his fault we’re both going to die in this attic.

Hope looks at the stranger, who’s picking up his tools, inspecting and putting them back on the table. The junior deputy looks past him, watching photos of her and John on the wall. Fucking psychopath... She thinks, shivering how the man could possibly get photos of them: the Confession, the Atonement, the moment Hope spared John’s life, him at the prison, even... What the fuck... even a close up photo of Hope being in a coma at the Jessop Conservatory. She only takes a glimps at the photo where John and Hope are having sex under his YES sign. A photo that the man must have took before the whole ‘incident’ and them getting captured.

She wants to turn away, not wanting a single one of the pictures being in her sight. But remembers not to as the pain in her wound takes over her movements. She silently whimpers, earning a concerned look from John, which she doesn’t notice.

Hope wants silence, better have the end being kept in silence, but the Baptist as usual has other ideas. He clears his throat and asks in such a casual manner Hope looks at him in disbelief. How can he pretend like everything is okay?

“So... who are you?”

The young woman scoffs quietly, not wanting to earn the strangers attention. If John wants to anger their captor, go ahead, she doesn’t care. At least she tries not to.

The stranger stops, grabbing a knife in his hand and turns around, walking back to the chair, sitting down in it. His body is slightly turned to John as he speaks. It’s the first time he’s talking, voice low and husky. Basically creepy from creepy town.

“I ask the questions.”

John raises his eyebrow, chuckling a bit. Hope’s heart beats like hell, fearing what their captor might do. And even though it’s John’s fault they are in this situation and he’s the cause of her wound she fears for his life. You idiot, don’t laugh at a psychopath.

“Well then, do you mind asking yourself who you are?”

Hope closes her eyes a small smile on her lips while shaking her head. This big idiot, I swear to God. She opens her eyes again, John sending her a smile back, but their captor doesn’t seem amused by his joke.

“Don’t be a smartass.”

He points the knife into John’s direction while talking, but true for a man who brings a knife to a gunfight, John doesn’t flinch. He just rolls his eyes, annoyed by the situation.

The stranger looks at Hope, a smirk on his face as he licks his lips, which make her look at him in disgust. Please don’t be a perv, please don’t be a perv...

“You start the talk.” He points the knife at her and Hope raises her eyebrow, not knowing what to say, which she says out loud too.

“I don’t know what to say...” She murmurs, face trying to be blank, but the pain on her side and the irony smell of her own blood makes her grimace a bit.

The stranger tilts his head with a grin:

“Start at the beginning.”

Hope doesn’t take her own advice for John, to not anger the man with the knife. She rolls her eyes as she speaks, annoyed:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...”

John chuckles at that, but shuts up as the man suddenly stands up and places his boot on Hope’s hurt side, putting force on it. Tears gather in her eyes, she can see stars as she screams in pain.

“Leave her alone, you bastard!” John spits angrily, fighting against his ropes.

The stranger doesn’t comply, looking up at John with a smirk and a laugh:

“You stabbed her and you’re asking me to stop? You two really are difficult...”

The strangers looks down at Hope again, the woman crying from the pain. She knew she was going to die in Hope County. But she thought it would be from one of the Seeds. Not in a dusty attic, under the dirty boots of a random person.

When she thinks she can’t take any more of the pain the man lets go of her and she gasps for air, she didn’t realize the pain made her to hold her breath. She coughs, looking angrily at the stranger.

“Next time you try to be sassy with me, you’re going to die, missy.” He says, walking back to his chair, sitting down.

Hope closes her eyes, her body leaning forward, the only thing keeping her in place, not letting her fall to the ground is her ropes. She laughs quietly, a gutting sound coming from her lips as she cries, turning into a heavy breathing.

Once she’s quiet, only whimpering a little the man gestures to her:

“Let’s try again... You two...” He points to John and her, a creepy smile on his face. “I’ve been watching you.”

No shit. Hope thinks, looking at the pictures on the wall again, but doesn’t say a thing, remembering the previous pain. John raises his eyebrow, but knows better to say anything, waiting for his moment to speak. So the stranger continues:

“You two have been trying to kill each other since she...” He points at Hope there. “And her people landed on your brother’s island. And then you...”

He points at John, the man raising his eyebrow, looking angry since the stranger caused pain to the young woman.

“You let her go, when you had the chance to keep her captive.” He laughs, confused and amused, more amused, then he looks back at Hope. “And when you had the chance to kill him, you didn’t... You risked your own reputation to save his life.”

She frowns at him, not seeing the point of this conversation. Hope has been wondering who the man might be. He sure as hell isn’t Resistance, but he doesn’t seem like Project member either. So who is he and why did he watch them? What does he want?

The man claps his hands together, amusement on his face as he looks between them.

“I want to know why.”

Silence follows, only Hope’s heavy breathing can be heard nothing else. The stranger looks from one to the other, then shakes his head, standing up from his chair.

“If you can’t explain, then just tell me what happened. You two seemed to be bonding, but then out of the blue he stabbed you. Why?”

He asks looking at John, who opens his mouth to speak, but Hope is faster, faking a chuckle. Both men turn their head towards her as she sits up, grimace on her face.

“Oh, I can tell you why. Because John Seed doesn’t care about anyone else than himself and he’s a backstabbing asshole.”

She looks at John who scoffs, turning his head from her accusing gaze. The stranger looks at Hope, smirk on his face.

“Details, missy.”

Hope looks at him, thinking if she should play along with the man. Fuck it, we’re gonna die either way. She thinks for a second to where to start than opens her mouth again, starting the story.

“I guess it started when we were planning an ambush against Joseph and his family at the Ranch. We agreed on me being the bait for the man. Doing what he asked of me, walking the Path and then joining him on Sunday for his family dinner... We didn’t know where to go, but John did, so we took him along with us...”

...back in the Henbane, a week ago, on Monday...

We were driving in the truck, Sharky, John and me. It was risky bringing John as well. Just one glance at him by the peggies and it’s over, the Father would have definitely send people after him. So we kept him low. Our destination was the Father statue, knowing the Path starts there. So when we arrived at the place, a couple of shacks at the feet of Angel’s Peak.

The Path is a bullshit thing. I’m just going to say that now. They have like... little stones on the ground, saying a little story about Broseph and him finding God, listening to the Voice. The usual bullcrap he teaches. The whole path is shown with flower petals, if someone gets lost, I don’t know.

So the first stone, The Call, was there at Angel’s Peak, in front of the cabins. For whatever reason I couldn’t kill while walking the Path, so Sharky - and John - went along with me in the truck. It was difficult: there were wooden bridges, so they had to take bypasses and stuff. So I waited for them. I know the whole thing was just an act: for me to please Joseph, but man! He was an asshole. The whole Path near wild animals, Angels and even the fucking Chosen didn’t leave me alone. So Sharky took care of them while I continued the walk.

So there I was at the end of the Path after a long walk - and by long I mean it took me an entire day! So I was at the end of it, last stone, The Garden. At the bottom of Joseph’s eyesore of a statue. And I looked at John and I asked:

“Now what?”

And he just looked at me like I was stupid or something--

...

The stranger holds up his hand and Hope stops at the storytelling.

“What?” She asks, annoyed she was interrupted.

The stranger looks at her, his voice a warning:

“Could you stop swearing and insulting everyone in your story? It’s annoying how you use phrases and words like ‘or something’. If you’re telling a story, tell it right.”

