#this episode is heavy on the slash ships

[lovemishjen]

I have been trying to understand why I was so disappointed with the Supernatural finale. After all, being a writer myself, I wouldn’t like anyone telling me how to write the climax to my story, and therefore, I more than the average viewer should have been able to respect the freedom of the writers and showrunners to take their story to what they believed to be the right conclusion.

The problem, I realized is that every story has a structure that it has to follow to get it to make sense, even the ones that are not overtly formulaic.

So I looked at a few beloved older shows that I watched through the seasons and understand what made their endings more palatable.

The Mentalist – Like supernatural, The Mentalist is not a show about romance; it is a police procedural show, with a murder solved by the team in each episode, and more importantly it is about Jane’s obsession and quest for revenge from the serial killer Red John and finally the journey towards Jane’s catharsis. But as the characters evolved, Jane and Lisbon’s equation changed from friendship to something more, very organically I would say, and the show ends with them together and even expecting a baby – a satisfying happy ending that works thanks to not just Jane’s character growth but Lisbon’s as well.

House MD – Again, not a show about romance or even friendships. It’s a hospital show and a ‘medical procedural’, that unlike Grey’s Anatomy and similar shows, is almost fully focused on the titular character. The showrunners have spoken about how House and Wilson were inspired by Conan Doyle’s Holmes and Watson. During all the ups and downs over the seasons, their friendship remains the heart of the series, and while the pairing was wildly popular in the fandom, with slash fiction being written prolifically even now, ten years after the show ended, the showrunners chose to keep the relationship platonic. As the characters were introduced as canonically straight, the writers probably did not dare take a wild leap to sexual intimacy on the show, despite the immense popularity of the pairing. However, we see the characters falling out and getting back together, thereby strengthening their bond, and the protagonist, a self-professed selfish and ‘bastard’ character, giving up on everything that meant anything to him, and driving off into the sunset with his best friend aka the person who is most important to him, again satisfying though bittersweet.

Elementary – Yet another police procedural. Most people read Sherlock and Joan’s relationship as platonic, a change from the shipping heavy pairings. Here too, the show ends with the two friends taking steps to becoming platonic-life partners after all the turmoil and physical dangers they faced over the series.

Now, in Supernatural, the story demanded a happy or at least a bittersweet ending. Why? Because of the death, resurrection, pain, literal hellfire, loss of loved ones that Sam and Dean went through, only a happy ending makes sense, and heaven, that is canonically in the control of manipulative angels is not a happy ending at all, unlike say ‘The Good Place’.

If I were to take the story to its logical conclusion, the finale would have both brothers taking the call to be semi-retired. Sam and Eileen would probably set up a Hunters Headquarters in the Men of Letters bunker. Dean would either start a Roadhouse-style bar named after Ellen and Jo or an Auto restoration business for classic cars named after Bobby. A full blown romantic relationship between Dean and Cas wouldn’t work so late in the game. So, again a platonic life partner setup, that’s open for interpretation, with Dean, Cas and Jack buying a farm where Claire and the rest of the found family frequently visit them. 

So the brothers would find stability and “the peace when you’re done” that we were promised. Dean and Cas, as both soldiers with a fair amount of PTSD, would help each other on the path to healing. Sam would never get out of hunting as he wanted at the start, but a semi-retired approach would give that to him partially, and let him indulge in research that makes sense for his academic type personality. 

The final shot would be of the brothers in the backyard of dean’s farm, drinking beer, finally at peace, not just with the world, but with each other, as having their own support system in the form of found family, and their own space would let them get over the annoyance of constantly living in each other’s pockets, forever on the road, with no control over their destiny and mistrustful of each other. We were so robbed of this – a logical, meaningful bittersweet ending that made sense for these beloved characters.

[malevolentaroweek]

Frequently Asked Questions

✦ How can I participate?

Create any kind of fanwork, post about it here and @ us using the appropriate tags! As long as it’s Malevolent and related to aromanticism/arospec identities, you’re good to go. Fics, art, cosplay, music, crafts, headcanons, etc; any and all types are welcome! We just ask that if you include an image in your post, please include an image description in the alt text or in the body of the post.

✦ Why aromanticism and not just queer?

While Malevolent is not an explicitly queer podcast, the show lends itself to queer readings, and as such has built an audience of predominantly LGBTQ+ folks. Due to the nature of the characters, the ways they relate to one another and their environment, we believe that particular respect should be given to arospec identities within the show, as in fandom such identities are typically overlooked in favor of romantic dynamics. The creators of this week are both aromantic and wanted to create an event that further explored those aspects of their favorite podcast :)

✦ Does it have to be strictly aromantic?

If you mean, does the content created have to be strictly and exclusively non-spectrum aromantic, then no. This event includes all kinds of aromanticism from all across the spectrum. You want to write a fic about John being grayro and falling in love with Oscar? Go for it! Wanna draw a comic about Arthur being a loveless aromantic? Be our guest!

However, we only ask that the main focus of the week be aromanticism and not other related orientations. Exclusively arospec content is rare in online spaces, and we'd like to change that.

✦ What if I don’t like a specific day’s prompt?

You’re welcome to go off-script and create anything you like as long as it relates to some aspect of arospec identity within the podcast. Posts off-script or without a prompt will be reblogged on the final day (Dec 10th.)

✦ What content is allowed/not allowed?

We encourage any and all varieties of fanwork and the content within it, as long as it remains on-topic and related to aromanticism. As the source material also deals with a variety of heavy and challenging content, we believe that listeners are well aware of their own limits and can curate their online experiences accordingly. That said, NSFW content and colloquial “triggering” content will be allowed and may be shared on this blog, as long as it remains in line with Tumblr’s policies, though we will do our best to tag accordingly; feel free to refer to our tag guide for examples. Any content that is discriminatory or categorised as hate speech (homophobia/transphobia, racism, sexism, ableism, etc) will not be shared.

✦ How does the pairings aspect work? 

Alongside each day's prompt, we've added two suggested pairings of characters through which to explore the prompts. This is not mandatory, but if you’re unsure of what direction to take a specific prompt, those characters/pairings may serve as a guide to help you build a framework for that day. While the characters are suggested through “slash” pairings colloquially viewed as romantic, their involvement in a work can be through shipping character studies, or simply having the characters interact in some way.

✦ Will there be spoilers?

While we cannot determine what participants will create over the week, it is safe to assume that spoilers for episodes of Malevolent will occur. We will tag #malevolent spoilers for content related to the most recent episode(s), as Part 38 will most likely be out by the time of the event. Beyond this, it would be unrealistic to tag any content relating to spoilers for any point in the show as such, as due to the storyline, almost everything would be tagged as such. If you are concerned about spoilers, we recommend catching up to the show before engaging with content created for the event.

✦ Who’s running this event?

The creators of this event are Red @arthurtaylorlester and Finch @parkeryangs

✦ Have further questions?

Send us an ask! Anonymous asks are welcome, though if requested we can also answer user asks privately. (Asks being discriminatory/hateful/etc or that are harassment/spam will be deleted; we are trying to curate a positive, welcoming fandom space here, so please be considerate of that when sending inquiries.)

[hectorisagoodboy]

Hey I saw that you were curious about Hazbin so I wanted to give you a pitch from someone who likes the show and is in the fandom, taking some common complaints into account (with no spoilers!)

The premise is that Charlie Morningstar, princess of Hell, is running a hotel slash rehab center meant to get citizens of Hell redeemed and into Heaven (because Hell is majority overpopulated), alongside her girlfriend and a handful of friends and some allies who are definitely not friends.

The pacing is a little fast and occasionally inconsistent, but it's not narrative-breaking. There are roughly 2 songs (it's a musical!) per episode and many of them do a lot of narrative heavy lifting, which is a strength of the musical format that I'm glad the crew took advantage of. If the premise sounds interesting, look up "Happy Day in Hell" and give it a watch to see if you like it! It's a song from the first episode and it's a great introduction to characters and world. (Unfortunately Sir Pentious isn't in this one, but you won't have to wait long for him! His song is one of my favorites.)

A lot of people complain that the show's humor is just "sex, swearing, and violence." I wouldn't say that's NOT true, because it definitely earns its 18+ age rating and can take a little getting used to, but it does it better than a lot of shows in the same genre. Some adult shows read like they took a clean script and just added as many curse words as possible, but the swearing in Hazbin feels a lot more natural and the amount of swearing varies from character to character, which is a fun mode of characterization that a lot of shows can't do. There's violence, but I wouldn't describe it as gory. (If Invincible is a 10 on the gore scale, Hazbin is maybe a 5.) One episode (prefaced with an extra warning) deals with physical and sexual abuse, but the violence is never pointless, it's handled respectfully and in-character, and that episode has gotten lots of praise from real people who have survived those situations.

On the fandom side: internet communities surrounding Hazbin largely consist of two groups: the fandom and the "Vivziepop must die" crowd, which is a vocal minority. "Issues" tend to be stuff that's petty, quickly debunked, was always wrong, or is actually very normal in the animation industry but people just blame Vivzie for it despite it being much bigger than her. You can do your own research if you'd like, but take everything with a grain of salt. The general fandom is actually pretty chill, if slightly feral. Lots of theorizing, lots of art and fics, every shipping combination you can imagine, very few flame wars. Fandom hostility tends to come from outsiders rather than insiders.

I hope this helps you decide whether or not to give Hazbin a try!

Hola! 😁

Thank you very much! I'll definitely be checking out the series next week!

At the conventions I attended recently it was everywhere so I'm definitely curious. I don't have too many problems with violent or sexual content, as I've been a "Game of Thrones" fan for a long time! 🤣

I've already heard some of the songs and yes... They're very catchy!

But returning to the "comics and games" and conventions I recently attended here in Italy and the "weird fandom" subject, I must say that I found myself a little alarmed by the large number of fans of the series who were under the age of 18 (some of them were actually children)... 😐

Yep... That's weird! 😶

[raisinchallah]

actually if anyone wants my more real thoughts sort of not joke thoughts on my very real categories of early modern queerbait, queerbait and post queerbait as well as movements within i would define the beginning of early modern queerbait as ranging from sometime in the 70s when fan culture was beginning and early slash fandoms like kirk/spock and starsky and hutch etc and that leading to in 1979 it becoming known enough that kirk/spock was actually addressed in the infamous motion picture novelization footnote which actually at the time inspired a lot of debate in fan spaces u can read some of the letters into various archived zines if it was totally shutting down the k/s fans and something to be mad about or if it was in fact showing support etc and is a complex interaction between fans and the people creating the works and so on and eventually leading into the 90s where fan engagement became even larger and connected with the internet and in general changing tides of television leading to more follow through and serialized elements that inspires greater fan devotion and theorizing leading into like the x files fans coining the term shipping and in general the deft back and forth they managed with constantly playing between hinting at a romance between mulder and scully but also not going too far to annoy people who were staunchly anti romance etc and shows like buffy cultivating a strong gay fan base and shipping culture while also managing to dabble in both actual gay characters and fun gay subtext as well as again creating an absolutely massive fanbase and levels of creator fanbase interaction that reverberate to this day... and then well theres xena :3 pushing the concept of gay subtext to its literal breaking point and pioneering techniques that will be used in future baits while not being bait itself but also the impact of its writers will be felt forever and i think a great example of gay people having fun behind the scenes a secret fuel of iconic queerbait nobody really considers (keep in mind later since one of the lesbian xena writer/producers was also a writer producer on house and some of the most subtext heavy episodes a somewhat inexplicable inclusion in the queerbait canon but fueled by the same great minds behind xena) and well the demarcation of this early modern period into genuine queerbait probably lies around 2008 with the beginnings of many iconic pieces of the queerbait canon but also that we are beginning to approach levels of gay characters on random network tv shows rarely seen before we approach the glee singularity another show of note since fan engagement and taking brittany and santana seriously by fans and the actresses themselves lead like something that was essentially a somewhat homophobic joke become like a serious major part of the show and like the tipping point from subtext to queerbait era i believe is the fact that like standard homophobic jokes stock standard from decades of tv well we were reaching a point of gay characters being more and more common on tv that it creates a situation where perhaps these jokes are no longer diffusing speculation about a characters sexuality but are in fact increasing it... leading to the queerbait era a confluence of increased more immediate fan engagement shipping culture becoming like fairly mainstream to the point it will be referenced in the shows themselves and increasing presence of gay characters across tv so what used to simply be normal subtext or homophobic jokes or in fact gay writers doing things just for funsies all coalesce into queerbait that we know and love its something with ever shifting definitions but has essentially created a canon of shows that define the concept for itself...

and now as we enter the post queerbait era which might begin after the ends of classics of the queerbait shows like supernatural or supergirl ending in 2020 and 2021 respectively though classic queerbait was obviously in decline earlier than that and that the shifting landscape of gay characters makes that special sauce that peaked in like 2012-2015 lose its luster i do believe the first post queerbait show to be riverdale which like intentionally jokingly engaged with the entire concept in a self aware way its not queerbaiting its saving the world wow so true post queerbait can also be active anxiety about being seen as queerbaiting and engaging directly with that in handling of gay characters that it has now entered general public discourse perhaps people have successfully bullied good omens into a gay kiss when it was so clearly designed to slot into the superwholock era but past its peak we shall see where this goes... anyways we shall see what lies in store for this field of study as other scholars devote their minds to this great task

[void-inked-pen]

Sainon strikes again!!

