#Ben Solo FF

[anatee]

A rainy night | Kylo Ren x Reader

A rainy night | Kylo Ren x Wife!Reader One Shot

Word count: 1.13K

Author’s note: This is my first attempt at something this short. Something soft laced with angst if you squint your eyes. No smut, no warnings, almost unlike me.

Nights full of tossing and turning weren't unfamiliar to Y/N. It was always just her, the darkness of the room and haunting sleeplessness every time her husband was away.

Kylo Ren was no ordinary man in many aspects. Many quivered at the mere sight of him, and she knew how powerful he was, how strong the Force was with him. However, it did not stop her from worrying about him every time she knew he was off fighting his enemies, a knot in her stomach forming at the mere thought of him getting hurt.

And that particular night was no different. Rain was rattling against the windows, the sound echoing against the walls of the spacious, dark bedroom Y/N was completely alone in. She let out a sigh, the silky sheets rustling as she turned again. That uneasy feeling in her chest was almost unbearable; the darkest thoughts were racing through her mind, not allowing her any moment of peace.

And then came a loud slam, one she knew did not come from the raging storm. It came from inside the marvellous house she could live in, being the wife of the Supreme Leader himself. Someone slammed the front door, and her heart leaped.

"Love?" She sat up immediately. "Is that you?"

"Yes." The voice that answered her was a familiar one; it was the deep and raspy tone she adored, but at that time, it sounded almost... Broken.

She slid off the bed immediately, quickly tying the silky bathrobe over her revealing nightgown. She heard heavy footsteps, very slow ones, that made her worry greatly.

Her heart sank when she entered the dark hallway. Even in the poor light the single window offered, she could see the figure of her husband, slouched and without his helmet on. He looked completely exhausted, but did give her the smallest of smiles when he saw her.

"Oh, Kylo." She let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding, then ran up to him and embraced him immediately. "What happened? I was so worried."

She felt him raise one of his arms slowly and wrap it around her, keeping her close. He let out a long, deep breath; it seemed like he needed that even more than air.

"Not everything went according to plan," he replied quietly after a moment of silence. "But it doesn't matter. They won't stop me. They can never win."

"It only matters to me that you're back," she whispered quickly, taking a step back to look into his eyes. She intended to put her hand on his cheek, and that was when he flinched slightly, making her gasp in realisation.

"You're hurt," she said breathlessly, unpleasant shivers rushing down her spine.

"Don't worry." Kylo grabbed her hand with his own gloved one, guiding her to the part of his face which was free of wounds. "I had it taken care of."

She took a deep breath, knowing he would not give up. "Is there anything you need?"

"You," he replied quietly, cupping her face with his large hands. Even in the darkness, she could see the emotions in his eyes, and it was pure love he was looking at her with, a sight for sore eyes after the horrible things he had seen.

He slid his hands down her body and brought her close again, allowing her to rest her weight on his broad chest and shoulder. He closed his eyes, resting his chin on her head as he breathed in that familiar scent of hers; his breathing was slow but loud, complete exhaustion speaking through him. After a moment, he lowered his head to leave one longing kiss on her lips, savouring the moment for a while.

Then, with a swift move of his strong arms, he scooped her off the floor almost effortlessly.

"You sure you're not too tired for this? Too hurt?" she asked, surprised, but not opposed to being in his arms.

"For this?" He let out the smallest chuckle, a tired, but sincere one. "Never." He leaned his forehead against hers, nuzzling against her like a cat. He started walking towards their bedroom, then set her down on the bed as delicately as possible, as if she were the most fragile treasure in the world, acting completely opposite to what the deadly weapon at his belt suggested.

He kissed her softly on the forehead, leaning over her. "Why weren't you asleep?" he asked huskily, true fear for her speaking through him.

"I was worried."

Kylo let out a sigh. He knew she was, yet he was 

not the best with words, unsure how to tell her how much he worried, too, and how he appreciated that she always waited for him despite his long periods of absence.

He grabbed the lightsaber at his belt and took it off, then left it on the bedside table. She then watched him pull off his gloves and toss them to the floor, the sounds of the heavy rain still filling up the room. In almost hesitant moves, he began caressing her face, now with his bare hand. She enjoyed the warmth of his large palm rubbing onto her while he studied her face with it as if he were blind, trying to make out each shape to remember it.

She raised her own hand to tangle it into his luscious hair, stroking his head. They both needed each other's touch badly, to cure themselves, to heal all the gashes made not by weapons, but by the yearning. The expression on his face was clear; he was exhausted, and something was trembling inside him, she could see it.

"Are you sure your injuries are fine?"

"Yes," he replied huskily, still caressing her face. "I just..."

"Just what?"

He looked down for a moment, hesitant, then took a deep breath. His lips trembled before he managed to utter:

"I want you close. Just... Just close."

"Then by all means..." she replied with a soft smile.

Kylo lowered himself until he came to rest his head on her chest like on a pillow, breathing loudly in the process. It seemed that was the first moment the stress started coming off of him, as he nuzzled into her, craving the warmth and comfort she provided.

She embraced his large figure, then began stroking his hair again. Feeling his heartbeat against her own skin made her determined to calm it down. At that moment, he was completely vulnerable, allowing her to do absolutely anything she wanted to. The rain was still knocking on the glass, but that sound was a blessing to both of them.

He sighed eventually, not moving an inch away from her, as if scared she could disappear at any moment. "I would be hollow without you."

[astheworldfallsdown-writing]

Chapter II - Move On

Bright white lights flashed on the crowd, filled with mostly older, scruffy looking men, but a few women appeared too, most being the wives of the men. They roared and clapped, looking upon the winner of tonight's Womens Brawler one on one match. Her cherry red hair was french braided back, but that was no match for her shaggy side bangs or baby hairs. At the start of a match, she looked like a million credits, well, for Greyslough. But by the end, she was as sweaty as a tourist on Tatooine, her makeup smudged, body red from the hits, and sometimes a bit of blood.

“Val! Val! Val!” The crowd chanted in unison as the redhead stood up from her knees.

“And the winner by pinfall… Valll!” The ring announcer spoke in the microphone, holding up Valerie’s arm by her wrist. She used her other to wipe the blood from her bottom lip.

After a few moments of glory, Valerie left the circular platform, walked up a small ramp and through a black curtain. A few men gave her a pat on the back as she walked by them, all proud of the match she had put on and the perseverance she displayed. It was against an opponent she had faced before, several times actually, but Valerie knew that the other girl had been training hard to win. And there was her opponent, sitting in the women's dressing room, removing the fighters tape from her hands and knuckles.

Valerie walked in and took a deep gulp from her water canister. She watched her remove the tape, waiting for her to look up. The girl finally got rid of the tape and held back her dark, curly hair, glancing at Valerie.

“I’m gonna get ya next time, I hope ya know.” She spoke in her thick Greyslough accent, shaking a finger at the Naboo native.

Valerie laughed, relieved to see her opponent and friend in a better mood than expected. “I don’t doubt it, you really have made great progress, Shina.”

Shina waves her hands. “Don’t you get started. There’ll be progress when I pin ya on that mat.” She stood and gave Valerie a gentle shove. “You got any plans then?”

“Come on, you know me.” Valerie walked towards the shower room. “The only plans I’ve got are heading home and getting a good rest.”

“Yeah after 2:00 am maybe.” Shina poked as Valerie ran the water cool. “How’s Mr McDavin doin’ anyway?”

Valerie stepped into the shower, closing the curtain behind her and sighed. In all honesty, things hadn’t been going so well for Shay, the man who saved her all those years ago. Last year he had suffered his second heart attack since Valerie had known him, and though this year he hadn’t had one, she could feel his weakness growing and his strength leaving. It pained her to sleep in the same house as him every night, sensing when he felt pain or discomfort, she wanted to help so badly but she had already done all she could. 

“Things are how they are.” Valerie said curtly, rinsing the sweat off her toned body.

Shina felt sorry for her situation, not many people knew much about Valerie, that’s how she liked it, but Shina was her closest friend and she knew the pain Valerie came from. 

“You know if you ever need anything, ya tell me, right?” Shina asked while applying some fresh berry body spray. “I’m nowheres from yer house, even if ya need a sleepover or somethin’.” She heard Valerie laugh quietly. “Ay I’m bein’ serious.”

The water shut off and Valerie took her towel to dry off. “I know, I’m just thinking of the last sleepover we had.” She said with a smile, stepping out of the shower stall with her towel wrapped around her like a strapless dress.

