#hmmmm I wonder if I could piece the back from the remnants

[tj-crochets]

Next baby quilt top is done!

Not my usual color scheme or pattern or…anything, really, but it’s Georgia Bulldog colors for a charity fundraiser rally thing run by a relative of a relative and that’s what they wanted so it’s what I’m making

[animebaby00]

I'll Never Stop Waiting (Armin Arlert x Reader) - One-shot

Instagram Request: Armin becomes separated from Y/N after an expedition and is unconvinced they're dead.

Warning: (Mild use of language)

*5 years prior

Ack, Y/N, Eren, Mikasa ! Wait up !"

A young, brown haired boy no older than 10 looked behind his shoulder, a girl with black hair trailing right behind him, "Come on Armin ! Don't tell me you can't run faster than that ! We're gonna miss the scouts' return !"

Armin clenched his eyes shut, legs wobbling underneath him as he came to a stop, panting for breath, "I - I know but -"

He could hear feet walking towards him and a hand on his shoulder.

"Eren, just stop and let him catch up will ya ?"

The boy looked behind him and stopped again, "Awe not you too, Y/N ! We're gonna be-"

"Late. I got it." You said flatly, waving a hand, "You and Mikasa go on ahead. We'll catch up with you."

"Hmmmm….okay. But make sure you hurry !"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

Eren gave a toothy grin and ran on ahead with Mikasa trailing right behind him as you fully approached the panting blonde.

"You okay ?"

Armin looked up at you with one eye,."Yeah. I-I'm fine. But...you didn't have to do that. "

You shrugged, "Hey, Eren needs to be put in his place sometimes. Especially when he's not aware that one of his friends needs help."

Armin stood up a little straighter ," He's not a bad person."

"I'm not saying he's bad. I'm just saying he needs to act a little more aware and not act so...Eren."

Armin looked off "He'd probably explode if he heard you say that."

"Exactly my point. And let him. Maybe some of that explosion will break some of his skull and let more brain grow in."

At this, Armin giggled and took a few steps forward.

"Come on, we better get going," he shyly held a hand out, "Thank you waiting."

You smiled and gladly took his hand, squeezing it.

"I'm your friend. I'll never stop waiting for you."

~~~~~~~

Present*

It was bright. Unbearingly so even through closed eyelids. His head was pounding as the ray from the light above him pierced past the thin skin adorned with blonde lashes.

He blinked, he groaned, before he finally opened them fully to meet the wooden beams of a ceiling and a hanging, dome shielded lightbulb, and the faint pitter patter of raindrops were thumping against the roof.

He was inside. But how did he get here? God, his memory was so fuzzy.

"Armin !"

His eyes darted to the right, vision still plagued by whatever happened. But the lean, boyish outline, messy brown hair, and tone of voice was enough to help him identify the individual.

"E-eren?" He rasped.

"Oh, thank God…I'm so glad you're awake! Are you feeling okay? Do you-"

"Eren. Calm down."

That feminine voice. He turned his head to the left. Black hair. Red scarf.

"M-Mikasa ?"

"Mm. Are you okay?" She asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I...I think so? Where am I? What happened?"

"You're in the infirmary." Mikasa said softly.

"Wha-?"

"The expedition didn't go as planned," Eren interrupted , "A giant group of titans began attacking 2 of our backup groups so we had to retreat. Christ….it was a goddamn bloodbath out there."

Armin's eyes widened, "H-how many…?"

"...27."

The blonde shuddered. So many people.

"How did I get here ?" He asked dryly, " I was on backup but we didn't…?"

"They called you upwards since you weren't being attacked." Mikasa explained, " But mid retreat it looked like your 3DM gear malfunctioned and you fell from the wall of a cliff. We found you and carried you back in a wagon."

Armin nodded. No wonder his body felt like it had been beaten to a pulp.

But something still didn't feel right.

...wait.

"Where's Y/N ?" Armin asked, looking between his two friends, " They were in the backup C with me. Why aren't they here?"

At this, Eren grimaced and looked off to the side while Mikasa buried her chin into the piece of red fabric around her neck.

Armin's breath hitched, "G-guys?"

"It was...really bad out there Armin." Eren admitted, running a hand over his face, "And honestly, we don't remember much. But in the midst of everything...we didn't see Y/N at all on the way back. We...don't know where they are…"

"W-what ?" Armin trembled, eyes widening.

Mikasa reached a hand out in noticing the blonde's troubled state, "Armin-"

"S-so your telling me," he quaked, face engraved with fear, "That Y/N...is out there," he pointed at the glass windows in the back of the room with a trembling finger, "B-by themselves ? Lost, in the dark and rain. Possibly surrounded by titans ? A-and possibly…" good god this word made him feel sick to his stomach.

"D...dead?"

Eren pressed his lips together and nodded while Mikasa looked down the bed, and Armin could have sworn he saw the outline of a few tears in her eyes.

Something inside him snapped, before he completely lost it.

"N-no…" he stuttered, shifting his legs upward, "No. No, they can't be…"

"Armin, please," Mikasa said desperately, "I know your upset but-"

"No ! I-I won't accept that ! T-they have to be okay !"

Armin shifted his body to the side and stood shakily from the bed, bones and muscles screaming at him to stop. But he didn't, and made his way to the door.

"Armin ! What the hell are you doing ?!" Eren exclaimed.

"I-It's not possible ! T-they have to be alive ! We have to help them !"

"Armin, lay back down" Mikasa argued, "You need-"

"SHUT UP !"

Both Eren and Mikasa froze, completely shocked by Amrin's outburst and we're even more shocked when, even in his state, he managed to hastily move out of the move and down the hall.

They were frozen from his actions, almost not even realizing what he was doing until the loud echoes of him calling out your name and words of refusal burst through the walls of the building.

"Shit...Armin !" Eren called, running after him. But Mikasa just stayed at the door, first clutched over her heart.

It couldn't be true. He didn't want to believe it.

You were his best friend. You were always there for him when no one else could be. You were always sweet, kind, considerate, and strong.

So very strong.

You didn't deserve this fate.

"Y/N !" Armin screamed, rushing past corridors, other soldiers, even other friends of his. And they all simply looked down at the floor upon hearing your name.

Armin didn't even pause in his hasteful movements as he arrived at a large oak door and pushed it open, revealing a dark sheet of night and rain. But that didn't stop him from moving forward, clothes and body becoming immediately drenched after taking only a few lunged steps away from the building.

"Y/N !" He cried, wiping at his snot and tear covered face, "WHERE ARE YOU ?!"

His eyes darted around desperately, hoping to see your face in the near pitch black, soaked darkness, wishing that maybe you had just gotten lost in a crowd or caught up with some old friends and weren't going to return until late.

The screams didn't stop,even as his throat grew raw, even as it stung everytime he swallowed his gasping, broken breaths. He prayed to Wall Maria that he would eventually hear the sound of your voice calling back to him, that you would run up with your own, watered down clothes, carrying that nonchalant smile that he adored so much.

But you never did.