I grew up with tmnt 2003 so I’m biased too but I did like 2012 when it came out, but I didn’t follow it as much as I did 03

I completely agree with you on Donnie and Mikey’s characterization! I really loathed what they did to Donnie with the whole love triangle thing they wanted to do. I absolutely loved Donnie in 03 but 12 Donnie omfg. I blame a lot of my dislikes of the show on the writing itself bc I don’t think they wrote April very well either it’s odd idk.

I thought Donnie’s crush on April was cute, silly, and funny at first but they kept beating the dead horse with this and then Casey showed up, added to it, and I wanted to scream.

They ALL deserved better but how the writers treated mikey and his canonical adhd was TRASH.

This is just me very personally as well but when I was just a wee child I empathized with 03 raph a lot bc, even tho I never acted on it, I was just constantly filled with rage that’s a lie I swung a computer at my bully’s face when I’d finally had enough. I didn’t like how they treated Raph’s anger in 2012 especially during the episode where they specifically addressed it. Splinter basically just said “bottle it” and like kind of belittled him for letting things get to him. When they were insulting him for the sake for the exercise I think I realized that 12 raph has trouble seeing when people are being serious with their insults (like me lol). Those were his brothers, contextually he should’ve known they didn’t actually mean any of those things but that’s not how he takes it. And if slash SPIKE is anything to go by he actually thinks his brothers think a lot of bad things about him. He doesn’t open up to his brothers because he does not trust them with his emotions that he himself has trouble dealing with/interpreting

On a more positive note: I do love Raph and Mona’s relationship ship, it’s absolutely fantastic

12 Raph likes a woman that can kick his ass and I have to respect that

Writing characters with anger is a difficult slope and is often written badly. As someone who has anger issues but learned how to deal with them over time, when I see a character like 2012 raph, who has trouble handling and understanding his emotions, it both points out the issues and also makes it hard for me as someone who deals with the same thing, relate because it’s often demonized.

Literally half the stuff they wrote in 2012 acted like they wanted to talk about heavy issues but it was written in a way that was almost mocking and demonizing with most of not all the characters. Literally it brought out the worse in everyone of these characters and it drives me nuts

April is the “strong girl who don’t need no man/turtle” but written insufferably, Donnie is the swooning brother who basically is an incel but also a genius who seriously deserves recognition for all he’s done (rest PLS), raph and his anger issues and lack of understanding his own emotions and the perpetuated “I’m tough, don’t feel emotion” manly bullshit, the terrible depiction of Mikey and his ADHD, and I’m not sure they did a very good job or not on PTSD with Leo and his whole focus on being the leader isnt… that great from what I know. And Casey… idk tbh??? He also had some “let me fight for the girl” dumb dumb stuff so he was meh. The love triangle with him and Donnie and April was also dumb because if those three just stopped that shenanigans, can you imagine how great they’d be as a dynamic???

Anyway, ye. There is definitely a lot they could have done better with all of them but I know that is more of a time thing~

Thanks for coming back Sai-Non!!

-pen

[fanwork-exchange-promos]

Spangel Fic Marathon 2024 Signups Open Now!

Posted by: harlow_turner_chaotic_ace Hello Buffyverse fans! This is a new fic marathon event, to celebrate all things Spangel (aka Spike/Angel)! This is an event for all creative types! We'll be accepting fanfiction, gifsets, moodboards, fanart, fanvids, etc for this event. Signups open February first, and close at the end of March, and the Ao3 collection will open March first. Then, starting May first, (to honor the airing of the episode of AtS that canonized Spangel), we will be revealing one story a day, until we run out! Submission Guidelines: Submission guidelines for the 2024 Spangel fic marathon: - First and foremost, this is a Spangel event, so submissions must have an endgame Spike/Angel pairing in some way. Preferably some sort of romantic and/or sexual paring, but subtext-heavy gen or pre-slash is also acceptable - Threesome fics are allowed but must have the main focus be on the Spike/Angel relationship - The minimum wordcount is 100 words - Fanfic should be submitted to the Ao3 collection. Visual works can be submitted to the collection or posted to Tumblr, but if posting on Tumblr please wait until your assigned posting date to post. Also, make sure to tag this blog so we can reblog it! - There is no max wordcount, and multichaptered fics are allowed, but works must be completed. - All genres and AUs etc are allowed - All variants of the ship are allowed, whether it's Angel, Angelus, Liam, souled!Spike, chipped!Spike, William, etc, they are all allowed! - Have fun! Signups are here. We encourage people who only want to comment/read to signup as well, as there is a section for them on the signup form. Follow us on Tumblr. Please reach out to the event runner on Tumblr or Dreamwidth with any questions. comments via The Fandom Calendar https://ift.tt/3E4hdgS

[beastfury5580]

Donkey Kong Z Episode 12

Eyecatch A/Donkey Kong Z will be right back - Donkey Kong Country OST - Stage Clear

Episode 12: Snow Problem (Crash, Koriju, and Banjo went to fight Neo Cortex, Ripto and The Sorceress on Planet Fortuna, while Koriju deals with natsumaru on his own.)

In route to planet Fortuna - Trevor Rabin - Bad Boys For Life (Pt. 2)

Peppy: Okay guys we're in route to planet Fortuna. Get yourselves ready quick. Banjo: Ready mate! Klonoa: Same here. Peppy: Okay everyone, go go go!

*Sora and Roxas flew out while Slippy and Krystal flew into their arwings. Koriju, Crash, banjo, and Dillon rushed outside to do deal with neocortex, ripto, and the sorceress*

Air Combat / Vs. Andross Army and Rhynocs - Trevor Rabin - Target House

Slippy: I got eyes in the sky! Krystal: Rhynorc fighters are approaching!

*Slippy and Krystal flew in different directions and started firing at their wings and engines to blow them up*

Slippy: Yay, I got two of them! Sora: *Flew straight forward and slashed through Andross army fighter ships in half* Got five of them! Roxas: Enemy ships down! Neo Cortex: No! No! No!! Bring in the final wave now! We can't lose this battle!

*Dr. Cortex's lab assistant along with N Gin are flying out of the sky using their fighter planes while n gin uses his mech*

Guntz: I say we got their attention. ROB64: Reinforcements detected! Peppy: Things are about to get even hairier! Krystal: Let's show them what we've got!

*Krystal shot down two more ships while slippy shot down three*

Aku Aku: Fire the heavy artillery crash! Crash: *Using his whampa fruit bazooka to shoot at the planes in the sky* Russ: Way to go crash! Crash: *Lifted up my bazooka* YAAAH!! N Gin: Let's get this over with! *Fire down at everyone* Russ: Oh no you don't! Get him, Dillon! Dillon: *Curls into a ball, recharge my roll, and rolls in high speed while flying up to n gin's mech, latched on and smashing its parts into pieces with my claws* N Gin: Hey! Get off my mech you rodent! *Shot fire at Dillon but noticing the bullets are flying off* Huh?!

*Dillon cuts apart the fuel and the control systems and jumped off, N Gin's mech back exploded as he spiral out of control*

N Gin: This is not good, not good at all! Doctor cor-

*The mech exploded along with n gin inside*

Neo Cortex: No! Not n gin! Now you're REALLY going to get it!

Crash and Banjo Vs. Neo Cortex and Ripto - Crash Twinsanity Soundtrack - The Evil Twins

Ripto: One's a lonely number. Allow me to destroy the bandicoot for you. Banjo: Not while I'm with him you won't! Ripto: That could be arranged! *Blast out green orbs towards Bongo*

*Aku Aku blocked the green orbs as they instantly vanished when they touched him*

Ripto: What?! Aku Aku: Get'em crash! Crash: Waha! *Ran towards ripto and spin attack him along with neo cortex* Falco: Way to go! Fox: *Shot down at the fighter ships* Now we push on fourth! Slippy: Fox, falco you're here! Fox: We came as soon as we could. Falco: Gnasty and Andross are toast! Spyro: Hey I was going to say that!

*In the middle of the battle, there was silence between the two rivals Koriju and natsumaru*

Koriju: ...... Natsumaru: ......

Koriju and Natsumaru's Final Stand - Naruto OST 2 - Confrontment

Natsumaru: So it seems we, at last, samurai Koopa. Koriju: Koopa is my brother's name fool, you face Koriju. Natsumaru: Whatever. *Pulls out my katana* How does it feel knowing you will die here? Koriju: Death is meaningless, only the beyond in the spiritual world matters to me. Natsumaru: Kuso...must you always be so positive? Koriju: You're suffering will end once you reach the afterlife, ninja scum. Natsumaru: By all means, try.

*Koriju and Natsumaru held their katanas as they ran toward each other then locked blades while glaring at each other*

Koriju Vs Natsumaru Finale - Tekken 5 OST: The Finalizer                                                 Tekken 3 (PS1) - Opening Movie (Alt)

Natsumaru: *Kicked Koriju down then charged at him and slashed his side while blocking his attack* Koriju: *Used my shell to block his attack and cut his chest* Natsumaru: !! *Fell on my knee as I hold my bleeding chest then stood back up* Koriju: *Growls as I went back into my sword stance* Natsumaru: I will not fall so easily. *Ran towards Koriju and locked blades once more* Such an impressive warrior. Koriju: I had a good teacher! *Blows ice breath at natsumaru's face by surprise* Natsumaru: ?! *Fell over from how heavy the ice block is on my head* Hmmm! Koriju: *Slash natsumaru's face* Natsumaru: *Yells in pain from the scar* Koriju: Give up now natsu! You know you can't win! Natsumaru: NEVER! *Held my face from the scar the. Got back up once more and charged at Koriju* I'll take you down with me!

*Both Koriju and Natsumaru jumped in the air and flew toward each other slashing blades past each other then locked blades in the air and jumped back from each other then both of them rushed toward each other one last time and performs a final cut strike as they both stand still for a minute but natsumaru fell down and started bleeding more than he did before*

Natsumaru's Demise - Shenmue Music: Sadness & Hope (OST)

Natsumaru: Ugh...how could....*coughs out blood* I lose to you. Koriju: It's simple. You underestimated me and my power and my skill. Even with all that ninja training, you couldn't keep up with me. Natsumaru: *Groans as I turned to Koriju slowly while trying to stand up* You...fought with honor...samurai Koriju. Like a true warrior. ACK! *Dropped my katana sword and fell down again* My time here...is over. My life...is fleeting. Farewell. Koriju: Rest in peace natsumaru.

The Samurai Vs and the Sorceress - Tenchu 2: Birth Of The Stealth Assassins - Kengeki

The Sorceress: Ugh! Can't even kill a heavyset turtle! Fine, I'll just do it myself! Koriju: As if I'll allow that to happen!

*The sorceress throws magic bolts at Koriju as he simply cut through them precisely without getting hit by them as he walked toward the sorceress and cut her wand in half and slash through her five times*

Aku Aku: Way to go! Spyro: Man look at him go! Fox: That leaves two more. Falco you're up! Falco: I'm ALL over it! Neo Cortex: Now now crash, wait, let's be reasonable here! Crash: *Shakes my head no* Ripto: Oh come on! It was all k rool's idea! I swear! Banjo: And you went along with it, knowing you should have stayed dead. Ripto: Screw it! Screw it all!!

*Crash waves bye as he simply moved ten steps away along side banjo, falco came flying in and shot neo cortex and ripto, the lasers hit the wand and exploded, destroying both of them in the process*

Falco: Alright!

*Everyone cheered for their victory as there were no more ships and the rest of them backed off. Moments after the battle, everyone gathered together*

It's all up to you now DK - Kingdom Hearts II OST - Dearly Beloved

Sora: I can't believe we actually did it! Link: I can. Now that all the villains are gone. The shadow alliance is no more. Yoshi: Which only leaves k rool and kaliga. Spyro: I'd say that's about right. Slippy: Whoo! I can't believe it, I'm still breathing! ^^ Russ: Dunno about you guys, but I could go for something to eat after all that fighting. Krystal: A celebration feast we shall have. Ghaster'hauns: Ghosts can't eat but my cubone friend can. Ossein: Cu, Cubone! Fox: *Looks up to the sky* We did it....the rest is up to you now DK and diddy.

