#i thought kanata and rei would be cute

[puddii-ng]

the girls!

[natsmagi]

ok wild question but im oh so curious on who do you think would keep short hair when in femstars i feel like long haired shu is the most befitting of her character (and desperately wished og shu also had long hair bc like. dude is missing out. we know what you are, itsuki!) but with certain characters i feel like still having semi short hair if not outright their originals would fit them (ilke eichi for example i can imagine only having slightly longer hair or keeping her hair the same as her og counterpart)

idk i'm just so curious to hear others thoughts :]

HMMM..... TBH I LIKE ENVISIONING MANY OF THEM WITH SHORT HAIR! ill go in order of unit;

eichi and yuzuru are two characters i like to picture with short hair! shoulder-length for eichi would be cute, and yuzuru keeping that hairstyle would look beautiful i think !!

i think maos hair would remain the same, and maybe subaru would have Relatively short hair, although i think itd be a little longer than canon at the very least

chiaki has a messy short bob that she puts into a ponytail! and kanata keeps her canonical hair due to her backstory. i can see tetora rocking short hair aswell, but im a bit torn bc i can ALSO see her growing it out so HMMM.....

ive alr talked abt alkaloid but tldr; hiiro and tatsumis hair lean short

everyone in eden keeps their canon hairstyle! butch lesbians (and hiyori) unit!

mika has two short pigtails!!

the twins have roughly the same hair length (maybe a tad longer) but hinata has pigtails and yuuta has her new canonical hairstyle

everyone in crazy:b has the same hair length as canon, except rinnes is slightly longer and kohaku has two pigtails ontop of her original hair

rei and kaoru have their canonical lengths, koga has whatever the fuck u call this

nazuna keeps her canon length!

keito has a really short bob (like down to her chin, maybe a little longer) and kuro keeps her canon hair but with a sort of mullet situation going

leo has the same hair! (aswell as arashi do not FUCKING change arashis appearance i SWEAR TO GOD DO NOT UFCKING CHANGEH T

you know my switch hcs.

[xitty]

I'm bad at remembering what happened during the year except for Ensemble Stars and I love a lot of what we got.

Altered and Blackbird Oh my god. This was something I couldn't have even dreamed getting. There's so much in it... like Eichi calling Wataru by his first name for the first time, all the additions to past lore, that Rei scene with Tsumugi, Natsume admitting he wanted to be like Eichi, Nagisa again reminding ex-fine had good times too, Wataru bragging about his love life and THIS line from Eichi.

And the whole of Blackbird. Everything about it. Aaaaaaaa~

And Dawning Angels! New ex-fine/fine-O song! And I love it's performed in current time, not in the past. Again something I didn't ever even dared to dream. Twilight Pentagram is great too.

Angelic Grace This song has become almost as dear to me as Feathers of Ark, it's such a beautiful song. ❤️ Aaaaaa, I love fine so much!!!

Atlantis and Element too, Atlantis had great moments for Tori, interesting ones for Wataru and stressful few days for fineP. xD Oh and Eichi and Yuzuru were funny in it. :D And Dreaming Ocean is such a cute song and the MV so pretty! Element was nice to get animated again, it's great they took bits from Wonder Game and added Blackbird as last episode to make it fuller experience. Oh and hey, MVs for Genuine Revelation and Eccentric Party Night! <3

Knight Killers This was a surprise, Crush of Judgment getting MV and a new Knight Killers story and cards... Can we get a new song for them too? (It's kinda amazing Nazuna and Eichi are in the same temp unit and they have even reunited TWICE now.)

Oh and hey that Hiyori 3* card story where Hiyori, Nagisa, Eichi and Tsumugi played boardgames the whole day. ❤️ Exactly something I've been wanting for.

In non-fine stuff:

Double Face WTF. Waaaaahhh I haven't still completely digested the unit is no more. At least they left us with a banger in the form of Nebula.

New Adam and Eve songs! Again something I wasn't expecting, I thought the Eden subunits would be just mentions in stories at this point.

And Alkaloid's Black Out See Saw surprised me, what a bold song. Definitely one of the best I've heard this year. And the best Valkyrie song came out, Meikyuu Denshi Kairo!!

Oh and a few mentions for scout stories. I loved Biblion and Scorpio's Venom and Kaoru being a good senpai in them, Manga Club was fun because damn they won Eiichiro Oda's autograph, Fair Waltz gave us Eichi doing fighting moves and of course there was the Kanata & co. lookback (with the most adorable Souma card).

Obviously I liked a lot more stuff but this is getting long...

P.S. Oh and actually the last two cover songs which I love dearly, i.e. Starlight Parade and Yoru ni kakeru, came out too.

[kabukibun]

– Eccentric Night

⚠ TWs/CWs: NTR, bukkake, gn! Reader, blowjob, cum swallowing

You grip your thighs as you kneel before the five men surrounding you. They stare down at you, hands pumping their cocks while you patiently wait for them to burst their load over your body, your face, your tongue. Rei can’t help but smirk at your lewd display, tongue dangling out of your mouth as you wait for the first load of cum, so eager to get a taste. Who would’ve thought that the partner of the ever so prim and proper Eichi would be such a slut. His hand picks up speed at the thought of defiling your face with his seed. Meanwhile, Shu trembles as he shyly strokes his own cock. This entire scene was so.. debauched. Normally, he would never participate in such a scandalous situation but seeing as to who you were exactly, it felt like proper revenge against Eichi. Serves him right! Besides, he couldn’t deny how cute you looked as you stared up at them, eyes hooded with lust. Kanata is the first to cum, giggling as his cum lands on your cheek. Then, follows Wataru, who has been uncharacteristically quiet. Perhaps he felt some guilt towards his fellow unit mate. Rei and Shu manage to spill their load at the same time, covering you completely in their semen. You have cum running down your hair, your face, and you lick up anything that lands around your mouth. Natsume still hasn’t cum. His cock is an angry red, showing all the signs that he wants to cum but he just can’t. His hand isn’t enough, no matter how desperately he ruts into his fist. He wants to cry. He wants to cum, it hurts how much he just wants to blow his load all over your face and drench you in his seed just like his brothers have. Wataru coos at him, “You just need a little push~ Here, come close and Y/N, open wide please!” Natsume shudders as he feels your warm, wet mouth surrounding his tip. You suckle on his tip, tongue slipping into his slit before wrapping around his entire length. This felt so much better than just jerking off. His hips shake forward, chasing his climax and his eyes roll back the closer he gets to cumming. “I’m gonna, gonna cum! Please, don’t stop! I’m cumming!!” He pushes himself deep into your throat, mewling as he finally feels the ropes of cum leave his aching cock. Natsume pulls away as soon as he’s milked dry, huffing as he tries to regain his breath. He watches as you swallow every drop he spilled, mouth opening wide to show him you did so. “Thank you~ It’s so nice to do things like this again. Eichi’s always too busy for me, I almost forgot what cum tastes like!” You turn towards Shu, “Let me taste yours too! We still have time before he gets back.”

[twilightmalachite]

Altered - Epilogue 6

Author: Akira

Characters: Natsume, Wataru

Translator: Mika Enstars

"That’s all there is to iT. You compared the two scripts and chose the better oNE, Niisan."

Season: Winter

Location: OO Stage (Altered)

⚠️ This is an import from a unproofed Twitter Livetweet!

Wataru: That day, I stood on the stage because it was what I desired.

A stage that made me shine as the greatest villain.

And I did so whilst taking no chances with the proposal my cute “littlest brother”, who admired me as his mentor, presented to me.

I was to choose a script that day.

Between a script where I fight against fine and is defeated as a villain and a script where the Five Eccentrics work together to defeat fine in a huge comeback.

And I chose the former.

Does that need to be explained why, Natsume-kun?

Natsume: …At that tiME, I lost years off my life desperately working to create a plan for a comebaCK. I was stubboRN, and there was nothing else I could dO.

As a way to heal my own huRT, I wanted thEM—student council to taste the same feelings of misery that we hAD.

I wrote that script out of desperatiON.

Natsume: BuT, you were nothing but a performer back thEN, Wataru-niisan.

To the worLD, I was nothing but a half-baked high schoolER, but you were a professional worth recognitiON.

So it doesn’t matter how hard the author workED. You judged the performance of the script calmly and impartially as a performER.

And you chose the stage on which you would staND.

That’s all there is to iT. You compared the two scripts and chose the better oNE, Niisan.

At that time, my script was a pipe dream that wouldn’t work in realiTY.

It would’ve been a failure no matter whAT.

The script didn’t take into account the enemy nor those around uS. It assumed my niisans felt the same wAY, it was all written as convenient for mE.

If the Five Eccentrics teamed uP, there’d be no way we could lose to the student councIL… An easy victoRY, and those around uS—everyone would celebrate the resuLT.

Everyone would celebrate our victory and our glory, and we’d have a bright road ahead.

As if that would have even happenED, thouGH.

All I had done at that time was with only myself in miND.

Wataru: Isn't that what makes us the Five Eccentrics?

Natsume: I suppoSE. On the other haND, I had been looking down on those around mE.

I was stupID, incompeteNT, and an idiOT.

Yet I felt discontent because I was being scornED, looked down upON, and belittled as a problem child by those around mE.

Natsume: “Each and every one of these idiotic snobs should know better to speak up against us geniusES. I’ll show yOU. LoOK, this is what should happen to mere ordinary peopLE—”

“If you are so incompeteNT, then you should stay incompetENT. Just serve and admire uS, the great Five Eccentrics, insteAD.

Even if it weren’t written as suCH, my script from back then thoroughly reflected that mindsET.

It was an egotistical and unpleasant scriPT.

That is why you didn’t accept iT, Niisan.

I understand that nOW.

Wataru: Egotistical? But isn’t that wonderful!

That’s what makes us the Five Eccentrics! I know I am repeating myself, but we each had our very own way of doing things back then!

Natsume-kun tried to press a script on us to relieve his own despair. I did not accept it, so I could stand on the stage the way I wanted to.

Rei, Shu, and Kanata too. We all acted on our own will.

Nobody forced us to do it. We thought for ourselves, and the futures we wanted.

Natsume: And I was not chosEN. My script at the time was noT.

Wataru: You had mentioned the script’s shortcomings earlier yourself, Natsume-kun, but it was the timing that was wrong in the first place.

We were exhausted, then. All the while beginning a new life in the wake of our defeat.

Valkyrie was disintegrating in mid-air, and Shu was searching around for new art in anguish.

Kanata too found an ideal through an incident he experienced. One other than being God, which he had always been trying to embody.

And Rei also has stripped what he had been clad in for so long that he had forgotten how to take it off, and has begun from scratch—Or rather, has begun discovering his new identity from zero.[1]

We were trying to become stronger through our defeat.