~~~~~~~

A memorial was held for you a week later.

There was no report of the findings of your body or any news of the possibility that you were still alive.

Everyone was there, clad in their uniforms as the proceedings commenced in commemorating your services and honor that you put forth to the scouts. The weather was a drastic change from a mere 7 days ago, the dreary, cold, wet rain replaced with a warm sunset and a cool breeze.

Too calm of weather for the event at hand.

All stood tall as they watched the empty coffin slowly lower into the ground, the offering bouquets of flowers and lit candles put temporarily off to the side in waiting until the deed was done.

So many words were spoken, so many memories were shared, and so many tears were shed as your comrades spoke of you in lights that made you sound like the most wonderful and most pure bring on earth.

The crowd remained until nightfall until it slowly started to diminish by one to two people at a time, until there was only one person left.

Armin.

He was quiet the whole ceremony. He only listened, most of the words muffled in his distracted hearing, still only focused on the possibility of missing your voice if by some miracle you turned up at your own funeral, making this whole thing a cruel yet life-relieving joke.

But yet again, his please weren't answered.

However he still wasn't convinced.

They hadn't found any remnants of your uniform or any broken 3DM gear in the areas they searched a few days after the expedition. They didn't have anything solid.

They had no proof that you were dead.

Armin stepped forward, a bouquet of F/F's squeezed in a clammy palm. He gently laid them down on top of all the other offerings presented to you, feeling the tears as they began pooling in his eyes.

"Y/N… I promise…no matter where you are…"

He brought his fingers to his lips and kissed them, before reaching out to smooth them over the polished rock of your gravestone, whispering those same words you had told him long ago.

"I'll never stop waiting for you…

A booming voice sounded from the watchtower "CADET L/N SPOTTED IN THE DISTANCE ! OPEN THE GATES !"

[baconsoupforthesoul]

The Ink Demonth - Day 25 - Sunshine

A New Dawn

A/N: Spacy continues her au craze with another piece for the Bioshock au. However, this one is for the Bioshock au offshoot called Silver Linings. In this version, things happened a little differently in Rapture Studios, and I enjoy this version of the au just as much as the original. If you want to learn more about it, I suggest looking through the Silver Linings tag on one of the amazing creators’ blogs. So, without further ado, Henry belongs to @inkspottie, Ross belongs to @doberart, and Delta belongs to @trashboatprince. I hope you all enjoy~

Henry can feel himself nodding off. His eyelids were heavy as he started to slump forward, before jerking himself back awake. He knew he should sleep. After what happened, his body could use the rest. But he just couldn’t.

He looked down at Ross laying in the hospital bed. He looked rough, covered in bruises and scratches, and that horrible gash in his legs that he’d had to bandage up multiple times. He was so thankful that they had finally gotten the man proper medical attention. Goodness knows the nurses here did a much better job than he had.

It almost didn’t seem real. After spending his entire life in Rapture, both as an experiment and slave to Joey Drew… he was finally free. They all were. It had been shocking when the bathysphere had come up and he had seen the sky for the first time. The moon had been full in the sky, and if Henry hadn’t been too busy helping him and his friends to the nearest hospital, he’s sure he would have been memorized by it.

