#will i ever get over TROS? I think not

[yuujispunches]

Silk and sharp edges ~ T.F.

Pairing: Toji Fushiguro x Fem!Reader

Summary: Toji Fushiguro hated doing babysitting jobs, specially when they involved protecting spoiled rich brats but when he starts realising that you aren’t one it somehow makes it even worse.

CW (content warning): bodyguard!Toji, mentions of blood, mentions of guns, Toji should kind of be a warning of it’s own really, MDNI (+18), p in v sex (it’s not too graphic but still).

AN: Hi guys! I have a kind of love-hate relationship with Toji but while I was writing this I had fun and somehow I ended up kind of falling in love with him somehow 🙃 Anyways, thanks for all the support I’m getting, I never really thought about posting my writing but seeing people enjoying it is really great hahaha. As always a reminder that English isn’t my first language and I’m typing this on my phone so I’m sorry if there’re any typos/mistakes. Enjoy and let me know what you think! :)

Requests are open so feel free to send yours! (you can check the list of characters I wrote for on my pinned post)

Masterlist

Toji Fushiguro hated jobs that came with strings.

Babysitting contracts were the worst of them. High-profile clients, extra rules, fragile egos, and zero payoff outside the paycheck. Which, granted, was substantial this time. Obscene, even. But that only made him more suspicious.

“Bodyguard gig.” Shiu had said, handing over the file. “Private client. Not a cursed user. Political ties. Possibly targeted. You’ll live on-site.”

Toji raised an eyebrow. “You left out the part where it’s a spoiled brat in a luxury tower.”

Shiu just grinned without denying it, seemingly amused for some reason. “Are you saying you’re scared of rich girls, Fushiguro?”

He took the file. Didn’t smile. “I’m saying I charge double for civilians who think they’re invincible.”

——————————————————————————

He expected gold-leaf doors, champagne attitudes, and demands he’d ignore. What he didn’t expect was silence.

You opened the door yourself.

No assistant. No security team. Just you in a knit sweater too big for your frame, sleeves swallowed by your hands, eyes soft with the kind of quiet that unsettled him more than arrogance ever could.

“You’re early.” You said. Your voice was gentle. Clear. No perfume choked the air. No pretense in your tone.

Toji blinked. “And you’re not what I expected.”

You smiled faintly. “Most people expect pearls and daddy’s credit card.”

He didn’t respond, but his expression must’ve said enough, because your smile shifted turning smaller and, if you looked king enough, sadder.

“I don’t bite.” You added, stepping aside to let him in.

Toji stepped through the doorway and into something that, for the first time in a long time, made him feel restless.

——————————————————————————

You were soft. That was the first thing he really noticed.

Not weak. Not clueless. Just… soft. The kind of person who brewed two mugs of tea when only one was needed. Who remembered how he liked his eggs after the second morning. Who apologized when you accidentally interrupted his workout, like it wasn’t your own home.

You didn’t ask stupid questions. Didn’t treat him like hired help. Didn’t even seem all that interested in why you needed protection, although Toji figured you knew more than you let on.

Instead, you simply coexisted beside him. Always kind. Always careful.

He hated it.

Because it made him notice you.

——————————————————————————

You read at night. That’s when he first began watching you.

Not because he had to but because you were always there. Tucked into a chair, reading something he couldn’t pronounce. Sometimes you hummed without realizing it. Sometimes you looked out the window for hours.

One night, after a storm passed, you caught him lingering in the hallway and asked. “Do you sleep at all?”

Toji crossed his arms. “I’m not on vacation.”

You tilted your head. “You don’t have to be miserable about it.”

“I’m not.”

You laughed softly. “You say that like it’s a threat.”

And just like that, he was in trouble.

——————————————————————————

The quiet built slowly between you.

It wasn’t hostile. It wasn’t even awkward. Just two people orbiting each other carefully. He with his locked jaw and slow glances, you with your open warmth and soft footsteps.

He noticed you never yelled. Never cursed. Never even raised your voice when upset. But you still somehow filled every room with presence. It got under his skin.

Toji had dealt with every kind of client: arrogant, paranoid, seductive, insufferable. But he didn’t know what to do with someone who was simply… kind. Especially not when they directed that kindness at him.

“You don’t have to pretend to like me.” He muttered one morning, finding you in the kitchen making him coffee without being asked.

You blinked at him, unbothered. “I’m not pretending.”

He almost believed you.

——————————————————————————

Things changed the first time you got scared.

It was a simple moment. A broken window. An attempted breach. One intruder, a professional, but not skilled enough to avoid Toji.

It was over in minutes. Blood on the marble. Sirens on standby. And then you, there shaking, barefoot, wide-eyed while coming down the stairs with a whisper-soft. “Are you okay?”

Toji wiped the blood from his knuckles and turned to look at you. “That’s supposed to be my line.”

You didn’t smile. You looked pale.

He watched you sink to the floor, knees folding under you, breath catching in your throat. He crouched in front of you, unsure why he didn’t just walk away.

“Hey.” His voice was low. “It’s over. You’re okay.”

You nodded. But your eyes were still glassy, far away.

And then something he didn’t expect. You reached out and touched his hand. Not clingy. Not desperate. Just needing something solid. Real.

Toji didn’t move. He couldn’t.

He let you hold on.

——————————————————————————

After that, something changed.

You kept your distance but you glanced at him more often. Brushed past him a little closer. Sat near him on the couch, the space between you shrinking by degrees.

And Toji, for all his resolve, let it happen.

Against every instinct, he let himself like the way you softened the silence. How you’d hum while making tea. How you’d whisper “goodnight” even when you knew he wouldn’t answer.

You asked him one night, voice barely above a breath. “Do you ever get tired of pretending not to care?”

Toji stared at the floor. “No.”

But that was a lie. And you both knew it.

——————————————————————————

The night you touched his face, it nearly broke him.

You were sitting beside him on the balcony. It was late. The city was sleeping beneath you.

“I don’t understand you.” You whispered, looking out into the dark.

Toji didn’t turn to you. “Most people don’t.”

“You act like nothing matters. But you’re always the first to get between me and a bullet.”

Still, he didn’t look at you.

“I think you care more than you know how to admit.” You said.

And then, slowly, you reached up and touched his jaw. Gentle, like the breeze, like silk on scar tissue.

Toji caught your wrist. Held it there. His breath caught, and so did yours.

And for one terrifying second, he almost leaned in.

But he didn’t.

He let go. Stood there for a moment, his eyes searching your face for something neither of you could put your finger in. Walked away.

——————————————————————————

He couldn’t sleep that night.

He watched the security feed for hours. Checked the perimeter. Avoided his reflection in every mirror. Because if he looked, he’d see it.

He wanted you.

Not just your skin, not just your body. He wanted the quiet you carried, the peace he didn’t deserve. He wanted your voice in the morning and your hand in the dark.

And that meant danger. For both of you. Because Toji Fushiguro didn’t fall for people. People got hurt when he did.

——————————————————————————

He started pulling back.

Late mornings. Fewer conversations. No more soft glances in the hallway. He avoided your touch like it burned. Because it did.

And you? You were patient, definitely too good for him. You let him.

But your eyes followed him like they always had. Gentle. Understanding.

It made him want to scream.

——————————————————————————

“You’re avoiding me.”

Your voice broke the stillness one evening, after dinner. You stood in the doorway of the kitchen, arms crossed, soft and sad.

Toji didn’t turn around. “I’m doing my job.”

“You weren’t doing it like this before.”

He was silent.

“You think if you push me away, I won’t notice you.”

Still, silence.

“But I do notice you, Toji.”

His name on your lips hit him like a blow.

“You’re the only person I feel safe around.” You continued. “And you’re the only one who looks at me like I’m not made of glass.”

Toji finally turned. His jaw was tight. His eyes tired.

“You shouldn’t look at me like I’m someone worth trusting.”

“But I do.”

His voice dropped. “You shouldn’t.”

“Why?” you asked. “Because you think you’ll hurt me?”

“Because I will.”

The silence that followed was heavier than any scream.

Toji left the room.

Not because he wanted to but because if he stayed, he’d do something he couldn’t take back.

Like touch you again or worse. He’d tell you the truth.

——————————————————————————

Toji didn’t sleep that night either.

The rain came again. Thin. Steady. The kind that fills your chest with things you don't want to feel.

He stood outside your door once. Hand poised in the air, not quite touching the wood. His shadow lingered under the hall light. He didn’t knock. Didn’t move.

He just stood there and he hated himself for it.

——————————————————————————

You didn’t try to talk to him the next morning. Or the one after that.

You didn’t avoid him. Didn’t give him some cold, pointed silence. No dramatics. No bitterness.

You just kept being you. Soft. Steady. Warm in a way that made him ache.

That, somehow was way worse.

——————————————————————————

The breach happened on the third night. Two men this time. Armed. Professional. One made it inside.

Toji caught him at the top of the stairs. Fast. Efficient. Brutal. But it wasn’t fast enough.

He heard the crash in your room. Heard the scream-

By the time he burst through the door, the second intruder had you cornered.

Toji didn’t hesitate.