Hope rolls her eyes so much she thinks it will roll out of her head. Is he fucking serious? I’m a bad story teller? John chuckles, earning a furious look from the young woman, who then looks back at the stranger.

“Well I’m sorry, I didn’t ask to be brought here and tell the story of my life. Also I’m bleeding out here, so if I’m a bad story teller, deal with it...”

She huffs out angrily, but their captor just looks at her and says in a warning tone:

“Continue... without the poor vocabulary.”

She wants to groan out, but manages to fight down the urge of it.

“Fine.” She huffs, thinking a second where she was interrupted in her story.

...

I asked John what to do next, was that it and he looked back at me with a smug face, saying:

“You have to climb the statue and jump.”

There was an awkward silence, I sweared some things in my head, then said:

“Nope.”

And I got in the truck, Sharky looked at me in surprise:

“Yo, we took an entire day to walk this Path and now you give up?”

I laughed at the man then looked to the backseat, where John was cuffed.

“I already took the Leap of Faith, I’m not going to do that again, I will die.”

And the... bastard - is that better than asshole? So he looked at me with a smirk and a shrug saying:

“Only Angels, whose resilience is well known to anyone who ever attempted to take down one of them and witnessed how they come back to life, even after getting mortally wounded, could survive the ordeal.”

Well, it started there. Because the whole point of me walking the Path was to do what Joseph wanted, so I could meet him on Sunday and take an ambush on him. But John didn’t mind telling me the fact that the end of ‘walking the Path’ is to kill myself in the process.

I shouted at him, saying this whole Path is just a scam, that his family is a bunch of liars. Which ended in me figuring Joseph never wanted for me to have dinner with him on Sunday, so the whole thing was pointless.

So--

...

“So she blew up the statue of my brother.” John interrupts Hope, looking at the stranger, not amused by that event.

Hope giggles, happy with herself and that she did actually pulled off blowing up Joseph’s monument at Angel’s Peak.

The stranger looks at John now, gesturing to him:

“You continue then.”

Hope scoffs, knowing the story will probably contain lies about her, but keeps quiet. John straightens his back, ready to tell his side of the story. While he does Hope plays with the watch on her wrist, the one she got from John back in the day. She manages to get the pin out of the watch, her eyes lit up at that, but she keeps quiet while working on getting her wrist out of the ropes. If John keeps the man occupied I won’t draw any attention.

And John speaks, the stranger looking at him while he does.

...

I tried to tell the Deputy to stop arguing for one second and start listening already. But she’s a stubborn creature, she didn’t listen. Why would she? Before we knew it, she got a launcher from Boshaw’s bag and started blowing up my brother’s statue, Which if anyone was wondering I payed for. Not only that, but it angered my brother, so he sent his Choosen after her. Which ended up in an even bigger fight. I couldn’t see the end of it, because she commanded Boshaw to bring me back to the Ranch, because still: I’m a dead man and no one can know that I live.

After arriving at the Ranch we listened through the radio. Jokes on you, Deputy. She was captured by my sister, Faith. Again. I don’t know what might have happened during that time, but next thing we know, we get a call from the Sheriff that she’s at the Jail with the Marshall.

...

“Now how did you feel about that?” The man asks and John blinks at him, his mask all the way up, Hope notices.

She doesn’t react, watching John’s eyes change a bit. She’s still having fun in reading him and it makes her heart ache. She looks away back at the stranger, while slowly working on her ropes. It’s difficult, but with enought time she could get lose. Unless she dies from bloodloss first.

John raises his eyebrow:

“What do you mean how I felt about it? I knew she was going to escape.” He scoffs, amused and annoyed. “She always does. As for the Marshall, I don’t really care. Faith failed, but she won’t get a scolding about that from Joseph. She probably suffered more for the Deputy destroying his statue.”

Hope doesn’t ask, but notices how John keeps calling her Deputy again. No Trinity, no ‘my dear’, no ‘Little Miss Wrath’. He really doesn’t care, does he? She blames her tears - which slowly wet her face, not alerting anyone in the room - on her wound and pain, but she can’t ignore how her heart feels broken.

“So you’re saying you were more worried about her being safe...” Their captor points at Hope, while still looking at John. “Rather than being worried about your... ‘sister’.”

There’s a moment of silence and John scoffs, shaking his head.

“No, I said I knew she was going to escape, so why think about it anyway. And with Faith I couldn’t do anything anyway. Being a prisoner that is.”

The stranger nods, probably thinking through the story in his head as he gestures to the Baptist:

“Continue.”

...

When the Deputy arrived at the Ranch with Boshaw’s aunt, that lustful woman they called a bunch of people over. Happy to have another one of their colleges back, I guess. So they partied, drank, danced around the living room.

Basically done anything to be annoying, obnoxious and loud.

...

“Now wait a minute!” Hope interrupts him with a fake laugh, gaining the strangers and his gaze. She stops razoring her ropes in the mean time, not wanting to alert their captor of her movements. “You did it with us! You partied and danced! Hell, you even karaoked with Addie!”

She laughs, shaking her head at John, who scoffs.

“Well better be a part of it, then get cuffed again and do nothing.”

Hope laughs, a bitter taste in her mouth as she thinks about what happened that night. Just the night before this, the events that lead them to be captured by the unknown man.

“So then tell me what happened.” The stranger speaks, still curious about the events that went down.

She looks at John who seems just as curious about her side of the story as the stranger. She sighs, then starts talking.

...

As I said, John and Addie were singing an ABBA song together, drunk, or at least I thought drunk. Later it turned out he wasn’t, but from his acts, I thought he was... Anyway I had enough. Sure, I kept my fake smile and fake happy mood up, but honestly? I don’t know how they do it. How the others can act like everything is normal, while I’m stuck in this depressed mood all the time. How could I party without my conscience saying to me: people are dying out there. People are suffering on both sides...

...

Hope imagines the scene that went out there, telling it to their captor, but leaving some scenes out, not sharing all her thoughts of the event:

How she went outside, stepping out of the house to the quiet night, critters and owls making the sound of nature. The muffled noise of John Denver’s Take Me Home. Actually it’s her favourite song, but at the time she felt like her mind was going to blow up from all the noise.

She sat down at the porch, her legs brought up to her chest, head resting on her knees, arms holding her legs at place. She set there for a while, until the door opened of the Ranch. She didn’t look up, listening how the music and talking became louder.

The young woman was expecting Sharky to come out and piss in the bushes, because for some reason even in a house he didn’t use the bathroom. The door closed again, muffling the noise of the song and the laughter again.

There were a few steps on the porch, when she felt a presence behind her. John... She could tell it was him. Not just by his cologne, which he kept using since he got back to the Ranch apparently, but also there was a weird atmosphere to the man that she couldn’t quite explain.

He sat next to her on the porch and she raised her head, looking at the man, who just stared at the direction of the river below them. The forest, the night sky, but not Hope, he didn’t look at her.

She layed her head on her knees, looking at the man next to her, exploring his features. His hands behind his back, resting on the wooden porch, legs outstretched. She looked down at his hands, his tattoos. She didn’t exactly payed too much attention to them, but now she looked at each carefully. A lot of them related to the cult and sins. But she watched one with careful eyes.