He had yet to see the sun though. That was what he was looking forward to the most. To be honest, it was both his worry for Ross and his unquenchable need to see that sun, the first sunrise he would ever see, that kept him from his slumber.

He thought back to what Ross had said to him, after that awful fight in that colosseum where Joey had forced Delta to fight Ross. When the three of them had been getting what little rest they could, planning their next move. 

“So save those tears for when we see the sun. Yeah?”

“Til we see the sun,” Henry murmured to himself, lost in the memory as he looked out the hospital window.

He supposed he was lucky to see the sun at all. Henry’s hand reached up to his right eye, feeling the scars running across it. An eye he would never see out of again. It still hurt to think about it. That day when Joey had forced him to stay still with his “Would you kindly” phrase as he clawed at Henry’s eye. He had done his best to push the memories back while he had been in Rapture, he had enough to worry about as it was. But it was starting to hit him a little more now that he was stuck like this now, half-blind.

It could have been worse though. Henry glanced over at Delta, asleep on another hospital bed that had been rolled in here. The three of them didn’t want to be separated, not after everything they went through. The big daddy was snoring away, Bendy curled up in his lap. The crystals though, poking out of his side, his drill, his head... it made Henry wince just looking at it. It wasn’t that he was disgusted by it, but he knew how uncomfortable they must be. How painful it must be, to be spliced up like that. Hopefully, Norman could find a way to reverse the process.

They were lucky to have Norman with them, the man who had done everything he could to help them down there in that forsaken city. And even more lucky to have reached the surface on Halloween night. While Henry had only a vague knowledge of the holiday, it was apparently a day where people dressed up in costumes, so the three of them hadn’t turned too many heads when they reached the hospital. But Henry knew upon closer inspection, it would become clear that Delta’s crystals were very much not fake. Thankfully Norman had managed to pull aside the nurses caring for them, a kind woman named Linda and a… beautiful red-head named Lyra, and had somehow managed to explain at least some of it to them. The two of them seemed to be taking the whole thing in stride. Perhaps, even as unbelievable as their tale was, when looking at the raw evidence of what happened, one would have no choice but to believe it.

As Henry sat there, lost in his thoughts and memories, a light caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He looked out the window and his eyes widened.

He could see it. The light beyond the horizon. The sun rays had just managed to peek through the clouds, making a halo in the sky. Henry stared in wonder as he saw the sun’s light illuminated the sky for the first time. He knew it would be beautiful… he knew it would be breathtaking… but he hadn’t been prepared for how magnificent it truly was. He sat there in complete silence, unable to pull his gaze away. The sun lit up the clouds, painting them in red, orange, and yellow. It was like the sky was ablaze, a fiery spectacle of light. A single tear slipped down his cheek as he was transfixed by the promise of a new day. A new day in the light.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Henry startled, looking down to see that Ross had finally woken up. The white-haired man looked up to him with a warm, albeit tired smile on his face.

“Sorry,” He murmured softly. “Didn’t mean to startle you, Henry.”

“No, it’s fine,” Henry assured him. “Are you…. Are you feeling okay?”

“Physically? I feel like I got run over by a truck,” Ross told him honestly. “But right now,” Ross glanced up at the window, watching the sun rays poke through the window pane. “Seeing that sunrise… I feel pretty good.”

“Yeah, I understand,” Henry said, turning his gaze back to the window. Even as exhausted as he was, even feeling the pain from his own injuries… he honestly had never felt better. Seeing that sky, that sun… it made all the pain worth it.

“Heh, it’s even got me crying,” Ross let out a dry chuckle as he wiped tears from his own eyes.

“Hey, we did say we were going to save our tears till we saw the sun,” Henry reminded him, wiping away a few tears of his own.

“I suppose we did,” Ross said, his eyes misty but filled with so much joy. “It was worth it. How can you not get a little teary-eyed, seeing something as beautiful as that?”

“Mmhmm,” Henry hummed in agreement. 

“And I suppose… it’s actually my first time seeing it…” Ross realized, his voice taking a more solemn tone. Henry frowned, remembering the revelation Ross had learned down there. That he was a clone too, that the memories he had of the surface were someone else’s, remnants of a dead man, the original Henry Ross.

“Well, it’s my first time seeing it too. It’s a first for all of us. So… we can all enjoy our first sunrise together,” Henry told him and Ross smiled at that.

“I suppose you’re right,” Ross agreed, returning his gaze to the window. As the two of them continued gazing out the window, a thought suddenly struck Henry.

“Wait a second… Delta’s missing this!” He realized, quickly getting out of his chair and stumbling over to the big daddy.

“Delta,” Henry shook his brother’s shoulder gently. “Delta. Hey Delta. Wake up, you have to see this!”

“Huh?” Delta said groggily, his eyes only half opened. “What is it? I’m tryin’ to sleep here.”