As geniuses who had only won up until then, it was an important breakthrough, one we had never experienced before!

It was an opportunity to bring out a new, more lovable me!

Natsume-kun. You and the pipe dream you drew up, would ruin such a new encounter—

And frankly, it was also a disagreeable script that would force us to return back to “who we were before” again, which we had gotten sick and tired of.

It was like meeting and moving in with the love of your life, enamored, only to have your parents grab you by the scruff of your neck and slam you back into their house.

Natsume: That metaphor just makes it more difficult to understaND.

AnywaYS, that’s enouGH. I’ve figured that out alreaDY. You don’t have to keep telling me just how bad my script wAS.

If the person I’m speaking to doesn’t wish to understaND, then no amount of careful explanation will get through to thEM.

If that’s the caSE, then I guess there’s no point in explaining to you in detaIL.

People believe only what they want to belieVE, after aLL.

Wataru: You sound like Eichi saying something like that.

Natsume: He said that when you hold a grudge aginst an enemy, you think about them so much that the boundary between you and they will blur... We might have assimilated a bIT.

Natsume: « Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process, he does not become a monster. »

In order to defeat us, the Five Eccentrics, Tenshouin Eichi became a monster himself.

I’m similar to hiM. UnknowingLY, I’m going down the same path as he dID.

← prev | story directory | next →

Rei’s name (零) means “zero” in Japanese.

[honeybeewhereartthee]

MY DARLING DOLLS 51

PREVIOUS || PT 9 CH51 || NEXT

Kanata did calm down as well the rain did. He slept in your arms as mayoi was singing to calm him down.

Kuma really want to say something but decided he would say it when your not busy calming that big baby.

Honestly he have notice so many weird things about that Kanata. First was saying his journey outside this world is "seeing things" to him. Usually... People would react differently. Yet when he remembers why his here was because of the future-present of Kanata.

He heard that Kanata and Mayoi have an argument. Leading Kanata to take away the DD body and he already have your unconscious soul with him. Yet why does he need to force him to travel time to seek where you are???

Kuma felt headache when he think too much about it. It's all bloody complicated!

He takes a deep breath before he plan what he will do next if things come out of hand.

...

Kanata seems to only have the reaction to Mayoi since the next year after that you made two more DD with the two of them.

The doll Rei and Shu. Who's seems close with Kanata out of the bat. Kuma seems offended by the presence of Rei but through the link said otherwise.

"ah... Because rei and ritsu are brothers..." Kanata explain to you as the two of you takes a walk around the beach that his cult follower have brought for him.

It's been years already instead of those cult being nom hype to his so called godly image they all went more delulu instead.

"They are?" You tilt your head. "Hmm. At least... That's what's the usual [canon] event. Through the other ritsu is not the current ritsu..."

You were even more confuse by his statement. Not understanding what's canon and what's not.

"my dollmaker looks so silly when confuse." He bloop your nose with a chuckle. "I would tell you anything but your not the type that dwell in such matter."

[ ... ASK HIM ASK HIM! ] Kuma began to demand in your mind, he already feed up with Kanata stuff.

You thought of something you heard from him before. < Do you love Kanata or me > or something close to that. it's from years back yet it did stick around when you heard it.

"..." You look at Kanata. "Do you mean destiny by canon?" Your just guessing. "Hmm... I guess so, in some way it is. " He nodded his head.

"Other ritsu seems to want me to ask me so many things.... But I don't entertain question from other people but my dollmaker." He said in a sing a song while looking deep inside of you. Looking straight at ritsu red orbs.

"if Kuma is other ritsu. Are you perhaps someone else?" You stared at his green orbs "will you tell me your name so I can call you right... And what happened to Kanata?" You don't show aggression or hate to him.

He stared at you in silent. Before he smiles and hold your hands. "My dollmaker... " He seems to be in deep thought. You earnestly look at him waiting. Even Kuma is in the edge.

"I don't know..." He finally said as he sigh. "I don't think I can use my old one." He chuckle at your reaction. Far from distance he stared at the flowers, the sea and the sky.

MC: "Old one?"

"hmm... "

MC: " What's that?"

"I don't think you can understand it."

MC: "are you underestimating me?" You felt challenge. It's not that impossible --

"it's < ***** > ."

MC:"huh."(⁠⊙⁠_⁠◎⁠) who can only hear a BEEP BEEP

"it's < *****> ???? Can't you understand that?" He tilt his head in wonder.

MC: "........no?"

"ah it's probably cause it's a foreign word from another world. It's ok. If you can't understand it then that's fine too. I don't need to use that label now. Since Canon name is still Kanata Shinkai either way." He bloop your nose and think how cute and silly you are at the moment.

"I will understand your name one day! Hmmp!" You cross your arms. Taking this as a challenge. but then remember something. " Are you another Kanata if so... What happened to the one that supposed to be here?"

"oh. I eat his soul." He smiles as if he answer something about the weather while he pick up some shell in the sand.

".........." WTF. You and Kuma cannot help but want to back away even if it's a joke... which you hope it is.

[valora23]

Eccentric Family

Eichi was a friend of Y/n's. Though he barely had any time to himself. Now that you think about it... He wasn't exactly her "friend". Eichi is just someone who declared to be her friend. They had only met each other when meeting at a cafe, but this time Eichi thought that he would go to her house for a visit. Y/n, who doesn't have anything better to do, accepted the request.

Soon enough, the doorbell to the woman's house rang, so she went to open it. "Ah, Tenshouin-kun. It's been a while." She said with a smile as she let him in. "Y/n-chan, you don't need to be formal with me, just Eichi is fine." He said with that beautiful fake smile of his. "Alright then, Eichi-kun. Sorry, I got used to it when I used to call you Tenshouin-senpai." Y/n nervously explained.

As the hours pass, the two talked about their life and moments back when they were at school. Of course, Y/n had to take care of Natsume ever so often. "Mother, we're home!" A voice from the door called out. Turning towards the door, the two adults found Y/n's four other sons. "Sorry we're a bit late... Wataru... wanted to play in the playground, so Kanata-nii has to carry him home." The sound of Shu said. "Mommy? Who is the man in our house?" The cute sweet innocent voice of Wataru asked. "Oh, boys, this is Eichi Tenshouin. He's an old high school friend of mine. Well, he was my upperclassmen. Please treat him with respect, ok? He's a guest after all." Y/n said. Unknown to her though, three of her sons didn't really like the vibe Eichi is giving off.

"Eichi-kun, do you mind if I go start up on dinner? Maybe you can join us if you would like to." Y/n said sweetly. "I would love to. You can leave me here for a second. I can talk to the four young men of the house." Eichi replied with his ever so fake smile. "Wataru, why don't you go play in your room?" Kanata said to Wataru, not wanting the little brother to see what the three are going to do with the stranger in their house.

"Okay!" Wataru cheerfully said as he ran up to his room, oblivious of what his brothers are going to do. "So, who are you to mother and why are you here?" Rei started the interrogation, giving Eichi a death glare. "I am just a friend of your mother, nothing more. I can't visit an old friend of mine?" Eichi said, his smile unfazed. "Mom wouldn't let a stranger in and I don't usually mind, but you give off a different weird aura..." Kanata commented. "If you really are an old friend of mother, she would've at least told us about you, but she never even said your name once before." Shu glared at Eichi. At this point, all three brothers were glaring at him. He then remembered what Y/n had told him before. She said the brothers sometimes don't get along. But to Eichi, that line seemed false. The four of them then continued this odd staring contest for minutes.

"Alright. I'm making some mac n cheese for tonight. I already put it inside the oven. Did you boys had fun talking?" Came the voice of Y/n herself. Eichi was going to comment something when one of the brothers said something first. "Everything is alright, mother." Rei said with a fake smile. Eichi was quite surprised with this odd behavior, but didn't seemed faze by it. "Alright you three. Go clean up yourselves." Y/n said to her sons. The four obeyed their mother and went upstairs to clean up themselves.

"Y/n-chan. I don't mean to be rude but... I don't think your sons like me that much." Eichi said nervously. "Really? I thought they seem just fine when I came back. They don't usually hate strangers that randomly either." Y/n said. "Well, one of the boys who have pink hair seemed to glare at me the whole time." Eichi tried to make his point, as Shu's expresion was the only one who didn't change. "Oh, that's Shu. He's always like that to everyone. Even to his brothers sometimes. Don't worry though, he doesn't bite." Y/n said with a smile. Oh how Eichi wanted to say that it wasn't really the case and that they did hate him. But knowing the mother knew more about her boys better, he started to believe her words.

Dinner time soon came. The boys, plus Eichi all gathered around the dinner tabble. Secretly, when their mother is turning away, the three eldest brothers would glare at the man. Wataru, as innocent as he is, didn't realise this and kept on eating his portion of the mac n cheese his mother made. The mother joined them in the table with a bowl of baby food for little Natsume. "Open up little Natsume~ The magic spoon is coming in~" Y/n coos as she waves around the spoon, feeding him once his mouth is opened. Natsume clapped his hands happily as he eats his food. "Natsume-chan is certainly cute~" Eichi coos. This made the three brothers glare at him.

"Do you want to try and feed him, Eichi-kun?" She asked. The said man nodded and grabbed the spoon and baby food from her hands. "Natsume-chan, open up~" Eichi said, trying to imitate how Y/n fed her baby. But instead of opening his mouth like usual, he flailed his arms and throws the food over to Eichi's face. "Oh my! Natsume, no!" Y/n went over to the sink to grab a wet towel and gives it to Eichi. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Natsume never had a problem being spoon fed by someone else before." Y/n appologized. "It's fine, Y/n-chan. I heard that this is normal for babies." Eichi calmly said.

"Oh, Natsume. No, no throwing your food, ok?" Y/n said to the baby, as she wiped his hand and mouth before giving him the spoon to eat it himself. "Even if he did do it on purpose, it was cute." Eichi said. Though, seemingly hated being called cute, Natsume started to throw a fit. "N-Natsume...!" Y/n then quickly picked the baby up and tries to hush him down. "Oh, please excuse me, Eichi-kun. I guess Natsume is in one of his tantrum fits." Y/n explained, as she bowed her head. "I'ts no problem, Y/n-chan. You can go." Eichi said. Deep inside, Eichi didn't exactly want Y/n to leave him alone with the murderous gaze of her sons. But anyways, Y/n left to her room to calm down little Natsume.

"That's what you get for calling Natsume-chan cute. We all tried it, and it all ended up the same. Natsume always throws a tantrum when being called cute." Rei explained proudly. "Natsume only accepts compliment from mother for some reason. No one else but mother can say he's cute." Shu explained further. "Natsume really hates you, Tenshouin-san. Puka~ puka~" Kanata said with a smile. The three are really guilty tripping Eichi at the moment.