“That definitely was somethin’.” Shina said as a smile crept onto her face as well. “In my defense, Shay should know better than to keep his Chugger’s Chaw in the open when a couple of twenty three year old girls are hanging around lookin’ for some fun.”

“ “out in the open”” Valerie laughed. “It was literally in the bottom drawer of the side table, you were just snoopy.”

“Maybe, but we had a fun time.” Shina sipped on some sparkling water. “I’ll never forget that furious look on his face, ha, what a guy.” She zipped up her duffle bag and checked her com for any missed messages or calls. Valerie slipped on a black shirt with some old band’s logo on it, dark blue pants and her white leather boots. Shina placed her com in her back pocket. “Right well, I’m gonna have a drink with the guys, tell me when you’ve gotten home, k?”

Valerie nodded with a small smile. “Have fun out there loser.”

Shina flipped off Valerie as she left the room, Valerie laughed under her breath and pulled the tie off that kept her braid intact. Her red locks bounced as she ran her fingers through it, brushing out any potential knots. It was almost as if she had been to a beach, the sweat from the fight gave her hair nice curls, not nearly as tight as Shina’s though. Valerie liked to take a moment to herself after each match, regaining her energy and calming her mind. Becoming a brawler wasn’t the first thing that came to mind when Valerie would think about her future all those years ago, but it was the path she ended up taking. She sometimes wondered how things could’ve been differently if she had left GreySlough, if she had tried to continue her training to become a Jedi. But those thoughts were most times dropped and pushed to the furthest corner of her brain before she could give her head any chance to run wild with theories. 

Brrrrr… Brrrr

Her com buzzed on the hardwood countertop. It was a couple seconds before she reached over and realized it was her preset alarm. She didn’t have an expensive com, not one that reflected messages into the air above it and displayed holograms, it was the cheapest but most efficient one she could get on the planet. “Shay’s night pills @ 11:00 pm” the screen read.

“Shit.” Valerie cursed under her breath while she scrambled to put her damp fighting gear in her backpack.

For the last couple years, Shay had been prescribed different sets of pills that were meant to be taken at different times of the day. They would help keep him healthy and keep his heart from going too fast, and though Valerie wasn’t his caretaker, she still took it upon herself to make sure he was as healthy and strong as he possibly could be. This was the man who practically saved her life all those years ago, she felt it was the least she could do.

Valerie finished packing her things away and zipped up her black sweater before shutting off the lights and closing the door. She slid a small silver key into the keyhole and turned it til she felt a click, trying to listen for the click would be no use considering the bar was still packed. The crowd continued to roar, invested in the final match of the night while she entered from the backstage. She smiled, looking around at the sea of familiar faces, all people who watched her evolve from a scared ex-padawan to the strongest woman in town, though they didn’t know she was a padawan. Shay felt it best to be kept a secret so no one bothered her about it, and because half the town was anti anything political. Greyslough was a neutral planet, it sometimes bothered Valerie to think about it, but she wasn’t about to try and change what hadn’t been broken. The Empire didn’t invade Greyslough because they didn’t see a point in it, nor did The First Order.

She was halfway through the venue before she glanced around, looking for her hearty opponent of the night. And there Shina was, sitting at the bar chatting and laughing with a few of her friends and probably some fans. Valerie watched her until they made eye contact, she waved goodbye to her friend and Shina held up her glass of beer to her with a smile. Then just as Valerie turned and began to walk to the exit, she heard someone call her.

“Val!” A man with short brown hair and tan skin waved his hand back and forth in an attempt to get her attention. Valerie stopped and watched him get through the crowd towards her. “Hey, your name’s Val, right?” He finally made it to her, he wore black pants and a brown leather jacket with black, horizontal stripes on the shoulders.

“Valerie, yeah.” She said, looking at the man who she did not recognize. Was he new here? Can’t be a tourist. She thought to herself

“Valerie, pleasure to meet you. You’re a very talented fighter.” The man spoke loudly over the crowd so she could hear his every word. She felt very suspicious and mildly uncomfortable, not knowing someone in this town wasn’t something she was used to.

“Thanks.” She said curtly. “Do you have family here or?”

“Oh no, no I don’t. Doing some scouting actually.” He said with a smile on his face, his friendliness making Valerie want to ditch this place as soon as she could.

“Scouting? Like for brawlers?” She asked and crossed her arms. There were in fact scouters for brawlers but they only visited Greyslough every 5 years, and never this well dressed.

“Well, not necessarily. You see, I’m with an organization who is looking to.. Expand. So I’m here looking to see if anyone here has what it takes.” He spoke carefully, Valerie nodded simply just to show she wasn’t ignoring him. “I think you have what it takes.”

“Oh wow.” Valerie said unenthusiastically. “Really? Thanks.” She slowly began to back up to the door. “I should get going. But thanks though.”

“No wait, please!” He said reaching out and grabbing her arm. “Seriously, we could really use someone like you.”

Valerie rolled her eyes and sighed. “I have no interest.”

He let go of her arm. “But I haven’t even told you what it is.”

Another sigh slipped out of her mouth. “Ok, I’ll bite.” She tilted her head at him, it was now or never.

“You ever heard of The Resistance?”

Valerie instantly smirked and turned away, walking straight to the door. She felt she had wasted her time enough, and she didn’t want to keep Shay waiting any longer. She was half way through the damp parking lot when she heard the man again calling to her.

“Valerie! Just give it some thought! My name is Isaac, I’ll be around!” He called from the bar door, Valerie lifted up a hand to acknowledge his words, though they really didn’t mean anything to her.

The Resistance was not something she had any interest in joining, though she didn’t keep up with any galaxy news, she knew they had more than enough support from within and from other planets. And on top of that, she wasn’t even sure if that man, ‘Isaac’, was even legit or just a drunk visitor experiencing their first brawler show. It didn't matter to her anyway, she just wanted to get home, check on Shay, and go to sleep. 

The house was about a 15 minute walk from the bar and the rest of the ‘downtown’ strip, which was literally one clothing store and a grocery store. Valerie occasionally thought about opening up her own store there, selling imported gifts and goods, but it would be way too expensive to start up so she never went through with it. But she did miss all the little trinkets she used to collect. Sometimes Master Luke would take a group of padawans to a new planet for training, a new atmosphere to take in helped expand the mind and test skills in a different way. Valerie always made sure to buy at least something small wherever they visited. The one time they visited Kashyyyk she forgot to grab something, luckily one of her classmates had kept her in his mind and brought her back something when he visited. A small keychain, carved from the trees that grew on the planet and shaped like her star sign. It was one of the few things she still had from her past, hooked on to her keys to the bar back room and Shay’s house.

It was a habit of Valerie’s to knock on Shay’s front door before entering, he told her nearly every time for the first year she lived there that it was unnecessary but eventually gave up. She entered and closed the door behind her, noticing the light in the living room was on and she could hear the radio playing some folksy sound.

“Shay?” She called while taking her boots off.

“I’m in here, lass.” Called Shay from the living room. “How’d ya do tonight? I’m sorry I couldn’t make it but a certain gal wouldn’t let me leave the bloody house!”

Valerie shook her head at his sassy remark. “Because that certain gal knows you’d drink too much and have to carry you home.” She had no problem sassing him right back. “And it went well, I won.”

“Atta girl.” Shay sat on his favourite chair beside the window with the side table tucked close by. He turned the radio down slightly. “Shina get mad?”

Valerie took off her sweater and placed her bag down by the staircase. “No, not really.” She walked into the room and sat on the couch nearby. “She did good too, still needs some practice.”

“Ha.” Shay remarked. “As if that’ll help her beat ya.” He chuckled, making Valerie smile a bit. Shay was her number one fan from day one, and actually the reason why she joined the brawlers, he knew she’d be great at it and he wasn’t wrong.

“Oh, did you take your pills?” Valerie remembered and looked at him with focused eyes.

“Yes, yes, don’t worry Val. I knows I’m old but I’m not stupid, right.” Shay grumbled, he didn’t like how much she looked after him. Nothing would change his mind from seeing her as the young girl who had lost it all, after all these years he still felt the need to protect and provide for her. Even though she was the one making the money to support them now.

“I know. I just want to make sure.” Valerie held her hands up with innocence.

Shay took a drink from his glass of meiloorun juice, a bit of the red liquid dripping onto his graying beard. Valerie looked to the floor and played with her fingers, even though she acted like that apparent Resistance scouter didn’t matter to her, it started to cloud her head, she couldn’t put her finger on why exactly, but she began to feel things she hadn’t felt in years.