“So, you didn’t want to see the sunrise then?” Henry asked, trying to sound innocent but he couldn’t keep the cheekiness out of his voice.

“What?!” Delta’s eyes shot open as he tried to sit up. “The sun’s coming up?”

“Hmmmm?” The little devil in his lap stirred, blinking his eyes slowly. “Mr. Sun’s come to play?”

“Yeah, come on little buddy. Let’s go see the sun,” Delta grinned down Bendy.

Henry carefully helped Delta stand up, being mindful of his sharp crystals, and helped him walk up to the window. Bendy crawled up onto his dad’s shoulder, wagging his tail excitedly. 

“Wow…” Delta stared out the window in awe, the sun lighting up the green in his eyes. “Would ya look at that…”

“It’s so pretty!” Bendy exclaimed, his eyes practically sparkling. “Look, daddy, look! It’s coloring the sky!”

“It sure is buddy,” the big daddy smiled as he reached up to rub the little devil’s head. “It sure is…”

A couple of stray tears rolled down Delta’s face as the sun slowly made its way up through the clouds, brightening up that blue sky. After all the tears of pain and despair they all had wept, they finally were crying tears of joy. They had made it through the darkness and into the light, free of the chains that had once shackled them. And as the light chased away the night, the three of them stayed there for some time, enjoying the warmth of the sun for the first time.

[ziracona]

1: love your Vigo drawing, it's WONDERFUL 2: how do you think the entity would vibe with cosmetics? I know that's not really a thing in ILM but i can't get the idea out of my head of survivors just occasionally finding pieces of clothing in the woods and getting a sweet serotonin boost while ignoring the reality that those clothes likely came from former survivors who aren't here anymore. It'd be relatively easy for the entity to do and makes em last a bit longer as well, could be a treat maybe?

Ah! Thank you so much! I’ve been trying to draw him more. I missed him :’-] And I was really happy with that one!

Have a couple of my earliest vague doodles of him from two years ago and mine from lunch break today. Thank you so much for the compliment!! I was really proud of how pretty the one from yesterday was.💙 He looked very Vigo.

Hmmmm, well, I am not sure the Entity has a good enough real understanding of humans to realize that new clothes are actually a huge seratonin booster — especially when your old ones are nasty. Considering it doesn’t even give them like, blankets or a mat or a falling apart shed with a roof, instead of just an open campfire and some logs. :’-] it’s such a shit like come on, if you’re going to torture people for sustenance, can’t you at least let them stay in a nice hotel room with cable between trials or smth? Fkn asshole...

But anyway, I think it’s rewards would be much more likely to come in the form of things that help trial survivability, becuase it has a limited and flawed understanding of how humans work. I do like cosmetics being a thing though! They were a tiny bit in ILM, just, only barely. Claudette had a scarf from one of her other outfits, and I think there was one other? I figure why not just have them be another thing occasionally found in chests? Except, unlike an item, if you put it on, even if you die, now it becomes yours. It seems normal for them to end up there with the other remnants of past survivors, like tools and journals and favoured items. It’s kinda sweet and sad, and I like the image of it a lot. Poor Kate with her little bandanna top, freezing out there, digging through a chest and finding a sweater with horses on it. The abundant joy of warm new clothes, but the knowledge they came from someone who didn’t make it. Checking for a name on the tag maybe, or wondering how they burned a little hole by one of the cuffs. In a way, then even the survivors who were consigned to oblivion in the void still live on in the memories of others. Even with no face and no name, they still have an echo, because there is a survivor who followed after who sometimes thinks of the unknown original owner of the jacket bringing them such comfort in this miserable world, and is grateful. They are remembered, and in a very real way, they are still helping others even in death by just having existed alone.

I like that idea a lot. Although, circling back to the Entity, while I don’t think it has the fundamental understanding or presence of mind to give new clothes (and if it did, I think it would probably create new things rather than dredge up remains of its old husks—it doesn’t care about them or their memory. It probably doesn’t even remember itself, bc it sucks >:-[ ), I could see it recreating a favorite outfit of their own from back home as a reward, if they were like, thinking on wishing they had it a lot already to kind of give the Entity the idea, and did something to earn them a big reward.

[legobiwan]

Just got home from The Rise of Skywalker. No pithy intro, I’m just going to jump right in and it’s going to be a LONG rant here so buckle up, my friends, and be sure to read below the cut. SPOILERS AHOY YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Okay, so yes, the first third of the movie went at a blistering, nearly nonsensical pace. JJ  really had to cram a whole watermelon’s worth of exposition into a...well, you know, there was a lot to take in. This movie had to do so much telling instead of showing because it was such a departure (and middle finger to TLJ) from what came before. 

The thing was, the first third was also the most interesting part of the movie. I actually wish the whole trilogy had started with all of the Sith nonsense. (Actually, I wish they had started with Kylo absolutely wrecking shit like he did and then the Palpatine scene. People would have made all the wrong assumptions and it would have been glorious to unravel it over three films.) There is a strong history of Sith artifacts in both Nu-Canon and Legends, and it wouldn’t have been out of place, considering what we know now, to have made Rey, Poe, and Finn’s quest for these artifacts the start of the new trilogy, and then told the rest of the story in a non-linear timeline. Probably too experimental for a Star Wars reboot, but it would have grabbed attention and everyone like creepy Sith shit. 