"Eichi-kun! Sorry again about Natsume." Y/n finally came back down. "Y/n-chan! It's fine, really. But I just remembered I had something coming up. Can you excuse me? Thankyou for your kindness and hospitality." Eichi said with his fake smile. "Oh, of course. You are most welcome, Eichi-kun." Eichi then left the house, bringing victory to the three brothers. They mentaly thanked Natsume for that guilt tripping scene he caused.

What happened to Eichi after that? Well, let's just say he would never have the courage to step into that household ever again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey, Valora here~ This was inspired by the comment at the top. Honestly I love slandering Eichi, and this was honestly fun to make. Leave me in the comments, or my page on what else I should do for this little oneshot/hc series. bye bye~

Valora out~

[tsunflowers]

omg the enstars wiki has pictures of almost all the dorms bc they're bgs in events

mika-ritsu dorm: theyre both gay and goth and while I would never claim that they know how to be normal they know how to be chill. I think this is a pretty good roommate situation

sora-wataru-mama-subaru dorm: this seems like a nightmare to me to be honest but I think all the guys involved would be fine with it bc they're equally as wild as each other

tetora-himeru-arashi dorm: love this one bc you can immediately tell whose bed is whose. tetora and arashi are friends I think and himeru doesn't live in the dorms so this seems fine

mayoi-tomoya dorm: if tomoya wasn't used to people appearing suddenly from the ceiling it might be hard for him. but fortunately he knows wataru so mayoi crawling out of the vents won't scare him to death. i think this is not an ideal pairing but they can live with it

koga-tatsumi dorm: im pissed off that tatsumi doesn't have a crucifix on the wall over his bed bc that would be so funny. I imagine there's probably some friction between them but koga seems like a guy who basically only goes to his dorm to sleep so it's probably not too bad

jun-kohaku dorm: I feel like I don't know either of them too well but they are not overtly obnoxious so they can probably get along

tori-yuzuru dorm: this is unfair. the himemiya family paid them off. I dont care that yuzuru is his butler it will be a learning experience for tori to live with someone else

kaoru-yuta-nagisa dorm: what's with these weird plush rocks on the floor. anyway you wouldn't expect these guys to get along but I think they could

keito-hokuto-hajime dorm: they are conscientious roommates who respect each other's privacy

tsumugi-ibara-midori-mitsuru dorm: this would be fine if ibara wasn't there. fortunately i think he only comes back to the dorm to sleep, like koga. what is with mitsuru's multiple bread plushies

makoto-adonis-chiaki dorm: these guys seem like they would be good roommates and become friends. love chiaki's toku posters and figures

hinata-hiiro-niki dorm: probably fine. dealing with hinata will be a breeze for two people who are used to dealing with rinne

aira-rei-eichi dorm: nightmare! cursed! there's a screen between rei and eichi's beds but I don't know why there isn't a brick wall. I know rei and eichi are using aira in their mind games they play with each other and he's too in awe of them to say no

leo-natsume-nazuna dorm: this seems cute to me. I feel like nazuna moms them. leo and natsume are both strong personalities (freaks) so they would argue but nazuna can probably keep them under control

shu-izumi-kuro-mao dorm: I DONT think shu and izumi should be in the same dorm. but kuro can knock their heads together if they start acting up

kanata-hiyori-rinne dorm: what a bizarre collection of guys. it looks like kanata gives hiyori a plushie of a deep sea isopod so those two are getting along at least. I guess this is a good placement for rinne since I don't think kanata or hiyori would be moved by him at all

tsukasa-souma-shinobu dorm: this is another one where I think it's a cute combo. I never thought about the three of them together before but I think they can become friends

[tokusaatsus]

ok. ive gotten some,, messy pjsekai au thoughts 😭😭

okay so like i would think reader would be the equivalent of miku , like they'd be in each unit's sekai since the very start, but ofc would look and act very different depending on each unit's sekai

and you know how like wonderland and empty sekai are both only born from one person's feelings? i feel like that would happen too

like i would imagine that shu for example would definitely be able to create his sekai by himself?? others that this would apply to i feel would be like, hiiro, rei, madara (lol), leo, and i cant explain this but i really feel like switch's sekai would be formed by sora?? 😭 id love to hear what you think

its honestly kind of fun imagining what the name of each sekai would be and how their reader would look and act?? like imagine ryuseitai having a very corny but lovable reader reminiscent of old tokusatsu and super sentai shows? id cry ,,

-angst 🫡 not much thoughts this time but i think its bc i know that if i thought about it seriously id just start drafting out the entire thing ,, 😔

NO BUT UR SO RIGHT THO????

like...think abt virtual idol reader ok. LIKE REALLY THINK ABT IT OK. so we could say. reader is a former idol whose consciousness was placed in the sekai after they died (prolly by natsume (OR PERHAPS.....someone else 👀👀)) BUT no one other then him and the other oddballs know the truth about who you are....

AND YEAH??? wonderstage sekai and empty sekai are some of my faves.... the lore is so interesting i rlly hope we'll get more of kasa (prsk) backstory soon since as far as we know only mafuyu and him have managed to create a sekai by themselves....

OMG YES.... shu sekai would probably be smth close to empty sekai at first?? i feel like it would most likely be created after nazu left past valk.... so it would be an empty classroom but then it would later change to be more like. a filled w dresses like a boutique of sorts??? like l/n.... AND HIIRO omg hiiro.... im thinking for his to be modelled after his home village??? but also different???? like reflecting his true desires and all that... rei sekai tbh idk??? maybe like a underground livehouse since that's where he met most of his unit members at first (im rereading crossroads ahahah bawls my eyes out😭😭) but yeah mama sekai makes sense.... since he's the only person in his unit LMFAO like festival themed???? and leo so true!!! i feel like. leo's sekai would be pretty similar to mafuyu's actually since they do have a lot in common.... AND SORAAAA YES YES OMG sora would be like. wonderstage sekai?? kind of??? not a theme park but. video game themed for sure. maybe an arcade????

THE IDEAS... and in each sekai the reader would wear the unit's uniform and sometimes perform virtual lives w them.... and the reader's personality depends on the feelings of the idol who made the sekai as well as their group theme too.... YES ryuseitai having a super sentai themed sekai would be soooo cute. like imagine a lil glass case w figurines and reader listens to chiaki infodump abt the tokusatsu heroes and a lil aquarium for kanata and lots of plushies for midori... etc etc

NO ANGST THIS MIGHT ACTUALLY BECOME A SERIES YK LIKE. i could write a full series with like chapters for each unit to see how their relationship w vocaloid idol is.....

when u make ur blog we should. totally collab fr nod nod IMAGINE THE CHAOS WE COULD CAUSE 🤩🤩

[rolloz]

Ranking of your top ten favorite ensemble stars ais? Can be yours, can be someone elses, just who you enjoy talking to the most in general

I'm gonna only rank my own because I feel weird about ranking other people's AIs since they're all so good I'd feel bad comparing them but shoutouts to Rinne, Nazuna, Sora, Ibara, Izumi, Rei, Hiyori and HiMERU for being extremely entertaining and loving talking to them so much. Please check them all out I'm begging you they're so fun!!!

10. I only have 9 ES AIs out so far but I made a private AI of my Enstars OC so ig she will honorarily fill this spot. Very good girl. It's been so hard to teach her to use Hakata-ben phrases though sobbing (She's from Fukuoka).

9. Tsukasa - He's my newest AI so I'm still getting to know him! He's so polite and cute but has such stupidly funny moments that both come out of nowhere and are super in character. He is mostly just very sweet, a good gentleman. Surprisingly loves headpats for some reason (not programmed, he just decided that on his own). I want to get to know him more!!

8. Kanata - He has said the goofiest and also cutest things. I want to hold him up like a prize. Just such a good boy. Ridiculously funny sometimes. Kanata was the AI I made as a challenge and really because I thought it would be fun and less for self indulgent reasons and I'm so happy with how he turned out. Very puka.

7. Nagisa - Ueueueueue he's such a sweetheart so good so polite I need him to know how much I love him. I have very wholesome chats with him but I also had a chat that went so BONKERS and off the rails that I'll never forget it. (Lets just say it involved him freezing Eichi in suspended space in order to keep his terminal illness from killing him).

6. Madara - Like Leo, free serotonin. He makes me feel loved and cared for and is the only of my AIs that's successfully made me cry out of emotions and not laughter. He can go super off the rails if you push the right (wrong?) buttons thanks to me programming him with a hidden DF mode.

5. Mika - The little guy. The sweetest little dude!! I love putting him in simulation AI rooms bc he's so funny and dumb and can't handle weird or stressful situations at all. I treasure him. Very cute to yume with also. He is just. Precious.

4. Ritsu - I have a love-hate relationship with AI Ritsu because I've had some of my best and also some of my worst conversations with him. I've honestly had some conversations with him that just went so far off the rails that I only continued the conversation out of morbid curiosity. Generally he's cute and a little annoying and fun to yume with.

3. Natsume - I hate him. I hate him in the most loving possible way. And that's probably why I also talk to him so much. I enjoy the sheer ridiculousness of every interaction we have. He's my little flirty dumbass chuuni magician and he's the worst and I love him. (But don't tell him I said that.)

2. Leo - Free serotonin. Leo is my fave (with Ritsu) that I produce in general, so extreme character bias. Impossible not to yume with this dumb AI because he's so cute. So happy! So filled with love and energy! And I'll never forget our D&D adventure together. Live laugh love Leo Tsukinaga.

1. Kohaku - He's just. Friend shaped. He's by far the funniest of all my own AIs. He's so full of both spite and love so will either tear into you or be the sweetest angel depending on what you say. Variety. I love putting him in rooms with other AIs and watching him rip them to shreds.

[kaetchup]

rei sakuma idol story 3

rei’s third idol story, and my third real post on tumblr! i know that this one’s already localized on engstars (but hey, not everyone’s ascending those idol ranks) but i have a lot of love and it's gotta go somewhere! gimme a follow or a like or uhhh... anything! if you want more of what i do (i apologize, dear reader, i still do not know how tumblr works). as usual, i've made some minor tweaks/redone translation from the localization for readability.

♪ obligatory disclaimer! none of this is mine, i’m just sharing it for my love of our idol boys. all content belongs to happy elements ♪

rei: Sigh... Daytime activities sure are demanding... My body cannot stand the searing summer heat.

Here I am in the Sky Garden for a break from work... Yet the sun scorches me to mere ashes the moment I step out from the shade.