Gun. Two shots. One breath. The man dropped.

You did too.

Not hit. Not bleeding. Just trembling.

And for the first time in years, Toji’s hands shook as he pulled you into him.

“You’re okay.” He whispered into your hair. Over and over. Not sure if it was for you or for himself.

You clung to him. Not like someone helpless, but like someone tired of pretending they weren’t afraid.

Your voice was a whisper against his chest. “I thought you weren’t going to come.”

“I always come.” He said, low and rough. “Even when I shouldn’t.”

You leaned back to look at him, pulling away ever so slightly. The closeness between you was sharp now. Real. Like everything had peeled itself raw.

You were crying, but quietly. You weren’t asking him to fix it. Just be there.

That, he could do.

He touched your face. Thumb brushed your cheek.

“You keep doing this.” He murmured, pained, as if saying those words hurt him more than the cuts in his knuckles. “You keep being soft. Even after all this.”

“And you keep acting like that’s a problem.” You whispered back.

His thumb slowed. His hand stilled.

“It is.”

And then he kissed you. It wasn’t careful. It was deep. Starving. Like a dam breaking.

You tasted like tears and relief. Your hands were in his hair. His grip was firm on your waist, pulling you closer like he needed to feel all of you to believe you were still breathing.

He broke the kiss once, just to whisper. “Tell me to stop.”

You shook your head, eyes dark and wide. “Don’t you dare.”

And that was it.

——————————————————————————

Toji carried you to the bed. Not because it was romantic, but because his knees almost buckled when you kissed him again.

Clothes peeled off slowly. Not in a rush. Not desperate. Just needing contact. Skin against skin. Proof of life.

He paused when he saw you bare beneath him.

You weren’t fragile. But you were beautiful. Not in some glossed-up, perfect way. Just real. Open. Vulnerable in a way he hadn’t let himself be with anyone.

“You’re shaking.” You whispered.

“Yeah.” He breathed out. “So are you.”

You smiled. “Then we match.”

Toji kissed every inch of you like he was learning a language no one had ever taught him. His kisses descended down your body. First your neck, stopping at your pulse point, whether it was for your pleasure or to make sure you still had one, you didn’t know.

He didn’t rush. Every touch was deliberate as he watched your every breath.

Your hands touched every scar. Your lips brushed his jaw, his chest, his ribs. When you whispered his name, he closed his eyes like it hurt to hear it.

There was no time for foreplay, you didn’t need it anyways, you just needed to feel him, to know that this was real.

When he pushed into you, slow and careful making you gasp softly and buried your face against his shoulder.

He held you. Not just your body. You.

The sound you made when your hips lifted to meet his made him curse under his breath.

“You’re too good.” He rasped. “Too fucking good to want someone like me.”

You reached up and touched his face, just like before.

“You’re the only one who makes me feel safe.”

That nearly broke him again. He made love to you like he was trying to erase every ghost in his body.

You clung to him. Not because you needed to but because you chose to. That made it worse. That made it unbearable.

You arched beneath him, gasping his name again and again. You dragged him down into the mattress and kissed him like you knew how broken he was and didn’t care.

When you came, your breath hitched and your body trembled and he didn’t stop whispering your name until you stilled.

When he came, it hit him so hard he choked on it. Your name was on his lips like a prayer.

——————————————————————————

You lay tangled after. Skin against skin. Legs over legs. His hand on your hip, grounding him. Your fingers tracing the shape of his jaw like you couldn’t stop.

No one spoke for a while. The storm moved on.

His heart didn’t.

“You’re not a monster.” You whispered into the dark.

He didn’t move.

You ran your fingers over a scar near his ribs. “You think you don’t deserve peace. But you do.”

Toji exhaled. Long. Shaky.

You leaned closer, voice still low. “I don’t want a perfect man, Toji. I just want you.”

That did it.

He pulled you into him like he couldn’t breathe otherwise. Buried his face in your shoulder. Didn’t say a word.

You didn’t ask him to because you already knew.

——————————————————————————

Days passed differently after that.

You didn’t announce anything. Didn’t make him define it.

But Toji was different. He sat closer. Touched your back in passing. Let his hand linger on yours longer than necessary.

When you made him tea, he actually said thank you. Once, he brought you flowers. When you asked why, he just shrugged. You kissed him anyway.

——————————————————————————

The job didn’t end with fireworks. No final boss. No last stand.

Just the threat dying down, the client choosing to keep the protector and Toji staying even when he could’ve left.

Because this time… he didn’t want to.

“You’re still here.” You said one morning, wrapped in his hoodie, eyes sleepy but clear.

Toji looked up from his coffee. “You say that like it’s a surprise.”

You smiled. “It is. But I’m glad.”

He watched you for a long moment. Then he reached for your hand across the table.

“You scare me.” He confessed simply.

You squeezed his hand.

“You scare me too.”

And somehow, that was enough.

Tags: @pickledsoda @noooo-onee @hawkwithsocks

Taglist is open so let me know if you want to be added for future works! :)

[thegoatsongs]

Mina Harker's comments about The New Woman in Dracula have generated much discussion. Among her comments, she says: "Some of the “New Women” writers will some day start an idea that men and women should be allowed to see each other asleep before proposing or accepting. But I suppose the New Woman won’t condescend in future to accept; she will do the proposing herself. And a nice job she will make of it, too! There’s some consolation in that."

The topic of women proposing gets explored in another Stoker novel, The Man or The Gates Of Life (1905)

The main character is a young woman, Stephen Norman. She's very outspoken about women's right to make choices, including proposing to men. Her foil is her Auntie, who is a conventional woman. Here, Stephen claims to her Auntie that if a woman isn't married to the man she wants, it's her own fault.

"Her fault? My dear, what if no man asks her?" This seemed to her own mind a poser. "Still her own fault! Why doesn’t she ask him?" Her aunt’s lorgnon was dropped in horrified amazement. Stephen went on impassively. "Certainly! Why shouldn’t she? Marriage is a union. As it is in the eye of the law a civil contract, either party to it should be at liberty to originate the matter. If a woman is not free to think of a man in all ways, how is she to judge of the suitability of their union? And if she is free in theory, why not free to undertake if necessary the initiative in a matter so momentous to herself?" The old lady actually groaned and wrung her hands; she was horrified at such sentiments. They were daring enough to think; but to put them in words! . . . "Oh, my dear, my dear!" she moaned, "be careful what you say. Some one might hear you who would not understand, as I do, that you are talking theory." Stephen’s habit of thought stood to her here. She saw that her aunt was distressed, and as she did not wish to pain her unduly, was willing to divert the immediate channel of her fear. She took the hand which lay in her lap and held it firmly whilst she smiled in the loving old eyes. "Of course, Auntie dear, it is theory. But still it is a theory which I hold very strongly!"

Stephen asks her Auntie why she never married (she didn't love any of her suitors, so she refused them) and if she was ever in love with a man:

"And why did you refuse them?" The tone was wheedling, and the elder woman loved to hear it. Wheedling is the courtship, by the young of the old. "Because, my dear, I didn’t love them." "But tell me, Auntie, was there never any one that you did love?" "Ah! my dear, that is a different matter. That is the real tragedy of a woman’s life." In flooding reminiscent thought she forgot her remonstrating; her voice became full of natural pathos: "To love; and be helpless! To wait, and wait, and wait; with your heart all aflame! To hope, and hope; till time seems to have passed away, and all the world to stand still on your hopeless misery! To know that a word might open up Heaven; and yet to have to remain mute! To keep back the glances that could enlighten; to modulate the tones that might betray! To see all you hoped for passing away . . . to another! . . . " Stephen bent over and kissed her, then standing up said: "I understand! Isn’t it wrong, Auntie, that there should be such tragedies? Should not that glance be given? Why should that tone be checked? Why should one be mute when a single word might, would, avert the tragedy? Is it not possible, Auntie, that there is something wrong in our social system when such things can happen; and can happen so often? "Some day women must learn their own strength, as well as they have learned their own weakness. They are taught this latter from their cradles up; but no one ever seems to teach them wherein their power lies. They have to learn this for themselves."

Stephen may have too progressive ideas, but she's still very gentle with her Auntie even while she's disagreeing, because she sees her Auntie is too scared that Stephen might get in trouble for her ideas:

"Why should good women’s lives be wrecked for a convention? Why in the blind following of some society fetish should life lose its charm, its possibilities? Why should love eat its heart out, in vain? The time will come when women will not be afraid to speak to men, as they should speak, as free and equal. Surely if a woman is to be the equal and lifelong companion of a man, the closest to him—nay, the only one really close to him: the mother of his children—she should be free at the very outset to show her inclination to him just as he would to her. Don’t be frightened, Auntie dear; your eyes are paining me! . . . There! perhaps I said too much. But after all it is only theory. Take for your comfort, Auntie dear, that I am free an heart-whole. You need not fear for me; I can see what your dear eyes tell me."

This all puts Mina's comments into perspective. Aside, Mina is an etiquette schoolteacher. And even at the start, she gradually breaks more conventions, however reluctantly, like when she chooses to let Jonathan hold her arm as they walk, over obeying to convention.