*Everyone went back to the great fox*

*Dearly beloved slowly faded to the eyecatch scene*

[mysterylover123]

BNHA Rewatch: Episode 41 “Kota”

mysterylover123

OK so just a few comments about my last post before we get into it!

First of all, like I predicted, it did get flagged, but quickly restored. Secondly, an ask pointed out that the scene with Bakugo reprimanding Deku about Tomura is not, actually, in the episode. I’m not sure why I thought it was, but oh well. I’ll try and double check next time before I post the recap. Anyway, off to recap-ville. Episode 41 time!

Quirk training! The anime seriously elaborated on this from the manga, where it was just a few pages.

WOOF. At this point Todoroki has spent more screen time in season 3 without clothes than with.

wow that looks like good cake. They did not skimp on the desserts here. 

FULL VERSION! Gotta say, Ragdoll and Tiger really round it out; it just looks kinda silly when it’s just Mandalay and Pixie Bob. They have a really impressive clatch of quirks too, ngl. 

I wish they’d given Deku more than basic boot camp training. I’m kinda split on how they handled Tiger being trans; on the one hand, he’s a cool hero who kicks serious ass and has respect, on the other the characters make a slightly disparaging remark about him...but that could be what a transgender person would deal with in reality, and this series isn’t exactly presenting a utopia...I don’t know, it’s the same way I feel about Pixie Bob’s age thing. I’d like to give it the benefit of the doubt and it could be a lot worse, but it could be a lot better, too.

Oh my. Breathless, finding-his-resolve Deku is giving me rather impure thoughts.

I’m not sure what purpose making them cook for themselves serves, honestly.  Iida tries to come up with one, but it kinda comes across like the WWP are just being lazy. The kids are training hard all day, wtf is wrong with having food pre-prepared for them?

Maybe it was just for another excuse to humiliate Bakugo. At this point, he hasn’t even done anything. Karma just hates him.

Or to give us this shot of Momo and her main love interests. Momo standing up for Shoto’s rights, cute TDDMM moment!

Aw poor Kacchan!

Feels overload! Also, kinda low-key ship Todo/Ochaco sometimes. I dunno, they seem like they’d have a good repertoire.

Wow Momo’s getting a lot of moments this episode ain’t she!

Deku is inexplicably drawn to pissed off, antisocial spiky-haired punks who seem like they need saving from their own temper, ain’t he? (Good god Kota looks like a BKDK lovechild in this scene, doesn’t he? Same Kacchan eyes).

BEHOLD, THE SINGLE SADDEST IMAGE SET COMMITTED TO SCREEN! OMG THE FEELS. (Someone give me a firebending Deku au fanfic, please!)

Toga’s complaining about how not-cute her outfit is. I think the fanbase would disagree.

Dabi sure loves monologuing, doesn’t he? Maybe he isn’t Toya after all; the other Todoroki’s don’t like to talk this much. Anyway, cute sleeping babies!

OMG Bakugo’s shirt. It’s like he wanted to remind us that he’s cut too, ya’ll. Deku isn’t the only one with abs of steel. (I think Kaminari’s the one under the pillows). 

Poor remedial course babies! I feel them. I’ve been having bouts of insomnia lately, like, 4 hours of sleep type, and I can’t imagine that schedule they’re on. Honestly, I know they’re trying to make ‘em stronger, but depriving them of good food and sleep is not going to help with that. I’m pretty sure most workout advisors advocate keeping your basic needs provided for for maximum performance.

Aizawa is telling Ochaco and Aoyama that they nearly failed. I think this is an important point that all the people who try and excuse the Uraraka/Aoyama v 13 fight need to remember. Even Aizawa called them out on their mess up. It was a fluke, and there’s something deeper getting in the way of their success. Everyone else either passed by changing, or failed by refusing to change. These two need to be challenged in the same way, or they’ll never change for the better.

The dream 3some is finishing each other’s thoughts! Wow, that used to just be a BKDK thing, but Shoto has effectively nudged his way in there. Also, I love the symbolism of Kacchan looking at his own reflection here. Visual metaphors!

“Is All Might - I mean, the other teachers, coming?” Haha Deku don’t even pretend like you care about any of the other teachers.

Oh I see that’s why we had to have them cook their food! So we could prove who secret best girl really is. And tease Kacchako a little. At this point I’m not sure who most wants a threesome with the Wonder Duo, Uraraka or Todoroki.

Ooh, Shoto’s gaining on her!

Honestly, this is one of my favorite Tododeku moments. I kinda like their smaller moments even more than the “big” moments with these two, where they’re having dramatic stuff. The little stuff like Shoto giving Deku such emotionally intelligent advice. It’s very strong.

Expectations vs reality

Team Animal Bromance Solidarity

Team Just F*ck Already

Team Maximum Cuteness

Team Saved Bakugo and Tokoyami’s Asses

Team Femslash Initiative

Team Poor Ojiro

Team Polar Opposites

Oh no my bbs all alone! I’ll be your teammate Deku!

Everyone on Team Ojiro is unsatisfied.

Tsuchaco begins!

OMG THEY’RE SO CUTE! (THE TODOBAKU ARC!)

NGL, Yui Kodai is really pretty and has a legit awesome quirk. Underrated Best Girl of Class 1B.

Holy Shit that Music tho! The League of Villains is In the Building! (Metaphorically, anyway)

This is the arc where I stopped thinking of the LOV as boring obstacles and started seeing them as kinda awesome.

“Kota” really picks up the momentum of Season 3, throwing us straight into a “holy crap” plotsplosion with little adieu. There’s a little more setup to go before we just jump straight into the chaotic, violent and transformative Training Camp Arc in the upcoming episodes. I pretty much binge-watched the whole first 12 episodes of Season 3 in one sitting the first time I watched it, so I don’t know what it would be like to watch these week to week. Next up: BEST BOY DEKU’S ARMS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.

BKDK CORNER:

Nothing really in the actual episode, but I wanna acknowledge Best OP’s heartbreaking BKDK nod:

“don’t come deku” OMG episode 45 is gonna break my heart all over again in’t it?

Also the ED:

“Cause I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this place” (Todoroki’s sitting with them too for some bonus TDBKDK points.) Subtle, Bones. We know which way your bread is buttered.

BEST GIRL OF THE EP: Mandalay!

RANKER: The Test of Courage Teams

8. Ojiro and Mineta (poor Ojiro!)

7. Iida and Koda (normally Iida’d be pretty cool, but this team does basically nothing)

6. Jiro and Tooru (get knocked out pretty quickly.

5. Momo and Aoyama (they seriously saved everyone)

4. Solo Deku (who is better than most on his own and also saved Kota)

3. Tokoyami and Shoji (who are seriously metal)

2. Uraraka and Asui (another seriously awesome duo)

1. Todoroki and Bakugo (just add Deku for maximum perfection)

[space-blue]

Kenobi Episode VI fix-it concept

Exact same characters and plot beats, a few tweaks and massive changes to editing and timeline... A more structured attempt at the final episode of Kenobi.

----

The episode opens with the Star Destroyer chasing the rebels' ship.

Aboard, Obi-Wan has a serious conversation with Roken and Haja about what he's offering to do, and asking in return. Leia interrupts them and catches on to his plans and gets upset. Obi-Wan doesn't have to justify himself (to a ship full of people who know him to be their only real fighter), but people do look askance as Leia runs off across the ship. The mood is heavy.

Obi-Wan goes to prepare and set up the small ship, and Haja talks Leia into thinking better of her pouting. Obi-Wan seeks her out, offers the blaster holster. Leia can sneak Lola or she can outright offer it to him. I like that option, because in canon Obi-Wan smiles at Lola and then flat out ignores her and puts her up like a dash decoration. We know he doesn't care for droids, so him seeing Leia's gesture, accepting Lola, and making the promise to do his best to return her, would also be a way to show how willing he is to pacify Leia.

When Obi-Wan talks to QGJ, it is to ask for guidance, and apologizes for what he's about to attempt, and nothing more.

Obi-Wan comes out flying, and Vader prompts his captain to follow him. The grand Inquisitor makes a fuss, demands they stay focused on the rebel ship. This has given Obi-Wan time to get close to them, instead of away.

An officer shouts out a warning as Obi-Wan fires on the Star Destroyer. We see a shot reminiscent of the opening to ROTS, with Obi-Wan demonstrating some incredible flying, weaving around the laser fire.

For comedic relief we can have an officer behind Vader be like "Damn" (impressed) and his neighbour (who has clearly seen colleagues die fore less before) be like (❍ᴥ❍ʋ)

Meanwhile in Obi-Wan's cockpit, Lola is having a very stressful experience, shrieking as she tumbles to and fro until Obi-Wan snatches her out of the air and slaps her firmly on the dash. She could spew a stream of binary obscenities, leading Obi-Wan to frown and ask is she talks around Leia that way. (although that's borderline too funny for this show lol)

The Grand Middle Manager wants to send TIEs after him, but Vader counters that he's going out in his own ship. In the background, the rebels go into hyperspace. Dead silence on the bridge as Vader stalks out and the GI stares balefully into empty space.

Vader gives chase to Obi-Wan, who has enough advance to avoid a full on dog fight, and manages to land on the planet. He gets there a mere couple minutes before Vader, and their ships are parked next to each other.

They face off on [whatever world that was supposed to be].

Instead of throwing rocks at each other, there's a lot of Force play. Them pulling and pushing each others limbs, focusing on the Force more than usual. After distracting him with a rock, Vader manages to grab Obi-Wan in a Force-choke hold. He marches up to him, determined to impale him on his saber, nose to nose.

This is personal. It has to hurt. You have the distinctive fear that Vader will start with chopping off limbs, actually. He raises his blade to strike.

He's so focused on his revenge, he has not been paying attention to Obi-Wan's hands, which are empty. His saber is on the ground. With Vader close, Obi-Wan flicks a finger and his saber ignites and flies up, slashing across Vader's chest-plate and helmet.

He lets go of Obi-Wan, choking, falling with both hands to the floor.

They talk then. The conversation is the same, except Obi-Wan is so emotional and wrapped into the horror of Anakin's blood curdling rage, that he doesn't react in time when Vader shatters the ground under him.

Vader is shaking and screaming as he throws more rocks into the open pit.

When it's done he stumbles back, clearly too breathless for pithy remarks. He hurries off to his ship with a halting step. It's clear this is a strategical retreat, no matter if Obi-Wan is still alive under the rocks.

Cut to Obi-Wan, chilling. He's not particularly strained, but alert. Maybe he can murmur something to QGJ again, head falling back, looking dismayed... A whimpery little "I'm sorry, I don't think I can..." It's clear he's biding his time, waiting for Vader to fuck off before crawling out.

A sudden vision wracks him. Owen is screaming for Beru, Beru screaming for Luke, and Luke running in the dark, panting hard, a shadow darker than night itself chasing him with the same halting step as Vader's. With the cape and the haircut, in this darkness, Reva is indistinguishable from him.

Obi-Wan opens his eyes, shaken, whispers Luke's name, and with firm resolve frees himself from the rocks and comes leaping out. We follow him as he races up to Vader, who is still between Obi-Wan and his ship. It's unclear if Obi-Wan thinks the vision showed him Vader or Reva.

Vader whips around, a total mess, a hint of fear in his half-hidden expression and his fumbling movements. This duel is much shorter. Vader seems like he might overpower Obi-Wan, but in a moment the man sidesteps him, steals his saber (in a move that harks back to the flashback training) and slices it in half. Vader roars, furious. He's wounded, down to his knees, without a weapon, and still Obi-Wan is forced to back off as rocks come flying his way.

Vader remains too powerful. This isn't a short or easy fight, and Obi-Wan has no time. He says he's sorry one last time, and turns around and books it. Vader yells after him.

As Obi-Wan is taking off, he's clearly nervous. He asks Lola if she's got astromech capabilities. She bleeps a negative and he frowns, saying that he needs the best route to Tatooine from here and she can try and do her best. She trills and logs into the console. A screen beeps, signaling Obi-Wan that the Imperial Destroyer is in on him. He asks Lola for an update, she replies something testy (probably along the lines of "As I was saying, I'm *not* and astromech, so bear with me")

The screen goes beep beep beep beep beep beep. Obi glances at his console. On the screen, the triangle of the Star Destroyer is hemorrhaging smaller dots.

'Lola?' he asks, pressing and tense.

Just as TIEs come scream overhead, Lola blurts something, and Obi-Wan punches the hyperdrive mid-evasive maneuver.

He lets out a heavy sigh once in the safety of hyperspace. He pats Lola, says he's grateful Leia trusted him with her. He leans back, closes his eyes, and tries to reach out to Luke. All he can see is a dark figure looming, cutting over a bright background of stars. There are three moons in the sky. It looks like a dream.