A cupid of some kind reaching toward a dove. A bird of peace. The dove being circled with a flowers. When she didn’t pay too much attention she thought it was a circle of sun of some kind.

Hope smiled to herself, looking at that piece of his tattoos, when she finally looked up to meet John’s gaze. She felt herself get flushed under his eyes, the pair of blue glistening in the moonlight. God, since when did he watch me?

He looked curious, focused on her face, eyebrows frowned a bit. He does that when he’s trying to read her, she noticed.

“What?” She asked turning her head a bit, looking at the near forest, still feeling John’s gaze on her.

“You were looking.” He said simply. Not accusing, just curious why she did it.

She shrugged, lips turned into a smile:

“What? Am I not allowed to look at you?”

She looked into his eyes, but he didn’t catch up on her teasing tone that time, tilting his head a bit, waiting for an answer for his unasked question. She sighed, giving up and smiling lightly at the man’s tattoo again, hands letting go of her knees, pointing at his tattoo, slightly touching his skin on his forearm.

“I like this one...” She said quietly, tracing along the circle of flowers around the dove. “It’s peaceful, not like the others, I like that... it suits you, even with all the cruelty around you, you still kept some peace in your heart as well... people just have to look for it, that’s all.”

She didn’t even know what she was saying until her sentence was finished. Silence followed and she looked up into John’s eyes. God, I feel like my heart is going to rip in half. He looked moved, even though she didn’t say much, but it looked like it meant a lot for him.

Finally someone realized he’s not just a monster. She didn’t think of him as one, anyway. She always searched for the good in every person.

He brought up his hand to her face, caressing her skin lightly. His eyes were soaked in affection and love as he looked down at the young woman, lips parting as he went to say:

“Trinity, I --”

A loud scream and laughter interrupted their moment:

“SO I’M SITTING THERE, BARBECUE SAUCE ON MY TITTIES--”

Hope bursted out laughing, John destroyed that Adelaide dared to interrupt their moment. But chuckled as well, watching the young woman next to him wiping her eyes of tears of joy. He shook his head amusement and confusion on his face:

“How do you even find these people?”

Hope still laughing stood up from the porch, John looking disappointed, then surprised as she took his arm and helped him up to his feet.

“I don’t know. They just seem to find me, where ever I go.”

She giggled, still holding his hand and leading him to Tulip, Addie’s chopper. John didn’t seem to mind as he followed her to the chopper, he looked at her before entering:

“Where are we going?”

She just smirked at him, entering the chopper on the driver side and waited for him to do the same. Then they took off to the air, going to her favourite spot in the Valley, which seemed to amuse the man.

“Seriously? This is your favourite spot?”

He chuckled as they landed at the feet of the YES sign after the fly in the air, stopping near it.

“Yupp.” She said, jumping off the chopper, John following her. She sat at the bottom of the ‘E’ just like last time she was there. Away from the noises and everyone else. John stood there for a second, wathced the young woman sitting under the moonlight, her blue eyes looking into his along with a sweet smile.

“You’re gonna just stand there and watch me like a weirdo?”

She asked teasing, John sitting beside her on the ground, watching the Valley below them. They’ve been silent for about half an hour, just enjoying each other’s company. She felt him tense, though she didn’t know the reason yet why. She thought maybe the silence was what bothered him, so she lay down on her back, looking up at the night sky with a smile, speaking and pointing up:

“That’s the Orion constellation... that’s one of my favourites.” She smiled as the man looked down at her then up to the sky, following her finger. She pointed to some other stars, called them by name, John laying down beside her in the process.

Then a short silence followed. She placed her hand next to his, not daring to hold his hand, but he brushed his fingers against hers slightly.

“You like the night sky this much?” He asked, amused by her enthusiasm towards stars.

She didn’t think much before sharing a part of her she never shared with anyone before. Not in detail, that is.

“My parents loved the stars, both for different reasons. My mother was a christian, she believed deeply in God, Heaven, the angels up in the sky. She was a free spirit, liked the nature, peace, humanity in it’s all glory...” She smiled looking up at the sky, John turning his head toward her while listening to her story.

“My father, on the other hand was a man of science. He was an astronomer, he loved the universe and the stars. Always wished he could travel to the Moon one day.” She giggled, imagining her father, though she never met him, just like she never met her mother. “They were at this festival of hippies. And they were stargazing together, having an argument about God and science. Oh, they hated each other. ”

Hope laughed, in her mind the scene was clear by what she imagined for years from her uncle’s stories.

“So of course they got married, after years of being together. My mom was a writer, her writings were about fantas stories for kids. Fairies and kind witches and stuff like that. My father worked as an astronomer and part time weatherman for the townsfolks. Because he didn’t believe in the weatherman’s on the tv.”

The young woman stopped for a second, John was patient, listening to her every word.

“So when they were pregnant with me they were overjoyed. Least that’s what Earl used to say. They were so excited, they wanted everything to be perfect, although they weren’t rich or anything of the kind. They had fights about money, I know that, even though my uncle kept the dark parts of their lives under silence for long... Anyway when they moved to Missoula to a new house they painted the room, my room’s ceiling exactly like the night sky. My mother was good at art, she painted them all, my father helped her to be precise of every single star...”

Hope turned a bit sad, her next part of the story not so happy anymore. John felt that too, his hand finding hers, fingers connecting.

“When they died, when I was born Earl already had a home. At first he didn’t knew where would I go, who would take care of me. My grandparents, you see, from my mother’s side hated me. Hated my father, for not being a follower of God. So I never met them, for all that I know and care they are dead... My father didn’t have a family. Only my mother and me. So because Earl was my mother’s brother he took me in. He was two years older then you at the moment, he wasn’t paid that well, he didn’t knew how to raise a child, but he did.”

She chuckled lightly, her tears slowly sliding down her face:

“I think I turned out pretty well, though... I’m just...”

She stayed silent, her tears stopped and John looked at her, pushing himself up from the ground to lean over her, eyes locked:

“What?” He asked trying to make her continue, but she didn’t.

The young woman reached up for his face and kissed him passionately. Even though he wanted answers, finally got her to confess to him about a part of her life, but he kissed her back still.

She grabbed the base of his scalp, pulling herself up from the ground to sit next to him. Then she rolled him over to his back, a situation he seemed to be surprised by. Yup, he’s totally used to being on top.

But she didn’t let him speak as she climbed on him, grinding herself in his lap. He moaned into her mouth, hands on her lips as she did circles on him, trying to get some friction.

...

“I don’t care about the sex scene.” The stranger says with a blank expression, looking bored as she explains the scene that went down in the wild, under the YES sign.

John chuckles, raising an eyebrow:

“You sure, that’s the best part...”

Hope looks at him, unamused by his laugh and when he returns her gaze his face turns cold, looking down in front of him, feeling remorse.

“I care what happened after.” The stranger says, so Hope sighs, continuing her story, but still leaving out some scenes, for she doesn’t want a complete stranger to know about that night’s events.

Even though he probably watched them having sex, the fresh picture on the wall making it impossible for him not to.

Hope skipped the part where she told her story with her parents, telling about just some sentences. And now she leaves out the parts too where everything really went wrong.

...

They were breathing heavily, bodies sweaty from the sex. They didn’t remove their clothes eniterly so they didn’t have to do much to take on their clothes again.