[number1-hera-defender]

Ganymede prologue

(I'm posting this here so I can delete it off the main work so the chapter counter works, I'll also do this with the epilogue too)

The sun was bright, shining down on Ganymede’s pale back. He hummed a soft tune to himself. His father, Tros, put him in charge of a flock of sheep. He felt a bit of pride in his chest, his father didn’t usually trust him with the livestock, let alone his prized sheep, not to mention he let him go so far from home and he was often kept inside, for whatever reason. So being allowed out and so far from home was fun for the young man.

He made sure the newly born lambs were keeping up with the heard. As he walked, a shadow flew overhead and he looked up to check, moving his hand so the sun wasn’t in his eyes.

He saw an eagle flying overhead, the large bird had been following him since he left the comfort of the castle, and the presence of the bird seemed to make everyone in the castle on edge, well, everyone except him.

‘You’re not taking a member of MY heard birdie.’ He huffed, glaring sharply at the bird, after a quick pause to do up his hair, trying to keep the hair out of his eyes as he jogged to keep up with his sheep.

He noticed the same lamb was struggling to walk, he quickly picked up the small creature, before glancing back at the eagle, it baaed weakly in his arms and tried to nurse from his arm. He sighed looking around for an ewe to nurse it, walking along the rocky road by Mount Ida. He found a small area of grass, a clearing of the trees with a small stream going through it.

He went down the slope, ensuring the sheep got down safety, and let the sheep graze while he looked around the flock, finding a mother ewe already nursing some lams, he helped the young lamb find the teat and nurse.

He patted the mother on the back before he sat down near the stream, sighing to himself again, ever since he had turned 11, his father and brothers refused to let him go outside, it was annoying. He used to think it was due to the fact he was the youngest and the prettiest out of all his brothers, but now he wasn’t sure.

He was almost 16 now, and his father was still not letting him outside with 3 guards always attached to him, and even then. It wasn’t like he was weak.

He could fight. He had beaten both his older brother, Ilus, and his trainer almost 10 times now. What was his father so afraid of? Was he worried he wouldn’t be able to marry? Or that he wasn’t ready to overlook something important?

Ganymede sighed, laying down in the cool grass, it was just turn spring, so the wind was still cold, but the sun was warm.

‘A perfect day.’ He mused to himself, closing his eyes as he relaxed, listening to his sheep as they grazed, baaing occasionally. He relaxed, deciding not to dwell on his father’s insistent on keeping him inside that stupid fort all day.

But he jumped up when he heard something big land on a tree branch nearby. He looked to the source of the noise and was shocked to see probably the biggest Bonelli's eagle ever.

The massive bird titled it head at him, before glancing to the sheep. Ganymede snaped out of his shock, grabbing his shepherd's crook and waving it at the bird.

“Shoo! Shoo!” He yelled at the bird, waving the crook wildly to scare the huge bird away, “get away you pest!”

The bird flinched before flying over to another branch, which scared the sheep into running away from it. He quickly rushed to try to re-herd the sheep, looking back at the bird before he saw it flying towards him.

He tried to duck but he was too slow, he cried in pain as the bird’s huge talons sunk into the soft flesh of his arms, blood started to drip down his arms. He hollowed out in fear and pain, as he tried in vain to hit the bird away.

“Get off of me!” He cried in fear. “Help! HELP!”

The bird didn’t relinquish its grip, it's wings flapped loudly, it started to screech at him, making him disorientated, before dragging him into the air. He closed his eyes, not wanting to look down, but then he did.

He was so far off the group, he felt like throwing up from the fear as his stomach churned, he looked back up to the bird, it seemed to know where it wanted to go as it soared through the air.

He felt light-headed as the eagle dragged him through the cloud and black spots appeared in his vision as he passed out, only feeling the wind hit his face as the eagle took him to Gods know where.

He woke up briefly and he felt something sweet enter his mouth along with people speaking around him, he could also feel a cup be pressed to his lips and a big hand hold his head up, a woman screaming in the distance while other yelled at curses, before he fell back asleep.

When he woke up again, he was in a bed and he heard men talking. He slowly sat up, holding his head as he tried not to spew, and he saw 4 men staring at him, all were dressed in different coloured exomis’.

"Um... Hello?"

[unexpectedreylo]

So, It Wasn't Planned After All

https://x.com/RichEisenShow/status/1734703529552699725?s=20

While Adam Driver is making the rounds to promote "Ferrari," he drops by the Rich Eisen Show and when asked about Ben Solo during the True or False segment, Adam spills the tea.

He doesn't get asked much about Star Wars so this is the first time I think he's talked about his character arc since TROS was unleashed upon us 4 years ago. And he drops the bomb that the Ben Solo thing wasn't planned from the beginning. That's right, Bendemption happened late in the game. He says that JJ Abrams told him the idea was Vader In Reverse (starts out vulnerable, ends entrenched in the dark side) and he kept that concept in mind throughout the time he filmed the ST, until they changed it with the last film. Adam has alluded to the concept of Vader In Reverse before but this is the first time he's gone into greater detail about it, including the revelation that the decision to turn Kylo from the dark side came during the third film.

This shouldn't be surprising to anyone who read the Duel of the Fates script and it explains why Ben hardly says a word during his scenes on Exegol. Abrams and Co. conceived of Kylo Ren as an evil bastard whose destiny was to get eviller; killing Han Solo was meant to be what sent him down the path of no return. Then two things happened: TLJ and Driver's commitment to humanizing Kylo Ren. People loved Kylo and Rey together (hence Reylo exploding in popularity) and they fell in love with Adam. They empathized with Kylo. So they changed course with TROS, a little. Kylo returns to the light as Ben but he is quickly dispatched once the big battle is over. I believe Ben's death was for two reasons: one, they were less invested and focused in Ben's part of the story than we were and two, there was always the intent to end the Skywalker line so Star Wars could focus on new characters. Remember, Rey essentially turned Skywalker into a title that could be transferred to anyone.

That the story changed over the course of the trilogy isn't that big a deal. There was no Chosen One prophecy until the prequels. Leia wasn't Luke's sister until Lucas wrote ROTJ. Han wasn't guaranteed to get out of carbonite because nobody was sure if Harrison Ford was going to come back. Instead of a tyrannical, ruthless bastard like Lee Pace's emperor in Apple TV's Foundation show, Kylo Ren gave us quivering lips, teary eyes, and mooning over the heroine who is supposed to be his enemy. When Rian Johnson introduced the bond between Rey and Kylo, Abrams and Terrio explained it as a dyad and made it prominent in the film. The kiss got put in because Reylo was so popular. Okay, fine.

The problem was they never should have made the Jedi Killer from early drafts Han and Leia's only child. As an old Star Wars fan who saw every film since 1977 and followed the Skywalker clan for over 40 years, I didn't want to see Anakin Skywalker's grandson end up even more evil than he was. What a huge bummer that would've been, even worse than if Rey was killed off. (For the record, I hated the whole Darth Jacen thing so much in the legends books I stopped reading them.) Abrams and Terrio probably realized it was going to be a problem returning to the idea that Ben was too evil to save; TROS already comes off as a tragic ending rather than a happy, triumphant one. And it goes against the whole message of Star Wars. So it ends up being Vader 2.0 and fans hoping Ben would survive were disappointed. I wasn't fond of the idea of exile or something as Ben's fate prior to TROS, but now I think that probably would've been the best outcome. It would've left a lot of possibilities to explore in future SW stories without having to come up with a convoluted explanation for bringing him back.

As much as they fumbled the ball, I'm glad they at least spared us Evil Kylo 4 Ever and Adam's turn as Ben was great even without anything to say besides "Ow." Adam sounded a little disappointed to me but maybe I'm just reading into it too much. In any case he has also stated in recent interviews he would be open to returning to Star Wars, so I guess we can still be hopeful even if he doesn't appear in the upcoming film. (Just don't wait 30 years, okay?)

[frumfrumfroo]

I mean, I’m still glad it was flat out stated that Ben fell in love with Rey because there were people still insisting he only wanted her power or that there was never anything romantic between them, but I get what you’re saying. We have more evidence, I think, of his feelings for her than of her feelings for him. I think it would change things up a bit to have actual concrete canon evidence of those feelings being mutual.

Sure, of course people are happy to hear it. I don't think it's new information at all, and it's honestly weird to me that some people act like it is, but it's nice to actually get recognition of your canon pairing after all the bullshit we've been through. It's the rock bottom bare minimum, but DLF hasn't been clearing that bar for a long time, so it feels like a win.

I think it's 100% clear that Rey, the actual character, loves Ben and desperately wants to be with him, but Rey the actual character was taken out back and shot so DLF could have their SWCU brand avatar. I don't hold tros against the Rey of the first two films or her potential, just like I don't allow tros to ruin Luke and Leia for me. I'm not taking that shit on board because it was a bunch of incoherent nonsense which fundamentally destroyed the entire narrative and thematic heart of SW.

We don't have a declaration from Rey, but she showed us where her heart was by leaping into the lion's den with zero back up or exit strategy. She threw her life down at Ben's feet knowing that her life represented one of the last hopes for the galaxy. She believed in him that strongly. She wanted him that badly.