Obi-Wan frowns and grunts and focuses harder. He sees Luke's face bathed in red light, and nothing more. When he focuses again, he hears a peal of laughter, sees Leia playing with a small child, sees her resting her head down on Haja's shoulder. Clearly, she's safe, and Luke isn't. Clearly, Obi-Wan has a connection to each of them through the Force, and not just an alarm system for Luke.

The effort seems to have completely exhausted him and he slouches in his seat.

This is where things are tricky. But in the end I'm happy with my choice :

Cut to Tatooine. Owen and Luke are walking into town, chatting. They get into the shop, talk about shot speeder belts, and the man comes to warn Owen. The conversation isn't cut. The man says the inquisitor from last time has returned, the same who threatened Owen directly. He says she was asking after him, and seems to be alone and wounded. Owen, deeply concerned, grabs Luke and books it back to the farm.

Beru says they have to prepare. She asks Owen if he knows how far she is. He says he hasn't seen her on the way, but she knows where to find them. Beru replies "If she's half smart, she'll wait for the cover of darkness".

Owen replies this leaves them time to fetch help, to which Beru counters she won't imply anyone else and they have to do this alone.

The conversation with Luke about safety and escaping is a little longer, with Luke protesting that he wants to help, that this is his home and he should get to defend it too.

Beru says, "We know, Luke, we know.'

Owen says, "We all have our roles. Ours is to protect our home and you, and your role is to help—by keeping yourself safe."

Beru nods and adds, "You'll be helping us, that way. You remember, if you have to get out, you run."

Luke nods and promises, and the Reva home invasion begins. The only difference is that Reva battles Beru longer. It's clear she doesn't want to harm her, but eventually loses patience and slices her arm (a flesh wound).

Reva disappears after Luke, shuffling as fast as she can.

Cut back to Obi-Wan entering the system and flying down. When he lands on the dark farm, Beru and Owen, both wounded, are supporting each other and coming out of the house. They beeline for him, and as he comes out of the ship, everyone talks over everyone else.

Obi is asking if they're all right, what happened and where is Luke.

Owen is accusing him, asking if he's led the inquisitor back here to them.

Beru is saying "she's gone after him, we don't know where, we told him to run."

Finally Owen asks clearly "Why are you here?"

Obi-Wan looks almost lost for a moment. He explains he had a vision, thought that Luke was in danger and rushed back.

Owen sighs and visibly deflates, presumably touched that Obi-Wan means it so much, when he says he wants to help with Luke. That he cares.

The conversation turns technical. No, their speeder is broken, and anyway they have no idea where Luke went. Obi raises his hands for silence then and focuses, as if listening to the wind. He turns in the correct direction, says "Over there," and starts *sprinting*

It's made abundantly clear as Owen and Beru hurry after him that even exhausted, Obi-Wan can outpace them stupidly easily. This is the general in rescue mission mode.

Cut to the canyon. Obi-Wan comes jogging in, breathing hard, and just ahead is Luke, sprawled on the ground like in his vision, Reva standing over him, saber ignited.

It's just the two of them, as Obi-Wan left the others to catch up. Reva looks agitated. Tears are already streaking down her face.

"I knew you'd come," she says. "I knew it. " It sounds accusatory. "Who is he?" she ask, pointing to Luke with her saber. "Why is he so important to you, to Organa?"

Obi gives her a pained look, full of emotion, but then tips his head to the side and asks "Does it matter? He's just a child."

Reva is even more agitated by this question. She makes vague guesses, half formed accusations, and increasingly distressed accounts of how she "couldn't do it" and didn't manage to kill Vader.

Obi-Wan steps closer, hands open, trying to placate her. He says "I couldn't either. I tried, but I couldn't."

This gives Reva pause. Her breathing calms down a little. You see her think. Maybe, she realises that if Kenobi, one of the Order's greatest living Jedi and hero of the clone wars, couldn't take Vader down, not even knowing him from childhood, then maybe she never had a shot at all. She isn't blind to the fact she's half baked as a Force user, poorly trained. If she had any doubts about that, her own duel with Vader would have clarified things.

Though she's still hovering over Luke (now moaning and shifting), Reva's attention is inward. She says something about how she failed them. All her crechemates who died in front of her. When Obi-Wan tries to tell her she didn't, because she's tried— Reva interrupts him.

"You don't understand," she says. "You don't understand how many Jedi and Force sensitives I helped track down, I killed, just to survive as an inquisitor. To get close to him."

Obi-Wan shakes his head. "You can come back. You don't have to fall the way he did. You tried to honour them (her crechemates), you can't do that by killing an innocent." He waves to Luke as he says this. Reva looks down at him, seemingly dazed, like she forgot he was there at all. She sees herself looming there, a flash of Vader taking her form. Luke becomes her, she becomes Anakin. The vision hits her hard.

Right then Owen and Beru come rushing in, yelling for her to get back, blasters pointed but unfired. Beru covers Owen's back as he hurries forward to pick Luke up. Reva stumbles back and collapses, her wounds catching up with her. Beru gives Obi-Wan a wide-eyed look as Owen returns with Luke in his arms, and he nods to her. She nods back and runs off after Owen, leaving them to Jedi business.

Obi-Wan goes to kneel by Reva's side. She's crying, clutching her belly. She looks up at him, looking terrified as she asks, "Have I become him?"

Obi-Wan shakes his head. "No... No. You were made into this, and Anakin, he..."

He has no words, and no words are needed. [Ewan McGregor can act his heart out]

"What do I do?" Reva asks. She lets her saber drop in the sand.

"You're free now," Obi-Wan replies. "There are ways you can repay/repent[can't think of a better phrasing just now] for the harm you've done. Ways to honour the people you've lost, better than through revenge."

Reva smiles bitterly through her tears. "No rebel cell would have me."

Obi-Wan gives her a small half shrug and a sorry smile. "Freedom is a heavy burden. You have to find your own way."

He gives her a hand and helps her to her feet. "I don't even— I-I crashed the wreck I came in with," she says, as if in afterthought.

Obi-Wan snorts and says he's conveniently got a ship he has no use for.

Cut to the starry sky. A blue dot moves, growing distant. Obi-Wan comes into frame, looking up at what we presume is Reva getting away on his ship. The camera pans down when he looks away. He's at the entrance of his cave. Dawn is coming. He goes in.

Cut to angry Vader, the scene is the same, except we play a mournful Padme/Anakin theme in the end (and this isn't the first and only time you hear the blasted Imperial March).

Cut to Alderaan. The scene remains the same, except Leia is happy to see Obi-Wan and Lola both. Bail says, "We would ask you to stay a while, but—"

Obi-Wan waves him off and says something placating. He understands, they're best not seen together much. Breha insist that they can find ways to meet more often, and that Leia spoke much of him and will miss him.

His conversation with Leia is the same, except he may phrase it differently, so as to not imply that the qualities he lists are Nature and not Nurture. "Even though you are raised an Organa, you have the same XYZ as you mother, and ZXY as your father..." or something.

They say their farewells, and it cuts to Obi-Wan back on Tatooine packing his meager belonging, saddling up. He makes his way to the Lars homestead. He's wearing his hood because the sun is hot on Tatooine, god dammit!

The conversation with Owen remains the same. Taking the spaceship model, Obi-Wan approaches Luke with a smile and says, "Hello there. I'm Ben."

Luke looks up at him. He looks tired and a little wary, but he gives Obi-Wan a brave smile. "Hi Ben, I'm Luke."

Obi-Wan gives a small knowing nod and a smile. "It's nice to meet you, Luke."

Cut to Obi-Wan riding his eopie. A blue haze comes into resolution. Long dead master Qui-Gon Jinn turns around, arms akimbo.

"Hello there!" he says.

"You can't say that!" Obi-Wan scoffs, "That's my catchphrase!"

yeah yeah yeah I'm joking, whatever, I'm not a big fan of QGJ, or the prospect of Obi-Wan spending the next 8 years as a hermit with him for sole company. Not when QGJ tried to ditch him for Anakin, then foisted Anakin on him, and we all know how that ended. To be a fly on the wall of that conversation...

Anyway, sure, the ending can be QGJ being a smartass.

The end.

[dotthings]

The gaslighting needs to stop. Systemic power imbalanced in the tv industry are real. Network interference is real. Erasure and unkindness towards marginalized characters is real. 

I’m more on the canon analysis end of things personally, but I assure you the fans trying to figure out WTF happened here and account for stuff that objectively, even the people more skeptical acknowledge is weird and points back towards network interference, try to debunk their own theories. They are telling you that, they are transparent about their information, if you don’t feel like playing detailed murder wall, then don’t, but to deny there is a very very real power imbalance behind the scenes that hurt marginalized characters and fans, and hurt the story, is toxic. Stop it. 

Things like the Spanish dub and people who have worked on the show coming out of the woodwork to support Destiel should be a clue. Latin America believes it’s a mutually requited love story, canon confirmed from both sides, because that is what aired on a big tv network there. And watch out for that US-centric thinking that somehow thinks this doesn’t count. (Also plot twist: the US is the restrictive market. Wake up).

My wheelhouse is more canon analysis so I’m going to say now that the gaslighting about canon, about aired canon, about confirmed canon, about implied canon, seems to me a whole lot of toxic detached-from-reality hand waving so hard to still, STILL!!--try to deny the validity of Destiel. I’m glad some of y’all think this is merely hilarious, and after not showing up and not being supportive and not sticking your neck out at all to protect Destiel shippers from bullying, you came back just to eat the popcorn because it amuses you and I’m supposed to think that’s pro-Destiel supportive or something, or it’s people who have no horse in the race who just want fandom entertainment so everything’s a joke while they reinforce the exact attitudes that let this kind of systemic oppression perpetuate and get away with erasing marginalized voices in the tv industry, in fandom, in stories. Nice work, people. Your holier-than-thou attitude is real convincing. 

Then there’s the people trying to convince everyone it’s convincing to play false equivalency cha-cha and as if people only see this as canon due to a) 1 slash joke b) they stared at each other that one time c) drapes. Because old school fans are so proud that in their day, nobody wanted their queer ships to be canon and Destiel is just like *insert whatever slash ship of the past that had about 1/10th of the loud textual material and canon development Destiel has*. You want to try to argue against the epic nature of the text on Dean and Cas, hey give it your all, but it’s not going to hold up. If I started listing off the immensity, things that are textual plot points, it would be a 3,000 word essay. Stop playing false equivalency. Stop trying to artificially yank this back into the past because you can’t handle the textual validity of Destiel.

Deal with the fact that this is not an easily classifiable situation.

Even if in the end the same old systemic crap stifled its full due, and that’s the part that is tiresome, Dean and Cas deserve better than have their actual canon content demeaned.

After the story we have seen. After 12 seasons of deep-dive development. After Cas was finally openly confirmed as queer, and in love with Dean, in the final season, 2 episodes from the end, and Misha echoed it, and from Dean’s side, because full confirmation on Dean’s side is being held down, Jensen protected a romantic reading, protected people’s right to see Dean as in love with Cas not having a chance to speak his heart. Protected the right to that reading within the ambiguity that he knows is as far as the canon was able to take it. After the ship became canon confirmed as at least unrequited love story. Whether Jensen ships it or not, he has been very loudly and openly protective of fan readings and has been very openly excited about 15.18 and the handprint, he knows this is a great story and he’s been openly excited about how excited and joyful fans were about that episode. 

But what we have seen on our screens, what the story told us, transcends the muzzles placed on it. What we have seen is a mutually requited love story. We already saw in action how Dean loves Cas. We are left with, in the end, the silencing of Dean Winchester. Gosh I wonder why the silencing of Dean Winchester. Why was it necessary. Why was he not even permitted to speak at all, to anyone, to confide about how he even felt about Cas’s love confession. Why did Jensen have to do the heavy lifting to meta it for us. Why did Cas have to be left fully out of the series finale on a show he was so key on for 12 seasons, as a 3rd lead. Why is that? Because the only thing the creative team would ever be allowed to do by corporate is friendzone it and they didn’t want to friendzone it. 

So we are cursed with ambiguity from Dean’s side. And if the series finale had done better by Dean’s story, including his death, and by Cas’s story (instead of shoving him out of sight), if it hadn’t erased Eileen and Saileen, if it hadn’t failed Sam’s story, if it hadn’t been a regressive, awkward mess, most shippers would have accepted ambiguity if Dean and Cas has been given at least the respect of a reunion, if Dean had at least been given the chance to partially speak even if it couldn’t be removed from ambiguity. But the system was too scared of it. It had to be held down and muffled hard.

It was yanked out of the story artificially in ways that don’t match Destiel’s narrative importance before the series finale and don’t match 12 seasons of storytelling. It’s artificial. It is a silencing. And it shows. 

That sudden silence was a scream.