They were sitting up, looking anywhere but each other. This whole thing is so complicated with him, but I can’t seem to just let him go, not do or feel anything.

The silence was unbearable, so she started talking again:

“My parents came from different worlds, but they were happy together.”

John frowned at her, not knowing how to react at first. Then he stood up from the ground and dusted off his pants. He turned his back to her, picking his pocket, though she wasn’t paying attention to his actions, just his words:

“Not everyone can be as lucky as them.”

Before she thought about her words she said it out loud, cursing herself afterwards:

“We could try.”

John froze, his body tensed up, she could see it in his shoulders, how he straightened his back. She watched the muscles under his shirt as he did. She couldn’t take her words back, so she might as well continued:

“John, I know you love your brothers, but you can’t seriously follow Joseph, thinking he’s doing the right thing. He used your childhood abuse against you, feeding into it, like it was nothing to him. He’s delusional!”

She regretted her words as she said them, watching his back shaking from anger and she knew she should stop but she didn’t. Her voice raised bit by bit, being angry at Joseph for using John in such a way. She just couldn’t believe his older brother loved him if he kept pushing him around.

“He’s a murderer!”

John turned around and she focused on his face, which was a big mistake later, but she didn’t realize that at the moment. He looked furious, the previous action of making love to each other, affection in his eyes gone. Only fury and anger in it.

“Oh, because you’re such a saint, right?” He said to her with venom in his voice, made her eyes teary.

“I know my flaws, John. I willl have to live with myself, knowing all those lives are ruined out there because of me. Families, torn apart, because of me! But don’t think for a second I’m anywhere near your brother! He’s a fucking psychopath, who murdered his own child!”

She said it, not caring if John knew about it or not, though the confusion in his eyes told her he didn’t.

“You’re lying!”

She cried and laughed, standing up from the ground, looked him in the eyes:

“Why would I lie about something like that?”

He looked at her and it broke her heart, the anger and disgust on his face unbearable.

“Because you’re the snake in our garden. You’re just trying to pull me into sin, away from the right path with my family.”

She scoffed, looking away.

“Wow...” She opens her arms, like giving up, shaking her head, then looking back at him. “Then what? You’re going to try and bring me back to Joseph? Make your big bro happy and proud that you finally managed to do something that’s not fucked up and ruined?”

She hated herself at that moment, she was hurt, he hurt him that was true but she never intended to hurt him that way. Only then she realized he had a pocket knife in his hand, something he might have stolen while everyone was partying at the Ranch. Shit...

He cried out a war cry, tackled her to the ground, the knife landing at her side and he slashed a line along at it. The pain and surprise made her look up at him with teary eyes. He seemed shocked by his own actions, mouth moving like he was about to say something, maybe even say sorry as he held the knife in his hand, tossing it on the ground.

“You...” She wanted to say something hurtful, maybe something obscene, call him names, but didn’t had the chance as he was hit by something hard, he fell to the ground next to her.

She then looked up at the stranger, who hit her in the head, the world turning black.

...

“So here we are.” Hope finishes her story, looking at the unknown person who attacked them at the bottom of John’s sign.

He looks unhappy by the story, like he still misses the essence of the tale.

“Why did you let him live?”

He asks her, and she looks at him confused. The fuck kinda question is that? The man seems annoyed and irritated to wait for an answer and he stands up, putting the knife to her abdomen.

“Why... did you... let him... live?”

She gasps for air, trying to hold her breath to not cause any more wounds on herself, the blade of the knife touching her skin. She stops wriggling her wrists, the rope almost already gone, which she worked on while telling their story.

“Because I needed a joker card against Joseph, so I can use him, bargain him for one of ours even.”

He looks into her eyes, an evil smile on his face.

“You’re lying.”

She frowns, not amused as she gets angry at this unknown person.

“Why the hell do you care so much anyway? Why all the photos? Why bring us here? Why the fuck are you obsessed with us?”

John looks at her in worry and warning, trying to gesture for her to shut up, she has a dagger at her stomach.

“Oh, isn’t it obvious?” The man says, lifting his knife from her gesturing around. “I don’t care about the ‘Resistance’ or the ‘Project’. Too boring, too... casual. I need something more interesting, and by far you two have been really interesting. I got bored when he stabbed you, so I thought I would get my final questions from you, before searching for something else for fun.”

Hope looks at him in disbelief. Now he’s totally a sadistic mental person, that’s for sure.

The man huffs out at her silence, and looks at John for a second, looking like he had the worst and best idea ever.

“Let’s play it in an other way then...”

He steps next to John and without warning he makes a cut on his face. Not too deep, but enough to cause bleeding on his cheek. John doesn’t even say anything, just looks angrily at the stranger.

Hope on the other hand knows him. He can take a punch, after the stroy he told her about his parents abusing him, but she fears for him anyway, worry in her eyes.

The stranger looks at Hope, his knife at John’s shoulder, pointing at the flesh, ready to enter it entirely.

“Why did you let him live?”

She looks at him bewildered, not knowing what answer would satisfy him:

“I... I don’t know.”

She says and feels like it’s the half truth, but it doesn’t seem to please him. He pulls the knife right into John’s shoulder blade and he muffles out a groan from the pain, anger on his face as he chuckles, looking up at the stranger:

“Oh come on, that’s only just a pat...”

Hope looks at John fear in her eyes for him as the man forcefully pulls out the blade from his shoulder.

“Why did you let him live?” He grabs John ear, ready to tear it down with the knife.

She widens her eyes, panic in her voice:

“I don’t know! Please, I really don’t know!”

He starts slowly to cut into the younger Seed’s ear, earning a mix of laughter and painful shout. She fastens her hand with the pin on her ropes, trying to fight herself out of the restraints as she screams:

“STOP! PLEASE! I DON’T KNOW!”

He doesn’t stop though, John’s ear bleeding like hell and she cries for him, cries for his pain and she shouts out:

“BECAUSE I CARE ABOUT HIM!”

The man seems to stop, but doesn’t let go of John’s ear. As for the younger man he looks at her confused, not sure what to make of her sentence. The stranger nods to her, a gesture to continue and she curses him in her head but doesn’t want him to continue his torture on the man that she loves.... wait what?

“I... I cared about him already, I just... He understood me, he tried to understand me. And I knew there was more to him and when it came to it, I just couldn’t pull the trigger. How could I, when deep down I knew he was right.”

There, she said it. The thing she tried to hide from everyone, especially the man himself and his family. That she actually believed in parts of their story. She looks at the stranger, swallowing her pride as she pleads to him silently:

“Just please, don’t hurt him.”

The man lets go of John, a wicked smile on his face, pointing at her with his knife:

“See? That wasn’t so hard! Although I was hoping for something sinister. They call you The Sinner and here you are...” He looks disgusted by her, not amused. “Ugh.. Just a teenager with a crush. Well, it’s right what they say. Every story is great until someone decides to put romance in it.”

He talks to himself, then turns dark as he approaches her with his knife, Hope’s hand already free behind her back now.

“So now you two die.”

John shouts a no at the man, but there’s not time for reactions, Hope gathers all her energy and jumps on the person. She tackles him to the ground, rolling on the wooden floor. While fighting they break the oil lamp which sets the hay on the only way out on fire. The flames quickly spread, destroying the only escape route.