And, you know, despite the absolute shit show of tros, the actors managed to deliver us a perfect moment based solely on the emotional continuity from TLJ without any scripted dialogue to fuck it up. Her face when she wakes up in his arms. Her kiss. He is the home she's yearned for all her life.

If people can't understand that means she loves him, that's a them problem.

And yeah, it would be great if DLF would acknowledge this incredibly obvious and well-established fact of the ST in words, it'd be nice to have more ammunition because at this point we've earned being petty, but I don't think it would change anything. They literally kissed on the mouth for longer than any other couple in all of SW and antis were blind suddenly, they couldn't see. We get 'kiss of gratitude' and 'but isn't that incest tho' ludicrous copes to this day.

No amount of validation from DLF is going to move the needle for the entrenched doofus brigade in this fandom. Ep IX was the crucial moment which would have vindicated the story and brought the audience together (not that it would ever have won over some people, but you know) and they whiffed that. Even in the shitty, nonsensical execution of tros, we saw the microcosm of what the ST's RotJ would have done. So many people finally 'got' Ben just from two minutes without dialogue, imagine if the movie had been coherent and had had the ending the narrative needed and promised.

But yeah, anyway. I expect nothing from DLF and I don't think anything they could do will ever make much difference now. The canon is already broken and can't be fixed without just redoing ep IX, which would never happen. The audience and the GFFA are both fractured beyond repair.

[taco-drinking-bleach]

Yk there is a common saying that dying is easier then living in heart ship, also the saying "Suffering, not because they are fated to die, but doomed to suffer". And I would agree that these sayings hold grounds in many characters. One character (I have a few, but my tumblr is under Yanqing's vice grip so he gets talked about), Is Yanqing. I have talked in a past post about how Yanqing is most likely gonna go through something hard very soon. Fighting his dad, taking responsibilities that he isn't ready for and having no other choice, etc. I think that he might be doomed to live, Like his father/blade/the cloud Tro. History rhymes is something we can agree about so is the abundance. both somethings so close to Yanqing and the past, something distinctly so close to living no matter the cost. Living longer then what should be possible, what is reasonable, what is humane. I mean, I am sure without a doubt he will grow and change, he is a very good character and he has shown changes. But just because you are the best you, you could ever be, doesn't make you not suffer. Suffering is innate and close to Yanqing it seems. What I mean to get at is, he will live, he will go forward, he will strive for tomorrow. But when all comes crashing down and walking makes you remember the weight that wears you down, he will keep going. For this is the only path for him. There is nowhere to lean, there is no quitting, and his pride, so frail but never fickle in its existence, will not let him lay down until its over.

[total-drama-brainrot]

ophe when’s the alecody essay (HARD /J HERE LMFAO) /nf

As far as Alejandro ships go, Alecody is probably one of the most viable ones out there.

That's not to say it's the most viable, or the "best" Alejandro ship, because quite frankly I don't think there is such a thing as a "best ship", but from a purely canonical standpoint if Alejandro were to end up with any of his castmates, I'd say Cody would be a strong contender. Again, not the strongest, but also not entirely out of left field.

Which is mostly because he's one of the very few people in canon that Alejandro has A. interacted with more than once without issue, and B. not screwed over entirely to reach his goals. Not that Alejandro didn't screw Cody over - there are a few instances wherein Alejandro intentionally does something that directly affects Cody (most notably feeding Sierra's wedding delusions), but Alejandro doesn't do anything in terms of the competition at large that'll get Cody himself eliminated. In fact, he takes the finale tie breaker quite seriously; it's one of the few times Alejandro gets someone eliminated fairly, and Cody himself readily accepts that.

Cody's also one of the few characters who Alejandro has shown conditional kindness to, who actually survives said kindness without facing an elimination. Or without immediately contrasting that kindness with hostility behind his back (like he does with Owen and, to a lesser extent, Izzy), or using said kindness as the tool that'll get him eliminated (via flirting). That has to count for something, since Alejandro isn't the type to form friendships/aqquaintenceships that don't benefit him, and yet any sort of relationship with Cody is unbiasedly bereft of any notable benefits outside of the rapport itself.

The alliance he tries to secure with Cody is, objectively, entirely useless to Alejandro. He knows that Cody will only ever vote for Sierra, just like he knows that - out of the remaining four - Cody is the weakest contestant, and yet he still does his best to keep Cody on his side despite there being negligable benefits of him doing so.

So despite the fact that they had to duke it out in the tiebreaker, Alejandro and Cody have surprisingly little beef between them.

You could argue that Cody utilizing the nickname "Al" against him is indicitive of some resentment on his part, but I'd argue that Cody only really does that because he's a little shit (and rooting for Heather) and doesn't have the same level of resentment towards Alejandro that the majority of the cast harbours. If any at all, since Alejandro was nothing but cordial towards him.

So it's entirely plausible that Cody and Alejandro could meet each other outside the context of the competition - likely after All-stars, if we're going by strictly canonical guidelines - and spark a relationship from there.

Neither holds and lingering dislike for the other, and they've got a shared history of medical suffering under Total Drama they could bond over, and Cody's already seen Alejandro at his worst moments so Alejandro doesn't even have to live up to any false pretenses around him. Cody himself isn't the type to judge a person too harshly on their actions in the competition (which is backed by his canonical forgiveness and acceptance of Sierra despite her actions towards him) and would probably be thrilled to learn that the seemingly infalliable Alejandro he knew in Total Drama is, in fact, a giant nerd. (Just like him!)

I think the main factor that would hold this ship back would be Cody's inabily o recognis th at at hid cor e he little mome than a bxi eia; dis st t and Ale j a dn tro is evnrn mor so. T her s e t o lon ers coul nd t inf ds a h ela g t h r altio nanhip if i etr jjmupec ut anf u bt them on t h e f ace.

aacoridngt oal known laws of actia thes i s no way bbe souhle be a bl e to s fly its win s a e tto smal to get ist fa tlitr el bod y tsoooff hte geuihnd the bbe of c our se flie s anywa y becas e bes ont c re ha t s hu man sns thij ksi imposacp ible

[darthmaclunkey]

seeing last jedi again was so good. i will be fighting in the last jedi trenches until i die. if last jedi has no fans left on earth then i am dead etc etc. some very rambling and incoherent thoughts under the cut:

i love luke so much in tlj. luke skywaker is my all-time favourite character from anything, because he really embodies one of the core messages from star wars: being good is a choice, and it's a choice you have to keep making. right from the start of new hope, we see how luke is just constantly thrust into situations where, time and time again, he's given the choice of the easy way out, or tempted by the dark side. but luke always chooses to do the right thing, even when it's hard. in rotj we do get a glimpse of him as this aloof, emotionless jedi, but then it all unravels in the finale when he is forced to confront vader. i know a lot of the vitriol around last jedi is from people who think it ruined luke's character, but to me, his arc makes perfect sense. sequels luke is a man who has spent his whole life making sacrifices and working hard to do good, until it's all torn away from him by the dark side - a dark side plot specifically designed to undermine luke and the light, mind you - yet he still blames himself, because a fleeting temptation from the dark to take the easy route out and save the galaxy from what he saw in ben almost got him, but it didn't. and he paid for that temptation dearly. i would have hated to see a sequels-era luke who was just some epic version of the distant, quasi-mystical jedi knight we see in rotj (as i've seen some people saying that's how he should have been). what kind of character arc is that? he gets to the end of the OT and then never changes? i'm drawn to luke because of his humanity, the fact that you still see the tatooine farmboy in him years later. his sacrifice at the end of last jedi is so beautiful and poignant to me; a lesser script (cough tros cough) would have had him jump in an x-wing and show up to plow through the first order with his lightsaber. i love what we get instead: his moment with leia, her touching his hands and realising he's a projection - his knowing wink to threepio - the image of him emerging from the dust and smoke, unscathed, and how it clearly puts the absolute fear into kylo ren - the way he doesn't even attack, just dodges and blocks - then, finally, the shot of him on ahch-to, watching the sunset, and, once he's gone, the image of his cloak blowing away in the wind, symbolic of his spirit joining the cosmic force. that's my jedi master luke. funny, powerful, human, flawed, but still, after all this time, making the choice to do good and fight for others, even if it's the hardest thing he'll ever do. whew. luke skywalker i love you.

i love how last jedi looks. with the exception of maybe empire, i think it's the best-looking of all the films. it's stuffed with references to absolutely classic cinema, like the shot in canto bight that's an homage to the café dolly shot in wings, or the classic hitchcockian dolly zoom as finn and rose look over the cliff, and the opening sequence with the bombing run is just a straight homage to old war movies, which is just what the OT did with the space battles being shot-for-shot remakes of ww2 dogfight footage. original-flavour star wars was a love letter to to so many other films and tv shows, so this feels so natural. at the same time, there's a lot of sequences that feel really innovative for star wars, like the montage that accompanies rey's connection to the force on ahch-to, or the film's extensive use of close-up shots and slow-mo. the lighting is gorgeous. finn's fight with phasma looks astonishing on the big screen - the colour grading and visual effects really go off in that scene.

i love all the force skype sessions with kylo and rey, but especially the scene where she's out in the rain and, when they disconnect, you see kylo running his hand over his face then shaking the rainwater from his glove. something I hadn't appreciated before is how well the film sells you on the idea that they are both present in the same space, despite seeing them both shot against different backgrounds. the intimacy of the rain-on-glove thing gets me every time.

i love everybody's arcs. every single member of the main trio has a full arc in the film. rose tico is such a lovely addition to the main cast, i hate how she got totally shafted in rise of skywalker.

on a completely superficial note: the main cast are all at their hottest in last jedi. especially poe dameron. especially poe dameron.

the throne room fight scene is one of my favourite movie scenes ever (and in star wars, it's only beaten out by the binary sunset scene from new hope). i WISH i could relive the first time i saw it at the midnight screening i went to in 2017. i may have been sitting politely, but i was hooting and hollering internally.

rian johnson, they could never make me hate you.