"The writers” were for it. “The writers” wanted to tell that story even if network interference prevented it. Some of us were gaslighted and smeared and bashed just for pointing it out, and we turned out to be right.

DESTIEL IS CANON. And the parts where fans still have to rely on interpretation for have ample, AMPLE, story evidence and external evidence--that has nothing to do with deeper dive murder walls, it has to do with support shown, and confirmed information--all point to a mutually reciprocated love story.

How many more times do shippers have to be proven right before people stop this. I was bullied for several seasons just for saying Destiel was a purposefully crafted a valid textual reading, by my own lane. For asserting it was a love story designed to dodge under network radar. I was bullied for years before that by antis, who didn’t like seeing people love this ship too much, who didn’t like that I refused to get down on my knees and label myself as delusional just for seeing it, for refusing to bow down and say “it’s only about 2 brothers so I am wrong to say Destiel matters too.” 

The unkindness in this fandom over all this continues to be overwhelming. Get your shit together.  You worship your favorite actors and then they show you up every time by being kinder and more open and understanding than fans manage to be. Jensen and Misha are showing you how to roll and people are ignoring it in favor of continuing to try to silence and demean Destiel shippers.

For Destiel shippers, don’t let all this gaslighting and shaming nonsense and the systemic corporate nonsense that wants Destiel silenced knock you off from your reading of canon. It was valid. It was real. Thanks to the magic of bleedback effect, now it was always textual, the subtextual has been transformed retroactively, and it’s from both Dean and Cas’s end. If you still feel doubt on Dean’s side, because we didn’t get the same loud explicit confirmation, go back to the text itself. If you believed it already for Cas, if Cas’s confession to Dean only validated what you already knew, why can’t you see it for Dean, because it’s already there. 

[dwhumpster]

Whump compilation: Outlander

This is a comprehensive list of whump in Outlander.

List established as of 6x06, series ongoing.

**

Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan)

1x01, “Sassenach”, reset shoulder, bandaged, sling, blood loss, falls off horse, wound disinfection

1x02, “Castle Leoch”, whipped, scars, bandages, self-sacrifice, hurt in previous injury, blody nose, supported, limping, tended to

1x05, “Rent”, reveals scars in front of a crowd, angst, upset

1x06, “The Garrison Commander”, mandhandled, shackled to a post, whipped, grabbed by the hair, collapses, close to passing out

1x08, “Both Sides Now”, manhandled, held at gunpoint

1x09, “The Reckoning”, slapped

1x10, “By the Pricking of My Thumbs”,  fight, kicked, stabbed in the side, wound stitched shut

1x12, “Lallybroch”, flashback to being whipped, manhandled, hands chained, held at gunpoint

1x13, “The Watch”, held at gunpoint twice (both very brief), fight, walks into a trap, captured

1x15, “Wentworth Prison”, chained at the wrists and feet, sentenced to execution, hit in the back, punched in the stomach, manhandled, imprisoned, tries to free himself, captor toys with him/power play, choked, hand broken with hammer, slapped, almost rescue, self sacrifice, hand nailed to a table, non consensual kissing, creepy touching

1x16, “To Ransom a Man’s Soul”, trauma, aftermath of rape, unresponsive, hallucinations, wounds treated, bandaged, suicidal, slapped, kicked, brand mark, flinching, aversion to touch, brand cut out of his skin, hand bandaged, sling, limping. Flashback: hand nailed to table, non consensual touching, rape, believes wife to be dead, hallucinaition, made to brand himself

2x01, “Through a Glass, Darkly”, hand bandaged, heavy breathing, PTSD from the rape, scar reveal to his cousin

2x02, “Not in Scotland Anymore,” nightmare, PTSD, slow healing from the rape

2x04, “La Dame Blanche”, worry for Claire when she is poisoned, emotional whump, finds out his torturer/rapist is still alive, vulnerable, opens up about his trauma

2x06, “Best Laid Schemes...”, fakes having smallpox, punched in the face, attacked, knocked out, sword fight, arm injury, arrested

2x07, “Faith”, emotional whump, finds Randall raping Fergus, manhandled/dragged away, tears, grief

2x09, “Je Suis Prest”, whipped with belt (sort of self punishment)

2x10, “Prestonpans”, battle bruising and injuries

2x13, “Dragonfly in Amber”, punched, fight, bandaged hand, tearful goodbye to his wife

3x01, “The Battle Joined”, various battle injuries, choked, dazed, heavy breathing, slashed across the thigh, hallucinates Claire, hears his friends' executions, tears, head wound, weak

3x02, “Surrender”, fugitive, has to watch Fergus get his hand choped off to save him, guilt, tears, grief

3x03, “All Debts Paid”, suicidal/gives up, offers his sister to turn him in, gunpoint, arrested, shackled, manhandled (briefly), marks on his wrists from shackles, on his knees, blade to the throat, cold, tied to the back of a horse, forced to walk

3x04, “Of Lost Things”, prisoner, servitude, captor plays power games with him, dub-con sex (he does not really get much of a choice)

3x05, “Freedom & Whisky”, passes out (very end of the episode)

3x06, “A. Malcolm”, comes to, tearful reunion with Claire, scars

3x07, “Crème de Menthe”, runs into a burning building to rescue friend, coughing, weak, heavy breathing

3x08, “First Wife”, cold, emotional whump, slapped, held at gunpoint, shot, tended to/bullet removal, wound stitched shut, bandaged, wincing, feverish, heavy breathing, arm in sling, worry for Young Ian

3x09, “The Doldrums”, seasick, throws up, acupuncture

3x10, “Heaven and Earth”, worry for Claire, held at gunpoint (very briefly), manhandled, seasick, locked up

3x12, “The Bakra”, arrested, manhandled

3x13, “Eye of the Storm”, shackled, fight, choked, thrown, knocked out, worry for Claire, goes overboard ship, nearly drowns

4x01, “America the Beautiful”, talks of his rape to help Young Ian through his trauma, punched, manhandled, beaten up

4x02, “Do No Harm”, emotional whump, guilt over not protecting Claire

4x06, “Blood of My Blood”, held at gunpoint, manhandled, worry for his son

4x09, “The Birds and the Bees”, teary-eyed, reunion with his daughter

4x10, “The Deep Heart’s Core”, bandaged hand, talks of his own rape with Brianna to help her through her trauma, guilt over selling out Roger

4x11, “If Not for Hope”, guilt over sending Roger away, emotional whump, Claire comforts him

4x13, “Man of Worth”, attacked, forced to his knees, held at gunpoint, surrender, tears, punched in the face, beaten up

5x01, “The Fiery Cross”, angst, has to hunt down his friend, tears

5x02, “Between Two Fires”, angst, has to hunt down his friend (who dies in his arms)

5x06, “Better to Marry than Burn”, slapped

5x07, “The Ballad of Roger Mac”, cuts his hand

5x09, “Monsters and Heroes”, bitten by venomous snake, field medicine, bandaged, heavy breathing, sweaty, leans on Roger to walk, throws up, delirious, tended to, infection,  has to consider amputation, saved at the last minute

5x11, “Journeycake”, worry for Claire when she is kidnapped (brief)

6x01, “Echoes”, flashback to him being a prisoner, forced labour, self-sacrifice, flogged as punishment, hallucinates Claire, limping

6x03, "Temperence", mild emotional whump when he finds and has to stop Fergus from killing himself

6x05, "Give Me Liberty", gets hot tar on his neck when caught in a skirmish, Claire tends to him later, worries for Fergus' safety as a printer

6x06, "The World Turned Upside Down", worry for Claire when she falls sick, bedside vigil, has false accusations made against him

This is mainly a Jamie whump list at this point, but here are a few other episodes with good whump for other characters

Young Ian (John Bell)

3x07, “Crème de Menthe”, assaulted, manhandled, shot at, trapped in burning building, rescued, heavy breathing

3x08, “First Wife”, kidnapped

3x12, “The Bakra”, kidnapped, manhandled, thrown to the ground, locked up, drugged, implied rape at Geilis' hands

3x13, “Eye of the Storm”, manhandled, gagged, tied up, rescued, tears, comfort

4x01, “America the Beautiful”, fear, trauma from his time with Geillis

4x10, “The Deep Heart’s Core”, slapped, nosebleed

4x13, “Man of Worth”, self sacrifice, offers to stay with the Mohawks to save Roger, emotional whump, tears, beaten up

5x08, “Famous Last Words”, withdrawn, hints of past trauma from his time with the Mohawks, suicidal, Roger averts his suicide attempt

6x04, "Hour of the Wolf", emotional whump, flashback to integration ritual with the Mohawks, tears, he and his wife have a series of miscarriages until she make shim leave her, gets into a fight, grieves his dead child

Fergus Fraser (César Domboy)

3x06, “A. Malcolm”, wooden hand from amputation

3x10, "Heaven and Earth", emotional whump, Jamie unjustly lashes out at him by saying hurtful things to him and tries to manipulate him into breaking him out of jail

3x11, “Uncharted”, briefly made to feel self conscious about his missing hand

4x11, “If Not for Hope”, slight emotional whump, can't find work because he's disabled, punched in the stomach (but for his own protection)

6x01, “Echoes”, makes disparaging comments about himself/self-worth issues, emotional whump, implied alchohol abuse

6x03, “Temperence”, emotional whump, feels worthless because of his missing hand, big fight with Marsali, mentions of childhood trauma as a brothel-boy to Claire, graphic self-harm/suicide attempt by slitting his wrist, rescued by Jamie

* Being underage in season 2, I elected to not list any of the bad things that happen to Fergus in that season but to any considering watching and needing a trigger warning, know that Black Jack does rape him in 2x07, it’s pretty upsetting to watch. He is also amputated as a teenager in 3x02.

Roger Wakefield MacKenzie (Richard Rankin)

4x03, “The False Bride”, slapped, emotional whump

4x07, “Down the Rabbit Hole”, manhandled, restrained, emotional whump, angst

4x08, “Wilmington”, emotional whump, teary-eyed, Brianna sends him away

4x09, “The Birds and the Bees“, Jamie wrongfully beats him up, believing he raped Brianna

4x10, “The Deep Heart’s Core”, captured by Mowhawks, hands tied to a horse, forced to walk, badly bruised, slapped, exhaustion, falls down cliff

4x11, “If Not for Hope”, bruised and beaten, held captive, hands tied, punched

4x12, “Providence”, bruised and beaten, limping, whimpering, arm in sling, shoved, imprisoned in a hut, manhandled

4x13, “Man of Worth”, rescued, support, limping, fight, beaten up

5x01, “The Fiery Cross”, cuts himself while shaving

5x02, “Between Two Fires”, slight short sightedness

5x07, “The Ballad of Roger Mac”, fight, beaten up, manhandled, hanged

5x08, “Famous Last Words”, rescued, operated on, PTSD, trauma from and flashback to the hanging, temporary muteness, recovery

5x09, “Monsters and Heroes”, worry for/caretaker for Jamie, exhaustion, overexertion, damaged voice from his hanging

6x03, "Temperence", mild whump when he dives into the river to rescue baby Henri-Christian

[firelxdykatara]

hm, while im still here and thinking about it

i’ve seen a lot of posts comparing rayaari to catradora, mostly positively but some also using the similarities to call rayaari an abusive/toxic ship, and i feel like a lot of people are missing key differences. and for me, as someone who was not completely satisfied with s5 of spop and never liked or shipped catradora for a lot of reasons, but who deeply enjoys and ships rayaari, there’s something very key that raya does right which i believe spop did wrong with respect to rayaari and catradora.

and it has everything to do with their history.

before adora left the horde, she had a history of physical and emotional abuse--primarily by shadow weaver, yes, but also by catra. we get a lot of memories from their past, and their relationship involved a very toxic codependency with a heavy dose of abuse--adora trying to protect catra but, when she failed, catra lashing out at her, verbally and physically (that scene where young!catra slashed across young!adora’s face w her claws left my stomache in knots for hours). they were set against each other by shadow weaver in a very classic scapegoat vs the golden child dichotomy, but that doesn’t erase the harm catra did long before adora left the horde.