Frankly, I would have dropped zombie-robot Palpatine at the very start of the trilogy, as well. It’s bonkers but I don’t hate the Rey Palpatine thing and they could have spent the rest fo the movies explaining this weird-ass lineage and how it relates to Kylo, Snoke, etc. and then have built back to the final confrontaion on Exegol. 

Leia. Trained. Rey. I so so so so so wished we had been able to get more of this. This, in my mind, is what it should have been all along. I liked TLJ (okay, so shoot me) but Master Leia is a whole other level of awesome. If I had to rewrite Luke and Leia’s roles, it would have went something like this:

Luke was searching for Sith artifacts. Luke was becoming disillusioned by what he was learning of the Jedi through “The Sacred Texts.” WHO DOES THAT SOUND LIKE? Hmmmm, I wonder....

Could you imagine Luke started to go a little Dooku in this respect, and so instead of fucking off the Ach-To because he had a feeling that was more “gravy than of grave” about Ben Solo’s dark sidedness, he fucked off to Ach-To - or even better - gave up training in order to keep himself from going down a darker path. 

And so instead, Leia is getting involved with training (and probably also governing at the same time because she would be an overachiever like that.)

Enter Ben Solo, who is Force sensitive, strong, being trained by his mother and occasionally his uncle, who is not totally plugged into the light side at the moment, which can rub off on Ben. Meanwhile, Han is maybe not the best father (he wants to be, he tries, but it all comes out wrong. I’ve been watching a lot of Psych lately, so I’m thinking of a dynamic similar to Henry and Shawn, but a little more dramatic.)

Of course, Palpatine is seeing all of this behind the scenes, he’s fostering ill will and discontent through the scattered remains of the Empire, sending Snoke clones out to be almost pseudo-religious/cult figures in the wake of the economic and social devastation left by the Empire’s fall and the floundering new government. Extremism, in pockets, rises. Extremism which preys on discontent, which preys of the desire for family, for belonging. 

Enter again Ben Solo, who has been pitted against the other strongest trainee, Rey (insert whatever last name you want. She knows it’s not her real name, she knows she was an orphan on Jakku, but she was brought by Luke to be trained). Ben is pissed how she and Leia bond, has been talking to his uncle, and perhaps encountered a Snoke clone on the way. 

Rey, on the other hand, is no one but wants to be someone, and that manifests in weird ways during her training. Perhaps she leaves at some point, perhaps not. But the seeds of her being Palpatine’s bloodline are laid within her. She wants to seek that belonging Ben has.

Okay, but getting away from my personal rewrites of the sequels, Star Wars is about family and lineage, both blood and found. There was so much potential to play on this throughout the trilogy with the Skywalkers, with Rey’s relation to Palps that if they had just planned the damn thing, it could have been brilliant. 

Moving ...(for now)

I felt so bad for Oscar Isaac. I felt like I watched his soul slowly depart his body over almost 3 hours. That man was not a happy camper and it came out in his performance. 

Power levels. Here’s the thing, guys. Magic needs to have consequences. Sure, you can cast a spell, but what does that take from you? You can use the Force, but to what degree? How much? Even Anakin exhausted himself at some points, and he was (allegedly, according to one Qui-gon Jinn), the Chosen One. It’s the first law of thermodynamics - energy can neither be created nor destroyed - and the Force is literally the energy of every life thing in the galaxy. You take the energy, use it towards something else, it has to drain from somewhere. This is what bugged the hell out of me with Rey’s Force Healing abilities (an ability that doesn’t thrill me to begin with as it’s so easy to overuse). Kylo keels from resurrecting the dead (and yeah, he was pretty beat up already), but Rey barely seems to breathe a beat harder. Once you start ignoring the consequences for magic, you end up like a shitty video game, and one of the criticisms I’ve leveled at the movie is that it feels like a montage of Battlefront and I can’t say that’s totally off point.

JEDI HUNTERS. Ochi. I will bet my right liver we’re going to hear something about this on The Mandalorian. 

So I know a lot of people wanted to see Rey Kenobi, but there was one piece of glaring evidence in the film why that would never be. (Aside from Kylo just announcing it to Rey.) She has a lightsaber, but she still ends up using a blaster. So uncivilized.

Speaking of The Mandalorian - Stormtroopers with Mando jetpacks. Hmmm.....

I loved techno-Sheev hooked up to all the equipment just floating. That was creepy as hell and played with the whole cloning and extension of life that was such a large part of the Darth Plagueis novel (which I still consider to be canon, higher powers be damned). Also, Palpy’s glowup with the wardrobe was hilarious. 

Dark!Rey was hot. There, I said it.

Let’s talk about romance. Or the lack thereof. Or the shoehorned thereof.