“What’s wrong?” Shay brought her back down from her head being in the clouds.

“Oh um…” She said quietly. “I don’t know. There was a guy at the bar tonight, said he was with The Resistance..” And right then and there, she regretted her words.

“The Resistance?!” Shay sat forward quickly. “Who was he? What did he want?”

Shay had brought up The Resistance several times throughout the years, he would sometimes suggest Valerie should leave Greyslough and go join. Valerie never listened to him of course, the thought of leaving the planet left her unsettled, and sometimes panicked. 

“You know, never mind.” She said standing up from her seat.

“Valerie-” Shay began.

“No, I don’t even know if he actually was with The Resistance, he was probably just a drunk having his fun.” Valerie walked towards the stairs and picked up her belongings she had placed down. “It’s getting late anyway, you should get some sleep.”

“Valerie.” Shay started again, she stopped, one foot on the stairs. “This could be your chance.”

She hadn’t heard his voice this serious and bright, hopeful even, in years, or maybe ever.

Valerie turned to him slightly. “Shay, it's a chance I don’t want.”

“Dear, I know you’re probably scared..”

“Shay.”

“But you’ve got to move on from here some day.”

“Shay!” She raised her voice, she never did, not at him. She quickly caught herself and breathed. “That’s enough of this. I’m sorry, but goodnight.”

She felt upset that she had yelled, but she just hated hearing him say those things. She went upstairs and to her bedroom without another word, not from her or Shay. The door shut behind her with a small push as she began to change into her sleep clothes. Her mind felt so scattered, she didn’t know what to do to calm it. She sat on her bed, head in her hands as she breathed slowly and deeply. The house grew quiet as the radio downstairs was turned off. It only made her feel guilty for speaking the way she did to Shay.

There wasn’t much that could be done anyways. Valerie laid down in her bed, using what small portion of the force she still felt to flick off her light. But she quickly shot up from her position and looked at her hand. This was the first time she had used the force in almost 5 years, and it was instinctual, she didn’t even realize she was using it til the light was off. The last thing she needed was another topic rushing around her mind. Maybe that was why her force instincts had kicked in, too much going on. The force worked in funny ways, sometimes it required lots of focus and a clear mind, sometimes it could be used like second nature.

She blew out from her mouth. “Keep it calm, Valerie.” She whispered to herself, picking up her Peglin plush and holding it. You’ll be fine with some rest. She thought before laying back down and closing her eyes for the night.

[skygirlstars]

❤️🧡💛🏳️‍🌈 for unpopular asks game!

yayy thank you for the ask!! this was so fun. it's yappin' time

❤️: Which character do you think is the most egregiously mischaracterized by the fandom?

this is a tough one because there's so many lol. Barriss (not a villain), Han (not a player), literally SO many of the Jedi, the list goes on. but I think Luke is one of the most interesting cases because I feel he's mischaracterized in different ways by different sides of the fandom. there's the dudebros who think he's just badass, which he is, but nothing else. his most important character trait is quite literally his compassion because it drives the plot of the whole OT. he's a kind and empathetic person, not some embodiment of toxic masculinity bullshit. on the other hand, there's the poor little meow meowfication and infantilization of him from another side of the fandom. yes he's a ray of sunshine but that doesn't mean he can't be tough too!!! he's nice but he also has zero tolerance for bullshit, is headstrong and stubborn, and the furthest thing from shy. many people (myself included) headcanon him as gay or bi and that characterization of him also enforces really harmful stereotypes and narratives about queer men. so in summary, a lot of the fandom mischaracterizes him through a lens of either toxic masculinity or harmful stereotypes. not fun. that got way longer than it was supposed to be, whoops 🙃

🧡: What is a popular (serious) theory you disagree with?

in-universe: that Padmé was somehow manipulated into loving Anakin, whether by Anakin subconsciously using the Force, or by Palpatine, or whatever. nope, my girl Padmé just has horrendous taste in men (case in point: my least favorite SW character, Clovis 🤢). she saw the red flags and decided red was her favorite color. stay delusional queen. out-of-universe: DISNEY LUCASFILM IS NOT GOING TO RETCON THE SEQUELS FFS. that is the dumbest shit I've ever heard sorry not sorry. Disney admitting they made something not good??? not possible. I can't believe people still honestly believe this. the sequels are not my faves either but with the amount of money made off them anyway, a retcon is not happening

💛: What is a popular ship you just can't get behind, and why?

do we consider Reylo popular??? it's very divisive so idk if it counts. but I hate it lol, it's the yucky toxic BookTok type of enemies to lovers. bro deadass tortured her. me personally, I wouldn't let that slide. they also feel like Force cousins or something in a weird roundabout way...? we've already had one incestuous kiss in SW, don't need another. also Rey is lesbian imo. if we're not counting Reylo as popular, I quite dislike Sabezra just because I see them very much as siblings. honestly, any ship where I see the characters as siblings feels icky to me -- Anisoka, Rexsoka, Obikin, etc (although siblings vibes is not my only complaint with those examples, unlike Sabezra).

🏳️‍🌈: Which character who is commonly headcanoned as queer doesn't seem queer to you?

quite honestly I think this is the hardest one for me because I headcanon so many characters as queer HAHA. my personal philosophy for fictional characters is bi until proven otherwise lol. maybe Ben Solo/Kylo? idk how much he's HCed as queer but I think he and Hux are shipped fairly often and I just don't see it lol. that's a straight man, I'm afraid. but he's really the only one I can think of off the top of my head, though I'm sure there are more

here's the original ask game if anyone else wants to have a go or wants me to answer any others (please send me asks I love asks I love yapping)

[geekns]

I feel so broken. I don't fangirl like I used to. I don't know who I am anymore. I used to be the girl who was desperately searching for the light at the end of the tunnel and somehow along the way I just stopped believing that there is an end to the tunnel.

I just stumbled upon a chain of reblogs, "10 Fandoms, 10 Characters, 10 Tags." I've gotten so tired of people belittling fandoms and being invested in them. If I came up with a list of 10 characters, these would be the people who gave me hope, that felt real to me, that I identified with or loved. They'd also be the people who were kept down repeatedly and never got to succeed or be truly happy. Which makes for interesting drama but is horrific messaging to the people who identify with that character!

Number 1 on all of these lists: Loki. They kept killing him off. They gave him a show instead of a movie. He didn't get to be the protagonist really. And the entire time they kept telling us that he has always been and always will be a selfish, horrible person, a villain that deserves to lose, deserves to suffer, deserves to die. "He did it all because he wanted to be king." WTAF.

So I'm going to do a list of 10 characters, but I'm not going to explain it, I don't have the energy, but these are ten characters that...IDK that I wanted a redemption arc for them (when they're considered to be baddies), but I wanted them to get happy endings FFS.

Loki

Missy

Chuck Bartoski

The Doctor (Who, not EMH lol)

Ben Solo

Eleven (Stranger Things)

Sherlock

Magneto

Daenerys Targaryen

Tony Stark

Honorable Mentions: Don Pedro in Much Ado. Cole on Charmed. Ethan and his team in Mission Impossible. Kathryn Janeway. Max/Dark Angel. Sylar in Heroes. David in Prometheus and Alien Covenant. Jaime Lannister. Lilith on CAoSabrina. Stephen Strange and Wanda Maximoff.

There's probably more that I'm forgetting about because this has been happening my entire adulthood.

[brw]

Wanting to ask, can you give an explanation and analysis of Sue Storm's character? She's the one member of the FF I know the least about. My current understanding of her is a ruthless badass who loves her family but is also deeply compassionate to everyone including her enemies. I just feel the two traits conflict. Could you also give me some Sue Storm centric comic recommendations? Please and thank you.

Hello! I can't blame you for being somewhat puzzled on Sue's character because it can differ wildly, especially in modern times; a lot of writers will go down the ruthless badass route when her children & family are concerned (Fantastic Four V1 #549, but the arc starts in #547, and Fantastic Four Annual V5 #1 are good examples), and others will go down the incredibly compassionate mother of two who is an idealist route (as Fantastic Four V6 #47-#48 shows). Writers don't always manage to marry the two in a satisfying way, but I've tried to give some recs where they do manage or ones that are just generally good characterisation wise in my opinion.