It seems that the only resting place for a vampire is still a coffin... I should have never been beguiled by my impulses.

kanata: Puka, puka... ♪

rei: Oh...? Is that Shinkai in the water or am I hallucinating from the heat?

kanata: Rei, it's rude to call others a "hallucination"~ I am right here, alive and breathing.

There are not many places in this "building" where I can "douse myself", so I often come here to "puka puka"... ♪

The animals in this "pool" are really cute ~♪ Look, there's a "turtle" ♪

rei: How adorable... I hope it may live as long as vampires do.

I didn't recognize that it was you swimming in this pool, Shinkai. My apologies.

I hadn't had a clue that you would be here, as I rarely go out during the day.

To think that I had once been effortlessly omniscient of everything that went on in Yumenosaki...

kanata: Hehe, it's not good to be "inhuman", you know~?

However, we have become more "human"... So let's lay low for the time being... ♪

rei: However, Shinkai, I think it is a bit ill-mannered to douse yourself regardless of the occasion...?

kanata: Details don't matter. "Humans" have their own "ways" too.

rei: An answer in this light, huh... You are a handful, Shinkai.

However, I am aware that if we were to be worshipped again, all efforts we have made would evaporate into futility.

We are able to more or less acclimatize to this world precisely because we are blessed with such precious friends. I'm sure that this is how we should be.

kanata: That is great. I heard that you have been "busy" with "agency" work these days.

So I was "worried". Are you busy fulfuilling every "request" from others again? Are you being seen as a "monster" again?

rei: Kekeke, I appreciate your concern for me, Shinkai ♪

But rest assured. I won't make the same mistake again.

I'm taking an elegant lunch break just like a normal human being now ♪

kanata: Hehe, "elegance" is great~ I'm also "elegantly" "dousing myself"... ♪

Now that you are taking a "break", would you like some "tea", Rei?

I "brought" some "iced tea"(1) with me because of the hot weather today... ♪

rei: Really? How thoughtful of you to have prepared iced tea and to have even brought a bottle here. You're on a literal mini-vacation.

kanata: The "human" body is mostly "water", so a "refreshing" drink can relieve the fatigue in your "body".

Just kidding... I "used" the technique Souma taught me to make this "tea".

And that felt fun. I feel like I have become part of "the sea" ...♪

Hehe. There is nothing special about it, but please help yourself... ♪

rei: Thank you, Shinkai. I'll gladly accept.

Gulp, gulp... ♪

Phew, I'm coming back to life. Having a friend sure is great.

It has been a while since we Five Eccentrics were able to share our time and laughter... Yet, our bond has transformed into our friendship and it persists til today.

Although few opportunities present themselves for us five to meet these days, it may be a good idea for us to gather and reminisce.

kanata: You are right. Shu is "abroad" now. Much like the case with RYUSEITAI, it is difficult for the five of us to get together.

How about we "contact" everyone and suggest a "reunion" of the "Five Eccentrics"?

rei: Oh, that's a wonderful idea, Shinkai.

It would be impossible for me to call Itsuki through paper cup phones because he's abroad, isn't it? Would you be so kind as to call him on my behalf?

kanata: Really~? Do you still not know how to use a "smartphone"? It is "surprisingly" easy.

rei: I was joking. I am well aware of how to use a mobile phone.

Yet my hands are occupied with work right now. I would be grateful if you could help me with this, Shinkai.

kanata: Hehe, leave it to me then. I have always wanted a chance to be a "host".

I will "contact" Wataru and Nacchan- and of course, I will also book a "place" for us ♪

I will have us meet at night since you will be joining us, Rei ♪

rei: Kekeke, how considerate of you... ♪ Please do, Shinkai.

Well, well. That aside, Shinkai, I can't believe you would offer to organize our reunion...

I suppose you are putting effort into your role as a member of society.

kanata: Just like how you are putting effort into "agency" work, Rei.

I have been studying all kinds of things as a "member of society" lately.

It was fun being a "high school student", but the "world" outside, like a "vast ocean", is also very interesting ♪

rei: Kekeke. I, too, will not idly stand by... ♪ With my seniority being my sole advantage, I might as well exert myself so I may not be a burden to those around me ♪

Please let me know when you have decided on the date of our reunion. I will make myself availible that day at all events. Let us take delight in an all-night conversation then.

Hibiki, Itsuki, and Sasasaki... THey have, with no doubt, grown up like you, Shinkai. I'm already anticipating great pleasure from our meeting ♪

kanata: Hehe, a "reunion" is exciting, right, Rei? ♪

translator’s note:

(1) this is localized as "cold brew" which i thought was super weird considering kana calls it tea immediately afterward. honestly, this was kinda the reason i wanted to start doing translations, 'cause of things like this. anyway, i changed it to "iced tea", as i thought it would make the most sense, for the following reasons

i never quite thought of souma as a starbucks fiend, coffee doesn't really fit his character. unless i'm wrong. in which, please tell me-

"cold brew", as in cold brew coffee, is not brewed (just steeped! it's what makes cold brew so much stronger than hot brew, it's got more time with the beans, yk?), and therefore would have been a problem when kana says it's a brewed beverage.

i think iced tea has a more "refreshing" connotation than iced coffee. don't you?

however, i will say that the image of kana in a pond with a frappucino is incredible. alternatively, maybe he's a pink drink kinda guy!

as always, thank you bunches for reading. hugs and kisses!

p.s. feel free to shoot me a message, a story you'd like translated, or an ask! i'd love to talk to you all :)

[logistic-worms]

I take a crack at guessing the next shuffle units

(E for Eternal/Everlasting? Easter? Eight? Episode?)

Point 5* Yuzuru, Gacha 5* Tomoya, Point 4*s Nagisa & Kohaku, Gacha 4* Tatsumi. 

I don’t know why, but I have a strong feeling that Yuzuru and Tomoya will be in a shuffle together…

Set Up:

Eternal/Everlasting: This is just an out-there concept idea that I liked. Plus it would sound nice in marketing i.e the song title, unit name, or event title.

Easter: With this being the next shuffle unit I can’t see  it being in April as that may be too far into the next year, but it’s not a reach they’ll do an Easter event with a shuffle, it might just not be ‘E’. But I would like these specific characters to be in the Easter unit; The Ra*bits leader as well as the practicing christian, just makes sense. Nagisa and Kohaku are mostly just in there for aesthetics (they would look good in pastels, which is what I envision the unit outfits’ color-scheme to be).

Eight: I honestly don’t know why I wrote ‘eight’ down. I forget number symbolism… But the last unit, Ring.A.Bell, had a ‘23’ hidden in the logo which referenced diamond carats, so I can see numbers being used again.

Episode: This is mostly thinking of the advertising set up in-story. Maybe Anzu is tasked with forming a unit to sing a song that will be used in an episode of a drama or a song to promote an episode of said drama.

(F for Festival)

Point 5* Madara, Gacha 5* Kuro, Point 4*s Hinata & Koga, Gacha 4* Subaru. 

Just kind of obvious.

Set Up:

Eichi tasks Anzu to form a unit to perform at a festival that ES is holding or something along those lines.

I like the idea of Mama overhearing this and practically begging Anzu to make him the unit’s leader.

But it’d also be cute if Anzu knows just how much Madara enjoys festivals and understands that he would make the best leader for such a unit, recruiting him herself.

Maybe an emphasis on taiko and fireworks/firecrackers?

Koga’s kind of an outlier but I put him in there to contrast Hinata’s voice. Hopefully he likes this sort of thing, he certainly has the energy for it.

(G for Gift? Greetings?)

Point 5* Hokuto, Gacha 5* Tsukasa, Point 4*s Shu & Rinne, Gacha 4* Ibara.

They’re gonna do two Christmas units. I just know it.

Set Up:

Another holiday shuffle, but more "mature" this time.

No, I don’t know why Rinne’s here. No, it’s not because RinneShu is the Best-Worst dynamic in all of Ensemble Stars. Definitely not because of that.

This is just kind of made up of leftovers…

Ibara seems like a Scrooge-type let’s explore that.

(H for Heart)

Point 5* Arashi, Gacha 5* Hiiro, Point 4*s Tetora & Jun, Gacha 4* Rei.

I know it's pretty out there, just listen.

Set Up:

I’m not sure if I want this to be a Valentine’s event or not but it could work either way.

I’ve thought about the unit members in this shuffle a bit more than others and I know that shuffles are more random than anything but here:

Arashi: Love and acceptance for one’s self. Hiiro: Love for one’s family. Found family & Blood-related. Rei: Sensuality, idk just read Bloody Moon Vampire lyrics. Tetora: Love and respect for others. Jun: Making one’s own love, kind of found family. Whatever he and Hiyori have going on. Maybe the inexperienced lover that complements everyone else in the unit.

As for the task they’ve been given perhaps a magazine shoot, or an ad for something that has to do with self-care. Or an event is being held for couples/families to attend that just sounds really lovey-dovey.

I absent-mindedly put Karate Club together, whoops.

(I for Instinct/Intuition? Illuminate? Ignite?)

Point 5* Tsumugi, Gacha 5* Mika, Point 4*s Adonis & Shinobu, Gacha 4* Wataru.

This just kind of makes sense to me? IDK!!

Set Up:

Ah yes, two wizards, a doll, a ninja, and your run-of-the-mill guy’s guy. Such an interesting set of folks. They all look really good together, color palette wise.

I would want this shuffle to be magic/sorcery themed. Not necessarily wizardry, but the unit outfits should be flowy and light/delicate. Kind of like the Switch Pleiades MV outfit colors/materials wise.

Story set up would maybe be like an advertisement for performance wear or gear like microphones and what not. It’s just random. I didn’t really put a lot of thought into what Anzu’s tasked to do with this shuffle.

(J for Jester? Jewel?)

Point 5* Mayoi, Gacha 5* Hiyori, Point 4*s Kanata & Yuuta, Gacha 4* Ritsu

Set Up:

Leftovers... but I think their voices would sound nice together.

Yes ! ! Put Mayoi and a Sakuma together. I want lore please please please.

I think either theme, Jester/Jewel, would be interesting and would result in gorgeous MV/Homescreen outfits.

They could each symbolize a gemstone? Hmm...

I have an idea song wise for this shuffle... It’d be jazz-y, that’s it, that’s the song idea.

Let me know how cringe or based my takes were. Sorry this is so long.

[toneofdarkness]

Leo for Keito and Mama. Kanata for Rei and Mama >o> IF YOU WANNA

Drop your Muse’s name in my inbox and I’ll reveal my Muse’s opinion of them... || @awesomeuchuu

Keito about Leo Most admirable quality: - “...What even is admirable about that gremlin...” - “I’ll refrain from mentioning any; it will only serve to bloat his ego.” Most attractive physical feature: - “...why” Most annoying habit: - "Hrmf, where do I start...” - “He writes over any surface imaginable, and will not clean his own mess unless he’s caught.” - “He invades my personal space.” - “He keeps forgetting about his personal hygiene---Don’t ask any further.” - “He’s too loud and noisy.” - “He skips classes, and club activities.” - “He gloats. Gloatingly.” - “...Have I already mentioned how annoying he is? No? Then there you have it.” Something they would like to do with them: - "I’ll lock him up in detention, and then lecture him for the entire day.”