[marinersubmariner]

Empress Rey art notes/process post

I'm not usually a fan of extremely feminine Rey fashions, mainly due to personal preference and because it doesn't fit with how I view her character. Even when re-envisioning something for dark Rey—which could conceivably be more out of character—there isn't a lot that really works for me. But I was struck by some inspiration and felt the urge to try putting her in something glamorous in a way that is intentionally counter to what I think of as her more authentic presentation.

I admittedly never hated her white outfit as much as a lot of people—I did find it to be a nice refinement of her previous outfits—but I also definitely agree with the criticism that the pure white is symbolically a regression for her character, cloying and infantilizing and impractical. (yeah the sand gremlin always covered in grease, blood, sweat, and dirt is gonna dress in white. yeah. great.) So as with many things in TROS I think it's more interesting to deliberately play up the wrongness of it. Warping the white into something too white, a false signaling of purity that tips over the edge into uncanny. A wolf in sheep's clothing. (classic Palpatine)

As far as direct inspiration, the Praetorian guards have always reminded me of Eiko Ishioka's costume designs, and ever since that realization it's been stuck in my mind that her style is something that would have been really cool and weird for Empress Rey. I hadn't thought beyond that into visualizing anything, until it hit me that rather than going typically dark I could reference something like vampire Lucy in Dracula (1992), all in white but obviously monstrous.

Specifically within Star Wars I find that concept of "darkness presented as light" most effective and haunting in Screecher's Reach with the Sith Mother. Light and salvation as horror; "going toward the light" as a metaphor for death; Kylo fighting so desperately against the pull to the light; searing, blinding brightness being just as maddening as impenetrable darkness.

Here are some examples of what I was pulling from:

1. Bram Stoker's Dracula 2. The Fall 3. The NeverEnding Story 4. Dune: Part Two 5. Screecher's Reach 6. Givenchy 7-8. Iris Van Herpen

I was trying to avoid being too reminiscent of anything Padme wore, but she covered so many different types of royal outfits and head adornments that there's not much way around it with this type of thing.

I didn't look much at real-life crowns (aside from material reference for sparkle/shininess rendering) because I didn't want to be derivative or appropriative of any particular cultural dress, but there's likely some inadvertent similarity simply because ornate headdresses already exist in so many forms. My goal was just to appeal to my own affinity for linear patterns and geometric shapes.

Sketches from trying to figure out a crown design. I wanted more stuff hanging in her face—I had envisioned chains or a veil because I like the mysteriousness of obscuring some features and the hostility of making it cumbersome for the wearer and inscrutable to the viewer, but since her eyes are kind of the only indicator of evilness here (and a subtle one at that) I couldn't bring myself to cover up too much. When I tried veils it looked too bridal, which I also didn't want, so I ultimately landed on the partial open veil/cowl.

The emblem in the tiara and hidden in the back of the headdress is the Sith Eternal insignia from TROS. And I did give her Sith eyes but may have gone too understated with it—I was trying to do it in a way that's more golden and less cartoonish than they typically look. (the bright yellow and red is. a lot. and changing iris colors is a tricky balance to strike because it can get tacky really quickly. uhhhh full offense @ live-action Ahsoka Hera and Ezra)

I got hung up on this for a long time because of the outfit rendering—I finished the portrait months ago and then got overwhelmed by the prospect of trying to refine the headdresses and clothing. Just getting the outlines shaped in a way I liked took a long time, and then I had no idea how to achieve the crystalline headdress or how to balance looser rendering with such an extensive amount of detail. I tried it with dashed vector lines, which gave a decent effect but was too uniform and busy, so I jumped off from that and redrew it by hand. It's still not really what I wanted—I had hoped for something sleeker and maybe more opalescent than just "idk diamonds or whatever"—but at least it kind of looks like it's made out of crystals.

I'm actually happiest with the clothing, what little of it is visible—I loooooove pleats (sharp lines! geometry! Issey Miyake!!) and wanted the fabric to appear translucent and somewhat iridescent and I'm pretty satisfied with how that ended up. Also a slight nod to The Locked Tomb's Lyctor cloaks. :) The Emperor's fists and gestures. :)

Once again I had higher aspirations to weirdness than what I actually achieved because my aesthetics tend toward simplistic and boring, and things that seem good in theory don't always work in practice, but anyway, that's the stuff that was going through my head. Not dark but beautiful and terrible as the dawn, etc.

One final fun thought I had: what if the headdress crystals are shattered bits of kyber screaming in agony? What if Rey Palpatine is completely out of her gourd

[dameronswife]

🔥

Okay bestie, you get the most unpopular of my unpopular opinions: I really hate st*rmpil*t as a ship. That isn't to say I support the fact that Lucasfilm didn't go through with it, because I don't, and I'd be very curious to see the version of the trilogy Oscar had in mind with a romance between the two of them, because he's a fantastic storyteller and I know he was Cooking with something.

But outside of that context? I've never understood the appeal of the pairing, because it feels so entirely one-sided and unrequited, and that's not even digging into the fact that just within the context of the films and the novelizations themselves, Poe doesn't seem particularly important to Finn: in the TFA novelization, Finn ejects from the TIE Fighter assuming that Poe is already dead, but goes back once he's unconscious (not disparaging him, btw, it's a really good indication of Finn's role as the Han archetype in the trilogy, initially focused on self preservation before running back to help someone else). In TLJ, he's focused entirely on preventing Rey from returning to the Resistance fleet that he's convinced is doomed along with everyone aboard it, and seemingly has no problems with leaving Poe behind aboard said doomed fleet.

The deleted scene that everyone loses their minds over, claiming it's such good evidence of them being Han & Leia coded, legitimately features both of them having a conversation wherein neither of them is listening to the other. Finn is not interested in what Poe has to say (the recruitment speech), and Poe does not want to hear that the man who saved his life, completed his mission, and made such a huge sacrifice going to Starkiller, has no interest in joining his cause.

We see that communication problem carry over to TROS; Finn keeps his force sensitivity a secret from everyone, and Poe keeps what happened when he was a teenager with Zorii a secret too. Both of them are nosy kings (I understand, I'm also hella nosy) and keep pressuring the other to crack about what's being kept from them, which leads to even more conflict between them. I mean - they're literally willing to bicker their way through execution. And that's not even remotely digging into their argument on the hill.

And that's not to say I don't love Finn either (this is the piss on the poor website, I feel like it needs to be clarified). I adore Finn, and I love the complexities he's allowed to have! But I don't think he and Poe are a good match, long-term, as canon currently exists (I see no point in wasting my breath imagining a universe where their relationship was actually fostered and allowed to bloom more fully into a healthy friendship after The Force Awakens, and potentially into a romance, because I knew that was never going to happen, however onboard Oscar may have been for it.)

Which leads me into my other points: number one, I don't feel like John ever played Finn being particularly into Poe. We know John is a very vocal FinnRey shipper (good for him!) and it translates when watching TFA because that man is acting like a Jane Austen love interest opposite of Rey. Those heart eyes in Maz's castle when he finally confesses to Rey that he was a stormtrooper? Be still my heart. Or even in TLJ with Rose, that soft look he gives Rose when she's talking on Canto Bight when they're on the balcony? Sweet as fuck.

But he never brings that energy when it comes to Poe; I have no problem believing Poe is into Finn. That's coded directly into Oscar's performance, and ergo subtext in canon. You can see the exact moment in TFA when poe.exe quits working on the tarmac scene when Finn grabs his shoulder and leans in - but that's just it, it's one-sided as hell. I do think that Finn cares quite a lot about Poe, to be clear, but he's not initially one of the most important people in Finn's life and [checks notes] that's for 2 out of 3 movies.

And finally, whatever neutrality I had towards the ship, eventually bloomed into it becoming a NOTP because of its fandom. I have never had a single good experience bumping into that fandom, and I think it did more harm than good when it comes to fanon for both characters. The insistence that Poe does not have a character arc at all, that he was only good in TFA, is so blatantly untrue and speaks volumes to how much they actually value Poe as his own character - you mean you only like him when he has no clear character arc, because he's barely in the film? And we're given broad strokes of what he's like as a person and is essentially a blank slate for you to project your Perfect Cinnamon Roll Who Does No Wrong persona onto him, or fetishize him to the highest degree?