(in many ways, their relationship was very like zuko and azula’s, although their roles in their primary caretaker’s eyes are reversed, with adora being most like zuko if zuko had been the golden child, and catra being similar to azula if she’d been the scapegoat instead. adora being the ‘preferred child’ in shadow weaver’s eyes doesn’t make her any less SW’s victim, and it didn’t do anything to protect her from catra when she lashed out as a result of SW’s abuse. in fact, i’d argue that it made her even more vulnerable, and we see in the show that she winds up blaming herself for not being able to save catra when they were children--even though that very much was not her job--and this is never properly addressed by the narrative. at least, not to my satisfaction. obviously, mileage on that particular score may vary.)

when you combine their history along with every awful thing catra did in the show proper, adora coming to realize she was in love with catra the whole time and not requiring (nevermind receiving) any kind of actual apology for that abuse or for, yknow, trying to destroy the world multiple times, it winds up leaving a very sour taste in my mouth. it doesn’t help that catra kept digging herself deeper and deeper for the entirety of the first four seasons, despite multiple chances to change and begin to make amends for her behavior (and lord knows i’m not trying to say a redemption arc should be linear, but you have to make progress in order to regress, and catra never got that far), which left the entirety of her redemption arc to fight for space in the final season with an entire galactic war.

except that it didn’t even really do that. catra saved glimmer at the eleventh hour (and that was a sacrifice, i won’t deny it) and then got brainwashed, and... that was it. she was ‘accepted’ by the group almost immediately, and all she had to do was stop being grouchy at them for saving her life.

did she ever actually apologize for anything she needed to apologize for, by the way? i genuinely can’t remember. i know she said she was ‘working on’ her anger and apologized for that but like, babe, there’s four seasons worth of shit and eighteen years before that which you really need to unpack before you should be telling adora you’re in love with her and starting a relationship. i’m just saying.

and all of this is without talking about the fact that, especially in regards to relationship development and plot pace, you will tend to expect more out of a television show compared with a movie. i’m a lot more ok with namaari’s redemption being a little rushed and coming down to a few of her own choices and the other characters choosing to forgive her in a less than 2 hour movie than i am with a television show that takes place over 5 seasons with 4 sets of 12 episodes. even cartoon length (roughly 22 minutes an episode when you exclude the credits). that’s a few hours shy of 20 hours worth of material. they had a lot to do, sure, but they also had a lot of room to do it in, and it was a deliberate choice not to start catra’s redemption even a season earlier--which, again given what it had to compete with in the last season, was ultimately to the show’s detriment imo.

so...........that was a very long tangent, and i’m sorry, i just have a lot of residual feelings of dissatisfaction about spop and catradora which i still needed to let out and this was a convenient post for it. but my ultimate point is, by comparison, rayaari is a much less toxic dynamic.

namaari betrays raya’s trust in the beginning, sure, and there are hints that they probably had a lot of run-ins during the six year timeskip given their familiarity, but in all that time they were enemies. that’s why enemies-to-lovers usually doesn’t involve outright abuse, unless there’s another facet to the relationship (ie catradora’s relationship pre-series)--because two people on opposite sides of a violent conflict being violent towards one another does not equal abuse.

and yeah, namaari betrays raya’s attempt at trust again--or seems to, resulting in the cliffside scuffle leading into the movie’s climax--but she also comes back of her own volition. she returns with her shard of the dragon gem, helping raya and her friends fend off the druun, when she could have run and attempted to save herself. that, i believe, is what ultimately prompts raya to trust her one last time. i believe that namaari believes she was about to put down her crossbow and never intended to actually shoot sisu--the horror on her face when the dragon falls to her death is proof enough of that, as is her final desire to just... give up and let raya take her revenge--and she proved that to raya by coming back and risking her life to help them in that final battle.

of course they probably have a lot to talk about and namaari has a lot to apologize for, but i can forgive a two hour movie for leaving that to the viewer’s imagination (especially when there is no expectation of a romantic relationship between the characters in canon--it’s catradora being canon which makes all the rest of it land so poorly for me) than i can an 18 hour television series.

again, opinions may differ on this score, and that’s fine. i just wanted to share my own thoughts.

[makeste]

BnHA 6th Popularity Poll Reaction Post - Risky Spoiler-Dodging Edition

hey guys, so seeing as the results from the 6th popularity poll were leaked today, I figured I would do a separate reaction + analysis post this year, rather than piling it in as an extra on top of the chapter reaction post tomorrow. I figure this makes more sense anyway, since they’re really two completely different things. also this way I can write as much as I want lol.

also, just fyi, I am still completely unspoiled for chapter 293. and probably the smart thing to do to keep it that way would be to log off tumblr and hold off posting this until tomorrow, but I apparently have no impulse control today so oh well. anyway, so I’m hoping you guys will keep this spoiler-free if you don’t mind! as always, I would prefer to just jump right in completely unaware tomorrow like Troy returning to the study room with the pizza boxes lol.

okay so this first part is just going to be my predictions. fyi I am writing this part on Wednesday night, and then I’ll add on the results part on Thursday or Friday (ETA: Thursday, apparently, since I am impatient.)

okay so first of all, just as a refresher, this poll was open to Japanese voters from Aug 3 to Sep 30. meaning chapters 279 through 285. meanwhile last year’s poll took place around the tail end of the MVA arc. so between then and now we had Heroes Rising, the Endeavor Agency arc, and the War arc up to the part where the 1-A kids took on Gigantomachia in Gunga, and started battling Tomura in Jakku. so technically only a couple of arcs, but a LOT of stuff going down in them. oh and season 4 of the anime as well

so! firstly, I predict that my truculent africanized honeybee son will hold on to his crown at #1, coming off a year in which he did some internship-boosted soul searching, borrowed OFA in movie canon, and finished out the voting period as the my-body-moved-on-its-own character development MVP. like CALL ME CRAZY lol, but I’m pretty sure his title is safe. and then after him will be Deku and Shouto as usual

Aizawa should hopefully also have a strong showing because the dude had a banner fucking year. reunited with his old dead friend, took on Tomura with his hopelessly inept hero pals, and then chopped his fucking leg off. he had better be in the top 10. his fucking leg died for this, idk what else he has to do

Endeavor also stands a decent chance of doing well given the internship arc and the final episode of season 4. which I’m sure will go down just swimmingly if that does happen lmao. especially if he somehow manages to rank higher than...

Dabi, which I don’t think he will btw, but you never know. anyways though, but I’m thinking Dabi’s going to have a stronger showing than in past years (in the last poll he only got 367 votes and was ranked 19th). mostly because of his fight in the Gunga mansion, and his cheekily censored name reveal to...

Hawks, who is also going to rank pretty high here, I think. might be he loses some points for killing off Twice, but his back was basically to the wall there. and he has always been very popular, and I think season 4 will also give him a boost, along with his heavy involvement in the first half of the War arc

Tomura was already in 6th place last year and I think he cracks the top 5 this year. he’s gotten exponentially more popular since the MVA arc, and got a boost in the last poll even though his flashback had only just barely happened, and he hadn’t finished Awakening yet and all that stuff. anyway, so he’s only gotten cooler and more tragic since then so I think he makes a big play here

Kirishima, Momo, Tokoyami, and Mina should also hopefully do well, since the poll opened right in the middle of all that Gigantomachia action, and Toko had just got done being an absolute badass and protecting his birb dad. I don’t think he’ll quite make it to the top ten, but he should

and last but not least, I’m hoping that Mirko will come out and take the polls by storm, although I have no clue how popular she is in Japan lol. she’s clearly Horikoshi’s favorite though. she SHOULD be everyone’s favorite, but I mean, we’ll see how it goes

anyway that’s it as far as predictions! and so now, through the magic of writing stuff at different times, we will fast-forward to the part where we actually find out the results!

OH MY GOD YES, STEAMPUNK KHLKSLLKL. HERE FOR IT. JOLLY GOOD SHOW. 5 STARS

Kacchan looks SO COCKY and SO HAPPY and SO ADORABLE, YES I SAID IT. he is adorable as FUCK. I don’t quite know what it is about this particular Kacchan that just screams “LOOK HOW FUCKING CUTE MY STUPID, LOUD SON IS WITH HIS BIZARRE WINDOWPANE-LOOKING CONVERTIBLE SUNGLASS GOGGLES and his POORLY TIED CRAVAT”, but I think it’s because he looks like if a Digimon character and a FMA character had a baby

anyway, so it looks like most of the people present here are more or less who we expected to see. except that I can’t tell for sure if that’s Dabi or Shindou, and if it’s Shindou I’m going to punch somebody in the face so you will have to excuse me

Iida wearing a TRENCHCOAT and a TOP HAT with ENGINE EXHAUST GOGGLE ACCENTS is my new favorite Iida of all time. take note how there is no possible way he can wear those goggles with them sitting on top of his hat like that. plus he’s already got glasses on. these are just purely for aesthetic and IF THAT AIN’T JUST THE STEAMPUNK WAY

Deku out here speaking softly and carrying a lead pipe. Kacchan you best look out. seems like he’s done watching you take first place year after year while he languishes in the number two spot. your only hope is that he trips while attacking you because his boots are unbuckled

Shouto’s standing over there with the rest of the non-first-and-second-place characters, but what are the odds his results are actually within spitting distance of Deku’s same as always. anyway he doesn’t mind, though. also his outfit is by far the most sensible one here, but if you look closely he’s got some sort of fire extinguisher/jet pack thing strapped to his back that’s got a control switch on his belt. Shouto are you jetpacking or putting out fires

Kirishima out here all “I’m not sure what steampunk is so I’m just going to take off my shirt and pose”

AIZAWA WITH THE EYEPATCH SKLKSDLKFJLSKJLDFKJSLDFFJLDKSJFL:KS. SIR. SIR. also, lowkey furious that Horikoshi refuses to show us the automail leg that he is clearly sporting here but which we just can’t see, SHOUTO MOVE GODDAMMIT

Endeavor has TWO fire extinguisher-slash-jetpacks. THE BETTER TO... WHATEVER. look at you here in the top ten again. you really live for that controversy

HAWKS OUT HERE WITH HIS STEAMPUNK BEATS BY DRE AND HIS WEARING A RING ON EVERY FINGER. nice to see you’ve still got your wings there, kiddo. then again Deku still has both of his arms too so who even knows what is going on

BUT SERIOUSLY THOUGH, IS THIS DABI OR SHINDOU. as if I don’t know the truth deep down in my heart. y’all I am gonna flip lmao. it’s not that I dislike Shindou, strictly speaking. but just... I can’t explain what it is, but if you put him and AFO next to each other and told me “you can only punch one”, I would be having a serious crisis. just, THIS FUCKING GUY, idek. STOP SMILING

Tomura looks like he just wandered onto the set here by mistake and has no idea where he is or what is going on. it’s because you’re wearing a bigass severed hand that’s blocking your entire view, Tomura. just take the hand off your face my sweet murder dumpling

anyway! so I managed to also find a link to the full poll results while somehow managing to avoid spoilers, and then I wanted to compare the results to last year’s poll, and so I made... this

hopefully you can all see this. if you’re on desktop you might be screwed, but on mobile you should be able to click and enlarge it. I mean, assuming you actually give a fuck about boring poll analysis spreadsheets lmao

anyway, so there were actually 13k fewer votes cast this year which is a bit of a surprise. is the series not still growing in popularity? do people apparently have better things to do during their quarantine lol

anyways but despite this, and despite getting 8k fewer votes overall, Kacchan still managed almost twice as many as his closest competitor. well fought, Deku. please put down that pipe

I somehow always underestimate the power of ship popularity to influence these things. but for example, it looks like Present Mic got that Vigilantes Trio bump. ride that wave for all it’s worth my man! hell, you got me on board

Iida fucking Tenya somehow got some sort of POWER BOOST out of NOWHERE which I can’t explain at all lmao, but I’m here for it. NOT BAD FOR AN OLD MAN

Sero managed to get the exact same number of votes in both 2019 and 2020. clearly the most loyal fans in the business

Mirko being all the way down at #20 is, of course, a travesty, and I hereby nominate her to be the one to punch Shindou in the face

ngl though, the lack of a single female character in the top ten hurts just a bit. it’s not overly surprising, but still. the worst part of it is that even if you kicked Shindou to the curb and moved everyone else up one slot, it would still be all dudes since Mic beat out Momo by a margin of a little more than a hundred votes. hard to stay mad at Mic for too long, though. ah well

Tomura actually lost a bunch of votes which is a genuine surprise to me. I know the villain standom isn’t as dominant in Japan as it is in Western fandom, but still. you can go ahead and punch Shindou too I guess

Tokoyami lowkey doubled his vote count over the past year while hiding down there at #18. he is slowly becoming more powerful. biding his time

anyway so I think that’s it! I mean not really, but I’m getting kind of tired lol. so just, you know, insert the usual gripes at Overhaul’s ranking here, although we can be happy about Magne making her way onto the list (r.i.p.), and Mineta and AFO taking a very satisfying slide down (all the way out, in AFO’s case; good riddance you bum). Hadou also got a huge boost which is awesome. Mustard’s persistent ownership of the #36 spot will forever remain a mystery to me, but oh well

anyways, this was fun. and I really do feel like everyone is looking away on purpose so that when Deku brains Kacchan with that pipe in about two seconds from now, there will be no witnesses, oh my fucking god

[somexofusxarexhuman-archive]

My side blog is @ourwrittenstories <--- Multi Muse! (probably why a random Stiles blog followed you)

Rules and Muse info for Mobile~~

Under the read more you will find rules as well as info on my particular Stiles, AU’s, and Tags to look up!