Sue is an interesting character in that she is really Marvel's First Lady, the real trailblazer for the other wonderful women in comics we have today like Jean Grey, Ororo Munroe, Wanda Maximoff, Laura Kinney etc etc. Despite this, because she is married and a mother & is an elder sister a lot of writers & fans feel comfortable in dismissing her as a character, either implying that she's somehow not good enough because she's a mother & wife & needs their help to really fully realise the character (while usually only having her powers to do that, and rarely her actual personality), or making her into a #Girlboss and nothing else. Its also frustrating because Sue doesn't really get an awful lot of focused issues. In part, I think this is because when she does it's often focused on her grief (like when Byrne had her miscarriage) or anger (in DeFalco's run), so a lot of writers might feel a little... intimidated by giving Sue her own voice, because so often the voice she gets is defined by misery & loss. This isn't a hard & fast rule, but I do think it's why her solo by Waid (which I have rec'd here because it's her only solo but I wouldn't consider it foundational characterisation) kinda feels so lacklustre to me, because beyond her powers there doesn't feel like an awful lot of substance there.

But writers can't really ignore her, either, because she's so powerful, which I think is partially why we get so many fucking AUs with Namor, where rather than blaming themselves & the fact that nobody seemingly knows how to write an independent Sue without doubling down on her trauma, they blame Reed for... some reason. She just poses an interesring dilemma I think for a lot of writers so really good character driven issues for Sue are few & far between. Hickman, for example, circumvented that by having Sue not speak a lot in her focused issue because she's underwater as an ambassador to Atlantis.

All this to say, I am tentatively hopeful for her depiction in Ryan North's new series, and I hope one day she'll properly get written by a woman & get a better perspective there. The Fantastic Four ongoing has never been written by a woman, which I think is a glaring issue as to why Sue doesn't get a lot of good strong driven issues the way Ben or Reed do. Anyway, onto the recs!

X-Men vs Fantastic Four V1 by Claremont doesn't necessarily focus on Sue (Reed & Victor are more present ) but it does get the compassionate but ruthless vibe Sue should have.

In X-Men: First Class V2 #1 Sue helps teach Jean Grey some independence & individuality as a woman superhero surrounded by men, which is a really sweet moment.

Marvel Comics Presents V1 #13 B Story is a super cute story of Sue & Reed when they lived undercover in the suburbs while Ben ran the team. Sue is super playful & teasing in it, which is sweet.

I really like how Sue & the rest are written in the first two, three arcs of Marvel Knights 4 V1, so basically issue 1 - 9 or something. It drops off a little afterwards but Sue's super cool in #7, so worth reading imo!

Tom Defalco's run on the FF is probably one of the most Sue Heavy comics, as Reed is presumed dead around a third way into his series.. It does have the Four Boob Window™, but I think there's some really strong characteristion moments in this series. It is uh? convoluted though? like... a LOT happens in it so unless you've read an FF series prior I don't recommend digging into it but if you've gotten familiar with the team I recommend checking this out. He first writes them in #301 - #302 but his actual run starts at #356 - #416. Reed dies around #381.

There is of course Mark Waid's Invisible Woman series, which does a lot to expand on Sue's powerset & ability. Personally I'm not in love with it, I don't think a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent is the best route for an independent Sue to go down given her affiliation in Civil War for example but it's her only ongoing so worth looking at.

Not necessarily Sue specific, but Mythos: Fantastic Four is a good origin comic for the FF & one of my preferred adaptions of their origin.

Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #9 is an AU verse & specifically written to be more child friendly but Sue's fun here, Klaw tries to take on the FF by going strongest to weakest & leaves Sue for last which is a . bad idea!

X-23 vol 3 #14 - #19 has a lot of good moments between Sue & Laura Kinney & is funny and sweet, Sue's really good around the younger women superheroes & she's both warm & a force to be reckoned with. Laura helps babysit Franklin & Val while Sue & Reed go on a date, it's cute .

There's probably more issues so I'm opening this up to any of my followers who have specific Sue issues & moments they'd like to give, this is just what I can think of off the top of my head but hopefully this will give you a good enough handle on Sue's character. I'd also say just to read the LeeKirby series if you haven't , it does have period typical sexism obviously but it's not nearly as awful as some people think, I mean, Sue kicks Doctor Doom's ass before she even has forcefields so it's definitely not as bad as people think. Anyway, hope you enjoy reading !

[nevenkebla]

Guionista: Jonathan Hickman Dibujante: Barry Kitson Publicación: FF Vol 1 #5

Ben tiene una conversación con Alicia después de mucho tiempo.

— Ben Grimm: Estar contigo… tenía que haber sido lo mejor. Ahora, cuando te miro, solo pienso en cómo no pude salvar a mi amigo. Me siento muy culpable, Alicia. — Alicia Masters: ¿Me estás mirando ahora mismo? — Ben Grimm: Sí. — Alicia Masters: Bien, porque quiero asegurarme de que oigas las dos cosas a las que tendrás que enfrentarte. Johnny se ha ido. Y te quiero. — Ben Grimm: Alicia, no… — Alicia Masters: No. Debes saber que no voy a marcharme, que te necesito tanto como tú a mí. Y, sobre todo, que Johnny querría que fueras feliz. Te prometo… que las cosas va a mejorar. No hay nada que temer.

[galaxicide]

Imagine having takes that Ben would ever be the leader of the resistance in Leia's absence. That's Poe's gig and well deserved. Ben is a Solo in more than just name. He's not a politician or diplomat. He's his father's son. HE WASN'T EVEN A GOOD LEADER FOR THE EMPIRE FFS....anyway. no, that's actually it.

[redrascal1]

TROS is a hitman which not only destroyed SW but all leading characters in the ST

Here's my Top Ten:

10. Snoke.

Yes, Snoke. Throughout both TFA and TLJ it was very much stressed that he was NOT a Sith. His eyes were blue, not yellow. Instead, TROS 'reimagined' him as a cloned puppet of the Emperor. Who was as bad at cloning him as he was with Rey's father, as for some reason the clones were all disfigured.

9. Rose. She had a great role in TLJ, and her character was completely stripped of her importance and reduced to a single line. And I refuse to believe it was because of Carrie's untimely death.

8. Holdo. Even though she died in TLJ, her character's self sacrifice was presented as an object of ridicule in TROS, which isn't only unfair but petty and childish.

7. Hux. He could - and should - have been the 'big bad' of the sequel's final chapter, but no, Hux is unceremoniously killed off five minutes into the film and prior to that revealed as a Resistance 'mole' - this goes completely against everything he was. Hux loathed the Resistance with a passion, it was completely out of character for him to join them, just to get rid of Kylo - there were plenty of ways to 'off' him without turning traitor.

6. Poe. Rian Johnson did a great job with Poe, he became more than a Han Solo wannabe in TLJ. Instead of becoming Leia's heir he was turned into a seedy drug runner - he was supposed to be the son of legendary Rebels, FFS!

5. Luke. Remember how angry he was when Obi Wan admitted he'd lied to him about who his father was? He told Rey he didn't know her in TLJ. Now, apparently, he DID but had kept the truth from her. Luke is now a liar, full stop.

4.Finn. He had a great character arc in TLJ. All that was gone in TROS, his 'grand announcement' that he had the Force was a damp squib and all he was good for was running around screaming 'REEEEEEEEY'. I'm genuinely stunned JB calls TROS his 'favourite' of the sequels....but there ya go.

3. Rey. Our likeable, feisty, gloriously flawed 'nobody' is completely deconstructed into a snotty, self righteous, judgemental little space nun. She was like an evil reflection of herself. The Rey we were introduced to in the first two films wept for Han Solo (although she'd only known him five minutes), longed for a family, lost her temper and was called out on it, and most of all was human. What is particularly irksome is post TFA Abrams insisted that she was 'not a Skywalker'....and then they made her one anyway.

TROS Rey was an emotionless two legged example of Jedi dogma. She actually gave me the creeps.

2. Kylo Ren/Ben Solo. Poor Kylo. Even more, poor Ben. He went through a complete character reversal in the first part of the film. Where like Snoke, it was stressed he was not a Sith, in TROS he made deals with them. When it was insisted upon that he was not Darth Vader, he acted just like him complete with that ridiculous mask.

The final part of the film when Ben returns should have been glorious. Instead, he spent most of it down a hole while Rey got the 'glory' of killing her grandad. No dialogue. No role in destroying his family's old enemy. And then....poof. Gone. Ben Solo's only legacy is that he 'gave Rey back to the galaxy.'

And she didn't even tell anyone.

1 Leia.

And....the number one is our beloved Princess, Leia Organa.

The cruelest character assassination of them all is that of Leia, child of Anakin and Padme, sister of Luke, husband of Han Solo, mother of Ben Solo, adopted daughter of Bail Organa, Senator, warrior, courageous leader and General of the Resistance.