Poor Rose got shafted in this film with no explanation. I didn’t buy that whole thing in TLJ, but god damn anyway. (Finn also got shafted, for different reasons, which I will talk about later.)

If they were going to romance, just let it have been Finn and Poe, Finn and Rey, or fuck it, even a trio. 

I mean, I could have bought Reylo if it had been presented better. (With context. Adam Driver is an amazing actor, another thing I’ll talk about later.)

The Reylo kiss though - my theater laughed. No joke.

Of course, this was the same theater that thought Lando was trying to mack on Jannah at the end, so who knows what we were all thinking in there. (On that note, Lando was hilarious because no matter what, he was just having a grand ‘ol time in the movie. I like to think he got a medical spice card in his retirement years and was just enjoying anything that came his way, be it Wookiees, Jedi, starships, wars, whatever.)

While the Reylo kiss didn’t hit the mark the space lesbian background kiss got cheers, so there was some hope for my fellow theater-goers.

Did anyone pick up on Threepio saying the Senate made the bill that would render him incapable of translating the Sith language? No doubt that was a Palpatine move from TCW era. 

What is up with these movies and desert/jungle planets? Ugh. Thank everyone for Kijimi, at least that was interesting. 

New characters I loved: Babu Frik and DO. 

Finn’s Force sensitivity. Yes, I totally buy it. I wanted more. I wanted more fucking context of a Stormtrooper who would have known nothing of the Jedi getting these feelings and then bailing from the First Order (or, if I were writing the movies, bailing from the remnants of the Empire/Snokes weird military cults.) Totally underutilized character development. 

We. Were. Robbed. of Good!Ben. Adam Driver is so phenomenal. Form the little we saw of redeemed Ben, he is the perfect mix of his parents, from the “Ow” to the eyebrow wagging, the swagger, the smirks...I LOVED good!Ben. I wanted so much more good!Ben. What a transformation.

Speaking of which - the scene between Kylo/Ben and Han was terrific. I wish we had had more context for why everything went south, but it was so good and the type of family dynamic we really needed more of. 

The Knights of Ren looked awesome in this film? They needed to be like the Black Order of Star Wars, and they were getting to it, but not quite there. Gods, they could have been the enforcers of Snoke’s cults (Palpy’s puppet cults) that could terrorize far more than a normal, brainwashed Stormtrooper, who was only useful as cannon fodder (I mean, if we look at the history of the clone army to the Stormtroopers, it would be terribly fitting.)

That ship tug-of-war was DUMB. (See my rant about magic and consequences). But, if Rey was going to shoot lightening Palpy-style and blow up a ship, Chewie should have died. I’m sorry, that’s terrible, I love him, but there needed to be consequences for actions and throughout the film, there were either no consequences or random consequences that were a narrative convenience rather than developed into the plot/characterization/worldbuilding. 

Here’s the thing with the ST - there is so much potential. There are some awesome ideas. But they wanted to play if safe with JJ by rebooting the OT, Rian was too far out for them, there was no cohesive storytelling, and so we get these little glimpses into what could have been amidst a shitstorm of trailers for Battlefront 17. 

we could have had it allll....

Final rating: 4/10

[sunshinevanfleet]

klutz - j. kiszka

pairing: jake x reader 

a/n: i’ve been feeling the jake love lately so i decided to write this. hope you guys enjoy, and don’t forget that requests are open!

genre: fluff 

word count: 1.3k

summary: the reader gets hurt and it leads to a confession

warnings: there is mention of injuries, and blood so please be wary if you’re sensitive to those things.

Your mind swam as you stood in the kitchen alone, listening to the remnants of party guests file out of the apartment. The glass of water in your hand trembled slightly with the shakiness of your fingers.

You hadn’t expected to see your ex-boyfriend at the party, especially with it being at Jake’s apartment and all. It’d turned into a mess when he started bothering you. You were still unnerved at the memory of him swinging his fist at Jake. He’d missed, but still. It was your fault the altercation happened in the first place. If only you would’ve stayed home…

Ice twirled in the glass as you brought it to your lips, nursing the buzz that you wished would wear off. Jake offered you his bed for the night, but you would feel bad after the night’s previous events. You didn’t want to trouble him any more than you had already.

Just as you moved to place your glass on the counter, Jake rounded the corner into the kitchen and bumped into you. Both of you swore in unison as the glass hit the floor, shattering.

“Dammit,” you hissed, carefully stepping away to avoid getting glass in your bare feet. “I’m so sorry, Jake.” Gently, you crouched down and began sweeping the glass into a neat pile with a rag that Jake passed you.

“It’s fine, Y/N. I’m just glad it wasn’t me this time,” his voice was teasing, but you frowned. He walked past you carefully, grabbing the broom from beside the fridge and sweeping along the other side of the kitchen.

You paid him no mind as he hummed some nameless tune, probably something the band was working on. The floor was nearly clean when the door to Jake’s apartment swung open, and you jumped. As you caught yourself, you felt the sharp sting of pain in your palm and saw the blood trickle down over your hand and wrist.