But Hope can’t do anything as the man manages to push his knife to her arm. She punches him with her elbow, a cry of pain leaves her lips thanks to her wounded side and now arm. She punches the man, the knife falling on the ground and she kicks him into the fire. The man screams, when he lands down into the flames. But she doesn’t care, he’s dying and they still have time to live.

She can hardly stand on her legs as she falls to the ground, getting the knife and freeing John from his ropes. He asks the most stupid question at a situation like this:

“Are you alright?”

Once he’s freed he grabs her face gently, his eyes going crazy as he checks up on her. Smoke fills the air and they start to cough thanks to it, the reflex making her side bleed and hurt even more.

“Yeah...” She lies as they look down at the only entrance, but it’s already up in flames, the body of the stranger burning up, dead. The fire spreads up to the attic as well, slowly making it’s way to them.

They scatter to the boarded window, both trying to pull on it, trying the knife even, but it’s impossible to get out. They manage to get one board off, but the knife snaps in half as they do so.

They won’t fit through the exit. Hope coughs and slides down next to the wall, the huge window that is covered. John looks down at her in worry, himself looking in bad shape as it is.

She’s pale, already lost too much blood and the fire and coughing doesn’t help her.

“Someone must be looking for us.” John tries his best to make her feel hope and faith. He takes her small form into his lap, holding his hand on her wound, leaving soft kisses on her forehead. “Drubman. She must be looking for her chopper, they... they may find the cameras in my office. They might figure out where we are.”

She looks up at the man, holding his arm gently which he holds on her wound:

“I’m sorry.” She says, feeling weak, too weak. Her mind feels like turning off, the welcoming feeling of sleep getting the best of her.

John shakes his head, looking at her, a chuckle on his face which is filled with worry:

“No, no... I’m sorry. This is my fault. You’re hurt because of me.”

She feels her eyes closing, but he caresses her cheek, whispering to her to keep her eyes open, to stay awake so she tries, for him. Her eyelids feel heavy as she looks up at him.

“I always wanted ice skating, before I died... guess I misse out on that...”

She says weakly and he looks at her in worry, coughing when he tries to speak, then his words meet her:

“You will. We will together, alright? I’m going to go with you. We can do it.”

The room feels hot, too hot. She doesn’t dare to look at the fire, she can’t even move her head. She slowly blinks, fighting the urge to close her eyes.

“Do you think she’s inside?”

A shout comes from outside, a man’s voice. John perks his head up and looks through the gap through the boards. He shouts out:

“WE’RE INSID! WE’RE IN THE ATTIC!”

Excited voices come from outside, surprised voices:

“That’s Brother John!”

“He’s alive!”

“How could that be?”

Hope doesn’t worry about the voices, peggies as it turns out, she just looks up at the man who looks down at her a smile on his face:

“You hear that? We’re going to get out!”

She doesn’t feel closing her eyes, but she must be as she can’t see him anymore, vision turning black.

“No, No, Trinity! Open your eyes, please, please! My dear, open up, look at me.”

He whispers to her, leaving kisses on the woman’s forehead. She wants to, but she can’t. She wants to comfort him, tell him to not to worry, but she can’t do that either, his voice starting to get distant, though he doesn’t move from her.

“We could try! You hear me, we could try it!” He cries against her cheek, but she can’t feel anything, his voice only a muffled thing now. “Please, Trinity, don’t leave me. I lov--”

A/N:  I think the POVS got a little messy at the end, so sorry about that. I just wanted to write some inner thoughts which Hope wouldn’t share with them. I hope it was still enjoyable though. Thanks for reading ♥ Also yeah, I used this gif that I took 2 minutes to make because I’m lazy, haha. But I’m in love with Seamus!John so even if he’s without a beard I love him, haha.

Tags: @onl-you , @redaurora17

[britesparc]

My Unpopular Star Wars Opinion: Or, Why The Phantom Menace is Better Than The Force Awakens

Was it, though? 

Were the Star Wars prequels – The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith, whose vary names have become entertainment-industry watchwords for disappointment – really, truly better than the current Disney-owned era of Star Wars, which so far has produced two widely-praised billion-dollar-grossing movies, and is about to unleash a third, about which expectation is as high as a city in the clouds? Can I really think that, for reals?

Well, yes and no.

Let’s get the obvious things out of the way: there were some very poor decisions made during the Prequel Era. Let’s not pick over the corpse of George Lucas’ story choices – the whys and wherefores of virgin births, whiny antagonists, and Jar Jar Binks – and focus instead on the filmmaking technique employed. The dialogue is wooden. The camerawork is rigid. The performances are flat. The pacing is all over the place: in Phantom, the much-vaunted podrace goes on for at least two laps too long; indeed, the whole Tatooine section of the film shoots the legs out from under the momentum. Prior to that it had been a breakneck chase from overwhelming odds, our heroes escaping Naboo by the skin of their teeth; as soon as they break down on Tatooine, they’re sheltering from sandstorms and going gambling. And, of course, there’s the whole “taxation of outlying star systems is in dispute” nonsense: doesn’t quite grab you as quickly as “it is a period of civil war”, does it?

But there’s still something about them that feels Star Wars-y. There’s still a sense, even though I know Lucas was making it all up as he went along, that this fits into the universe correctly (I mean, he was making everything up as he went along, which is why Leia kisses Luke in Empire). There’s a cyclical nature to how the prequels marry with the original trilogy that’s about more than a visit to Tatooine or the presence of a Mandalorian bounty hunter. The first films in both trilogies are, in essence, about innocence: a simple quest by simple people to prevent an immediate danger (removing the blockade of Naboo versus destroying the Death Star); the second films complicate things by splitting up our heroes on separate quests before uniting them for a finale that feels, at best, like a pyrrhic victory; before resolving their respective trilogies in an all-bets-are-off finale beset with divided loyalties and a dangerous Sith Lord. Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi – even their titles are darkly mirrored – both deal explicitly with Vader and his relationship to the Force; he wrestles with his emotions and his commitment to his Order, the love of his wife compelling him to commit dark acts before finally the love of his son pulls him back into the light. The Force Awakens, whilst it does mirror aspects of Star Wars, feels more like a greatest hits package; we have another callow youth from a desert planet on a hero’s journey, another aged mentor, another cocky pilot, another tragic death, and another large object exploding in space, but it feels more consciously designed. A box-ticking exercise, rather than a thematic resonance. Or maybe it’s just because the iconography is so similar.

The First Order is basically the Empire, and the Resistance is basically the Rebellion. There are TIE Fighters and X-Wings. There are Stormtroopers and helmeted good-guy soldiers. There are English-accented characters walking around in SS outfits being glowery and evil. Whilst I’d never attempt to suggest that Amidala’s chrome-plated ship, or the wing-walking droid craft, were as iconic as what we got forty years ago, to go back to the same well is disappointing.