Finn is not so lucky to have as coherent arc as Poe and Rey; I really don't think the writers ever knew what to do with him from the start (just from what I've gleaned over the years, especially after reading the Art of the Force Awakens and watching the documentary for the film) and of course that only got worse (and we know why!), so it's especially irritating when fandom wants to take what little meat we got for Finn's character and warp his character into only being obsessed with Poe, or having no reason to exist beyond being a love interest. I don't think we should be actively stripping away what little Finn already gets for the sake of a fanon ship.

That's not even digging into the racist portrayals that's so prominent in the fandom. I feel like any time I see fanart for the ship, it's nothing but racist stereotypes or fetishization. Or the sheer amount of misogynistic attitudes that is so commonly thrown around? When the Poe comics were coming out, you could feel the fandom ready to attack Karè, Jess, and Suralinda if they got a little too close to Poe. Rey had to be quickly shoehorned into the role of lesbian or asexual so she wasn't a threat to their ship (because asexual people can't experience romantic attraction; we sure love some arophobia and erasure in this household!) or lest she actually seem interested in the men of color (when she canonically is giving them both heart eyes at different points in the trilogy). Just recently, I saw a shipper claim that Rose was only the subject of so much vitriol because she was an obstacle for the ship, completely erasing the very real racism and sexism that Kelly Marie Tran faced in the backlash from TLJ. Y'all don't need to be doing Lucasfilm and the Mouse's jobs for them by making up excuses for harassment that's rooted entirely in racism. That's not even digging into the responses to Jannah (I am not mentioning Zorii here, since a lot of the criticism was earned with the retcon for Poe's backstory, but I'll say there was more anger about the fact that Poe could also be interested in a woman, than the fact that they chose a racist stereotype for his plot twist backstory).

And the queerphobia in the fandom that's allegedly SO concerned with progressive queer rep is outrageous. Poe isn't allowed to be bisexual or pansexual because that's homophobic, despite Oscar saying on multiple occasions he thinks Poe is bi/pan? Not even digging into the fact that, upon suggesting Poe could be ace as a headcanon, I - at the age of 17 - had a complete stranger in my dms arguing with me that I was being homophobic because hate crimes exist, and people are hurt for just holding hands with their partners, and saying that Poe was ace meant that he couldn't be physically affectionate with Finn was inherently homophobic. Because I guess that holding hands is sexual now???

This got so long, longer than I meant it to, and I think I've gone on longer rants in our server about it before. But the tl;dr is that I don't think they're a good match, that they're kind of unhealthy and one-sided, and the fandom completely ruined whatever neutrality I had towards the ship by being so toxic and obnoxious.

[onewomancitadel]

There's this really obnoxious attitude that the sort of brand loyalty you see in something like fashion (where, except in fringe cases where actual practices are protected, it's superficial, but potent to signal status) is transferable over to other artistic storytelling properties such as books, film, and video games, and that the loyalty of sycophants to the brand is guaranteed; the only thing that matters is that it's called Star Wars and has some of the theme park trappings, a signification without substance or essence. This is why you end up with the corporate takeaway from TROS being "I guess people don't like Star Wars anymore" and not "we are storytelling vandals" and so to get people back that means we need to commit harder to The Brand. That's how you end up with CGI monster Luke.

The idea that audience members may actually be committed to a story meaning something is utterly fanciful. It has Dragon Age on it. You have to like it. You are supposed to like it. They think these properties command the sort of power Louis Vuitton or Chanel does: name which signifies prestige, exclusivity - irrespective of any real location in historical or artistic narrative - because fashion has a totally different job in signifying aspirational character on one's body. And it's true that in other domains people have brand loyalty just because it is traditional - think Ford vs. Holden in Australia, more tribal than anything - and, including for fashion, it is also partly a matter of circumstantial convenience. People need clothes, houses, food, even cars, depending where you live; but your loyalty to storytelling is only so far as it brings you joy or affords you community. The problem is that when you get to the bottom-line margins, a business suit doesn't really understand that, or can't understand it according to their own ethos. And I realise I'm generalising, but it's hard not to see an overwhelming trend - that consumers are seen as little more than manipulable automatons, market figures, gross statistics (maybe in some ways they aren't wrong, that people will take what they're given when necessity calls for it; and of course these can be useful tools).

I once attended a chilling lecture by an anthropologist who had decided to study anthropology out of a desire to best understand the market she and her team wanted to capture at her advertising firm, to control and psychologically influence. She was one of the scariest people I've ever had the misfortune of meeting. You'd think she was a fucking alien, for all that would make me a hypocrite.

I was really confused for a long time about the way they run storytelling "IPs" into the ground - storytelling universes - until I figured out that they're trying to run them like a merchandising house and not a body of narrative, a mythology, for which they are caretakers and contributors. The irony of course is that their methods don't equate to overwhelming commercial success, or a presence in the cultural consciousness, in cultivating any sort of meaningful loyalty at all; they couldn't create a cultural classic if they tried, and don't understand the risks that had to be taken in the first place to make them. Nobody wanted Dune, initially; an auto repair manual publisher apparently took pity on Frank Herbert in the end.

[horizon-verizon]

I think people don’t realise what a nightmare Fire & Blood is to adapt compared to ASOIAF. Often, characters are named and placed in situations in order to flesh out the family trees and marriage alliances, and then many of them are left waiting around during all of the actual interesting stuff. This can’t happen in a TV show, and frankly this is (unfortunately perhaps?) the most logical thing to do with Rhaena.

Fans understandably want everything in the source material to be faithfully adapted but visual mediums are not the same as literary works. Storylines have to be consolidated and streamlined to save costs for ensemble casts and to provide faster-paced storylines that don’t bore audiences, unlike books which can take their time with a story and gradually develop their characters over hundreds of pages.

Characters like Nettles and Rhaena simply don’t work in visual medium, because both characters would just not have enough to do that would warrant investment by the audience. Combining elements of both into one character, if done right, can strengthen the overall character and subsequent story.

Besides, the jealous lover trope for Rhaenyra in the book being the source of her and Daemon’s fallout is uninspiring. Daemon being forced to choose between Rhaena and Rhaenyra is a far more compelling angle, and would provide a stronger perspective on Daemon as a whole, especially with how lacking of a father he was in S1.

Anon responds to several recent posts about the likely merging of Nettles and Rhaena of Pentos's storylines that starts HERE or HERE.

I understand that HotD might be very entertaining to some people...but implying that the writers couldn't have done better bc F&B is supposedly incoherent (when it's far from so) AND thus it is as good as any adaptation could get--thereby seemingly to admit that it's not great and then seemingly simultaneously saying that it is actually pretty good...

is not the vibe.

In all, a lot of the issues you bring up are ordinary issues with adaptations (and seem to make as excuse for these writers who point blank already said/showed they were intent on creating a totally different story with Rhaenicent replacing the original storyline) but the mess of storylines we get in HotD can't be excused by this idea of how "difficult" it is to adapt what does have pretty clear characters, events, etc. Also, good planning and foresight and integrity couldn't hurt.

A)

unlike books which can take their time with a story and gradually develop their characters over hundreds of pages.

vs

I think people don’t realise what a nightmare Fire & Blood is to adapt compared to ASOIAF. Often, characters are named and placed in situations in order to flesh out the family trees and marriage alliances, and then many of them are left waiting around during all of the actual interesting stuff.

A contradiction. So F&B is very detailed and a rich text with solid characterizations and definite events now?

B)

Characters like Nettles and Rhaena simply don’t work in visual medium, because both characters would just not have enough to do that would warrant investment by the audience. Combining elements of both into one character, if done right, can strengthen the overall character and subsequent story.

...So Gwayne Hightower, who was given a lot more material than he ever actually had...that made sense to you? Hugh the Hammer becoming a family man when he already had the Caltrops deal with Ulf the White? You can't show an increasing amount of frustration from Ulf and Hugh without trying to make us sympathize with either of them and make either underdogs? We can't follow Nettles as a young street "urchin"? We can't do the same for two separate girls, make up stories and backgrounds?! HUH?! We can't have flashbacks to Marilda of Hull and the Hull boys? No?

We did it for those irrelevant nutjobs, but not for Rhaena or Nettles? Anon, please. Address the misgynoir or at least this major discrepancy.

Besides, the jealous lover trope for Rhaenyra in the book being the source of her and Daemon’s fallout is uninspiring. Daemon being forced to choose between Rhaena and Rhaenyra is a far more compelling angle, and would provide a stronger perspective on Daemon as a whole, especially with how lacking of a father he was in S1.

You assumed two things: that Rhaenyra believed Daemon x Nettles was real AND that I believe they happened romantically. The first one, that's more than understandable since that is the prevailing impression the fandom has had for years and a lot of people don't really like F&B for how differently it's written from ASoIaF (I think it would have been improved just with some female voices put to paper, like Daemon and Otto in Rogue Prince and some of F&B...esp Rhaenyra or her ladies and a few history-loving septas).