“Fuck,” you hissed, sucking in a sharp breath as you shot to your feet. Josh joined both of you in the kitchen, looking curiously at the mess.

“What do you want?” Jake glared at his brother, propping the broom against the wall as he passed you a couple of paper towels. You carefully dabbed at the blood, but you couldn’t handle looking at all of the glass embedded in your skin.

“I can’t drive,” said Josh.

“Well, Y/N’s staying over. Call an uber.”

“It’s fine,” you asserted. “Just… Help me clean up and I can go home.”

Jake looked wearily at you, but nodded. Then, he eyed Josh, “You can sleep on the couch.”

“Of course,” said Josh, backing out of the doorway.

Jake followed you to the bathroom, where you leaned against the counter. He was rummaging through his medicine cabinet whilst you stared at the splinters of glass buried in your skin.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” you muttered under your breath. You took a deep breath and stared up at the light, trying to steady yourself.

“It’s all right,” said Jake. “I’m gonna fix you up.” He shot you a reassuring smile, and you tried to return the gesture. Ignoring the searing pain in your hand, you watched Jake as he pulled out his first aid kit.

He was focused as he pulled out bandages and antiseptic cream. You wondered if he’d even had a drink all night, the way his hands were moving so steadily. He also pulled out a pair of tweezers, which made your stomach flip. You knew it was going to be hell getting all the glass out.

“Are you sure you can do this?” you eyed him carefully. His fingers wrapped around your wrist gently as he brought your palm closer to eye-level.

“Not really,” he shrugged. “The only reason I even have a first aid kit is because Mom forced me to get one.” He winked at you playfully as he tilted your hand slightly, looking for the best angle.

“Tell me you know what you’re doing,” you said as you tried to calm yourself. His eyes found yours, and his expression was careful.

He squeezed your wrist, a gesture of comfort. “I know what I’m doing.”

You nodded, forcing yourself to believe it even though it was probably bullshit. You clenched your jaw as you watched him pull out the first piece of glass—the largest. You winced, feeling the sting of the glass being removed. Jake glanced at you for a second.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m just a big baby,” you laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

Jake smiled at you, and continued nursing your wounds. He was done within a minute, every visible piece of glass removed from your skin. He ran your hand under water, gently washing away the blood and grime.

The two of you were silent as he finished dressing your wounds.

“No stitches?” you wondered as he wrapped bandages around your hand.

“I don’t think so,” he grinned, patting your leg. You watched as he put the first aid kit away.

“Thanks,” you told him. “If I didn’t have you I probably would’ve gone to my mom’s crying about it. I’d never hear the end of it.” You joked, and Jake laughed.

“You’ll always have me, Y/N.”

You blinked at his words, feeling your heart jump. You knew he didn’t mean anything by it, but it still gave you butterflies. He would be your best friend forever, you knew that. But it wasn’t what you wanted. You wanted him. When you didn’t say anything, Jake glanced at you.

“I mean that, you know.”

“Jake, I—I’m sorry about earlier,” you told him sincerely. You were still sore because of your ex acting like a fool earlier. It was embarrassing, having your ex-boyfriend try and assault your best friend.

“I’m not,” Jake only shrugged. He moved in front of you as you frowned at him. “He’s jealous, but who wouldn’t be? I spent two years being jealous while he treated you like shit.”

Your jaw almost dropped as his eyes met yours. “You can’t be serious.”

“Of course I’m serious. Why would I joke about that?” Jake laughed as he took your good hand in his. “I love you, Y/N.”

You scoffed in disbelief. “I wish you’d have told me that two years ago,” you laughed, shoving him playfully.

“Me too,” he said, shaking his head.

You couldn’t believe him. The both of you must’ve been blind not to figure it out before, yet here you were. With a laugh, you pulled him toward you and connected your lips. His arms snaked around your waist carefully, pulling you into him. You hooked your legs around his waist and threaded your hands through his hair.

He spoke against your lips, “Two years, and all it took was you being a klutz for me to grow some balls.”

“Shut up.” You pulled away to laugh. You sighed as Jake pressed his lips to your neck, trailing kisses up to your jaw. You tugged gently on his hair as his teeth grazed your skin.

“Jake—” your voice was cut off by the door opening. Josh stood there, wide-eyed as he looked between the two of you. You squealed, pulling the hem of your shirt down as Jake swore.

“About time you two figured it out. Getting a room might be useful, though.” Josh teased as he squeezed into the bathroom.

“You’re in my house,” responded Jake. Josh looked between the both of you, while you pushed yourself off the counter, shielding your red face.

“C’mon,” you urged, pulling Jake’s hand as Josh waved playfully at you. You rolled your eyes as the door shut behind him.

You straightened out your clothes, as Jake pulled you into him again. “You should stay over,” Jake suggested, his fingers cradling your chin.

“Hmmmm, I don’t know,” you teased. “I need a good reason for that.”

“I could think of a couple,” Jake said, hooking his fingers in the waistband of your jeans as he led you toward his room.