My wider issue, however, is how the new era seems to disregard somewhat the mythological aspects of Star Wars. I guess I’ve only seen one film in the trilogy, but despite the palette-swap nature of its craft and locations, it does feel markedly different to the Star Wars that came before.  There’s a sense of destiny in Star Wars, a “balance of the Force” that was hinted at in the original trilogy and made explicit in the prequels; the yoke of inevitability pulling characters in directions that they may not wish to go. The subtle, underplayed, and often-ignored theme in the prequels of once-noble institutions slowly crumbling into irrelevance and becoming the very thing they hated speaks to the wider issue of the “will of the Force”, of the Chosen One appearing to bring balance. That Chosen One is assumed to be Anakin, and we’re left to interpret for ourselves whether the balance was actually achieved; is it when he kills the Younglings? Or is it when he topples the Emperor? This thread ties the first six films together to produce something grander and more metaphorical, even if it is a case of Lucas essentially retconning to some degree his original intentions from the seventies and eighties. The Force Awakens feels a bit different, like the preoccupations of the previous films are gone; there’s a darkness to everything creeping in around the edges, complicating matters. Whether this makes for a better narrative is moot: what I’m saying is it makes it feel less of a whole with the rest of Star Wars.

This is exacerbated by the time-jump. Obviously we were always going to go 30-40 years ahead of Jedi. But so much has happened in that time. In the 20 years between Sith and Hope, the galaxy might be fundamentally different, but from a narrative view, nothing has changed: the Empire is still victorious and the Jedi still in exile, just like we left them. But in between Jedi and Force, we’ve seen Luke’s attempt at training new Jedi falter, Ben Solo fall to the Dark Side, the rise of the First Order, and the formation of the Resistance, to say nothing of the yet-unrevealed histories of Snoke and Rey. The film features flashbacks and a cliffhanger finale. It just feels odd, out of place, not at one with the cyclical nature of Star Wars. And, furthermore, it undoes so much of the happy ending of Jedi: despite the deaths of Vader and Palpatine, the Dark Side rises again, there's a new Empire, Luke goes into exile (apparently convinced that the Jedi as an institution is a bad thing) and Han and Leia split up. It's sad! It's tragic! And whilst I'm fine with all that happening in Star Wars, I think it should happen on-camera. Not in flashbacks or spin-offs, it should be part of the saga. To introduce it as backstory complicates the rhythm of the films. It feels less of a whole. It feels like a sequel, not the next episode. And from the trailers and pre-release hype of The Last Jedi, it seems like this is the new normal for Star Wars.

None of this makes the Disney films bad. In fact, going back to the popular iconography of the original trilogy makes perfect sense. Having the heroes still be a scrappy insurgency helps us root for them. Giving us a mysterious backstory to uncover is compelling. But my argument is, all these elements feel discordant with what's gone before. The prequels, for all their faults technically and narratively, helped weave a mythological tapestry for Star Wars that is being undone by the new films. I feel they're remaining too wedded to familiar imagery and story points, whilst simultaneously moving too far away from the more conceptual, mythological underpinnings of Star Wars as a fable. I kind of wish that Lucas had completed his mooted final trilogy – his own VII, VIII, and IX – before selling to Disney (especially if he took more of an executive role, as he did with Empire and Jedi, and left the writing and directing to others). Taken as individual films, maybe they wouldn't be as good as what we've got – because despite everything I've said here, I really do think Force Awakens and especially Rogue One are pretty tremendous – but at least we'd have Lucas' complex, contradictory, rhythmically compelling vision completed. Of course, then we wouldn't have Star Wars' new Holy Trinity of Rey, Finn, and Poe – perhaps the Disney era's most important additions to the overall mythos.

Look, Star Wars is complicated. George Lucas is complicated, and his legacy is complicated. I'm chuffed to bits he sold to Disney – not because DIsney is the be-all and end-all, but because they've proven their ability to marry corporate aims with creative excellence; look at Pixar and Marvel especially. The Force Awakens has issues but it's still a great, crowd-pleasing, immensely successful movie, and already we've got BB-8, porgs, and broadsword lightsabers sitting in the popular imagination in ways that, arguably, nothing in the prequels ever really managed (apart from Darth Maul and his double-ended saber, I guess). And again, the progressive casting of the new films is long overdue and utterly fantastic. I'm still really, really excited about The Last Jedi, and Abrams' Episode IX, and Johnson's new non-Skywalker trilogy. But I can't help feeling like something quintessentially Star Wars has been lost; perhaps it's an oddness, a willingness to duck when everyone is expecting a jump. Perhaps it was Lucas' own obsessions and interests that fuelled the franchise, that gave us everything from the sublime (Vader, the Death Star, lightsabers, Yoda) to the ridiculous (midichlorians, Gungans, Ewoks, Watto). Perhaps the new films are better films, but in my heart of hearts, I'm not sure I can love them quite as much. Maybe The Last Jedi will end up being the best Star Wars experience this side of Knights of the Old Republic, but it will still feel slightly separate. Further tales. An imaginary story. The expanded universe.

Maybe it's me. Maybe it's just knowing that Lucas had more stories he wanted to tell and never got the chance. Maybe it's because I've always been a lot warmer towards the prequels than most. Maybe things will shift with time – as more films come out in the new universe, with more characters, then this will start to feel like the status quo, the new normal. I hope so, because I love Star Wars – indeed, it's worth repeating, I think the new films are excellent, and are better films, better made films, than all three of the prequels. But although my head believes we're in a golden age of Star Wars not seen since the early 80s, my heart has yet to be convinced.

Anyway. I'll let you know if I still feel the same way after The Last Jedi...

[paulsebert]

A brief guide to 2010 DC’s crossovers so far

Previously

Marvel Crossovers: 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s

DC Crossovers: 80s, 90s, 00s

Reign of Doomsday:  Doomsday runs around kicking everyone's ass.  Then Cyborg Superman absorbs some of Doomsday's powers and becomes Cyborg Doomsday! Doomsday Clones arrive! Doomsday clone named Doomslayer shows up.  Somewhere along the way Lex Luthor gets a Black Lantern ring. Oh and original Doomsday pulls a face turn of sorts!  The send-off of the post Crisis Superman/Pre Flashpoint Superman era throws every bonkers Dan Jurgans era Superman idea at the wall.

Flashpoint: Flash goes out back in time tries to prevent his mother's death and ends up fucking everything up.  Unlike the excellent Elseworld story “The Nail” none of the changes to the timeline make a lick of sense.  So we're expected to believe Barry's mom living causes Thomas Wayne to become Batman and Wonder Woman to be evil?  Oh and THIS is final send-off of the Post Crisis DC Universe... Hope you weren't hoping for any grand send-off to a bunch of beloved characters. Night of the Owls: Scott Snyder's Batman starts off strong with a secret society that's been maneuvering behind the scenes in Gotham that decides it wants to move into the spotlight and voilently take over the city.  Because DC is DC they decided it to release it in two trades.  One  

has the complete story but none of the tie-in issues.  The other has all of the tie-ins but fails to include the last two issues of the story.  DC is there nothing you can't screw up?!

Rise of the Third Army: After screwing things up over and over again Pre-New 52 the Guardians decide to just turn straight-up evil and unleash Star Treck's Borg on the DCU.  They're called The Third Army but it's the same thing.

The Culling: Someone told Scott Lobdell that no one could write a dumber teen superhero book that Avengers Arena.  Scott Lobdell said “Hold my beer...”  Also everyone gets Tron Legacy costumes because that's totally going to be the next big thing.

Rotworld: Swamp Thing and Animal Man fight the existential force of death itself guarded by the nightmarish Parliament of Decay.

Death of the Family: The new and 100% more grimdark  Joker (look at me I cut off my face!) stalks the Bat Family leading to a final confrontation in the Batcave.  The weakest part of Snyder's Batman run fells like a six part story unnecessarily blown up to crossover length.