Re imagined by Terrio's loathsome fan fiction as being in an afterlife GoT style incestuous relationship with her brother. And a woman who didn't give a damn for her own child.

TFA Leia made mistakes. Like her husband, she was afraid of her son being like his grandfather. She left him to be raised by droids. She sent him away at nine.

But...TFA Leia knew she'd made mistakes. She admitted that she never should have sent her son to Luke. And she wanted him back. Desperately so.

We could forgive TFA Leia because she knew she was wrong and owned up to it - as did, in fact. all of the OT cast. And we could forgive her for sending Ben to Luke, because TFA and TLJ Leia didn't know how to train him in the ways of the Force. Leia was NOT a Jedi. She didn't know how to train Ben, so thought it a good idea to send him to someone who did.

That however was TFA and TLJ Leia. The Leia I loved and believed in.

TROS introduced her to someone I didn't recognise.

TROS Leia DID have Jedi training. She might have quit, but she had enough knowledge to be able to train Rey. Train her well enough to fight and almost kill Kylo. AKA Ben.

AKA the child Leia had given birth to.

TROS Leia had sent her emotionally vulnerable nine year old away so she could focus on her career, despite having the ability to train him herself. She then trained the woman who she knew might very well kill him, and after her death...'took him with her into the Force'.

Her FG is later seen smiling fondly on Rey. It wouldn't have been quite so bad - although I still would have hated it - if Ben's FG had been beside her and we would have seen him with his mother. But, no.

According to a source Terrio wanted the 'final scene to be all about the Skywalkers.'

Rey is a Palpatine. I will never see her now as anything else. And Leia had the Skywalker blood, but she was an Organa and then a Solo.

Terrio and perhaps Abrams, made sure that everything of Ben's went to Rey. His grandfather's lightsabre. His father's ship. Whatever relationship he had with Chewie. Luke's respect.

And....Leia's love.

What a terrible, terrible way to treat Leia. And how they disrespected Carrie, a mother in real life to Billie Catherine, with this abominable assassination of her most well loved role.

TROS is an abomination. I will never be able to understand why they chose to retcon TLJ....yet leave this horror story as set - in - stone canon.

[night-gay]

Into the Anthill pt 2 - The Wasp, The Fantastic Four, and The Avengers

This arc of Hank’s publication serves to establish his major relationships since he’d been a solo act up until this point. We meet his late wife Maria, his new partner Janet, and his eventual teammates in The Avengers. You know what that means? This marks the end of Hank’s publication as a solo act. Ant-Man vol 1 doesn’t come out for more than 50 years after this point.

And it’s about Scott.

🐜🐜🐜

Tales to Astonish vol 1 #44

We get the backstory about Hank’s first wife Maria and how she got kidnapped and murdered on a trip to Hungary. Her parting words that inspired Hank to be a superhero, you may ask?

“Go to the ants, thou dullard.”

This is also the first appearance of Janet van Dyne. Her father accidentally lured an acid monster to Earth with the laser he invented and it killed him, so Janet swore to avenge him and Hank decided to make her his partner. Jan basically fell in love with him the second she started to live a life of adventure but Hank insisted she was too young for him.

Tales to Astonish vol 1 #45

Egghead returns! Since his brilliant plan to use flypaper didn’t work last time, he decided to put Hank in a room with an anteater and see what happens. (spoiler alert: nothing happened. this guy sucks at evil plans)

Fantastic Four vol 1 #16-17

A big step up from Egghead, Ant-Man teamed up with the FF to fight Dr. Doom. This was his first time ever shrinking down to a microscopic scale as well as the first comic where he used flying ants to travel.

Dr. Doom set up a stronghold in a microscopic world and kidnapped the FF so Ant-Man shrank down to save them. Sue called him handsome, Ben joked about her wanting to fuck Namor instead, and Reed didn’t trust him, but ultimately they were all just thankful he came to help.

Tales to Astonish (1958) #46

Hank & Janet vacationed in Greece and fought a mechanical cyclops. Nothing else to say really.

Avengers vol 1 #1

Loki faked an attack by the Hulk to lure Thor into a trap. Ant-Man and The Wasp intercepted a distress call to help and somehow flew more than 1,000 miles on ants to help out (still arriving at the same time as Iron Man). Hank trapped Loki in a conveniently placed radioactive waste disposal truck after the rest beat him up.

Jan suggested they name this group ‘The Avengers’ and the rest is history.

[the-viking-goddess]

I know I'm just super sensitive and protective but I find it really disheartening that lately I've seen so many internet and podcasting folks bring up Ben Solo/Kylo Ren to characters like Daemon and Aemon Targaryen in HotD and Sauron/Halbrand in TROP. Maybe it's just me but like... did these people watch the same films? Am I just totally out there? To me Ben Solo is not a one to one comp with those characters at all and I find it so depressing that for a lot of fandom it seems he's just been lumped in as a 'compelling villain that has been romanticised and woobified and yes we get why you like them but never forgot they're still real pieces of shit and are dark anti-heroes at best and villains at worst.' I know Ben/Kylo was complex but there was so much pain and suffering in him, so much conflict, so much light struggling to get out, and he always had reasons for the darker acts he carried out- he wasn't just a piece of shit for the sake of it. His whole arc was about embracing and coming back to the light, he was meant to be redeemed- we were meant to sympathise with him and root for him FFS!! I've enjoyed watching Daemon and Halbrand!Sauron so much, of course, and there's also nothing wrong with just loving an out and out villain, but man it's a huge bummer to see people basically shitting on, misunderstanding and misrepresenting Ben's character even after TROS. Ughhhh. Still defending my boy after all this time!

[astheworldfallsdown-writing]

Chapter I - You Can’t Truly Be Gone

A cold, heavy rain fell on the red-neon lit bar sign, a staple in the town of Greyslough, on the planet Calyzen. It was a small planet that wasn’t heard of very often, floating cozily on the outer rim, far from any politics and destruction. Grassy hills and long lakes made the planet what it was, a thick layer of gloom laid on the planet but that didn’t stop the citizens from having a good time.

Every weekend the local bar doubled as a fight space, Calyzen brawlers all came and competed, not for any titles or anything fancy, just for the love of the crowd. It was mostly men that participated in such events, but around 7 years ago a young girl showed up and began training right away. She had to prove herself tough enough to take on the rough life of a brawler, but she surprised everyone and was deemed worthy. This girl was Valerie Sorveya, but her brawler name was just Val, some even called her Victorious Val which both embarrassed her and humored her.

Valerie was just 22 when she arrived on Greyslough, she was scared and alone, brought in by a delivery ship operator, Shay, who knew little about her. The first time they met was when Shay was on a regular route, picking up supplies from Naboo as well as other planets. But on his way to the lush planet, he got a call from Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, requesting that he pick up Luke’s cargo and drop it off on the way to his next stop. Shay had a great deal of respect for the Skywalkers, so of course he accepted, little did he know that this ‘cargo’ was a young girl with braided, dark brown hair, padawan cloak, and eyes bloodshot from crying, it was Valerie. He wasn’t the type of man to ask questions, he wanted to get the job done and have that be all, and Valerie remained quiet for the entirety of the ride. The only problem was that when Shay brought her to Luke’s requested drop-off point on Yavin 4, everything was either burned to ash or on fire, no one was on the planet at all. Shay watched the distraught brunette fall to her knees when she saw the destruction, the pain in her eyes was unlike anything he had ever seen. Shay contacted Luke several times and heard nothing, but he knew he couldn’t leave her there alone.

“Do you want me to take you back to Naboo?” Shay asked her, keeping some space from her.

She mustered up the courage to speak. “But I-...I’m supposed to be here.”

“But hon, there’s nothing here, I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened.” Shay got on one knee beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder gently.

Valerie looked at him. “Death, so much death.” Her eyes then focused back on the scene of black and red.

Shay shrugged his shoulders slightly, she wasn’t wrong but what was he supposed to say back? He thought for a moment before speaking. “Let’s get you back to your home.”

“I don’t have a home.” Valerie looked at Shay again, her voice grew a bit more clear. “It was Naboo, but my parents both died just days ago. I wasn’t supposed to come back here for another month but I requested Luke to end my break early, I couldn’t bear being there any longer.” Shay didn’t know what to say. “So I’m sorry sir, but I have nowhere to go now, and I have no way of paying for your service.”

Shay shook his head. “Don’t you worry about that right now. You’ve been through a lot, n’ I don’t normally do this… Well, I don’t normally deliver people actually.. But listen kid, if you’re willing, I’ll take you back t’ my home and we can get your situation sorted out, how does that sound?” Shay knew he needed to help her, it was the right thing to do and this girl needed any help she could get.