[uldren-sov]

mending

i wonder where the title comes from hmmmm

Raike’s my (light)cleric Av’reen is the party’s monk

The pounded copper-colored metal on the deck showed the remnants of the battle. The black, bubbling, liquid that made up the monstrous gangsters streaked across the whole of the floor in macabre fashion. Or at least as much as beings who were made of a tough, elastic, gelatin could be considered macabre when they seemed to evaporate.  For a moment, Raike wished such beings were the weirdest things he had come across. But by Qokaris’ wrathful and radiant gaze, they weren’t - not by a long shot.

The aftermath of a battle there was always a shared sigh of relief, one more brush with death averted, and as he looked at his compatriots he soaked in the real gravity of it. Despite the horror of the beings themselves, they barely left a scratch on them. And if monsters who could change into melting facades of friends couldn’t faze their minds or their bodies anymore - he wondered what kind of monsters he and his friends may yet turn out to be.

“My deck!” Bek, the yellow skinned Githzerai whipped from one scene of mayhem to the next. On the east side of the sky cart there was the 40 foot long singe mark and discoloration courtesy of Raike’s involvement, a broken chain between a gap in the banister that lined the perimeter of this deck, and then a large dent on the south part made by a behemoth version of these -- things when it landed.

“If they were here for you-” Bek started again as he wrapped the chain of his meteor hammer back around his chest. He rounded toward the party as he said it, preempting a resistance.

“We’ll fix it,” he finished quickly, hoping to placate the already disagreeable man. At least this time he had a reason to be. But, beyond that -- such a simple service was a relief, was a blessing. With all the fighting, horrors, and dire stakes that were put upon them at seemingly all times, this was a return to something familiar.

“I’ll take the chain,” Av’reen quipped. She holstered her repeater in the bandolier that crossed her back and wiped her palms on the orange and red robe that hung off of her willowy form. He saw the familiar light trail her bullets, and ember lick the metal covering her knuckles back in the heat of battle. It was touching, perhaps even in a way she didn’t mean, that she wanted to use her newfound faith in this way as well, not only in battle.

“I’ll take care of the rest,” he said as an odd joy bloomed inside of him. There was something soothing in pulling off his gauntlets and bracers, unstrapping the leather protection and gloves beneath, and rolling up his sleeves to expose his bare hands. As he flexed and clenched his hands to stretch them the singular thought passed that he’s been in this armor for too long.

Putting it all in a neat pile he got right to the edge of the deck on the east side, kneeled, and leaned partly over the edge. With an ease that he never quite had before, he found that connection to Her Calamitous Radiance, and forced his will with this connection to heal. With the image he had of how the metal should look, he gradually returned it to how it was. Lifting the scorch marks, returning the metal back to its original splendor, it was all so easy in comparison to what caused it in the first place. He felt over the metal with a slow pass, nearly feeling the imperfections fizzle under his skin as the metal reflected a soft glow coming from the contact.

That never happened before.

But he’s come a long way since the first time he did this. Scrubbing the hardwood floor of the dormitories close to a decade ago and seeing the one divot in the floor that he kept catching when he walked around barefoot. It was a nuisance and annoying and the cause for more than one trip-and-fall in his youth. He had focused so hard that after rinsing away the soap and going to immediately dry it that he saw the divot no longer gouged the floor. He passed his hands over it a few times to be sure and yet … it was whole; seamless and perfect a repair to the floor.

Looking back, it might have been the exact moment a more concrete plan to leave the basilica started. Brick by brick he was able to repair the stone of an old, hidden, passageway on the upper level of the church proper. Day by day he restored it in secret, after all, no one would go looking for something that was ruined. And months into his work, hands rough and now used to the coarse feel of the light gray stone, he pulled himself up to what he could only say was a precipice. A small window frame at the top of the basilica where the massive bells were housed -- a long forgotten area once they did not need to be rung manually -- is where he made his way to. Once more he pulled himself up, feeling the rough, dusty stone once more scrape his palms, as he got himself to sit atop it. He looked out and froze.

He remembered that, in an instant, as the sunrise could actually be seen coming up over the edge of the world, an ideal became realized as tangible. The horizon, beyond the high walls of the basilica, to somewhere where Ables went and came back with fantastic stories, was suddenly so close he felt as though he could just reach out and touch it. He wasn’t sure what this new power of his meant, but if it got him to this point, then that’d mean it’d take him farther.

The wind whipped around him now as he was nearly through removing the evidence of the massive wall of fire he erected. He pulled himself back into the safety of the banister and checked the length of it over briefly before looking back over to Av’reen.

“All good, there?” he looked to Av’reen, not quite getting to his feet yet.

“Listen,” she started, letting the word hang as she held the two long pieces of chains in her hands, far longer than they were when she first started, “don’t- I got this. Okay? Just gimme a second.”

He held a hand up and returned to his own work. The smooth, warm, metal was a far cry from the stone bricks he had been so used to once, yet a return to that simpler time, a more peaceful time - if only for a moment - was a singularly welcome reprieve.

But calm and quiet isn’t why he left the Basilica over a month ago. All of this? Was just the a different shade of the same adventure he set out to find.