I even am rethinking the whole "Rhaenyra thought Nettles seduced Daemon with magic and stole him from her" bc....SEPTON EUSTACE SAYS THIS HAPPENED THIS WAY, after he already describes Mysaria a "witch" who manipulates Rhaenyra as if casting a spell. The guy who speculated that she and Daemon were sleeping together as Rhaenyra gorged herself while a war was going on. Like the true religious sexist that he is.

Aside from that, I still think that Nettles being revealed as being Daemon's bio daughter is FAR more compelling AND sensical than Rhaenyra willing to kill her husband's daughter who she partially raised...or was supposed to and not treat as if she serves her like some servant....which, again, is very misogynoirist. For some reason, people keep ignoring this particular point I'm making...

Anyway, once again, like I said HERE about Rhaena at the Vale, you could have her flourish in diplomacy and meeting certain characters who will be important later in the overall storyline...plus imagine what we could have had as how Rhaena manages to finally hatch Morning?! The process and tension--from the suggestion of those different "experiments" she tries that are all different from what she did when she was just a child--that's built up to that by some specific egg-interaction scenes...some epiphany she could have had...something to tie her into actual magic! And this is just one way you could have written Rhaena at the Vale!

I don't think you guys understand what you've lost.

C)

A lot of the weird shit that happens on the show!blacks' side in terms of why Daemon kills at Harrenhal when he canonically doesn't and why it's made out to be as if he's paid for a bad prize in winning the castle is because they have Rhaenyra acting like there isn't a war already happening whether she likes it or not (their argument back in e2). If they hadn't made the woman who was canonically "tempermental" and just as willing to assert her rights as some people Robb Stark or Stannis Baratheon were more a reality-denying doormat as she was who only fights bc he dad said stuff abt the ASoIaF prophecy instead of having any ambition for herself (in the attempt to make her more "moral" or whatever)...we wouldn't have had the mess of a storyline we got now.

Daemon's magic plotline, I'm not that angry about. More how he got there and the taking reframed as him trying to prove a point to his wife after a nonsensical argument and not being very successful in getting allies for her. And him doing so without thinking of how his leaving the way he does could impact Rhaenyra's hold even further, and for real this time (no, B&C would and canonically does nothing to dissuade anyone from supporting Rhaenyra). Rather than him "requesting" or being sent to Harrenhal, an argument there or not but likely after an actually sensical argument.

A point that he instantly invalidates by again going off without first establishing plans they are both aware of. This is war, not sitcom TV suburbia where the father leaves the house for a bit and there's low stakes for that to make sense. A much different sort of war from the Stepstones as well. All their lives are on the line, not just soldiers...which they didn't have (or as much) at the moment. And Dameon (book-wise) was not that petty as to cross into dum-dum territory.

D) Other Stuff

"compared"....not "impossible", and the way they have for several characters were very unnecessary, so...I can't agree with this sentiment that these characters are so, so difficult to have adapted as they are, esp since if you read well, you find a lot of evidence that shows who some important characters are and a few of their critical motivations. Now if you didn't don't want to do that, all the power to you. Doesn't mean that it was impossible or valueless to do so in the first place, since that is what we were supposed to do with this FICTIONAL historical document.

Often, characters are named and placed in situations in order to flesh out the family trees and marriage alliances, and then many of them are left waiting around during all of the actual interesting stuff. This can’t happen in a TV show, and frankly this is (unfortunately perhaps?) the most logical thing to do with Rhaena.

...funny you say that, since there was a lot that could have been done for Jacaerys' diplomacy arc to the Vale, then to the Manderlys, then to Cregan Stark where he stays and becomes great friends. I don't think you realize how much we lost here. Jeyne Arryn's words to Jace abt women sticking close and the reveal of her female lover; Wyman Manderly and the court that they didn't show in GoT, here is where they could have showcased the Merman's court; flashbacks to Cregan's times of getting his regent greedy uncle out so he can reclaim his own seat as his father intended as well as showing us their Jacegan(?) bromance's development. Like, this is at least 3 episodes alone!

You act like specific words, events, and actions are not told or narrated and done so with good enough detail (and reliably) in F&B for us to understand the and glean truth from fiction. As if the entire project is a haphazard collection of just names...when those marriage alliances (one of Joffrey to Desmond Manderly's youngest daughter) was made fully within the larger, variously-detailed and overlapping-storied context of the current Dance/war.

Jacaerys was not "waiting around". He went to the North to get alliances for his mother and in one of them, he meets with a Manderly and that is how he gets Manderly's promise--Joffrey's betrothal to his daughter. This is not even the most well known accomplishment Jace had in his particular mission, he'd go on to meet with two other, more famed, leaders with pretty badass moments DETAILED in the book that even could have been depicted/expanded more live.

These writers simply didn't think his diplomacy arc was important enough to expound and show in their time crunch...meanwhile, we got one-liner Gwayne Hightower speaking nonsense to Criston Cole, Alicole sex scenes, Alicent bathing as if she wants to ice her entire head to block out the world up the wazoo. And NONE of the Daemyra-Dragonstone family scenes that the time jump of last season's epi 8 came from. We're told, canonically, more about this unit than we are about Gwayne, yet here we are.

Perhaps I'm just assuming, but like I said in this post, it appears that people think the Dance portion of F&B was just the Dance...no, it started with "Heirs of the Dragon, who were Jaehaerys' children/grandkids towards the GC of 101. Which means that with as much context and history F&B actually gets into a lot of detail for a historical document, these writers had a lot of material for bringing Princess Rhaenys properly to life, for example. Even if you don't include how she wanted to go fight the Myrmen with her father Aemon while pregnant, this fact from the book should be enough to let you know what sort of person she was. Which is supplemented by her plans for how to defeat the greens in the first black council. Also, how we hear her response to Jaehaerys choosing Baelon and the lords choosing Viserys over her and her kids. And we have her protest angrily and freely how Jaehaerys was taking away her and her kid's birthrights...That's at least 3 incidents showing the true, real and solid "Rhaenys" of the orig story. It is consistent.

There was so much from Jace, Daemon, Rhaenyra-Mysaria they could have done (note how I keep talking about the blacks...bc the green characters actually have some notable plot action going on from their characterizations aside from the Alicole nonsense...not Helaena, though, but she was always meant to further Alicent and be an accessory, not her own person to these writers, so....)

Apart from that, F&B has Gyldayn castigate Rhaenyra from going to war herself...while Aegon was burnt into useless pork at Rook's Rest. You can have Rhaneyra do shit without going to war at Dragonstone with Daemon and Mysaria planning shit out as a sort of "good" change from the canon. You could even try to argue that since...

Gyldayn was looking to rebuke Rhaenyra for being a woman and going to war at all for nay inheritance like a man and thus paoint her as incompetent, that she didn't actually fall into a graceless heap and have the men around her do everything in her mental absence...

that she/Emma was simply sequestered to collect herself and work behind smaller spaces while calling this and that person to her to make plans, etc. Instead, we have her impersonate a septa and go on endangering herself thinking Alicent of all people not only would but could do anything with or without her to prevent a war that's already happening...This is called working with the original to make something "new".

...............................................................................

I've seen too many logical inconsistencies or places where they could have improved some's scenes if they had just....though ahead or read F&B more than twice in total good faith.

Deliberate giving black-specific stuff to the greens as well, which they also didn't have to do but did...willingly and BEFORE S2.

The writers, I mean. This book may have been created like a historical book...doesn't mean that we nor actual historians manage to find truths in said documents...otherwise we wouldn't know anything of certain events and wittle some more ambiguous events down to a few LIKELIEST possibilities. And we still have made pretty great movies from ambiguously told historical-legendary events (Vikings, hello?!)

I don't see this as a proper excuse.

[ncfan-1]

I’ve avoided saying this before now because I don’t want to rain on people’s parades and I don’t want to be aggressively negative when so many people are still hopeful of a good outcome, but see under the cut if you’ve ever wondered why, in all of my complaints over The Acolyte being cancelled, I’ve never campaigned for it to be renewed:

First of all, I don’t think it will be un-cancelled. That would require Disney to actually admit that cancelling the show in the first place was a bad idea, and I don’t think they are ever going to do that. I don’t think they would humble themselves like that, and I also think they have just enough self-awareness to know that admitting that cancelling The Acolyte was a bad idea would entail having to admit what quiet parts they weren’t wanting to say out loud when they cancelled it, and that admitting that it was a move meant to appease and enable bigots is not a good look.

Second, I can’t shake the idea that if the show ever was un-cancelled, it would be a straight-up Monkey’s Paw situation.

You guys remember TLJ? You remember the bigoted backlash to that film? You remember how Disney decided to pander to all of the bigots who vocally hated TLJ when making TROS and completely undercut and invalidated nearly all of the narrative choices TLJ made that the vocal haters didn’t like, even when they were valid choices made in service of telling an interesting story?