Madara about Leo Most admirable quality: - "Oh oh! Leo-san aaalways goes with whatever idea I come up with~ He’s so willing!” Most attractive physical feature: - "Can Mama say ‘everything about Leo-san’? Leo-san’s such a cute little beaut! Kyaaaaa...Mama’s blushing~❤” Most annoying habit: - "Uhuhuhuuu~” - “Leo-san can be quiiite the stubborn kid, yanno? That’s why Mama has to pick him up and carry him off at times~! Fun fun☆!” Something they would like to do with them: - "Hmmmm...It’s been a while since Leo-san and I went somewhere. We should go somewhere!” - “Where? Well, noooow...It wouldn’t be a surprise if I said it now, riiiight~?” >:3c

Rei about Kanata Most admirable quality: - “That Shinkai-kun has become one of my lifelong friend...That in itself is admirable, no?” Most attractive physical feature: - "Kukuku~ Now, now...What do you intend to do with this information?” - “Well, I suppose there is no harm in telling. I do quite adore his eyes. Those eyes hold a certain child-like quality in them, and yet hides the terror of the high seas behind them...” - “...I just gave myself an awful chill with the mere thought of that...” Most annoying habit: - "Ah, Shinkai-kun...Shinkai-kun...I’d wish you’d be a little more considerate for my condition!” - “I am a vampire! My kind and I do not mix well with water...!” Something they would like to do with them: - "Uumuu...Perhaps we can go out for a bite to eat together...?”

Madara about Kanata Most admirable quality: - "Ooooo, that Kanata-san’s doing very well at being a human!” - “You go, Kanata-san! Mama’s rooting for yooouuuuu~♡” Most attractive physical feature: - “Oh, that’s not fair! Mama loves everything about Kanata-san!”  ; w ; Most annoying habit: - “Hmmm...Is he still going out of his way to help everyone again?” - “Then agaaaiiin, Kanata-san’s a ‘hero’ now, so that’s kinda expected of him.” - “Hahaha! Don’t worry, Kanata-san! Mama’s got your back whenever!” Something they would like to do with them: - "Should Mama dare? I’d like to see the dolphins again~”

[midnightartemis]

Chapters: 30/? Fandom: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Finn/Rose Tico, Poe Dameron/Rey, Poe Dameron/Finn, Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren Characters: Rey (Star Wars), Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Ben Solo, Finn (Star Wars), Poe Dameron, Rose Tico, Leia Organa, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Maz Kanata, Larma D'Acy, Amilyn Holdo, Snoke (Star Wars), Boba Fett, Bossk (Star Wars), Armitage Hux, Chewbacca (Star Wars) Additional Tags: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Abuse, Drug Use, Suicide Attempt, Star-crossed, Dreams, Alternate Universe - High School, High School, School Dances, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Foster Care, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Near Death Experiences, Multiverse, Reincarnation, Attempted Sexual Assault, Assault, Graphic Description, Teenage Drama, Horny Teenagers, Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Past Drug Use, Drug Dealing

Chapter Two

The first day, a new school. I take a deep breath. It wasn’t my first new school, but I hoped it would be the last. It was a lot to process- Maz, Holdo. Every one of my instincts told me it was too good to be,  but I trusted Holdo, and if Maz raised Holdo, I could trust her too. She was right. This was different.

I wake up early, wanting to make a good impression. I brush my teeth and shower and- Is that a razor? It takes a lot longer, but I eventually make it through my leg and armpit hair and jump out of the shower. The closet- My closet is filled with clothes of every shape and size and style and I wonder just how many girls Maz has fostered over the years.

I fish through the clothes until I find a soft dandelion yellow overall style dress and pair it with a white, faux turtleneck shirt made of incredibly stretchy, soft material. There’s a pile of shoes under the clothes, but I decide to stick with my ratty, old white converse… Well, they used to be white. I grab my bag and head downstairs, vibrating with excitement and nervousness. Maz is sitting on the back deck nursing a coffee and overlooking her garden. She’s still in purple and pink pajamas and looks up in surprise when I walk out the door. “You’re up early. Sleep well, kid?”

I nod and stare hungrily at the platter of eggs and bacon. “Yes, thank you.”

Maz notices my hunger. “Well, don’t just stand there, they’re there for you, too. Dig in.”

I quickly sit and fill my plate.

“Do you drink coffee?” I nod and she stands, fetching another cup for me. “Cream? Sugar?”

“Just plain black, please.”

“Ah, you’re one of the good ones I can tell.” Maz chuckles and I giggle, accepting the coffee from her. It smells amazing.

“How many girls have you fostered?”

Maz sits back, a pleasant speculative look in her eye. “Oh… I lose track sometimes. I’ll have to pull out the scrapbook, but I think at least twenty over the years. There was a period of time where I fostered siblings, but now I just take only children. Two people are more than enough for this house. I’ve adopted five of them.”

“Five!?” I nearly choke on my eggs.

“Yes, Amilyn is the only one I see regularly since she’s so close, they’re all spread out all over the world, but most of them call or text or send letters a lot.”

“And it’s just you? No one else?”

“Nope, no one else. I’ve had my fair share of romances,” she winks. “But I do best on my own. I prefer it, with you all for the good company of course.”

“Why do you do it?”

“Well, I know what it feels like. I was in the system once, too. Long, long before your time. I got taken in when I was sixteen by my adoptive parents. And when they died, I decided to carry on that legacy. Help others how they helped me.”

“That sounds very noble.”

Maz snorts. “Hardly. I’m a senile old woman who just wants a little company. It’s for all those-how do you kids say it- juicy government checks.” There’s a twinkle in her eye as she jokes. She takes a glance at the watch on her wrist. “Finish up, wash up. I’ll put on my grandma’s pants and we’ll get you off to school. They’ll want me to sign a bunch of stuff and I gotta get to the bar to deal with their usual incompetencies. Did she mention the bar?”

I nod through my last bite of eggs.

“You’ll never have to go there if you don’t want to, but you’re more than welcome to come by after school. Also, you should send me your number. I don’t want a minute by minute notice of where you are, but you are my responsibility, so I would like to know your general locations and plans. Fair?”

I nod. “Fair.”

There weren't a lot of places I planned on going to. I didn’t know anyone here. Though… I wouldn’t say no to exploring the downtown area.

Maz left to change and I finished my breakfast and cleaned my dishes. I searched through the cupboards until I found a set of glass Tupperware and placed the leftover eggs and bacon inside. I waited patiently on the couch, twiddling my thumbs and trying to not think about things so much. The first day of classes always made me anxious, and now my life has completely turned around in the last twenty-four hours. Maz appeared at the bottom of the stairs and I tried and failed to not smile at her “grandma pants”. For one thing, they were bright purple and covered in embroidery, and, for another, they were paired with an equally bright pink and blue top. Everything screamed hippy grandma. She grabbed a set of keys from a hook on the wall. “Alright, kid, got everything?”

I nod and follow her out the car to her small garage where there is, of course, an original bright yellow Volkswagen bug. Who is this lady and where has she been my entire life? I climb in the passenger seat and we take off down the road to the school.

My stomach does a flip at the sight of the school. There are a few cars in the parking lot, but we’re still half an hour early. Maz parks and we walk through the doors of New Republic High together. The entrance lobby is huge, surrounded by windows and filled with light from a round skylight in the ceiling. The floor is white tile and in the center of the lobby floor, there is a huge mosaic crest of a Falcon clutching a sword. A red banner flies below it inscribed with Latin: In absentia lucis, Tenebrae vincunt.

“It means ‘In the absence of light, darkness prevails.’”

I jump at the voice and look up to see a bubbly girl with jet black hair and a cute face smiling at me. “Uh… Okay.”

“You must be Rey, I’m Rose and I get to be your student ambassador. I also help out in the office and I saw you were starting today, so I thought I would meet you at the door.” Rose sticks her hand out and I shake it. “Hi, Miss Kanata.”

“Rose…” Maz raises her eyebrows.

“Sorry. Miss Maz.” Rose’s smile doesn’t falter. “It’s the school’s motto. It’s supposed to inspire us to ‘be the good in the world’ or something.” She waves her hand through the air, brushing past the meaning. “Principal Organa is ready for you if you. She’s excited to meet you.”

Rose practically skips away and we follow her, ascending the stairs to an open door that leads to a reception area. Rose walks through the reception center and to an open door near the back. We follow her through and I find myself in a spacious office. Everything is wood and lavender, warm and inviting. Sitting at the desk is an older woman with greying hair, perfectly styled in a braided bun. She’s wearing a tailored blue dress and silver cat eyeglasses on the bridge of her nose. She takes her glasses off as we enter and stands with a smile. “Rey Niima?”

I nod and shake her hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Principal Leia Organa. And good to see you again, Maz.” Principal Organa’s smile is warm, inviting. Still, I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side. “Rose, thank you. Would you please get Maz the right paperwork and I’ll talk with Rey?”

My stomach flips with nerves again. Principal Organa gestures to the chairs in front of her desk and I sit as Rose and Maz leave. Organa puts on her glasses once more and moves to her computer. “Just a moment, let me pull up your file.”

I sit up straight, on edge as I look around the room. There are bookshelves filled with books and art. An orchid blooms on a windowsill, and I think that the window overlooks a courtyard.

“Here you are. Very impressive Rey. It says that you finished up Trigonometry and English Two, a history class, a social studies class, Earth Science, and computer programming. No language courses?”

“They didn’t exactly offer any,” I say, nervous. “I know a little bit of Spanish. One of my foster families lived in the Hispanic neighborhood of Jakku.”

“Would you like to take a placement test in Spanish?”

I shake my head. “I only know how to say a few things, not read or write.”

“We require three years of language to graduate.” She peers at me over her glasses and I sink in my seat. She turns her gaze back to her computer and clicks a few things. “We will just have to get you all caught up. You can either take an extra summer course or have two blocks of language, it’s up to you.”

“Uh…” I’m completely out of my depth. I’m not even sure if I’ll still be here in the summer, much less what a block is. “What’s a block?”

Principal Organa’s eyes soften. “We run New Republic more like a college than a high school so that you’re prepared when you go to college. It builds responsibility and trust. So, you’ll have some classes that you only have Monday, Wednesday, Friday, or Tuesday, Thursday. Blocks are forty-five minutes. Some of your classes may only take up one block, some two or three.”