Valerie took several moments, the gears turning in her head as she tried to think of her options. She couldn't deny that his idea was the best one, though she didn’t exactly want to go to a new planet with a strange, somewhat scruffy looking man, he did seem to genuinely care for her though they hadn’t even exchanged names. “Where is your home?” She finally asked in a breathy voice, her tiredness was starting to affect her speech.

“Oh I live in GreySlough.” He said. She seemed confused, which didn’t surprise him. “It’s a great little planet, do you like rain?”

She laughed under her breath. “I actually do.” This made Shay smile.

“I’m Shay, Shay McDavin” He held his gloved hand out.

Valerie accepted and met her hand with his. “I’m Valerie, Valerie Sorveya. I was training here.”

“You was training with Luke Skywalker?” Shay said in amazement. “You’ll have to tell me about it on the ship, c’mon, let’s get a move on. Late schedule’s means less credits for food.” Shay helped Valerie stand and began walking to the ship. Before he got in, he turned and saw her standing there, lost in the sight of destruction again. “Valerie?” He called her.

This snapped her out of her fixed gaze. She turned her back slowly to the fires, walking away from what was meant to be her future, her life. Her face remained solemnly sad as she got into the ship and sat in the back seat. Shay reached back and took her hand in his.

“I promise things are gonna be alright. I always get the job done.” He gave her hand a small squeeze before letting go and starting up the ship.

After a few hours and a few stops along the way, Valerie had spoken only every now and then about Naboo, about her training, and asked questions about the planet they were heading to. Shay enjoyed having someone with him on the trips, they usually got lonely but after 40 years in the business, he was used to it. They finally arrived on GreySlough, rain dripping down the ship's windows and rusty panels. Valerie swallowed quietly and got out of the ship, her backpack secured on her shoulders as she followed Shay down the dirt road lit up by tall white lamps. They really weren’t very bright, all the buildings were very dark and looked somewhat abandoned.

“I’ll tell ya this right now, it isn’t much” Shay spoke as he walked up the wet wooden steps to an old brick house. “But it’s kept me dry all these years, so I think you’ll find it suitable. Then again, yer from Naboo.” He laughed, unlocking the doors with a slim key.

It was definitely a lot more old fashioned and run down than what she was used to. But her home on Naboo was usually described just like that. It was only a small cabin by the lake, not any kind of fancy city build, no porcelain or hand embroidered curtains like most others had, but she didn’t mind. This home was still very different, though who was she to become picky after losing essentially everything she had?

Shay showed her to her room, it was mostly empty, but there were a couple dusty boxes, a tall lamp and a spare mattress. Valerie put down her bag while Shay searched the closet for extra pillows and bedding. She walked towards the window, she was glad her bedroom was on the second floor, being up high was something she loved.

“What’s that over there?” Valerie asked. She noticed a bright red sign a few streets over but couldn't make out the text through the pouring rain and droplets hugging the window’s glass.

“That is the town’s entertainment center.” Shay said with a small chuckle as he stood up from making up the bed for her, she was too distracted to realize he had done that for her. “It’s a bar. But each weekend we have these town brawlers that fight over there.”

“Brawlers? Like.. they fight each other?” Valerie asked in a confused tone.

“Yep, but don’t worry, they’re all good sports, at least most of them.” Shay stepped towards the doorway. “I’ll take ya one day. But anyways, I know you’re probably tired so I’ll let ya go. I will be gone early in the morning but not for too long. If you’re up before I’m back, feel free to make yourself at home, you saw the kitchen on your way in right?”

Valerie nodded and leaned down to her bed. “I did. And Shay, thank you, truly.” She ran her hands on the blanket, it wasn’t very soft but that’s really how Valerie liked it, things that were too plush always bothered her skin.

“No need to thank me, hon. You’ve been through enough for one day. Just try to rest up.” Shay reached for the doorknob. “Goodnight.”

Valerie nodded to him as he shut the door. She took a glance around the room before reaching into her backpack and pulling out a medium sized plush toy of an Ice Peglin, a species that lived only on extremely cold planets, swimming and living off of fish. It was her favorite animal and her mother had made her this plush when she was just a baby.

She let out a small sigh and placed her plush on the bed. Her heart began to pound slowly and her emotions all reached her at once. Valerie was good at keeping her true emotions unknown from most, the exceptions being her mother and a classmate of hers. But this was all too much, everything was gone, everyone was gone. It was a dark day in the galaxy for everyone, but especially for Valerie. She began to slowly hyperventilate and tears streamed down her chiseled cheeks before she reached into her bag again, digging through for something. She pulled out a small device and unraveled a wire with two earpieces hung at the end of it. With the press of a button on the device, music began playing in the earpieces, Valerie put them in her ears and closed her eyes, hand over her mouth. Music was something she grew up surrounded by since her mother was a Nabooan musician. It calmed her from a place deep within her. Her breaths slowed, but the tears didn’t stop. She allowed herself to cry for around 10 minutes before wiping them away and changing into some sleep clothes, an old shirt and shorts. She had pictured her night very differently. She expected to be curled up in the arms of the man she cared so deeply for as he would have comforted her over her loss. It would have been in secret of course, Luke couldn’t know what was happening among his own students, his own nephew.

Valerie laid down in the bed, looking up at the ceiling with cracked white paint. One arm holding her plush close, the other on her heart, feeling to see if it had slowed down from her small panic attack.

“Ben.” She sighed. The tears began again, she saw no use in stopping them. This was what real, true, raw pain felt like. And she never expected to feel it over such things.

How will I keep going if you’re gone? She thought to herself.

The rest of the night was quiet, the rain pattering on the window helped ground her. Deep breathes filled the room as she put the music device away and curled back into bed. Her blanket met her shoulders and she turned towards the wall. Sleep was something she both feared in this moment, but also provided her comfort. She was scared to sleep because she saw it as making the day more real, like adding a period at the end of the sentence. But her comfort was just from her curiosity, would she go to sleep and then wake up on Yavin 4? She wondered if she had passed out on Naboo and was having a terrible dream. This wasn’t the case. And this was how she spent most nights for at least the first year on GreySlough.

You can’t truly be gone, Ben.

[styrmwb]

Favorite Final Fantasy Music (FFXV)

4 bros go on a bachelor roadtrip, tragedy ensues.

I didn't appreciate XV's soundtrack enough when I first heard it, much like XII. It was too "generic" for my dumb, stupid, uncultured brain; and while it is definitely a lot more orchestral than your usual FF soundtrack, it has a lot of little bits that feel unique, that give the game that originality that FF is known for. it also helps that this is probably my favorite complete party in the game, and the emotional connection the story and characters create enhances my love for this soundtrack; I love the chocobros, I love the road trip with the boys, and I hate with every inch of my soul that final campfire scene (I love the final campfire scene). This time, the game was mainly composed by Yoko Shimomura, who I feel a lot of people know in the realm of largest video game composers (I don't have much else to say here but I've been sharing main composers in the previous lists so let's keep it on!)

I also need to preface by saying I love how this game can let me say "Stand By Me by Ben E King/Florence and the Machine is my favorite Final Fantasy song"; that being said I will not be putting it in this list because it is A Real Song but know EVERY time I hear it I Will cry

5. Invidia The rhythm and piano in this one. That perfect combination of the drum set with the classic orchestra. This song is addicting to listen to, and I always find myself banging my head along to it, even with that (especially with that) choir and piano. My favorite part is right after that sort of chorus solo, when the piano hits that mix of highs and lows that sounds like DIN doo.... DIN doo DIN! it's really fun, and I wish it played more in the game.

4. Bros on the Road This fucking song. This song is so silly. But it's also Perfect. Bros on the Road is what the soul of this game is, the boys together. It plays during the early morning, post camping bonding minigames where Noctis and one of the guys does something, like training, or cooking. It's what I love about this game and this cast together in one song. The cheesy guitar and that almost country vibe that is perfect for this fantasy Kansas this world is in is amazing. Also;

Something dawned on me when I was on my own. Any food you make tastes better when you use good ingredients, right? Then, if you take something already delicious like Cup Noodles and add in the finest, freshest ingredients, what do you get? The ultimate flavor experience! So I ask you Noct: what's your favorite ingredient?