H'el on Earth: A Superman crossover featuring an unstoppable new villain from the writer of “The Culling.”  Nope... just nope...

Throne of Atlantis: Ocean Master having usurped his brother as the new King of Atlantis is all “Imperius Rex motherfucker!” and decides to declare war on the surface world.  Inspired a loose animated adaptation that you should watch instead. A Trinity War prequel..

Trinity War: Several Justice League members get possessed by Pandora's Box and the Justice League Dark intervene.  At least I think that's what happens. Anyway the whole thing turns out to be a Forever Evil prequel and nothing really matters.

Forever Evil: The Crime Syndicate takes over the world and Lex Luther is like “holy shit this is a job for Superman... the guy I'm always trying to kill. But I neeeeeed him!” Lex and several bad guys have to save the day and Lex actually turns face legit.  The main series is big dumb fun but some of the tie-ins (like the story about Harley Quinn murdering children) are god-awful.

Lights Out:  A new villain named Rellic (That's “Killer spelled backwards!) wants to destroy the various Lantern corps for repeatedly screwing up. After what the Guardians just pulled I can't blame him.

Gothtopia: Wikipedia actually describes this as “an event set in all Batman Titles.”  It certainly is.

Superman Doomed: A fight with Doomsday causes Superman to mutate into a monster called “Superdoom.”  Really?  They called it that?  Hahahahaahahah!

Batman Endgame: Now we're talking.  The finally seeming to lose his sense of humor The Joker decides to destroy Gotham City once and for all with a super insanity virus.  DC makes the same damn trade mistake they did with Night of the Owls.

The New 52: Future's End: Five years into the future something bad involving Brother Eye happens and several heroes travel back in time to stop it from happening. Sort of like Days of Future's Past which had a movie adaptation in theaters at the time this book was coming out.  Notable for having a Free Comic Book Day tie-in that was so bleak and so grimdark that no one actually wanted to read the main story.  

Convergence: Brainiac has imprisoned bottled cities from across time including a lot of pre-New 52 characters as well as a few Elseworlds. The main series is a bit of a mess but a lot of the tie-ins are fun romps.

Robin War: DC realizes it needs to promote it's cool “We Are Robin” concept about six months too late.  Oops! Multiversity: Series of interconnected oneshots by Grant Morrison that introduce all new and improved multiverse.  An artfully done labyrinthine mind melt.  If you one read one issue make sure it's the Shazam one which is deligthful.  Really between this and the Convergence one-shot how did we not get a new Captain Marvel book?  C'mon!

Darkseid War: Darkseid dies there's a civil war on Apokolips. Then the Crime Syndicate shows up.  Steve Trevor is possessed by the Anti-Life Equation.  Then Darkseid comes back as a talking baby... Dammit DC did you make any of these decisions between 2004 and 2015 while sober?

DC Rebirth: Several years after the launch of the New 52 comics DC tries the novel idea of just publishing some largely self contained books that don't suck. Shockingly this is their most successful event in years!

Night of the Monster Men: Professor Hugo Strange unleash big-ass giant Pacific Rim type monsters on Gotham City and it's awesome!

Justice League vs Suicide Squad: The Justice League finds out about Task Force X and aren't happy. Meanwhile Maxwell Lord and a gang of villains also have a serious grudge against Amanda Waller.  A big dumb loud enjoyable action movie of a book.  Features the third reboot of Lobo in less than 4 years.

[thousandmovieproject]

I’ve mentioned already that back in I think 2004 I had this allowance of $100 a month and there was a month where I spent most of that money at Borders buying these Universal Monsters collections on DVD, one for the Wolf Man and one for Frankenstein and one for Dracula, each box set featuring four or five movies (sequels and spin-offs like Dracula’s Daughter and Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man), loaded up with special features, and all tying into the release of Van Helsing. Anyway. I tried for years to watch Dracula but kept falling asleep, and I really liked Frankenstein without being much a fan of the sequels, but The Wolf Man was far and away my favorite of the bunch because, being thirteen years old and really intimidated by black & white movies, it somehow seemed like the most accessible one. Had the most action, and sort of a storybook quality with the legends, curses, antidotes. I also watched it with my dad, who I think favored it best as a kid as well, which may’ve been an influencing factor in how much I liked it over the others.

But now I’m watching it again fifteen years later and I don’t really like it at all. Mostly I think I just dislike Lon Chaney Jr. — about whom I was totally indifferent up until recently, when I was listening to an episode of Karina Longhorn’s amazing podcast, You Must Remember This, wherein she was chronicling the life of Bela Lugosi and, in turn, of cinematic Draculas. She references the performance of Chaney Jr. in the role (Chaney wears the cape in Son of Dracula) and describes him as being this idiotic lumbering oaf with zero charisma. Also, when I was reading the second volume of James Kaplan’s biography of Frank Sinatra last year I was surprised to find that Chaney Jr. hung out with the rat pack for a while, drinking like a sailor, womanizing. The works. Also, his Larry Talbot character in Wolf Man sports a “charm” in picking up the female lead that hasn’t aged well. Just seems smarmy. And I know I should divorce the character from my conception of the actor but, along with those other factors, it’s hard to do here.

But so I don’t know which impression of The Wolf Man to trust: my adolescent love for the movie or my grown-up disdain for Lon Chaney Jr.

As I research the movie I’m finding that, while the Wolf Man’s face is definitely up there in Universal’s Rushmore of monsters (makeup achieved by the legendary Jack Kirby), there isn’t nearly as much written about the film or the character as there is about Dracula or Frankenstein, whose narratives I guess invoked questions about sexuality, God, fate and creation whereas the story here, of Talbot (Chaney) returning home to visit with his father and thereupon finding himself victim to a savage bite, can I guess be said to work as a commentary on…man’s duality? On beastliness? Ahdunno. I guess the cigar’s just a cigar.

Lon Chaney, Jr., living in the shadow of his father — the makeup wiz and star of The Phantom of the Opera and, a hidden gem, Tod Browning’s The Unknown

While it’s obvious that both Dracula and Frankenstein were made as cheap horror flicks, with director James Whale maybe trying his hand at weightier themes than the genre usually explored (especially in the immaculate, eccentric, wonderful Bride of Frankenstein), they lend well to different types of interpretation. Sexual stuff, parent-child stuff, god stuff. The Wolf Man, though it’s cut from the same cloth, somehow just doesn’t’ have any false airs about profundity. It isn’t trying to explore the soul or anything. It’s just a fun horror flick. And, having just read and written a whole lot about those other two movies for this Project, I guess I was expecting a similar load of reading to be done for Wolf Man and, not finding

  anywhere near the same amount of commentary, I’m disappointed.

But if you wanna get heady about Wolf Man, at least insofar as it completes the Holy Trinity of Universal Monsters, you can say that these opening installments of the three franchises all depict creation. Dracula bites his prey and, in so doing, turns them into creatures of the night; Dr. Frankenstein assembles his monster out of human remains and gives it life; Mr. Talbot here is bitten by a wild monster and, accordingly, transformed into something new. What’s distinct about this story is that it’s being told from the perspective of somebody who’s have the transformation forced upon him. He isn’t the person biting victims, or assembling cadavers. Larry’s just a guy who doesn’t want to change, but has to.