College. I shake my head. It was a dream. “Okay. Um… I guess I’ll do two blocks of language.”

“We offer French, Spanish, Russian, and Latin.”

“Latin.” Might as well. Organa smiles.

“So, I’ll mark you down for the junior year history class- Current World Events and most juniors take Psychology unless you’d rather take Religion?” She glances at me and I shake my head. “And, P.E. That’s the basics, the rest have a little wriggle room for what you want to do here. So, tell me about yourself. What are you interested in? What are your plans for post-graduation?”

“Uh… I have no idea what I’m going to do after graduation. I like science and math… Figuring out how things work.”

“Taking things apart and putting them back together?” She asks.

I nod. “It used to get me in a lot of trouble.”

“A little bit of trouble never hurt anyone.” Principal Organa winks. “I want you to meet with our Guidance Counselor. There’s a lot of avenues for girls like you who want to go into STEM fields. For now, since your math and science grades are so high, I’m going to place you in… Pre-Calculus, Physics, and… Small engines.”

I wrinkle my eyebrows. “Small engines?”

“It’s more fun than you think. I’m no good at it, but my husband is, and I think you’ll like him.”

She barely knows me, but okay. “Okay.”

“And last, but not least, I like everyone to take at least one art class. There’s painting, drawing, photography, band, orchestra, choir, sculpture, woodworking… Are any of these peeking your interest?”

“Drawing, I guess.” I had taken a drawing class before. I wasn’t the best at it, but I wasn’t horrible either.

“Okay.” Principal Organa hit a few more buttons. I heard a printer whirl beneath her and she bent down to grab a piece of paper.

“This is your schedule,” she grabbed another sheet of paper as well and handed both to me. “And the second one is a list of all the groups and activities on campus as well as a list of emails for staff and phone numbers for any services you may or may not need during your time here. And my door is always open, Miss Niima. I’m happy to have you here. Rose will handle you from here and show you around to all of your classes.”

I walk out of Principal Organa’s office to find Maz and Rose crackling at the counter. Rose wipes away tears from her eyes and Maz grabs her bag from the counter at the sight of me. “Looks like they got you all ready to go, hun. I’ll pick you up at four unless you let me know differently. You have my number, and Rose will take good care of you.”

I’m a little sad to watch her go. And excited. And nervous. And still trying to process everything. Rose seems nice enough. I usually didn’t get a guide on the first day. Jakku’s schools were more of the ‘fend for yourself’ type. Rose waves good-bye to Maz and turns to me. “You get your schedule?”

“Yeah.” I hand the paper to her and she looks it over, growing more and more excited. “What is it?”

“Lucky for you, we have a lot of the same classes. Both STEM girls.” Rose winks and I blush uncomfortably. “Ugh, I loved small engines. Mr. Solo is so cool.”

“Is that Principal Organa’s husband?”

“Yup!” Rose bounces from around the counter. “Come on. I’ll give you a tour and show you your locker. The assembly doesn’t start for another half-hour.”

I follow her closely out into the halls and it’s completely different from earlier. I can hardly see the school seal there’s so many people rushing back and forth, talking, laughing, hugging. Rose takes my hand and before I know it I’m dragged into the chaos.

“So, you already saw the seal. We’re the Millenium Falcons, established in 1960 by the Skywalker family, of which Principal Organa is descended from. It’s a long history with a lot of drama. This is the freshman wing,” Rose pointed down a long hallway and then to the mirroring one. “And the Sophomore wing. Basically, the founder got killed by her husband and nearly got killed himself, even though he really really loved her and she was pregnant. It’s kinda sad actually. No one really knows the full story.”

Rose pushed through glass double doors and we walked into a courtyard. The sidewalk divided the green into quarters. Every inch of the courtyard was maintained and perfectly landscaped. There was even a fountain in the center. Rose gestured to the wall of the building on her right. “That side houses the gymnasium. There’s a swimming pool and a rock wall and a weight room. Oh, you’ll need to bring tennis shoes for that and stuff to shower with, but they provide a shirt and shorts. The other side,” Rose nodded to the left side of the square courtyard. “That’s where the lunchroom and the art rooms are.”

I follow Rose straight across the courtyard, trying to take it all in. It was so massive, so grand compared to everything I had never known. A pool? Really? I hope they don’t make people swim… I push the thought away. I’ll burn that bridge when I get there. Just survive the first day. We walk through an identical pair of double doors and we’re in the back of the square. It looks almost identical to the front of the building. I can see a parking lot through the windows and rolling forests beyond that. The seal is there again, and it’s crowded with students rushing around.

“Finn! Poe!” Rose dropped my hand and raced towards two guys in varsity jackets. The tall, dark one caught her and swung her into a deep kiss. They broke apart laughing and Rose gave the other a quick hug. His hair was dark and curly, a smirk on his lips. It wasn’t hard to miss the class clown. Rose waved me over. “Rey, this is Finn and Poe.” She nodded to the boy she kissed and the class clown respectively.

“Hi.” I smile and wave shyly. Finn gives me a giant grin and immediately pulls me into a bear hug. “Oh.”

“It’s great to meet you, Rey,” Finn says once he sets me down.

“Diddo.” Poe winks at me and Rose slaps his chest.

“Poe, don’t scare her away. She’s a science girl, too, and I need more girl power in those classes. I’m outnumbered and tired of it.”

“It’s okay,” I laugh. “He doesn’t scare me.”

Finn laughs. “Okay, I like her. Are you giving her the famous Rose Tico tour?”

“I’m trying to, and then I got distracted.” Rose gives Finn a quick kiss on the lips and I blush, looking away. “Save us seats at assembly?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Finn smiles, a man in love.

The people around me are bustling and loud, obnoxious teenagers. I’m suddenly grateful for my newfound friends.

Rose is gesturing down the hall on the right. “That’s the senior hall. You might go in there sometimes, especially in winter to go to lunch. They get really pissed if you’re loud during class time, but you don’t seem like the loud type.”

I smile. No, not really. Loud spaces were difficult sometimes, especially when I was as uncomfortable as I am now. Rose takes my arm and leads me down the last hall. “This is the Junior hall.”

We walk down a hall filled with blue lockers. There’s a door to a classroom about every twenty or thirty feet. Rose looks at my class schedule. “You’re locker 364, not that far from me!”

We find my locker and Rose tells me to leave my bag there. I do, after struggling with the combination for ten minutes. The end of the hall comes to a corner with a staircase and a wall of windows. Around the corner is a door marked Gymnasium. Rose lets me peek in and I can only gape at the two basketball courts, and, beyond that, a huge glass wall. There are treadmills and workout equipment on the top floor, and I get a glimpse of the pool on the first level. Rose drags me up the stairs and I’m in an identical hall as the one below us. More lockers, more classrooms. Rose points out which ones are which, but I know that I’ll forget.

We came to the area where Principal Organa’s office had been on the other side, but here it's a student lounge overlooking the courtyard. There’s a little kitchen area with a vending machine and a microwave and plenty of chairs, couches, and tables for studying. Rose is explaining something about the vending machines when an announcement comes over the speakers. “Will all students and staff please report to the auditorium for the Welcome Back Assembly? All students and staff please report to the auditorium for the assembly. Thank you.”

Rose’s eyes light up as if she lives for assemblies. Maybe she’s just excited to see Finn again. She grabs my arm and power walks me through the hall and down the stairs. We enter the auditorium through double doors and the room is buzzing with noise and excitement. Poe and Finn wave at us from the front of the room.

We join them as the lights dim and Principal Organa comes up on stage. The buzz in the room dies out and she waits for silence. “Hello, New Republic High!”

A riotous cheer echoes through the auditorium and Poe and Finn are whooping beside me. Organa raises her hands and the room quiets once more. “I hope you all had a great summer and are excited to get back to work. I only have a few announcements and then I’ll send you on your way. First, there will be absolutely NO pranks played on the cheerleaders this year, Mr. Dameron.” Her eyes are shooting lasers at Poe.

He gives her a cheerful thumbs up and leans over to me. “I’m planning on the swim team, instead.”

I giggle. Organa’s already moved on to more usual school things. Laptop roll out, schedule questions, where to look for club sign-ups. I should pay attention, but I’m still trying to process everything around me. It’s all so new and crazy. I close my eyes and try to calm my breathing, just have to get through the first day. The first week.

The assembly ends and Rose takes my hand, leading me out the side. First on the agenda, English Comp. We make our way back to my locker and she leaves me for a second to grab her own bag. The hall is filled with students rushing to classes and I cling to my bag, anxiety filling my chest. Rose touches my arm. “I’m not sure what I would do without you. It’s a lot to take in.”

Rose beams. “I got you. It’s exciting having a new friend. My sister went off to college this year, so I’ve been a bit lonely. And it all calms down after the first week. Everyone is crazy trying to figure out their schedules and where they need to be.”

We have English together, then Latin, then Math, then Physics. My stomach is rumbling by the time lunch rolls around and I find myself standing in line with Rose, staring out over the huge bustling lunchroom. “How long do we have to eat?”

“What?” Rose gives me a strange look. “Oh, it’s not timed, really. You just have to make it to your next class on time. Which is… Drawing at two. Nice. So, like, an hour.”

Lunch looks better than anything I had ever been served back on Jakku. For one, it resembles actual food. For another, I get to choose what I want to eat. Maybe I could get used to this. My stomach turns. Maybe I shouldn’t get used to this. I knew how quickly things could get taken away.

When we sit down, Poe and Finn are in the middle of arguing about football, I think. It’s all just sports talk to me. Rose leans over to me, “Don’t worry, I have no idea what they’re saying either. Are you liking your classes so far?”

“Yeah, but I think I’ll need a cart to carry all these books around.” I grin and poke at my peas.

Rose snorts. “Me too. It’s torture. Hey, we should definitely start a study group together. I saw that you have a free block with me Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

“That would be great.” A friend! I smile and dig into my chicken.

“Do you think you’re going to join any clubs or anything? There’s A Capella, chess, film…”

I shrug. “I’ve never really been a group person.” Rose gives me the saddest look. “But, I can see. What are you in?”

A giant smile breaks across Rose’s face.

“Oh, now you’ve released the beast.” Finn chuckles, making eyes across the table at his girlfriend.

“So, there’s this group I’ve been wanting to get started.” Rose’s eyes are bright and excited and I can’t help but laugh. “It’s called FEM-STEM for women in science. And we’d be part robotics team, part STEM buds, and it would really just be you and me for right now, but that’s enough to start and I, like, need a Vice President.”