3. Veiled in Black XV has several "normal" battle themes, and this one is definitely my favorite. This is the imperial battle theme, and it hits for a lot of the same reasons that Invidia does, but the constant beat, stress, the heavier focus on string instruments like the violin and guitar, combined with the melody, just put it above for me. The peak of the song is that violin focus where you can tell they are just putting their heart and soul into those high notes (I love high notes man).

2. Magna Insomnia Final boss battle!!!!!!! This is a long one, with several phases, and I love how it perfectly evolves with the fight. The first phase is slow and creepy, involving Ardyn's theme, a circular sounding string chorus, and that piano that sounds like it's collapsing and dropping like an ancient staircase. It's amazing for that simple fight on the ground between Noctis and Ardyn, almost sounding like he's playing with you and not Really trying with his sword swings. As usual, the higher notes in this song make my brain happy, that somber violin sounding grand yet dilapidated. Phase 2 turns up the intensity. The battle becomes some real Dragon Ball shit in the sky flying around, dual Armigers against each other. The intro and the song as a whole feel like a constant ascent, with only a couple interludes of (relative) calm. I love the rhythm in the back, and I especially love when that flute comes in occasionally with its sort of war cry. Phase 3 tunes it down. The fight has moved back to the ground, and the entire bit is a sad, solemn vocalist solo. It's perfect for the fight, cause ultimately, this Isn't a grand victory. This is a generations long fight against a very sad, angry man that doesn't have a purely happy ending for either participant. XV hurts, man.

1. OMNIS LACRIMA First of all, WHOOPS, I ended up making this list like, all of the more orchestral stuff. That's what you get when you write stream of consciousness style. Something about these just hit different, but please give the honorable mentions a look for more variety, cause this game's overall use of acoustic and down to earth instruments is really what makes it so charming and i definitely failed to express that in my personal favorites.

Now onto the song itself; Holy shit. That opening. I feel like I've just opened the gates of heaven themselves and this is what it sounds like. The song goes into that tense string rhythm which I think XV excels at for its battle themes, with the rising choir keeping up that grandiosity the song starts with. it's so funny that this is mainly just a sideboss theme, because it FEELS like the main boss theme for this game. It feels like the end of the world, the fight for the fate of the galaxy, but ultimately you're just trying to get an egg for your Cup Noodles! When that piano plays back into the intro again? Dude. This song absolutely caught me off guard when I first heard it, and it is the first thing that comes to mind whenever I think about XV and its soundtrack, this lives rent free in my head. Shoutouts to the Dissidia NT version which add a little guitar for some shredding, as a treat.

Honorable mentions go to: Somnus, Hammerhead, Stand Your Ground, Hunt or Be Hunted (hrnngg.... metal gear,,,,), A Quick Pit Stop (lmao), Galdin Quay, Valse di Fantastica, Crystalline Chill, Reel Rumble, The Fight Is On!, Lestallum, APOCALYPSIS NOCTIS, Rodeo de Chocobo, Cape Caem, APOCALYPSIS AQUARIUS, Main Theme from FINAL FANTASY (this game is heavy on the all caps I swear), and then from the DLC: Shield of the King, The Spirits Converge, The Trials of the Shield, and Battle on the Big Bridge (sorry chat I only played Gladio's)

[coralsgrimes]

On the one hand, I'm loving people who wants to call him out publicly, like at the convention. On the other hand, that will inevitably end in a mess, and ruin the experience for lots of people who have absolutely nothing to do with the situation, such as the other cast members (they've already been tagged on sm, to what purpose? It's not their fault, nor do they have any obligation to correct his behaviour. He's 41, ffs), and of course all the ticket buyers who aren't aware of this whole bullshit -and there's gotta be a LOT of them. Like, yes, a very vocal contingent of his fans on Instagram, twitter etc have spoken up, but a lot more fans (Ben's, or of the inheritance actors, or the show/books in general) are probably unaware, or not interested. It wouldn't be fair to them to bring it up during a panel. But by all means, he'll be doing solo autograph and photo (?) sessions, so that's always an option...

🌸

After a whole day of nothing special I think no one gonna bother anymore. Which gonna actually make the stupid boy think that he is right thinking that's it's just a small group of internet peeps who are mad. So he feels safe. Or so me thinks. Maybe he gonna be bolder tomorrow? Or he gonna slip and I'm gonna have the time of my life. Who knows

But true, there are other actors at the convention and it would be shitty to destroy the experience for them and their fans ;c

[steves-on-a-plane]

Destiny Disputed

Words: 2216 Pairing: Ben Solo x Reader Timeline: Pre-Episode VII AU Summary: Ben takes Reader on what they think is a joy ride to an outer rim planet. What Reader quickly finds out is that Ben has come to Tatooine in an attempt to define himself and his place in the force.

“Hold on tight, we’re going in for the landing.” The young pilot behind the yolk of a borrowed tandem x-wing you were riding in told you. His voice came in slightly static through your headset. You looked through the viewport trying to see the planet below. “It’s going to take a while before you see anything good.” He told you as if reading your mind.

“Well, it’s Tatooine, so I won’t see anything good until we leave.” You insisted. “But I never get tired of seeing planets from this high up.” You smiled.

“I used to think that too.” He laughed. “But the magic wears off after a while.”

“I just realized that other than your uncle, who we see every day, you never talk about your family. Did you travel a lot as a kid?” You wondered.

“My mother is in government and my father is the captain of a freighter.” He told you. “So, there was a little bit here and there.”

“A captain?” You commented, clearly impressed. “Is that where you learned to fly?” The curved sandy surface of the planet below finally came into view as the X-wing continued to descend towards Tatooine.

“You could say it’s in my blood.” He answered back. “My Uncle always dreamed of being a pilot. I’m told my grandfather was a pilot too. I’ve been flying as long as I can remember.”

“You have quite the legacy to live up to, Ben.” You told him.

“Yeah.” He scoffed. “Tell me about it.”

“How exactly did you talk Master Luke into letting you borrow this X-Wing anyway?” You asked.

“Right, about that…” His sentence trailed off.

Once the X-Wing was landed and secure at Docking Bay 42, You followed Ben to the crowded streets of Mos Eisley Spaceport. They weren’t streets in the sense that you were used to. They were more like dusty pathways with no clear flow of traffic. Only a few steps off the ship and you were already grieving it’s temperature control settings. The planet of Tatooine was hot, dry, and full of sand.

“What exactly is so important here that you had to steal an X-wing for?” You found yourself coughing violently as flecks of sand managed to find their way into your lungs. Ben rolled his eyes at you.

“Wear this.” Without giving you a change to protest, he wrapped a thin piece of linen cloth in such a way that your mouth and nose were covered. “It protects you from the sand.” He explained impatiently. “And I didn’t steal the X-wing. We’re going to bring it back.”

“You’re still not answering my question.” You remarked. “What’s so special about this place? Other than the fact that it’s a miracle any life forms can survive on it at all.”

“C’mere.” He grasped your hand and tugged your off the street. The two of you were wedged together between two Tatooineian Clay buildings. You hadn’t thought the dual sun planet could feel any hotter, but with your chest pressed against Ben’s, you could feel his every breath on your exposed skin.

“I never tell anyone this. I don’t want the others to make fun of me. Can you keep a secret?” You nodded. “My mother is Leia Organa-Solo. She was the princess of Alderaan. Her husband is Han Solo.”

“As in General Leia Organa Solo?” You repeated.

“Yes, not so loud!” He covered your mouth with his hand. Maybe it was the heat but pressed between him and the building with one of his hands holding yours the other covering your mouth, it was almost romantic. Definitely the heat. You decided. “We can’t be overheard talking about them here, do you understand?” You nodded. He nodded back, removing his hand.

“I don’t understand, you tell everyone your name is Ben Skywalker. Why would you do that?” You questioned in a whisper.

“I couldn’t avoid being Luke Skywalker’s nephew. The others would sense some type of familial bond through the force, but they didn’t need to know about my parents. I want to forge my own destiny. I don’t want to be known as the general’s son, or the smuggler’s son. I just want to be me. You can understand that can’t you?”

“I-I…” You looked into his brown eyes. You could feel the weight of what he was saying. You could feel it in his body language and in the force. You could feel how it had burdened him all this time. How he was pleading with you now to understand him. You were proud of where you came from. Your father was a respectable trader and your mother, who had been a pilot in the rebellion, now worked transport jobs for the republic. She’d even met Leia Organa once or twice and had nothing but kind things to say about the general.

“What’s on Tatooine, Ben?” You asked him again.

“Ghosts.” He whispered. “And we’re going to see them all.” He tugged you out of the ally and towards a land speeder rental.