Rules

Rule one

Please be patient with me. I’m either stupid fast at replying or I take a few days. If it seems I’ve forgotten you, though, send me an IM

Rule Two

That being said I will reply when I feel like. I will always tell you if I need to drop a thread, if I take long it doesn’t mean I’ve dropped it. If you need to drop it because I’m taking too long, let me know. I promise not to be mad.

Rule Three

I will not RP with anyone under the age of 18, even if the thread has no smut. I’m sorry, but no. This is an adult oriented blog. Heavy themes, along with smut, will be regularly posted in rp formal and/or in images.

Rule Four

I will not RP with anime/cartoon/game FC’s (There are exceptions like RE8 chars). I will also not RP with any deceased FC’s

Rule Five

As awesome as it would be to be bilingual, I only speak and know English.  Anything you see me post that is not English was brought to you by Google Translate.

Rule Six

I do not have a verse page, but that doesn’t mean I’m not open to AU’s. I LOVE AU’s. I’m a multi-ship multi-post blog and am trash for any and all AU’s. Just ask!

Rule Seven

I can write a lot in my replies (And a lot of it can be unnecessary detail) but don't feel pressured to match my length! Just, please, try to give me something more than two sentences to work with. I don't typically enjoy writing short replies, but I understand muses can be fickle things.

Rule Eight

I don't enjoy pregnancy threads or writing children so I, typically, will steer clear of those types of threads. If our muses have been in a long relationship (and we have been writing partners for a while as well) I may make an exception, but don't come in expecting babies. My girls all have IUD's unless stated otherwise. That being said I am 100% down with the breeding kink.

Rule Nine

If a muse has (unknown) somewhere in their age it means they are old old. Like 100+, so age can be changed if you are uncomfortable with age gap.

Rule Ten

I have a handful of chronic issues that effect my sleep and my mood so I'm up all hours of the day. I live in EST time zone, but I'm often up at 4AM so.....it's a gamble lol!

Rule Eleven

I have SEVERE ANXIETY and struggle messaging new people. IF I FOLLOWED YOU I WANT TO RP WITH YOU! I'm probably just figuring out how to message you without puking lol. I would appreciate the help, if you want, or you can wait until I gather the enrve.

Rule Twelve

My grammar isn't the best in the galaxy, ok? I over use comma's and never really figured out the semi-colon. If something is horribly wrong or you can't understand what I've written, just ask please.

Rule Thirteen

I will tag major triggers (ie; Snakes, Spiders etc) but I won't tag smut or NSFW unless it really needs it.

Rule Fourteen

If I have ever posted a meme please feel free to send one in even if it was a year ago! With that in mind, I do prefer introduction threads with new muns/characters if I am not familiar with them.

Rule Fifteen

Don't like my starters

Rule Sixteen

Don't God-Mod blah blah and Follow TOS k I love you <3 <3

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Stiles

Age: 19

Height: 5'10"

Sexuality: Pansexual (? Testing)

Residence: Beacon Hills

Parents: Sherriff John Stilinski

Siblings: None

Abilities: Superior Sarcasm, awesome baseball bat skills

Occupation: Part Time Barrista when he’s not out kicking ass

Personality: Sarcastic, Hyper active, Loyal to a fault, Paranoid

Background: To keep it simple my Stiles is canon up until the last episode of the last season. He lives in beacon hills with his father, his best friends are all weird supernatural creatures, and he was once a murderous void. Now, while the pack is at play, Stiles has taken a job as a Barrista in some mom and pops cafe slash bookstore. The old woman who runs it can barely get down the stairs anymore so Stilinskerino is basically the one who runs the joint. Until the bills and taxes come rolling around, then the old lady practically runs down stairs to do whatever it is she does to keep the shop running. Stiles doesn’t come into work those days.

Kinks: Biting, D/s , Daddykink, spanking, just be rough with him okay? DIRTY TALK. TALK ALL THE DIRTY TO HIM. CALL HIM NAMES AND JUST UGH DIRTY TALK

Banned Kinks: Childplay, Scat, waterbording, Incest (Step is ok) MPreg

D/s Preference: Sub/Brat for men and Top/verse for Women

SafeWord: Red or Kanima.

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AU’s

Canon Verse: This verse is the typical one. Stiles caught up completely to the end of the most recent Season Finale.

Void Verse: In this verse Stiles gave into the wills of Void and is now a dark entity that enjoys the pleasure of torture, murder, and all around chaos.

Emissary/Spark Verse: Same as the canon verse but he’s more in tuned with his magic.

Grunge Verse: Set back in the early 90’s Stiles is a drummer for the band The Pack along with band mates Scott, Erica, and Derek.

Spidey Verse: Okay this one I’m still working on/playing with in my mind But basically Stiles gets an Internship at Oz Corp and is bitten by a Radio Active Spider. When he comes back to Beacon Hills he tries to hide it from the pack but also uses it to help them in secret.

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Tags

#somexfusarehuman;; - Tracked Tag

#Selfie;; - Photo’s

#Wishlist;; - Wanted plots 

#Wanted Opposite;; - Wanted FC or Characters to RP with

#Cassette;; - Song lists

#Aesthetic;; - Shit Stiles likes

More TBA

[tunemyart]

God guys, SGA is actually really a genuinely strong show 15 years later? and this lesbian is still shipping John Sheppard and Elizabeth Weir after all this time, for reasons ya girl has been meditating on, bc y’all know me and what I ship, and also bc if you know anything about SGA, it’s probably that the biggest ship far and away was a slash ship: McShep, i.e. John Sheppard/Rodney McKay. Which is amazing! And I’ll also say here that I miss this genre of show, e.g. gen, so much, where you can ship basically any combination of everybody and not be wrong or you can ship nobody at all and just have a bunch of found family and also not be wrong.

I’ll skip talking about the more obvious beats of the Sheppard/Weir relationship and focus on the things I love, and which I think also drew me to them way back in ye olde repressed bby lesbian days: which is to say, their respect for each other. Which is to say even more specifically, John’s respect for Elizabeth.

Which is! monumental! By the end of S1, he backs her against every threat to her authority, even and especially from the military he’s the most senior member of in Atlantis. He overtly moves himself physically to stand behind her when she’s being challenged. He defers center stage to her, and only steps in when there’s a physical threat or when someone is challenging his own allegiance. By S2, he’s regularly seeking out and deferring to her opinions - bc she’s actively depending on doing the same thing with his.

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about 2x06 Trinity since I rewatched it, bc everybody else knows they’re each other’s pressure points by this point too. Elizabeth tells Rodney no to something dangerous he arrogantly believes he can do; John backs and agrees with her. Rodney, knowing John will listen to him, goes back to John and pleads his case, and ends it with, “Elizabeth will listen to you.” Next scene: Elizabeth is listening to John - albeit with heavy reservations. To be fair, the reason Trinity is so good is bc of how well they all know each other - and how that can also be detrimental to them.

I just rewatched 2x13 Critical Mass tonight and it made me want to scream - not just bc it was still so good, but bc the amount of silent communication between them was so startling, and startlingly natural. Elizabeth is wavering on a moral call and looks to John; John’s already waiting with a silent look. She makes the call. He affirms it - silently - with a nod to the person carrying it out.

All of this is so much, and isn’t even to mention the way they also simply just like each other, joke with and are vaguely flirty with each other, often decompress with each other privately as the final beats of an episode. It felt so revelatory to me at the time too, which is maybe part of why I imprinted on this show (not to mention Elizabeth Weir, my beloved) so hard. Maybe the way to show a woman succeeding at being a leader sometimes isn’t necessarily showing how she has to beg and scrape and fight for the right to be there just bc it’s “accurate.” Maybe sometimes it’s to show her being respected, supported, and loved. Maybe sometimes, as with so many things in fiction, I just want to see how it can be, and imagine that seeing it represented that way can affect the world right back.

y’all are no doubt saying to yourselves why is Amy being so fucking weird about shipping a het ship for a show that’s over 15 years old? but gosh, some het ships - even for a gen show - do have rights.

[kryzobi-wan]

Dancing in the Dark

"What kind of monster was he, to wish for beauty?"

---

Just a whole lotta touch-starved, lonely Ben Solo feeling a lot of feels when the Force decides to connect him to Rey <3 Completely self-indulgent Reylo angst and fluff. Plus a little slow dancing 🥲

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Ben Solo had learned what it meant to be lonely. Growing up surrounded by droids instead of family taught a kid that particular lesson pretty quickly. Still, that aching longing for human connection never quite left him, even after so many years of immersing himself in the cool, unfeeling darkness in hopes that it would drown out that part of himself. He had everything he had ever wanted, he tried to convince himself. Power, control, strength… it should have been enough.

But that flicker of light—of warmth—within him that he never could quite get rid of felt like the piercing, burning bite of a lightsaber wound on his flesh. If the light was supposed to bring comfort and peace, then why did its presence hurt so much?

After his solitary childhood and early adulthood, it shouldn’t have been possible to feel any more lonely than he already did. Then she had come crashing into his life, entangling their respective destinies in a mess of unacceptable feelings and emotions, and leaving Kylo more unbalanced than he had ever been since joining the First Order. Her light had illuminated the truth of every crude approximation of connection Kylo had forged over the years in his chosen place of belonging. Where once the officers of the First Order, the Knights of Ren, even Hux, had provided some semblance of stability and companionship, he now saw them for what they were: hollow, resentful beings who couldn’t care less if he lived or if he died.

For a few brief moments he had thought that Rey might fill the gaping hole this realization left in the very depths of his soul. How naïve that had been. Now she had left him, scorned him, and he was truly on his own, with not even the sickening but constant presence of Snoke to keep him company.

Weeks passed. Hux had finally stopped reprimanding Kylo for his failure on Crait, and in fact hadn’t spoken to him in days, leaving him without even that sense of consistency. In the quiet isolation of his chambers, the weight of his father’s death at his hand finally settled firmly on his shoulders. With Snoke gone, his recollection of that fateful moment came with a different kind of clarity that was most unwelcome. This kind of introspection was dangerous, and he did his best not to entertain it. But he was weak. His thoughts involuntarily drifted to those peaceful moments in his childhood—as rare as they were—where for just one moment he thought his parents might really care, that he wasn’t truly alone. The ache of soured happiness came attached with those memories, now that he had been disillusioned from their lies.

Looking at him now, it was hard to believe that he had once believed in the beauty of the galaxy. Ben—Kylo—remembered a time when the stars seemed brighter, the air more pure and refreshing. When he could feel the bubbling of joy and frivolity in his chest, giving him the sensation of weightlessness as he passed through life ignorant of how truly alone he was.

Oh, how he longed for that beauty.

He had always been drawn to such things. The artful strokes of calligraphy, flowing from the tip of his pen. The feeling of soft, green grass between his fingers, and the touch of cold, crisp water on his toes. The gentle lilt of music playing somewhere in the distance, the tune floating through his bedroom window as he closed his eyes in sleep.

What kind of monster was he, to wish for beauty?

There was no such thing. Kylo Ren could never be worthy of it. Every beautiful thing he touched met its end sooner or later. He was poison to it, so fundamentally contrary to everything it stood for that it could be corrupted by his mere presence.

Perhaps it was a good thing that Rey had closed their connection. Since that moment on Crait when she looked down on him in his defeat, he had only seen her a handful of times, and only long enough for her to scowl at him and shut him out.

So he was alone. As usual.

Wandering the halls of the new flagship star destroyer, Kylo was acutely aware of this fact. Some days were worse than others, but this was bad as it got. Something inside him was begging for someone—anyone—to see him. To remind him that he wasn’t just some ghostly apparition with no corporeal form.

Not a single passing trooper or officer acknowledged him.

Perhaps it was his own fault. After all, you can’t have both the fear of your subordinates and the good opinion of them. He had chosen what made sense for the leader of an army, and he refused to consider any other option. He was the Supreme Leader of the First Order. He did what he had to do.

As it turns out, it’s lonely to be the one on top of the pyramid.

Kylo passed by a group of stormtroopers, his cape billowing behind him. They seemed to be celebrating something, perhaps one of them had received a promotion or passed a particularly difficult round of training. They patted each other on the back, excitedly chattering in low whispers about whatever it was that spurred this reaction. Despite the armor and helmets, he could see the camaraderie they shared. They were happy.

That was enough to trigger another episode.

They were coming more frequently now. It was different than his bursts of anger and violence, where he could reach some sort of catharsis by tearing apart his immediate surroundings with the slash of his fiery weapon. This kind of attack did quite the opposite, causing him to shut down completely, barely able to move or speak until he could manage to calm himself down to an acceptable level. His breathing quickened and he was forced to grab onto the wall to stabilize himself.