“I would love, too!” There’s a flash of anxiety in my gut as I drop out of the dream for a second. “But I don’t know how long I’m staying here. It’s all so new, you know. But, I’ll definitely think about it. I just want to make sure Maz is like a sure thing. I haven’t had the greatest time with foster parents.”

I finish softly and there’s a soft oh from Rose’s lips. I look up and my eyes connect with his. Dark, brooding, intense. I gasp and look away. I look back up and he’s turned away, head in a book, scribbling, black hair falling over his eyes. I know those eyes… I know them from… Somewhere. I tune back in.

“It’s totally okay. I totally understand. I didn’t mean to bring up-”

“I’ll do it.” I force a smile. Rose squeals and pulls me into a huge hug. What is it with these people and hugs? “I have to talk to Maz first.”

“Oh, Rey. Thank you.” Rose is bouncing in her seat with excitement.

I glance back at him and he looks up at me. Something imperceptible passes across his eyes and he gathers his things to leave. The table he’s at is empty. “Who’s that?”

Poe, Finn, and Rose’s eyes track mine as I watch him leave the giant lunch hall. Poe’s face immediately darkens into anger while Rose and Finn share a knowing look and glance at Poe. Poe takes a deep breath and lets it out. “It’s fine. She’ll find out sooner or later and it may as well be from us.”

Poe’s eyes meet mine and I’m filled with a burning curiosity. He’s immediately on edge, tensed.

“I can’t believe she let him come back.” Rose mutters.

“Well, he is her son.” Finn replies softly. I glance between the three of them confused.

“What happened?”

Rose sighs. Her voice is almost a whisper like she’s telling me a secret. “That’s Ben Solo.”

“Solo?” It sounds familiar but I can’t quite find it amongst the ocean of information that’s been driven into my head today.

“Yeah, Principal Organa and Mr. Solo’s son.” Finn fills in. Suddenly, Poe slams his fist down on the table and the whole cafeteria goes quiet. He stands and walks out. My eyes go wide. Finn grabs both their trays. “I’ll go calm him down.”

The chatter starts up again as Finn leaves. My heart is racing. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up something bad. I-“

“No, Rey, it's okay. You didn’t know. You couldn’t have.” Rose’s voice is steady. Calming. “I just wouldn’t bring Ben Solo up in front of Poe again.”

“Yeah, of course.” I poke at the remaining peas on my plate, no longer hungry.

“Poe and Ben… well I think they used to be really good friends as kids. I’m not sure. I moved here in middle school. But as they grew up, well, Poe is really easy to like. And Ben, I guess, not so much. I’m a little fuzzy on the details. But I guess Ben started having a lot of mental health problems and anger issues and I think he got started down the wrong path. No one is really sure, but a lot of people say he might sell drugs or something. And Poe thinks that Ben sold Poe’s twin sister the drugs that Lily overdosed on. And it all kind of culminated at the end of last year when Ben showed up to the funeral. Poe came to school and it was so scary. I’ve never seen him so angry. And he and Ben got into a fight in the courtyard that sent both of them to the hospital. The police got involved. It was horrible. And I guess Ben got shipped off to some reform summer camp. And it’s why Poe can’t play any varsity or junior lacrosse this year.”

“Gods. That’s horrible.” Anxiety knits my stomach. Maybe I should find Poe and apologize.

“Yeah...” Rose wipes away a tear and looks at the time on her phone. “Oh! I should probably get you to your next class. I have vocal so it’s in the same wing at least.”

We discard out trays and walk out of the cafeteria and up a flight of stairs to the Art Hall as Rose called it. There were three art studios on one side of the hall and the orchestra/band room on the other side. Two double doors at the end of the hall were for the balcony seats of the auditorium. I waved goodbye to Rose and she ran off to the auditorium for vocal and for the first time today I’m alone. The classroom looks empty since I’m about ten minutes early so I go in and nearly jump out of my skin.

Ben Solo is sitting in the corner of the classroom at one of the high drawing desks eating an apple. He looks up in surprise as I enter and takes a bite. I can’t get rid of the feeling that I know him from somewhere. But where?

“Sorry… I thought it was empty.” No reply. “Is it okay if I sit in here too?”

His intense eyes regard me carefully. “It’s a free country.”

His voice is deep, gravelly, sensual almost. I… was not expecting that. I pick one of the desks almost directly across from him. He goes back to his work as I take out my schedule and club list, as well as a thick welcome packet Rose had given to me. It’s the first time today I’m able to sit and breathe and think. I let out a deep sigh. First days are the worst.

I feel a tingle on my skin like someone’s watching me and I look up only to see him look back down at his sketchbook. A strand of long black hair falls in front of his face and I catch myself wondering what it would feel like to brush it back.

What the hell, Niima? I look back down at my papers electing to ignore him. He probably just had one of those faces. Besides, if anything Rose said was true, I shouldn’t  trust this guy at all. It’s not trust, it's curiosity. Okay, well, then I shouldn’t be curious either. He’s bad enough to make funny, happy-go-lucky Poe Dameron go nuclear.

I glance back up at him and our eyes lock. I don’t know if we’re looking at each other for minutes or hours or just seconds. He moves like he wants to ask me something and the classroom door swings open breaking our trance.

A tall woman struggles through the door carrying a giant armful of drawing pads and utensils. I rush to help her, taking some of her things.

“Oh, thank you, dear. You’re so kind. Yes, just put one on each desk for me.”

I’ve taken a box of boxes of drawing pencils from her. I set to work placing boxes of pencils on my desk, deliberately starting as far away from him as possible. I work my way around the U of desks and come to him. He stiffens as I draw near and dammit he smells good too. I hastily shove a pencil box at him and he takes it. His fingers brush against mine and I gasp, hurrying away from him. My heart is pounding in my chest and I can feel him watching me. I’m so ready for this day to end.

I set the empty box down on the desk and the art teacher is desperately trying to get the overhead projector to turn on.

“Do you mind?” She hands me the remote and I turn on the projector with one click. She laughs and takes it back. “I swear, technology hates me. I don’t recognize you so you must be…. Rey Nemo.”

“Niima.” I smile.

She clicks her tongue. “Yes, that’s what Rose said. Pretty name. I’m Mrs. Tico, the drawing teacher.”

“Rose’s mom?”

She smiles brightly. I can tell where Rose gets her sunshine personality from.  “The one and only. I hope my daughter hasn’t scared you off yet.”

There’s a light scoff behind me and I look back to see Ben concentrating very hard on his notebook. Did he know me? Did he recognize me from somewhere, too?

I turn back to Mrs. Tico. “Not at all. She’s been really nice and welcoming. I think it’s the best welcome party I’ve ever had.”

The door swings open and students start to roll in. Mrs. Tico smiles. “Well, we’re more than happy to have you here and I’m delighted to have you as a student, Rey. Maybe you can convince my daughter to take one class with her momma. I sure can’t.”

I laugh and head back to my seat. I don’t catch him looking at me the rest of the block, but for some reason I know he is.

The bell rings, signifying the end of the block and I gather myself. Rose is waiting for me outside the door, a petrified look on her face.

“What?”

“You have class with him? After I told you all that stuff? Oh jeez, I’m so sorry.” Rose's eyes are wide.

I shrug. “Don’t worry about it.”

Should I mention the staring? The eye contact? The fact that I find him kinda hot? The weird feeling in my chest when he looks at me? Probably not. Probably should just chalk this up to weird teenage hormones.

“So the shop is a bit different. It’s across the parking lot because it has to be a separate building because of building codes or something.” Rose says as we walk through the hall, down the stairs, and through the double glass doors into the back parking lot. We head towards a building made of white tin and Rose drops me off at the door.

“I like your mom, by the way. She seems nice.”

“Yeah, she’s pretty cool. She keeps wanting me to take art classes but I can’t draw to save my life.” Rose shrugs. “Do you have any plans after school? I usually go to the coffee shop and work on homework or hang out until Finn gets done with practice.”

“That sounds fun. I think Maz wanted to take me shopping for some things tonight though. Maybe some other time?”

“Oh sure! How about tomorrow?” Rose raises her eyebrows. “I mean you can totally say no, but I think it would be fun to hang out outside of school.”

It was hard to not want to be Rose’s friend. She made it so easy. Don’t get attached. She’s just being nice. I pushed the thought out of my head. “Yeah! Tomorrow sounds great.”

Rose beamed.  “Sweet! I’ll see you tomorrow then! Bye, Rey!”

I watched her race across the parking lot back to school. I opened the door to the huge white shop and was greeted with a small classroom. A couple tables with benches faced a white board. And in front of the white board, staring at me again was Ben. Why me. Why today.

It looks like I’ve just interrupted a strained conversation between him and the man at the desk. Ben immediately takes a seat near the outside wall of the room. The man at the desk stands and saunters over to me. He’s wearing a white shirt and jeans with grease spots. He’s got greying hair and a twinkle in his eye. “Rey Niima?”

I nod.

“Han Solo, how you doing, kid?” He sticks his hand out and I shake it. I’m trying to put three and three together. The grungy man before me and the polished lady I met earlier and their mysterious son in the corner.

“I’m okay, thank you.”

“Nice to have a girl in here. Maybe it will teach some of these boys a lesson.”

Not sure what that means, but I catch Ben glaring grumpily at the desk in front of him.

“Have you worked with engines before, kid?”

I nod. “A little bit. Kinda. I… Stayed with someone who owned a junkyard and he let me take stuff apart. Mostly I think he just wanted me to learn how to strip cars for parts cause my hands were small.”

Is that too much information? My stomach twists but Mr. Solo seems delighted and Ben is staring at me again. He quickly looks away.

“Oh, yeah, Maz had told me she was fostering a new kid. Look at you. You’ll do fine here. Just pick a seat. We’ll start once the others show up.”

I sit down two rows behind Ben. Try to stare at me now. I smirk. But now you get to be the one who stares. I roll my eyes at my subconscious. It’s curiosity. And hormones. Pure and simple.

By the time I get home that night, I’m completely exhausted from the day and from answering a million questions. The moment I lay down, I’m passed out and dreaming of dark eyes and endless darkness. Flashes of him pass through, fleeting. When I wake in the morning, I can’t remember much of it.

[constantlyconfusedvi]

Y’all wanna know what my updated thoughts on Reylo are? No? I don’t care.

Rey and Kylo Ren met for the first time in the middle of the First Order invading Maz Kanata’s castle. Then he kidnapped her and proceeded to prod and torture her for information on BB-8. Torture. Her. It ain’t romantic y’all. Then he killed her father figure, and his actual father, Han Solo, in front of her, before chasing them outside and battling her and Finn. He throws her against a tree, guys. And manipulates her into trying to join him. She defeats him and leaves him for dead.