“You said before that I have a lot to live up to.” Ben recalled your earlier conversation. “Everyone in my family was once a nobody.”

“Everybody is somebody, Ben.” You disagreed.

“Not in the outer rim.” He shook his head. He stopped the speeder. It appeared you were hovering inside abandoned ruins of some sort of colosseum. “When my grandfather was a child, before he was a jedi, he was a slave; a nothing. Where we are now was once the starting point for the Boota Eve Classic. A podrace. A pod race that my grandfather won, his winnings were used to repair the ship of a jedi master named Qui Gon Jin who helped him escape this place. Without pod racing, he never escapes Tatooine, he never becomes a Jedi, he never becomes Darth Vader.”

“There’s no way to know that for sure.” You disagreed. “Master Skywalker says…”

“Master Skywalker.” Ben offered a grunt of contempt.

“Is it Master Skywalker or his teachings that you don’t like?” You asked over the hum of the landspeeder. Ben was already steering the vehicle away from the forgotten racetrack towards another part of the planet.

“What I don’t like are his philosophies.” Ben hissed. You watched his grip on the landspeeder’s yolk tighten. “My father is the sort of man who believes a person makes their own destiny. Uncle Luke thinks all things are determined by The Force. That our destiny isn’t fully within our control. I suppose my mother is somewhere in between, though her opinion was rarely asked about while the two of them debated at the dinner table.”

“So which do you believe? That our choices all mean nothing or that they mean everything?” You watched his brows furrow together. He scowled into the skyline.

“That’s what we’re here to find out.” You traveled in silence for serval miles. You wondered how Ben could so easily navigate the planet. To you Tatooine seems to be nothing but sand for parsecs and parsecs. He navigated the terrain as if he’d spend all of his youngling years there. You supposed it was possible he could have. He’d already admitted to lying about who he was once. You began to wonder if you really knew him at all.

The landspeeder seemed to stop suddenly. You glanced around looking for any type of landmark. Ben reached over and tilted your chin with his forefinger and thumb. He pointed out to the horizon. If you squinted, you could just make out the signature dome shape of a moisture farmhouse. You knew from the stories he shared around the temple that Master Luke had grown up on a moisture farm.

“Is that…” You started to ask Ben.

“Not exactly. Like the legends say, the majority of it was burned down the day my uncle left the planet, but it’s the same land the family farm was on.” Ben nodded solemnly. “The family farm where my great grandmother lived and my uncle lived and where my great uncle died. Did anyone ever tell you who I was named after?”

“Until a few hours ago I’d thought your last name was Skywalker.” You reminded him. “How do I even know your name is Ben?” You turned in your seat and looked at him. You waited for a response.

“I deserve that.” He laughed. “I am named after Uncle Luke’s mentor. A jedi named Obi Wan Kenobi. The people in the area knew him as Old Ben. He lived here for eighteen years here keeping an eye on Luke. Trying to protect him from my grandfather.”

“How exactly is this helping you with your moral dilemma?” You interrupted him. Both Ben and his uncle had an affinity for dramatic story telling. Normally you enjoyed that sort of thing. There wasn’t much entertainment at the temple. Being in the vast openness there in the broiling land speeder, however, had taken away your usual appreciation for grandiose speeches.

“How is it possible that so many people’s stories can be intricately intertwined here, on this one planet?” He didn’t wait for you to answer before asking another question. “How can so many lives start and end here and it mean nothing? Obi Wan brings a baby Luke Skywalker here to this broiling hellscape while his sister is sent to live in the utopia that was Alderaan. What if instead they’re switched? If Luke becomes Luke Organa, prince of Alderaan, does he still grow up dreaming of becoming a pilot and discovering life somewhere else? If Leia Skywalker spends her life here, does she still become the great general who openly defies Darth Vader and helps get the Death Star plans to the rebellion? We have one more stop on our tour.”

The landspeeder gave a sudden jerk forward and you began to move away from the moisture farm and back towards the closest thing to pass for civilization on Tatooine. It was in that moment that you sensed it for the first time. You weren’t sure how you’d missed it for so long. You’d known Ben most of your life after all. Sure, he’d been quiet and mostly kept to himself, but you’d always considered him a friend.

You’d always known he was powerful. That was the burden of the Skywalker legacy. He’d always learned things faster than others and you assumed it was because of his bond with Master Luke or maybe that he’d received additional training on the side. Despite being good friends for years, you realized you’d never been truly alone with Ben. The sheer vastness of Tatooine meant it were just the two of you alone, no other lifeforms for miles.

Your fight or flight response told you to be afraid. You felt yourself stiffen, as if even the slightest muscle twitch would put you in danger. You fought to gather yourself and shake the feeling away. Surely it was the unfamiliar planet that had given you a scare. Maybe all of Ben’s talks of ghosts had put something in your head. Deep down though you knew, the darkness that you were sensing was coming from Ben.

“You’re afraid of me.” He stated. “There’s no sense in lying. I can sense it in you.”

“No.” You told him quietly, your voice barely audible over the speeder’s hum. It was the truth. Ben had been nothing but kind to you, you had no reason to be afraid of him. It was the darkness you were afraid of. You wondered if it scared him too. Had it been the allure of the darkside that had brought him all the way to Tatooine?

“My uncle is.” Ben told you. In the distance the outskirts of Mos Eisley were visible at last. You no longer cared about making it back to the spaceport. “He’s worried I’m too much like Vader. That I won’t be able to fight it.”

“What do you think?” You asked.

“That he doesn’t know me at all.” Ben answered. “That if he knew I had something worth fighting for, he’d understand why I wasn’t really tempted by the dark side.”

“What’s that? The something you’re fighting for?” You questioned.

“You don’t already know?” He stopped the landspeeder a mile from the very edge of Mos Eisley. He turned to look at you. You met his gaze with your own. “My father once said that a man doesn’t get where he’s going alone. You get as far as you can on your own, but sooner or later you need at least one good partner to walk beside. Someone to co-pilot when you just can’t seem to make it that final stretch of the journey. There’s a cantina in town, the same one my father met Uncle Luke and Old Ben at for the first time. You’ll know it’s the right place when you hear a blith band that playing incessant Jatz music. After an hour, if you’re not there, we’ll meet back at the ship, I’ll take you to the temple and we’ll never speak a word of it again.”

“What sort of a co-pilot would I be, if I even got out of the speeder?” You asked reaching for his hand. “You won’t get rid of me that easily, Ben. I’ve got you.” You promised.

[redrascal1]

Oh lord, here go the Finn fans on the JCF...again.

while they’ll completely invert the argument and say “Ben Solo was in trouble because he didn’t feel loved by his family, and knowing they loved him and loving them back redeemed him, and Rey was right to love him even at the expense of everyone else because that's what a good Jedi would do we’ve decided this time!” whenever they want to as well.

Rey didn't love him. TROS made that very obvious, both in film....no mention of what he did for her to Finn and Poe, instead she is shown with a huge grin on her face at the end. And...from the novel: 'She would have liked to know Ben Solo, but she would never mourn Kylo Ren.' End of.

Which is a problem, because clearly we know that Finn could likely have a healthy, committed, not too attached” relationship with Rey, and that ultimately LFL being insecure about how Ben contrasts with Finn is why they’ll insist that Rey would get too attached to him if she considered that.

Finn had Rose, whom DLF threw away, and Jannah. Why aren't either of them 'good enough' for these people? I think I know why...and how ironic it is.

At least Dave Filoni’s “Uh… Luke is like Frodo, so he as a character doesn’t get that happy ending” is tailoring a specific reason for that specific character, even if it’s still a bit of pretentious stubborness rather than a creative reason.

What are you on about, ffs!

It’s when LFL is saying one thing when it suits them (like Jason Fry endorsing attachments in the TLJ novel when that supports Ben Solo) and then saying the opposite elsewhere that’s the problem.

You know what the problem is?

Ben/Kylo was killed off THREE YEARS AGO....yet still you lot are whining that he got to snog Rey...and Secondary Character Finn... didn't.

Get over yourselves. How many bets that a Rey/Finn boremance will soon beging, either in any future films or books, or comics. You got to keep your fave. We Ben stans...didn't.

[earstwo]

Rey’s eyes go wide. “I’m not going to teach you how to get girls to fuck—”

“No, seriously. Let me demonstrate my best game, and you can tell me what I’m doing wrong."

Or: Rey accuses Ben of having no game, and then gets proven terribly, horribly wrong.

🍸2 chapters 🍸11,250 words - complete 🍸 rated e 🍸 cw for alcohol

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