It should also be noted that these earlier Universal Monsters enjoyed a better poster treatment.

John Landis argues that all monsters are victims and, yeah, that can even be applied to Dracula — who, though very much a demonic murderer, was surely, at one point, just a guy who got bitten by a vampire. Bride of Frankenstein depicts the Monster with way more sympathy than the first installment, and finally makes him the hero, but as concerns the debuts of these monsters, Talbot’s Wolf Man is the only one we’re really made to sympathize with.

And I guess if you wanna look at it within the context of what was going on in the country: both Dracula and Frankenstein were released in ’31, two years after the stock market crash, and feeding into the fears of people who had lost everything overnight, or who’d lost a lot but were seeing the people around them lose more, are two monsters who creep around and snatch the life out of you. Ten years later, on the eve of our involvement in World War II, we get a story about a man who doesn’t want to be a vicious beast, but is nonetheless forced into the role.

But I do have a feeling that The Wolf Man is a great movie, and that a testament to its greatness is probably the fact that it hits you a different way at different times in your life. The fact that it’s endured for almost eighty years has to be a testament to something. I’ll definitely be watching it again at some point, see how I feel about it in 2021 or 20205. Maybe that love I felt for it at thirteen will come back.

It did for my dad.

#143. The Wolf Man (1941) I've mentioned already that back in I think 2004 I had this allowance of $100 a month and there was a month where I spent most of that money at Borders buying these Universal Monsters collections on DVD, one for the Wolf Man and one for Frankenstein and one for Dracula, each box set featuring four or five movies (sequels and spin-offs like 

[dalekofchaos]

My problems with Finn's Stormtrooper past and indoctrination

Short story is there is very little effect on the overall story and Finn's defection does not affect him as a character or the story nor does it inspire anyone to rebel the FO.

Here is the long story

Finn seeing Han Solo, Chewbacca and Leia has no effect on him. Finn was taken and raised by The First Order. He should be raised to hate Han, Luke Leia, Chewbacca and Lando. He was indoctrinated as a child, so Finn should be taught from childhood to adulthood that Han, Luke and Leia are terrorists and war criminals who destroyed over 20 years of peace and would be taught that Luke, Han and Leia are responsible for genocide(you know that “I had friends on that death star” joke) so he is taught to hate them from birth and to kill them on sight. But he wasn't....he even says Han is a war hero....what kind of fucking indoctrination do you call this?

Has no problem killing his brothers and sisters. Seeing Slip die was the breaking point. He was so affected by his friend's murder that he swore he would never kill The First Order again. Finn is meant to show that Stormtroopers are human....only to show that they are back to being cannon fodder. The message they were trying to tell was dropped immediately. Finn defects because his Stormtrooper friend is killed. So what does he do? Kills more of his old Stormtrooper friends! Throughout the entire trilogy they don't acknowledge or care about that "Stormtroopers are human and could leave like Finn" they don't give the other child soldiers a chance to break free, everyone else is just disposable as Red Shirts.

Jakku is his first mission. Really? You expect me to believe a life time of serving The First Order and he only has his only mission that conveniently is the mission where he decides to defect?

Poe killing Slip is never brought up again. Just think, the very person he is saving is the very person who caused his break down on Jakku. Not once is it brought up. You'd think Hux or Phasma would've used it against Finn. Just imagine, Finn finds out and we have tension and animosity between Finn and Poe. It gives us the possibility of Finn going back or Finn forgiving Poe. None of that is presented. It's just never brought up again.

Finn and Kylo’s tension and animosity is never brought up again. After the massacre of Tuanul and Finn’s refusal to fire, Kylo stares at Finn. Then Kylo immediately knows that Finn was the one who helped Poe escape. Then Kylo screams traitor at Finn. Originally I thought this was because Finn was the awakening that Kylo and Snoke felt and my theory of the Knights Of Ren being Force Sensitive Stormtroopers, this is why Kylo saw his defection as a betrayal. But Finn and Kylo never share the same screen again. Really....the easiest thing they could’ve done was make the Force Bond be between Rey, Kylo and Finn. If you have to have a force bond. Make it between all three of them. Finn and Kylo are obvious foils. Finn was taken from his family against his will into the First Order and realized on his own that murder was wrong. Conversely, Kylo willingly ran from his family into the First Order and consciously uses murder to gain power. As Kylo kills his father, Finn becomes a Resistance hero. Their storylines and development are inversely proportional to each other- when Finn moves toward the light, Kylo falls further toward darkness. Finn is the humanity Kylo rejected when he chose to kill his father.  Kylo is the darkness Finn could have succumbed to but ran away from. So why not have them being connected by the force. Keep the dynamic with Rey and Kylo, but with a force connection established between Finn and Kylo, we could have Kylo wondering why Finn would desert The First Order, while Finn wonders why Kylo betrayed his family, the Jedi and joined The First Order. Kylo wanting Rey AND Finn to join him in bringing a New Order to the galaxy. They reject. But just imagine Rey, FInn and Ben  unite to end Palpatine. The Trinity in the Force. I just....they did nothing with Finn and Ben’s staredowns/animosity. Seeing the three main characters in this trilogy  first become enemies, then allies and finally friends who unite and bring down the Emperor would’ve been great. But no, instead we get nothing to resolve their differences.

Finn is not affected despite a life of conditioning and indoctrination. Finn is a character who was raised as a Stormtrooper, but there doesn’t feel like any indoctrination to begin with. Finn’s defection could’ve been a great story but it is never brought up again. What was life like in the First Order? But instead, his Stormtrooper past is never brought up again. When he throws away his armor on Jakku is when any exciting character development is thrown away, too. His past as a Stormtrooper is barely mentioned and is hardly relevant. For someone who’s kidnapped as a child, why does he act so "normal” when he escapes the First Order? People that escape cults and child soldiers have difficulty adjusting back into normal society. Why is he never affected by his supposed “indoctrination” why are there no signs of trauma or PTSD? Why doesn’t he hesitate to kill his FO brothers and sisters? It honestly feels like it didn’t have any impact on the story whatsoever.

A defecting Stormtrooper was ruined when we have him be revealed as the janitor. Instead of badass Stormtrooper who breaks free after realizing what he's doing is wrong, we get comedic relief: he drinks dirty water made for animals, and he acts funny, which is fine. But what truly sealed away his fate was the moment he uttered the word “sanitation” We know most FO do Sanitation as jobs, but the way JJ wrote the movie made everyone think that’s all Finn did and only did it as a joke. There are some serious racial undertones with writing Finn as a janitor. Johnson's depiction of Finn might've been racist as hell, but JJ was the one who ultimately decided that the one Stormtrooper with a face, who just happens to be black, was a Janitor.

His defection has no impact on the rest of the trilogy. As soon as we meet Jannah, I was like "holy shit, his defection finally inspires something???" and...it did not. His defection was taken from him. Finn refusing to kill for The First Order got copied on to a bunch of other Stormtroopers. Don’t get why we couldn’t at least have had Jannah mention they were inspired by Finn. Finn’s defection from the First Order ultimately meant nothing in the end and that is just depressing. Finn doesn’t even get to have what made his character great mean anything. There is no Stormtrooper Rebellion nor is Finn a symbol. Finn’s defection is forgettable….that’s the final insult degradation of Finn’s character