Kylo sucked in a deep breath as he willed the prickling of tears in his eyes to go away. He felt exposed without his mask. His traitorous expressive face betrayed every emotion that he felt, leaving him vulnerable. He couldn’t let his subordinates see this weakness, or he’d be ousted by a mutiny before the end of the day cycle. No, he had to get away before he went catatonic. Stumbling and suddenly dizzy, Kylo made his way toward his chambers. The lights on the walls and ceiling swirled in his vision like the flash of stars through hyperspace, and it was all he could do to remain upright as he burst into his quarters and shut the door behind him. Immediately upon entering, he ripped his cape and the outer layer of his tunic off, feeling suffocated by them. Removing his heavy boots, he focused on the chill of the cold durasteel floors seeping through his dark socks, connecting him to his surroundings.

With a flick of his wrist, he turned out the lights and collapsed onto the nearest chair, resting his head atop his knees, and clasping his hands behind his head as he tried his best to stop trembling. He allowed the quiet darkness to envelop him like a blanket, hiding the tears as they streamed from his eyes.

Whenever this happened, it felt as if the air around him was pressing inwards as it slowly crushed him. He needed something real, something physical to ground him. No matter how tightly he clutched at his own body, how much he pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes in an effort to stem the flow of tears, it was not enough. The pain radiated outward from himself. It was as if he were a bomb threatening to explode at any moment, at which point he would cease to exist entirely. He could be floating in the lifeless vacuum of space for all that he felt. There was nothing to hold him together.

Completely and utterly alone.

He was well-practiced by now in self-treating these sudden attacks. It may take several minutes, but eventually he would be able to breathe out one last shuddering breath and still the shaking in his shoulders and knees. The floor stilled beneath him, and he no longer felt like his screams were trapped inside his body, begging to be let out.

All he felt in the wake of an episode like this, was numb.

He stared tiredly at the floor, now propping his head up on his hands as exhaustion flooded his body.

It was frustrating, feeling so out of control of one’s emotions. Despite the fact that his master was now dead and gone, he could still feel the disappointment he would have had in his apprentice. The words Snoke would have said echoed through his mind.

Pathetic. Weak. You are too unstable. The darkness will reject you. Your emotions cause you to fail. Everyone who ever claimed to care about you threw you away like garbage, but you can’t stop needing them.

Perhaps he had been projecting a little when he said those last words to Rey.

As if his thoughts had caused it, he suddenly felt the familiar shift in the Force that signaled the start of a connection. The rumbling sounds of his ship faded into a comfortable silence that was, for once, welcome in the aftermath of his anxiety attack.

He breathed out a sigh of relief before opening his bleary eyes and lifting his head slightly to peer about his room. She was nowhere to be seen.

Just as he was about to stand to go look for her, Rey appeared in his doorway, looking irritated and disappointed as usual as her eyes settled on him. She promptly turned with a huff and disappeared from view as fast as she had come, though the connection remained open.

“Rey, wait,” Ben (because he was always Ben during these connections) called out to her before she could shut him out. He stood abruptly, rushing to stand in the doorway. She stilled, her back to him and apparently awaiting his next words before she decided to leave him anyway or not. “Please don’t go,” he hated how fragile the words sounded as they escaped his lips.

Rey let out a tired breath. “I can’t do this anymore.”

Panic began to rise in Ben’s stomach again as he felt Rey start to force the connection closed. “Stay! Please, just for a few more moments,” he said desperately. He was starting to feel dizzy again. He wanted to pretend just for a little while that he wasn’t alone. Once he regained his stability, she could leave if she wanted. He just needed someone for a few minutes to keep him from falling apart.

As if she could sense this, she turned to face him, setting her jaw firmly as she stared at him with caution behind her eyes. Relief flooded his veins, and before he could stop himself, he reached out with one hand and clutched Rey’s arm, using it to keep himself upright. She didn’t move a muscle, though she stared at him as if she wanted nothing more than to step away from him. He bowed his head, breathing deep, calming breaths in and out.

“Thank you,” he said softly after a moment.

Rey nodded once but said nothing. Her silence had become the usual ever since Crait, and as much as it pained him, he was grateful that this time she at least acknowledged his existence.

Once upon a time, she had told him he wasn’t alone. That had meant everything to him, even if it didn’t mean the same things to her. He just wanted to feel like he did in that moment. When they had touched hands, he felt a flutter of happiness and a spark of hope that he never thought he’d feel again. He saw a flash of beauty, like something had peeled back the dark shroud that obscured his view of the galaxy. For the briefest of moments, he thought he could be happy with her. That neither of them would ever have to be alone for the rest of their days.

Ben’s eyes flashed up to where his gloved hand met her skin, and the hairs on the back of his neck prickled, a chill running up his spine. He lost himself in the feel of human contact, nearly becoming overwhelmed by the sensation after so long without it. Perhaps the only thing keeping him from completely breaking down was that layer of leather still between them.

Slowly, as if he were not even in control of his own movements, his other hand gingerly brushed against the same arm, inspecting the fresh scar there. His hands were trembling as they traced the contours of her arm, down, down, down to her hand where they stopped, cradling her fingers with the softest touch.

“Ben?” Rey finally spoke, breaking him out of his entranced state. He looked up to her, tears pooling in his eyes once more. His hand instinctively tightened around hers.

“Will you dance with me?”

His words were unexpected. There was something about being there, with her, that made him wish more than ever for the things of beauty in this galaxy. They seemed to have reached a temporary truce, considering the fact that Rey hadn’t ripped her hand away from his yet. He couldn’t help himself.

“What?” Rey asked incredulously. She looked at him as if he had grown a second head. Ben began to feel the tug of her hand against his, hesitating but wanting to let go.

“I just—” Ben stepped closer, patting her hand lightly with one of his and bowing his head again to look only at their hands rather than her face. He shook his head in disappointment with himself as it became clear that he didn’t have the words to articulate what he was trying to say.

I need you, he finished in his mind, but Rey seemed to hear it loud and clear. Her eyes softened, though a hint of hesitation remained.

“Okay.”

Ben’s gaze snapped back to hers, his mouth parted slightly in surprise that she had actually said yes. Something like nervousness or excitement fluttered in his stomach, leaving him momentarily breathless.

He nodded, speechless and blurry-eyed, and dropped her hand long enough only to remove his dark gloves, casting them carelessly on the floor. When he stepped into her space again, the corners of his trembling lips teased the smallest hint of a smile, which was reflected in his widened, somehow younger-looking eyes.

Slowly, in his disbelief that this was really happening, Ben scooped up each of her hands in his own, clutching them to his sweater-clad chest. There was no music, but the beating of their hearts seemed to be amplified in the space that stretched between them and their bond. It was the only sound they could hear, aside from the shaky breaths each was breathing in anticipation for this new closeness, this tender moment.

Rey moved one hand to Ben’s shoulder, allowing him to wrap his arm around her. His palm splayed across her back, reveling in the feeling of her textured taupe-colored wrappings on his fingertips. Electricity sparked where their hands met, and he saw it again. A vision of beauty. Togetherness. The rightness of it all.

He pulled her in close, resting his cheek against her silky brown hair and closing his eyes to soak in the peacefulness of the moment as they began to sway. Fresh tears trailed down his cheek, mingling with her hair. She hesitantly leaned her head into his chest and brought her hand up to the hair at the nape of his neck, stroking it comfortingly. It was almost as if she knew exactly what he was feeling, exactly why he had asked her to stay. Could she really see through him that easily? Or was the bond stronger than they thought? If so, what could that mean?

He knew who she was. She was a nobody, right? Then why did she feel like everything to him?

Oh, he was in so much trouble.

They danced, in the calming darkness of the night. Peace washed over Ben Solo, evening his breathing to quiet, content breaths. There were so many things he wanted to say; confessions he needed to get off his chest, apologies, explanations… but nothing could get past the lump in his throat. Instead, he contented himself with looking out the viewport behind Rey, taking in the majesty of the stars beyond. Long ago, he had lost the sense of wonder and awe he used to feel when immersed in the view of open space. The endless black expanse began to feel empty and cold. It reflected his own loneliness back at him.

How had he missed the numerous stars and planets that dotted the sky? They shone brightly, their warmth reminding him that there would always be life, hope, and a future—beyond.

Skywalker… Ben heard an unfamiliar voice, gravelly but laced with amusement. Still looking to the horizon…

The world around them had disappeared. The two swayed and twirled amidst the infinite vastness of space, and Ben felt weightless, like they were floating through the galaxy without a single worry or care. There was no Resistance, no First Order, no Jedi, and no Sith. There was only Rey, and the stars that illuminated her glistening eyes.

That same sense of awe, the hope and contentment of his boyhood innocence, filled his heart with every brush of her hand against his, every time their eyes met, the beating of her heart next to his own…

Rey pulled back a few inches, enough that she could tilt her head back to study his face. The hand he was holding in his dropped before she placed it on his other shoulder, her hands firmly but gently gripping them. If Ben were told that her touch was the one thing keeping him from shattering into a billion pieces, literallyholding him together, he would believe it without question. Her fingers tangled in the loose fabric of his thin sweater, rubbing soft circles over his skin. It was a comfort he was not used to, a balm for the crawling discomfort of starvation from human contact which he had felt for so long.

His eyes fluttered closed and he could scarcely breathe. They continued to sway as Ben moved his free hand up to Rey’s face, experimentally trailing his fingertips over her skin with a touch so light, she might not have even noticed had she not been so in tune with what he was feeling.

When he opened his eyes again, he observed her image through his lashes, unbothered by the sadness or pity she held for him in her eyes. He did not care what thoughts or emotions kept her here, he was just glad that she was.

In his exploration of the contours of her face, his hand brushed against a stray piece of her hair, drawing his intense focus away from her soft skin. He held it lightly between his thumb and forefinger in fascination and wonder, tousling it gently before following the path of her hair to the three buns at the back, which he threaded between his fingers.

Following his lead, Rey cupped a hand over his jaw, setting his nervous system ablaze. It was almost too much to handle. His head dipped forward until his forehead was practically touching hers, all the while they continued to sway. Their breaths mingled in the space between them, mere inches separating their lips from each other’s.

Before the situation could slip any further out of Ben’s control than it already had, Rey pulled back, her body stilling as she stared at him as if in study. His arms felt suddenly empty, but the sharp pain of loneliness from earlier had faded to a dull ache. He no longer felt like he was at risk of imploding, which was a relief to his tormented soul.

Eyes meeting hers, he silently conveyed his gratefulness for what she had done, finding words to be insufficient. He worked his jaw absentmindedly as his gaze flicked over her features, trying to gauge what she might be thinking in that beautiful mind of hers.

Without warning, she rushed forward and enveloped him in her arms, wrapping them around his neck and holding him tightly. The embrace was as short as it was sudden, but it was like heaven coming down to him. He had barely managed to reciprocate the action before she released him and stepped back, seemingly unsure of what to say.

Her voice came back in little more than a whisper, and he thought he saw a tear escape from the corner of her eye. “I understand,” was all she said, her jaw firmly set in that look of determination that Ben was so used to seeing.

And maybe she did.

Of all the people in the universe, Rey would know the heartache of loneliness better than anyone. All those years alone, waiting for the return of those who could never come back… Maybe she needed this as much as he did.

Rey stared intently into his eyes, and it felt like she was able to see directly into his soul. She nodded, perhaps in answer to his line of thinking. Perhaps it was just a gesture to reassure Ben that everything would be okay. Either way, he felt a part of himself melt away under the influence of her light, leaving him with a sense of peace unlike anything he’d ever felt.

With that, she closed her eyes and bowed her head, disappearing without consequence.

Ben breathed out a breath that he didn’t realize he had been holding, stumbling backwards to his couch to think. The ghost of her touch on his skin remained, and it brought him a lasting comfort.

He should have felt scared, or worried, that his mortal enemy knew his vulnerabilities and sorrows so intimately, but he wasn’t. He had shared with her a moment of beauty and of happiness, and something about it told him it would be a significant turning point in the story of the Jedi Killer and the Last Jedi.

As he drifted off to sleep that night, he could have sworn that he felt her gentle touch on his forehead, brushing through his dark wavy hair in comforting strokes. Tender words of encouragement graced his ears, and whether they were real or imagined, he took them to heart.

He dreamed.

Of the cool, still waters of a lake.

The light of the moon reflecting on its glassy surface.

The velvety blackness of the night sky,

Decorated with the pinpricks of diamonds glittering from above.

And the mountains,

Standing strong and steadfast in the distance,

A friendly shadow on the horizon.

He dreamed.

The woman in his arms,

Illuminating the world around her,

Her light shining like the sun,

Her smile a warm glow that nurtured his soul.

And he danced.

-.-.-

Comments greatly appreciated! I hope you all enjoyed! Much love, Reylos <3