The Acolyte is a latter-day TLJ, and I cannot shake the impression that if it was ever renewed, it would only be on the condition that Disney exerted significant unwanted, unneeded executive interference over Seasons 2 and 3 meant to “fix” what the whiny bigots felt was wrong with it. While I don’t know the exact form that would take, what I do know is that it would probably ruin the latter two seasons and make them into the same kind of vacuous nothing of a story of that TROS was, with everything that made the story compelling and everything that made it so different from all of the Star Wars properties airing at roughly the same time as it stripped away. I don’t want the safer, more conventional story that Disney would probably tell if it had its way, the kind that avoided courting controversy at the expense of also avoiding breaking any new ground in Star Wars storytelling. I want the story that Leslye Headland intended to tell from the moment Episode 1 of S1 dropped.

But Disney felt it was important enough to appease whiny bigots to give The Acolyte black sheep treatment, to unceremoniously cancel it without even waiting to get an actually good idea of what kind of numbers it could do. So if they ever renewed it, they would probably let their desire to appease whiny bigots dictate what kind of story the show could tell us moving forward. And that is not what I want.

(Thirdly, as a final note, it’s my concern for the cast and crew and the way they were treated. I think I have said this before somewhere, but I don’t think I could look them in the eye and tell them to go back after the way they were treated. Especially considering that Disney could always just cancel the show again if they decided to do so for whatever reason. After Disney completely failed to protect the cast and crew, especially the lead Amandla Stenberg, from sustained harassment, I couldn’t look any of them in the eye and tell them to go back when they could always just have the rug pulled out from under them again.)

[spineless-lobster]

Greetings friend. Mind if I bother you for a WIP Wednesday?

But here's the thing. Let's make it a game. You with me? Here are the rules.

Take your favourite flower and count the number of letters in its name. The name can be its common name (yarrow), its specific epithet (the “millefolium” of Achillea millefolium) or the name you use for it in any other language you prefer.

Counted? Now subtract 10 from that number. Let's ignore that negative sign if any. Let's call this number as “n”. Now go to your WIP folder and pick out your “n”th WIP.

Eg: I got the number 4 from the 6 letters of yarrow so I pick out my fourth WIP.

Doesn't matter if that's the most embarassing, self indulgent thing you've ever made, share it!

Mind you, it's for WIP Wednesday!

Have fun!

Oh this is fun!!! I am currently writing a wip right now as we speak! (IGNORE how it’s 5am for me I am pulling an all nighter for this shit)

My favourite flowers are gardenias! (Pictured here)

That’s 8 letters! 8 - 10 = -2 so I’ll be showing you the second wip I’ve started!

Patroclus was not scared of the ocean, at least he was sure he wasn’t until he was stripped down to his perizoma and knee-deep in water. A new chill rushed over him as the cool waves lapped at his legs that stood frozen in place.

His heart ran at a rabbits-pace in his chest, he tried to inhale slowly but they only ended up as pathetic stuttering breaths. Why was it so terrifying all of a sudden? Was it the sudden change in temperature? His inhibited movement? The fear of drowning? Was it the miles and miles of open sea that harboured gods and monsters alike in its vast depths, watching and waiting as he unknowingly stepped deeper into their jaws that were ready to strike?

Shaking his head, Patroclus tried to stay focused, but he could only manage a few more baby steps before stopping again. At his sides his fists clenched and unclenched, nails digging into his skin.

Achilles stood a little further ahead, he halted when he noticed Patroclus was not following him. His face was marred with concern when he turned around, eyes filling with sympathy.

“Are you alright?” He called out, wading closer as he did so.

Patroclus nodded, though he did not move. His eyes were locked on his feet, trying to will them forward.

“Are you sure?” His voice was nearer now, it settled softly in the air. “Patroclus?” Pa-tro-clus, like the gentle warbling of a bird’s morning song. Achilles took Patroclus’ hands in his own, holding them aloft between the two of them.

Patroclus flushed with embarrassment. He was not even that far out, he had no reason to act like a child hiding behind their mother’s skirts.

“It’s alright, Pat. Eyes on me.” Achilles nearly whispered, comfort falling tenderly from his rosy lips. Patroclus reluctantly made his eye, being met with a dovelike gaze that held so much love; he nearly choked at the sight. “Don’t look down, okay? Keep looking at me.”

Swallowing a lump in his throat, Patroclus followed Achilles’ words. Behind long lashes he fixed an anxious gaze on his friend, watching his mouth curl into that gentle smile that always caused a flutter in his chest. When Patroclus looked into Achilles’ eyes, the ocean’s grasp on his fear started to drift away. His irises were the same colour as the sea, calm and bright like the horizon after a storm. How could Patroclus be scared of the sea, when Achilles was a part of it?

Idk when this one will get done but I think it’s really cute!!! Stemmed from the simple concept of achilles teaching patroclus how to swim <3

This was super fun thank you!!!!

[leiakenobi]

🍄❄️🏜️ (for the most part I'll be honest and say I picked emojis I thought were cute) for the writer ask meme!

(writers truth & dare ask game)

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

I mean, let's talk about my beloved Norstappen. My biggest headcanon is that probably from the Dutch GP last year onward, Max believed three things:

Lando could beat him in the championship. (More than Lando believed it.)

Lando would probably win the championship in 2025.

2024 was probably his last chance at a championship for at least a few years, if ever.

And that's why he came out swinging at Lando as hard as he did.

❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

Most of my dream fics are things that I would want to write myself—not to say that I "would write it best" but like. y'know I would write them best for me and my wants. In that respect, my dream for several months has been to write a 20k+ Norstappen getting together fic but the inspiration hasn't struck for that yet; I'm hoping this season will give me the fodder I need to pull it together.

As far as fics I want someone else to write, I mean. At this point I don't know if my Star Wars spin will ever come back enough for me to write the post-TROS Damerey slow burn longfic of my dreams and you're the only one I trust enough to do it justice so, y'know. 👀

🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

Any comments that aren't just asking for a part 2? 😅 I do feel like as with most writers who aren't BNFs, it's a shock these days when I get more than one or two comments on a fic, so I tend to get excited by an AO3 comment email regardless of what's in it. But I love comments that quote things back to me. I love comments that dig into character analysis or small plot details. And I will always be 🥰 over compliments about my character voices because I like to think it's one of my strengths but it means a lot to have that reaffirmed.

[artist-issues]

back then prequel trilogy got received hate from fandom mence and bullying of jake llyod and ahmed best left me heartbroken

OH you meant Rose Tico! Yes, I love her! Sorry, sorry, I wasn’t sure which Rose character you meant in your earlier ask.

I love Rose Tico. She’s literally the perfect character for Finn’s character development. Rose goes from hero-worshipping him (the thing he initially liked about Rey, that she “looked at him like nobody else ever had”) and then moved BEYOND that to forgiving him even when she knew he was running from a cause her sister just died for, then on to saving his life and teaching him about what to fight for, over and over again.

Rey is Finn’s big obsession after he’s escaped from the Stormtrooper corps because she A) Believes in him and B) Can relate to him. She’s never had a friend before, either, and she’s easily attached to people who care about her, just like he is.

But where Rey might just challenge Finn to grow a little bit—as in, care about someone outside of himself—Rose takes that a step further and challenges him to grow a LOT. Rey id awesome, and an awesome influence on Finn, but not as awesome as Rose. Rose is 100% selfless and puts all her faith in the greater good. Rey is still figuring that out. Rey has never lost anyone; Finn watches Rose as she chooses to go on fighting after her sister is killed.

Which is so perfect. Because to him, losing the person closest to you is unthinkable at the moment he meets Rose. He’s getting into that escape pod because he’s so focused on keeping Rey safe. But Rose? Rose just lost her “Rey,” her “someone closest to me.” And she’s not giving up. She’s not running away. In fact, it makes her fight harder—but not for revenge. That never shows itself in any of her interactions. And that’s so important for Finn the Stormtrooper to learn.

Plus, as far as Star Wars characters go, Rose is excellent. She embodies that whole “anybody from anywhere can be a force for good, even a farm boy, even a droid, etc.” thing, because who is she? Just an engineer who works on the cruiser. Nobody special. That humility is what’s excellent for a Star Wars hero. She’s already learned the lesson that Rey needs to learn, too—it’s just not about herself and who she is. It’s all about doing whatever the next right thing, big or small, you can do, and trusting a higher power with the rest.

But she’s still relatable. She still has moments where she gets so passionate about wanting good to triumph and bad to lose that she does lose her temper. That’s why Finn thinks she’ll be happy when they wreck Canto Bight. But you get the idea that even if she does struggle with righteous anger and bursts of outrage, she’s learned to focus on what she loves instead of letting hate consume her. She’d make an incredible Jedi.

She’s a great character. And Kelly Marie Tran did a great job playing her. She delivered her lines with vulnerability and genuineness and didn’t over-do it and gave Rose just enough rawness to make you believe she’d been through something world-shattering (losing her sister) recently, but not so much that she distracted from the focus of the scenes she was in. And she perfectly captured that whole “Rose is at rock-bottom, but she hangs on to her faith, because this is the kind of person she’s been even before the audience met her” vibe.

I hate that they basically wrote her out of TROS. And anyone who dislikes her character or her portrayal just doesn’t know how to watch a movie, that’s all.