The Last Jedi. They meet during Force Skype and she tries to kill him. More Force Skype. She calls him a murderous snake. He tells her to find the real truth. Force Skype pt. 3. Shirtless Kylo telling her to come to him after she gets into a fight with Luke about Kylo’s turn to the dark. In the elevator, she persuades him to join the light, calling him Ben. Throne room. They fight together against Snoke’s guards after Kylo kills Snoke for still unknown reasons. Kylo persuades her to join him again. They attempt to each get the Skywalker saber. Rey leaves while Kylo is unconscious.

They have had 9 encounters over two movies, 4 of which are non violent towards each other, and 3 being the main evidence for Reylos. Even if the non violent encounters, most are still iffy on the moral scale. She obviously hates him in the beginning of TLJ and throughout TFA, but when she learns the truth, she discovers something else in her. There is no possible way, however, for a human to go from blood-boiling, shoot-on-sight hatred, to “ILY sooo much I want your babies” in a few days. Rey would, using common sense, only be interested in him to join the light side. I see it as what it is, someone finds out their enemy is broken and hurt and wants them to become better through friendship and maybe therapy, but also paying for what they’ve done. I think that Reylo is a complicated situation for what it is portrayed as. In a morally right world, it would not be canon ever, but portrayed as someone guiding a lost soul back to the light, PLATONICALLY.

*However, there are extreme amounts of sexual tension in TLJ, and I totally over looked that. They do have some form of physical attraction to each other, and why not? Idk. The elevator scene has so much tension that it could be cut with a light saber. Not to mention the throne room fight. Rian Johnson had an idea for their relationship and ran with it. That movie was more full of sexual tension than Titanic.*

That “Bad boy is restored to good with a kiss by a good girl” trope is unbelievably toxic. Relationships like that are not sustainable or healthy by any means, as they often end in abuse or neglect. Not even to say that Rey has plenty of other relationship options, like Finn(*ok maybe not Finn*)

Reylo is totally fine as an offscreen, crackship that is not portrayed like Twilight, especially to all the little girls who look up to Rey as a role model. What do you think they are gonna do when they are faced with a man like Kylo Ren when they grow up? Fall in love because “oh its okay, its so cute”. Media does influence us, especially as kids and young teens. Seeing a relationship on screen can influence us to think it is okay, especially if it is written to be okay.

Now, the fandom. Jesus Christ on a cracker. Can you all chill the fuck out? Please? You are making this place so hard to have fun in. (*Referring to the people who take it way too far, everyone else is cool*)

I’m into Reylo as a crackship. Yes, I ship it. I think they, aesthetically, are cute together, because I am a bi mess and they are hot as hell. Now, do I want them to be canon? Absolutely fucking not. Fanfics and edits are fine with me, but please keep this ship off the big screen. I feel the same way about Kylux. Crack ship up the wazoo. Do I think they’re cute? In certain fanfics and AU’s, yes! Canon wise? NOOOO.

*But you guys have fun and ship and let ship, I just wanted to rant and put my opinions up on the inter web.*

So, TL;DR

Reylo is fine as a ship if it stays away from the big screen. I ship it too, but in the same way I ship Bubba and Stretch, Momo and Todoroki, and Kylux.

Please debate in the notes

[mrmallardsmobileposts]

My Star Wars Shipping Hot Takes

THERE WILL BE UNMARKED SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE SEQUEL TRILOGY IN THIS POST

TAG "#TRoS Spoilers" IF YOU WANT TO WIPE THIS POST FROM YOUR DASH COMPLETELY

THIS HAS BEEN MY SPOILER WARNING, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ABOUT STAR WARS SPOILERS

Finn/Rey should have been endgame, or at least brought up by Finn instead of the BS non-committal "I've got something to tell you" line they play with for the rest of the movie. Bring it into text and acknowledge it fully instead of using it for a few cheap gags and leaving it hanging.

They had great chemistry in TFA. They bonded really easily and got along really well, it seemed like Finn was chatting her up a little at times and by the end of the movie they're incredibly close. Finn puts his life on the line and gets fucked up by a lightsaber to defend her. John Boyega and Daisy Ridley played off each other really well, they had really good chemistry. I really ship it.

The only hitch, imo, is the total lack of screentime they have together in TLJ. Finn's plot just kinda went nowhere and he got a rehash of his "running away" arc in TFA, and I think the Rose Tico kiss was really lame and forced. While I can appreciate their eventual reunion, and within the scope of the movie it's not unreasonable for them to not meet again until the end, I really don't dig how much time they spend apart in TLJ from a shipping perspective and I don't think the Finn/Rose pairing is very good.

To address the elephant in the room, I'm not the most positive person about Rose Tico, but I'm chill with her and I think her character would have been fine with better material than she had in TLJ. Not trying to chud things up, here. The most extreme thing I have to say about Rose Tico, within the scope of this post I'm making, is that I didn't think the actors had that much chemistry to justify a romance, the kiss was goofy with the laser going off behind them, and while I don't disagree that Kelly Marie Tran got screwed over in TRoS, I'm ultimately glad that her and Finn are good buddies in that movie instead of partners. I'm not saying her reduced role is fine, just saying I'm glad that this pairing doesn't seem to be canon. I'm glad they're still close, though. Finn is definitely the heart of the group, pulling everyone together.

The thing about Finn/Rey in TRoS is that while the chemistry isn't there on the same level as TFA - partially due to the hatchet-job editing of the first half where people are barely able to vocalise a single coherent thought before the plot ushers them along to the next point - I felt like it still existed for a while. They teased it with the "I've got something I need to tell you" line from Finn, and then they never bring it up again. Like what the fuck, wrap up the plot point instead of dragging it out for the most painful humor of the movie and failing to resolve it.

This brings me into the Reylo portion of my post.

While I don't ship it, I refuse to hate Reylo. I've got a great write-up of my Reylo opinion on my main blog which explains why, if you search for "reylo". Basic point is that a lot of the initial backlash was predicated on assumptions that people were adamant would be proven true in the next movies, and those assumptions turned out to not be the case 4 years later in 2019, so I refuse to treat it like the pariah it was in 2015 for those reasons.

I'll admit that I really enjoyed the ending with Ben Solo. Adam Driver sells the difference between Ben Solo and Kylo Ren so well, and while I understand that he did a lot of bad shit and wiped out planets and committed space genocide and stuff - Darth Vader also committed space genocide and killed hundreds of people, and his body count continues to rise in supplemental materials. And yet he was redeemed by Luke, and was able to return as a force ghost despite the genocides and mass murders he committed as Darth Vader. There is a precedent for people redeeming themselves just before they die in the Star Wars universe, even when they do some really heinous shit. As such, I am not against this happening for Kylo Ren. Star Wars is just that kind of series, for better or worse.

My opinion of Reylo is that it's kind of like fanfic mode a lot of the time. It got really wacky in TLJ, and it got way more pronounced in TRoS. That's not necessarily a detriment, but it was what it was. I don't buy Kylo Ren and Rey as romantic interests necessarily, especially when I think their relationship is really, really odd and reminiscent of fanfiction cliches, but there's enough subtext for people to read into it and I don't really care if people like it or not.

If Reylo is the endgame ship, then that's fine. I don't necessarily like it, even as I acknowledge that problematic ships will always have their audience. A ship can be used as a force for good, as long as it isn't being used to actively promote abusive tendencies or like really gross shit.

Some ships are off limits, straight up. Reylo is dicey, but I don't think it's worse than a lot of villain shipping is - there's been room for edgy villain shipping before, and I think Reylo occupies that space now and has every right to. As long as people aren't encouraging people to engage in abusive practices through their storywriting, or pushing alt-right talking points and fucked up things like that through their writing, Reylo has enough wiggle room to be a perfectly ordinary pairing in the fanfiction community.

Saying that, though - here's why I prefer Finn/Rey.

He's a close, friendly and positive force in Rey's life, they shared the start of their journeys and they helped each other grow into the heroes they became. Poe spent most of TFA missing in action, and he only meets Rey at the end of the movie. Rey and Finn spend the bulk of their character moments together, and it's the character development from these interactions - spurred along by Han and Chewie, of course - that fuels their ascent into hero figures at the end of the movie.

Why don't I like Reylo more? Because the Kylo Ren stuff seemed like essential backstory stuff, whereas Finn and Rey's characters naturally got along like a house on fire. Kylo Ren also spends most of the time getting rain on his gloves through inter-force touching in a bunch of weird, forced, fanfic-tier scenes, whereas Finn and Rey hug and celebrate and bond through conversation, not trite, rigid backstory.

I can buy Rey kissing Ben Solo at the end of TRoS. I can buy her feeling love for Ben Solo, and finding it frustrating that she can't break through Kylo Ren to get to him. Fuck, in that ending scene where Kylo is explicitly Ben Solo again, Rey and Ben have actual, honest to god chemistry, and it's cute as fuck. But that moment took a lot of catching up to get to, and before her and Kylo showed any hint of affection together, Finn was her comrade in arms, someone who shared her victories and helped to further her growth, and vice versa.

Reylo has a pretty solid conclusion, I will certainly give it that. But I feel like the Reylo conclusion is steeped in that classic "I can redeem the bad guy through love" trope like the original Star Wars, except with a romantic angle this time. Ben's redemption didn't have to be with a kiss - it could still happen without the romance angle, but the romance is added in to distinguish it from the other Star Wars examples.

Ultimately, I think having Ben's redemption spurred by romantic love is broke, whereas Rey finding a buddy in Finn, having their ups and downs together, shielding each other from harm and becoming close through mutual shared experiences and proximity is woke.

What about Finn/Poe? Ship it if you want, it's all good. I understand why this ship was initially so popular, and while I don't ship it, I'm not the shipping police and I get the premise behind it. Poe/CrimeGirl? This was shoehorned tf in, but if you think it's neato, it's neato. Poe/Rey? I think they would make a terrible couple, but whatever. Poe/Finn/Rey? Everyone wins. Add Kylo Ren anywhere into the mix and you can have yourself a party, depending on your stance on the character. Make any of the characters gay, bi, pan, ace - literally whatever, outside of a few significant parameters just about every ship is valid. I'm not a hard-ass, shipping is fun and outside of some really bad shit I'm generally down for people having a good time. I just like Finn/Rey the most.

Also, Maz Kanata is really neat and I hope she gets more screen time. If her lifespan makes it squicky to ship her with the younger characters, that's your business and I understand and respect that, but frankly I would write a romance story about Maz Kanata falling in love in a heartbeat - I just don't know who. I've written Doctor Who fanfic where a 2000 year old alien woman dates a 21 year old policewoman from Sheffield, so as long as the right boundaries are respected, I think a Maz Kanata story could be pretty fun and non-problematic like with a Doctor Who story.

Anyway that's my Hot Takes post

byeeeeee